No pork no glory!

Sundays are usually slow.

So, I made my way to work and found that I was one of the early birds. So, when I chilled out with my buddy Andrew at his desk, I took a copy of the New Straits Times and browsed through it.It was Saturday's issue and I came across an interesting article about a German food outlet in Capital Square.

It was written by a reporter in the 'Six' section (Started by me when I moved to Straits Times from the Malay Mail) who uses a pseudonym.

Now, what struck me was the fact that a picture of pork was used. Sometime back, I was told by the management there that usage of food depicting non-halal dishes should be stopped.

The NST it seems, cannot glorify the consumption of pork.

To add more irony to this, the writer who penned out the particular piece is a Malay lady. I know this for a fact because she was brought in by the former Life and Times editor who oversees the NST's feature section as well as other important leisure products of the daily.

The said writer uses her real name and pseudonym for reasons that are very clear: alcohol and pork are no-nos for a Muslim reporter.

I don't know if she actually ate pork knuckles and bacon in her feature article, but her pseudonym appears frequently in stories that glorifies drinking and pork eating.

So, what happened to the blanket ban on glorifying pork consumption? Better still, did the NST honchos knew that one of their Malay writer is happily boozing away and at the same time, glorifying pork dishes they openly detest?

Again, I am puzzled. If I read between the lines, the racist slant plays its role. Non-Malays cannot write about non-halal food while the Malays are getting away with it.

This is very wrong.

Anyways, all good things said and done, the writer was smart enough to use a pseudonym to drink beer and eat pork rather than doing it outright in the open, so, who says eating pork is bad?

The suckage..

I was told that my 'You SUCK!' heckling became a subject of controversy.

Some of my colleagues were not happy with the loud statement and that such was raised to the boss for a reprimand.

True that during the 'moment' when I heckled some of the guys, I was pumped with beer. Nevertheless, the word 'suck' was not seen as cool thing to say.

So, that said, I have to watch with total restraint from using the word: "You SUCK!" to prevent more mayhem and disunity among my co-workers.

NOTE TO SELF: "Do not dispense such words uncessarily even if the person sucks. Use the word 'SUCK' sparingly or live in a world of suck. It will be hard to 'un-suck' the things I have said."

Inkjet cartridges suck!

After replacing my ageing Epson photo printer, I invested in a five ink Canon photo printer system.

It wasn't as pricey as the older printer and yields some really amazing results. But there was a catch. The replacement cartridges are fucking expensive!

I paid nearly RM200 to replace four colour cartridges and well, after doing a deep printer head cleaning, the results are as good as I first got it.

With an exception for the first A4 sized print I made of shot taken at last weekend's team-building event.

It was kinda soft and fuzzy. I guess that it was the printer setting and paper quality. Later, I replaced the medium to a higher quality gloss paper and was amazed at the results.

From the looks of it, the Canon printer is gonna be serving my needs for a while till another better and more economic one comes around..

Rapaee Kawi 1958 - 2009

The late Rapaee Kawi was a man of great distinction and achievements.

He passed away yesterday morning at the age of 51. I met him when I was a staff photographer at the Star back in the early 90s.

Apai, as he is endearingly known, was under internship with PERHEBAT as a photographer with Berita Harian where he served for a few years.

He was an enlisted man and had a passion for adventure.

Later, he moved to the Star and settled down in Sarawak, his hometown.

He will be best remembered as a jovial guy who dedicated much effort to his work that earned him numerous awards.

Apai's sudden death was a shock to the journalism fraternity. It was a great loss. May God bless his soul and Apai my friend, travel well with God speed.

