Last night was a talk-fest ..... two other inmates and I sat and chatted till late. Dennis (66 from Kent UK) had played 18 holes of golf during the day in very hot conditions .... so at meal time, we ordered in. Nasi Campur from a warung ... it was good. By the time I went to bed, the music had stopped ... and in my room, the ceiling dweller had already ceased it's gamboling in the roof space above my bed! So I slept well.
9am .... off up the road for some villa business. Then recharge the phone credit. It's taken a long time .... but I think I finally have the phone system working well ..... if I keep the 'pulsa kredit' at around 400,000 Rp then it stays at that level and automatically renews each month. So when I arrive in Bali, the phone is already working and emails etc are always available.
At the moment (midday) I'm packing up so I can vacate the room. I will park myself for the afternoon at the room where one of my new friends is staying ..... and head for the airport at 7pm
3pm ..... time is passing slowly. I've been fiddling on the harmonica and some people seem to enjoy it. I was asked if do do performances!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Friday, January 18, 2013
#809 Friday 18 January
It's been a long night ..... the possums on the roof at Darlington are noisy but they're quiet compared with whatever lives in the ceiling here! It sounded like a monkey jumping round! (It may well have been that!) ...... Then there was the band next door with a driving bass beat ...... plus the room is next to the kitchen and it has a window opening that allows the kitchen noise in. ..... and to top it all off, the reception clearly forgot that I was in this room .... and they tried to open the door and come into the room at around 11:30pm just after I'd got to sleep. (Not happy Jan!)
I think I'll probably stay tonight but I definitely won't come here in future.
These photos are nothing important .... I'm told that Kaylia is very interested so I'll add some with me included in the photo so she has something else to see.
The little house at the end of the pool is entrancing! Maybe one day I can build something like that at the villa.
It's been strange to go from this homestay down to the villa area ... I feel as though I'm part of the community around the villa .... many people recognize me .... but here, I'm just another bule.
Since I can't do work around the villa, I have felt a bit useless. Fortunately I've found that another resident at this homestay has been having IT problems. Solving these problems has been an entertaining diversion! It was actually a combination of several problems ..... and the language barrier meant that fixing the problems was a very tall order for the local IT people.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
#808 Thursday 17 January
I can't decide whether this flight is the earliest .... or the latest .... flight I've ever caught. Either way the terminal is very quiet. AJ took me to the airport at 2am .... she will go down in the history books as an amazing person! She gets her second "merit award" for her help tonight.
The first task today? It might be the main task .... fixing the fault. I will get to the villa around 9:30 and workers in Bali start around 10. After that's done I can find a place to sleep tonight!
2pm
After arriving, no one turned up to do anything till 11am. .... and I found that the problem had actually been fixed ..... touch wood! .... last night. The apparent problem was that a particular type of plastic insulation had been used to separate the wiring on the supply side of a set of breakers. The insulation allowed shorting to occur when the moisture content of the air rose high enough. The "occasional fault" became a constant fault yesterday of all times. Murphy's Law.
The offending part has been replaced with a different type and the problem should not happen again. The attending technician is excellent. He's Ketut's brother and he really knows his stuff. He and I are planning further improvements to the villa wiring on my next trip in March. He was annoyed by the number of other people who have tried to fix the problem and failed.
After this was completed I went off to find a place to sleep .... I found "Lestari Homestay" on Made's suggestion .... it's quiet with a nice pool .... and it's about halfway between the villa and Hardy's.
On the way back from Hardy's, I managed to get a naughty taxi driver ..... he drove past the place where I needed to stop .... and then wanted to charge me to correct his mistake! So I walked ......
...... and on the way I noticed a shop with 'Segway"s parked in front. I had heard of these but never seen one ..... and not only did the guy demonstrate, he also let me test drive it! It's a bit disconcerting at first but easy to get used to. I imagine that they are pretty expensive so I'm sure that I don't like it that much. (around $3 to $7 thousand depending on the model!)
I'm suffering 'internet deprivation' .... the speed here is 2% of the speed we are used to in Perth. It's OK for email but very slow for everything else.
The first task today? It might be the main task .... fixing the fault. I will get to the villa around 9:30 and workers in Bali start around 10. After that's done I can find a place to sleep tonight!
2pm
After arriving, no one turned up to do anything till 11am. .... and I found that the problem had actually been fixed ..... touch wood! .... last night. The apparent problem was that a particular type of plastic insulation had been used to separate the wiring on the supply side of a set of breakers. The insulation allowed shorting to occur when the moisture content of the air rose high enough. The "occasional fault" became a constant fault yesterday of all times. Murphy's Law.
