Tower Of Babel

….is winding down. It is Friday, never mind the fact that this is my weekend on call. I don’t have much to share this morn and this post is just really a hail up.

It just dawned on me that four months have gone since 2004 started. Think back, look forward. Is there anything you had planned and hoped to achieve this year? Have those things come to pass yet? If not, what are you doing in order to make them happen?

We all have hopes, dreams, aspirations. I hope for you all that good things will come your way. Like they say, you should wish for others what you would for yourself.

I’m leaving a bit earlier this morning, so, if I have suppem to chat about later, maybe I will post tonite. If not, have a great day and weekend. Tek it easy.

I was stimulated to write this little post after I read this entry by Yamfoot (AKA Michelle)

Now, as a Jamaican and citizen of the Caribbean, I have come to learn that we tend not to be very good when it comes to time. Yes, I’m fully aware that traffic may well slow you down when commuting from place to place, especially in urban settings but leave a little earlier to take that into account.

Here in Jamaica we love to use the term, “Soon come!” And trus me, soon is a term that is relative. I guess ’soon’ varies from person to person. If you know someone who is notorious for tardiness, then his soon could well be tomorrow or next week. I have also noted this trend in some of the other Caribbean territories that I have visited. I wonder if this is because the pace of life here is a bit slower compared to First World living? Now, in some respects, I don’t mind the ’soon come’ sort of laid back lifestyle. I really would not like to have to live like some of the people I have seen in urban regions overseas…constantly on the go, meeting deadlines and carrying around high stress levels. But, I respect them for punctuality. At the same time, I am not fond of extreme lateness on either side. I don’t like to keep people waiting…. and this applies to patients as well. Conversely, if you tell me a particular time, try stick near to it nuh. 9PM is not the same at 11:30ish. If you get caught up in a situation, caal nuh. At least it shows that you respect the other individual’s time. Read on if you have the time nuh………..
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Well, I must say that the Reggae Boyz seem to be doing some pretty good stuff. Last nite, they put on a good show and beat Venezuela 2 goals to 1. Sweet!!!

OK, remember, I had said I was going to watch the game on the TV. The match was scheduled to start at 7:30 PM. Well, there I was doing some paperwork while switching channels on the TV looking for the match. I completed my paperwork and up to 9:30…nutten! So, I was a get vex to rass ’cause I thought that it would have started by then on the TV. Anyway, I was near to the end of one VX and nuff bad wud later, the phone rang. A bredren was linking a friend for drink and asked me if I had wanted to join….well, you know I didn’t need much encouragement. So, I went to hold a quick fresh and was out of here. While at the bar, I caught the second half….we had already scored two goals by the time I got there, so I didn’t see Marlon King scoring the first goal.

Anyway, I am no sports reporter, but it seems to me that lots of the refs who come to preside over these matches gravitate to yellow cards in the way that most men are attracted to good looking women…..(not that there’s anything wrong with the latter! ) But, many of the yellow cards I saw were being drawn against the wrong side IMHO. Mark you, in true South American style, when the Latinos seemed to realize that they were not going to get more than their one goal, they got nasty….pushing, shoving and behaving like some dutty dawg! Shit, there was a period of about four minutes where no ball was played. The ref. had to be hustling between the Latinos and our players, whole heap o pointing in face and tempers flaring….. Anyway, we beat dem bloodcleat. If you need to read a far better description of the game, the Gleaner has a nice likkle article. Nuff respec to da Boyz yes.

Mad Bull apparently came here early this morn looking for a post about the game, but he seems to have found the Gleaner story. My yute, I got home bout 12:30 so sleep was a hold me, that is why I’m posting just now.

We play Haiti in Miami in June. Maybe since we have been so decent about hosting the over five hundred refugees from their country here, that they should not play their best and show a bit of courtesy and allow us to whip their asses! I doubt it though. Who knows, dem might all have some vodoo dolls that look like our players, and have needles ready to stick them in the groin at a time when they look like they may be getting dangerous! Lawks, me bad eh? I doubt any such thing is planned, but lets hope the Boyz can pull off suppem at the Orange Bowl in Miami in June.

I don’t have anything else to chat ’bout now, so, lata.

Not a lot is happening in the blog world again…..or at least so it seems to me. Could people be getting bored with this? Hmm. Anyway, here I am again despite the fact that nutten much a gwaan here either.

Tonight, I will be having a few while watching the Boyz play Venezuela. Hope seh dem kick nuff ball inna dem net. That will be after work which in the last few days hasn’t been too bad. You see, my boss is overseas and so I’m more or less acting as the substitute. Thankfully, we don’t have too many problem patients at the moment. We still continue our fight with the little girl that I had posted about previously. Happily, we are on a short break from teaching medical students….but that will be over in matter of two weeks.

