Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.”
Ellen Goodman.
I've been fortunate. Great, incredibly great parents, who thought to get a place kind of in the country at the time. They both were the youngest in their respective families. I was the youngest in mine, and have two awesome sisters whom I am sure would do anything for me, and pretty much already have. I would do anything for them too. I am hoping with all this working out and taking care of myself will leave me the best man standing and I will get to return the favors they have extended me.
That being said, and thanks to all, I feel like I am not part of that above quote due to them.....I am not part of the matrix...and haven't been for a while...
Friday, May 15, 2015
Thursday, May 7, 2015
May 8, 2015
May 8, 2015
If you haven't seen the movie "Idiocracy" you should. There is also this quote from confucious that goes something like
If you haven't seen the movie "Idiocracy" you should. There is also this quote from confucious that goes something like
If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.
So this self absorbed idiot I work with, has been teaching me, well, more like reassuring me that I am doing the right thing. This is a bit of second hand knowledge, and in no way encompasses even a half of his self absorption, but, I hear, he sent his young 17 year old daughter some of the texts that he has sent women to explain to her that all guys want to do is get in her pants, and they will say anything to get there. I cannot believe someone would do this. "Hey look what a creep your dad is". Hopefully she is wise enough at a young age to know that all guys aren't idiots like her father.
End of rant, I will leave this guy to the karma he creates.....
May 8th, 2015
Last Friday we had 9 on 9 playing ultimate. This Friday, it rained from noon on, kind of off and on, with no promises to let up. Phelia said she would show up....she didn't. This is the email I sent her. I really really wished there was someone there to take pictures. It seriously rained so hard that it messed up everyone's vision. Completely awesome that we still had enough to play!
WE had soo much fun! honestly....Ted, then Reuben and Liam showed, then it got really really windy...and started downpouring hard, then to my surprise Ray showed up....it was Ted and Ray against Liam, Reuben and I......raining so hard you couldn't see the Frisbee coming downwind cause the rain stung your eyes....Then James showed up. It was a good night! Sorry you missed it Phelia, cause you were afraid of the rain.....
Then Ted, James, and I sat around for another hour after talking and drinking beer in the park. You can do that here. Ted is married, a father of two and a great guy. He says this is his only exercise out here. He is great competition. James is, as I have written, one of my lab partners. He is my age, single, with no kids, 6'4" and around 230. He's not as loose as Ted or I am for running but he's very good at catching the Frisbee and fun to have out there.
Here's a blurb from facebook about the two kids that were there....
for those who don't know Reuben is 14, maybe 15, a stellar defensive player and not shabby on offense, and Liam is a long haired 12 year old maybe, but about 4 ft tall, and good both sides despite his height. You don't want him guarding you....trust me.
So Ted, James and I sat round for a bit drinking beer, James left to go to the store, then came back later cause Ted and I were still sitting there drinking, so he joined us. Ted is pretty interesting. He's worked in Greenland, the Antarctic, and a few places in Europe. Completely cool and down to earth with what appears to be a great family and life. James and I headed out to the camp talking about a great night until we got to the Vet's Hall and I stopped while James continued on.
There was a KPD (Kwaj Police Dude) in there in civilian clothes. I'd been in there several times and he's been in there always in the uniform at the bar, no drink, talking to others at the bar. This time he was in civilian clothes and for the first time since I've seen him, smiling. He told me he's working for the dock something deal now. It must be better cause he's smiling now.
Then there was Brandy, sitting by herself at the end of the bar. Brandy is about 6ft tall, blonde, and pretty, but mostly because she is always happy. She captains the ferry over on Roi. She was over there last weekend when James and I went for a visit. Sunday night, before I left, in my insobriety, I went over to her group of people and said "thanks for having us on your island" while looking straight at her for no real reason. We talked a bit tonight. She told me the Outrigger Bar on Roi hasn't been that busy in months as it was last weekend when I visited. The band playing there is playing here Sunday....
Yep...another good weekend is on its way.....
May 9th...maybe?
There was a MOM golian bbq charity deal at the Vets Hall tonight. One of the guys , one of our clients, gave me a $40 ticket. It was for a lady on the island that was fighting breast cancer, and had won that battle, but was fighting the complications from it.
