Jamaica – 31 Oct 2005 - Happy Hedowe’en

Hallowee’en is supposed to be quite the party at Hedo. I cannot say for sure, as we left yesterday and the party started last night and is supposed to go all day. Hurricane season is just about over and the high season is Jamaica is starting. Hedo was the busiest I have seen it, and the people there were certainly there to party. The quad pool, which is clothing optional, was much more optional than clothing. There were also 2 large groups there this weekend. One seemed to be a couples or swingers matching service, with a large web presence. The other seemed to be just a group of people who regularly go to Hedo every year.

Anyway, my weekend was fairly relaxing. However, I am getting a bit tired of the whole thing. Five more weeks to go and I have gotten just about everything I am going to get out of this place, professionally speaking. Now I am just counting down the days. I should really have learned that lesson by now. One of the reasons I got out of the Army was because I was bored. Even the exciting things had too much boredom before and after them to keep me interested. Yet I am still taking various military “opportunities”, thinking each one will be different from the last. It is like thinking that, maybe this time, my spouse is telling the truth and will never hit me again. Once this is over, no more fooling around for me.

Time to get the nose to the grindstone and get myself on some sort of path.

Jamaica - As We Approach 2000 Dead

As the casualty count of American soldiers killed in Iraq during the war and insurgency approaches 2000, a number of left-wing groups have talked about using the 2000th soldier killed to push their political agenda.

Lets examine the "cost" in lives for this war.

The war has been ongoing since March 2003, say 30 months. Over that time 2000 American soldier have been killed, which is about 67 solders per month.

How does this compare to the murder rate in someplace like Jamaica?

This links to the murder rates on nationmaster.com. Jamaica is listed as number 3 per capita with 887 murders in 2000 and a per capita rate of 37. This info is sorely out of date.

This article quotes the Jamaican murder rate at 60 per 100,000. The population of Jamaica is about 2.3 million people.

This article puts the total number of murders in Jamaica at over 1100 over 2001 and this more recent article has the total number of murders for 2004 at 1030 on October 3rd, 2004, three quarters of the way through the year. Extrapolating to the end of 2004 would put the murder rate at 1373 for 2004

The Jamaica murder rate has been growing over the past few years, and I would bet the homestead that the number of murders in Jamaica will exceed 1100 for 2005.

This puts the murder rate of US soliders in Iraq at about 800 per year for the entire period of the war, significantly less than the 1100 Jamaicans killed every year. As more Iraqi forces are training and they take over more of their security, I am sure that the US killed rate has been dropping.

2000 America soldiers killed so that 24 million Iraqis could be free.

What do Jamaicans have to show for the approximately 2750 people dead over the past 30 months?

Jamaica – 25 Oct 2005 - We did it!

Today is a beautiful day. The sun is shining and there are minimal clouds in the sky. We have not had weather like this for over a week. Perhaps I can continue my daily trips up the peak again. It sounds a bit wimpy, but if it is too wet, I don’t go up. I have almost slipped a number of times, and a wet road greatly increases that chance.

I think I was a bit annoying to the rest of the staff the first week back from our break. During the break I spent some time with my parents, brother and sister. My siblings have two kids each, ages 3, 2, 10 months and 2 weeks. With 4 children that age in one house during holidays, you can’t avoid childrens’ programming. In two days I watched countless hours of Dora the Explorer. The show is quite funny, actually. Sneaky Swiper the fox tries to steal stuff and this is the first time I met Hero Star, the strongest star (He is the only Star with big biceps, and is obviously their leader). But my favourite is the little purple dinosaur/lizard guy who only speaks Spanish. Every time the group makes a decision to do something, the little guy repeats “yay”, “good” or “ok” in Spanish. Or something like that. My Spanish isn’t very good, but by the look on his face and what he says, I am sure he is repeating what Dora says. At the end of the show when they find complete the map or whatever, they always sing this song that goes “We did it! We did it! We did it! We did it!” etc. Anyway, I could not get the song out of my mind. Imagine being in a car for 7 hours with a guy who started singing “We did it! We did it! We did it!” after every successfully negotiated puddle.

I even pissed myself off after a while.

Update: Checking out the website, they even have songsheets you can print out of your favourite songs (I quote). No songsheet for the "We did it" song. Who needs a songsheet for three words.

Jamaica – 23 Oct 2005 - Minimal Posting and Hurricane Wilma

What a week. Hurricane Wilma has been causing havoc in Jamaica and with our plans. The weekend at Hedo sucked. It rained most of the weekend. Time at a resort is no fun unless there is some sun. The sky was very dark and gray the entire time. Let’s face it, no one goes to Hedo for the wet weather program of bingo and you can only sit in the hot tub for so long while getting rained on. At least we get one day free.

Although Jamaica was not hit by Wilma, we got the edges of her. This means constant rain and flooding all across the island. The trip to Hedo was a nightmare. It normally takes us 4 hours to travel the approximately 80 km. This time it was 7+ hours. We had numerous detours as flat bridge was impassable. To add to that, everyone and their dog was trying to get to the north coast at the same time. It doesn’t take much water to flood the roads. Whoever built them didn’t take into account drainage. In addition, the roads are about a half inch of asphalt over crushed rock. This means they can’t take much traffic and there are potholes everywhere. Add rain to this and the potholes quickly become swimming pools.

On Monday, the roads were so bad we decided to stay another night at Hedo. This would normally been great, but by this time the rain was so steady I did not even want to go outside. Luckily I brought a bunch of books to read, else I would have gone crazy.

By Tuesday, the road to Newcastle had been cleared by all the landslides and it was thought we could make it up. We drove back to Kingston and Up Park to meet up with the rest of the course for the trip up the hill. At about the ¾ mark, we hit another landslide. This is about 9 pm and it is already dark. The call is made to wait a bit and to try and get the JDF Engineers up here with their front end loader (FEL) to clear the slide. Not really a good idea in the middle of the night, in my opinion. After about 4 hours packed in a bus in the dark on the side of a mountain, we find out the FEL cannot make it up to the slide. We head back down the mountain and spend the night in a hotel. I get to my room about 3 am. Quite a long day.

On Wednesday it is decided not to further risk the trip up and we will carry on starting Thursday at the base in Kingston. This means a trip up by helicopter for a small number of us to get clothes for the students. I need to get a bunch of training aids for classes the next day. In Jamaica, nothing does smoothly and on time. To make a long story short, we had planned to fly up at 1pm, give ourselves a good 3 hours to pack up all we need, and fly back down at 4pm. Due to a bunch of things, including a casualty evacuation, I get back at 9pm. To top it all off, at about 6pm we find out the road is now open. How do I find this out? I am sitting there waiting for the chopper and this van packed full of people drives up and they get our cheering. Great passage of information.

We had planned to have classes in an old building on the base. This room had no AV equipment, so my Sgt and I went up to bring this stuff down. This is a big pain in the ass, as we have to pack up and weather proof a bunch of laptops, a projector, 2 printers, speakers and all the cables, powerbars, etc that goes along with this stuff. Thursday morning the decision is made to move the class to the JDF Air Wing. We rush over there in the morning to recce the place. It is completely wired for A/V stuff. All the stuff we brought was not needed.

What’s that you say? Stop complaining, the new location was much better. You would think so. Have you ever tried to teach/learn about 100 meters from a flight line? Since rescue operations were still going on, helicopters were taking off and landing all day. To top it off, and this is just great, the Air Wing was hosting the JDF inter unit volleyball tournament. The classroom exits right to the hanger floor, where the games were being played. I kid you not, the game was going on 10 feet from our room. You had to be careful exiting the class, as you could get a spike in the head. And Jamaicans love volleyball. People were yelling, screaming, and cheering. I did get to see some good volleyball. Overall, it was a comedy of errors.

After two days of that, I was tired of the place and just wanted to go home, so we came up to Newcastle on Saturday. The ride was quite easy, and we actually made it up in record time. It’s funny that I am starting to think of this place as home.

Hopefully we will be back on track on Monday. The course hasn’t been up here for over a week and it is starting to have an effect on everyone. The two days in Kingston were almost a waste of time. I think the students didn’t really absorb what they were taught, what with the noise, the distraction of girls playing volleyball, and the wild dance bars of Kingston calling them.

We shall see. I bet the instructors will have to crack the whip tomorrow.

On a more personal note, I thought the wife might still be mad at me for what happened on our vacation. I had no emails from her when I checked on Wednesday. I finally got her on the phone on Friday night. She is not one to hold a grudge and we had a nice conversation, so I think things are back to normal.

I guess I have staved off divorce for another week.

Jamaica – 14 Oct 2005 – Vacation Aftermath

My 4-day long weekend in Toronto was enjoyable. I met the wife at the hotel but we did not do much on Friday night as I arrived at about 10:30 pm. On Saturday we went to Second City, the comedy club where such people as John Candy, Dan Aykroyd and Eugene Levy got their start. I had never heard of any of the comedians, however, their show was pretty good. If you see it look for the lizard skit and the lesbian skit. My two favourites.

