Don dead

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

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

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

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

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

Mid Week

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

Art Critique

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

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

Finally, Friday has gotten here.....

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

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

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

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

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

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

Driving in Jamaica

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

Hey....?????

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

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

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

Anyways I gone so have a great day.

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

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

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

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

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

Later guys.

R.I.P. Martin Park

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

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

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

Wednesday is here...already?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh Wow!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Best wishes.

Idling Post

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

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

01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink

02. Swam with wild dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain

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

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula.

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone

08. Said "I love you"and meant it

09. Hugged a tree

10. Done a striptease

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

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

15. Seen the Northern Lights

16. Gone to a huge sports game

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

18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

19. Touched an iceberg

20. Slept under the stars

21. Changed a babys diaper

22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon

23. Watched a meteor shower

24. Gotten drunk on champagne for sure!

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

26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

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

28. Had a food fight

29. Bet on a winning horse

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

31. Asked out a stranger

32. Had a snowball fight

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

34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

35. Held a lamb Does a Rabbit count?

36. Enacted a favorite fantasy

37. Taken a midnight skinny dip

38. Taken an ice cold bath

39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar

40. Seen a total eclipse

41. Ridden a roller coaster

42. Hit a home run

43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days

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

45. Adopted an accent for an entire day

46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

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

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

49. Visited all 50 states

50. Loved your job for all accounts

51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced

52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

53. Had amazing friends

54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

55. Watched wild whales

56. Stolen a sign

57. Backpacked in Europe

58. Taken a road-trip

59. Rock climbing

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

61. Midnight walk on the beach

62. Sky diving

63. Visited Ireland

64. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love

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

66. Visited Japan

67. Benchpressed your own weight

68. Milked a cow

69. Alphabetized your records

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

71. Sung karaoke

72. Lounged around in bed all day

73. Posed nude in front of strangers

74. Scuba diving

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

76. Kissed in the rain

77. Played in the mud

78. Played in the rain

79. Gone to a drive-in theater

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

81. Visited the Great Wall of China

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

83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better

84. Started a business

85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken

86. Toured ancient sites

87. Taken a martial arts class

88. Swordfought for the honor of a woman

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

90. Gotten married

91. Been in a movie

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

93. Loved someone you shouldnt have

94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy

95. Gotten divorced

96. Had sex at the office

97. Gone without food for 5 days

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

99. Won first prize in a costume contest

100. Ridden a gondola in Venice

101. Gotten a tattoo

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

103. Rafted the Snake River

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

105. Got flowers for no reason

106. Masturbated in a public place

107. Got so drunk you dont remember anything

108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug

109. Performed on stage

110. Been to Las Vegas

111. Recorded music (part of my music ministry)

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

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

114. Gone to Thailand

115. Seen Siouxsie live

116. Bought a house

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

118. Buried one/both of your parents

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

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

121. Spoken more than one language fluently

122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone

123. Bounced a check

124. Performed in Rocky Horror

125. Read - and understood - your credit report

126. Raised children at the moment

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

128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

129. Created and named your own constellation of stars

130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did

132. Called or written your Congress person

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

134. more than once? - More than thrice?

135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

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

137. Had an abortion or your female partner did

138. Had plastic surgery

139. Survived an accident that you shouldnt have survived

140. Wrote articles for a large publication

141. Lost over 100 pounds

142. Held someone while they were having a seizure

143. Piloted an airplane

144. Petted a stingray

145. Broken someones heart

146. Helped an animal give birth

147. Been fired or laid off from a job

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

149. Broken a bone

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

151. Gone on an African photo safari

152. Ridden a motorcycle

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

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

155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol

156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

157. Ridden a horse

158. Had major surgery emergency cesarian while asleep

159. Had sex on a moving train made out though

160. Had a snake as a pet

161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

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

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

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

165. Visited all 7 continents

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

167. Eaten kangaroo meat

168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground

169. Been a sperm or egg donor

170. Eaten sushi

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

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

173. Changed someones mind about something you care deeply about

174. Gotten someone fired for their actions

175. Gone back to school

176. Parasailed

177. Changed your name

178. Petted a cockroach

179. Eaten fried green tomatoes

180. Read The Iliad

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

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

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

184. Taught yourself an art from scratch

185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt

187. Skipped all your school reunions

188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

189. Been elected to public office

190. Written your own computer language

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

192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

193. Built your own PC from parts

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

195. Had a booth at a street fair

196: Dyed your hair

197: Been a DJ

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

199: Written your own role playing game

200: Been arrested

Today is....?

