Scratchie's World

Playing Around with the New Blogger Features

2007-01-25T07:40:00.000-05:00

Although I no longer post here I really don't want to lose the account and besides I find it interesting how changes and development in one market player influences changes in the others. So many of the features that have been added here mirror those available on other hosts. Good things because I believe the consumer should have choices (even if the service is free). I'll keep watching to see what happens next.

Hibernation

2006-09-06T12:06:00.000-05:00

Well this blog officially goes into hibernation today. I have decided that I will start posting at my new abode which is linked here: http://scratchiesworld.wordpress.com Please change your links or you can simply come here and click the one above and it will take you there. I may return here in the future since I had no real problems here. But I do like some of the features of my new blog and the transfer was painless. Keep visiting.

Crocodile Hunter

2006-09-04T06:20:00.000-05:00

This blog pays tribute to Steve Irwin who is better known to us as the Crocodile Hunter. If you ask most Jamaicans who he was they probably would not be able to tell you but mention the crocodile hunter and it would be as if an epiphany had ocurred.

Mr. Hunter was killed while filming a programming near the Barrier Reefs. He was stung by a stingray. He is survived by his wife and two young children.

I recall about two years ago when a crocodile was seen living in the drains near my home. The men went to remove it. when they had caught it the man who was interviewed by the media said that he was not afraid because he knew what to do. When asked how and if he had done this before, the man responded by saying that he had not but "mi watch Crocodile Hunter on TV so mi know what fi do"...(translation: he had watched the programme "Crocodile Hunter on television so he was quite aware of what to do).

I don't think the programme producers nor Mr. Irwin realises the number of lives he impacted even in Jamaica.

Rest in Peace Mr. Irwin and we will remember "Crocs Rule!!!" (If only in your heart since this blogger will not try to prove or disprove your theories. )

Just Another Post

2006-08-30T18:59:00.000-05:00

Well people Monday started my final year at school. I have officially only three semesters to go before I graduate and put another chapter of life behind me. My course load this semester is pretty good. I will only have one final exam as all the other courses are graded on projects and in class presentations. It willbe an intense semester but I will manage as always. Wifey is elated as all her students that sat CXC were successful in the Language exam and only three failed at Literature. This is her 1st year teaching CXC level and it has proven to her that she is among the best out there. The return to my old desk is as frustrating as I expected but my focus is on August 2007. I have decided that on completion of my studies I am going to look outside for opportunities. Don't worry no rash moves just need a change. I think my present employer puts too uch emphasis on paper qualifications and ignores the qualities of the incumbent. That cannot be the way to go. I fact it goes against my very course of study which emphasizes the best candidate. The result of their choice of hiring has resulted in many frustrated employees who stay for relatively short stints. Well Ernesto decided to run away and hide in the US. After being on direct course for Jamaica that sent many people scrambling for emergency supplies, Ernesto turned and tackled Cuba instead. Can't say that I'm complaining too much. My fight with my ISP continues. I made some headway last week but I am still unhappy with the volume of dropped signals when I am on a DSL connection which is to be always on. As usual the C&W people obviously have not a clue about how to fix the problem. I have little or no faith in their expertise. Well excitement loomed as night before last a group of gunmen stole a motor vehicle in Mona and went on a robbery spree. They went to Harbour View and held up a fast food business. They then drove into downtown and were accoste dby police on patrol. A gun battle ensued and the gunmen were shot and killed. Frankly speaking I have no sympathy for them. As a matter of fact I wish more crimes would end this way since it is the only way we seem to be able to cure the island of this problem. I say well done without apology. Anyways, I was just doing a short post but guess my mouth has the runs. Take care all.

Morning Laugh

2006-08-24T08:48:00.000-05:00

I was feeling kinda out of it this morning and I tell you honestly, if it wasn't for commitment and lack of leave I would have stayed home today. Well on the way to work I was listening to FAME FM and the two morning host were up to their usual very entertaining chatter and then decided to play a song. It is a spoof of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" entitled "My Cubicle" I never stop laughing for quite a while. How many of you 9 to 5' ers can relate to this song? Go have a listen and brighten your day a little by clicking the link I made. Have great day all.

I Don't Understand Lawmakers

2006-08-21T10:24:00.000-05:00

Strange people these lawmakers. There is an article on the front page of our local newspaper that indicates that a Jamaican-born Islamic cleric who was linked to the July 7, 2005 bombings of London's transportation system is slated to be deported to the island in a matter of weeks. Now you tell me... the man commits a crime in England where he resides. gets involved in terrorism there and you do what....send him to Jamaica where he has done nothing and is essentially a free man to do whatever he feels like. That has been the history of the stance taken on deporting persons. My take is that if the man do something in your country then deal with him there. This stupid policy in my opinion, especially when you are dealing with terrorism make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Maybe my take on the issue is simplistic. Maybe I am totally misinformed but what I see happening to deportees is based on the final statement of the media article " the security forces will determine how he will be treated", my guess is he will simply be released to do whatever he feels like doing. Read the article here. Remember you have double duty...check here and comment at Scratchie at Wordpress.

Maybe...?????

2006-08-20T14:12:00.000-05:00

Well maybe I'll switch, maybe I won't. I have been toying with Wordpress for a few days now. I have been trading my links and stuff to see if I can get a feel for something new. One good thing so far is that I had a time out from my connection and didn't lose my post. The back button was pressed and walla there was my post. Navigating around is a little harder than blogger. It has it's features. Main drawback is that blogger allows you to play around with your templates if you are so inclined. Wordpress does not allow this. What you see is what you gotta take. Fine by me since I wasn't fassing wid that html stuff anyway. Hardest part to date was the one by one transfer of my links but some work had to go on.

Maybe what I will do is post the next few posts on both sites and ask you guys to play the site reviewers role. So go check out my maybe to be new home and tell me what you think. Scratchie at Wordpress

Happy Birthday

2006-08-17T11:58:00.000-05:00

Well today is a Caribbean Blogger's birthday. In fine Scratchie style....I refuse to tell you who it is. So here is the game....guess whose birthday it is and go wish them Happy Birthday. Well since I know whose Birthday it is...Happy Birthday to you from Scratchie!!!! :D (Ain't I just idle)

Updating you All

2006-08-15T13:37:00.000-05:00

Well many things have come and gone since I last posted. I decided to grace here with my presence before I get struck off some people's reading list. :D Well the Caribbean travelling blogger is back home and I gather that her trip was good. School is officially on holidays for me. I will be off for a whopping 9 days. :( Not much of a break is it? On a better note the exams came and the exams went. I think I managed to get by in both so I can rest easy until the next salvo of schoolwork hits in my direction.

During the 1st week in August my graduating class from high school had a week of activities to mark the 25th anniversary of our graduation. Damn, I'm old!!!! Grandpa is officially in the house. No none of my children have had any kids so I am only being figurative here. Although it is quite possible. The Tall One is actually 18 and is starting his college programme in the same year that I am finishing mine so we will see each other at school for this year. The reunion went well and unlike what you would expect it was about meeting old friends rather than "where we are in life". Why am I not surprized since this group of guys have always been different. We even have a mailing group so we are in touch quite a bit. The activities went well and the activities were well planned. Thought is for the next one to be in Florida. We'll see...

Well I see that one of my old blog reads is back. Welcome back Melody. Don't know if she will stick around but I do hope so. Her posts have always been exciting to read and so much of her goes into them. I guess only time will tell. In the mean time I will continue to stop by.

I haven't been doing much reading myself...not to mention posting but I have 9 days to catch up. I will most certainly do so.

Well I checked my laptop in light of Dell's recall of some 36 series of batteries. Mine is thankfully not among them. Not that I wouldn't want a new battery, but at least mine shouldn't do any crazy stuff on me. BTW have you noticed that I haven't mention anything else about my computer build? It is still in the making. I have most of the parts but just have not gotten the case as yet. I was actually awaiting a used machine to do some scavenging of keyboard, monitor and case but I am still waiting. My source is tied up and so I will wait some more especially since the quoted price is next to nothing so wait I shall.

What are my plans for my short break?....the bed sounds exciting at this point.

We'll see though. Right now though I need to go do some work so till later....

Addendum: I did some long outstanding linking of some blogs. If I've still missed out people please don't get upset, just drop a line saying..."Hey what about me?" and I'll do the necessary.

Weekend

2006-08-04T14:33:00.000-05:00

Well the week has come to an end and I am actually looking forward to the rest that Saturday and Sunday and Monday will bring. This week is a fantastic week here in Jamaica since we celebrate Emancipation Day on the 1st of August and our Independence Day is on 6th but since it is a Sunday we get the Monday off. Thiss week has been not bad. I am actually spending some time with the guys from school for our 25th year reunion. On Tuesday I decided to take on young boy sports in old age body. Football!!!! Nearly passed out after an hour of play.

Well a little bad news. Condolences to my friend T who lost her grandmother this week. I spend a good while with her last night and she is really taking it hard so keep her in mind. She is a victim of the Caribbean phenomenon of being raised by her grandmother after her mother's death at about age 5. She has therefore lost the only mother she has known. Remember her for what she means to you T and try not to focus on the pain of her not being there. Another friend M lost her father this week as well. She is on the mend but I figure that she will have a harder time at the funeral. So I have 2 funerals scheduled for next week.

On another note, I got some grades and I am happy. I will be going into my Global Marketing exam with an excellent grade. As a matter of fact if I fail this course you have all permission to call me an idiot. I also handed in two other projects this week which I am awaiting results for. I am officially worried about only one course this semester but hey I am hoping for the best.

Got the car fixed. do it yourself work. Thought I would have to give the mechanic but it turned out to be the end result of water getting into a bearing and rusting it. New bearing and $700 or just about US$11 later I am again running smoothly.

I have again been reassigned to my old job. My acting appointment stint has officially ended so I am back to the old boring job I was doing last year at this time. I actually am missing the acting job but .......

Other than that things are reasonably good.

Bloggers Link and other stuff

2006-07-28T13:44:00.000-05:00

Well, we had our little link up on Wednesday night and a good time was had by all I would think. We missed a few of those especially the ladies but it went well none the less. My main objective was to meet Kami with whom I have been chatting with online for quite a while. No disappointment there. She is indeed a very beautiful person. Her personality is contagious. Her aunt who accompanied her is quite interesting and I am happy to have met them in person FINALLY. Gela is certainly a fun person. Full of life and a personality that draws you to her. Francis is a character of laughter. I won't try to call all the names lest I forget someone but save to say they were a great group of Caribbean people. Talk and laughter ranged from travelling, to blogging to you name it we talked about it. The venue was nice but a little taxing on the pockets but we'll live. I can safely say that KFC it is not. Well you know how my blog goes at this time of the year....school takes over my life and until exams are over you don't see me. That cycle continues I'm sorry to say. This summer we are cramming 14 weeks worth of work into 10 weeks. And cramming in this case is an understatement. I had 2 presentations this week and after many sleepless nights (and I am being very literal here) they were both made last night. I think they went well but only the lecturers will know for certain. I can safely say "relief". I haven't done as well as I would have liked this summer. I was ill for quite a bit of the time and I know that the poor old body is saying, quite emphatically I might add, that I need to slow down a bit. I actually was on sick leave for a while so my grades suffered. I haven't failed anything but I certainly won't be the head of the class in these courses. I did receive good grades in the latter part of the courses but I don't know if it will be enough for my covetted "A's". Can't make blood out of stone can we.... I am to be reassigned next week so I am not sure where I will be or if I will have access but all in due course. Well the old car is acting up again. Nothing serious but I long for the day when i can get a new one. That seems to just get further and further away. My son starts college in August and fees have to be paid so no resources for any new car now. The plan was to get one after I finish in 2007 but that may have to wait a little longer. Oh well. Whatever will be will be. Cable and Wireless is trying my last nerve. I think I may have to finally get rid of them and resort to using only their home service (and I am considering getting rid of that too in favour of cell phones. It makes no sense having the phones and service if you can't access them. All I get when I call the office is a 15 minute hold some elevator music and promises to address the matter which usually amount to naught. Tired of the crap!! I think they may be over-extending themselves in the shadow of the fear of Flow. Whatever they are doing is only serving to term people off. Short term lock in to a contract with poor service = long term lost customers. Learn from your cellular experience C&W. Other than that I am getting ready for my semester finals which will run from next week till 14 August so if you don't see me you know why.

In closing, this blogger says thank you and pays credit to a fantastic Jamaican who lived her life for the things she thought were important to us as a people...Jamaican, Trinidadian, Bajan, Vincentian, Caribbean people all. Miss Lou, walk good and Rest in Peace. Clap har!!!!!!!!! Have a great weekend all.

Idle Chatter

2006-07-13T08:39:00.000-05:00

I saw someone's MSN name this week and it said that in a few years Italy's win at the recently concluded World Cup will be forgotten but Zidane's head butting will be remembered forever. I won't pass any judgement on the man since I don't know what would drive his actions in this direction. I have not walked in his moccasin, as my old English teacher would have said. The NBC news this morning showed the many games and video clips that have been made surrounding this incident. It make you wonder how so many people have so much idle time on their hands. Then again I called this an idle chatter post so I guess I am a part of that group too....

Suffering in Silence

2006-07-05T09:05:00.000-05:00

I can't help but feel distressed every morning when I pass the American Embassy here in Kingston. Jamaican's have a saying that "If yuh want good yuh nose haffi run" roughly translated that if you want something in life you must be prepared to work/undergo stress for it. The Embassy is located on a major thoroughfare and each morning those persons who have "appointments" are made to stand outside on the sidewalk until they are allowed inside. I find this a most demeaning and inhumane way of dealing with people, especially in their own country, all for the sake of an opportunity to live, visit or work somewhere else where things may seem better. I just see it as torture. I have no problem with operating a system but you would think that somewhere as advanced as the US Embassy could come up with a better way of dealing with applicants. I have not addressed the issue of the roaring business opportunities that have been created surrounding the rules that one must abide with when visiting the Embassy. There are cellphone holders and baggage handlers and.......... I know there isn't any immediate solution that can be put in place but really now.......this has been going on for decades and it really not good for us as a modern society.

A Bit of Lite Humour

2006-07-03T13:18:00.000-05:00

My Dad Is A Father A little boy got on the bus, sat next to a man reading a book, and noticed he had his collar on backwards. The little boy asked why he wore his collar that way. The man, who was a priest, said, " I am a Father." The little boy replied, "My Daddy doesn't wear his collar like that." The priest looked up from his book and answered, "I am the Father of many." The boy said, "My Dad has 4 boys, 4 girls and two grandchildren and he doesn't wear his collar that way." The priest, getting impatient, said, "I am the Father of hundreds" and went back to reading his book. The little boy sat quietly thinking for a while, then leaned over and said, "Maybe you should wear your pants backwards instead of your collar."

The Dilemma of Nationality

2006-06-22T07:42:00.000-05:00

Twice this week I have heard statements, though quite innocent, are loaded with racist slur or maybe I should say nationalistic slant. One was "Despite the love-hate relationship between our countries I still bringing Trinidad because they are Caribbean." This was said when discussions were going on prior to the recent Trinidadian World Cup match. Sadly Trinidad was defeated. Well done guys. I think you are winners whether you have won a trophy or not. You have again shown the world that Trinidad and the Caribbean are World Class and not Third World. The other was a discussion about two educators one obviously not liking the other. The reason...one was from Guyana and the other from Trinidad. I find it so interesting that we despise the US and UK for racism exhibited in these countries and right here in our region we have the same thing going on. Some may argue that it not as overt and that is a different thing etc. In my mind I am unable to distinguish between the two.

Why is there a love hate relationship between the Jamaicans and Trinidadians? Why do Guyanese and Trinidadians dislike each other? Yes I am generalizing a bit but I do so against the background that these discussions are on the road. Jamaicans have a saying "If a nuh so, a near so it go". Translation: What is said and heard about a situation is not usually far from the truth.

I find it interesting against the background of the Carib bloggers. Can you imagine me disliking SmallIslandGirl simply because I know she is from T&T and vice-versa. I've never met the lady. From her writings she seems to be a pretty decent and interesting person. On what basis could I dislike her? Let us move therefore to a national level...Jamaica has a population of 2.5 million. Trinidad has a population of about 1.1 million. Most Jamaicans have never been in contact with a Trinidadian and vice versa. So what propels us to this negative view of persons simply because of nationality?

I can say quite confidently that I have had a cultural enlightenment by my treks around the Carib blogs. I have read about food and drinks that are still a vague concept but one day I hope to sample simply because I have had this limited interaction with other persons from our region. Maybe we need to educate our countrymen some more...

Remember that what we see of each other does not represent the whole. We may dislike things about the persons we meet but that does not provide just cause for us to dislike their nations people.

Later all.

Just a Pop In

2006-06-20T08:12:00.000-05:00

Just a "Howdy" to the blog world. You know my story by now so I won't bore you with the details. I'll just sum it all up in one word....SCHOOL. 14 weeks of work is done during the summer in just 10 weeks so yuh know seh crammin haffi gwaan. The assignment schedules don't change so we are still required to submit the same volume of work. Not nice. On a better note it seems as if the research proposal that we had done last semester was better than we expected and so we should have no problems in the actual research. On an even better note I am officially starting my countdown (humour me..it keeps me sane), we have only 3 semesters remaining till the end of my programme. OK...so it is a whole year but it sound shorter when we say it in semesters.

Rest assured I still read a bit but it has become very sporadic. So you'll see a comment here and there but until otherwise advised, I am very much alive.

