T.G.I.F.

No, I ain't gonna eat there. Not yet anyway. They are having teething pains so when they sort themselves out I may try it. The prices on the menu that I saw look steep though. Guess that's a reflection of the economy. Anyways, I wasn't talking about the new company that opened on Hope Road, I was literally saying thank God it's Friday!!! I seriously tyaad iyah. This week was ruff. I didn't post yesterday because I actually had to leave office to rescue te wifey from car worries. On the way to dropping me off we noticed that every time I stepped on the brakes the radio died. When we stopped at office it seemed OK but shortly after she left me the windows quit working and the car sounded lazy. Dead battery! She picked me up and I decided to get a battery check at one of the dealers. Sure enough I had to spring for a battery. When they checked the charge from the alternator....zip zero zilch nadda nothing!!! The guy at the battery place assured me that I could get to an electrician on battery alone so off we went. Found an electrician who checked for me. Sure enough i had two choices, three really, replacement alternator, repair rectifier in old one or third choice...park the car (not really an option). The search began for a replacement. Not really a hard task in Jamaica with the number of deportee cars and used parts we have here. (The used cars that are from Japan for use in our country are called deportees. The Japanese market requires frequent re-certification for vehicles over a certain age. This process is really expensive to them so many owner opt to change cars which is a cheaper option for them. They export these cars to many countries around the world who lap them up because they are really in very good condition and a viable alternative to paying out serious money for new rides.) I was able to find a good replacement part and have it fitted. But my day at work was shot. I had to apply for a vacation day. So I had to spend $8,000.00 that I had not bargained for but that too is all a part of life. My job functions changed at work this week so it has been ruff week. I hope the weekend provides a bit of rest for me. Wishful thinking because school all day tomorrow but I will try to take it easy on Sunday. Later guys. Have a great weekend. Addendum: I know that I am always cussing about the society and how callous it has become. Well today I want to say a big thank you to the truck driver who assisted me, not once, but three times yesterday morning, in the middle of traffic, with jump starts when the car kept shutting off. He would not take money and was so kind. I don't even know his name, but from yesterday' s experience....there are still good Jamaicans out there. Thank you again Sir whoever you are!!

Blogging and some..

Hi All, Really late posting today. I took the car to be passed at the exam depot this morning. No problem there. The guy verifies engine and chassis/VIN number and gets in. He pulls up the handbrake and tests to see if they hold. They do and he drives a figure 8 in the lot at regular driving speed. (I say this because they have a habit of chanting around the lot at break neck speed, speeds which my car never sees even with my heavy foot.) He drives up to the wall, checks my headlights and horn and wipers. He comes out of the car and checks my tail lights and asks me to step on the breaks. Five minutes later I'm out of there with new cert in hand. See you next year Mr. car examiner. Melody mentioned in her post that blogging can set you on a train of thought. I know for me that blogging has opened me to the insight of others. I have also been called on to examine my own views from time to time. It forces a certain creativity out of you that was left untapped. Visiting blogs and writing them has facilitated the exploration of topics which would have otherwise been left untouched. Blogging has taught me patience. Waiting on some people to post. It has allowed me to share a little bit of me you and vice versa. Who would think that we would share in Melody's party escapades and Dr.D's car troubles and VX. Not to mention MB and Natty's raising of MBJr. Ciya, Kidlets and Popsey, Jdid and his inspiration, Kami wisdom beyond her years, Sunshines flowers and writing, Stu and the technology upgrades. Seven...trouble, fire. Desiree, Angry Dog learned people but willing to share insight...the list goes on. We have not always agreed on issues but yet I have never felt afraid to share my views or afraid to explore the views of the others. In fact, I feel slighted when I see no comments. Blogging for me is a merger of the many lives that pass here. I may never met the people behind the screen names but it feels like I know something about each one. There are things that I write here that are only shared here in my writings. I am sure that the same goes for many of you. I guess what I am trying to say is Respec' to you all. Why do you blog? What does it mean to you. How has it helped you...How....? Later guys.

