May 1, 2015.

I received an email today ....

Look me up if you come through majuro.  I will be staying here for awhile. I'm stranded here. HMA said I don't get a final paycheck. I'm just trying to get a job here now while I can still afford a room.
I may end up staying forever who knows.

Eli

 

Homeless and penniless in the Marshall Islands, what a quick turn life can take...

May 2 and May 3 , 2015

"Thank you for having us on your island, your island is better than our island"  That is the last thing I said to them tonight at the Outrigger bar on Roi-Namur.  Nevermind the ownership of these islands, there is a deep difference in between the two besides the fact one is the southern most and the other is the northern most in this Atoll..the largest one in the world I've read.  These Islands are separated by about a hundred miles.  I'll back up a bit with the pictures....the following pics are from leaving Kwaj on a twenty person prop plane that a tall person has to nearly crawl through to get to their seat. 

I've said this numerous times in my life....and I repeat...I am still the luckiest guy I know.

 

 

 

 

We leave work early on a Saturday (which is your Friday and our 5th day at work).  We ride our bikes home, shower, pack and ride off to he airport.  Of course, we live on the airport basically, but its still kind of cool to say we rode our bikes to the airport.  Originally, there were around ten of us going.  Our company announced some layoffs, and the number dwindled quickly to around 4. Four of the twenty were being sent home, or laid off.  The rest bailed in some sort of misguided stand down.  What was left was basically my lab crew.  Ray, James, myself and the safety guy who was organizing it.  By the time Saturday rolled around it was just James and I.  The fact that I didn't want to go because I thought I might miss something struck me as odd then, and even more so now that I had such a great time.  James is a little odd, but in a great way.  He's hyper, but not hyper, he can eat ten hamburgers and ask for more.  He doesn't really get drunk, even after drinking a bottle of Jameson.  The guy has an incredible heart, and while sometimes at work he can be a bit much, he has turned out to be a guy I'll be happy to call a friend at the end of this. 

So we leave our lab at around 2:30 Saturday to go home ..do all the stuff necessary and get to the airport ...well James had to go to the Kwaj lodge and get his key for the lodging on Roi first...by 3pm.  Of course we are on our bikes, like anyone back in the states would be in their cars travelling to the terminal at the airport.  We parked our bikes at the airport and leave them there for the weekend.  No parking fees.

There is no real check in deal.  I mean you check in, of course, but there is no security scan or taking your shoes off or anything.  Its' basically get to the airport about a half hour before, weigh in, then hang out in an open air warehouse until the plane gets back from the last flight and get on and go.

I'm getting tired so I'll just add a bunch of pics of Roi...

 

Roi is much prettier and kept up than Kwaj, more manicured.  Roi is actually only half of what is actually called Roi-Namur.  Namur is attached by a causeway that you can't really tell is a causeway.  The Namur side of the island has a ton of vegetation on it, and it looks like it would be fun to go exploring, but we didn't take the time.  By the time we had gotten down there and looked around a bit, it was nearly 6pm, and we hadn't eaten all day.  We decided we would go get another (like the previous evening) "missile burger" and chill out and call it an early night.

 

 

We were wrong.  The "Outrigger Club" where the burgers are served is also a bar and pool hall.  We stayed way too late playing pool on Saturday night, and when we walked in Sunday (your Saturday night) there was a band playing.  4 kind of middle aged mostly drunk people, who ended up being pretty good, and pretty funny.  Two housewife looking ladies, one bass player, one all around guy and they called themselves "Smells like Fish".  We sat there for a while, two of only around 17 people in the bar, just listening and dancing in our seats and watching the girls that were there dance.  I even got up and danced a few times, the music was good, ok and so was the beer.  The older guy they called "the shark" showed up again with his nice pool sticks and James and I started taking turns playing pool with him.  I was getting lucky and winning until "The Shark" finally said "that's it, we gotta take him out".  Then he lost again, but it was all in good fun.

 

 

Here's some more pics...

 





May.....

4-26-15  Ok so its not quite May.  I woke up this Sunday morning to rain on the roof.  I was soo happy to hear it.  Rain on a Sunday morning to me means rest.  Sunday is our Saturday, the first day to sleep in on a weekend.  I need sleep so bad, partly because of all the activity, and partly because I have been getting up around 3 am and not getting back to sleep.  I had already made plans to go surfing at 8:30 this morning (high tide was shortly after nine), but I was hoping it would continue to rain all day, so when I got back from surfing a big nap would happen.  The sun came out at ten or so and I agreed to go snorkeling with Sean the surfer friend of mine at 2 pm.  I had forgotten that I was scheduled to take the "driving" portion of my boat license at 2pm.  I passed and now have the ability to rent out at will, a boat from the Small boat marina and "get off the rock".

