#726 Saturday 2 November

Kaylia is in a happy phase ... it's always good.  She's dancing and singing.  Currently under the hose .... hose then hot shower the hose .....

We've just interviewed a potential new aupair ... Jo leaves in a month so we need to find the next person.  We interview another person tomorrow and then we will hopefully make a decision.

#725 Thursday 31 October

I arrived home at 3am .... at breakfast Kaylia was very obviously happy to have me back .... she was smiling her head off!

Tonight I brought out the stack of DVDs and divvied the spoils!  One for Kaylia, one for Mummy .... Kaylia ended up with about 10 or so .... including a music DVD of Taylor Swift "Red" .... that one has gone straight onto the player.   I've prepared them all for her iPad and she likes that idea.

Tonight she is happy that I'm playing the games again.  She's a good girl!

#724 Wednesday 30 October

9pm at the airport ...... the new terminal is very pretty and impressive .... but unfinished and the facilities ain't much!  No Prada Lounge where you can wait in comfort ... it isn't finished.

Food is poor .... and people everywhere! They only seem to have two gates working ... so they're chockers!  I can only hope that the facilities have improved by December or it won't be fun trying to handle Kaylia.  She won't understand why she can't go to Prada.

The day has been busy .... Putu returned from her holiday so I was able to discuss many of the villa issues.

9:50 .... Not impressed .... a long time before the flight they call for passengers on my flight ... and we have to leave the comfortable new area and go to the old area which is still in the process of being dismantled.  Construction materials everywhere and air conditioning barely working.  Even more crowded than upstairs!

#723 Tuesday 29 October

Happy birthday Dad... 91

9am  Up at 6 ... office work .... then breakfast and start on the "fix it" stuff.  Brace the kitchen ensuite door.  Where's my planer?  It's gone!  Bugga!  Oh well I have two bits of timber ... I'll smooth one for now and get the other nicely finished for next trip.  Sandpaper?  ..... gone!  Bugga!
The door is braced and now closes and locks ... but it's a temporary fix.

Sliding door to BR2 .... sheesh .... to adjust the door hang, the curtains have to come off and pelmet be removed .... BIG job.  I can't face it right now .... later

11:30. Back at "Downtown" for lunch

I've just been to Hardys and found one of the methods used so that building happens so fast ......


They're adding a new level .... it appears that they do it mostly at night and then down tools in the daytime so that shoppers can do their thing.

I've finally remembered to test the generator .... It doesn't start at all .... The tech has been called for this afternoon.

My plan for tomorrow is to leave at a for the airport a few hours early and stop off at the delightful massage that's not far from the airport ... that will get me nice and relaxed for the flight home!

Later
The generator has a dead battery.  The tech could not help with that .... "Call me when you have a new battery and I will fit it."   So .... off to Denpasar.

I asked Bisma to send over a man to do the door in BR2 .... but when he came he was no better than me and went off unable to do it.  So I got to work and took down the curtains & tracks ... then had to rip off the pelmet - the stupid people nail the pelmet on instead of screwing it.  So you have to wreck it to take it off.  They must think that the doors will never need to be adjusted.

The door now works fine.  I'll put the curtain track back up without the pelmet for now ... make a new pelmet in December.

I've got 5 new sets of keys.  They will have a large wooden tag ... so they will find it harder to wander.  A total set of new locks & keys will be arranged for December.

I'm writing while having a break.

The track is now up sans pelmet .... the curtains will hide the absence till it can be remedied.  I went to sweep up .... Mystery!  Not a single dustpan and handbroom in the place!  There was one in every room before.  I'm fairly sure that they were there in July as I would have noticed the lack of them then when cleaning up the mess I always make.   Where have they gone?  Maybe the same place as the planer!

4pm ... found them!  They were stuffed away in the corner of the laundry area!  Not much use there!

I was in the pool not long ago and noticed ants scurrying around along the pool edge .... small but with big nippers .... they are so small that the surface tension of the water traps them.  It occurred to me  that we are very fortunate that they can't swim!  The thought of them in the water with me is ghastly!

6:30. After lots of walking, I was finally relaxing at a warung .... when the generator man calls!  I have to go home to sign.   It's taking a long time for him to get it right.  I was intending to have a relaxing tea before going back the the villa .... 

8:30. I had a sleep instead and now I'm at Mama Putu warung for tea.

#722 Monday 28 October

Well ... an Ebay win!  I've been able to get another Sony on Ebay .... identical to the one that died (and caused Naomi so much grief) .... I now have enough parts that I should be able to resurrect the dead one ... and have two working Sonys for about $100 outlay.  Despite being a few years old, these are a beautifully made laptop and they're really worth the effort.

Today in Bali land?  Pool repairs first.  Lanang is still coming with a pump to reverse flush the drain and try to clear the blockage.  I've been able to find a new "grate" for the drain hole so we can stop objects going down again.  It's funny .... I couldn't find the grate at any of the pool shops ... so as a last resort I went to the nearby Asia Tiles shop that has been good in the past .... they had just what I needed ... plus some other bits that Mitra10 and ACE could not supply .... and they had shower fittings almost identical to the ones I bought at Mitra10 .... at half the price!  Silly me.

It illustrates a strange part of Bali life .... the complete absence of logic about procuring building and plumbing supplies.  A shop will have one item ... but not a second item that is essential to be able to install the first.   The most basic items ... such as particular screws ... cannot be found in Bali.  Over the years we've had the villa, I've steadily taken a supply of these sorts of things to Bali.  There's not much I'm missing now.

I've been preparing a "Maintenance Checklist" for Putu so we can try to improve the standard at the villa.

Midday:  Lanang has finally been able to clear the blockage!  Everything is working as it should again.

This is all the stuff that was blocking the drain.  I have put a new grate in place.

Afternoon

A good sleep .... with leg cramps when I woke.  I have been careful to drink a lot of water ... and the magnesium .... I'll see if there's something else I can take .... the cramps are really bad.

Evening

After a trip to Hardys to gather supplies .... and to the apotek to get more remedies for leg cramps ..... I'm now at a nice little spot with a good menu.

A woman nearby had ordered a Bintang and lemonade .... I'd forgotten it!  It's good.

This is a neat eating spot.  The wall full of comments is good to read.

#721 Sunday 27 October

This is the spot where Ace Centro was in July when I was last here.....

..... and now ?  The same space is a parking area and the new Ace is metres away!

It's is simply amazing just how quickly things happen in Bali.  In Australia it would have taken three times as long to build a 3 story shop and move and demolish the old one.

.... but the shop is very frustrating!  You want X .... it's on floor 3 ..... you want Y ..... on floor 2 .... you want Z ..... ground floor.... sheesh!

And now on the way from Ace ... we see a warung for lunch .... we stop and we look at motorbikes!

 

They are only 350cc but they sound like a Harley!  They're a "Bali Harli" 

We went to Mitra10 next .... similar story. Not long ago it was a single story building.  Now it is two story!  It's as though I've suddenly stepped through a time warp into the future ... how do they do things so fast?

Later:

Sunday night is rotiserie pig at the "Linga Longa" bar .... it's a date!