My latest purchase

I decided to get myself a new phone this week. The one I had got crushed in the elevator doors last week. The one I had was a regular run of the mill Nokia1100. I am not usually a telephone fanatic and it has been eons since I saw something that I liked. So when I saw this one I shelled out the moola and got it. It's a Samsung X450. Basically an entry level clamshell/flip phone. My son has been ramping with it since I got it so last night I just had to put my foot down...I asked him if he would mind if I borrowed it for a while :-). It's pretty neat. It has internet access and all that. I would have preferred one with a camera but I refuse to pay that kind of money for a phone. Not in this lifetime anyway. Too many other more important things to do besides buy consumer goods...nuh true?

I had my performance review at work today and I'm pleased. I thought that with all the flare ups I've had in the latter part of 2004 that the supervisor would have been wicked. She was in fact quite fair. We had frank discussions and all went well.

From the mere fact that I am posting about phones you know I don't have diddly squat to write about today don't you. Not to worry, JDid has said enough for everybody today. Check out JDid's Post for today. I posted something about my hobby on Sunday and you all ignored it. I tek dem kinda insult serious yuh nuh. Ah so life go still.

Anyway, I can't stay with unnoo much longer. Gots classes today. I have a question for all you married people. Have you every been in love with someone besides you husband or wife after you have been married. If yes how did it make you feel. How do you/didyou deal with it. Nothing implied here nor do I expect to get too many responses. Just toyng with your inquiring minds. No, I'm behaving myself. It's just a question that came up from reading a blog I came across while surfing recently, but idiot me never tek note of the site address so I can't find it back. I know it must be linked from one of you guys but it could well be a link on a link on a link on a link if you get my drift. Anyway I have to go so take care all.

Evolution 4

 This is a 1996 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 4 WRC. It represents the last in what my ideal thoughts of the Evolution represents. The car is a hyped up Lancer carrying a 2000cc turbo charged inline 4 engine with well in excess of 200 horsepower. Each year Mitsubishi has produced a car based on its street platform. This is #4 in the series. There have been other Evo's since this one. They are up to Evo 8 but I think the Evo was the silent "killer" that sneaked up beside you at the traffic light and when you challenged him to run he would leave you gasping for air at the shear speed and response of the machine. What has happened to recent Evo's is that the car bears less and less resemblance to its road going counterpart and has become too recognizable IMHO. Persons disagree but that's just how I see it. The photo above was my desktop photo for a long time. I still have the picture because mi just love this car.   

Monday again

Hi all, Today is quite nice and sunny here in Jamaica. A bit of a breeze due to some weather system or the other. Had to resort to sleeping with windows locked tight and under the sheets. It got a little chilly. I know, I know...the Canadians will tell me that they would welcome my kind of chilly any day over what they are going through. Sorry for them yuh si! The weekend was expectedly hectic. Saturday was class as usual. I went to a class last week Saturday, and the lady who taught about client relations needed to go back to classes herself. She came in to the first lecture with some serious chip pon di shoulders. She was amptly termed as a female doggy. (Sorry Doggy, no offence but you ain't like her at all). I was dreading the class and as thoughts of sculling ran through the brain I decided to go. What the heck, might as well ruin a perfectly good Saturday. The class was actually quite good. The lady had a pretty decent attitutde and we were actually able to converse with her. Went to buy some computer parts for a job I was doing and then had lunch with my friend. We see each other quite often but recently with school we see each other at school but the relaxation time is nil. The company was good and it was good to just chat with her about nothing in particular. We rushed back to classes and ended the evening with The Short One's get together. I was up till 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning putting this CPU together for a young lady since I wanted to get it out of my hair by afternoon. The build up went easily and no hitches. Problem is that these builds never go as planed so I sat anticipating the problem showing up later in the process. Sure enough it did. Tested the system, did the usual break in and packed up for delivery. Simple plug and play process, disconnect old CPU connect new right?....Wrong. Turned on new CPU, boots up fine then the flashing search screen shows up...what di rahtid is that? Must have been something that got added when I reached her house. Went through the checklist. Turns out to be her keyboard. Can it be repaired?...Don't know and wasn't going to try. At Us$5.00 or J$350 for a new one I wasn't going to waste my time or energy trying to figure it out. Did a loaner and told her to get one asap or call me if she wanted me to source it for her. Went to visit my friend last night. It never rains but it pours. Just felt like getting out of the house. I posted three of my pictures when I got home. I have a problem. The software that I use for posting pictures is on my home computer. The restrictions at work do not allow personal software to be loaded to the machine. I can get away with stuff that runs on top of Windows but when it has to integrated into the system files I have to get creative. I try not to because I shows up on the reports in the IS Dept. So pictures will only come from home. Dial up + Pictures = Very high phone/Internet Bill + long time at computer. Anyway got to go do some work so enjoy the day. Go look at my pictures. Two of them are from my hobby.

