One Nation

Following up on yesterday's post I am pleased to announce that my 'Ready to Rent' Certificate was renewed today as I had my plumbing checked out and all is well. I think the prep is worse than the actual examination. Clear soup made from ingredients that seem more suited for army rations and water for 1 1/2 days is not exactly the catch of the day. Anyway's, done, finish, moving on! I agree that no incarceration facility on the rock is considered high security, including the one actually on the rock. The debacle surrounding the walking out of a prison facility by an accused person and the immediate disclaimers being put out by both the prison, court and police authorities says that this could be another one of those things that take years and years to determine what happened with no one ever being held responsible. What always amazes me is the fact that no one in a supervisory role or management is ever fired for incompetence. There will always be persons in senior ...

Tomorrow morning I am heading off to have one of those tests done, I should say that this is a routine test and part of my annual checkup, where one has to fast and do other things in order to prepare for the examination. I hate doing these things because it does not allow you to go anywhere and being stuck at home is not my cup of tea. Speaking of tea the world is planning for a Royal wedding in the UK early part of 2018. Tradition has it that only if one is from the 'R' stock then can one be called HRH the Princess of wherever. Apparently marrying a commoner does not make your spouse a Royal, one must be born into the realm. Consorts who are native subjects of their spouses are often known by their maiden name. What will happen next year remains to be seen. An American and divorced at that may create a problem. I hope this can change before the event and since HRH the Queen has accepted the 'commoner'  as a suitable match for her grandson then things should work o...

Things have been busy over the last couple weeks, two trips back to back ( I thought I had retired) but not a problem. I love a challenge and if things proceed as planned then the trips would have been well worth it. The last trip was actually to NYC, one of my most favorite destinations, and this time was no exception. The one thing that I got mixed up was that it was Thanksgiving. How in hell do you mix up Thanksgiving? Well I did and probably because it means nothing to me personally but it sure meant something to a lot of other people. Like any large city on the globe NYC is great because of the voices on the streets. One would hear every language on earth including those with an American accent. At the hotel we stayed at we were greeted by a Trini from south, the housekeeping staff were all Spanish speaking, very few of the restaurants or stores that we visited were serviced by red blooded Americans. Of course the taxi drivers were all Middle Eastern. Makes you wonder if all t...

Every day, in the morning and then at night, the great protector, the dog, receives 2 of one of the rock's most famous products, the vital supplies! Well I had to open a new pack tonight and I had to remark that it was a batch of the best. The taste, the 'crispyness', the color, the absolute best! My father used to give the family dogs condensed milk on bread for breakfast. Today I felt the first northern breeze coming off the North Coast, nice and cool. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I see the AATT introducing sniffer dogs at the airport. The picture in one of the dailies is a sniffer dog leaping at a man. I hope the security company supplying both dog and man understands that there is a protocol when dealing with airport passengers. Travel is such a stressful time for many people hence the dogs are more or less invisible as they walk through the crowds. Many people fear dogs and the presence of the animals in an enclosed area creates further stress....

Things have been hectic recently, I have simply not had the time to do a daily post. 'Good thing' you say. Well, the very good news is that I am back to a less rigorous schedule and may well find the time. The weather here on the rock has been simply beautiful. The mornings in the valley have been cool at about 23 dg C, with beautiful blue skies and it seems that the heavy rains have eased up. Our friends in Chickland reported over 10 inches of rain in one 24 hr period which created havoc for many people. We shall see what happens with the rest of the rainy season up to January. Went into the city today, parked at the best paid parking service on the rock, and headed off to the Ministry of Legal Affairs to register a name. Of course I forgot the one page completed form at home but headed down anyway figuring it was a Government office which undoubtedly will have forms, that's what Government offices do, they have forms. Everybody is in a great mood, morning, thanks, all t...

Being semi-retired one has the privilege of going to work or better, at whatever time I want to go. It gets better when you are in fact the 'boss'. Today was one of those days, going for a 'trim' at 10.00, driving into the city only to be greeted by numerous fire engine units on the main drag, hundreds of office people hanging around and then no space in my favourite downtown car park, so I came home. Nice! Maybe everyone should be self employed, how would that work? There must be another way of producing and earning other than the Henry Ford system. Reporting for work, clocking a card (sorry, swiping) putting in 8 hrs, going home and repeating that over and over for your entire working life must be one of the worst positions to find yourself in. No wonder we have farmers and artists! I have already given my position on the leaks in the water distribution system, last night I counted (12) leaks on the water mains from the start of Saddle Road at the corner of Long ...

I have been out of it the last week. I visited another civilization for a couple days. It is amazing how the other 7.0013000 billion people live. We on the rock think that we are it, we are the deal, we are the only people that have issues, that have strange politics. I can tell you we are not alone.  Some have in fact been where we are now, some still have a way to go but all in all its about what is it we actually want. When I think of the very educated people that this rock has produced, the thinkers, the discoverers, the people who have contributed to the world and see where we are today. Look at the headlines in the local dailies, listen to the conversation on talk radio, the chat on social media, and one must wonder where are these people. Well, they have gone, gone to other countries, building other societies because they realized early in the game that this rock was too small for them. Very sad indeed! The politics has created a divide that there is little or no come b...