** on-site Trip Report ~~ Saturday ...... 06/13

[smith744]

Weather-wise...???

for the past couple of days
i *thought*
it was JUST ME

:-(

but even the on-island Jamaicans
are saying:::>> """... it's HOT...!!!"""

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i'm on Santa's '''..naughty'..''' list

this trip-extension thing-y
and few other things
i've been devilishly doing
have got a LOT of folks
upset, perplexed, vex-ed, confused, etc etc.

it's VERY *interesting* how many people
you don't see,
when they *think* you've flown-back
to-foreign.

makes you go::::>> ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
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to you-boardies,
i apologize for not posting lately
...i've been busy busy busy

today,
i painted the new door
and two others
with
outdoor OIL paint

* whew *

that oil paint is
wicked stuff
.....hard to apply
.........and takes AT LEAST EIGHT hours to dry

but,
it's worth the bother,
'cause it'll protect the wood
from the brutal Jamaican elements

ALL DAY yesterday,
was spent with the electrician
......he did a WONDER-FULLLL job
and
he & I had a full day of lively, & enlighten-ing (( for me ))
conversationS.
.......virtually, it was a no-holds-barred chat

for example:::::

1.... i asked him:::>> """...with ALL this land on-island,
how come there ain't more farming going on....???...''''

he looked pon me
...paused
........then-SAY:::>> """...some-people want fast-money...''''

* sigh *

i was hoping & praying he wouldn't say something like that
......but it confirmed my *suspicions* for all these years.



2....I asked him about the *trend* for young-young-YOUNG ladies to *breed* at such an early-early age

i held my breath
...waiting for his response

he-SAY::::>>> ''''...it's the cool thing to do....''''

I was flabbergasted.

i DID NOT expect that response.
.
:-(

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from time to time,
today
i'm going to be adding things
to this thread

maybe a couple videos, as well

it all depends on what Jamaica ** throws ** at me
....from now 'til mid-night-ish

..
stay tuned.

[smith744]

...continue-ing...
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ummmm..Should I...???.... a 2-room wall house

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i'm always checking with folks on the price of this or that

asked the electrician,
how much would it cost
for a room ''...this size...'''
[[[[ 'bout 12 x 16 plus a likkle bit more ]]]]

he pondered
...crunched some numbers in his head
...........came up with a top-of-head number::::>>> USofA $2,000, give or take

i asked him
or
maybe it was another neighbor
''''...how LONG would it take to build a house/room this size ...??....'''
"""...not more than 4-weeks...'''


.
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ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
should/could i give myself a Christmas gift..????
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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this afternoon,
i dropped the *idea* on my landlord.

'''...blah blah blah.... over there.... where we *discussed* 'bout 15-years ago.... blah blah blah.... and you said fine/ok ... blah blah...'''

* sigh *

apparently,
things changed
...'cause he said:::>> """...nooooooooooooo .... you don't want that .... blah blah blah ...... spend the money adding ONTO my-house .... blah blah... your-room... blah blah...'''

me-SAY:::>> '''... i don't want that...''

stay tuned
'cause THIS-discussion/story AIN'T finished, yet
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....to be continued...

[smith744]

...continue-ing...
.
something *interestsing*
happened a likkle while ago

on-island,
when-ever i exchange USofA currency
i don't bother with cambio, WesternUnion, etc.

i take the dollars
to any of the China-man stores,
just like many many residents.
....'cause same rate
.......and is always a quick-quick in & out ... no fuss ... efficient

however,
today
as when i walked up to the China-man money-booth,
there was a uniformed police-officer waiting at same time
...probably to buy a Digicel phone card, or something.

i handed over the US-$$$ to China-man
...he took it
......looked pon me
...........put his finger over his lips, as if to say:::>> ""...Shush... don't say nutin...'''

i complied

he handed me my Ja-$$$$
and i walked out
...after he did the '''..Shush..''' thing-y one more time.

.
i'm not for sure
but
i *think* i know whagwan

gonna do some *research*

stay tuned.

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[smith744]

....continued...
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oh-kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
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*re$earch* Done..!!..
.
that didn't take long

i *found* out why::::>>>>> 'my Lucea-mentor-SAY:::>> '''... because the China-man AIN'T authorized to exchange money, as they do all day, every day, and everybody know it ... blah lbah blah .... but the ''..shush''' was 'cause don't wanna flaunt the violation right there in-front of the police-man...''''

makes since
[[[ in a way ]]]

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to be continued....

[smith744]

...continue-ing..
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I Love the Ja-Route-Taxi system,,,as you-all know

this afternoon,
when i got out of taxi
from-country to Luce-town

i got out
...paid driver ... Ja$100
.......as asked him to do me a *favor*
.............asking what i asked wasn't required, 'cause what i was asking was a NORMAL operating practice, all over the island

mi-SAY:::>> '''... Here..!!!... take this JA $$$$$$$$$$ and get 2 bags of cement, and take it back to the house...''''
he-SAY:::>>> '''....Sure...'''

*arrangement* DONE [[ period ]]]

lemme explain a likkle more
...I & he KNEW how much the cement cost per bag
........he would go to the hardware store, and get the stuff, pay for it, put it in his taxi, and on his next-trip back-to-country, he would drop it off in the yard.
..............additional cost ---- i.e., delivery cost:::>> Ja$100
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route-taxi drivers do this kind of thing all the time
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love love LOVE 'em & ''..the system..'''
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..to be continued...

[VVHT]

Smith, Good stuff!

See you tomorrow or Monday.... Yes, I remember I promised you a Red Strip and Craven A!

VVHT soon come, but not soon enough!

