Weird places to check EVC from

I'm in Dubai!Work's got me out here to attend the Arab Health Conference.Just got to the hotel and am setting up the internet connection. Of course this is one of my go to sites.No time to debate. Just thought I'd pop in and say hi.

Well, I actually found one!We wanted to go to the top of the Burj Khalifa but didn't know anything about it (other than it was possible).So I was just gonna walk in the front door like I owned the place. (I usually just do what I want until someone tells me not to)Anyways, I was snapping pics left and right and as we approached the entrance a guard came up and informed me that I was not allowed to take pictures. You can see him in the bottom left: He came up and asked what we wanted and told us that we were not allowed to be there. We said that we wanted to go inside. And he was all: "Inside where?" And I say: "Uh, inside that building right there. We want to go to the top."He kinda rolled his eyes in disbelief and said that we cannot go inside because we were not staying there (gee, how could he tell )And then he explained that we'd have to go to The Dubai Mall next door and purchase a ticket to ride to the top. It was sold out. (we made it up there today, that pic is from a couple days ago)I replied that I was just an ignorant American and he nodded as if to say 'yeah, I know'. Then he told us to beat it and ran us off.So yeah, I think that counts as a No Go Zone... The Muslims here are really kind. You know that sort of annoying overly-nice evangelical Christian thing? Like they're trying too hard... its kinda like that. Obviously, not everyone is like that, but if they're not then they just ignore you - so in general it seems true.Almost everyone you run into is a foreigner (read: expat). And since we're all so alien to each other, everyone is cautiously over-polite. Its really crowded and we're all bumping into each other and stepping on each other's feet, and both people react very kindly and apologetically. You just don't know what the other person might do, so you error on the side of caution.There is one group that I'd call assholes - they are really dark-brown Indian-looking (dot not feather) folks who smell bad. They push their way through crowds and are just plain rude and don't get in line and don't follow the rules - like not waiting for the cross walk to change like the rest of us are. Or trying to push their way to the front of a line that everyone else is just politely getting into the back of. I think they might be Pakistanis, but I don't know. It seems to just be a cultural thing though - rather than them all just being jerks. But I could be wrong.Dubai is a great place to visit. I've had exactly zero problems (well, the internet is pretty slow but, you know: first world problems ) All signs are in both Arabic and English, and all the service workers speak English, or can immediately bring a co-worker who does it better if there's any miscommunication.Plus, my money has been going a long way Street-side shawarma was 4 Durhams (they say "der-roms"), which is like $1 - for a whole chicken burrito, as I would call it. A 500 ml bottle of water is just 2 Durhams. I think a 16 oz (473 ml) bottle of water at the gas station by my house is $1.50 - so its way cheaper here. Of course you can find places that will charge you more for stuff if you want to.If y'all want to hear more about it, I've uploaded a bunch of pics and could share them along with stories in a new thread. Let me know.Bonus shot: See that line coming off the tip that is being made across the sky? You could totally see it with the naked eye. Anyone want to try to explain the physics behind that phenomenon? You can't cast a shadow on the sky... Or is it just a Cornsweet illusion?Alrighty, I'm like 10 hours ahead and its time for bed here.Edited by Cat Sci, : foreigner = expat

You'd think, right? Obviously its a light-thing, and has something to do with shadowing, but here it is from anther angle: Wouldn't you think that if it was simply just a shadow that it would be a different shape than just a stripe?Its seemed to me that something else was going on there. But maybe not.You could even see it from the observation deck at the top: And upon a second look at that pic, maybe it is just a shadow.I suppose it looks like just a stripe because its mostly from just the spire up there.In that pic, I think I can see a wider portion around the strip that is the next lower part of the building, and that I just couldn't see that part from down on the ground.Either way, it was a weird experience.There may be something to say there about when you know you're seeing something for real but it doesn't look like it should be real and then you start questioning whether its really your eyes picking it up or just your brain being tricked by an illusion.I'm still not convinced that it doesn't involve the Cornsweet Illusion.Geez, I dunno. Now that I'm reviewing the post before submission, all I can see is just a stripe again in that bottom pic.Maybe it has something to do with blocking the wind and there being more or less dust in that part of the sky?Bonus shots:Here's the view of the fountains from the top: And here's how crowded the Arab Health Conference was:

Ha! No, I hate cRap.I wasn't even aware of that concert.But I did catch wind of his fake-money poser pic: Psh.

Hi everybody,I'm posting from home, and that's a weird place for me.I got a new job and won't be dicking around on the internet at work anymore.So I won't be posting here nearly as much as I used to.I'm not going full blown inactive, but they'll be rare.

I'm back at home again and I saw the email notification that I got for your reply.(new members should consider the fact that I can set it so that I get an email when you actually hit the reply button on a message of mine, and you should realize that it's different than using the General Reply button in ways that help us all as users)So yeah, I can only get on "the internet" at work now through my phone, so I've seen some of the nonsense that's been going on around here, but I'm not going to reply via touchscreen.I'd love to participate more, but they're paying me way too much to give a shit about this stuff. And at home I have better things to do, no offense.