The meaning of hardship

As told to me, my grandparents immigrated from Southern China to Malaya with a dream to settle down.They were orphans and there is no way for me to trace their origins. When my grandad moved to the Klang
Valley from Perak, he resided with my grandma in the Ampang area.They worked for an expatriate family and lived in a servant's quarter. There, my dad and my aunt Lorraine grew
up under as a servant's child.To supplement their income, my grandma reared chickens and sold its eggs to the Tuan and Mem besar. My
dad and aunt hardly had good food. They lived on recycling left overs and commodities such as rice, cooking oil and spices are scarce. For a
servant's meager salary, my grandma managed to bring up her children. She had succeeded in raising one generation through the hardship of War. When the Japanese invaded Malaya,
I was told that it was the hardest four years of their lives.Then the British came back to rule Malaya for another 12 years before handing the country back to its rightful
rulers.Nevertheless, my dad's family lived under harsh conditions. It was my aunt who pulled it together by getting a job
at a multinational company. With her salary, she relocated my entire clan to Setapak. I was born in the last year of the 60s and grew up in the
70s under her watchful eyes.By the time I arrived to the world, life was so much better. We had a roof over our head, three square meals a
day.My grandparents do not skip their meals anymore nor they lived on leftovers. But being as they were, granny did
live the rest of her life in the shadow of poverty.It was too much for her after my grandpa died on the operating table in 1974. The burden to maintain the clan
was on my aunt's shoulder.I remember how she complained about doing it all alone. Her wages went to schooling me and my sister. Then,
her adopted sister also lived on her tabs. Till today that is.When I hit my mid-20s, I got my taste of hardship. I was swelling with pride and practically lost in my sense of
direction in life.Unlike what my grandparents and aunt had gone through, mine was entirely different. I was scorned and
humiliated by some people who thought that I was too far gone. At this point in life, I have failed in many aspects. In short, I was in the 'loser' mode. I was angry at myself. Then
something struck me when I recalled the hardship that my grandparents had to endure.What I was going through wasn't even close and taking another look at life from that perspective, I was sure that
after hitting rock bottom, the only way is up.I rebranded myself, repackaged my skills and used that as leverage. It seemed that at the time, my only hope
was to rise to the calling of joining a newspaper and see the world.Which was exactly what I did. Nevertheless, the 15 years that I spent in training saw many ups and downs. I
learned that in life, you can please everybody.And the most important lesson from employment is that one should not be a part of his superior's life. Never let
your co-worker or supervisor dictate how you should run your life.After going through the mill, life got much better. Hardship taught me not to be choosy. I used every opportunity I
had to improvise. My parents never had that chance. They sacrificed a lot to see a better future for their next
generation. I learned that its never easy to trust completely and there are people who take advantage and betray your trust.
Hardship had taught me to size up such a situation. People can test me, but they cannot fuck with me. And for every token that I have earned in the form of toys and experience, no one can say that I am not deserving. When I was down and out, a fellow angler asked why I went through great length to get some good fishing gear
and that over indulgence was not good as I was spending beyond my means. I told him that I worked very hard to earn my keeps and that I have enough to survive. I did not steal or borrow to
get what I want.I can sense that he was sceptical that a lowly reporter can actually do better than an up and coming sales guru.
Too bad, fuck him. Till today, this man is still searching for the answer. Hardship prepares me to be sharp and precise. In life, there is no margin for error. Even if we make mistakes,
we must own up, amend it, and move on with life.Its amazing that with all the rocks and boulders thrown down my path, I still managed to see the world and do
some really amazing things.Best of all, people dig what I have to tell them. I took my failure and turned it into a personal gain. I proved the
sceptics wrong and along the way, made many new friends. Now, I live with my wife and dogs and cannot complain because life is good. There's three square meals and
plenty of room to pursue my past time. I have a life and hobbies that most race race wannabes, has been and never were would envy. And I will do
everything in my ability to protect this.Be as it may, I'm just mid-way through this life journey and cannot predict what lies ahead. But with enough
experience, I would surely pull through. I won't make the same mistakes again and suffer the consequences.Some lessons taught in life is through hardship.

Greed

Greed destroys.Yeah, this is the biblical phrase that works. Over the years, I have seen how greed has brought down some
influential folks. Having greedy friends is another thing. I put up with one such person for many years and realised that there is no
salvation for this greedy bastard.It started with a fishing trip to the Southeastern part of the country and we became friends. I learned that with
greed as a motivation, he used every means possible to climb the corporate ladder.He may be educated with an MBA, highly qualified to do the job, kisses ass and plays his cards well, but the
bottom line is: nobody likes him. Why? He is a fucking greedy bastard.For years, I allowed this guy to have things his way. Each time he pushes his luck, I backed off. But enough is
enough. No more shoving shit.I guess the straw that broke the Camel's back was a trip to the islands where we scored a good catch. He took
everything and his excuse was: "I want to give my father in-law, score points with my clients and bla-bla-bla..."And when I was doing equipment review, he even had the audacity to ask for a diving watch."Hey, I can review the watch and keep it right?"I'd completely ignored the guy. And guess what? Just when I thought I was out, I saw his name in Facebook. Well,
how about that? Fuck him!My father had taught me not to be greedy. Today, I value his words because I have seen the extent of the
damage on what greed can do to a guy...

