I'll be posting sporadically for a while here.
I'm back in New Zealand, my Mother has inoperable stomach cancer, and at the moment the best prognosis is 4 - 6 weeks.
I'll try to find stuff to fill in here with, it may be a bit of introspective rambling, or something to keep my mind from wandering too far away.
Initial impressions on returning to Auckland after a year away is how little it has changed, or how it is still the same, if both of those thoughts can be viewed as seperate things. I'm finding a strange disconuity between knowing I left Honiara last Thursday, after a year, and it seems so unreal to be here and nothing has changed.
I have places to get to for work, a couple of nurseries, a few suppliers, and once we have somthing settled with Mum I'll get back to work.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Wednesday 20th January
There will be a gap here for a while, I have to return to New Zealand urgently tomorrow for some unfortunate family concerns.
Once things settle I will be back.
Take care
Once things settle I will be back.
Take care
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Thursday - Saturday 16th January
Thursday 14th January
I really have to walk into work more often. Going in this morning I got talking to another guy walking into Honiara, well, he started talking to me, initially. By the time we got to ANZ roundabout at the bottom end of town he had me booked to go to Morovo Lagoon School in Western Province where he is the Deputy Head. They are wanting to start horticulture courses there, more crop growing and sustainable food production, all Level 1 &2 courses, at Form 2. And possibly adult ed classes as well. I figure a couple of weeks every few months would be good up there, do the initial ground work, get small things started with whatever they have there, then go back fairly regularly to monitor and expand the programme, rather than a one off dump everything on them and have it all fall apart. Anyway, he is going to contact me with details, Tiff said “No, all you want to do is go fishing” I have no idea where she gets that idea from.
If he contacts me before February I’m bringing back a good soft bait rod and reel to take, they have huge fish in the lagoon, and on the outside reef, and unpolluted water, unlike Honiara.
I start to feel as though I’m just overloading on everything, but it all seems to get done somehow, even though all I do is make suggestions. Being basically lazy, I don’t do a lot, I’ll make suggestions, chase stuff up a bit, and guide things along a bit, rather than do it all for everyone and have them expect me to do it for them.
Frank Haiku called in yesterday, the Port Authority have commissioned a large statue from him for the Port end of Commonwealth ave, and he’d heard that we were pushing for the upgrade contract from MID. He is really annoyed with Heritage Hotel over his carvings there, the ones I posted about a bit before Christmas. I’d warned him about dealing with Heritage when they got him to do the carvings, he knew anyway, after the time we’d spent drawing up the original landscape plan they stole off me and used anyway without paying. They stiffed him over payment as well, and he lost a lot of money over it, as well as seeing his work placed as it is without all the other landscaping around them that they need.
Anyway, we’re moving on from that, and he’s asking if I can draw up a plan he can take to Port Authority for the whole port area, so his sculptures can be displayed to better advantage without being just put somewhere without any connection. Big area, all along the wharves, I’ve got ideas as usual. I’d like to put a tourist and ticket office down there, at present you buy the ferry tickets at 3 or 4 different places in town, depending on where you want to go, and most of the ferries advertise by putting handwritten notices on the shop windows. Coupled with a lot of trees, palms, and seating, plus parking and traffic areas, it could look really good.
Honiara is meant to be hosting the South Pacific Forum in 2012, SI Tourism had a meeting late last year about upgrading Honiara to present a better look, Honiara City Council never bothered to turn up, Tiffany and I went, and some of the other smaller organizations, CSP, MID, but without Council actually getting involved it’s going to be a battle to get anything done at the moment. Although with what Tiff has got organised so far this year we’re making progress.
We went to Dalgro this morning, and wonder of wonders, they have a concrete mould they used for Honiara Hotel for octagonal pavers, so we are waiting on a price from them for Commonwealth Ave, plus I have to get some concrete colour to go into the mix so we have 2 or 3 different colours of pavers going down. They have the paint on or plaster type colour additives here, suitable for wall plastering, but being a picky prick I want the concrete pigment so the colour is permanent, and doesn’t have to be touched up all the time. Anyway, I can get the pigment in either Brisbane or Auckland, so I’ll probably be well overweight coming back in February. I’ll try for shipping it if we have the time, then again what am I saying, this is Honiara, I’ve probably got the rest of the year until it’s all agreed.
And Solomon Sheet Metals are working on a price for the fancy stylish rubbish bins that I’m copying from St. Stephens Green in Dublin. If it all goes ahead Commonwealth Ave will look really good, coloured pavers, seating, rubbish bins, shade trees, and a few local influenced sculptures.
