(8) Monday
8am
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The goals for Monday are quite numerous. First I need / want to get the internet back up. I think it is a router that burned out or bad wiring. Next I want to get a way to scratch the junk off the floor and repaint it with concrete paint to make cleaning the filth off the floors easier. Then I will request getting material to build new tables and benches for extra computer work spaces. After that I will try to get Rex the Academic advisor to help filling in content to the website, check it out... I have a template made for it but it needs to be filled in with French content:http://collegeluganville.wix.com/santo after that I will work with Samuel my counterpart to make a network map of the school and use students to help document the network.
All of that is pretty ambitious but I think we can make headway on several these items.
2pm
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So yeah it was asking too much. I tried to get our internet provider TVL (Telecom Vanuatu Limited) to show up today but the never did. I tried 3 times last week. No show.
Worked on a friends internet too... that was hit and miss. What a pain getting the internet working in this country.
On the plus side I was lucky enough to get a package from home. WooHoo. I have a new concrete bit set and some nice bed sheets, a decent soap and toothpaste, Can't be happier. My parents ROCK.
And I finally got my copy of the VanAm our Peace Corps local magazine. I have been waiting for one for 2 months or so. That is good news on the mail delivery today.
4pm
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I never expected TVL to show up but they did last minute, in fact I went home and fell asleep until a student knocked on my door to tell me there were at the school. I ran up to the lab and worked on fixing the internet. I had partial success. Not sure why it is failing to connect on many of my computers. Maybe my switch is configured wrong? No clue. Granted this is not the most exciting thing for many of you to read about but this is my work.
After messing with the computers for an hour I decided to relax and deal with it fresh tomorrow.
I hung out with my Nivan family next door and invited them over to watch a movie at my place we ended up watching the New Robocop. I felt a little bad about how violent the movie is because the whole family came over some of them are pretty young.
(9) Tuesday -
It is 7am and I just woke up, about to shower and try fixing this internet issue. Fingers crossed!
8am
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Well no luck. TVL is avoiding us again and I am getting really sick of this problem. I wish we could switch to digicel they seem to have a more reliable internet service.
9am
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So I decided to make some bacon, eggs and hashbrowns and then build Sam's other book shelf and wait for TVL to show up.
I am really surprised I did not get sick from last night. I forgot that 3 out of the 4 of my neigbors were sick. I was kind of dreading waking up all hacking shit plus trying to deal with this internet mess. Plus ever since I gashed my finger in the ceiling fan because in this country I am giant and the ceiling in some places are way too close to be right... my finger has been infected and hurts a bit. I keep making a joke to Rich though that pain does not hurt, its only chemical impulses telling you information about body but in and of itself its not real. I think that was a matrix like line that I modified. Ok enough dickin around on the internet time to make a bookshelf.
6pm
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Busy day. I managed to fix the internet problem at my school and at a friend place today. Router issue it turned out to be. Fingers crossed the problems are solved. I also managed to finish Sam's second book shelf. You can probably tell when i am super busy by the lack of energy I have left in me to write details... hard to blog when in the middle of a firestorm of work. I think i am just gonna sleep.
(10) Wednesday
I think I woke up first at 1am, then started reading facebook. Nothing exciting was going on. Then I noticed my pinky finger was in pain. One thing to know about living in a tropical environment is that any little cut or abrasion becomes immediately infected. I mentioned at that i cut it in an eariler post... but now after trying to clean it the thing is gross looking. I hate not healing normally. Why is it this way? Is the air full of diseased particles here?
After reading a few hours I got hungry. Is it weird to make some breakfast at 3:20am. Oh well that is what I am doing. After some food I wrote my a poem for my mom's birthday today...
7am
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When to the computer lab and fixed the server internet. Then helped a friend with her computer.
Then had a quick skype chat with my mom. She is doing pretty well. Forgot to say hi for Mary but can't remember everything.
11am
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Went to have my infected finger looked at the hospital Mark loaned me 300vt. Mark is great... have to pay him back next time I see him.
2pm
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Woke up from a great little nap and now I will work on a dead computer and see if I can pull a miracle out of my hat and salvage it.
3pm
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Fixed two computers. I rock. But sadly the TVL lady came back and swapped out the modem/router and half the network went down again! So frustrating. But it's fine I will bang my head against a wall all day tomorrow and try and resolve why for no understandable reason half the computers work and half don't (meaning connect to the internet). They are all configured the same way.
7pm
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Went to play ultimate frisbee decent showing of people 14-18 players. Two new baby docs, simon is a decent player. I did alright, I just don't like running all the much and this a game that requires a lot of running. I wish they played kickball or something else silly like that. Even volleyball from time to time or basketball would be fun. Maybe after the fix my school court that has not had a resurfacing in 30 years we can play bb at my school.
3pm
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Fixed two computers. I rock. But sadly the TVL lady came back and swapped out the modem/router and half the network went down again! So frustrating. But it's fine I will bang my head against a wall all day tomorrow and try and resolve why for no understandable reason half the computers work and half don't (meaning connect to the internet). They are all configured the same way.
7pm
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Went to play ultimate frisbee decent showing of people 14-18 players. Two new baby docs, simon is a decent player. I did alright, I just don't like running all the much and this a game that requires a lot of running. I wish they played kickball or something else silly like that. Even volleyball from time to time or basketball would be fun. Maybe after the fix my school court that has not had a resurfacing in 30 years we can play bb at my school.
(11) Thursday
On a random note...One of my most valued possessions is my potato masher... it was shipped here last week from my parents and it is the one i grew up having mashed potatoes made with... it must be made in the 1950's because it is solidly built and can last another hundred years.