Over to you Mr Toad...

I was making a beeline to work on Monday and heard over the radio that John Toad, a former manager of a racing team has been made tourism ambassador of Malaysia.

My initial reaction was: "What the fuck????". The justification given by the Government on this was: "Mr Toad is famous and therefore, can influence more people to travel to Malaysia.

"Its true that his girlfriend is a famous Malaysian-born actress and that he travelled the world under the premeirship of an Italian auto-maker. That was it.

Ask any kampung fellah who 'John Toad' is, they would probably give you a blank stare. The fact that Mr Toad was given a title and a speedy permanent residentship came under heavy fire from certain quarters.

His appointment as tourism ambassador fuelled more criticism. But really, what does Mr Toad know about Malaysia apart from flying in and out, living in five star hotels, spending most of his time at the racing track and rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous.

Under the banner of Italy's premier auto-maker, everyone wants to know him. But once you leave the fraternity, you joint the ranks of 'has been'.

So, naturally, we being Malaysians do what we know best: forget.

If Mr Toad is paid to endorse Malaysia as a tourism destination, I guess the Government had splurged tax payer's funds on the wrong guy.

The question is: are we paying to feed this bloodsucking Toad? If yes, then its a sad thing for the country. If he does it for free, then we'll have wait and see.

Way I see it - it's only fair to appoint a Malaysian as a spokesman about Malaysia to other parts of the world.
Nobody cares about a recycled Toad or what he can do to promote the country. And best of all, he is not even a Malaysian!

So far so good..

The dust has settled and another day is done.Since my working day actually started on Sunday, what's ahead is a long and winding trip before I embark on a
six-day break beginning May 25.Thankfully, Michelle, my wife had returned from the US without any issues with the H1N1 outbreak which was
reported in Malaysia. "Hey, I am on my way home.." Now, those were comforting words from my wife as she has been away for more
than 11 days.I wish her all the best in the outcome of her professional exams. Meanwhile at work, things kinda eased a bit with
the regional pages that I am tasked to do.So far so good. We have shrunk the pagination down to eight pages with 37% advertisement ratio. This is good
compared to other English dailies in the Klang Valley that is deprived from their main source of revenue.I am glad that we are on track and hope that our advertisers would continue to support us. Been nearly half a year
and things are still looking up.Well, not so for the oldest afternoon paper in the country. I see that they have large holes to fill as there are no
advertisement to make up for it.Sadly, this is the situation and with the share of the pie taken away (internet, cable TV and people not paying for
news anymore) it would be an uphill climb.When the rebranded and relaunced their product last year, I saw plenty of old names brought forth. Way I see it,
there is little point trying to ressucitate something that is dying from the inside.You can recycle and reuse writers and for each one that took off to get along with their lives, there were no
replacement. The result? Mediocrity. Some of the folks who run the paper are out of touch and mostly jaded. They rehashed
news articles from Chinese papers and repackaged it to create a sensation.But really, how long can you fool the paying reader? So keep on plaigarising.All it takes, is a couple of law suits
to bring the house down.This, I can also say for the oldest daily in the country. Its also dead and buried. I am tired of hearing how they
were, what they did and bla, bla, bla. That said, I put this issue of beating the dead horse to rest and hope for the best.

Soggy doggies

My smelly gurl

The kidz lounging at our doorstep

She's turning four this year

The kidz are starting to smell.

I haven't bathed them for a week and well, tomorrow is the day. There's ample supply of doggy shampoo and the great morning sun ought to dry their double coat by mid-day.

Anyways, I felt that the gurl is getting more sticky these days. She will fight for attention with the boy and her size advantage proved to be the deciding factor.

Its hard to believe that the boy will be turning five this year and my gurl will be four. Time flies!

Swamp dawgs

I've been following the Pulau Ketam issue on dog-dumping.

Firsrtly, there has been an outburst of emotion on the issue and some independant rescuers took matters into their own hands to save the marooned mutts.

Way I see it, strays are the most resilient pooches around. You can chuck them anywhere and chances are, a handful will live to see tomorrow.

