Get your kicks on Route 66

No matter where you go, there you are. -- Deep huh? Yeah, deep like Jack Handy.

Speaking of Deep Thoughts...I had a funny realization driving to work today. I was driving on Route 66...OMG! I know that "technically" the Route 66 highway used to run across the US, going from Chicago to LA, but there I was...and I have pictures, so you can't argue.

Like I've said before, driving a car here in Dubai is a mixture between Formula 1 racing and Bumper Cars. Signals are considered a sign of weakness and people driving the speed limit are newbies. This is problematic because our hamster powered Mazda rental car comes with a "feature" to let us know we are exceeding the 120 km (80 mph) speed limit - it's a little alarm that sounds a lot like that heart monitor sound you always hear on TV shows.

Beep.beep.beep.beep.beep.beep.beep.beep.beep.beep.beep.beep.beep.beep.beep.beep.

In the spirit of "making our own fun," my coworkers and I have invented a game. It is now our sole mission in life to see how long we can make the car/heart monitor go off on our 30 minute ride to work...or anywhere really. The current record holder is the Italian Stallion with 12 minutes and when the beeping finally stopped, it felt like we might all be having a collective heart attack.

"We've lost the pulse, prep the paddles...CLEAR!"

So there it is folks, in the land of turn left to go right, no maps, parking by braille, and driving the "Dubai Way" -- you bet we've all been getting our kicks on Route 66!