Had a strapping leather-clad biker across my kitchen table this morning

...no, most definitely not like that! A colleague and I felt we needed an off-site meeting in order to ensure we weren't interupted when going through some heavy business issues. Given the weather has been so lovely and Spring-like he decided to come up on his motorbike. Minor Mayhem was most impressed by the shiny black BMW on the drive when he came home from school albeit disappointed to find it wasn't Mum's...I am also pleased to report I had a reasonably productive day with no travel involved - yay!

I have recently succumbed to an inappropriate pair of shoes beckoning to me , “buy me, I’m so beautiful”. I put it down to a mid-life crisis and have limited myself to photographing said shoes and matching bag as a memory to be preserved for posterity and will forthwith lovingly parcel them back up and take them to the post office to make their return journey to the great Kurt Geiger warehouse. I now know in the future when faced with exquisite but unfeasibly high footwear I will be strong and say, “yes, you are beautiful but you’d be lonely in a box in my cupboard, you need to go home with someone else.” ;o)

2 out of 3 aint bad

as Mr. Meatloaf once said. Successful day yesterday...managed to make two senior management appointments so feel pretty pleased with progress. To celebrate I went for dinner with the MD and BD Director before ending up at the Blue Bar in the Novotel Trade Centre listening to an excellent live band covering all manner of rock classics and a bit of Lebanese traditional music (eclectic or what!?!)... all of which accompanied by copious 'Charlie Parker' cocktails. Just reward :o)

I am pleased to report that appointment no. 3 is heading in the right direction...just needs 'converting' and I was on the case first thing this morning despite a muzzy head. I had hoped to grab an hour by the pool to chill and grab some rays but was thwarted by a handkerchief sized paddling pool on the 18th floor in the shade of the aforementioned unfinished tower blocks :o/

There's only so much hotel living you can do without getting 'Cabin Fever' so a bit of escapism/exploration was called for. I went for a wander round the local area this afternoon, there's cranes a go-go...still sooo much building going on, as well as loads of stuff finished but unoccupied...begs the question whether there are enough inhabitants to fill the place and is no surprise that the rental rates have gone through the floor.

Continuing the vein of living it up....tonight I'm dining à la room service and watching 'Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince' with Arabic subtitles...

Back to base tomorrow...

Back in the UAE

again....Not quite sure how I got through the interviews today; major sleep deprivation... yesterday's flight was delayed, full of screaming babies, immigration queue at Dubai ridiculous, checked into hotel at 3.15am, next door neighbour snored so loudly I could hear him through the wall and then there was what sounded like an enthusiastic threesome going on above my head at 4.55am!!!!! View from window is half finished tower blocks, cranes and builders camp...

Legs 11

I wish I was one of those women that has legs up to their armpits, but alas I'm not. The pair I have are seriously flawed so in order to address this shortcoming I have become obsessed with hosiery...but not any old tights...they have to be coloured or patterned and preferably both and I am bordering on OCD about them matching my outfit. In fact it would be fair to say I have developed a total tight fetish as my overflowing tights drawer will bear witness. However, I was pulled up short yesterday when clad in outfit finished off with navy lace tights and my fave Doc Marten boots Miss Sensible chastised me for picking her up from the stables in inappropriate attire. My question is dear readers, at what stage does such legwear become unseeming for one of a certain age?

Answers on a postcard to....

Ups & downs

UP > Had a fab night out with Paddy the auditor on Thursday. We'd both had a pretty 'pants' day so made an impromptu decision to go for dinner and ended up in a great Spanish restaurant eating Tapas and consuming reasonable quantities of Sangria. As a consequence the plan to review 56 CVs accompanied by room service in the hotel went out of the window...apologies to affected applicants.

UP & DOWN > Despite me raising concerns about the feasibility of the bid we've been doing for a Russian company, the top dog has signed it off, so if we win it, it looks like I might need to apply for a visa and head off to Moscow next month. On the one hand I'm excited...always wanted to go there...and on the other, I know it's going to be a complete & utter nightmare of a job.

UP > The last bunch of Fijians now have visas so I can breath a sigh of relief that they're not going to be stranded in the UAE and go on the razz in Dubai, and Iraq will finally have all the resources they need to mobilise the project next week. Yay! Success!!

DOWN > A further group of personnel at my last workplace have been put at risk of redundancy. I know a lot of these guys personally as they worked for me when I was a Project Manager years ago and, without exception, they're highly competent individuals. The new management have ripped the heart out of that business...makes me sad on so many levels.

DOWN, DOWN, DEEPER & DOWN (bit of Quo) > Didn't get in from London until 10.40pm last night...some numpty had stolen the signalling cables near Evesham so I was stuck on the train in the middle of the Cotswolds for a couple of hours...not the bestest end to the week...

How did we ever manage without

I am a total an absolute convert. Fragmented telephone calls, long-distance reverberating echos are now a thing of the past.

Until I installed the programme I'd struggled to keep in touch with the sproglets whilst I was in the Middle East other than via Facebook (yep, I know it's the comms medium for teenagers but...). Mobile phone signals over there are precarious to say the least and it's not ideal having to stand in the middle of open spaces in Basra!

On the work front it's meant it's way more straight-forward to reach a massively geographically dispersed candidate pool. Today I've conducted interviews with people in Iraq, Australia and both coasts of the US without having to leave the comfort of home. Plus it's free!

The only possible negative is the video capability...means I can't stay in my PJs ;o)