Parliament is dissolved in April, but the elections aren’t going to be held until late August, so it means that the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister have a free hand till then. Without any checks on what they do. It’s going to be an interesting year. I’d say Sikua and Rini were unpopular, but that leaves a lot of ground uncovered. If either get voted back in there will be another riot, I don’t know how effective RAMSI will be if it does happen, the Australian Govt isn’t all that well appreciated here after the Manasseh Sogovare debacle last election when they engineered his dismissal. Then the Julius Moti non-rape case. A bit like the blundering that America does in the Middle East at times.
Tiff and I got to Government house today, it’s going to be a big long job, 200 yards of driveway to improve, entrance approach, gardens, they want a fruit orchard, vegetable garden, hillsides contoured and planted, more trees. About a years work in 4 or 5 stages, which is good. I’ll go back tomorrow and start measuring up. I’m going to try for a fountain, it is a difficult concept here at the moment. The first objection is that we haven’t got any water. From what I can gather, any fountains that have been put into Honiara have all been run off mains water, which is a haphazard thing at the best of times, and no one has ever taken the design to the next stage up and installed a holding tank and water pump. I’ll keep pushing for one.
I’m impressed with the gardeners there. Not only did they remember my name, from the course I ran for them last year, but they have been doing all the things I recommended and the gardens have improved a huge deal since last year. Really good crew to work with, and still wanting to learn more, so the upgrade will be a good learning experience for them by the time we go through all the whys and therefores about everything.
Davids sister got hit by a bus on White River Bridge this afternoon, luckily nothing broken, but very badly bruised and knocked around. She’s still in #9, overnight, so it has to be fairly serious, or she can’t walk. Everyone I know here tries to put off going to hospital as long as possible, they would have to be on deaths doorstep before you could get them there, which does tend to make the mortality figures a bit skewed. Which is why I do my own stitching for cuts, it may hurt a bit more at the time, but I live afterwards.
Saturday 16th January
I didn’t get a chance to get online Friday, nor today. Spent Friday at Government house walking around with a long tape and the measuring wheel. And a lot of time just looking and thinking. Watching where the sun travelled mainly, where I’m thinking of putting the orchard and vegetable gardens in is on a steep hillside, down to a valley flat, it catches the morning sun, till just after 2pm, then the bottom of the slope is still in sun till about 4pm, so it looks good. There will be a lot of terracing going in, I’ll put the fruit trees in rows across the slope to stop any erosion, and slow the water down. Then build up the flat at the bottom for a good sized veg garden.
Woke up at 2am, thinking about the rubbish bins for Commonwealth Ave. Solomon Sheet can make them, the round ones, but they only have a brake press, not rollers, so it is going to get expensive. They heat the flat bar up with oxy-acetylene, then put it through the former. Very long slow process. I was amazed they didn’t have rollers, but ok, we’ll work around that. I’m not keen on how they are doing it, the finish won’t be all that good, a lot of small kinks probably, I feel like going in there and building a roll former for them, or for us to use, but I’ve got more than enough happening at the moment. Anyway, I woke up, and instead of being stuck with the original design and trying to make it with equipment that isn’t suitable, I’ll change the design to suit the equipment, and we’ll make rectangular bins, still with the grate outside, but at least it is quicker and easier for Solomon Sheet to fold and bend into corners than try to make round shapes. Tiff wasn’t happy when I told her I’m going to change the design, she thinks the round ones look classy, so I’m going to have to convince her that the new style will look just as good.
My mouse that is roaming through the house at night eating chunks out of my fruit and kumara is getting to be a nuisance. I’ve got poison out for it, and it is slowly eating it, but still climbing everywhere to get to the bananas and kumara. I’m trying the poison mixed in with some melted lard tonight, hopefully it will go for the high energy lard first, there’s about 4 tablespoons of Broadifacoum mixed into about the same amount of lard, I’ve frozen it then broken it into smaller lumps so hopefully by the end of the week it and the mouse will be gone.
I still can’t find where it has got in from, the outside of the house is really well sealed, with insect mesh everywhere, and no visible holes even where the pipework enters through he floor.
My little gecko that sits on the desk beside me has been attacked by one of the larger ones, and is now minus a tail and part of a hind leg. It still wanders around, no as fast though, I read somewhere that their tails grow back, I’m not sure about legs though. I’ll be able to find out now if it lives.