Sunday we went to visit my parents and have Thanksgiving dinner at my sister’s house. We took the GO train, but missed the first train and had to wait an hour for the next one. It was quite maddening, as the whole scene was like a movie. The train started to pull away just as we got there. The reason we missed our train was the huge line ups to get tickets. Actually, it was quite funny. We missed our train by about 20 seconds. As we were waiting, this lady begged someone ahead of us to let her in, saying she needed to get on the next train. Join the club. We probably would have made our train if she had not been let in. Whoever runs the trains knows little about gauging how many customers to expect on a holiday Monday.

Of course, I screwed up with the wife. We have this ongoing disagreement about something. I tried to get my way by putting her on the spot in front of my parents. I knew she did not want to talk about it at the time and that I was putting her on the spot, yet I still did it. I was wrong. I apologized after but I don’t think she has forgiven me yet. She after I apologized, she said to me “You are just engaging in damage control”. I don’t like that way of putting it. “Damage control is something that politicians do when they are not really sorry but want to contain the “damage” of what they have said or done. I don’t want my wife to be upset. Not because I am afraid of what someone might think, but because she is my wife and I love her. To have her be upset make me upset. So, you say, why did you do it? What can I say, I am a man and therefore, I don’t think before I speak. I am working on it. If I was perfect, she would have nothing to “fix up” and would never have married me.

The wife and I should formally set up a system where she can signal me to shut up. Perhaps that fake coughing thing where she coughs and, under her breath, says something like “Asshole” or “Insensitive Jerk”. Or we could have a safety word like those S&M people have. Saying the word means stop everything. Come to think of it, we already have that sort of thing. Whenever she does want to talk about something she says, “We will talk about it later”. She was saying it during our discussion. I just ignored it.

Honey, if you are reading this, I am sorry. I still don’t think you are right, but I won’t put you on the spot in front of my family again.

This weekend we spend at Hedo. Since Monday is Hero’s Day, the course is getting the day off so we will be staying at Hedo until Monday.

It will be nice to have an extra day.

Those Mentally Ill Albertans

Maybe this is because we are working so hard to keep the rest of Canada economically afloat.

I Hate to Say I Told You So...

Who am I kidding.

This article says that, despite the massive increase in health care spending over the last year, wait times have decreased only marginally.

Is anyone surprised? How long will the politicians continue to ignore the experts? We need to change the system, not sink more money down a bottomless pit.

In other news, sorry for the infrequent posting. I spent the long weekend at Hedo, which was extended a day due to Wilma. We then got caught in Kingston, trying to get back to Newcastle. Right now I am stuck in Newcastle, having gotten here by helicopter. We wait for our ride back, but it had to carry out a search and rescue or casuality evacuation, both higher priority than us. We are spending a few days in Kingston, as the roads to Newcastle are not safe due to landslides. Once we get settled in Kingston, I will propertly update the blog.

Wifey, I will try to call tonight.

In that a Commenter asks…

When am I going to join the war in Iraq?

This comment is the usual leftist crap about the war in Iraq and uses the usual “if you like it so much, why don’t you join”. I purposefully ignored this portion of the statement, as I felt it was a bit childish. However, now I feel like addressing it, so I am going to. It’s my blog and I will do whatever the hell I want.

So, when am I going to join the war in Iraq? Nothing is for certain, but probably never.

Firstly, my country is not involved. I am not a mercenary. I joined the military to protect and defend my country. I definitely believe we should have got involved and have said so to anyone in discussions about the subject and on this blog. If Canada was involved, would I have gone? Certainly. Most young people who join the military have visions of adventure in their eyes. I had that, but I was also fully aware of the risk I was taking. I knew could be sent to any conflict my country got involved in. There were no wars going on when I joined but the job is never safe. Over 100 soldiers have lost their lives in the past 20 plus years on peacekeeping missions. This does not include the guys in Afghanistan. I feel the posters insinuation that I am not willing to risk my life for something is false.

So, when am I going to join the war in Iraq?

Why should I? Should I go and risk my life for a bunch of ungrateful people like the poster? Part of the contract between members of the military and civilians is that soldiers risk their lives and civilians give them respect (monuments, etc) when they pay that price. Does anyone else sense that that contract has gone by the wayside? Why would I want to risk my life for these people when they just slag me for risking my life, what I consider to be the ultimate sacrifice. You don’t have to agree with the war or reasons for it to respect the risk that the person is taking for their beliefs.

Besides, in my old age I am becoming more Canadian. We have been riding the coattails of other countries since confederation, why change now? Does anyone remember the Cold War where we shaded ourselves under the safety of the American nuclear umbrella? I had a professor of Canadian Defence history who used to describe in detail how cheap Canadians are when it comes to Defence. My favorite story is how, just after confederation, the Canadian government hired a bunch of retired British generals to come up with a plan for the defence of Canada. As good military officers, they came up with 3 options. The first option was what they recommended; it provided a good plan at a reasonable cost. Option 2 was a bit on the cheap, but if you did not want to spend that much, it provided some defence which would likely serve us well. Option 3 was not recommended, but it was the absolute minimum that had to be spent. Guess what the politicians chose?

Wrong. They chose option 4, which was to take option 3 and spend about half that. We can't defend ourselves, but no one hates us.

With even Ontario now saying that it is not getting enough back for what it puts in, soon Alberta will be the only one putting in more than it gets back. Welfare, free child care, cushy government jobs. It seems the Canadian way to freeload. It can’t last forever, so we might as well enjoy the ride. In a pyramid scheme, it doesn’t pay to be the last guy to jump aboard.

If this is the way we are with money, why not the same with defence?

Perhaps the only way to save the country is to let everything go to hell in a hadbasket. Maybe then everyone will realize how sick the system is and agree it needs to be changed.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Who is Rachael Ray?

Who cares?

All I can say is I know what I am getting the wife for Christmas and it isn't a cookbook.

Via Nealenews

I Am Just Happy To Be Nominated

Small Dead Animals is hosting a Best Blog Awards and this blog has been nominated in the Best Canadian Blog category. I am not sure why but I think they needed to fill out the field a bit. Anyway, it is nice to be nominated. The primary reason I started this blog was to get a bit of writing experience. The secondary reason was to let other guys know that they are not the only ones who have trouble dealing with women, especially when that woman belongs to the community of moonbats. (Another benefit of this blog is that I can (perhaps) win an argument, if not with her, then in the court of public opinion. We take our victories where we can get them.)

I suppose I could ask you all to vote for me, but in truth, I don’t think this is the best Canadian blog. There are a lot of good blogs on the list. Over half are already on my daily reading list, and I am sure to check out the others. I did not start this blog to win an award and I would much rather be offered a writing job with high pay and little work. So, if anyone out there works (I use that term loosely) for the CBC, think of me.

The daily traffic for this site has quadrupled since the nominations were announced, so I want to welcome the new readers and I hope that you enjoy some part of what you find here.

Vote early and vote often.

Update: Check out this post for updates on the results.

Damned if We Do, Damned if We Don't

Here is a great post by VDH on why we must fight this war versus Islamic Fundamentalism.

Jamaica – 6 Oct 2005 – Homeward bound

It has been raining a lot here lately. Normally we get 30-90 minutes of rain each day, but lately it has been a few hours at a time, several times a day. This has been due to the Hurricane that recently hit Central America, as we are catching more rain from the edge of the storm.

We had our usual BBQ last night and watched a local Jamaican made film called Third World Cop. Actually, it was pretty good. The production values would be considered low for Hollywood, but overall they were fairly professional. The movie gave a good look at Jamaican society and the police. I would recommend it for anyone interested in how Jamaica sees itself and the relationship between the police and citizens. Some of the tricks used by the bad guys in the movie to smuggle guns are actually used (or were used) by criminal elements.

36 more hours until I meet the wife in Toronto.

News Round Up

Here are a few recent news articles with I find quite interesting:

US aiming at Syrian regime change - I quite enjoyed meeting Syrians when I was in the Golan. I found them to be friendly, hard-working people who I think would benefit from and enjoy some freedom. I hope regime change comes and not too many civilians are killed.

Liberals rig Parliamentary calendar to avoid early election - Well, the Liberals have pushed the opposition days back to avoid the chance of a fall election. These guys cling to power like a man gripping a ledge by his fingernails.

Alberta earns more from private liquor sales than Ontario and Quebec - Private enterprise triumphs again. Why is the government selling liquor?

Does anyone out there think that the only reason Dingwall gets a plumb severance package after quitting is to keep him quiet?

Update

Here is a great little example of how the media can present a certain spin to a story but using one image over another. Thanks to Zombietime.

Jamaica – 3 Oct 2005 – Hedo III Wild Weekend

This weekend was the wildest I have seen it at Hedo III. This weekend they had the Miss Black Nude Something Something Something Contest. I didn’t pay much attention after the Nude part. Anyway, it was quite wild. They always have the big shows on Saturday night, so the main stage was turned into a strip show, as each of the seven contestants strutted their stuff.

