* * * * * While flying my rump off in the 707 – humping the desert – aviating to all manner of Middle Eastern and African shitholes – another birthday slipped past me. On 16th October, 1981, I turned 39. Saudi Desert: photo taken from the 707. It’s funny how “old age” creeps up on one. How does that happen, dear reader? In addition, while scanning the earth’s surface as I flew the 707, I was learning that the majority of the population, in the Middle East and North Africa, lived in squalid tents, shacks or mud huts. No roads, schools, hospitals, malls, theaters, discos or TV – encompassed by endless, trackless, vacant desert - quite a surprising culture shock for the “California boy.” ...