The weekend

Hi all, What's up. I'm not in a thinking frame of mind this morning so I'm just hailin yuh all up. Weekend was ruff. I was away from office sick on Thursday and Friday so I should have been resting right...wrong. Instead I was swatting for a test on Saturday afternoon for a course which I really can't stand but hey if you gotta do it, you just gotta do it. What can I say about the test...the results will speak. On Friday I was on my way to pick up my kids when the damn car start making all kinda noise. What the heck was that? Turned out to be a torn strut mount. Had to drive on some ruff roads the other day and I figure it got damaged at that time...oh great...more money that I hadn't planned for. Then the test. The multiple choice was ruff. Had to guess quite a few but the other section was good. I should get near full marks on that. Hopefully I'll pass. Didn't make it to church because I overslept. I was told that I'm lazzyyyyyy. I will probably agree. Then I realized that one of my favorite bloggers is "taking a break". I'll really miss her comments while she's not around. They usualy had great insight and encouragement but life is life. So much for ending the weekend on a high note. Kinda just puts the icing on a really sh*tty weekend doesn't it. The high points were my online chat and my gardening yesterday. Not that I'm putting these two things down but when you look at the whole picture, I need a life. I finally decided to get some flowers in the yard. It's not my place but I still think it should look decent nuh true. so off I went and spent yesterday gardening. School work will suffer slightly but I had had it up to my eyeballs with school work. BTW, I was told by a beautiful young lady that she actually reads my stuff here on a regular basis. She doesn't comment but now that I've been ID'ed I'd better be careful about what I write....Yeah rooight!!! Just to say thanks to those who stop by regularly and to invite those who don't speak to tell me that I'm chatting crap or otherwise if you insist. I'm just in a bad mood today so self pity is the order of the day. Now that that's off my chest...have a great day.

