Through ironically colourful colourblind eyes....

6/30/2005 12:10:00 AM

Imagine...

It seems I goat mouth myself when I made that post about my car experiences. Car lef me a road last night lol. Ahh bwoy. Anyway, while the mechanic was looking at I was thinking to myself how well I was taking it. I was surprisingly pretty calm. In the past, I wouldve been pissed, fretting about how much money i would have to spend, how many days I would be without a car, etc. But when it happened, I was just a little annoyed, thats all. I was saying "hey, its good that this incident didnt get me all worked up."

...or is it?

We usually turn to God to help out when we are in situations that result in negative emotions. We ask for strength to cope with these emotions, to not be overcome by them. Try and imagine a world where such prayers are answered right away, all the time. Imagine a world where we easily and effortlessly cast our troubles on the Lord, and refuse to let these troubles get us down. Hence, what you would have is a world where there is no despair, no hopelessness, no anger. No annoyance, no fear.

Sounds wonderful, doesnt it?

Let us peer at this world again, this time through colourfully colourblind eyes...

Imagine a world where there is no despair, no despair to drive one to search for the solution, and learning, experiencing, growing, maturing, along the way. And inspiring others around you when you do find the solution. A world where there is no hopelessness, no hopelessness for you to experience joy, relief, and a drive to learn the life lesson when you finally see that ray of light, and in understanding the hopelessness to possibly be someone else's ray of light. A world where there is no anger, no anger to fuel passion to sing about scratching nails down someone elses back or about how poor people fed up. A world where there is no fear, no fear to be overcome so we can feel good about ourselves, be proud of ourselves, congratulate ourselves, and inspire others ("if they can do it, why cant I?").

If you dont know despair, how will you know relief?
If you dont know hopelessness, how will you know hope?
If you dont know anger, how will you know peace?
If you dont know fear, how will you know courage?

If you dont know hate, how will you know love?

If you dont know love, how will you know God?


Maybe we should not be so quick to "cast our troubles on the lord". Maybe we need the despair, the hopelessness, the anger, the fear. Maybe we are wrong to "pray these feelings away". Instead, maybe we need to pray for a way to channel these feelings, whether it be an activity to replace depressing thoughts, or vigorous exercise to release anger, or annoying people to piss us off so we can appreciate our true friends more. Maybe we should be thankful for the troubles, and instead pray that we will not be blind to the lessons taught on our journey. When raising a child, if you as a parent are constantly there, to protect, to fix their problems for them, so they never worry, are never in need, always have what they need, we all know you're going to have a lazy, co-dependent, spoilt, whiny, immature adult with low self confidence. There are times when you as a parent will need to step back and let them solve their problems on their own, only stepping in if the situation gets too big for them. Maybe our relationship with God should be something similar to this.

6/27/2005 07:50:00 AM

Blog templates

Is it me or do the standard blog templates suck? Of all the templates offered by blogspot there are only one or two I really like. One night while working late (work at 3 am is still considered working late right? Or is that working early?) I spent some time on google looking for alternative templates. I found a couple that I didnt like straight off the bat, but with some customization they could work. Eventually I settled on this template, ubt to tell the truth im still not satisfied. For some reason this template makes everything on the page look cluttered. I tried removing a couple of the links at the side, in an effort to make it look less cluttered, and only left up links to blogs I visit most often. But it still looks cluttered, to me anyway. Think im gonna try removing all the links altogether.

What I need to do is write my own template. Then I can come up with a way to have as many links as I want, and have all the recent posts up, without making the whole page look so messy.

Til then gonna try this new one. It looks cleaner, gonna have to change that girly looking picture at the top though....

6/26/2005 02:46:00 PM

This is for you.....

This is for all the nice girls out there

This is for all the nice guys out there

6/26/2005 10:58:00 AM

Ever wonder??

If I steal money to pay my taxes, does that make me a bad person?

