Down town…

Posted on February 18, 2007 by borysSNORC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6370763.stm

Pakistani suicide bomb kills 15

At least 15 people have died in a suicide attack in the city of Quetta in south-western Pakistan, police say.

The explosion tore through a district courts complex as a court was in session, killing a judge, several lawyers and court officials. No-one has claimed the attack, which injured dozens of people, police said. Quetta is
the capital of Balochistan province, where for several years nationalist militants have been fighting for greater autonomy.

A severed head, thought to be the bomber’s, was found in the aftermath of the attack, police said. “The bomber entered the courtroom, stood leaning against a wall and detonated,” Balochistan police chief Tariq Khosa told AFP news agency. Several of the injured are in a serious condition with severe burns.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the attack was against the Muslim faith and against humanity. Pakistan’s security forces are already on high alert, following three suicide bomb attacks in the region in recent weeks, says the BBC’s Rumella Dasgupta. Despite the government’s denials, there are regular reports of Taleban insurgents operating in the province, which borders Afghanistan, our correspondent says. Pakistan is under pressure from its Western allies who want to see the country doing more to control the highly volatile situation along its western borders.

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So this is where MD is….. beautiful downtown Quetta. These news articles appear in the BBC website with alarming regularity, and every time I see them, it makes me wonder how bad it does it have to get before they send MD back??? So I send out a ping with a ‘There was a bomb? You still with us? and in return, I get a message saying he was about 200m down the street when this incident occurred.

I immediately envisage that his 5 man protection detail must have gone into overdrive, machine guns at the ready, yabbering on mobile phones, and hustling him out into a waiting vehicle, Mission Impossible soundtrack playing … deftly and efficiently manhandling him to safety in a manner that would do the secret service proud…right? No! Not so. Should have been something like that … but no! Smart he may be, but common sense occasionally deserts our intrepid MD… he’s 200m down the street from a bomb blast to be sure… but he’s out carpet shopping… without aforementioned security detail! Yep that’s right – he’s out carpet shopping for lovely handwoven silk and wool carpets having decided it was a good idea to give his babysitters the slip and go out ferreting for bargains amongst the locals for the day.

Wonder if he’s going to come back from this posting in one piece at that rate! 🙂
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Stupid Back

Posted on January 7, 2007 by borysSNORC

Pain. Pain. Go away!!! Come again another day…. cos I know it’s too much to ask that it fuck off for good. 😐

Have woken up this morning feeling like I have been hit by the proverbial truck again! Want to cry, but don’t have the energy.

But at least I have something to show for my grizzly back condition this morning. I’ve spent most of my weekend working with Surly at the jewellery bench doing the little pendant that I am making with the diamonds I got for Christmas. Spent Saturday working on the shape, flattening a bit of gold, sawing out the shape, and filing it until we was happy with the shape. Sunday was mostly setting the stones….drilling the little holes, and counter sinking them to seat the diamonds, and then pushing the gold around to hold them in. Quite a lot of this bit Surly had to do himself, as i quite literally don’t have the hand strength for doing the grain setting bit. Never mind, Surly tells me most jewellers outsource their setting work anyway. After the setting, beading the background, engraving a bright cut to define the yellow gold edge, final polishing and rhodium plating.

So after all that hunched over at the the bench bit, then standing around on concrete floors, my back hurts quite a bit. But on the upside, I now have a cute little pendant to show for it..

I’ve been trying to figure out if it still looks like a starfish, because the longer I looked at it over the weekend, it was starting to look like a flower! And well, a flower won’t go at all with the fish I’ve been wearing for the last few years, (okay maybe like, the last decade) or so. 😐
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Diamonds are a girls best friend – ’tis true.

Posted on December 26, 2006 by borysSNORC

I received a very thoughtful gift this year for christmas. My family got together and bought me 21 x 2pt diamonds (G, VS apparently) and a small pile of 18ct gold along with a gift certificate for Jewellery Making Tuition with Surly 🙂 to make something of i!t.

I thought they must be all sick to death of my fish but the idea came about because I have been watching too much Bewitched lately – and in it, Samantha wears a small pave heart pendant , and I told BigSal that I wouldn’t mind trying to make something like that but in a starfish shape or something (hearts are too cutesy). So now I am going to get to have a go at making something like this – only better apparently!

Funk Part I

Posted on November 15, 2006 by borysSNORC

I have been in an absolute funk since last night. Can’t stand feeling like this and loathe as I am to admit it, it’s cos my Dinner Monkey is buggering off again. MD’s one of my closest friends and as if Ocean Grove weren’t far enough away, now he’s leaving the country. I’ve been down to visit four times this year, we also got to hang out quite a bit at Festival, and he’s been up here for work, so it has been like not much changed since he left TBA. All year we’ve been in the habit of catching up by phone week or so, and it isn’t unusual for us to end up chatting for two or three hours in a sitting! He’ll often call me in the middle of the night when he’s drunk (always funny) or lonely or bored. And I usually call him when the house is empty and I’ve time for a cuppa and a chat. But now – call costs will be prohibitive ($41.00/half hour) so I don’t anticipate we’ll be in touch as much over the next year while he’s away 😐 There aren’t many people in my life who I can talk to the way I can talk to MD, and I am really going to miss him.

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if he will get used to MSN after all – or finally get his act together and actually USE the Skype that he’s had installed for about two years now! Gotta shake this off though – hate that feeling of ‘blah’ – it’s very similar to how uncomfortable I feel about the Edouardo situation.

Not Good Jan

Posted on February 15, 2006 by borysSNORC

Your Five Variable Love Profile

Propensity for Monogamy:

Your propensity for monogamy is low.
You see love as a gift that you should give to many.
It’s hard for you to imagine being with one person at at time…
Let alone one person for the rest of your life!

Experience Level:

Your experience level is high.
You’ve loved, lost, and loved again.
You have had a wide range of love experiences.
And when the real thing comes along, you know it!

Dominance:

Your dominance is high.
It’s your way or the highway when it comes to love.
You like to be very involved in your sweetie’s life.
No question, you like to be the one calling the shots.

Cynicism:

Your cynicism is high.
Sure you believe in love, but you know it doesn’t come easily.
You scoff at “love at first site” and “soumates.”
You rather take the real thing, as unglamorous as it is.

Independence:

Your independence is medium.
In relationships, you need both “me time” and “we time.”
You usually find it easy to be part of a couple.
But occasionally you start to feel a little smothered.

The Five Variable Love Test