Short Story

Here is the story I've written for my Culture assignment. Hope you guys like it. It's long but I know you'll suffer through it because it's me. I have an exam tomorrow so I've been absent from the blog scene. I know you'll understand. The Circle of Life by Scratchie 2005 02 22 Billy turned down the long avenue that led to his house, just near the other corner of the road. He had passed this way many times before and although there were other more scenic ways to get home, he preferred to use this route as it took him past the church to which he had recently been appointed pastor. At sixty years old, he was not as agile as he once was but he was still tall in stature and by no means feeble. The years had taken their toll on him but he was a survivor and always had been. As he passed by the church, he stopped to look in. The doors needed to be fixed, several windows were broken and the yard needed to be bushed out but “Time will take care of all things”, he had told the congregation last Sunday. As he stood outside the church, his mood changed from happy and carefree to a more reflective, almost sad, but at the same time grateful one. As he moved away from the church, a strong voice from across the road shouted, “Hi Pastor. Tell the misses howdy for mi. Good to si yuh man, but careful how yuh walk by yuhself dung dat side. Di bway dem ah still terrorist yuh nuh!” The voice belonged to Miss Daisy. She had lived in the community all her life and had long since grown accustomed to its nuisances. Billy responded with his captivating smile and a wave and moved on. As he walked down the road, he exchanged pleasantries with several other persons who, upon his appointment, had also become his parishioners. As Billy pushed through his gate and made his way up the pathway, he was greeted at the door by Renee, his lovely wife. They had been married for twenty –five years and she had been his companion and soul mate for at least another ten before that. She had stood by him. He called her his salvation and although she could really only partially understand why, she knew her husband had his reasons. She accepted this place that she held in his life. It was a position she knew she would fill for many years to come, God’s willing. As he lay in the dark, a tear slid down his cheek and he remembered the seemingly insignificant exchange with Miss Daisy. Billy closed his eyes and the memories flooded back to him as if they were yesterday. It all started 35 years ago, but in truth it had started a long time before that. Billy had been the leader of a group of boys who called themselves The Untouchables. They all came from the nearby lanes that were a haven for criminal activity, even from way back then. Billy and his crew would emerge from the lanes to prey on the neighbouring community. Guns and knives were the weapons of choice, while their targets were anyone and everyone that happened to be in the wrong place at the ‘right’ time. The gang was infamous for housebreaks, armed robbery and automobile theft. They had been accused of rapes and murders but those were merely stories that had turned into folklore by over-active imaginations. Billy remembered the night he met Renee for the first time. He had seen her before, while he and his boys scouted the community for future pickings but he had not met her. As times grew harder, the gang’s activities became more daring. One night, as he and his boys moved through the community, they came upon a car parked outside a house. A man was standing beside it talking to a young lady. They seemed like an easy target. The rest of the gang stood back as Billy approached the couple, gun in hand. As Billy prepared to commit his crime he had no idea that the series of events that were to follow would change his life forever. As Billy pointed his weapon at the man with a menacing gesture and demanded money and jewellery, in what seemed like a flash, a gun appeared in the man’s hand and a police identification in the other. As a matter of instinct, Billy fired two shots in the man’s direction and turned to run. It was the first time in his life that he had fired the gun and definitely the first time he had faced such resistance from any of his victims. In essence, the hunter had become the hunted. The police officer returned the fire but Billy could not remember hearing the gunshots. He however felt the burning as one of the bullets tore through his shoulder. His friends had long since vanished, leaving him to sort out the problem he was in by himself. As he jumped over fences in a bid to escape, he could feel his shirt being soaked by the hot blood coming from his wound. As he turned the corner and ran through the church gate, his feet just simply would no longer carry him. As he fell in the church yard, he recalled that people screamed and his last memory, as he faded from consciousness, was the face of the young lady who propped his head on her jacket and ran to call for help, despite the promptings from her church brothers and sisters to keep away. Billy awakened in hospital five days later and found himself handcuffed to the bed and under police guard. The next day he was surprised to see the face of someone that had been a part of his dream. It was the same young lady who had gotten him help on that eventful evening. With the permission of the police officer guarding Billy, she introduced herself to him as Renee and offered to pray with him. Billy never spoke or offered any reaction as Renee sat by his bed and read from her Bible. She visited him three more times during his stay in hospital and during those visits he never spoke to her, not even to offer his name. She had asked him once but it was the police officer who told her that his name was Billy. Billy the Kid he called him and chastised her for “wasting her time on street trash who would probably kill her if he got the chance”. The trial was swift and Billy found himself sentenced to prison for a term of ten years. He did not see Renee for several months and had long since forgotten about her visit which he considered a bother since it bore no meaning to him, an illiterate ghetto boy with no future. Who cared what happened to him anyway? It was the way of life. He got caught so now he rots in hell. One Sunday, as he walked along the cold damp hallways of what he now called home, he heard singing coming from a room in the far corner of the prison yard. The voices of fellow inmates were heard as they sang and chatted. Billy was drawn to the music and as he looked in, he was shocked to see Renee and several of her church group leading a prayer meeting for the prisoners. Billy left without joining in but he heard the singing several times after that. He always stood at the door and enjoyed the music but never went in. On one such occasion, Renee came to the door and invited him in. He reluctantly went in and sat at the back. She offered him a song sheet and he took it from her, not wanting her to know that he could not read. He held it in front of him until the end of the meeting. During the meetings, the church brothers and sisters spoke of God in their lives. Billy listened but he could not relate what he heard to his own circumstances. At one meeting he stood holding his song sheet and Renee pulled him aside and asked him if he would like to join the basic school program that her church was involved in at the prison. He looked at her and she smiled and told him that she noticed that on several occasions he had held the song sheet upside down so she knew that he could not read. Over the next 3 years, Billy attended classes and learned to read and write. He never missed a prayer meeting. Renee continued to work with him until she was reassigned to another ministry in her church. On her last visit she brought Billy a gift; his very own Bible. Billy continued to attend the meetings but not as frequently and he read his Bible, probably because of what it represented and not so much for what it said, but he was proud of his gift. At the end of his sentence, Billy was determined to make a difference but more importantly, he was determined not to go back to what had brought him here in the first place. But where would he go? He remembered the interest and care of a young girl who saw the better part of a “misguided” boy. He had long since stopped blaming his situation on his absent father and his lot in life. He attended church that Sunday with the hope of seeing Renee again. His wondering eyes searched every pew throughout the service but she was nowhere to be seen. As he emerged through the doors, a bit disappointed, and stood on the front steps, a sea of faces greeted the stranger. The hand on his shoulder was as warm as the smile on the face of the person he saw as he turned around. Her greeting assured him that he was home. The rest of the memories passed in a blur: the business venture, the wedding, his reception into church, the children, the house. Here he was, almost three decades later, a different man; husband, a father, businessman, and pastor. If life had changed so much for him, it could change for so many others as well. He knew what he had to do. Renee had been his salvation; it was now his turn to follow the call to complete the circle of life.

