So its another Sunday morning and I am sipping an ice cold Latte and wandering through the blog world and I have started wondering where all the bloggers have gone. Searching through sites I find more blogs about money, diets, photos, business, news, food but very little content from people about what matters to them. Of course the blogs I follow are updated, fresh and interesting to read and I continue to enjoy them but searching out for new ones is becoming a little more complicated. I guess with Mybloglog closed there is no easy way to search for and follow other peoples blogs. I use Bloggers, Blog Catalog, to name a few.
I find reading other peoples blogs more interesting than the news and if they are commentating on news, then even better as opinions matter. So if anyone knows of a good place to find fresh personal blogs then leave me a comment, I am running out of ideas.
So I guess I should mention the terrible turn of events that have hit England hard over the past week. I am not really going to comment too much on the things that have happened but I would say that I feel proud of how people came together and cleaned up the mess left by the people who started to destroy their own communities, that is the part of England I miss. I can always comment on the amount of anti social behaviour and mindless vandalism that is apparent in England but there is also the community spirit, rallying round that still remains for times of hardship.
Facebook and Twitter were alive with comments and support for the police, the communities affected, thoughts and opinions and condemned it all. A few days later, there is nothing being said although the papers and news are still full of comments and stories and also what is happening to those that created this in the first place.
Zero tolerance has been used so many times and I think that is simply the best thing. Quite simply Zero tolerance is taking an active stance against anti social crime such as graffiti and petty vandalism. So if a window is smashed it is replaced immediately and not left so that the vandals see that action is being taken and therefore the areas affected look the same. The policing and punishment is more harsh and swift and whilst I am making it simple the concept does work. The railway station in my home town is painted pink, not a pretty pink but pink. Now this means the morons that like to spray paint every where wont go near it as it is not a cool place to be so there is little damage done there.
I can only hope that the people affected can move on and life goes back to normality and those that did the damage understand the impact they have had on their on society and England as a whole and will have helped change policing and views on civil unrest forever and pay for the damage done.
Following the riots and looting this far away through international news coverage put things into perspective and that is, that the international community was stunned that this could happen to England, safe, happy, friendly England. Well it could be now that the bubble has burst, and CNN will be doing exposes into the dark side of England instead of some other country. Lets watch this space.
Back to this side of the world, I have been working my through the week with an all time high level of teaching hours which have left me tired and wanting sleep but I also enjoyed the week all in all. In one week I have taught every age range, pretty much every type of class I can and had meetings, discussions training and time to laugh,.
My drivers licence is up for renewal this month and so I decided to get it renewed a couple of weeks before it expired to stay away from the idul fitry rush for new sims at Dann Mogot police center and sorted it out this week. Yovita helped me so much with organising an agent and on Friday he came to my place of work to collect all the pieces of paper he needed (copies of my legal status here etc) and went away. This meant that the paperwork was all completed on Friday and so Saturday we turned up at the licencing center, went straight into the photo room, got pushed past the people sat patiently waiting and then within 25 minutes my sim was ready. I was stunned. I was out of there before 9am. I should apologise to those I went ahead of as I do feel a little guilty but 25 minutes I was delighted. The cost, well thats another story.
Anyway, I am legally allowed to ride a bike in Indonesia and that will always make me feel a little better and safer though not much.
If I want to get a real 4 year sim., I must become a citizen of this country. Something in the pipeline but a way away.
The weekend is now being spent relaxing and taking it easy. I can see the need for a mop around the apartment but we shall see.
Bank Mega keep calling me at work, and it is always just before I arrive and they never call back, I still don't know what they want. Perhaps they want to give me more money for free, one can only hope. Perhaps one day they will be brave and phone later in the day, I know that they can speak good English but what are the odds of that happening when they call me.
I was in fish and Co yesterday and despite asking for Fish and Chips I got Danish fish and chips and the chips were spicy? and the fish whilst was big contained Cheese. If any Danes are out there reading this, is this a traditional dish, Fish and cheese Danish style or just marketing for the restaurant chain? I had a sprite and for soda, they are refilled for free. I think I had 4 different staff ask if I wanted another one/forth refill, the cheekly lot were counting and then with the bill comes around a 30% tax and surcharge. 30% is a lot to add on. So I guess the refills are not free at all!
Back at the Mall, some of the mobile phone shops are advertising the new Blackberry Playbook with prices between 5-7 million. Do they have any? No. So whats that about. The Galaxy Tab is 4.8 million so cheaper than the Playbook and far cheaper than the Ipad but there is also an LG one, HTC one and so on....
The week ahead looks fun, lots more teaching but its Independence Day for Indonesia on Wednesday and so that means a day off in the middle of the week which will brighten everyone's face. Happy days
I find reading other peoples blogs more interesting than the news and if they are commentating on news, then even better as opinions matter. So if anyone knows of a good place to find fresh personal blogs then leave me a comment, I am running out of ideas.
