One year on: Brian W Scott.
19 July 1932 to 30 March 2006

30 March 2007

It does not seem a year ago; but Dad died a year ago today.

He really was a decent man; wonderfully loyal, honest, sensible, hard working. He gave his best for his family. He loved us; though he never told us. He never judged us; he was proud of our successes and tolerant of our mistakes.  He had a great sense of fairness, of right and wrong. And a nice dry humour.

He bore his illness with great courage and dignity and even a little humour.

When things are difficult my mother asks herself "What would Brian have done?" So do I. He still appears in my dreams sometimes. He would never have questioned my move to Dubai or the reasons for it. He would have given his usual strong quiet support and always his interest.

If I have any regret it is that Tai only met him on the one occasion. I wish they had enjoyed getting to know eachother. They would have enjoyed eachother's company. My father would have wanted to take her for long walks to appreciate the English countryside, its wildlife and the changes of scenery. He would have been explaining the joys of Belleek and Masons' Ironstone to her. And then there would have been the tour of the local village hall to appreciate his fund-raising work !

My mother meanwhile has great support and friends in the village. After living with someone that you love for 50 years I can only imagine how different life must suddenly be on your own. But she has managed with great strength and will continue to do so for a long time to come.

I hope he is still watching proudly over us. 

A short update - with more pictures to come after we get back to Dubai.

 

Tai and I are in Thailand for the wekend. In fact we have about 75 hours here from arriving at the hotel on Thursday night to leaving for the airport at midnight on Sunday.

 

Of that time I get about half of it with Tai, although we are sleeping for half the time we are together :) if that makes sense. On Friday she flew an evening turnaround to Hong Kong and she has been away with her family for Saturady afternoon and Sunday morning.

 

The flight over was a very light passenger load - only 73 passengers in Economy - it will be much busier on the way home.

 

As the only Thai crew on board Tai gets to make all the Thai language announcements and does so with great clarity and confidence. She is good at what she does and gets on well withe her colleagues; the warmth of her smile is genuine and she is very relaxed with her passengers. I enjoyed being on her flight; although it did feel a little strange. I feel guilty watching her work while I sit there.......

 

Should I mention who won our two games of Reversi.....

 

It is good to be back in Bangkok - there is life, energy and colour here that Dubai wil never have. There is so much more to see and do. So many more places to eat. So much variety.  Just walking the streets is fun - and the street vendors and marke traders are part of the local scene that Dubai can never have.

 

 

 

 

A new week in Dubai - actually although it is Monday it is almost midweek in Dubai!

 

I interviewed on Saturday and early today. Saturday was really enjoyable but I have no idea what to make of this morning's meeting. Probably should not really say any more than that for the moment and see what happens next. Is it a job that I want to do? Is it an industry that I would enjoy? I know I can make any job interesting and find challenges in anything that I do....but.....

 

Tai came back from Bangkok with a dreadful bout of flu. All the worst symtoms of a high temperature, chills. body ache, sore throat, blocked sinuses. I have not seen her that unwell. And she has slept more than she has been awake since first thing Saturday morning.

 

I am glad she is recovering; I want the old Tai back. She is like me; she hates being sick.....fortunately she is not flying until Thursday and that is a short turnaround.

 

Meanwhile it is almost a week since I last went out other than to the supermarket or for an interview. I am beginning to get cabin fever :) - when Tai came back from Perth we had a couple of nice sunny, happy lunches out in Jumeirah. That was before she went away to Bangkok last week.

 

 

 

 

 

Time flies - except on weekends when Tai is away. Another month gone; not sure that I made a lot of progress last month with the job hunt; but I did get back to BKK for over a week with Tai and that felt like being home; it is good to know that there is a place that will always be home for us.

 

Tai is on her way to Perth. It is a tough flight; eleven hours; some sleep; a little sight seeing; a few hours rest and then a long haul with a full load back to Dubai. But it is almost a quarter of the month's flying hours in a two night away trip. Sadly she only has only a couple of days of rest before heading of to Bangkok and Hong Kong.

 

I can tell you that there is little to do in Dubai of you are not mobile; know no one here and have seen everything in the city already !

 

Still it has been a good day to work on the personal finances and to clear up some old long outstanding paperwork ! So I feel like I was quite useful today.

 

A wise person said to me this morning that the best is still to come......I need to prove her right!