Well, Jamaica now has a new prime minister, a lady Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller! I, for one, welcome our new female overlord :-D No, I support her and I am willing to give her a chance…pundits say that elections are going to be called soon. If so, I hope it can be done without the violence that has been a hallmark of Jamaican elections. Then again, its pretty violent these days ANYWAY. Spanish Town has been in a state of virtual lockdown the past two nights I’ve headed home. On Wednesday evening the bus terminus was closed because two people were shot (seemingly indiscriminately) there, and when I got into town all of the taxis/buses were out on the road in front of the shopping center. Yesterday evening (Thursday), our bus didn’t even go into Spanish Town; all of the executive buses pulled off on the highway for passengers to transfer right there on the roadside rather than go into Spanish Town. I didn’t quite hear what had happened earlier that day, but I’ll check today’s paper to see what it says. Hopefully there will be no issue this evening, but I won’t hold my breath.
I’d say something about my personal life but I don’t know who’s reading, so I won’t :p
Friday, March 31, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
look for the long post
I recieved a very interesting set of essays about Armageddeon and Islam in my email a couple of days ago, and I also found another one I got 2 years ago about evolution. I've posted all of them somewhere at the bottom of the blog since they are kind of long, but I think it's worth your while to scroll down and look for 'em. They are dated in the month of January.
Question
All those who practise Islam should ask themselves this: Is it morally right for someone who is a Muslim to be killed because he/she no longer wishes to follow this religion?
Friday, March 24, 2006
It's official!
I finally got my diploma from New Mexico Tech today, the proof of my blood, toil, sweat, tears, and Mexican food. Thanks be to God that I managed to finish…
Chuck Norris can't touch Jack Bauer
For all you guys who watch “24” on Fox, you know how tough Jack Bauer is? This is how tough he is :D I got these from a site online, I’ll post the link once I find it again…
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The city of Los Angeles once named a street after Jack Bauer in gratitude for his saving the city several times. They had to rename it after people kept dying when they tried to cross the street. No one crosses Jack Bauer and lives.
Jack Bauer once went into a bar, and asked for a 'Jack Bauer'. He received three shots of Jack Daniel's, a shot of kerosene and four shots of tequila mixed. When seeing this, another man approached the bar and asked for a Jack Bauer. He got a 9mm round to the face.
Don't beg Jack Bauer to shoot you. He will simply shoot your wife. No man tells Jack Bauer what to do.
If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.
Jack Bauers calender goes from March 31st to April 2nd, no one fools Jack Bauer.
In order to control illegal immigration in the United States, the president installed cardboard cutouts of Jack Bauer along the US/Mexico border.
Upon hearing that he was played by Kiefer Sutherland, Jack Bauer killed Sutherland. Jack Bauer gets played by no man.
If everyone on "24" followed Jack Bauer's instructions, it would be called "12".
Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
Jack doesn't believe in Murphy's Law, only Bauer's Law: "Whatever CAN go wrong, WILL be resolved in a period of 24 hours."
If it tastes like chicken, looks like chicken, and feels like chicken, but Jack Bauer says its beef, then it's freakin’ beef.
Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.
When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer hates lemonade.
It wasn't the needle that killed Tony... it was Jack's death grip in thinking he was already dead.
1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.
Lets get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.
Jack Bauer played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.
Jack Bauer once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.
Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.
Jack Bauer is the leading cause of death in Middle Eastern men.
There have been no terrorist attacks in United States since Jack Bauer has appeared on television.
Jack Bauer sleeps with a pillow under his gun.
It's no use crying over spilt milk... Unless that was Jack Bauer's milk. Oh you are so screwed.
Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.
Osama bin Laden's recent proposal for truce is a direct result of him finding out that Jack Bauer is, in fact, still alive.
Tony was once shot in the neck, rushed to the hospital, underwent emergency surgery and was back on the job in just a few hours. Jack Bauer still can't believe that wimp went to the hospital first.
Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
When Google can't find something, it asks Jack Bauer for help.
Jack Bauer shops at Costco... without membership.
Superman's only weakness is Kryptonite. Jack Bauer laughs at Superman for having a weakness.
Jack Bauer doesn't speak any foreign languages, but he can make any foreigner speak English in a matter of minutes.
Jack Bauer killed 93 people in just 4 days time. Wait, that is a real fact.
Quetin Tarantino was asked to direct a biography about Jack Bauer. He passed. It was too violent.
In 96 hours, Jack Bauer has killed 93 people and saved the world 4 times. What have you done with your life?
There is the right way, the wrong way, and the Jack Bauer way. It's basically the right way but faster and more deaths.
There are three leading causes of death among terrorists. They are all Jack Bauer.
If Jack Bauer shot you while quail hunting, it wouldn't be an accident.
Jack Bauer could strangle you with a cordless phone.
When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jack Bauer jumps out.
On a high school math test, Jack Bauer put down "Violence" as every one of the answers. He got an A+ on the test because Jack Bauer solves all his problems with Violence.
Sun Tzu once wrote, "If your enemy is weaker, conquer him. If he is stronger, join him. If he is Jack Bauer, you're freakin’ dead."
In the 18 months where Jack Bauer was presumed dead, Tony Almeida was put in a coma, Michelle and David Palmer were killed, a major hurricane raveged the Gulf Coast, and Rob Schneider made another movie. See what happens when Bauer isn't around?
If Jack Bauer misspells a word, your dictionary is wrong.
Jack Bauer teaches a course at Harvard entitled: "Time Management: Making the Most Out Of Each Day."
Men are ok with their wives fantasizing about Jack Bauer during sex; because they are doing the same thing.
In high school Jack Bauer was voted "Most Likely to Kill the Foreign Kid"... and "Best Eyes."
When President Palmer quit to start doing Allstate commercials, it took him 43 takes before he could stop saying, "You're in good hands with Jack Bauer".
The Black Eyed Peas were just The Peas until Jack Bauer heard their music.
When the boogie man goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Jack Bauer.
Jack Bauer once called the Vice President "Mr. President", but realized his mistake and shot the President. Jack Bauer is never wrong.
Jack Bauer can get McDonald's breakfast after 10:30.
Jack Bauer got Hellen Keller to talk.
My parents told my little brother and I that Jack Bauer was "just a television character". We are now orphans.
Jack Bauer removed the "Escape" button from his keyboard. Jack Bauer never needs to escape.
Jack Bauer once killed so many terrorists that at one point, the #5 CIA Most Wanted fugitive was an 18-year-old teenager in Malaysia who downloaded the movie Dodgeball.
When Jack Bauer was a child, he made his mother finish his vegetables.
People with amnesia still remember Jack Bauer.
One time The Rock raised his eyebrow to Jack Bauer. This is why he is no longer able to wrestle.
When Batman is in trouble, he turns on the Jack Bauer signal.
If Jack Bauer saw a terrorist reaching for a bomb to blow himself up, Jack would shoot the bomb first. Nobody steals a kill from Jack Bauer.
You can lead a horse to water. Jack Bauer can make him drink.
When Jack Bauer goes to the airport and the metal detector doesn't go off, security gives him a gun.
In kindergarten, Jack Bauer killed a terrorist for Show and Tell.
There are no such thing as lesbians, just women who never met Jack Bauer.
"Jack Bauer" is Arabic for "I'm screwed".
If Jack Bauer was gay, his name would be Chuck Norris.
During the commercials, Jack Bauer calls the CSI detectives and solves their crimes.
Nobody says 'hit me' when Jack Bauer deals Blackjack.
After 7 minutes of interrogation at the hands of Jack Bauer, Tom Cruise admitted that he was gay.
Due to Jack Bauer, no one looks forward to the weekend anymore, they look forward to the weekend being over, and watching 24 on Monday.
Jack Bauer makes onions cry.
If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Stalin and Hitler so they wouldn't have to bear witness to what he'd do to Nina.
If you're holding a gun to Jack Bauer's head, don't count to three before you shoot. Count to 10. That way, you get to live 7 seconds longer.
Finding Nemo would have been vastly more exciting had Jack Bauer been looking for him.
If Jack and MacGyver were locked in a room together, Jack would make a bomb out of MacGyver and get out.
Jack Bauer literally died for his country, and lived to tell about it.
The rules of poker have recently been revised. Now the winning hand is the one with the most Jacks in it.
Jack Bauer knows Victoria's secret.
Jack Bauer uses #1 pencils on standardized tests.... Jack Bauer doesn't associate with anything that is #2.
Jack Bauer was conceived by torturing the other sperm until they gave up the location of the egg.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The city of Los Angeles once named a street after Jack Bauer in gratitude for his saving the city several times. They had to rename it after people kept dying when they tried to cross the street. No one crosses Jack Bauer and lives.
Jack Bauer once went into a bar, and asked for a 'Jack Bauer'. He received three shots of Jack Daniel's, a shot of kerosene and four shots of tequila mixed. When seeing this, another man approached the bar and asked for a Jack Bauer. He got a 9mm round to the face.
Don't beg Jack Bauer to shoot you. He will simply shoot your wife. No man tells Jack Bauer what to do.
If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.
Jack Bauers calender goes from March 31st to April 2nd, no one fools Jack Bauer.
In order to control illegal immigration in the United States, the president installed cardboard cutouts of Jack Bauer along the US/Mexico border.
Upon hearing that he was played by Kiefer Sutherland, Jack Bauer killed Sutherland. Jack Bauer gets played by no man.
If everyone on "24" followed Jack Bauer's instructions, it would be called "12".
Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
Jack doesn't believe in Murphy's Law, only Bauer's Law: "Whatever CAN go wrong, WILL be resolved in a period of 24 hours."
If it tastes like chicken, looks like chicken, and feels like chicken, but Jack Bauer says its beef, then it's freakin’ beef.
Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.
When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer hates lemonade.
It wasn't the needle that killed Tony... it was Jack's death grip in thinking he was already dead.
1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.
Lets get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.
Jack Bauer played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.
Jack Bauer once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.
Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.
Jack Bauer is the leading cause of death in Middle Eastern men.
There have been no terrorist attacks in United States since Jack Bauer has appeared on television.
Jack Bauer sleeps with a pillow under his gun.