The offending part has been replaced with a different type and the problem should not happen again. The attending technician is excellent. He's Ketut's brother and he really knows his stuff. He and I are planning further improvements to the villa wiring on my next trip in March. He was annoyed by the number of other people who have tried to fix the problem and failed.After this was completed I went off to find a place to sleep .... I found "Lestari Homestay" on Made's suggestion .... it's quiet with a nice pool .... and it's about halfway between the villa and Hardy's.
On the way back from Hardy's, I managed to get a naughty taxi driver ..... he drove past the place where I needed to stop .... and then wanted to charge me to correct his mistake! So I walked ......
...... and on the way I noticed a shop with 'Segway"s parked in front. I had heard of these but never seen one ..... and not only did the guy demonstrate, he also let me test drive it! It's a bit disconcerting at first but easy to get used to. I imagine that they are pretty expensive so I'm sure that I don't like it that much. (around $3 to $7 thousand depending on the model!)
Evening
The trip has been worthwhile! I have been able to conclude the rental deal ..... the deal was on shaky ground because of the electrical problem but I have 'calmed the waters' ..... every one was impressed that I came to Bali to sort it out.I'm suffering 'internet deprivation' .... the speed here is 2% of the speed we are used to in Perth. It's OK for email but very slow for everything else.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
#807 Wednesday 16 January
19 days to go. ..... till school starts again that is. Kaylia loves school and therapy. It's probably due to her inability to imagine ..... she cannot create activity or occupation in her mind so she relies on external agencies to supply these. Hence school and therapy.
Yesterday when Alison arrived for the first therapy session, Kaylia was straight into it .... and she worked really well.
Deb and Zoe cooked lasagne for tea .... and Kaylia really liked it ...... "More anya pees!" I liked it too!
The news this morning reports a new gastro bug that is sweeping the world ... the Norovirus variant Sydney 2012. It occurs to me that the 'ol codgers' of the society are in a unique position to notice and report on societal changes occurring at a macro level .... for instance this virus. 50 years ago if these viruses developed, no one knew because science could not detect them. If the virus did occur, it didn't spread .... as people did not travel. And if it occurred in one part of the world, the rest of the world did not find out till the virus had ended it's attack and fizzled out. It never became an epidemic.
This new virus is now known worldwide and largely thanks to the cruise ship industry, we can all expect to suffer! Better get your "chuck bags" ready!
Another happening today..... apparently a virus has struck a WA govt department and their computers are sending large numbers of "out of office" notices. These not only are a nuisance but they are quite likely to have the virus attached. Delete .... Delete! I have received 4 in the past half hour .... all purporting to be from Ed Dept staff.
Woo woooo ..... This is going to be bad! The virus has spread outside the source already. In the space of 10 minutes I'm now getting similar emails from a range of different places. All are sources that are highly likely to be using Outlook ....
At this rate of spread we can expect Outlook users to lose their email facility for a while!
Night
The email virus seems to have been caught quickly .... the problem faded.
This evening we were told that guests in the villa are having bad trouble with the wiring fault in the villa .... I'm on the plane tonight to deal with the guests and the fault. I'll be back Saturday night. This sounds like an extreme action but its not. The guest is staying for 2 months and this is the fault I had hoped I had fixed..... but it's not. It's a serious problem that we simply must fix.
More news tomorrow from Bali.
Yesterday when Alison arrived for the first therapy session, Kaylia was straight into it .... and she worked really well.
Deb and Zoe cooked lasagne for tea .... and Kaylia really liked it ...... "More anya pees!" I liked it too!
The news this morning reports a new gastro bug that is sweeping the world ... the Norovirus variant Sydney 2012. It occurs to me that the 'ol codgers' of the society are in a unique position to notice and report on societal changes occurring at a macro level .... for instance this virus. 50 years ago if these viruses developed, no one knew because science could not detect them. If the virus did occur, it didn't spread .... as people did not travel. And if it occurred in one part of the world, the rest of the world did not find out till the virus had ended it's attack and fizzled out. It never became an epidemic.
This new virus is now known worldwide and largely thanks to the cruise ship industry, we can all expect to suffer! Better get your "chuck bags" ready!
Another happening today..... apparently a virus has struck a WA govt department and their computers are sending large numbers of "out of office" notices. These not only are a nuisance but they are quite likely to have the virus attached. Delete .... Delete! I have received 4 in the past half hour .... all purporting to be from Ed Dept staff.