One of my close bredrens, Dr. Spanish, dropped a bit of shocking news my way on Sunday night. He has been planning to migrate for about two years now after getting married. I won’t bother to get into the details as to why it has taken so long for him to finally leave, but let’s say he has been ‘hemming and hawing’ (procrastinating) for a while now. Well, I was having a casual chat with him on Sunday nite on the phone. I had mentioned that I am planning to make a trip to Florida next month (a free ticket), and he casually informs me……”Oh, BTW, I leave Tuesday afternoon.” So, I said, “How long will you be staying?” He replies, “This is more or less for good now.” I was sort of caught unaware, but tried not to show that I was a bit shocked at the fact that he kept the decision so quiet. We do usually speak to each other about personal matters. Anyway. Such is life. I will link up with him next month and hope that everyting kriss for him.

I think I should make the effort to hold a walk this evening, as I haven’t been a for about five days now, and dat nuh good. It is suppem that I will have to keep working at and have a strong will to do, as two of the crew that sometimes walks with me have flashed the scene. Other than that, life continues on its merry way. I checked the papers yesterday to prips what movies were showing….looked like pure phuckery, and from chatting to some people at work who are ardent movie goers, they didn’t recommend anything. We shall see.

Any thoughts of your own to share? I’ll be happy to hear them. Anyhow, the shower is just reminding me that they don’t tolerate the staff at work smelling renk, so off I go to hold a fresh!

Yeah yeah! You do realise that Mother’s Day is coming up!? Listen to me, I am giving you fair warning so that you can show your appreciation properly, because the vast majority of us have Moms who did so darned much for us that we can’t even begin to measure it.

Look at all the things Mama did for you, nuh man…

I bet your mother taught you a few things and more…

1. My Mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.

“Just wait till we get home.”

2. My Mother taught me about RECEIVING.

“You going get a ass’n when we get home!”

3. My Mother taught me to MEET A CHALLENGE.

“What di backside yu thinkin’? Answer me when me talk to you…Don’t talk back to me!”

4. My Mother taught me CONSEQUENCES.

“If yu run cross de road an’ cyar lick yu dung, a goin’ kill yu wid lick.”

5. My Mother taught me THE VALUE OF EDUCATION.

“If yu no go a school, yu a go tun tief or walk an’ pick up bottle.”

6. My Mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.

“If yu tun over yu eye lid an fly pitch pan it, it a go stay so fi evva.”

7. My Mother taught me to THINK AHEAD.

“Is not one time monkey goin’ wan’ wife”

8. My Mother taught me ESP.

“Yu tink a don’t know what yu up to nuh?”

9. My Mother taught me HUMOR.

“If yu don’ eat food, breeze goin’ blow yu ‘way.”

10. My Mother taught me how to BECOME AN ADULT.

“Come an’ tek yu beatin’ like man.”

11. My Mother taught me about SEX.

“Yu tink say yu drop from sky?”

12. My Mother taught me about GENETICS.

“Yu jus’ like yu faada.”

13. My Mother taught me about my ROOTS.

“Yu tink mi come from “Back A Wall?”

14. My Mother taught me about the WISDOM OF AGE.

“When yu get to be as ol’ as me, yu wi understan’.”

15. And my all time favorite… JUSTICE.

“One day wen yu have pickney, a hope dem treat yu same way.”

Treat your mother good this Mothers Day, ok! I got this one via jamaicandirtyjokes.com too.

Well, forgive me for posting about local events in the news, but right now, I haven’t got much else to write about. What’s that you seh? Maybe I should just not post then?? Ok, be like that. No, jus a play round as usual. But, if you really are expecting some deep post asking for your opinion or such crap…you won’t get that here at the moment.

Last nite, I took two women out to dinner. No, don’t get any ideas, I didn’t participate in an after dinner threesome that lots of us bredrens dream about. My ex boss is here, she came from the States on some business. So I invited her and Diana, one of my colleagues who no longer works at the hospital, to dinner. We went to Dragon Garden. The food was sweet! Had a good time chatting with them. I guess that was basically yesterday’s highlight.

Oh, I didn’t tell you what we had. OK, since you insist……I had a hot and sour soup, Diana had a Wonton soup. My ex boss declined soup. Main dishes were a Subgum Warbar, Sweet and Sour Chicken and a Steamed Snapper in black bean sauce. I could easily repeat the performance tonight, but I’m sure that I would soon become akin to the Goodyear blimp, as both Diana and my ex-boss are not heavy eaters, so you done know who ate for two. Dessert was ice cream with lychees. Mmmm Mmmm!

Anyway, now I am sitting in front of my cuppa Earl Grey to get in the mood for work.