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

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

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

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

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

Anyways, enough from me. Take care all.

Monday

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

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

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

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

 

Well Here I am.....

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anyway I gone do some blog reading. Later all.

Well I finally did it......

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Girl Attack

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

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

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

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

Have a great day all.

Just Passing Throoooouuuuuggghhhhh

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

Journalism

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

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

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

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

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

Bammy

Smallislandgirl,

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

Post Emancipation Day

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

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

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

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

Well

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

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

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

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

Humour is the key to life

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anyway I'm rambling. Take care all.

Friday...Musings

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

What a gwaan?

Well today is Thursday and nothing much going on really.

Family are away and I'm surviving. They called last night and they are enjoying themselves. Decided to go the easy route last night...bought Chinese food at China Gardens in New Kingston. Food fill the gap yuh hear. It wasn't bad at all and the amount of food would turn you into an immediate glutton. I finished half of the food and was FULL. I couldn't eat a stitch more.

As for me well you know the usual...school work is the most critical item on my agenda for a while. Had a major presentation last night that accounts for 60% of out course work grade. It went extremely well. We made a presentation on the Implications of China as an Emerging Economic Super power to the US, EU, CARICOM and Asia. We were told that our grades should be in the 90's so that is a definite good news. We passed the essay for the Caribbean Econ course with a C+. I hear it is one of the highest grades. The maximum grade gotten by any group from that lecturer is a B- so we aren't gonna complain. A waste of time course if there ever was one.

Got The Shorter One's report card yesterday and she passed all her subjects. She starts grade 9 in September and is doing really well. She has a fear of exams that usually see her failing miserably yet she passes the course work. This year she passes them all...exams and all. Congrats to you "Little S".

Little S is our ongoing name calling. I've called her that for years and she calls me Big S. Little S was me teasing her by calling her "little stinker" and when she caught on I changed it to "little s" which could be mistaken for "littlest". She couldn't say that I called her stinker but she caught on and started calling me Big S and when I tackle her about it she says "no it's biggest". This name calling has been our amusement for years.

Anywayz I gone. Have a great day you all.

Home Report

Well contrary to the title I really don't have much to tell you all. Home is boring without the family. Oh Yamfoot asked about the Tall One...Well he left from a week and a half ago so he is enjoying life in the Big Apple (NY) with his aunt and cousin. Wifey and Shorter One have joined him there for a week before heading to Baltimore. He wants to stay in NY...I suspect because his younger cousin in Baltimore was a pain in the neck on our last trip. Besides "J" his NY cousin is nearer to his age anyway. Plus she has a readimade party companion with him around. School has really started to heat up as exams draw nearer. Well I got back the Caribbean Econ test that I was worrying about. I passed but definitely not with the usual grades. I didn't scrape either but let's just say a sigh of relief went up. This is one course I definitely have not gained anything from. The testing method encourages swatting answers to respond verbatum and I believe one should be able to understand and interpret not just regurgitate. Just can't study that way. Anywayz I just passing through. Thanks for the eating tips guys. Believe me some of them are already being used. Dr.D I will definitely link with you (hurricanes permitting).

Monday..a Brand New Day

Hi all, Well what can I say Emily came, she looked in, didn't see anything of interest and went on her merry way. I ain't complaining at all. Luckily for us it was a tight storm. Most parts of the island had a few drops of rain and nuff cloud cover. Where I live we had one or two gusts of breeze similar to what we use to fly kites in when I was a whole lot younger. South coast parishes had it a bit harder but nothing compared to what could have been. As a matter of fact our airport, which is on a spit and has suffered dearly for its location, was reopened yesterday morning by about 8:00....roads cleared and all. Well, with the reopening of the airport I am now familyless. Wifey and The Shorter One left yesterday afternoon. Big up to US Airways who did everything to accomodate them as they were due to leave on Saturday in the heights of Emily. They were bumped up to 1st class and though there were delays (weather related) I won't complain because it's all good (stole Camp's phrase..hope she doesn't mind...even if she does, I done steal it already so there...). They arrived safe and sound and the flight was good I am told. I will tell you this..I would not want to be an Air Jamaica passenger yesterday. I arrived at the airport to do my drop offs and bucked up the line to get into the airport in between the two round-abouts. The line was about a mile long..... In crawling with the line I realized eventually that the entire line with the exception of a few was for Air Jamaica. There were several hundred people outside Air J's office waiting to go in. Now folks, the airport is under contruction and is outside in sun hot these people standing.....I left most of them there with Air J making announcements of delays and cancellations and flight leaving in the afternoon etc. So officially I am alone for the next 5 weeks. Probably good anyway cuz school work killing me just about now. Final exams for the semester start early August so yuh know how the blog thing goes when school calls......... Back to the assignment I was working on..so later all.

