Big Day

[Kip]

Honest question. Do you compact the soil before pouring?

........

DSC_1614.JPG (81.13 KiB) Viewed 2699 times

[Kip]

Waiting for me today after our English class. New record....ended up with 15 in the bed and 4 in the cab (6 including me and Nick). Of course, they were all children so more fit....but still.



Sent from my SM-G610M using Tapatalk

[Kip]

There is a rapidly increasing discontent in the Dominican people these days. A movement of folks that are fed up with the government's corruption has blossomed and are making their presence known throughout the country..."normal" protests are anywhere from a few dozen to a hundred people; theses folks are gathering by tens of thousands for marches. They're calling out the current president, whose party has taken over every level of government from local municipalities up to the top - so much so that the constitution was amended to allow him to run again, past existing term limits this past election, and there are already "media" outlets speculating that he should run again in 2020. The rest of Latin America is reporting through their news outlets that his campaign has been largely financed by Oldebrecht (a multinational engineering/construction company that has infiltrated most all latin countries and paid off folks for government contracts on a national scale; they have had quite a few execs arrested in various countries, admitted guilt in many cases, and will likely be paying Billions of dollars in fines).

Besides the public outcry, protests, and marches, crime has spiked radically in recent weeks. The government has mobilized 7,000 soldiers/national police to try and tackle the crime but it's like I've not seen in my 7 years of familiarity with the DR. People are pissed and it's venting through crime. This is happening throughout the country, even here locally; there have been several muggings of school staff when leaving Kristi's' school, a robbery of one teacher's house next to the school, and a broad-daylight robbery of a lady on the corner right outside my house. The newspapers and social media are filled with stories and security footage of crimes of all sorts. These happenings aren't new, but the frequency most definitely is. Crazy.

[Kip]

A bit of background on the current Oldebrecht situation....

CLICK HERE

[Stewmuse]

There is a rapidly increasing discontent in the Dominican people these days. A movement of folks that are fed up with the government's corruption has blossomed and are making their presence known throughout the country..."normal" protests are anywhere from a few dozen to a hundred people; theses folks are gathering by tens of thousands for marches. They're calling out the current president, whose party has taken over every level of government from local municipalities up to the top - so much so that the constitution was amended to allow him to run again, past existing term limits this past election, and there are already "media" outlets speculating that he should run again in 2020. The rest of Latin America is reporting through their news outlets that his campaign has been largely financed by Oldebrecht (a multinational engineering/construction company that has infiltrated most all latin countries and paid off folks for government contracts on a national scale; they have had quite a few execs arrested in various countries, admitted guilt in many cases, and will likely be paying Billions of dollars in fines).

Besides the public outcry, protests, and marches, crime has spiked radically in recent weeks. The government has mobilized 7,000 soldiers/national police to try and tackle the crime but it's like I've not seen in my 7 years of familiarity with the DR. People are pissed and it's venting through crime. This is happening throughout the country, even here locally; there have been several muggings of school staff when leaving Kristi's' school, a robbery of one teacher's house next to the school, and a broad-daylight robbery of a lady on the corner right outside my house. The newspapers and social media are filled with stories and security footage of crimes of all sorts. These happenings aren't new, but the frequency most definitely is. Crazy.

Yuck. But, hey, America isn't far behind, I say snarkily. You guys are leading the way!

[kurtdesign1]

Are you scared, Kip? Not so much for yourself (there's a part in all of us that kind of expects shit to hit the fan on occasion, isn't there?), rather are you scared for your family? It's really none of my damn business but it's the biggest thing we have always had going for us in much of america; security. It's hard for me to put a finger on micro versus macro regional/national/international security but I think that Americans wouldn't stand for much Micro-level security failures. It has to be hard for that to be the norm when involving your family. Care to share a bit of reality with us who are willing to listen?

[Kip]

I'm not really afraid. That statement doesn't come from any sense of bravado; it's just that actual likelihood of a serious problem - while elevated - is not huge statistically, and can be lessened with a bit of common sense. Now, some situations just friggin' happen. There isn't much defense against the all-too-common motoconcho robberies (motorbike pulls up beside you, passenger pulls a gun and robs you, driver drives away after). But, keeping yourself from high-likelihood scenarios and locales is a good start. Political unrest? Who knows if anything will even come of the current status quo...maybe nothing. The movement seems to have largely fizzled in Brazil (they're about a year ahead of the DR in their investigations). There's nothing I can do about that until it happens. Then, it'd be an evaluation about when we need to cut a trail. I don't worry (much) these days. When I was younger, I was quite legendary in my ability to fret. For myself, a return to faith - strengthened by more honesty and integrity than it was originally taught to me - and some of its teachings acted to dampen my tendency to worry. Whether or not one would be open to accepting that faith and giving it the same credence and authority as I have, I think we'd all have to agree that worry itself doesn't generate much productivity. Concern? Yes. Proactive forethought? Absolutely. I try to keep these and their ilk in mind as much as possible. But, being scared doesn't help anything before it has happened. For one living on a tropical island, I've become quite the little stress manager. Either that, or I'll just deal with it mañana....

