Friday, 2001/10/19 06:41:38 PM - [Link Back]
I was sitting at a bar in the airport in South Carolina, waiting on our flight to Miami, when my co-worker decided to check if his new laptop had been loaded with Microsoft (UGH) Publisher. He booted up his PC right there at the bar and went to Start/Settings/Control Panel and quickly discovered that he couldnt access the "Add/Remove Programs" Icon. It had been disabled by the guys who worked in the I/T Department at our organisation (and with good reason).

My co-worker asked me to intercede with the manager who ran that department to ease the restrictions on his laptop to allow him to have more control of it. I decided to send the manager an email, and asked the lady bartender where in the terminal I could send off an email, to which she replied "You kidding? We are in South Carolina!". That started me thinking, because we'd just left Jamaica recently where they had installed some kiosks which gave free internet access to the internet to people who were travelling. I said to myself "Look how far we are ahead of some parts of these "developed" countries, and I felt a glow of nationalistic pride...

We retired from the bar to the go to the gate to await our flight. My co-worker immersed himself in a John Grisham novel, and I was left alone with my thoughts, which really are never far from I/T related issues, (For, instance, you know when you're making love and its really good, and you're trying not to come, but you feel like you can't help it, and so you try thinking about something else in an effort to hold it back? When that happens to me, I think about some program I'm writing. Thats how much I/T is on my mind! (And yeah, I am that much of a NERD!)) and so the email issue popped back into my mind. By now, I'd burned off a little of the "alcohol-induced" pride, and I began to look at the difference between our countries more realistically.

Yeah, so we had kiosks in Jamaica where we could send off email in the airport. I began to consider a few other areas. I was in South Carolina to attend some courses. These courses were related to software our company was using back home. The company that had developed it was based in South Carolina. Their products were developed with software with which I had not yet become acquainted. They were at, or near, the cutting edge. They have clients spread across the US and even in Europe. The thing about it is that I don't believe that this is any big, hotshot company. They more than likely are not the "Microsoft" of South Carolina, and yet they were "out there"!

In Jamaica, we have very few companies which have developed world class applications. Even fewer had sold packages that they have developed to overseas markets. I knew of two, but I believe that they are so small scale that very few people outside of myself and the companies' employees know of their existence. After all, I wondered, "how many people from South Carolina come to Ja. (Jamaica) to do courses to learn about software they bought from a Jamaican Company? How many came to learn about any high technology things at all?"

Yes, we use some high technology things in Ja., but none had been thought of, designed, or developed there. And in that light, the kiosks in the airport didn't seem so important after all.

Those were sobering thoughts...

Monday, 2001/10/15 11:08:32 PM - [Link Back]
Well, we made it... I had a rough-ish day. Because the flight left Jamaica about 7:00AM, I had to get up at 3:45 AM!!! (UGH) Anyway, Dr. D. helped me out by dropping my co-worker and myself to the airport. We flew to Miami, where we were greeted by soldiers with automatic weapons, milling around in the airport! Omigosh!!! Someone must have warned them we were coming... No, I'm just kidding...

Anyway,We hung around the airport for three hours, waiting for our connection. We saw the infamous Lady Saw in the airport (a DJ/Singer whose lyrics are... Inspiring, to say the least), and we had to wonder if she'd gotten a breast job done. Her breasts looked jolly good, man! Respect to Lady Saw!

We then had an uneventful flight to Atlanta, where we rented a car. This was exciting to me, as I had never driven in Atlanta before. We rented a Volvo Station Wagon, which wasn't pretty, but it was very comfortable, and drove very well. It felt very powerful, too. It had a GPS thingie in it, but we didn't know how to use it. I had been drawn a pretty decent map though, and we asked questions at the car rental agency, and so we had no problems finding the hotel.

We ate dinner at Chillis, which was next door to our hotel. I then loaded AOL on my laptop, so that I could connect and get online. I had some problems getting connected at first, but eventually the problem ironed itself out. I love AOL, it allows me to get online anywhere I go in the US.

We then went to the Mall, where I looked for the camera I had set out with the intention to buy. I didn't see it, but was introduced to another by the guy in the store, and I instantly got the hots for that one. My co-worker suggested I think about it and so I left it... (sigh ) Oh, well, I will get another chance to get it tomorrow. See ya!

Sunday, 2001/10/14 10:10:48 PM - [Link Back]
Well, I am due to return to the U.S. on Monday for work... I have to go to the airport at the ungodly hour of 4:00 AM, can you believe it? And on a public holiday too. Sheesh. It can be nice to go on these trips, but this time I'm of two minds, what with the "War on Terrorism" stuff going on. Anyway, I'm going to try to buy that digital camera on this trip.