Scanning the Gleaner, I notice that the influx of Haitians to Portland continues, with over a hundred more arriving in Portland yesterday! Now, I have been in touch with a Doctor bredren in Portland, as I am mekking plans to start going there on a sessional basis to see some Dermi patients. Bwoy, my yute is on the team involved in the caring for the refugees, and him seh him frus out! The man says he is reaching home on an average after ten in the nights. Of course he didn’t tell me in such decent English. Our little discussion was coloured wid nuff claat….not from me either…and you know that I’m no stranger to the claats. Anyway, I told him to hang in there and promised to walk with some VX to share with him when the Portland thing comes off the ground, hopefully not too far from now.

I don’t want to bore anybody, but there is more if you want to press on……..
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I had planned to do a post yesterday, but tiredness got the better of me. So here I am having rested pretty well.

This morning’s lead story in the Gleaner reveals that our lawmen have continued to squeeze the balls of more of the drug lords. I’m happy to see that they are managing to achieve this because the illicit drug trade contributes so much to the crime that exists in our island home. Here is the story. Another reason why I am happy to see this happening is that the unfortunate individuals who het hooked on hard drugs like crack cocaine often have their lives ruined. They frequently are unable to shake the addicition, their families may well shun them and many of them become street people. Dem corner well dark people. The Sunday Gleaner carried a good but also unhappy article by Claude Mills (who usually does pretty good stories) describing the situation in the Gulf! No. The Gulf described here is not Iraq, this is a place in New Kingston off Dumfries Road, which has been given the name as it has become a hangout for crack users who will even get into cheap prostitution in order to support their coke habit. Sad eh? Read ’bout the Gulf and see how dark a place it is.

All I will say to our Police is continue to weed out dem rasses from society. It would be nice if we could help to restore this country to the place that it once was, and the drug lords have so corrupted it.

On a related note, it is well known also that many of our “Inner City” communities because of they find little joy or justice from the Police or judicial system here, turn to their own area leader for support. These area leaders or “Dons” may well be individuals who are mixed up in drugs and gun crimes also. But, they command respect in their area, they decide who walks, who gets work, who lives and dies. Powerful mofos….you could consider these guys as “Local Government” for our ghettoes. Because gun crime surrounds a lot of the activities in these areas, all o de yute and man dem who are known to live by the gun have been dubbed as “Shottas!” Well, another story in yesterday’s Observer entitled ‘Death of a Nannyville shotta’ will help to reveal more about how these shottas live. In reading the article some may think….”One less….” but is that really getting at the root of the problem? I’m not sure.

Anyhow, after all this, let me go get ready to do my little piece for our blessed country. Tek it easy, have a good week at work and try not to encounter any shottas. Seen?

Let me start by saying that this is not a post that may entertain you, actually, it is just a post…in other words, not one that I rate highly. Which I might add, is something that I have stopped doing. All you who read here will be aware that I live for interaction and comments. Were it not for that I would have thrown the towel in looooong time as I don’t have to do this, but must admit that I’ve come to enjoy the interaction, so keep coming on over. There is always free food and liquor for those who imbibe like miself. Seen!? But, somehow, the posts are pretty unpredictable in terms of the feedback, so I no longer rate posts. I just do them and see what happens, you get me? (Do I seem to be contradicting myself??)

With that little blurb as an intro, not a lot has been happening. As I had mentioned before, my sinuses had become frigged by the last bug that I picked up about a week ago. Well, today is day three of seven of the levofloxacin, and it seems as if it is worth every dollar spent, cause today is the best I have felt in days. I must admit, I’m still a bit tired…sinusitis really dampens my energy level. Luckily, I rarely get it.

I feel like I could hit Quad tonight, but I suspect that I should just chill and hold a drink at my yard or a bredren’s as I think going out on the town and inhaling all the damn smoke in a nightclub would not exactly help to clear my sinuses. Such is life. There will be other Saturday nites I guess and next week, I will be on call. Whatever.

Do I sound boring, depressed? Maybe haunted (no not horny!) is a better word. My Mother used to love to use that word (haunted) when she saw me in my late teens or early twenties aimlessly moving back and forth around the house or at the telephone in seek of some form of excitement or party…anything to occupy time. Maybe that is why I’m doing this post….I’m haunted?? Sometimes when no action was found to solve those ‘haunted’ nights, food from the fridge or pizza was the end result. I wonder if that is how tonight will end up?Cho.

