My blog posts about my trip to Antigua would not be complete without a beautiful view of the sky, sunset to be exact. This picture is the view from my room at the hotel. 

“ … BWee 414, Charlie, Ecko, Romeo to tower … “

As mentioned in two previous posts, I traveled to Antigua on Sunday. As usual, my trip is always an eventful one with some amount of excitement. I met a friend at the airport who was actually going on the same training session as me and was sitting in the seat beside me so that was cool. We left a little bit late (not surprising) and expected to land in Antigua at 3:55 p.m.

By the time we took off and were on our way, there was a lot of turbulence as a result of the weather system over the Caribbean. We took it at face value until we were told by the pilot that we should be arriving in Antigua at 4:00 p.m and at 4:40, we were still in the air circling around the airport because of poor visibility, hence preventing the plane to land, in addition to the fact that there were 2 planes ahead of us also waiting to land. You can imagine the anxiety experienced feeling the plane speed up, then slow down, wheels opened only to speed up again, wheels go back in and we do that for a couple of times well without success. A gentleman across the row took the whole thing so seriously that he took out the life jacket from underneath his seat! That was not a comforting sight at all.

We all know that Air J has some of the best pilots in the world. I have flown on several airlines both international and domestic and am yet to come across pilots that handle the aircraft with such skill and expertise. This was a BWIA flight and when the pilot finally landed, I thought that one of the plane’s tires must have sustained some serious damage. I mean, it could almost have been described as a “crash” landing the way it sounded and the way it felt. Nonetheless, this was the first time I have applauded when the plane landed … and with good reason. The BWIA pilot did ok under the circumstances.

This is just the first part of the story of my Antigua trip so stay tuned!

The Oral B Triumph

The day before I left for Antigua, I saw an advertisement on cable for “The Oral B Triumph”. This is supposed to be the toothbrush of all toothbrushes. Oral B’s slogan ‘ “Brush Like A Dentist” is taking the toothbrush generation to a whole new level. Long gone are the days where you had a simple reach toothbrush … I’m not sure what there was before, I remember the reach toothbrush and Colgate Toothpaste … the toothpaste issue of which I will get to in a couple minutes.

Now-a-days, you have a toothbrush for supposed every known mouth issue – a toothbrush with a tongue scrubber on the opposite side, toothbrush with a dental floss thingie attached to the end, brushes with bristles designed to get between the teeth while brushing, brushes with extra length and at various angles to get to those “difficult to reach back teeth” and I could go on and on.

As for toothpaste, it is an even greater horror. It’s no longer just the regular Colgate. It’s now Colgate with Tartar Control, Baking Soda, Whitening, Gingivitis-preventing, mouth-wash, fluoride, mint flavoured, with pesticide and the lord knows what else formulated to give you the freshest breath, the whitest teeth, the cleanest tongue, the most beautiful smile, the most healthy gums and blah blah blah!!

What ever happened to just getting a toothpaste and toothbrush to keep your teeth clean. Man how times have changed. With all the products on the market to keep teeth clean and breath fresh, we still have people walking around with bad breath. It must be because they are so frickin’ confused as to what to get that they just decide to stick with just rinsing their mouth with water!!

Later dudes and dudettes …

Are we stressed or what???

I got this email the other day containing four pictures, 1 of which I've posted this morning. The pictures are supposed to tell us if we are stress or not. The pictures are stationery, and the more they move, the more stressed we are ... What you think?

Oh No ... Not Again!

Once again, I will be away from home for 1 week. I will be travelling to Antigua for a training seminar next week and as such will need to be away from my man ... again. I know I should be used to this by now, but it's like everytime it happens, it is a little bit harder to deal with and not easier. We have accepted the fact that I will travel from time to time, but the thought of us being apart is absolute torture. I'm not sure who is more depressed about it, him or me ... but sometimes I think it is a welcomed break for him ... [you know how you men are :-)].

Anyway, today will be a busy day in preparation for the trip and for me to get as much lovin' to last me for the time I'm away!

Enjoy the weekend everyone and next week if I don't get to blog while I'm away.

Forces of Evil

A couple nights ago, I watched the movie, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose". I have a passion for movies about the supernatural, particularly those that have themes about demonic possession. Among my favourites have been Stigmata and The Ninth Gate, Emily Rose now being added to my list.

Everytime I watch these movies, it gets my mind in a place that is sometimes very scary. I have a curious mind when it comes to the supernatural, demonic possession and religious rituals, but have a fear of being penetrated by the evil forces that control these states of mind. I was brought up in the church and believe in God. While I've not been an active church goer for about 4 years now, my relationship with God has never dwindled. However, the forces of the devil are so strong that I sometimes wonder if I should shy away from watching these types of movies, seeking information about evil. Technology has taken things a step further by incoporating visions of evil in cartoons, made-for-tv movies, video games, things that once were thought of to simply be a means of entertainment.

Is it possible that all the evil that permeates the earth today be as a result of mankind opening its mind to becoming possessed more easily than in the past? Some of the acts being committed these days leave one only to wonder what could possess a person to commit an act such as those we have seen across the world in the last 10 years or so. Evil has existed since the beginning of time, but have we turned our backs on religion and God, thus making ourselves more vulnerable to be overcome by the dark angel?

These are questions to which I had the answers. I tread carefully whenever I am putting myself in a position to be exposed to direct evil, and avoid it at all costs.

Watching this movie got me thinking too about how I would deal with a situation such as this, or if I was in the same situation as this young girl, what effect it would have on my family and loved ones. It's very scary but I simply keep God in my midst.

Why help never arrived ...