Miscellaneous Forum

The story of the ant and the cricket. Aesop's fables??

Father: "You can do all the things that men can if you want to"

I was tempted towards the slightly flippant, "Don't eat yellow snow" which is still very good advice but to give a more sensible answer bI will have to devote a bit of thought. I am sure I will come up wth something else but my Father, for some years a funeral director / undertaker offered this in relation to corpses. "Don't worry about the dead, they won't do you any harm, it is the living you need to be careful of." I am probably paraphrasing him slightly but that was the gist of it. I'll have a think here.

**I was tempted towards the slightly flippant, "Don't eat yellow snow." You beat me to it!!! My advice...."Get busy living..or get busy dying!"

Live for today, for tomorrow may never come...

This was not given as advice to me, but I learned a lesson from it. My faculty adviser, a PhD, said that originally she wasn't sure she wanted to pursue a graduate degree. She said, "I thought, 'If I do that, I'll be 39 by the time I finish.' But then I realized that even if I didn't go, I'd still be 39."

"Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson

The most important and lasting advice I was given: by a woman who wrote a small book, "So, Who's a Ten in a world of 1-9?" She said, "Assume Good Intent." This means that each of us do what we believe is good for us to do. (It does not mean that everyone has good intentions towards others.) Keeping her advice in mind has helped me understand better why people do what they do. So, I rarely ever get annoyed. :-)

That is really a great way to live your life Linda. Wonderful advice.

Thanks Diane. She was a pretty smart woman, especially about reltationships between people.

I don't follow it most times but it seem to be always timely thus lasting in my mind. From my paternal grandmother: "People, they're both your friend and enemy. When they start making promises, RUN!"

my mom gave me advice mostly by metaphors... don't buy a car until you take it for a test drive

Trust everyone......but cut the cards!

* Never argue with a vehicle larger than yours * You should tell the truth. You just doen't have to tell the whole story (Good advice from a bad person..)

Good thinking DAO. I'll just add to your last, don't argue with a telegraph pole situated unmarked in the middle of the road if you are on a motorcycle. Got the last of the stitches out yesterday.

Where? I mean you.

Banilad, Negros Oriental. It hurt when I woke up.

I wish I could wake up with a headache in the Philippines (again). I woke up with one in London before going to work. I guess its better to sleep in a bar.

My goodness Fergy what exactly happened.

No big deal Diane, but thanks for your concern. Actually, I have no idea what happened even three weeks later. In this place thay have a habit of widening roads (normally as a preface to a local election) but the local power company (in this case the appalling and more than likely illegal Noreco) don't bother to move the power lines accordingly s the poles sit 4 - 6 feet in the road and unmarked. I had ridden that road many many times before so I knew about them but, from what I can gather, I managed to collect a pole which was a damn sight more resilient than either bike or me. I am guessing from previous experience I had probably run right to avoid someone doing a lunatic overtake and clipped it. A Ceres Liner (bus) or cane truck would have been favourite for that as I had been ridden off the road five times before. There had always been somewhere to go before! Anyway, long story short, woke up in Holy Child hospital next day (very good by local standards incidentally and huge thanks to all there for your excellent care and kndnesses) a bit bashed up, a few stitches here and there but nothing to worry about. My right shoulder is still a bit tender as is my sternum but everything else is good. I'm being looked after well by Filipino friends and it is not a problem. Even a couple of stitches in my face has not marred my finely chiselled good looks! Again, thanks for enquiring and I hope to Hevaens my family don't read this, I haven't got up the courage to tell them yet. Really I am OK and it will make for some interesting "road stories" later on. I just wish the road wasn't so damned hard!

Hope you feel better!

Thanks DAO but no need for panic. All stitches finally removed (they missed the ones in my face initially!) thanks to a very wonderful middle aged and obviously very experienced Filipina nurse, totally painless. Bizarrely, a few days befone the accident, I had been listening to absolute horror stories about the state of the local health facilities. Absolute rubbish. For pretty standard injuries like mine I was treated brilliantly within the confines of what is a not particularly well-equipped facility internationally speaking. I say this without any specific medical knowledge. All I know is that I went in there a bit battered, they attended to me wonderfully and looked after my ever need perfectly. I discharged myself a few days later and am now sitting here writing this. That probably says it all.

Fergy, that is no doubt a camp fire story for others to live vicariously. I've seen the inner workings of hospitals in China, India and Spain. Some were pleasant, some not so much. Glad yours had a happy ending.

I am so glad you are okay now. It sounds as though you had good care.

Thanks folks but, as I say, no need for worry. I'm great if a (very) little sore still and the good people of Holy Child looked after me wonderfully within the constraints of where they had to work. No complaints whatsoever and all is good.

Fergy, I too am delighted that you escaped with only a few stiches and had a good time in the hospital! You do know that a facial scar does create a bit of mystery in a man? Lots of people think it adds character. Not to say that I think you need any more then you already have. Heal well, Linda

Thanks Linda and, as I say, please nobody panic about me, I am fine. I wasn't even going to mention it here but I wasn't sure how I could get away with not mentioning it. I really didn't want to freak anyone. I am great, just a little stiff and keeping the remaining (very tiny) wounds well-dressed with iodine solution so they are sterile. Everything is totally under control, believe me. I used to get worse on the rugby field on a Saturday afternoon and I volunteered for that! Again, many thanks to all who have enquired about me, it is genuinely appreciated and provides me with yet another reason, as if I needed one, why I love VT.

Fergy, I for one will not freak out. In fact I wouldn't dwell on the other possible results of driving a motorcycle into a telephone pole. However, I do think it is polite to express sincere concern before starting to "razz" a friend about the sagacity of challenging such a pole to a duel.

Razz away dear girl, you would not believe the friendly abuse I have had from all the bikers here, many of whom came to see me in hosptital. I have been called everything from a c*** rider to things that will never be printed here and rightly so. Bang, there goes another pre-conceived and totally erroneous notion about bikers. I had so many offers of financial and / or practical assistance (lifts home, arranging flights, home helps etc.) it was unreal. I had members from several dfferent clubs come to see me and it was hugely appreciated. I am not affiliated to any club here, I have not been here long enough although I know a lot of guys from various clubs and am on good terms with them all. The very fact theyv even turned up to see me was hugely surprising. In the unlikely event of any of you guys reading this, thanks a million, it meant a lot.

Fergy, the bikers in clubs here, are like that too. They are usually pretty civic minded too. I'm glad they were there for you.