SOON!

I don't usually do this - post pictures of people I know. But what the heck - once in while it's OK I guess.

See you soon boys. I'm on my way!

Good to Go!

GO

Ok, here we GO. With any luck I'm actually on the plane now. Waiting for take off. Hopefully not too long - but you know how that goes.

I should be settling into my seat right now. Seat 49K. (gotta love Cathy Pacific - checked in yesterday over the internet) And hopefully there's no really really big person seating in the seat next me, encroaching on MY space. Or worse yet - some smelly person, someone who likes to talk a lot or a crying baby. Let's hope not. (?)

Anyways, have books, crossword puzzles, need to a pit stop in Hong Kong and many miles to go. Ok, guess I'm ready.

Good to Go!

HI MONDAY

Hi Monday! Cute isn't it?

Ok, back to business around here today - even though it is sort of suppose to be a holiday. Oh, that's just the way things go. We had a great weekend here though.

TODAY: Well, surprising even myself today. Didn't think I'd have time for this. Didn't I'd find time to post. I truly thought I'd be going at a rather quick pace. Today is packing day. Today is the start of the long haul.

12,726 kilometers or 7,908 miles or 6,872 nautical miles to go! Hmmmmm. Thinking this just might take awhile.

Ok well guess it's time to go.

Good to Go!

WHY

A very sad day yesterday. "Kenapa" or "why" - that pretty much was the reaction to the news yesterday. "tidak mengerti" "no understand"............. (?) neither do I. A lot of hearts were broken in this country yesterday. This is not what this country needed. Yesterday was a very sad day.

Everyone I know that is/was in Jakarta yesterday - are all accounted for and fine. And a big thanks for that.

The Jakarta Post

The Jakarta Globe

TODAY: Get ready - time to organize and pack. Today is a full day.

.......... and looking forward to the big Birthday Bash tonight, too.

Enjoy the weekend.

Good to Go!

HARI JU'MAT

A big fat ZERO on the posting thing yesterday. (sorry about that) That's just the kind of day it was. Too many other things to do. Anyways, I would just have had to brag about the big prawn fest I went to the other night. Oooo. Look at that. Just happened to get it in there anyways in fact.

..... and tell you about the new massage place my friend took me to. Yup, I made time for that.

Officially, today I will get the suitcase(s) out. Or at least figure out what kind of size I'm going to need for next week. Yup - I'm out of here next week. Me and a whole lot of other people too. This year - so it seems, August would be the time to go. (sure hope it's warm over there)

........ and probably good timing too. As the drinking water supply (aqua) in Balikpapan has almost run out. We're down to using the little bottles now. At least gotta have water for the morning coffee pot. I didn't realize up until now (never actually even thought about it), but all the Aqua we get here is shipped in. And the sea is just too rough right now (the past week +) for that to happen. Oh well, no worries, pretty soon - I'll be drinking water from the tap. Wholly, imagine the novelty of that.

Just realized this morning that the 1 year Blogoversay is coming up. 76 days in fact. And including today's that makes 182 posts. Wholly - hard to believe I've managed that. I think that puts it on or about October 1st. I wonder where we'll actually be around about then? Sure would be nice if we could do that from here - but. Never know about that. We crossed the 2 year mark a few months back - and well, hey never know, maybe by then our time here - will be up. Or not. (?) Hmmmm - guess it's time to start thinking about that.

TODAY: Out and about to do a pre-stock-up. Need to get stocked up in advance of coming back. Balikpapan will be full into Ramadan when we get back. And there's a lot of things we need to do in advance of that. Like buy beer and a whole bunch of other very-limited-during-Ramadan stuff. Every year it changes - and you just never know what the (new) rules are going to be.

Ok, lots to do - let's get at it.

Good to Go!

LIFE'S A BEACH

This could just turn out to be another short on words day, we'll see. We'll see how much rambling I can do in a short bit of time.

Had the most wonderful lunch yesterday with a whole bunch of girls. Sitting outside, under the trees enjoying the breeze. This is what living in the tropics is suppose to be all about. Love it.

Also have some of the itchiest ever in the world bug bits after my time at the pool the other day. Not mosquitoes - but these tiny little things called AGUS. Let me tell you. They are the nastiest *annoyingliest things ever. Just like No-see-ems, they are so small you don't even know they're there but wholly when they bite - the itch is incredible. And lasts forever so it seems. And would be another one of those what living in the tropics is all about. But sure don't love it.