Here We Go Again

Well folks we Jamaican folk are in for another blowjob. Hurricane Emily seems to have invited herself to our table and we can't get her to leave. We are once again under hurricane warning. Wifey and the Shorter One were supposed to depart tomorrow but that looks very unlikely at this point but we'll see. Right about now most business places are closing with the exception of supermarkets and hardware stores. Emily has be fluctuating between category 3 and category 4 but either way you take it...it's a big mofo storm. I don't particularly relish the thought of being hit with 30 miles per hour winds much less 125 miles per hour...... :( And from the looks of Africa's west coast we may have a storm every week for the next 2 weeks....not a comforting prospect at all. Well school has been on hold for this week and tomorrow is a definite no no so we are gonna be in for it because exams I am sure exams have been set. We are going to be required to do the last few chapters on our own. Guess I'll just start from now. Work is here. Let me not say anymore because I think I work with some of the most inconsiderate, self serving, s.o.b. who call themselves managers. I live nearby so I have no real issues but we have staff that need to get home and do prep work for these storms. If they leave at 4:30 there is nothing that they can do to secure their homes. The government has sent home its staff at 2:00 so why are they sticking out to 4:30? Just plain old bad mind. They will have to answer for their actions if not here certainly hereafter. Anyways to all my blog friends who are yet to feel the effects of this thing..stay safe.

EC on Warning

Well it looks like Emily intend to plaster the Eastern Caribbean with one hell of a sloppy blowjob. We in for a wicked hurricane season this year guys so we better hang on to our hats. 5 named storm systems and 2 that have done some serious damage already with Emily on the way is not a nice prospect. This season goes from June to November, so 5 by July may mean a not so nice summer for us but moreso Florida who seems to catch them at their peak. My prayers go out to all my blog friends who are now bracing for a touch of Emily, especially Kami in SVG, Dorna! and our recent addition Small Island Girl in Trinidad. Guys weather the storm well, stay safe and be as prepared as you can be. Space shuttle is scheduled for launch today. Is not my family or friends on board but I still hold my breath every time that thing takes off. I remember when the shuttle exploded on take off. Back then I was so intrigued by space travel. I was at home sick the day and was glued to the television watching the launch...then booom....:( Then to relive something like that with the most recent loss of the space craft and more importantly more lives. I keep wondering how those families deal with that kind of loss. I wonder if it's really worth the time and effort we are putting into space exploration...to boldly go where no man has gone before....these are the voyages of the.....sorry wrong sci-fi. Anyway enuff rambling for me..Dr. D should be back but I haven't been by his site yet so...... Stay safe guys.

hey.....Where are you all

Was just looking around the blogs and realized that a lot of you are in my boat. Nothing really going on and lots of blogs suffering from summer vacation syndrome. Not to worry just part of life I guess. Well I'm gearing up to ship out my family for about 5 weeks. The Tall One left for New York on Saturday and Wifey and the Shorter One leave on Saturday but their visit will span New York and Baltimore. So I get dumped into bachelor life for a while. Guess I'll live on junk food and water for the time cuz I can't bother slaving over no blasted stove. Dennis came and left but it looks like he invited Emily over so we are keeping a close eye on her. I haven't had any problems just a few leaks so I'm good. All the utilities are intact. School is good. Haven't failed any courses yet although my reading is close to zero. Have to deal with that soon. I am still maintaining a pretty decent average so I just need to stay focused. Anyway I'm gone. We'll chat some more later.