CQ

I was reading an article in the Harvard Business Review last night after class and found it quite interesting. I thought I would share a bit of it with you. What the backside is CQ? Well since you asked and I'm generous with my ever widing knowledge base I will provide insight into this topic. CQ is ........wait for it............Cultural Intelligence. There I said it. Cultural Intelligence is essentially an individual's seemingly natural ability to intepret someone's unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures in just the way that person's compartriots and colleagues would (according to the article) and even mirror them. We live in a society where we are now constantly interfacing with other cultures. We are here chatting online with people from other countries, from other backgrounds and essentially from other cultures. It is no longer isolated to persons who do business abroad. We here in this circle of bloggers require a certain amount of CQ. According to the article, CQ is related to emotional intelligence but picks up where emotional intelligence leaves off. In it's opening paragraph the writer refers to a poster advertising the global bank HSBC. It shows a grasshopper and the message: "USA - Pest, China - Pet, Nothern Thailand - Appetizer". This one seemingly insignificant insect has three different meanings to three different sets of people, totally unrelated except for their interest in the grasshopper. CQ is essential in today's business environment. A Western businessman meeting with a Japanese investor stands to greet his guest and extends his hand. The Japanese man bows turns and walks away simply because a meeting in the US is opened with a handshake. In Japan the handshake comes at the end of the meeting to seal the agreement. By extending his hand to the Japanese the US businessman has indicated an end to the meeting. By having a high CQ the US businessman would have observed that the Japanese man did not approach with an extended hand and would probably have realized that this was not a part of their culture. One critical element of CQ is the propensity to suspend judgement. Instead we are required to observe current action and predict future action by observing interaction. CQ requires input from 3 sources: head, body and heart. Learning , doing and feeling. The Review puts forward a 6 step process for cultivating your CQ. This process involves identifying strengths and weaknesses, selecting appropriate training, apply training, reorganizes personal resources to support the desired approach, enters the cultural setting that needs to be mastered and finally reevaluate your progress. (Source: HBR October 2004.Article entitled "Cultural Intelligence" by P.Christopher Earley and Elaine Mosakowki) Examine your own CQ. Is it high or low. Later guys.

A Jamaican Icon

Decided to divert from my usual stuff based on a special request. So here goes.

Onandi Lowe was born on 2 December 1974. He emerged as a member of the Jamaica National Team - The Reggae Boyz in 1995. Lowe has proven himself as an all-rounder on the field and was a member of the Jamaican contingent to World Cup Competition in France. Under the direction of former technical director Rene Simoes it was said that Lowe would become one of the best sweepers in Jamaica and one of the finest worldwide.

Lowe's ability to play as defense, midfield and striker has branded him as an all around talented player.

Nandi, as he is popularly known has had stints at several football clubs both at home and abroad. These include: Rushden & Diamonds FC, Kansas City Wizards, Arnett Gardens and Port Vale. He has attracted the attention of other internationally renowned clubs such as Arsenal in the English 1^st Division League.

His career has not been without its share of ups and downs. His early career was blotted with incidents of violent physical retaliation for hard tackles against him sometimes resulting in his spending many games on the sideline, having been issued with red cards. This sort of high strung behaviour spilled over into his professional career and more recently he has had a brush with the law that saw him brought up on drug related charges. He was arrested on April 14, 2004. He was cleared of all charges last week as is now free to continue his career.

Over the years Nandi has earned the nickname "Big Man" probably because of his 6'3" 200lb frame that towers an imposing image on the field of play. A past student of Dunoon Technical High School, Lowe despises incompetent referees and negative comments and enjoys music by several artistes. He lists his ideal mate as needing to be smart, intelligent, possessing a sense of humour and a well toned body.

I am not a football fanatic so my views may conflict with others but I stand by them. It has long since been my opinion that Onandi Lowe is a talented player. I am however, of the opinion that talent alone is not enough. Thankfully (some may say) that I am not the person in charge of team selection or Mr. Lowe would have long since been dropped. I firmly believe that one must adhere to a code of conduct when one represents your country at events. Mr. Lowe has stepped out of that box on too many an occasion. If you are an imposing player then one should expect to be the target of many a team, but in the same breath I believe that the management of those incidents is the responsibility of the game referee. No player has the right to take the rules into their own hands. In doing so you disgrace an entire nation. I do hope that Mr. Lowe has matured. I am uncertain if he will ever again represent Jamaica but I do hope that he has learned from his experiences.

I don't think he is married, so Kami might still have a chance if she ever gets to Jamaica. You might have to fight off the girlfriend(s) though. Sunshine, not sure if he's your type. Sorry Mel and Camp, you are spoken for already.

Later all.

