Summer in the City

In the course of this missive we return to our daily lives in the South-eastern Chinese city of Toisan. Our days are happy and we are very comfortable in our new home. Whilst it is rather old and requires a facelift, it is very pleasant all the same; and is the only Chinese apartment that I have lived in that I would consider buying. It suits us well.

I have at last made time to upload pictures of this new gaff to the Gallery section of my website, which you can find here:

http://www.china-expats.com/Gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=5968

You can also find a video walkthrough here:

http://www.china-expats.com/Missives_ToisanGaffVid.htm

This should work in any browser.

I’ve also added some family photographs and pictures taken on the local streets, although there are many more still to be taken as I wait for lighting conditions to be good, and to be in the right place at the right time.

My new mobile phone is now 3-months old, and is a Sony Ericsson Vizaz. It takes great pictures and videos as you will see, due in part to the 8.1 megapixal technology and quality lens. It also has a sound recorder, which will allow me to wax lyrical whenever the mood takes me. The default screen allows me to instantly connect to Youtube (unavailable in China), Twitter (unavailable in China), and Facebook (unavailable in China), or download from i-tunes or torrent (No account). Unfortunately these are preset and cannot be changed for things I do want to use a lot, such as the camera. To access this I have enabled shortcuts so it now only requires 6 presses of the un-user friendly touch screen. However, this is long enough for any instant photographic opportunities to pass by, leaving me wanting.

Interestingly, whenever I receive an incoming call, the phone displays the video camera, which is quite disconcerting. I mean, it is a live feed from the video camera, and something I intensely dislike. Change it. You bet. I have changed this particular setting many times, and it still reverts to showing me either the live video of my feet usually, or some quasi-water related graphic. It cannot work out which way the phone is by the way, so oft times I have to miss the first attempt (Horizontal view) and wait for the next manually instigated view (Vertical). It is an exceedingly stupid mobile.

I could accept all this rubbish if it were not for the fact that unless a person is in one of the call registers, then it is virtually impossible to find there contact details. If you do, then calling them requires pressing a dozen buttons, and not one. Hello?

I have totally given up with text messages, as whilst it is very easy to receive these, replying takes me into many menus, and eventually to the contact list – which in turn want’s to do anything but send a text message. I could vaguely live with this if the phone came with an input stylus. Well it does, but this is back home in the box, as the last thing I need is to be carrying around more dross with me. There is no internal stylus, even though one could have been fitted horizontally. Therefore I simply don’t bother to even try to reply to text messages anymore – it is too bewildering to bother with.

But I have a problem with all this. Had I bought a camera with telephone or internet capability I could accept it. As happens, I thought I bought a mobile telephone with a camera. This in turn means that the telephone and associated txt messages are the main functions I require – not tweeting or watching Youtube, which even if they were available in China, would not be for my phone, because these services require a dedicated and monthly contract phone. It is totally useless regarding its main functions. Durrr! I tried to give it to my wife, but she couldn’t understand it either, even when I put it into Chinese language. She thinks it is very stupid also.

Here lies the crux of the problem. I thought I bought a mobile telephone with a very good camera. Instead I have some copy of an i-phone that cannot work in China, and features the most abysmal and un-changeable menu system imaginable.

Then I find the button for taking photographs needs the weight of three elephants to press down = the image moves and pictures are blurred. It is seriously difficult to press this button!

Nokia have since released a very comparable phone, and I will be buying one shortly. It features a cover over the camera lens, that when moved, immediately activates the camera. My ideal! No more stupid menu’s to try and resolve. Neither will I ever again purchase a phone that has a touch screen – leave me will the hard buttons that work every time, all the time. Whilst I could be inclined to give the Vizas 10 out of 10 for functionality if I lived in the west, I will give it minus 10 out of plus 10 for usability in China = totally hopeless!

What constitutes hopelessness is subjective I guess, and therefore my recent computer dramas also fall into this category. You may recall Mok San and the local computer guy got both my desktop and laptop computers working perfectly less than 1-year ago. It began again 1-month ago when my desktop suddenly lost all power. Having kept a very strict regime of backups, this was not a problem regards losing any data – I back-up several times per day, both to a different hard drive, and also online. As I was about done anyway, I decided to leave it overnight and look at it the next day.