2006-06-09T14:54:00.000-05:00

There's nothing worse than a Doctor's Receptionist who insists you tell her what is wrong with you in a room full of other patients. I know most of us have experienced this, and I love the way this old guy handled it. An 86-year-old man walked into a crowded Doctor's Waiting Room. As he approached the desk, the Receptionist said, "Yes sir, what are you seeing the Doctor for today?" "There's something wrong with my dick," he replied. The Receptionist became irritated and said, "You shouldn't come into a crowded Doctor's Room and say things like that." "Why not? You asked me what was wrong and I told you," he said. The Receptionist replied, "You've obviously caused some embarrassment in this room full of people. You should have said there is something wrong with your ear or something and then discussed the problem further with the Doctor in private." The man replied, "You shouldn't ask people things in a room full of others, if the answer could embarrass anyone." The man walked out, waited several minutes and then re-entered. The Receptionist smiled smugly and asked, "Yes?" "There's something wrong with my ear," he stated. The Receptionist nodded approvingly and smiled, knowing he had taken her advice. "And what is wrong with your ear, Sir?" I can't piss out of it," the man replied. The Waiting Room erupted in laughter. That's it for a Friday post guys. Enjoy the weekend.

A Gay Batwoman?!!?!!!!!!?.....Alrighty Then :-S

2006-06-01T07:48:00.000-05:00

Quite interesting. I think even our comic book super heroes or heroines or somewhere in-between have jumped on the "I am gay and loving it" bandwagon. This actually made NBC news this morning. that Batwoman is to be re-introduced into the DC comic lineup as a lesbian crime fighter. I guess they need a counterpart so I figure that catwoman will soon come out of the closet as well......

What has our world come? Really now.....leave the comics out of the sexual revolution nuh.........

Frankly, I find this ridiculous :(

(oh before I forget the photo is from the BBC web site see the story here or the other stories here or maybe here)

Monday Humour

2006-05-29T14:15:00.000-05:00

Three bulls heard via the grapevine that the rancher was going to bring yet another bull onto the ranch, and the prospect raised a discussion among them. First Bull: "Boys, we all know I've been here 5 years. Once we settled our differences, we agreed on which 100 of the cows would be mine. Now, I don't know where this newcomer is going to get HIS cows, But I aint' givin' him any of mine." Second Bull: "That pretty much says it for me, too. I've been here 3 years and have earned my right to the 50 cows we've agreed are mine. I'll fight 'im till I run him off or kill 'im, but I'M KEEPIN' ALL MY COWS." Third Bull: "I've only been here a year, and so far you guys have only let me have 10 cows to "take care of." I may not be as big as you fellows (yet) but I am young and virile, So I simply MUST keep all MY cows." They had just finished their big talk when an eighteen-wheeler pulls up in the middle of the pasture with only ONE ANIMAL IN IT: the biggest Son- of-Another-Bull these guys had ever seen! At 4700 pounds, each step he took toward the ground strained the steel ramp to the breaking point. First Bull: "Ahem ... You know, it's actually been some time since I really felt I was doing all my cows justice, anyway. I think I can spare a few for our new friend." Second Bull: "I'll have plenty of cows to take care of if I just stay on the opposite end of the pasture from HIM. I'm certainly not looking for an argument." They look over at their young friend, the 3rd bull, and find him pawing the dirt, shaking his horns, and snorting. First Bull: "Son, let me give you some advice real quick. Let him have some of your cows and live to tell about it." Third Bull: "Sh*t, he can have ALL my cows. I'm just making sure he knows I'm A bull!!

Bikers get Targetted

2006-05-25T08:40:00.000-05:00

No the image above was not taken by me. I borrowed it off the net so credits to the photographer (who I have no idea who it is). No I do not own one of these things, nor do I hope to. I kinda have this thing called a brain and I add two thoughts to it...All the heroes here in Jamaica have one thing in common, they all died years ago. I do not wish to join them. The other is that " there is a very thin line between bravery and foolhardiness". See me in my prime of life tearing around the place and doing 0 - 60 in 3 seconds....rooooight!!!!!!!

Seems the police here have been doing some homework. Apparently in order for you to have one of these machines with cc ratings above 600 you need special permission which is rarely granted I understand. (Don't quote me on that one.) But there are quite a few of these with 1000 and 1200 cc engines parading around the island and are the mode of transport of choice for some of the nations undesireable. We tend to find ways to beat the systems here so of course importation rules are no exception. According to last night's news report the bikes are sent in barrels in pieces and then reassembled when they get to their destination. Papers are then "worked up" for them.

Well the police have started a clamp down on the activity since the bikes are more powerful and easier to deal with traffic than anything the police can throw at them and have featured in several crimes from hold ups to murders. Last nights newscast showed a seizure of some 60 bikes. Well I will not be a naysayer. I hope the initiative works. We have reached a point here where anything to have one less crime is a good thing.

Anywayz, I was just writing a thing....we'll chat some more later.

Trip/Movies...Idle Chat

2006-05-21T19:42:00.000-05:00

The rains finally gave a little break on Saturday. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the rain and Lord knows we needed it, but it was getting just a little inconvenient and choked up in the house. Well I finally decided that visitors to my homeland aren't going to experience more than I have so on Saturday we decided t o take a trip out to Lime Cay. My very first time out there. It was nice. Can't say I will do this every wekk but it wasn't bad. I hate boats and there is a 10 minute boat ride to get to the cay. Out there is pretty much sea, sand and women. There were the abundance of thongs and near naked but no nudes this trip. Some members of my group took pictures but I don't know what's on the lineup so I can't promise pictures until I see what is there. I have to consider privacy issues. So I will see what if anything is blog-worthy. The scenary was good and so was the company...19 of us took the trekk. I'm sure there will be a next time...just when is the question. Two friends and I went to see the Da Vinci Code last night. Pretty good entertainment. For those who want to get deep into religion arguments it does put a spin on the organized religion. For those who are grounded it's basically just another movie. I had a great time and it was with good company. Two of the young ladies from my study/work group at school decided that it was time to socialize as a group instead of just dealing with schoolwork so we grabbed the opportunity to just hang out as friends, no study no projects, no presentations...NO SCHOOL!!!! Movie, drinks, idle chat and a ban on school talk made for a great evening.It seems such a pity that after 4 years in university we can say that we have sat down outside the school setting only once or twice. Well we vowed to change that last night. We have 1 more year together and we are going to try to mix it up a bit.

Yesterday was Labour Day here in Jam Rock and my labour was to change the brakes on the car. Easy task these days. Took me all of 1 hour and that's because I was being picky.

My compi build is again on hold. The donor machine from which I am supposed to get the case and monitor have not been delivered but hey not worrying my head about it.

Other than that nothing much going on. School started back on Monday with a bang. The teacher was a no show but she did send the notes and the course outline as well as the project so we know we are in for a hard ride if on the 1st class yuh giving out assignment already.

Otherwise life is good. I would be wicked if I complained.

Hope life is good with you all.

Utilities

2006-05-19T07:59:00.000-05:00

Well I have very little to say this morning. I am just going to chat a bit about the topic. Some years ago the move was made by the public utility companies to reduce the number of payment facilities and outsource this function to secondary agencies namely Bills Express and Paymaster. This was to have benefits all around...more efficient service for the customers and less overheads and headaches for the company......everybody happy. Wrong!!!! well the greedy collection companies have decided that they are now going to be charging the customers a transaction fee, so with an already inflated utility bill you are now forced to fork out even more money just to pay for the utility. I can see it now......lines returning to the utility offices because I think it is highway robbery to tag a cost to each transaction just to pay for something. It's like walking into a supermarket and paying for stuff at the cashier and then have to pay the cashier for cashing your goods. WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!!!! Well apparently is not me alone thinking this because the Office of Utiliies Regulation has taken issue with the matter following complaints from the public. I guess they will have to examine the situation and possibly force the utility companies to make the payment facility accesible to the public at convenient locations. At this point I can't tell you where a C&W office is located in downtown Kingston. I know NWC and JPS have offices at Church Street but them limited and far between............................... :(

We'll see what comes out of it.

Are they actually istening to the "will of the people"?

Anyway guys have a great weekend. We here are being swamped with some rain but it has certainly cooled down the place a whole lot. Travel time has been severely affected though. I floated through some water yesterday morning but made it to office. This morning was just light showers. My plants are certainly expressing sincere joy so I guess we have to suffer small inconveniences for the good that will come about.

Hit a Snag

2006-05-16T13:31:00.000-05:00

OK guys I hit a snag with my compi upgrade. I got the processor but I am now awaiting the case so that I can put the old compi parts in while I upgrade the new parts. The general idea is that I will have an up to date machine for my work stuff and the old one will be given to my son who seems to have a knack for downloading viruses to my machines. So he can do his music thing and have internet but will be isolated from my machine. In other words...if him want to screw up his hard drive then is him own business. My problem is that I have 2 motherboards...both for Intel 478 processors. The one I want to use refused to boot during testing. Somehow there is no power reaching the processor. The other runs fine but is a lot smaller and less upgradeable. Do any of you guys know somewhere where I can have the board checked? What I suspect is that the 12V outlet on the power supply not putting out enough juice to start it up but I can't be sure. Failing that I will just satisfice with the smaller board. So here goes....items procured: 1 processor(Intel...yuck....much prefer AMD but hey cheap has a way of motivating decisions), 2 memory sticks (512 DDR 333 each...so yeah...1gig of RAM), 2 Hard drives (only Maxtor for me), 1 Mother board (MSI unless I can get the AsRosk checked and working MSI is a better board anyway just kinda tiny), 1 power supply unit(....500W for P4 operations), 1 heatsink and fan (keeps the processor cool) 2 case fans (was contemplating 3 but overkill), 1 DVD/CD burner combo ( not planning on burning any DVDs so couldn't bother to spend the extra money), 1 floppy drive (old stock I had fling down some where). Left to get: 1 used ATX case 1 used 17" monitor internal cables and stuff to connect all the crap together Well it appears as though I will be way ahead of my July target and I am taking pictures so You will all see what I am up to in a little while. Until then take care.

Mother's Day

2006-05-15T07:44:00.000-05:00

Well yesterday was celebrated as Mother's Day. Let me add to the many well wishers (although I'm a little late) to say that we really do appreciate you all. I know that here in Jamaica there are many women playing the role of mother to children, some their own others not theirs...maybe a niece or sister or adopted. One way or the other if the cap fits wear it. I also know that there are fathers playing that vital dual role as well. Well I got a call from a friend on Friday to say that she was visiting from Florida for the weekend. She was attending a funeral for a family member. I was to meet with her yesterday but haven't been able to make contact. It has been years since I have seen her. She returns to the US today so I guess that meeting is shot to death. The compi is still a work in progress. I got some of the pictures but I will just do one post with the entire process. Saw an article in the papers yesterday advising that the new MOU is close to completion. I will await further news before I comment any further. Anyways I gone....later all.

Nothing at All

2006-05-11T22:00:00.000-05:00

Well things have been really quiet since I stopped classes. I've had my fill of black mangoes since the mango season started. They were actually falling off the trees and spoiling before they could be eatten. I actually gaveaway so many large bags that if I had half a mind to sell I would have been able to live comfortably for this last month. Oh well....definitely not a business minded man.

I mentioned that I was doing some work on my computer...(the desktop). The processor and heatsink came in at the post office today and are in excellent condition. I need one more part and then I can get on with the project at hand. I'm going to take some photos of the build up so you guys especially Dr. D. can see what is involved.

Well about a month ago wifey's phone died. I was trying to get her a good one but she refused so she now is using mine while I use the one I got for her. She says it is too complicated so she prefers the Samsung. In all of this I bought a used phone in excellent condition. I found out later that it belonged to a fellow blogger. He does not know that we actually had a brief unofficial bloggers link up :) I may have over done it a bit but the price was just about market rate and it is not often that one buys what one wants. In a way I am glad wifey did not want it because I am having a ball with it. It has a camera so I get to do my digital photos and the picture quality isn't too bad.

My son, The Tall One had an interview to go to UTECH in September. He is awaiting the final results on that. He has applied to do the land surveying and economies course. Keeping my fingers crossed for his sake.

The Shorter One is still awaiting the outcome of subject choices for 4th form. She wants to do subjects that will eventually take her to interior decorating.

No doctors or lawyers from this family :D I try to encourage them to do what they like so we'll see what happens.

Other than that..things are good..........

Free at Last!!!!!

2006-05-08T07:38:00.000-05:00

Well school is theoretically on break for the summer. Exams are finished and I should be a free man but noooooooo.............. :( We have one final semester paper due tomorrow and it still not finished so no sleep for the wicked tonight. well exams went well. I think I did enough to pass and have probably exceeded that statement but I prefer to remain conservative until I see the results. I need some leave but with the whole academia thing over my head I don't see how that will work. The political scene has been fun over the last few weeks. The Opposition was "invited" to make meaningful contribution to the country's budget. Is that an indication that the ruling party is seeking to have a collaberative leadership style...or have they just simply run out of ideas and need some help? Fun and joke aside....I personally think this is the way forward for our island and it should have been happening a long time ago. On the other hand...former PM Patterson has apparently taken up appointment with a company that has some affiliation to our divested JPS...(pwer company). The Opposition leader has called it inappropriate and frankly I can see what he is getting at. I don't think it is newsworthy enough to be front page but ....hey whatever floats their boat. Reality of it though is that as former PM he would have been involved in many transactions with many companies. if he were to refuse appointments with all of these then he would be certain to seal his own fate in bankruptcy. I hear that a new MOU is under discussion. Let me put it this way....Mi nuh waant it!!!!!! I think the previous one carried so much negative to it that the government should consider a name chage especially if they hope to garner any good from a new arrangement. The Joint Confederation of Trade Unions is having a warm time because several representative groups feel that they are assuming bargaining powers and are seeking to sign off on wage talks without consultation with their membership. The nurses have withdrawn from the group and teachers are pursuing their own path and I suspect that several other groups will follow suit. Interesting days ahead. Well on a personal note...I have again been reassigned to a new area. It is a really new ground so I'm learning again. anyways I gone again. We'll chat some more until the schoolwork takes me over again.

A Quick Hi

2006-04-25T19:01:00.000-05:00

Just a quick hail up before I head out to my study routine. Things have been really hectic. They are going pretty good though. Classes have finished and my exams will be over on the 5th of May. Otherwise it has been busy busy busy. I have changed desks again so I am now in the learning curve. I am doing a totally new desk. Have to change my professional gears again but will get use to it. Will fill you in on that later. The home compi is messing with me so I am looking about building a new one. Money is tight so I will probably not be able to do what I want but I will play with what I can afford. I have already bought the motherboard but it is a P4 so I will need to change power supply. The current one is a Duron so didn't need the extra pins. The processor is on the way from the US but I can't buy the memory just yet. The power supply will be the last thing to come but it is probably the cheapest of the parts. I am yet to get a quote on memory so we'll see. Hard drives DVD and CD burner will be what is in the machine now and the case will be the same. Treating this as an upgrade rather than a replacement. Don't have the time to devote to this right now so I have been doing this over the last month or so. One piece at a time. Will finish by July :) Anyways I hope you are all well. See you on 6th May.

Update

2006-04-08T21:23:00.000-05:00

Well yuh know yuh gone bad when yuh caan remember what de baxide yuh last posted on yuh own blog... :(.. Anyways this is just a hi and bye kinda post. Yeah i'm still alive but under extreme pressure from school. Things aren't going too badly but I cannot even find time to scratch muh head. Let's see now what has happened since I last wrote......Sister P is now PM and things go on as before. The trade unions are rejecting the governments wage offers left right and centre, Government must be crazy with the paultry sums they have been offering. Gov't workers were under a MOU for the past 2 years where no salary increases were granted or requested and now them coming with the same low wage offer crap ....think again. The fight is gonna be long and hard but it cannot be business as usual. I celebrated my 41st birthday on 6th of April......Happy Birthday to me...hehehehehe. I haven't been reading a lot of the blogs but you guys will have to see with me until mid May when I get back my life for 3 weeks or so. Until then...take care of you.........wooooosh!!!!!!!

Pure Idleness

2006-03-24T07:44:00.000-05:00

Well as you can well imagine, stress relief is the order of the day so here is another idle post sent to me which I will now share with you..... Bud and Jim were a couple of drinking buddies who worked as airplane mechanics in Atlanta. One day the airport was fogged in and they had nothing to do. Bud said, "Man, I wish we had something to drink!"Jim says, "Me too. I've heard you can drink jet fuel and get a buzz. You wanna try it?"So they poured themselves a couple of glasses of high-octane hooch and got completely smashed. The next morning Bud wakes up and is surprised at how good he feels. In fact he feels great, no hangover, no bad side effects. Nothing at all. Then the phone rings...it's Jim. Jim says, "Hey, how do you feel this morning?" Bud says, "I feel great. How about you?" Jim says, "I feel great, too. You don' t even get a hangover." Bud says, "No, that jet fuel is great stuff - no hangover, nothing. We ought to do this more often."" Yeah, well there's just one thing." "What's that?" "Have you farted yet?" "No......." "Well, don't, 'cause I'm in Phoenix."

Random Post

2006-03-22T13:49:00.000-05:00

I'm passing through again so I thought I would share this with you....... During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized. "Well," said the director, "We fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub." "Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup." "No" said the director, "A normal person would pull the plug ... Do you want a room with or without a view?" What would you have chosen?

Checkin' In

2006-03-17T07:18:00.000-05:00

Hey all, Just popping in to say hi and to see how things are going. The blogs are pretty quiet...I gues some are as exhausted and caught up in other stuff as I am. Well our new PM will take over on 30 March according to the newspaper. Kinda weird to be taking over the reigns on a Thursday but hey....whatever floats their boat. It would seem that there are many critics who feel that the current PM should demit office immediately for a number of reasons. To me, it's a neither here nor there issue. Reality is that there is going to need to be a transition period. Right now we are staring the new financial year and all it brings right in the face. Wish us well. Can't say much about what has been happening because basically it is all related to campus life. Well so far the assignments and tests have gone well. I did another test on Monday and I'm confident that I have passed that one. Wasn't so sure about the one before but the tutor surprised me with a B+ so I'm not complaining. I have not gotten the grade for the group presentation but we are pretty sure we passed that as well. Three projects to go before final exams in May. Then the new semester starts at the beginning of June. Yes, I go all year with about 3 weeks or so between each semester. Other than that ...... nothing much to report. I've seen this before but in the absence of anything better to share with you I will leave this here and just wish you guys a great weekend. The Guys' Rules At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down Finally, the guys' side of the story. (I must admit, it's pretty good.) We always hear "the rules" From the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules! Please note.. these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE! ___________________________________ 1. Men ARE not mind readers. 1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down. 1. Sunday sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be. 1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way. 1. Crying is blackmail. 1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it! 1. Yes and No are perfectly Acceptable answers to almost every question. 1. Come to us with a problem only If you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for. 1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor. 1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 Days. 1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't Expect us to act like soap opera guys. 1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us. 1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one . 1. You can either ask us to do something Or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself. 1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials. 1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we. 1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is. 1. If it itches, it will Be scratched. We do that. 1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle. 1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear. 1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear Is fine... Really. 1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball, the shotgun formation, or golf. 1. You have enough clothes. 1. You have too many shoes. 1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape! 1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; but did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping. Well I went blog visiting this morning. Stopped by all my links but didn't comment on all. Noticed that afew had disappeared...Small Island Girl and Bajan Queen were nowhere to be found :(.....so this is just a shout out to all those who I haven't gotten hold of....Take care.

