A Metaphor for Life...

My original intent was to write a really deep and heartfelt post about how badly Chelsea Football Club is doing in the league...? Or rather how badly Chelsea is doing. Period.

I was going to liken the situation to the realities of life itself. A huge amount of fans from all around the world became 'fans' only when we won the Premier League for the first time in 50 years. (I am not one of them).

I do not need to go into the details of the current situation. Any half decent sports website will have covered the running saga. And all the drama going on seems to be having an effect where it matters the most to me.

On the Pitch.

We are in 7th place in the league and were only able to draw against Fulham. All the other 'top' clubs won their games. It goes to show the level of expectation and sense of winning that has been built into the club in the last 3 years that Ashes would have tasted better in my mouth after the draw with Fulham.

But now comes the important question. Do I stop watching Chelsea's games because they are in a temporary flux? Do I switch allegiance to (God Forbid!) Arsenal just because they are top of the table.

No I dont.

I grit my teeth and watch my team under-perform again and again. I smile in pain as my friends with their unfortunate alliances to Manure, Goners, and Liverless rub it in every week how things look bad for us. Because you see this is what being a football fan means. Having a rough patch (and trust me it is only temporary) makes you appreciate the winning all the more when it starts to happen once again.

Actually, this is what Life is all about.

You dont throw in the towel after just one defeat. After just one knockdown, No Sir you dont. You work your way through the sludge and come out on the other side with character and resolve.

Now I just need to figure out how to get through this week. Talking to Tope becomes imperative. I mean... talking to her everyday. She is my ray of blinding and warming sunshine in this football darkness right now!

Ah Yes! Champions League game on Wednesday. Away. To Valencia of Spain.

Grit Teeth. Smile in Pain. And you might be walking on air on Wednesday again.

Do You Qualify? Part II - A Brother's Response

IMPORTANT!!!

Please read the post before this one.

This is the direct response to that one!

The Brother's Response

You ask, do I qualify.

Can I fulfill your needs and become the man you need me to be?

My sister, are you prepared for what you've asked for?

Can you handle the responsibility?

Can you accept that, by GOD, I am the chosen?one,

the authority, the comforter, and the head?

Will you submit and willingly follow my path?

Or will you fight with me instead?

If I am your King, will you treat me as such?

Will I get the best of your beauty and poise?

Or will I be subjected to an appearance

neglected, and checked with some serious noise?

When I talk, will you listen? I mean whole heartedly and feel me?

Or will you rush me just to make your point too?

Can I be the man at all times? Even when it hurts?

Or is it just when it's convenient for you?

Can you love me for me, and not who you wish I could be?

Will you see the strong Black Man within?

Or will you always remind me of all

the past brothers behind me and make me pay for their sins?

If I don't send you flowers the day your co-worker received some,

will you know that I love you still?

Or will my good name be uttered along with those other doggish brothers?

Will you question if my commitment is real?

Will you be patient and teach me to understand you,

and allow my knowledge of your needs to grow?

Or will you shut me out when I ask, Baby what's wrong?

Or will you respond with, "Well a REAL man would know!"

When we first met, what was it that caught your eye?

Was it my mind, my heart, my personality?

Or was it my suit, or my job, or do you love

what I drive, instead of what's driving me?

Yes I can, and I will, make love to you from midnight to the dawning of the sun.

But, if I tell you I'm tired, will you trust

I'm sincere or believe that there must be another one?

My sister, I love you and my heart can be yours. No woman could lead me astray.

But like you, I have needs, so I beg of you, please, in this love thang meet me half way.

In life's tough times I'll hold you, in the rough times I'll mold you;

your simplest wish will be my command.

My life is yours if need be.

Yes you can fully bleed me, and when hell comes, in your place, I'll stand.

A good relationship is a powerful institution that must be built on a foundation of two.

So to answer your question,

YES sister, I do qualify.

Now, more importantly.....! Do you?!

Do You Qualify? A Woman's Poem!