Morning arrives and booting the computer with the cover off I note the CPU fan is spinning and there is a short spell where wind comes out of the main power pack. This soon subsides and is followed by a loud ‘pop’! My instinct is to suspect that several things have gone wrong that may be interrelated. I take it down to the repair shop just a few doors away with Siu Ying at my side. The guy shakes his head and tries a new power pack. Nothing happens so he removes the RAM and cleans the chips. Unusual I think to myself. He then states that in addition to the power pack, this (Indicating somewhere in the circuit board) needs replacing, and that will cost Y400 – as long as nothing else is wrong. He tells me it is very old and I should get a new Computer. I ask him how much, and then ask him again. He doesn’t answer me and goes off to work on something else. I’m not impressed, as I know a new power pack costs around Y80. Siu Ying doesn’t like him either, so I bring the thing back home to contemplate its future at some later date.

I am actually expanding my recipe section at this time, adding in what will become new sections for Chinese recipes, descriptions and uses of some of the weird fruit and vegetables sold in wet markets, and as a further thought to aid first-time travellers to China, a section about what is the same in China, like potatoes, etc. It is quite a lot of work and probably means adding a minimum of 30 new pages to get it all up and running. Meanwhile I am subconsciously trying to work out a new menu system for it. I have a lot to do, never mind writing missives and seeing to some other projects I have on the go. This means I need a computer, so I haul the laptop out and start setting it up. I had forgotten that the great lad in Gaogong had reinstalled XP on this, and many of my back-ups were no longer on it. After a short battle I manage to connect it to our home internet connection and then set about installing and downloading all the things I need on it. Some of it is a bit odd, like a flash ripper and a media package I like. Then there is all my standard stuff like: Dreamweaver, Flash, CorelDraw, 3D Studio Max, Winamp, printer drivers, etc. I do detest always having to install Adobe Reader – you’d think with all the rubbish suppliers stick on computers these days, they could at least put this in as standard. Of course, this is complicated by the fact this computer is only in Chinese, but its ok and I’m used to it by now. This means that although I specifically specify an English language install of many programmes, quite a few of them override my preference and install in Chinese. Filezilla FTP was one of these, as is my stupid HP printer software. Anyways, 2-days pass and I am about ready to resume work. It is then I discover that Book Antiqua is no longer a default font with Word 2003. Several other fonts I use are also missing, so I begin hunting through old CD’s to find them. There are a couple more similar niggles, but come day 3 I am definitely setup and ready for action.

As computers’ dying is a fairly regular occurrence in China, I decide to make a definitive backup of new install software which is saved to memory stick, and also burned onto a full back-up DVD. That sorted I begin work again by making a plan of all the things I need to do, and a rough order of approach. The days blur into several weeks, and I progress well. Siu Ying has got used to me inspecting the contents of her shopping bags and taking photographs of any unusual purchases. I then zoom in again whenever she is eating a new fruit, or cooking some new dish. She thinks I am crazy, but plays along and now calls me to bring the camera whenever she thinks I may miss something. Often this entails not only photographing the recipe ingredients, but also making notes about cooking so I can later add these to my Chinese recipe pages.

She has also been asking around, and one of her local friend stated repairs to the old PC should be nearer Y150, and not to use the guy in the local shop as he was no good and charged too much. Nice to know we called that one correctly. She informs me another friend can fix it for me, so I ask her to make enquiries. It turns out he used to be an English teacher, but now takes classes in computers at a local school. This is not the description of a computer repair guy I had in mind, so we decide to think on it for a few days. The laptop is actually fine, except it has one of those stupid modern connectors that you can’t connect anything to. I work with graphics a lot and really do need an old fashioned CRT monitor. I can’t work with something where the colours change every time I move my head, as is with all LCD screens. I also prefer to move my keyboard around, and definitely dislike the one on the laptop, which is some sort of reduced size thingamajig with keys in different places. Normally you can plug both of these into a laptop, but mine only has a couple of USB ports and the stupid connector. I’m gonna have to resolve this soon.

It appears fate stepped in to decide for me, as a couple of days later I was working away when suddenly the laptop had a minor virus – some version of a Trojan that could be nasty in the future, but as spotted and constrained wasn’t actually doing any damage. My primary anti-virus program had quite a battle with it all the same, and this went on for several minutes, as pop-up screens asked me what action to take = delete or quarantine. After 40 such clicks I automatically clicked the pop-up again, whilst trying to determine the threat level and what to actually do about it. As this screen disappeared, I became aware the words were different, and it had asked me if I wanted to delete the file: windows login.exe. I had pressed yes automatically, and then the system then went into automatic reboot. ‘Uh-Oh!’