Weekend Review

Hi all, It's Monday again and I really don't wanna be here at work but I don't think Mr. JPS and Mr. NWC and Messrs. C&W will accept that as an excuse when I can't pay them their due so "I owe, I owe so off to work I go......" I had one of my major presentations on Saturday morning. We were asked to do a half hour presentation on the service gaps existing in government entities. We used our handouts and Powerpoint slides and at the end of the presentation we were graded as "excellent". The lecturer didn't even expand on anything we had said and didn't dispute the presentation. She said that my co-presenter omitted an area of enforcement/sanctions for non-compliance of staff in delivery but she said that it didn't detract from the presentation in any way. We also handed in an individual piece for grading. Resits are around the corner and the mad place still has not published last semester grades...so mi don't know if I have any to do. I know I passed one of those that I was concerned about but the other (Marketing) remains outstanding. Had a group meeting yesterday. Started at 3:00 and finished at 7:30. 4 1/2 hours of work on Sunday. It went well though. The project that we were at point A last week is at 1st draft stage and should be totally complete by Wednesday. All in all this semester is actually a better one for me. It is more work but because of the volume of work you are forced to stay on top of it. That plus I think the subjects are being better presented this time around. I put my hooves down with the Tall One over the weekend and it got some good results (if only temporarily). He actually completed another project and will hand it in today ahead of schedule. I was actually able to stay in my bed last night as a result of having gotten somewhere with the assignment so I'm in a pretty OK mood this morning. Well the baton has changed in the political arena. Mr. Bruce Golding was yesterday elected as leader of the Jamaica Labour Party. Mr. Seaga, who had vowed not to attend the meeting on grounds of being dissed (disrespected) during the week by adverts alluding to a new leadership and the retirement of old leadership styles with an old leader, turned up at the conference anyway. He entered amids much celebration at his arrival. My only comment at this point is that an era has ended. Allbeit that it should have ended a long time ago. I am hoping that with new persons in charge of leadership that the party will embrace a new vision that will foster the growth of our small nation. Mr. Golding said that mr. Charles, his challenger< will be an itegral part of the party management....roooight. Forgive me if I sound skeptical. The Reggae Boyz beat T&T for those interested. They are to play Barbados and Cuba I think, but since I'm not really a fanatic it's kinda neither here nor there to me. Wonder if JDid is going to play?? Anyways lest I be accused of chatting too much I gone. Looking for the usual hail ups Later all.

Same old, Same old

It's gotten cooler again so I know you guys in Canada have frozen tushies going on. Hush it'll soon be summer again. Why is it so difficult to get teenagers to understand that life doesn't revolve around music, clothes and cell phones? It seems that over the past year or so all I have been doing is stressing myself over the Tall One's study and school habits. He has exams in three months that will determine the path his life takes. We quarrel almost daily and the house has literally become a battle zone. His side: Under too much stress (yeah, right) Too much work ( it is manageable if you don't leave it all till the day it's due) We are always at him to do something (you are always downloading music or chatting on the phone and then expect that all else stops when your assignments are due and you need help) My side; What assignments are due now? (I don't know, I'll have to check) What are the due dates (I don't know, the teacher never said) What are you to do ( I don't know, they haven't finished going through that yet) Now, am I the only one who feels that I am sending this child to school, paying some serious money for him to know stuff and he seems to be coming out the system at the other end knowing less than when I put him in the system in the first place. I have tried and frankly I can't do much more than that at this point. I made a decision a long time ago that I am his parent and not his friend so I will continue to nag the ra$$ out of him until I am satisfied that he at least accomplishes the requirements of basic living on this green and blue ball. I will take the dirty looks and the snide comments (until they get too fresh, then I will shot him a box) as a price to be paid for his own good. I guess I'm seeing things from the other side. Hell, I don't want him to be struggling at school at age 40 like his father. Those were my choices back then. I went to work instead of to college. I did the postponing of education until I decided it was time to get this thing done. I haven't been the worse for it but I can definitely see where my choices could have been better. The most I can do is hope that he will straighten up and fly right. There are too many distractions in life today. My only question is, "where is that sweet child that was born just the other day and who is this that has replaced him?" I am still looking for the answer. Later guys.

Wicked Dress

This dress was in today's daily newspaper. I was wondering if any of the ladies in the blogging crew would want to try making this and then actually wearing it. Maybe a photo or two for the rest of us less brave folks. Mel, Kami, Sunshine, Fyr....any takers?

NIP

Some of you must be wondering "What the heck is NIP"? Well in my scheme of things NIP is Nothing in Particular. Today is just one of those mornings when nothing out of the ordinary happens and one has a rather boring existence on good old planet earth. I was up a bit later than usual. My schoolmates came over at about 9:30 and we were working on an assignment that is due shortly. We have been shooting in the dark so to speak and nothing much changed last night. We are still awaiting the epiphany that will guide us on how to approach this madness that they have saddled us with. This morning I am actually heading out now to get the ole eyes checked. I got replacement glasses last year but I used an old prescription to have them done. These prescriptions are about 2 1/2 years old so they are well overdue for changing. Hoping that the eyes haven't gotten any worse but I know that that is a piped dream since I have been doing more studying and getting less sleep. I'll tell you how that goes when I get back. My essay is complete and it is due to be handed in on Tuesday. I won't publish it until the lecturer has it and has graded it simply because I can't bother to try explain and prove that Scratchie and I are the same person. They sometimes do internet searches to try to eliminate plagerism. As a matter of fact, one group from last semester is currently resitting a course because of suspected plagerism. The school can't prove it as a fact so they were allowed to resit the course rather than being thrown out of the school. But that's another issue all together. Long and short is that you will see it in about a week or so. I'm telling you now so that you can go get the necessary glasses checks done and reserve some quality time and build that eager anticipation till the day when big tings bus inna Scratchie's World. Anyway my appointment is in 5 minutes so later all.