It's no use crying over spilt milk... Unless that was Jack Bauer's milk. Oh you are so screwed.
Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.
Osama bin Laden's recent proposal for truce is a direct result of him finding out that Jack Bauer is, in fact, still alive.
Tony was once shot in the neck, rushed to the hospital, underwent emergency surgery and was back on the job in just a few hours. Jack Bauer still can't believe that wimp went to the hospital first.
Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
When Google can't find something, it asks Jack Bauer for help.
Jack Bauer shops at Costco... without membership.
Superman's only weakness is Kryptonite. Jack Bauer laughs at Superman for having a weakness.
Jack Bauer doesn't speak any foreign languages, but he can make any foreigner speak English in a matter of minutes.
Jack Bauer killed 93 people in just 4 days time. Wait, that is a real fact.
Quetin Tarantino was asked to direct a biography about Jack Bauer. He passed. It was too violent.
In 96 hours, Jack Bauer has killed 93 people and saved the world 4 times. What have you done with your life?
There is the right way, the wrong way, and the Jack Bauer way. It's basically the right way but faster and more deaths.
There are three leading causes of death among terrorists. They are all Jack Bauer.
If Jack Bauer shot you while quail hunting, it wouldn't be an accident.
Jack Bauer could strangle you with a cordless phone.
When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jack Bauer jumps out.
On a high school math test, Jack Bauer put down "Violence" as every one of the answers. He got an A+ on the test because Jack Bauer solves all his problems with Violence.
Sun Tzu once wrote, "If your enemy is weaker, conquer him. If he is stronger, join him. If he is Jack Bauer, you're freakin’ dead."
In the 18 months where Jack Bauer was presumed dead, Tony Almeida was put in a coma, Michelle and David Palmer were killed, a major hurricane raveged the Gulf Coast, and Rob Schneider made another movie. See what happens when Bauer isn't around?
If Jack Bauer misspells a word, your dictionary is wrong.
Jack Bauer teaches a course at Harvard entitled: "Time Management: Making the Most Out Of Each Day."
Men are ok with their wives fantasizing about Jack Bauer during sex; because they are doing the same thing.
In high school Jack Bauer was voted "Most Likely to Kill the Foreign Kid"... and "Best Eyes."
When President Palmer quit to start doing Allstate commercials, it took him 43 takes before he could stop saying, "You're in good hands with Jack Bauer".
The Black Eyed Peas were just The Peas until Jack Bauer heard their music.
When the boogie man goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Jack Bauer.
Jack Bauer once called the Vice President "Mr. President", but realized his mistake and shot the President. Jack Bauer is never wrong.
Jack Bauer can get McDonald's breakfast after 10:30.
Jack Bauer got Hellen Keller to talk.
My parents told my little brother and I that Jack Bauer was "just a television character". We are now orphans.
Jack Bauer removed the "Escape" button from his keyboard. Jack Bauer never needs to escape.
Jack Bauer once killed so many terrorists that at one point, the #5 CIA Most Wanted fugitive was an 18-year-old teenager in Malaysia who downloaded the movie Dodgeball.
When Jack Bauer was a child, he made his mother finish his vegetables.
People with amnesia still remember Jack Bauer.
One time The Rock raised his eyebrow to Jack Bauer. This is why he is no longer able to wrestle.
When Batman is in trouble, he turns on the Jack Bauer signal.
If Jack Bauer saw a terrorist reaching for a bomb to blow himself up, Jack would shoot the bomb first. Nobody steals a kill from Jack Bauer.
You can lead a horse to water. Jack Bauer can make him drink.
When Jack Bauer goes to the airport and the metal detector doesn't go off, security gives him a gun.
In kindergarten, Jack Bauer killed a terrorist for Show and Tell.
There are no such thing as lesbians, just women who never met Jack Bauer.
"Jack Bauer" is Arabic for "I'm screwed".
If Jack Bauer was gay, his name would be Chuck Norris.
During the commercials, Jack Bauer calls the CSI detectives and solves their crimes.
Nobody says 'hit me' when Jack Bauer deals Blackjack.
After 7 minutes of interrogation at the hands of Jack Bauer, Tom Cruise admitted that he was gay.
Due to Jack Bauer, no one looks forward to the weekend anymore, they look forward to the weekend being over, and watching 24 on Monday.
Jack Bauer makes onions cry.
If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Stalin and Hitler so they wouldn't have to bear witness to what he'd do to Nina.
If you're holding a gun to Jack Bauer's head, don't count to three before you shoot. Count to 10. That way, you get to live 7 seconds longer.
Finding Nemo would have been vastly more exciting had Jack Bauer been looking for him.
If Jack and MacGyver were locked in a room together, Jack would make a bomb out of MacGyver and get out.
Jack Bauer literally died for his country, and lived to tell about it.
The rules of poker have recently been revised. Now the winning hand is the one with the most Jacks in it.
Jack Bauer knows Victoria's secret.
Jack Bauer uses #1 pencils on standardized tests.... Jack Bauer doesn't associate with anything that is #2.
Jack Bauer was conceived by torturing the other sperm until they gave up the location of the egg.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Andre's wedding
This is my cousin Cheryl and myself at my cousin Andre's wedding, back in 2004 I think it was... 
The Didgeridoo
This is me in Australia, circa June 2005 on the Great Ocean Road trip from Adelaide to Melbourne. It took three days to make the drive, and it was totally awesome. The pics here aren't as good because they are scanned from the original; still it's better than nothing. I'll put up a few more soon enough.
Just say no to curry!
Ok, the picture thing is working again...these are some goats that I saw on my last field trip a couple of weeks ago. Those guys know how to move, I'll tell you that!
Web Email Services
I spend a lot of time online, some may say I spend too much time. To those people I say… “whatever.” There are a lot of free email service providers out there, some well known, others not so well known. Some are good, others should pay you to use them. Which is the best one? In this day and age, I don’t think there is any good reason for someone to pay for a personal email account; thus I don’t discuss the merits of the paid versions of the webmail services. With care, planning, patience and common sense, you can avoid much of the spam that exists on the web, mostly with multiple addresses and knowing that forwarding stupid emails helps spammers.
Anyways, I’ve had experience with various email providers. The main ones I’ve used (besides school and corporate programs) have been Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, AIM mail, with some other website-specific stuff like blackplanet.com, collegeclub.com and other gimmicky stuff like that which no one should use for any kind of serious emailing, in my opinion. I have formed various opinions and have ranked the main four that I’ve used, from worst to first
4: Hotmail.
It was the first email address I had, and it won over yahoo because it sounded cooler, hehehe. Plus, I was able to get the address I wanted, and that in and of itself makes my hotmail address one that I won’t throw away; plus MSN Messenger is the main IM program that I use. However, I cannot recommend hotmail to anyone as an email program anymore. It’s not as crappy as it used to be, but when compared to all the other free email programs out there it is sorely lacking. The spam filter is decent, but the storage space of 250 MB limited only to North American-based customers is a deal-breaker. Of course, it’s a big increase from the 2MB limit they used to have…but other than that, the only thing that Hotmail has going for it is its rapidly fading marquee status. Also, the advertising and pop-ups that are starting to take it over are not at all becoming of a prime free email service. If you already have a hotmail address, I would say to keep it; but I would recommend that you migrate to one of the top two and use hotmail solely for MSN and Passport features.
3: AIM Mail.
I hate AOL. I detest everything it stands for, and I would rather not connect to the internet at all than use AOL to connect to the internet. I also strongly dislike AIM messenger, and I use it only sparingly to speak to a few friends who do not use any other messenger service. As it is, I haven’t signed on there for a while anyways, but I don’t hate AIM as much as I hate AOL, mostly because AIM is free. That being said, I have nothing very negative to say about AIM mail, surprisingly. Nothing very positive either, but nothing very negative. The AIM mail is a new service that grew out of the netscape.net mail service, and since I got it for free as an AIM member, I decided to check it out. It’s a barebones email system to me. It has very good storage (2 GBs) and all the basics you’d need for emailing, but nothing more. I am not a “perks” kind of guy; I daresay that I find all them “bells and whistles” that people use in their email and Imming these days very annoying, but the austerity of AIM mail is pretty amazing. If all you’re looking for is a free email client, you could do worse than AIM but you could also do a lot better. If you have an AIM ID, then you automatically have an AIM email account and I guess you can do what I do; use it for various email forums that you find kinda interesting but don’t have the time to read on a regular basis. Or, you could use it to give to girls you don’t really want to talk to :p everyone needs a valid decoy email, hahaha.
2:Yahoo Mail
Yahoo is the best all-rounder of the lot. A Yahoo ID can be used with the best IM client around, its features of movies, weather, personals, sports, profiles, etc. is better than MSN’s in almost all aspects to me (the only thing that MSN has over Yahoo is the blog/spaces feature), it’s a lot easier to meet new people on yahoo than it is on MSN, and best of all, its email client stomps the heck out of hotmail. I don’t know why I didn’t make my yahoo account my primary account from back in the day, I guess because I didn’t get the username I wanted and the differences were not as vast between Yahoo and MSN back then…as it is, the current Yahoo email has 1 GB of free storage, decent enough spam control, a pretty intuitive and clear layout and is very robust and can fit everyone from the internet novice to the savvy gaming pro. It has a lot of bells and whistles too, unfortunately, but I prefer their default smiley package over MSN’s. If you’re just beginning your internet experience and you want to get an email that helps you to be a part of a community and not just something that picks up mail, then Yahoo is definitely your choice. However, it doesn’t get the top pick for me…
1: Gmail from Google.
