I can still taste the candy!

I recently came across this great story:

There was an old man who was admitted to the hospital.
A young man visited him every day, and sat with him for more than one hour.
He helped him eat his food, and take his shower.
Then he took him walking in the garden of the hospital.
After that he brought him back to his room and helped him to lie down.
He then left after making sure the old man was well.

One day the nurse entered his room, to give him medicine and inspect his condition, and said to him:

"May the Lord be always gracious to your kind and caring son. Every day he visits you and shows great care."

He looked at her and closed his eyes and said to her:

"I wish it was one of my children. This is an orphan from the neighborhood where we live. I met him one day, crying at the door of a Masjid, after his father died. I comforted him and bought for him candy. I neither saw him nor talked to him for a very long time.

When he grew up and came to discover where my wife and I were living. He was visiting us every day to inspect our conditions. When I later fell sick, he took my old wife to his home. He then comes to the hospital to see my treatment everyday. One day I asked him: My son why do you have to deal with us and care about us?

He simply smiled and said: I can still taste the candy."

Should you board your windows before the Hurricane ?

Boarding your widows before the arrival of a Hurricane is one question that has eluded definitive answers from "the Google".

The basic idea is that your windows may not survive the hurricane, so it may be prudent to 'board them up' usually using plywood, but if you cannot get those, you can use fencing panels (plywood usually sells out just before hurricanes).

Your windows could be damaged in 2 ways:

• Flying debris fly through your window 
• Window cracks and smashes just because of wind strength

You window may also 'let water through' when you have rain and strong winds.

Many newer houses have windows that are storm rated to some extent.  But that does not necessarily mean they won't get damaged.  For some of the "double glazed windows with gas inside", the gas inside of them can leak out, so they lose any kind of pressure.

Boarding with plywood is also no guarantee that your window will survive.  All depends on the force with which the flying debris hits it.  Boarding with metal storm shutters are safer, but usually need to be ordered well in advance.

As I stated above, "The Google" does not know the answer to this question. 

My strategy has been to:

• Make sure I have enough plywood, tools and supplies to board my windows
• Keep an eye on what the neighbors are doing
• If my gut tells me I need to board, then I do

I have been in Florida since 2005 and have not boarded my windows yet, and not had any damage.

Hajj 2018

Hajj

My wife and I went to the Hajj pilgrimage in 2018. It was definitely a once in a lifetime trip. We made the decision to go at fairly short notice, so there was not much in terms of extensive preparations, but it all went well.

There are many articles on how best to prepare for the Hajj, and I referred to them for our preparations.

One item we had difficulty finding was antiperspirant with no fragrance, because for part of the pilgrimage, the wearing of perfume is not permitted. We eventually got some from a pharmacy in Medina. So if you get stuck like us and were not able to get some from your home country, you could get it in Saudi Arabia and a pharmacy may be a good bet.  The one we got was from Louis Widmer :

Mette lor Dum !

"Mette lor Dum !" is an expression in Kréol Morisiyen to refer to a specific stage in the cooking of a Biriani (typically at a wedding feast - in the large 'Degs') in Mauritius. The Indian equivalent (specifically Hyderabadi) is to dum cooking.

See my earlier post for pictures of Degs and Biriyani at a Mauritian wedding.

Dampokhtak
Asaf-ud-Daula

Mauritian Creole

I am fascinated by many of the words in Mauritian Creole... what they mean and how they came about.

Here are some that I love:

Fiél
Fiél = moxie (="force of character, determination, or nerve.")

Pingét
Adjective applied generally to an 'impertinent' girl

Ti Piment
Adjective applied generally to a 'sharp-tongued' girl


Are there any words you are fascinated with ?