Trinbago Techie

It is a rainy morning in Trinidad. It is gloomy and cold and wet and my spot on the ground bed looking through the front door is cozy and relaxing. I am thinking about something I said earlier, "Politics has ruined us .... We can't fix our problems if the politics does not change and the politics wont change if the people dont change and demand change .... Sometimes I look to the next generation but then I see that they are being molded in the same ways as the current generation." There is a lot of despair and complaining and finger pointing which only makes things worse. I asked my friend Bard, how do we break the cycle? We need to focus on solutions more than the problems. We need to listen to those who have good ideas and can think smartly about problem solving. We need to support those who are working to make things better. We need to practice gratitude. I think this is in short supply and ingratitude only makes things worse. We need to take responsibility for the thi

I am no stranger to losing weight and eating healthy and getting fit. I have done it several times but some how I lose myself and have to start again. But I keep trying and I am not giving up. One of the best pieces of advice I heard recently was to focus on the next pound. Losing just one pound is easy. You are not losing thirty pounds, you are losing one pound, thirty times. It has been forteen days and I have lost three pounds. I have been eating three simple meals a day. No drinks, only water. And no snacks. Everyday I am doing chores around the house that count as my exercise. My sleep has been spotty and getting better and I am getting good naps in the day. One of the major benefits of eating healthier and exercising is that I feel good. I like doing this kind of thing. I like challenging myself. I like working on myself. I like making myself better. I came across a few persons on tik tok who lost weight and their stories inspire me. Always think that your story and journey will

If I am someone with an idea in Trinidad that I think is game changing, disruptive and innovative, all the buzz words, how do I move forward with this idea? I asked my friend Bard this question and he came back with some good points. Firstly, I must refine and validate my idea. I must clearly define the problem I aim to solve and the unique value proposition my solution offers. I must conduct market research to assess the demand. Then develop a business plan, protect my intellectual property, assemble a strong team, seek funding, develop a prototype or minimal viable product, market and promote, and embrace feedback and adapt. The way forward seems obvious and solid but it is a lot of work, plenty of risk taking and no guarantee for success. For all the success stories we have there are even more stories of startups that went under. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. My friend Bard has some advice for us. Pursue your idea with unwavering passion and a deep belief in its potenti

I was stoked to be reading this book. It comes with good reviews and it is meant to be uplifting. I do not view success like most people do. The simple and ordinary and every day equates to success to me most of the time. Sometimes I dream big but then settle back into the ordinary. I have peace of mind and I am content. I like the idea that health could be related to community, something that modernity has been moving away from. The book starts with a story about how community and values affects who we are and how this relates to success. From the get go it was clear what the book is about. Outliers. Persons who do things out of the ordinary. We may think of success as grit and talent but we owe a lot to our circumstances. I like that the book draws attention to this because we will be less hard on others and ourselves and we should want to level the playing field. We are asked to think about how people are given systematic advantages to progress in life. I like this quote from the bo

This is a chapter from my third book called Love letters This is the last chapter of this book. It took me almost two weeks to complete this book. I am at peace with what I have written. This has been a learning affair. This has been a love affair. If love is the meaning of life, then peace is the language which is made up of love letters. I found out about the Letters of Peace project and it touched my heart. My friend Bard tells me that the project is a non-profit that fosters constructive dialogue and promotes peace-building through creative writing workshops. Raffi Wartanian is a writer and educator who wants to bridge the divides between communities affected by conflict. So he founded this project in twenty seventeen. Young people from opposing sides of conflicts write and exchange letters expressing their hopes, fears, and dreams for a peaceful future. This is the power of words and the power of writing. When I started writing this book I had no idea how it would turn out or what

This is a chapter from my third book called Love letters I do not know if there are other writers who share their chapters online as they write them. I come from a blogging background so it feels quite normal to do this. My blog readers come from a diverse listing of countries according to my blog statistics. Most are from Trinidad and Tobago and the United States but there are other countries like Luxembourg, Iran, Colombia, Singapore and France. For the past month I have gotten over two thousand views but I do not have stats for RSS readers. I love that my books are freely available for download from my blog and discoverable through search engines. I already have the title of my first chapter in my next book called "Freedom". It is called "The happiest day of my life" and there is a twist. I appreciate the comments, messages and likes. I would like to get a laptop so that I could continue work on my second book, "Learning to code again". We will see how

This is a chapter from my third book called Love letters The first day of Ramadan for us in Trinidad this year was on the twenty third of March and I tweeted, "Calm and peaceful first day of Ramadan." On the nineteenth of April (the fourth month) I wrote my *blog post "Soften my heart" where it was almost the end of Ramadan and I was pondering the question, what do I want to achieve? Somehow the numbers 19 and 23 show up again. Maybe coincidence or maybe the universe talking to me. Nonetheless, the main thing that I wanted to do was to soften my heart. When I was younger and I stayed by my uncle's place in San Fernando I would attempt to fast some days. I would also attend nightly prayers (or Taraweeh). As a small child staying awake was a challenge especially after a hearty meal. The desert was the most exciting part of the meal (or iftar). I remember playing in the yard of the masjid on Mucurapo street. One day I got a buss head because my friend was careless