Weekend Humour...Post Dennis so to speak

A young blonde was on vacation & driving through the Everglades. She wanted to take home a pair of genuine alligator shoes, but was very reluctant to pay the high prices the local vendors were asking. Becoming frustrated with the "no haggle on prices" attitude of one of the shopkeepers, the blonde shouted, "Well then, maybe I'll just go out and catch my own alligator, so I can get a pair of shoes for free!" The shopkeeper said with a sly, knowing smile, "Little lady, just go and give it a try!" The blonde headed out toward the swamps, determined to catch an alligator. Later, as the shopkeeper is driving home, he pulls over to the side of the levee where he spots that same young woman standing waist deep in the murky bayou water, shotgun in hand. Then, she spots huge 9-foot gator swimming rapidly toward her. With lightning speed, she takes aim, kills the creature and hauls it onto the slimy bank of the swamp. Lying nearby were 7 more of the dead creatures, all lying on their backs. The shopkeeper stood on the bank, watching in silent amazement. The blonde struggled and flipped the gator onto its back. Rolling her eyes heavenward and screaming in great frustration, she shouts out, "OH CRAP! THIS ONE IS BAREFOOT TOO."

1st Post for the Week

Well I was actally ill for the 1st part of this week. It all started on Sunday night. Sunday was the Tall Ones graduation. He is no officially no longer a high school student. Where did my baby go?? :( Anyway, after graduation, which was a little bit of a let down because of how they did the ceremony, we stoppoed for food. Needless to say my stomach said "REJECT!!!" in no uncertain terms. So that took me out for Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday it took me over an hour to get to work. Needless to say I was sooooooo late but that's life. Well by now most of you would have heard that we are under hurricane warning so in a matter of hours we are supposed to be having some "fun" with Dennis. Hope the effects are minor to none. Right now it's just light rain and we had a bit of breeze earlier. Yesterday however, I had to wait until a lightning storm subsided before venturing out. Those bolts were dropping all over the place so guess who wasn't gonna be no hero and go playing with no Zeus rods. Anyways I not sticking around with you this morning. I just wanted to say hi and to tell the other Yardies to stay safe. The rest of you keep us Jamdowners and the Caymanian posse in your thoughts and prayers as we weather the storm. Peace all.

Mixed Feelings

Well today brings mixed feelings especially to wifey and her family. Today she loses the closeness of one of her family members, her oldest sister, who leaves Jamaica for the last time for many years to come. "M"'s was granted immigrant status for the US a few weeks ago. She leaves today for her new home in Maryland for a while and then possibly to New York. I say mixed emotions because wifey's family is relatively small and I know she and her sisters are close. "D" migrated many years ago and since then she has lost her mother, and earlier this year her only surviving uncle on her mothers side of the family. Her father's side of the family has been eons apart from before I met her some 22 years ago. "M" has had to struggle terribly as a single parent and as one who is not academically inclined. She has had to settle for lesser jobs because of this. So although it is sad to see her go the move actually opens many opportunities for her in terms of schooling and employment. I know wifey is a little down now but she knows it is for the best. So I will go no further but to wish "M" a safe travel and all the best in your new life. May you find what you are looking for. Remember that Jamaica is just around the corner in today's modern world of air travel and telephones and internet access.

Media

I have been watching the media coverage of the missing teenager in Aruba. Life is so interesting...I will not defile the young ladies character by getting into why she was and where she was at the time of her disappearance. Rather what I would like to focus on is how the story is painted in the US media. This young lady has gone through so many different characters is not funny. She has gone from young country girl to regular teenager to saint. What struck the cord that drove this post is how the law enforcement experts and the investigators and the critics have painted the process employed by the Aruban authorities in their investigations. First and foremost......we are talking about a Dutch island in the Caribbean. Secondly Aruba is not the US as a matter of fact they are not a US territory so their methods of doing things will be different so leave the people and stop imposing your value system on them. Thirdly, when did the United States become experts in law enforcement procedures? If you guys are so good go clean up some of the crime in your own back yard and stop fassing in other people business. I can imagine the frustration of a nation trying to accomplish a task when everybody who don't belong there in the first place looking over your shoulder and criticizing every thing you do. I have news for you.....there are experts in every known field known to man and guess what?....they don't all reside in the US nor do they all aspire to be aligned to the US and their policies. Frankly I'm just tired of the media sensationalism that is following this case and frankly last nights news item was just sickening.

