Everybody who knows about my Dubai move always reminds me of the construction workers. The government here is surprisingly efficient at responding to complaints, and has set up an anonymous hotline to report any cases of abuse. Most of the horror stories come from the early days of Dubai (back when 25% of the world's cranes were here) and, currently, Qatar, future host of the Soccer World Cup.

Here's a picture of the kind of accommodations used by construction workers. They feature big rooms (4-8 people, much like a hostel), and the $200-per-month rent includes 2 meals and transportation to the worksite via shuttle.



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Gas is less than $0.45 per liter, or less than $1.80 a gallon. The most popular vehicle is the Toyota Landcruiser, bar none. I haven't seen too many old Mercedes, other than some punctual W116, W124 or W126.

Supercars... well, you have all the exotics you could ever want.

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[GONE] - 1995 Mercedes E300 Diesel - 130k miles - Smoke Silver (702) over Mushroom leather (265) - Bladder blasting, coast-to-coast work machine.

Only two meals a month? The bastards!

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Well... just as fast as I was hired, I find myself looking for work again. Our company has been having some mismanagement and financial issues as of late, yet the reason I was fired was for sending an email directly to a customer as an apology for my film team's delay. I have been rather vocal on obtaining things like a written contract or a company charter as a guarantee of rights, as well as changing our company's stolen logo, but my employer has declined any of my suggestions and has been becoming increasingly resentful.

I am starting to run out of ideas. I have moved my life to the Middle East and now I find myself having to start from scratch again. I am sure I'll make it, but should any of you have any leads to a new job, please advise. This is getting really tiring...

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[GONE] - 1995 Mercedes E300 Diesel - 130k miles - Smoke Silver (702) over Mushroom leather (265) - Bladder blasting, coast-to-coast work machine.

Oh dear - best of luck Miguel

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I had the chance to meet HoustonM3 last Friday... we'll meet again and make sure to post pics. He recently got a W124 E500 I'm dying to see.

That should pretty much set the record for the furthest Peachparts GTG in record!

In other news, job search continues...

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[GONE] - 1995 Mercedes E300 Diesel - 130k miles - Smoke Silver (702) over Mushroom leather (265) - Bladder blasting, coast-to-coast work machine.

NEWS! Finally signed the contract to be the marketing guy at a car museum in Al Ain, in Abu Dhabi. Will be flying in September.

Company cars:

—2 450SEL 6.9's.
—1 280SE 4.5
—1 E500 (W124)
—1 450SL
—1 560SEL Limo

...amongst others.

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[GONE] - 1995 Mercedes E300 Diesel - 130k miles - Smoke Silver (702) over Mushroom leather (265) - Bladder blasting, coast-to-coast work machine.

Congrats!!! Sounds like a dream job.


Sent from an abacus

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Congrats! Time to start learning Gulf Arabic. Lotsa " min fadliks" there.

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

Hope the Middle East is kinder to you this time... good luck and congratulations!

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

It IS a dream job, other than if I could just get paid to drive around the world. One can go by sections, too!

Mabrook! I look forward to meeting many of the locals... few places are as crazed about cars as the Middle East...

Yeah, this time I negotiated each point of the contract and agreed to keep my passport with me at all times. I met my future boss in my last UAE stay, back then the museum was a jaima (tent), now it's a two-story concrete building! He has big plans for a dealership and parts retail business... so in the meanwhile, I will be building the museum up. One of the things I missed greatly was organizing meetups and other events... can't wait for my first GTG with the Abu Dhabi Police and the local classic car club!

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[GONE] - 1995 Mercedes E300 Diesel - 130k miles - Smoke Silver (702) over Mushroom leather (265) - Bladder blasting, coast-to-coast work machine.