Hi all, Well we cekebrated the Short Ones birthday on Saturday. The actual event was on the 20th. She share a birthday with Ciya's Kidlet #1 and a few other random people that I met on Thursday. I wonder what makes January such special day. She had fun though. You can check the comments section to find out more about the cake. The Short Ones Cake

Impreza

The image is one of my model collection. It is a 1999 Subaru Impreza WRC car. It is made of plastic and was assembled by me. The build time was approximately 3 months. The kit was a Tamiya. Impreza

BMW

This model is of a 2 door 325 BMW coupe. It too was assembled from kit but the kit is die cast. It was prepainted. This kit was made by Testor (I think). BMW

Howdy Guys and Gyals

Hail up all, Don't have a clue as to what I will say today but I'm saying hello at least. Well the opening salvo has been fired and I am waiting on the return fire to hit but we'll see. (what di backside im talking bout?) I can feel the looks of bewilderment so let me explain. Over the last two weeks or so I mentioned that I had to close down the leave system and bring it up to date with this years entries. Well from that exercise a series of reports are created some of which will be manually reviewed and authenticated by our auditors for accuracy. Well yesterday I finally managed to get the reports compiled and printed and these were dispatched to the auditors with a letter daring them to find something wrong with the report. Let's see who badder than who. So now I'm waiting on them to return a report to me with all their criticisms and queries. There always are since I think that too much human intervention takes place in an automated environment, plus the logistics of the processes just wrong but hey...??? I passed by my model car collection last night and was distressed to find some of them damaged possibly in the last move and possibly from a not so careful helper. I will speak to her when she comes tomorrow. I can't accuse her but just to remind her that care needs to be taken. The ideal situation is a display case but I haven't been able to find one that I like as yet. Plus dem damn expensive out here. I found the missing pieces so I will have to spend some time on repairs. It doesn't look as if any of the paintwork is messed up just pulled out parts. Nothing some model glue or epoxy won't cure. I have an assignment due tomorrow so I have to go put in at least an hour before work starts so we can chat some more later. May I can get my son to use his camera and post a picture or two of my models over the weekend. Hope he will accomodate me (dat spelling doan look right at all.) Oh well. This is IT so bad English and spelling are allowed. heh heh heh. Tek care.

Another Day

Hi all, Couldn't post yesterday and today will be brief. Work again. Firstly please join me in wishing The Short One a Happy Birthday. I now officially have 2 teenaged children. Can you imagine? She is so enthusiastic about her birthday. Will get her a cake for Saturday and will invite a couple of her friends over to share it with her after I get in from classes. A part of one of my courses requires that I do some creative short story writing....yuck!!! Anyway I am working on that piece and I showed it to a friend. She likes it, so when I am finished I will give you all a read. It will probably be my only artistic work in my life. It must be worth something, nuh true? Watch out Doggy, Scratchie gwine come tek ova di writin scene. JDid spoke about dances recently and he made mention of the Jamaican dance scene. Well it seems as if that has changed overnight. Bogle was shot and killed this morning at a street dance. Bogle was one of those instrumental in creating several of these dances. Reports are sketchy and all we know is that he had a disagreement with someone at the dance. They left the dance and the persons followed and shot at the group. The shooting has created pandamonium in the dancers community and it is the scene of protests and these protests are never usually peaceful so I assume houses are burning. We have a new Police Commissioner in the person of Mr. Lucius Thomas. He was sworn in yesterday. Let's see if he can make a dent in the crime scene. Good luck Commish. Do well for our sake. Anyways, will chat more later.

