Sunday, 2001/12/23 10:40:16 PM - [Link Back]
Note to self: When using images which are on another person's site, always try to download them to your site and display them from there, because you can never tell when the other site might delete the picture, or when it might be hosed in some other way. Thanks to the person who told me about my picture of Scaramanga not showing up in my archives... Seems that all the pictures of the villains in the quiz are gone. I had to do a search using Google (All bow and say "we're not worthy" whenever the name "Google" appears anywhere) for another picture and put that up...

Sunday, 2001/12/23 12:06:28 AM - [Link Back]
Interesting. I showed Dr. D. the lyrics that were posted by Freak Ho and he said that they sounded like they were written by someone who was pathological... But I liked them. What does that make me? Anyone who looks at the lyrics, give me some feedback. What do you think of them?
[comments]

Saturday, 2001/12/22 09:41:41 AM - [Link Back]
Well, the Hostile Redhead has done it again. She always either writes something interesting at her own site, or points you to another site where theres something interesting... Today's candidate is Everything Burns. Hey, sometimes I turn up an interesting link all on my own. Now if I were a single man who was prone to writing love letters, I would have to steal Freak Ho's lyrics. I think they'd work equally well on women. Y'all feel free to try them out, but maybe you should write the Freak Ho and myself to let us know of their efficacy. Respect.

Friday, 2001/12/22 08:19:14 AM - [Link Back]
You know, I used to dream about doing something different with my life... running off to join the French Foreign Legion, or going to work on a ship, or learning to play an instrument and becoming a musician, or just going off to see the world, you know, going to a country, doing menial jobs to make money, and just travelling around and seeing the sights and whatever is there to be seen... Look at me now... Working 9 - 5, (even though in my company, it's supposed to be 8 - 5 ) married, with 1.3 kids... Just your average joe. And I'm sure most people have such dreams, and most of them fail to live them out. Even down to that last little detail, I'm just your average joe... (*sigh*) Anyway, this is depressing... I'm going to change the subject.

Don't you just hate it when you don't get presents for someone but they get presents for you... Now I'm no Scrooge, but I decided that I'm not buying presents for any of the kids that live in my complex, because its just too difficult. I really hate shopping in the Christmas rush. So far none of them have given MB. Jr. any presents, and I hope that they don't, but I absolutely forgot about some of my friend's kids, and they've all bought MB. Jr. gifts... Its just a senseless, vicious cycle. Sometimes your child gets the same gifts from someone else that you bought for someone else's child. You went out into the mad rush for that? And then they're all destroyed by the day after New Year's Day anyway. This year I'm going to tough it out. I will not run out and buy gifts for anyone simply because they gave something to MB. Jr. Then maybe next year they won't buy him anything and we won't buy them anything, and we'll all stop this commercialised stupid rush to give all our money to some thieving merchants. (I'll let you know if I (am allowed to) stick to that decision) Oh, and I guess I am a bit of a Scrooge, but if y'all don't like it, you can (PLACE FAVOURITE EXPLETIVES HERE)...

Thursday, 2001/12/21 04:48:54 PM - [Link Back]
Read where they've finally opened the Old Harbour Bypass Highway... YIPPEE!!! As one who drives that route occasionally, I humbly give thanks. Trust me, if you have ever endured that wait in traffic when you were tired and wanted to get home, you'd agree with me. I say, jolly good show, what?

Guess what I heard on the news coming home? Since they opened the Bypass (yesterday, I believe), seven people have had accidents on it already! Now, I know that it has always been the custom in Jamaica to kill a chicken and sprinkle the blood in the foundations of whatever you're building, (its just the custom, don't ask why) but this is ridiculous!!! Hey, oonoo mind you mek dem close it down before I get fi drive pon it, you know (Be careful that all y'alls crazy driving makes them close the road before I have the chance to try it out) Anyway, I'm sure they already blessed the foundations with blood. Just cool it down, mon

Friday, 2001/12/21 04:18:36 AM - [Link Back]
Hmmm, lets see.

Departmental budget, done.

Staff luncheon at Morgan's Harbour Hotel and Marina, done... (Man, was it hot!!! There are tables and chairs set up right on the dock, but there was no breeze. They need fans, man. Phew!)

Drinks with consultants at the "Hylton, Kingston", nada! Was too tired... Went to bed at 9:00:00 PM, unheard of for me. Thats why I woke up at 3:15AM or so. You just can't win, can you?

Just noticed, its only four days till Christmas! I'll have to buy presents for MB. Jr. and Natty today (ugh). All that crowd! Bummer!

I heard an interesting one just recently. A salesguy from a software company was giving us a spiel about their software. He mentioned that the previous version of the software ran only on UNIX, but that the current version ran only on Windows NT, which was good, as it was no longer proprietary! How much more proprietary can you get than Windows NT? Please!

Thursday, 2001/12/20 07:30:29 PM - [Link Back]
Dem a lick shot! Paulwell better get flat! Whoi yoi!