Later, at the disco, things got even wilder. Saturday night the theme is “bare as you dare”. You can imagine what that means with a bunch of strippers in the bar. If you can’t, I can tell you. It means get naked and have simulated sex with anyone who is willing. For some of the strippers, this seemed to be their area of expertise. Again, if Hedo is the kind of place you want to go, be sure to go when something good is going on, or during high season. The type of people who are there can greatly affect the type of time you have.

Hedo III recently hired a new head chief, Joseph, who is from Niagara Falls, Canada. He seems to be working hard to improve the food. Let’s face it, the majority of people who go to Hedo are not going for the food, but for the “extracurricular” activities. This is why I am impressed with his effort. We have noticed an improvement in the food over the last 6 weeks. I was saying that the food at Breezes is better in quality and quantity. If he keeps this up, it will only be quantity.

The vacancy rate at the resorts has been high this season. Hedo III is still averaging about a 30% occupancy rate. The Italian restaurant, Pastafari, has been closed the last few weekends. This is unfortunate for us, as they serve the best food. I particularly like their antipasto bar and the Caesar salad.

Three more work days until I go to visit the wife. When this task started, I had decided that I would not see her at the mid course break. However, since we are still technically newlyweds and this is the longest we have been apart since we were married, I decided that it is important for our relationship to see each other. $600 for me to fly to Toronto for 4 days is a bit much.

But it is worth the money to keep our marriage healthy.

Jamaica – 28 Sept 2005 – If It Bleeds, It Leads

Every Wednesday we have a little BBQ, just to get a break from the monotony of chicken and rice. Today we broke the BBQ monotony by ordering some pizza and patties. As we are eating (about 7pm) we watch the local Jamaican news. There were 4 murders in the last two days in an area of east Kingston called Mountain View. Two women and a 3 month old baby were killed yesterday. Today, as many people were moving out of the area, packing clothes and stuff into cars, shopping carts, anything with wheels, another woman was shot and killed. She had packed some stuff, went back into the house to get a few more things, and was killed. She was 22 years old and the mother of five children, ages 9 years to 5 months. Now, usually the people who are targeted are involved in some sort of criminal activity and the word in the community is that these acts are a “reprisal”. Jamaica is somewhat of a macho society, so I do not think these women committed any crimes, but were likely related to other criminals. I am told that it is not unusual for revenge to be taken against a person by killing their entire family. The newspaper mentioned that the grandmother of the dead woman, 65 years old, has left the community because she has received death threats.

I do not condone any type of criminal murders, but even Tony Soprano leaves the women and children. What did the 3 month baby do? Or a 65 year old grandmother? Some of this stuff makes me sick. I am not a big fan of death squads, but it makes you want to just sweep through the city with a few good men and kill the type of people that would kill a 3 month old baby. The pictures from Mountain View show the area under a curfew and crawling with cops and soldiers.

After that happy story, they go to an item about a 10 year old boy who was hit and killed by an SUV. His grandmother is on the news, talking about what a nice boy he was, how he called her on the phone to tell her he was coming home, how she went to meet him at their usual spot and how she called him on his mobile phone when he did not show up on time. She then went looking for him, noticed a commotion down a street and, when asked, was told that a boy had been hit and killed. She immediately knew it was her grandson. Depressing.

I cannot comment on this particular accident, but I have to say, we were driving a few weeks ago, and three boys, about 10 years old suddenly darted in front of our van. The driver, a JDF soldier, slammed on the brakes and managed to miss them by a few inches. He actually had been slowing down, seeing the kids at the side of the road and anticipating that they might try to cross. That said, we have had drivers who are not so cautious, and I have personally seen many examples of people who drive recklessly. The only surprise is that more people do not get killed. A bit of advice passed to me: If you ever get into an accident where you have hit someone, don’t stop, and drive directly to the police station. Jamaicans tend towards the mob mentality, and there have been instances of people getting hit or killed, the driver stopping to help and a mob literally tearing the driver apart. No trial, no appeal.

One of the Jamaican officers watching the news with us mentioned that for many years he did not watch the news as it was too depressing. I can see how that would be. The last story was about a woman who had her baby stolen. This sounded like the usual mentally unstable women who asks to hold you newborn and then takes off. After this piece, the anchor gave an update to the story saying the baby had been found. One good story after all.

My faith is restored until tomorrow.

Jamaica – 26 Sept 2005 – That’s more like it

I had a nice, relaxed weekend at Hedo. The entertainment this weekend was more to my liking. Instead of the Red Hot Male contest, this weekend the Extreme Babe Swimsuit Calendar girls were doing a photoshoot. These girls were hot, with a capital H. Tight bodies like you would not believe, all of them very cute and young. They significantly raised the cuteness factor. As always, the blondes dominated the top 3 spots at the “contest” they had on Friday night. The redhead had my vote.

I think the key to Hedo is getting there on a weekend where something is going on and there are lots of people. The attitude of the guests really effects the type of weekend. If the people are wild and fun, the place will be hopping and you will meet a lot of interesting people. If the crowd is not as friendly, you might not have as good a time. If you were going to a couples resort and just planning to spend time with each other, everyone else doesn’t matter. Half the interest for Hedo is the other people. I would definitely recommend going to Hedo during high season, so as to experience the wild side of it.

The wife and I have finally come to a compromise. Instead of one of us travelling 24 hours for a 4 day weekend, we are both going to fly to Toronto and meet there for a romantic getaway. Not sure what we are going to do, but I will ask her to bring a bunch of stuff for me and will send back some stuff I do not need.

It’s only 4 days (she might get only 3), but I think we need to spend the time together.

Jamaica – 21 Sept 2005 – Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

So they say. I have always viewed this saying with suspicion. Absence does make you appreciate the one you are missing but there are limits to this. There is something to sharing your life with someone else. I mean sharing the daily small things. Making meals together, sleeping in the same bed, bumping into each other in the bathroom. Getting used to having someone around everyday can be a strong reinforcement to the love you share. So, while I appreciate the wife more now that she is not around, I am getting used to her not being around. I am reverting back to my bachelor ways.

I actually miss my wife more now than during my last tour, which was two months longer. I think it is because during my last tour we had only just met, had be dating for a few months and not living together. We have been living together for over a year now, with only a maximum of two weeks apart. This is the longest I have been apart from my wife since we started living together.

I have decided to take some steps to address the situation. We have a mid course break coming up, so I have suggested the wife and I meet in Toronto for a little romantic weekend. I bit expensive for only four days, but what the hell, it’s only money. I think it is worth it to keep our relationship on the right track. I even promised not to let my family know I am in town. This will be a true romantic getaway.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the wife will be able to get out of Edmonton for the weekend due to work. The only other option would be for me to fly home. I am not keen on taking two flights of 3-4 hours each (probably a minimum of 12 hours travel time each way) for a four day weekend. So we are talking about going from a 4 day to a 3 day weekend due to travel time. Add on to it that the wife may have to work for 2 of those days, and it becomes a waste of time. Besides, she would probably have me hanging curtains or something of that sort.

Not my idea of a vacation.

Individual Freedom

Here is a great piece about how American society is becoming about authority and not about responsibility.

The day before hurricane Rita hit Texas, last Friday, I saw on TV something that disturbed me. It was not the usual scene of crashing waves and hardy reporters being blown sideways by wind gusts. It was a fat Texas guy swimming in the waves off Galveston. He'd apparently decided the high surf was a good thing to jump into, so he went for a prehurricane swim. Two cops saw him, waded into the surf and arrested him. When I saw it the guy was standing there in orange trunks being astonished as the cops put handcuffs on him and hauled him away.

I thought: Oh no, this is isn't good. This is authority, not responsibility.

You'd have to be crazy, in my judgment, to decide you were going to go swim in the ocean as a hurricane comes. But in the America where I grew up, you were allowed to be crazy. You had the right. Sometimes you were crazy and survived whatever you did. Sometimes you didn't, and afterwards everyone said, "He was crazy."

If this is a problem in America, what is the state of individual freedom in Canada?

Jamaica – 19 Sept 2005 – Dropping the Hobby

If you remember from this post, I talked about taking up alcoholism. I have been forced to drop this hobby. I am a bit of a lightweight when it comes to drinking, and I really hate hangovers.

I have been practicing a lot on the weekends. Getting just the right level of drunk is a bit of an art form. Stage 1 is what I call happy drunk. This is when you have a warm feeling inside are relaxed and can still carry out a good conversation. A few more drinks down range and things start to go downhill. I start to have trouble focussing on things, I say things I would not normally say, walking gets more difficult and jokes made by others are laughed at too heartily. This is stage 2. Whenever I get to stage 2, I get embarrassed. Further stages beyond that are the vomiting and blackout stages, and it goes without saying that I am not tempted to go there. Stage 1 is where I want to be. Unfortunately, the various mixed drinks at the resorts (give a dirty banana a try) go down very smoothly. Too smoothly in fact. While I am trying to stay in stage 1, the drinks are going down so fast that before you know it I am knocking on stage 2. Also, the bartenders tend to mix the drinks very stiff, so you may find yourself drunk before you know it. I started to go back to beer (Red Stripe), in order to better pace myself. However, now beer is starting to become like water to me. I can barely get a buzz off it.