Anyways, in my desperation for the perfect anti-itch stuff - I'm trying a local remedy. Putting Tiger Balm on it. And believe it or not. It works in fact. I also didn't realize Tiger Balm comes in HOT and NOT SO HOT. Interesting.

*annoyingliest - I'm quite certain I just invented that word. Perhaps. (?)

TODAY: First thing this morning they've turned our water off. Pipe maintenance again. Seems they're always working on that. Sure makes a person appreciate running water. Hopefully they'll get it turned back on some time this afternoon.

Taking a trip to one of my favorite spots in Balikpapan this morning. Off to see Mr. Blue Sapphire. Need to go see what's new over there. One just never knows.

And a whole bunch of other stuff. I think this might just turn into a full day perhaps.

Ok, that's it for this post.

Good to Go!

BASTILLE DAY

Ahhhh. So now we know where all the French wine went. Not very often you get the perfect op to post up a picture like this. Except for today. Two things you can always count on when it comes to the French. Good wine and awesome cheese, and lots of it. To all my French friends. Happy Bastille Day - Fete National. Enjoy your day!

TODAY: Let's just go with lots! Lots and lots. Good thing I had a time out at the pool yesterday.

Light on words today. It's one of those kind of days. Gotta Go.

Good to Go!

MIDDLE OF MONDAY: AND + AND

No particular reason for this photo today - except that I just happen to like it.

Celebrated Bastille Day (July 14th) here on Saturday night. Both of us, Me and the other Me awoke yesterday morning to pretty horrible headaches. Ooooo. Probably all I need to say about that.

F1 Sunday was Australia Day at the German Grand Prix. First win ever for Webber (Aussie) in fact. And we know someone who was more than happy about that. (apparently they only played the first verse of the Australian national anthem though) It was a good race last night. I think everyone enjoyed it. Too bad my guy Jensen Button didn't do so well though. But hey - he's already got loads of points. He can afford a little bit of a break from that.

Special Note to the MIA part of the *Pit Crew: Don't worry we all missed you.

*Pit Crew. Not my words - but I like it and have so decided I'm going to go with that.

TODAY: Already Middle of Monday so I'll just do a quick re-cap.

Video-Skyped with almost the whole group called family on the other side of the planet this morn. And that was certainly nice. Very cool. Until the laptop on the other side decided to call it quits for the rest of their night. Worked out quite alright anyways though as I ended up having to rush like mad person to get to one of those rare occasions when I actually have a morning meeting here.

And then, I managed to embarrass the heck out of myself trying to purchase freshly-baked-this-morning bread too. Ooops, forgot to take some money with me. Ended up having to put almost all of it back. No option here to pay for it with debit. And no-one here is going to let you put 36,000Rp ($3.51) on your credit card. Ooops.

And I've been hard at it trying to sort out and finish off a bunch of computer/office pre-trip sort of stuff.

And even though Blogger says I'm saving this. This is like my third attempt at posting and re-writing this. Grrrrrr.

And I think this is the perfect time for me to give up and go to the pool.

Good to Go!

GOOD TO GO!

Interesting - isn't it? I'll just say this - "Thank God (?) there wasn't a person riding in it." and if there was, I wouldn't even be surprised by that. LOL. Gotta love it.

So here it is the weekend again. And not long before it's time to embark on the big trip. We (Me and the other Me) have decided that since we're passing through it, we might as well stop in Hong Kong for a bit and go and have a little look see. But not until we're on the way back. Have decided, we need to do this and that. Pretty cool. Isn't it?

The Polar Pacer Project: So - Big Sis & Brother-In-Law have had this in the works for quite some time now. (reality: quite some time means, they've been working their butts off towards this) Officially - they are now really doing it. (and a big huge congrats to the both of them too) Not so long ago they kicked the habit of going to work, sold almost everything - including the house, packed up the rest and moved onto their boat* The Polar Pacer. And in the not so distant future they will be making their way towards the Atlantic. But, not before they drive all the way west, through Canada and the U.S., sell the car and fly all the way back. So starting now, from the other side of the planet - I am going to attempt to (stalk) keep track of them. Kinda like GPS. (scroll down to the bottom of this post - eventually I'll get it in the side bar - but need to write some HTML before we can do that)

*boat - I'm quite certain Brother-In-Law would not exactly describe it like that. It's not just a boat. There's actually way more to it than that. ............ and if Brother-In-Law would like, he can always add some comments in here about that.