So I guess I should mention the terrible turn of events that have hit England hard over the past week. I am not really going to comment too much on the things that have happened but I would say that I feel proud of how people came together and cleaned up the mess left by the people who started to destroy their own communities, that is the part of England I miss. I can always comment on the amount of anti social behaviour and mindless vandalism that is apparent in England but there is also the community spirit, rallying round that still remains for times of hardship.
Facebook and Twitter were alive with comments and support for the police, the communities affected, thoughts and opinions and condemned it all. A few days later, there is nothing being said although the papers and news are still full of comments and stories and also what is happening to those that created this in the first place.
Zero tolerance has been used so many times and I think that is simply the best thing. Quite simply Zero tolerance is taking an active stance against anti social crime such as graffiti and petty vandalism. So if a window is smashed it is replaced immediately and not left so that the vandals see that action is being taken and therefore the areas affected look the same. The policing and punishment is more harsh and swift and whilst I am making it simple the concept does work. The railway station in my home town is painted pink, not a pretty pink but pink. Now this means the morons that like to spray paint every where wont go near it as it is not a cool place to be so there is little damage done there.
I can only hope that the people affected can move on and life goes back to normality and those that did the damage understand the impact they have had on their on society and England as a whole and will have helped change policing and views on civil unrest forever and pay for the damage done.
Following the riots and looting this far away through international news coverage put things into perspective and that is, that the international community was stunned that this could happen to England, safe, happy, friendly England. Well it could be now that the bubble has burst, and CNN will be doing exposes into the dark side of England instead of some other country. Lets watch this space.
Back to this side of the world, I have been working my through the week with an all time high level of teaching hours which have left me tired and wanting sleep but I also enjoyed the week all in all. In one week I have taught every age range, pretty much every type of class I can and had meetings, discussions training and time to laugh,.
My drivers licence is up for renewal this month and so I decided to get it renewed a couple of weeks before it expired to stay away from the idul fitry rush for new sims at Dann Mogot police center and sorted it out this week. Yovita helped me so much with organising an agent and on Friday he came to my place of work to collect all the pieces of paper he needed (copies of my legal status here etc) and went away. This meant that the paperwork was all completed on Friday and so Saturday we turned up at the licencing center, went straight into the photo room, got pushed past the people sat patiently waiting and then within 25 minutes my sim was ready. I was stunned. I was out of there before 9am. I should apologise to those I went ahead of as I do feel a little guilty but 25 minutes I was delighted. The cost, well thats another story.
Anyway, I am legally allowed to ride a bike in Indonesia and that will always make me feel a little better and safer though not much.
If I want to get a real 4 year sim., I must become a citizen of this country. Something in the pipeline but a way away.
The weekend is now being spent relaxing and taking it easy. I can see the need for a mop around the apartment but we shall see.
Bank Mega keep calling me at work, and it is always just before I arrive and they never call back, I still don't know what they want. Perhaps they want to give me more money for free, one can only hope. Perhaps one day they will be brave and phone later in the day, I know that they can speak good English but what are the odds of that happening when they call me.
I was in fish and Co yesterday and despite asking for Fish and Chips I got Danish fish and chips and the chips were spicy? and the fish whilst was big contained Cheese. If any Danes are out there reading this, is this a traditional dish, Fish and cheese Danish style or just marketing for the restaurant chain? I had a sprite and for soda, they are refilled for free. I think I had 4 different staff ask if I wanted another one/forth refill, the cheekly lot were counting and then with the bill comes around a 30% tax and surcharge. 30% is a lot to add on. So I guess the refills are not free at all!
Back at the Mall, some of the mobile phone shops are advertising the new Blackberry Playbook with prices between 5-7 million. Do they have any? No. So whats that about. The Galaxy Tab is 4.8 million so cheaper than the Playbook and far cheaper than the Ipad but there is also an LG one, HTC one and so on....
The week ahead looks fun, lots more teaching but its Independence Day for Indonesia on Wednesday and so that means a day off in the middle of the week which will brighten everyone's face. Happy days
6 comments:
I also enjoy reading other people's blogs, they are interesting.
I wish that you write a post specially about what happened in Britain lately, what caused it? etc.
Hi Luke
Its good to bw aand read ..a luxury really when time is so limited,speaking for myself :)
Have a great week ahead Luke and happy holidays
Umi
Hi Luke, Zero tolerance, A mayor clean up New York City using this approach, I feel the courts will let the public and police down?
We are off to New Zealand Saturday, We Might set up another blog title only for New Zealand
Hi Harry, Ok I will post my views on the troubles.
Watch this space....
Hi Umi, thanks for the comments, BW is fun and interesting and like you I struggle for time on occasion.
Hi Mark, a separate blog, I dont think that matters, just keep recording your adventures. They are great. NZ is great. Lake Wannaka, White Island and Stuart Island oh and Milford Sound, have to be some of my highlights...
As for the UK, the power of the courts is only as powerful as the laws created. Lets hope the legal system does its job as well as it can.
Safe flight on Saturday
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