The power went out again, so I went into work, posted the previous, did a bit of work on the quarterly report, went to Kukum Market for the weeks shopping. I know I keep talking about the fish sellers, I really felt like fish for dinner, so I browsed all the bins, it’s got cheaper lately, down to $9lb, so not too bad. Picked out a good sized snapper, $45 worth, been cleaned and gutted as well, so not a lot of waste.
I’ll wait till I can go fishing I think, it was meant to be no more than a day old, and on ice. Not one of the best gastronomic experiences I’ve had. I’d say it was caught no earlier than last Friday, and the first time it saw ice was today at the market. Oh well, didn’t even bother cooking it, just dumped it in the trash bin. Once it thawed out from the ice, it was flabby, and the smell convinced me it was probably not a good thing to eat.
Pawpaw were a bit dearer, $5 to $7 today, coconuts still $0.50 and $1, although I bought a $2 one about twice the size of the $1 ones. Bok Choy was $5 a bundle, 5 small heads, and finally some ginger root, although $10 for a piece about 75mm long is a bit much but I bought it anyway, cucumber were $1 to $3. Bananas were still $10 for a big hand, about 20 on each. $5 for a large bunch of spring onions.
I’m getting better with opening coconuts, only one good crack with the back of the cleaver and they split in half now, no more bouncing over the floor when I drop them.
O2 Ireland sent me the unlock code, unfortunately, the button sequence to get the network settings to open don’t apply to the model I have, K300i, another email back to them. At this rate, it’ll be quicker to get one posted from NZ
Raining finally, it’s been humid with thunder since Friday, thick black clouds that just pass over Honiara without dropping anything.
Monday evening.
Got to work this morning, and one of our big banyan trees has been hacked for firewood. By the person who is in charge of the Herbarium, and lives next to the Nursery. I was not happy. Some rather irate emails have been sent out, I’ve got the work crew taking his nice new stack of firewood and feeding it all through the chipper. Then I’ll work on getting him evicted from the Gardens. I think my honeymoon period is over.
On a happier note, we spent all day at the Memorial Gardens, and what I was thinking could be a disaster turned into a great day. We’ve got 25 trees bridge grafted, about 50 cleaned, and everyone worked really well. Quick learners, I gave one demo of what I wanted, with the bridge grafts, and away they went. I usually have trouble getting Alphonse to stand up, let alone do anything, but today he was in his element. He and Sandy probably did 2/3 of the trees, Kennedy, Imelda and Rose the rest.
I’ll swap them around tomorrow, Willy and the other ladies were cleaning the glue off, so they can have a go at grafting tomorrow.
Picked my film up tonight, WARNING! Do not use transparencie (slide) film here. They look at it when you take it in, and you ask if they can develop it, then proceed to put it through with all the other negative film and ruin it. And get $122.50 upfront. And do not give refunds or apologies. Idiots.
36 pics of the class doing Unit related work, that I was going to use as Assessment proof, wasted and ruined.
I’ve been working on one pic, got it so you can see something, but it took me nearly 45 min playing with the colour balance, tone, hue and gamma levels.
I’m sending the other 2 rolls to NZ for developing, and I’ll post the name of the place here when I remember it. And tell them I’ve put it on the net as well.
Got my Sony phone working, managed to finally unlock it, it’s still a crappy phone, it was rubbish in Ireland, it hasn’t improved with age or change of countries. Talking to Rose today, she’s sent a Nokia over in the mail. Hopefully I’ll be able to hear people on the Nokia, I’ve never been able to hear anyone on the Sony. And yes, I do have the volume on it set as high as it will go, I get the Warning, Loud Volume Will Damage Your Hearing. As if I’m not already wearing hearing aids from 20 years as a boilermaker and welding.
Rode in the back of the stretch convertible after work to the Gardens tonight. All the Crew were going, “Warren ui sittem in cab” Blow that, I’m not some white sahib. As I keep telling them, I’m a nurseryman, you get the shitty stuff to do, and the good stuff, riding in the back of the truck in the rain is actually preferable to sitting in the cab and getting suffocated with the heat. And it’s more fun as well.
It’s 6.32pm, and the neighbours are listening to Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon. I try to vary their musical appreciation hour if I can. I’ll give them some early Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green later.
I’ve got 2 rolls of slide film of the crew grafting today, I’ll eventually use the pics for their assessment, and also do an article for the NZ Nurserymans Magazine. It may generate a bit of interest in NZ, and some of the crew may get there and work.It’s surprising how big football (soccer) is here. As I’ve found out, there are a lot of Solomon Island players in NZ teams, and Australian teams. Out by the airport, one of the stands has “Go Waitakere Go” painted on the tin, one of the Auckland teams that the local team is named after. I presume some of the local players do get there and play, even if just for a trial season. I’ll get to a local game once the season starts in the dry. From what Steve has said, it’s drums, shouts, dancers, disorganised mayhem, and if the local team win, the party carries on all night at the stadium. I may give that part a miss, it’s still a bit iffy here at night
Pic is off the roll of slide film processed by the chinese idiots in town, Susie and Sepa hand rubbing coconut fiber through our home made sieve
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