Howdy

Good Morning all, I have not posted for this week as yet as I'm sure you have noticed. Well the weekend was rough and kinda spilled over into the week. I had the 1st of three mid-semester tests on Saturday. It wasn't too bad and hopefully I will get a good grade for my work. The 2nd was on Monday evening so by now you understand the no posting thing. That one was a little more challenging. It's amazing how you can see the personality of the examiner coming out in the tests. Monday's own was all focused in one area of the syllabus although we have covered 4 or 5 but that is exactly the nature of the examiner. Not in a bad way mind you.... The 2nd test was more scaterred and disorganized and that is also the nature of the examiner. She even forgot to advise us that pencils would be required as they would be using multiple choice answer sheets that require shading. She had to run all over campus getting pencils to borrow. The questions on the paper were also scattered and at points strange (for want of a better word). I won't say anything about it until the results are in. The 2 days at work have been really hectic as well. I have been working on a document for my management for the last few months and Monday was D-day. I presented the main document which was accepted with a few minor corrections here and there due mainly to inconsistency in the data provided and incomplete instructions received but I am happy with the end product. Yesterday started the compilation of extracts from that document for presentation to several persons throughout the organization. I need to get this done by Friday so work begins. In the midst of all of this the 3rd mid-semester test will be on Saturday so yuh know how the time juggling go. The text for this one is ridiculous to say the least. Must have been written by a lawyer cuz it is almost impossible to follow. Closest I can get to putting my point across is pick up a Latin text and read it and tell me what you understand by the expressions used. It's gonna be a challenge. Anyways I gone do some reading so later all.

My Rant for the Week

This cartoon was in yesterday's Daily Observer. It basically describes what is going on in Jamaica currently. I am not for a minute saying that the mayor should not resign. He has committed inexcusible acts if the allegations made by his wife are true. However where as his public life has suffered because of his private life the same does not hold true for our Government officials. The cartoon is pointing to the fact that despite the various charges against them the government is still sitting pretty yet the Mayor of Spanish Town is forced to resign because of what is essentially his personal business.

I am not advocating for a change of government since I do not necessarily see that as a solution to our current problems. I think instead we need to embark on a path of accountability. Each goverment in succession merely adpots the style of their predecessors. It's an "I am doing this and you can't do a damn thing about it" attitude. It would appear that once the votes are cast and they are appointed they automatically assume the duties of lord and master over every facet of our daily lives. Te solution to the issues in Jamaica does not rest in a PNP or JLP or any "P" government for that matter but rather in a reduction in the arrogance that greets the people on a daily basis and a level of accountability for the actions they undertake.

Later all. 

This is how I feel today. Pity I didn't call in with anal glaucoma.

Hail up

Well I am at this point in life where I have absolutely nothing to blog about this morning. Quite a few of my regular reads are having some crisis or the other and are not their usual verbose selves. That's a part of this whole life cycle thing so we bear with them, lift them in prayer if you are so inclined and just hope that the crisis they face will be for their bettermment. Well I have a meeting with my group later and hopefully we can complete the assignment that we have to do. It is due on Saturday afternoon. It is a short paper but the ground we need to cover is hugh and to condense it covering the salient points is going to be difficult. This is compounded by the fact that the lecturer is an ......I'll behave. He is just full of himself, no lecture notes no real guidance and just lots of hot air. The other classes are getting all the notes and the explanations from their tutors and we got stuck with this ........moron (with a PhD. no less). Anywayz, I gone.

Monday 20 June

Hey all...Today is my anniversary. Last year I got married, and this year I have a 17 year old son and a 13 year old daughter and I've been married for 18 years. I'm just trying to confuse you. what I meant is that it seemed like yesterday but in fact today is my 18th anniversary. Cyber toast with me to a good marriage.... Other than that what can I say...last night was miserable...the heat returned. Fathers' Day was pretty good. The families had dinner for us and my daughter and wife woke my up to a fantastic breakfast in bed. I added two shirts to my collection and all in all the day was good. The gardener was supposed to come to deal with the yard this morning but he bailed on me so I'm already showing the signs of Jungle Fever. The grass is up to my knees. Hopefully he will come by Friday or else I will find another person cuz it cannot stay so. Anyway short post this morning. Later all.

Friday again......