I really have to walk into work more often. Going in this morning I got talking to another guy walking into Honiara, well, he started talking to me, initially. By the time we got to ANZ roundabout at the bottom end of town he had me booked to go to Morovo Lagoon School in Western Province where he is the Deputy Head. They are wanting to start horticulture courses there, more crop growing and sustainable food production, all Level 1 &2 courses, at Form 2. And possibly adult ed classes as well. I figure a couple of weeks every few months would be good up there, do the initial ground work, get small things started with whatever they have there, then go back fairly regularly to monitor and expand the programme, rather than a one off dump everything on them and have it all fall apart. Anyway, he is going to contact me with details, Tiff said “No, all you want to do is go fishing” I have no idea where she gets that idea from.
If he contacts me before February I’m bringing back a good soft bait rod and reel to take, they have huge fish in the lagoon, and on the outside reef, and unpolluted water, unlike Honiara.
I start to feel as though I’m just overloading on everything, but it all seems to get done somehow, even though all I do is make suggestions. Being basically lazy, I don’t do a lot, I’ll make suggestions, chase stuff up a bit, and guide things along a bit, rather than do it all for everyone and have them expect me to do it for them.
Frank Haiku called in yesterday, the Port Authority have commissioned a large statue from him for the Port end of Commonwealth ave, and he’d heard that we were pushing for the upgrade contract from MID. He is really annoyed with Heritage Hotel over his carvings there, the ones I posted about a bit before Christmas. I’d warned him about dealing with Heritage when they got him to do the carvings, he knew anyway, after the time we’d spent drawing up the original landscape plan they stole off me and used anyway without paying. They stiffed him over payment as well, and he lost a lot of money over it, as well as seeing his work placed as it is without all the other landscaping around them that they need.
Anyway, we’re moving on from that, and he’s asking if I can draw up a plan he can take to Port Authority for the whole port area, so his sculptures can be displayed to better advantage without being just put somewhere without any connection. Big area, all along the wharves, I’ve got ideas as usual. I’d like to put a tourist and ticket office down there, at present you buy the ferry tickets at 3 or 4 different places in town, depending on where you want to go, and most of the ferries advertise by putting handwritten notices on the shop windows. Coupled with a lot of trees, palms, and seating, plus parking and traffic areas, it could look really good.
Honiara is meant to be hosting the South Pacific Forum in 2012, SI Tourism had a meeting late last year about upgrading Honiara to present a better look, Honiara City Council never bothered to turn up, Tiffany and I went, and some of the other smaller organizations, CSP, MID, but without Council actually getting involved it’s going to be a battle to get anything done at the moment. Although with what Tiff has got organised so far this year we’re making progress.
We went to Dalgro this morning, and wonder of wonders, they have a concrete mould they used for Honiara Hotel for octagonal pavers, so we are waiting on a price from them for Commonwealth Ave, plus I have to get some concrete colour to go into the mix so we have 2 or 3 different colours of pavers going down. They have the paint on or plaster type colour additives here, suitable for wall plastering, but being a picky prick I want the concrete pigment so the colour is permanent, and doesn’t have to be touched up all the time. Anyway, I can get the pigment in either Brisbane or Auckland, so I’ll probably be well overweight coming back in February. I’ll try for shipping it if we have the time, then again what am I saying, this is Honiara, I’ve probably got the rest of the year until it’s all agreed.
And Solomon Sheet Metals are working on a price for the fancy stylish rubbish bins that I’m copying from St. Stephens Green in Dublin. If it all goes ahead Commonwealth Ave will look really good, coloured pavers, seating, rubbish bins, shade trees, and a few local influenced sculptures.
Parliament is dissolved in April, but the elections aren’t going to be held until late August, so it means that the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister have a free hand till then. Without any checks on what they do. It’s going to be an interesting year. I’d say Sikua and Rini were unpopular, but that leaves a lot of ground uncovered. If either get voted back in there will be another riot, I don’t know how effective RAMSI will be if it does happen, the Australian Govt isn’t all that well appreciated here after the Manasseh Sogovare debacle last election when they engineered his dismissal. Then the Julius Moti non-rape case. A bit like the blundering that America does in the Middle East at times.
Tiff and I got to Government house today, it’s going to be a big long job, 200 yards of driveway to improve, entrance approach, gardens, they want a fruit orchard, vegetable garden, hillsides contoured and planted, more trees. About a years work in 4 or 5 stages, which is good. I’ll go back tomorrow and start measuring up. I’m going to try for a fountain, it is a difficult concept here at the moment. The first objection is that we haven’t got any water. From what I can gather, any fountains that have been put into Honiara have all been run off mains water, which is a haphazard thing at the best of times, and no one has ever taken the design to the next stage up and installed a holding tank and water pump. I’ll keep pushing for one.
I’m impressed with the gardeners there. Not only did they remember my name, from the course I ran for them last year, but they have been doing all the things I recommended and the gardens have improved a huge deal since last year. Really good crew to work with, and still wanting to learn more, so the upgrade will be a good learning experience for them by the time we go through all the whys and therefores about everything.
