Fish, football and getting fired...

...taken in reverse order.

No, I have not been fired. Just couldn't think of another word beginning with 'F' (well, apart from that one) to mean being potentially redundant.

Which is what has happened in our office this week. It started like this, but the small print (so small it hasn't been announced as I understand) reads that our Middle Eastern offices also have to lose some lawyers. Possible alternatives include client secondments, periods of extended unpaid leave, pay cuts or part time hours. All of which would have sounded great a few years back - a chance to do that year long travelling adventure that it has been my biggest regret in life never having done when I had the chance, post-University - but circumstances are such that now the threat of redundancy comes at the worst possible time personally, professionally, and financially. [Insert the afore-mentioned 'F' word here]

All of the 14 non-Partner lawyers in our office are potentially under threat. I have reasons for believing (genuinely not deriving from misplaced delusions of grandeur) that I am safer than some. But nothing is for certain. And when I look at how Michele and I were doing so well out here, only to have now reached a point where the possibility of redundancy has come about when what money we had made we have locked into a house that is now worth less than we paid for it, it is depressingly unsettling.

It just feels that there is a certain inevitability to the way bad things come in 3s. Or 4s. Or many. All at the same time. And always at the wrong time.

Rather like the fact that my football team (if that is still an appropriate description given their current position in the Championship) went into administration this week. It has happened before to Wimbledon. And also almost to Leeds. But I genuinely feel that with Southampton, the end is nigh.

Whilst I don't understand how other teams that are consistently in debt seem able to continue operating whilst remaining in debt, my little south coast team seems to carry with it a suicidal desire to fail lately. Beaten at home this weekend by the only team worse than it in the league, and never having mustered a challenge for promotion back to the Premiership since it was relegated from there, it is not going to need to be docked 10 points for going into administration in order to guarantee being relegated even further - it should be able to achieve that all by itself.

On a lighter note, we bought Jack a new fish this weekend to replace dearly departed Bob. Actually, we bought two fish - a sucker fish that cleans the tank for us, which he has called Barney (because he likes to "Clean Up, Clean Up" - Barney fans will understand the reference), and also a second gold- (well, more like pastey white) fish, which Jack has called BJ (Barney's friend).

So far, after two days, both are still alive. A little bit of good news in an otherwise gloomy world....

Cold(and wet)play

It has been unusually wet in the UAE for the last few days. Which, for a country where rain is practically unheard of for most of the year (average annual rainfall is 6.5cm), is quite an event.

I went to see Coldplay in concert at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night. It was awesome, but for the rain. Security protocol dictated that anything that could be thrown around (such as plastic water bottles and umbrellas) were being confiscated on the way in, which meant that when the rain came we had nothing to either shield ourselves with, or collect it in.

But the lightning storm that accompanied the rain couldn't have been stage managed better as the perfect backdrop to the show. Take a look at this clip, which was the start of the show. Watch the sky behind the stage at around the 1:17, 1:30 and particularly 2:09 points. Quite spectacular.

I wasn't sure about the latest Coldplay album when I bought it last year, but this concert has now won me over. Have had it on constant loop in my car ever since. Some people (Michele being a prime example) often accuse Coldplay of being a depressing band, which is arguably true if you are only really familiar with Trouble (which is probably the only Coldplay song my parents are familiar with!). But they didn't play that song in Abu Dhabi, and in any event I think they are too often criticised due to the speed with which they became extremely popular. And also Chris Martin's occasional "holier than thou" grandstanding on issues like climate change and global poverty.

But they are currently touring the world twice over it seems during the remainder of this year. Some of which concerts may even be inside, away from the rain. So go see - you will enjoy (even without the lightning).

What to make of Jade Goody

I'm really struggling to decide what my opinion is about Jade Goody, who died yesterday. Predictably the media coverage of her death has been extensive, almost to (if not beyond) the point of excess. But I cannot help but wonder whether, despite the fact that it was a Sunday when news is probably quieter than in mid-week, it warranted 'Top Story' status on both Sky News and the BBC website for most of the day.

Undeniably it is a tragedy for a young mother to die so young and with two young children. But all the coverage seems to be reporting what she "did" to help raise awareness of cervical cancer. To me, there is a difference between actually doing something and simply making people aware by living out the reality in public. Jade Goody did the latter. Is it correct to say that she "did so much good for the cause"? Or was it more that she was extremely unlucky to be inflicted with cancer yet by remaining in the spotlight of the reality television cameras in a manner not seen before she served to effectively shock the general female public into the action of getting checked themselves?

It was obviously Jade's decision to live out her final few days in the public eye, and maybe this is what is being regarded as her contribution to raising public awareness. But here's the reason why, for me, the jury is still out on what to make of all this - because it is unclear what the motives were of those who have been watching? Are those who bought Hello magazine, or the daily tabloids, or watched her wedding on TV as a means of feeding their hunger for the latest updates on her condition, to be considered generous contributors to Jade's chosen form of fund raising (for what good would her desire to maximise the publicity coverage of her condition in order to raise money for her sons' future have been if there were nobody interested in biting the hand that feeds them)?

Or rather are they to be considered the very worst form of reality TV addicts, blinded to their underlying mawkish desire to witness one woman's sad and impending death played out like a 24/7 TV show?

I once read Ben Elton's book "Dead Famous", which was published somewhere around the time that the 2nd or 3rd series of Big Brother was being televised in the UK. The fictional story was set in a Big Brother type house, where one of the housemates was murdered mid series. What followed was played out on TV as the show was allowed to continue, much to the glee of the producers behind the scenes. It was a good book as I recall, but whilst entertaining on one level, it was clearly also designed to raise clear questions on another level about the depths to which reality TV might sink. If the people who were laying flowers outside Jade Goody's house yesterday, many of whom were residents of her village but did not know her other than through seeing her on television, had read that book, I very much doubt that they would have spotted the second level.

