A fraction of concern

Teacher arrested:

NEW YORK -- A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule and a calculator. At a morning press conference, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra movement.

He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

"Al-gebra is a problem for us," Gonzales said. "They desire solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values.

They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say,'There are 3 sides to every triangle'."

When asked to comment on the arrest, George W. Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes."

Aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the President.

Drilling for fire

Our firedrill consisted of the-colleague-I-nearly-made-cry running throughout the building screaming "fire" at everyone. I sauntered down the stairs after locking my office discussing a weekend getaway with my boss and D. We joined the other some hundred staff walking to an unknown assembly point which was two blocks down the road. Then twenty minutes of hanging around while we reflected on the elements that make an effective fire drill.

• No fire alarm
  
• No checking that everyone left the office
• Nobody knew the assembly point
• No verification of those assembled
• No headcount

Fun morning eh ...?

Sick leave or leave off

I nearly made my Cambodian colleague cry last week.

He was sick but would not take time off, despite vomiting every few minutes and talking and breathing like a smoker on 60 a day. We were having a staff meeting and after a particular bout of hacking and gagging I told him that he was being irresponsible and that he would make us sick too. I had just attended a bird flu seminar so I had all the info on respiratory infectious diseases. I told him he should go home and rest - that's what sick leave is for.

After my words, he said, almost raising his voice, that I didn't appreciate his dedication and commitment to his work and that the office would fall apart without him. His lower lip wobbled and he fled from the room.

Cruel ain't I!

Religious right and development aid

USAID ceased funding CARE Cambodia last month leaving over 200 staff to find new work. This article is a fairly unbalanced look at why CARE amongst others had their funding cut.

Rats V - The Last Laugh

OK so today the rat killers' disposed of three rat large corpses - victory for the humans!

Hopefully there will be no reinfestation

The rat IV: the vermin's revenge

It is in the office with me right now. I am quite disgusted. A giant rat who favours my desk is here with me. I'm leaving early today methinks.

The rat killers' are coming in tomorrow to take care of business.

Have a good weekend!

The real Cambodia?

The one thing that everybody knows is that Cambodians are a gentle people. Forget about the Khmer Rouge, when it was kill or be killed, and people used machetes because bullets were precious. As an foreigner, the people smile and seem almost shy. Tourists declare that Cambodians are so kind and gentle. I do not disagree but I think that this is a veneer on the anger and pain that is in every facet of society. There is horrific violence between Cambodians.

I have just read through four days worth of newspapers and saw several references to child rape and subsequent murder often by members of the victim's family. The anger in Cambodia is almost palpable. Some examples are below.

• On suspicion of stealing a gold necklace, a 25 year old man was beaten to death despite being in police custody
• Two suspected chicken thieves were hacked to death
• Policemen beat up two children and a political activist
• A 12 year old boy was jailed for raping a 9 year old girl
  

This is an uncommon week - normally there are wife-beatings, shooting of beer girls, greater numbers of child rape and murder. The unfortunate conclusion is that the crimes are being under reported.

The people are gentle but it is skin deep.

Rats III: the gross out

On Sunday, a woman went boating taking with her some cans of coke which she put into the refrigerator of the boat. On Monday she was taken to the hospital and placed in the Intensive Care Unit. She died on Wednesday. The autopsy concluded she died of Leptospirosis. This was traced to the can of coke she drank from, not using a glass. Tests showed that the can was infected by dried rat urine and hence the disease Leptospirosis.

Rat urine contains toxic and deathly substances. It is highly recommended to thoroughly wash the upper part of soda cans before drinking out of them. The cans are typically stocked in warehouses and transported straight to the shops without being cleaned.

A study at NYCU showed that the tops of soda cans are more contaminated than public toilets (i.e.) full of germs and bacteria. So wash them with water before putting them to the mouth to avoid any kind of fatal accident.

Rats II: the revenge

And the rat is back.

Everyday this week I get "presents" on my desk. It is thoroughly repulsive.

Upon strolling into the office today, I found the secretary rumaging through my desk without so much as a by your leave. Oh yeah today's going to be great...

Rats

There is a rat in my office. It has defecated on my papers and left puddles of urine on my desk. Apart from being shudderingly disgusting it is also quite unsanitary. The office assistant will get an exterminator in during the weekend. The most repulsive aspect is that I ate off my desk regularly when it was too hot to go home at lunchtime.

So grossed out right now.

Work so bloody frustrating

I share a printer with the office assistant and the intern and I occasionally print out my work to proofread in the old-fashioned way or an article that I am particularly interested in. Each time the fucking office assistant will look at what I've printed out and ask where I got it and what am I printing. It is so bloody frustrating. I can't ever think to print out something personal. I have a separate office so he always gets there before me.

Today was the last straw. I found him and the intern with a page each in their hands reading something I had written and cultural differences be damned - I finally told me to stop looking at my stuff. He got offended by Cambodian standards which means he dimmed his smile a fraction and doesn't seek me out as his personal career counselor. This will last a total of one hour. Its so frustrating to always have to pretend to be bright and sunny for every shagging second in work

Going to scream *SCREAMS*