Lite Humour

The following was sent to me by a friend so I thought I would share it with you. The inventor of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle, Arthur Davidson, died and went to heaven. At the gates, St. Peter told Arthur. "Since you've been such a good man and your motorcycles have changed the world, your reward is, you can hang out with anyone you want to in heaven." Arthur thought about it for a minute and then said, "I want to hang out with God." St. Peter took Arthur to the Throne Room, and introduced him to God. God recognized Arthur and commented, "Okay, so you were the one who invented the Harley-Davidson motorcycle?" Arthur said, "Yeah, that's me...." God commented: "Well, what's the big deal in inventing something that's pretty unstable, makes noise and pollution and can't run without a road?" Arthur was apparently embarrassed, but finally spoke, "Excuse me, but aren't you the inventor of woman?" God said, " Ah, yes." "Well ," said Arthur, "professional to professional, you have some major design flaws in your invention: 1. There's too much inconsistency in the front-end protrusion 2. It chatters constantly at high speeds 3. Most rear ends are too soft and wobble too much 4. The intake is placed way too close to the exhaust 5. The maintenance costs are outrageous!!!! "Hmmmmm, you may have some good points there," replied God, "hold on." God went to his Celestial supercomputer, typed in a few words and waited for the results. The computer printed out a slip of paper and God read it. "Well, it may be true that my invention is flawed," God said to Arthur, "but according to these numbers, more men are riding my invention than yours.

Waddup....

Waddup Dawgs, No not the Angry one out by the Kennel....you all. For those of you who have children, you can't help but hear the difference in their language. When did bad become good and vice versa, when did telling somebody that they look like sh*t means that they are actually well dressed and looking good. I don't know about you but I'm having a hard time just keeping up with the dress code to add language to the mix. I sat and listened to some teens chatting at class last night and I seriously considering commissioning the writing of a teen dictionary so that we adults (even Kami and Dog) can understand the "crap" that comes out of their mouths. The mode of dress is another issue. Why the hell am I going to a store to purchase a pair of jeans with razor cuts and shredded tears. The reason I'm buying a new jeans is because the old one looks like that. The only difference is that I don't like it looking like that and it looks that way because it is worn out and has become yard wear. Mi nah pay nobody to do it for me before mi even start wear it. Onnuu hear di age talking don't it. My son tried to buy a pants a few months ago. He is trying to tell me (this learned student) that he wears a 34 waist. Breddrin, I wear a 36 so there is no way on God's green earth that that stick of a boy can wear 34. I worked so hard to get to my 36 an im want to come jump right up there beside mi. Boy pay your dues. 34 and 36 come from years of snacking and junk food. Underwear is no longer underwear since it is worn so that everybody can see the colour, style and cut of it. Not to mention when it stay like batty floss. Not complaining still, but it kinda hard to concentrate in class with such wonderful distractions. Why is it that the men now choose to wear their pants on their hips with boxers showing. For who's benefit exactly. "Style"!!! What are the limits that we parents set? Do I allow my teen daughter to go out on the road as rape bait? I think not. I look at some of the music videos these days and some of them should carry an X rating. We argue about the level of teen sexual activity but I honestly don't think that they are the ones making these movies and videos. They have it shoved in their faces daily, so what do we expect? I have accepted that they live in a new world and honestly it is a world I don't fully understand. I'm not so sure I want to understand it either. Don't get me wrong, prudish I am not but I do believe that there are certain things that should be left until you are an adult. i guess we just have to hug them and hope that the guidance we impart has an impact on how they live their reality. Nuh true? Later guys.

Today

STRIKE ON!!!! KEEP OUT!!!! Scratchie's World is officially on strike. Better pay and fringe benefits for bloggers required. We want Justice!!! Just idle folks :-) I am a little out of it today. Had an assignment that I was up working on and still not finished yet. Was up at 3:00 this morning and believe me, mi did ugly already so you can imagine the red eyes and mash up face that the sleep deprivation has caused. So this is just a good morning to all. Have a great day.

Happy Valentine's Day

Today is traditionally celebrated as Valentine's Day and is recognized as a day for love. Happy Valentine's Day to you all. May your dreams of true love and happiness be realised.

There are may different types of love but I will focus on just three because I think we can all fit ourselves into one of these three categories or the other. Eros, Phillio and Agape.

Eros is described as erotic love and the best example is the love that one feels for a spouse or significant other. It is that love that begins with the attraction of one person to another and develops into long term relationships. It also has the ability to transform itself and sustain other types of love.

Phillio is the type of love that a family member feels for another. It is sometimes described as brotherly love. Even if we have never experienced eros most of us can relate to the love of family or family members. It is proported that this type of love is the love that closest describes the love existing between platonic friends although I have read where it is seperated into another category in the expanded format.

