Intriguee with....

Has it ever happened to you? I was up for the past few nights watching cricket of all things. This is a sport that I really have no interest in but lack of cable does strange things to you. I find myself watching anything that comes on including soap operas...Generations....yuck!!! but i can give you the story line now. Anyway, I was watching cricket and I noticed the spectators, mostly women from India. They all had varying styles of dresses and spots and colours etc. obviously from different strata of society. I was actually intrigued by the detail and wondered what each represented. I had mentioned on MB's blog that my not too distant decendants on my mother's side actually came from India and yet I know so very little about that culture. Again, I guess because of the upbringing or mindset of those people at that time. On my father's side though I can identify the first time my family name appears in Jamaica's historical records. The first Scratchie was from a Scottish/German theatre company doing shows in Jamaica. Quite a turn around since I am not a lover of theatre. Maybe there are unseen reasons. Who knows? I have a few friends who are of Indian heritage and I will certainly try to satisfy this new found curiousity soon. Anyway has anyone had the experience that a seemingly innocent incident sparks such questions for no apparent reason?

Browsers and more

Hi all, Had some problems with my compi this morning. Couldn't get in on most sites with the exception of MB and Dr.D. Got it remedied a while ago. Downloaded a new browser called Mozilla Firefox. Believe you me guys, it mek Internet Explorer look like it naw try. The drawback was that it is a large file so downloading over dial-up was crazy. It updated itself and I never lost a link. I love it. (Haven't found any issues yet and the page loading has improved significantly. For you technocrats out there, try it and let the rest of us technologically challenged blog junkies know if you approve. Today has been really boring without my vice (blogging) so I am just getting back into things. Hope all is well with you all. BTW I passed the Finance test I did o Thursday with flying colours so now I can teach you all how to value stock and do time value of money. Yeah right!!! The one I had on Saturday was ruff but only the final results will tell how I did so nuff prayers going up for that one. Anywayz I gots to runs. TTYL.

TGIF

Nothing special is planned for the weekend. As a matter of fact I have an in course test tomorrow so books books and more books tonight. Today has been reasonably quiet. The blog community seems to be on cook mode. Dr. D. has given his ham recipe which is bang on and Stu is cooking up a storm. Food is the focus right now. As for me well I'm kinda out of it today so I humour you when I'm in this kinda mood. So enjoy the joke below and enjoy your weekend all. Something for his Cough The owner of a drug store walks in to find a guy leaning heavily against a wall. The owner asks the clerk, "What's with that guy over there by the wall?"The clerk says, "Well, he came in here this morning to get something for his cough. I couldn't find the cough syrup, so I gave him an entire bottle of laxative."The owner says, "You idiot! You can't treat a cough with laxatives!"The clerk says, "Oh yeah? Look at him, he's afraid to cough!"

Another day another.......?

Hi all, Didn't get to post yesterday due to severe work overload. I have another hectic day today so this will be short. The morning has started with its own set of amusements. Sometimes I wish I had a digital camera to take some of the crap that goes on on our roads. On the way to work this morning a Honda CRV decided that he pays more taxes than everybody so lines are not for him. He proceeds to overtake a whole line of traffic blowing his horn all the way. The upcoming traffic light holds him so everybody he just overtook is right behind and beside him. Light goes green and off he goes again bobbing and weaving from one side of the three lane road to the other. Mind you this is peak hour so nuff cyar deh bout. Another traffic light and we are all beside him again. When we reach to Three Miles intersection he chooses an outside lane and gets caught up behind a trailer so now everybody passes him. I just had to laugh because with all his antics is is actually now in a worse position than if he had just sat in the line and waited. Patience my friends patience. Second incident is on Marcus Garvey Drive heading to my workplace. Suddenly I hear no ends of blowing behind me. Looked in my mirror only to see a Toyota Hiace coming at breakneck speed in and out of traffic. The driver is hanging out the window shouting and waving and beckoning for cars to give him way. Low and behold it is a police van escorting two brand new police cars to some kind of emergency (probably late for breakfast or something like that). Apparently the siren doesn't work so shouting is his method of alerting other motorists. I just laughed. Only in Jamaica!! Well I leave office a bit earlier than usual today. My daughter (I call her The Short One) is attending her school's prize giving. She is to receive two prizes, one for her work in Art and Craft and the other for consistent good work. I will definitely go since she is motivated by that sort of thing. She does not do well at exams and is paranoid that she cannot function like other kids. We have encouraged her and she is really improving. When she did GSAT last year she was not placed at a school of her choice but I managed to get her transferred to another school but the "failure" from her point of view set her back quite a bit. We have again worked with her and here it is less than a year later that she is excelling. She has now proclaimed that she is doing as well as the girl who was at the top of the class last year. Her grades are cosistently good and I think she has now realized that she is as good as any of the girls that got into the school by exam placement. She has really come a long way in one year. Life is pretty OK at this point. No school fees yet but still hoping that something works out. I have Plan B in the wings so we'll see. Addendum: I just remembered...HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! to all my American blog bredrins and sistrens. If you feel you have nothing to be thankful for, be thankful that you have life, and where there is life there is hope, hope for a brighter future.