My sister sent this poem to me on Wednesday January 28, 2004. I was trawling through my email inbox and found it again today. In light of the recent "momentous" events in my life (patience, patience... all in good time!), I thought it would be quite appropriate at this time to publish this poem on my blog.

I hope you enjoy it!

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A Woman's Poem

Do you qualify to be the man I need you to be?

Will you be able to recognize the things you need to see?

Will you be able to understand, that I'm a good woman and in my life I need a good man?

Do you qualify?

Do you qualify to fertilize my unproduced seeds?

Can you fulfill, as I can, all of our needs?

Can you put me in my place if you see I am slippin?

Can you talk to me, wholeheartedly, not constantly trippin??

Do you qualify?

Do you qualify to be called all mine?

Can you leave the other women and temptations behind?

Can you come to me with your problems and not wait until it's too late?

Can you stand up and admit if you made a mistake?

Do you qualify?

Do you qualify to be the honest ebony man I would want you to be?

Would you be able to look me in my eyes and admit your feelings to me?

Could you take me in your arms and make love to me all night long?

Can you be sensitive and still be strong?

Do you qualify?

Do you qualify to be my friend as well as mylover?

Can you put our love before any other?

Can you cherish me as if I were Diamonds & Gold?

Can you make me feel like I'm the last woman you'll ever hold?

Do you qualify?

Do you qualify to be called a good man?

If I have doubts can you reassure me and understand?

Can your love intoxicate me as if I were High?

To be in my life, I need to know,

Do you qualify?

We Lost the Special One

Its true.



The man I have jokingly referred to as wanting to be like, when "I grow up" has left Chelsea Football Club!



The self-styled "Special One", who truly made my claims of Chelsea Football the best club in the world as true as they have ever been in our history has finally had enough of the interference, meddling and constant looking-over-shoulder from the owners of the club.



No not the fans, who I believe really "own" the club but the wealthy Russian Oligarch who had the financial muscle to match the dreams and aspirations of Jose Mourinho. No doubt, without the influx of hard cash we would probably still be an 'almost there' club in the English Premiership. But more than money can buy... the winning mentality and moulding of a conquer-all side was ALL Mourinho's doing.



And now we have lost him.



We didnt let him go... we lost him. And it puts a sinking feeling in my stomach.



Jose Mourinho, I do you no justice when I put the moniker of "self-styled" next to your description. No matter what happens after this. You are already one of the greats of the game and you can only better your previous achievements. Too bad those achievements will not be tied to those of Chelsea's



You really are the Special One!
(I dont feel like working today!)

Hard, Thick and Fast!

The title of this post sounds like a porn movie title doesn't it?

It has been two weeks since I last made a post on my blog and my loyal and caring readers (all half a dozen of them) have filled my inbox (not exactly) with queries and demands to update them with the latest going-ons in my life.

I heed their call and submit.

Something really momentous and life-changing HAS BEEN going on but I hesitate to put it down on this space for reasons I cant quite put into words... I had an interesting conversation with my little indian when I was about to start publishing this blog. He was of the opinion that a blog was an online diary where people shared their innermost and most personal feelings. I begged to differ then. Maintaining a blog for more than a year now has only served to reinforce my feelings on the subject.

Even if an individual sets out to consciously communicate his fears, hopes and dreams on something so open and easily accessed as a blog, his sub-conscious mind would still mould HOW he wrote his posts. If not WHAT he wrote. Many bloggers stick to a particular subject matter anyway and the few that proclaim to share their innermost thoughts are being a bit economical with the truth (thats euphemism for "bold-faced liar")

Now what point was I trying to make with all this...?

Ah Yes... so I WILL eventually share with the whole world (such as it is) the scope of the major happenings in my life but not quite yet. I will also leave the psychological dissertations to people like Brodie Boland. He does it infinitely better!

So WHAT has been going on with me that I can share now? Well... my last post reported laziness on my part and I did have one REALLY lazy weekend but the opposite is now the case as work is in full flow!