In other news... I've been under pressure from my wife not to put up any "personal" information" on the site. Shes afraid that some mad person will go "Osama bin Laden" on us and use the information I post to attack us or hurt us in some way... I have been thinking about it, and I think that I can meet those "guidelines" and still have some fun... And it probably doesn't hurt to be careful.

Heres the deal: there are a few close friends and/or family that probably will get mentioned a lot on this blog... From now on they will all have aliases... So

Actors	Part played
Mad Bull	Yours truly
Natty	My wife
Mad Bull Jr. / MB Jr. / Jr.	My son
Sheggy	Wife's best friend, who we hang with a lot
Dr. D	My best friend, who we also hang with a lot

I will give info on other individuals as I go along. I plan to set up a page which will give a key to these characters at all times, and this will be accessible by the link called "Actors"... After all, all of life is but a play, the individuals within it merely actors... am I right? My link "Actors" will therefore point to the major participants in my little "skit"

I was saying earlier this week that I hoped to go to Hedo III and to Frenchman's Cove this weekend... Didn't work out. Bummer! First, I had some work to finish which wasn't going to be completed by Friday, then I heard that the Frenchmen (a group of people who manage a carnival band here in Jamaica) were having a party at Frenchmans Cove, J$3000 per person(US$66 per person), can you believe it. I didn't plan to pay anywhere near that to go. Finally, this trip abroad was going to begin on the final day of the long weekend, meaning that I couldn't even use that day to do anything... But I did go to Lime Cay (heres a pic) on Saturday.

We got someone to babysit my MB Jr., and off we went. We were there for about four hours. They have a shack on the island where they sell the essentials, namely food (Pan Chicken, Fish and Festival, Soup and such delights) and drink (Liquor of all kinds, beer and sodas). We partook of both food and drink and we saw that it was good... As Francois of FAME FM would say, "A good time was had by all!"
Finally, let me give a resounding "FORWARD" to the Slut. Shes back online after a brief hiatus... Welcome back, baby! (By the way, if you've ever been to a concert or a stageshow, a forward is what the audience does when the band on the stand begins to play a very popular tune, a number one hit song, for instance... Whatever form that reaction takes where you are, thats a "FORWARD". Here we all hold up our hands with a lighter in it, and we "light" up the lighter with the lighter fuel switch on high...) Thats all, folks... Peace!

Friday, 2001/10/12 11:31:49 PM - [Link Back]
Remember when I was talking to you about changing my car, and what I'd like to get to replace it? I promised then I'd give you a general idea of what I was talking about... There you have it on the left... That particular car is a Mitsubishi Lancer MX. Its exterior has been modified to look like a Mitsubishi Evolution III and the powerplant and suspension has been modified. Thats what I was talking about. Looks nice doesn't it, although its not the best of pictures. Sorry I took so long to get it up, but I need a digital camera. I have a regular camera, but the drawback with those is, they come with 24 or 36 exposures. You will take a picture you want to post on the web, but then you have to wait for the whole roll to finish before you can do so... With a digital camera, you can download the pictures at will... If y'all happen to have one you don't use very often, email me for shipping info Just to make sure you really get the idea, heres another I admire... This one's had mainly engine work done, because the owner feels the car is sexy enough as it came from the factory, the main thing different on the exterior is rims...
I really like both these cars and they would easily be a step up fom my current one. But as I said, I'd like to have a new car (which gives no trouble) than have the modified car as my extra ride... A fun car. Can't do it yet but...

Wednesday, 2001/10/10 06:29:24 PM - [Link Back]
I was just up to my mom's house last night, and when I was leaving, she said "What a lot of stars!". I turned around and saw her gazing up into the sky... And I said to myself "When last have you really looked up at the stars like that?"

The last time was in between my late teens and my twentys... I was "young and in love" at the time. My dad had a big 1972 Mustang, with an extremely long bonnet. Sometimes we used to sit or lie on the bonnet (you could lie on an Mustang's bonnet without crushing it up back then ) and stare at the sky and chat... I remember we used to try to pick out Orion, and the Big Dipper, and the Seven Sisters. Sometimes other friends were there too, and we'd have all kinds of interesting discussions... from UFOs to duppy (ghost) stories, from the Bermuda Triangle to stories of the trouble we caused our grandparents as kids, discussions of fetes, parties and sessions...

But we haven't done that for a looong, looong time, I guess for several reasons. At that time I lived with my parents in a single family house. Now we live in an apartment complex... Can you imagine coming home (to the apartment complex) and seeing two adults lying on a car bonnet staring up at the stars? Might look a bit strange. Also I guess we're simply busier now. You get home a bit late, and have to scurry around to get everybody fed and bathed before the water is locked off. Then you watch the news, check your email maybe, and then its time for someone to put the baby to bed. After that its unlikely that you'll be going out to star gaze.

