Random Thoughts by Ktownbuddha

So I haven't posted since I left Cuba.  Excuse me for my rudeness but I was a tad busy when I was home.  After having spent 6 weeks in Cuba I had lots of friends to catch up with, and a cat who needed some attention.  Plus I needed some sleep.  The trip home was a little rough on my system and it took me a few days to recover. I may have mentioned to some of you that I was escorting two Cubans to Canada for training.  They were from my department and the training was much needed and I was looking forward to seeing the rewards of their time there.  Well much to my surprise only one of them made it back.  The other one decided he didn't want to come back and defected.  Good times.  We are now down another key employee and its going to be even harder to accomplish what we need to over the next little while. Anyhow the Movember madness party was a success as most of us have little recollection over what happened. That's what happens when you ...

Most of you are still probably a sleep as I write and post this.  Today is Remembrance Day in Canada.  Some of us probably hardly think about it.  I've honoured and or celebrated this day in my own way since University.  It was always a holiday so you have the freedom to do what you want.  Now I could get all philosophical about the use of the word freedom and how it relates to this day but I won't. Not today anyways. Post university I have had to work on this day even in Canada.  It may have been a holiday but I had work to do.  For some reason the weather on this day was always grey and gloomy.  Some years when I could, I would golf.  The weather wasn't great for golf but it was nice to be alone with your thoughts on this day.  I think the grayness and the wetness that would be part of it made it more enjoyable. So what's the point of this post?  Today is a truly Canadian holiday.  It is ours.  It...

Ok so I have been trying to take as much rum as possible back to Canada on my return trips.  The thing is I don't want to keep wrapping the bottles in my clothes and stuff because that means I have to bring the clothes back down here with me and as space and weight are at a premium I'd rather not. So what to do?  Well I asked the other expats and they weren't much use.  So I started thinking.  I was looking around for things I could pack it with and then either recycle or discard once I was in Canada.  Well I swear it came to me in a dream.  We have to drink bottled water while we are here or else we get sick.  So we have a ton of empty plastic water bottles around.  So my idea was centered around wrapping the empty water bottles around the rum bottles and taping it together with duct tape.  So that was 3 or 4 weeks ago that I thought of it, and yesterday I gave it the dry run.  Turns out you need 12 empty water bottles to secure a bot...

Ok so the hurricane was a big to do about nothing.  I really wasn't worried, and as it turned out I was right.  Yeah it rained pretty hard on Friday morning.  I'm not sure when it started but sometime before 6ish.  It stopped by noon.  As the City was still on Hurricane Alert from the Cuban National Defense we weren't allowed to go to work.  That was probably a good thing as the river that we cross to get to work was almost up to the bridge. So what did we do instead?  Well we played crib for hours upon hours, and drank copious amounts of beer.  Were we supposed to work?  Yeah we were, but you can't really work when you are watching storm updates on CNN and hearing news about a plane crash. That's right I said plane crash.  Not sure if you saw but a plane went down between Santiago de Cuba and Havana on Thursday night before the hurricane was even a factor.  68 people on board, all dead.  Thankfully no Canadians, but 28 forei...

Ok, so I'm getting ready for my first experience with a tropical storm or hurricane.  We still aren't sure how strong it will be when it gets here.  It is heading north between Haiti and Cuba.  Seeing as how we live on the eastern end of the island, we are preparing for a bunch of rain.  I loaded my room up with 60 liters of bottled water that should last me for several weeks.  I'm only supposed to be here for another week or so, so that should be plenty. I have a bunch of granola bars on hand as well.  So yeah we aren't expecting much in the way of winds, but we are expecting a large amount of rain. Over lunch today I was told that if it rains hard enough, for long enough, we can't cross the bridge to get to the plant, and therefore don't have to work.  I'm kind of hoping that happens so that we can play cards and drink beer all day tomorrow. So fingers crossed.  Oh we use this website to monitor storms. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/grap...

So I see that the Premiere of BC has stepped down.  This is not a post saying he was either good or bad.  This is a post about the stupidity of people who think they know what they are talking about.  All over facebook people are happy to see this happen.  Why do you ask?  I say it is primarily to do with the HST, and partially that people hate all politicians. Let's address the later group first.  If you are happy he is gone, then you must think that his replacement will be better.  But will he or she?  If you hate the Liberals and want to see them fail, then you are hoping that the NDP gets in.  Based on this logic you like what the NDP stands for.  Let's take a look at the previous NDP reign.  Taxes were higher, the provincial debt and deficit were higher, and unemployment was higher.  So if that's what you want then by all means vote NDP.  That is your right as ignorant as I may think it is. Now then for those that...

Well, this isn't really about Cuba, but more about some of the stress being away from home can cause. Last week my current roommate took a new job in Calgary. While it's a good career move for her, it threw me into panic mode. I had already discussed the likelihood that she may take this job with a few people, but I had been lulled into a false sense of security that she wasn't going to go. So yeah, I was a little shocked and then worried about what to do about Stewie when she confirmed that she was. After waiting patiently a few days I received confirmation that the new roommate would accept my offer and is moving in. Now all is all settled and I can breathe again. We will see how the little man handles the change. He will be losing his buddy and a caregiver he knows, to be replaced by somebody new. Time will tell how it will work out. Again on an unrelated topic, I have decided to go to Vegas for Christmas. I found a great deal; $500 all in, NY NY, leaving from Kelowna on...