So I will have to find another hobby. My peak climbing is going ok so far. I am behind on the number of assents that I wanted by this time as my knee has been bothering me and preventing me from getting up as much as I could. Still, I am close to being on track, only about 4 assents behind my rate of 5 per week. Not bad, as I started out with about 3 per week as a goal but raised it. I can’t see that I have lost any weight from it. Those beers pack a lot of calories.

This is an excellent quick and dirty chronology of the FLQ terrorist group by Right Thinking People.

The GG has only one small part in these events, appearing in a movie toasting these murderers and terrorist. However, it does make you wonder if she was involved in other ways. Let's face it, would you appear in a movie toasting some terrorists if you did not at least support their cause? And if you did, would you expect to become GG?

I guess the Alberta Separatists For the Violent Overthrow of the Evil Canadian Oppressors(tm) can stop wearing masks in the darkened room where they have their meetings. How is a person to become GG if Paul Marin doensn't know you are a terrorist (or at least support them)?

By the way, that was just the first name that came to our (I mean their) mind.

They could be convinced to change it. Please submit your suggestions for better names as comments to this post.

The best, as judged by me, gets a prize.

The System is Corrupt

The BS is stacked like cordwood in Ottawa. Look at this article on former Liberal Cabinet Minister and now head of the Royal Canadian Mint, David Dingwall. Five grand on one meal? 92k in foreign travel?

Never mind if this is according to the rules, does the head of the Mint really need to spend this much money? How can you spend 5k on one meal? This people are so divorced from the reality of ordinary Canadians, they surely do not represent us.

Against the rules or not, this guy should be fired for such spending and the position should be terminated. I do not want my tax dollars used so that ex-Liberals can have a cushy job trotting around the globe, spend 5 thousand dollars on one meal.

The entire system has got to change.

Update: Ask and ye shall receive. David Digwall has resigned over his illegal lobbying and expense account.

This changes very little. A small fish has been sacrificed to protect the bigger fish.

Where is the jail time?

The entire system still has to change.

Jamaica - A Short History Of the JDF Training Depot Newcastle

Nestled high in the hills of St. Andrew, historic Newcastle is more often than not seen for its beauty and unique features. But it is rarely seen for what it truly is, a monument to the integrity and courage of one man, who, by his great foresight, made it the means of saving literally hundreds of men from death by Yel­low Fever.

The idea of establishing a military barracks in the hills of St. Andrew was broached by Field Marshal, then General, Sir William Gomm, Commander of Her Majesty's Forces in Jamaica in a let­ter dated 7 April 1840 to Governor Metcalfe in which Gomm expresses great displeasure at the high mortality rate among European troops on the coastal plains due to Yellow Fever.

The death rate due to Yellow Fever in 1838 was one soldier every two and a half days. This was a good year with only 91 men dying of fever; in 1839, 110 men perished; and in 1840, 121 suc­cumbed to Yellow Fever. It was this fever epidemic that greeted Gomm when he arrived in Jamaica to take up his command early in January 1840.

The situation had worsened to the extent that during the earlier years when the Royal Scots were warned for duty in the West Indies, the captains drew lots as to who would go. It became gen­erally accepted that a posting to the West Indies was vir­tually a soldier's death sentence.

Gomm dispatched letter after letter to the British government seeking the author­ity and fi­nances to start construction of barracks in Newcastle. Initially, these pleas fell on deaf ears as the British government was worried about the expense of the venture, not realizing fully the dangerous reduction in manpower resulting from the frequent in­roads by fever.

Eventually, Gomm decided that he would take the matter into his own hands. Knowing that he had the approval of the governor, he acted without the British gov­ernment's consent and started construction early in 1841.

In December 1841 the Board of Ordnance authorized the erection of a permanent barracks at Newcastle to house a battalion. Gomm had won his battle. In a surprisingly chatty letter to Lord Fitzroy Somerset, dated 4 December 1841, Gomm exclaims: "We have carried the Hill".

Gomm knew perfectly well that fever would come sooner or later to Newcastle by carrier be­cause commerce between Newcastle and Kingston was in­evitable. In light of subsequent events, the wisdom of Gomm's devoted struggle was amply justi­fied. In 1842, very soon after Newcastle was established, only 24 of the 197 troops there died. Five years later, seven men died from a strength of 583, and in 1853, only two men per­ished out of 476.

General Gomm left Jamaica at the end of 1841 to assume command of the North­ern District of England. He died in 1875 at the age of 91. His obvious talents as a soldier and administrator were fully recognized, and his far-seeing humanity has a permanent memorial, Newcastle Hill Sta­tion.

From its founding until 1959, Newcastle was used by both British and Canadian regiments serving in Jamaica as a change-of-air camp. Some regiments moved to the hills completely while others would rotate companies during the year. Others still would merely send cadres for training at Newcastle.

Jamaica – 15 Sept 2005 – It’s Fly Season

It is now officially Fly Season up here on the hill. This does not refer to airplanes but to those small insects that rate up there as one of the most annoying things on this planet. There are a number of coffee plantations in the area and at about this time they all fertilize their plants. This means many more flies. Actually, the place was relatively fly free before, so it is not unbearable now. I was led to believe it would be much worse than it is.

As you may be aware, the site is now getting regular updates, which means we now have landline access to the internet. I will have daily updates to the site until I catch up to present time.

Yesterday was an unusual day in Kingston. Twelve people were murdered in a space of 24 hours. Normally it is only 1-2 people killed each day. If any North American city had the same murder rate as in Jamaica, it would be a public scandal.

A New Addition

I try to keep my blog roll short. I add only those that I feel really deserve to be on it.

Here is a blog that I have neglected adding for much too long.

Check out Dust My Broom.

Update: Also removed some dead links

Destruction of our Traditions by Stealth

Here is an interesting article on our new GG and those calling for the removal of that position.

Now there are many reasonable arguments for and against a GG. I am for having a GG for the following reasons:

-We need a head of government. Without a GG, the PM would be required to fulfill many more ceremonial events that would take him away from governing. We could run the country this way. This is the American system, where the head of government is also the head of state. This means more ceremonial jobs for the boss, and less time to devote to the affairs of state. If I was the PM, I would love to have someone I could pass off all the pomp to. For those Royalists, this is the best argument against getting rid of the GG. Since Canadians seem to reflexively hate whatever Americans do, all you have to say is that no GG means more like Americans. The idea defeats itself.

-If we rid ourselves of the GG, we will just have to set up a President or King to head the country. Unless you want the PM to do this? Considering that the PM (and PMO) has too much power already, this would be a mistake. So whether we call the person the Governor General, President or King, who cares? Why not keep what we have so at least we have some connection to our past and other countries that share our past? Have we not already destroyed enough of our past? What is it about our past that the left hates so much that they have remove all traces of it?

However, this is not what I really want to talk about. Two GG's, seemingly cut from the same cloth, (both CBC personalities). Are there no other persons in Canada, not from the CBC, who could represent our country? The Liberals seem to think not. I am not one for the principle of diversity, but for a government that seems to worship at its altar, where is the diversity of our last two GG's? Is there any doubt about the hypocrisy of the Liberals? Is there any doubt that the public would not see the hypocrisy of this? The Liberals seem to be trying to destroy our Canadian traditions by stealth. Putting up the worst persons possible, picking the highly political with axes to grind. If your desire was to destroy the tradition of a Governor General but were afraid to say it our loud, you would pick the worst person possible until the public go fed up and demanded the post be removed. C'mon, a separatist as GG? Is this a joke?

The so-called monarchists are no better. They will defend anyone to save their traditions. Read this article where the chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada states that her unambiguous statement on her loyalty to her country proves her dedication to Canada. It this guy for real? Where I come from, actions speak louder than words. Thirty years as a separatist is washed away by one statement "I am loyal"? What garbage.

John, you are not doing you cause any favours by supporting this woman.

Jamaica – 12 Sept 2005 – Hedo a Second Time

We spent the weekend at Hedo, this being my second weekend there. The place is the same. The people were a bit wilder this weekend, as evidenced by more public sex then the last time. Some guy was doing his wife in the hot tub right by the disco. The only place that would have been more public would be right on the disco floor. Not sure this is the kind of thing I want to see. I quickly averted my eyes once I figured out what was going on.

The crowd was big on nudity this weekend. About half of the people in the quad pool were in their birthday suits, up from about 10% two weeks ago. Unfortunately, not all of them should have been naked. Remember my fear about ugly, fat, old German tourists? Well, I was wrong. They are Americans. Nice people, as I talked to them for a bit. However, the guy’s wife had to be at least 300 pounds and he over than. Not really the site I wanted to see. That said, there were some sights that were worth the price of admission. One girl had a nice girl-next-door thing going and the skimpy g-string she was wearing did not leave much to the imagination. Unfortunately, she covered up her perfect (but fake) rack. What is the deal with that? If you are going to spend that much for breasts you might as well show them off.