All hail Google, who shall one day become the all-encompassing rulers of planet Googleia. This internet company has a gift of making existing things better, and email is no different. I was trying for the longest time to get a gmail account, since you have to be invited by someone to get one. It took me a while, but I finally got one through a friend in Indonesia (of all places). About a month after I got that invitation, Google finally deigned to send me an invitation about a year after I signed up for updates. Sheesh…
Anyways, Gmail completely changed the way I think about email. I had initially created a new yahoo ID to migrate from hotmail, but after I played around with gmail, I migrated there instead and I’ve never looked back. Free storage space of more than 2.7 Gbs and growing? A clear and easy user interface? A convenient way to check if you have mail without having to open the client? All of these things are present, but the feature I find most attractive is how they treat email conversations as, well, conversations! In regular emails, your messages come to you in sequential order so if you email someone and they email you back, you just get their message in your box and it’s presented in the order it was received. In Gmail, all email conversations based on the same topic where you’re just replying back and forth are grouped together so you don’t have to dig through anything to figure out who said what in response to whom. It’s all there for you to look at whenever you want! It’s easier seen than explained, so take a look at it when you get a chance. Granted, it is not an all-rounder like Yahoo; while you have the new Googletalk, I think that’s come a bit too late to make a dent in the IM market and I don’t really see Google as a community-based service like Yahoo. However, for pure email services with innovative solutions and great settings, Gmail gets my vote as the best free email service on the web.
One last thing: Any issues about privacy and ads in Google are overblown, I think. The ads that Google uses are text-based and not in-your-face like MSN and Yahoo ads are. Besides, it’s interesting to see the links that come up if you email your friend about some weird random thing like “why do we park in driveways and drive in parkways?”
So, if you want a great email service, pick Gmail or Yahoo. Use AIM if you already have an AIM ID and want an email for various purposes, and only use hotmail if you need to get an MSN passport.
Anyways, I’ve had experience with various email providers. The main ones I’ve used (besides school and corporate programs) have been Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, AIM mail, with some other website-specific stuff like blackplanet.com, collegeclub.com and other gimmicky stuff like that which no one should use for any kind of serious emailing, in my opinion. I have formed various opinions and have ranked the main four that I’ve used, from worst to first
4: Hotmail.
It was the first email address I had, and it won over yahoo because it sounded cooler, hehehe. Plus, I was able to get the address I wanted, and that in and of itself makes my hotmail address one that I won’t throw away; plus MSN Messenger is the main IM program that I use. However, I cannot recommend hotmail to anyone as an email program anymore. It’s not as crappy as it used to be, but when compared to all the other free email programs out there it is sorely lacking. The spam filter is decent, but the storage space of 250 MB limited only to North American-based customers is a deal-breaker. Of course, it’s a big increase from the 2MB limit they used to have…but other than that, the only thing that Hotmail has going for it is its rapidly fading marquee status. Also, the advertising and pop-ups that are starting to take it over are not at all becoming of a prime free email service. If you already have a hotmail address, I would say to keep it; but I would recommend that you migrate to one of the top two and use hotmail solely for MSN and Passport features.
3: AIM Mail.
I hate AOL. I detest everything it stands for, and I would rather not connect to the internet at all than use AOL to connect to the internet. I also strongly dislike AIM messenger, and I use it only sparingly to speak to a few friends who do not use any other messenger service. As it is, I haven’t signed on there for a while anyways, but I don’t hate AIM as much as I hate AOL, mostly because AIM is free. That being said, I have nothing very negative to say about AIM mail, surprisingly. Nothing very positive either, but nothing very negative. The AIM mail is a new service that grew out of the netscape.net mail service, and since I got it for free as an AIM member, I decided to check it out. It’s a barebones email system to me. It has very good storage (2 GBs) and all the basics you’d need for emailing, but nothing more. I am not a “perks” kind of guy; I daresay that I find all them “bells and whistles” that people use in their email and Imming these days very annoying, but the austerity of AIM mail is pretty amazing. If all you’re looking for is a free email client, you could do worse than AIM but you could also do a lot better. If you have an AIM ID, then you automatically have an AIM email account and I guess you can do what I do; use it for various email forums that you find kinda interesting but don’t have the time to read on a regular basis. Or, you could use it to give to girls you don’t really want to talk to :p everyone needs a valid decoy email, hahaha.
2:Yahoo Mail
Yahoo is the best all-rounder of the lot. A Yahoo ID can be used with the best IM client around, its features of movies, weather, personals, sports, profiles, etc. is better than MSN’s in almost all aspects to me (the only thing that MSN has over Yahoo is the blog/spaces feature), it’s a lot easier to meet new people on yahoo than it is on MSN, and best of all, its email client stomps the heck out of hotmail. I don’t know why I didn’t make my yahoo account my primary account from back in the day, I guess because I didn’t get the username I wanted and the differences were not as vast between Yahoo and MSN back then…as it is, the current Yahoo email has 1 GB of free storage, decent enough spam control, a pretty intuitive and clear layout and is very robust and can fit everyone from the internet novice to the savvy gaming pro. It has a lot of bells and whistles too, unfortunately, but I prefer their default smiley package over MSN’s. If you’re just beginning your internet experience and you want to get an email that helps you to be a part of a community and not just something that picks up mail, then Yahoo is definitely your choice. However, it doesn’t get the top pick for me…
1: Gmail from Google.
All hail Google, who shall one day become the all-encompassing rulers of planet Googleia. This internet company has a gift of making existing things better, and email is no different. I was trying for the longest time to get a gmail account, since you have to be invited by someone to get one. It took me a while, but I finally got one through a friend in Indonesia (of all places). About a month after I got that invitation, Google finally deigned to send me an invitation about a year after I signed up for updates. Sheesh…
Anyways, Gmail completely changed the way I think about email. I had initially created a new yahoo ID to migrate from hotmail, but after I played around with gmail, I migrated there instead and I’ve never looked back. Free storage space of more than 2.7 Gbs and growing? A clear and easy user interface? A convenient way to check if you have mail without having to open the client? All of these things are present, but the feature I find most attractive is how they treat email conversations as, well, conversations! In regular emails, your messages come to you in sequential order so if you email someone and they email you back, you just get their message in your box and it’s presented in the order it was received. In Gmail, all email conversations based on the same topic where you’re just replying back and forth are grouped together so you don’t have to dig through anything to figure out who said what in response to whom. It’s all there for you to look at whenever you want! It’s easier seen than explained, so take a look at it when you get a chance. Granted, it is not an all-rounder like Yahoo; while you have the new Googletalk, I think that’s come a bit too late to make a dent in the IM market and I don’t really see Google as a community-based service like Yahoo. However, for pure email services with innovative solutions and great settings, Gmail gets my vote as the best free email service on the web.
One last thing: Any issues about privacy and ads in Google are overblown, I think. The ads that Google uses are text-based and not in-your-face like MSN and Yahoo ads are. Besides, it’s interesting to see the links that come up if you email your friend about some weird random thing like “why do we park in driveways and drive in parkways?”
So, if you want a great email service, pick Gmail or Yahoo. Use AIM if you already have an AIM ID and want an email for various purposes, and only use hotmail if you need to get an MSN passport.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
A survey/questionaire
1. Your Full name: Geoffrey Stuart Marshall
2. Do you feel like your name fits you?I do actually, can't imagine myself being called anything else.
3. Do you have an alter ego? Once in a while, a really wild, exhuberant outgoing guy pops out. It usually happens during Camp Verley socials, but I haven't seen him outside of there for a bit.
4. Where were you born? Kingston, Jamaica mon!
5. Where do you live? Spanish Town, Jamaica
6. Do you like to travel? Does a rasta smoke ganja?
7. What is your birthday? Aug 2, 1979
8. Do you have siblings? One brotha, one sista, a musician-ah, and a docta...
9. Do you have pets? No i don't, unless you count those dogs that treat our garbage as their buffet…
10. Which was the happiest year of your life? Hmmm. Off the top of my head, i'd have to choose between my first year of sixth form in 1995-1996, and most of 2001 up until September 11. That was when i was studying abroad in Australia...
11. How old do you wish you were? Younger than I am now :p
12. A movie is being made about your life. Who would you cast to play yourself? Denzel Washington. Morris Chestnut, if Denzel can't make it. I look better than Taye Diggs anyways, so I won't cast him :p
13. Who would you cast to play your significant other? (if you have no significant other, cast someone anyway)only one? hmmm, Halle Berry would have been on top the list, but now i'd have to say Eva Mendez. Or that other latina chick from Desparate Housewives, Eva Longoria.
14. How would this movie end? You tell me.
15. Is it better to be famous or infamous? Better not to care whether you're either
16. Youre going to die a natural death. What is the cause? Old age
17. Youre going to die a sudden, tragic death. What is the cause? Drowning in a sea of sorrel drink
18. How long do you plan on living? For eternity
19. What was the last song you got stuck in your head? When The World Ends-Dave Mathews band, the remix from "Matrix Reloaded". Really cool mix, it is...
20. Sing any commercial jingle...This isn't singing, but I have never been able to forget it. "Are you planning to travel? See Allied Travel, located at 1 Harbor Street, corner of Temple lane. Telephone 922-8450." Every Freakin Sunday, they would play this ad on the now defunct JBC, and to this day I cannot get it out of my head. Another bad one that sticks in my head is the ad for Mitchell's Auto Parts that they play on RJR. You Jamaicans remember that?? "Whoi, mi car!" "What happen to you man?" etc...
21. What is your favourite element on the periodic table? ... I'm not THAT much of a nerd. Silicon, if you must have an answer.
22. Sunrise or sunset? Sunset, in the desert or at the beach. It's more relaxing, refreshing, beautiful, and you don't have to get up at ungodly hours to see it.
23. Introvert or extrovert? introvert, trying to be a bit more open though.
24. Creation or evolution? Creation all the way. Both are articles of faith and should be equally respected at least.
25.Action or reaction? Re-Action
26. Unity or individuality? Individuality but unite towards a common goal.
27. Hugs or drugs? Hugs, no drugs. Embrace Alice, not the chalice. Inhale her perfume, not her smoke.
28. Animal, vegetable, or mineral? mineral. What can I say, i'm a geology major.
29. Popsicle, creamcicle, or fudgecicle? Whichever's cheapest.
30. Fight or flight? I make love, not war :) at the same time, don't piss me off.
31. Who is your favourite historical figure? Winston Churchill. The USA may have been the factor that kept the world from speaking German, but his vision and inspiration was what kept the Allies going in the worst of the time.
32. Which historical figure could we have done without? I think the world would be rather appreciative if Hitler had stuck to making crappy paintings. (Geoff can't take cred for this statement, but he agrees with it 100%).
