ARGH!

(10/6/25)

It is the start of a long weekend on the occasion of Eid Al Adha, the feast of sacrifice. For a few decades, the UAE has declared the day before it (Arafat Day), a public holiday. I don't have my passport with me, so we couldn't have flown (or even driven) out for a short break.

The morning was leisurely, which was good, as we are both tired. I booked to watch a movie in Dubai Mall (Richard the Stork 2). Neither of us had heard of it, but there is very limited choice in the cinema at the moment. The movie was in the kid's cinema, which today was packed, despite the unknown and not very interesting movie. It was mostly parents just needing to take their kids to something.

We were driving out of the car park when I heard noises from the front of the car as if something was falling. The car was still running, so I continued to make my way out of the car park. Then I felt the a/c go. I was wearing my hoodie,  so I had to find a place to stop and get it off. Then, the temperature gauge went over to the far right. OMG. By this time, I was on the main road, so I had to find the nearest safe place to pull over.

As it happens, there is a car park opposite the Mall, which I've seen through the hedge as I've driven past. Today, I discovered how well-established it is. There were at least five food trucks, preparing meals for Deliveroo etc and also serving food to the limo drivers who wait there.

My priority was to find out what was wrong with the car. It looks like a belt has come loose, so I called for a tow truck. He came sooner than expected and was really pleased that we were in a safe place with plenty of room to manoeuvre. Also, the car was drivable. It was a piece of cake for him to get the car on the truck.

We got a ride to the Peugeot garage and then a taxi home from there. Everything is closed now until Monday, so if we want to do anything, we need to either borrow or hire a car. I was thrilled to find that rates are low at the moment, probably because it is summer and there are far fewer people travelling here. My friend Rita was more than happy for us to borrow one of her cars. :))