If god fearing people scream out "Oh God" during sex, what do aethists scream out?

If I pay money to an insurance company in case something happens to my car, and nothing happens to my car, why dont I get my money back?

6/24/2005 01:12:00 PM

Auto ups and downs

I love driving. I didnt know I would like it so much until I got my licence. And I didnt really get into the whole suped up car thing until I got my current ride, a Suzuki Swift GTi. Special cars, in my opinion. Any 1300cc engine that can keep up/outrun popular 1500/1600cc sport cars is special. Worse when theyre boosted. If you ever hear a story about a white turbo cultus hanging on to the end of an Evolution, its not a folk tale. Throughout my 9 year automotive life Ive driven a number of cars. Here I highlight a couple of my experiences.

Daihatsu Cuore:The car with which I learned to drive. Very small car. My driving instructor was classic. He would play the radio loud and chat about all sorts of crap while we were on the road. His theory was I will be doing that when I get the plastic, so might as well get used to it from the get go. The very first time I was on the road, a man had stopped at an inappropriate place. As I pulled around him, my instructor told me to stop alongside the car, leaned out the window and yelled "Yo pu**yhole how you fi stop ya so, yu can drive yu eediat?!!", after which he quickly turned to me and said "drive drive, DRIVE!!". So now you know why I drive the way I drive. Its not my fault i'm a victim, i've been psychologically scarred. Another time he told me to pull over at a bus stop while he "chatted up" a young lady. After we drove off he turned to me and said "that, is how you look woman". He doesnt teach driving anymore, I think he runs taxi now.

Toyota Paseo: My mother's car, the car I drove regularly after I got my licence. I loved this car, my favourite for sentimental reasons. Two door, very small, not much room for any, ahem, "activities". But we made do none the less. This is the car in which I started by unofficial business of 'running taxi', a business which continues to this day. As one of the few among my friends that drove to school I was always picking up or dropping home somebody. This is also the car with which I seemingly made a reputation for myself for my 'efficient driving' as I'd like to call it. Again I say, its not my fault i drive the way I do, I am a victim. Sadly, this car is no more. The engine blew sometime ago, and one day I came home and it was gone, sold. I didnt even get to say goodbye.

Honda Accord: My father's car I alternated driving with the Paseo. This car had issues. Regularly leaked oil so was always topping up, had transmission problems so had to drive it like a manual, even though it was an automatic. I was coming home one night at about 1 am, stopped at a traffic light near Grants Pen. In this not-so-safe neighbourhood is where the car decided to stall. Upon finally getting it started the car was barely moving. Transmission was gone. Luckily though, once the car made it over a little uphill slope it moved a little faster. I was relieved to get home without incident. This car was not maintained well, and eventually the engine fell out the bottom of the car.

Suzuki Samurai: My father had this jeep the same time as the Honda. I barely drove it because I didnt like it. No power steering, and very uncomfortable to drive. I could feel every single bump in the road. I later learned this was due to over-inflated tyres. My girlfriend at the time drove in it once, and never again. The vibrations made her boobs hurt. This was sold not too long ago.

Toyota Corolla: Apart from it having an automatic transmission, this was a pretty decent car. Fairly new at the time we got it, peppy for a 1300cc, had some decent tyres and rims. The inside was still a bit cramped, but definitely roomier than the Paseo. I had the most eventful road trip to date in this car. 7 of us in two cars were going down to Negril Independence weekend, for three days of nonstop partying. I was one of the drivers. Before we left town the other driver Rudi realized I had a blown tail light. Minor issue, easily replaced. But now looking back I see that was an ominous precursor of things to come.

