English Metas Blog

We can define a civil servant as a government employee; as a public servant as well. That is to say, a civilian public sector employee working for a government department or agency. Following the Collins English Dictionary we can say that a civil servant is a person who is part of the service responsible for the public administration of the government of a country, called civil service.

In my opinion civil servant are, at least, as old as the State. So, when a State exists, a civil service exists. This is true, for example, in the case of the Roman Empire. There were different kinds of civil servants. In the beginning, the civil servant were an elite, because of they could read and had the knowledge as well. For example, the imperial officials in the Roman Empire were the ones who managed the Empire. In two words, they were in charge of the government. They were appointed by the emperor for an indefinite period and his authority depended on what this would command them. We can cite the most important civil servants called “prefectus”. There were different kinds of them: The praetorian prefectus who was the head of the Guard; the prefectus urbi who was the representative of the emperor in the city and the police chief as well; the prefectus vigilium who took care of public order, and the prefectus annonae who handled the supplies. We can cite the prosecutors too, lower-ranking than the prefectus, who are charged with the most varied functions.

The same can be applied to another great old-time civilization: China.

Until the Modern Age civil servants was a special part of the society, erudite an learned people who executed the emperors and king’s orders and the best of them advised their governing class. Not everyone could be civil servant. Generally speaking, they had to be part of the nobility or the clergy, and they must be males. Women weren’t allowed as civil servants.

Nowadays, times has changed, and everybody can be civil servant (perhaps, today some of us want to be one of them). I will continue in another post, if it’s possible.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, or so I heard on the grapevine!

What´s your favourite English idiom?

Watch, Practice and Learn!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUEE2HehCjM

What is perfection and does it exist?

Answers on a postcard…………

Schwaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh...

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Margaritas and nachos.  Vaya combinación!!!

It’s Thursday again, which means that I am instinctively craving Margaritas and nachos.  Not red wine and nachos.  Not Margaritas and tapas.  Margaritas and nachos.

Margaritas and nachos go together like Bogey and Bacall, Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (sort of), Marc Antony and Cleopatra, apple pie and custard (courtesy of Stuart), red wine and cheese, Flavio Briatore and…whomever he likes at the moment (he’s married, not buried!), dark and chocolate, Berlusconi and scandals, Naomi Campbell and anger management, gay men and good taste, and…Canadians and hockey/hot wings featuring Frank’s Red Hot.  Which brings me to my next point…

Does anyone know where I can catch Olympic hockey action in BCN?  Canada will, undoubtedly, win gold.  And I’d like to see them do it.

Not to randomly change topics yet again but, on that note, I bid you a pleasant afternoon!

Tooooooooooooooma!

The accident that I’m going to referring to happened me nine years ago, more or less.

It took place at noon in the mountain, in a forest track, to be precise. I was driving my car through the track, coming back from the village. On my right hand there was the mountain, a large wall of rocks and trees and on my left hand there was a precipice. Suddenly, at a given moment, the right back wheel hit a rock and the car became to move from side to side. Sincerely, I got frightened. I only could see the precipice and my car going over the cliff. It happened very fast, but I remember that my car was getting close to it and I swerved to avoid the precipice. The maneuver finished with my car crashed into the mountain turning right over. When the car stopped it was upside down I only could hear the horn that shut up after a few second. After that the silence was absolute.

Thanks to God I didn’t hurt myself. Anyway I avoided the precipice and I was all right but my car was total wreck.

I was in the middle of nowhere with my telephone broken. So I had to walk to the village to call the crane that took me home.

I admit that I was lucky and I had to admit that, perhaps, I was going too fast. However I’m here and I can explain it. I’ll never forget it.

Click on the link below to hear one of my personal favourites.

Movie link click here! 

Tell me what my  favourite line from the clip is and what it means.  Also, let me have your personal favourite movie lines.

You see I have this condition...

Ahhhhh, if there is one thing I hate in this world, it’s selective memory.  Ok, let’s make that two things…Selective memory and sociopaths.  And, if you’re going to walk around acting like Guy Pearce in Memento, I expect you to have a plethora of notebooks, pens, and a Polaroid camera handy.

Why is it that some people seem to not be able to remember things they’ve said two days ago?  Or, two minutes ago?  Are they really that thick/daft/insert insultory term here, or are they pretending they don’t remember in order to get out of doing/saying/writing/paying something they don’t want to do/say/write/pay?

“What do you figure, Billy Bob?  Do they really have that bad of a memory, or are they simply a cold, calculating sociopath who believes that their actions are free of consequence?”

“I don’t know, Jimbo.  Either way, the answer ain’t pretty.”

En fin, having a memory like a steel bear trap (nothing escapes it!!!) has caused me, shall we say,…grief on more than one occasion, I can assure you.

Love you, Bill!

Remembering and owning up to things you’ve said and done really is the best policy, even if it’s difficult at the time.  That’s why Bill Clinton is my personal hero.  He rocks.  Nothing more.  Carmencita out.

Thank God it's the finde. I'm getting a little "cabin fever"...

Well, it’s that time of the week again.  It’s finde !!!!!!

I will spend this weekend doing what I do every weekend.  I’m true to my Taurean nature, and love to repeat ad nauseum what I like to call lo mío…

I will go out with friends and eat and drink until I can’t eat and drink (especially eat) no mo’.  Then, I will go to bed at a relatively sensible time - probably by 1:30 or 2am.

How do you like to spend your weekend?  Do you like to do (almost) the same thing every weekend, or do you prefer a gran variedad of activities and experiences?

I would prefer to travel more but, alas, due to time constraints that is not possible at the moment.  I’ll have to wait for now…

Soon enough, I'll be able to hit Berlin! I've been waiting to do so for awhile now...

I realize that I have not just one but many so this precise moment is probably the happiest moment of my life. I am a privileged person!!! (How optimistic I am today!)  

So, those are the moments, but I can’t put them all!!!:

The birth of my daughter, when I knew I was pregnant (both of the times). The day I began to share a life with my partner until we finished married and forming a family. The wedding, every trip that I have made, the first kiss when I was very very young!, weekends partying with friends.  The first time that I assist to a concert with my sister, etc…

And I will not continue explaining my life!
I can only say that every time I was and I am happy is the happiest of my life.

J