Still Alive.............errrrrr Maybe

2006-03-07T13:45:00.000-05:00

Well I'm still alive I think. School has been taxing so I've not been looking at the blogs at all. I can only say I hope you guys are all fine and as soon as I get the chance I will pay some visits. How yuh mean yuh don't miss me?........gwey...unno clear off and move.... :) Since is so unno drop it, mi nuh miss chat to yuh neither..... Is love still.

Sister P is the New PNP Leader

2006-02-25T18:38:00.000-05:00

Well, the votes have been cast and counted. The results have been announced. The Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller was today elected as the next leader of the PNP. She is therefore put forward as the next Prime Minister of Jamaica, an office which she will assume in about 5 weeks when the current party president resigns both as leader of the party and as Prime Minister of Jamaica. I will not go into too much dissection of the results. I will state that the race was actually between Dr. Peter Phillips and Mrs. Simpson-Miller. Dr. Davies and Dr. Blythe only received 283 and 204 of the approximately 3800 respectively. Mrs. Simpson-Miller earned 1775 votes & Dr. Phillips' received 1538 votes. I will say that it is my opinion that Dr. Davies' own arrogance was his downfall as most persons expected a better showing of him. Congrats Sister P.

25 February 2006

2006-02-24T07:34:00.000-05:00

Yes I know I'm a little early and that today is the 24th but bear with me for just a few lines. Tomorrow will be a "fun" time on the roads of Kingston. Gibson Relays will be held at the National Stadium. These relays set the tone for the remainder of the track and field season in the island. It will be followed by Boys and Girls Champs and then select athletes will travel to the Penn Relays with a few smaller meets thrown in for good measure. I do hope that they have a succesful meet.

Tomorrow will also mark a very important day in the history of Jamaica. Tomorrow PNP delegates will go to the polls to elect a new leader of the PNP. Some 4000 persons are expected to cast their votes and decide the fate of the rest of us 2-6 million people or so. The election, as small as it will be, has disrupted so many activities that it's not funny. The elections will be held on the campus of Jamaica College however each delegate has a headquarter somewhere nearby. Now anybody who is aware of our political system knows that you don't want to be in any area nearby when those party supporters are around. They are usually a law unto themselves. So whereas I would normally have gone up to campus on a Saturday...I will opt to work from home this weekend since one of the delegates has been given permission to use a part of the school for their headquarters. From past experience, I going to stay far.

Later in the evening at the announcement ceremony the roads will again be blocked in the vicinity of the Party headquarters to allow for that meeting. It's a good thing that I don't think they have a lot of traffic going that way at 4:00 on a Saturday afternoon.

Well, tomorrow at 6:00 or thereabouts the nation will know who the delegates have chosen to be the new leader of the PNP and ultimately the Prime Minister of our island. I am not sure of how the entire process works whether it has to be ratified by Parliament or approved by some other body or..... Whatever the process, we await the outcome...............

Have a great weekend all.

2006-02-21T07:22:00.001-05:00

Leaving some lite humour with you today since I can't post. Mid-semesters have started so you all know the routine by now...... Grandma's birth control pills A doctor that had been seeing an 80-year-old woman for most of her life finally retired. At her next checkup, the new doctor told her to bring alist of all the medicines that had been prescribed for her. As the young doctor was looking through these, his eyes grew wide as he realized she had a prescription for birth control pills. "Mrs. Smith, do you realize these are BIRTH CONTROL pills?" "Yes, they help me sleep at night." "Mrs. Smith, I assure you there is absolutely NOTHING in these that could possibly help you sleep!" She reached out and patted the young Doctor's knee. "Yes, dear, I know that. But every morning, I grind one up and mix it in the glass of orange juice that my 16 year old granddaughter drinks..................................And believe me, it helps me sleep at night." and........................ A lady goes on vacation to Jamaica. Upon arriving, she meets a black man, and after a night of passionate love making she asks him, "What is your name?" "I can't tell you" the black man says. Every night they meet and every night she asks him again what his name is and he always responds the same, he can't tell her. On her last night there she asks again, "Can you please tell me your name?" I can't tell you my name because you will laugh at me." says the black man. "There is no reason for me to laugh at you," the lady says. "Fine, my name is Snow!" the black man replies. And the lady bursts into laughter. The black man gets mad and says, "I knew you would make fun of it". The lady replied, "I'm not making fun of your name. I'm thinking of my husband who won't believe me when I tell him that I had 10 inches of snow everyday in Jamaica!" Have a great week all.

Thursday Swings by Again

2006-02-16T07:40:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that a whole week has passed and I haven't so much as uttered a word about anything. School is again taking up more and more of my time. As I mentioned beforem, this year begins my research courses so most of my internet time is spent going through articles and topic related data. Last week we were treated to a library visit to familiarize us with the research resources available to us. up to now it has been mainly a google and internet thing. Now the journals and other like material are upon us. I can say without hesitation that I am happy that I actually made the investment in the laptop. Here is what I finally settled on. I was looking for something inexpensive, reliable and I guess basic but functional so the Dell Inspiron 1300 was my final answer. I put a little more into it than just the basics and with the shipping to my end of the globe I ended up spending about US$750.00 so I can't complain too much. I read the review by this gentleman that I linked and I can really say that he has in fact given a fair assessment of the machine since these were the things that I have seen with my machine. All things considered I'm happy with it. I'm not into the computer gaming so that part of it really doesn't affect me. Some of you discouraged me from going with some of my other options and I'm glad you did and I'm happy I followed your advice. The computer has in fact helped tremendously in completing some of our assignments and it has certainly saved us a lot of time in not having to meet, write out our discussions, type it out and then email it for further corrections. We meet and have everything done right there and the only thing left to do is print and submit. Anyways, I get too carried away sometimes. This was just to be a "Hi" and "I'm still alive" kinda post. So Hi and I'm still alive. We'll chat more later. Take care until........

Thursday already

2006-02-09T07:52:00.000-05:00

Well I can't really believe that it is already so close to the end of the week. Nothing too much going on here at home. Well not exactly true...they killed one of the area dons in Spanish Town yesterday and is pandamonium again after a relatively quiet period from the latter part of last year. Roads are blocked and the finger pointing going on as to who do it and whether or not police involved. Reality is we will probably never know. My first reaction is "who really cares anyway". These guys live by violence and will inevitably die by it. I reiterate that we need some strong action against these criminals because no matter how we nice it up and call them area dons or area leaders or community leaders the under tone is a lawless existence a.k.a. criminal. Well the PNP will have their conference at the end of this month. Venue was changed because they had tried to book the arena on the same weekend when a major sporting event was scheduled to take place. No can do!!! So they relocated and the event will go ahead so in about 2 weks or so we will know who our new Prime Minister will be. I was sitting the other day and wondering why the campaign for the party leadeship is so public. Why am I a citizen subject to the assault of adverts and meetings and general political noise when for this event I as an ordinary citizen cannot vote? Why can't I vote...well it's like this....only delegates within party circles participate in the voting for party leadership. So out of the 2.7 million or so Jamaican citizens only 4000 or there abouts will be able to participate in the voting process. Maybe I'm being a little picky but why subject me to the party hype when in actual fact it is of no real significance to me. Vote and then tell me who is the new leader when yuh finish. I will admit that I enjoy the back and forth discussion and who can't do what and who can't talk which way but after a while it gets a bit tiresome. Proposals have been made for debates and motorcades and so far I think the motorcade idea was scrapped by the party leadership (thank God) since those idiots become untouchable lawless morons when they get on the road together. They drive anyhow and anywhere they feel like and couldn't care less who gets knocked over in the process. I think some of the other candidates have been resisting the call for debates saying that it's not a national participatory event so why have a national debate. I agree with the point but I add that since it's not a national participatory event then why have national campaigns and advertising? I'm just being cynical, don't pay me too much mind. Anyway guys just my way of saying hail up and all the best until I chat again.

Cartoons

2006-02-06T07:18:00.000-05:00

Well I was home ill for a couple of days last week. Tis the season for every virus that pass my window for me to grab it. Actually I've been not too bad this past Christmas since every December April and October I have rounds of the flu or cold or some other ache and pain. So I actually made it through December without any problems. Maybe this is just to fulfill my quota. I have been watching in interest the Muslim community's outcry to the Danish cartoonist depiction of their founder. Not saying that some things are not sacred but burning and rioting and violence is taking it just a little too far. UI can honestly say that I cannot understand how a nation built on the principles of peace can be so irritable to the ponit where many persons even here in Jamaica see Muslims as fanatics and are seen as crazy through the eyes of many. Granted that this recent behaviour isn't helping any. It is kinda only strengthening the views. I won't post any links to the cartoons for fear of drawing the wrath of many on the blog of one. Seems that cartoonist in contraversial situationwas the order of the week because another cartoon appearing in a US newspaper Washington Post drew the wrath of citizens when it showed a veteran with no arms and legs and in bandages being told that his condition would be listed as battle hardened or something along those lines. I linked it from a website here. I guess they were insinuating that the real effects of the so-called war on terrorism was being understated. Just my interpretation. Other than that nothing too much going on. I rewired my car stereo system yesterday. Took me almost the whole afternoon. An amplifier that had served me for 10 years finally burned out. I replaced it but the new one required more power and different speakers so I just decided to do a wholesale rewire and use fresh stuff. It sounds good but now my wife is cussing because my son is trying to deafen her. Suffered a few cuts and bruises in the prcess but I'l live. Gone do some reading, so till later.........

Idle Chatter

2006-02-01T07:18:00.000-05:00

Well nothing much on the home front to chat about. Apparently the cowitch thing got a little out of hand on Monday because quite a few schools reported serious infiltration from the menance. At my wife's high school the nurse's station was beyond capacity before school started. At a co-worker's son's school they had an overwhelming number of cases and almost the "entire" school going to the nurse. The story actually made the news on Tuesday. Well for the past few weeks I have been toying with the idea of giving up the blogging. It's easy to say but I guess hard to do. Right now I am so caught up in the whole school thing that I really am finding it hard to keep up the posting and the reading. The time that I had initially ear-marked for blog activity is rapidly disappearing as assignments get more difficult and closer together. I am determined, though, to keep going as long as I can and to exhaust every other alternative before calling it quits. May even have to go to late night/early morning activities if the need arises. I have already exceeded my opening targets. When I started this blog I gave myself a year. That has gone and I'm still at it. Sometimes there isn't the vibes to post or the drive to go find something of note but some how or the other something gets said. Maybe what I need to do is to go back to what the real reasons were for this blog: 1) a bit of fun and mystique.......ok still there 2) a voice....still there 3) meeting a few good people.......still happens 4) keep in touch with the world.......still happening 5) run off my mouth......still happens 6) represent for the Caribbean.......ok sometimes 7) something to pass time.........this is the changed part...there isn't much time to pass anymore. 8) to explore other cultures especially those nearby......still awed by how similar we are and by how different we are as well. 9) fass in people business.......ok, not so, more like interest in the lives of those we meet online. All in all things really haven't changed much. Maybe I should just ask you to bear with me as I try to deal with these final 5 semesters at school with the understanding that I won't have as much free time to give to this (or anything else for that matter). I've already given up my badminton and going out and my motorsport vice has become even more limited because of school so I don't think I want to give up much more so we'll see how it goes. Anywayz, I was just writing some off the brain stuff. BTW, did you notice that I finally organized my links panel and I added some daily reads that I've kinda been meaning to add for some time. Maybe I'll play with some other stuff on the weekend. Have a great week all.

Life Lessons

2006-01-30T07:23:00.000-05:00

I've never been a a fan of English Literature. In fact, I failed the subject miserably in high school probably (more like most certainly) from not trying. I just despised it and hated the idea of being forced to read for passing grades rather than for the love of the book. Granted there were some good books forced upon us but eventually the bad ones won out and my love for reading kinda went through the door. I remember having to examine certain phrase and find it's source in literature. I asked my grandfather and he was able to just rattle it off. That phrase was: "Neither a borrower nor lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. And this above all, to thine own self be true...." I remember him jokingly saying that most phrases given to look up come from one of two places, The Bible or Shakespeare. This one came from Shakespeare...Polonius preparing his son Laertes for foreign travel in the play "Hamlet". This phrase has been relived so many times in modern society and is as true today as it was then. Think about our own financial dealings. So many times we've tied ourselves into the credit cards and bank loans and the hire purchase that we can't even breathe at the end of the month. The pay cheque belongs to somebody else and we are forced to beg borrow or steal to survive till the next pay cheque (which incidentally isn't ours either). I've been a lender on a few ocassions and I've managed to recover a few of those loans. I keep telling myself that I won't do this again and still I keep getting myself into these kinds of dilemna. I loaned some funds to a friend who was in deep hot water at the time and I had a little bit extra from some allowance or the other so I decided to help out a situation, since this person has helped me out in the past. Now getting back the funds is the hard part. Now I'm not saying that things are not hard because I know the situation but I can't help but feel a bit slighted since I don't see the effort necessary to repay my funds. Case in point, this person came into some extra money recently and chose to repay some outstanding bills from whenever with a "plan" to repay me out of the second part of her payout. To date that promise is yet to materialize. My question is, "Is it because I am a friend why I am not a priority?" Now I've seen this person "beg" tickets to the Jazz Festival and get sponsorship for other things which to me are not of any priority and yet I am still awaiting my money. Now in very much the same way that you can acquire these expensive sponsorship to these events I think you could acquire sponsorship to help repay the debts that you have. My thought would be that if I know I owe so many people so much money then three nights of singing no matter who the artistes would not be paramount on my agenda. In fact I would certainly be keeping my little tooshy quiet. I guess some of us think differently. Who knows, maybe I wanted to go to the Jazz Festival too but couldn't spare the funds because all I had extra is tied up in a loan to somebody. I know I will be repaid, that's not the point, my only concern is when. Everytime I think about it I have a new round of depression and anger and disbelief all rolled into one. This is my friend treating me this way. And yes the person is still a friend and will remain that way because despite whatever is not so right there are more than enough good thing about them to make me overlook this shortcoming. The writing here is because I just need to vent a bit. One thing I can assure you is that it won't happen again not with this person at any rate.

Frightening

2006-01-24T07:54:00.000-05:00

Today's children (and adults) are living in a digital age. They are exposed to so many issues. As a parent how do you protect them? It may be all well and good for you to say that it's only a computer screen and you can't shelter them but this article from Dateline NBC paints a shocking picture of what can happen.

It's quite a few pages long but when I started I went through them all and thought immediately about my own kids one of whom is an internet junkie.

From my own point-of-view, I've met a few people from the cyberspace realm and they have proven to be pretty decent people. If I were living in some other country maybe I would have been a little more apprehensive. Then again we face dangers in everyday life. Is the answer to just simply isolate yourselves away from everybody or everything? In reality, the persons we meet online could have well been met at a friends party. I guess the key to it is that if it doesn't feel right then leave it alone.

Be safe you all.

Nadda

2006-01-22T22:47:00.000-05:00

Well the weekend went by really quickly and it almost feels as if it never started. I took some time out toady to go watch some driving at the dexerity event held near by me today. It was relaxing. The shorter one celebrated her 14th birthday on Friday. Hard to believe that she has reached that already. She had a good day and tied it up with a games evening. Heard a corny joke on Friday and decided to share it with you guy: Well Jesse and his brother Frank decided to hold up a train in one of their glory moments. The gang all got on and one gang member decided it was his turn to make the announcement but he wasn't too bright. "Ladies and Gentlemen...this is a holdup......we shall be....robbing the women and raping the men!!" Miss Prim and Proper in the front asked "What did you say?" Not too Bright says in his best holdup voice " We will be robbing the women and raping the men!" Miss Prim and Proper pipes up..."Don't you mean robbing the men and raping the women?" Not so bright stutters but before he can answer, from the back of the train a strange voice shouts out . (It's Mr. Gay Lord Frankyguy) "Hello there missy is you or is them robbing the train?....leave them alone to do what they want to do to us men!" Have a great day all.