The band from Roi was there. "Smells like fish". I gave my ticket for the food away, drank too much and met a bunch of new great people. There was so many people there from both Roi and Kwaj, mostly Kwaj of course, but still a lot of people. I spent a lot of time recruiting people to Frisbee and to beach volleyball on Sunday evenings at Emon (beach). I also did some recruiting for snorkeling trips off island, since I now have a boating license.
I'm going surfing tomorrow. Well I'm going to take my board out and hang out and watch others surf. The swell is way too big for me. It's just plain dangerous. I'm borrowing Jame's camera to do a little documenting .....because no one can understand what a big wave is until they see it from the perspective of being out there....
Life.....is great...
May 8th, 2015
Last Friday we had 9 on 9 playing ultimate. This Friday, it rained from noon on, kind of off and on, with no promises to let up. Phelia said she would show up....she didn't. This is the email I sent her. I really really wished there was someone there to take pictures. It seriously rained so hard that it messed up everyone's vision. Completely awesome that we still had enough to play!
WE had soo much fun! honestly....Ted, then Reuben and Liam showed, then it got really really windy...and started downpouring hard, then to my surprise Ray showed up....it was Ted and Ray against Liam, Reuben and I......raining so hard you couldn't see the Frisbee coming downwind cause the rain stung your eyes....Then James showed up. It was a good night! Sorry you missed it Phelia, cause you were afraid of the rain.....
Then Ted, James, and I sat around for another hour after talking and drinking beer in the park. You can do that here. Ted is married, a father of two and a great guy. He says this is his only exercise out here. He is great competition. James is, as I have written, one of my lab partners. He is my age, single, with no kids, 6'4" and around 230. He's not as loose as Ted or I am for running but he's very good at catching the Frisbee and fun to have out there.
Here's a blurb from facebook about the two kids that were there....
for those who don't know Reuben is 14, maybe 15, a stellar defensive player and not shabby on offense, and Liam is a long haired 12 year old maybe, but about 4 ft tall, and good both sides despite his height. You don't want him guarding you....trust me.
So Ted, James and I sat round for a bit drinking beer, James left to go to the store, then came back later cause Ted and I were still sitting there drinking, so he joined us. Ted is pretty interesting. He's worked in Greenland, the Antarctic, and a few places in Europe. Completely cool and down to earth with what appears to be a great family and life. James and I headed out to the camp talking about a great night until we got to the Vet's Hall and I stopped while James continued on.
There was a KPD (Kwaj Police Dude) in there in civilian clothes. I'd been in there several times and he's been in there always in the uniform at the bar, no drink, talking to others at the bar. This time he was in civilian clothes and for the first time since I've seen him, smiling. He told me he's working for the dock something deal now. It must be better cause he's smiling now.
Then there was Brandy, sitting by herself at the end of the bar. Brandy is about 6ft tall, blonde, and pretty, but mostly because she is always happy. She captains the ferry over on Roi. She was over there last weekend when James and I went for a visit. Sunday night, before I left, in my insobriety, I went over to her group of people and said "thanks for having us on your island" while looking straight at her for no real reason. We talked a bit tonight. She told me the Outrigger Bar on Roi hasn't been that busy in months as it was last weekend when I visited. The band playing there is playing here Sunday....
Yep...another good weekend is on its way.....
May 9th...maybe?
There was a MOM golian bbq charity deal at the Vets Hall tonight. One of the guys , one of our clients, gave me a $40 ticket. It was for a lady on the island that was fighting breast cancer, and had won that battle, but was fighting the complications from it.
The band from Roi was there. "Smells like fish". I gave my ticket for the food away, drank too much and met a bunch of new great people. There was so many people there from both Roi and Kwaj, mostly Kwaj of course, but still a lot of people. I spent a lot of time recruiting people to Frisbee and to beach volleyball on Sunday evenings at Emon (beach). I also did some recruiting for snorkeling trips off island, since I now have a boating license.
I'm going surfing tomorrow. Well I'm going to take my board out and hang out and watch others surf. The swell is way too big for me. It's just plain dangerous. I'm borrowing Jame's camera to do a little documenting .....because no one can understand what a big wave is until they see it from the perspective of being out there....
Life.....is great...
Thursday, April 30, 2015
May 1, 2015.
I received an email today ....
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...
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.
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.
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. 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.
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...
Sunday, April 26, 2015
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.
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.
Friday, April 3, 2015
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 $160 if you add the basket. Arg. Life on Kwaj.
Here are some pics from this past week.