The New Zealand Dairy industry is right now in high season, the 4 million odd cows in the country have just calved and their udders are heavy and dripping with milk. This Milk has to be extracted (very humanely and with lots of eye-popping technology), collected, manufactured into cheese (Edam, Cheddar); milk powder (Whole, Skim and Butter); Milk Fat; Butter (salted and unsalted); Casein; and quite a few more dairy products, packed in cartons, bags and drums, shipped into containers and transported across the 140 country sales network.

Now since I sit right in the middle of this huge chain of getting the milk from "Cow-to-Customer" (with particular emphasis on the Middle East and Africa market), the emails have been coming in hard, thick and fast, my phone hardly ever stops ringing and my fax inbox seems to be full no matter how many times I clear it! Product planners, Factory managers, Sales Managers, Account Executives and Logistics planners are in high gear as we work on our constantly evolving (and world class) supply chain network and try to make our customers happy.

I Love My Job!

But it hasnt all been work work work. I finally managed to get my hands on a really cheap car. Which means I have the run of the whole of Auckland without having to rely on the not-so-convenient/reliable public transport system. Or on someone coming to pick me up to go to West Auckland. My social activities have largely been confined to the City Center but now with my Silver Mitsubishi Galant 1997 model (which has seen better days but at least still runs) I can expand my prowling activities to West, South and North Auckland. Check it out...

Dont be deceived by the shine. They apply special polish to make it look better. But like I said at least it runs!

Did I also mention that I played in a Fonterra football team against staff from MAERSK Shipping and TOLL Ltd? I didnt score or any goals but I did huff and puff (and huff and puff some more...) on the mixed team which won the cup eventually. I was supposed to play on the men's team as well but I picked up a knock in my left knee and couldnt continue. (and I was afraid my huffing and puffing might turn into a death wheeze!) First pic above is me in my snazzy jersey!

And here is a group picture of colleagues from work at the company Spring Ball!

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And speaking of football. Chelsea had to come from behind to level scores against Rosenborg of Norway in the UEFA Champions League Round 1 games. Rosenborg probably wouldnt be able to finish in the top half of the English Championship!!! So now in the last 3 games we have played, we have scored a measly 2 goals. This is very worrying. Granted Lampard and Drogba who combined to score about 50 goals last season are out injured but then what is all the prattle about "strength in depth" if other players cannot step up to the plate and take responsibility?

Dont get me wrong.... I think the boys played wonderfully. The Norwegian club was camped in their own half for most of the game and we must have had about 20 shots on and off goal but we need to start scoring goals if we are to move ahead this season.

Long term... the Champions League is sort of our holy grail. We want to win it. And yet I get the feeling that if we dont, the Russian might give Mourinho the boot! And to make it more interesting... if Mourinho does guide us to the ultimate prize in European football, i get the sneaky suspicion he will quit!

We can only wait and see!

Spring Ball Sneak Preview

I have been too damn lazy in the last week to write a post about the rollicking Fonterra Spring Ball which held about a week ago. Actually I have been to damn lazy to do anything else...

I thought I should at least share pictures from the night below.

I was dressed in my morning suit from my brother's wedding and was a bit worried that I might stand out in what was a black-tie event. Well I did stand out and in a very good way too.

One person commented that I happened to be the best dressed man she had been introduced to the whole evening. Hahahahahaha.

And Yes there were other males at the ball. None of my pictures with them seems to have made it into my collection though.

A Wonderful Wild Animal Story...

Make sure you read to the end!
I am almost over-whelmed with "heartwarming" stories through email, and I apologize for making you read this, but this one is truly interesting...



In 1986, Mike Matheson was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University.

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Mike approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and when he inspected the elephant's foot he found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Mike worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Mike stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.

Mike never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Mike was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenage son, Tommy. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mike and Tommy were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mike, lifted its front foot off the ground, and then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man. Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mike couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Mike summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mik e's legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.