TODAY: Getting ready for the Wake-less F1 Sunday tomorrow afternoon/evening. Which means I need to go out and do a little bit of shopping (the hunter/gatherer thing) this afternoon.

Alright have a good one. I'm out of here.

Good to Go!

The Polar Pacer Project
Current Location: Unknown
Last Known Location: Enjoying the comforts of a hotel room some place west of Chicago, Il. U.S.
Last Known Direction: West
Current Direction: Hopefully west.

HI HO HI HO

Good day all. Good Friday to you!

Well, not sure what happened to me this morning, but ......... seems I forgot to get out of the bed this morning. The other Me managed to sneak, actually, not really sure if he was sneaking, but in any event he got out of the house this morning before I managed to get myself up. And it looks like he most likely saved my sorry a** and took a whole bunch of those peanut butter cookies with him like I promised people he would. Thank you, thank you.

Tough life I live here - isn't it?

So you've probably noticed over the last couple/three days I've posted a bunch of photos from all over town. Thought it might be nice to show all you that in Balikpapan - we really do have some nice stuff.

I have officially decided that Skype is one of the best things going right now on the Internet. This morning I video-conferenced with Big Sis on the other side of the planet. And I can certainly see where we're going to be doing this a lot. So, Big Sis and Brother-in-law are embarking on Part 1 of living the dream. From here on in, I shall refer to it as the Polar Pacer Project. And over the next little bit I'll tell you all about it. Right now though - at this particular moment - they're nicely nestled in a hotel room somewhere in the vicinity of Chicago.

TODAY: The maintenance guys are up to their weird stuff again. This morning there is (was)(?) a slight drip in the laundry room tap. They fixed it. Are fixing it. With crazy glue in fact? Where in the world do they come up with this stuff? You never know - it just might work. (?)

This morning there are tiny little ants walking all over the desk. Great. Guess I better do something about that.

The weekend is upon us. That means I need to go out and do all the regular Friday stuff. And prepare for a Wakeless F1 Sunday coming up. And the Bastille Day celebration tomorrow night. And. And. And. Gonna be a busy one.

Good to Go!

ALL OVER THE PLACE

Ok, prepare yourself - today, I just might ramble a bit. I can feel it.

Election over. And all back to norm again. Looks like the old Pres. (SBY) is now the new Pres. With a new Vice President. Officially the vote counting will most likely take until the end of the month - but so far, he's got 60% of the counted votes - looks like he's in again. I don't think this comes as any big surprise to most. Things pretty much went the way most people were predicting it.

Being President here, is a five year term. Can you imagine doing the same thing for 5 years? And then signing up to do it all over again. I certainly can't. But looks like he's pretty much ready to do just that. I couldn't do it. Not the same thing over again. Change is a good thing for me I guess.

Seriously time for me to get my you know what sorted out before the big trip across the pond that most people refer to as the Pacific. Long trip ahead of me. Like 25+ hours plus a lot of waiting and waiting in airports. (gotta love airports) Going to try a new route this time. Like I even have a choice with that? The options these days (credit crunch) are getting less and less. One real noticeable difference - is that the prices sure have come down - and lots.

You probably noticed by now that I've ditched the FEEDJIT gadget. Firstly, the thing hardly even works at the best of times. Possible due to our ever so reliable internet. Secondly - I've decided it's kind of like stalking. In reverse. Yes, I'll admit - it's kinda nice looking at the map and seeing where everyone is from. But. Is it worth it? Probably not. Anyways, I think it just slows down my internet. So, for now at least I'm ditching it.

TODAY: I hate to admit, but, I had myself some pretty awesome peanut-butter-chocolate-chip cookies for breakfast this morning. They are the best by the way.

Sometimes, (like yesterday) unless you're really in the mood for surprises (off and on I guess) - you need to grab the recipe out of your one and only cookbook (quietly) and see if you can actually handle it all by yourself. I did quite alright with the quietly part until I had to get the mixer out. However, less than 2 minutes into it - I relinquished. (surprise)(I don't think the housekeeper thinks I can even do it) And she was suppose to be having a day off. Hmmmmm. (?)

Ok, I've rambled enough for one day. Time to get on with it.

Good to Go!

WINNNNNDY

WINDY! Just a little bit. Wholly - you'd think something was blowing in yesterday - but in the end it didn't. (?) One of those dull, gloomy, GREY days. I don't know how people can stand to live in places where it rains a lot. I need sunshine - and lots of it!