These two are from the fields kind of north of the east end of the runway where we play Frisbee. In the bottom one you can see the cafeteria where we used to eat between the towers.
This is the side of the island I work at. In the top two pics you can see a yellow box type deal. That's my lab. The pile of yellow rock (aggregate) was shipped in from Guam, because they don't want to use up this island. It's just like Ohio limestone, but slightly lighter in weight and color. In the top two pics...if you could see past the building on the right, you would see my surf spot. Or rather the island surf spot....which I still don't completely understand. Everyone goes to this little spot where the waves break supposedly perfectly. Its like 40 yards wide. It gets crowded (ok 3 is a crowd when you don't know what the hell you are doing). There have to be other places. Friday, crap, I mean Saturday after work and before the bar deal I went surfing for the first time in a few weeks. I got the longest rides of my life on a surfboard. Pretty F@#$% 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.
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 $160 if you add the basket. Arg. Life on Kwaj.
Here are some pics from this past week.
this one is looking out of my front door. I have Lagoon front property. It's called Coral Sands Pavillion and beach. It's completely gorgeous.
This is the side of the island I work at. In the top two pics you can see a yellow box type deal. That's my lab. The pile of yellow rock (aggregate) was shipped in from Guam, because they don't want to use up this island. It's just like Ohio limestone, but slightly lighter in weight and color. In the top two pics...if you could see past the building on the right, you would see my surf spot. Or rather the island surf spot....which I still don't completely understand. Everyone goes to this little spot where the waves break supposedly perfectly. Its like 40 yards wide. It gets crowded (ok 3 is a crowd when you don't know what the hell you are doing). There have to be other places. Friday, crap, I mean Saturday after work and before the bar deal I went surfing for the first time in a few weeks. I got the longest rides of my life on a surfboard. Pretty F@#$% in cool!. It was awesome.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Spring.............in Ohio....
Ok, so I'm not in Ohio, but some really great people that I left behind are. I see them on Facebook. I've got this unique perspective. I've never watched a facebook Ohio spring. Its clearly visible, clearly tangible from where I sit this year. Its gone from some pseudo negative comments about the snow, wind and cold to random comments about adventure, canoeing, dogs playing, tulips sprouting,....I can see an actual smile in the comments coming from Ohio.
March 29, 2015
March 29, 2015
The videos are from the Spring Break Music festival. 6 Bands, a chilli cookoff and homebrew competition for a community charity. The Charity being one lady who had breast cancer, beat it, but was having other complications. Everyone tells me that to new people it may seem a little disconnected but there is a huge community effort if someone needs it.
A guy died last night. Mike. He played jungle volleyball with us randomly on Sunday nights on Emon Beach. Two Fridays ago he was at the softball field where I normally set up Frisbee on. We talked, I rearranged my field to be out of their practice area I thought. A couple of fly balls headed our way, they yelled and I saw it coming and got people out of the way. I was going to thank Mike for working with us on sharing the field the next time I saw him. He fell out of a golf cart I hear, and slammed his head on the ground. He hadn't had any brain activity in 16 hours they tell me. He was a good guy. Mid 30's, calm, cool, collected and had a job lined up to make bank on the west coast.
Monday, March 16, 2015
St Paddys' day weekend....
March 16th
This is from an email answering some questions from my neighbor back home who teaches Social Studies...
Its going to be strange coming home after a year or so out here. So many people, fast moving cars, all that concrete, winter, people with problems....
Majuro is just one of the Marshalese Islands about a half hour flight on United 154 from Kwajalein. Kwaj is its own banana shaped island, the southern part of an atoll surrounding the largest lagoon in the world. Ebeye is just north of Kwaj. Its possible to walk to Ebeye (about a mile) at low tide, but the reef would be a little treacherous, also there are two smaller islands (Little Busterd, and Big Busterd) that separate Ebeye from Kwaj. I actually was on Little Busterd today. Its illegal, without permission from the Republic of the Marshal Islands to land on any other Marshalese Island out here with a boat, but apparently the people I went with had permission. Little Busterd, which I thought was uninhabited, is only about 5 acres big. It turns out there is one guy living on it. He has some bits and pieced of tin and plywood for a home the size your log cabin. He also has a dog, two small pigs and a few chickens. He's happy when you bring him sugar or coffee.