Dead dogs in the swampy area called Pulau Tengah where the dogs were marooned, was an indication and only the strong will survive.

The rescue attempt also saw some prominence in the media.

Whether the folks were genuine in thier mission, there are other issues arising from relocating the rescued pooches.

I believe that the surviving dogs will continue to thrive in their hostile environment no matter what.

Their instincts will get them through the toughest situation.Now that the whole thing has gone out of proportion, some quarters are alleging that the independant rescue body is soliciting funds for the cause and that the move is illegal.

Again, the integrity of the people who conducted the rescue is in question. So, are they doing it for personal glory? Or for the sake of humanity?

Lunch with Mr Kee

Wantan and swey kou

ngou lam meen

Mr Kee, my old friend

Aaaaahhhh... Another day on the desk.

This afternoon, I took an early lunch break with an old friend Mr Kee Thuan Chye. He wanted to try out Section 17's Kai Pei Hor Fun but when we got there, they have ran out of this dish.

The old fart manning the hor fun stall was shouting: "Mou chor lah.." (no more). He had this fart face with a PMS attitude. So, fuck him!

So, as a contingency plan, we shot off to SS4 in Kelana Jaya for some seafood noodles. No luck. Later, I suggested Curry Wong's hor fun at Sunway Mentari Business Park, it was closed.

Frustrated, Mr Kee and I went to Wong Soon Kee in SS15, Subang Jaya. There, we had some wantan noodles.

I ordered a plate of kwon lou ngau lam meen (braised beef noodles with dry gravy).

The meal was good and since this was Mr Kee's treat, it became a memorable experience. I told him that I would take him to Ohta-san's yakitori bar at SS15 in Subang Jaya as a farewell treat.

He is also retiring this month and I wish him all the best. Mr Kee and I served at the New Straits Times some years back.

After a long stint there, he moved to The Star and became an Associate Editor over there. My return to The Star was a re-union with this legendary playwright, author and actor.

The G-10 has arrived...

My Canon Powershot G-10 is finally here.After nearly a month in waiting, the camera arrived at my desk today. This will be my fifth G-series compact
digital camera and after cycling through a number of them, I found that many improvements was done to the
hardware.The only beef I had with this new machine, is the battery. To get it going without much recharging, I need two
more spare batteries. Since it was paid in full by my company, Canon had missed out the battery. I was also told that there is a
backorder for the batteries and the wait may take more than a month.As a start, the G-10 will see some action in my food trail and since the G-9 and its predecessor the G-7 is now
officially retired from active duty, it will be used in my offshore adventures.I will post pictures as the G-10 is put to test.

Star Trek

I saw 'Star Trek' yesterday noon and I liked it.Its a brand new franchise featuring some new faces and the theme of saving the universe. This outing was also
Leonard Nimoy's finest hour - reprising his role as 'Spock'.What's worth mentioning is the seamless action scenes and a cool ending. Star Trek tells the origin of James T
Kirk, Spock and how the crew of USS Enterprise first came together.Noteworthy is the hot chick playing Uhura and her green skinned room mate. I'd say that this flick is much better
than the last Trek movie: Star Trek Nemesis which was a turkey.One thing that is for sure is that I'll never get tired of the original characters like Jim Kirk, Spock, Sarek, Bones
McCoy, Scotty, Sulu and Uhura.

The week that was..

A blurry shot of  Ryota-san

Ika sorumen

Raw squid slices at its best..

Squid sashimi

Wow! I must have hibernated the whole day.

The fresh squids are neatly vacuum packed and frozen. When Mrs Samo is back, we'll have some barbequeued squid.

Anyways, I caught up with Ryota Hazishume for dinner and a couple of beers. He was very happy with the results and well, by the time I caught hold of him, he was already pissed drunk.

We had dinner at a new Japanese tonkatsu place in SS15, Subang Jaya. Pretty cool tonkatsu (pork cutlet) and some tasty squid sashimi. 

I also tried out this new dish called ika sorumen. Kinda interesting cos its squid shredded like noodles and eaten raw.

Since the squids are fresh, its also very sweet and crunchy. I met this very friendly Japanese guy and his family who thanked Ryota-san for all the squid.

Then, there was this chinaman who married a Jap who wasn't that hospitable, he kept pushing the squid sashimi to the Jap dude. 