Davids sister got hit by a bus on White River Bridge this afternoon, luckily nothing broken, but very badly bruised and knocked around. She’s still in #9, overnight, so it has to be fairly serious, or she can’t walk. Everyone I know here tries to put off going to hospital as long as possible, they would have to be on deaths doorstep before you could get them there, which does tend to make the mortality figures a bit skewed. Which is why I do my own stitching for cuts, it may hurt a bit more at the time, but I live afterwards.
Saturday 16th January
I didn’t get a chance to get online Friday, nor today. Spent Friday at Government house walking around with a long tape and the measuring wheel. And a lot of time just looking and thinking. Watching where the sun travelled mainly, where I’m thinking of putting the orchard and vegetable gardens in is on a steep hillside, down to a valley flat, it catches the morning sun, till just after 2pm, then the bottom of the slope is still in sun till about 4pm, so it looks good. There will be a lot of terracing going in, I’ll put the fruit trees in rows across the slope to stop any erosion, and slow the water down. Then build up the flat at the bottom for a good sized veg garden.
Woke up at 2am, thinking about the rubbish bins for Commonwealth Ave. Solomon Sheet can make them, the round ones, but they only have a brake press, not rollers, so it is going to get expensive. They heat the flat bar up with oxy-acetylene, then put it through the former. Very long slow process. I was amazed they didn’t have rollers, but ok, we’ll work around that. I’m not keen on how they are doing it, the finish won’t be all that good, a lot of small kinks probably, I feel like going in there and building a roll former for them, or for us to use, but I’ve got more than enough happening at the moment. Anyway, I woke up, and instead of being stuck with the original design and trying to make it with equipment that isn’t suitable, I’ll change the design to suit the equipment, and we’ll make rectangular bins, still with the grate outside, but at least it is quicker and easier for Solomon Sheet to fold and bend into corners than try to make round shapes. Tiff wasn’t happy when I told her I’m going to change the design, she thinks the round ones look classy, so I’m going to have to convince her that the new style will look just as good.
My mouse that is roaming through the house at night eating chunks out of my fruit and kumara is getting to be a nuisance. I’ve got poison out for it, and it is slowly eating it, but still climbing everywhere to get to the bananas and kumara. I’m trying the poison mixed in with some melted lard tonight, hopefully it will go for the high energy lard first, there’s about 4 tablespoons of Broadifacoum mixed into about the same amount of lard, I’ve frozen it then broken it into smaller lumps so hopefully by the end of the week it and the mouse will be gone.
I still can’t find where it has got in from, the outside of the house is really well sealed, with insect mesh everywhere, and no visible holes even where the pipework enters through he floor.
My little gecko that sits on the desk beside me has been attacked by one of the larger ones, and is now minus a tail and part of a hind leg. It still wanders around, no as fast though, I read somewhere that their tails grow back, I’m not sure about legs though. I’ll be able to find out now if it lives.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
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.
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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.
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.
.jpg)
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.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Friday 8th – Sunday 10th January
I ended up having a half day Thursday, and Friday off as well. I’ve had the feeling like another migraine or something was hanging around, and Thursday lunchtime I felt bad enough to ask Tiff to drive me home. I was at ITA Hardware, getting prices for bits and pieces we need, and when I walked back outside my vision went entirely for a few seconds, then came back a bit, mostly blurry. I almost fell off the sidewalk, but ended up taking one of those BIG steps that look so funny when someone else does it. Made it back to the office, but it never improved so I spent the afternoon and most of Friday asleep.
I walked to the Malaria clinic Saturday morning, and had a blood test, but it was negative, so probably just a bug I’ve picked up somewhere. Other than a nagging headache I’m back on my feet again.
I think I’m over the choleric outburst of earlier in the week. Then again, it could only be a matter of time till the frustration level hits a high point. We are still trying to find somewhere that has paving, Tiffany and I are sure Dalgro would have it, they are the only supplier of concrete products, gravel sand etc, but it isn’t as easy as a phone call to find out. If we get the chance we’ll go to their yard Monday, only one truck still working so we have to juggle stuff around if Tiff and I need to use it.
It finally rained last night, fairly heavily for a few hours. December was drier than normal, the monsoon is not happening yet which may make January and February wetter than usual again. The roads that were damaged last year and the bridges, have finally been allocated resources for repair work. The hold up has been getting permission from the village Chiefs along the road to do the work, plus payment no doubt for having people working on the roads and bridges. I’m still coming to grips with all the small obstructions to life here, it’s been a year since the roads and bridges were washed away, and until the Chiefs agree, no repair work can be started. Which has effectively cut off a lot of eastern Guadacanal.