Is what really goin on??

Hi all. Reached work extra early this morning so I decided to listen to the radio for a change and catch up on some news. Two news items caught the ears in particular. It seems that our Mayor is overdoing it. He had some sort of fainting episode in his office yesterday and has been ordered to rest. I don't envy him his job at all. I don't know much about the political side of him but in all honesty he is the first mayor that I have heard so much in the news since I can remember. He has tried to tackle some things head on. I am not saying he is succeeding at everything, but I think he is trying. Today is Mr. Seaga's last day in Parliament and his resignation takes effect tomorrow. The news cast announced that an Opposition Leader will be elected to represent the JLP until Mr. Bruce Golding is able to obtain a seat in the House. The next part of the newscast is what kinda grabbed me. It said that Mr. Golding is expected to be elected to replace Mr. Seaga in the West Kingston seat since the other two persons who had indicated that they would run are no longer interested. A wah di backside dis? Two who were so hot for the seat (which is almost a guaranteed JLP win each election) are "no longer interested". OK then!! When did all of this happen anyway? Cannot be bothered with this political business cuz yuh neva know what will happen from day to day. Not to mention that somebody from the JLP has told their constituents to be prepared for snap elections. IMHO, elections now, elections 2 years time, who are we to vote for? Anyway, I really don't have a lot to say this morning so as we here say Hol' tight zeen and respec' to di massive! Blessings!! Addendum: It cold this morning!! Some serious breeze blow all night iyah. Mi had to draw cover. This morning at office the thermostat fight has already started. I am in my jacket which I reserve only for this type of weather. An yuh really want me in Canada weather? Yeah Right!!

Monday Morning......Blahhh

Hi all. Just saying good morning today. I am not really feeling up to blogging this morning. Just feeling kind of down in the dumps. I am not ill or anything like that. I guess I'm just feeling the effects of "back to class" routines. Had school all day on Saturday so I am back to doing all my necessities on Sunday (including church). So yesterday was like church till 10:30, headed to supermarket till 12, picked up The Short One from Sunday School and headed home, mowed the lawn and some other gardening, headed back on the road to get a pair of jumper cables and brake washers, came back home and repaired and adjusted the brakes on the car, went over to my dad to help him sort out some computer related issues. Back home at 10:00. I need another day in the weekend. I think we should push for a work week as follows: Work on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays. Rest on Tuesdays Thursdays and either Saturday or Sundays. Why either Saturdays or Sundays? Well the higher power asks for a day so depending on your religious persuasion, you give Him a day as your church dictates and then the other day is another rest day. Doesn't that sound like a balanced week? Work 3, rest 3, and return one to the Lord as requested? I think so. Have a great day.

New Day

Hi All, Today has started and it has been pretty quiet. THe sun is out and the drive to work was uneventful. I was actually just going to wish you all a great day and call it a week but mi gwine give uunoo a one paragraph. I mentioned in a previous post that I often drive through a few inner city communities on my way to work. This morning was no different. As I stopped a traffic light in one such area, a young woman probably in her early thirties was crossing the road and in her charge were two young girls, obviously her daughters (dead stamp of dem mudda). Wifey and I remarked simultaneously that they were so neatly dressed and so orderly crossing the road that if I hadn't seen them coming from their house I would not have known that they were from that community. You may say stereotyping but having travelled around I have seen some of the most vulgar and untidy children on their way to school. It would be difficult for you to believe that they had just left home and were not yet at school. I am not talking about clothes worn because you don't have any more. I am talking about hair uncombed, blouse and shirts out of skirts and pants. shoes not cleaned. I understand that some of them actually ascribe to and promote the ghetto mentality. Kind of the "I-am-from-the-ghetto-an-is-so-wi-do-it" way of thinking. I have long since voiced that ghetto is a state of mind and not a place we live in. Some persons are living in affluent communities and stil retain the ghetto mentality while others live in the inner city and posses a better outlook on life and civility than some of those from areas of riches. I don't know anything about those two girls but I certainly hope that if their outlook is as good as their dress and mannerism this morning that they will continue and succeed in life. Later guys.

