“Waiting for the Dawn….”

September 25th 2005, 0245B

One reason I’m looking forward to getting out of town tomorrow is to get away from the vampiric little bitches in this place – I swear I’m anaemic from blood loss right now. I’ve got a mosquito net over my bed – intact so far as I can tell – and I just about choke myself on the amount of tabard spray I use, never mind the bloody mozzies. But does it help? Not a chance does it bloody help, and there must be something like 30 of the little bitches buzzing around inside my tent. The tabard must be like fucking catnip to them or something, ‘cause it sure as hell doesn’t chase them off.
At least they’re fairly polite, and are quite happy for you to enjoy a good nights sleep. They buzz, but far quieter and at a much less intrusive pitch than their southern cousins, so it’s not like at home where one mozzie can keep you awake all bloody night – I reckon that whine is calculated to have the perfect pitch to drive you fucking nuts, & is living proof that God has a nasty sense of humour.
But as I say they’re not so bad in that respect here, so it’s only if they fly right into your ear that you actually hear them. Stealth mosquitoes. The downside to that is that they mob you without you noticing, hence my feelings of anaemia this morning. Oh, and of course they also give you malaria. I think I’d rather have the intrusive whine, because all things being equal I would rather prefer not to pick up a dose of malaria :P And we get the really pleasant variety of malaria here, where not only do you spend 10 days shivering & sweating when you get it initially, but also have a recession each year to look forward to. Don’t that sound like fun?
And God only knows how happy I’ll be not to have to take these bloody mefliam anymore. Right now I’m counting the days till December, not only because then I’ll have a better idea of when I’m coming home & can plan accordingly, but also because I’ll be able to start taking doxycycline as prophylaxis again. The doxy is a pain because you have to drink it every day, as opposed to once a week with the mefliam, but it sure as shit doesn’t have the side effects the mefliam does. And I am heartily sick & bloody tired of feeling like shit because of the drugs I have to take. I guess I actually have a reason to look forward to the festive season for a change, instead of viewing it with my usual dread. And given how cheerful I am anyway at that time of year, I really don’t need the mefliam making things worse, so it’ll be nice to have something to enjoy about it for once.

Anyway, enough about the mozzies. I’m awake at some obscene hour of the morning again in spite of the sleepy drugs, but at least I’ve been putting the time to good use. When I was online for awhile last night I managed to save a few peoples blogs to the flash drive, & I’ve spent the last hour or so reading through them. I’m still reading through one of them actually, because Ash’s blog is just insanely huge & there’s no way I can read all of it in one go :P
Being able to catch up with what’s happening in my friends lives, being able to maintain a connection with them even from thousands of miles away, really helps while I’m here. Of course, it makes me miss people even more & there’s always an element of sadness to my smile while I’m reading the blogs, but that’s a price I’m happy to pay. The ones where people have posted photos of where the gang has gotten together are the worst for that, but those are also probably the posts I enjoy reading the most lol
I’ve really got a great bunch of friends, and being away from them for so long is what I resent most about these deployments. The decidedly dodgy comms from here really haven’t helped at all, so being able to keep up to date & in touch through the blogs has become very important to me. I know I was saying in the last post that I may just extend this deployment voluntarily, but that really is going to be contingent on being given chance to go home for at least a week or two. Otherwise, there’s no bloody chance. Whenever it is that I get home there’s going to be a lot of catching up to be done, so I hope you guys are going to be prepared for a repeat of that hectic first few weeks after I got back from the Congo last year ;) Dinner at Spigga & Maan Hing, headbanging at Burn, a long weekend of drunken debauchery down the South Coast, and acquiring bruises at paintball are just a few of the things we have to look forward to people :P

One thing about blogging is that it makes emailing people who read your blog a tricky proposition – coming up with something to put in the mail that’s not already on your blog isn’t all that easy lol
Reading a persons blog can also have unexpected benefits though. Yesterday morning I woke up & suddenly realised “Oh shit, it’s Shirlz’ birthday in a week & I have no idea what to get her!”, & I spent the rest of the day trying to call everyone I could for ideas. The phone was up to its usual shit though & I couldn’t get through to most people. Eventually I even got desperate enough to call her directly to ask what she wanted, but her suggestion of “get your ass home, dammit!!” isn’t possible just yet unfortunately. Gareth wasn’t much help either I must say, ‘cause while I’m getting extra money while I’m here, I’m not getting THAT much extra – “two tickets to Mauritius” indeed :P
Anyway, I’d just about given up & was about to buy a Kalahari voucher for her – I hate doing that though - when something made me think of looking at her blog. Two minutes after the page loaded I had my answer – “…using photoshop, a custom brush tool and a mouse-gotta get me a stylo-argh!...”
So congrats on your birthday, Shirlz – I really wish I was there in person to give you a beeeg hug, but I’ll be thinking of you & hope you have an amazing day ;) – and I hope you enjoy your present.
It’s not a Wacom I’m sorry to say – they’re really hard to find in SA for some reason & again, I ain’t that rich :P – but this should hopefully do to start with, & I’ll get you the Wacom when I win the lottery ;)

I’m starting to feel a little droopy eyed again suddenly, so I’m going to wrap this up for now and climb back into bed. Hopefully I’ll be able to get another hour or two of sleep, ‘cause otherwise I’m going to be a grumpy bastard for the rest of the day.

Till later ;)

1540B

“The scenery changes, & they let me play with explosives…..”

You know, I often complain about my job. In fact, I’m often seriously fucking acid about what I do for a living, and with good cause - at times my job can be the worst job on the planet, such as when people are trying very hard to kill me. It’s been quite awhile since that happened to be sure, but it’s still certainly part of the package deal. Killing other buggers when they try ain’t as much fun as it looks on the movies either, I can tell you. Even the mundane “won’t kill you” day-to-day shit, like Tiaans’ wife losing the plot because he’s away from home so much, really isn’t much fun.

But it’s not all bad, not by any stretch of the imagination, and today has been one of the good days. I mean, how much would you be willing to pay to lie under a tree on a beach in some exotic location, drinking beer all day? And that’s exactly what I’ve spent my day doing, lying next to Lake Tanganyika drinking beer. Ok, so we’re not talking about Bali here, but Lake Tanganyika is still one of those places that 99.5% of people you meet have only ever seen on the Discovery Channel, & sometimes that kind of thing is one of the fringe benefits of this job. And I get paid for my time, instead of having to fork out long dollars for the privilege.

But it’s not just that. I’ve also seen, up close, a volcano throwing lava into the sky at Goma in the eastern Congo. I’ve travelled in a boat on the Congo River. I’ve met a genuine pygmy – bought him beers & spent a few hours talking shit with him even – and if I’m lucky I’ll still get to see a silverback gorilla in the wild before I come home. Maybe on the way home I’ll get to see Dar es Salaam, and experience a little of the history of that ancient African city.
If I think back there are a number of experiences like these that I’ve had over the years, and I’m quite likely to have more. And then there are the “regular” work experiences you get to have in the military, things that so few civilians ever get to do. How many of you have ever flown in a helicopter for example? I’ve done it so often that I tend to sleep through the experience these days. Getting shot at while you’re in a chopper isn’t quite so much fun, because there aren’t any rocks to hide behind when you’re up in the sky, & the pilot makes the heli do some interesting things you wouldn’t normally think it could, but it certainly gets the pulse going. Who reading this has ever experienced the ridiculous amount of sheer fun that it is fire a heavy machine gun, or to detonate large quantities of explosives? Blowing shit up may not be quite so good as sex, but it sure as hell ain’t far from it :P There is a price to this kind of lifestyle, as I’ve said previously, but it certainly has its compensations from time to time, and today has been one of those days where my job is an absolute pleasure.
The waiter getting the change mixed up, & effectively paying us twice as much as we should have paid him to drink those beers next to the lake, certainly didn’t hurt either :P

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve had quite a good day :P And not just me either – Tiaan is also looking quite a bit happier at the mo, so it was also “mission accomplished” so far as restoring a few of his happy thoughts goes.
He wasn’t too amused this morning when we found out that it’s 99% certain that our allowances have been increased – and evidently significantly so – with effect 1st October, because going home this Thursday means he’s going to miss out on the extra money, but he’s a lot happier now. I’m really keen to see what the bank account looks like this payday, because if the increase has been implemented it means I’ll be able to buy that lens I’ve been drooling over for so long, and still have more money at the end of the day than I thought. It’ll also make staying here longer, even if I’m due to come home in February, a far more attractive proposition. I’ll still be insisting on chance to come home though – no amount of money is worth 11 months away from home without a break.

That’s about it for the weekend though, so I’m going to bid you all a fond adieu for now. I hope you’ve all enjoyed your weekend as much as I have mine, & I’ll catch up with you all in two weeks or so when I get back from Mwaro.

Take care till then ;)

“On the Road Again…”

September 24th 2005, 1550B

This is probably going to be the last update for awhile as I’m off to the bushes again on Monday. I’m going back to Mwaro for another two weeks, & I’m quite looking forward to it even if I’d have preferred to go to one of the other bases this time around. There’s still plenty of time left to visit all of them before I come home, so I’m not going to complain. It’s out of Bujumbura, & that’s what matters :P There’s talk that the battalion is going to establish another base in the forests in the north of Burundi, which sounds like it could be fun. Apparently it’s a beautiful area, with lots of wildlife & birdlife, so I’m holding thumbs that the rumours have a little substance to them.

