Bits and bobs

A joke apparently attributed to former UN Secretary General Perez De Cuellar. When asked how many people worked at The United Nations he replied 'about half of them'. I met the good half this week.

Does it annoy you when people insist on putting 'lol' on their emails, messages, blogs etc? I had to look this up tonight. It means 'laughing out loud'. If you have to put this sort of mindless stuff in what you write I think you probably need a personality transplant. Or a wider ranging vocabulary. Or both.

Tonight, as I checked back in to my hotel - The Ibo Lele in Petionville, Haiti - the lady in reception offered a 'massage', with eyes raised on the word 'massage'. I walked off and ten minutes later she was on the phone to my room. Non merci. Do I look that lonely? Or desperate? Or perhaps she was.

My final night in Haiti. 'When was the last time you did something for the first time?' For me this was a view of the world I had never seen before. Of course, the next time I come it won't quite be the same. First time experiences in life mean everything. From birth right up to death. Perhaps Darfur next? Or DR Congo? Or East Timor?