Tuesday doldrum

Hi all I've been blog surfing this morning. I started with all the links on MB site and then went over to Dr.D. (Doc, quite a few of yours are dead so you'll need to do some house cleaning preferrably today...thank you:)). 'im jus have big man wastin' im time a go tru dead link after dead link cho:). I came across a piece by another Caribbean writer in which she raises questions about "barrel children". I'm not so good with this linking thing so here goes nothing http://hairoun.blogspot.com I think it's an interesting piece and because of my experiences over the past nine years or so I hold it very dear to my heart. One of my dearest friends came from such a background and it is because of her plight that we are friends today. She continues to grow both in spirit and in maturity. I don't think we as parents understand the effect that our seemingly simple actions have on our children. I will be at home and I see my son come to my bedroom door and looks in. He then turns and walks away. Quite the opposite of my daughter who feels that she needs to be around us 24-7. I call him back sometimes and after years of this I realize that he is just checking if I'm there and that everything is OK. He may not crave the attention of us all the time but he likes the security of knowing that he can come if and when he needs to. I don't think my children are in isolation when it comes to parental support. I believe that sometimes it is more important to suffer the financial hardship than to leave our children to the whims and fancy of others. Bottom line is that is dat is not fi dem pickney and dem nah look afta dem like yuh. I am not saying that there are not circumstances that may dictate other actions but I think we in the Caribbean, Jamaica in specific look to parental migration as our first choice without examining the consequences of our actions. If you must migrate include your children please. They are not afterthoughts but should remain primary in our actions. Later guys.

Who is King?

Going a little churchy this morning but that's the diversity of blogging. I was having some major differences with a very close friend of mine over what may be in retrospect really trivial but that is all a part of life and its dealings. We actually sat down and trashed it out agreeing to disagree on some issues and finding acceptable grounds on others. The fact is that we have been friends for 12 years and we have had issues before and will have them again but if the friendship is worth it then you work through the issues. I had a really hectic weekend with school all day Saturday and I went to church on Sunday. I've always been church oriented so why the difference yesterday? On my return to Kingston, I have adopted Stella Maris as my new church home. I have been going since February and the services have been good. Coming from a quasi-country church experience, the urban church scene takes some readjusting to. I grew up in Kingston but moved to St. Catherine about 10 years ago. I am now back in Kingston. I say quasi-country because although St. Catherine is considered an extension of metro living, it has only acquired this status in the last 15 years or so. In this regard status changes faster than habits an so peripherals such as church have deep foundations in rural habits. It is not uncommon to attend service and remain in the church yard conversing with someone you see once a week for a time longer than the service itself and then have umpteen church sister and brothers at your door later for chat and dinner all bearing some element of the meal. Anyway back to my topic...The theme of mass yesterday was Christ the King. I am not going to talk from a religion aspect but rather a Christian aspect. The pastor spoke on a topic that is a part of the church year every year so I have heard the readings many times in my 39 or so years of being in church. Yesterday however he equated yesterday's significance to Christmas, Easter, birthdays Thanksgiving etc. His message was that we celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ, His life on earth, Easter for His death and resurrection and the salvation it brings but then the cycle stops. Having gone through all the other stuff we almost ignore the fact that what we celebrate each Sunday and especially at those other feast days is really that Jesus Christ is King!! He then made mention of all the other things that we put so much effort into... the birthdays, Thanksgiving (Stella has a high percentage of Americans there). He looked at our prayer habits. Is it a case of when we pray we ask God to address our circumstances as He sees fit or is it us telling Him the circumstance and what He IS to do about it. In retrospect we probably do need to re-examine our stance on our lives. As Christmas approaches let us endeavour to recognise the CHRIST in Christmas and to enjoy the season for what it is really. The celebration of the beginning of our lives. Who really is King?