More Political Chit Chat

2006-01-19T07:09:00.000-05:00

Well I haven't ben able to get about the task of blogging although I have been reading. The joys of school life have returned. OK for all you non Jamaicans out there...there are 2 major political parties in Jamaica...the JLP and the currently ruling PNP. There are also quite a few others including a major party wanna be, the NDM. They are probably the closest thing to a rival that the 2 major parties will have in the foreseeable future (somehow that don't look like it spell right). Now we are in a sad state of affairs when so many people can't make up their minds about who they want as leadership simply because...THERE IS NO LEADERSHIP. I am facing this dilemna 1 year before an election because I honestly don't think the JLP has sufficiently adjusted its policies and style of leadership to take on the problems being faced by this nation. They have not settled down to the task at hand and have offered no alternatives to the current mechanisms. The PNP on the other hand look like a bunch of imcompetent idiots who can't tell their nose from their tails. Problems that have arisen are given some serious band aid treatment and that goes no further. What are my solutions? I really don't know that I have any to offer...but hey, that's why I not involved in politics. One thing for certain is that our political system and criminal elements are too closely tied together for comfort. Politicians attend funerals and parties for the area leaders (a nice way to say area dons or badman dem). Frankly, it is time that we start to weed out the problems one by one. We have put such high emphasis on traffic offences and yet the murders continue. I am not saying ease up on the traffic offenders because I believe that a traffic offence is as bad as any other crime but we ALSO need to look heavily at the other issues as well. I say bring out the army if that is what it takes, have curfews if needs be but we cannot have 4 or more murders a day and still expect that it will be business as usual. The tourist will stop coming (unless we can find a way to market Jamaica as the murder capital of the world being a good thing). I get frustrated every time I think about our political system. A party is elected and they are put into Gordon House. They dismantle everything started by the other party because it wasn't good enough. They start their thing and it goes on until they leave office. A new party is voted in and the tear down process starts again. We need to reach a stage in this country where we examine the policies and methodology put in place by our predecessors and find a reasonable starting point on which to build. Don't try to sell me the idea that every single thing the other party did was no good. We need to have a collaberative government and stop the stupidity of the faction system. Not because you are the oppposition party means that you have to oppose everything that is presented. Not because you are the ruling party means that you lay own the rules and nobody can differ in opinion. I recall the days when there was the budget debate and it really was a debate. The proposals were tabled and a final decision was made after discussion and rebutal. These last few years the Minister of Finance gets up and simply tells you what he is going to increase and it is effective whenever he says and sometimes as early as tomorrow. No discussion, no chance for review, nothing, just take it or leave it. Maybe that's why so many people are skeptical about his bid for party presidency. Our system needs revamping and from my point of view this can only be done by removing all the current players and declaring them ineligible to participate in the leadership role. Honestly as a citizen, I can't see a path for our future and I think that is sad particularly because I don't think I'm alone in this frame of mind. Anyways enough from me...later all.

Hopefuls

2006-01-16T07:16:00.000-05:00

These are the four Prime Minister hopefuls here at home. One of these four persons; Hon. Portia Simpson -Miller, Dr. Karl Blythe, Dr. Omar Davies or Dr. Peter Phillips will be Jamaica's Prime Minister at least for a short time until the next election. I can't help but wonder what each will bring or take away from our little nation that will make such significant differences in such a short time. The two names that one has been hearing consistently are "Portia" and "Peter Phillips". Whether or not either is successful will be determined at a future date. Right now we the common people kinda just hope that they don't destroy civil Jamaica during their campaigns. Jamaicans tend to be really passionate about their politics so........take it easy people. Have a great day you all.

Equity and Equality

2006-01-13T07:27:00.000-05:00

I'm seeing the message played out in front of my eyes. A few weeks ago our pastor at church tried to give the differences between equity and equality. His theme based on the fact that you can be equal without being equitable and vice versa. I couldn't qute figure it out then but then he gave an example but let me set a stage first.......... Our church is in one of the most affluent areas in Kingston. It is surrounded by financial wealth. All the neighbourhoods are predominantly residential and at the high end of it as well. Let me say now that I don't live in any of these areas :) (before anybody gets any ideas). I work in the downtown area. This is an area noted for poverty and some really crass residences and residents. Let's say that there are no apartments and townhouses down here. As a matter of fact you will find more squatters and tenament yards here than anywhere else. Now Port Royal Street, Harbour Street and its environs and all the way westwards to Marcus Garvey Drive were badly damaged by the onslaught of rains over the last few months. Parts of these major thoroughfares were reduced to riverbed type passageways. But as i said they are the only ways through downtown. Now Norbrook Road is a typical residential roadway and used in comparison to these others only by a handful of people. It too was damaged but I drove there shortly after the rains and it was passable not perfect but it could use with some swerving here and there. Pastor told us that by January he would safely bet that Norbrook Road would be fixed but that the others would remain until whenever. Well it is January and guess what...Norbrook Road was fixed from the week after he spoke so that puts it at mid November. Well Marcus Garvey Drive was repaired a couple of weeks ago and Port Royal Street is still to be fixed. The situation is equal......both will be fixed. Not equitable because it has come down to a case of money talking. The roads that provide service to the greater population and the greater need of our nation has again succumed to the injustice in society. Why?....because it's not in an area populated by the well to do.......... :( Sets you think............. Tomorrow maybe I'll take on politics...heheheh. Later all

Tech Stuff.....(Boring to Dr.D)

2006-01-11T07:40:00.000-05:00

Well Dr. D will not like this but it will be short. I finally got my router last night and felt like a millionaire. I had to use my phone a friend life line but it seem that everything is up and running. The one I bought is one without an external antenna. It works well from the wired point of view but the signal got really weak really fast when the wireless side of things was used. The many corners and concrete walls between the bedroom and the living room where the router is located may have something to do with that. So I have two options 1) Hard wire the bedroom 2) move the router halfway down the passageway using patch cables 3) stay out of the bedroom when using the laptop. All in all I am pleased. Setup was fairly easy but I got a little confused with some of the settings. I called a friend and he talked me through it in few minutes. pretty straight forward. We are yet to complete the firewall settings since he was unfamiliar with how this particular router set the permissions and filters so it will have to wait until he returns from abroad. Thanks for the help Mr. C. I like option 2. Since I anticipated that there would be an issue with the walls and the signal I went looking for cabling the other day and all I kept finding was CAT-6 I am familiar with the CAT-5 and therefore need to know the difference between the two. Are they compatible and will the devices be able to work using the CAT-6 cables. The connectors look the same but hey...it's all the same to me. Anyways for the time being I can at least have access when the kids are online with the desktop. Other than that everything is fine on the home front. School has restarted and I've had one class thus far. That course seems interesting (until it starts to dig out yuh tripe with unreasonable deadlines and.....) and I'm going in open-minded. We'll see how it pans out later. Anyways, I gone do some work so till later.

Free Paper Bun!!!

2006-01-09T07:29:00.000-05:00

Well my last day of the school holiday was spent looking about the car. I have been calling it a piece of scrap iron and I'm going to behave myself because it has served really well over the past few years. So the one time it decides to act up isn't sufficient for me to be dissing it. The pothole scene in Jamaica finally took its toll on the ride. I had to change almost the entire front end over the course of Friday and Saturday. Control arms, ball joints, bushings, tie rod ends and finally an alignment were the order of the day. Thank God for Nissans otherwise parts alone would have seen me "in debt up to my eyeballs" as one commercial put it. :) In all I spent about US$175.00. I use the US cost so most of you can relate. That's about $12000.00 Jamaican. Quite a hefty sum out here. Good thing is that the car feels great. no more squeaking and groaning and strange sounds when you drive on less than ideal roads. As my heading says...back to school today. Classes are Mondays to Thursday and most finish at about 8:00 or 9:00....arrrrgggggh!!!!!! So after a long day at office I will have to drag my sorry self up to campus and sit and endure the torture of lectures and tutorials for another 14 weeks followed by exams in weeks 16 and 17. Can you resign from school?....I don't know but I'm gonna give it a try and see if they accept the resignation. Nah....only 5 semesters to go so I may as well tough it out. Had dinner with wifey's family last night and it was a pretty enjoyable evening. Met a classmate at the supermarket who had gone to have her baby. Congrats to her and her little girl who should be about 3 months old or so. She told me of another classmate who also had a little girl recently so congrats to her too. So that makes only one young lady who I have not heard about. I neglected to get a phone number for her but I know she used read here some times. Hope all went well with her delivery too. Anyways I gone do some work since I wasn't here on Friday. Later all.

Lots about Nothing

2006-01-05T05:16:00.000-05:00

Well I haven't had much to talk about and quite honestly I've been under some stress at office over the past few weeks so to come home and fight with the children for the machine and then force a post hasn't been the way to go just yet. Don't worry about it, I'm working on the solution. I bought my router and I see from the tracking that it has been delivered to my mailbox service in Miami so in a few days it will be in Jamaica and I can start messing with stuff that doesn't trouble me :).

Yesterday there was this big discussion at office about our justice system here at home. I won't get into the detail but to say that it has stemmed from the recent release of Mr Adams and the other police following a jury trial in December. I can only state that I think the verdict was arrived at after much thought and based on the depth that the jury went to obtain information I would hope that their verdict was fair and reasonable. I can only hope that all involved are able to live in free conscience at the end of the day.

BBC has done us badly and honestly we may have done it to ourselves. What am I speaking about?......Read more here. Them boys going on really badly and it need to stop now.

I was kinda shocked yesterday at the kind of video games available to today's teens. My son borrowed this game called Grand Theft Auto San Andreas from a friend and has been playing it for a few days now. I can safely say that i can now understand why it is under so much discussion. The game is horrific. It has all the elements of criminal written all over it. It portrays quite abit of the mentality of society today. The guns the violence the crime from prostitution to grand theft auto and murder. What struck me was when he "stole" a car and somebody ran him off the road, his reaction is to get out and "pop him with some shots". I just kinda sat there. and looked. I am insisting that he returns the game to his friend. Reality though is that in a few months he is legally an adult and I can only then insist that I don't want it done in MY house. He is a pretty decent young man though...riddled with all the teenage worries but hasn't gone too way out on the limb. Straying from the point.....If these games are market driven how then can we be any better off if we continue to fuel the essence of the problems with this kind of gaming. Some argue that "It's just a game"...it is not just a game, it models behaviour that children emulate. It may be marked mature but then what about the adult that is playing in the presence of the 5 year old who then says...."shoout him daddy" when a real incident of poor judgement in driving happens on the road. He has seen it done like that in the game so why not in life. My teen is learning to drive and I constantly remind him that it's not like GT4, the cars don't bounce off each other in real life. (Not that he drives to deserve these comments, but I am not taking any chances :) ) .

I think we have major issues to deal with in today's world. But I also see the small issues that we need to address and one can only think that if we start to manage the small issues then the larger ones may be more manageable as well. This article for instance shows something that should never happen at the international level.

My last thought goes to constitutional rights in the US. I have seen laws enacted and enforced over that last few years that essentially promotes the rights of those persons who feel that religion has no place in society. Their judicial system seems to be upholding that concept. My question is...By upholding the views of these persons are they not now trampling on the rights of those who hold the view that religion does hold a place. Can we now sue the various entities because I as a Christian have lost my constitutional right to say public prayers in school?

Do we have a case?

Anyway enough from me this morning...have a great day all.

New Year Resolutions

2005-12-30T21:27:00.000-05:00

I think one of the most perpetuated myth/lies of modern society is the belief that people actually keep new year resolutions. I can safely hazzard a guess that, for the most part, most of them are out the window by the end of February. If I was a gambling man I would put a figure of say 98% where my mouth is. Don't get me wrong now, I am not saying don't, what I am saying is if you do, make the effort and make it reasonable and attainable. You hear everything from losing how many tens of pounds to finding a new soul mate to giving up smoking. Not saying they can't be done, but are they being done for the right reasons and is your heart really in it. I stopped making those things before I even started so I guess that's why I can proudly say that I never break them. If I were to make them what would mine be......hmmmmmm???? I have no idea. Maybe to help more around the house. Put the clothes and shoes where they belong. I don't smoke or drink (an ocassional beer). I know...focus more on school adnd stop the last minute assignments. Wish it were that easy. Yeah they are all attainable...do I really want to do them...nope.....will they be resolutions....nope....will I be any worse off for not making them....nope...don't think so anyway. So I save myself and those that have to endure the misery of me trying the heartache and pain.....yay!!!! Daddy not making any resolutions this year. I did some blog readings today and actually left a few comments on some new blogs. I have been really terrible in these last months. I haven't done any return visits nor have I welcomed any of my visitors.......no excuses so that I will make as my 2006 resolution...be courteous to my guests and be polite to visitors...go check out their sites since they were nice enough to check out mine. One and only one. Anyways have a Happy New Year and may 2006 be better to you than 2005.

Holiday Mood

2005-12-29T05:39:00.000-05:00

Well to tell yuh the truth, I'm still very much in the holiday frame of mind. I'm not on leave and I have to report to office daily but........... The Christmas was good. I would be wicked if I said otherwise. I've had the rounds.....family dinner on Sunday (which was excellent) and visiting friends on Monday. Tuesday I decided to lay off a bit and never left home. I was feeling a bit under the weather and had enough time during all the merriment to be sick for a few hours, so I actually ran the gammit. A friend who I haven't seen in 5 years is visiting from the US and I'll make sure to see her before she returns. We used to interact a lot before she migrated and since then we have stayed in touch but just barely. the contact, limited as it may be, is not devoid of the friendship that exits and I will definitely make the extra effort to pass her way before the week is out. Last night the bloggers link up took place. It was a good evening as we got to know some of the bloggers a little better. In the roll call was: CaliJ, Stunner, Shotta M, Owen, Mad Bull, Dr. D, and Scratchie. Owen had to leave early and it was a pity. The remaining bloggers chatted up a storm over a few well earned drinks and you would have believed that we had all known each other since yesteryear. It would have been difficult to believe that I was actually meeting several of the bloggers for the first time. CaliJ, Shotta M, Stunner and Owen...I am pleased to make your acquaintance. The blogs will keep us in touch. At least one photo will come from Dr. D at some later date. The place was kinda dark and so photo taking was a chore but somehow we managed at least one good one. My only question and I'm sure the question on all the attendees' minds is...WHAT HAPPEN TO ALL DI WOMAN DEM???????? Not even one!!!!!! We had a total bull show (no pun intended). It turn out to be a stag session. Is it that the women are all show and no go? Well all I can say is...you lose :( The women are desserters, Benedict Arnolds. Anyways I not gwine dwell on that...a good time was had and I can say that I've met a few more people through what started out as random ramblings on a hidden piece of cyberspace. What's up for the weekend?...I have no clue. Maybe I'll just keep it quiet and chill with family, or maybe I'll go to the beach or something. I'll let the spirit decide when the time comes. Until then...take care of you.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

2005-12-24T18:18:00.000-05:00

Just say to all who come my way...May you experience the Peace Love Joy and Hope that the true meaning of Christmas brings to us. May you find happiness in your lives, in your families and friends. May the spirit of this Holy Season stay with you throughout the years. To those who are not spiritually inclined....may you enjoy the holidays. Merry Christmas to All!!!!!!

Crying Out

2005-12-21T06:44:00.000-05:00

Well people my blog is crying out......for neglect. I have been having a really busy time at work and being out in the open just isn't helping so I tried the night thing but then it's a competition with the kids who want to play Sims and Virtual DJ andMSN messenger so I'm left out in the cold. So I've decided that enough is enough...they can have the machine. I'm gonna go find something less interesting to do. Sleep...gardening...washing the car maybe. No :) I'm gonna buy a router and have an adventure networking my house. I'm pretty proficient with the computer but have never gotten into the whole networking thing so I figure that I'm gonna have a few mishaps but I'm gonna try it....worse thing that can happen is that it fails miserably. Other than that Christmas is coming and I'm not quite ready for it yet. I think I'm going to mount a demonstration this morning. My placard will read.."We want Christmas postponed..." Think it will work? I figure that if I get it pushed back by about a month I should be good to go. The last couple of nights has been spent updating compi which is also suffering from neglect. I reloaded everything last week but because the kids have been at it I haven't been doing the updates and so every time i turn on the machine it does a few. Last night it did like about 26. I turned off auto update and am going to do some reading because I don't think it needs every and any of the releases, so I've set it to alert me about available updates and let me choose which ones apply to me instead. Last night the updates and the antivirus were fighting it out for bandwidth with me chatting to friends online...a most annoying experience so no more auto anything....me run tings.

Oh...I decided to go to the mall on Saturday and part of Sunday.....nuff chaos. Luckily The family decided to go early. My early was like 10:00a.m. If yuh eva si di crowd :O I got parking in the 4th shopping centre (Tropical Plaza) and just stayed put for the day. (Oh there are 5 shopping centres joined together to make what we Jamaicans call the plazas. It is nowhere as big as the US malls but hey...we gotta work with what we got ;) The rest of the day was spent walking back and forth and trying to deal with gifts for the family type people.

Sunday I actually went to see King Kong. It's the 1st in a long while since I've been to the movies. School always came 1st. I like this idle time. I think it's the longest break I've had from classes since I started in 2002. All my exams were crammed into the 1st half of the schedule so it resulted in extra vacation time for me. The movies was......no comments. Not my style but not a bad movie either. All I can say is that the directors spent a lot of time getting up to the meat of the matter and then seemed to rush through the meat part to the dessert.

I'm going to pay some more blog visits later on, but in the meantime...take care.

I'm Baaaacckk

2005-12-15T21:12:00.000-05:00

Greetings and hailage all Caribbean and International massive. I and I deh bout again. I finished my exams on Tuesday but as luck would have it I finished off my compi on Tuesday as well. :) Nah not true. I was the subject of a disgusting little insect type virus. My son apparently downloaded some music and whatever it was bypassed the firewall and did a number on the compi. I cleaned it off but it was still behaving a bit quirky so tech Scratchie went to work. New hard drive, reloaded and activated Windows XP and now in process of getting all my software loaded. Downloaded SP2 last night and auto update is doing something tonight so I am back on track it would seem. I ordered the laptop on 2 December with a slated delivery date for 29 December but guess what....our mailing system has gotten efficient. It is already in the island and I should have it in hand by Monday...all of ten days early. I was actually laughing at the situation just today. I had ordered 3 items at three different times....the laptop 1st then about a week later the carrying case for it and then a piece of software for the home compi. Guess what, the software arrived on Friday. (The last shall be the 1st I guess). The case came in yesterday and I hadn't heard about the laptop until this afternoon. Not to mention that the shipping manifesto shows that the laptop has travelled more than me all over the place. Dell has a wild network for the delivery of their products. The exams were not so bad. I am still awaiting results before I predict pass or fail. Typical case of the examiners trying to cover too much ground so they water down the content. Other than that I'm still tired nuh hell. Well I actually went to the shopping mall this week after my last exam. Things expensive nuh backside. Lots of people looking but minimal buying in my estimation. I saw a head line in a newspaper this week that accused JPS of putting out the festive lights. It stated that the public were less inclined to put up Christmas lights because of the exorbitant light bills. Somebody need to tell that to my wife and kids. Tree light up...verandah light up....grill light up.......every corner of the house have light. My daughter is a real gladice so she enjoys the season and I ain't about to kill her spirit. I'll just have to foot the bill later I suppose. Apart from that, my nephew tief ou his mother's van on Sunday and nearly kill himself...write off the van and leave them with a hell of a bill. We are glad he wasn't hurt but somebody needs to kill him for that. Not my son or my car so I just stand back and watch. Other than that...I'm baaaaccckkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exams!!!!

