Tuesday 12th January

Tiffany finished the Funding Proposal for the US Embassy Port Moresby Education and Training Grant yesterday, a lot of cut/paste work from the other applications, all my contribution consisted of was working out what we needed and getting prices. She’s figured I can use google faster than she does, and have a better idea of where and what to search for. We’ve put in for funding to cover text books, Distance Learning through Brisbane TAFE, and 10 computers for the students to use for the Distance Learning Courses. At the rate we’re putting this together we’ll have the best equipped and organised training centre in Honiara. We do have reservations about the computers, after what happened the last time Tiffany had new computers donated. The new ones were installed into BJS and we ended up with the old 186 HP models that BJS threw out. I can see “words” if that looks like happening again.

I now have a mouse sharing the house. I wouldn’t mind too much, if it wasn’t eating chunks out of my bananas and pawpaw. And leaving droppings. And being bloody sneaky about it. I tried finding poison today, ITA said the Chinese shops, the Chinese shops said Bowmans, Bowmans said Island Enterprises. So I’ll have to wait till tomorrow morning when we go past on the way to Ranandi. Tried finding where it got in from, but given they can squeeze through any size hole, I couldn’t find any real holes, but I’ll get some expandafoam and plug up all the pipework gaps that I can find under the house. Then dump large amounts of poison behind the stove and fridge. Hopefully the geckos won’t eat the poison.

I can’t get near the large geckos yet, but the small one that lives by the computer table is quite happy to wander around on my arm, hand, or sit on the screen edge watching.





I read James Delingpole in the Telegraph online, there is usually a good bit of back and forth with AGW Apostles and the rest of the normal people. One of the more lunatic fringe wanted to know why no one talked about Chemtrails, and how they were more important than AGW. It got shot down fairly quickly, but it was something I’ve not run across before, so I browsed google today looking. Here I’ve been thinking the AGW loonies had the prize for idiocy, I really need to get out more. A huge number of websites all about confusing contrails from aircraft, cloud patterns, jet stream wind effects, with Government Sponsored Chemical Spraying. If it wasn’t so widespread, I think nearly every country has a contributing website or presence, it would be so easy to just lock the drawer and forget these people were out there. I’m almost starting to believe that there is something being put in the water, or else that the lunatic fringe has been taken off the medication. Photos of jet stream effect on high cirrus cloud is proof of unseen planes spraying high altitude chemicals, differing patterns in cloud layers, pillow cumulus, contrails slowly spreading across the sky, these people really need to get outside, or perhaps not. If that is what they see when they look up, I’m not sure they should be let outside. Anyway, the websites are well worth looking at, if only for a shake the head in disbelief resignation that some people should be in sheltered living accommodation. Google chemtrails, and be prepared to suspend all knowledge or education.

The weather continues here, rain in the evening, sultry hot days, clear blue skies till about 2pm when the thunder heads start building up on the hills behind Honiara. Then the slow roll of thunder across the town, and about 4.30 the rain starts. All the bougainvillea is coming back into flower again through town, David wanted to have the girls trim it back, he still hasn’t realised it only flowers on fresh growth, so I went through the flowering cycle process again and we have put off the trimming for another month or so till the flowers die back. Then we can trim back hard, and get a really good flush of flowers though April till November.


I keep having moments of doubt about whether or not everything I’m trying to do will ever get done, it can be like head butting a wall at times. Then I start thinking of asking for a reposting elsewhere just to actually get something done. Tiffany always manages to change my mind, even though she feels the same about it. If we weren’t doing what we do now, it would never be happening, so slowly things are being done, and we are working towards something. It may not be what someone else thinks we are heading towards, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Main goal for this year is to get the nursery set up, the training started, and more contract work signed up so SEB can start functioning as a semi profitable business, while still retaining NGO registration. For all my talk of walking away, I’ve still got a wish to apply for an extension for another year to really get things settled here, plus I want to bask in the glory for a bit. Although there may not be a lot of glory, or much basking if I don’t get anything finished.

We must be having some impact around town though, the Ports Authority rang Tiff this morning, and want us to have a discussion with them over the revamp of the port area. They saw the design for Commonwealth Ave, and what we’ve done with the Post Office, and want us to come up with designs for the Port area and Port Authority Building. So all my time spent hanging around the wharves may come in handy. I’ve got ideas in my head, as usual, just from being down there and watching what and where everything happens. Putting it all together and making it happen may take a bit, but we may as well have a try. Anything we do has to be better than the dusty dry barren appearance at the moment down there.

David can’t comprehend all the changes, well, more the sudden impact of all the projected work. He’s expressed a few doubts about whether or not we can do it, so I explained my philosophy of how things are. We all start running really really fast, and get all this work, then we really start to move. Plus we take on contract staff to help out for specific work, and keep the long term people who have stayed through all the rough times. He can’t see how we can go from having no work, and a lot of unpaid “social” stuff that cost SEB a fortune, to suddenly being a viable and recognised business in demand. Well, it hasn’t been sudden, although for the Solomons a year is sudden, but we have turned the public perception of SEB around in the past few months. A lot has been with Tiffany standing up and refusing to do any of the “social obligated” work without being paid for it, and then notifying all the Contract Holders that we are going to a more viable financial footing, and if they don’t want to pay the increase, that is fine, we will find someone else. I must admit I did have a few doubts about how far we could push things, but so far it is all working out. And we’re getting more and more work, and no one is querying our prices, and more importantly, we’re getting paid on time as well. Other than the Govt Dept contracts, but they do finally pay up.

The newspaper articles help as well, I make sure we get a mention at least once a month, either with a revamp garden, or changing the streetscape, even the bitching about the idiots who litter and cut down the palms keeps our profile up.

The next thing I want to have a try for is getting a Dragon Boat Association formed here. I’ve mentioned it to the Head of Solomon Tourism, at the CSP Open Day last month, and I have to get back to him soon with some figures and plans. I’d like to see it started, hopefully the Chinese community here would support it, although the new Chinese here are a different breed to the older families. Still, nothing ventured nothing gained. It would give more people here a sense of belonging as well, if we could get one club formed in Honiara, then get it extended to the other provinces, from there to a local inter province competition and then have a go at the overseas events.

I actually came here to go fishing and relax. There’s far to many opportunities to do or get things started to think about that yet.