Speaking of rumours, the other day I heard another version of the story about the extension to the deployment. This time it was said that we’re not going to be staying longer after all, & that we’ll be back in February as originally planned. The mission is still due to end in May or so, but evidently the idea is that the next contingent that comes up here will be a small one tasked with packing up all the equipment for shipment home. The usual qualifier still applies, that this is subject to confirmation, but I’ll keep my ears open & pass along anything I hear.
It’ll be nice to come home in Feb, but I have to confess that I’m thinking that maybe I should ask to stay here till the mission ends in May. Before you wonder, I’ve not suddenly taken leave of my senses and I’m going to think about it a LOT more before I put anything in writing though. A lot is going to depend on just when exactly the mission is going to end, and also whether or not I’ll get chance to come home for a break at some point - if there’s not going to be opportunity to come home for a break, then I really doubt that I’ll ask to stay longer.
That the extra money will come in very handy goes without saying, but the main reason I’m thinking of applying to stay longer are the arrangements to get the vehicles & equipment home at the end of the mission. The chances are that the vehicles will driven as far as Dar es Salaam & then transported by ship either to Durban or Cape Town, & the idea of a road trip through Tanzania at state expense has a certain appeal to me. How many opportunities like that arise in a lifetime? I mean, people pay BIG money to do this kind of thing, so the chance to do it for free – actually, to be paid to do it :P – is not something I’m inclined to dismiss out of hand. This is just a pipedream for now though, but I’m certainly giving it some serious thought. And again, the extra money won’t hurt lol

Otherwise, for a change I’ve been fairly busy the last few days. Mostly it’s just been escorts for the municipal elections that happened this last week, but it got me out of the base & kept me amused. Sitting in an armoured vehicle in the heat was rather uncomfortable at times, but it was much better than sitting around the camp with my thumb up my ass. I also got to take a few photos during the escort missions, if not too many. All the same, it was good to get behind the lens again as I’ve not had chance to use the camera much lately. I’m not too happy the photos I took though, but there are a couple that aren’t too bad which I’ll upload when I get chance.
Speaking of uploading photos, I’ve added another gallery to the collection at TravelGallery. The new gallery is all photos of the refugees from the camp at Mwaro, kind of a photo study project. I’m a little disappointed with the quality of some of them – I had to crop a few quite drastically unfortunately – but overall I’m really happy with the way they came out. With a little luck I’m not the only one who thinks so & you’ll like them too :P

One thing that happened this week that I’m quite unhappy about is that my friend Tiaan will be going back to Durban on the next available flight. He’s even unhappier about it though, as it’s because of trouble at home. Hopefully he’ll be able to sort things out quickly, but it’s very unlikely that he’ll be coming back however things turn out, so I’m going to be a little short of friendly company from now on. That’s a very minor consideration compared to the shit he has waiting for him at home though & he’s really not doing well right now, so I hope things work out for him.
The next flight is only on Thursday or so, which isn’t helping his sense of humour any, but we’re doing what we can to keep him busy & distracted. A few of us are going to drag him off to the “beach” at the lake tomorrow to oggle the girls in bikinis, which should hopefully be fun for all and cheer him up a little.

That’s about it for now though, so I’m going to finish this off for now & spend the rest of the afternoon editing a few photos. I might type up another post tomorrow depending on how the day goes, but failing that I’ll catch up again when I get back from Mwaro in a fortnight.

Cheers till then ;)

“I’m on Fire…”

September 20th 2005, 2010B

As much as I don’t particularly like the Burundians, I have to give them this much – their coffee ain’t too bad, & they make a damn fine peri-peri. I’ve just been out to supper at a Chinese place around the corner, & while it’s no Maan Hing on Moore Road, it was pretty damn good all the same. A little bit on the pricey side and the mossies were out in force, but good food & lots of it. And of course, nice peri-peri :P
My mouth is still burning after a good 1.5 litres of beer, & I’m likely going to wake up in a sweat tomorrow morning lol
The menu was a little different to what I’m used to, but it makes a change & I’m not complaining – how many restaurants have you been to where they’ve offered goat? In spite of what you might think, it’s actually bloody nice, so I recommend you try it if you ever get chance. It’s quite similar to mutton, but nowhere near as greasy.

All in all it’s been a pretty good day. It didn’t start off too well, & I was awake a little before 0300, regardless of the immovaine. I also didn’t feel too kosher when I woke up – nausea, headache, malaise & so on – & I was a little worried about malaria, but the test came back negative at least. I’ll be having another one tomorrow morning just to be on the safe side though, as the test kits sometimes generate false-negatives.
I also didn’t have anything to do so far as work goes, which was a tad frustrating, but I started feeling better around lunchtime or so & the evening has been fairly pleasant. The net connection here at the base has been down the last few days, so I popped into a net café around the corner before supper to do the email & updating of blog thing. For a change I actually had some personal mail instead of the normal junk mail that I get. Needless to say that went down very well and has done my mood the world of good. Also, typing up replies will also give me something to do tomorrow if work doesn’t keep me busy.
Something I found quite amusing when I had a look at the comments on this was the “blog spam” that had been left on one of the earlier entries. As Mark succinctly put it “WHAT THE FUCK?” :P
How a certain Wayne Hairston could ever think that people who read the blog of a soldier who’s deployed on a peace keeping mission in the middle of Africa would be interested in home business opportunities just boggles my mind lol
“I can relate to your blog” indeed….
As amusing as I find it though, it’s also pretty annoying. Spam in your email is bad enough, but on your blog? That has to be one of the more intrusive & offensive forms of unwelcome marketing anyone has come up with. And it’s not as if it could be very effective either, ‘cause I’m certainly not interested in what they had to offer, & if 15 people a week read this I’d be surprised. If as many as that even, so we’re hardly talking about the huge volumes of traffic these guys rely on to generate results. Not that these two clowns let that stop them from trying to use me as free advertising. Bastards.

Something that was very surprising about the net café was how much they asked for the time I spent online – only 900 frambos, or about 75c US for a little over 30 min. The last I checked, that would have cost me at least R30 back home, or about 6 times as much. I find it interesting that a country like Burundi can offer net connectivity at that kind of price, yet it’s so damned expensive in SA, which is a far more developed country.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
I think the net café being cheap was perhaps in compensation though, as it was certainly an interesting experience trying to use the pc – everything was in French, so I had fun & games trying to figure things out lol
I seem to do ok when it comes to figuring out written French, things like signboards & so on, so I managed to find my way around Windows les Français well enough, but the real challenge was the keyboard. The manager went out of his way to make sure I had an English QWERTY keyboard, but the computer saw it as a French language keyboard instead. “What difference does that make?” you might ask. Not too much for the most part, but the key layout is about 20% different, & I had a barrel of laughs pressing keys at random trying to find the one I wanted :P
I think next time I go there I’ll take the notebook with & see if they’ll let me plug it into their network rather than struggling. Using my own laptop would also mean I could do my banking, because I’m very wary of things like key-loggers & so on at net cafés. I would not be amused to find my account cleaned out the next time I checked, I can assure you.

Anyway, the fat lady is busy warming the vocal cords for her final performance of the day, & I’d best be on my way to evening roll call. Thanks to everyone who’s sent mail lately, as it really is appreciated. The contact with home goes a very long way towards maintaining the happy thoughts, so keep ‘em coming :P

Cheers for now ;)

A Change in Scenery…

September 19^th 2005, 1530B

Well, I’m back at the base in town, and this time I can’t say that I’m complaining about it. I’m going to miss the aircon but that’s about it :P

It seems that there are going to be local elections this next week or so, & the operational tempo at the base here is going to be pretty high as a result. There aren’t quite enough medics here to cope, & seeing as I wasn’t exactly busy where I was I withdrawn back here to fill out the numbers some.

I never thought I would say this, but I was actually quite happy when my boss told me I needed to come in, as I really wasn’t enjoying sitting around doing squat where I was. There was literally nothing for me to do all day there except sit in front of the pc, either reading or playing freecell. I was starting to get really frustrated & moody as a result, so I’m looking forward being kept busy over the next few days. I’m still hardly fond of being in the capital though, so I’m probably going to try to deploy to either Kabezi or Muramvya this next Monday. I don’t know if I’ll get it right, because it means reshuffling the deployment schedule, but I’m going to try all the same.

Otherwise there’s no real news. I managed to finally get my hands on a sim card for the mobile the other day, but so far it’s proved to be more a waste of time & effort than anything else. It’s proved even less reliable than the landline at the office here, & most of the sms’s I send seem to bounce. Even so I’ve managed to send out about 25 or so, but I’ve not had more than 5 replies. I had this happen often while I was in the Congo last year, where people would try to sms me, but nothing would come through on my end. It wasn’t anywhere near so bad as this though, & I find myself asking what’s the point. I’ve still got a little airtime left on the phone, about $4 worth, but when that’s finished I think I’ll be putting the phone away again & forgetting about it till I get home next year. I’ll just have to make do with the odd email & the landline in the office I guess, as I’ve got better things to do with my money, & I really don’t need the aggravation or disappointment.

That’s about it though, so I’m going to end off here. Chances are that I’ll update this again soon though, if we’re going to be as busy this next week as has been said. In addition to being busier hopefully I’ll also get to take some more photos – I took the grand total of 3 this last week, & the camera is complaining that I’m neglecting it :P

Till next time then ;)

“It’s a Beautiful Day…”

September 14^th 2005, 1650B

The little things can be so good for a guys’ morale. Ok, so perhaps getting paid isn’t such a “little thing”, ‘cause if I’d not received my allowances sometime soon I’d have been well fucked, not to put too fine a point on it. I was down to my last $15, and that wasn’t going to go very far I can assure you. Getting paid a day early, now that’s fairly “little”, but welcome all the same. I didn’t get quite so much as I’d thought I was going to, only $216, but it should be plenty to last me till next pay day.