2005-12-09T08:09:00.000-05:00

Everythig I have to say can be summed up in one word... "EXAMS". You guys will have to do without me until Wednesday. Until then.......take care. Had the first one yesterday. One will be on Monday and the final one on Tuesday. Yesterday's own wasn't too bad.

RJ05

2005-12-05T07:06:00.000-05:00

Well the final major event of the Jamaican Racing season was held over the weekend in the form of the Rally Jamaica 2005. The event had numerous sponsors including Petcom, KFC, and Digicel. These and other sponsors ensured the success of the event. I was a spectator for the New Kingston stage of the event. Building on the experience of past years, I arrived at the venue from 2:00p.m. for a 4:00p.m. start. That way I got to choose my viewing spot and a "secure" parking space in view of my perch. Spectators came alive at about 3:30 with the sounding off of the Digicel truck and the mc's fastest fingers game giving away free credit to spectators by calling out credit codes and having persons enter them on their phones. This final stage of the rally started at 4:00 with a drive through by the Clerk of the Course and the Opening Marshall. The crowd visibly shifted for viewing vantage points as the cars did their drive through and parade. exhaust gases filled the ait and there was a short break as they returned to the start. The crowd was treated to a mix of car and driver capabilities. from the lack lustre to the sublime. The event showed that there are drivers and there are DRIVERS and that there are cars and there are CARS. The crwod was hell bent on seeing WRC driver Didier Auriole at the wheel but after a quick run through of the cars it was obvious that he had retired. :( Anyway the show continued. The smell of tires and exhaust, the near crashes, the spectators and camera men who almost got creamed by the white GTI Swift/Cultus, the scream of the engines and the sound of blow off valves from turbo charged machines, the slides and the show boating by some of the drivers all ensured an enjoyable afternoon for most. Off special note was the presence of so many Subaru Impreza's both WRx and WRC's that dominated the line up.....GO Scooby!!!! Ok ok yeah there were a couple of Evo's too....maybe one or two. BTW, you Bajans should be proud. Your drivers did extremely well in the event. I guess we'll hear the scores later. I know they have been published (even prelims) but I'm just too lazy to go find them and most of you not interested anyway, yuh just humouring me. :) Panton needs another year in the Evo to get it just right. It was obvious from his lack of antics for the crowd. New cars always do that to you. All in all a well spent even. The stage ended with a display of automibile handling craftmanship by none other than Mr. Auriole himself in a car borrowed from one of the other competitors. And yes it was a Scooby. :) :) :) Watching these guys you realize that they are definitely in a different league. The Tall One said as we were leaving "I waited all year for this event and it was well worth it." I think I echo his sentiment. I was only able to catch one stage because exams are actually on Thursday for me and then Monday and Tuesday following so no driving all over Jamaica countryside to watch cars for me. Anyways I was just giving you all a hail and gone so till later.

Update

2005-12-03T18:33:00.000-05:00

Well I took your advice..... Dudes getting a Dell. Stayed away from the Compaq. And the Acer, as alluring as the package was, the hassle to get it to Jamaica was just too much. Truth be told, by the time I pay shipping, handling, and mailbox charges it would have been way over my rounded up cash. Dell delivers it to my door with a one time shipping charge which they tagged to the machine. All things being equal I should have it before school reopens. I am being conservative because we in the Caribbean know how shipping goes during the Christmas season. The final major racing event for the year is underway here and I'm missing it. Schoolwork and exams are playing a major factor in this but "if yuh want good...nose haffi run". I may visit the New Kingston special stage tomorrow but the cross country thing never swing this year at all. Other than that.....I won my Kalookie match last night. I was too tired to even think about the game and just simply played by reflex, no planning and gues what...I beeat the ish out of the other guys and set a meeting new low total score of only 157 points from all the games. Other than that...idle weekend filled with study. Enjoy the rest of it.

Lights! Camera!....Christmas

2005-12-01T07:44:00.000-05:00

Well Christmas is definitely in the air....at least it is in New York. Last night I sat and watched the lighting of their huge Christmas Tree and it marks the beginning of the season in my neck of the woods. I swiped this photo from the WNBC site. Apparently they have a tree cam so if you want you can go there and see it live at any time. It was sooooooo much prettier in the night but I saved that picture at home so this will have to do.

I'm still not feeling the season but that will come too I guess. The last few days have been spent hunting for a computer. The one at home is working fine all be it 5 years old. But I had spent a lot of time and effort building it so it can still run with the best of them. Only thing showing some date is the processor and I'm not too worried about that since it is still pretty fast. I've finally decided on a notebook. Don't know where the cash is gonna come from yet but frankly, with these lots of presentations and group assignments at school the laptop is fast becoming a necessity and not a choice. I'm am tired of having to borrow them and beg and then end up still not getting the work done as how I would want it so I am gonna make the plunge. Choice right now is between an ACER and a DELL. I like the Compaq for looks but I've had bad experiences with their desktops in the past so not sure if I should chalk it up to "one of those things" and try them again. I like the ACER because all in all it offers the best package but then shipping to Jamaica is gonna be an issue...(an expensive issue I might add). DELL sends their stuff here so that won't be a problem. Which do you guys like Heard them debating in the news this morning about whether or not the newspaper carries too much about the violence and crime. It seems that one newspaper has vowed to stop carrying it front page. I don't want to quote since I haven't seen the paper as yet but apparently it is felt that by carrying all this stuff on front page it glorifies the dons. I can't argue with that. Frankly speaking I find the front page of the weekday papers depressing most mornings hence me not buying a during the week newspaper in years. I buy the Sunday Gleaner because usually the paper is a lot tamer then. Will it help?...Your guess as good as mine but it certainly can'thurt. I got my ham last night....yessssssssss!!!!!!!!!! Pork haffi deh yah fi di season. Sorry fi all di dread dem roun di place. Dem cyan call dun fyah pon mi if dem want....gwey!!!!!! Ham fi nyam!!! So last night I was reminded twice that Christmas is around the corner. Anyway I gone....have a great day.

Hey All

2005-11-30T07:28:00.000-05:00

Well the week has been pretty much routine so far. Can't say I mind though. It certainly is a change from my hectic schedule of the past month. I had the privilege of attending a luncheon hosted by my organization for its pensioners. The food wasn't bad and it was nice to see some of the persons who had served the organization so well over the years and who have gone on to retirement. I knew quite a few of them, most in fact. Tells me I'm getting on in age here. In retrospect I have been here some 20 odd years since high school. Whoa!! lots of years that. Only when you see all these persons together do you realize how many persons have come and gone over the years, those who have migrated, moved to other jobs, retired or died. I can honestly say that I have seen almost a complete staff change since I have been here. Time............ I was watching the NBC news this morning and they have been featuring this man who shot and killed a policeman in NY during these past few days. I was so surprized to hear that Al Sharpton plans to visit the precinct today because he feels that it is irresponsible for persons who protest police killings of "innocent" civilians not to protest the injustice when a policeman is unjustly killed. Might be just a token visit but at least it is a balanced token visit. Honestly, I wish Amnesty International and Jamaicans for Justice would take a leaf out of his book. Usually you only hear them when one side acts up. Anyways I was just keeping it light today. Gone to do some reading so later.

2005-11-28T18:57:00.000-05:00

Former World Rally Champion Richard Burns died at the end of last week, losing his battle with a brain tumor. More here. Burns was one of my favourite drivers and I have always loved how he handled the Subarus. He won his 2001 championship title behind the wheel of a Scooby but switched to Peugeot in his later driving years. He was 34. The avatar that I use on MSN is a model of his early Impreza WRC and one of the few that I have ever gone out of my way to search for and purchase. The sport has truly lost another great driver. Rest in Peace Mr. Burns. The sport will never be the same without you.

I deh bout...

2005-11-25T07:19:00.000-05:00

Well I survived the onslaught of coursework. I figure that if you survive this semester then yuh can survive anything. The projects and presentations went pretty well. Some were better than others. and I found out that I did good on the test from last Thursday so one set down. Exams to go. Schedule isn't too bad. All being well I will be free of the campus by 13 December for about three weeks or so. We had a bit of disappointment in one presentation. A friend found out that based on the new regulations she has been placed on the "make good" list. This means she will only be allowed to clear up any outstanding courses before doing any 4th year courses. It put a damper on the presentation since anything she did between September and now has no value to her, including the presentation. She still went ahead and we did a reasonably good job. I'm gonna miss having her in class :( It feels kinda weird not having any schoolwork deadlines with everything crammed into the week gone. I'm gonna go chill tonight. Wifey wants to go idle so....... The Shorter One got a prize at her prize-giving yesterday. She was awarded for the work done in grade 8. She is so proud of herself and even insisted that I take her picture with the certificate. Later on in the year she will select subjects for her career hopes. She is giving out talks about medicine but keeps proclaiming about art. I kinda have to be hinting that she is to do what she likes and not what other people want her to do. She had told us that she wants to do designing and interior decorating. I suspect her friends are talking at school and she is being swayed. She does really well at art and catches concepts that I can only dream about. She hates the sciences, so unless she wants to do a new version of medicine that I don't know about......... Anywayz, I goin stop chat and go read a weeks worth of blogs so later.

Pass the Coffee.....Ok give me caffeine, Any Kind

2005-11-23T07:12:00.000-05:00

Hi guys, after this past week and a half I'm going into detox. Coffee and any caffeine drink have become my best friends. The amount of that stuff that I've put away in the last few days is unbelievable. I checked and I'm in shock so...I guess that makes me a junkie. Well this last week goes like this....Wednesday gone - major project due, Thursday gone - in course test, Friday assignment, Saturday - groups meetings from 11:00 to 11:00 followed by about 2 hours of work, Sunday 3:00a.m. to 7:00a.m. group assignment 9:00a.m. to 12:00 rest 1:30 to 9:30 group meetings and assignment. 9:30 to 2:00a.m. typing. Monday night group meeting Tuesday night presentation and major project, Today group presentation and major project, tomorrow Thursday major project.By the way I work so during the Monday to Fridays I am at work from 8:30 to 4:30. I am just counting down to tomorrow when the last piece is handed in. Exams start the 2nd week in December. That I can deal with. At least it is just the reading and not the assignments. Anywayz I gone again. I will have to catch up on the blogs another time.

Friday already...where did...............

2005-11-18T07:30:00.000-05:00

Okay ....give it back.....somebody stole the rest of the week and didn't share it with us. Selfish...:( Well All I can tell you (from the little I remember of this week) is that nothing much happening here with me EXCEPT TOOOO MUCH SCHOOLWORK!!!!!! I sat down this morning and just wondered what will life be like when I don't have this school thing hanging over my head in just about 5 semesters time. (I stopped using years because it just sound too far away. 5 semester is really just about 1 and 1/2 years. This week was hell. One test and a major project. Project was extremely challenging since it was a discussion question and the material was based on opinion rather than text book research and publish kinda thing. The test was a test was a test. I got back some grades and I am pretty pleased with them so it is inspiration to keep going. I haven't failed anything to date so here's hoping that trend continues. My random thpought for the day was about hookers, whores, sex workers. I really wonder how they feel going about selling themselves to anybody who passes. There is no name no face no feeling just a sea of dollar signs and meat. :( It must be, to my mind a very degrading thing. I am told that some actually enjoy the lifestyle but I'm not so sure........... Have a great weekend all.

True Jamaican Virgin

2005-11-15T12:06:00.000-05:00

A Jamaican ginnal named Countafeit is out playing football and gets hit >with >a high speed penalty shot right in the crotch. Writhing in agony, he falls >to the ground. As soon as he could manage, he took himself to >Doctor >Morrison and ask, "How bad is it doc? Mi goin' on mi honeymoon nex week and >mi fiance' is still a virgin in every way." Doctor Morrison tol him, "I'll >have to put your thing in a splint to let it get better and keep it >straight > It should be alright by next week." So h! e took four wooden tongue >depressors, made a neat four-sided splint and wired it all together. >Another impressive work of art by Dr. Morrison. > >Countafeit mentions none of this to his fiance Puncie, marries and goes on >his honeymoon having professed to Puncie that he is also a virgin. (bwoy >can >lie yu see!!!). > >That night, in the motel room she rips open her blouse to reveal a gorgeous >set of knockers. This was the first time he saw them. She said, "You are >the >first, no man has ever touched these breasts." She then removes her panties >to reveal her treasure, and again declares, "You are the first, no man has >ever been there" > >He whips off his pants and says, "Yuh t'ink dat a nutten? look ya, my own >still inna di CRATE!"

Tuesday

2005-11-15T06:55:00.000-05:00

Hail all, well it's Tuesday again. This just sounds so repetitive. I'm sure it was Tuesday just about 7 days ago. Maybe we need to have a 14 day week and rename some of the other days so they don't come around quite so often...... It's OK the school work is just playing havoc on the ole brain. :D I'm not going crazy...I passed that stage long time. Anyway, I'm already at work working on one of my school projects so I'm not gonna stay with you today, just to say hail and I'm out. Before I go, I'm just taking this opportunity to introduce Slybabyk. She has passed through on a few ocassions and dropped comments but it seems that she now has a Blogger account. Yes, she is Jamaican. I seem to have lost my toolbar on this machine but it is visible at home so I guess machine error. She is linked on my sidebar so you can drop her some comments and let a lady feel welcome. BTW, Esso still up to their tricks so another JGRA deadline set for today at ten or more bangarang might gwaan. Later guys.

Last Night

2005-11-12T19:08:00.000-05:00

No this not gonna be x-rated. Last night was Kalookie night. We got off to a really late start but hey all in the name of Friday night idling I suppose. Guess who won? ........No! not my wife or sisters or friends......yup....that's right.....MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! How yuh mean that it can't be true?....what happen mi nuh name person too? ...... Is alright.....either say congrats or gweeyyyyyy!! By winning it means that the next round will be played here at my house. Means that I don't have to travel to the locale and when the game is over, I just throw out the guests and go to my bed. :) No don't leave, not because I tell yuh to gwey.....yuh can stay. :D Well I'm kinda tired. The Automobile Dealers Association had there car show this weekend. I went this morning to take a look at what I can't afford and have no hopes of acquiring in the near future but I love cars so I went. I think that that was a good enough reason to pay the entry fee and go fill my eyes. I wanted specifically to see the new Subaru Impreza WRX because I had seen photos of it and was totally disappointed. I'm glad I did...the car is a beauty. Sorry, wrong word....Scoobys are never beauties. The car look buyable iyah. Wish I had the cash. Except for a few bright spots here and there I was disappointed with the show. Usually there is a lot more fluff and flair to it. I think the show reflected the economy...nuff high price items and lots of consumers looking and can't buy. I got some tips on how to handle the interior of my current car so I have some stuff to go try out. The show presented quite a few of the higher end of the market and noticeably absent were the low to mid income cars like the Toyota Corolla and the Nissan Almera. SUV's and big models were the norm. For such big companies I was a little disappointed with the showings from the Nissan and Toyota dealers. I would have preferred a wider cross section....I note that space was a definite issue. Oh yes...there was an Evo IX on display :p My son was more impressed with the cars in parking lot than was was inside except for the WRX and the Evo of course. Other than that the Saturday was basically a spend with family kinda day. I don't have classes on a Saturday right now so it has been an opportunity for me to make myself visible on weekends. Can't say I miss the classes at all. Anyways I was just here telling you about my Kalookie win so now that I've patted myself on the back I gone :)

Registered!

2005-11-11T07:01:00.000-05:00

Well I am once again a registered student of the Utech. I have been trying to obtain 1) my progression status and 2) my enrollment package for the past 6 weeks in total. About 3 weeks ago I finally got my report and requested my enrollment package so that I complete registration. I know it sounds strange to some people but it appears that the school deals with new students before trying to sort out the veterans. Because I also attend classes in the summer semester, progression cannot be given until the summer grades are posted so it results in us always being late in getting our stuff. So three weeks go by and no package. I checked three Thursdays in a row...nothing zippo zilch nadda none.....no package for Scratchie :( Last Thursday I realized that anybody who had outstanding fees was dropped from the computer system...package received or not. Of course, Scratchie blew his top at the poor defenseless girl in the office cuz she had attitude and I was not too thrilled about their style of doing things and already going beyond my responsibility by following up on something that I should receive as a course of routine. Hell, is my fourth year so yuh supposed to know the routine by now....student pass all courses....print package....student collect same and follow through on registration process. Not so easy as you might think. Student has to follow up on pass results...student makes sure results entered...student requests progression status...student requests enrollment package...student registers....student ensures registration complete...student ensures that system is updated to ensure enrollment. Maybe I should continue....student NOT getting paid to do work for Utech staff... Anyway, I decided to go there yesterday and actually got everything done without quarrelling or cursing or threatening or any of the good stuff. It went well and as the caption says.....I am now registered. I even paid the tuition :) Wasn't I a good Scratchie...round of applause please. Next dealings with school admin will be......Exam cards in December....listen out for more issues at that time...:) Later all.

Wednesday...Never Rains but.......