33. What happened in the last dream you remember? Something to do with people at church, and I saw people that I knew were not at church anymore…the weird thing is that I knew I was dreaming, and for some reason I was trying to wake myself up. However, I didn’t, and then I forgot that I was dreaming…until I woke up. Now I’m peeved, I should have tried to do a Superman impression when I realized I was dreaming :D
34. Do nice guys really finish last? From ages 20-29 they mostly do. Then the bad guys become fat old drunks, and the girls find out that smarter girls snapped up the good guys already…still, the nice guys have gotta learn confidence.
35. What are your favourite boy names? Geoffrey (surprisingly enough), Ian, Andrew, Sean, Michael, Brian, Zachary.
36. What are your favourite girl names? Shannon, Rhiannon, Nicole, Natasha...Sioban, Denise, Myrtle (gotcha!)
37. Open or closed? Open over time, but don't be too open too soon. Check out whoever it is you're opening up to. You can't stay cloistered up forever, but be sure that the person is both deserving of your opening up and wants you to open up.
38. White bread or wheat bread? Wheat bread, with PB and any kind of jam.
39. Is it better to burn out than to fade away? Who says you have to do either? Balance yourself, darn it.
40. You put a quarter into a toy machine. What comes out? A super bouncy ball
41.What do you want to be when you grow up? Kinda late to be asking that, don't you think?
42. What were your favourite childhood toys? GI Joe, and video games...oh, you said childhood, right?
43. What was your first pet? Two dogs called Rascal and Timmy, but i think they were my uncle's dogs and not ours...
44. What annoys you? People who whine, and are needy to the point that they can't function for and by themselves. People who are full of themselves.
45. What is your favourite action caption from the old batman tv show? (example. "pow" or "blam") patoong? Holy unnecessary question Batman!
46. How many licks does it take to get to the centre of a tootsie pop? Quite a few.
47. The glass... half empty or half full? Depends on what's in the glass
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON:
48. Tightie whities. Sooooo grade school. Boxer briefs all the way!
49. Mc Donalds happy meals. Never had one, never plan to. DO I LOOK LIKE A HAPPY MEAL PERSON??
50. Reality shows. The worst genre of TV ever invented. The only good one is The Amazing Race, and Survivor gets a pass as the original concept, but pretty much everything else is just dumb.
51. Gummi bears or gummi worms? I don't like candy that much, but i'd choose the worms.
52.Would you rather sky dive or deep sea dive? Sky dive, without a doubt. I don't mess with the ocean at all at all. I would take a submarine ride, but there is NO WAY in AICH-AYE-EL-EL that you'll see me outside of a boat in dark blue waters. I'll watch the Discovery channel for stuff like that.
53. Paper or plastic? Paper, more environmentally friendly after it's served it's use.
54. What position do you sleep in? On my back and my side.
55. Do you sleep on the left, right, or the middle of the bed? My current bed is too small to have a left, right or middle :-D I barely fit on it lengthwise as it is.
56. Sweet or sour? depends on what it is
57. What was your favourite after school special? eh?
58.What is your favourite word? At the moment? 'Payday'.
59. Beach or mountains? oooh, this is a tough one...I can't choose. I want 'em both, that's why I love Jamaican and that's why I loved Hawaii.
60. Mounds or almond joy? AJ
61. Do YOU feel like a nut? After what I’ve been through the past few months, i wonder about it sometimes.
62. To give or to recieve? To give, once people appreciate the gift
63. Chocolate or caramel? Chocolate
64. Do you have any nicknames? Geoff, and some other classified names from my high school and working days :)
65. What does your name mean? Geoffrey = gift of God (now ladies, you KNOW that's a sign right there :-p)
66. Have you ever fainted? A couple of times.
67.Have you ever had a crush on a school teacher? Nope nope nope. Though I did think that Ms. Cox at the W&L chemistry department was kinda cute, but that was an observation, not a crush.
68.What was the last thing you ate? Curry chicken from the cafeteria here at work.
69.Do you have any bad habits? Who doesn’t?
WORD ASSOCIATION what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear...
70. Grey... poupon
71. Human... beings
72. Fruit loop... Cereal
73. Glove... Gary Payton
74. Plum... Pudding
75. Structure... building
76. Race...Amazing race
77. Heart... What About Love
78. Parasite...tapeworm
79. What was your first happy memory? I don't know.
80. What was your first unhappy memory? I dunno.
81. If you could visit any time period, what would it be? The future
82.What would jesus do? The Right Thing
83. Make up a word and define it. Polyprophylactication: the art of making multiple condoms.
84.Favourite kool aid flavour? If it's red, I dig it :-D
85. Favourite pick up line? I don't use those things.
86. Who was the third gunman on the grassy knoll? I don't do conspiracy
87. What did you like to make believe as a child? That i could fly
88. Did you have an imaginary friend? Nah not really. I had a vivid imagination though ...
89. Would you like to live in a castle or a mansion? Mansion. Castles are so 11th Century.
90. Re-arrange some of the letters in your first, middle, and last name to form a description of yourself. I don't have THAT much time on my hands dude.
91. Do it fast or do it right? Do it right.
92.What was the last book you read? My Utmost for His Highest, a daily devotional that has been a very strong blessing to me.
93. Have you ever had surgery? Well, i had a mole on my leg that itched. That ain't cool, so I had it cut out at the infirmary and biopsied. It came back ok...
94. Random fact about you...... My taste in music runs from Andre Crouch to Creed to Bela Fleck to Bill Munroe to Johnny Cash to Joe Satriani to Rush to Eminem to Phillip Aaberg to Richard Smallwood and continuing. I have given up Kenny G, so don't fret too much about me :-D.
95. What is the first thing you wash in the shower? My face
96. What is your favourite cereal? Post Honey Bunches (all types) and Kellog Smart Start. Cheerios are good too, but I don't know why parents would buy all that other junk.
97. If you could learn any foreign language, what would it be? I wish I were better at Spanish...I'd say Mandarin and Cantonese.
98. If you had the choice to live forever, would you? Yes I would, knowing what I know about the future.
99. If you had the choice to be the opposite sex for a day, would you? Yeah, so I could figure out once and for all what women want.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN
100. Fate? Not in so many words. Things happen because of choices one makes, but often you can't control many things either...
101. Ghosts? No, but I believe that evil spirits exist.
102. God? Yep.
103. Big foot? No, but I can be convinced.
104. Soul mates? hmmm...you can be more compatible with some people than with others, but whoever the person is, you both have to make it work. You don't just fall in love and live happily ever after, but it can be easier to make it work with a certain person than with another person. I don't believe there is only ONE person out there for you. You just choose the one that you meet that completes you and that God tells you is for you. If you keep trading up saying "I can find someone better" you deserve to be alone.
105.Aliens? Yes, but I don't think that they have visited (or would want to visit) us here.
106.Angels? Yep.
107. Loch ness monster? See bigfoot.
108. Heaven and hell? Yeah, but neither is in operation right now. Well, Hell isn't, anyway, and only God and his crew and a few people like Elijah and Moses are in Heaven right now...but that's for a bible study,
109. The Zodiac? Puh-leaze.
110. Love at first sight? Call me a cynic, but no. Strong attraction at first site, yeah. Love? Nope
111. Karma? not in the hindu sense, but what goes around DOES come around.112.
Vampires? No. Blade kicks ass though
113. If you had any super power, what would it be? To have x-ray vision...nah :D i'd want to be like superman, all the powers he has. Wait, ,he has x-ray vision too...oh well.
114. Would you use your power for good or evil? I'll take the 5th amendment on that. I'd probably end up being like the Punisher.
115. Name something nostalgic. Mento music
116. What are your turn ons in the opposite sex? A good conversationalist, attractiveness, equal interests in listening to me and talking to me, intelligence and spirituality.
117. What are your turn offs in the opposite sex? Selfishness, apathy, and an"i'm all that" attitude.
118. What was the best compliment ever given to you? You have been a blessing to me.
119. Which character from Scooby Doo do you most relate to? none of 'em...well, Vera was the nerd in glasses, but she was ready to break out with the right makeover. Methinks i can relate to that.
120. What is the worst trend of the present time? Reality TV and an obsession with pop-culture and being "in".
121. Beer or wine? Neither
123. You cant sleep. What do you do? Surf the web.
124. Do you wear jewelry? A watch, which is currently busted. I have to mail it to Seiko to get fixed whenever I can find the time and money…
125. What is your favourite smell? Hmm... the sweet scent of perfume on a beautiful woman. Hey, it's either that or something to do with food, so cut me some slack, ok?
126. What was the best decade of the past century? The 70's. The continuation of civil rights, the maturation of what is now reggae, classic rock and soul/funk...it didn't have as much strife as the 60's and wasn't as corny as the 80's.
127. Which is your favourite month of the year? June. It's getting warm, but not muggy hot like the summer, and it's the beginning of summer.
128. Do you smoke? No
129. Do you drink? No
130. What was your favourite subject in school? Geography
131. What was your worst subject in school? French. Had a mutually bad experience with my high school teacher, which impacts my impression of the language to this very day. It was so bad that when my mom forced me to sign up for the class the following year, the teacher said she wasn't teaching me anything and told me to get out of her class. I was more than happy to oblige...anyways, i've moved on.
132. If you had to give up one of your senses, what would it be? I don't even want to think of it.
133. Do you follow your head, your heart, or your crotch? Usually my head.
134. Do you truely know who you are? I'm not 100%, but i'm getting a very good idea.
135. Are you superstitious? Not much.
136. Are you sentimental? A little bit, but I don't dwell on it.
137. How many times a day do you eat? 2 times at least.
138. Are you more of a main idea or detail type of person? Main idea ... details are important but I never get bogged down.
139. What is your favourite pie? Balfours line of products from South Australia. I'd do almost anything to get some of their goodies right now, it's so sad. Heck, I'd fly over there JUST to pig out on their items.
140. Have you ever been close to death? Once or twice. I'm sure it's happened without my knowledge as well.
141. Do you like roller coasters? ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh yeah! STEEL FORCE Coaster at that place in Allentown, PA BABY! That was the last rollercoaster i've been on, back in 2003.