But the “little thing” that has put such a beeeeeg smile on my dial, is that today I received the parcels Rob put together for me. There’s nothing essential in them, nothing I couldn’t really live without, but it’s remarkable how much my mood has improved because they arrived. That little contact from home, that small connection with the fond & familiar, makes all the difference.

Rob’s a really great guy, I must say. He seems to have forgotten, or not been able to get hold of some of the stuff I asked him to get for me, & some of what he did get made me laugh my tits off – for example he evidently forgot what deo I asked for, so he bought three different kinds. And still didn’t get the one I’d asked for lol

But he made up for that by putting in a bunch of stuff I’d not asked for, like coffee creamer, chocolates, biltong, & also a little note with news from home, which was very welcome.

And best of all, a bottle of whiskey :D

Even more so than coffee, whiskey is proof that God loves us, and that He wants us to be happy.

In fact, I have this firm belief that God is a whiskey drinker. On ice for preference, but failing that with a SMALL dash of soda water. He’s not too fussy when it comes to choosing between Scotch or Irish whiskey, and He’ll even drink bourbon at a push, but He’s reserved a special place in Hell for people who pollute whiskey with coke, or anything else for that matter.

Rob is a philistine, & he says that there’s very little difference between whiskey, brandy, gin, vodka, or any other spirit, but I’ll forgive him his heresy. I don’t know if God will, but he’s a good friend, so I will :P

But I digress. So I’m sitting here, munching away on a piece of some long-dead cows ass, & sipping on a nice 8 year old single malt while I type this up. And, all in all, I’m in a pretty damn good mood.

Ok, so I’m drinking the whiskey from of a plastic mug, & I don’t have any ice, so it’s cutting very close to sacrilege, but you have to make the odd concession to circumstance I suppose :P

Ahhh…. this is such a nice way to end the day.

Otherwise, that’s about it really. I had chance to call Ash a little earlier, & it was good to chat with her again, but otherwise about the only other incident that’s even remotely of interest is that today I again proved that perhaps electricity isn’t so much of a friend as I’d previously thought. This time it wasn’t me being dumb & careless though.

Well, maybe just a little, but only with the benefit of hindsight. In my opinion, at least :P

This time, what happened was that I was trying to indulge in my most desperate need & requirement of the morning – i.e. coffee - & I’d borrowed a kettle to boil water with. I’d plugged it into my extension lead - which wasn’t spliced or otherwise user modified in any way this time, I’ll have you know – and it was starting to bubble away merrily when all of a sudden it stopped boiling. Somewhat perturbed & confused, I made sure that the extension lead was plugged in securely & that the kettle plug was seated properly, but there still wasn’t any power going through. The aircon was still working, so there was obviously no problem with the supply, & at this point I was at something of a loss as to why there was suddenly no power to the extension lead. This is when I decided to pick up the multi-plug at the end of the cable… ouch. It didn’t take me long to let go, swearing a blue streak about my stinging fingers. In this instance, it wasn’t voltage that precipitated something of a religious experience – I certainly directed remarks AT God, if not necessarily TOO Him - but rather heat. It seems that the wire in the extension cable was of too light a gauge to handle the current, and as such the voltage running through it exceeded design specs. The insulation around the wires promptly melted, turning about 3 meters of flex into gooey sludge, though fortunately it didn’t cause a fire when it shorted out. There was plenty of heat given off all the same though, & I lightly crisped the ends of my fingers when I picked it up.

Bloody cheap ass Burundian piece of crap.

With hindsight, I could be charitable & say that maybe I should have thought that the extension lead couldn’t handle the power the kettle was drawing, but I prefer my interpretation of events, ‘cause it means I can swear at the locals that made the cable :P

And I’ve expressed previously just how fond I am of the Burundians lately…..

Anyway, I’ve had a fair amount to drink by now & I’m feeling just a little bit mellow, so I’m going to end off here for now. I’ll catch up again soon enough though, I’m sure.

Take care, & keep well ;)

“Dead Leaves & the Dirty Ground….”

September 13^th 2005, 2040B

his is likely going to be a fairly short post, given that I’m already in bed & I’m just waiting for the drugs to kick in before I switch this off for the night. Also the last few days have been even quieter than is the norm, so I haven’t really got much to talk about.

As I mentioned in the last post I’ve deployed out of Bujumbura again, though it’s a little erroneous to say that I’m “out” of the capital right now – I don’t even think I’m outside the city limits actually. Currently I’m at the site of the new camp that’s being built for the SA contingent, though whether we actually get to see much use out of it remains to be seen, given the uncertainty around how much longer our involvement here is going to be. I’ll be here till around the 26^th or so, & unfortunately it looks like I’m going to be pretty much out of contact with everyone till then as there isn’t a phone or net connection here, or until I can get a sim card for my cell. That should hopefully be on Thursday or so, when I get paid again.

Conditions here at the base are something of a contrast to be honest. The accommodation is quite nice, as we’re staying in prefabs rather than in tents, & they all have power & aircon. They’re built to accommodate 4 to 6 people, though I’m only sharing the one I’m in with the other medic. That I can live with for now, but when the time comes for us to move in here properly & I have to share with 3 – 5 others, I have a feeling that I’m going to miss the privacy my chopper tent has afforded me till now. Still, aircon in this part of the world makes up for a lot of that :P

The bathrooms are also a very large improvement over what we have at the existing base, but right now there are serious problems with the water supply, so it’s not so much a shower as an exercise in hopping around trying to get wet. There’s also no hot water here as yet, but that has to do with there being insufficient pressure to fill the geysers, so when the supply is sorted out we’ll get hot water. How long that will take remains to be seen though, but it’s not that the water is exactly freezing either so I can live with it for now.

So far so good, & over all I’m comfortable enough here. It’s a lot quieter here than the base in town, there are far fewer mozzies, & the weather is also much better – it’s actually warmer, but the humidity is lower. There’s only one real problem with this place, & that’s the mess. It’s very much a “work in progress” – the only reason we have troops here at all is because the locals were stealing anything not nailed down – so the place is far from finished, or even neat & tidy. There are half constructed prefabs everywhere, trenches dug for piping all over the place, & large areas that are just bare foundations. Worst of all though is the dust, which is literally ankle deep in places. We’re far enough out of the city, about 10km, that there aren’t any buildings to obstruct the wind so it comes howling through here, and it often looks like you’re in the middle of a desert sand-storm. We’re talking “can’t see 3 feet in front of you” kind of visibility at times, & that dust gets in everywhere. Even my cigarettes have a certain crunchiness to them :P

In all honesty it isn’t bad here, but I’d far rather be in Kabezi right now though, which is where I’d been trying to deploy to this rotation. One reason is that there’s nothing much I’ve seen to point the camera at since I got here, other than the locals hanging around outside the wire. And given that they’re doing their usual annoying “Gimme! Gimme!” act, I’m disinclined to have even so little to do with them. I’m growing increasingly resentful & contemptuous of the Burundians, and I know it’s not a good thing. For one, all an attitude like that is going to do is ensure that I’m pretty much constantly pissed off all the time, & that’s going to make the next 8 months seem very long. It’s also hardly an appropriate attitude to have towards the locals, given that this is a humanitarian mission. I’m supposed to be here to help make a difference for these people, not to hold them in contempt or view them with disdain, and certainly not over trivial little things like behaviour which I see as rude & ungracious. There’s more to it than that, but that really pisses me off. As I may have mentioned previously :P

Enough of the locals getting on my tits again though. Or as usual, or whatever. I’d been looking forward to getting out to Kabezi this time, because it’s a beautiful area & I’d been hoping to get some shots of the sunset across the lake, and also because my friend Tiaan is also deployed there at the moment, so I’d have had decent company. Still, this is only for two weeks & there’ll be other chances I’m sure. I’ll have chance to deploy to all the outside bases in the time that I’m here, given that there are only three of them really – I’m not going to count what I’m doing right now as a deployment to an outside base. Other than Mwaro & Kabezi which I’ve already mentioned, there is also a deployment at a place called Muramvya, & I’m quite keen to get out there at some point fairly soon. I’ve not seen the place yet, or even really know where it is, but I’ve heard promising things about it & I’m looking forward to seeing for myself. And I’m pretty sure Wes would appreciate some scenery shots of places other than just Mwaro & the 2-3 of Kabezi I uploaded the other day :P

Speaking of which, I was actually very pleasantly surprised that I had chance to upload the photos that I did the last time I was on the net connected pc – my plan of arriving a little later than usual seemed to bear fruit, & it was over an hour before anyone else came along wanting to use the computer, so I made good use of the extra time.

I’m somewhat bummed that I’m not likely going to see any feedback on the photos I uploaded till I’m back in town proper at the end of the month, as I’m doing the whole “well, I like ‘em, but what if everyone else hates them?” thing. It’s funny how self-conscious & insecure we become at times, isn’t it? :P

Having a little extra time online also meant that I had chance to send a few mails to people I’ve not been able to get on the phone till now. I’m starting to think I may just be jinxed when it comes to comms with Cheezy Gareth though – I’ve never been able to get through on the phone, & the bloody mail I sent bounced back as undeliverable too. So much for technology & modern communications making the world smaller, I guess. I’ll keep trying though, & something will get through eventually I’m sure lol

I also managed to have a look at Ninja Gareths’ blog, & was both impressed and entertained by what I’ve read so far. I didn’t get chance to read through it properly though, so the next time I have opportunity I’ll be saving it so that I can read all of it at my leisure.