We had dinner at the Japanese restaurant that night. A guy and his wife sat with us. You would not believe how drunk she was. She was wearing a low cut dress and one of her breasts kept falling out, a la Princess Diana. At one point her husband told her she was acting badly and she should stand in the corner. This she promptly did, pulling her skirt up in the crowded restaurant. Surprisingly, she was wearing underwear.

Never a dull moment at Hedo.

Jamaica – 9 Sept 2005 – Back to the Coast

We came down to Kingston last night. Every other week the students put on a party, which can get pretty wild. Last night the theme was a pool party, which they had at the Officer’ Mess at Up Park. The staff (including me) stayed overnight in a hotel in Kingston and we completed a easy half day on the JDF Base. From there we leave for the Coast at about noon, which means we should get there at a reasonable time.

I am looking forward to a nice quiet weekend.

Jamaica – 8 Sept 2005 – Happy First Dateiversary

Yesterday was the anniversary of our first date. I sent the wife a card, which she finally got on Tuesday. I spoke to her last night, and she seemed happy that I remembered and sent her something. The funny thing is, she did not remember our anniversary. I could have ignored it without the risk of the angry “You forgot…” drama thing. This is why I say our relationship is reversed. She is the anniversary forgetting man while I am the sensitive, remember everything, woman. At least regarding dates. When it comes to remembering what I said 10 years ago or what I did wrong last week, she reverts back to the woman role. I am not so much the woman that I cry when she forgets a “significant date”, however, I am not above using the fact that she forgot to making her feel guilty. I will put that one in the bank for later. Anyway, she seemed happy yesterday, so that makes me happy. In all honesty, the wife treats me very well. The last time I was away on a tour, she sent me stuff regularly and it was much appreciated. She has already sent me something (which has not arrived yet) and I know she will send me more stuff.

However, the key thing about this post is that I have invented a new Hallmark holiday to compete with Valentine’s day. You heard it here first on MLWGF. I know every guy will hate me as this means another expensive holiday they are likely to forget, but I don’t care as long as the residuals keep rolling in.

Jamaica – 5 Sept 2005 – Why call at all?

I talked to the wife last night. Either she had some man over at the house or is getting bored of me, because she seemed to be looking to get rid of me. She started by telling me that not much was going on so she had nothing to tell me. I said the same, as things are settling into a routine. Then she says that she will say goodbye, as this call was costing a lot of money, about $1 per minute. This she says as if she is pissed off, as if it is my fault. I am pretty much struck dumb by this statement, as she was supposed to call the phone company and get some sort of plan, which she obviously has not done. When I bring this to her attention, she gives me some excuse about the phone company being on strike and not having any time. This is right after she has just told me that she spent the whole day inside because it was raining and how she did not do anything today and how she had no plans for tomorrow (labour day). Here I am, all homesick, resisting the charms of naked women while far from home and when I call for a bit of proper female companionship, all I get is grief about how much it costs, a problem which is somehow my fault and could be easily solved with one phone call.

I couldn’t even squeeze an “I love you” out of her when I said goodbye. These calls are not helping me. At the start of the call I miss her, by the end I am pissed off.

Jamaica – 4 Sept 2005 – Back from another resort weekend

The info I told you about Breezes Runaway Bay was generally correct. The place is bigger than Hedo and I bit nicer. The beach is amazing. Quite big and very white, fine sand. I think you would have trouble finding a nicer beach in Jamaica. As mentioned, the food was excellent and a larger selection than Hedo. Overall, a nice place. The place is one of the oldest resorts in Jamaica. This means it lacks some of the things that are standard in other resorts. Breezes has only one pool, which is quite big, but most other resorts have more than one. Breezes does not have a pool bar, which was where I spent most of my time last weekend. They do have 2 jacuzzis, but both are small and a bit crappy looking. Hedo has a few pools, with the main pool having a pool table in it, a bubble pool, tables, a way up to the bar, hot tube and the waterslide that goes through the disco. The large Jacuzzi tubs in the rooms in Hedo I know would be a drawing card for the wife. The tubs in the rooms in Breezes are standard. Most people have better tubs at home.

While at the bar on Saturday in Breezes, we met this archetict that was making drawings. They are going to remodel Breezes Runaway Bay over the next year or so. They will be adding many of the things that are standard in most resorts, such as a pool bar. The place will be a lot better once that is finished.

Not sure about how often I will return or if the wife and I will go there on our vacation. As I said, everything was good, no problems, but the place was dead. Even worse than Hedo last week. And they were right about no night life. The one good thing is that you can go to Hedo from Breezes (both owned by SuperClubs) at night for a short $5 bus ride, which we all did. There were a number of other Breezes guests I recognized that night. Hedo was a bit wilder this weekend. Saturday night is “As Bare as you Dare” in the disco, and some were quite bare. Two girls wore those bikinis where the strip of cloth covering the best parts are about the size of your finger. Some other woman appeared to only be wearing paint, and the paint was being used on parts that were probably not of main interest to the men in the audience. In addition, there were many others wearing clothes that would cause a scandal back home, however, I do not mention them as they are unremarkable at Hedo. One other thing, I walked into the area of the quad pool and some guy was doing his girlfriend (wife?) right on the beach chairs around the pool. There were other people in the area, so it is not like I surprised them. I understand this type of thing is quite normal, so be wary if you go there.

As I said, Breezes is nice, but the dead night life is a killer. If the wife was with me I would not mind so much, as I would spend the time with her. However, alone I would at least like to be able to hang out in the disco and dream about how much fun I would have with my wife. Even if she was with me, its no fun dancing in a disco when you are the only ones there.
So far, I would prefer to go to Hedo for a few days when the wife comes. There are many other places in Jamaica, so I will try to do a bit of a recce on them before we need to book. Perhaps the resorts will pick up and more people will come as we get closer to high season, which may change my mind about Breezes.

Jamaica – 2 Sept 2005 – End of another week

Another reasonably uneventful week has passed. Today we head off to Breezes. We are supposed to leave a bit earlier this week, so we should be there at a more reasonable hour. Some of the group is heading back to Hedo. I am probably going to alternate between the two, just to keep things interesting. Not much to tell. Things are starting to settle into a routine. A bit of a boring routine, to be honest. I am going to have to find something more to do to keep things interesting.

Jamaica – 1 Sept 2005 - Hedo follow-up

I told the wife a bit about Hedo and asked here if she would be interested in going there for a few days on our vacation at the end of the course. She said she would not mind it. I then decided I would push her a bit and asked if she would use the nude areas. As I have written before, I am not sure I would be willing to strip down. I didn’t last weekend, and I would not ask her to do something I cannot. So I was being a bit of a tease. Her reply was that she might, if she lost some weight.

This is exactly the wrong attitude. First off, my wife is not fat. It’s hard to find normal people over thirty who are not at their ideal weight, and we are probably no exception. However, Hedo is about yourself, not others. It’s about being uninhibited, if you want to. It’s not about if others will think you are fat, or ugly, or whatever. Besides, fat or not, the bathing suits women wear today don’t leave much to the imagination. On or off, one can pretty much tell how fat a person is. I saw some very uninhibited big girls last weekend.

Sorry honey, if you are reading this, but you have two options if we go to Hedo. You can use the next three months to lose weight or just don’t worry about it. I certainly am not going to worry about it.

Jamaica 31 Aug 2005 – A few tips on calling home

I have been trying to call the wife once per week. I would probably call more, as there are times when I feel a bit homesick, but I don’t want her to think I am a wuss.

As I write this, our landline is still down, so we talk by cell phone, which can be a bit choppy at times. As incoming calls are free and I am a cheap bastard, I call her and get her to call back right away.

It can be a bit of reality check to talk to the wife. I have this version of her, called the “away” version, which becomes the real version soon after we are apart. “Away” wife resides high up on a pedestal, perfect in every way. Unfortunately, “reality” wife can never live up to “away” wife. I first realised I had this unrealistic version of my wife when I called her. As I was dialing the number I would feel all mushy and lovesick inside, and I would think about how much I love her and miss her, etcetera. We would exchange greetings and I miss yous, then the conversation would stop. Nothing to talk about. Usually I would talk a bit about what I am doing, but to be honest, by now it is pretty much routine. Many of the things going on here are not interesting unless you have the context and know the people. So, inevitably, she will talk about what is going on a home. If we had kids, this would probably be all about them. We don’t so it becomes about the cats. Since cats sleep about 23 hours a day, this is a short conversation. Talk eventually turns to the house, which is always about problems. This is when the big needle of reality bursts the fantasy bubble.

A tip to the women on the home front: when you talk about problems, bring solutions. Nothing is more frustrating for a man then to be away from home and know of a problem that he could fix but cannot due to distance. The furnace guy did not show up, there are mice in the house, the roof leaks, the lawn tractor doesn’t work right. All these things just call to us to come home and set them right. Now my wife is very competent. 99% of these problems she can fix and doesn’t need my help. That doesn’t matter. I still feel this need to solve them and I launch into a long questioning session to get as much information so that I can solve the problem. The conversation usually ends sometime after this, and I end up feeling helpless and frustrated over things I cannot control.