142. Apples or oranges? Oranges
143. Are you hyperactive? are you kidding? I'm more Mello than Mello box juice.
144. Do you talk in your sleep? I've been known to do it, but most complaints in recent times have been about snoring...
145. What is your favourite holiday? Christmas and Thanksgiving...for Jamaican holidays, i'd say Christmas and Independence day.
146. Do you go to church? yep
147. At what age do you think you will be married? Can't really predict. I'd hope to be in a position of at least talking about it by the time i'm 30.
148. If you could open up your own business, what would it be? ... I'm not much of a businessperson...however I 'd probably try to open a restaurant in Hawaii.
149. Have you ever seen a live music show and what was it? Quite a few. I saw Tracey Chapman in Albuquerque in October.2004…the last one I saw was an African Drumming concert at the University of Maryland in December 2005.
150. What is your weakness? I tend to emotionally distance myself from people.
151. What was the last movie you saw that made you cry? Schindler’s List
152. If love were a flavour, which flavour would it be? Strawberry
153. If hate were a flavour, which flavour would it be? REAAAAALLY sour lemon
154. Have you ever been prescribed any drugs? an anti-seizure drug that gave me a really bad reaction. They prescribed another anti-seizure drug for me, and I told them that unless the tests I took came back showing something wrong somewhere, I wasn’t taking it.
155. Is lying sometimes necessary? Only if you're hiding Jews from Nazis or similar situations. Or if your wife/girlfriend asks "Does this make me look fat?" Or if she asks some similar question where you're screwed whichever way you answer.
156. Bubbleyum or bubblicious? I don't do chewing gum
157. What is your favourite curse word? tick me off, you'll find out
158. Do you have any birthmarks? yep
159. If you could visit anywhere in the US, where would it be? well, i've been to Hawaii and Alaska, California and the Grand Canyon…Seattle, here I come!
160. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be? Europe and Asia and the eastern Caribbean...
162. Do you feel like your physical self matches your personality? Kinda.
163. What was the name of your kindergarten teacher? Ms. Thorpe.
164. Do you wear glasses or contacts? Contacts. I'll probably look into Lasik when I have some disposable income
165. How tall are you? six feet one inch, or about 181 cm.
166. How tall would you like to be? I like my height. It's taller than average, but not giant/b-ball huge.
167. Your current mood: pondering about this report I have to write up.
168. Do you dress up for halloween? heck no.
169. Have you ever been in a car accident? Once, this old lady in virginia had her right indicator on for about 10 seconds (driving on the right in the USA), so I decided to overtake her. As I overtake, she turns left into the side of the rental car i'm driving. Good thing the truck-driver behind me saw the whole thing and gave me his contact info, i told the rental company what happened and I don't think I was faulted for anything.
170. What is your favourite lucky charm? Don't have one.
171. What colour of underwear are you wearing? Since this is being blogged, I won’t answer :D
173. What is your favourite kids movie? hmm...Aladdin, and pretty much every Pixar movie.
174. Have you ever hallucinated? Naw, I see green two-headed aliens everyday.
175. How did you find out that there was no santa claus? PUH-LEAZE.
176. Pancakes or waffles? pancakes if i'm at home, waffles if there's an iron around.
177. Are you on a diet? heh heh heh heh heh. Me, on a diet? Whooooo hoo hoo hoo hoo!
178. Why is the grass always greener on the other side? Because your neighbour has better manure than you do.
179. Do you always want what you cant have? Not always, but it seems to be that way when it comes to ladies...
180. Do you act stupid around someone you have a crush on? er, ahem, i'll take the 5th on that too.
181. Have you ever been arrested? Well...........no.
182. Can you cook? Yes I can.
192. Do you think its wrong/weird if a girl asks a guy out? No, but I think it’s better if she gives him clear signs that she won’t say “no” if he asks her out. Fear of rejection runs hard both ways.
193. Do you have any allergies? Something here in Jamaica gives me a reaction, but now that I think about it, it hasn’t happened for a good while now…
194. Ketchup or catsup? Ketchup
195. Do you believe there is a meaning to life? Yep.
196. What do you think about before you fall asleep? It varies, from "what do I have to do tommorrow" to "mmmm, she’s a nice girl" to "crap! I forgot to log off that computer" to "when do I get paid again?", etc.
197.What are your thoughts on the nature of good and evil? Humans are born with the inclination to do wrong. You don't have to teach a child to lie, but you do have to teach them to tell the truth. You don't have to teach them to steal, be mean and rude, or be bad, but you do have to teach them to do what's right. That clearly shows what is, and what should be, are two different things in this world.
198. Step into your cave. There you will find your power animal. What kind of animal is it? A Bear.
199.What does your power animal say to you? Take it easy, i'm sleeping.
200. End this survey with a quote:Don't be too early or too late, you never know if you're going to be the bird or the worm.
2. Do you feel like your name fits you?I do actually, can't imagine myself being called anything else.
3. Do you have an alter ego? Once in a while, a really wild, exhuberant outgoing guy pops out. It usually happens during Camp Verley socials, but I haven't seen him outside of there for a bit.
4. Where were you born? Kingston, Jamaica mon!
5. Where do you live? Spanish Town, Jamaica
6. Do you like to travel? Does a rasta smoke ganja?
7. What is your birthday? Aug 2, 1979
8. Do you have siblings? One brotha, one sista, a musician-ah, and a docta...
9. Do you have pets? No i don't, unless you count those dogs that treat our garbage as their buffet…
10. Which was the happiest year of your life? Hmmm. Off the top of my head, i'd have to choose between my first year of sixth form in 1995-1996, and most of 2001 up until September 11. That was when i was studying abroad in Australia...
11. How old do you wish you were? Younger than I am now :p
12. A movie is being made about your life. Who would you cast to play yourself? Denzel Washington. Morris Chestnut, if Denzel can't make it. I look better than Taye Diggs anyways, so I won't cast him :p
13. Who would you cast to play your significant other? (if you have no significant other, cast someone anyway)only one? hmmm, Halle Berry would have been on top the list, but now i'd have to say Eva Mendez. Or that other latina chick from Desparate Housewives, Eva Longoria.
14. How would this movie end? You tell me.
15. Is it better to be famous or infamous? Better not to care whether you're either
16. Youre going to die a natural death. What is the cause? Old age
17. Youre going to die a sudden, tragic death. What is the cause? Drowning in a sea of sorrel drink
18. How long do you plan on living? For eternity
19. What was the last song you got stuck in your head? When The World Ends-Dave Mathews band, the remix from "Matrix Reloaded". Really cool mix, it is...
20. Sing any commercial jingle...This isn't singing, but I have never been able to forget it. "Are you planning to travel? See Allied Travel, located at 1 Harbor Street, corner of Temple lane. Telephone 922-8450." Every Freakin Sunday, they would play this ad on the now defunct JBC, and to this day I cannot get it out of my head. Another bad one that sticks in my head is the ad for Mitchell's Auto Parts that they play on RJR. You Jamaicans remember that?? "Whoi, mi car!" "What happen to you man?" etc...
21. What is your favourite element on the periodic table? ... I'm not THAT much of a nerd. Silicon, if you must have an answer.
22. Sunrise or sunset? Sunset, in the desert or at the beach. It's more relaxing, refreshing, beautiful, and you don't have to get up at ungodly hours to see it.
23. Introvert or extrovert? introvert, trying to be a bit more open though.
24. Creation or evolution? Creation all the way. Both are articles of faith and should be equally respected at least.
25.Action or reaction? Re-Action
26. Unity or individuality? Individuality but unite towards a common goal.
27. Hugs or drugs? Hugs, no drugs. Embrace Alice, not the chalice. Inhale her perfume, not her smoke.
28. Animal, vegetable, or mineral? mineral. What can I say, i'm a geology major.
29. Popsicle, creamcicle, or fudgecicle? Whichever's cheapest.
30. Fight or flight? I make love, not war :) at the same time, don't piss me off.
31. Who is your favourite historical figure? Winston Churchill. The USA may have been the factor that kept the world from speaking German, but his vision and inspiration was what kept the Allies going in the worst of the time.
32. Which historical figure could we have done without? I think the world would be rather appreciative if Hitler had stuck to making crappy paintings. (Geoff can't take cred for this statement, but he agrees with it 100%).
33. What happened in the last dream you remember? Something to do with people at church, and I saw people that I knew were not at church anymore…the weird thing is that I knew I was dreaming, and for some reason I was trying to wake myself up. However, I didn’t, and then I forgot that I was dreaming…until I woke up. Now I’m peeved, I should have tried to do a Superman impression when I realized I was dreaming :D
34. Do nice guys really finish last? From ages 20-29 they mostly do. Then the bad guys become fat old drunks, and the girls find out that smarter girls snapped up the good guys already…still, the nice guys have gotta learn confidence.
35. What are your favourite boy names? Geoffrey (surprisingly enough), Ian, Andrew, Sean, Michael, Brian, Zachary.
36. What are your favourite girl names? Shannon, Rhiannon, Nicole, Natasha...Sioban, Denise, Myrtle (gotcha!)
37. Open or closed? Open over time, but don't be too open too soon. Check out whoever it is you're opening up to. You can't stay cloistered up forever, but be sure that the person is both deserving of your opening up and wants you to open up.
38. White bread or wheat bread? Wheat bread, with PB and any kind of jam.
39. Is it better to burn out than to fade away? Who says you have to do either? Balance yourself, darn it.
40. You put a quarter into a toy machine. What comes out? A super bouncy ball
41.What do you want to be when you grow up? Kinda late to be asking that, don't you think?
42. What were your favourite childhood toys? GI Joe, and video games...oh, you said childhood, right?
43. What was your first pet? Two dogs called Rascal and Timmy, but i think they were my uncle's dogs and not ours...
44. What annoys you? People who whine, and are needy to the point that they can't function for and by themselves. People who are full of themselves.
45. What is your favourite action caption from the old batman tv show? (example. "pow" or "blam") patoong? Holy unnecessary question Batman!
