Last Friday of 2006

Today is the last official working day of 2006... for most people anyway. I hope to meet with a colleague from the office to go through a project that is way behind shedule - hope that we get it done today once and for all.

It's also going to be the last weekend that would I would be free until about May 2007 so I am going to enjoy it to the fullest - God willing. On Sunday (New Year's eve) we are having friends over for lunch then in the evening we are celebrating the dawn of the New Year in style.

I must say it has been a great holiday season.

Karachi time

It's so hard to be working from the Caribbean with folks in Karachi.

They are about 11 hours ahead of us and I need the clock above to keep me on target. Lord, this is so hard as the night is meant for sleep.

I cannot get enough rest on evenings... there is a little kid who hates to know he can't talk with me after school. The telephone keeps ringing... it's driving me crazy.

Who would have thought - 38 day after surgery

Who would have thought after my last post back in July that I would have been undergoing major surgery any time soon. It's amazing the things that happens to us in this life.

Today is exactly 38 days since I did and the pain is now finally starting to fade. I'm still on sick leave but will be back out to work soon.

The little television in my hospital room.

Things I didn't know before this life-changing event

That there is something called gas pain.
That sitting would hurt more than standing.
That one day I would feel every bump in the road.
That laughing would cause me pain.
That I would hold a sneeze (too painful not to).
That I would not want a kid (five years old) in my bedroom - scared he would throw his toys on my stomach, or jump on the bed.
That I would not want to go to the Mall.
That I would stop drinking sodas, coffee.
That I would drink more than two glasses of water a day.
That the special someone in my life is heaven-sent.
That I would not be able to pick something up off the floor.
That I could sleep in another position, other than on my side.

Crop Over - an October post

I know this post is late - October but still wanted you to know that I managed to go to two events - Bridgetown Market and Grand Kadooment.

I did not purchase anything special at the Market this year, although I was thinking about buying a blouse from the Jamaicans... or a wonderful oil painting from a local artist.

Wanted to go to the stadium to watch the parade of the bands but ended up going down Spring Garden in the evening. It was still exciting but too much people.

Aren't the girls above lovely?

By the way, Barry Chandler and his "Flames" has won my heart as well. It's now my Crop Over 2006 favourite.

Crop Over - and I not following

Well it's Crop Over time in Barbados and I have not been to, watched, or listened to a single event.

The Party Monarch competition was held at the Soup Bowl on Sunday. Over 30,000 people went up there and I was busy following the war in Lebanon on CNN. When I got tired of that watched Madea's Family Reunion - I think I enjoyed it better than being at the East Coast with people like sardines.

Anyway a youngster from Bacchanal Time Calypso Tent called Barry Chandler, won the title - and I don't even know his song... it's called "Flames". I am really getting old because a few years ago I would have known almost every song.

My nice Bajan links
Used to be the band I played mass in and it's still my favourite - http://www.powerxfour.com/
My favourite tent http://www.bacchanaltime.com/
Official Crop Over Festival website http://www.cropoverfestival.bb/
Favourite lime http://theplantation.bb/

So much has happened - Sad time in Mid East

Well it's been quite a while since I've blogged.

The Trinis got kicked out of the World Cup - the Italians won.

A Texan billionaire called Allen Stanford is creating history in Antigua with his 20/20 Cricket Tournament - US$1 million for the winning Caribbean team. Man he is revolutionising the game - real excitement in the region.

While on the other side of the world Israel is bombing the daylights out of Lebanon, they want back their two soldiers that the Hezbollah took. Almost two weeks of madness in the Middle East. A CNN report on a hospital in Lebanon brought tears to my eyes - Lord, when you made man what were you thinking?

An Israeli artillery unit fires a shell towards Lebanon

And in Barbados the CropOver Festival is on and I have not attended a single event...

Will Trinidad & Tobago go forward

Well this is the day that will determine whether Trinidad & Tobago move into the next round of the Football World Cup.

The Soca Warriors face Paraguay this afternoon in the decider, but England still have to beat Sweden to make this Caribbean dream a reality.

If Soca Warriors win I am going out and buying a T&T flag and will wear something red until the next match.

Click here to follow the action

T & T to England lost but we are still happy

Click here for the Soca Warriors website

People danced in the streets of T&T’s capital, Port-of-Spain, yesterday after their team lost a hard-fought match to England, the small Caribbean country’s former Colonial ruler.

Though disappointed with the 2-0 loss, most nationals assembled in St James, dubbed “The City that does not sleep” for buoyant post-game festivities, happy that their team held the highly favoured England side scoreless up until the 82nd minute.

“We’ve come from being a country where nobody knows where we are,to being in the World Cup. We’re just glad to be here,” said Joseph Ghent, a network administrator, who partied in the street with thousands of other nationals decked out in the red-and-black T-shirts of their team, the Soca Warriors.

T&T, the twin-island Caribbean nation with a population of 1.3 million, is the smallest country ever to reach the World Cup Finals. It’s a fact that fills Michele Agostini, 36, with pride.

A win in its final group match against Paraguay can still extend T&T's stay in Germany but, win or lose, the "Soca Warriors" would leave with their heads high and pride intact.

CONGRATS T&T

Trinidad & Tobago made a magnificent World Cup finals debut on Saturday when they held Sweden to a goalless draw despite playing with 10 men for almost all the second half of their opening Group B game.

Congratulations T&T - hope you put your best foot forward again next week. The Caribbean is proud of you.

I'm back

After a long break I am back again. Stumbled across a website called success.org and I give it a 10 when it comes to information on developing one's self. When you get a chance check it out http://www.success.org/AP/. Hope when you do you would tell me what you think.