But that was something I used to enjoy. I think I will have to try to take time out soon to do it again...

Monday, 2001/10/08 09:12:31 PM - [Link Back]
Ok, so today they moved K. D. Knight to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and moved Minister Peter Phillips to the Ministry of Security. He apparently gave an interview to Wilmot Perkins, a popular talk show host, and he said he would be taking steps to increase the powers of the police... This is indeed a frightening thought, but the alternative is also fearsome. We are between a rock and a hard place... Let us see what transpires...

You know what I miss... Running the Dam. I go to the Mona Dam to jog, but I have been unable to go recently, due to... gee, I dunno. I have had stuff to do, but if I really applied myself (and I need to) I'm sure I would have made it. Its just that nowadays, it gets dark so early... I think that they made the wrong decision with the Daylight Saving Time thingy... They should have decided to go on Daylight Saving time from September to March, when it gets dark early, so as to give us more hours of sunlight when we need it most, at the times when it gets dark earlier. This would allow people to do things they wanted to do after work, things that require sunlight, for example jogging at the Dam, or playing football or some other activity. The government is directly responsible for my being overweight and unfit. Anyway, I will have to try to get in a run at the Police Officer's Club, its just that the place is so small and boring... Bummer.

As a result of the terrorist attack on the WTC in New York, many of our resort hotels are empty, and Air Jamaica seems to have had a fall off in travellers. As a result, the cost to stay in a hotel locally and the cost to travel overseas has fallen. I can't go overseas again, but I wouldn't mind going to a resort, even if its just for a night (as most of these resorts don't take kids, and I wouldn't want to leave the bull calf with others for more than a night, it would distress him too much). I wouldn't mind going to Hedonism III on Friday, picking up my son Saturday, and going somewhere like Frenchman's Cove on Sunday. Lets see what can be done about that... Bye for now.

Sunday, 2001/10/07 11:24:51 PM - [Link Back]
Well, tonight I've decided to sum up the weekend for you. Thursday evening, I went to the finals of the New Kingston Six-a-Side Competition. My company made it to the finals. They won every match prior to the final, but unfortunately they lost that 6-4 on penalties. Imagine, we lost that match to a team we had beaten twice before during the season... Oh well, thats how football is... They say "The ball is round, anything can happen" in football...

Friday, I got together with some of the guys who went to high school with me, and we had a bit of a lime. We'ed had our twenty year reunion some months before this, and some of us who still live in Jamaica have started to meet now and again to shoot the breeze. This Friday, we came together to look at slides made from photos taken from the time of the reunion. We had a few drinks , ate some food, and generally had fun. Afterward, some of us went to Epiphany 2, a club which I have mentioned to you before. You know, since I went there last, I found out that the building that is the new home for Epiphany 2 was the home for Century National Bank, one of the banks closed down by the Government for mismanagement and/or fraudulent activity. The section that is used for the nightclub was once the office of the bank's manager. Yes, I am not joking, his office was big enough to house a night club! Yup, it seems he was really living the high life with other people's money. Anyway, the lime was pretty good.

Hurricane Iris went south of Jamaica, and we had a nice day, at least where I was (Kingston). On the news I saw that some other sections suffered floods and rough seas, but the damage was minimised as Iris skirted the island. For this kind mercy we are duly thankful. And, in the words of Leminotep, Selah...

Saturday, 2001/10/06 05:19:20 PM - [Link Back]
Well, I was asking for rain and it seems my plea might have been heard. They say that Hurricane Iris is coming to Jamaica sometime tonight... The last major one to hit us was Hurricane Gilbert and it was a doozy! We lost electricity for about a month (yes, a month, I kid you not). I hope and pray that this does not occur again. I remember Gilbert, all right. It was hot, we didn't have anything cold to drink, and we had to eat a lot of canned food that you got bored of very quickly. On the up side, you can find diversions which don't require electricity and some of these can be very entertaining . But if it does adversely affect the power company, I will probably not be able to update the site. Bummer... Anyway, let us see what happens...

Hey, I just saw the number one empty vessel from the P.N.P., Minister K. D. Knight (with his police bodyguards of course. He always has police around, protecting him, thats why he's so cheerful all the time) at the pharmacy, stocking up for the hurricane. Thats his picture over to your right. If you see this man, BEWARE! You are in a high crime zone. Watch your pockets, your back, and any suspicious people around. Get paranoid. Quick...

I really hope they get rid of him in the upcoming Cabinet reshuffle