tis the season for illness.
caleb & joshie have been fairly ill this past week. :(
it sucks when they're ill. caleb, usually, mr hyper, is snuggling up under a blanket watching tv snuggled in on angie's lap.
it made me recall back to my days of being ill. mum would leave me snuggled up on the sofa and allow me to watch tv. occasionally i'd get up and make a colonial viper or x-wing out of the lego that she had brought down for me to play with. it was sad that often she had to leave me to work.
mummy and papa used to always pamper me. i recall when i left home to go to kenya or college my one fear was falling ill and not having my mum near by to look after me.
i look down and see caleb snuggled on angie's lap. both he, and joshie, are looking to their mummy, as i did, for their comfort in those weak times.
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Thursday, 25 September 2008
caffeine & energy drinks
so i've been finding myself grabbing more energy drinks over the past few months than i ever have. i even once or twice resorted to caffeine tablets.
it's not so much that i like the taste. rather the boost it could give me.
energy drinks are legal in this country as is coffee.
from my understanding of addiction, the treatment is centered on the addict rather than the substance.
i get the link between the two. sometimes it's easier to go on what you are used to than to stop
i guess i'm just tired.
it's not so much that i like the taste. rather the boost it could give me.
energy drinks are legal in this country as is coffee.
from my understanding of addiction, the treatment is centered on the addict rather than the substance.
i get the link between the two. sometimes it's easier to go on what you are used to than to stop
i guess i'm just tired.
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
a mad rush
if ever you have a passports that need renewing, do it a year before their deadline. do not wait till the last two weeks. and do not do 3 at the same time with the same deadline. if, however, you do wish to cut it fine then this is our learning for you.
first thing to do is the decision making process. in our case, i was telling angie about how i'm going to be away most of october: first in hong kong, for work and a colleague's wedding, and then later to lebanon. i had a week inbetween each. whilst giving some of the more intracate details such as where and when and the ramifications of me being away angie proposed "what if we were to come with you?". jumping on the chance i followed up with a routine "you serious?"... and then a well we better sort it out quick as i'm not sure there'll be a place for us to stay re the wedding. so we made a deal: if there was a room for us then we go. no room, no trip.
i sent a quick text to a colleague. she texted back immediately to say there was one room left (the wedding is in 3 weeks) and she's given it to us. we're going to hong kong.
the second thing to do, the bit i perhaps like less: the organising. as i'm learning when travelling with a family the whole situation is more complex: working out optimum times that the kids would sleep, their sleeping arrangements, the cost-benefit of direct/indirect flights.
i might add one big feature is the finance too. we really don't have the kind of money that this warrants to spare. but we've made the decision. but this really is another matter and i may tell it at a later stage...
we all quickly realised that the only person with a valid passport was caleb. so we had to obtain 3 passports within 2.5 weeks. the challenge is set.
after a day of form filling chasing around to get countersignatures, photographs, getting joshie to sit still through his photo shoot we managed to book an appointment to get these done with a week fast track service. [note: i did not know that you're not allowed to smile for your passport photographs until i went to the shop to get mine done]
so as i left this morning (too early) to london i realised on the train that i had left one of my ID forms behind and also we were already carrying a form with a countersignature outside the explicit no go areas on the form (the blurb states that this invalidates the form in big bold letters). so as i walk to get my tube. the announcement stated that all tubes had been canceled. dang, i had 15 mins to get across london, on foot, what would take 15 mins on tube. the likelihood that i was going to make it on time for my "set in stone" appointment. gosh.
i do what any man would. walk in the right direction. trying to catch a bus and perhaps flag a bus down. praying that i would make it i look in my wallet and i have 10 quid... is that enough for a cab?... well let's see...
after trying to cross 8 roads and heavy london traffic i manage to get a cab. the cabbie said that it would be touch n go whether i'd make the appointment but he'd try his best.
he did just that. in fact he managed to add his conspiracy theories about the "added security" across the government buildings pro bono. he made his point that we have all this security and it's really just a show. if we're going to have terrorists they'll find away. hmmm... thanks.
i got into the passport office slightly late. i was told to be there 15 minutes early to allow time for security checks. it was like an airport. x ray machines, boxes for your change and phones, security guards. they say allow 15 mins to get through security. it took me 3. phew... i am by somewhat a miracle 3 minutes early. now all we need to get through is the official and the red tape.
i wait. close my eyes and say thanks for being here in time. as i open my eyes my number gets called. i walk over to the counter.