NIP (Nothing in Particular)

Well it seems the worst is over at work with the year end stuff. We had a successful update of the system so staff can now focus on 2005. Now comes the boring part...reports and corrections to rush additions. Anyway that should be over soon too. I have a new supervisor and I hear that my job functions will change slightly. I am now supposed to focus on the HRMIS which has been half heartedly updated in recent times. It is based heavily on the organizational structure which has changed several times in the past 2 years so it has caused some issues with the information system so I will be dealing with that as a project. I don't mind though. School statred back on Tuesday and I met one of my lecturers for a course called Caribbean Cultural Expression. I have two words "bird course" :-) It sounds quite interesting and the lecturer is really pleasant. She has bright beautiful eyes and is always smiling. She sounds bubbly so I hope the course will be an interesting one. I am not a lover of reading, dance or art and my interest in music can be considered superficial at best, so the content will definitely be an eye opener for me. I can count on 2 hands the number of plays that I have been to in my life. I went once with wifey to an NDTC production and she had to wake me up no less than 5 times. I often tell her that it was 'a once in a lifetime never to be repeated experience'. The lecturer has her work cut out for her, nuh true? Well the political scene turns again with Dr. Peter Phillips announcing his interest to lead the PNP when the Prime Minister leaves office. Interesting times ahead folks. Anyway, enough chat from me. We'll catch up later.

End of an Era

Well it would seem that the epilogue for an era in Jamaican politics is being written as I write. Mr. Seaga reportedly handed in his resignation as Leader of the Opposition and Member of Parliament for West Kingston yesterday. Mr. Seaga has been involved in politics since as long as I can remember. He has served as Prime Minister and has served in the West Kingston seat since..... I cannot say that I am unhappy to see him leave since I feel that his type of politics holds no place in modern Jamaica. In essence his time past long ago. There are those who feel that his leaving is the worst thing that could happen to the country but we will see. I said long ago that the JLP would not win another election as long as they continued to hold on to relics of the past. This has been proven to be just as predicted. They must now look forward and try to overcome the turmoil that still rages within their ranks so as to become a force to be reckoned with in the political arena. In recent times, the PNP has not had to do very much to win elections since the JLP has done lots to lose it for themselves. I do not like the idea of an ineffective or absent opposition. It lends too much leeway to the ruling party. If the PNP is in power then there should be a strong opposition JLP and vice versa. I don't mean an opposition that cows down every action made by the government, but rather one that evaluates policies and, by their support or critique, adds value to the end product. I hate to hear opposition for opposing sake. It must have merit. Ninety percent of the time in jamaican politics the opposition is mere formality just so that you are not in agreement with government decisions. If the decision is good...support it. Our curent Prime Minister, Mr. P.J. Patterson, had also annouced his intention to demit office before our next election is due in about 1 1/2 years or so. The PNP too needs an overhaul. It is unfortunate for me to say but I honestly don't think that the resignation of these leaders will make any significant impact on anything unless there is a complete revamping of the arena itself. Old habits die hard and Psychologist would have a field day with the Nature vs Nurture Theory in this setting. We shall see.... Later all.