Ebeye on the other hand is the most densely populated island in the world I've read and have been told. We can take a ferry over there, but I haven't yet. It's 90 acres and has around 15,000 people on it, most of them children. The ferry brings them over to Kwaj where many of them work. One of our mechanics is married to a Marshalese woman whom he said he went over there one Saturday night, got drunk, and woke up married. He said he lived there for two years, taking the ferry back and forth. He said there is no running water over there and that a 5 gallon bucket becomes your best friend. The bucket is to carry water over from Kwaj on the ferry. All the Marshalese workers we have over here take showers here before getting on the ferry to go home. They are all generally very nice and very helpful to a fault. Any Marshalese that makes it to the States can get a free college education at any university they qualify for. I'm assuming its because we screwed them over so bad in the 50's or 60's and we basically took 11 of their islands. I also hear the Japanese were incredibly brutal to them before we took the islands and did nuclear testing on some of them. The King and Queen of the RMI (republic of the marshal islands) and the land owners here also screw the Marshalese too. I've heard we lease this Island (just Kwaj is what I've heard ) for 79 million a year. That money goes to the King and Queen and they give some to the land owners. Their people live in squalor on Ebeye, and get nothing to make civil improvements. In fact the King and Queen don't even live out here, they live in Hawaii. I've been told they come to Ebeye sometimes and the Queen throws quarters to the kids and they love her for it. I know some of the Marshalese want to assassinate their king, but it would do no good cause the landowners or princes or the next in line would just keep up the corruption.
I would imagine the unemployment rate is higher than 35%, but I don't know. I don't know what they do for money over there. I know they are poor, but they also don't have all the crap in their lives that we seem to think we need....cars, cell phones, televisions, etc.. I haven't heard that they export less than they import, but it makes sense. I mean they just don't have the means to produce much of anything. We went sailing today and I got about as close to Ebeye as I have yet, and their are some big buildings over there, but I don't really know what goes on. I'm not sure where they get their water from because there are a few restaurants over there so they must have running water. Kwaj uses the runways as a catchment system for what they call lense wells. The fresh water sits on top of the salt water in the limestone centers of the island. Maybe its coral centers of the island. When it rains here it can really rain, like so hard you can't see ten feet in front of you. We got 6 inches last Tuesday. Its raining as I right this, it usually rains at night during the windy season. I rode my bike around the island on Tuesday just to see the giant lakes of water from the rain, and there weren't any, apparently there is good drainage here. Ebeye, I'm told, doesn't have good drainage. Another mechanic told me to wait a few days and the Marshalese will start coming over sick, because of the sewage
I don't know about their legal system, except that if you land a boat on Ebeye they arrest you, strip you naked and put you in jail. Quenton, the mechanic that married the Marshalese woman said he knew someone that spent four years in a prison on Majuro....naked eating fishheads and rice.
Sorry I don't know the answers just yet to all your questions, I'll talk to some of the Marshalese next week. They are good guys.
I am having a great time out here. I am the lab manager for San Juan Construction. I have the work history and the certifications that qualified me. The construction project I'm not supposed to talk about but you can google it and get plenty of information. The money is great and tax free if I stay out here 330 days and don't come back for more than 30. The living conditions aren't the greatest, but they definitely could be worse. The people out here (mostly Americans) are a little off, but mostly really nice. I met a guy in the pool while doing laps a month ago who loves to sail, but often can't find anyone to go. He's a great teacher, and he knows his stuff. I tried to go surfing late this morning but the waves were too big and the reef didn't have enough cover on it to make me feel comfy, so I left and called Jim and we went sailing. While getting back to the dock, Kristen and her boyfriend Joe were getting ready to leave to go kite boarding (a new sport for them) on Little Busterd in their zodiac and asked me to go. So I got off the sailboat and hopped in their zodiac and went kiteboarding with them. I learned to kite a long time ago, and they knew it and wanted someone there to give them some confidence and help. The pictures above are from a previous weekend snorkeling trip with two other surfing friends. One guy likes to spear fish while snorkeling and he shot the tuna, then we caught the Ono on the way back with a line Tim had put in off the back of the boat. He rented the boat from the small boat marina here.
I am the luckiest guy I know.
The pics for fun in order are 1- the concrete weights we made in the lab, 2- the friends that invited me out snorkeling and spear fishing and he shot a tuna and caught an ono. 3- Tim and his catch 4 and 5 - I actually had it in my head to swim down and grab a sharks tail that was messing around under a rock. He was only about 24" long, but its still probably good I ran out of air first and had to come up
March 21, 2015 ? I think.