Windows doesn’t work without this file and the data it addresses, so the reboot hung as I expected, and I was given a lovely bright-blue screen containing a dos error message to look at. I shut it down as I needed to seriously think about this before doing anything else.

Damn me if Siu Ying didn’t pop her head round the door that moment and suggest we all go out to the Western restaurant we recently discovered, and I like a lot. Mama rejoined us yesterday, and this sounds like a mighty fine idea. A few cold beers and some decent nosh will soon put a different complexion on things – and do you know what? It worked a treat!

The first time we tried this restaurant, which is literally two minutes up our back alley, I had a quite delicious Vietnamese style curry. It didn’t have lemongrass or enough chilli in it, but apart from that it was – totally what I enjoy. Seeing as how I have actually featured this eatery in my Toisan city guide, I decided to try a pizza this time, with fries and a couple of large bottles of ice-cold beer. It was a perfect copy of a half-deep, deep pan pizza, but again lacking in chilli. Otherwise it was overflowing with quality Mozzarella and everything else you would expect of a good pizza. I added extra chilli, and Wow! Got my vote immediately. The girls settled on some soup thingymagig, followed by meats cooked with rice in large leaves. I have seen this several times, but this version was quality. The staff here are very friendly, and on our first visit they kidnapped Nonni for about 15 minutes. This time the Supervisor/Owner was not around, so other staff simply ‘coochie-cooed’ and joked with me in Cantonese. They also have a large screen plasma TV set into the main wall, which I plan on watching for the next Gran Prix in Monza.

However, our time is now just after the interesting Gran Prix from Spa Francorchamps, and what a race that turned out to be. After one of the wettest periods I have ever known in my whole time in China, we are now greeted by the constant sun. Unlike all my previous residences, Toisan is not permanently covered with a blanket of smog. At night we can see the stars, and during the day the sun burns down mercilessly. I have never, ever, experienced anything so hot in all my life. The thermometer has stopped working, but local weather stations report daily temperatures are well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. 104 = 40 degrees Centigrade, or thereabouts. That would be in my office, which is the coolest part of our apartment. Outside I think you could cook eggs on the pavement, and even at 5 am our granite balcony rails are still too hot to touch.

This is some very serious heat. At night we keep the lights turned off as much as possible, because they make the room to hot. I have taken to only using the computer for short spells, as its fan superheats the room. Our fans are now blowing out hot air, to the extent that both Mama and Siu Ying have beads of sweat forming on their lips even when sitting down doing nothing. My skin has changed and adapted over the years I have spent in China, and I no longer sweat profusely as other foreigners often do. That stated, my skin is often damp to the touch these days, and I find exposure soon turns this into salt crystals that feel like tiny grains of sand on my skin. Salt grains attract moisture, and these ones are extracting it from beneath my skin. Therefore I have taken to showering 2 or 3 times a day in order to get rid of it. Often I simply get out wet and stand in front of a fan to dry. It lasts less than 2 minutes, but that feeling of being cool is excellent.

We chose not to install air-conditioning this year, as we want to have a holiday in Thailand late September instead. Whilst I could raid saving to do both, neither of us want to go down that road; and anyway, given another couple of weeks then things should start cooling enough to be bearable. Neither do I see the point in paying premium prices to have this installed now. We best wait for a sale at a cool time of year and buy then. Daft as that may seem, it could save us several thousand RMB spread over the 3 units we want to install. Interestingly, it would appear that Chinese people hereabouts do not know that A/C units can actually provide heating as well. Friends visiting my apartments in Foshan were totally bewildered when I switched the A/C to heat on chilly February evenings. Then they rationalised I must have some special type of unit, because no other A/C units could do that. It is possible the very cheap units here only cool, but I am pretty sure any decent one will heat and cool as desired. My plan is to buy a really large capacity and quality one at the end of the Chinese year, when they will be at their cheapest. Siu Ying’s friend has one in her apartment, which is similar in size to ours. It cost her over Y5, 000 but cools their entire flat easily. When we do buy, the heat exchanger is being put on the roof. I was amazed to see that ones previously fitted in this apartment were placed on the balconies, or just outside the drafty single pane windows.