We got the small job at the World Bank Office, well, it’s small, only 6 bougainvillea to plant along a wall, but the cost comes to $4,580 with the mesh I’m attaching to the wall for support. I’ll take Rose and Naomi on Monday and get it done, so they can see how to attach the mesh to the wall. I’m using wood blocks glued to the concrete, and fence staples to attach the mesh, so we don’t leave holes or permanent fixtures in the wall. It would cause long discussions with the wall owner otherwise.
We’re hopeful that something will come out of all the meetings we are having this month, Ministry Infrastructure & Development for Commonwealth Ave and the Median Strip, Government House, Tourism Solomon Island for the Cultural Centre, plus trying to convince businesses along Mendana Ave to pay for upgrading the road frontage.
Tiffany wants to alter all the roundabout plantings, or replant them all this year, it is something that needs to be done. They have got to the stage where the plantings are starting to look tired, so that got passed onto me to come up with some designs. With the new pricing we have finally got accepted there is a bit more money coming in to enable us to do more work on the roundabouts instead of the weekly pruning and rubbish clearing. I’m going to need a lot of seed and bare rooted cuttings imported to improve the plantings so we are considering adding a quarantine area to the Nursery as well now. More discussions with Solomon Island Agriculture coming up.
Honiara is still sold out of flour. The flour mill closed for the Christmas holidays, without stock piling or storing any extra, and also stopped importing wheat till the end of this month, so until we get a few containers of flour imported from Australia, the home baking is on hold. Only one bread shop left open in town, but even they admit it is going to be closed if the imports don’t arrive soon.
I was down at Kukum Fish Market this morning, as usual. I haven’t worked out the best time to go yet, after a year, but I seem to get discounts off stuff no matter what time I’m there now so I guess I’m almost a local finally. Although with the amount I spend, a discount is neither here nor there. A dollar off here, maybe an extra pawpaw there, extra chillies or 2 $8 pineapples for $10. Still keeps the expenditure down each week and helps. I have to try to spend $50 there now, initially it was trying to keep it down to that, now I manage to walk away with money left over.
$50 Solomon is only NZ$9, or about US$4.50. That buys beans, bokchoy, pineapples, bananas, pawpaw, cucumber, chillies, ginger and green stuff like spinach. Which is usually more than I can eat in a week, and I end up dumping some of the bokchoy and spinach because it is going off.
I get really seriously annoyed with some of the other white folk here. Mostly the Australian ones. I was having a bit of a chat with one of the traders this morning, he had some really huge pineapples, $40, far too big for me to consider, but anyway, we were discussing fertilisers and what he used, when this palangi woman just inserts herself between us, demands, not asks, how much the pineapples were, does a Humphf, I’m not paying that for those, then proceeds to walk through the fruit and veg on the tarpaulin to get to another stall instead of walking around. I said sorry for my wantok to the guy, he laughed, and said Australians always the same, New Zealand good people, then gave me 2 pineapples for $10 instead of $16.
The rains seem to be here finally, between 4pm and 5pm it has started raining solidly the last couple of days, which is really good. It carries on for most of the night, so by morning everything is fresh looking and a lot of the rubbish has been washed away. You have to like thunder and lightning. I’ve mentioned often enough about it, tonights effort feels as if it is barely above the roof, the house is vibrating and shaking with each clap and roll, and the lightning is almost horizontal across the park. And its raining! Heavy, solid, buckets of water, not the shower type rain of the past month.
An aside to mention AGW, or manbearpig, or Zombie Armageddon, or the end of civilisation as we know it. If you rely on Wikipedia for any information, James Connelly has finally been removed as administrator for Wiki, due to his editing and altering of every article about AGW/Global Warming/Climate Change/Mann08 etc over the past few years. It is still suspect though, as everyone involved with realClimate.com is still editing Wiki, if they were so sure about everything there would be no need to deny/alter/remove anything. Hopefully 2010 will be the year when the whole doomsday scenario falls apart.
I know here it will upset a lot of people who have been happily blaming AGW for everything that happens, and expecting a huge payout from the West. I’m still trying to work out how an island in the Temotu group can have a beach that has AGW tides washing away the beach, and rising, when around the end of the island, the beach is growing and stable. Having 2,500 people living on a narrow strip of land above the beach, cutting down the forest on the slopes above for gardens, and digging up the coral reef to make building material would never have anything to do with it.