2005-11-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

Well today was a really hectic day on the roads. Main event for today was the gas retailers strike called by the Jamaica Ggasolene Retailers Association as a heightened measure to pressure Esso into revising its pricing mechanism. As of tomorrow morning, not only will Esso service stations be closed, but ALL gas stations islandwide who are in support of the JGRA's call will be closed as well possibly for 2 days unless some arrangement can be brokered by tomorrow morning. Let me say that I totally disagree with this measure. Whereas I have no problem with the Esso dealers fighting for a better position and payoff, I think the move by the JGRA is irrational, unethical, uncalled for, irresponsible and illegal. I use strong sentiment against the background that the JGRA's issue is the dispute between Esso retailers and the Esso marketing company. If you have a problem with Esso then deal with Esso. Close the Esso stations and have Esso feel the pinch. If the stations not open then they lose money. How the rahtid can you implement a measure that will almost certainly disable an already battered economy. There were so many car scrambling for gas today that travelling in certain parts of town was next to impossible. Why are you holding the public at large for a dispute with Esso. The Fair Trading Commission has indicated that the JGRA's action is illegal and can be pursued in the legal system and, quite frankly, I hope that they are taken to court and fined the maximum fine of $5,000,000.00. It may sound harsh, but I do believe that it is time in this country that those who are given the power, authority and responsibility for the welfare of varying facets of our nation use their power responsibly and exercise prudence in the decisions that they make especially in a situation such as this where there are alternative measures that could be adapted which would have been just as fruitful. I would love to see the JGRA disbanded and declared an illegal entity but on the other hand I do believe in the trade union movement. I am however a realist. The days of the willy nilly "lock it down" are far gone although nobody told the JGRA this. We need to examine how we do things and how we resolve the problems that we encounter whether it is in dealing with the government, multi-nationals, marketing companies, employers or any other force of social political or economic existence. By now you can see that I am pissed and blowing my top......... Guess we all need to vent sometimes. Later all.

UPDATE: Strike called off but some stations totally out of fuel so shortage for a while.

Week in Review

2005-11-08T06:54:00.000-05:00

Well I am still under stress with school so hence the neglected blog. I have a test this evening so this will be really short. What has been happening....nothing much to tell you the truth. between group meetings and housework and car cleaning and just plain ole loafing nothing much at all going on. Esso seems to be having an issue with their retailers or I think it's the other way around. Apparently there is some issue that the retailers have with the marketing company's pricing mechanism and the retailers are closing their stations in protest. Guess they are hitting them where it hurts. I had my own run in with an Esso service station on Thursday. I have copied the story from my post so parts of it may sound strange to some of you but I wasn't gonna sit and retype all of that so a little editing and walla: Last night I was on my way home from classes and was about to do my usual stop for weekend fuel at the Shell on the Boulevard but realized that they were closed (some bricks and stuff across the entrance and total darkness). Had to find some fuel quick, so I drove into the Esso at the corner of Molynes and Boulevard and told the attendant to fill tthe tank......wrong move...... One mind say check the cost and low and behold..... $53.7x for 87 . Had to stop the pump same time and pull out. Everywhere else have 87 for between $48.00 and $50.00 so why dem tiefing people still have it so high? I accept the blame because I should have asked first but just to let you people know...CHECK THE PRICES because some of these stations ripping people off. They don't post a price on the board so that you can see the comparison with other stations. Be on the alert people or your pockets will feel it. Esso seems to be a main culprit because there was no price at the one on the corner of Dunrobin and Constant Spring Road which was why I passed them in the 1st place. Still got caught anyway. Seperate and apart from that we have had some traffic fatalities since Sunday. On Sunday 2 bikers got killed on Highway 2000 near Old Harbour and yesterday 3 people got killed in a car accident. People...take it easyy on the roads. The police have vowed to step up their vigilance especially during Christmas. Seems we will be having more policemen/women on the roads. The Minister of National Security got the nod to beef up the force. I am not so sure this will solve the problem. Although if you look at it, it may mean more jobs and more security but we still need to tackle the root causes...too many illegal guns have gotten in here. We need to deal with that swiftly. Unfortunately I'm sure that nuff politics involved but......... Anywayz I gone do some work.....take care

Still Alive.....Tired like ....... but still alive

2005-11-02T07:12:00.000-05:00

Hail up everybody, Well the tests and projects are still hanging over my head so this will be short. Did one on Thursday and have another today ...then one next week and a couple of major projects in between. All in the life of a student I suppose. Well I moved desks. It is a bit of a retro step for me in that I have done this job before but it is a step forward because it means I will get a little more $$$ at the end of the month so I will take the boredom for sake of that. The only problem is that where I now sit is right out in the open so no more during the day surfing and stuff...(not that I had much time for that before anyway). Things are quiet on the home front...except Spanish Town. Police killed an area don on Sunday and the place nearly tear down. I saw a photo on the front page of yesterday's Gleaner that would leave anybody in awe. http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20051101/lead/lead1.html I was trying to link it but it seems that half the Blogger toolbars are nowhere to be found so check the address above. Anyways, I hope everybody is fine....I've been reading but not really saying much. You all take care.

Holding a bit

2005-10-25T08:13:00.000-05:00

Sorry guys, I know I have been absent but we go through this every semester. It's that time again....mid semester tests are right under my a_ _ ......let's call it my soul case. In addition each subject has a major project so time is of major premium right now. I promise to keep up the reading but the writing gonna have to take a short snooze. If I find a "must share" topic then yuh know how it go but not gonna log in just to tell you that the sky is blue.

And traffic is making things really miserable here at home. It took me an hour to move 2 block lengths from off Aldinton on to Hagley Park Road last night just so I could turn on to Woodglen. I am really sorry for the people ging all the way down Hagley Park Rd. because they were not going anywhere in a hurry. If it weren't for the policeman who directed me on to the right hand side of the road and allowed me to make my turn it would have been at least another hour in just that little section of the route. The shortcuts to China (potholes) aren't making it any better either. Some of those craters can swallow cars and SUV's whole.

Anyway I start chat and soon can't stop, so till later.......

Finally....

2005-10-20T13:31:00.000-05:00

Well the rains have finally subsided. They started last Friday and fell consistently until this morning. The skies still seem a bit shakey but certainly not looking like what it looked liked over the past few days.

What was that?.....Seems we may have had our 1st ever tornado here in Jamaica. The geography people are a bit skeptical and the eyewitnesses are less than accurate in their descriptions simply because we have never had one of those things here at home. Whatever it was did some seriousdamage to a couple of houses in St. Catherine and one man said it sounded like a truck and dirty up the air wid bed and board and leaf and dresser.

Well I hear that I am being moved to a different section for a while. This is to act at a level above my current position. Yes, it means a little more pay for a while but it also means more headaches. We'll see how it goes.

I just heard that I still will not be having any classes this evening but I really don't mind. The roads are horrible following the rains and I not into the night driving on pothole riddled roads at all. Front end parts not cheap and besides, my car has on alloy wheels which can only be gotten as a set, so if one gets damaged yuh know is 4 haffi buy.

Haven't gotten to the blog reading yet but soon. Been busy trying to sort out people in crisis. We have staff in St. Catherine that have been cut off by the flooding and some spent 5 hours in traffic yesterday morning trying to get to work and several of them got here before daylight this morning trying to avoid the rush. This means that they will probably spend the better part of this evening sitting in traffic to get home. The management are considering letting them leave an hour earlier to alleviate some of the stress of the peak hour rush. Most roads are open again but only partially and yesterday saw 5 lanes of traffic trying to use 1/2 a lane. It ruff mi tell yuh. Hope it gets better today. It highlights the fact however that an evacuation method will not work since the routes that are blocked are the evacuation routes and is only so many of them anyway. Can you imagine 5 hours to move about 3 miles.

Anyways it could have been worse so I give thanks.

Later all...back to the slave labour.

Heroes and More................

2005-10-18T07:47:00.000-05:00

Well, yesterday was National Hereos' Day here in good ole Jamdown. We have all of seven hereos to our credit. For those of you non-yardies they are: 1) Nanny of the Maroons 2) Marcus Garvey 3) Paul Bogle 4) Norman Washington Manley 5) Sir Alexander Bustamante 6) George William Gordon 7) Sam Sharpe. Have I gotten all of them. Think so. Each year the country pays homage not only to these spoken heroes but also to the many men and women who are, in their own right, heroes. These men and women who have served long and hard in their fields of expertise are honoured in a special ceremony held at the Governor General's residence on National Heroes' Day. This blog says thank you to you all for your dedication to this nation. On another note, well my mother returned to the island on Sunday. She is well and glad to be back to her own bed and tv and family and husband and high prices and......oh well you get the picture. Nowhere better than yard. Rain rain rain rain rain..........non-stop since Friday. Seems like we are in for more since Wilma doesn't seem to be going anywhere in a hurry. As long as she isn't a duplicate of "Wrong way Lenny" which moved eastwards instead of doing the usual west and up thing. I tried to walk in the grass on Sunday and sank in mud up to my knees. So I'll have a hell of a time explaining the two huge footprints in the lawn. Anyways I have a new recruit today so I gots to go early..... Later guys.....

The Little Piece of Jamaica that Flies

2005-10-12T07:22:00.000-05:00

I saw one of our aircraft flying low overhead this morning and it looked soooooooo good. Air Jamaica is one little piece of Jamaica that takes the beauty and the glory of the Jamaican people wherever it goes. I got these photo through a Google search. The last photo shows the colour scheme of the older Air Jamaica era. Kinda dull and boring, nuh true? The latest colour scheme is depicted on the other 2 aircraft. It just struck me that few other countries can boast of an icon of their nation that is arguably the "most beautiful bird in the sky". Have an Air Jamaica kinda day.

Nothing Going On

2005-10-11T06:56:00.000-05:00

Well life this week seems to be relatively mundane. Nothing too much going on in my neck of the woods and I kinda like it that way.

I've taken up a kalookie on a weekend just for relaxation. I learnt this game many years ago but had stopped playing. I guess my escapades will continue until I get tired of it or until the schoolwork gets in the way again. I have managed to place a consistent third on the last two ocassions that I have played. This week I hope to move into a better spot. Eight of us have been playing regularly and the fun and games have continued well into the wee morning hours. We are now looking at shifting to a different night and earlier times so that we aren't making our ways back to our respective homes when is only dog barking out on the road. Wifey, who is new to the game, won on our first play night and came in fourth last time.

On a diferent note, the Students' Loan Bureau has had consistent problems with loan recipients who refuse to repay the sums owed after completing their course of studies. The fund is a revolving one and therefore any non-repayment is actually taking the bread out of some other child's mouth. Arguments have been put forward about the rates of interest being too high and the service they received and.......... the list goes on. The fact of the matter is that you got the money and you knew the repayment rates so why complain now. Regardless of the service you received you got the money you paid your school fees and you are now making good returns on the investment you made...pay the money. Bottom line is that there really is no excuse.

They have now begun to publish the names and photographs or the delinquent borrowers in the daily newspaper. Now I am sure that other organizations are similar to mine and I know my management is watching those lists like hawks. I have no problem with the list being published, provided that all the groundwork is accurately done to ensure that people whose names are published are delinquent borrowers because that could lead to some serious embarrassment on the borrower's behalf and, I can state categorically, loss of jobs in some arenas.

I have also heard of people who have gone in and paid their entire balances upon requesting an outstanding balance status and several months later are told that they remain delinquent because the amount calculated was incorrect. My view is that the calculating officer should be held accountable (financially and otherwise) for that type of error. I wonder what the legal profession would say about this. One way of protecting yourself is to obtain a loan discharge document. I fail to see how you can tell me on one ocassion that I have completely repaid your money and then tell me some days later "oh sorry you still owe me because I haven't finished with you yet" and "I am going to put your name in the papers because you don't pay me". I think that amounts to extortion. What you think.

Anyways, enough chat from me. Later all.

Don dead

2005-10-07T08:02:00.000-05:00

Well things have certainly been heating up in here since morning. On the news this morning there was a report that a car occupied by a political figure Babsy Grange was shot up and one of its occupants died from wounds. She was not hurt.

In another news item Chubby Dread, an area "leader" or don as they are more commonly known was shot and killed near to one of the island's night spots early this morning. This has kinda sent downtown into a reaction mode. Any time one of these dons gets killed the whole area feels the after effects. Places mysteriously burn down and other area activists end up stuffed into barrels etc. So everybody gone into extra careful mode today especially down by my office which is at the outskirts of the community in which he operated.

The third news item is of a fire in the shopping arcade downtown. I guess the 1st reaction for the don's death. Who knows. At this point one may also add...who cares. It is so unfortunate that these situations have become so common place in modern Jamaica. My view is..as long as them leaving innocent people alone...them can gwaan kill off themselves.

As for me,...well all I can say is that I am exhausted. School taking its toll on me. Circumstances may also change at work but I will let you all know how that goes as soon as all is confirmed. It may mean that my computer related activities may be restricted and reshuffled and my blogging may be reduced to those days that I am at home early but we'll see.

Anywayz I want to wish you all a great weekend. Take care till later.

Mid Week

2005-10-05T09:53:00.000-05:00

Hi All, Blogger has been messing with me for two days. I had my first in course test last night. I can't say how I did. Results will tell I guess. The assignments are coming fast and furious so I will need to get organized or get swallowed up by them. I finished my brake repairs (or as much as I set out to) on Saturday. It was a real easy swap and I got it done in about 90 minutes. And YES! the car stops ...yes! before it crashes into anything. I tried to take some photos but the camera looks like it's definitely on the last now. I will salvage what I can and post about my project later in the week. Other than that, things are pretty much OK with me. Back to work.

Art Critique

2005-10-02T17:20:00.000-05:00

Well here is the critique I promised so long ago. I saw something similar on Dorna's blog and promised to post it so here goes. Equus

The sculpture I have chosen to critique is entitled “Equus”. The sculpture forms a part of the artwork in the Caribbean Sculpture Park at the University of Technology. The Sculpture Park showcases several artistic pieces from artists across the Caribbean. The Artist The sculptor’s name is Lance Bannister. He was born in Barbados where he currently resides. Lance Bannister is a doctor by profession and is noted in his homeland for creating art from discarded car parts. Some of his other works, including his interpretation of Rodin’s “Thinker” and Jurassic Park, are located in a park called Iron Gardens near to his practice in Barbados. The Sculpture “Equus”, as the name implies, resembles a horse reared up on its hind legs. The word equus is defined as a genus of animals that incorporates horses zebras and such like animals. The piece stands approximately nine feet tall and is made entirely of welded metal and for the most part is constructed using discarded car parts. The entire work of art has been painted silver and is mounted on a rectangular base that has been so constructed to allow the horse to swivel 360 degrees. It falls under the genre of realism. The piece is undated and is identified solely by an erected metal plate denoting the name of the artist. The backbone of the sculpture is one inch corrugated steel that has been bent to take the shape of the horse. The underside of the frame is constructed of metal bars which appear to have been auto motive stabilizer bars. The horse’s head is formed using two control arms welded together side by side. The eyes are made of ball joints and the ears are pieces of muffler tubing that have been cut and welded to the control arms. The gaping hole that forms the mouth of the animal has been filled with a crankshaft sprocket that realistically resembles bared teeth. The neck, backbone and tail are made of automotive tappets of varying sizes. The ribs of the animal are molded from what appears to be varying lengths of trim pieces. These pieces form a rib cage that provides a 3 dimensional aspect to the sculpture. The thighs and buttocks of the horse are constructed again using four control arm pieces welded together. These provide the natural form required at those points. The legs of the horse are made from connecting rods of varying sizes welded together and ending in pistons that form the hooves of the horse. The hooves have been mounted on ball joints to enable slight realistic movement in a light breeze. My Impressions It is evident that much thought and planning has gone into the creation of this spectacular piece of work. The pieces have been chosen to complement each other and to provide a realistic dimension to the sculpture that enhances the viewing pleasure of the audience. In the absence of any literature surrounding this piece of work one is forced to examine it from the onlookers point of view. The horse, throughout history, has been a symbol of freedom, power and strength, speed and agility, transport, beauty and reliability. If we recall in mythology the horse has featured prominently in a variety of ways. Odin’s steed was depicted as having eight legs, Apollo’s chariot was drawn by stallions, the centaur which was half human half horse and probably the most famous was Pegasus the winged horse. In ancient Chinese tradition, the horse’s symbol was one resembling an arrow or spear which symbolized direction and purpose. Egyptian kings owned horses as a sign of wealth and freedom. The Caribbean is defined by the melting pot of other cultures as its people, from their many backgrounds, influence the evolving of a unique culture of its own. Each island, though different, is joined by a common thread. The horse, I think, brings this common thread to bear. It defines the strength, agility, ability, beauty and the majesty of a people that at one time were slaves. For me the horse carries a different significance. I am essentially what one would call a car fanatic. I have always been intrigued by their mechanics and the power of their engines. Each part must fit precisely where it was intended to fit. Today, two of the most powerful cars carry the horse as their symbol; the Ford Mustang and the Ferrari line. These cars have been designed with the beauty, strength, speed and power that modern engineering can afford them. The description that is given to these machines is remarkably similar to that of the Caribbean people. Car parts for me have always simply been used and discarded. Some can be rebuilt but for the most part they are destined for landfill. I find it intriguing that someone could find use for old discarded junk and by taking it a step further to use their creativity to produce such a strikingly recognizable and well-proportioned piece of artwork. I am drawn to the sculpture possibly because it is designed and constructed around something that I find quite relaxing and interesting. I am awed that someone would even think to use material in this way. I am elated that instead of being thrown down to destroy the environment that someone has found a usefulness for waste material to make it beautiful again in a different way. Conclusion Equus is by no means a perfect sculpture, nor do I think it was intended to be. It was left in its form to show the molding of its pieces from their origin. The artist has however placed a high degree of significance to minor details. He instead pays close attention to proportioning and adds some realism by including moveable parts. This is evidenced by the inclusion of teeth in the sculpture and the use of ball joints. If one were to examine the symbolism, its very design and construction represents a creativity that is indigenous to the Caribbean. It represents the rising of a thing of beauty from what was once seen as trash. “Equus” is indeed a Caribbean symbol. Its place among the other works of art in the Caribbean Sculpture Park is well deserved. It is a true representation of the people of the Caribbean region, creative, majestic, powerful, strong but most importantly free.

Finally, Friday has gotten here.....

