Exactly one year ago, my then 16 year old son shared his thoughts with me on how our political system was (not) serving us. I was impressed that such matters were actually occupying his mind, and I encouraged him to write down his thoughts. He wrote this last year and sent to our two main newspapers, but they didn’t publish it. We’re 2 days away from our next general election and I thought it timely to share his words on this platform. Here are the thoughts on representation of the people from my son, Nicholas in his own words.
Continue reading The Case for Constitutional Reform: thoughts from a 16 yo in JamaicaAuthor: Kelly McIntosh
Of death, Life, growing old and Family: Reflections on Aunt Phyll
Aunt Phyll passed away June 15 this year. She was living in a retirement home. She was to be 97 years in 2 months. Aunt Phyll didn’t have children of her own, and at the age of 97, she didn’t have peers in this life to gather and mourn her passing. She had relatives though, scattered across the world and a few right here in Jamaica. So at the behest of the family matriarch residing here in Jamaica, we gathered last week Saturday to celebrate and honour Aunt Phyll’s life. A grand total of four of us assembled, masks on, six feet apart to speak about Aunt Phyll and mark her passing with respect. And it got me thinking…
Continue reading Of death, Life, growing old and Family: Reflections on Aunt Phyll
Life In The Time of COVID Jamaica style: AN UPDATE
In my last blog post, I took the pulse of members of my immediate family in terms of how they were coping with the pandemic and their thoughts on the predicament that planet was plunged into. This was 6 weeks ago, and we had reported 469 cases of COVID-19, 9 of which had died from the disease. We were under lock-down, working from home, unable to go to the beach, and not certain as to what “normal” would look like. I decided to check in once again as more time has elapsed, and here in Jamaica, as with countries all over the world, we appear to have entered a new phase in our response to COVID-19. People are still getting sick, people are still dying, but the restrictions imposed here in the west as at end March are being loosened. Heck, Jamaica welcomed tourists June 15 for the first time in months! So I wanted to see how my people were feeling, what their thoughts were with respect to this impending “new normal” and just how they’re coping as at now.
Continue reading Life In The Time of COVID Jamaica style: AN UPDATE
Life in the time of COVID Jamaica Style: A snapshot.
Who would have thunk that we’d be here as a planet today? The entire world is grappling with a pandemic which is killing people, decimating economies and baffling scientists. When China first reported this new virus impacting parts of its population earlier this year, I don’t think many of us thought that it would touch us at all. It was a virus, all the way over there. Yet here we are…locked-down, quarantined, working from home, masking up and asking how will this end and when will it end. And guess what? Choose a country, any country anywhere in the world, and someone there is asking those very same questions. It feels as if everything has happened so fast and many of us are just trying to catch our breath and COPE. While I’ve been doing my best to cope, I’ve also been concerned about our children and how they have been coping with this upheaval. So I decided to check in with them and document it as a sort of personal snapshot of COVID-19 in Jamaica. For posterity.
Continue reading Life in the time of COVID Jamaica Style: A snapshot.
Creamy Callaloo Coconut Soup: Keto Comfort
It is April 15 2020 and if feels like the entire world is in a state of upheaval. The way we have lived up until now has been upended; schools are out, classes are online, more of us a working from home, we’re wearing masks and joining lines to get into supermarkets. People have lost jobs, businesses have folded, whole sectors are in jeopardy of collapse. And most of all, people are dying…have died. This virus seems to have appeared out of nowhere and with no cure or vaccine in sight, it’s hard to ensvision how this ends and what our world will be like when it does end. This is an unsettling and uncertain time, and many are turning to food for comfort. But now is not the time to binge eat those foods that make us more susceptible to the ravages of COVID-19. Here’s a budget friendly, creamy, low-carb soup that will satisfy that need for warmth and comfort.
Continue reading Creamy Callaloo Coconut Soup: Keto Comfort
Why aren’t you working from home right now? Life in the time of COVID.
Are you an employee working from home right now? If you are not, why is this so? Are you working on a production line? Are you delivering a tangible to a customer? If not, why aren’t you working from home?
Many years ago I was employed to one of the more forward thinking organizations in Jamaica. I was part of an initiative that saw several of us being trained in forming Business Continuity Plans. This plan was formed in order to keep business running in the face of any kind of business interruption (natural disaster, civil unrest, etc.) We also had to test it, and it was in executing these simulations and tests that I designed that I came up against what I consider to be the biggest obstacle to so many in the work force being able to work remotely: management attitudes. Sigh.
Continue reading Why aren’t you working from home right now? Life in the time of COVID.
Meaningless Guaranteed Standards: My Interaction with JPSCo Ltd.
We had a power cut at our residence on Sunday March 8 2020 at 5:00pm. Service was restored some 17 hours later on Monday March 9, at a little after 10:00am. This was the second such extended power cut in only weeks. In following up on this particular outage, I called JPSCo’s 888 Customer Care line at 7:00am on the Monday morning. I provided the requisite evidence of our initial report the evening before and the response that I got on Monday morning from the customer care agent compelled me to document the entire ordeal and it got me thinking…
Continue reading Meaningless Guaranteed Standards: My Interaction with JPSCo Ltd.
Public Transport Woes in 2020 Jamaica
Public transport in and around Jamaica takes various forms depending on where you’re located and where you want to go. Three people close to me have been sharing their experiences using public transport and it got me thinking. I compared their stories to my own experiences back in the day (3 or so decades ago) and asked myself: Have we progressed? Are our citizens & school children able to move around comfortably and safely at a reasonable cost? Why even contemplate these issues, Kelly, I hear you asking. Get a car! But aren’t you the same one complaining about the horrendous traffic in Kingston? And stressing out in your car when New Kingston becomes a parking lot evening after evening? What is the inevitable result if we all move around in private cars in order to avoid the public transport system?
Continue reading Public Transport Woes in 2020 Jamaica
Weight Loss on Keto & A Life Brought into Alignment: Naki’s Story.
She’s in her late 30s. She lives and works right here in Jamaica. All her life she tried to lose weight. Spoiler alert: SHE DID! Her story of how she finally did it is absolutely inspiring. Her name is Naki. And there’s so much about Naki’s story that I identify with. Perhaps you’ll find parallels with Naki’s story too. It is my privilege to share her story. I am grateful for her willingness to be open and her generosity in sharing her journey. Naki’s story is about a body and a life “right-sized”. Let’s go!
WARNING: I use the word “fat”, and I do so with understanding, compassion and a huge dose of keeping it real. If you know my own story, you will understand that I of all people, truly get it, and that my using the word “fat” is never a condemnation or a judgement.
Photo courtesy Naki’s private collection
Buy Jamaican, Eat Jamaican, even on Keto! My favourite Jamaican keto products.
There are some things that I have incorporated on my weight-loss journey that have made things so much easier and more enjoyable. That they are local makes me enjoy them even more. Buying and eating Jamaican as much as possible should be our goal. Here are 13 things that I’m crushing on while I’m on my keto journey here in the beautiful island of Jamaica. Presented in no particular order, here they are. I hope you find inspiration and ideas that you can incorporate on your own journey.
Continue reading Buy Jamaican, Eat Jamaican, even on Keto! My favourite Jamaican keto products.