Going up a gentle hill in Mandeville I see some dark coloured splashes of water appear on my windscreen. The place was dry, had no idea where it came from, but continued going. Soon after I glance down and see my temp gauge all the way up to H. Pull over, fly the bonnet. Radiator burst. Apprently I had pushed the car a bit too hard coming up the hill. After getting some directions from the local we took our time driving in to town, with the radiator cap off, looking for a radiator repair shop. 3 hours, 3 1/2 bottles of coolant and couple thousand dollars later, a new radiator was in the car. Only problem was the part that connects to the engine via a hose was too small. The guy wrapped it with electrical tapeso the hose would fit over it. Stupid move. Couple minutes after we were back on the road I was overheating again. The tape had melted (obviously), hose came off. For the next 3 or 4 stops we were trying all sorts of things to try keep the hose on. Eventually a friend used a wire hanger and did some tying thing with it to hold the hose in place. 9 hours, many bottles of coolant and a much lighter wallet later, we arrived in Negril. A trip that shouldve taken 4 hours. Incidentally, a couple months later my then girlfriend told me her parents had a similar thing happen to them, only they used Crazy Glue to patch up the crack in the radiator. Now why didnt I think of that. Right now that car is being used as taxi.

Honda Integra: Both my parents owned one. Didnt drive my father's own much, so no incidents there. However, in my mother's own I got into my first accident soon after she got it. Two cars were overtaking, and the second car didnt have enough room to pull back over to their side in time, so they scraped the entire length of the driver's side. Other than that, the only other incident I can remember was coming into Kingston from a trip to Ochi and a couple was making use of the spacious back seat before I ever had a chance to. If there was ever a time I felt a little bit like what you might call a 'suck out bag juice', that was it. This car is no longer around, it was stolen about a year ago.

Suzuki Swift GTi: The car I now drive, the first Ive ever owned. Cheap to buy, expensive to maintain. Light, small, quick. Great stopping power. The interior is neither impessive nor spacious, but as mentioned before cramped interiors have never stopped me before. Definitely a fun car to drive, no doubt. This car made me interested in the inner workings of the engine. For a while I was addicted to wheelsjamaica.com, reading, learning. I havent had any major incidents like I did with previous cars, but just the same Ive spent some major cash on lots of little and not-so-little things. For the rest of the year I plan to get as much fun out of it as I can, and change to something else next year. Rudi just got a Golf GTi the other day. Im REALLY looking forward to future country trips :D

Come next year what kind of car will I get? Your guess is as good as mine.

6/17/2005 05:33:00 PM

Art imitating life???

I just read this in the Gleaner, had to put it here!!

Four killed in robbery attempt - Three Super Plus employees injured - Police vehicle shot up published: Friday | June 17, 2005

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

WAVING THEIR guns as they stormed a Super Plus wholesale store in Whitehouse, Westmoreland, four gunmen set the stage for a wild, brazen attempted robbery and when it ended, leaves the four would-be robbers dead, three Super Plus employees wounded, and a police car riddled with bullets.

The attempted robbery started about 11:00 a.m.(11 am to rahtid, thats when they robbing the store, in the middle of the day!!), but what followed next was a wild cops-and-robbers shoot-out that involved a short stand-off, attempted subterfuge by the robbers, and a mob killing by angry residents wielding machetes.

Eyewitnesses to the drama told The Gleaner that shortly after the four robbers entered the store and held up the workers at gunpoint, a police vehicle arrived on the scene. The robbers immediately peppered the police vehicle with bullets, shattering the windshield and forcing the three policemen inside the vehicle to take evasive action.

"De policemen jumped outta de vehicle and started firing back shot while calling for back-up on dem cell phone," said a man(cellphone, not police radio but CELLPHONE!!), who had a blood-stained machete in his hand.(something very wrong with this picture)

As the gunbattle raged, workers ducked for cover inside the building, while residents of the community, drawn to the scene by the prolonged gunfire, gathered outside.(but of course. If you're hearing prolonged gunfire why on earth would you run AWAY from said gunshots??) Two of the gunmen attempted to escape using a paltry attempt at misdirection, but residents quickly spotted the deception.

