Thursday 20th May

Woke up this morning running a slight fever, headache threatening to turn into a migraine, so decided to have a mental health day, rang Tiff, went back to bed for the day. I woke up about midday, but it’s been a long slow drag all afternoon. I know I’m just getting depressed with the continual delays, the constant politics that get involved with everything here, from wantok to people with personal agendas.

We still haven’t heard from Planning about the building permission. I’m starting to think it is all a waste of time trying to do anything here with all the petty feuds, jealousies, personalities involved with everything.

We’ve had a fair bit of rain this afternoon, it’s clear skies now at 8.30 pm, but a lot of lightning south of us over the mountains. It lights the sky up brilliantly, all black sky with the stars showing, then huge flashes of light from one side of the horizon to the other. It must be a fair way back, I can’t hear any thunder from it.

I know I’m at the stage where I could easily walk away from all this, the sheer frustration of trying to get anything done, seeing everything the work crew do get trashed every weekend, as per last weekends episode with the palms and roundabout. I keep hoping for a tsunami or earthquake to clear fell everything here so we can start fresh.

I’ve been getting some reaction to my letter, everyone here that I know, around Ba’hai, think it was good, and about time someone said it. There are some upset, I have to deal with that next week, I’m past caring about it now. Paul with the Betel Nut Market said it was about time everyone realised they have to stop trashing Honiara all the time, I’ve noticed he cleans up around his market stall more often lately, even the young guys with the mini shop/market keep their area clean all the time.

The 2012 South Pacific Arts Festival is going to be held here in Honiara, Tiff has been chasing the organisers about getting things in place for it, but as usual here, no one is taking any notice about the length of time we need to get things done here. If we are going to do a major replant through Honiara, upgrade Commonwealth Avenue, the Wharf area, we need to be starting now, not in 18 months time. I want to get at least 2,000 trees and palms started in the next few months plus filler shrubs for all the gardens, and median strips, but until we can get some indication of what is going to be done we’re just producing stock that may not be for any purpose. I keep thinking 2 years ahead, normal nursery thinking, but everyone here thinks about 1 week ahead. Any further ahead than that gets put in worri abaot hem sumtaem laeta ia?

I really noticed that yesterday, with the Archontophoenix palms we have started. I was asked how long before we could be planting them out, they have only just thrown up the first leaves, and on hearing about 2 years, I was told that was too long to wait. I slowly explained that if we’d started producing them from seed 2 years ago, and continued to do so each year when seed became available, we’d have more than enough by now. It’s easier to go into the bush and dig out from there, no matter about ruining the forests or the ecology. Patience isn’t something anyone here seems to have in any amount. Waiting for seeds to grow is a foreign concept at the moment.

Samesame with the nursery at present, I keep being asked when we are going to start doing more cuttings, propagating, with the losses we’ve had the last month due to the lack of water we are down to bare bones for plants. I just ask where is the water to keep the cuttings alive? If we are losing established plants due to the lack of water, what is the point in doing cuttings which are highly water dependent? The reply was that they hadn’t thought of that, they just wanted to see some cuttings being done.

I would like to work out the evapo-transpiration rate for plants here, especially cuttings. The temperature is rarely below 30*C in the daytime, maybe as low as 25*C at night, humidity about 80% up to 97%, so long as we can keep water onto the root systems the cuttings do take quickly, but without water, we are just wasting time and resources in trying any propagation.

I’ve been promised the little truck will be ready tomorrow, I doubt it very much, or if I do get it, it will have something else wrong with it and I will have to take it back in on Tuesday again. The brake drums are away being turned out now, I asked if the slave cylinders were being done as well, but was told they were done a few months ago, which probably explains why they are seized up now. They think it is an electrical fault that is causing the starting problems now, we’ve had new injectors, new glow plugs, a new alternator, new fuel filter and pump, so far.
I’m not holding my breath over it. I picked July in the unofficial office sweepstakes for when it would be roadworthy, but I may be a bit optimistic. All this from taking it in last June to have 2 suspension joints tightened.

PS. Just in at work, the Architect hadn’t signed a page in the submission for planning approval, so it has been put off for another month. I’m slowly counting to 999,999,999,999,999,999 in single figures.