I just had the incredible oppoutunity of taking several high ranking police officers to Afghanistan for a tour of what we do in the country. I have a pile of great photo's that I want to post but I am having problems with our Embassy internet connection...these three photo's took me an hour to post!So...as with any good story, I have to start at the beginning. I flew to Dubai to meet D/Comm Paulson (my boss), Commissioner Lewis from the Ontario Provincial Police, Chief Blair from the Toronto Police Service, D/Chief Whiteway from Durhma Regional Police and Commander Fournier from Montreal. I arrived in Dubai a day before them so I could meet with our RCMP Liaison Officer (LO) to ensure the appropriate VISA's, security, etc. were all in place for their entry into Afghanistan.
The two pictures above were taken from my room in Dubai. The weather was outstanding and the service at the hotel was second to none. The first night in my room, I ordered a pizza and beer for supper. I was in heaven...sitting on my balcony in the warm air enjoying a great meal.
The third picture is how we started our Chiefs of Police (CoP) visit. The LO picked me up in the morning at the hotel in a brand new Range Rover. We were running a little late to get to the airport to pickup the CoP as they arrived from Toronto. The LO was backing up in front of the hotel in the parking lot and I was screaming at him to stop...he didn't. He backed up into a Lamborghini resulting in a scratch and dent in the hood. The parking attendants lost their minds and began wailing because the car belonged to an "Indian Princess". People were running everywhere, waving their arms in the air. The police were called and an investigation commenced. After about 30 minutes, the Indian Princess came out of the hotel....and she was in fact an Indian Princess. She was drapped in gold and jewels, approx 25 years old and talking on her cell phone. She looked at the damage and told the person on the other end of the phone that she would now get the "blue one" as the orange one was now damaged.
The poor LO was beside himself. He ended up getting a ticket and we are still waiting to find out how much it is going to cost to repair the hood. He kept looking at me and couldn't believe I was laughing over the whole thing...I told him not to worry. I said "if your going to back into a car, might as well make it a Lamborghini!".
We were late at the airport, but it didn't matter becasue the flights were delayed and two of the CoP's luggage was lost......
Chapter 2 on the next post.
Which hotel? Did you go skiing? How can you go to Dubai and not stop by the ski hill.....
ReplyDeleteThat's a great story, Dave!
ReplyDeleteI marvel at what Dubai looks like today...it was just a small fishing village when I was there in'69 for a year in nearby Sharjah. There were a couple of glitzy hotels for the "foreigners", but not much else. The Sook (market) is still there, I believe.
Can't wait for chapter two........Forget you were in that area Patrick........I was born in India, does that make me a princess.....then maybe I am glad I am not, would have missed out on life to say the least.....Glad you were able to get comfort food, nothing like it......waiting for the next installment............
ReplyDeleteNicely done Dave
ReplyDeleteJust a short check, as I typed for 10 minutes and it bombed out on me.
Might be the censors
Darren
Looks like we are working again.
ReplyDeleteI began my initial entry with a confession. In a moment of great weakness and desperation, I spent my own money on buying a Michael Jackson disc.
Yes. I know. I can sense the disappointment. My old school would great such news with "physical adjustments" from the other students.
I was that sick of listening to KISS that I was willing to try anything. So now Thriller and Beat It are mixed in with KISS.
I need to buy myself a stereo system to drown their music out. My last stereo did not outlast the dreaded twin combination running around as 2 or 3 year old.
You know things are not great when you turn to the motor vehicle to listen to your music at a decent volume.
I have to dash as a client just pulled up out the front.
Looking forward to the next post.
Daz who should be working
Looking at the middle picture again, and enlarged it, I thought the green squares were umbrellas, now I see they are trees, Amazing pruning........Looking forward to the green here, has been a long winter all over.....Canada that is.........
ReplyDelete