A sad day, and A Good Year

Yesterday, Bob (one of Jack's two goldfish - named Bob and Wendy after Bob the Builder and Wendy, his.. er.... friend I guess) died. Bob (the fish) had been ill for some time.

Jack was pretty upset, and I won't be ashamed to admit that the sight of a little 4 year old boy having to grapple, for the first time, with death was starting to choke me up after a while too:

Jack: But I didn't want Bob to die.

Daddy: I know Jack, but sometimes when fishes [I wasn't yet ready to say the word "people"] get very sick, it just happens. He's happy now because he's [Daddy looks up] in Fishy Heaven. [By "Fishy Heaven", I was intending to allude to a heaven for fishes, and not a particular seafood restaurant that may happen to go by the same name.]

Jack: [Looking upwards] But where is fishy heaven? I can't see him.

Daddy: Well, you can't see it, it's a long way away.

Jack: But there can't be any water in fishy heaven because otherwise it would fall down from the sky? How will Bob swim?

Daddy [having to think quickly on his feet]: Erm, well, there will be water Jack, because... erm... Fishy Heaven is a magical place. And Bob can see you.

Jack: But how can he see me if I can't see him?

And so it went on...

We seemed to have got past it by mid-afternoon, but by bedtime we were upset again. I'm sure the pain will ease over the coming days.

Jack's too.

Incidentally, some recent pictures of the kids can be found here. And for the avoidance of doubt, Jack is wearing his beloved Buzz Lightyear outfit in the last one. In case you were wondering.

Anyway, on an entirely unrelated point, Michele and I watched A Good Year in the evening (very light, slightly rom-com film with Russell Crowe as a British (albeit with questionable accent) investment banker type who gets left a villa in Provence by his uncle, and then becomes converted by French Provencal life). All very light and fluffy. Not the best film in the world perhaps, but very good for a Sunday night.

Still bored, what to do...

The absence of anything particularly interesting to do at work gives lawyers plenty of opportunity to record time (not chargeable to clients you understand, but we still have to fill our timesheets with something that sounds productive) doing legal "research".

Which doesn't exactly explain how I came across this article, but what the hell... it appealed to my puerile sense of humour today.

Back to doing proper research tomorrow. Maybe.

Creeping boredom

Life is slow at present. Hence how I find myself blogging in the middle of the working day.

The credit crunch has hit Dubai, contrary to what the local media would have you believe. As a real estate lawyer in Dubai, what little work I have at present (none today) now involves pulling deals apart rather than putting them together. Many of the outlandish projects that had been launched or announced a few months back have been quietly shelved/scrapped. Don't be fooled by Piers Morgan's recent ITV show, which in my view was more a reflection (in its optimism) of how Dubai was 3 or so years ago.

Problem for me is - I'm trapped at present. We have a house which has sunk in value despite not yet having finished being built (now delayed until September) which we would be foolish to sell. We have extortionate rent to pay on our current property. And now is arguably not the time to be looking for work elsewhere, despite a growing concern that the lack of work in our office cannot sustain the number of lawyers currently sitting around twiddling thumbs / blogging forever. What to do...

However, on a happier note (if that is the right word) we had 17 marauding 3 and 4 year olds rampaging through our house last Friday for Jack's 4th birthday party. A 3 hour party that took a further 3 hours to clean up from. Fortunately, the weather being as reliable as it is, we could throw them out in the garden for most of the afternoon. I hope Jack enjoyed it - the photos would seems to suggest he did.

Will try to be happier in my next post.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

...should be taken more as an instruction to all than as a song lyric.

Obviously there is no snow in Dubai today (or, to be honest, ever). And the pictures of the heaviest snowfall in Southern England for 18 years are making me very envious of those at home. But I expect that there are the usual army of snow-haters who are, like the joy-killing grit lorries, out in force decrying the snow as bad for British business.

Oh, get over yourselves! Snow is, let's face it, great fun. You don't need to be a kid to have a great snowball fight. And since it happens so infrequently nowadays, why can't the whole country be declared (on last minute notice) a national holiday? Believe me, it would happen here (as it did when George Bush came to town and the whole road network throughout the city was closed for a day without notice!).

Surely if everyone were to stay at home rather than feel compelled to try to get to work (or, unforgiveably, WANT to get to work), it would save on road accidents, on most businesses having their staff trickle slowly in throughout the morning, and on the incessant rage when those same commuters all have to try to leave to get home at the same time only to find cancelled trains leave them stranded at work miles away from their children who are desperate for Daddy to get home to have that snowball fight....

Were it not for the guilt that one feels about having to show that some effort was made to get to work, everyone would surely feel much happier if all meetings, client appointments and the good of the national economy were all put on hold in the name of one day's impromptu fun?

I'm sure somebody somewhere will today be quoting the precise cost to the national economy of people staying at home on holiday for 1 day (and doing so, strangely, without either offering or being asked to provide an explanation for how or where such figures are corroborated). But what of it? I for one never believe such figures as anything other than a doom-mongering irrelevancy. If the national economy takes a hit, well... it is what it is. The economy can and should be able, like all things in life, to enjoy a little downtime now and then.

Besides, being outside in the fresh air and the snow has to be better for the collective national health (the cold temperature notwithstanding, but put extra thick gloves on) so there is an obvious beneficial trade off.

In short, I miss snow. And will happily blizzard on the parade of anyone who complains about it.