Wednesday 9th December/Thursday 10th

I have a vague memory of today, it’s been totally erased from my memory hopefully. We had a meeting with Adrian, Tiff, David and I out at Ranandi this morning, till 11am. Adrian is adamant he has never said anything to Keithie or Bruce about anything, so I must have been having a bad dream the last couple of days listening to him in the office telling Keithie and Bruce about the truck, the crew, etc. He’s going back to Brisbane next Tuesday for 4 weeks, which means I’ll have a pleasant Christmas without having to worry. I lost my temper a bit with him this morning, which I shouldn’t have, personally I don’t mind him, at work it is different though.

Anyway, onward and hopefully upward.

Tiff and I have the photos and stuff set up in Mendana Hotel for tomorrow, it wasn’t all that busy today, more everyone wandering around looking at each others stuff, tomorrow should be better. CSP (Community Sector Programmes) are happy, they have been sponsoring all of the training programmes for the past couple of years, and it’s a good opportunity for them to show everything they have achieved. As usual with successful programmes, the funding has been cut as the need is no longer there, as we have trained everyone. How they work that out I have no idea, last time I looked around town there were about 20,000 teenagers with no skills or work asking for more education opportunities. I know, it sounds stupid, teenagers asking for more school work, but that is how it is here. The kids really want to learn, they know it is the way out of being unemployed, admittedly some of them look like you wouldn’t like to meet them on a dark night, or even on a well lit day, but underneath the dreadlocks, the bandannas, the tattoos, the betel nut stained teeth, they want to learn. I’ve found the rougher looking people have the best attitudes, and also the nicest and friendliest attitudes as well.

I’ve seen a few of the headlines coming out of Copenhagen, I don’t know the word for the hysteria and panic the looney left are promoting. All of their data for the past 20 years has been shown to be falsified, altered beyond recognition, adjusted to suit their agenda, why keep the pretence up? Well, ok, the money, power and control, and driving the western countries bankrupt are some of the reasons.

It isn’t science anymore, it’s just total belief, worse than some fanatical religion.

Add in how all the Pacific Island States think they are going to be first into the trough for any money and it goes beyond belief. Where the hell is the money going to come from if you shut down all the industries? Turn countries like the USA, Britain, Europe into basket cases by cap and trade, shutting off the power generation, closing “non-green” industries? It’s no wonder China and India, and Japan have decided that it isn’t going to happen for them thank you.

Why not spend some time fixing the actual problems, like over population on some of the Islands? Degrading the soil, clear felling and logging forests, over fishing the seas? Or do those go into the too hard basket and it’s easier to parrot “Climate Change” and hold the begging bowl out. Which won’t fix the problems, and how much of that money would actually reach the people concerned after it has passed through all the politicians hands.

The water has been shut off again in Honiara. At times I really think I’d be happier living in a community like Komunimboko, without power/water etc, because you would have no expectations, you know that if it rains it fills the water tank to gravity feed the shower under the house, so long as the sun shines a bit there will be a trickle from the solar panels to recharge batteries etc, and there is always firewood available. Better that than coming home to find there is no water, the power goes off without any warning, the fridge has defrosted and everything is off.

I remember at the orientation week with VSA, the discussion about how all the little things gradually build up and become major things, so that it doesn’t take much to have you wishing you’d never volunteered. I don’t think I’ve got to that stage and wanting to leave, I can still see the end result slowly coming from what I’m doing, but I’m having a bad week for losing my temper at times, and snapping instead of discussing. Taking big bites of stuff to have done in a short time frame doesn’t help, given the length of time it takes to get things done here. You might have a deadline or timetable, but no one else does, and they aren’t going to work to your agenda.

Thursday 10th December

We had a good day at the CSP Forum. A lot of people came through, including a few Government ministers, and some of the Province Representatives. The stall next to us was the Solomon Island Coconut Oil Producers, they had used a grant from CSP to establish a cheaper and friendlier alternative to the Copra Processing process for coconut oil, and paying the producers a slightly better rate per kilo of oil as well. I was impressed with the process, they have a shop in town just behind BJS I’ll go in tomorrow and have a look. Coconut oil, Soaps, creams etc, all cold processed, so it is as close to pure oil as possible.

The Coffee Producers Group were there as well, 2 types, dark roast, and expresso, giving away free samples all day, and as they were just behind us, I was very happy. Ok, it cost me $50 in the end for 2 packets of coffee, and a jar of peanut butter, which at Lime Lounge prices would have got me 2 cappacinos.

I had a long conversation with the Provincial Member for Malaita, Dudley. He saw the photos of the chipper, and the crew making compost and using it for the nursery plants, and was interested in getting our style of programme started on Malaita. That led into one of my favourite themes about the cattle farms, and why don’t we bring in Water Buffalo again, he began to see the validity of the argument, considering that there has been $8 Million wasted so far on bringing in European cattle breeds which don’t do well in the heat and wet season. He’s got my contact details, so hopefully it will give me a few more things to get involved with.

I’ll really try to get more money allocated for the next forum, we were the poor relations at it today, everyone else had laptop projector set ups, or tv/dvd presentations going, the best we could do was have some photos up, and my laptop on a slide show of all the photos I’ve taken of the crew and the work the last year. Still I know all our money has gone on the crew and the actual work and training, well, certainly since I’ve been here anyway. I’m still not Mr. Popular with some people, but SEB is as honest as I can make it and I can’t be bothered with people trying to fiddle Aid money.

