Zambia's Presidential Elections

Zambia is headed to the polls. And it made the news in the National Post. That doesn't happen every day.
Things are looking up for the economy in the little nation.
Copper prices are surging, riding mostly on China who run many of the mines, and also happen to be undergoing a MAJOR boom of their own. In fact, I understand China is gobbling up many of the world's supplies of steel, copper, concrete and other building materials.
So how does China play into the elections in this African nation of 11 Million people? Well, on one side, the incumbent Levy Mwanawasa supports China and Mr. Sata, "King Cobra" wants to back off of relations with the mega Asian superpower.
So it's become the main issue in the election, one that will be very interesting. We'll see if there's a change or not.
But....
Why is a guy in Saskatoon writing about Zambia anyway? Good question. My sister lives there. She's been there for two years and I always keep an eye open. She tells me things are looking up in Zambia, partly because the Chinese have re-opened old copper mines, and invested in textile industries that help the Zambian economy. She also tells me people live in poverty we in Canada can only imagine.
About half of the population is unemployed, and many live off of $1 per day.
Worse yet, she just lost a 20 year old friend. So I am thinking of those people in Africa and wondering why nobody in the western world WILL LIFT A FINGER TO HELP ANY AFRICAN NATION?
It just doesn't make any sense how the politicians can go to sleep at night knowing how bad things are in many developing African nations. Maybe it's not just the politicians, it's all of us.
I hope it changes soon. After all, Africa is the birthplace of civilisation.

How much is it worth?

So I hear I am nowhere near the top of the pay scale for what I do. Uh hum?! Is that right? I am shocked by that.... yup, totally surprised.
But alas, when I went to ask for a raise on my one year anniversary at the radio station I was told, MAYBE. Woah!
I took some info and suggestions from the boss and decided I better come prepared next time. I am going to meet again tomorrow and see how this all goes. It's sure nice of the other bloggers who've put in their two cents on how to get what you want from work.
I think there is a one-year review policy anyway, so perhaps I'll be fine. I might've just approached him the wrong way. The tables were turned pretty quickly.
But that's what a good manager will do if I think about it a little bit. Why would a person who has the power to give out a raise, just jump up and say, "OK you got it, boy!?" No, I didn't even have a single reason prepared.
Be fearless, be relentless, be ridiculously curious.
Polarize and surprise the listeners.
Sounds pretty simple, but the best thing I learned is to take a step back and ask myself one thing, IS THIS RIGHT?
What a great way to make sure you are prepared, and in the right frame of mind for any situation.

How to keep the old brain active.....

Honestly,
I left my apartment for 5 minutes yesterday to go to the Mac's store to get a bottle of Coke. That was it.... but it's not that bad to have a day like that. But I swear I slept for 12 hours and then had a nap, and was in bed at 10 pm after all that sleeping.
Getting up at 5:45 am isn't too bad, but habits can develop in a few days. Like napping. Some days it's nice, but I have to keep those naps short, and not take them every day.
Otherwise I am not nearly as sharp in myhead, or my body. It doesn't take long, but after being so lazy yesterday I thought of 500 hundred different ways to be unhappy here.
Not to sound like I am feeling down, but it was amazing where my mind can take me if given enough time.
So I got back to work, had a good show today, and took a walk after work rather than a nap. And here I am still feeling good, and I got a bunch of stuff done this evening.
Go figure. I think it's all realted.

The Mars Volta

Oh yeah, and the Chillies are playing too. haha
The Mars Volta is opening a show for RHCP tonight and I was lucky enough to get free tickets at the end of the work day.
Ahhh, the perks of working at the radio station.
I must confess I am not the world's biggest Chilli Peppers fan, but who in their right mind could turn down a live show by them. They have dozens of classics.
There's a reason they are the one of today's biggest bands.
But that can be for tomorrow''s posting.
Go!
I look forward to it, what a nice surprise.
Soon...

What's the deal baby?

A tragic shooting in Montreal, at Dawson College leaves me wondering what would cause someone to do this? I mean, you get the usual people saying the gunman was a loner, he was picked on in school, and he just snapped.
But how does a person get his or her hands on a "big gun"? And take it to a school and open fire? There were thousands of people at school that day, and I am sure they came from all walks of life, (as many walks of life have the chance to go to college anyway) but it just doesn't make sense.
So the question that pops to mind is this, Who is this gunman? We may never know, but pieces will come in and people who knew the shooter will eventually come along. It just leaves one wondering what would bring someone to this?
Montreal is not a dangerous city, and in my opinion one of the most wonderful cities in the world, but this isn't the first school shooting in Montreal. Marc Lepin at Ecole Polytechnique who gunned down 14 women in 1989 comes to mind. But why Montreal, why now?
I don't know if there's something that glorifies this behaviour in some twisted way, where the trenchcoat mafia becomes something young men want to be. The trenchcoat killers in Colorado had much bigger plans in mind - and in a way, it could've been much worse.
So perhaps this could've much worse today, but there are thousands of young people who saw something terribly scary today, and thousands of others who will be hugging their children a little more closely when they say goodnight this evening.
But alas, we'll have to wait and see if we'll ever find out a motive, an explanation, an answer.
I just wonder who this guy was. And why?

Wow that was easy!