Election Day today. Presidential Election actually. That means most people (as in local people - not expats) will get the first half of this day off to go and vote. Oh, heck - might as well take the whole day off. Why not? That's usually the way it works around here. Voters here today get to vote for their favorite out of 3, choosing a new President (maybe) and a new Vice-President.

Some interesting facts about the election: Indonesia is the world's 3rd-largest democracy, and this is only the 2nd direct presidential election ever here. Things change - don't they? We'll see.

I had the greatest hair-fix-up-shoulder-massage thing yesterday. That for certain is one of things I will surely miss when I leave here. .........don't go getting excited - no news of me leaving here anytime soon. Not yet. Besides - I rather quite like living here. For now anyways, staying put.

TODAY: First thing this morning - I had to turn the TV to OFF. No disrespect, but - I'm sorry when it comes to hearing the Michael Jackson stuff - over and over and over again. I've had enough! My apologies, but, I just can't do it.

And today - our house STINKS! Need to try and do something about the horrid smell in our house. Smells like a frickin' sewer in fact. Sewer gas. YUCK! So what we initially thought was a bad smell coming from the laundry room drain - is really coming from every toilet, tub, shower, and sink in this place. Sorry maintenance men - but putting duck tape over the drain IS NOT (I repeat) IS NOT, going to fix this. This would be one of the downsides of living here - every time it rains a whole bunch.

As soon as we get some butter thawed out we're going to make about 4 dozen cookies and with any luck we'll soon mask over the horrid smell with a slightly pungent burnt peanut butter scent.

One last thing before I close this up for today. Just a little favor I need - can some one please, please wish a Very Happy HAPPY Birthday!!! to my mom from me and the other Me. Thx.

Ok, that's it. Good to Go!

HANG ON KITTY CAT(S)

Hang on Kitty Cat. Look at this poor little thing. Now how the heck did you end up in there? Speeding down the plant stall road and then another really big long street we have around here after that, past my house too in fact - in the back of a beat-up something or other kind of truck. (with a huge gaping hole in the tailgate) Made me cringe and grit my teeth (driver too) every single bump that beat-up truck hit (lots). Hang on Kitty Cats. I can't believe they (turns out there were three of them - see below)(count 'em) didn't get themselves bumped out of there.
Yes, this is a true a story. I just happen to be in the passenger seat following behind this truck and the camera just happened to be sitting there. I certainly did not expect to see this. And you should see how many pictures I had to take.

BAHAYA - that's the word I learnt last week. It means dangerous. And TAKUT, the word I learnt before that - is afraid. Funny how a person can learn a new word here - and then get to re-enforce the use of it. Like the Bahaya Story the driver told to me yesterday when he came to work. Before the Hang on Kitty Cat(s) incident.

So, the Bahaya Story. Turns out, while he (driver) was out fishing with all his buddies on Sunday, his wife, (not sure what she was doing with the thing - possibly cutting back bamboo or grass) somehow dropped a big long knife/sword/machete sort of thing (he refers to it as the samurai sword) point down into the ground and pierced right through her foot. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Bahaya!

Wholly I need to start learning some better words than that I think.

And ........ I have no idea what happened to those three cats.

TODAY: Off to the salon first thing this morning. Hair fix-up and a massage to start the day with. Yup, feeling it. Gonna be a good day I think.

Side Note: Can someone please tell my mother, I need her donut recipe.

Thanks for reading. Good to Go!

....... AFTER THE WEEKEND

Hello Monday! So you probably noticed I pretty much took the weekend off. Not such a bad idea either. I just might do that more often I think. We'll see. Saturday was just plain busy and yesterday me and the other Me did the 'go blah thing'.

It was a very nice weekend around here for us. But, it did rain a lot. (no leaks though - not yet) Today we've gotten our sun back - and a nice little breeze. Great way to start a week.

TODAY: Have lots of ends I need to try and clear up. Things I need to start, finish and get done. Time to get organized - before I make the big trip. Any big trip around here requires a bit of thinking ahead - pre-planing.

I'll tell you all about the big trip another time - still working on and making the plan for that. Let's just say I will be enjoying a Bartels & James real soon - or two or three. Looking forward to that - and of course seeing everyone! Yeah for big trips.

Till tomorrow then.

Good to Go!

OOOOH FRIDAY

Ooooh Friday!

Oh Me Oh My! Slow start to this day. What were we thinking? Me and the other Me. Thought we were going to be home by 9 last night. Not after midnight! You'd think we'd know better than that. (??) Doh!

Awesome day yesterday. The whole entire bit of it.