the gentleman first spotted that my countersignature person had not included their passport details on the form. the form is invalid.
he suggested that i could make a call. worth a shot. so i phoned jonny whilst on duty at heathrow airport (he stops bad guys... can't say more as if i did...) he said he had written it on the back of a card that angie stuck in one of the envelopes. like a magician with a hat i stretched my hand inside the envelope and pulled out a card. i didn't notice it before. looked at all the scribbles of names and telephone notes and then i saw a number. it was jonny's handwriting. bingo. i write the number on all 3 forms.
now for the tricky bit. i confessed. i mentioned that one of the signatures had gone outside of the explicitly "do NOT go outside of the box" part of the form. he calmly shrugs it aside and said that it's fine. what? all that tension and nervousness about how we live in an age of terrorism and this is the governments clampdown on the citizens rooting out the bad eggs to be calmed in one second. hang on maybe that cabbie was right.
so with all that adventure and what seemed to battling the government, transport system and bureaucracy we got our 3 passports.
we're off to hong kong... now about the money... :)
first thing to do is the decision making process. in our case, i was telling angie about how i'm going to be away most of october: first in hong kong, for work and a colleague's wedding, and then later to lebanon. i had a week inbetween each. whilst giving some of the more intracate details such as where and when and the ramifications of me being away angie proposed "what if we were to come with you?". jumping on the chance i followed up with a routine "you serious?"... and then a well we better sort it out quick as i'm not sure there'll be a place for us to stay re the wedding. so we made a deal: if there was a room for us then we go. no room, no trip.
i sent a quick text to a colleague. she texted back immediately to say there was one room left (the wedding is in 3 weeks) and she's given it to us. we're going to hong kong.
the second thing to do, the bit i perhaps like less: the organising. as i'm learning when travelling with a family the whole situation is more complex: working out optimum times that the kids would sleep, their sleeping arrangements, the cost-benefit of direct/indirect flights.
i might add one big feature is the finance too. we really don't have the kind of money that this warrants to spare. but we've made the decision. but this really is another matter and i may tell it at a later stage...
we all quickly realised that the only person with a valid passport was caleb. so we had to obtain 3 passports within 2.5 weeks. the challenge is set.
after a day of form filling chasing around to get countersignatures, photographs, getting joshie to sit still through his photo shoot we managed to book an appointment to get these done with a week fast track service. [note: i did not know that you're not allowed to smile for your passport photographs until i went to the shop to get mine done]
so as i left this morning (too early) to london i realised on the train that i had left one of my ID forms behind and also we were already carrying a form with a countersignature outside the explicit no go areas on the form (the blurb states that this invalidates the form in big bold letters). so as i walk to get my tube. the announcement stated that all tubes had been canceled. dang, i had 15 mins to get across london, on foot, what would take 15 mins on tube. the likelihood that i was going to make it on time for my "set in stone" appointment. gosh.
i do what any man would. walk in the right direction. trying to catch a bus and perhaps flag a bus down. praying that i would make it i look in my wallet and i have 10 quid... is that enough for a cab?... well let's see...
after trying to cross 8 roads and heavy london traffic i manage to get a cab. the cabbie said that it would be touch n go whether i'd make the appointment but he'd try his best.
he did just that. in fact he managed to add his conspiracy theories about the "added security" across the government buildings pro bono. he made his point that we have all this security and it's really just a show. if we're going to have terrorists they'll find away. hmmm... thanks.
i got into the passport office slightly late. i was told to be there 15 minutes early to allow time for security checks. it was like an airport. x ray machines, boxes for your change and phones, security guards. they say allow 15 mins to get through security. it took me 3. phew... i am by somewhat a miracle 3 minutes early. now all we need to get through is the official and the red tape.
i wait. close my eyes and say thanks for being here in time. as i open my eyes my number gets called. i walk over to the counter.
the gentleman first spotted that my countersignature person had not included their passport details on the form. the form is invalid.
he suggested that i could make a call. worth a shot. so i phoned jonny whilst on duty at heathrow airport (he stops bad guys... can't say more as if i did...) he said he had written it on the back of a card that angie stuck in one of the envelopes. like a magician with a hat i stretched my hand inside the envelope and pulled out a card. i didn't notice it before. looked at all the scribbles of names and telephone notes and then i saw a number. it was jonny's handwriting. bingo. i write the number on all 3 forms.