The last type is the type that I relate to and I hope you can too. That is Agape. Agape is often described as the love of God. This is the type of love that we experience when we go to church or when we pray. Some peoplesay that they have never experienced Agape although they are involved in church. My response is that you aren't looking hard enough. Agape exists in the air we breathe, the fact that you are reading my ramblings right now. It exists in the beautiful things we see around us, the sky, trees, birds, the rain even the harsh weather that we experience from time to time. Without question Agape is the most evident form of love and guess what....it is there for the taking.

For those of you who say you don't have a significant other, I say to you that you do. God calls himself your Valentine, not just today, but every day that you are alive. It is for you to accept that love, given always and freely even when we reject it.

So whether it be Eros, Phillio or Agape you all fall into one of those categories. So you are all my Valentine in some way or the other.

Have a great day.

Hey I see Comments

Hi all one of the things that has always bothered me about blogger is that when I want to respond to comments it was difficult to remember what each person had said because you couldn't see them. Last night when I went to add my two cents to some comments left on my post low and behold...not only was I seeing comments but I was seeing a Kami and a Piggy as well. The photos of the commenter appeared beside each comment. Cool!!! Blogger must have been doing some background work. Today I was going to make a long post but I chased out of the house and left the diskette do that will have to wait. This morning FAME FM was playing the song "I'm my Own Grandpa". I have always liked the song as it inspired childhood memories when my mom used to sing it to me. This morning after all these years I was trying to follow his line of reasoning for a change when di blasted DJ cut the song. Bet yuh if mi wasn't trying to follow it the whole thing woulda play. :-) Life I guess. Charles and Camilla still in the local news. I won't get into why or how but let's just say it is about looks. I won't elaborate any more than that. Last night the Old Boys Assn for my alma mater met. I had to dash out but from what I heard, the new principal has great ideas for the school. The school as you may have read in either DrD or Mad Bull's blogs has been getting poor ratings from the media and other forum. This is in stark contrast to an era not so long gone when parents lined up to get their sons into a top rated high school. Changes have begun and I am awaiting the outcome. Guys the school needs help so round up the Georgians you know and try to get them involved in the school. They need money time and talent so where ever you can fit in... Anyways enough from me today. Have a great weekend all.

Addendum to today's Post

Here is the story of the couple. Boy, everybody who commented seemed to be "delighted" at the wedding plans. I never see so much delighted in one article yet. Read here.

Not my best looking post but I may scare some people back to reality. Right Dr.D. and Mad Bull?

Just another day

Hi all, Nothing much on the home front this morning. Yesterday was fantastic simply because I was not at work. Missed you all though. Didn't get my usual blog fix. Did you know that this thing can be addictive? Went to have my shower and turned on the pipe...ICE WATER!!!!! AARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Wifey thought somebody was murdering me in the bathroom. Yow people dat water can drink straight out of the tap. Is only because mi decent why mi nuh resort to Irish showers yuh nuh. Heard the news that Prince Charles will be tying the knot on April 8. He has reportedly had this ongoing relationship with some woman or the other for the past 30 years. His former wife had mentioned in an interview that her marriage had included three people. Now I know reporting tactics so I can't say whether she was talking about the other woman, the queen, her boyfriend or some other insignificant third party who fass inna di people dem business. Valentine's Day is fast approaching. Although I firmly believe that one should not wait until a particular day to show your significant other that you care about them. This should be an ongoing affair, nuh true? Anyway gentlemen, it nuh matter what she says, get a little something something to put a smile on her face. Ladies do likewise for your men. A word to the wise is sufficient, money or lack of it thereof is no excuse. If is even a chocolate bar from the supermarket shelf. (Oh I forgot about the diets and healthy living so scrap the chocolate idea, make that a Granola Bar instead or Nature Valley or...whatever. I was looking at the history of Valentine's Day to "educate" you all but too many contraversial versions are out there in cyberspace so mi not going there. Go hunt it down yourself and you choose from the romantic to the ordinary to the downright queer. Which version do you believe. What are your views on Valentine's Day. Is it a ploy to make money? Is it for lovers? Is it for...... Do we need it? Have a great day all.