In addition to being a good read, his blog also reminded that I’ve left a great bunch of people behind in Durban. These little glimpses into peoples lives through their blogs, people I know & call my friends, really helps in terms of getting some news from home & being able to see a little of how everyone is doing. I really appreciate and value even this somewhat limited connection with people, but it also brings home that this is often a lonely & isolated lifestyle I lead. But certainly not so much so that I’m not going to continue keeping up with as many of the blogs as I can ;)

Anyway, I think that’s about it for now as the drugs are doing their groovy thing again, making me all slow & fuzzy. It might be a few days before I update this as there is literally bugger all that goes on here, or at least that’s been the case so far. But I’ll make note of anything interesting for the next post.

Ciao for now ;)

“Only the Good Die Young….”

September 12^th 2005, 0515B

I realised yesterday that I’m getting old. Not so much mentally or emotionally, ‘cause in many ways I’ve never grown up, but certainly in the physical sense. This body is starting to show signs of wear & tear, & it’s a little disconcerting to be made aware that the years have taken their toll.

It’s the little things that have suddenly made me more aware of this. For example, I had a haircut yesterday, & I was rather surprised by the amount of grey hair I saw mixed in with the rest of the trimmings on the floor. Not that many to be sure, but I only noticed my first grey 3 hairs at the beginning of the year, & they seem to have been busy multiplying in the last few months. Like I say, there still aren’t many, & given that my hair is quite fair they’re also not noticeable unless you go looking for them, but I can no longer deny that they’re there.

But I’m really not fussed about the grey hairs themselves, because my hair is one thing I’ve never really given a shit about – about the only use I have for it is to help keep the African sun from broiling my brain, & given that I’ve got this big ass bald spot on my crown it doesn’t even do that very well. And besides, everyone knows that chics dig that grey-haired distinguished look. Well, some chics anyway. If you meet one that does, & who also has a thing for guys that smoke like a two-stroke, swear like a trooper, & have a keg rather than a six-pack, give her my number won’t you? Thanks ;)

A willing and amenable disposition, & a body like Pamela Anderson after she lost the silicone would also not go amiss, but I find that I’m not really so fussed about that side of things any more.

And if that’s not a sign that I’m getting fucking old then I don’t know what is lol

But I’m getting way off track here. As I was saying, it’s the little things that are making me feel my age. Actually, that’s a bit rich ‘cause I can’t actually say I’m “old” – I’m only in my early 30s’ after all, & that ain’t old by any stretch. Rather let’s say that I’m feeling “older”, though turning 30 was something of a rude shock I must admit. That one crept up on me all of a sudden, kind of like “What?! I’m 30? When the fuck did that happen?” :P

Back to the little things though. A few grey hairs & my receding hairline, the way my joints ache & I have to really work at it to touch my toes these days, my significantly lower bullshit tolerance levels and so on. Reading an article in an old Men’s Health with a title like “25 Signs You’re Getting Older – and Happy About It!”, and recognising 23 of the signs in myself. That was a sobering one. Funny, but still sobering.

Is this getting older a bad thing though? It happens to all of us sooner or later, so what’s the point in getting upset about it? Some of it is actually pretty cool in fact, though I really wouldn’t object to being in the physical condition I was in when I was 20. That was over ten years ago now though, & I know it just isn’t possible. And as much as I could, and really should, be taking better care of myself physically, I take comfort in the fact that no matter how hard I try, I will never look as battered as Keith Richards does when I reach his age – it takes serious long term effort to look that fucked up :P

But that’s a very poor excuse, so I’m going to have to make a plan to start getting into shape again. I’m not particularly fussed about the waistline, but my fitness level is in dire need of attention. It’s a bit tricky here though, as my schedule of two weeks in base & two weeks deployed makes starting & maintaining an exercise program difficult. I could easily enough join in with the guys who go jogging in the mornings here in town, but a) I loathe jogging, & b) I should actually avoid high impact exercises - such as running - like the plague given how there’s about half a kg of metal in my right ankle. Swimming would be perfect, and there are a few pools at the hotels & at the sports club nearby, but they all cost money I don’t have & I also wouldn’t be able to get to them while I’m out of town. I can do hundreds of crunchies & push ups every morning, but without the cardio workout I’ll be wasting my time.

I need to start something though. Apparently there is a gym here in town, & the rates are supposed to be reasonable, so I’ll look into that when I’m back in town in a fortnight. Even if it’s a two week-on & off program, it’ll be better than nothing.

Anyway, I’d best finish this off for now as it’s time for me to jump into the shower & start getting ready for work. I’ll add some more later in the day though, when I arrive at the base where I’m being deployed for the next two weeks. I won’t be going to Kabezi as I’d hoped unfortunately, but rather the new base they’re building here in town, but it’s still out of Bujumbura proper & away from all the assholes here :P

I will miss having the even limited access to the phone I have now, & getting to the net connected pc will also not be happening too often over the next two weeks. I’m sure I’ll manage though & I’m going to try to call a few people anyway before I leave the base.

Till later then ;)

Photos

September 10th 2005, 2255B

Success :D

For those of you who'would like to have a look, I finally managed to get some photos uploaded to my album on www.travelgallery.co.uk

There's plenty more still that I want to upload, but it's a start at least & I'm bloody happy I eventually got the chance.

Hope you enjoy ;)

“By dawns early light…”

September 10th 2005, 0545B

Just for once I’d like to sleep in till after the sun has come up, say till about 0630 or so. It’s actually the nicest part of the day right now though - quiet, cool, & peaceful - & I quite enjoy this time of the morning, but just once I’d like to have a lie in on a weekend, instead of waking up an hour or more before dawn :P

At least I’m feeling pretty cheerful this morning, and that’s a pleasant surprise. I’m tired & still a bit groggy from the immovaine, but cheerful all the same & I’m looking forward to the day.
Don’t ask my why, because we have to do foot inspection on the battalion personnel who are in the base this morning, & that can be really unpleasant at times – you should see the way some people neglect their feet. Then again, the fact that it’s only foot inspection is a big relief, and that we’re not also doing a…. er, “short arm” inspection like we used to do :P
Those were scary, let me tell you lol

Moving on, something that will have contributed towards the upswing in my mood was last night I had chance to have a quick look at some of the comments that people have left here. With time on the pc being as limited as it is, it’s not often that I get to look at the comments people have left, & I usually only get chance to copy-paste the new entries before I have to make way for the next person who wants to use the pc. I had a few minutes extra last night though, & had a quick look to see who’d commented. Something like Wes saying “Racey says hi” is surprisingly good for a guys morale. I’ve never met either Wes or his fiancée in person, only knowing them from The Pond, but that they’ll read this & then take the time to say hi is really appreciated.
Wes was also saying that he’s looking forward to seeing some photos of the scenery around here, & I’d love to oblige & upload a few, but until I can make a plan with this connection…… I’m just waiting for the blank DVD’s Rob sent up to arrive, & I’ll send a disc home for Ash or someone to upload a few photos for me.
I actually don’t have too many shots of the scenery around here though, come to think of it – most of the time when I’ve travelled I’ve been the driver, which can make taking photos a little tricky as I’m sure you can imagine :P On the days I’ve been a passenger I’ve found that taking photos from a moving vehicle is something of a challenge, particularly on these roads, but I’ll keep at it.

One very pleasant surprise was seeing the comment by Nicole, as I’d wondered if I’d managed to lose track of her completely. It’d been quite awhile since we’d been in touch, & I didn’t get chance to let her know I was leaving early to come up here. I don’t even know if she’s still in SA, as she’d mentioned getting married & leaving for Sweden at some point, though I’m not sure of the timing for that. Needless to say it would have made getting hold of her in future quite challenging lol
I’d actually been thinking about her quite often lately, remembering the great chats we used to have while I was in the Congo, so it was really good to know that she’s still around & I’m looking forward to getting back into more regular contact with her.

Towards that end I’m still working on trying to get my hands on the encryption key for the wireless network here so that I’d have full time net connectivity in my tent, which would make keeping in touch & up to date with everyone a far easier proposition. I became a regular MSN & YIM junkie while I was in the Congo, & I’ve missed the ease of communication that IM allows for while I’ve been here. Chances are that getting it right to connect to the UN lan & their internet connection would probably do more for my continued happy thoughts than regular oral gratification would :P
It’s really frustrating that the wireless adapter on this notebook picks up the network like a dream, but without the key it’s about as useful to me as a glass hammer. I’ve not been able to track down the local UN IT section yet, & even when I get that right I’ll have to come up with a sufficient inducement to have them give me the key, so I don’t know that I’ll ever get it right unfortunately. It’s worth the effort though, so I’ll keep trying.

It’s time for me to get a refill on the coffee & then jump into the shower though, so I’m going to say cheers for now.

