{mis}Adventure #18 - Life in Dubai: The "Thunderstorm" Button and Second Floor Floods

[The below events occurred somewhere around the last week of November 2012]

In my blog post about (not so) universal appliance symbols, I might have mentioned something about a thunderstorm button on my microwave and I kind of just left it at that.  In this blog post I'll elaborate a bit more...

For your reference, this is the famed thunderstorm button:

How do I know this is the thunderstorm button?  Well, how else would you explain the uncharacteristic rains that ensues shortly after pressing the button with no reaction from the microwave?  Friends were over and we must've pushed the button several times in attempts to maker the doggone thing work...no luck.  Then the following day:  rain...downpours and cars fording highway lane rivers.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Shortly after creating this weather phenom, I received a frantic call from my employees about an office flood.  Wait, what?!  You see, this was perplexing because our offices are on the second story above a significantly large / tall warehouse.  Which, in my mind, equated to flooding in epic Noah's Ark proportions to have reached second story offices.  Oh, my!

I later learned that it wasn't a gargantuan flood afterall.  Instead, we were merely dealing with the construction approaches taken for buildings in a place that doesn't normally have deal with rain (read: the roof leaked and ceiling tiles collapsed letting 24+ hours of rain).  

We could've lost a lot of our paper documentation that day.  We'd been in the midst of a debate about digital storage space to for our electronic records and other discussions about the cost-benefit of plastic binders vs. paper folders.   Interestingly enough -- plastic binders saved the day and we quickly saw the merit in timely digital backups! 

All I could think of as it rained and these events unfolds was the chorus to the Albert Hammond song "It Never Rains in Southern California"...naturally replacing Southern California with the desert of Dubai.

*Seems it never rains in [the desert of Dubai]

Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before

It never rains in Dubai, but girl, don't they warn ya

It pours, man, it pours*

{CLOUD}: Although we'd like to think it *never* rains...

SILVER LINING: ...we often find that it *never* hurts little extra coverage -- you know: umbrella, plastic folders, digital back-ups, an ark -- just-in-case!

PS: To answer Mr. Hammond's query. No. They did not warn me that it pours...

{mis}Adventure #14 – Life in Dubai: (Not So) Universal Appliance Symbols

So, a few weeks ago I wanted to defrost some meat that I’d put into the freezer.  No big deal, I’d been using microwave regularly at that point.  A simple twist of the dial to the desired time and all was good in my kitchen.

I must admit I’d never paid much attention to the presets on my microwave during my daily microwave dialings.  So when I approached the microwave ready to hit the defrost button I was stopped dead in my tracks.  Truly bewildered by the image symbols that some international developer thought were clearly "universal".  I present to you my interpretation of the microwave settings on my friendly neighborhood microwave:

• Chef Button: Push this button to instantly become a gourmet chef
• Pot of Auto Fluff : Push this button to auto fluff – no wait, that would be a dryer…maybe this is a baking button?
• Crying Asterisk (Auto variant): Hmmm...this may be the defrost button. 
• Crying Asterisk (lightning bolt variant):  Wait, is this the thunderstorm button?! 
• Pot of Auto Steam:  I knew conventional ovens had a self-clean, now I have a microwave that does it, too...sweet!
• Clock: Timer?
• Notebook paper: Clearly, this is a poorly drawn bacon button – but I know my bacon, and this HAS to be the 'baconator' setting (you know?  push button receive bacon?  see the similarities?!)

• Smiley Face w/ Baseball Cap:  *sigh* shake head and walk away and give up, you can't pay me to push that button…Dubai Strikes again

Don't understand what I mean just from the word descriptions?  
Can't believe that these are real "universal" microwave buttons?  
Then I present to you my Dubai microwave:

{CLOUD}: It can be frustrating living somewhere new and different...

SILVER LINING:...but the hilarity that emerges from the situation will make the memories of your time there that much more enjoyable.  And hey, at least you have a microwave.  (And bacon, don't forget the bacon)