As far as the family goes, we do what we can to safeguard without being silly. Same thing; just common sense steps - the kids don't run around loose in the city, Kristi (no longer) runs at the PUCMM (local university) campus park. She had been exercising there, because of its seemingly tight security...but another teacher was attacked there a couple weeks ago, even with probably the highest per-capita count of security guards in the country. Yes, there are concerns. We're just trying to remain even-keeled. Learn from those who aren't....

I now realize when reading this I've prattled a lot and said nothing much in response to your question. I'll come back around to it later, when I've had some sleep....

[kurtdesign1]

No, you've said a fair bit. How many ways can you say "no"? You did an admirable job at giving me a run for my money.

It's funny. I was the guy in my childhood & young adulthood that was told to chill out or lighten up on occasion. I was never the ball of nerves but I was always aware of things. To me, youth can be defined by your desires shielding you with blinders to nothing but them. I wore incredibly wide blinders as a younger fellow. I was still shielded from some but I saw more than most. Now that I'm an adult I think I still have similar restriction, though what's left out are all the statistical anomalies that do not apply. I don't worry about being struck by lightning when I have to walk through the rain. I don't fear for my safety when terrorist events are happening 800 miles away. I keep perspective that there are 310m people in this country and 7b people in this world. the 3,000 who perished in the worst terrorist event of US history represented .001% of this nation and .00005% of the world. That's statistically not something I should worry about. Neither is catching ebola, political revolution, being shot by a stray bullet, being kidnapped by inner city gangs, etc. This all being said, If ever presented the situation, I would not lick a dead guy in Siera Leon, fire an unknown shot in Lexington, wonder around in bad neighborhoods for no reason, etc.
Frankly, I pegged you for a worry wart; all due respect... It's comforting to hear that you take a sense of logic and faith into the matter. I'm not sure what else you could do. I suppose logic is the easy default for intelligent folks but even still, it's not a long stretch to start connecting history to have a heightened applicability to yourself. I'm glad you're not doing that. Hell, it's not like you guys have been immune from hardship down there already! Geez. You've had more difficulty than I sure have in the same period. I'm glad you're keeping a level head and maintaining some sense of reality and responsibility for your actions.
Thinking of that statement, I should have known your answer all along. Be well and stay well. We all love the show too much for it to stop because you go and get yourself dead.

[Zedman05]

I sometimes wonder if it is just me, but reading the last 2 statements, I have come to realize it is not.
I have a very narrow band of worry, and even smaller outward showing of it. I think my wife wonders if I even recognize dangerous situations or not. I would like to say I am already hyper-aware of danger already, but I think that is overexagerating a bit. I just have a decent ability to actually calm down under stress, and it drives her crazy sometimes.
I think our best attribute is to mentally push our fears and worries down as men/fathers and push ahead with an educated perspective. I wonder if my Dad did the same when I was younger, but I just didnt know.

[kurtdesign1]

I sometimes wonder if it is just me, but reading the last 2 statements, I have come to realize it is not.
I have a very narrow band of worry, and even smaller outward showing of it. I think my wife wonders if I even recognize dangerous situations or not. I would like to say I am already hyper-aware of danger already, but I think that is overexagerating a bit. I just have a decent ability to actually calm down under stress, and it drives her crazy sometimes.
I think our best attribute is to mentally push our fears and worries down as men/fathers and push ahead with an educated perspective. I wonder if my Dad did the same when I was younger, but I just didnt know.

Many of my wife's friends seem a little more "bro" like than myself. I don't see this quality in them. I wonder if it's a level headed, well rounded thing. It would be interested to do a little Q&A with the cigar crowd to see if this is a prevalent mindset. My bet would be that it is.

You speak of your dad as if he's not around for you to ask. Is your father still alive? You should ask him if he is. It would be interesting to get another perspective and hopefully a little rewarding for you to discuss with the ol' man. For what it's worth, I can absolutely say that I get my sense of calm from my dad. I think I have patience and calm and then I remember that there's someone like him on this planet. I got nothin compared to that guy. And yes... Another cigar smoker...