Faithful or Faithfully Unfaithful? that is the question

Shakespeare would have been proud of my caption. This from someone who hated literature in school and got "Ungraded" for my GCE exam. At school last night, the boyfriend girlfriend, wife husband argument came up in idle chatter. It was however closed with the usual cliche' "Is man dem name" which was punctuated by agreement from the females in the class. In Jamaica (I can only speak for here) it is a foregone conclusion that the male must have more than one woman to be satisfied. Indeed there are guys out there who have two or three or more women or families and are quite content not to be tied to any one woman. But are all men like that? I can say with definitive certainty that I am not!! Not to say that there have not been other women who have crossed my path that I have been attracted to, but I have chosen not to act on emotion or feeling or hormones or whatever drives this sexual desire of man (and woman too I might add). My best friend is a female. We have been very good friends for close to 13 years and we have had normal desires and we have worked through those to where we are now. We have never been bed partners but rather vital support to each other in critical times. It is a decision we both made and stuck to. Using myself as example I can therefore conclude that this view of all men having affairs and woman being so chaste is flawed and I am certain that I am not alone. I am certain that there are many men who have married or committed themselves to one person and are holding to that commitment. In years long gone, after having the notion that men were the cause of marital and spousal problems, I met upon my first case of female infidelity. In the past six years I have found out that several of the women with whom I have either an acquaintance or deeper friendships with are/were having extra-spousal affairs. There is at least one case where a love child is involved (hubby hasn't figured it out yet). My years at work, school and even church have overturned the myth of female outlook on committed relationships. They are no better than the men. They do the same things. You will realize that men and women have similar habits but I conclude that women just hide it better. Human sexuality is a strange topic. It would seem that there are those who are committed and those who are not with those who are committed dwindling in numbers. It leads therefore to the question "Are men and women essentially faithful to that significant other or are we faithfully unfaithful? Are those that remain loyal to their spouse an exception to that rule that man and woman are born to love each other and all others that they can lore into there beds? Think about you and your relationships. Food for thought.

Today is Wednesday...can you imagine

Well it's that time again...school fees are due. I need J$84000.00 to pay my school fees or I won't be able to sit my exams. Haven't a clue where the 1st cent is but I have been blessed so far. Made it to third year and still going so we'll see. Anybody wants to sponsor a young, brilliant, handsome(....let's not get carried away here...OK OK I'll leave out the "young" part heh heh heh) student to the sum of US$1400.00 I'll be forever in your debt. I hope that's a good thing. I left out kinda late this morning so traffic was heavier than normal. Let me put it this way, a five minute late departure can translate into a half an hour extra travelling time. I sat down and for the first time I actually was able to look inside one of our articulated buses. We have some of our public transport service buses that are actually almost twice as long as a regular bus. They are joined in the middle by some hinge type mechanisn and the outer panel looks like an accordion (pickney paper fan). They are so designed to enable the bus to have a shorter turning circle (dem can tek corner). I wonder who sat down and devised that concept. On the Portmore route they have a couple that are joined in 2 places so the bus looks like a snake going down the roads (usually at speeds far exceeding the speed limit I might add). While looking at the marvels of modern technology I remembered when I was 1st at CAST (now the University of Technology) there was a bus on the road they used to call "The Ark". An entrepreneur, seeing the plight of students and his lack of funds, had used a tractor trailer head and had purchased an old car carrier and modified it to accomodate both seated and standing students of both CAST and UWI. It even had buzzers to signal your need to get off at the next bus stop. At the time, on our regular bus system, one would have to get out of your seat and shout at the top of your lungs "One Stop Driver!!!" which quite often went unheard and was only recognized when backed up with expletives or the whole bus joining in the chorus. Either way an uncertain way to travel. It was twice the size of any bus we had then and would rival any we have now in my estimation. It was always crowded but it worked and served its purpose well. Necessity is truly the mother of invention. How times have changed.