There are some things about the way they run this island that should be copied elsewhere if it were practical.  If you're an idiot you get kicked off the island.  Kind of simple.  The other lab manager out here, the third party tester that was required by the contract, I'll call him Eddie.  Eddie, while a good guy sober, was a bit of a train wreck with alcohol.  He knew his work fairly well, even though he lacked any tact when dealing with the client.  The first weekend he was here, St Paddy's day, he got drunk enough to fall down.   When one of the fireman, Stan, who happens to be around 6'8" tall, went to help Eddie up.  He came up swinging fists, which didn't go over too well.  Two weekends later, at a "cowboys and Indians" themed party, he decides to try and start some shit with one of the cowboys.  He had the blonde guy backed against a wall and was being a jackass to him.  I got in between them and told Eddie if he didn't leave  I would call the police.  He left.  You're not allowed to hit people on this island.  You do, and you go.  So the guy who really wanted to deck Eddie, thanked me, and Eddie thanked me the next day even though he had no recollection of trying to start a fight with anyone. 

This weekend comes, and the "spring break adult pool party" is on the menu.  Eddie shows up, already  stumbling, about an hour after my coworker James and I arrive.  He does some stupid things.  Stupid as in grabbing women he doesn't know and acting like he is going to toss them into the pool.  I watched one girl look at her husband with the "aren't you going to do something about this" look.  He did nothing, not that he really could have, without starting a fight and risk being kicked off the island.  James and I left, not wanting to babysit.   By Wednesday or Thursday following, we hadn't heard anything about Eddie's weekend, and couldn't really believe he didn't get in any trouble.

Eddie is sitting in Guam right now, trying to figure out how to get back to the States.  The flew him out yesterday.  I guess when you do something really stupid they wait to kick you out until the plane is going the "other" way, instead of when its on the way to Honolulu.  One way, if you just make a mistake, it takes 6 hours to get to Hono, the other, if you really screw up, it takes 28 hours to get to Hono (and a bunch more money).  Bye Eddie, hope you get the drinking under control.

4-26-15
Ok, so I'm not quite ready to quit with this yet, and I haven't really added to it much, so here's some thoughts....
Surfing is hard.  Learning to surf is hard, paddling a surfboard is hard, trying to not drown is hard.  I kind of like doing things the hard way apparently.  I went 5 times this week.  The second day (maybe Wednesday?) there were some big sets coming in.  I got rolled a lot that day.  That night I went home all clogged up in the sinuses, wondering where I had caught the cold.  After rolling around most the night, and falling asleep around midnight, I woke up to a very wet pillow and the taste of ocean in my mouth.  I got rolled so much surfing that a few table spoons of salt water got lodged in my sinuses and finally let loose in the middle of the night.  Thursday, there were some big sets too.  I got caught once sitting on my board as a monster rolled in and broke just on top of me.  When I finally got back, Dr Heinz or Julia says to me "I thought we would only see pieces of you after that"  That is kind of how it felt.  I went on to duplicate that scenario several more times that evening, except that I was actually trying to catch the wave instead of getting caught off guard.  

The other part of it is the physical part.  From where we get in the water, its about a quarter of a mile to the break we all use.  So just going out there means paddling a half mile.  Every time you catch a wave and ride it, maybe another eighth of a mile to paddle back to the break.  So, I'd guess, every time I go surfing I paddle about 292 miles.  Ok, that's just what it feels like, its more like 2 or 3 miles.  Its tough on the shoulders, but its even worse on my neck.  Maybe I have a big head, and holding it up for 2 miles while surfing is the problem.  The other problem, and I promise to stop whining soon, is that I am getting older and it wears me the hell out.  THAT has to be why I have sleeping issues.  I'm too tired to sleep. 

I feel so fortunate to have only these complaints.

April.....

4-4-15.  Good Friday. Ok so I got the date wrong.  To start off on a sad note...they pulled the "plug" on Mike last Tuesday I hear.  I wish I had a picture of him to do the guy some justice.  I didn't know him THAT well, but well enough to know he was a good guy.

We played Frisbee tonight.  Harley showed up first.  He's about 12, really good at Frisbee.  We chucked it back and forth for a bit, until he decided to go to the REB(?) to see if the Merrimans were done.  I don't know if I have the acronym right, but its a religious place for people, and it is Good Friday.  Gary, our guy from AMEC came out to say he forgot it was Good Friday.  The Merrimans and Harley and Liam showed up.  We played 3 on 3.  It was the Merrimans "against the world" as Reuben called out the teams.  Katheryn, the oldest of the Merrimans, and leader at Frisbee, Jason, the next oldest I'd guess, and then Reuben, the youngest (at Frisbee...maybe 12 or 14).  I think Katheryn is around 20, Jason still in high school but 6'1", and Rueben...hmm 12 or 13 and 6ft.  Both Jason and Rueben are defensive forces to be reckoned with.  Katheryn plays conservatively.  All great kids.   Harley is nearly 6ft but thin, and Liam, very small, maybe 5'4", and kid skinny....however he is completely great to have on your team.  I've met all the parents.  Liam's parents say he gets squirmy when they make him miss Frisbee.  Harley's dad is with the Corp of Engineers who are at the top of the construction hierarchy here.  I forgot to mention Xan, who plays sometimes, and his father Max who I got to play early on, and is also with the Corp of Engineers and has visited my lab to kind of evaluate.  Max is young for his age, and his son Xan, around 13 plays well too.

