My little piece of peace

The weather pattern in my neighborhood has be exceptionally harsh...windy... for the past 6 days. By windy I mean not possible to work outside ...force 6 to 8 all day, everyday.
Expensive..no workers on the shipyard hardtop, no paychecks.

 

You see youve just gone soft. A bit of wind is hardly harsh weather!!!. Oh dear did it blow the deck chairs over
,--bit of chop in the South of the swimming pool?


Try living in the North of England in January for a few weeks.

Only a mere 1400km from your windy problems.

 

Why would any sane person do that?

 

I could not agree more, but you do.

Ive just come home actually, after a few beers watching the sun do down in my shorts and T shirt.

 

Riiight - Frosty really *does* believe the sun shines out of his arse if he can watch it go down there..... probably the beer helps.

ROFL.

PDW

 

Well I have found a bit of advice for the 'youngsters' who think they are 'doing the green thing' - - Seems there is lots to learn kids. . . . sent from face-book. . . . .

"Being Green

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."
The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment f or future generations."
She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were truly recycled.
But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.
But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's 'diapers' because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.
But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used 'wadded' up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the street car or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their 'moms' into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a 'smart-***' young person. "
198075

 

This essay deserves to be shared, http://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_peop...ans-like-us-but-definitely-a-class-above.html I like the style of this young man...


Fijians: Melanesians like PNGns but a class above

DAVID KITCHNOGE

Kitchnoge_DavidThis is an article I wrote way back in 2006 at the waiting lounge at Nadi international airport when I visited Fiji for the first time on a business trip. I shared it with my circle of friends when I returned to PNG. I’ll be most interested to see any reaction from your readership….

FELLOW PAPUA NEW GUINEANS. I’ve just returned from a short trip to Fiji and what an eye-opener it was.

Fijians are Melanesians like us but they definitely are a class above. They are a nation of well groomed, calm and very organised individuals. I couldn’t help but envy the free night life of the Fijian capital of Suva where you can walk down the streets without the concern of being attacked or harassed by thugs.

There is a barbecue going on at major sections of the streets in Suva and both residents and visitors alike can go along and enjoy themselves with their families.

There are countless numbers of top-notch restaurants where you can go and be served really nice meals at an affordable price.

Ladies, and I mean females, girls, walk around the streets freely in the night and no one touches them. This would have to rank among the top five luxuries for our women in PNG but, that’s ‘life as usual’ for Fijians. And their streets are much cleaner and pleasant than ours.

Their population is almost evenly split between the indigenous Fijians and the Indo-Fijians but just about everyone is very friendly and easy to get along with. Everywhere you go, you are greeted with wide smiles accompanied by a bula (welcome/greeting). And every public announcement made over the inter-com ends with a vinaka (thank you) or the longer version vinaka vakalevu (thank you very much).

No one told me but it is probably an unwritten fact that the Fijians are acutely aware of the importance of tourism on their economy and ultimately their well-being, hence the appropriate behaviour.

Fiji doesn’t have the kind of mines (gold, copper, nickel etc) that we have plus our rich marine resources and forestry but they are richer than us in terms of GDP per capita and the real life on the ground.

All they have are sugar cane, fisheries, and mostly tourism unlike us who appear to be endowed with endless amounts of resources. This is truly one of the greatest paradoxes in our region.

So what does that tell us about the Fijians and us? I think one explanation for that would be in this word – efficiency.

Fijians are very efficient operators and gain the maximum benefit out of their scarce resources whilst we, on the other hand, are a very inefficient nation who wastes all our resources on non-productive and non-value adding activities. We are truly a nation that is so rich yet so poor.

Apart from that, I think one of the biggest differences between us and them as a people is that we have very different temperaments. They appeared to me to be a calm, peaceful, gentle, respectful and tolerant people while we are the exact opposite.

We are a country of bigheads, arrogant and violent people who will not hesitate to prey on someone’s misfortune. No wonder tourism will never be a sustainable industry in our beautiful country.

The reasons why we are worse off than them or they are better off than us (whichever way you see it) can be many and varied but one thing is for sure. The biggest gulf between our fellow Melanesian brothers and sisters and us is attitude.

We can match and even better them when and only when we change our bad attitudes. I pray that this happens in my lifetime. Amen.

 

I saw corruption like ive never seen before in png, THATS png`s problem full stop... damn shame as its a beautiful country otherwise...

 

Yes Mas, so true unfortunately.

My wife is Fijian, they are lovely people, very religious. It seems to me that religion keeps them calm too, as their elders regularly tell them to be so.

My experiences in PNG were that they are crazy, simply crazy.

 

It would be a wonderful tourist country if they could control themselves.
Simply spectacular...but dangerous.

 

masalai

As I have only known one Fijian, I say this with slight trepidation.

But, she did not describe Fiji as a beautiful tropical isle where one would want to live.

She described it as a corrupt culture full of problems. Those were the reasons she gave for her parents moving their family to SoCal.

As if SoCal is a nice place to raise a family.

regards,

wayne

 

Ooooooo I detect strong voices and I was trying to be PC and 'non-judgemental'

My view is that the bad spots are outweighed by the beauty in the hidden peaceful regions... I have stayed in and enjoy the peace and friendliness of ENB (around Rabaul/Gazelle Peninsula & the Duke of York Islands), most of New Ireland (Kavieng and as far south as one can go by road on the E and W coasts), - - and I hope to discover Milne Bay soon...

 

Well, like someone once said, there are two sides to every story ....

Now who was that?

 

ME :?: :!: - - look at my signature area "Remember that there are at least two sides for every story..." -- You may never know, as 'economists' often have MANY views/sides to their stories, - makes a mind changing indecisive woman appear positively masculine and stubborn with a fixated view...

http://asopa.typepad.com/ Keith Jackson certainly attracts some interesting essays and opinions - Always something interesting to discover...

 

THAT is who - it was YOU!