Planes, Trains and Automobiles

The Immigration Gentleman very kindly let me back into KSA yesterday, after just a 4 and a half hour wait, which for them is pretty speedy, and worthy of note.
I wasn't however particularly interested in watching just how far up his left nostril he could stick his finger, which was his trick of the day for that Tuesday. Its somewhat disconcerting to be standing in front of an alleged official, and watch him stare back at you, as he gently slides his finger into his nose for about 40 seconds....however, i was counting my blessings that a) it was his nose, and b) he hopefully wasn't planning to stick his finger anywhere else, and more importantly, into me.
Anyway, i can report that he got to the 2nd knuckle, which he was pretty pleased about, his delight of which, being increased further by a fairly bountiful harvest appearing on his finger when he eventually finished rooting around. Needless to say i have just finished spraying my passport with Spray disinfectant (soft linen scented), and we didn't bother with the shaking hands routine.
After that, it was onto the mini buses and the 1 hour journey to Ras Tunarra, followed by a further 3 hours of hanging around while various Port authorities/Custom Officials pulled apart the paperwork, or our bags in the relentless search for drink and porn, both of which if found they would destroy...... oh yeah !
After they had finished their fruitless search, it was then onto our crewboat for the 10 hour sail to our Seismic ship, upon which we embarked in the early hours of today.
Its the height of summer right now, which essentially means heat and wind for another 6 to 8 weeks. So as i stare at the screen I see that we are recording 46°C as an outside temperature with winds of 25 knots. Of course with the shamal wind comes the sand, so the whole vessel is turning dun coloured in front of our very eyes.
Only another week, and then hopefully we will be out of here, but as everyone knows, in this Country, nothing comes easy, so it will be an interesting few days ahead while we try and extricate ourselves, and move to Dubai.
I will keep you all posted on the adventures ahead.

Later....

Rush, Rush, Rush

Well its the last weekend, and "Her Indoors" has been comparing the remaining number of jobs on her "To Do" list, with mine......no contest really, I lost.....but that's a given !
Its always a bit of a panic the last few days, as there are always things to do, that you have put off for better things at the time, ie clean the gutters, mow lawns, check oil etc in cars, and that's all coupled with the fact that you are also trying to squeeze as much time in together as possible, so it all gets a bit chaotic, even after 20 something years of living this way.
So to make the most of the remaining time (and to delay doing anymore list items), on Friday we dragged ourselves up to Glen Clova, or rather Glen Doll, and walked up to the National Nature Reserve of Corrie Fee, which is most definitely worth a visit. Its a wonderful, peaceful amphitheatre you enter when you finally break through the tree line, and on a sunny day it was glorious.
Angus Council and the Forestry Commission deserve large pats on their respective backs for looking after this area so well, apparently the Ranger was telling me that they are on target for 80,000 Visitors this year....we saw 3 other people, and not a bit of litter anywhere.
After 6 hours we eventually called it a day and started back for Home and the reality that, no matter how hard we try, you just can't delay time, and I'm off again on Monday for 5 weeks.....and with unerring accuracy the weather is finally coming good, as i am about to depart....so Y'all enjoy your Summer, you lucky People.
Next post from KSA, IF I manage not to insult an Immigration official.....a quick note to Myself....remember to engage brain in Cretin mode as soon as the aircraft door opens in Dammam.








Later......

Phew

Arrived back home, after about 8 hours of flying from The Kingdom.

Its always a great feeling to get back home, but when you are coming back from the puss pit of the World, its even better....

Immigration was as tedious as ever, with the Cretins in Dammam Airport doing everything possible to make you want to take them down a darkened alley, and basically beat the living crap out of them, if you ever had the chance in your fantasies. The sheer arrogance of these people is unbelievable,

if it wasn't for the huge numbers of Foreign hired help, this Country would still be one step below the Dark ages. There is something about that Country, their attitude to non Arabs, the way they treat their Women, the complete lack of distribution of wealth, that just gets my baser instincts rising to the surface.....but enough of that, I'm back Home for goodness sake, and Life is good.

The Wife looks great, and is even happy to see my Ugly Mug, a fact that always astounds and humbles me, especially after 30 hours of travelling on Boats, Buses, Trains, Planes and Automobiles. The Dogs went mad, they also even recognized me for a change, and it was a great welcome home sunset as well.......Life is good.

Later....