2005-09-30T08:04:00.000-05:00

Well today is Friday and I'm really up to my neck in work. I got the last of the parts needed to complete my cars brake system upgrade. By now you can probably tell that I'm more than comfortable in troubling things on the car. I decided the other day that instead of just servicing the braking system that I was gonna make it better.

Well joy of joys...Nissan uses basically the same type of system throughout its model line-up. So I bought some used calipers and rotors and have reconditioned them with new washers and got the rotors cleaned and cut. These have come off a newer Nissan Sunny/Sentra for you US people (remember mine is an old model 1991) and are slightly larger and much improved for stopping power. So next step is installation...coming on Saturday to a Nissan near me :) . I'll let you know how it goes...or you may read about me in the local papers.

Next project will be either bodywork and paint (which I can't do myself) or engine swat to the famed sr20 (sr20det is known to provide major smiles in Nissan circles) which I can do with some help but will probably take the easy way out and pay a mechanic to do it with me standing over his shoulders to make sure it is done right.

You are wondering why....well just for the heck of it really. Used parts are cheap here and in relatively unlimited supply so most people opt to use them instead of new parts. Secondly, cars are expensive so most people hold onto their cars for really long periods. In my case I am paying some really serious school fees so I opted to buy an old car and eliminate the loan repayments until I see myself clear. So until then I just have fun fassing with it. Unlike the US, leasing is not an option that we have so it's buy or nothing.

Anyways this is my last car related post for a while since I know I only speak to a small segment of the visitors here but sometimes we kinda have to write for ourselves...nuh true?

You all have a great weekend and I'll try post over the weekend (if I can wrestle the computer away from the children).

Driving in Jamaica

2005-09-27T07:55:00.000-05:00

BASIC RULES FOR DRIVING IN JAMAICA 1. Turn signals will give away your next move. A real Jamaican driver never uses them. 2. Under no circumstance should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, or the space will be filled in by somebody else, putting you in an even more dangerous situation. 3. The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit. 4. Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will result in you being rear-ended. 5. Never get in the way of an older car that needs extensive bodywork. The other guy doesn't have anything to lose. 6. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to stretch your legs. 7. Never pass on the right when you can pass on the left. It's a good way to scare people for a laugh. 8. Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as a suggestion and are apparently not enforceable in Kingston. 9. Just because you're in the right lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that a Jamaican driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn't think he can go faster in your spot. 10. Always slow down and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tire. 11. Learn to swerve abruptly. Jamaica is the home of the high-speed 'dally', thanks to the KSAC, which puts pot-holes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes. 12. It is traditional in Jamaica to honk your horn at cars that don't move the instant the light turns green. 13. Remember that the goal of every Jamaican driver is to get there first --by whatever means necessary. I got the above from a friend so I'm sharing it with you guys.

Hey....?????

2005-09-26T07:17:00.000-05:00

Hey, where did the weekend go? Mi nuh understand, I just start enjoy the likkle break from work and wha?????.....back to the ole grind cuz is Monday again. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm all for an eqyal sharing of time...Three days to work, three days for relaxing and the one day the Lord requested from us. :) Think it would work out?

Well, let's see...where do I let you guys into my weekend? Well I had an airport run on Saturday morning. My mom left for Ft. Lauderdale to stay with her sisters for a few weeks. She was terrified of the flying but went none the less. Everytime she has to fly the jitters kick in from all three weeks before. She goes anyway. The afternoon was spent hunting for a dashboard for the car and installing it. It is an older model but with school and all the other "must do" stuff changing is not an option so fix it haffi gwaan. I found one at a good price but the colour was wrong. What the heck, beggars can't be choosers. So I bought a few other trim pieces to do a colour swap. What I did was just change out some of the inserts to match the dashboard and walla...you would think it was by design. So I now have a burgundy and dark grey interior. I was skeptical at first but it looks good all together. Took me a while to get the old dashboard out though. Nuff hidden screws. Yes, I do the work myself. The Tall One helped me get the new one in with some "precision persuasion", namely some bitch lick. Finished at about 11:00 p.m. on Saturday but it done.

Yesterday was church, supermarket and home. I guess the tiredness is from the heavy duty mechanics on Saturday. Other than that nothing much happening on the Rock that affecting me. This morning in traffic an idiot taxi man driving like an ass almost sideswiped a few cars trying to pig his way through traffic. The jackass finally made one too many cut ins and hit a woman's van. I kinda smiled because he chose to do so right in front of the policeman. Sorry for the lady but the damage looks superficial. His car being lower suffered a lot worse. I hope they throw the book at him...fassy.

Anyways I gone so have a great day.

Dream Car Gar...........

2005-09-21T15:17:00.000-05:00

I really don't have much to share with you this morning so I thought I would post about something I like. The photos above are of the various models of the Subaru Impreza WRX. The one on the far left is the 1999 (version IV I think). Some of the more detailed-happy among you may be able to tell the difference. That shape started with it's introduction in 1995 or there abouts and remained relatively unchanged until the 2000 model year. In 2001 the design was changed and the new bubble eyed model was introduced (second photo). This model was, in the eyes of the Scooby fanatic, a step in the wrong direction. Although Subaru's have never been good looking cars they were at least acceptable and their performance figures made up for any shortcomings in the looks department. Subaru listened to their customers and the falling sales figures and the headlights were changed in the next model year (third photo) for the European market and the subsequent year in the American market. The early model WRX was not available in the US as the requirements for emissions and other performance regulations were not easily met by this powerhouse.

The final photo is the 2006 WRX. Chances are there will be very little differences. The early model machines carried a 2 litre turbocharged engine in a flat 4 boxer design. The lastest model's displacement is up to 2.5 litres but the engine design remains the same.

These machines have been my fantasy ride from their introduction. Even today I still prefer the original shape of the car to the latest model. I think it had more finesse and was more pleasing to the eye. Alas owning one of these remains a dreamand will remain a dream for a long while to come. Brake pads for my Nissan runs at about J$600 whilst I have seen guys paying upwards of J$50,000 for a set of pads for these babies. Heck after two pad changes I could buy another Nissan.

For now I just look, admire and dream.....one day one day.........

Later guys.

R.I.P. Martin Park

2005-09-21T12:57:00.000-05:00

Wales Rally GB, 16 - 18 September 2005, started with a bang this year, the second year in it's new slot. Traditionally it closed the rally season in November but was moved to accomodated changes to the sport and the line-up. Tradegy struck on the second stage of the final day when Markko Martin's Peugeot crashed into a tree hitting the passenger side of the car killing his 39 year old co-driver, Martin Park. As a mark of respect, Peugeot withdrew it's other entrant, Marcus Gronholm from the rally.

Citroen driver, Sebastian Loeb, opted not to win the rally under such tragic circumstances by deliberately checking into a stage control point late, earning him penalty points and thus placing him in 3rd place behind Francois Duval and Petter Solberg. A win for Loeb in Rally GB would have meant an overall win in the drivers championship.

Michael is survived by his wife Marie and 2 children. Rest in peace Michael, you died doing what you loved. Motorsports worldwide will miss you.

Wednesday is here...already?

2005-09-21T08:01:00.000-05:00

The week has kicked into high gear and my mind is still on the weekend.

Well things aren't too bad here. I checked my progress online and I'm pretty OK where results are concerned. I mentioned that I may have had a problem with one course (yes the one with the Nigerian). Well it seems that some things are changing at the University. I was told that he is no longer in charge of the course. Apparently the stunt he tried to pull was the last straw. I am yet to confirm this so at this point I treat it as rumour. I requested a review because the intial posting was for a failure. It seems that all my grades were not included initially and the last check is that I have passed the course with a C+....my lowest grade yet but hell is a pass and as long as I don't have to resit nothing I ain't complaining. I have one grade yet to get. I know I passed that course so I am just awaiting the grade to see what my gpa stands at. It was 3.7 but with the C+ it may fall a little but not too badly.

I missed classes last night. I was just not up to it. I forgot my glasses yesterday and still had to function at work. The reading was taxing and by time I was leaving for school the headache was just too much to bear. So I went home to try to sleep it off. That didn't work. The place was just too hot. Anyways, I am fine this morning. I need to find my rear end up to school this evening because we have a project that needs to get going.

Anyway, work calls so I'm off. We'll chat some more later.

Tuesday...another day another......

2005-09-20T07:06:00.000-05:00

OK, today I am kinda bored. nothing much going on around but as I always say, sometimes quiet is good. Sometime I think the media don't have anything to do because some of the things that make front page .......this article for instance. Granted i thought it was kinda crazy but then again I guess it better than the shoot up and kill. I wonder what Kami would have done if she were the principal.......let's use our imaginations here......... Anyway enough crap from me this morning. I have schoolwork to go do so later all.

Oh Wow!

2005-09-19T07:43:00.000-05:00

The attached photo, taken from the Jamaica Observer September 13, 2005, is that of Miss Jamaica World Terri-Karelle Griffith. You can read more of their article here.

I saw an interview with Miss Griffith over the weekend and the caption of my blog could be her pet phrase. She used it so many times during the discussion. I hasten to add that I mean this in no dissenting way. In fact I am actually quite taken aback by the atmosphere created by this young lady, a trait so very rare in modern society. She possesses the ability to captivate the audience simply witha smile. The photo above does her no justice. She is what I would describe as a natural beauty.

The interview allowed her the freedom to articulate her command of language and her ability to think and reason.

Terri-Karelle is a past student of Campion College and hails from Portmore St. Catherine.

She is 23 years old and is studying to be a veterinarian at the University of Cuba.

I have attached a copy of another interview for your viewing:

Why did you decide to enter the competition: "Initially because of family and friends who were always encouraging me to enter, because they think I have the potential to become a Miss Jamaica World. Apart from that, I look at the competition as a door to many opportunities, apart from exposure, it helps with personal development. What is your best quality: "I have been told it is my personality. I have a bubbly spirit. I am always the one to relax everyone, and the one to make everyone feel welcome. I am very passionate when it comes to people." If you could change one feature or thing about yourself what would it be: "I wouldn't change anything. Many of us have so much to give God thanks for. We always find faults with ourselves, if not physical, it's emotional, and we need to stop and think that there are a lot of people who are missing so much more ... So I have to be grateful that I can see, speak, feel." Why do you think you should win: "I think I should win because this is a competition that looks for the best package, and it's not just beauty, it is intelligence, eloquence she has to have a personality. I have all of that, so I would be a very good candidate to be Miss Jamaica 2005." Name one difficulty you have faced in the past and have overcome: "Very recently, despite my confidence, I was still self-conscious, and imagining myself parading on a catwalk in front of people, it just wouldn't happen. Entering this competition and saying 'you know what, I can do this', and shedding myself of that insecurity, I believe it is a serious difficulty that I had in the past and overcame." Give one word to describe yourself: "Bubbly" If you could have lunch with one person, who would it be and why: "His Excellency Sir Howard Cooke. I always wanted to be a veterinarian and at eight years old ... I wrote him a letter saying I wanted to provide for strayed animals in Jamaica. I didn't like the fact that they were being mistreated, so I wrote him a letter telling him that, and the fact that he was kind enough to grace me with a reply I don't think words could express how appreciative I am." Name one beauty queen you look up to and why: "Jade Fulford. I was a fellow classmate of hers, we both attended Campion College and I knew Jade and she was very shy and always quiet. I was so overwhelmed and proud to see how she burst out of that shell, and outdid herself, and I think she represented us to the best of her ability." How does being in the competition affect your career goals, and will it affect them if you win: "Regarding my career goals, I really don't see the competition affecting them. I am a focused person, and I do intend on finishing my career. I see this competition as a way of improving self. Should I win, I would have to defer for a year ... and there won't be a problem deferring my career for one more year." What is the most important job that someone could do: "I believe that is parenting. It is a clich�, but everything starts from the home, and I believe that parents have the hardest responsibility to their children, and ultimately to society. How they raise their children is an idea or reflection as to how these children will be when they become adults and what their roles will be in society."

I do not know how she will do in a contest that many persons feel is biased towards blonde hair, blue-eyed contestants with the ocassional cultural and racial diversity thrown in for good measure. What I feel is that this young lady is the first in a long while to represent the true image of our island. How will they accept the natural hair and person is anybody's guess.

Win or lose, she is Miss Jamaica World, the best that Jamaica has to offer and I implore you to represent us well.

Best wishes.

Idling Post

2005-09-16T00:01:00.000-05:00

Well since I had nothing better to do today I sat down and went through the list of stuff that was on Small Island Girl's blog and swiped it for posting here. I went to great pains to go through all 200 items and made them relevant to me.

The Bold ones are the ones that apply to me but I give you credit if you read them all.

01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink

02. Swam with wild dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive does a BMW count?

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula.

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone

08. Said "I love you"and meant it

09. Hugged a tree

10. Done a striptease

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise

15. Seen the Northern Lights

16. Gone to a huge sports game

17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

19. Touched an iceberg

20. Slept under the stars

21. Changed a babys diaper

22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon

23. Watched a meteor shower

24. Gotten drunk on champagne for sure!

25. Given more than you can afford to charity but it always worked out

26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

28. Had a food fight

29. Bet on a winning horse

30. Taken a sick day when youre not ill hell yeah

31. Asked out a stranger

32. Had a snowball fight

33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier my breast hehehe

34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

35. Held a lamb Does a Rabbit count?

36. Enacted a favorite fantasy

37. Taken a midnight skinny dip

38. Taken an ice cold bath

39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar

40. Seen a total eclipse

41. Ridden a roller coaster

42. Hit a home run

43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days

44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking

45. Adopted an accent for an entire day

46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment

48. Had two hard drives for your computer (Still do and always will)

49. Visited all 50 states

50. Loved your job for all accounts

51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced

52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

53. Had amazing friends

54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

55. Watched wild whales

56. Stolen a sign

57. Backpacked in Europe

58. Taken a road-trip

59. Rock climbing

60. Lied to foreign governments official in that country to avoid notice

61. Midnight walk on the beach

62. Sky diving

63. Visited Ireland

64. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love

65. In a restaurant, sat at a strangers table and had a meal with them

66. Visited Japan

67. Benchpressed your own weight

68. Milked a cow

69. Alphabetized your records

70. Pretended to be a superhero (the joys of childhood)

71. Sung karaoke

72. Lounged around in bed all day

73. Posed nude in front of strangers

74. Scuba diving

75. Got it on to "Lets Get It On" by Marvin Gaye

76. Kissed in the rain

77. Played in the mud

78. Played in the rain

79. Gone to a drive-in theater

80. Done something you should regret, but dont regret it

81. Visited the Great Wall of China

82. Discovered that someone whos not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog

83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better

84. Started a business

85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken

86. Toured ancient sites

87. Taken a martial arts class

88. Swordfought for the honor of a woman

89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight

90. Gotten married

91. Been in a movie

92. Crashed a party (which teenager hasn't?)

93. Loved someone you shouldnt have

94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy

95. Gotten divorced

96. Had sex at the office

97. Gone without food for 5 days

98. Made cookies from scratch (those things came out rock solid)

99. Won first prize in a costume contest

100. Ridden a gondola in Venice

101. Gotten a tattoo

102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on (Stockings babeeee!!!!)

103. Rafted the Snake River

104. Been on television news programs as an "expert"

105. Got flowers for no reason

106. Masturbated in a public place

107. Got so drunk you dont remember anything

108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug

109. Performed on stage

110. Been to Las Vegas

111. Recorded music (part of my music ministry)

112. Eaten shark its a staple in Trinidad bake and shark

113. Removed - Im not telling that one [???]

114. Gone to Thailand

115. Seen Siouxsie live

116. Bought a house

117. Been in a combat zone Does Tivoli Gradens count?

118. Buried one/both of your parents

119. Removed - Not telling this one either [wtf??]

120. Been on a cruise ship (Just for a day)

121. Spoken more than one language fluently

122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone

123. Bounced a check

124. Performed in Rocky Horror

125. Read - and understood - your credit report

126. Raised children at the moment

127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy (ain't giving up my model cars for nothing)

128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

129. Created and named your own constellation of stars

130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did

132. Called or written your Congress person

133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

134. more than once? - More than thrice?

135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

136. Sang loudly in the car, and didnt stop when you knew someone was looking

137. Had an abortion or your female partner did

138. Had plastic surgery

139. Survived an accident that you shouldnt have survived

140. Wrote articles for a large publication

141. Lost over 100 pounds

142. Held someone while they were having a seizure

143. Piloted an airplane

144. Petted a stingray

145. Broken someones heart

146. Helped an animal give birth

147. Been fired or laid off from a job

148. Won money on a T.V. game show

149. Broken a bone

150. Killed a human being [pfft, whos gonna answer THAT?]

151. Gone on an African photo safari

152. Ridden a motorcycle

153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100mph

154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced

155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol

156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

157. Ridden a horse

158. Had major surgery emergency cesarian while asleep

159. Had sex on a moving train made out though

160. Had a snake as a pet

161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing

163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours

164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (lived in the Bahamas for a while)

165. Visited all 7 continents

166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

167. Eaten kangaroo meat

168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground

169. Been a sperm or egg donor

170. Eaten sushi

171. Had your picture in the newspaper Only my name a couple of times

172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime

173. Changed someones mind about something you care deeply about

174. Gotten someone fired for their actions

175. Gone back to school

176. Parasailed

177. Changed your name

178. Petted a cockroach

179. Eaten fried green tomatoes

180. Read The Iliad

181. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read

182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them

183. ...and gotten 86'ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you

184. Taught yourself an art from scratch

185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt

187. Skipped all your school reunions

188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

189. Been elected to public office

190. Written your own computer language

191. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream

192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

193. Built your own PC from parts

194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn;t know you

195. Had a booth at a street fair

196: Dyed your hair

197: Been a DJ

198: Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal

199: Written your own role playing game

200: Been arrested

Today is....?

2005-09-14T10:20:00.000-05:00

Well today is Wednesday. It also marks the last day of my vacation. So tomorrow morning bright and early I will rejoin the ranks of the working class. Can I tell you, I am not really thrilled about it at all.