Policing

In our little island, the actions of the police and their ability to stem the upsurge in violent crimes over the past year or two has raised many an eyebrow in recent days. it came as no surprise that the Commissioner has opted for early retirement. Our Sunday Gleaner (yes mi reading stale news again) had no less than four different articles and several editorials which addressed different aspects of the security forces. The Observer went as far as to produce a list of senior police officials and their date of birth and also their seniority by date of joining the force. I will say here that I think this type of information was in poor taste as I think that these officials are entitled to some level of privacy and personal dignity. The article comes in the wake of a earlier publication from the commissioner who stated that he wanted to give younger persons a chance at tackling the problem from new innovative ways or some crap like that. I will say that I sympathize with our law enforcers because in my opinion they face a damned if you do damned if you don't situation. If they get tough (which seems to be the only thing that some people respond to) then the JFJ and Human Rights people from all over the world rank them as the worst evil on earth and if they play soft then the crime skyrockets and they get hauled through the coals by their constituents. In one article a government opposition spokesman suggested softer policing is needed. Not sure I can even understand what he means. Can they get any softer than how they are now. On face value, im not really so righted if yuh know what ah mean. Crime escalating and you want softer policing. In my view, it really doesn't matter whether we have harder or softer policing because as long as the criminal element continues to be supported by the political electorate and business entities we will never have a solution to a growing problem. To this day I remember one politician on national radio profess that guns were never issued by his party and he has no knowledge of guns being used in campaigning. He lost any credibility he may have had with me up to that point. In reality though our problems go deeper than just murders and theft. It goes to a disregard for human life and the credence given by our "big men" to the criminal element in our society. I dare to add that these problems are not being helped by 1st world nations who continue to deport hard core criminals to countries that cannot afford to deal with them and who have in most cases not committed any culpable acts so as to warrant their detention on there return to a nation that they have long since scorned. These same nations then turn around and demand that measures be put in place to curb the transport of drugs to their country. Let me whisper to them..."Is di same criminal dem wey yuh send back causing yuh problems". Softer policing, harder policing????? Mi really nuh know.

One of those topics

The headline in one of our daily newspapers this morning read "Abortions Soar" the subcaptions read - 30% of teens have had one, High rate alarms medics. The discussion between my wife and I came about as a result of a table that listed the reasons for having abortions in women 15-49 who have actually had this procedure done. The last 3 are Did not have partner 2.4%, Other 23.3%, and Don't know 3.1%. Her question was how can you become pregnant without a partner? I reminded her that if the girl was raped then technically she did not have a partner. The other statistics are equally worrying though, especially for a nation where abortions are illegal except in 3 situations...to save the woman's life, to preserve physical health, and to preserve mental health. The policy guiding the doctors contradicts these laws to some extent. This in itself promotes a dilemna which must be examined otherwise. My religious denomination does not approve of contraception nor does it approve of abortions. I will state now that I do not support abortions at all. I have looked at this from all sides and even in the case of rape, I believe that each child is special and that there are viable alternatives, adoption for one. Don't cow me down if you don't agree, just state your point and we will agree to disagree. That's just my stance and I don't push this on others who believe otherwise. That said, I am however of the belief that each couple must decide for themselves in the use of contraceptives. I don't believe that this is something that any church should dictate. It is however frightening to think that with so many contraceptive alternatives available, that the need for such a barbaric practice seems to grow daily. With the threat of HIV and other STD's so rampant and yet our teens continue to engage in this game of roulette with their lives. The other reasons given in the article could have all ended with "so I used a condom". We have gotten too accustomed to the easy way out. Do any damnned thing we feel like and fix it later. Pro Life?, Pro choice? Who really knows. Who is damaged in the long run. I guess it's just another chapter in the 'evils' of modern society.

What are they trying to teach us?