Hasta luego, everyone ;)

2115B

I really should know better by now than to go to sleep so late in the afternoon after drinking as much beer as I did today. I don’t mind waking up in the morning with a hangover, but it just seems unnatural to wake up at 2030 after spending the afternoon in a drunken slumber, with a thick head & a mouth that tastes like something incontinent moved in while you were asleep :P
In spite of not feeling so kosher right now, it was really quite a pleasant day. After foot inspection this morning a few of us felt in the mood for a few beers, & despite not having much in the way of ready cash between us we made a plan to scrape funds together and took a stroll around the corner to the sports club, same as last weekend. Come to think of it, the only difference between today & last Sunday is that there weren’t any girls in bikinis at the pool, & the pizza at the hotel next door was a bit cheaper this time. It was still fun though, as my hangover would suggest lol

Anyway, this might be the last post I upload for awhile as I’ve been trying to organise that I deploy out to the field on Monday when the next rotation takes place, rather than spending the rest of the month here in town. I’ve been trying to organise that I go to Kabezi rather than Mwaro this time though, & I seem to recall there being a UN computer at the base there. With a little luck it’s hooked up to the network & I’ll be able to get online while I’m there. That was one thing about the Congo that’s different here – just about every second office in Kinshasa had a UN computer with an internet connection, but here you really have to go looking for one.
Even if I’m mistaken about the computer there & there’s no internet access, Kabazi looks to be quite pleasant, from what I remember of the night I spent there last month. It’s a bigger base than Mwaro, with a company deployed there rather than only a platoon, so I’m likely to be somewhat busier. The main reason I’ve tried to arrange to deploy there this time is that the base is right next to Lake Tanganyika & I’m hoping to get the opportunity to do some travelling around while I’m there, & take in a little of the scenery. The downside to the base being so close to the lake is that the heat, humidity, & mosquitoes are pretty rough but I should manage for two weeks, & it’s a beautiful area from what I’ve seen. Just so long as I don’t get malaria while I’m there, as it’s a high risk area for it. I can just imagine how seriously pissed I’ll be to have taken these bloody mefliam for the last 9 weeks, and have had to put up with them making me feel as shit as they have, and then STILL get malaria. We will not be amused, I can assure you :P

That’s about it for now though, as I’m going to see if I can get onto the pc here to upload this now. I’m trying a little later than I usually do this evening to see if I can’t get a little more time on the pc this time – I’m hoping everyone else has crashed already, & if I get it right to be online longer I’ll upload a few photos.

Till next time then ;)

“It seems like every day is the same…”

September 9th 2005, 0610B

It’s been a few days since I sat & typed anything up for this, & I figure it’s about time I made the effort before I get out of the habit.
I don’t really have the time to type up much right now though, as I’ll be going on an escort in another 30min or so & I still need to get ready. It’s also been quiet lately, so it’s not as though I have a lot of news either. I’ll add to this after I get back though, & who knows – maybe something interesting happens while I’m out :P

Otherwise it’s been pretty much the same shit, different day lately. I’ve been able to keep myself reasonably occupied at least the last few days, which has helped my sense of humour some. The last few days still haven’t been too much fun though, as the mefliam side-effects have been giving me a pretty hard time of it this last week or so, but that should sort itself out before too much longer. I’m still a grumpy, moody, & depressed bastard, but I at least know and understand why I’m feeling kak, which makes it a lot easier to deal with. It’s still not any fun, but you can at least function normally, outwardly at least.

Enough of that though. I had a chance to speak with Lt Col Munday again yesterday, & he had a little more information for us regarding the extension to the deployment. We’ve been hearing a number of conflicting stories lately, ranging from we’ll be home by the end of the month to that we’ll be here till the end of June 06, so I’m glad I managed to catch up with him. He still doesn’t have any confirmed info for us, but he was at least able to tell me that we’ll be here till at least December, & the decision to either extend the deployment or come home will be made then.
Part of the confusion as to when we’ll be coming home stems from there being SA troops contributed to two different missions here in Burundi, the AU & UN missions, and they’re working according to different timetables. However it seems that people here, and their families at home have perhaps been “selectively interpreting” what they’ve been hearing to mean that both missions will definitely be ending soon. So far as I understand things, the AU will in fact have completed its mission by December and will be withdrawing then, whereas the UN will be remaining in the country. President Mbeki wants to withdraw all troops from Burundi & deploy them elsewhere as soon as possible, but he can’t pull us out of the UN mission till we’ve met our contractual obligations to the UN and there’s someone to replace us. Just what will come of those negotiations remains to be seen, but it means that we’ll still be here for a few months at least. Maybe I’ll be home for sometime in December, but I find it more likely that I’ll be home sometime around February at the earliest, & that I’ll still quite possibly be here for longer.
To tell the truth, I’m not keen on the idea of coming home anytime before February. As much as I miss everyone at home, and as much as I can’t say that I’m having the party of my life here, financially speaking the longer I’m here the better. Coming home before February really would not be healthy for my budget, especially if I’m going to be leaving the army by September next year. Besides, I really want to buy that 500mm lens I’ve mentioned previously, and I’ll be seriously pissed if I can’t afford it :P
Something that the colonel gave me a pretty good indication of, was that if the deployment is extended beyond February we should be able to come home for about two weeks. The planning for that will be tricky, and it’s certainly not a confirmed thing, but it’s far better than the “there’s no chance” we heard the last time. It’ll mean forfeiting all allowances for the period spent away from the mission area, but I doubt that will worry me much if the opportunity arises. As I’ve said before, I’ll let people know what’s happening as soon as I have the info myself, especially with regards to when I’ll be home.

That’s it for now though, as I’d best be getting ready for this escort mission. I’ll catch up again later.

1945B

I finally managed to drag myself away from my book long enough to get back to this – the window has been open on the task bar, staring at me accusingly for the last few hours, making me feel guilty :P
The rest of the day went well enough, & the escort mission made for a pleasant break in the routine. This time it was a trip out to the border with the Congo, where we met a group of UN personnel who were transferring to the UN operation here in Burundi & needed an escort into town. The border with the Congo is actually really close to where we are here in Bujumbura, only about 20km or so to the west, & it made for a pleasant drive other than the kamikaze cyclists. Bicycles are a very popular form of transport in this part of the world, & the loads the locals manage to carry on them is something to behold at times – I took a photo this morning of a guy who’d loaded 16 car tyres onto his bike, for example.
The taxi cycles are the worst though, as they have the suicidal tendencies of all African taxi drivers, but none of the even limited protection a minibus would provide. The whole damn lot of them seem determined to commit “suicide by armoured vehicle”, & it can make driving in this country a nerve-wracking experience. There’s no chance at all that I’d be injured in any crash involving a bicycle, but the amount of hassle & paper work that’s involved in having turned one of the locals into road-kill does not bare contemplating. The pedestrians are also deficient in terms of survival instincts, but they’re nowhere near as bad as the cyclists.

That was pretty much it for the day though. I spent the afternoon editing some of the photos I took today, & finishing off Republic Commando again. After that I was at a bit of a loss for something to do till I came across the book I’m reading at the moment. It’s something I’ve read before, a science fiction novel by a guy called David Weber, but it was long enough ago that I don’t remember the story all that well. There’s about 10 books in the series, so they should keep me amused for a week or two. It can be a little inconvenient only having e-books with me, like when the power is off & the battery on this has died, & getting used to reading off a screen takes some getting used to, but there’s no way in hell I’d have been able to bring enough books with me to keep me amused otherwise.
I’ve had Rob buy an external hard drive to send up to me, & I’ll have him put things like movies & more games on it for me which should hopefully help keep me occupied on the quiet days. Keeping busy is the trick, no matter how you manage it – there’s nothing to make the time drag like having too much time spent in your own company with nothing to do.

Anyway, I’d best finish this off for now. It’s been a real stinking hot day again today, so I’m going to go stand under a cold shower to cool off for half an hour before roll-call at 2100.
I’ll catch up again soon though ;)

“So Far Away From Me…”

September 6th 2005, 2045B

We had our phone access slashed today because of the expense, & it feels like home just got a lot further away, in terms of both distance and time. We’re still allowed to make calls home at state expense, but we’re talking in terms of 5 minutes once or twice a week. Assuming that you can get through at all, given how reliable the phone link is from here.
It was bound to happen sooner or later, given the way people used to sit on that phone, so I can’t really say I’m surprised, but this has not done my happy thoughts any good.
Having the phone available & being able to get in touch with people back home fairly frequently was one of the few things that made this town bearable, this entire deployment in fact. I imagine I’ll adapt to this soon enough, but right now I’m not at all happy about this.
And it really doesn’t help that I’ve been pretty down the last few days anyway, as the mefliam is screwing with my mood again & this town is not so slowly driving me nuts. I’m finding it very hard not to feel extremely sorry for myself right now.

Enough of sulking though. I’ll be getting a sim card for my phone soon, on the 15th or so, & I’ll be back in regular contact again then. I’d get one tomorrow but the wallet is looking very sad right about now, so it’ll have to wait till I get my next cash allowances. I’m not looking forward to being out of touch until then though. That was one great thing about the OC we had in Kinshasa last year – he arranged with Vodacom that they give us sim cards for free, pretty much as we stepped off the plane. Vodacom were only too happy to oblige, as it meant they made money on airtime out of us right from the first day. It’s a pity nobody thought to suggest that to the cell operators here in Burundi.
I was at least able to confirm today that I will be receiving money on the 15th, which has been about the only bright spot for the last few days. It should also hopefully be a reasonable amount, about $260 or so, as I’m due for about 6 weeks allowances by now. We’ll see what happens on the day though.
Otherwise there’s no news really, & it’s been a very quiet, boring, & frustrating day. We had a little rain today, which cut the humidity for a few hours at least, but it’s really muggy & uncomfortable again this evening. I’m really looking forward to getting out of the city again, hopefully back to Mwaro, but it looks like I’ll be here in the capital till the end of the month at least. Whoopee.
But all good things come to those that wait I guess, so I’ll just have to be patient.
I’d best finish this off for now though, as I could do with getting this uploaded this evening & it’s nearly time for roll-call.

Till next time then.