This is not to say that the wife should not tell me about problems or ask for advice. I want her to. However, she should be aware of how my mind works. Saying something like “There was a problem with…. but I did….. and everything is good” would go a long way to easing my pain.

I guess my advice to all women with husbands overseas is to remember that he likely has some romantic ideal of you when he calls. Try not to burst this fantasy if you can, as it helps to sustain us. By all means tell us what is going on at home, good and bad, as it helps to remind us why we are here. Remember how our minds work and try to do it in a way that minimises our frustration.

I think I will call the wife and tell her I love her.

Jamaica – 30 Aug 2005 - What I learned at Hedo

First thing – Hair is bad.

No one wants to see hair. People who go naked trim or cut the hair that is not normally seen. Do you have to? No. But since most do, you probably want to if you want to fit in.

Second thing – I love my wife.

I love her a lot. More than I thought I did. Why do I say this? Before I tell you, I bit of background.

I am the kind of person who tends to question everything. This includes the love in our relationship. Some might say this is a bad thing, but before you judge, listen to my reasons. First of all, I don’t believe love is some magical, mysterious thing that just happens. There is an element of that to it, but it is also needs work and attention. Why do people who love each other get divorced. And mark my words, 99.9% of those who get married never believe they will divorce. Yet 40+% of all marriages in North America end in divorce. I love my wife but I do not think we are so special as to be immune from the chance for divorce. By recognizing a problem you are half way towards solving it.

I believe that many of the people who get divorced sabotage their own relationships. For whatever reason, they decide that they no longer want to spend their life with that person, and work towards destroying the relationship. They not longer tell their wife they love her, they forget special days, they fail to do special things for each other, you get the picture. Doubt my theory? Just think about anyone you ever dated where it did not work out. The vast majority of us dislike confrontation and we fail to come out directly to the person we are seeing and say “I don’t like you, it’s over, don’t talk to me ever again.” Most dating relationship end when you stop calling her, or are always busy with the guys, or start dating her friend. Am I right? Perhaps there are people who tell those they are dating straight out its over, but most of us are cowards.

Anyway, the point is people sabotage their own relationships. There has to be a tipping point between love to and ending a relationship. My guess is that it happens when a couple fails to reinforce their feelings for each other. You might know your wife loves you, but it still makes you feel better when she tells you so. The little things are important. So my theory is that, as an example, people get busy with work, looking after the kids, etc and they fail to reinforce their love by doing those little things. At some point, one partner (or both) find they are not getting what they need for the relationship, so they go somewhere else. Infidelity, the end of trust and love equals the end of the marriage. Some people try to recapture that love and are successful.

From my perspective, I got married for life, for better or for worse, so the way I see it, I am stuck with my wife. If I make her life happy, she will make mind happy. And vice versa.

Anyway, this is certainly the long way round to get to my point. I was concerned about going to Hedo because of what it might do to our relationship. I am a very loyal partner and I have never cheated on anyone. However, I recognise that I have never really been tested. Part of that is do to the fact that I tend to avoid temptation, and Hedo has a reputation of willing partners, and, considering I have been away from the wife for a month (and I am feeling the effects), I was concerned the temptation might be too much. It was a little bit sad. Here I was at one of the wildest clubs in Jamaica, (definitely the wildest I have been to), with attractive, topless or nude women all around and all I could think about was how I missed my wife and wished she was with me. When I guy sees a beautiful women, he is not supposed to think about his wife. We have been programmed by biology to spread our seed. When I see a naked woman, all I am supposed to think about is impregnating her. Instead I am thinking about how I miss my wife.

I hope this just has something to do with the fact we are still in the honeymoon phase of our marriage. If not, I may not be able to look at another woman for the rest of my life.

The triumph of reason over biology.

I’m scared.

Jamaica – 29 Aug 2005 – Hedo Report – Part 2

I am not much into public nudity or public sex. Never mind the reasons, my own psychological hang-ups are a whole different post. The point is, I was a bit hesitant coming to Hedo. I thought I would be subjected to a lot of temptation. I am very loyal to my wife and I have no intention of having any type of relationship with another woman for the rest of my life. It is a bit scary to say that, but to me that is part of what marriage is about. However, I know that other people cheat on their spouses, some with their permission. The military is bad for that. I think I am strong enough to fight off temptation, but why tempt fate. Some of the people I have known who cheat seem to have strong relationships, at least as strong as ours. I thought Hedo might be a bit too much temptation. I worry too much. For a prude like me, it is not as wild as they make it out to be.

Hedo is divided into 2 parts, what they call the nude and the prude side. I was firmly in the prude. The split is not 50/50. What you really have is an open resort with a separate nude beach, nude pool and Jacuzzi. I was afraid I would be subjected to naked, old, fat, German public sex at every turn. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The prude side has everything else. Four restaurants, the main pool (with see through waterslide), jacuzzi, tennis courts, beach with water sports, trapeze, steam room, sauna etc. Just like any other resort, most have the same ammeities. Hedo has all that. The things it has that are different (excluding the nude thing), is the waterslide, the see through bottom jacuzzi and the pool table in the pool, which I thought was neat. Almost forgot, every room has a mirror on the ceiling over the bed and the tub.

As I said, Hedo is really a resort with a nude part. That said, there is some overlap between these areas, which is great for people like me who want to see naked people but don’t want to take off our own clothes. The resort is partially clothing optional. Most respect the areas, so you won’t see a bunch of nudists in the restaurant at dinner (thankfully). However, the quad pool had a number of people fully naked or just topless. I must admit, I enjoyed the added beauty it provided to the scenery.

Now, to the negatives. Compared to the place we are going next weekend, Breezes Runaway Bay, the cost is about $20 US more per person per night at Hedo. Yet, they tell me that at Breezes the food, both selection and quality, is slightly better. Also, the staff is a bit more responsive, there are more water sports, the beach is larger, and the sand is better. Ouch, what more is left? As I said, I would like to compare the two, but I have been to a number of resorts, one in Jamaica, and two in Thailand, and I did not have any problem with anything at Hedo. The food was good, no complaints about the quality or selection. I did not try the watersports, but the beach seemed large enough and the sand was sandy. The staff was quite responsive. In fact, they were bringing me drinks before I asked and, if I did not know better, I would think the bartender was trying to pick me up. However, the place was a bit empty. One of the guys has been there about 15 times and he mentioned that he had never seen the place so dead. We later found out they were about 60% full, so maybe that was why the staff was so good. I don’t think so, as I felt the staff was genuinely friendly and helpful. Another visit will be required to confirm.
So, with all these things not as good as other places, why go to Hedo? Two reasons. The first is nudity. If you want to be a bit more uninhibited without people staring at you and without going to a nudist colony, then this is the place. The second reason is somewhat related. The people who come here tend to be looking to party. At other places, if you want to get laid, you had best bring your own. Not necessarily so at Hedo. So this is the place to go if you are single. The attitude of Hedo guests can be seen in the night life. Things at the disco don’t get going until 12 or 1 o’clock, while Breezes is dead by 10 pm.

So, would I recommend Hedo? Yes, but only if you are looking for certain things, else there are better places for a bit less money.

If you are looking to explore a bit of the nude scene in a relaxed environment or if you are single and want a good night life, then Hedo is your place.

Jamaica – 28 Aug 2005 – Hedo Report - Part 1

This trip did not get off to an auspicious start. We got caught in Kingston traffic, which added about an hour to the trip. In addition, the front desk did not seem to have any record of our reservations. After getting that sorted out our first stop was dinner. It was after dinner that I started to feel inadequate. The resort had some hot hunk contest going on and a bunch of chiselled 20 year olds with six packs that you could bounce quarters got on stage. If these were the typical guests, boy was I out of place. Kudos to the emcee though, who was the reigning Miss Erotic Jamaica. I later found out that these guys were not guests, but professionals taking part in some Mr. Red Hot contest. The big tip off was the next day when I saw them individually involved in various photoshoots around the resort. My sense of inadequacy diminished, I could go on to enjoy myself.

And enjoy I did. I pretty much spent the day lying around the pool. It was nice to sit around and not have the wife bugging me to get up and do something. My fears about German tourists were unfounded. Most of the clientele are Americans or Canadians. But there is a wild side to the place. The first night we went to the disco and the theme was fetish night. Of course, I had forgot my whips and leather (sarcasm), but others had not. One guest was wearing a see through black bra, panties and garter belt. Another woman just decided to take her top off. Two tall skinny woman were dirty dancing with just about every guy and each other. However, you have to be a bit suspicious. The resort employs some entertainment staff, who all seem to be about 20 years old, very attractive, extremely fix and uninhibited. In addition, the two skinny women seemed to be Russians. Not many Russians come to Hedo. The rumour is that the resort gives free stays to good looking, uninhibited women who like to party and in exchange they help to keep the atmosphere at the right level. Nice work if you can get it. Do I have any proof of this? No, it’s just a rumour. However, I find it hard to believe girls as hot as that would be on a vacation without a pack of single guys following them.