I went up on campus yesterday to sort out some crap with the school administration. (Jamaica small because who did I buck up?....nuh di one Dog.) Anywayz, My dilemna start at the end of last semester. On my way home from my last exam I got a phone call to advise that a verbal message was sent to my class that we needed to complete registration for our humanities course ,which will be done during this semester, by 4:00p.m. on that day. Now I had done my humanities application from in July but gues what...the morons change the options and didn't see fit to advise the applicants so it is a crisis management scene. Well yuh know who couldn't reach up there then so I just made up my mind that I would need to go fight with them when I collect timetables. I went to the faculty office and encountered one of the most miserable b1t@hes that I have ever met. ( My apologies to the ladies who venture here, but that is the only way to describe her.) So much for customer service. Anyway, I got my point across and she registered me without any further fuss (just nuff attitude). Then we ask the dreaded question "Where can we find the timetables?" (Because each semester we run around the faculty building trying to find which of the many notice boards have the timetable on it) Man! is like we ask the world's worst evil. Long and short is that timetables aren't ready and might be posted late today. Did I mention that classes are supposed to start on Monday? All we therefore know to date is that I am enrolled in 3 courses (they will need to advise which 3) which start on Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday or...... You get the picture. Can't get any more out of her so just cut the argument and get back to work. I told her and the office of whoever was listening that as students we really don't need to go anywhere to complete our research paper on Business Administration. If we look at what UofTJa- SOBA does as a business office then we have our case study right there. They are the most unfriendly, clueless, disorganized, unbusinesslike set of people I have ever encountered. They are trying to teach Business Administration but certainly not by example. How can enrollment packages be issued 5 days before the end of the semester? I thought that if a student was to study through a semester then one should be enrolled for that semester. How can you not know class schedules the day before classes are to begin? How can you dispatch critical notices word of mouth or by sticking it on some obscure cabinet with scotchtape exposed to all elements, man included? How can you dispatch such messages on the day that is also your final day for said activity? Only in jamaica can a School of Business office not function like a business and get away with it. Later guys.

Mission Accomplished

Well I set out last night to have a long awaited link up with Angry Dog who is visiting im yard from foreign. (He seems to be doing things a bit backways here, don't it? Normally yuh visit foreign from yard anywayz) I wasn't able to attend the other 2 links that had been planned over the Christmas (wifey had mi unda wraps :-) ). Just funning...they just clashed with other stuff so I had to do the raincheck thing. Anyway, I was finally able to put name to face and even got brawta (extra) because I am also now able to put face to name for Strainer as well. Met two other cool people as well. You would have thought that we had known each other for years. Later in the evening, poor Dr.D. must have wondered what the heck im get himself into. The course of conversation that had been wide and varied ,unfortunately for Doc began to include much tech stuff...but he survived, probably bored to death...but survived. The link up was good and to date I have not found any stalkers in the blogging group so....here's to you all. It's one thing when you write and comment on a site and you are able to agree or disagree online and it's as easy as turning off the computer when you are not in agreement with what is said but when you have the real live person sitting across from you it's a do or die situation. I am no worse the wear for having met the two gentlemen and in fact I am glad I did. The effort was well worth it. Angry D travels back to his kennel again in a few days but I'm sure we'll buck up at some point. Safe travel. The the rest of the posse I say it was good to link with you all.

Nuff Backside

I had quite an interesting view on my way to work this morning. It was something I had seen before but didn't really understand and can only be related to by the viewer. There were two women both in there early 20's, stark naked, fighting in the middle of the road. Traffic was stopped in either direction to peruse the spectacle that was unfolding before their eyes. Now most hot blooded men will relish the idea of what is commonly known as a "cat fight". It has been the feature entertainment at several night spots both now and in the past. The women were obviously really mad at each other for some unknown reason. What I could not understand was why naked? Then I recalled what a co-worker had pointed out some time ago. The reason that they were naked is that when they fight, they strip down to birthday suit so that the other party has nothing to hold on to in the fight. Who would have thought that reasoning went that far in the heat of battle. Our people have some serious practices though. The fracass didn't last very long and subsided with a tracing match and both women being pulled in opposite directions by the gathering crowd. When all is said and done, how does one retain personal dignity after such a public show or does it not matter to them?

How I feel about this year The picture above basically takes care of all major events for 2005 up to and including Christmas therefore.....

