Role Reversals in Kingston City

My Trainer and I got to talking while i was at the gym and he told me a story about a young woman (she had just started university) from out of town who he has been dodging. They were introduced through mutual friends who jokingly made reference to his sexual prowess. Well the young woman showed up at his apartment for a bath presumably because there was a water lock-off at her place. She had no towel, no change of clothes, nothing....but he proceeded to allow her to use his facilities pointing out the clean towels and where she could find soap. It seems in the time needed for her to take a bath (she didn't want to just shower), she forgot where the towels were kept and of course had to go looking for him (naked) to again request his assistance. While he insists that nothing happened on that occasion, and that he avoided her for about a week thereafter, she again showed up at his place and this time proceeded to literally shock him (with both action and words) while pleasing him.

His face actaully recounted the shock as he told his tale.....he said he is again trying to avoid said young woman and cannot believe that our young people (girls) are so sexually advanced.

Now as he was coming to the end of his story, my cellphone rang. I saw that it was a young man who i had met at a club, and with whom i had only spoken on the phone but had never seen since the original meeting. He gets over the initial greetings and then proceeds to ask if I could send him some credit (most people here use their cell phones on some pay as you go system for which the purchase of credits is necessary). I told him that i am not sure how that works and he proceeded to tell me hot to get it done, but unfortunately he was out of credit and so i should return his call. After my trainer and i laughed a while at the audacity of the young man, i returned his call. His story: He needed to make an important phone call, but he had no credit and since he was already home, did not want to go back unto the road to get some. I of course told him that it would be impossible for me to help at that time as i was not dressed to go shopping (I always leave the gym in my workout attire). He basically said bummer and hung up.
Now this is someone who is not anywhere near my list of friends and who is filed squarely under acquaintance. Under what conditions exactly was i going to purchase credit for him? And why is some man that i barely know asking me to buy him credit?......I am still waiting on him to suggest when he would have repaid me!!!

Roadblocks to Success

SO i have embarked on a weight loss project in which i am attempting to lose a relatively large chunk of weight and so I have began "dieting". This word i put in quotations because it is actually a misnomer as i am more attempting a lifestyle change in eating habits as opposed to a short term change solely for the purpose of losing weight. I am of course, also hitting the gym! My new eating regime calls for 5-6 small meals daily, eaten every three hours and i am also employing what is referred to as the zig zig technique of calorie restriction, where I reduce my calorie intake to 20% below that needed for weight maintenance for three days and then consume my regular calories on the fourth day. I must admit that i have gotten good results so far.

That of course was until this week so called "restaurant week" in kingston. Many restaurants have reduced dining cost appreciably as a promotional gimmick. Now i could not let this opportunity to enjoy some fine dining pass me by and i have already visited three of the participating restaurants for a combination of lunch and dinner. I also have a dinner tonight put on by the professional society to which i belong. This is my roadblock along the path to weightloss success, this can derail my plans, sending me spiralling back into unhealthy eating habits and weight gain. But will i allow it to? No i will not. Though i have sampled some desserts and plan to do so tonight also, i have been extremely conscious in what i choose to eat and also the portions that i eat. I have eaten at most half of what i have been served as an entree and have not overindulged on dessert either. Of course, the scale will tell the true tale when i do my weekly weigh in tomorrow, but until that time i will be confident that i have successfully manoeuvred around these roadblocks, albeit with some sideways movement, and continue down the road that i have so chosen.

In life, many roadblocks are thrown into our paths, but effectively negotiating them and continuing on our journey is a demonstration of the determination and will power that one needs in order to succeed.

Life Continues

Wow, its been quite a while since i have written anything to these pages and there are no good reasons or excuses either...i have just been lazy.

Well life continues amidst the violence that surrounds us everyday. Though life may be relatively normal for most of us, we cannot continue to ignore the plight of our brothers and sisters that have had their lives turned upside down because they have lost a loved one. There has been over 1, 400 reported murders in this country since the start of the year, a figure that has surpassed the record set last year, and a figure that i fear results in Jamaica having the highess murder per capita worldwide. Pretty scary stuff.

We of course generally believe that "sumpin haffi inna sumpin", that is, those murdered are in most cases connected to some wrongdoing in the past or disrespected someone with the means to carry out the ghastly act. Now if this belief is what has us sleeping well at nights, we better start tossing and turning, because it won't be long before shit comes knocking at our doors.

In the last couple of weeks it seems the police has made an increased effort in the war on crime, and i use war, because the weaponry that the criminal gangs possess, suggests nothing less. Twenty guns were discovered last week in a shipment from the united states....high powered weapons and rifles and automatic handguns with assorted ammunition......WAR!! Just think about the numbers of people that could have been killed by a stock like that. Its not only mind boggling, its heartbreaking. My heart is slowly being broken by this country i love so much! A country on the edge of destruction, due firstly to partisan politics and now to the drug trade, poverty, disillusionment and hopelesness.

I pray we will find our way back and i am sure this is the wish of the estimated five million jamaicans around the globe.

I felt a little like preaching this morning....lol