So I am back. The computer is healthy after being sent to the doctor. I couldn't believe how easy it was. I phoned and they asked me to send it in so they could check it out. I took the computer to Purolator and they shipped it to Mississauga on their dime. They sent a note saying they received it and would notify me when it was coming back. Well, the email said here's the Fedex tracking number and you can see when it will arrive. A few minutes later I went onto the site and found out I had just missed the delivery. Oh well, I just went and picked it up. They had it for a week, put a new LCD screen and a new mainboard along with a CPU thermal module. I am not sure what it all is, but the computer works famously now. All it cost me was a refreshing week without a computer in my place.
Then I got a bill and realized I was paying nearly $100 for cable and internet. Wow, I better phone and see why it's so expensive. Well, I found out I could get a lite version of the internet and it would drop my bill by $15-20. Go for it.
All this AND it's not yet 11 in the morning.

Computers

Arghhh, if it's not the car it's the computer that's misbehaving. I don't want this to become a place for all of my woes. But seriously, I just typed away frantically for 40 minutes while I was on hold with Acer, the computer company.
See, I have the moodiest computer in the world, and it freezes up and looks like the wall paper in my mom's dining room.
Colourful vertical lines across the screen and nothing else. No way to wake it up, no way to save anything I'd been working on.
So after 45 minutes a guy answers the phone and tells me to pack it up and he'll send Purolator to pick it up.
I am not sure how I am going to do that. I have to be at work until around 3 pm and the courier will be coming here between 1 and 4. Oh well, I might have to go see Myrna the landlady and see if she'll be able to give it to him or her.
So I am going to leave this alone until I get the computer back..... no, no, no. I will blog from work. Yup, sounds good.
Cheers.
Ahhhh technology.

Record Shops

I went to the record store the other day.... hadn't been there in ages. I bought two albums - Neil Young's latest, and the most recent disc from Alexisonfire.
I might've actually been concerned what the guy at the cash register said if he didn't look like a 12 year old girl.
Emo kids..... I don't get it. And wait a minute..... the EMO kids all listen to Alexisonfire. What am I doing buying that album?
I was always the oldest guy at the Misery Signals shows. But they put out a new disc this week too. Man, I could get back into the old habits of buying discs again. But I refuse. The record stores are obsolete with the invent of Itunes and computers.
But I find myself right on the fringes of those dudes that still go buy cd's because they haven't quite got the latest toys. But at the same time I can see a guy who goes in and buy Tom Petty albums because he wants to talk it back to his wife and kids and play it on his home entertainment system.

Clearly caught in between something right now.

Anyway, they are great albums. Both of them.

Missing for 8 years?

Did you catch this story about a girl in Austria who had been missing since 1998? This is amazing. I wonder how this girl could've been stuck with some nut for that long. Apparently the searchers never really gave up. They dragged lakes, looked into reports that she was spotted in Hungary, and followed other tips. Natascha Kampusch went missing while she was walking to school. Police were told she was seen getting into a white utility van but there are hundreds of those around.
One of the first things she told police was that she had to call the dude "master". He is really known as, Wolfgang Priklopil. She stayed in a 6 sq meter dungeon with running water and a bathroom. It was only accessible by a trapdoor of steel.
The guy had recently loosened his grip on her, and she darted when he was distracted by a phone call.
I can only imagine waiting 8 long years for the chance to make your dash for it.
A man-hunt began right after the girl escaped but soon ended when they found the man flattened by a train.

Arghhhh!

$226.95 to fix my car. What the hell is an IAC? It was cleaned and reinstalled. And the labour to perform relearn procedure for IAC stalling condition..... okay.
Last week when it was in the shop last week, it got a new negative battery connection and wire which lead to the computer being reset. That's what the car had to "relearn".
Amazing.
But I am better off than John Mark Karr. The peculiar guy who was married to a couple of girls younger than 16 years old in the Far East and has confessed to killing JonBennet the child beauty queen.
He was in the doctors office to have a sex-change procedure performed too.
Yup, I don't have it half bad.

The other night I was laying in bed watching the TV and one of the late night cable talk shows came on and the mighty Neil Young is sitting there with his guitar and he sings this song:

Let's impeach the President for lying'
And misleading our country into war
Abusing all the power that we gave him
And shipping all our money out the door.

Who's the man who hired all the criminals?
The White House shadows who hide behind closed doors
They bend the facts to fit their new story
Or why we had to send our men to war

and on and on.
Amazing. All this talk from celebrities and musicians doesn't seem to really be taking hold. Maybe it still needs some time to sink in. I don't imagine it was like this during the anti-war movements during Vietnam and the Hippy years.
I just don't know.
I hope I can understand someday.

Days like this are when a Croatian beer tastes even better.

Cars

Well, I thought I'd get going early today and get some running around done. Hopping into my car I feel it sputter a little asI pull up to the traffic light and my heart just sank. Not again, I say.
It's a Ford though. No surprise.
I don't know what's wrong with it, and I guess I'll have to endure some excercise to get to work tomorrow. Oh, just doing my part to reduce emissions.
I don't have any money really, but what can you do?
So while I sit here and ponder my financial situation, I decide to set up a blog.
My friend just told me he is getting married and he showed me some pics on his lady's blog, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.
Now I'll end it so I can see how it looks. I'll let you know what it costs to fix my car.
Later.