Well it's Friday and I am certainly looking forward to the weekend. This week has been really hectic like so many before it but life goes on and we roll with its punches. My car has been acting up for the week but that is a story to be told. Well you may have heard that we have been having lots of rain. Well on Sunday last on coming back from the supermarket I turned onto the access road towards my home and didn't realize that so much rain had fallen. The amount of water that came rushing down behind me literally pushed the car down the road. the engine underguard acted like a scoop and channeled the water into the engine compartment apparently. Well when I started the car on Monday morning, it sounded like the devil grinding his teeth. The noise has gotten progressively worse indicating that I have damaged at least one of the pulley bearings. On Wednesday the mechanic checked it out and it turns out to be the a/c compressor bearing....filled with water and street muck. Well last night I could take it no longer and I disabled the compressor by removing the drive belt so inna di cyar hot no baxide. I made an appointment with the a/c repair man for tomorrow at 9:00a.m. to have it fixed at an estimated cost of $2500.00 (or just about US$45.00). Not too bad considering. last night there was a little excitement at home. Thieves stole a ladies handbag while she was passing my gate and made their escape by jumping through my yard. It all happened so fast that the dogs barely had a chance to rush at them before they were over the back fence and onto the next road. It's a pity the rott couldn't have backed them into a corner and chewed their ass off but hey it would have been too much cleaning up for me. The Shorter One, who is a worrier by nature was a mess. She wouldn't even bathe with the door closed and then didn't want to go to sleep by herself. The police who were also passing gave chase but the guys escaped through the yard behind mine and into the ones across the other road. Time for some razor fencing around there. It's Friday and it's kinda hot. We have been having powercuts and it appears as if the office is being run on generator so the a/c is off. I wonder if God is trying to show me the things to come if I don't start behaving myself. I'm not a bad person so I need to think some more on that. Anyways I'm off to do some reading so enjoy the weekend and if you can't be good be careful.....

I swiped this from a friend so don't beat me up on it... It is suggested that the government change its current symbol to a Condom because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually being screwed. Damn, it just doesn't get more accurate than that."

Monday Hail up

Morning all...well I had a painful weekend. I have not been doing so well in the eating department in the last few weeks and I guess the old body just said "alright I gwine show yuh who name boss". I had severe gas pains all of Saturday and half of Sunday. I tell yuh some bend over and stop business. Anyways, me thinks me is back to normal. I won't get into what the cure was ;) Let's just leave that alone for now shall we.

Well it has been raining a lot since Thursday or so and the weekend was no different. Had classes as usual on Saturday. What can I say, the last class of the day is turning into a fiasco. The tutor is .....I don't know what to call him. He stutters and seems unwilling to address the needs of persons in the class. He keeps harping on buying the book when I know for a fact that some persons are really stretched to the limit and therefore survive on what they get out of the classes. It's all well and good that they prescribe texts but brother if yuh don't have the cash to buy the books yuh just don't got it. Most of the other tutors tend to recognize this and so are a bit more accomodating. I have a problem with how he explains the concept. Not saying he doesn't know his stuff but as far as I am concerned...a teacher he is not!!.

We were without light and a/c in one of the lecture theatres on Saturday and would you believe that some s.o.b. took delight in farting up the classroom. The class was disrupted by people scrambling for the doors as the smell eminated through the room. You really have some people who were dragged up in this world.

Well The Shorter one served at church for the 1st time on Sunday. She had minimal duties but did really well at what she was given to do. I'm proud of her simply because this was something she decided she wanted to do and went and did it. Her only complaint..."Daddy, the vestments hot yuh see!"

There was a mild earthquake last night at about 10:55. The magnitutude depends on your perspective. For me who was dozing off to sleep at the time it was a 9.0 on the scale. In reality it was probably a 2.0 or so...again perception is a hell of a thing. Nothing fell off the furniture so I know it was quite mild but when yuh frighten out of yuh sleep you tend to lose control of quite a few bodily functions....luckily I didn't. (Have to say that before Doc and MB comment).

Had light snacks with some friends last night in place of dinner. The company was good.

They announced birthday for a certain Dr.D yesterday in church but I happen to know that this week is not Dr.D's birthday so I figure it was an imposter Dr.D or there is a Dr.D senior that has a birthday this week sometime or could there be 2 Dr.D's in the same country....hmmmmm.

Anyways, I'm tired of chatting to unoo so until later, try walk good.

Destiny vs. Chance(Fate)

No I'm not going to get into any real debate over the two. Just that I thought I would ask how many of you are pro one or the other. Many people believe that if something is meant to be it is going to happen one way or the other. Others feel that life is purely chance and that whatever happens will not determine the sequence of events that follow but will be followed by future instances of chance. There are other thoughts in between but we'll stick to these two for now. Last night as I was trying to fall asleep I reflected on my own existence here on this cute little ball of gas, rock and water and I thought about it from two sides...looking at it from a pure chance point-of-view I met wifey because I turned left that morning instead of right and took exactly seven steps from the car to the gate, not 8 or 6. If I had done anything different throughout my life I would have missed the opportunity to be married to her today. If I look at it from the destiny point of view then no matter what I had done to that point or will do from here on in matters since all my actions and their consequence are predetermined. Somehow or the other I don't really buy that. Not that I buy the 1st option either. Who knows maybe its a combination of both. Maybe I need to stop eating stew peas on a Thursday so that I can go to sleep and stop thinking about crap :) Anyways all is well so I will stop here this morning and leave you to ponder on the key question for today "Is Scratchie really crazy?...or is he just pretending?" Later all.

