Farewell to all that

And finally ... for the time being ... starting to climb walls, working 14 hour days for the last 10 days or more, and dying for a break. Still, with a deadline to complete the office, and open for business on the 20th August, time waits for no man. As of the time I left the office on the evening of the 6th, we'd done the following:

Starting with



which is what I saw when I first saw the office space in February, we've moved though



to



Of course, whilst I've been involved in many aspects of the project, my main focus has been the IT provision, so just to show I have been playing with computers as well, the server room has also come together:



Of course, I had thought to include pictures of other areas of Dubai, but practically, what you see is pretty much all I've seen - all work and precious little play. Once the office opens, I hope(?) to have some time for myself, and will explore parts of the town unseen by human Whitaker - and post some pictures to prove I did. For the moment, you'll have to take my word that - certainly from the building point of view, Dubai is an incredibly vibrant place - to drive down the Sheikh's highway is to pass through the most extraordinary range of building, from low rise villas to a broad range of tower blocks - an architects paradise. Some of them are indifferent, but there are a number of gems, well worth a trip to look over.

Given the current world financial climate, the most incredible thing is the rate at which they are still building - it begins to look like you could have your own personal tower block. The again, of course, you do need to take a long view when building - I can't help remembering when Olympia & York were in deep trouble with Canary Wharf. 20 years on, all that is forgotten - I can't help thinking that will be as true of this place.

Anyway, at last, I can say I'm done with Dubai for a while - holiday beckons, and I'm off to Nairobi. Can't wait - and I'm sure if you are following my random thoughts, you're saying thank heavens that's over - now we can get to the fun bit!

All for now - heading for points south.