Break (walk) In

For those playing at home, in the last blog I asked you to find the problems in the basketball photo.  The ones I picked were:

1.  No shoes
2. Lack of padding on the backboard and on the backboard stand – looks like it has been torn off.
3. No referees in sight – this was a game
4. Shirts untucked

Now on to new news.

This morning I found two locals in the house.  Luckily for them, Denise was out praying for me.  The first I knew was when a young local bloke just walked in to my toilet while I was on it – surprise!!!  I told him to get out.  When I came out he was still in the house so I ordered him out.  He was reluctant to go and said something about a friend.  It turned out his female friend was in the main bathroom (yes, we have two bathrooms) using that toilet and appeared to be under the influence.  Long story short, I have reported the incident and I have been advised it will be handed to the police tomorrow.  Let’s see where that leads to.  Update, the police are on their way…on a Sunday.

Most of my blog is written on my iPhone while traveling to/from work, usually when something comes up that I believe may paint a better picture of what we are doing and how we are coping.

Our health was not the best after our trip to Australia.  I have now had my second bout of stomach upsets, the latest keeping me home from work for a day.  I did try going to work but decided I needed to remain close to a toilet.

Denise decided to bring a cold back from Oz, thanks Kerry, and took a while to get over it.  As they say, what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger.

We are all good now, and no, it doesn't mean we won't be coming back to Australia.

Mosquitoes are becoming a problem.  For the last week or two we have noticed a lot of mosquitoes around, including in the house.  No idea what set that off but we are trying to work out how to best get rid of them from inside our house at the very least without poisoning ourselves as well.  Send in your ideas.

The work bus continues to amuse, entertain and amaze me.  The drivers still take risks (for first world anyway).  Whenever I get a seat to myself you can nearly always guarantee the seat beside me will be the last to be taken, and when it is, it's quickly vacated when another seat becomes free.  Lucky I don't get a complex over it.  As I write this it happened again just to prove a point.  I even had a shower that morning so it's not BO.  Another one is getting the back seat to myself when the rest of the bus is packed.  Why can't this happen on flights?  The bus music seems to be getting worse, or maybe I am getting older.

One thing I just realised is that some of the buses I catch to/from work aren't air conditioned.  I get to enjoy traveling with the windows fully open, and they don't even have any bars or other safety devices to stop people falling/jumping out.  Guess what, nobody falls/jumps out.

I still don't understand how people can dive at 20km/hr, or slower in the 40 and 60km/hr zones and it is accepted by everyone as normal and OK to do, except for us ignorant expats.  The most frustrating part is when you can't pass due to oncoming traffic, but remember that there is no road rage here - all the locals accept it as normal.

Slow driving is definitely not the case with one of the bus drivers.  I'm sure he believes that the 40 signs mean that's the minimum speed limit and he will be fined if he goes below it, although he does slow for the speed bumps.  It makes for a quick trip at least.

We had employed a cleaner for two days a week to see how it works out.  The minimum wage here is $1.60/hr.  We were paying $3/hr and it takes 3-4 hours to clean our house to Denise's required standards.  Yesterday Denise fired her, just like Donald Trump used to do.  White House here we come…One of these days Peter….. be afraid

Recently I have noticed the police are using the speed radar a lot more frequently.  No idea how we have both avoided getting caught, or maybe Denise just hasn't told me.  It wouldn't be the first time would it Kev.

Basketball is now happening.  Well sort of.  For our first education session there was one rule - be on time.  The penalty was one lap of the court for every minute you were late.  What I failed to tell them was the referees are a team so everyone gets to do the laps, me included.  That failed as only two turned up, sort of on time.  At least there were three other referees there who were playing at the time.  I substituted the duty referees to run three-man mechanics with the other two.  Yes, I was referring as well.  It's amazing how you just start calling the game after such a long break - as if I never gave it up, and I enjoyed it.  The funny part was making them run to make position and me madly waiving directions to them on the run.  At the end of the game both were sweating profusely and I hadn't raised a sweat, and for the referees reading, no I didn't stay as the centre official, in fact I ran more than the other two.  I know that last bit about not sweating is hard to believe for those who have trained with me - sorry Warren and Heather.

Christmas planning over here has begun including end of year parties.  There is an expat orphans Christmas lunch for those remaining on the island that will be held on Christmas Day.  We have our tickets for a Christmas dinner at the end of November.  Then there are work, basketball and other random functions to fit in as well, and yes, the work one is paid for by work.

This week I had to do my compulsory fire training which was all done in i-Kiribati, at least the PowerPoint presentation was in English.  After doing regular fire training in Australia I knew what they were speaking about and even questioned why calling the fire brigade is the last step.  The instructor couldn't understand so I let it go, but when I asked later about the response time when you do call, I was advised it is 1 hour.  The good part was I got to put out a fire that I hadn't lit.  I was full of suggestions like:

·         It would be more exciting if we lit the nearby car, but they said it was new.

·         I suggested the Aussie way to put out small fires, pee on it.

·         Roasted marshmallows

The first extinguisher they got was empty.  Good start.  The second one was full, but we managed to empty that one as well.

I did ask where some of the things they raised during the presentation were at work and was told we don't have them.  Things like:

• ·         Emergency rules and policies
• ·         Fire detection system
• ·         Alarm points
• ·         Exit signs
• ·         Fire extinguishers

Rule one - look after yourself

Rule two - learn to run

Clean up Kiribati is gaining momentum.  The other day I heard a presentation from a local about being a good global citizen – thinking global and acting locally.  This was particularly focused on what the locals could do to clean up their environment.  She was passionate and wanted to lead the change.  I commented about this to one of the expats and they had been looking to fund something like this so I have put the two in contact with each other.  I even had a chance to speak about cleaning up Kiribati with one of the local politicians who gave me a lift to work.  It received a politicians response – it is being considered.  This is something that doesn’t require any consideration, so Denise and I are doing our bit by cleaning up around our immediate neighbourhood, and slowly moving further out into the community.

A bug bear of mine is people not being on time for meetings.  Over here it has reached a whole new level where meetings are always late, and I mean really late.  It is common to wait around for an hour or more for others to turn up.  That is except for my meetings which start either on time or a few minutes late and they finish on time.  It seems to be working.

I have a few more bits of excitement to add. On Tuesday I went to Rotary meeting and managed to have the BBQ explode in my face. I had singed hair, burnt fingers, lip and nose and a damaged pride. I would just like to reassure you I am OK but learnt a very good lesson, check the gas more than once.

So my next adventure, was when I fell over at the front/back of the house that is covered coral and dirt. My thongs got caught on the obstacles’ that is the yard.  I now have grazes on my knee, elbow and hand. Just wondering what I can do next, hopefully it will be not get infected like other people here.

What other interesting things have happened. I have been asked to edit the school play. This always leads to more jobs. I was asked to tell the story so that the player will be able to have the right emphasis on some of the sentences. What next!

I have been to a dress maker and had a blouse and skirt made for $15. It is not wonderful inside but outside it looks great. So I am test driving the dress makers of Kiribati.