4-5-15- Saturday.  Not sure if I have the date correct on the last post or this one.  Not sure it really matters.  Saturday is Friday back in the States.  Its enjoyable saying that.  I never really pictured myself saying that.  Regardless, its a stress relieving night where ....well we all consider it a drinking night.  Ok, so for me, there really isn't any stress out here.  There are some grumpy older guys who try and make their lives stressful, and try to share that stress with any one who might listen.  I could give examples but its not really worth reliving. 

The moon was full tonight.  Last night, after Frisbee, I stopped by "Ocean View" or more locally known as "the snake pit".  Its a bar where the selection of beers is pretty minimal.  Its open air and on the east reef.  "On the east reef" means its ocean side and if one could see far enough sitting comfortably out back on the plastic lawn chairs, they would see Chile. Tonight, was a bit different than just violent waves  crashing on the reef.(all the wind comes mainly from the east here, not like Ohio).  Low tide was at 10:30 , which is about right now (while I'm sitting in my lagoon side chateau).  At low tide the surf breaks about 300 feet offshore.  The "American" pools are clearly visible in the reef at low tide.  The "pools", "American" and "Japanese" are these very rectangular (maybe 60 x 200 ft) excavations cut into the coral between the island and the "edge" of the island that start about 400 ft offshore.  They dug them to get aggregate for the concrete for the bunkers and the rest of the war crap stuff back in the day where we didn't kill each other so efficiently during war. They are mostly only visible at low tide, where you can walk out to them.   

I have friends, along with the flashlight that when I turn it on from here you can see it in the states, that want to dive the pools at night.  I can't wait.  Out of the 30 that I work with only one will join me in that sort of adventure.  Fortunately, or more likely, "fittingly" most of the friends and activity partners I have here are not coworkers.  Nothing against them, they just are more "settled" or lacking adventurousness :). 


4-6-15 Easter Sunday.  I walked into town today to get the bike I left behind when I bought the new one.  The new multi speed bike has a bent back rim, no back brakes because the wheel is so messed up.  The wheel rubs on the frame just enough to psychologically let you know its slowing you down.  All the shifter cables don't work because they are rusted.  Its a year old, and Chris said he kept it inside.  I paid $60.  My Huffy, that I paid $80 for, before realizing they sell for a hundred brand new at the store, is well lacking class.  Its rusting badly after only 4 months of life on Kwaj.  I replaced the chain with a stainless steel chain that cost $30.  The other chain rusted and broke.  Only being 4 months old, the bike looks like hell, but its a bike made of steel.  Steel rusts out here.  I can probably get $40 out of it on the facebook page Kwaj swap and shop, but I'll probably give to one of the Marshalese.   I hate to admit it, but I shoulda just bought a "Sun" bike and basket totaling around $400 and been done with it.  The new bike is going to need 80 bucks worth...well maybe $160 if you add the basket.  Arg.  Life on Kwaj.

Here are some pics from this past week.

this one is looking out of my front door.  I have Lagoon front property.  It's called Coral Sands Pavillion and beach.  It's completely gorgeous.

 

 

These two are from the fields kind of north of the east end of the runway where we play Frisbee.  In the bottom one you can see the cafeteria where we used to eat between the towers. 

This is the side of the island I work at.  In the top two pics you can see a yellow box type deal.  That's my lab.  The pile of yellow rock (aggregate) was shipped in from Guam, because they don't want to use up this island.  It's just like Ohio limestone, but slightly lighter in weight and color.  In the top two pics...if you could see past the building on the right, you would see my surf spot.  Or rather the island surf spot....which I still don't completely understand.  Everyone goes to this little spot where the waves break supposedly perfectly.  Its like 40 yards wide.  It gets crowded (ok 3 is a crowd when you don't know what the hell you are doing).  There have to be other places. Friday, crap, I mean Saturday after work and before the bar deal I went surfing for the first time in a few weeks.  I got the longest rides of my life on a surfboard.  Pretty F@#$% in cool!.  It was awesome. 

This is Emon beach (again).  We played volleyball tonight....those people...not that I intended them to be in the pic...drank beer in the water.