now for the tricky bit. i confessed. i mentioned that one of the signatures had gone outside of the explicitly "do NOT go outside of the box" part of the form. he calmly shrugs it aside and said that it's fine. what? all that tension and nervousness about how we live in an age of terrorism and this is the governments clampdown on the citizens rooting out the bad eggs to be calmed in one second. hang on maybe that cabbie was right.
so with all that adventure and what seemed to battling the government, transport system and bureaucracy we got our 3 passports.
we're off to hong kong... now about the money... :)
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
no time like the present
i am finding myself desperately short of time. i have a to do list that's longer than the hours of the day and with deadlines that are all yesterday.
i keep listening to hear many people say similar things. "if only i had more time...", "there are not enough hours in the day", "we need to be guarding our time"...
personally, i'm feeling a little hard done here by the constant time factor in my life... it's not that i want more of it, but rather i feel that there's something not quite right about my, or our, perception of it. i can't put my finger on it.
i keep listening to hear many people say similar things. "if only i had more time...", "there are not enough hours in the day", "we need to be guarding our time"...
personally, i'm feeling a little hard done here by the constant time factor in my life... it's not that i want more of it, but rather i feel that there's something not quite right about my, or our, perception of it. i can't put my finger on it.
a late night account
so i've been up the last few nights trying to get my head around accounts. not so much the figures stuff, but just the phenomenal terminology.
wittgenstein used to refer to language games and this is clearly the language game of accountants.
thankfully, i'm surrounded by a few people that are wiser than me that have been able to advise accordingly.
but honestly... does anyone else have problems getting past the basics... i mean real basics, like how to spell "accounts"...
wittgenstein used to refer to language games and this is clearly the language game of accountants.
thankfully, i'm surrounded by a few people that are wiser than me that have been able to advise accordingly.
but honestly... does anyone else have problems getting past the basics... i mean real basics, like how to spell "accounts"...
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
konichiwa
so we met up with one of angie's old friends from her college days rie. she was over from japan with her family.
it was a fun trip up to london and some nice time of catching up and family bonding. whilst our language skills were ok... it was simply amazing to just hang out and we had such a delightful afternoon eating pizza, chasing squirrels and ducks, running around and eating yummy japanese sweets.
... oh and caleb and saki had a great time :)
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
little to offer
believe it or not i'm a kind of person that is quite negative about myself. i don't think i have much to offer, nor do i view myself as particularly talented.
i often have "shower moments" when i think, sometime to angie's amusement out loud, "what on earth am i doing... surely we need some professional whatsit to do this."
still being in the business of volunteering i often look around and see such latent talent. many people have said they don't know what they could do. i usually bite my lip, but think man surely it's a case of what can't you do. the sky's the limit... the world's your oyster.
i was brought up with my mother always telling me that i could do anything. yeah, mum i'm still waiting for NASA to call me up for their next trip. but i do still hold to her words and believe at somepoint i will write my book, that i will become a musician and that in the future..... hmmmm. i guess what it comes down to: my mother gave me was hope. hope that i could be that proverbial person that is not looking at the gutter, but towards the stars.
recently, i have been working with a couple of volunteers that have kindly given up their summer and i have seen them try out some pretty cool stuff. one in particular impressed me with his "can do" attitude. a willingness to throw himself into what many would deem as "scary" situations.
what amazed me was not so much his skill set, but just the sheer humility of the purpose and the will to step out of his comfort zones. he reminded me of this hope that my mum used to speak of.
... i'm pretty sure NASA are going to call tomorrow.
i often have "shower moments" when i think, sometime to angie's amusement out loud, "what on earth am i doing... surely we need some professional whatsit to do this."
still being in the business of volunteering i often look around and see such latent talent. many people have said they don't know what they could do. i usually bite my lip, but think man surely it's a case of what can't you do. the sky's the limit... the world's your oyster.
i was brought up with my mother always telling me that i could do anything. yeah, mum i'm still waiting for NASA to call me up for their next trip. but i do still hold to her words and believe at somepoint i will write my book, that i will become a musician and that in the future..... hmmmm. i guess what it comes down to: my mother gave me was hope. hope that i could be that proverbial person that is not looking at the gutter, but towards the stars.
recently, i have been working with a couple of volunteers that have kindly given up their summer and i have seen them try out some pretty cool stuff. one in particular impressed me with his "can do" attitude. a willingness to throw himself into what many would deem as "scary" situations.
what amazed me was not so much his skill set, but just the sheer humility of the purpose and the will to step out of his comfort zones. he reminded me of this hope that my mum used to speak of.
... i'm pretty sure NASA are going to call tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)