Aside I wonder if it was because of this intense heat that the power supply to the old computer gave up the ghost? The next day I ask Siu Ying to speak to her friend about fixing the old desktop computer; and inform her that the laptop isn’t particularly healthy. The word ‘virus’ lets her understand, and she places her hand upon my arm.

So far there are only two computer guys I trust in the whole of China – one from Foshan that we were only able to use once, and the young lad in the small town of Gaogong – whom I am inclined to go and see for this repair. Siu Ying is having nothing of it and sets her personal network or ‘guanxi’ into motion. Meanwhile I try and boot the laptop, only to be rendered the lovely blue screen and dos message again. This is pretty terminal unless I can come up with something. I know the hard drive is still ok, so decide to reinstall Windows XP. After a couple of looks at this, because I am not just going to press’ ok’ but want to preserve as much as possible, I find a suitable if unusual solution. The laptop has XP service pack 3 on drive C. I could overwrite this, thus loosing everything … or I could install XP service pack 2 on say drive D. This lets me access the computer, although it is a temporary workaround, and not something I suggest you try at home.

“Well tickle my tits till Tuesday”! It damn well works! Not quite 100%, but I was never aiming for that. However it is up and running again, and I can access all my files and use them with all my applications again. I then try copying the deleted file across and back into System 32, and booting through the previous drive now works until I get to a login screen. This is a conflict, and it would now probably work if I deleted the second operating system that I just installed. But I’m not going to do that just yet. First I want to use the information contained within this laptop to propagate my desktop, once it is repaired. However, getting the new configuration to connect with the internet takes me 2-days of occasional trying. This is because Chinese ADSL requires 2 internet connections, and I only know how to make the main one. XP SP3 and Vista can do this easily, but XP SP2 cannot. It also required something similar to a ‘network bridge’ in order to access the China telecom system. This is called a ‘LAN’ connection, whilst the ADSL one is called ‘Broadband’. I eventually managed to trick the laptop and somehow activated the required bridge enough so I could set it. It’s just a shame this all occurred using Chinese language, as otherwise I might have been be able to document what I did. That’s right; both operating systems only speak Chinese. Ho-Hum!

This got me to thinking that I cannot possibly be the only person in the world who appears to have a constant battle with languages used by computers. I mean, computers actually speak only binary. I need to use both English and Chinese all of the time. This is why last year I only used a Chinese computer for 6-months. Windows is fine until you get away from Europe and languages that use the Alphabet. Once you hit Japanese, Hindi, Arabic, Cyrillic scripts – you have serious problems. You have to install special packs to accommodate right to left languages, never mind old Chinese which is written top right and own, heading left. It is my considered opinion that any language that is not based upon the Alphabet cannot be adapted in any Microsoft operating system, other by completely installing that specific language version.

What I require is the ability to completely swap the language version of the operating system I am using – it is all related to Binary processing numbers in any event. At present Microsoft install the specific language component in what is called the Kernel – you will probably have heard about this. It is actually a 3-tier stack or interrelated system if you prefer. What I want, and what both India and China are now working on, is a new division above the Kernel that has adaptive language capabilities subjective to user defined parameters, which can be changed. Microsoft will not follow this, because they only think in English. However, for me to have a computer where I can change the entire operating system language at the press of a button – similar to using the language bar to change input language for a Word document – has tremendous potential for my personal view of this world. I’ll leave this one here as we now need to move on and repair my desktop computer; but have a think about this when you have nothing better to do, and then think about its use within our ever shrinking world community.

I battle the constant heat, and battle the new laptop operating system. It was a quick-fix, and sort of works, but is definitely a work-around. Therefore I am very pleased when Siu Ying bounces in and proclaims her friend is arriving soon. I ask when, but she disappears orf to sweep, tidy, and make the apartment immaculate. Serious stuff then I guess? Our love reappears of course, so I join her doing ‘cleaning’. Then the door hammers and her friend arrives – except I think she doesn’t actually know him very well – Hey-ho! He undoubtedly used to speak very good English, but he is a little shy, and it has been a long time. What he does say is excellent, and once he settles it gets a lot better.

Apparently he is a computer lecturer of high knowledge, and he has started an enterprise with one of his foremost students. They have a computer repair shop, and it his young friend that is the computer repair guy. I use basic international sign language to show the young guy what us wrong, peeling away the side panel of the old desktop and so we progress. He says it needs to go back to the shop for repair, and they disappear forthwith.