8am
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Time to get a haircut and hangout with Penelope from Ratua... then act as muscle for a problem at Rich's site. He needs a bit of backup. Could be an interesting day.
The day did not turn out like I imagined it would. I went by logging place helped them with an email problem, solved it... then went to get a haircut and meet up with Penelope. Then I got a call from Steve Cullen a Peace Corps on Maewo, was passing through town and I ate some Pizza with him since Penelope ditched me a second time because her boat showed up early. But Steve and I had a great conversation about incentives and motivation in context of about how to get our counterparts or others that we work with to help with the work, versus a common experience of them sitting on the sidelines and just expecting us (Peace Corps) to do all the hard work. One of my constant problems is that my counterpart has 4-5 classes and he has no time or energy left to help support a computer lab that is constantly under the attack by 400 students and 30 teachers that want to treat the lab as their personal facebook/torrent download machines. I have the advantage of having a actual server setup unlike my last PC that had nothing setup to protect the machines from being destroyed. However they are still under attack and in need of maintenance. What I really need is a full time tech support employee for the school. I might have to suggest this for next years program especially if we are awarded the click grant and expand the lab to 20-30 PC's. PC's running Window's 7&8 sucks bad enough on their own in comparison to Mac's to have to support but really I am not able to teach my counterpart all the tricky nuances of how these shitty machines work without really full time effort. When I leave without a true tech support these machines will all die and the beautiful lab I am building will decay and return the death throes I found it in when I started in March 2014.
2:00 pm
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After all that I returned to my school to deal with the continual bullshit of the downed internet. We came to the conclusion that my current router is not designed to handle a network switch with 10 or more computers connected to it. That is when we charmed the TVL people into letting me try the new system that is not yet in place and has not pricing scheme even setup. This is the device.
B681 Flybox
| |
 | • HSDPA 7.2Mbit/s, HUSPA 5.76Mbit/s • Wi-Fi • Ethernet ports • WLAN/WPS button • RJ45 Ethernet interface • RJ11 phone interface • Built in internal 3G antenna • External antenna interface • Supports NAT, built in DHCP server,DNS Relay, SMS, Firewall • Plug and play |
I has 1 meg unlimited speed. And it took about zero seconds to configure and get my network to find and use. I love this thing. I hope we can keep it.
4:45pm
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Went over to Rich's site because he needed help with aka muscle... The SDA's were being pretty obnoxious for the last 4-5 weeks blasting their sound system from 6-10pm playing some cult preacher tv show stuff, that is pretty phoney, and drama queen like, on their giant projectors. It's a bit hard to not bit a little judgemental of some of these cult figures that run amuck here. It just seems like they have such a good time preying on people, that have no money to give, that embrace so eagerly anything a white person says. But before we could even address the subject of maybe turning the 6 large speakers down a notch, the SDA lady tells us the program ends this weekend.
The other good news for the day is that I think I am finally healing... all these bizarre skin afflictions that I see other have I thought I was immune but no. The antibiotics have kicked in my lymph are less swollen too. Yeah.
Ever feel like you need a drum set. I need a drum set.
(12) Friday
Power supply on the server burned out today. Not a great start to the day. I get to try and find a replacement. And money to get one. Joy. The computer is about 6 months into use and it burned out the power supply. Wow. This climate is designed to kill computers.
It ended in failure again, the fly box router as great as it is in Luganville right now the service is with a 8gig data limit and that is somewhere about 20,000vt a month or roughly 200.00usd. This is too expensive for my school. So the option were limited, get a new router for 20,000vt and see if an improved 1meg ASDL connection would work. Maybe. Or wait until monday and see if TVL can provide us unlimited Flybox option and then if not consider switching to Digicel. So two full weeks of no stable internet at my school.
5pm
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I met up with the new group of baby docs and we had a pretty night starting at Deco stop then making out way to Aqua which for maybe one of the rarest times did not completely suck. I got groaped of course as did everyone on the dance floor but oh well.
Tomorrow we are going to a beach and later a BBQ party at my place. Should be fun if the rain would let up and actually be sunny for once in two weeks.
(13) Saturday
I went with the baby docs to Aore and went the hidden beach area. Little different than the last time I went a month or so ago. It was fun, wish it would have been sunny.
But the movie/bbq got cancelled. I am a bit sad about that. Oh well. Life in Santo.
Here are few photos from the beach:
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(14) Sunday
Just read this... on facebook thought it was pretty interesting.
Regrets Of The Dying: http://www.lifebuzz.com/5-regrets/
Credit: huffingtonpost.com
To read the original text and everything go to the link above... but these are the items in that list and my reactions to them for my life.
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. Nope. I feel like I live pretty true to my life. I wish others reacted better to my way of living and seeing the world though.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. I corrected this mistake of being a slave to work about 5 years ago. I call it volunteering. Helping others is probably the best thing in life. Making millionaires millions more not interesting at all.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Nope. I do this shit all the time, and mostly it falls on deaf ears. Sometimes it doesn't but no matter what I will always be honest with my feelings and tell people them flat out.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Again I try and try to do this all the time... but most people they fade away.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
This one however I get, and I do feel unhappy often... mostly disappointed maybe... that is life though.
Richard Pryor once said in reaction to the question "do you think life is a one big joke" and he said "no its not one big joke... its a million little jokes, all lined up and strung out through a whole lifetime, slapping you in the face one after the other."
But check out this gecko... these things are all over the place:
12:00
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So rich and I just worked out. Four set of pain and misery but it was a decent workout.
After making some burgers we are planning to go to Lope Lope for a bike ride. Rich, Bryan and Katie, Mike Stafford and think that is it.
More photos pending:
And here they are...