46. How many licks does it take to get to the centre of a tootsie pop? Quite a few.
47. The glass... half empty or half full? Depends on what's in the glass
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON:
48. Tightie whities. Sooooo grade school. Boxer briefs all the way!
49. Mc Donalds happy meals. Never had one, never plan to. DO I LOOK LIKE A HAPPY MEAL PERSON??
50. Reality shows. The worst genre of TV ever invented. The only good one is The Amazing Race, and Survivor gets a pass as the original concept, but pretty much everything else is just dumb.
51. Gummi bears or gummi worms? I don't like candy that much, but i'd choose the worms.
52.Would you rather sky dive or deep sea dive? Sky dive, without a doubt. I don't mess with the ocean at all at all. I would take a submarine ride, but there is NO WAY in AICH-AYE-EL-EL that you'll see me outside of a boat in dark blue waters. I'll watch the Discovery channel for stuff like that.
53. Paper or plastic? Paper, more environmentally friendly after it's served it's use.
54. What position do you sleep in? On my back and my side.
55. Do you sleep on the left, right, or the middle of the bed? My current bed is too small to have a left, right or middle :-D I barely fit on it lengthwise as it is.
56. Sweet or sour? depends on what it is
57. What was your favourite after school special? eh?
58.What is your favourite word? At the moment? 'Payday'.
59. Beach or mountains? oooh, this is a tough one...I can't choose. I want 'em both, that's why I love Jamaican and that's why I loved Hawaii.
60. Mounds or almond joy? AJ
61. Do YOU feel like a nut? After what I’ve been through the past few months, i wonder about it sometimes.
62. To give or to recieve? To give, once people appreciate the gift
63. Chocolate or caramel? Chocolate
64. Do you have any nicknames? Geoff, and some other classified names from my high school and working days :)
65. What does your name mean? Geoffrey = gift of God (now ladies, you KNOW that's a sign right there :-p)
66. Have you ever fainted? A couple of times.
67.Have you ever had a crush on a school teacher? Nope nope nope. Though I did think that Ms. Cox at the W&L chemistry department was kinda cute, but that was an observation, not a crush.
68.What was the last thing you ate? Curry chicken from the cafeteria here at work.
69.Do you have any bad habits? Who doesn’t?
WORD ASSOCIATION what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear...
70. Grey... poupon
71. Human... beings
72. Fruit loop... Cereal
73. Glove... Gary Payton
74. Plum... Pudding
75. Structure... building
76. Race...Amazing race
77. Heart... What About Love
78. Parasite...tapeworm
79. What was your first happy memory? I don't know.
80. What was your first unhappy memory? I dunno.
81. If you could visit any time period, what would it be? The future
82.What would jesus do? The Right Thing
83. Make up a word and define it. Polyprophylactication: the art of making multiple condoms.
84.Favourite kool aid flavour? If it's red, I dig it :-D
85. Favourite pick up line? I don't use those things.
86. Who was the third gunman on the grassy knoll? I don't do conspiracy
87. What did you like to make believe as a child? That i could fly
88. Did you have an imaginary friend? Nah not really. I had a vivid imagination though ...
89. Would you like to live in a castle or a mansion? Mansion. Castles are so 11th Century.
90. Re-arrange some of the letters in your first, middle, and last name to form a description of yourself. I don't have THAT much time on my hands dude.
91. Do it fast or do it right? Do it right.
92.What was the last book you read? My Utmost for His Highest, a daily devotional that has been a very strong blessing to me.
93. Have you ever had surgery? Well, i had a mole on my leg that itched. That ain't cool, so I had it cut out at the infirmary and biopsied. It came back ok...
94. Random fact about you...... My taste in music runs from Andre Crouch to Creed to Bela Fleck to Bill Munroe to Johnny Cash to Joe Satriani to Rush to Eminem to Phillip Aaberg to Richard Smallwood and continuing. I have given up Kenny G, so don't fret too much about me :-D.
95. What is the first thing you wash in the shower? My face
96. What is your favourite cereal? Post Honey Bunches (all types) and Kellog Smart Start. Cheerios are good too, but I don't know why parents would buy all that other junk.
97. If you could learn any foreign language, what would it be? I wish I were better at Spanish...I'd say Mandarin and Cantonese.
98. If you had the choice to live forever, would you? Yes I would, knowing what I know about the future.
99. If you had the choice to be the opposite sex for a day, would you? Yeah, so I could figure out once and for all what women want.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN
100. Fate? Not in so many words. Things happen because of choices one makes, but often you can't control many things either...
101. Ghosts? No, but I believe that evil spirits exist.
102. God? Yep.
103. Big foot? No, but I can be convinced.
104. Soul mates? hmmm...you can be more compatible with some people than with others, but whoever the person is, you both have to make it work. You don't just fall in love and live happily ever after, but it can be easier to make it work with a certain person than with another person. I don't believe there is only ONE person out there for you. You just choose the one that you meet that completes you and that God tells you is for you. If you keep trading up saying "I can find someone better" you deserve to be alone.
105.Aliens? Yes, but I don't think that they have visited (or would want to visit) us here.
106.Angels? Yep.
107. Loch ness monster? See bigfoot.
108. Heaven and hell? Yeah, but neither is in operation right now. Well, Hell isn't, anyway, and only God and his crew and a few people like Elijah and Moses are in Heaven right now...but that's for a bible study,
109. The Zodiac? Puh-leaze.
110. Love at first sight? Call me a cynic, but no. Strong attraction at first site, yeah. Love? Nope
111. Karma? not in the hindu sense, but what goes around DOES come around.112.
Vampires? No. Blade kicks ass though
113. If you had any super power, what would it be? To have x-ray vision...nah :D i'd want to be like superman, all the powers he has. Wait, ,he has x-ray vision too...oh well.
114. Would you use your power for good or evil? I'll take the 5th amendment on that. I'd probably end up being like the Punisher.
115. Name something nostalgic. Mento music
116. What are your turn ons in the opposite sex? A good conversationalist, attractiveness, equal interests in listening to me and talking to me, intelligence and spirituality.
117. What are your turn offs in the opposite sex? Selfishness, apathy, and an"i'm all that" attitude.
118. What was the best compliment ever given to you? You have been a blessing to me.
119. Which character from Scooby Doo do you most relate to? none of 'em...well, Vera was the nerd in glasses, but she was ready to break out with the right makeover. Methinks i can relate to that.
120. What is the worst trend of the present time? Reality TV and an obsession with pop-culture and being "in".
121. Beer or wine? Neither
123. You cant sleep. What do you do? Surf the web.
124. Do you wear jewelry? A watch, which is currently busted. I have to mail it to Seiko to get fixed whenever I can find the time and money…
125. What is your favourite smell? Hmm... the sweet scent of perfume on a beautiful woman. Hey, it's either that or something to do with food, so cut me some slack, ok?
126. What was the best decade of the past century? The 70's. The continuation of civil rights, the maturation of what is now reggae, classic rock and soul/funk...it didn't have as much strife as the 60's and wasn't as corny as the 80's.
127. Which is your favourite month of the year? June. It's getting warm, but not muggy hot like the summer, and it's the beginning of summer.
128. Do you smoke? No
129. Do you drink? No
130. What was your favourite subject in school? Geography
131. What was your worst subject in school? French. Had a mutually bad experience with my high school teacher, which impacts my impression of the language to this very day. It was so bad that when my mom forced me to sign up for the class the following year, the teacher said she wasn't teaching me anything and told me to get out of her class. I was more than happy to oblige...anyways, i've moved on.
132. If you had to give up one of your senses, what would it be? I don't even want to think of it.
133. Do you follow your head, your heart, or your crotch? Usually my head.
134. Do you truely know who you are? I'm not 100%, but i'm getting a very good idea.
135. Are you superstitious? Not much.
136. Are you sentimental? A little bit, but I don't dwell on it.
137. How many times a day do you eat? 2 times at least.
138. Are you more of a main idea or detail type of person? Main idea ... details are important but I never get bogged down.
139. What is your favourite pie? Balfours line of products from South Australia. I'd do almost anything to get some of their goodies right now, it's so sad. Heck, I'd fly over there JUST to pig out on their items.
140. Have you ever been close to death? Once or twice. I'm sure it's happened without my knowledge as well.
141. Do you like roller coasters? ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh yeah! STEEL FORCE Coaster at that place in Allentown, PA BABY! That was the last rollercoaster i've been on, back in 2003.
142. Apples or oranges? Oranges
143. Are you hyperactive? are you kidding? I'm more Mello than Mello box juice.
144. Do you talk in your sleep? I've been known to do it, but most complaints in recent times have been about snoring...
145. What is your favourite holiday? Christmas and Thanksgiving...for Jamaican holidays, i'd say Christmas and Independence day.
146. Do you go to church? yep
147. At what age do you think you will be married? Can't really predict. I'd hope to be in a position of at least talking about it by the time i'm 30.
148. If you could open up your own business, what would it be? ... I'm not much of a businessperson...however I 'd probably try to open a restaurant in Hawaii.
149. Have you ever seen a live music show and what was it? Quite a few. I saw Tracey Chapman in Albuquerque in October.2004…the last one I saw was an African Drumming concert at the University of Maryland in December 2005.
150. What is your weakness? I tend to emotionally distance myself from people.
151. What was the last movie you saw that made you cry? Schindler’s List
152. If love were a flavour, which flavour would it be? Strawberry
153. If hate were a flavour, which flavour would it be? REAAAAALLY sour lemon
154. Have you ever been prescribed any drugs? an anti-seizure drug that gave me a really bad reaction. They prescribed another anti-seizure drug for me, and I told them that unless the tests I took came back showing something wrong somewhere, I wasn’t taking it.
155. Is lying sometimes necessary? Only if you're hiding Jews from Nazis or similar situations. Or if your wife/girlfriend asks "Does this make me look fat?" Or if she asks some similar question where you're screwed whichever way you answer.
156. Bubbleyum or bubblicious? I don't do chewing gum
157. What is your favourite curse word? tick me off, you'll find out
158. Do you have any birthmarks? yep
159. If you could visit anywhere in the US, where would it be? well, i've been to Hawaii and Alaska, California and the Grand Canyon…Seattle, here I come!
160. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be? Europe and Asia and the eastern Caribbean...
162. Do you feel like your physical self matches your personality? Kinda.
163. What was the name of your kindergarten teacher? Ms. Thorpe.
164. Do you wear glasses or contacts? Contacts. I'll probably look into Lasik when I have some disposable income
165. How tall are you? six feet one inch, or about 181 cm.
166. How tall would you like to be? I like my height. It's taller than average, but not giant/b-ball huge.
167. Your current mood: pondering about this report I have to write up.
168. Do you dress up for halloween? heck no.
169. Have you ever been in a car accident? Once, this old lady in virginia had her right indicator on for about 10 seconds (driving on the right in the USA), so I decided to overtake her. As I overtake, she turns left into the side of the rental car i'm driving. Good thing the truck-driver behind me saw the whole thing and gave me his contact info, i told the rental company what happened and I don't think I was faulted for anything.
170. What is your favourite lucky charm? Don't have one.
171. What colour of underwear are you wearing? Since this is being blogged, I won’t answer :D
173. What is your favourite kids movie? hmm...Aladdin, and pretty much every Pixar movie.
174. Have you ever hallucinated? Naw, I see green two-headed aliens everyday.
175. How did you find out that there was no santa claus? PUH-LEAZE.
176. Pancakes or waffles? pancakes if i'm at home, waffles if there's an iron around.
177. Are you on a diet? heh heh heh heh heh. Me, on a diet? Whooooo hoo hoo hoo hoo!
178. Why is the grass always greener on the other side? Because your neighbour has better manure than you do.
179. Do you always want what you cant have? Not always, but it seems to be that way when it comes to ladies...
180. Do you act stupid around someone you have a crush on? er, ahem, i'll take the 5th on that too.
181. Have you ever been arrested? Well...........no.
182. Can you cook? Yes I can.
192. Do you think its wrong/weird if a girl asks a guy out? No, but I think it’s better if she gives him clear signs that she won’t say “no” if he asks her out. Fear of rejection runs hard both ways.
193. Do you have any allergies? Something here in Jamaica gives me a reaction, but now that I think about it, it hasn’t happened for a good while now…
194. Ketchup or catsup? Ketchup
195. Do you believe there is a meaning to life? Yep.
196. What do you think about before you fall asleep? It varies, from "what do I have to do tommorrow" to "mmmm, she’s a nice girl" to "crap! I forgot to log off that computer" to "when do I get paid again?", etc.
197.What are your thoughts on the nature of good and evil? Humans are born with the inclination to do wrong. You don't have to teach a child to lie, but you do have to teach them to tell the truth. You don't have to teach them to steal, be mean and rude, or be bad, but you do have to teach them to do what's right. That clearly shows what is, and what should be, are two different things in this world.
198. Step into your cave. There you will find your power animal. What kind of animal is it? A Bear.
199.What does your power animal say to you? Take it easy, i'm sleeping.
200. End this survey with a quote:Don't be too early or too late, you never know if you're going to be the bird or the worm.
one more Jamaican with a Digicel...
I’m mobile again…phone wise, that is. Cost a bit, but the phone seems pretty good and robust. It’s going to be a pain to build up my contact list again, so if you’re reading this blog and you know me, email me your number again please!
I’ll write more when my brain is not as addled as it is now…
I’ll write more when my brain is not as addled as it is now…
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Routine
The routine begins to kick in, and I get home dead tired…but at least I don’t dread getting up and going to work like I did when I was temping in Maryland. The people I worked with in Maryland were cool for the most part…well, the middle management people weren’t all that, (and I think that seems to be a general trend in the USA) but my fellow colleagues and floor supervisors for the most part were really good people. What sucked was the work in general, and it is not nice to wake up in the mornings and say “man, I wish I didn’t have to go into work today”.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Sight to see
Where else in the world can you see a mongoose scuttle past your office window as you check your email in the morning?
Monday, March 13, 2006
Good news about leaving comments
Good news…
Now you can comment on whatever I’ve posted without your having to register! What fun, what joy…
Now you can comment on whatever I’ve posted without your having to register! What fun, what joy…
Letter posted!
Hmmmm….
A letter that I wrote to the Jamaica Observer was published in the paper today! I feel pretty good, I don’t know if any good will come of it but at least I was able to air my thoughts in a public forum ( It was a direct reply to a letter that Omar Davies (minister of Finance) wrote to a lady who spoke of taxes as a “tool of silencing and persecution” as practiced by this government. He challenged her to prove her case, and I responded by giving my personal testimony, where…well, if you want to know, I'll post it later on. The letter HAD been posted online, but for some reason it was taken off the website :S I don't know why...It WAS in the print edition, and I read it myself that morning. Censorship? Could be, but I’ll still write more…I wonder sometimes what it would be like if I were to write a column. But what would I write it on? I’m still too young and have no idea of what goes on behind the scenes, á la Mark Wignall. Still, all I can do is send my opinion whenever I feel it needs to be sent.
Also, it’s good to be upfront with people. You take your medicine, and move on with no hard feelings; I hate the games that people play in relationships sometimes, and it’s refreshing to talk to someone who is direct and honest yet pleasant. It’s true you have to be careful yeah, but there comes a time to stand up and put yourself out there…and I think I’m getting the hang of it. Respect abides where openness and tact are welcome. That’s an original quote right there, so be sure to give cred where it’s due ;) hehehehe.
A letter that I wrote to the Jamaica Observer was published in the paper today! I feel pretty good, I don’t know if any good will come of it but at least I was able to air my thoughts in a public forum ( It was a direct reply to a letter that Omar Davies (minister of Finance) wrote to a lady who spoke of taxes as a “tool of silencing and persecution” as practiced by this government. He challenged her to prove her case, and I responded by giving my personal testimony, where…well, if you want to know, I'll post it later on. The letter HAD been posted online, but for some reason it was taken off the website :S I don't know why...It WAS in the print edition, and I read it myself that morning. Censorship? Could be, but I’ll still write more…I wonder sometimes what it would be like if I were to write a column. But what would I write it on? I’m still too young and have no idea of what goes on behind the scenes, á la Mark Wignall. Still, all I can do is send my opinion whenever I feel it needs to be sent.
Also, it’s good to be upfront with people. You take your medicine, and move on with no hard feelings; I hate the games that people play in relationships sometimes, and it’s refreshing to talk to someone who is direct and honest yet pleasant. It’s true you have to be careful yeah, but there comes a time to stand up and put yourself out there…and I think I’m getting the hang of it. Respect abides where openness and tact are welcome. That’s an original quote right there, so be sure to give cred where it’s due ;) hehehehe.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Cell phones and Jamaica (and the USA)
I can’t imagine how Jamaica would have been right now, if it were not for the cell phone. According to some survey I read somewhere, there are more than 2.1 million cell phones in Jamaica. When you consider that the Jamaican population is somewhere between 2.6 and 2.7 million, you can see that this is a very high ratio, eh? I guess sometime within the next 10 years, you’ll see babies coming out of the womb with cell phones in their hands :-D Someone without a cell phone is the oddity; everyone in every strata of society has a cellie.
It’s actually been beneficial for Jamaica, I think. Looong time ago, there was a monopoly on the phone industry held by Cable & Wireless, and they acted like a monopoly. Bad service? High fees? Suck it up fools, we OWN you, hahahah!! Then along came Digicel, and the view changed rapidly. While C&W still pretty much owns the land line business, Digicel made mobile phone service affordable for the masses. Competition is good for the masses and today we reap the benefits of two companies desperately fighting for our money (…
For my part, having foolishly lost the most excellent phone I carried down from the USA, I am now faced with choosing between these two services. I had signed up with MiPhone service on my lost phone but that was just because it was a CDMA phone (Digicel and C&W are GSM). Since I have to start from scratch again, I’ll have to play with the big dogs…I’m leaning towards C&W, but I’ll have to do a more intensive recon when I have some time. Most people use Digicel, but C&W has a deal where it costs the same to call any cellular customer no matter their service. Of course, it means that those who use Digicel won’t want to call me…but on the other hand, most of them never have any credits ANYWAY and wouldn’t call me ANYWAY. I’ll see what the reconnaissance has to say after I do it…
And upon further reflection, I realize that the cell phone industry in the USA totally sucks and is solely out to prey on the consumer. I should have seen it a long time ago though…I mean, why should I have to pay out of my minutes if someone calls me? That doesn’t happen here in Jamaica; you only pay if you call someone, and if they call you, you don’t pay for the call. Furthermore, I find it suspicious that the USA’s prepaid service does not even begin to compare to the prepaid service down here. In the USA, the vast majority of plans are of the flat rate/set minutes per month and you pay extra per minute if you go over. Some companies have the rollover or anytime minutes, but it still charges if you go over. I tried to get a Verizon prepaid account for my mom, but for some reason they charged $1 a day or something like that, regardless if you made calls or not. I don’t know about you, but a ‘jack is a ‘jack no matter where you are. On the other hand, the vast majority of phones in Jamaica are pre-paid minutes, where you just buy a card and add the credit to your account as needed. They don’t expire until you use ‘em, so if you buy a big chunk of credit, you can just let it sit there and call until it goes out again, and then buy another big chunk. Too many people down here just buy credit piece-piece and thus run out of it when they need it the most, but that’s not the way to go in my opinion. I don’t need a steady flat rate plan, I’ll buy the credit I need to call when I need and when it’s over, I’ll buy some more. That’s the sensible way to go. Cell users of the USA, unite! Tell your bloated corporations you want honest billing!