“Staring at the Sun…”

September 5th 2005, 2015B

Damn, but it’s been hot today. It looked like it may rain at one point this afternoon, which would have been a welcome relief, but my suspicion that the clouds were just teasing us proved well founded. Bastards.

Anyway, it’s been a decent enough day, other than the weather. I even had a little work this morning, & got out of the base for a few hours. One of the tasks given to the infantry battalion is escorting the civilian UN personnel when they drive out of the city proper, which is what happened this morning. The change of pace & scenery were nice, but the heat made it something of a trial otherwise, especially when you’re wearing body armour & sitting in the back of an armoured vehicle – I sweated like a cheap ho on pay day, & it wasn’t very pleasant.
I can live with that though, but something that did piss me off was the local kids. We were static in the one spot for must have been an hour or so while the civvy UN personnel had a meeting or something, and we ended up with about 20 of the local kids hanging around the vehicle, shouting at us & demanding money or food. By all means, English may not be their first language, but what is one of the first words you learn in any foreign language? Bloody “please”, shortly followed by “thank you”. And these little shits don’t even ask in their own language either, according to the troops who can speak it. And the adults are not much better I assure you. Nope, a ruder bunch of people you have to go a long way to find, & it gets right on my tits.
You know that itchy sensation you get on your palm when you feel the need to haul off & give someone a good bitch slap across the ear? I live with that sensation these days. The problem is that while there are probably quicker ways to get fired than teaching some local kid manners they desperately need, I just can’t think of any right now. I’m heartily sick & fucking tired of the locals demanding shit from me I can tell you, & it’s going to be a long 8 months till I get home, at least in this regard.

I got to take some photos though. Only about ten, as I’ve given up on trying to take photos from a moving vehicle on these roads, but some of them came out quite well, & that’s something I always enjoy. I’d hate to have spent so much money on cameras & gear for them in the last year, & then suck at taking photographs :P
I’m still trying to make a plan to upload some photos, but until such time as I either have at least an uninterrupted hour at the pc here on the base, or access to a broadband connection somewhere else, it’s a hopeless cause. Something I may end up doing is sending a disc home with images & asking someone nicely to upload the good ones for me. I’d ask Rob, but for someone who’s fairly computer literate he’s bloody clueless where the net is concerned. Then again, I left the I-Burst running when I left home, so he’s had the best part of two months of surfing for porn in which to pick a few things up :P

Otherwise it’s been a quiet day. I had a nap when I got back from the escort mission, & then spent a few hours going through the Ctrl-Alt-Del & AppleGeeks comics I’ve got saved on a disc here & having a good laugh. I miss being able to get the new ones off the net every few days – there’s just not been chance yet – but at least they both have all their material archived on the sites so I can get hold of them when I get home if I don’t manage before then.
Speaking of comics, I had chance to look at Noelles’ blog a little earlier, & saw the latest strip she’d done. That young lady has a nasty imagination & sense of humour in addition to being bloody smart, and it’s brilliant. I’ve not been able to get hold of her on the phone yet, so I was happy for the chance to catch up on what’s been going on in her life, & I have to extend a belated Happy Anniversary to her & Paul – well done guys :D
Reading that her car was broken into wasn’t so nice though, & I’m glad that it was only the cd player that went AWOL, & not the whole car. And even happier that it was a break in and not a hijacking, & that nobody was hurt. It’s the first time I’ve read her blog actually, & I’ll have to make a point to keep up with it whenever possible.

That’s it for now though as it’s nearly time for evening roll-call, but I’ll catch up again soon ;)

“It’s All Right Now” Part II

September 3rd 2005, 0630B

I woke up in a pretty good mood still, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to bury an in axe in the head of the asshole that’s been playing their radio so fucking loud for the last hour. But don’t mind me – no Kate Beckinsale to wake up next to, inadequate levels of caffeine & nicotine thus far, a mild sleeping tab hang-over, and the fucking mozzies that ate me like a mielie last night. None of these things are likely to fill me with feelings of warmth & fuzziness, particularly not on top of my general “grumpy bastard” demeanour when I first wake up, but I’ll be sorted after my second cup of coffee :P
Sleeping better last night was certainly welcome. I managed about 6 hours last night, and even though I still woke up again at around 0100 the drugs dragged me down again after about 20 minutes. It’s that waking up at some obscene hour, and then tossing & turning for an hour or two before I go back to sleep that really sorts me out, so managing to avoid the worst of that last night was a relief.

Anyway, to carry on from last night before the drugs pole-axed me, I had wanted to upload a few photos to that TravelGallery site that my friend Brendon runs. I even got as far as logging in to my account so that I could set up the new album, but then got chased from the computer, which is a bummer. I don’t think I’d have gotten it right in any case though as the connection was seriously slow, & would likely have choked on a number of the images I’d wanted to upload. I think what I may do instead of uploading them myself is put all the photos I’ve taken on a DVD and post it to Brendon so that he can pick & choose which to upload. I think he may have moved though, so I’m going to need to get his new address before I send anything to him.
I’m going to do my “shameless plug” thing again & suggest that everyone who reads this go have a look at the galleries on the site as there is some great photography to be found there. I figured out how to edit the links on the right of the page – RTFM, Mr Sankey :P – so I put a “clicky” to the site there, to make things even easier for you ;)
There may not be as many naked women on the site as there are on Walts’ – none at all, last I saw :P – but it’s still well worth a look.
Actually, mention of Walt reminds me that I saw he started a new job in the last few days, & I hope it really goes well for him – Congrats mate, assuming you read this, & I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with PC Format. That commute sounds a bit dodgy, especially on a bike, so good luck with the house hunting for something closer, & safe travels in the meantime.

Something that I’m quite pleased about is that the AU medics will be moving to another base today, instead of sharing unit lines with us. Some of them are quite decent & I get along with them fine, but the rest definitely contribute towards that elevated “asshole quotient” I mentioned in the last post. This would include the troll who was playing bloody kwaito at bloody 0530 this bloody morning, & the obnoxious shit-head I just spent the last month with at Mwaro.
Having these guys move out will also give the rest of us a little more space, & I’ll be moving into one of the vacated tents ASAP as it’s much better than the one I’m in now. I’m still pissed off about the mess I found here when I moved in, and the big ass tear in the netting the mozzies come in through really doesn’t add to the appeal either. The new tent should hopefully contribute towards making this place a little more bearable, and a little peace & quiet in the mornings certainly won’t hurt :P

I think that’s about everything for now though, so I’m going to finish this off.
I’ll catch up again in a few days though ;)

2020B

I’ve got a little time to kill before parade at 2100, so I figured I’d type some more up for this. The day’s gone quite well & I’ve had an enjoyable time of it. Just after I finished what I typed up this morning we had roll call, & were then kept busy with base maintenance – general cleaning up & so forth - & I also had to fill out some paper work on a vehicle. That was something of a chore, but it didn’t take long, & the place looks better for it. After that I just faffed around for awhile & then a few of us went out to a sports bar around the corner from the base. I wasn’t too keen on going at first, as I really don’t have the cash to be doing much socialising, but Tiaan eventually twisted my arm into going along, & we got there just in time to see the Kiwis’ beat the Aussies in the Tri-Nations final. Ostensibly we had been going to go for a swim in the pool there, but we ended up drinking beer & trying to take photographs of the girls in bikinis instead :P
I really need a longer zoom for this camera, because the 200mm I’ve got here doesn’t quite have the reach to get a good cleavage shot from across the pool lol
After about our 6th pint of Primus we started to get the munchies, but none of us had enough cash on us to buy anything decent to eat, & certainly not enough for everyone, so we thought to try the hotel next door in case they accepted credit cards. The Visa sign we saw as we walked into the hotel was quite welcome I can assure you, as we’d had another 3 beers in the time it took us to decide we were actually going to go next door to find something to eat, & the beer munchies were really making themselves known at that point. Just to be on the safe side we checked to make sure they’d accept my card before we ordered anything though, but plastic opens doors all over the world it seems. Lunch was not bad at all, even if the menu was somewhat limited, and pretty damn cheap too – only $43, including more drinks, for the five of us or about R350, which is a good thing seeing as I was footing the bill. The portions were not bad at all either, & I’m really not going to complain at all. Something we all had a good laugh about was the credit card machines they use here – they have the old carbon-paper swipe machines instead of the electronic ones we’re used to. I think I’ve only ever used one of the old machines like that twice in my entire life, & it’s easy to see how people used to screw up with their credit cards. With the new machines you know immediately how much money you have left available & any purchases are deducted straight away. With these old things you have to wait till the shop takes the slip to the bank on Monday morning to process the transaction, & in the meantime you’ve gone and spent another 10 grand on other shit, merrily blowing your limit without even realising it. It’s at times like these that you realise just how spoilt we are by technology & the effect it has on our lives.

Anyway, that’s it for the day & I’m going to end off here. If I’m lucky I’ll get to upload this onto the net after parade in a few minutes, but if not I’ll try again tomorrow.

Till next time then ;)

“It’s All Right Now…”

September 2nd 2005, 2122B

I’m going to try to keep this relatively short as I’m hoping for a fairly early night tonight. Actually I know that this won’t be too long as I’ve just popped a double dose of sleeping tabs, so I’m not going to have much choice in the matter :P
And before you moan about misusing meds, it’s accepted medical practice to increase a dosage if it isn’t effective ;) And Lord knows but I could use a good nights sleep right about now, as I’ve only had about 7 hours sleep in the last two days.

