I just returned from a week in Dubai. Well, actually in Ajman, where my girlfriend, Patricia, has taken a year-long consulting position. On my second day, she took me to the local liquor shack behind a construction project and down a winding gravel road. From a side door in the cinderblock compound, we found every conceivable intoxicating beverage stacked neatly on metal shelves. Within minutes, we made off with some beer and wine in a paper sack! No photos allowed.