we arrived safely in dubai on sunday, april 16th, 2006 early in the morning after 2 weeks of holiday on a safariboat on the maldives - indeed our honeymoon.

since then, we were so productive, things went well and everything fits - so far. we are still staying in the le meridien mina seyahi (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/search/hotel_detail.html?propertyID=1895). it is a very nice and relaxing hotel but believe it or not, during the last 10 days, we have been to the beach only one afternoon and twice for 2 hours. we are not here for holiday ;-)

our villa in arabian ranches is waiting for us since march 25th, but as our container is still somewhere on the way to dubai, it is likely, that we will not move in before may 8th. we will see - each and single day earlier would be great!!!!!

we could write stories about the new daily life here, but we will start with this regularly once we are settled in our new home...

welcome to our world!!!

WHEN YOU CHECK OUT OF A HOTEL THAT USES THE CREDIT-CARD-TYPE ROOM KEY, THE CLERK OFTEN WILL ASK IF YOU HAVE YOUR KEY(S)TO TURN IN...
OR THERE IS A BOX OR SLOT ON THE RECEPTION COUNTER IN WHICH TO PUT THEM. THIS IS GOOD FOR THE HOTEL BECAUSE THEY SAVE MONEY BY RE-USING THOSE CARDS. BUT, IT'S NOT GOOD FOR YOU, AS REVEALED BELOW.

FROM THE CALIFORNIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION:

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LAW ENFORCEMENT PROFESSIONALS ASSIGNED TO DETECT NEW THREATS TO PERSONAL SECURITY ISSUES, DISCOVERED WHAT TYPE OF INFORMATION IS EMBEDDED IN THE CREDIT CARD TYPE HOTEL ROOM KEYS USED THROUGHOUT THE INDUSTRY.
ALTHOUGH ROOM KEYS DIFFER FROM HOTEL TO HOTEL,A KEY OBTAINED FROM A WELL KNOWN HOTEL CHAIN THAT WAS BEING USED FOR A REGIONAL IDENTITY THEFT PRESENTATION WAS FOUND TO CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

A.. CUSTOMERS (YOUR) NAME
B.. CUSTOMERS PARTIAL HOME ADDRESS
C.. HOTEL ROOM NUMBER
D.. CHECK IN AND CHECK OUT DATE
E.. CUSTOMER'S (YOUR) CREDIT CARD NUMBER AND EXPIRATION DATE!

WHEN YOU TURN THEM IN TO THE FRONT DESK YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IS THERE FOR ANY EMPLOYEE TO ACCESS BY SIMPLY SCANNING THE CARD IN THE HOTEL SCANNER. AN EMPLOYEE CAN TAKE A HAND FULL OF CARDS HOME AND USING A
SCANNING DEVICE, ACCESS THE INFORMATION ONTO A LAPTOP COMPUTER AND GO SHOPPING AT YOUR EXPENSE.

SIMPLY PUT, HOTELS DO NOT ERASE THE INFORMATION ON THESE CARDS UNTIL AN EMPLOYEE RE-ISSUES THE CARD TO THE NEXT HOTEL GUEST. AT THAT TIME, THE NEW GUEST'S INFORMATION IS ELECTRONICALLY "OVERWRITTEN" ON THE CARD AND THE PREVIOUS GUEST'S INFORMATION IS ERASED IN THE OVERWRITING PROCESS.
BUT UNTIL THE CARD IS REWRITTEN FOR THE NEXT GUEST, IT USUALLY IS KEPT IN A DRAWER AT THE FRONT DESK WITH YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!

THE BOTTOM LINE I:
KEEP THE CARDS, TAKE THEM HOME WITH YOU.
NEVER LEAVE THEM BEHIND IN THE ROOM OR ROOM WASTEBASKET, AND NEVER TURN THEM IN TO THE FRONT DESK WHEN YOU CHECK OUT OF A ROOM.
THEY WILL NOT CHARGE YOU FOR THE CARD (IT'S ILLEGAL) AND YOU'LL BE SURE YOU ARE NOT LEAVING A LOT OF VALUABLE PERSONAL
INFORMATION ON IT THAT COULD BE EASILY LIFTED OFF WITH ANY SIMPLE SCANNING DEVICE CARD READER.
FOR THE SAME REASON, IF YOU ARRIVE AT THE AIRPORT AND DISCOVER YOU STILL HAVE THE CARD KEY IN YOUR POCKET, DO NOT TOSS IT IN AN AIRPORT TRASH BASKET. TAKE IT HOME AND DESTROY IT BY CUTTING IT UP, ESPECIALLY THROUGH THE ELECTRONIC INFORMATION STRIP!
INFORMATION COURTESY OF: PASADENA POLICE DEPARTMENT - SEND TO ANYONE YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP!

... in two days, we are just arriving on the airport in zurich, waiting for our flight out of switzerland.

so far, everything is okay as it can be. loads of work and our nerves are quite stressed - but we are nearly done and that's great :-)
the movers are doing a great job, but still we have to have an eye on everything besides doing all the administrational stuff, we have to deal with in the last moment...

but we are a good team and so much looking forward to our new home. our greatest wish at the moment is time... might sound strange, but we put so much action in the last month, that we are aiming for a rest.

for the next two weeks we will be off the net cruising through the maldives with an old wooden maldive boat and scubadiving all day long ;-) from April 16th we are back on land - in dubai. it will be our one way ticket into holiday!