It's the little things

You know, sometimes you have one of those days. You sleep too late (my fault), you smell like cigarette smoke (mostly my fault), your hotel plans for a weekend in Dubai fall through (how could a luxury hotel be booked solid in the middle of the summer!).

But then you realize that Etihad Airways is offering direct flights between Abu Dhabi and Chicago starting on Sept. 1. And as a veteran of a 25-hour flight over here, that's one hell of a ray of sunshine.

Now I just need to figure out how to entertain guests in a city as boring as Dubai....