I'd like to say I'm not a slave to technology, that I don't check my e-mail - both work and personal - with obsessive frequency, and that my phone has not become a permanent fixture about my person.
Alas, this is not the case.
I am unable to go more than half an hour during the day without taking a quick peek at my phone, even though I am well aware it has not buzzed for my attention, and unable to stay away from my inbox even though I know I sent the e-mail that I am impatiently waiting a reply to less than two minutes ago. I have always feared what would become of me if either of these things were out of my reach, which is what, inevitably, came to pass last week.
Arriving at work on Wednesday morning without a care in the world, I sat down at my desk, paper in one hand, coffee in the other, and went to pull out my phone - which was not there. My heart jumping a bit I told myself to calm down. Slurp of coffee. It was all going to be OK. Bigger slurp. Unless, I thought, as a feeling of nausea overcame me, I had left it in the bus on my journey from Dubai. Cue one over-ambitious final slurp and the coughing that swiftly followed.
After calling my phone repeatedly while racking my brain, I eventually located it, in a cafe, in Dubai, after several frantic hours. Blood pressure back to normal, I resolved to pick it up the very next day. Now, as vital as I have always believed my phone to be to my overall wellbeing, I am also, it has to be said, perpetually lazy. When push came to shove, did I really need my phone so much that I would spend three hours waiting for a bus, being on a bus, and then getting a cab all the way back to the cafe which the bus would have driven right by half an hour before, just to pick it up?
No, I thought. I could survive a few days. It would be hard, my conscience warned me sternly, but it was a burden I had decided I was willing to live with. And although there were some tough times, like missing out on key social engagements at my local karaoke place, and getting shouted at by my mother for "not calling back and making her very worried", overall, it was surprisingly nice to be rid of it for a while.
Of course, I say all this now as I gaze at my phone, tied tightly to my handbag with a piece of industrial-strength rope. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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SPECS
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The chef's advice
Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.
“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”
Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.
The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.
The%20specs
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Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
Company%20Profile
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5