Good Day

Well yesterdaydidn't go too badly at all. I had some problems with some software that I loaded on to an old machine but it was resolved. What happened was that My package of Office 97 was abandoned long ago in favour of new stuff but Tall One was having compatability issue. Anyway the story is in the previous post so go check that. The problem was resolved with a patch from Microsoft. Apparently it was an issue with some of the application suites at that time. So I am happy. Everything is up and running. The Tall One has one part of his IT SBA due and in discussions with his teacher, he has met the requirements already. She has also advised that she will continue with explanations of the parts he does not understand when they return to school after the mid term break which starts tomorrow. So he seems to be on his way. How do you deal with it when friends and family feud. I have a very good friend. She and I have been close for as long as I have known wifey. The friendship has been good and like any relationship we have had ups and downs but I value the friendship very much. Now the problem is her husband's attitude to everything. To cut to the story, yesterday her daughter attended extra classes with my sister, who teaches at her school. The husband asked my sister if the child could pick up her brother (just a short walk away) and return to stay at the house until he was able to pick them up. She apparently told him that it would not be convenient as she had other things to do and babysitting did not factor into the picture. Knowing dear Sis she was a bit more emphatic than I write since she isn't into the babysitting thing at all. She doesn't even sit for family. Anyway I don't know what transpired but my friend's daughter and son turned up at Sis's house (which is actually the family house). Guess who was not amused. She called the husband to find out what the ra$$ was up and words got heated with him telling her to speak to my friend and hung up on Sis. All hell broke loose and the daughter is no longer welcome at extra classes and since my friend is also at all family gatherings it now becomes Sis or friend. How di baxide mi get inna di middle of Sis's preckay...ask me nuh? Wifey asked me what to do and my response is leave it alone. My intention is to leave it alone and extend my invites as normal.If Sis comes then fine if friend comes then fine. I have no intention of trying to choose side because I think both are wrong. The persons who should be saying whether the kids could stay or not are my parents and I have not heard them say anything. At the same time since the essence of friends daughter being there is the extra class then Sis's request not to have the "babysitting" situation should be observed. I know my friend was called and appraised of situation but I don't know what is the verdict. Personally some of it is friend taking advantage of friend generosity as under normal circumstances they would have been welcome to stay at my place but I had supermarket yesterday evening. Friend's husband needs to realize that friend and friends's family are two different things. We may live in the same area but we have different ways of handling things. I await the outcome of this battle royale. Have a great day all.

Monday Chat

Hi All, Just checking in. I was a bit out of it for most of the weekend with a cold but I still dragged my sorry a$$ to school on Saturday and had to focus on some work later in the day. Sunday turned into a "no rest for the wicked" day and bwoy I must be the worst person on earth because mi nuh get not an ounce of sleep all day. I had to pick up my son from his aunts house so i was out till about 11:00 last night....grrrrrrr!!! That leads me to another point....SBAs. Most of you would be familiar with old time CXC and GCE O'Level exams. These were taken at the end of 5th form/grade 11. In recent years the examiners have taken notice of the high failure rates even from students who do fairly well in school so they decided to make some of the exam grades school based hence SBA (school based assessment). The Tall One is doing his CXC exams in June so right now he has lots of his SBAs due. This is graded work that the school forwards to CXC for review and it forms a part of his final grades. This SBA has replaced some of the practicals that the kids were required to sit and it also has reduced the number of exams CXC must invigilate. Win win situation you would think...well not quite so. Right now the Tall One is facing issues of compatibility of software with his Information Technology SBA. We tried to save his work down but Access did not allow this option so I had to reformat one of my machines at home nad literally downgrade it to accomodate the software that the school uses. I had to literally go dig up my software package CD for Office 97 and reload it on one of the machines. Then I remembered that I had not purchased an activation for Access 97 so I am in deep doo-doo because he needs this to start his work. Where am I going to get this relic of software at this point? The SBA is supposed to take some of the stress out of the system. All it has done is shifted to elsewhere. I have serious concerns as to the standardization that is required to level this playfield. The school has issues with making the computers available to the children. Whilst they could do it at home (and you are assuming that the majority of them has access to computers at home, which I doubt strongly) there is the issue of compatability, then there is the issue of proper guidance and a standard project across the school system. So instead of focusing on my work I am now given the added task of solving the Tall One's SBA issues as well. The more they try to make it better it seems to just get worse. What to do. Just have to take it in stride and deal with it. Dealing with the Tall One is no easy feat. Those of you with teens will know what I mean. His attitude is that if it doesn't go as planned the first time then forget it. I have to be behind him to get the info to find out the problems and to instruct on possible solutions. Kids today have lost the ability to think beyond the obvious. No creativity or imagination. They have no observation skills. When I finally pulled the compatability issue out of him he could not even remember the coluor of the Word icon that the school's computer has on it so that I could definitely know what I was dealing with. Madness I tell.....arrrrrggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! Try to enjoy your day all.

Hi All

I'm on the downside today so I really just hailin' yuh all up. Well I got the Messenger thing to work yesterday. I met the woman of my dreams online last night and if all goes as planned we'll be married in about a month or so :-) . Yeah rooight! Wishful thinking. I wonder what wifey would say to that last comment heh heh heh. I'm at home today sick. This is my time of year man. Between October and March I can count on being sick maybe 3 or 4 times. The cycle goes again in May-June when the weather changes again. It's not as bad then though. Anyway I am at home and I can tell you that ...IT"S BORING!!!!!!!!!!!! But being away from the office ...PRICELESS!!!! I can't think straight with all this anti cold and flu stuff swimming in my head so I will just end here by wishing you all a good weekend. Tek care all.