Weekend Runnings

Hi all, I have been absent for a while. I have been reading the various blogs but have not had the time to do any posting. It's getting close to the end of the semester so tests are killing me. Last week I had to have minor surgical procedure done. The doctors had to lance a swelling by my right ear. No pain killers no local nothing just swoops with a scapel. Damn wicked female doctors yuh si. Anyway it seems to be on the mend. I heard from the lawyer handling the sale of my house and it seems as if things are going well. It should be complete by early December. Keeping toes fingers arms legs etc crossed. I was blog surfing earlier and in reading some of the stuff people write you realize that there are some sick mofo's out there. I have seen everything from illogical reasoning to racism and it certainly is an eye opener. It spans more than the culture differences we experience from our different backgrounds and upbringings. It goes to the very state of mind of the individuals who write some of these things. It makes you very afraid to even have some of these people reading your documents for fear that some of the crap they emit somehow affects your way of thinking. My son looks at some of the really outrageous cars on the roads with the racing wings and full body kits and says that they just buy a Sport Compact Car magazine and let the credit card do the talking whether or not the parts match or look good or were even designed for the car. He advocates that people should be made to take a sanity test before they are allowed to buy some magazines. I am advocating that some people need to take a test before they are allowed to publish their thoughts let alone act on these thoughts. Some of my surfing was really distressing. Ladies and Gentlemen there are some really sick people out there. Be careful about the amount of info you present on your blogs. Be careful who you trust because sometimes it is not the people who respond that we need to worry about but rather the ones raking in the info on the side or those who visit our sites by accident and by way of others. Let us all strive to ensure a positive blog experience for each other. By this I don't mean to agree when you disagree but rather agree to disagree in the best possible manner not the four page discourses I have seen taking place on other sites. Thank God I haven't seen that in our circle and as a matter of fact I look forward to making the rounds within our readership. I lwelcome new readers and I like interacting with new people but ...it worries me sometimes. Think about what I have said. Have you ever experience racism in a real way?

Nothing to post so ....more Humour

$500.00 A woman was walking down the street when she was approached by a man. The man said, "I must have you right now! I'll drop 500 dollars on the ground at your feet and in the time it takes for you to pick it up I can have my way with you from behind!" The woman thought it over and told the man to wait a minute. She called her girlfriend on her cell phone and told her about the man's proposition. Her girlfriend said "When he drops the $500 on the ground I'm sure you can pick it up and run before he gets his pants down. Call me back and tell me what happened." An hour and a half later the lady called her girlfriend back. "What happened?" the girlfriend asked. The lady said "That M!@&!@r F!@$#r had $500 in quarters!" Have a great day.

In the News

We have been having some problems here for the last week or so in terms of petrol. About 2 weeks ago there was an explosion at our only fuel refinery and it was closed and will remain closed for the next 6 months according to the Minister. In Jamaican terms it will be closed for the better part of a year maybe more. Jamaicans were good, no rushing of gas stations etc. During last week however the untrained eye could tell that things weren't A-1. We have 2 grades of gas here and you went to one station and no 87 octane. You went to another and no 90 octane but being resourceful you buy whatever you can get. As a matter of fact, when you are running on fumes if you could poop in the tank and it work then hey....!!! Over the weekend though things got dicey in Portmore and several stations in the Corporate Area as they ran out of gas period. This created a rush on other stations and the lines got longer and longer. Well apparently the first shipment of imported gas arrived on Sunday or yesterday and another is expected today or tomorrow so I guess we will have our usual supply of go-go juice today. I passed a couple of stations and the lines were loooonnnnngggggggggg. I'm glad I didn't have to sit in that. Well, I'm on the ten toe turbo for today. My ride decided that it needed a vacation so I left it at home this morning. Hopefully I can get the mechanic to go pay her a visit and tell me how many months salary I have to give him to bring down her fever and get her running again. I have a new mechanic since my usual one migrated. He got a job with Uncle Sam fixing their vehicles. The job pays him more than I make when you convert it. This is the first I will be asking the new guy to make a house call so wish me luck. Anyway I think I've bored you enough for one morning. So...have a great day and if you can't be good be careful.