Which is much the same thing as with Tuvalu, and Kiribati. Too many people living unsustainably on too little land, and destroying the ecosystem. The Carterets are in a slightly different position, with the volcano they are built on subsiding, and faster with each earthquake we get in that area. Throw dynamite fishing, killing all the parrot fish and cyanide fishing into the mix, and it is no wonder there are problems happening. Calling it AGW and standing around with your hand out isn’t going to solve a bloody thing.
Once you read into the failed resolution from Cop14 and realise how disasterous the whole thing would have been. It would have stopped any developing country from getting ahead, and crippled the western economies totally. As well as making energy and resources too expensive for any progress or development.
I’m all for sustainability, and cleaning up everything, but not when it cripples the world, and condemns most of the 3rd world to poverty and starvation. And achieves nothing in the long run.
Hopefully all the doomsday predictions will start to fall apart this year, a cold winter and the Artic ice sheet will be back past the last thaw line again, and there might be a lot more closer scrutiny of how the global temperatures are recorded, or used, without them being adjusted to fit a preconceived hypothesis.
I walked to the Malaria clinic Saturday morning, and had a blood test, but it was negative, so probably just a bug I’ve picked up somewhere. Other than a nagging headache I’m back on my feet again.
I think I’m over the choleric outburst of earlier in the week. Then again, it could only be a matter of time till the frustration level hits a high point. We are still trying to find somewhere that has paving, Tiffany and I are sure Dalgro would have it, they are the only supplier of concrete products, gravel sand etc, but it isn’t as easy as a phone call to find out. If we get the chance we’ll go to their yard Monday, only one truck still working so we have to juggle stuff around if Tiff and I need to use it.
It finally rained last night, fairly heavily for a few hours. December was drier than normal, the monsoon is not happening yet which may make January and February wetter than usual again. The roads that were damaged last year and the bridges, have finally been allocated resources for repair work. The hold up has been getting permission from the village Chiefs along the road to do the work, plus payment no doubt for having people working on the roads and bridges. I’m still coming to grips with all the small obstructions to life here, it’s been a year since the roads and bridges were washed away, and until the Chiefs agree, no repair work can be started. Which has effectively cut off a lot of eastern Guadacanal.
We got the small job at the World Bank Office, well, it’s small, only 6 bougainvillea to plant along a wall, but the cost comes to $4,580 with the mesh I’m attaching to the wall for support. I’ll take Rose and Naomi on Monday and get it done, so they can see how to attach the mesh to the wall. I’m using wood blocks glued to the concrete, and fence staples to attach the mesh, so we don’t leave holes or permanent fixtures in the wall. It would cause long discussions with the wall owner otherwise.
We’re hopeful that something will come out of all the meetings we are having this month, Ministry Infrastructure & Development for Commonwealth Ave and the Median Strip, Government House, Tourism Solomon Island for the Cultural Centre, plus trying to convince businesses along Mendana Ave to pay for upgrading the road frontage.
Tiffany wants to alter all the roundabout plantings, or replant them all this year, it is something that needs to be done. They have got to the stage where the plantings are starting to look tired, so that got passed onto me to come up with some designs. With the new pricing we have finally got accepted there is a bit more money coming in to enable us to do more work on the roundabouts instead of the weekly pruning and rubbish clearing. I’m going to need a lot of seed and bare rooted cuttings imported to improve the plantings so we are considering adding a quarantine area to the Nursery as well now. More discussions with Solomon Island Agriculture coming up.
Honiara is still sold out of flour. The flour mill closed for the Christmas holidays, without stock piling or storing any extra, and also stopped importing wheat till the end of this month, so until we get a few containers of flour imported from Australia, the home baking is on hold. Only one bread shop left open in town, but even they admit it is going to be closed if the imports don’t arrive soon.
I was down at Kukum Fish Market this morning, as usual. I haven’t worked out the best time to go yet, after a year, but I seem to get discounts off stuff no matter what time I’m there now so I guess I’m almost a local finally. Although with the amount I spend, a discount is neither here nor there. A dollar off here, maybe an extra pawpaw there, extra chillies or 2 $8 pineapples for $10. Still keeps the expenditure down each week and helps. I have to try to spend $50 there now, initially it was trying to keep it down to that, now I manage to walk away with money left over.
$50 Solomon is only NZ$9, or about US$4.50. That buys beans, bokchoy, pineapples, bananas, pawpaw, cucumber, chillies, ginger and green stuff like spinach. Which is usually more than I can eat in a week, and I end up dumping some of the bokchoy and spinach because it is going off.
