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Showing posts from September, 2018

The joy of meeting up and talking...

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Meeting up Sun was hot, and the man and I laughed as we kept talking near the gate .. "but is a lang time we aint meet up to talk.... you know.. just come around.. " because even though we are in contact electronically and could be in contact.. the best conversations happen when you facing each other. I like my solitude. I turn down invitations to most social engagements. I tend to meet people one on one if possible, and not in groups.   I tend to go to places on my own and could be part of an audience. Work meetings are different of course. I very rarely invite people to meet up, I leave it up to others to decide if they want to meet me face to face. This is when things are going good with me. It dawned on me recently as I dealt with some additional challenges, that even with telephone and electronic communication, I really wanted to see some of the people I was talking to face to face. That hearing a laugh on the phone, or seeing an 'lol' in a chat window

Following the good nurses..

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"The doctor tell me.. you better come to dis centre.. let dese nurses do de bandaging.. an' since I comin hey fuh bandage.. massive improvement.. " the woman tells me. We laugh when I say 'like dem nurse hey hand mussee good" We are sitting at the health centre waiting on our dressings. A lot of people are waiting. The mood is calm. Each patient who comes out tends to be smiling, probably glad that the dressing is over. The doctor had seen me for about 15 minutes and wrote the referral. The first time I met the nurse I was anxious. She was not cold, not warm. Business like. I could imagine, the public health system and she has to get through a whole set. I holler when I feel the snip and the sting of iodine on the flesh. "Deep breaths' the nurse tells me. Behave yourself.. .. she says as I don't hold back. Still business like. "I done'.. she says.. "come back tomorrow.." and I have been going back.. several days..

Software Freedom and freedom..

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Images from OpenClipart library "What is this about Sir" the first year Computer Science student asked. The event was the Software Freedom Day event organised by the University of Guyana Free and Open Source Software Club on 14 September, 2018.  "Software freedom"  is a movement around the Free Software Philosophy . Free software refers to software with licenses which allow users to run the software for any purpose, to study the software , to share the software to help others, and to modify the software and share the modifications to help others. Free software can be free of cost, or come at a price.  Open Source Software has to satisfy an extended set of criteria, but also gives users access to the source code. I left the event before the presentations started. However, I understand that Samuel Reid talked about his experiences with postgreSQL  and  QGIS (Geographic Information Systems), and his use of free and open source software (FOSS) as a networ

Rain, yoga, chocolate ...

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Rain Night is fitful. Restless. Dreams. Wake up and body is in pain all over, hasn't been this way in awhile. I know the pain has multiple sources. Try some stretches to wake up., to get moving. The dark clouds are heavy, not only outside, but on the head. The difference is that now I know that the dark clouds are on my head and I have to be mindful. It will take care. Humidity is high. I am not sure if the humidity is related to the pain.  Quarrels, separate quarrels, with the two clients who do not want to be clients which leave me feeling exhausted and the day has not started. The rewards for providing services to these clients are not money, but 'blessings' - except that sometimes there is confusion in understanding what is needed and what could be done.   Coupled with having to deal with a stupid personal health issue, the stress is subliminal. Rain starts falling. I have to dry out some pieces of lego which I had washed and put to dry so I could give them away a

"Dem aint seh you cyan drink, dem seh yuh cyan smoke ... "

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Health Centre The man, slightly drunk, is amusing people waiting  at the health centre .  I am smiling too at some of the things. The happy drunk. He had brought one of his friends to see the doctor.  He opened the plastic bottle which once contained water and now contained another liquid. A woman said 'You cyan drink in hey.. ' "Dem aint seh you cyan drink in hey.. dem seh you cyan smoke... " It is true.. there are posters about the dangers of smoking and tobacco nearby. There are no posters against alcohol consumption.  The health centre has a protocol of refusing entry to drunk people. But that is difficult to do if there is blood visible.  Two other men come in, looking drunk. A woman comes in, she seems in pain. The drunk man says that is dah man wife.  Another woman comes in, barefoot, clothes dirty, slippers in hand. Probably easier to walk barefoot thant with slippers.. Her mother. The drunk man asks her to stand up by the gate. "Oh gawd, sh

Art in Industry

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The conductor in the minibus showed me the signal for the line top and I asked clearly with the music in the background if the bus will go past Industry on the Line top and he said yes. I am sitting in the bus and the bus going straight up the seawall and I realise we not going anywhere near the line top.  I had gotten directions to the Oxygen Arts gallery from the railway embankment. 'Is nah Airstrip road yuh seh'..    and I was about to cuss and so on but the breeze is nice and is a quiet Saturday afternoon. I thought the walk and so would not be bad and I had instructions to call if I get lost. Karen Budhram and M ichael Griffith have converted part of their home in Industry, East Coast Demerara , into a studio and gallery. They opened the gallery with an exhibition which includes works by Michael, Karen and other artists. I remember in high school visiting Philip Moore's Georgetown space where he had his studio and some pieces on display.  This is the