My new supervisor is a "yes" person and is constantly kissing the director's ass. This puts lots of undue pressure on our unit as we are always assuming duties which should be assigned to more appropriate sections. What to do. All I do now is get a things to do pad and line them up and complete them as best I can. If they say that one is more critical than the other then I just simply shift that one around.

Well it looks like I cleared all my 3rd year courses. The one I was worried about has been passed so I am good to go.

Those of you who venture here will notice that I totally ignored the recent happenings in New Orleans as well as the demonstration last week here at home. This was not oversight. I have very strong views on demonstrations here at home. You see, in Jamaica, the hoi polloi have only been taught two things when the word demonstration is mentioned. Those are 1) get a poorly written placard and 2) block the road with burning debris. They don't know any other way. There is no such thing in their minds as a peaceful protest. As a result the outcome of that "peaceful" demonstration was mayhem disorder and violence. Don't get me wrong I don't disagree that there are issues nor am I pro-government but to set loose a set of uncontrollable mob on society is not the way to go. If that is what the JLP has in store for us as a nation then we are indeed doomed as a people. I think it is time that our political leaders desist from using the poor and outcast as pawns in their game and sit and devise policies and practices that will work to the benefit of Jamaica. I can honestly say that right now we have no leadership. What saddens me is that we also have no alternative since I see both parties doing not a damned thing to make our country any better. We are struggling for infrastructure and for the sake of political gain you set the citizens to burn tyres and destroy property productivity and the very infrastructure that we are trying so hard to maintain and may I add are already fighting a losing battle with. Is it me alone that thinks we just kinda gone mad somewhere in the middle there.

Personally I think the JLP should be held accountable for any expense that arose from the demonstration and I think the leadership should be charged with insighting riots and made to face the courts for their wanton disregard for the nations well being.

Anyways, enough from me. Take care all.

Monday

2005-09-12T10:30:00.000-05:00

Well I'm down to the wire where leave is concerned. I go back to office on Thursday morning and believe me I am dreading it by the minute. The week end was quite uneventful. Doc celebrated his 42 birthday on Saturday and he shares birthday with my brother-in-law who also happens to be another classmate of mine from high school. We were to meet up for a round but plans never got going so....... I wasn't too unhappy as I had a bad headache on Saturday night and another function that I was to attend also got bunned. Sometimes the good Lord tells us to stay put for His reasons so I stayed home Saturday night and slept.

What the heck does all of this have to do with the photo I posted?...Not a damned thing. This young lady was on an interview this morning on one of those talk shows and I liked her so I searched for her photo and posted it. She is Eva Longoria. Some of you may have seen her from the remake of the tv series Dragnet and she is also on some daytime tv show or the other. She reminds me of Roselyn Sanchez. She did a pretty good interview. Nothing thought provoking or anything like that. Just well answered questions and well spoken. So I thought I would share her with you this morning.

The Tall One has his 1st official day of class at his new school this morning so I dropped him off at school. So far he seems to be looking forward to it. We'll see.

Anyways not much from me today. Gonna go catch a shut eye and then.........

Well Here I am.....

2005-09-08T10:49:00.000-05:00

Hi all, This is a long overdue post. I finally got hooked up to the DSL system so things are much faster and at a break even over my dial-up connection which I had discontinued a while back in anticipation of my new service. The service took over a month to get installed not for the sake of not trying but there was an issue with my phone line. Anyways , that was sorted out on Sunday.

Then this machine started to act up. I was able to get online earlier in the week and then just a series of errors and report requests. I think the kids have put too much of anything and everything on it. It has loads of space and boy are they using it. Things are now at a point where I think I may need to scrub it and create profiles for them and limit the space they have to do their stuff. The repair methods only seem to go so far and no more.

Well vacation is mostly been work. Home work but work none the less. The Tall One did 8 exams in June and passed them all. He has been enrolled at EXED Community College to further his studies. He is technically oriented and unfortunately most of the grade 12 programmes don't cater to his field of study so comm. college it is. For those who don't know community college is like a gap closer between high school and university. He wants to do construction technology which involved building, technical drawing engineering and other like areas of study. I am a little concerned about the location of the campus but sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zone I guess.

So I spent the last week getting all the stuff he needed together and getting uniforms and registering and........ In other words...no rest yet and only one week of vacation to go. Oh well.

I revamped the blog but I'm not sure I like the new colour scheme. I guess maybe I'm used to the black. We'll see. What do you guys think? Back to the black or stay with current or keep looking?

Well school restarted last week and it looks like it will be a good semester. I have actually started my specialization courses so all my courses this semester are related to my major and minor (Human Resource Management and International Business respectively). We'll see how that goes.

Anyway I gone do some blog reading. Later all.

Well I finally did it......

2005-09-01T22:02:00.000-05:00

Sorry guys, I know I've been missing in action. I am on leave. I had to fight tooth and nail to get it but I got it. I will be out of office until the 15th of September. I am still awaiting my internet connection at home so posting and reading will be difficult. I borrowed a connection but it weeeellllllll slooooowwwwwwwwww!!!!!! It took almost 5 minute just to log in here. When I am finished I will see how long it takes to publish this.

Well school has resumed and the 1st week was pretty good. I have a new tutor for one subject and she is a looker. Really pleasant to torture yourselves by for the three hours that I will spend each week in her class. Lecturers like that makes classes worthwhile.. :) Seriously though this year begins my specialization years which means that all my courses are now specific to my final degree. So for the next 2 years I will now focus on Human Resource Management and International Business. No more Econ and Accounts...well not in any detail anyway.

Other than that nothing much to report. It is really good to be out of office though...the place starts to get to you after a while. I'll be in touch though and try not to miss me too much while I sit on the beaches of Hawaii and drink my pepsi.......roooooight there goes that imagination again. But I am at home for 2 weeks and enjoying it.

I will visit the blogs later when there are less people logged in cuz I am an impatient smaddy....this thing too slow.

Addendum: Well guys I am really sorry to have to inconvenience you all. You will notice that I have turned on Word Verification. I posted this thing 5 minutes ago and the spam started so I deleted them and added this thing but it takes a few seconds longer to comment. It was either this or sift through the tons of crap. And besides I don't think Kami, Camp, Small Island Girl, Dorna, Sunshine, Yamfoot or any of the other ladies needs advice on how to enlarge their penises so I think this makes for an easier life for all.

Busy Busy Busy.....................

2005-08-23T09:27:00.000-05:00

The week past has been really hectic and I don't see that changing for a while. That explains my lack of posting. The other part is that I applied for High Spped internet service from Cable and Wireless and after waiting for 1 month I am still not hooked up despite the fact that they have been to the house twice. The technician says that there is only intermittent signal from the line hence the problem of installing. In anticipation of the install I had cancelled my regular dial up connection but from how things looking I may need to go pay the bill and reconnect.

I had mentioned that I would tell you all about my exam troubles well here goes..... The 1st 2 exams went extremely well and I expect good grades for them. The final exam however ended in disaster. The nigerian lecturer that I have written about decided that he was going to f@#^ us royally. He told us up to a week before the exam that the paper would take the form of objective type and multiple choice questions.....60 of them to be exact. On the afternoon of the exam, when the papers were being issued, he walks in and advises that the exam format had been changed and that we would be getting essay type questions and that it was all "our fault". The entire class, after nuff upraor, walked out of the exam room, resulting in a closure of the exam and several meetings with the Dean of the faculty. This lecturer had tried our patience long enough. His attitude throughout the semester and his teaching methodology, or lack of it thereof, had resulted in, all I can describeit as is, a nonsense course. It is a pity, since this course should be one that we can relate to on a personal basis, as we Caribbean nationals live this course daily. The lecturer is rude and, from all indications, has one purpose in mind...to mess up the students. I should truly hope that he is not an example of how "educated" Nigerians behave, or we are indeed in trouble as a people.

The exam was done at 5:00 p.m. with the understanding that the results would be void if there was hard evidence of cheating. Myself, being partially involved in the meetings, did the exams under severe duress and as such I hold little hope for good results. Honestly I was tired, upset, pissed is a better word and just plain old disoriented. Anyways I will wait and see. All I need is a pass and hopefully to put the dark side of that ass behind me.

Family is home. They arrived on Saturday and it is great to have them around again. Wifey looks rested and kids are good. Tall One got himself some pocket money and bought himself a phone so he is happy. Short One helped somebody to pack for house moving and she got some stuff and some money as well so they both were able to do a little shopping. Good for them.

We have been having some really bad lightning storms recently. On Sunday a bolt hit the utility pole in front of my sisters house in Stony Hill. It split the pole in 2 and sent splinters of wood flying some two or three houses down the road. A 6 foot piece of the pole landed between the 2 cars. Thankfully no damage to the vehicles. The pole is now significantly shorter and the surge damaged the fridge, the telephones and a battery charger. Luckily all the other stuff was plugged out at the time so no damge to the other items. Our weather patterns have really changed though. Last Wednesday I got caught in a lightning storm, no rain, just lots of lightning and thunder.

Other than that it's just lots of work and work and lots more work.

Anyway guys, we'll chat more later....take it easy.

Girl Attack

2005-08-15T07:59:00.000-05:00

Strange title?....maybe not. In one of my lectures the other day, the whole argument of women in the workplace and dress and sexual harassment came up. Quite an interesting discussion but one part I would like to share is the view that ladies will always be "harassed" they will always be subject to the stares and the whistles and the suggestive comments simply because it is in the nature of the beast..... PHAT attack if you will.

I always thought it was a misspelling of the word fat until a few months ago I was enlightened to the fact that it is used as an acronym..... P = that catlike part of the female anatomy, H = hips, A = her most admired ass-et, and T = the milk factory. No disrespect ladies.

It was in fact the lecturer who pointed out that all ladies carried the same features and it was these features that the male of the species is attracted to. The beauty, variety...let me stop there before I get myself into more trouble. In other words the male cannot but observe the obvious beckoning that these anatomical features present to him. It is however in the will of the female as to whether or not she is willing to allow the encounter as expected by the male. It is in the maturity of the male to accept the will of the female and move on to other more willing creatures of splendor.

I went a step further to use this theory to try to explain sexual preferences but it never quite panned out. I can see the male female attraction and I can ....to a lesser extent... see the female to female attraction after all PHAT is PHAT but I for the life of me still cannot fathom the male to male one. Maybe I should leave that to when it's time for me to do my research paper. I don't think the university review board will sanction me doing my research on PHAT.

Have a great day all.

Just Passing Throoooouuuuuggghhhhh

2005-08-10T08:25:00.000-05:00

Morning all, just a really quick "Hi". I forgot to tell you guys that this is exam week. I've had two already and one to go. The two gone have been pretty good so no complaints here. Just haven't had much sleep and am dog tired. Discovery is home. I'm sure it must have been a trying 2 weeks for the crew and their families. Apart from all of that, 2 of the 4 people in my section are on vacation so I really have had to put the internet surfing and blog stuff on hold for a while. I should be back to normal next week. Until then...take care of you.

Journalism

2005-08-03T08:05:00.000-05:00

If I wanted I could probably make an argument that journalism and sensationalism are one and the same thing. Kami's article is a good example but it was so vivid on ABC's news feature this morning about the space shuttle. The caption was "Spacewalk to save shuttle". I was like what?...the shuttle is in some mortal danger?...something happened overnight that the machine is gonna go boom? As it turns out, the shuttle has some spacers between its tiles that have come out a bit and so the crew needs to cut them off so as to prevent what they call a blow torch effect on re-entry. According to the mission people it is precautionary. I guess they aren't taking any chances with the last event still fresh in everybody's mind. But if you read the caption and you had family up there you may have had a coronary.

Another case in point is the Halloway girl. I think CNN and Fox have milked this story to the limit. If you watched long enough you could probably figure out what her mom has for breakfast lunch and dinner and probably what time she goes to the bathroom.

It's no longer about getting the truth out to the masses, it's about getting the masses to come to you at all cost. I know it's a difficult task but could those of you in journalism try to make a difference. Stretching the truth to breaking point has become long in the tooth.

Our media here takes delight in being brutally frank, which is the other extreme. We have had horrifying pictures of murder scenes and car accidents splattered across television that would turn the hardest of stomachs. At one stage, one wondered if the practice wasn't to show the dead bodies being hauled around and then apologise for not being sensitive. That has been tempered to a great extent these days.

Which brings me to the question I posed earlier... Is journalism merely sensationalism?

Bammy

2005-08-02T16:30:00.000-05:00

Smallislandgirl,

This is what bammy looks like. When fried it becomes soft and turns a nice rich yellow colour.

Post Emancipation Day

2005-08-02T07:49:00.000-05:00

Well, yesterday was a holiday here in Jamdown. Emancipation Day. It was a nice break from work and might I add...most welcomed. Well Sunday marked 10 days since I have been completely familyless. I spoke with them last light and they are doing fine. Wifey is having some cooling out time and The Shorter is doing what she does best...shopping. I need to start checking my money carefully because I can't figure out how she shop so much and still manage to save money.

Well I had the last of my in course tests for the semester on Saturday. It wasn't too bad. I was gearing up for a lot worse but it was pretty much a balanced exam. The lecturer divided the questions evenly with about 50% going towards theory and 50% towards problem solving. I should pass. Exams are right around the corner though. My 1st draft of exams is 8th, 9th and 12th of August. All crammed into one week ...yuck. But at least I get them out of the way and over with.

Yesterday I decided to finally do my 1st real cooking since wifey left. I managed to work up some fried fish and bammy with vegetables. I learned a little trick with the bammy some time ago. If your bammy is always coming out kinda tough, a great way to get it soft is to actually deep fry it. Those people who don't like the fried foods or are on low cholesterol diets...stay far. If you do it just like festival it actually makes it really soft. what i do is to drain it on paper towels after to remove the oil. Another great alternative is steamed bammy.

Anyway guys...I gotta run..work start calling already.

Well

2005-07-29T07:49:00.000-05:00

What can I say this morning really? First thing is THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY. I is be busted...tired beat out...not functional......exhausted child(as my Bahamian friends would say). OK....I think you got the picture. This week has been hot and busy.

My group completed our group assignment this week and it looks impressive if I do say so myself. Real question is whether the tutor will be impressed by the work we put into it. It's the written part of the presentation we made last week so I don't see us doing badly. We had gotten pretty good grades for the presentation.

Tomorrow I have a course test in Management Accounting. That should be fun since I am definitely not relying on the tutor for guidance. As a matter of fact I have all but written him off as a part time comedian, cuz him joking himself. I find him to be unhelpful and unaccomodating to the students. He has a speech impairment and it makes it difficult to understand him. Not to mention that he is not open to discussion and add all these together makes for one really confusing class. It is a blessing that the lecturer of the course is quite the opposite so we better learn in the lectures and hope that we catch it all there cuz the tutorials aren't much use at all.

Anyways I was just saying a quick hail up. I gone try get in some book time before work.

Humour is the key to life

2005-07-27T13:50:00.000-05:00

The Hen Tom did like he always does, kissing his wife, crawling into bed and falling to sleep. All of a sudden, he wakes up with an elderly man dressed in a white robe standing in front of his bed. "What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?...and who are you?" he asked. "This is not your bedroom," the man replied, "I am St. Peter, and you are in heaven." "WHAT! Are you saying I'm dead? I don't want to die! I'm too young," said Tom. "I want you to send me back immediately." "It's not that easy", said St. Peter. "You can only return as a dog or a hen. The choice is your own." Tom thought about it for a while, and figured out that being a dog is too tiring, but a hen probably has a nice and relaxed life. Running around with a rooster can't be that bad. "I want to return as a hen," Tom replied. And in the next second, he found himself in a chicken run, really nicely feathered. But now he felt like his rear end was gonna blow. Then along came the rooster. "Hey, you must be the new hen St. Peter told me about," he said. "How do you like being a hen?" "Well, OK I guess, but it feels like my azz is about to explode." "Oh that!" said the rooster. "That's only the ovulation going on. You need to lay an egg." "How do I do that?" Tom asked. "Cluck twice, and then you push all you can." Tom clucked twice and pushed more than he was good for, and then 'plop' an egg was on the ground. "Wow" Tom said. "That felt really good!" So he clucked again and squeezed. And you better believe that there was yet another egg on the ground. The third time he clucked, he heard his wife shout: "Tom, for goodness sake! Wake up! You're sh!tt!n' all over the bed!"

Today is....oh yeah..Tuesday.

2005-07-26T14:57:00.000-05:00

Bit of old age getting the better of me there. Well I am officially bored. School drawing to a close and exams due in 2nd week of August. Other than that nothing going on. Can you imagine, not even the weather giving us something to write about.

Sunshine is back with us and seems to have enjoyed her vacation. Blogging tradition dictates that she buys a cyber round. Welcome back Sunshine.

Did lots of garden and auto cleaning work over the weekend. Still feeling the effects of it. Dogs wouldn't give me a break last night. Figure that a 2 footed mongrel may have been nearby but they stayed far.

I have some vital info for some...Ladies, mesh tops do not prevent your nipples from being exposed. They cannot pass as shirts without some sort of undertop. Seems nobody told some of the women this fine detail. Seems that I've encountered at least 3 such cases since Saturday. Where are our parents. Why aren't they teaching their girls how to dress.

Well I survived a week without family. 1 down 4 to go......will I make it...yes I will. Finally signed up for ADSL service. C&W has a new reduced rate thing so I'm gonna give it a try. cost a tuupse more but might be worth it especially for school.

Anyway I'm rambling. Take care all.

Friday...Musings

2005-07-22T16:58:00.000-05:00

On the first day of college (no not UWI), the Dean addressed thestudents, pointing out some of the rules:"The female dormitory will be out-of-bounds for all male students,and the male dormitory to the female students. Anybody caught breakingthis rule will be fined $20 the first time. "He continued, "Anybody caught breaking this rule the second time will be fined $60. Being caught a third time will cost you a fine of $180. Are there any questions?"At this point, a male Jamaican student in the crowd inquired: "How much fi ah season pass?