I get really seriously annoyed with some of the other white folk here. Mostly the Australian ones. I was having a bit of a chat with one of the traders this morning, he had some really huge pineapples, $40, far too big for me to consider, but anyway, we were discussing fertilisers and what he used, when this palangi woman just inserts herself between us, demands, not asks, how much the pineapples were, does a Humphf, I’m not paying that for those, then proceeds to walk through the fruit and veg on the tarpaulin to get to another stall instead of walking around. I said sorry for my wantok to the guy, he laughed, and said Australians always the same, New Zealand good people, then gave me 2 pineapples for $10 instead of $16.
The rains seem to be here finally, between 4pm and 5pm it has started raining solidly the last couple of days, which is really good. It carries on for most of the night, so by morning everything is fresh looking and a lot of the rubbish has been washed away. You have to like thunder and lightning. I’ve mentioned often enough about it, tonights effort feels as if it is barely above the roof, the house is vibrating and shaking with each clap and roll, and the lightning is almost horizontal across the park. And its raining! Heavy, solid, buckets of water, not the shower type rain of the past month.
An aside to mention AGW, or manbearpig, or Zombie Armageddon, or the end of civilisation as we know it. If you rely on Wikipedia for any information, James Connelly has finally been removed as administrator for Wiki, due to his editing and altering of every article about AGW/Global Warming/Climate Change/Mann08 etc over the past few years. It is still suspect though, as everyone involved with realClimate.com is still editing Wiki, if they were so sure about everything there would be no need to deny/alter/remove anything. Hopefully 2010 will be the year when the whole doomsday scenario falls apart.
I know here it will upset a lot of people who have been happily blaming AGW for everything that happens, and expecting a huge payout from the West. I’m still trying to work out how an island in the Temotu group can have a beach that has AGW tides washing away the beach, and rising, when around the end of the island, the beach is growing and stable. Having 2,500 people living on a narrow strip of land above the beach, cutting down the forest on the slopes above for gardens, and digging up the coral reef to make building material would never have anything to do with it.
Which is much the same thing as with Tuvalu, and Kiribati. Too many people living unsustainably on too little land, and destroying the ecosystem. The Carterets are in a slightly different position, with the volcano they are built on subsiding, and faster with each earthquake we get in that area. Throw dynamite fishing, killing all the parrot fish and cyanide fishing into the mix, and it is no wonder there are problems happening. Calling it AGW and standing around with your hand out isn’t going to solve a bloody thing.
Once you read into the failed resolution from Cop14 and realise how disasterous the whole thing would have been. It would have stopped any developing country from getting ahead, and crippled the western economies totally. As well as making energy and resources too expensive for any progress or development.
I’m all for sustainability, and cleaning up everything, but not when it cripples the world, and condemns most of the 3rd world to poverty and starvation. And achieves nothing in the long run.
Hopefully all the doomsday predictions will start to fall apart this year, a cold winter and the Artic ice sheet will be back past the last thaw line again, and there might be a lot more closer scrutiny of how the global temperatures are recorded, or used, without them being adjusted to fit a preconceived hypothesis.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Wednesday 6th January
6am. I missed getting the Solomon Star Yesterday, so all I have to go by regarding the earthquake in Western Province is what I found online. I’ll try and get a Star today which should have a lot more detail by now.
We had several shakes last night here in Honiara, about 10pm, midnight and 4am, just the usual small ones that make everything rattle a bit and the house feels like it is sitting on a jelly. No doubt we are going to have a larger shake at sometime, I’ve been trying to estimate the times between the really big ones here, that lift the reef up 300’ each time. I think every 1,000 years or so, judging by the forest growth on the hills that are formed, and if the Botanic Gardens are anything to go by, a good large quake is due anytime.
I actually started putting together an emergency kit last night, well, I looked around the house to find stuff to make an emergency kit with. It was a choice between putting the fishing gear somewhere easy to grab, a few clothes, a back pack, and that was it. I don’t have much to save, cameras, laptop, and fishing rods will be about it.
I’ve started putting together a presentation for the schools, all the photos I’ve taken over the years in Ireland/Australia/USA/New Zealand and here are finally becoming useful. It makes it easy to show the difference between cities as far as rubbish and pollution and general appearance. Honiara really compares badly with anywhere I have lived or been. I am staying away from the AGW rubbish, and going back to the original Greenpeace slogan, Think Global, Act Local mantra. If I can get the younger school kids started on keeping every clean eventually things might improve, although it is going to be a long term proposition. There is no sense of belonging in Honiara, it is just a town that everyone comes to for shopping or employment, and there is nothing else to give any sense of belonging.
Another reason for wanting more Solomon Island artwork out in public, I know it will probably get damaged to begin with, but eventually people might start appreciating and taking some pride in things.