Anyway fuck the old bugger. Ryota-san was on autopilot when I left the food outlet. I hope someone would send him home.

Squid mission accomplished..

The score - an indo-pacific sailfish

A great start for this year's squid adventure

I think I can sleep the whole day. 

My squid jigging outing had turned out to be one helluva ride. Two storms at night, and a helluva haul including the bonus sailfish we landed off the shores of Kemaman, Terengganu.

Lucky for me, we had an excellent boatman who did an awesome job hitting the squid shoals. 

From bite-sized to giant ones, we scored at least 30kgs of fresh squids. The moment was a sailfish who took our live bait. 

Our skipper took just 15 minutes to land this sucker which was already dying. Its guts was hanging out of its mouth.

Despite the storm and an early departure to KL, this is perhaps one of the best outing for this year. 

Spare the motherfuckers who stood us up, the saving grace is the fact that we have a smaller vessel and a guy who knows his job: to find squid! *hoooyaah!* 

And tonite, my squid-jigging buddy Ryota Hazishume and I are going to celebrate with some squid sashimi, tempura and tonkatsu!

Squid on brother!!!

I just got word from Pak Ibrahim, my boatman -- that all is set for this weekend's squid outing.

He told me not to worry about the wind conditions and that the squids are in.

Its just waiting for me and Ryota to sack the loot.

With only two days away, I very upbeat about the trip. Although the squid posse has been slashed down to two person, Ryota-san, my jigging mate told me that he's good to go.

All that's left to do, is getting some provision which I will do in Kuantan, then preparation for the long haul to Kemaman, Terengganu.

One of the guys who pulled out wanted me to arrange a trip for him next week. Fuck him! Fingers crossed, I hope to have a good haul at the beginning of the east coast squid season.

Squid on brother!!!

I just got word from Pak Ibrahim, my boatman -- that all is set for this weekend's squid outing.

He told me not to worry about the wind conditions and that the squids are in.

Its just waiting for me and Ryota to sack the loot.

With only two days away, I very upbeat about the trip. Although the squid posse has been slashed down to two person, Ryota-san, my jigging mate told me that he's good to go.

All that's left to do, is getting some provision which I will do in Kuantan, then preparation for the long haul to Kemaman, Terengganu.

One of the guys who pulled out wanted me to arrange a trip for him next week. Fuck him! Fingers crossed, I hope to have a good haul at the beginning of the east coast squid season.

Demonised

Oh brother!

Just when I thought it was safe to hit my keyboard, someone from the bureaus had circulated a short message, telling the bosses that I am incompetent.

How about that? Sure, the bosses have noticed and since this is coming only from one person, his attempt to demonise me has been fruitful.

Nevertheless, my stand on this is: "Fuck you bony ass!". I may have used a lot of wire stories from the east coast for the regional pages.

Why? Because not all the bureau guys deliver.

They are not consistant and the guy who complained also expects a lot. So, fuck him. If I face the music, I have my reasons to justify for the use of wire stories.

The regional pages are not about temples, half-assed stories about local politicians and some illegible crap. It has to be more than that.

I hope my detractor can prove me wrong.

'Overzealous'

Adj. 1. overzealous - marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea; "rabid isolationist"
fanatic, fanatical, rabid
passionate - having or expressing strong emotions wn()
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2008 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

A bureau chief from the east coast had sent a short message to my colleague that reads:

"Dear, so and so, I understand that you are the OC for today. Please use my centrespread stories becuase some overzealous OC is doing things his way.. bla-bla-bla."

I don't take comments like such to the heart and let it fuck up my day. As a matter of fact, the said bureau chief has been sending crap stories from his station and for the lack of it, I used Bernama wire stories to fill in the gap.

Not that I have any choice, the selection of stories from this particular bureau is very poor. I have to put up with bad copies and crappy pictures, but ass-licking and ball-carrying stories on state politicians and so on.

The guy was pissed off because he didn't get any by-line for his stories and that there were a host of Bernama reports that made him look really bad.

Way I see it, the issue here is not about nit-picking or victimising people. If they do their work properly, they will be rewarded. If they slack, they have to answer.

And I think that sending a short message to another person on the desk to bitch about a person's inefficiency is totally uncouth. So, the long term solution is: "Fuck him!".