[smith744]

...continue-ing...
.

landlord VEX-ed again
.
his son
now living in Canada
WesternUnion-ed
some $$$$$
...for landlord to get items
to be carry-t0-foreign
by a family member leaving Tuesday

landlord NOT happy
'cause son
sent JUST ENOUGH $$$
to cover what he wanted
....i.e., NO extra $$$$$

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a Conversation overheard
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'twas in the hardware store
when buying the oil paint, 2-brushes, and some paint *.tinner."

there was another gentleman 'bout my age ..... i.e., OLD

he was trash-talking, and playfully messin'g with EVERY-body
...for example, when the sales person would quote a price for whatever
he-SAY:::>> ""...What..!!!!! ..... a wicked thing is that (price)...""

a middle-aged woman walked in

immediately, the my-age-guy starts his *thing*:::>>> ''...blah blah blah blah...give me your cell number.... blah blah.."
she-SAY::>> ''...I don't WANT your money... blah blah blah .... my father taught me to be an independent woman... blah blah blah... i have a job... blah blah...''

the gentleman
reas-back
and goes into this & that about what he could/would do blah blah blah etc etc.

one of the lady-sales-ladies-SAY:::>> "".. you should stop and leave that kind of chat to the young-guys, 'cause she'll kill you...'''

much laughing

but,
then i thought to myself::::>> '''...ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm ..... he's Jamaican, and I'm not ...... soooooooooooooo, i KNOW i'm NOT READY....''''

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* sigh *
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to be continued

[smith744]

...continue-ing...
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the ''''..I wanna go to the zoo..'' Lady
.
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several days,
i *noticed* a guy staying-with/visiting the zoo-request-lady

one day
she re-requested the zoo-trip

me-SAY:::>>> '''...isn't your *brother* at the house...???...'''

there were gasps
all around
by others overhearing my query

she-SAY:::>>>

i can't remember *what* she said
but
i haven't been troubled by any zoo-requests SINCE
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Bill i need this ......... Bill, i need that..... Bill i need ....
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lady-neighbor
wanted some $$$$
to buy charcoal
down the road
at a shop

me-SAY::::>> """..noooooooooooo .... too expensive down the road ... cheaper in Lucea...''''

she & others were *surprised* that i KNEW the prices, AND WHERE in the market to get the charcoal

THEN
me-SAY:::>> ''''...better yet,,, you should get some wood for fire ..... get pimento wood ..... saw the guys, just the other day, doing a GOOD-GOOD job cooking some crabs with pimento wood ....''''

she was NOT pleased with me.
....called Dutty-Bill ... blah blah blah .... something about being *mean*

a lot of people call me *mean*
...dunno why
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my name may be Bill,,,, but it ain't Gates
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.....to be continued.....

[smith744]

....continue-ing...
.
weather-wise ... right NOW..!!..

'tis 7:45 pm
sun has dropped

84 F degrees .. but it feels-like 92
according to the WeatherChannel
because the humidity is 72

but no worried [[[ for now ]]]
..'cause i'm INSIDE in A/C
at the computer place:::>> 62 F degrees

:-)

me no wanna go outside
so,
me type inside for a while
'til mentor puts me out

mentor here late
'cause electricity has been poppin' off most of the afternoon eve,
and mentor has work to finish

me-*think* with all this heat
folks have fired-up their fans
and put a strain on the power grid
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a Tip::::when next YOU travel..

.
pack:::
.... long socks
....long pants
....long sleeve shirt/blouse

light weight,,, quick dry stuff

even though it's hot & humid
..covering up your skin is a good-good thing to do
....'cause dust, bugs, mystery *things* are all about and WILL irritate and/or bump-up your skin, and drive you crazy
..............more about this later

and THE ANTS
* sigh *
they come in all-sizes:::: big-ones, bigger-ones, and the worst are the teeny-weeny itty-bitty ones.

no for sure,
but me think they all bite/nibble/etc.

and there'er some things you can't see:::: but you feel 'em

as RickJames once said/sang:::>> ''''...the freaks come out at night...'''
i'm constantly amazed at the variety of bugs that come out at night

over my verandaH
is a HUGH spider
....he/she is pretty pretty
......with a big web

one night,
a praying mantis was caught in the web
:-(
morning come
and
mantis parts pon the verandaH floor

no biggie (( ???? )))
'cause the ants
were doing their ant-thing-y and munch munch munch-ing the body parts
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Heat & Flies
.
not for sure,
but i think there's a *connection*
..the two go together

the other night,
landlord's mom came home
complain-ing about the heat
AND the flies
she had to battle all day
as she worked in the bush someplace

flies bite too
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....more soon come....


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[smith744]

...continue-ing...

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i saw Robs sticky-post about the discounts during the Fall months.

interesting time-ing,
'cause it was JUST the other day
on Ja-television,
and
in the newspaper
i heard/read 'bout the Minister of Tourism's
new initiative to big-up the Fall-season,
and do this & that to pump-up the tourist biz-ne$$

me-personally said to myself::::>>>> """..Duh..."""
....'cause i remember
back in the day
at one of those Friends of Jamaica gathering
in late-late September or October,
I noticed & commented
that Fall was a PERFECT time for a Jamaican vacation or getaway

weather is SUPER-NICE then.... the ONLY issue is that there might be a hurricane

the only other issue, is:::>>>> tourist-places tend to use this time of the year to *renovate* properties and re-dundant-tize their workers ---- so a lot of things that normally be-gwan ain't happening.

but weather-wise,
Jamaica in the Fall is/can-be sweet.
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likkle bit
more in a few minutes, or so

need a CravenA

soon come back