Woo woooo ..... This is going to be bad! The virus has spread outside the source already. In the space of 10 minutes I'm now getting similar emails from a range of different places. All are sources that are highly likely to be using Outlook ....
At this rate of spread we can expect Outlook users to lose their email facility for a while!
Night
The email virus seems to have been caught quickly .... the problem faded.
This evening we were told that guests in the villa are having bad trouble with the wiring fault in the villa .... I'm on the plane tonight to deal with the guests and the fault. I'll be back Saturday night. This sounds like an extreme action but its not. The guest is staying for 2 months and this is the fault I had hoped I had fixed..... but it's not. It's a serious problem that we simply must fix.
More news tomorrow from Bali.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
#806 Tuesday 15 January
She slept well after a night where she didn't settle till 10:30. Today she's happy. I have noticed that she is having cold showers lately .... good in the hot weather. So today I thought that if the shower is not turned on hard, then a long shower doesn't really matter. She's been in a couple of looonngg showers this morning and she's very mellow.
I had a glaucoma checkup yesterday .... all ok but there are signs of the effect of high BP. The new BP medicine may help. The pictures taken of the inside of the eye are quite something .... I'll ask if I can have a copy.
The girls all went out 'on the town' last night ..... AJ got very merry.
Later: Kaylia had been quiet .... upstairs .... so I was suspicious. She had closed the bedroom door and created a way that she could climb up to the top of the wardrobe! She's been lusting after something stored up there .... she thought it was her winter clothes. I pulled the parcel down and found that it was a purple mosquito net!
She wanted it big time so I hung it up and she spent some time playing under the net.
I had a glaucoma checkup yesterday .... all ok but there are signs of the effect of high BP. The new BP medicine may help. The pictures taken of the inside of the eye are quite something .... I'll ask if I can have a copy.
The girls all went out 'on the town' last night ..... AJ got very merry.
Later: Kaylia had been quiet .... upstairs .... so I was suspicious. She had closed the bedroom door and created a way that she could climb up to the top of the wardrobe! She's been lusting after something stored up there .... she thought it was her winter clothes. I pulled the parcel down and found that it was a purple mosquito net! She wanted it big time so I hung it up and she spent some time playing under the net.
Monday, January 14, 2013
#805 Monday 14 January
Another day ..... another day with an emptied wardrobe. Today she's created a variation .... she's emptied her toy bins as well!
She has three 60 litre wheelie bins to hold all her toys .... all the toys are in the laundry. .....
Aaaaarrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!
This is one of those days where I feel very guilty about leaving her to others to handle ..... she drives me up the wall and it's hard to feel that I'm not 'escaping' when I go to work etc.
She has three 60 litre wheelie bins to hold all her toys .... all the toys are in the laundry. .....
Aaaaarrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!
This is one of those days where I feel very guilty about leaving her to others to handle ..... she drives me up the wall and it's hard to feel that I'm not 'escaping' when I go to work etc.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
#804 Sunday 13 January
After 3 or 4 days of being back on the normal Risperdal dose, things are returning to normal round the house ..... the toilet roll fiend seems to have gone ..... her need to empty her room of clothes and put the all in the laundry .... hopefully her sleep will go back too.
Last night she was very, very tired .... but fighting it. She lay on the bed with me at 7pm and I sang her to sleep. After a full session of "The Court of King Karaktakus", anyone would've been asleep!
2pm She's used up all her tokens on her 'requesting chart' ..... now she's back to nagging and being given the old 1, 2, 3 ......
.... ain't life grand?
AJ has a friend staying for a few days ... yesterday they were down the beach and AJ managed to get a really good sunburn! This morning she is very sore.
Kaylia has been shopping ..... she had a voucher for "Diva" for a Christmas present and this is what she was able to get with her voucher.
7pm. I spoke too soon about the clothes problem ..... she has been trying to empty her room of clothes all day .... I'm sick of it.
Last night she was very, very tired .... but fighting it. She lay on the bed with me at 7pm and I sang her to sleep. After a full session of "The Court of King Karaktakus", anyone would've been asleep!
2pm She's used up all her tokens on her 'requesting chart' ..... now she's back to nagging and being given the old 1, 2, 3 ......
.... ain't life grand?
AJ has a friend staying for a few days ... yesterday they were down the beach and AJ managed to get a really good sunburn! This morning she is very sore.
Kaylia has been shopping ..... she had a voucher for "Diva" for a Christmas present and this is what she was able to get with her voucher.
7pm. I spoke too soon about the clothes problem ..... she has been trying to empty her room of clothes all day .... I'm sick of it.
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