•Computer Traumas
Computer Traumas
by: Ieuan Dolby
It has happened! Computer games have started to control my life on and off the screen. No complicated games like Age of Empires, just the simple one of Tetris. You know the one, where different shaped and colored bricks fall out of the sky and you have to arrange them in nice lines at the bottom? Hopefully with the end result of all colors matching in straight lines so that they can be removed and point gained.
Crazy really, it first happened many years ago...
•Destination Holiday
Destination Holiday by Ieuan Dolby Hey you, where you going on holiday this summer? Kayaking in the Andes, golfing in Russia or sunbathing in Thailand? Is this going to result in a washout drinking spree, a fall-in-love with local girl heartache story or a thief stole my purse anecdote?How many times do people utter “where shall we go this year”? Is it to be hot or cold, adventure or boring, sun, sex, sand or shopping? A bit of one and a bit of another might be good, or two of one and three...
•Flotsam and Jetsom
Flotsam and Jetsom by Ieuan Dolby A news item that I read his weekend informed me that “Doctors have proved that exercise helps to improve blood flow”. Last week a colorful news item told me that “vegetables and fruit are good for the health”. All very true but I must question where these Doctors and News Reporters have been for the last Century or so? Or is it that there is absolutely nothing else in the big wide world to write about, that they have to bring back the headlines from 1863?It...
•How to get noticed on the Internet
How to get noticed on the Internet by Ieuan Dolby The World Wide Web was an enormous step for mankind, a step not seen since Neil Armstrong sullied the surface of the moon. The idea behind the WWW came across as a veritable information highway where documents, data and info could be rapidly sent and accessed by millions the world over. The potential behind the web is enormous and even now the scope is not fully utilized. The possibilities for growth, for extended usage, are available and...
•Insurance and The Engineer
Insurance and The Engineer
by: Ieuan Dolby
The world is no longer right when the two words, Engineer and Insurance are used together, side by side in a conversation. Individually they are words that justify their use, with their own explanations and own meanings as those that compile dictionaries see fit! They each serve their own purpose until such a time as when they are used in the same sentence or even on the same page. Engineer and Insurance cannot be used together anymore, yes there...
•Mopeds in Taiwan
Mopeds in Taiwan by Ieuan Dolby Mopeds are viscous two-wheelers that have become the heart and soul of daily life in Taiwan. Not so much in Taipei as the underground system has provided a cheaper and faster means of travel within the city. All the other cities though rely heavily on the moped, scooter or motorbike (call them what you may) as the means to keep the city alive and functioning! When I first arrived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan many years ago, (joining a ship in Kaohsiung) I was amazed...
•My Fifteen Year Job Search
My Fifteen Year Job Search by Ieuan Dolby The inscrutable Malaysian Immigrations Officer at Kuala Lumpur International Airport caused me a moment’s consternation with his question until I realized that he was just making small talk whilst manically trying to stamp all the bits of paper that I had placed on his otherwise spotless Formica top. I had just finished six weeks work in Kuantan, Malaysia and was eager to get home; he was just starting his 8hr shift and was bored already.He started...
•Operation Closet
Operation Closet
by: Ieuan Dolby
When the wife comes to you one fine day and says, “dear, I think we need a new closet for the bedroom”, the heart surges in joy. Immediate thoughts of grabbing the coat and rushing off on a mission to the nearest DIY center enters the mind before realization dawns that first must come a shower and then work. Thursday today, Saturday would be best! A whole day of fun and joy to look forwards to! “Yes dear”, you say casually, “I will get the car out on...
•Password Nightmares
Password Nightmares
by: Ieuan Dolby
Good Morning Mr. Sampson. Please type in you Personal Identification Number
XXXXXX
Sorry, Mr. Forgetful Idiot! That is not the correct password. Please slap yourself three times around your head and then apply for a new card and number – we are keeping this one.
Don’t you just hate them? Passwords give you access to almost every walk of life. They are now the keys to doors that would otherwise violently slam in your face and tell you to XXXXXX, which...
•Silent Macau
Silent Macau
by: Ieuan Dolby
A failed or neglected city springs to mind when walking around Macau during the day time. Around the outskirts of the Islands the doors of modern buildings never seem to open. Hotel restaurants tend to sole customers with reluctance: public gardens remain empty except for the lone tramp rooting around in the bins, roads remain unsullied with tyre tracks and the silence is loud all around. Inside and up the hill cracked and uneven pathways run along to meet the...
