THE Anniversary

It's the 40th Anniversary of the revolution here and it's the second day of public holidays, given that it's Ramadan, there's not an awful lot to do.

Tripoli is looking pretty good at the moment with the street decorations, the houses on the main streets have all received a coat of fresh, white paint and a lot of the rubbish has been cleaned up off the streets. That's one of the "little" things that I find it difficult to understand, the amount of litter on the streets, in the parks and worst of all on the beaches.

We went for a walk a few days ago, before Mrs. Dadfap was sent home, oh yeah on that. The government has commandeered a number of the hotels to accommodate "official guests" of the above mentioned celebrations so out we went, some home, some to alternative accomodation and some to ....................?

Anyway. back to the walk, we were out and about down by the old city and wandering about the back streets when we spotted some guys at work. These were coppersmiths and were working in typical street side style, open to everything. Anyway, they were intresting to watch at work while a shop keeper tried to get Mrs. Dadfap to part with some money, not likley sport! We were in Tangiers once and the shopkeeper told me that my wife bargained like a Bedouin woman, saves me plenty, she does! If she doesn't think it's fair then no sale, simple as that!

The more observant of you will no doubt have noticed the use of all of the necessary protective clothing that one would expect a person working in that environment to be wearing. Take a look at the item that was sent to me this morning by a colleague and see if you can figure out what the guy would have done in this instance. It's maybe a tad dated but it's still pertinent:

Melrose Drive, Tullamarine, Victoria, AU - January 16,2006, 14:35 hours: Highway patrol pulls over a Workcover inspector for doing 68 km/hr in a 60 km/hr zone. Workcovcr inspector says nothing and cops the $120 fine sweet. Policeman finishes writing ticket and proceeds back to his car. Workcover inspector gets digital camera out of bag, photographs the cop and proceeds to the police car - and issues the policeman with an $800 fine for not wearing his high-visibility vest when leaving his vehicle in a high-traffic area.

One thing that I've noticed here that's puzzled me, where are the bloody seagulls??? This is a coastal city yet I am yet to see a seagull. Not at the docks, not at the fish markets and not at the beach. One of the mysteries to ponder on when you're day dreaming!

Cheers

DADFAP