Q and A (because inquiring minds want to know)

1. How far is Balikpapan from Bali? Not that far actually - and well worth the trip. About a 3 hour flight.

2. Where is Balikpapan? On the east coast of Borneo (Kalimantan) Indonesia - Southeast Asia. 1°15'S 116°50E We're about as close to the equator as you can get without actually standing on it.

3. Is there a McDonalds in Balikpapan? Nope. Sorry but the closest one is about a 2 hour drive north of us. And every once in awhile it's also worth the trip.

4. What's expat life like in Balikpapan? Great! One of the world's best kept secrets. At least that's what I think.

5. What's a cousin gotta do to get friended by you on Facebook? That I don't know - for some reason Facebook won't let me. Maybe you should email me or check on your wife's.

TODAY: Working hard trying to clean up the mess I have going on with the iTunes music. That somehow got away on me. I swear iTunes just re-invents itself whenever it feels like it.

So not sure why - but - lately, I've had a hankering to learn how to make donuts. Yes - that's a little weird - I know. But. So I've been doing an internet search for the perfect donut recipe. The best one I've come up with so far, uses 11 cups of flour and promises to make 120 donuts. No way that's going to work. I might as well open up my own little store if I do that. If anyone out there has a good recipe - please send it on to me.

Ok, that's it for today. Have a good one.

Good to Go!

HI JAN

Hi JAN. Hey everyone this is Jan. He, yes he - Jan is a boy cat, that lives in our neighbourhood. Just like the whole wack of other cats that do. There's a big population of cats around here these days. Anyways, Jan is actually a bit of a special cat. First off - he's got a cool name, it's even an expat name I think. (I wonder how he got that) The cat that lives at our house likes him. (weird) He's got a real full length tail. (even more weird) And he's got beautiful ginger and white hair. (even his eyes match) Too cool. I think somebody should adopt him - don't you?

Finally (as you can see) got the internet back again yesterday - late afternoon. Yeah! For how long? We'll just have to wait and see. I'm rushing with this morning's post though - just in case.

Yesterday ended up being one of those kind of days. One of those days that I did a whole bunch of things I didn't plan to do - but worked out just fine anyways. Took care of a bunch of that procrastination stuff yesterday. You know the stuff you really should be doing - but - way easier to just put it off for another day. Seriously kicked a bunch of that in the butt yesterday.

....... oh, and just so you know - the roof didn't leak. Not yet anyways. Saving that for another day. We do have some pretty mushy looking patches in the ceiling though. What's life without a little bit of excitement? eh?

TODAY: All kinds of plans for today - making up for all the stuff I didn't do yesterday. Starting with a lunch. One of my friends really, really needs a lunch day. She's a very busy lady these days and could just use a couple hours to just escape and get away.

All kinds of events coming up over the next couple of days. We have a dinner (BBQ) party to go to tonight, and, with that in mind - we're off to shake up the world today.

Ok, Thursday. Let's roll!

Good to Go!

MAU?

MAU? = WANT?

All I MAU? is a reliable working internet connection. I know better than to ask for fast.!!!

Ok, a complete zilch/zero on the "internet is working scale" around here this morning. Not sure really, when or if I'll ever get to post this. Waiting on the READY at this point.

Our internet went down yesterday shortly after I posted in the middle of the rain storm and didn't come back on until sometime in the afternoon. Sometime in the afternoon - late in the afternoon. Two internet repair guys showed up at the house - only to discover it had fixed itself. This morning - back to square 1. Arghhhhh!

Note: If you're one of those people who rely on the internet or just really like having a working internet - then this is NOT the place you want be.

So about the Mau? Early last week all these Mau? signs went up all over town - all over the place, and lot's and lot's of them too. Mau with a question mark is asking a question - normally you don't worry too much about punctuation around here. Anyways, I think this is an awesome Ad Campaign. Had me curious - I ended up jotting down the web address, just so I could look it up on the internet (it was actually working that day).

Mau? What exactly is it that they think we might want? Turns out it's a new service provider for hand phones (cell phones). www.three.co Brilliant I think. I wonder how well that would go over in English back home? WANT? Can you imagine a whole bunch of Want? signs going up. Maybe someone should try it and see.

TODAY: Sun is out this morning - making up for yesterday!

Have a bunch of things I want to do today. That don't require the Internet. Thankfully. But apparently the internet repair guys are coming back - whenever that happens (waiting, waiting)? We'll have to see. Here goes.

Good to Go!