It’s actually been beneficial for Jamaica, I think. Looong time ago, there was a monopoly on the phone industry held by Cable & Wireless, and they acted like a monopoly. Bad service? High fees? Suck it up fools, we OWN you, hahahah!! Then along came Digicel, and the view changed rapidly. While C&W still pretty much owns the land line business, Digicel made mobile phone service affordable for the masses. Competition is good for the masses and today we reap the benefits of two companies desperately fighting for our money (…
For my part, having foolishly lost the most excellent phone I carried down from the USA, I am now faced with choosing between these two services. I had signed up with MiPhone service on my lost phone but that was just because it was a CDMA phone (Digicel and C&W are GSM). Since I have to start from scratch again, I’ll have to play with the big dogs…I’m leaning towards C&W, but I’ll have to do a more intensive recon when I have some time. Most people use Digicel, but C&W has a deal where it costs the same to call any cellular customer no matter their service. Of course, it means that those who use Digicel won’t want to call me…but on the other hand, most of them never have any credits ANYWAY and wouldn’t call me ANYWAY. I’ll see what the reconnaissance has to say after I do it…
And upon further reflection, I realize that the cell phone industry in the USA totally sucks and is solely out to prey on the consumer. I should have seen it a long time ago though…I mean, why should I have to pay out of my minutes if someone calls me? That doesn’t happen here in Jamaica; you only pay if you call someone, and if they call you, you don’t pay for the call. Furthermore, I find it suspicious that the USA’s prepaid service does not even begin to compare to the prepaid service down here. In the USA, the vast majority of plans are of the flat rate/set minutes per month and you pay extra per minute if you go over. Some companies have the rollover or anytime minutes, but it still charges if you go over. I tried to get a Verizon prepaid account for my mom, but for some reason they charged $1 a day or something like that, regardless if you made calls or not. I don’t know about you, but a ‘jack is a ‘jack no matter where you are. On the other hand, the vast majority of phones in Jamaica are pre-paid minutes, where you just buy a card and add the credit to your account as needed. They don’t expire until you use ‘em, so if you buy a big chunk of credit, you can just let it sit there and call until it goes out again, and then buy another big chunk. Too many people down here just buy credit piece-piece and thus run out of it when they need it the most, but that’s not the way to go in my opinion. I don’t need a steady flat rate plan, I’ll buy the credit I need to call when I need and when it’s over, I’ll buy some more. That’s the sensible way to go. Cell users of the USA, unite! Tell your bloated corporations you want honest billing!
Thursday, March 09, 2006
What Geoff learned today
What did I learn today?I learned that man shall not attempt to go on field trips from 8 am to 3:30 pm just eating a bun and cheese sandwich, a really sour orange, and a really delicious grapefruit. The resulting pangs of hunger will distract even the most dedicated scientist. I also learned that it’s wise to determine why an orange tree laden with fruit is still laden with fruit before just picking and partaking.
I learned that ticks suck, literally and figuratively.
I learned that Mile Gully is a pretty nice part of Jamaica, even though the sun was hot, there was not much discomfort due to heat. Granted, we were in the cool hills of Manchester, but it was still a nice day weather-wise.
I learned that geoprobes are an interesting and useful way to get remotely sensed data for the earth’s subsurface, but it sucks to have to take a 20-lb sledge hammer and whack a cast-iron sledge 5 times per probe for 24 probes. At least, I assume it sucks; I wasn’t the one who had to do the whacking, thank God!
I learned that the Juci-Beef chain of restaurants is actually quite good. Their patties are definitely on par with Tastee patties (the gold standard in Jamaica) and while I won’t accuse them of industrial espionage, I will probably one day try a blind taste test to determine the difference between their fried & BBQ chicken and KFC’s chicken. They taste too similar to be just a coincidence. It was all good though; I would go back to Juci-Beef for a fast food fix.
I learned that people are just nosey, wherever you go.
I learned that the Rio Minho, contrary to what I thought based on observations, is NOT running dry. It becomes sub-surface flow at some point before reaching May Pen, and re-emerges outside of Lionel Town. Thus, if you dig in the riverbed outside of May Pen, you’ll eventually encounter said flow.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Salsa Picture #2
No, I don't have a sequence or strategy for how I put these pics up.This pic was taken on that same salsa dance mentioned earlier in this blog; I have a pic up of myself and Suzanne. The four of us went and had a really good time, here is Remke (the Netherlands), Suzanne (USA), me (Jamaica)and Jhon (Columbia, and I didn't spell his name wrong).
Marshall clan 2
This one is a bit late in coming; I took it the first Sabbath that I came back home in Feb 2006. Yeah, I should have taken off the shades, but me eyes are sensitive! Anyhows, it's me, Dad, Sarah and Andrew.
random thoughts
Fieldwork tomorrow, quiet stuff today, still getting into the swing of it…
Cute girls here, others there, another I wish to hear from, another who wants to hear from me…
What to get involved in at church, what to leave alone, ideas to push, ideas to drop…
And to top it off, a funeral for a criminal in Spanish Town ends up shutting down half the city for fear of criminal elements going all crazy. The police were out in full force and there was no trouble when I was coming back home, but something has to be done about the crime here. Thing is, everyone says that, but no one has a freakin’ CLUE about what that something is. Including me. Sometimes I wish I could be like Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, just go vigilante, undercover, and terminate all criminal elements with extreme prejudice. Still, vengeance is God’s, not mine.
Lost is in repeats tonight, and there isn’t really anything else I’d watch until South Park and Drawn Together, so I’ll probably end up playing FIFA Soccer 2002 until 10 pm…see if I can take the Jamaican side to win the World Cup. Yeah!
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised.”
Cute girls here, others there, another I wish to hear from, another who wants to hear from me…
What to get involved in at church, what to leave alone, ideas to push, ideas to drop…
And to top it off, a funeral for a criminal in Spanish Town ends up shutting down half the city for fear of criminal elements going all crazy. The police were out in full force and there was no trouble when I was coming back home, but something has to be done about the crime here. Thing is, everyone says that, but no one has a freakin’ CLUE about what that something is. Including me. Sometimes I wish I could be like Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, just go vigilante, undercover, and terminate all criminal elements with extreme prejudice. Still, vengeance is God’s, not mine.
Lost is in repeats tonight, and there isn’t really anything else I’d watch until South Park and Drawn Together, so I’ll probably end up playing FIFA Soccer 2002 until 10 pm…see if I can take the Jamaican side to win the World Cup. Yeah!
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised.”
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
One more thing
One more thing,
I just wanted to express my utter bitterness and disgust at the Jamaica Public Service for letting the power go out last night just as I was getting ready to watch the first part of Battlestar Galactica’s Season Finale. It’s better to miss the first part than the second part, tis true, but mi nuh waa miss nun a dem. Cho!
I just wanted to express my utter bitterness and disgust at the Jamaica Public Service for letting the power go out last night just as I was getting ready to watch the first part of Battlestar Galactica’s Season Finale. It’s better to miss the first part than the second part, tis true, but mi nuh waa miss nun a dem. Cho!
First Day Report, and Transport issues
Yesterday was my first day at work, and it was a good day. Everyone seemed really happy to see me back, and I feel quite at home. I’ve just started to get into the swing of things, Angella gave me some reports to read about the island’s current water status and we had a team meeting where I began to get a feel of what projects and assignments we’re working on. There was a presentation later on in the day from Ms. Kimberly John about biodiversity and threats to the Jamaican ecosystem, which was also pretty interesting.
I’m in the office early this morning, and I probably will be most mornings. The traffic here is pretty bad, I have to leave home by 5:50 am to catch the executive bus that runs from my neighborhood to Half-Way Tree, and then I have to transfer from that bus to one that runs up to Papine. This routine is actually better than the one I used to do back in the day, where I’d have to catch a taxi from home to Spanish Town, catch another taxi/bus from Spanish Town to Half-Way-Tree and then catch yet ANOTHER taxi to Papine. Doing it that way, I spend at least $170 and would be in a very uncomfortable ride. Taking the executive bus means I’m sitting down in A/C comfort, reading whatever and listening to my own music if I want, or catching a nap, and then I only have to make one transfer. Time is the main thing though; as I said, I left home at 5:50 and I got to the office at about 7:30, and work starts at 8:30. Normally it shouldn’t take more than an hour to drive from my home to work, it’s comparable to driving from Baltimore to Washington DC. If I left home at 7 am though, I probably wouldn’t even be halfway to Kingston by now.
Oh well, at least I can use this hour to chill, get ready for the day, etc. etc. (
I’m in the office early this morning, and I probably will be most mornings. The traffic here is pretty bad, I have to leave home by 5:50 am to catch the executive bus that runs from my neighborhood to Half-Way Tree, and then I have to transfer from that bus to one that runs up to Papine. This routine is actually better than the one I used to do back in the day, where I’d have to catch a taxi from home to Spanish Town, catch another taxi/bus from Spanish Town to Half-Way-Tree and then catch yet ANOTHER taxi to Papine. Doing it that way, I spend at least $170 and would be in a very uncomfortable ride. Taking the executive bus means I’m sitting down in A/C comfort, reading whatever and listening to my own music if I want, or catching a nap, and then I only have to make one transfer. Time is the main thing though; as I said, I left home at 5:50 and I got to the office at about 7:30, and work starts at 8:30. Normally it shouldn’t take more than an hour to drive from my home to work, it’s comparable to driving from Baltimore to Washington DC. If I left home at 7 am though, I probably wouldn’t even be halfway to Kingston by now.
Oh well, at least I can use this hour to chill, get ready for the day, etc. etc. (
Friday, March 03, 2006
A jamaican minibus
This picture was taken today, I was in the back of a coaster bus running from Half Way Tree to Spanish Town. Rush hour Metro ain't got nothin' on this...and for Wilma and company, you see that it is reality that that joke was referring to, eh? :p
Mandeville, viewed from NCU cafeteria
these are the cool cool hills of Manchester. Great place to retire to...pretty boring otherwise, hehehe.
I did not say that word!
This is a very heated game of Taboo here, being contested between various youth members of the Trench Town SDA church, who were also on this beach trip.
Road Trip pics from Jamaica
This is the floodplain of the Plantain Garden River, at Jamaica's easternmost tip.
This is a view of the Blue Mountains from Yallahs Ford, St. Thomas. The camera is facing roughly north. The Blue Mountains are the highest mountains in Jamaica, reaching an elavation of 7402 feet at the highest point. It is kinda hard to get up there, there are not many roads though there are quite a few hiking trails. I've never hiked up there before, so that's one more thing to put on my to-do list...this pic was taken on Ash Wednesday on our way to the BEACH!
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