We played Frisbee tonight. I set up in a field that was too small and one of the Stophers (name changed to protect their identity) came over and prodded me into checking with the guy who runs the recreational stuff to see if our normal field was actually taken over by a softball game. It wasn't. However, Mike, Josh, Derek and one more were over there when I started setting up the field. They were there to practice cause they new there wasn't a game...so I moved our field perpendicular to the normal setup which left the coconut tree that tried to hit me in the face with a coconut near the east endzone...and still in our field of play. Ah what the hell, we can work around one tree easy enough. Our sideline was within easy range of right field for their practice, but as far as I could shift it south without involving more coconut trees in the game. Someone nailed it on the softball field about a half hour into our Frisbee game. They yelled, I had been keeping an eye out for them and saw the ball coming to our crowd and went running thinking it was going to nail Katherine Stopher, the 20 year old pseudo mother of the 3 other Stophers playing. I jumped up as it came down and realized it wasn't going to hit her at the same time I realized I missed it with my bare hand. It worked out. They changed the way they were batting for a while and then another came. My eye never really left them, because everyone likes to nail a softball, so when it came I did the same thing again except I yelled at our players as I ran towards the ball and they scattered. It worked out again. Life has a great way of working out on this island.
I wonder sometimes if I'm so happy here because I have no money worries, because the money is so good, or because all the rest of it. I mean sunshine, lots of sunshine makes serotonin....makes you happy. I have so much fun stuff to do here...with so many good people...is that it? There is no stress at work..is that it? I'll take some new pics soon...
This is from an email answering some questions from my neighbor back home who teaches Social Studies...
Its going to be strange coming home after a year or so out here. So many people, fast moving cars, all that concrete, winter, people with problems....
Majuro is just one of the Marshalese Islands about a half hour flight on United 154 from Kwajalein. Kwaj is its own banana shaped island, the southern part of an atoll surrounding the largest lagoon in the world. Ebeye is just north of Kwaj. Its possible to walk to Ebeye (about a mile) at low tide, but the reef would be a little treacherous, also there are two smaller islands (Little Busterd, and Big Busterd) that separate Ebeye from Kwaj. I actually was on Little Busterd today. Its illegal, without permission from the Republic of the Marshal Islands to land on any other Marshalese Island out here with a boat, but apparently the people I went with had permission. Little Busterd, which I thought was uninhabited, is only about 5 acres big. It turns out there is one guy living on it. He has some bits and pieced of tin and plywood for a home the size your log cabin. He also has a dog, two small pigs and a few chickens. He's happy when you bring him sugar or coffee.
Ebeye on the other hand is the most densely populated island in the world I've read and have been told. We can take a ferry over there, but I haven't yet. It's 90 acres and has around 15,000 people on it, most of them children. The ferry brings them over to Kwaj where many of them work. One of our mechanics is married to a Marshalese woman whom he said he went over there one Saturday night, got drunk, and woke up married. He said he lived there for two years, taking the ferry back and forth. He said there is no running water over there and that a 5 gallon bucket becomes your best friend. The bucket is to carry water over from Kwaj on the ferry. All the Marshalese workers we have over here take showers here before getting on the ferry to go home. They are all generally very nice and very helpful to a fault. Any Marshalese that makes it to the States can get a free college education at any university they qualify for. I'm assuming its because we screwed them over so bad in the 50's or 60's and we basically took 11 of their islands. I also hear the Japanese were incredibly brutal to them before we took the islands and did nuclear testing on some of them. The King and Queen of the RMI (republic of the marshal islands) and the land owners here also screw the Marshalese too. I've heard we lease this Island (just Kwaj is what I've heard ) for 79 million a year. That money goes to the King and Queen and they give some to the land owners. Their people live in squalor on Ebeye, and get nothing to make civil improvements. In fact the King and Queen don't even live out here, they live in Hawaii. I've been told they come to Ebeye sometimes and the Queen throws quarters to the kids and they love her for it. I know some of the Marshalese want to assassinate their king, but it would do no good cause the landowners or princes or the next in line would just keep up the corruption.
