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2001 and Counting
News from the Honduras Bay Islands and North Coast
29
December 2000
By
Pierre Renaldo, The
CoastwatcherŠ
Last year at this time everything and everybody was in a hubbub
over the millenium 2000 ballyhoo. Do you remember all that
hype and smoke blowing? Lots of people made big bucks from
writing books and magazine articles, TV specials and all kinds
of scary nonsense. That was all you heard, what terrible shape
the world would be in at the stroke of midnight on December
31, 1999.
I
wonder how much those books are worth in a bookstore today?
The smoke blowers made out like bandits, and I often wonder
if any 'believer' who invested in one of those fairy tales
ever wrote or called any of the author/experts, after January
1, 2000 to give them the word or maybe to utter a few choice
phrases into their ears.
Maybe
I shouldn't talk too soon, the year isn't over yet.
Mr.
Barnum should have been around for that one. His famous quote
was most appropriate for the occasion. "There's a sucker born
every minute."
For the last six months of 1999 the banks on Roatan had shut
their computers down so they could be programmed to count
from 1,999 to 2,000. That's right. The bank computers were
too dumb to count beyond 1999, so they had to have lessons.
Every banking transaction had to be done by hand, in triplicate,
and waits were long and tedious. People were really getting
edgy, and right before Christmas it looked like there might
be a run on the banks here. Like the time one of the big banks
ran out of money because the manager forgot to call the armored
car company to bring in enough cash for the holiday rush.
The bank had to close at 10 A.M. and by 11 A.M. there were
several hundred people lined up outside because they had heard
the bank was failing.
Then
the manager came outside and told everybody what had happened
and to please come back tomorrow when there would be plenty
of cash. She wasn't even embarrassed.
My computer knew it was 2000. I don't have any idea how it
figured out that the first business day of the New Year was
January 3, 2000. It was right here blinking the date at me.
And I didn't have to shut it down to teach it either.
Some
of the banks on Roatan are still having problems with their
computers. There is a kind of glitch attributed to our beloved
"telephone company". Hondutel told the banks to set up the
new systems for one type of signal, and then used something
else, creating some new problems.
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We
had a famous writer who lived on Roatan in the late 1800's,
whose works were some of the funniest stories about con artists
I have ever had the pleasure of reading. His name was William
Sydney Porter, and he was a known embezzler. While serving
his time for crimes against society, Mr. Porter, better known
by his pen name, O. Henry , wrote about the scams of the times,
and embellished those tales with great wit and humor. "The
Gentle Grafter" and "Shearing the Lambs" were two of his well
know collections of short stories.
There was even a radio series based on one of his characters
called the 'Arkansas Traveler', that aired during the W.W.
II years. We listened to radio back then since there wasn't
any TV yet.
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So
here we are, a year later and still nothing of significance
has happened except the silly presidential election in the
U.S. Maybe that was what all the hype boiled down to. The
American people may never have a President elected by a simple
majority of the voters, the popular vote, as we had been promised
after the Nixon fiasco.
How
about a runoff election with no electoral votes? And the guy
who gets the simple majority wins. They would only be allowed
to use computers that knew how to count past 1,999 and there
would be no recounts or any other politically motivated shenanigans,
and no lawyers or politicians allowed to be involved. If the
winner only had a one-vote margin, he would be in. One very
smart computer would do all the counting, unassisted by man.
What
if the date of the inauguration came and there was no decision?
Could Bill Clinton have declared himself 'President for Life'?
We
had some primary elections in Honduras this year (2000). There
are many candidates and many parties. The Red party and the
Blue are going at it tooth and nail. Next year the finals
will be held. The voters will choose a President for a five
year term in 2001. Mayors will also be selected for just about
every city in the country.
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As
I mentioned previously, Atlantic Airways is a new air carrier
serving Roatan. This airline has announced plans to fly direct
from Roatan Airport to Guatemala, El Salvador, and the Cayman
Islands. They have daily flights to La Ceiba and San Pedro
Sula, and I have heard they actually adhere to flight schedules.
Users have commented on their consistent on-time performance.
I will have to give them a try next time I go to the mainland.
On-time anything is most unusual in Honduras.
Speaking
of the Airport, everything is humming along nicely with the
new management team in place. All automatic doors and air
conditioners are working. The place is neat as a pin. Not
much else has changed as yet.
Happy
2001 to All
And
let me be the first to wish you all a Happy 2002
More
next year.
Regards
Pierre
elouis@globalnet.hn
By
Pierre Renaldo, Mountain Coastal S.A,. General Contractors,
Construction Management and Construction Consultants.
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