"We see two a de boys dem coming outta the store wearing red SuperPlus t-shirts. We realise right away dat it was a trick dem trying so we just rush dem and chop out dem daylight,"(breddrin practically admits to murder on tv. Bet nuttin nuh happen to him) one man explained, his voice almost purple with anger as he flashed his machete in the air.

BRUTALLY DISPATCHED

After seeing how their colleagues were brutally dispatched, the remaining robbers opted for the relative safety of the store and attempted to hold the cops off for as long as possible. (But of course, I mean in the movies they NEVER run out of bullets, right?!) They took pot shots at the lawmen at regular intervals but the lawmen, hoping to flush them out, responded by lobbing teargas canisters into the building through a glass door which had been shattered by bullets.

"When the teargas start tek de bwoy dem we just see dem start running outta de building and firing shots like dem mad," said an elderly female, who described the incident as a first in Whitehouse. "The policeman just run down pon dem and give it to dem. De residents then join in and finish dem up with some good (machete) licks." (Residents helping police play judge jury and executioner. Something very very wrong with this picture)

FIREARMS SEIZED

Four illegal firearms were seized by the cops. The SuperPlus workers -- two men and one woman -- are now at the Black River Hospital.

"One of the men was shot in the abdomen, and any gunshot would to the abdomen is considered serious," Acting Divisional Detective Inspector Paul Simms, said.

On the way to the scene of the shoot-out, The Gleaner news team encountered a speeding three-vehicle police convoy with blaring sirens heading in the opposite direction. Two of the vehicles had what appeared to be lifeless legs hanging out of the trunks of the vehicles, while an ambulance with its roofrack of flashing red lights and siren travelled a short distance behind.

"These men (the dead gunmen) are not from these parts because nobody here knows then," said Inspector Cyril Brissette, of the Westmoreland Police.

6/15/2005 08:39:00 AM

EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!!

Earthquake in Jamaica on Sunday

Earthquake in Chile on Monday

Earthquake in California on Tuesday

All of a sudden, those crazy dishevelled bums you see on tv walking around with a sign that says "Repent now, the end of the world is coming!!" dont look so crazy anymore....

6/07/2005 02:03:00 AM

From the age of 1....when I jus begun....

Stage 1: Out the womb, never caused no pain. Shhhh, I wont make a sound, I promise. Not even when im hungry. I dont ever get angry.

Stage 2: HAYAAAA!!! Flying fist of Judah-ing around the house. "Diallo why you have to be so loud??" "Diallo cant you sit still for 2 minutes??" "Diallo be quiet!!!" Of course I had to knock out him teeth, him call mi modda ugly...

Stage 3: School. High school. Shhhh, I dont want to make a sound. Run away from the spotlight, run run run. Diana King's shy guy. Quiet. Unassuming. Quick terrible temper, tantrum thrower. Watch out!!! Patience? What dat?

Stage 4: Introspective. Dark mood. Self absorbed. Shhhh. Confidence on shaky foundations, looking for stronger raw materials.

Stage 5: The choir. Piano. Music. Me.

Stage 6: Plastic! VROOOOOM!!!!! Speed. Flight. Free. Instant confidence!! Here, patience is a concept. ERRKS...VROOOOO......

Stage 7: University. Change. New environment. Next major life step. Pan. I'll talk a little louder this time. Still looking for stronger materials.

Stage 8: Patience. Tolerance. Passive. "What pisses you off?" hmm..... Lighter moods. Idler. 'Lets close the door on self and see whats there to do outside...well look at that, here are some stronger materials...' I say to myself out loud.

Stage 9: Im almost at the end, what do I do now? Well, at least foundations are strengthening.

Stage 10: Speak up speak up!! Slipped. Fell. Fell hard. First it felt good, then it didnt. Got back up. Fell again, didnt feel good from the get go, was already bruised. Speak!!! Took a while to get up, still wearing bandages. Spoke too much to the wrong audience.