I would imagine the unemployment rate is higher than 35%, but I don't know. I don't know what they do for money over there. I know they are poor, but they also don't have all the crap in their lives that we seem to think we need....cars, cell phones, televisions, etc.. I haven't heard that they export less than they import, but it makes sense. I mean they just don't have the means to produce much of anything. We went sailing today and I got about as close to Ebeye as I have yet, and their are some big buildings over there, but I don't really know what goes on. I'm not sure where they get their water from because there are a few restaurants over there so they must have running water. Kwaj uses the runways as a catchment system for what they call lense wells. The fresh water sits on top of the salt water in the limestone centers of the island. Maybe its coral centers of the island. When it rains here it can really rain, like so hard you can't see ten feet in front of you. We got 6 inches last Tuesday. Its raining as I right this, it usually rains at night during the windy season. I rode my bike around the island on Tuesday just to see the giant lakes of water from the rain, and there weren't any, apparently there is good drainage here. Ebeye, I'm told, doesn't have good drainage. Another mechanic told me to wait a few days and the Marshalese will start coming over sick, because of the sewage
I don't know about their legal system, except that if you land a boat on Ebeye they arrest you, strip you naked and put you in jail. Quenton, the mechanic that married the Marshalese woman said he knew someone that spent four years in a prison on Majuro....naked eating fishheads and rice.
Sorry I don't know the answers just yet to all your questions, I'll talk to some of the Marshalese next week. They are good guys.
I am having a great time out here. I am the lab manager for San Juan Construction. I have the work history and the certifications that qualified me. The construction project I'm not supposed to talk about but you can google it and get plenty of information. The money is great and tax free if I stay out here 330 days and don't come back for more than 30. The living conditions aren't the greatest, but they definitely could be worse. The people out here (mostly Americans) are a little off, but mostly really nice. I met a guy in the pool while doing laps a month ago who loves to sail, but often can't find anyone to go. He's a great teacher, and he knows his stuff. I tried to go surfing late this morning but the waves were too big and the reef didn't have enough cover on it to make me feel comfy, so I left and called Jim and we went sailing. While getting back to the dock, Kristen and her boyfriend Joe were getting ready to leave to go kite boarding (a new sport for them) on Little Busterd in their zodiac and asked me to go. So I got off the sailboat and hopped in their zodiac and went kiteboarding with them. I learned to kite a long time ago, and they knew it and wanted someone there to give them some confidence and help. The pictures above are from a previous weekend snorkeling trip with two other surfing friends. One guy likes to spear fish while snorkeling and he shot the tuna, then we caught the Ono on the way back with a line Tim had put in off the back of the boat. He rented the boat from the small boat marina here.
I am the luckiest guy I know.
The pics for fun in order are 1- the concrete weights we made in the lab, 2- the friends that invited me out snorkeling and spear fishing and he shot a tuna and caught an ono. 3- Tim and his catch 4 and 5 - I actually had it in my head to swim down and grab a sharks tail that was messing around under a rock. He was only about 24" long, but its still probably good I ran out of air first and had to come up
March 21, 2015 ? I think.
We played Frisbee tonight. I set up in a field that was too small and one of the Stophers (name changed to protect their identity) came over and prodded me into checking with the guy who runs the recreational stuff to see if our normal field was actually taken over by a softball game. It wasn't. However, Mike, Josh, Derek and one more were over there when I started setting up the field. They were there to practice cause they new there wasn't a game...so I moved our field perpendicular to the normal setup which left the coconut tree that tried to hit me in the face with a coconut near the east endzone...and still in our field of play. Ah what the hell, we can work around one tree easy enough. Our sideline was within easy range of right field for their practice, but as far as I could shift it south without involving more coconut trees in the game. Someone nailed it on the softball field about a half hour into our Frisbee game. They yelled, I had been keeping an eye out for them and saw the ball coming to our crowd and went running thinking it was going to nail Katherine Stopher, the 20 year old pseudo mother of the 3 other Stophers playing. I jumped up as it came down and realized it wasn't going to hit her at the same time I realized I missed it with my bare hand. It worked out. They changed the way they were batting for a while and then another came. My eye never really left them, because everyone likes to nail a softball, so when it came I did the same thing again except I yelled at our players as I ran towards the ball and they scattered. It worked out again. Life has a great way of working out on this island.
I wonder sometimes if I'm so happy here because I have no money worries, because the money is so good, or because all the rest of it. I mean sunshine, lots of sunshine makes serotonin....makes you happy. I have so much fun stuff to do here...with so many good people...is that it? There is no stress at work..is that it? I'll take some new pics soon...
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