Squid trip - plan B

Three more days.That's how much longer I must wait to get a taste of the salt spray from the South China sea. But as my
squid-jigging trip draws closer, I can sense that its just gonna be me and my Japanese squid buddy Ryota
Hazishume. I've planned this since late last year and had secured a boat which I would gladly share with Ryota-san. Initially,
we had two more people on the list but I guess my other friend is going to stand me up big time.My only hope now, is to split the cost with Ryota and I guess we are gonna pull through. The fewer people the
better but when it comes to cost, it will take a bite out of my wallet.But since I was rather prudent on last month's spending, the cost would be easily offset by some money stashed
aside for this.Hopefully, things would turn out fine. In the east coast, the ChanHom tropical storm had battered Vietnam's coast
and the winds have blown down to Sabah.Windy conditions are expected to last till Sunday. So, with the weather forecast in view, we'll have to see if the
beginning of the squid season can land us a good catch or otherwise.

The book

My buddy Mr Kee wanted to know if I am interested in writing a book.I told him that I was too lazy to do so. There has been too many food guides in the country and personal memoirs
by reporters and writers.A book would be the launching pad for any journo's career and being a published author is certainly an ego
boost. Right now, I don't need any. But I have got some ideas for the later years. I still feel that as a writer, I need to build
my following.As far as food is concerned, I've been doing it for a few years. I have yet to gauge the following or folks who
actually bother to scrutinise my work.Yet, people do chime in to give their two cents worth. Most were good and a few rather abrasive remarks were
made.I agree that the readers are important because without their support, the paper or book wouldn't sell. And having
known the industry over the years, I knew who were the real deal and the bogus shit artists.Its not hard to sniff them out because it shows in their work. The good ones are products of passion and after
going through some weblogs on the subject, I found that at least one or two part time writers are passionate
about their work.They may not be trained for the task, but the enthusiasm and willingness to improve made up for it. As for me, a
book on food is certainly far from reach. Good writers are not easily found, but they can be groomed. At this point in life -- that's how I see it.

The Hoax

Never listen to rumours.Especially when it comes to financial rewards. A month ago, news about a month's gratuity payment had spread like wildfire. The folks at my workplace had placed some bets on getting some extra moolah in their April paycheck. Sadly, nothing came through.Short of a grinding halt, many are cursing the top honcho for allegedly making a hint. Way I see it, I can still survive and with the last pay cut on my taxes, I can breathe easy.So, technically speaking, two thirds of my wages would go into repayment of loan, debts and utilities. This leaves very little for savings. Last month, I was glad to have some cash stashed aside to pay for my vehicle's road tax. It took a big chunk away and I can immediately see my bank balance shrinking. Won't be another few months till things would float back into the black. That said, at the mean time, I had to trim the fat and go on a very lean budget.A huge portion of May's expenditure will go into the squid trip. To offset the cost, I sold some knives. While keeping things at a bare minimum, my hope is to pull through this month without a hitch.

Next?

Wow! Three days had gone by and tomorrow morning, I have to send my wife to the airport and see her off.She'll be going to the US to complete the final part of her accredidation exam with the National Association of Corrosion Engineers.Michelle has been studying hard for this and I wish her success. Back at work, I've completed three days of my duties manning the regional pages.The guys in the bureaus were shocked to hear that their former liaison is no longer with the section. While most of them are groping in the dark, the execs in my section are taking turns to man the desk till a replacement is found by early June.Meanwhile, I caught up with an old friend who is retiring this month. We've known each other for nearly 15 years. He's also a published author, playwright and actor.In between meals, he told me that he has no set plans after retirement, but acknowledged my question about employment.Since both his kids are going to University, there's a huge pile of bills to settle. At 55, life is only at the crossroads for this guy.Later, I caught up with my ex-colleague and had tea. We spoke about the ripples in our former workplace where an ex-honcho is said to be hired to 'steer' the machinery out of its rut.Nothing but profanities came out of the whole conversation and well, for their sake, I guess its game-over. Today, the tabloid is doing around 100,000 copies daily and falling.With the new guy at helm, its pretty much expected that he too will ressurect some former cronies who were given the golden handshake.As my buddy puts it: "Its a place even maggots would find hard to survive.." Well, I concur with the statement and right now, I can only wait to see what is their next move.