Remember those New Year resolutions I made in January? Well I have not kept any of them. Tomorrow May 1, is a good time to start again.

Rihanna has a new website

Bajan songtress Rihanna has a new website.

Click here to check it out.

Kudos BL&P

I wish all service industries around the Caribbean could be like the Barbados Light & Power Co. Ltd. Last Saturday there was a power outage and when I called the company - the most pleasant gentleman answered the call, he not only told me what the problem was but gave a time for the resumption of service. In typical BL&P style the power came back on sooner than he said.

Kudos to our power company! I wish my other Caribbean homes could take a leaf from your book.

Jill Scott in Concert - Fantastic

Went to the Jill Scott show at the Wildey Gymnasium and it was fantastic.... wanted to see Lionel Richie but I had to work, wasn't feeling well either.

Click here to read what the Barbados Nation had to say about the show. I agreed with it 100 per cent!

Big Nike contract for Rihanna

Just when you thought the DJ couldn't turn her music up any louder, Barbadian star Rihanna has landed two lucrative endorsement contracts.

The Def Jam recording artiste is about to be the US$20 million face of world-renowned sportswear giant, Nike – the first entertainer to do so – and will endorse a new line of trendy jeans for the JC Penny clothing chain.

At left: Our own cutie-pie Rihanna

Check her out on the Def Jam Recordings website.

According to Rihanna's producer and writer, Evan Rogers, who "discovered" her while on holiday in Barbados last year, the endorsements will take the 17-year-old's fairytale rise to stardom even higher.

"She's making history because she's the first ever non-athlete to endorse Nike, which has built a worldwide campaign around the first single of her second album," Rogers said of the Pon De Replay girl.

"The Nike campaign will include an online promotion and television commercial. It's a US$20 million worldwide campaign for Nike women's wear, and Rihanna will be the face of that campaign," he added, noting that the label worn by Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and other sports stars would be launched with the 17-year-old next month.

You go girl!

Happy New Year!

Today the year 2005 comes to an end and as the sun sets we will be preparing to usher in the New Year, with all its hopes and challenges.

I've written my resolutions and I really intend to keep them this year as I need an overhaul both physically and mentally. I want 2006 to be different.

From past experience keeping resolutions can be hard but I need to keep in the forefront of my mind that achievement comes only from sacrifice. So 2006 is the no bull shit year. The year will be dedicated to developing self discipline. The year in which I do the things that I need to do whether I want to do them or not.

Here is my list:

Lose weight - 155 lbs would be excellent. In 2005 I reached an unbelievable 172 pounds... gained from being away from home and not going to the gym.

Get back to my books - started a training program and have only done one Test. Get the dalm thing completed by June 2006.

Update my computer skills - Read my Windows XP in its entirety... remember how I read MS Front Page from cover to cover about five years ago? Get to the dentist - have not been for almost two years and that is totally unacceptable.

Go back to Toastmasters Club - still hate speaking public speaking and that has got to be fixed. I know there is a lot more I want to achieve in the New Year but with health and strength I am going to go out there and kick some butt!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve eve

It's the day before Christmas eve and I am as excited as a child.

I had promised myself way back in November that my shopping would have been completed by now but what a laugh. Bought my last gift this morning then got myself the biggest, badest chocolate cake I've ever tasted now I am sure to enter the New Year 5 pounds heavier.

Had hope to bake the Christmas cake tonight but the carpenter is in the kitchen fixing the hinges on some cupboards so that would have to be done tomorrow.

I am dead tired now so I am off... see you tomorrow.

Sharpening My Saw

I have been working like a dog so I've decided to take today off. I wonder how I ever got caught working seven days a week - but I am not doing it anymore.

Like Stephen said in his book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" one needs time to 'Sharpen the Saw' and I swear my saw is dull.

Yesterday morning it hit me like a big rock - that I maybe losing my efficiency because I try to single-handedly do too many things for an organisation that does not give a shit about how things get done... anyway there is only one person to blame, and that's me.

So I am turning a new page and doing things differently.

Flight Plan - Saturday October 29

I went to see Flight Plan last night. Normally, I would go to a movie and before I finish the popcorn, or half way into the film I am asleep.

But not last night, oh no...I don't know of anyone who could sleep through that movie.

It's a story of a woman (Jodie Foster from Silence of the Lambs) and her daughter flying home from Berlin to America. While they are airborne the child disappears and nobody admits she was ever on the plane. Is the mother a mental case? or is something sinister going on? The movie was suspense from the beginning to the end - and the end was a bomb. Is was like an Alfred Hitchcock thriller...I gave it all the stars - go and see it.

Wilma turns deadly - October 19

I can't help but say how lucky we Bajans are.

That hurricane - now called Wilma - passed us as just another weather system and has now turned into a major Category 5 monster. Reports are saying it is the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, with meteorologists warning that it could maintain devastating power as it crosses Florida from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic.

Can someone please say what has suddenly gone wrong with our weather?

Now it's Wilma

Tropical storm Wilma has been drenching Jamaica yesterday and forced more than 100 people into shelters in the parishes of Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine as heavy rain soaked most parishes.

A flooded village in the vicinity of the Spanish Town/Linstead bypass.

The Met office said the storm was expected to dump more rain on the island today and tomorrow, with the possibility of further flooding.

Last night Wilma was drifting slowly to the south at a mere four kilometres per hour on a path that would take it near the Cayman Islands. Forecasters projected that the storm could further develop into a powerful hurricane, heading either to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula or the Gulf of Mexico.