What about the public sex stuff? I did not see any, but I was told that the nude jacuzzi gets busy at night, and on Saturday there were about 4 couples that were discretely engaged in certain acts. Also, one of the guys told me he was propositioned by a girl. Overall, I found Hedo more than wild enough for me yet it didn’t subject me to anything I did not want to be subjected to. It is much more tame than its reputation, which was way too wild for me.

I will go again.

Jamaica – 26 Aug 2005 - Off to debauchery

Today we leave for our first weekend at the resorts. The first one we are going to is Hedo, which is short for Hedonism III for those of you not in the know. Hedo has a reputation as the wildest club on the Island, and I had heard of it some years ago. It is known for lots of nudity and casual sex. I am not sure about this weekend. I am as red blooded as the next guy, but I follow a very strict, “Look, but don’t touch” policy. I am not sure I want to be tempted. Well, a little temptation is ok, but this place has a reputation for nudity and orgies everywhere. I am not sure this is the kind of thing I want to see everywhere I look when I am trying to relax. Beside, it is never like in a porno movie. Most guys have visions of young, attractive, fit lesbians having sex with each other everywhere. The reality is usually a bunch of 65 year old, fat German tourists having sex with each other everywhere. No one wants to see that. One of predecessors saw fit to mention Hedo in his post exercise report, saying “I have learned a lot about human nature that will have shaped (or scarred) me for life.” I bit cryptic for my tastes. Anyway, it’s too late to change now.

I will practice my investigative reporting skills and get back to you after the weekend.

Jamaica – 24 Aug 2005 - Everyone needs a hobby

I am thinking of seriously taking up a hobby. Since there is not much to do up here, I think a good one would be drinking. I enjoy it, especially rum, (which is plentiful in Jamaica and very good), and it makes you feel good. Alcoholics are usually lots of fun, if not to anyone around them then to themselves. Besides, after you hit rock bottom and sort yourself out, everyone is so impressed. “That’s Bob, he looks so good since he cleaned himself up.” The sober people just don’t get that kind of respect.

I have decided the drink of choice will be Appleton’s V/X. It is good stuff. Slightly less alcohol than their other amber rum, but more smooth and tasty.

It costs a little more, but I’m worth it.

Jamaica – 22 Aug 2005 - Overly concerned

I started to be a bit concerned about the morale of my boss. He seemed a bit overly upset about the various “challenges” we have been facing. This did not seem to be too serious, as he admitted that he has been losing patience due to the fact that he has be involved with this course for 6 years. After some time one tends to get less patient with little problems.

However, coupled with that, he seemed less friendly than usual. I would pass him by and say hello, and he would stare at me with a confused look. Either he was pissed at me about something, or his morale was down. I did not think he was upset with me, as he is a straight shooter. If he is not happy with you, he will tell you. I respect that.

However, there is one other option I did not consider. The other day we were talking and he let it slip that he was on a medical pension. The medical problem is his hearing. His is a category 4, which is as close to deaf as you can get without being deaf. And he refuses to wear a hearing aid. It is quite funny to have someone say directly to you “…and if I look confused when you talk to me it is probably because I can’t hear you.” I could just see the little light over my head go click. I don’t help that as I tend to go by people I know and see a lot and simply nod in their direction or make a grunting noise to acknowledge them.

Mystery solved.

Jamaica - 21 Aug 2005 - Back from Kingston

We stayed at the Pegasus Hotel, one of the top two hotels in Kingston. It was acceptable, but for $160 US per night, I thought it was a bit expensive. Rooms were average for a motel 6, but the hotel amenities were better. I was surprised to pay that much, as back home a hotel like that would be around $80-90 US. I thought we would pay less, as it is usual in a country like Jamaica for things to be less expensive due to lower labour costs. The wife and I paid $18 US a night for a place in downtown Bangkok on our honeymoon. My room was only marginally better at the Pegasus. The only difference I noticed was that the Pegasus has free porn.

Our hotel is in a great location, directly across from Emancipation Park and in the middle of just about anywhere you would want to go. Later Saturday night one of the local JDF officers took us out to a few clubs. We ended up at this place called the Quad, which was pretty packed. I would like to bring the wife there when she comes to visit. I don’t think we have been to a dance club together ever. The place seemed perfect, everyone having a good time.

Near the end of the night the guys wanted to check out the local strip bar called Taboo, which is conveniently located around the back of the Quad. We got there just before closing so only saw about 3 dancers. This place only goes topless, which is probably a government rule. What was more surprising was that all the girls were white. Apparently they are all Russians. It is a bit strange to come all the way to Jamaica, a place where white people are more rare than any other race is in Canada, and see white girls at a strip bar. Many Jamaicans are more religious than Canadians, so there may be more of a stigma to being a stripper here than back home. However, due to the level of poverty in Jamaica, I doubt that is the reason. It probably has more to do with seeing something you do not usually see.

On a personal note, I think the first three weeks of being away are the hardest. After that you get used to it and separation becomes a bit easier. Back in school in introduction to psychology, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs claims that sex is a basic need, one that must be fulfilled before other, higher needs can be met. Not sure if I ever agreed with him, but I am testing the theory.

I will keep you updated on my research.

Removing Anon Comments

I have decided to require people to register in order to comment. I seem to be getting a number of comments that are not comments but ads. I wasn't aware that putting ads in the comments of blogs, especially small ones, was going on. I hope forcing people to register will minimize that.

Jamaica - 19 Aug 2005 – One down, 16 to go

Well, that’s the end of week one. Rather uneventful. Today the last 4 students and instructor showed up, so we are now at full capacity. I have two lectures next week, which I am already prepared for. The week was probably a bit easy for the students. Mostly language tests or instruction, combined with films on management and how to run meetings, that sort of stuff. It will get more challenging for them. They have 13 hours of homework this weekend. I am not so busy. To be honest, I am a bit underutilized right now, which is the reason I am done all my work days in advance. I need to find something to do. That is in addition to all the stuff I am doing so far. I need to find a hobby.

We are soon to go down the hill to spend the weekend in Kingston. We have a military meet and greet at the officer’s mess at Up Park Camp tonight and another, small one at the Canadian High Commission on Saturday. This will be the first night I will spend out of the camp and my first day off since I arrived almost three weeks ago. I am looking forward to some time spent in the pool, and seeing a bit of town. I also need to buy so stuff. I forgot my nail clippers. One of my baby toenails is threatening to poke its way out of my boot.

Jamaica – 14 Aug 2005 - GO!

Tomorrow the course starts. I spent the entire weekend, Saturday and Sunday, working. There was not much to do, be we had to ensure a bunch of small things were finished and any last minute problems were sorted out.

The party at the British High Commission was pretty good. We got to take a JDF helicopter from Newcastle Hill to Up Park Camp, the base in Kingston. A 1 hour drive on dangerous roads converts to a 6 minute helicopter ride. The pilot was showing off a bit, pulling a steep bank into his landing. My stomach was in my throat, but it was fun.

Tonight we had a Meet and Greet with the students. I monopolized three of them for a bit telling them my views on government, why it is corrupt, etc. Once again, a staff member came to interrupt me and save them. This same guy did the same thing last week when I was boring a Colonel. He seems to sense when I am running off at the mouth. I now know anytime he shows up it is my cue to leave.

I have to watch my tendency to monopolize conversations.

Jamaica – 11 Aug 2005 - Are you sitting comfortably? Then let us begin.

Things are starting to come together around here. Foreign students are beginning to arrive and the administrative and logistical aspects are coming together. My boss is not happy, as everything that is still being done was completed by this time last year. It’s not as perfect as it should be, but it looks like everything will be done on or close to deadlines.

There is usually a bit of a superior attitude in first world militaries. We see any problems not as simple problems inherent in military operations (there is always some) but as a reflection of the military we are dealing with. A problem or mistake is sometimes taken as a sign the military personnel of that country are lazy or incompetent while our mistakes are just errors. This bit of cultural superiority is something you have to guard against or it will subtly colour your attitude, the host country will pick up on it and affect your relations and ability to work with people. The point I am making is universal and can be applied to almost any group. I have seen this happen between agencies in Canada, such as between the military and RCMP. I have found the best thing to do is to take a relaxed approach and reserve judgement. When working in a different culture, be prepared for things to be run in a way which your cultural biases may consider inferior. I find this clash of cultures all very interesting.

I called the wife last night and she answered. She is a mind reader. Before I made a comment about her not being home the other night, she explained where she was and what she was doing. I don’t want you to get the wrong impression. I am not a jealous guy. I trust my wife and I feel very secure in our relationship. It still needs to be maintained, but I am not worried. These comments about jealousy and being suspicious are really part of a little game we play. I get to be the macho, jealous husband and she the hot wife that every other man must be after. We are not your average young newlyweds. We both have had enough relationships before we met to know what we want in a partner. She is very independent and she would not have married me if she didn’t want to. Due to our age and experience, I tend to believe that our relationship rests on a stronger base than your average 20-something married couple.