I get really annoyed with the casual attitude towards things here at times. We employed a lady to keep Commonwealth Ave clean, and I admit it isn’t the most glamorous of jobs, sweeping a street and picking up the rubbish that people drop. Good pay, 5 days a week permanent work, and things started off well, but now it has got to non appearances, no notice about being away, and even when she is there, it is like playing hide and seek. The problem isn’t helped by the fact that employing her was Keithie and Bruces idea, they are paying her wages and Tiff and I are the ones that hear about the absences and non performance. Coupled with the predjudice and colonialism it makes a long hard road getting anything for the work crew. I did have reservations about the person David suggested we employ, I pass on the comments to him now and let him deal with it so he can see the consequences of his actions a bit better, instead of hiding behind the “I am only here to plant trees” excuse. He’s paid supervisors wages, he can start to earn them now.
I think I need a holiday, I’m starting to sound like a grumpy old man.
The hardest thing about working as an Advisor here is not doing things, and letting, or getting the locals to do it instead. I could take over, and do everything, but once I leave, it will all fall apart and revert back to Solomon Island casualness. While it’s frustrating trying to steer people indo doing something, once the idea or concept is put in place, and works, it is accepted and carried on with. At times I feel as if the baseball bat method of teaching is applicable, keep hitting them till they do it. But there have been some changes, and all good ones. Just not enough to satisfy me at present. I’m too impatient at times with what I can see, and want to do, and trying to get the idea through to the people I work with.
We had several shakes last night here in Honiara, about 10pm, midnight and 4am, just the usual small ones that make everything rattle a bit and the house feels like it is sitting on a jelly. No doubt we are going to have a larger shake at sometime, I’ve been trying to estimate the times between the really big ones here, that lift the reef up 300’ each time. I think every 1,000 years or so, judging by the forest growth on the hills that are formed, and if the Botanic Gardens are anything to go by, a good large quake is due anytime.
I actually started putting together an emergency kit last night, well, I looked around the house to find stuff to make an emergency kit with. It was a choice between putting the fishing gear somewhere easy to grab, a few clothes, a back pack, and that was it. I don’t have much to save, cameras, laptop, and fishing rods will be about it.
I’ve started putting together a presentation for the schools, all the photos I’ve taken over the years in Ireland/Australia/USA/New Zealand and here are finally becoming useful. It makes it easy to show the difference between cities as far as rubbish and pollution and general appearance. Honiara really compares badly with anywhere I have lived or been. I am staying away from the AGW rubbish, and going back to the original Greenpeace slogan, Think Global, Act Local mantra. If I can get the younger school kids started on keeping every clean eventually things might improve, although it is going to be a long term proposition. There is no sense of belonging in Honiara, it is just a town that everyone comes to for shopping or employment, and there is nothing else to give any sense of belonging.
Another reason for wanting more Solomon Island artwork out in public, I know it will probably get damaged to begin with, but eventually people might start appreciating and taking some pride in things.
I get really annoyed with the casual attitude towards things here at times. We employed a lady to keep Commonwealth Ave clean, and I admit it isn’t the most glamorous of jobs, sweeping a street and picking up the rubbish that people drop. Good pay, 5 days a week permanent work, and things started off well, but now it has got to non appearances, no notice about being away, and even when she is there, it is like playing hide and seek. The problem isn’t helped by the fact that employing her was Keithie and Bruces idea, they are paying her wages and Tiff and I are the ones that hear about the absences and non performance. Coupled with the predjudice and colonialism it makes a long hard road getting anything for the work crew. I did have reservations about the person David suggested we employ, I pass on the comments to him now and let him deal with it so he can see the consequences of his actions a bit better, instead of hiding behind the “I am only here to plant trees” excuse. He’s paid supervisors wages, he can start to earn them now.
I think I need a holiday, I’m starting to sound like a grumpy old man.
The hardest thing about working as an Advisor here is not doing things, and letting, or getting the locals to do it instead. I could take over, and do everything, but once I leave, it will all fall apart and revert back to Solomon Island casualness. While it’s frustrating trying to steer people indo doing something, once the idea or concept is put in place, and works, it is accepted and carried on with. At times I feel as if the baseball bat method of teaching is applicable, keep hitting them till they do it. But there have been some changes, and all good ones. Just not enough to satisfy me at present. I’m too impatient at times with what I can see, and want to do, and trying to get the idea through to the people I work with.
Monday, January 4, 2010
5th January
Yesterdays earthquake was in Western Province, a long way from me. All we felt was a mild tremor, and that was long after the quake that hit there.
I'll update this later once I get a chance tonight
I'll update this later once I get a chance tonight
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