One hump or Two?

Before I tell you about the special treat for Stanley in Dubai, let me tell you about the fun we got up to once Connection Point had finished and we went out into the desert.


For me personally it was hell, I hate theme parks (and no comments about the ride at Disney Land Paris for the Oracle Kick Off last year), so the idea of a dune safari was not high up the list, and it was the worst fair ground ride I have ever been on. I felt as green as Stanley is red although friends tell me I actually had no colour at all.

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Our driver Omar (who insists his surname is Sharif) was good enough to look after Stanley when I could not, and this 'who should wear Stanley' became quite contagious and next was a camel farmer and finally a camel got in on the act as well.


Several people tried sand boarding or sledging and this time Stanley was not the sledge! Here is James Hobbs of OAUG having a go.

Oh and remember the Oracle 'stretchy thing'? It makes a good headband to keep your shemag headdress on with in the desert. Although if you want to do it the correct way, I have a video with Oracle's Cliff Godwin with the simple guide. Oracle Sweden are sending me some more so if you can come up with a great idea let me know and I might give one away.

From Rags to Riches...

Stanley is a rag (but don’t tell him) and he has spent many an evening in the gutter but he recently went up in the world, well the 27th floor of the Burg Al Arab to be more precise.

He was sneaked into the Al Muntaha restaurant as he didn’t want to pay the AE500 ($145 or £100) for brunch, but as he promised to behave I promised I would consider taking him with us. ‘Us’ was a group of speakers from the OAUG Connection Point in Dubai. Normally Stanley is not about the finer things in life but I had to balance the fact that he had recently had a bath with his track record of getting into many food fights at this kind of get together, but after much persuasion from my fellow speakers and the important lack of his normal bad influences Dan Norris and Mogens I decided to relent and let Stanley join in.

Stanley did behave which is a good thing as all the other restaurant guests stared at Stanley as if he was something out of the normal. You would think he was the first vest to have brunch there. (I was not brave enough to take a photo but others did and it will be added soon).

The food was excellent with caviar, lobster, fois gras (ask Nadia just ‘HOW MUCH’ she ate) and every other kind of food imaginable, my favourite was the champagne jelly. Stanley did behave which is good as I had another even higher surprise for him later that day…..

Update on the 'stretchy stuff' and Summer with Stanley

Stanley is not here, he is (I hope) in the hold of a big tin bird ready for his trip to Dubai, for Connection Point 09.



But when I was getting his luggage ready earlier I found the wrapper from the stretchy fabric. Apparently although I am not sure you can read it in the picture, but this 'must have travel accessory' can be used for all these things and even as an emergency dog lead! according to one goggle search I tried. It is at this moment encasing Stanley to ensure he does not get wrinkled in transit (perhaps I should try that on me).

In his last post Stanley was thinking about his vacation time and I am pleased to announce it is sorted. After Collaborate Stanley is meeting up with the Norris Clan and spending a few days with Mickey, and then for a real treat is going diving in Iceland with Dan and Mogens. I am not sure I trust either of these two and I certainly don't trust Stanley, but all 3 know how handy I am with a steam roller if they mess up. We will then be reunited in Monteray and ODTUG.

Could Stanley soon be homeless?

Stanley likes to travel, and if he doesn't he gets restless and may one day wander off on his own. I have tried my best to keep him happy and have taken him to many places since I took temporary control at Christmas. Just to keep Stanley occupied I am even taking him on a world tour starting at Easter, Stanley will visit Japan including a visit to Oracle Japan, Australia for Insync09, New Zealand and finish up at Collaborate09. From then till ODTUG he has nothing planned and would like to spend that month with someone from the ACE community who has some fun plans for that time.

So if you are an ACE, attending both Collaborate and ODTUG and have something to offer Stanley, send me your plans and the best idea gets to keep Stanley for a month. Remember the object is not to spoil Stanley, but to ensure he gets what he deserves and yet survives for another day. Here you can see how he 'accidentally' got thrown out with the trash.

You also need to update his Blog so that all his friends and fans know what he has been upto. Photos are a must.

Is this the face of Stanley?

Have you ever been to a conference, been given a gift from a vendor and then discovererd you have no ideas what it is?


Well yesterday in Sweden Oracle gave me a small flat present wrapped in cellophane which I thought was going to be a scarf. But when it was opened it is a sleeve of a stretchy fabric advertising the company. At this stage I have no idea what it is for so I gave it to Stanley and he loved it, something he can wear to keep warm at night.

To say thankyou Stanley has decided to come out and show his face.

Stanley has been unwell

Stanley was unable to go to the Norwegian User Group last week because of logistics and has been sulking in his bag, but this week is the NAOUG or Nordic Apps User Conference and he has been very excited about that.

His last outing was Israel and he did seem to enjoy it in fact he put on a lot of weight always a sign of having a good time. When I got him home he also needed 'drying out' and I put him in the hot press or airing cupboard for a few days. To be honest I put him back in his bag after a few days because he whiffed a bit.

But when I took him out yesterday he was still damp so I was going to leave him behind but he pleaded and sulked ( a bit like a three year old) and I gave in. I put him in the tumble dryer to dry out but after 30 minutes there was the most awful smell in the kitchen, similar to my cooking attempts so I rushed in to find the tumble dryer was baking the sand left behind from Stanley as he dried out. Basically the Dead Sea mud.


So I know I promised the ACE community who insisted Stanley did not deserve another bath, but I had to put him in the washing machine. My tumble dryer had to be left to cool down and then hoovered out of the sand and Stanley smells a bit better, has lost the excess weight but is still very scarred from the steam roller incident and the ACE logo does look like it has been stone washed!

Lets hope he behaves in Sweden!

Highs and Lows for Stanley

Unless Dan Fink takes Stanley to his next trip to the Himalayas I suspect Breckenridge will be one of the highest places 9600 ft or 2900 metres, that was just two weeks ago and now Stanley has just spent the day at the lowest place on earth 422metres (1385 ft)below sea level at the Dead Sea in Israel

Stanley has had a hard life but the therapeutic benefits of the Dead Sea mud seem to help most people so I thought it only fitting that Stanley should not miss out!
Of course no visit to the Dead Sea would be complete without a float and Stanley is not one to let an opportunity go.