•Stocking up your Boat
Stocking up your Boat
by: Ieuan Dolby
There, you have just got a boat. A nice new hobby for the weekend and it is time to stock it out. It is time to get all that equipment and gear that you have read about in all the magazines and that you have dreamt about for so long. Time to fill that boat up with all the latest goodies and set sail into the unknown. Sail out and over the horizon, ready for all that may be placed in your way!
The engine has always been my greatest problem and I have...
•Tea at Sea
Tea at Sea
by: Ieuan Dolby
Marylyn Monroe famed amongst other things for her love of Tea once said that, “World Peace would be with us if politicians drank tea at meetings” – or something to that effect. And she was very true in her words, very true indeed. A cup of Tea does wanders to all that drink it.
Did you know that people in Britain and the Republic of Ireland consume the most tea per person in the world? I always thought it was Japan or China but then their cups are much smaller...
•The American Edinburgh
The American Edinburgh by Ieuan Dolby The American EdinburghEdinburgh is a lovely place to visit and to live in. Voted as one of the nicest and most picturesque cities in Europe it gives a sense of wonderment to all that roam the streets for adventure, relaxation or just plain having to go to work. Large buildings stand majestically next to the older and less imposing structures, each complimenting the other. Windy streets cross easily over the new whilst cobblestones fit easy patterns next...
•The Art of Worrying
The Art of Worrying
by: Ieuan Dolby
I am worried. I have been biting my nails for weeks and now there is not much left (skin doesn’t taste very good) on my hands and feet to chew on. I have been bent over the sink retching, I am constantly nauseated with pounding headaches beating out a death march in my skull and yet, life goes on. To say I am worried is placing the situation into a category far above its position – I am sick with worry. I am worried to death and I am sick of being worried...
•The Big White Golf Ball
The Big White Golf Ball by Ieuan Dolby I remember well the first ship that I joined that had a Satellite Phone on it. I joined as Chief Engineer on this tiny little Research Vessel on a tiny little river in Papua New Guinea and I never saw the ship when I arrived at the wharf, all I could see was this massive white Golf Ball perched high on the top deck. Looked as if it was pushing what little there was of the ship down into the water. I remained in awe of that UFO for the first half of the...
•The Camera Mobile
The Camera Mobile by Ieuan Dolby Since I wrote the last article on mobile phones so much newness and advancement has been made that I just have to write another one. Of course there are thousands of lost souls still using their phones as a form of escape from the outside world and many others talking to a dialing tone, but now they can take photographs of themselves as they do it.The mini-camera phobia has now reared its ugly head and although it has long been a futuristic novelty idea it is...
•The Merchant Navy and the Internet
The Merchant Navy and the Internet
by: Ieuan Dolby
A web site dedicated to the writings of the sea, ships and all those that sail on them? It sounds strange as who knows what the Merchant Navy is or what those at sea actually do all day, those who work in the Industry that is. Isn’t the Merchant Navy something to do with fishing or fighting? What is interesting about that? “Get a real job”, some would say and others would ask “and so why haven’t you got a sun tan”. So why would anybody be...
•The Rate of Change
The Rate of Change
by: Ieuan Dolby
There have been many discussions and grumblings in the Western world about the ever increasing pace of change and the ability of the brain to accept it. The Internet (something uninteresting that the American Military was developing) suddenly became a required household feature. Digital Mobile Phones suddenly give new meaning to taking photographs and all those gimmicks from James Bond Movies have long since been incorporated, accepted and forgotten about...
•The Singapore Taxi
The Singapore Taxi
by: Ieuan Dolby
Fast, easy and efficient could describe life in Singapore. You don’t stroll along the streets in a world of your own with time to spare and you definitely do not walk when a taxi is waiting nearby. Life in Singapore is geared towards the making of money and any spare moment given is put to that task. So if one should need to get to work or get to the office, go shopping or attend the cinema (because the children insist on it) then transport is...
•The Writing Club
The Writing Club
by: Ieuan Dolby
Typically when falling asleep in bed at night great thoughts enter the mind, long stringed and meaningful sentences trip over each other to receive attention at the front of the brain alongside all the brilliant findings, results, meanings that speak volumes and hard hitting phrases that are just the ticket to open the door to success. The last thought in the brain before sleep overrides this brilliant future work is, “must use that tomorrow”.
The next day...
•Water on the Brain
Water on the Brain
by: Ieuan Dolby
I was in the supermarket this morning (nothing unusual in that) and pushing my trolley to the checkout. Well, my wife was pushing and I was away in airy-fairy land when it suddenly dawned on me that I was walking past water. Not just any water but a whole world of the stuff. A complete representation of nations: a veritable United Nations of water in one aisle.
There, in your local Supermarket: Highland Spring Water all the way from Scotland or water...
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