Did I mention that my travel agent called me about two weeks ago?? Well, she did. “Hi Dr. D. This is Melanie. I just received a statement for you in the mail from Air Jamaica.” I was quite puzzled…..”Statement?? Me nuh owe dem nuh money! Last time I flew was November and dat pay fah from when.” She reassured me, “No, this is a frequent flier statement of account!” OK….my interest is now very piqued……Long and short of it is that I have accumulated 7.5 points which entitles me to a free return ticket to anywhere that Air Jamaica flies (except London or L.A.) So, she told me to call them to find out how long I have to redeem this ticket. Well, after calling the 1-888 number for days, I finally got through. The agent told me that I have until November 12th to claim it. Well, you done know who naw wait till then…next ting dem go change dem rass mind! So, plans are afoot to drop into my stomping grounds…(AKA Ft. Lauderdale) for a chill out late next month if all works as planned. I guess that is suppem to look forward to. Until then, let me go rustle up a food (I did mention that I was haunted, right?) Peace to all who may pass chru!

I found this little story interesting. Don’t ask me where the dilemma is at all. I know a few Jamdowners who have become what I refer to as ‘turtles’. I wonder what they may have to say? BTW, it would have been nice if they had posted a picture of the winner. OK, I really gone now.

OK, it is pretty early people….4:10 AM to be exact. Actually, I have been up from 3 AM. That is on account of my trying to counteract what seemed to have started as a viral infection of my throat last week, resulting in a pretty annoying cough. Initially, some anti inflammatory meds and a cough syrup seemed to be all I needed. Not so. It left me with sinusitis! Not cute. So, after a bit of procrastination on my part (I was just passing it off as a lingering flu), I’m now on some pretty high powered antibiotics….Levofloxacin…it better work. Actually, it seems to be as I have taken only one dose so far and I can breathe so much better already. It would be nice if I didn’t have to go to work later, but the boss leaves for foreign later today, so you done know who haffi shoulder the service. (No rest for the wicked as they say…..) Anyhow, enough of me, I’ll manage as I am not on call this weekend.

I haven’t been able to get onto the net in the last day as suppem seems to have been up with the trusty DELL. Fortunately, Mad Bull who is my Tech Support (as I don’t know fart ’bout the inner workings of these things called computers) rescued me last nite. (Or so I thought)…..I did mention that I woke up at 3 AM??? Well, that was because I had wanted to do a post then, but, same shyte happened again…..I connected to the ‘net, but the ‘Cannot find server’ crap came up once I went to Internet Explorer. (Browser issues apparently….) So, I decided to scan my system for viruses. Well, 50 odd thousand files were scanned in just under an hour and found to be virus free! Strangely, having done the scan and reconnecting, I am now back on the net! WTF a gwaan!? Anyhow, I hope things will jus chill and remain this way or you know who going start cuss some claat!

I have a patient on the brain as well….no, no young thang groped at my crotch yesterday. My service has been managing a little three year old patient with a rare cutaneous disorder in childhood….it is called Pyoderma gangrenosum. Yes, I know you may not even be able to pronounce it, but we have worked like the devil on this case and all her ulcers healed previously. If any medics are reading this….the answer is, yes, we investigated her for underlying inflammatory bowel disease and she is clear. E-mail me if you have any further queries. The problem is that after getting her healed about a month ago, when we started to taper her immunosuppressives, she flared again. So, she is back with us and we are facing a dilemma as to what drug to use now……all o dem dat work have such horrid potential side effects…..and the gold standard of therapy is steroids…and she is not responding to even higher doses than previously…..so I am worried for her. Anyway, we have another biggie as the next in line drug. Won’t bore you with the name, but it nuh cheap, her parents are poor and when I called pharmacy stores yesterday…they have all of 6 TABLETS in stock in the hospital! Welcome to the problems of practising medicine in a system that is by no means perfect. I hope suppem can gwaan for this little kid. We have sort of developed a love/hate relationship. You see, she probably thinks of me as the demon who loves to take blood and set up IVs. I can’t help it, I have to do what I have to do, but it breaks my heart every time I have to stick her. I did give her a bun and cheese for Easter which she devoured happily. Keep your fingers crossed for those of us who are caring for this little girl, as well as the patient herself.

I also have a friend who if things fall into place will be able to buy me the little RSX that has been featuring in my erotic dreams….What, you didn’t know I had those too? Hey, I’m jus a regular guy people.

Anyhow, I’m jus joking…dis rude yute might not be able to buy me the RSX, but if tings work out for him, a VX or two. So, keep you fingers crossed for him too. You don’t know him BTW, he is as addicted to the net as I am to cricket. (Hi Yamfoot! )

So, to end I guess I will say TGIFF, the compi is working, today is payday (and I still have my job when last I checked), my sinuses seem to be improving, mi bredren may hold a smalls and if all goes well, my little patient may start to get better also. Life could be worse eh? I wish for you all a rass of a weekend! It is now 4:40 AM….let me see if I can hold a short snooze before work. Later……. (computer permitting.)