However, I could be wrong. If I examine it closely I guess there are reasons other than love for us to be married. I was planning of getting out of the army when we met and getting married allowed me to put off getting a real job. And she was not exactly a spring chicken when we met. It could be said I saved her from a life as a spinster with a rapidly increasing family of cats and I at least dampened the strident ticking of her biological clock. Maybe I was just the nearest one around when the ticking became too loud.

Note to self: Call friends and have wife followed.

Jamaica - 10 Aug 2005 – Contacting home

I finally got my cell phone last night. The way the system works, you do not pay for incoming calls. Mine is meant primarily for business, so standard operating procedure is to call home and have them call you right back. The Caribbean is considered part of the US/North America by the phone system, so no country code, etc is required, which makes it convenient. I called the wife last night but no answer. I cannot think where she might be at 9 pm on a Tuesday. Having my neighbour shoot any strange men around the house may not be enough. I forgot that she is able to leave the house.

I may have to get some army buddies to follow her.

Jamaica – 6 Aug 2005 – Happy Independence Day

Today was a bit of a let down compared to Friday. No hobnobbing with the mighty and important of the JDF Military or foreign diplomats. Just down to the work of preparing for the course. I spent most of the day tackling the mountain of reading material I am required to be familiar with for the course. The remainder of the DS (Directing Staff) started to come in today. The Canadians came in late in today, the Brit and American are due tomorrow and the JDF DS on Monday. Still no idea when the Guyanise DS is coming. He seems to be having some sort of problem getting authorization. No one is sure what that means. In addition, we are having communications problems. A hurricane several weeks ago knocked out the telephone lines. We have no internet or voice landline communications. Our only comms is by cell phone, which is intermittent in our location.

It has now been one week since I left Alberta. I have not talked to the wife since I got here to tell her I am ok. With us, no news is good news, so she should not be concerned. However, it would be nice to let her know.

Today is Jamaican Independence Day. In 1962, Jamaica received its independence from Britain. It’s a big holiday in Jamaica. Want to know anything about it, don’t ask me. I spent the day working. Our support staff, all from the JDF were all celebrating the holiday, so camp improvements were not getting done.

Monday is going to be a busy day.

Jamaica – 4 Aug 2005 – 1 – 25:47

Today I met my enemy. The road to Catherine’s Peak is a winding, 1.5 km track that averages a 45 degree incline. It is nasty. Not only did I just about have a heart attack, the road actually tries to psych you out. Just when you think it might be over, you find another bend which takes you up at an even sharper angle.

I thought that I would have to stop at least one and probably several times to rest on the way up. I made it without stopping, except for the 5 seconds it took to avoid the local truck that just about killed me. It took me 25 minutes and 47 seconds to walk up it with a total time of 55:15. Yes, I took longer going down than up. Going down, while not harder physically, is actually more dangerous. It would be very easy to slip or fall, and that would be it.

Overall, I am happy with my first time. I am not exactly at my ideal weight and I have not been exercising regularly. My goal is to lose 15 pounds to take me to 200. That is my minimum. If I can drop another 10 after that I would be very satisfied. Another 15 after that would be perfect, but I haven’t weighted 175 since I was 15 years old, so that is probably unattainable.

If I keep up with the walk each day, I will be down to 200 by the end of the month. What with the constant sweating in the heat, drinking 5 times the water I usually do, and the mediocre food, 200 should be easy. After that, who knows? It would be nice to use this time to get back in shape. There is a bit of pride involved as well. My boss, who has 40 years in the Army (that means he is in his late 50’s), did the peak 205 times last year. That does not include the 11 times before the students arrived.

With all the PT, my stamina should be great by the time I get home. Bad news for the wife, as it means even longer lovemaking sessions.

Jamaica - 31 July 2005 - On the way

The journey begins early Sunday morning. I leave a day early so I can spend some time with my family outside of Toronto. My niece is having her 3rd birthday.
The first problem crops up immediately. The airline claims that no extra baggage is allowed to Jamaica during my flight. I am willing to pay, but that doesn't matter. I make phone calls, talk to people at the airline, and get no satisfaction. I decide to show up to at the counter and buff my way through. They get me to pay and that is it.

All that for nothing.

Jamaica – 5 Aug 2005 – Doing the rounds

Today was a very interesting day. I tagged along with my boss on a number of courtesy calls. We met with the Detachment Commander, who is the officer who runs the station where the course is conducted. In addition to having us on his base, Newcastle Hill, he runs a number of basic training courses for the JDF. This includes their basic recruit training and junior NCO training.

The remainder of the people we had to meet were in Kingston. This entailed a one hour drive down a windy, narrow road where collision or a plunge off the side to your death is a real possibility. The situation is worse than normal due to the hurricane which passed through a few weeks ago. In places, the road looks as if a giant hand scooped out huge parts of the road, removing the low walls on the side that help to prevent people from going over the side. The drop over the side is as far as 700 meters down in one place.

Once in Kingston, we went to Up Park Camp, which is the military base in the city. There I met the incoming Commandant for the course. The base houses 3 Infantry Battalions of the JDF, as well as the Combat Engineers and various other support units.

The most interesting visit was to see the Defence Attache at the British High Commission. The Colonel is an interesting guy. Very hospitable and, I am told, has been very helpful and supportive to this course. I got invited to some type of party next Thursday night.

I wonder what I am supposed to wear?

The focus of this site is about to change

Two weeks after moving into our new home, I am leaving my wife of 4 months for 4 months.

Canada has a program called MTAP (Military Training Assistance Program) where we help train military personnel from other countries. For the past 12 years, we have sent a small number of military members to Jamaica to run a course for junior officers from a number of Carribean countries. This year I volunteered to be one of those people.

This job is a great opportunity, one which the wife insisted I take. I almost did not. Leaving the wife alone for 4 months was a factor in considerations of whether or not to go. However, a number of factors mitigate this. The wife survived for 30+ years without me, so I figure she can take care of herself. Also, our neighbours are nice people and have agreed to help her out. My neighbour also agreed to shoot any strange men he sees around the property, at my behest.

The biggest factor in going or staying was selfish. I did not want to leave my land. I love our new place and cannot wait to trim trees, cut grass and fix things. I think I am entering a nurturing phase.

In the end, the need for green trumped all. It is also a good experience for me and the wife will get a free flight which we will use to holiday in the area.

So this site will focus more on my experiences with the JDF (Jamaican Defence Force) over the next 4 months. Rest assured, I am sure there will still be some good fights with the wife about a number of things I won't be able to control.

I bet the cats are already sleeping on my side of the bed.

Update 7 Sept 2005: Still no landline up to Newcastle Hill. I will try to post, but don't be surprised if a few backdated posts go up at odd times.

The House Saga - Part 3

Continued from this post.

So, I was a bit frustrated. I had spent 5 days, at least 6 hours each day over the last 2 weeks looking at houses. I had seen every house in the area that had even remote potential. I had tried to find a house that met both of our desires and needs, a house that could become a home to raise our family. Her response to my picks was a "blah".

On a side note, our real estate agent has the patience of a saint. Anyone else would have dumped us by day 3. I highly recommend her if you are moving to the Edmonton area. Tell her the crazy 60 houses couple sent you.

Our agent did not give up. A few days later we went back to the drawing board. I was determined that we would see all future houses together, for my own sanity. The next day we saw 3 houses, without the wife who had to work late at the last minute. Nothing good anyway. The next night we saw 5 houses. The fourth one was it. As Linda said, when you see it you will know it. We knew it. We still did see the fifth house, on my insistence, but after that one we went to Timmies to write up an offer. By 11:30 pm, the offer was in. There was a counter and a counter-counter, but I knew the deal was done, as we were very close (less than 1%) to what they asked.

We moved in on 15 July.

The house is not perfect. It is over 30 years old, and doesn't have a master bathroom. However, the positives more than make up for it. The night we moved in, we ate dinner in the sunroom and watched the deer eat our neighbour's canola. It is secluded, has 6 bedrooms, and lots of land to do whatever we want. I few days ago I bought a small garden tractor and now consider myself a true Albertan. I love the place and considered giving up a job to stay there this summer.

Finding a house is a bit like finding love. You know it the right one when you see it.

"I thought you were dead"

Well, I am not.

We moved on July 15 and our internet access has been down since then (2 weeks? that is another story). In addition, many other things are going on, which I will get to later.

Just want to let everyone know that I am now ready to resume posting on this site. I will be finishing up the house saga, will (hopefully) finish up the stuff on our honeymoon and I have something quite different going on to tell you about.

Stay tuned.

London and the Big Picture

I have never been much of a details guys. I prefer the big picture stuff, so I do not have much to say about the London attacks. I am more interested in how this event affects how the war is fought, as opposed to who did it, what they did and how many died.

Trodwell on Right Thinking People has a great post on this sort of thing.

Since they have no comments and do not leave an email address, this is the only way to let him know his post it great.

Trod, great post.