Maybe I need to just calm down and....

Some years ago I downloaded Yahoo Messenger to my computer and never use it. Towards the end of last year it kept offering me updates and there is no way to stop the updates being offered. It's either tell it yes or suffer through the same crap questions every time you get on the net. I finally decided to remove Yahoo Messenger from the machine totally cuz mi really not a sit down at night and write messages type of person...(well not yet anyway). Maybe if I find some interest I'll change my mind but for now.... Well removal went easily enough but Scratchie couldn't be satisfied, OHHH noooo, had to try something else. I decided to try MSN Messenger for some unknown reason. Remember mi nuh use di damn sinting but had to have something. Dat blasted piece of software took almost 45 minutes to download. Now 45 minutes is nuff time when yuh tyad an want major sleep. Then came set up. I am thoroughly convinced that these software people design these things with some sick sense of humour in mind. "How can we frustrate the hell out of the idiots that download our madness?" Let's see, we'll give them really large programmes to download, we'll ensure it hitches a couple of times and then we'll give them minimum instruction on how to use it. Anyway I finally got the thing installed, now ask me again why I installed it? I have not a clue. I figure it was just that moment when self torture was necessary. Having said all of this, how many of you out there use MSN Messenger? Who uses Yahoo Messenger? How do you use the damnned things anyway? Maybe tonight when I am not too tired to fight it out I'll try to figure it out again. Later guys.

Procrastination...

Procrastination is a heck of a thing, can I tell you. We are all guilty of it at some point or the other. It rears its ugly head when we put off that diet that we are meaning to start or that assignment that we are given at the beginning of the term or the friend we are supposed to call. Or that tyre that keeps going down that needs fixing.....from 6 months ago. I had to laugh at myself yesterday. I have a list of blogs to the right of my page that I go through meticulously on a daily basis. Now those of you who come by regularly know that I have not changed my list in months. Instead I go to a blog which I know has the link that I am looking for and I access it like that. That's where JDid's blog has been good to me. Picture this routine every time I want to read Campfyah's pages. So yesterday I finally place a link on my own page. I guess I will do the rest of them when that spirit of anti-procrastination hits me again. Class last night was fun. I am thoroughly enjoying this course. There are only 6 of us in the class since most people jumped ship when they heard that they had to study drama and art. I will take that stuff any day over Spanish French Japanese or Philosophy. Last night we looked at literature. I already started my short story for grading. I have three weeks to complete it and hand it in. As I told you, if my grade is good I will give you all a read later in the semester. Our mini production (improv) went well and our lecturer was impressed by what we put together in 10 minutes. Told her to ease up on us next week though. Mi poor ole heart can't tek it two weeks straight. The beauty of such a small class is you are able to get personal with the lecturer. Besides I may be about her age anyway so it's more like one on one interaction than a class scenario. Anyways, work calls (and it chatting really loud) so mi gone. Likkle more guys.

Culture? Habit? When will we get it?

It always amazes me that when we go into business entities to spend our hard earned money we accept less than adequate service in return. This is particularly true in the Caribbean. What is it about us that condones this mediocracy? We wait exceedingly realistic amount of time in a line to obtain a product or service that is available elsewhere, when we have complaints they remain unvoiced generally, we accept it. We see a different picture when we visit North America. Our relatives and friends that take us places are for the most part intolerant of the things we accept as normal at home. They cuss and swear at the clerk for taking too long, or badgering them too much or...... We in the Caribbean are aspiring for 1st World status, but I will state that until our business people adapt 1st World attitudes in how we deliver service to our customers among other factors we will forever remain a laid back holiday destination. Nothing wrong with the holiday destination thing yuh nuh, but I do believe that our people deserve better than what is meeted out to us on a daily basis. Prime example, I bought a modem about a week ago and it has been sitting on my desk at home for the entire time. I opened it from a sealed box on Sunday to install it and walla no CD software. I called the supplier yesterday and the first reaction is that I had misplaced it. I went to the company and the same comment. I looked at the woman an asked her if the part could not have been missing from the supplier. Her response was "not likely". I told her to look at the logic, customer buys a part calls to advise that something is missing. Now why would he want to get an extra software CD? It can't work with anything else, so he must have a genuine reason for calling. In circumstances like that the customer gets the benefit of the doubt. We tend to look at people as basically dishonest even in situations where common logic dictates otherwise. She agreed with me and then admitted that it could have been missing from supplier to customer including someone on her own staff who may have removed one for some reason. We need to refocus on the customer and not on profit. One disatisfied customer leads to many disillusioned persons who will never come into your store. What unooo tink?