The water problem at home has been finally solved. They found that the inflow pipe to the header tank on the hill opposite me has never had a non-return valve fitted, so unless the main pump is going, it siphons all the water out of the tank and runs it back to the pump at the bottom of the hill, and presumably, back past it to lord knows where. So until that is fixed, I’m still without water in the house as usual. It’s only been 10 months that I’ve been here trying to get it sorted. And last night while I was under the house trying to see if I had any leaks or blockages, I found that the original plumbing runs up one of the steel pipes the house sits on, then the hot water line, and the copper inflow line, run across the top of the pipe, to the bathroom. Which doesn’t sound like too much of a problem, till you realise that the floor joist also sits on top of the pipe and is slowly crushing the pipes.

I’ve finally given up trying to find packaging for sending things back to NZ. It’s going to be recycled cardboard with newspaper wrapping. Still, the good thing is that we do have a postal service in Honiara. Bruce and Gwen have to wait till there is someone coming over to Guadacanal before they can get anything sent.
The Government Departments are still not paying any accounts, we are owed 3 months from Ministry of Infrastructure and Development (MID) which is causing a few cash flow problems. Close to $68,000 now, and the usual arguments each fortnight with Keithie over the wages because we are having to pay out and not being paid for the contract. We should get the payments finally in February next year, so long as the Government doesn’t fold or default on the accounts. Just getting through till then and keeping Tiff and the work crew going is getting harder every time, And my Australian nemesis hasn’t helped. TG he’s going back to Australia for a month.

I’ve spent the last couple of days working out how to set the phone. It works still, which is a blessing, I’ll have to get a neck cord for it, so I can hopefully keep it drier than the last one.

Belated Birthday Greetings to Gytha for last Friday?Thursday? the time difference always gets me mixed up with days.

Did anyone else see that absolute load of garbage about the cannibal polar bears because of AGW? It’s time some people got out more often into the real world. Polar bears aren’t cuddly, they are the top of the food chain in the Artic, they will and do eat everything they can find, and if it includes cubs, they will. It’s why the females keep the cubs with them for so long to keep them away from the males. I wish most of the people at Copenhagen would go visit Churchill in the polar bear season and go rush up and try to cuddle one. What is it going to be next, Save bloody Nemo????? Don’t eat that oyster, it may be pregnant? Turn off your lights? Well, that is going to a non choice when all the power stations get closed, then you won’t be allowed use candles because they give off the dreaded poisonous toxic CO2.

Collective religious hysteria in action. With “scientists” who peer review each others work, instead of putting out for everyone to check, Weather Offices that “adjust” “modify” “smooth” temperature records to fit the AGW scenario, including NIWA in New Zealand. I had been sort of hoping that there might have been some honest people in NIWA, but I’ve been totally disillusioned over what they have done with the data as well.

There’s been no sunspots, Cycle 24 is now the quietest cycle for a few hundred years, welcome to the Maunder Minimum again. Or certainly the next 30 year cooling cycle, if Cycle 24 doesn’t start soon it will be like the 1890’s to 1920 cold period. The Pacific Decahedral Oscillation started it’s cooling phase a couple of years back, about 2007, so this El Nino we’re meant to be having this summer here will possibly be the last big warming we’ll have for a while. So we’ll have the looney left lentil munchers trying to stop that next. I’ve never been so disappointed in a conservation movement as I have been with the Greens and all the other ecology groups. It’s as if they have had any intelligence removed and replaced with religious dogma.

When you think of the millions of $’s, €’s, ₤’s wasted on the whole thing that could have been better spent already getting rid of the pollution, instead of the whole stupid AGW hysteria.

Speaking of religious dogma, the Solomon Star for the past couple of weeks has had 2 people having an involved and earnest discussion via several pages in each issue about “Which is the Real Christian Church” and “Which is the True Sabbath Day” Both quoting reams of stuff going back to the Council of Nicea in 398? And it looks like every religious text since then. Full Biblical quotes, the last few days the Sol Star has had full page replies that just consist of quotes from every source you could ever think of, and then some I’ve never heard of as well. They take Religion seriously here, especially Christian ones. So long as they don’t do it on the streets and frighten the horses I can’t be bothered.

Here is my list of Solomon Island Time Definitions, thanks to Zoe for the initial idea and suggestions.

Solomon Island Time Definitions

Einstein never visited the Solomons, if he had the Theory of Relativity would be vastly different. Time is an elastic substance here, it bears no resemblance to time as measured elsewhere. The following definitions are an approximation of life here.

Today. A word fraught with danger for those new to the country. It is loosely tied to the calendar, eg. Today is Monday, after this it wanders down a twisting turning road of its own choosing. The phrase “I will do it today” has so many non-verbal clauses attached as to be meaningless,

“I will do it today………………

if my wantoks don’t borrow my hammer/spanner/saw/workboots/car

if I am going past the shop/store/factory

when I am next in town

if I remember before you come back

when my wantok bring back my saw/hammer/workboots

Tomorrow. It means “not today”. It has no further meaning nor validity in the conversation, other than as a starting point for the inevitable discussion 3 days later about why something wasn’t done yesterday.

Soon. This is a danger signal, if something is going to be done “soon”, you are best off going on that 3 month trip to the outer islands, possibly extending the trip to take in Vanuatu, New Caledonia and if finances allow, Rarotonga. On your return, you will be greeted with the words, “It is almost finished” or in exceptional circumstances the word “soon” will be added. “It will be finished soon, maybe tomorrow” cf.

Urgent. Never use the word “urgent” in any conversation, it is a confusing word having neither meaning nor relevance to life here. “Urgent” will be placed in an ever changing priority list, it may rise to the top 5 places at times, but is always trumped by wantok.