Thursday already ???

Well, it is in fact Thursday and yes I'm tired but I'll live. It has been a really rainy day yesterday and it has been pouring since morning so I can deduce that today will be just as wet. No complaints from me because the rain has really cooled down the place and at least I have been able to get a good nights sleep.

Had class last night and it seems that things have settled now. I got provisional grades for 2 of my three last semester courses and I am quite happy. An A and an A- so cyber drinks to all on me. On the same school note, I have not been able to source 2 of my required texts as 1 is out of print and another was out of stock as the volume of students registering for the course far exceeded expectation. Last night I was passing the notice board and guess what? ...One of the texts I was able to get on loan from the Students' Union. They offer a text loaner scheme for certain courses and mine was one so I now have access to one of the texts at no cost. The other , I have manged to secure a copy from another student so I am good to gone.....

I got in a bit late so I will have to take on the blogs a little at a time. I have been reading but have not been able to drop my usual comments but please don't for a minute think I have given up on you all. Things are just a bit hectic right now.

Anyways, gone go get some work done so later.

New Week....

Hi all, Just a quick pass through. I gather that a few of my high school breddrin had a small lime on Friday night which I missed because of an assignment which was due on Saturday. I had to pass so will try to make the next one. Having done the schoolwork though I went to another link up with some people from the auto forum that I participate in. It was quite a nice little link up. It was the 1st time that I was actually meeting these people face to face, having only had computer contact with them over the past year or two. It is good to finally put face to screen names.

Well on Sunday my nephew made a step in church by receiving his First Communion. Congrats T.D.

Well, my son went yesterday to get his TRN and his provisional drivers' licence. He came home and I assisted in making 2 red "L"s for him so he can drive under supervision of a licenced driver. My car is therefore in serious trouble. Hope he doesn't think that the PS2 games and real driving are the same thing. He is anxious to get out on the road so I kinda need to temper that. He is already a competent driver but still rough around the edges so this now allows him to venture further on the roads as he was only able to drive on private property when the arms of the law were not around. Wish me luck. I need erase some of the bad habits he has already picked up. I can't afford an instructor for him right now so.......

Anyways I gotta run so we'll chat some more later..

What di B..........?

Spam is a wicked thing, can I tell yuh. On Monday I cleared about 150 odd message out of my mailbox, yesterday I cleared another whole heap and this morning I had a whopping 2 hundred and plenty messages. Why do all these people all of a sudden think that I need to enlarge my penis size? Are they spying on me or something and on what basis are they benchmarking adequate size anyway? I need to go check for spy cams in the house. In all of my 18 years of marriage I haven't had any complaints and in all honesty it has been working for me so they can chat ..... The last straw was when they start to advertize things to make me better for my man. Excuse me? No iyah...dis dawg don't roll dem ways boss. No for your man ting in dis house. Only one whip mus swing in dis house. Fyah pon dem!!!! Was watching a Canadian station the other night and they were talking about car theft and the need for immobilizers and alarms. They were telling a story of a man whose expensive car was stolen although it was equipped with both alarm and immobilizer. The thieves went to the car park and wrote off the registration plates #. They went to the motor registry and did a search of the plates. They basically got the man's name address DOB and anything else about him and the car. They then applied for a driver's permit with his name but their photo. taking everything that they had gotten they walked into a dealer and ordered a duplicate key for the car. The dealer verified the info and ownerhip and provided a key, equipped with alarm switch and immobilizer chip. Next day they simply drove the car away. The thieves were eventually caught but the car was already gone. I guess you can say technology that was supposed to protect the car also helped to take it. Dem tief nuh easy....the police said that they kept files and stuff like any regular business. Scary.....

Go Slow

Hi all I know that I've been helter skelter with my posts. This is as a direct result of some pressures at work. And because I have to be leaving early on Mondays and Wednesdays to go to classes I have had to make some shifts. The time that I use for blogging is now therefore work occupied. I should be sorted out in a couple of days so bear with me.