The last two days have been pretty crap actually. I’ve been in a really shitty mood because I’m knackered from not sleeping, the weather here sucks, & this place has an abnormally high asshole quotient. The mefliam has also been screwing around with my happy thoughts again which really hasn’t helped matters much.
But I’m cool now. Actually I’m in a pretty damn good mood right now, particularly by comparison, & with a little luck it’ll hold for awhile. I can’t say why my mood suddenly improved, but I’m sure as hell not going to complain about it :P

So far as news goes there isn’t much, but there’s nothing really new about that. Work here sucks, I’m surrounded by assholes, & the internal politics are something to behold, particularly between the medics & infantry on this base. It’s fucking pathetic the way people here squabble over petty little shit. Some of it’s not so petty though, & evidently certain people in the infantry hierarchy have been trying to make inroads into the autonomy of the medical contingent, and have been trying to interfere in our administration & routine in some fairly serious ways. It’s an old story, something I’ve seen happen a hundred times before, and unfortunately it’s a situation that has few clear guidelines. It all goes around command and control, & who’s the boss. The medics are here to render a service to the infantry, & as such fall under the functional control of the infantry commander. But there’s a very large difference between “under command of” and “under the control of”. There’s a definite line between the two, but it’s rather blurry in places which is where the problem comes in. You’ll often find an enthusiastic infantry commander overstepping his authority, or a SAMHS commander effectively handing their job over to the infantry command structure. It was one of the former in this case, but the general in command slapped the infantry guys down today though, so hopefully the shit will ease a touch from now on. I’m not going to say any more about work though, as I really don’t feel like moaning in this and I’ll likely just piss myself off all over again if I don’t stop now.

On the positive side of the balance sheet for the last few days, I finally got to chat with Shirley on the phone this morning which was really pleasant. It’s was something of a crap line on this end, & Shirlz has a tendency to speak pretty damned quickly so it was a tad tricky to hear her at times, but it was still great to chat with her.
I feel pretty shit about not getting hold of many of my friends very often, & it feels as though I’m neglecting them, even if it’s not for lack of effort. What makes it worse is that I can get through to some numbers without hassle – I called Ash twice today, & I never have a problem getting through to Rob, for example – but others flat refuse to connect.
At least I have good access to a phone though, so I’ll keep trying while I’m in town till I get hold of everyone. Email would likely make matters easier, but to be honest I hate sending mail – it often seems a very impersonal form of communication to me. It’s better than nothing though I guess, so I should probably start using it more. Net access is a bit tricky though, & I don’t get to spend much time online when I get chance to use the computer. I could always type up mails in Word, same as this blog, & then just copy-paste-send whenever I get opportunity I guess.
Tonight was actually a fairly pleasant exception to the rule in terms of being on the net though, & I managed a good hour & a half at the pc before I got chased off. I managed to update this blog again, had a quick look at The Pond & even posted once, did my mail, went on a trawl for things to spend money on, & managed to have a look at both Ash’s & Shirley’s blogs. Ash’s blog is huge though, so I didn’t try to read it but saved it instead. I’ll read through that a little later, but I did have chance to read through Shirley’s. I gather from what she had to say that she’s been having major hassles with her hay-fever & also a client who’s decided not to pay her, & I really hope that improves very soon. I’m glad I work in a business where I don’t have to worry about clients not paying up in good time, & it burns my ass that this guy is busy screwing her over to the point where she’s needed to involve a lawyer. It’s a pity I only got to know about this now, as I likely could have asked Rob to advise her & draw up contracts for her. Chances are all it would have cost is a bottle of whiskey or two, if that even. It’s sometimes really useful to have a lawyer as a good friend, I must say.

The trawling for things to buy was also fun, & spending money is something I enjoy almost as much as receiving it. Most of things I went looking to spend money on were for the camera, but chances are I’ll also be ordering a few DVD’s while I’m here. I really want to get my hands on a copy of Sin City when it comes out in the shops, & I’m seriously pissed that I’ve missed the theatrical release because I’m here. I’ve got some of the comics here with me though, including the ones that the movie is based on & they’re bloody excellent. Read them if you can find them, as they’re certainly worth the effort. I also want to order the Keen Eddie DVD set, as I really enjoyed what I saw of that show when it was on tv. I missed a fair number of the episodes though, so I’ll have to buy the discs to watch the rest, but I don’t mind that.
I also want to get my hands on some new games while I’m here, & have them sent up to me because I’ve gone through everything I have here. These days pretty much all I do in front of the pc is either this or Photoshop, & that’s depressingly like work :P
I saw from their comments that Mark & Gareth have started playing WoW & have invited me to join in, which is a great plan & thanks for the invite guys. I’m wondering how they managed to get hold of it in SA though, as last I checked it wasn’t available at home. Anyway, I won’t be able to play from here, but as soon as I get back I’ll be taking them up on it ;)
Speaking of Mark, I see that he commented on one of the earlier entries, saying that he wasn’t going back to the UK anytime soon. I don’t know what the circumstances surrounding that are, so I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing for him, but I know that I’m plenty happy that I’ll get to see him when I get back to SA. There’s a lot of beer in Durban that we said we were going to drink when I got home from the Congo last year, but we didn’t get around to it then so we have LOTS of catching up to do :P

So far as goodies for the camera go, there’s a new backpack that I want to buy that’ll hold the laptop, at least one camera, & all my lenses at the same time. It’s not a bad price either, just over a grand. There’s also a cable release that I want to buy & a little gadget that you use to clean the CMOS sensor. I need that cleaning kit badly, as there’s a shit load of dust on the sensor of my camera & it’s been there awhile. Not only is it a serious pain to edit the spots out of the photos I take, but I’m also worried that it’s going to damage the sensor if left there long enough. I shudder to think how much a new one would cost.
That 500mm lens that I’m drooling over is going to have to wait awhile though. I’ve decided that I really want the 50-500mm lens instead of the 170-500mm as it’s a more flexible lens & has a list of features as long as my arm, but it also costs a shit load more – R13k or so as opposed to R5k. It’s a real beauty, but I’m going to hold off till I know what’s going on with this extension to the deployment before I make a final decision to buy it or not. If I am going to be here till May, I’ll be able to afford the 50-500mm happily without even touching my allowances, just out of what I’m not spending of my normal salary while I’m here. If I’m not going to be here so long then I’ll end up getting the 170-500mm instead, as that’s well within my budget. R5000 for the lens is still a fair chunk of lucre, but it’s nothing compared to some of the lenses I saw. The kind of thing where you first go “Ooohh, shiny :D. Gimme!!”, and then you see the price…… ouch. I saw a lens that was going for nearly 60 grand today. It’s was an awesome lens to be sure, but I’m not going to spend that amount of money on something until they start throwing sexual favours into the deal. Or start accepting sexual favours in lieu of payment.
Now there’s an idea….. Just so long as I get to choose who I’ll be paying these favours too, this might actually work :P
I’m also tempted to get a film camera at some point, though I’ll likely not spend too much on that as I mainly intend for it to be a learning tool. Now that I think about it, Wes (Srxy) was saying he had an old 500n that he was looking to sell….. if you read this Wes, then please let me know if you’re still trying to sell the camera, as it sounds great for what I’m looking for. How’s that 28-300mm Sigma working out, btw? I don’t regret having bought the 55-200mm before I came up here, but I think the 28-300mm would have served me better, & it’s a pity that I couldn’t get one in Durban at the time.

That’s it for me for now though – the sleepy drugs have kicked in with a vengeance, & I have this luuuurvely floaty & trippy feeling at the moment which is fucking amazing…
No, that’s not a suggestion to misuse pharmaceuticals, not by any stretch of the imagination. It is, however, a suggestion that you enjoy the effects of the drugs you are taking on your doctors orders :P
I’m going to go lie in the arms of sweet Morphette now – I gave up on lying in the arms of Morpheus long ago ‘cause he’s a hairy bastard who farts in his sleep, & his sister is WAY cuter. Oh, and female :P – but I’ve got a little more to add to this, but I’ll leave that till tomorrow, when I’m not tripping the light fantastic.

Hasta mañana, everyone ;)

“I Can’t Get No Sleep”

September 1st 2005, 0330B

I know that just this last post I said words to the effect that “the next time I can’t sleep…”, but I didn’t mean the next bloody morning, ok? It’s not as if I got to sleep early last night either, & I’ve had the grand total of 3 hours shut eye, so I’m not feeling so chirpy right now. This is faintly bloody ridiculous. And my plan of getting onto the net while everyone else is asleep fell flat because the bloody computer is password protected, which really isn’t helping my happy thoughts much. Where’s Kate Beckinsale when you need her? Having her handy right now would make being awake a far more entertaining prospect I can tell you :P

