rapidex

Chilling in Phuket for 3 weeks. Flew down from Chiang Rai on our non stop service with Vietjet. Flight left in time, arrived 10 minutes early and our luggage was out promptly.
Spent the afternoon at the pool before going for a delicious dinner at Patong seafood. I have been going for over 30 years, and still the old boss came out and greeted mrs rapidex and I.

allturnleft

I got covid for the first time this week; yuk!

_At least i can lie like a zombie on the sofa and watch wimbledon!

Hope all ok for my flight to the azores in a weeks time!

Sounds like carnage out there at the airports atm

rapidex

Gut well soon. Mrs rapidex caught it recently but she is triple jabbed so it was just like a bit of flu for a couple of days.

where next

Sat at home watching the Tour de France, could be worse , I could be in Copenhagen in the pouring rain.

Happy Friday all

CMK10

Happy Friday! In honor (or honour to some of you) of the long weekend in the US I am taking my daughter to Arizona to see The Grand Canyon and meet up with some family friends. Should be a blast.

alex67500

No travel this weekend, but Rolling Stones on Sunday in Hyde Park. Not quite what they once were, but nostalgia called when the tickets became available. A bit like an airline we all fly

TTmex

I look forward to seeing your thread on the Rolling Stones forum titled "What happened to this once great band" which contains a 14-paragraph rant about how you'll never watch the Rolling Stones again. It will contain strong proclamations such as "I'll never watch the Rolling Stones again", "they've truly sank to new lows", "how are they still in business???" and "I've said it before, but I mean it this time". You'll also explain, with fervour, how you went to an Ed Sheeran concert recently and how it was refreshingly much better than the RS concert. It didn’t come with the same perks, and it was held two hours outside of the Italian city you were staying on holiday in, but whatever, “you’ve seen the future” and other people should too.

Certain forum members will, erm, encourage you, telling you that the German band Rammstein has always been much better and that if you want a good show with excellent event catering that you should try Turkish pop concerts. Other members will push back, exclaiming that the current times are tough for the RS and that you should give them another chance. The argument will be made that the RS band members are good, but it’s the management team that is what is killing them. They’ll remind you that they once ventured out to a concert from long-established band in the US and that it really wasn’t any better, except for the ice-cream sundae in the VIP tent. Thus, sticking with the Rollers is the sensible choice, especially because they offer their subscribers excellent benefits such as fast-track queues at concerts and 241 tickets with Amex.

The thread will then go down a rabbit whole about whether masks should be worn at concerts. A huge RS fan from the US will paste pages of the US constitution to explain why the concert in Hyde Park was wrong to suggest you optionally wear a mask. They explain that concert staff were discussing removing them from the concert, despite the fact they sat quietly and were not rude to anyone in the slightest. They’ll get in a grump and storm off when people refuse to agree with them. It will calm down for a bit. Eventually the mods will come in and lock the thread for a while to investigate. It eventually reopens, asking people to behave and stay on topic.

Another member will then join the discussion and ask whether, having arrived 2 hours late to the concert because they forgot their own ticket and had to buy a new one, they’re due EU compensation from the RS. Despite having no legal case, someone will find a way to blame the RS and insist compensation can be won. All along, the flames will be fanned by one forum member, who hasn’t been to a concert in 30 years, adding witty, often cryptic comments to the discussions. Newer forum members will be ultimately lost and not get the sarcasm and irony so obvious to seasoned RS forum posters.

After about 2-3 months of inactivity on the thread, you post once again to explain how you had a soft spot for the Rolling Stones and that you’d once again tried their concert only to be flabbergasted at how poorly organised it was.

Sound familiar?

alex67500

Wow, you have way too much time on your hands, but I laughed! Thanks for that

VSLover

friday was pretty good

SKT-DK

Thanks for that laugh on an otherwise grey Sunday afternoon Sad part is - it does sound very familiar!

southsquare

Saudi has changed a lot in the last seven or so years. I certainly would not wish to be understood as an apologist for the Kingdom, and much is still to be done, but the massive investment in higher ed that began around 10 years ago is just beginning to pay off, as is the investment in special economic zones. At the same time, I've known Saudi for 30 years - that was my very first posting in 1992 - and at times I yearn for the tranquility of the desert, the gentle rhythm of the call to prayer and the warm Arabic hospitality, at least some of which has become muted in the race to modernity. If you ever get an opportunity to do so, go and see the site of Dammam No. 7. It's no longer in production, but that discovery (of oil in 1936 and commercial quantities from 1938 onwards) is among the most significant discoveries of the 20th century - for better or worse. And if you happen to be stuck at an airport or in a hotel room with time to spare, read the history of (i) the Morrill Act (the Land Grant College Act, 1862), which created the land grant colleges (e.g. Texas A & M) which provided the engineering expertise that opened the region to commercial production, and of (ii) the unification of KSA which led to the development of defined property rights, modern agriculture, stable urban settlements and a modern-ish banking system. It was that combination of engineering expertise and property rights that led to the massive commercial oil production in the region, and all that has followed - including flight. As for Morrill, he was a property owner and among other things, a gentleman apple farmer in Strafford, Vermont. Here's the General Store in Strafford about 6 weeks ago:



.

TTmex

I definitely excited to go,.albeit dreading it as it's likely tacked onto a month in Europe meaning away from family for 6 or 7 weeks. But I'm keen to get a couple of days in to do some more touristy stuff. My sister in law married into a family of Saudi descent and they've given me a few pointers, albeit for Jeddah area.

southsquare

If you can spare the time, add a few days in Oman at the end of the trip. If budget is important, try Kuwait Airways and a day or two in relative luxury at the Radisson Blu Kuwait, after a Saudi trip, is money very well spent.

TTmex

sounds like a plan. Budget hopefully not much of an issue as two work trips combined and travel is built in, not billable. I'd love to explore that part of the world for sure

alex67500

Well TTmex I'm happy to report that RS were absolutely what I expected. Slightly ageing, but there for a show, and they delivered. BST have managed to make queues at bars a lot shorter -- I remember those being horrendous in the old Hard Rock Calling days. Toilets have moved too far, but the queues were short so I'm guessing it's because the area is larger than in the past. Anyway, not a rant, hardly a bad thing to say.

Oh, and 5% off everything for paying with an Amex, and free Amex thermos bottles.