Political Debates continue

Well I finally got my phone line yesterday. One week after applying, not bad by Jamaican standards. I haven't signed up for cable as yet simply because the area is served by 2 companies, one is of no use and the other is very expensive so it'll have to wait till month end. As a result I was subject to watching TVJ and CVM and can I tell you, local TV stinks big time. Anyway I was watching a programme called impact with a host by the name of Emily Crooks. Nice looking girl yuh nuh but a TV host she is not. I've seen her on the programme before and it was the same. She antagonize the guests, she asks the stupidest of questions, doesn't allow the guest to answer by cutting them off and then accuses them of not answering. Somebody needs to ensure that she stays away from hosting. Anyway, the JLP members are still having their in fighting and it's getting to everybody. Today the party leaders were on Impact along with one leadership contender and his supporters. IMHO none of this is serving this party any good. The bottom line is that there is so much distrust in that party that you can't even trust the trustworthy. Both sides have their points and I will say I advocate solving relevant issues but this one really just look like stalling tactics to me. The person who can't win is just holding up the show. I'll deal with that in another post though. Just tek care till then. BTW someone e-mailed me about my spelling being different from theirs and some of my sentence grammatics. So just to say that I am Jamaican and from time to time I write like how we speak. So for emphasis, you will see a bit of Patois (pronounced patwah) and you will see the British spelling for certain words e.g. colour vs. color and programme vs. program. If you don't understand the vocab that I use from time to time just shout and I'll try to rephrase or explain. A big thank you to all who comment. It says that I have written something worth reading.

For the HR persons out there.

EMPLOYER'S LINGO "Competitive Salary" We remain competitive by paying less than our competitors. "Join Our Fast-Paced Team" We have no time to train you. "Casual Work Atmosphere" We don't pay enough to expect that you'll dress up. "Must be Deadline Oriented" You'll be six months behind schedule on your first day. "Some Overtime Required" Some time each night and some time each weekend. "Duties Will Vary" Anyone in the office can boss you around. "Must Have an Eye For Detail" We have no quality control. "Career-Minded"Female applicants must be childless and remain that way. "Apply in Person"If you're old, fat, or ugly, you'll be told the position has been filled. "No Phone Calls Please"We've filled the job. Our call for resumes is just a legal formality. "Seeking Candidates With a Wide Variety of Experience "You'll need it to replace the three people who just left. "Problem-Solving Skills a Must"You're walking into a company in perpetual chaos. "Requires Team Leadership Skills"You'll have the responsibilities of a manager, without the pay or respect. "Good Communication Skills"Management communicates, you listen, figure out what they want, and do it. EMPLOYEE'S LINGO "I'm extremely adept at all manner of office organization"I've used Microsoft Office. "I'm honest, hardworking and dependable"I pilfer office supplies. "My pertinent work experience includes..."I hope you don't ask me about all the McJobs I've had. "I take pride in my work"I blame others for my mistakes. "I'm personable"I give lots of unsolicited personal advice to coworkers. "I'm extremely professional"I carry a Day-Timer. "I am adaptable"I've changed jobs a lot. "I am on the go"I'm never at my desk. "I'm highly motivated to succeed"The minute I find a better job, I'm outta there.

Just a joke.....maybe???

The following is an idle man special. This is what idle people sit down and think up when they should be working. Just thought I'd try to get you all smiling. Here goes: Three blacks went to visit relatives in three different countries and on their return home had tales of discrimination and prejudice that would have awakened MLK Jr. One told of problems he had as he tried to hire a taxi, the other told of the problems he encountered at the food stores and on the bus. The third not wanting to be outdone looked at the others and said "You don't know anything. My two cousins and I were walking on the corner when a local drunk drove his car around the corner and hit my cousins over. One of my cousins was thrown into the bush, the other was picked up and slammed into the drunk's windscreen and I ran to help them both." "The police were quick on the scene but on realizing who was driving they charged one of my cousins for breaking and entering, they charged the other for leaving the scene of the crime and they charged me with aiding and abetting wanted felons. And to top it all off they advised the drunk to sue for damages to his car." Do have a great day all.

This is the day...

Good morning all. Finally made it to a computer. I moved over the weekend and it was HECTICCCCCC!!!!!! Tiredness buss mi clothes box. I am now living out of boxes, can't find anything, no cable, couldn't find the rag to bathe with....all in all madness. Moving to a new place always presents its share of adjustments so I guess I'll deal with those as they come. Well, the US votes today. I hope that the peoples' will be realized. In Jamaica our elections are always clouded by violence and suspicion of fraud. Currently there is infighting in the JLP about who should succeed the current leader when he retires at the end of the year. The very visible battle is only hurting the party even more than it has been hurt by the actions of its leader(s) in the past few years and if they continue as they are now, they stand a snowballs chance in hell of winning the next general elections. As a matter of fact the snowball has a better chance. Other than that things are quiet at home here in JA. Christmas carols are playing in increased frequency on the airwaves and the place has gotten a bit cooler so that special time of year is around the corner. Anyway more projects due so back to the old book work. Tek it easy nuh!