Anyway, I’m not going to bitch further about being awake at this time of the morning. One highlight of the moment is that this is bloody nice coffee that I’m drinking right now. God only knows what it’s called as the label is in Arabic, but it tastes pretty damn good so I’ll have to see if I can’t appropriate a few jars. That’s another thing I can do while I’m in town, get my hands on some of the local coffee. The factory is right next door, so it’s not as if I have to go far either :P
Money is a bit of an issue though, as I’ve only got something like $35 left & I don’t know when next I’m getting any cash allowances, so I’d best hold off on that till I find out.
The local brew isn’t the best coffee I’ve ever had, & I prefer the House of Coffees stuff that I normally drink at home, but it’s plenty nice enough & also bloody cheap. Cheap is never to be sniffed at :P I’ll try to get my hands on a few kg’s of it which I’ll send home by post. The military postal service to the external ops is something to be grateful for, as it’s basically free. I don’t pay a cent to send stuff home from here, & if anyone sends me anything here they only pay postage as far as a post office in Jo’burg, & from there the army takes over. The guys who live in Pretoria & Cape Town really score though, as anyone who wants to send them a parcel just has to make a turn at either Waterkloof or Ysterplaat air force base & deliver the package by hand, so they get any post a lot quicker than someone like myself from Durbs. They can also collect anything that gets sent home from the mission area, whereas I still have to rely on the SA postal service for at least part of the process going in either direction unfortunately. I’ve had Rob do a little shopping for me, & it’s going to be interesting to see how long the parcel takes to get here, & how long it takes to actually get to me when it arrives here in Burundi – the system isn’t perfect or error free, so it can sometimes take quite awhile to get your mail. Tiaan had 2 or 3 parcels vanish without a trace last year in the Congo for instance, & one package took 5 months to get to him. It’s quite rare that it’s so bad though, & it’s quite possibly the post office that dropped the ball then, and not the military.
I managed without getting parcels from home while I was in the Congo last year, as we received enough money in the mission area that I could buy everything I needed right there & I didn’t need to hassle about having anything sent up from “the States”. This deployment is likely going to be different though, as we only receive a little more than half as much cash & the cost of living is pretty much the same – you end up buying most things you need at the army canteen, at inflated prices & a shit exchange rate. We get shafted for at least 50c on a dollar at the canteen here, which is seriously bloody offensive. And I may just end up coming to rely on parcels sent from home in the coming months.
This is something I’d actually not intended to tell people just yet, as it’s not confirmed & I’d rather not cause needless stress. But it’s looking increasingly likely, so it’s only right that I let people know what to expect. I mentioned a few entries ago that the new OC had a disturbing rumour to relate, & it’s time I let you know what it was.
You may have noticed that once or twice I’ve made reference to “at least the next 5 months” that I’m going to be in Burundi, which is just a little different to “I’ll be home in February”. The reason for this change is that we’re hearing increasingly believable information that this deployment is going to be extended. Possibly until June next year, though late May seems more likely.
That’s right, next fucking May or June, 8 months or more from now. If this actually happens then I’ll have been away from home for a minimum of ten continuous months. As I say, this isn’t confirmed so it may change, but we’re hearing from very senior people at the HQ in Pretoria that it’s going to happen. And the worst part is that their reasoning makes sense & I can’t fault it. The President has evidently decided that he wants to withdraw from the mission to Burundi, as the objectives have pretty much been met with the elections that took place recently, & in future wants to send troops to places like Ivory Cost & Sudan where they’re needed more. It’s too early to pull out of Burundi now, so the planning is for May – June next year, which would be 3 months or so into the next contingents’ deployment. Economically it doesn’t make sense to mobilise & deploy over 1000 troops & support personnel for such a short period, & it’ll be far more cost effective to extend this contingents deployment instead. We simply can’t afford the expense, & that’s a very sad thought.

I can’t actually decide how I feel about this. “Weary” is about the closest description I can come up with. I know I’m not ecstatic about the idea & I have an idea that December is not going to be a happy month, which is when we would have reached the halfway mark if we were still coming home in February. Right now though, the thought is not so bad as it’s likely to become, as at this point it’s hard to tell the difference between 5 months and 8 – they’re both a shit long time from now. When your destination is already over the horizon, you don’t really feel it when it suddenly gets further away. At this point I can look at it as an extra R36000 of allowances at least that I’ll be receiving as opposed to an additional 90 – 120 days away from home. Ask me again in December or January though & I’ll likely be saying something like “fuck the money, I want to go home!”
But the truth is that I could really use that money, especially if I’m going to be out of a job in September. And before I start jumping up & down, screaming like a banshee, I also have to consider that I volunteered for this. Not this deployment per se, but this job. I wear the uniform, & I take the money they pay me each month, and as a consequence the army has the right to utilise me as they see fit. The needs of the organisation come before the needs of the individual, & if I don’t like what is required of me I have the right to seek alternative employment.
But again, this isn’t confirmed as yet, and in fact I’ll believe it’s going to happen when I don’t get on a plane in February. I’ve been too long in this army, & seen too many “definite plans” change to bet the farm on this. However, the sensible thing for me to do is get my mind around the idea that I’ll only be coming home in May or so, or else this is going to be a very difficult situation to cope with if it does come to pass. One thing to be grateful for is that I heard about this early, & that I’ve got time to get used to the idea – I’d have gone off like a tactical bloody nuke if they’d dropped this little gem on us at the last minute.
The “funny” thing about this is that I first heard about this on 23rd August. The very day after I typed up a post in which I said that I was taking bets that I wouldn’t be coming home when I expected. I’m laughing so fucking hard I could just fucking burst. I’ll keep people informed as to what’s happening in this regard though, & I’ll pass along any info I get as soon as possible.

Anyway, that’s it for now – I’m going to go have a shower before the bathroom fills up, not that I’m looking forward to a cold shower much.
Till next time then.

“Shit Towne”

August 31st 2005, 1940B

Well, I’m back in Bujumbura. I’m hopeful I’ll be able to escape before too long, though I’m hearing people say nasty things like I’ll be here for a month. I guess I should give it a few days though, & see what things are like once I’ve settled in.

The first signs have not been encouraging though, & I must confess to being in a somewhat “grumpy” mood right now.
As soon as I got here & spoke to my new boss she sort of moaned at me because I was two days late – apparently a message was radioed through that I should report here on Monday already, not that I heard a damn thing about it.
Actually it’s a bit unfair to say she moaned at me, more like in my general direction because I was handy & peripherally involved – it’s very hard for her to hold me responsible if I’m not told I need to be somewhere, but I reckon she needed to vent a little all the same. She seems pleasant enough otherwise though, & I don’t see me having much in the way of stress with her.
Something that did get right on my tits though was that as soon as I arrived in the capital I turned pretty much straight around & went back to Mwaro to fetch the ambulance. It turns out that not only was I two days late because I’d not been kept informed, but also that the vehicle I’d been using was due for scheduled repairs & I’d been supposed to drive it into town. Of course I’d decided to save an unnecessary trip with the vehicle this morning, & caught a lift with another vehicle that was coming here anyway instead of using the ambulance, so I had to go all the way back to fetch the bloody thing. I’ve spent something like 8 hours on the road today, but I got to take some photos on the trip though, so there was at least a small upside to this :P
Another thing that really pissed me off was the state of the tent that’s going to be my home for as long as I’m in town – “whores handbag” isn’t even a close description of what I found waiting for me. It looked as though the tent had been used as a general rubbish dump, & I’ve spent most of the last few hours cleaning it up. And I’m not even going to talk about the humidity or mosquitoes here. This town is not my idea of fun at all, I can tell you.

The day has had its good points though. I met up with that friend of mine from the office in Durban, Tiaan, & it’s good to see him again. I’ve also managed to make a few calls since I got back, & I finally got hold of my old bat. We didn’t have time for much catching up though, & she seemed more interested in telling me about hurricanes in the US than anything else, but at least we did get to speak. I also got to speak with Ash again, & she seemed quite a bit happier than last we spoke, which is good to know. Hopefully the phone will co-operate & I’ll manage to get hold of a few more people tomorrow. Shirley is someone I’m hoping to get hold of, as I never seem to be able to get through to her number from here, & it’s been a bloody age since I spoke to her. It’s the same story with Iain in ‘Maritzburg, but I should be able to get hold of a sim card for my phone easily enough while I’m in town which will sort out the patchy comms.
One thing I’m very happy about is that I got confirmation that I’ll be staying with the UN side of things here in Burundi. It really is a relief to know that I’m not going to be spending the rest of the deployment in this town, & also that there are a few people I won’t have to work with after all. That little thing on its own makes up for the rest of the crap today.
All I have to do now is confirm when I’ll be coming home & I’ll be sorted.

Anyway, that’s about it for the day. I’m for an early night tonight, & there’s still some cleaning up to be done in this tent. I’m going to try to get the blog updated tonight after roll call at 2100 before I crash though, but till then I’m going to bid you adieu.

Cheers for now ;)

2145B

Sometimes I’m a regular fucking boy-scout, wide awake & clued up. I managed to get onto the net after roll call, checked my mail, paid off my credit card, looked for prices on that 500mm lens, & even updated this blog. All my updates for the last two weeks - except for this bloody post which I forgot to copy across to the bloody flash drive lol
It’s hardly a train smash though I guess, but it’s probably going to be a day or two before I get chance to update this again. I’m glad that I got the chance though, & I have to say thanks to everyone that commented on the posts I’ve put up so far – it’s strangely gratifying to know that people actual read this :P
I had a quick look at The Pond while I was on the net - I was hoping to put an entry under the Blog section to let people know that I’ve updated but I see that it’s gone AWOL – but I didn’t have time to read much or post anything unfortunately as there was a queue forming behind me. There’s one bloody computer with a net connection, & 500 people who want to use it, so you tend to get a little rushed. Come to think of it, this is actually a chance to put my insomnia to good use & the next time I wake up at 0200 I’ll get my ass out of bed and use the time to catch up a little instead of tossing and turning.
I’m rather missing the online side of my life while I’m here, & I’m realising how reliant I’ve become on the net in terms of keeping in touch & up to date with the world around me. Things like checking the news – I don’t have a tv at home, & don’t buy the paper so News24 is a good friend to me - & following what people are up to by reading their posts on the forum.

Anyway, I’m going to sign off here before this turns into a full blown entry on its own instead of a foot note. This is probably a good thing actually, as the battery is running flat at the moment, & this body is in desperate need of a little beauty sleep :P
I’ll catch up again soon ;)