In for a penny? Well I am in for a pound actually, and I like them. I presume they will be back next day, or Monday, so open a beer and start writing a missive – not this one incidentally, but one of about a dozen that I have ongoing on the back-boiler. I’m into this when I hear voices and a lot of banging nearby. Thinking to put on a Tee-shirt first I head off to investigate, only to discover the guys are back already. The computer is fixed and checking that it boots, they depart immediately. Amazed I rush after them asking how much??? Reluctantly the senior says the cost was Y130, but that my computer is slow and there is a slight problem somewhere. OK. That’s fine – so I hand over the dosh and he leaves bowing down the stairs as they depart. Too late perhaps I tune into ‘mian zi’ or Chinese ‘Face’, and then Siu Ying calls to say the guys will be arriving soon. I tell her this just happened, and confused she understands.

Well what is a boy to do under such circumstances? I reboot to be sure, and this computer is rather slow. Then again it is running a lot of software that needs to activate. I am made-up, and then a totally new desktop reveals its glory to me. I gaze at this with astonishment, before deducing that the ‘small problem’ referred to earlier was in fact due to the boot sector or similar being fried. This in turn means they have also reinstalled an operating system, and I wonder which one, and in what language it is?

It takes me around 20 minutes to get the basic computer functionality as I like it – show all hidden files, give me a shortcut to Windows Explorer on my quick launch bar – simple and stupid stuff. By this time I also work out I have an English language operating system, I have some version of XP SP2, but with SP3 add-ons, and that apart from C drive, all my files are still intact. I close the computer down so I can add my back-up drive, and stripping off the side panels, soon discover this power pack only has one old-fashioned hard drive power input. It has three of the new style. I will either need to butcher the old cables and fit them to the new configuration, or find some adapters. That’s just given me a days’ work then!

With C drive being reset to new default parameters, I spend the next hour deleting shit I don’t need and have no interest in. I reboot just to be sure. I then spend the rest of the day copying across large files with my 4Gb memory stick, and using the install software package I assembled earlier to get the computer back into trim and my personal spec. Because the default language is English, this is a lot easier, but it is still quite time consuming.

The brightest spot is when I finally manage to outwit the extremely stupid HP printer install. All I need are the drivers, which should be a couple of Megabytes. Hewlett Packard always offer only 2 options, a full install of around 300Mb, which includes web-sharing graphics applications I would not ever use. The alternative or light install, runs at a mere 36 Megabytes, and contains all the gismos and GUI’s that make this a package. I know from experience they don’t work properly. If you have ever installed their software, then you will know that they always say you must disconnect the printer before beginning installation. This time I had windows Device Manager open and it was looking for printer drivers. I put in the HP CD and Windows System did the install. This took all of 2-seconds, and functioned perfectly. Obviously all the HP shite didn’t work, but then it never did anyways, so now I have that one cracked.

You know, I am back in bliss – I have a CRT screen working that has consistent colours regardless of where my head is posited in relationship to it, a mouse that does a lot of tricks, and a keyboard I can move around and out of the way as it suits me. Using my new reinstall pack I get the pc to my specific configuration with a couple of hours, but unfortunately, it will not read the backup DVD I just made using the laptop.

Elated to have something tangible back in my life I head off to get a cold beer in celebration, and kill 5 Cockroaches along the way. You may remember that I have ‘Zero Tolerance’ of these critters. We are now into month 4 in this gaff, and I average killing 3 every single day, but they usually invade in clusters when there is inclement weather due. I am not counting any nymphs, which only appear when there are no bigger versions – otherwise they will be eaten by their larger counterparts. Don’t get me wrong, they are quite entitled to a full and happy life doing whatever it is they do; just so long as they do not presume to do this inside my home. That said, I do admire there ability to survive, and they are one of very few creatures that will probably outlive our time on this planet. They survived Hiroshima, because they can deal with nuclear radiation. They can live, act, and procreate without a head or body. They like to ‘Play Dead’, and then disappear when the threat has passed. I got their number : -)

Meanwhile I also became aware that our refrigerator must be home to several mice, or something that likes to eat British style bread – which I can only buy from one supermarket with consistency and without sugar. My clue came when I was expecting to open the fridge door and find 6 slices of bread. Instead there was a vacant space. Last night I distinctly remember opening a new pack of bread, and toasting four slices to go with my baked beans on toast. There are 10 slices in a pack, so there should be 6 left in the fridge. I look for an empty pack, but this is not to be found. I survey our tables, and note a knife with the remains of a little Guilin chilli sauce on it. Odd, as I remember washing that knife up last night.