Stage 11: Fly the coop. With my own wings. On my own. But im used to that. Foundations fortified. I think...

Stage 12: Somewhat introspective. Somewhat self absorbed. Sometimes dark, sometimes not. Somewhat passive. Somewhat patient. Somewhat shy (aw hell who am I fooling). vroom vrooom.... Speak up! But selectively...

Stage 13: School. School of Business. Social life hereby suspended.

Stage 14: School. School of life. Am I prepared for the next exam?

6/06/2005 09:09:00 PM

I hate thieves

Oh how I hate the lot of them. They piss me off so. I'm leaving my office to go get something to eat. As I approach my car from the front I notice something is different...when I get to the car I realize my foglamps are missing. I have been robbed yet again. To rass I dont even know exactly when it happened, i've just noticed it tonight. I just kneel and stare at the empty slots.

I am tired of thieves, I really am. I am tired of being a victim. My first encounter with them was when I was about 12 years old. I was walking home from computer class. As I open the door I notice the place looks slightly different. A couple of items in the living room were out of place. At first I thought my father had been looking for something and didnt bother to fix things back. Then I went to my parents' bedroom and found the place ransacked, and the windows pried(sp?) open. Thats when I realized what had happened. Then I wondered what if I had come home a couple minutes earlier, seeing as how I arrived home alone. They took my radio, VCR, jewellery, money and get this, my nintendo but left the controllers and the adapter. Go figure.

The next encounters I remember because they happened fairly recently. Theyve broken into my car 3 times: once 2 weeks after I got it, then again when I got a radio and speakers as gifts, and a third time when I was going home from a session. Funnily enough, my car and the two cars my mother have owned have gotten broken into, but none of the 4 cars my father has owned have ever been broken into. Curious. Anyway, then they tried to break into my house, didnt get in but broke my bedroom window and took stuff. That was what led me to move out, that was enough for me.

And now, robbed again. One would think I would have been used to it by now but it doesnt get any easier. It still pisses me off as much as it did the very first time. I dont even use the fog lamps more than so, but the idea of having something taken away from me pisses me off to no end.

6/06/2005 03:32:00 PM

Today I realized something I've suspected for a long time..........I have a problem with authority.

Mind you, its not a big problem. Either that or I havent been put in a situation where it would become a big problem. I guess being in the field I am in (IT) it allows you a certain amount of freedom, where you get to solve a problem however you want to, your lunch times arent within strict times, and the times you arrive/leave the office are more flexible than most other positions. You have breathing room. So there havent really been many instances where I am constantly being told what to do.

However, for each job position i've held i've had a boss, a supervisor, that I had to answer to. Hence there are always times when I am instructed to do something. Now, so far I have been fortunate, my superiors (present and former) were very cool people and I had no problems with them personally. However, whenever I hear the words "Ok, you need to..." "This is what you need to do.." "I want you to...", the words tug at something within me. Even though the request is usually not an unreasonable one, is part of my job description, and is totally justified, yet still I do not like to hear aforementioned words. Especially if I cant immediately see the reasoning behind the request. And honestly, I dont know why.

Im pretty autonomous, I can work on my own. Most times I dont have to wait to be instructed to do something to get it done. Yet still a higher authority giving me instructions can irk me. It makes me wonder if I was never in IT how would I ever survive a scenario with someone constantly giving orders and looking over my shoulder.

6/06/2005 03:05:00 PM

20 Ways To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity.

I got this in an email today, I thought some of the ideas were hilarious.


20 Ways To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity.

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point Hair
Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with That.

4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."

5. Put Decaf In The Coffe! e Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Smuggling Diamonds"

7. Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy."

8. Don't use any punctuation

9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. Order a diet water whenever you go out to eat with a serious face.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."

12. Sing Along At The Opera.

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.

16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"!

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go"

20. And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity.......Send This To Someone To Make Them Smile.......its called Therapy.

Shaniel Escoffery