Technology Tek over...

Writers block seems to be catching the blog community but I am hitting at it. I went to the tyre shop yesterday to have a valve on one tyre replaced. The younger of the two tyre repairers was complaining that light had been off for a while and he was unable to do any jobs. He said he had to turn many people away because none of his hi tech machines would work. I am assuming that the majority of his work was repairing flats since their were only a limited number of new tyres around. The older gentleman was laughing him to scorn and telling him that him born when is pure lazy people deh bout. Cuz when him did learn tyre trade is iron and flat pipe that had to be used to change tyre. The same sentiment tranverses into our daily lives. 21 years ago when I joined my current employ, there were no PC's around. The mainframe was accessed by only the staff in the data processing unit and that was done by punch cards and centralized key entry points. There were rows of desks in each department with typewriter to be used by the stenographer. Memos were done by hand and typed if going to a senior officer. In stark contrast is the office of today. Almost every desk has a PC that is networked to the main servers and each other. Mail is by email. memos are typed by the individual officers and are either emailed or printed depending on requirement. Stenographers are a dying (dead) profession. What has struck me though is not so much the progress that we have made but rather the lack of ingenuity and hindsight that has arisen as a result of this progress. If the PC does not work for some reason, work ceases. We cannot remember how to write a memo by hand or a receipt if the POS system runs out of paper. These were things that were done for many years before "technology was invented". I had to remind a sales clerk recently that in the absence of a functioning credit card authorization system, rather than turn the customers away, she could call through the transactions for credit approval. "Bing!!!" it suddenly occurs to her that that was what used to happen just 3 years ago. Luckily I was a customer and not her employer, (although her employer couldn't have been much better since she didn't think of that solution either). Is it a case of forward forever, backwards never? Or just a case of "how easily we forget where we came from". Maybe it is for this reason that our children cannot grasp our language since they are no longer exposed to books and what it means to read and assess situations for themselves. If you want them to learn, put it on a PS2, Game Cube, or some other techno console or CD. This in addition to the other factors to which they are exposed on a daily basis (like my patois, (Jamaican patwah)) do not elevate my hopes for a bright future in Language Arts at all. Hemmingway asked "For whom the Bell Tolls?" I say for English Language and all things non techno savy. Later guys.

2005 has Started

Well 2005 started with a bang. I went to my sister's to ring in the New Year. She planned a games evening, and fireworks were provided by the teenagers. These are illegal in here btw but they are still accessible so the kids buy them. The police try to control the sale but I don't think they are too hard and fast about it. We were slated to have family dinner on Saturday up by another sister's house but she has been having problems with her water supply so the venue got changed to my house. Half way through preparing for guests, boops, water gone. Then poof light goes. A wah di rahtid dis?! 1st day of 2005 and both light and water lock off for no apparent reason. Did I mention that in all of this Sunshine passed her flu over the internet to me. On that same note I am now ready to send it through cyberspace. Any takers? Come on!! Who wants the flu? The dinner went well I'm told since I spent most of the time locked in my room shivering under the covers. Anyway the worst semms to have passed by yesterday. I stood as God father for my wife's grand niece at her Christening. Di pickney kick an bawl an fight off di pastor. Her grandfather took us all to lunch at Bamboo Village afterwards. Di place was ram packed. I neva know sey so much jamdowners could afford to go out so early on a Sunday Morning to eat. The food was good. I finally got two tyres and changed all the struts on the car so it feels good. They aligned it and all seems to be well. Canada called and my brother-in-law is doing really well. They used some vein out of his leg to repair some blocked arteries or the other. (Dr.D. can propbably understand what I'm saying) Bottom line is that he was up and walking yesterday after having undergone major surgery during the week. He was in a bit of pain but bearable. The doctors have much hope for his recovery siting his good health habits as a major factor. The Short One goes to the orthodontist today for evaluation. She will need to fit braces. I will know the extent of her requirements later today. All in all 2005 has started on good footing so we'll see how it goes from here. Till later guys.