My humblest apologies. The rumour I mentioned re the owners of the G-Spot niteclub... I was wrong. The true owners seem to be of "Pip 'n Ting" fame.

Thursday, 2001/12/20 06:00:00 AM - [Link Back]
Yesterday was interesting... I did go to work, nothing unusual there. We had a steering committee meeting for the project I'm working on, so that we can show management where we are. That was cool, because I'm not really behind on anything. The activities I am working on are actually on the critical path though, so I am going to have to watch carefully to ensure we don't fall behind. Anyway, I had lunch in the canteen at work! Thats the first time for the year, I'm sure of it. They were having Christmas Dinner. I had Curried Lobster, which I got at an absolutely great price because the canteen is subsidised by the company. It was pretty good.

I did some work on my budget as well. I made a sizeable dent (I think) in it. I have to finish it by midday today. The company's netball team had a prizegiving / Christmas party and they invited me, so I passed through. They had lots of food. Jerk pork, chicken, fish, christmas pudding, etc. Washed it all down with Heineken and Red Stripe Light beers. Their function had a nice vibe, they were playing some good music. I had to leave them promptly at 7:00PM though, as the consultants I've been working with invited Lewis (my co-worker) and myself to dinner at Red Bones. I had never been there, although I had heard about it. Still, I was pleasantly surprised. Lovely decor and ambiance. As soon as you enter, you realise you're in an upscale place. I saw a couple of socialites there, you know, people you read about in the "Social Scene" columns in the newspaper. I also saw an animal of the species "evil politician" there too. This was one of those involved in the Netserv Scandal, too (No, not Phillip Paulwell). I really enjoyed dinner too. Guess what I had? Yeah mon, Garlic Lobster. (lol) Must be International Lobster Day! And it was good too... After that I went up to Sheggy's and had a drink on her balcony, looking down on the lights of Kingston and Portmore from the hills. Yeah, it was a pretty cool day. When I finally got home, I nearly fell asleep in front of the computer trying to update the Blog, so I packed it in and went to bed.

Today, I've got so much to do. I have to finish the budget, then I'm taking my staff to lunch. I believe they've arranged to eat at Morgan's Harbour. I am supposed to go to the Half Way Tree Police Station to pick up a Police Report, (I lost some important documents) I hope I can fit that in. Tonight I'm supposed to meet the consultants for a drink at the Hylton Hotel. Has to be tonight, because after this they fly out to spend Christmas at home with their families. I'll keep y'all posted...

Tuesday, 2001/12/18 11:15:20 PM - [Link Back]
Deer? In Jamaica? Yes sir, they are here. Look here, click here for more info... Apparently someone brought them here for a menagerie of some sort and a storm freed them, and now they are breeding up in the hills. I was in South Carolina recently, and was speaking with a man there and the subject came up. He concurred with the feelings of several people in Ja. These animals have no natural predators in Jamaica, and they will wreak havoc on the environment. He said that they had been introduced into different states in the US with similar results... Having no natural predators, the deer population exploded. They attacked and decimated crops, and they have increasingly been involved in car accidents, and things of that nature. They generally made a nuisance of themselves. Another point he made was that they are very good to eat. They taste good, and their meat is very low in cholesterol. They are actually a healthy choice when it comes to eating meat.

Here is my opinion. Maybe we need to consider raising them instead of cattle, based upon what I've heard of them re their taste, and their low colesterol counts. At least we should give it serious thought.

Monday, 2001/12/17 08:15:18 PM - [Link Back]
I had fun (some) at my aunt's Christmas Dinner yesterday. There are too many issues under the surface there for me to totally relax and enjoy myself though . Natty is uncomfortable around my aunt, because she is very tactless, and sometimes she says some mean things. My mom doesn't get on well with her either. At times it was a mite uncomfortable. Everything that was said was being examined for hidden meanings, know what I mean? You feel as though you're walking on eggshells all night. My aunt's son and his girlfriend sometimes seem downright unfriendly as well, but they were cool last night.

Another cousin (this one I like) who lives near to my aunt has a few dogs, and one of her dogs had puppies. I went over there to look at them. They were really cute. They are a mix between Belgian and German Shepherds. They made me feel like getting some dogs of my own again. I'd have to move first though. Can't keep dogs at the apartment complex I'm in. I would need to move back into a house, with a nice sized garden. But I'm going to consider putting that back on the agenda. I'll have to tell y'all about the dogs I've had sometime...

Today has been fun at work. Its the most work I've done in a while, but its good work - techie stuff again. I modified a C program, installed Oracle software and created a database, and set up a new version of some software on a server for a bunch of users... I feel worthwhile again. The managerial stuff is so boring, you know. It doesn't feel like real work sometimes. I should have been completing my departmental budget, but these other tasks started to obstruct the critical path of a project I'm working on, and it was such a relief to set the budget preparation aside. (sigh) Pure bliss!