My suspicions are aroused, but I want to eat bread and corned beef as sandwiches, so I open a new pack. I note that there are definitely 5 slices left, and retire to bed. The next day the remaining bread has gone! The knife with Guilin chilli sauce remains on it is back on the table. This is a tad curious?

Next morning I inform my wife that we have a serious problem, in that our refrigerator has been invaded by mice, or ‘Lo Sheu’ as we call them. She says I am stupid. I reaffirm that for 2 nights running English style bread has been disappearing from the fridge, and show her the knife with remains of chilli sauce on it. She breaks down laughing, whilst I try to maintain a straight face. With Doe eyes, she admits that she may have taken the odd slice .. or two. I pretend to be Godzilla, or was it King Kong, which reduces her to tears of laughter, and we now know that Cantonese girls actually love to eat English style savoury bread with chilli sauce; albeit late at night when they think nobody else is watching. To tell you the truth, this is one of the biggest cultural breakthroughs I have ever been a party to, and whatever else happens, I have to encourage her to eat more ‘proper’ bread in future.

Bang!

Rhiannon just ran into my leg with her ‘Nonni Chair’. It is insignificantly painful for a moment, and as I formulate words of an expletive nature, so she says “aurjah, da da da da da, eiyeio”! She is looking up at me as if she just discovered the Holy Grail, and perchance she just has. Whilst she has mumbled a very few recognisable word previously, these were never repeated any day later. This time she is saying them deliberately, and expects adults to understand her. Mama has missed this one, and so has Siu Ying. I cotton-on immediately to what is happening and reply in this new version of Baby Speaking. She is made-up, and goes to greater lengths on a similar theme. The ‘da’ bits are formative words, whilst the other two are representations of everyday and mild expletives. I know this. So does she, as so simply communications between us begin.

This is repeated the next morning, and whenever we are together. Over the next couple of days this develops and it becomes apparent Mama does not speak this language, and Siu Ying is sort of missing it. Therefore it appears to be up to me to encourage her first attempts at speaking language.

But this is also accompanied by a greater awareness of the world around her, as she now controls her 8-wheeled chair far better than a few days ago. She also has learnt to crawl, and learnt not to go over the side of our floor based mattress. We also have a sleeping accommodation where she always looks for her Mothers dwindling milk supply from time to time, but I think it is more likely fluid intake she is after; something I must tell the girls to be aware of. If nothing else, it is so damned hot of late that even I have been drinking a gallon of water each day, so what does this mite need? A lot of fluid intake I think.

But then we have this thing going on in bed, that when she has finished with her mother, she rolls over to me and starts working on my back, sides, or front – depending upon my orientation at that time. Sometimes it is hands inspecting my face or body, but most times it is her feet that conduct the investigations concerning this very strange creature she will later come to know as being her Father. Poor thing!

With all this mayhem and daily innovation going on surrounding our daily lives, I click into Toisan TV on Tuesday evening, and catch 24, Day 8. I do like 24 a lot!

I file this information away mentally until I have got the basic DIY pages online, and again ripped my menu system to shreds in order to re-invent it. I am not sure I can be done with waiting a week between each episode, and my personal record was 25 hours to watch all of Day 4. With this in mind I make some personal time, and find this Day on Loombo.com. It begins in fits and starts, as I have a wife, daughter, and mother in law all demanding instant pieces of my time. China Telecom has also been blobbing recently, so the early hours suit me just fine. Then my luck changes and the girls all disappear off for a few days. I get all the way up to hour 20 in one evening, and then the American version of 12 am vs 12 pm kicks in, and I can get no further. I find it again on a different host, and complete. Wow! Many sub-plots and things to consider with this one - but basically it is all about: truth, honesty, and loyalty; which all components of trust across national and international divides. These I practice on a daily basis within my own small life, and I wish you the courage and tenacity to make the same for yourselves.

Goodbye Jack, we will miss you.

And so it appears the time is now set that I also Jack this one in.

Thank you for reading and please know your comments and opinions are always welcome

Jonno