pOkE the pLaNeT

Thinking ahead down here.

In a couple of years time Im planning on building a simple steel framed house on five acres of termite nest out in the hills beyond Cairns, and I figure anyone thinking about building anything bigger than a doghouse needs to figure out what they want well before time. So, Ive decided to see what the most energy efficient options are for my area, and as usual, nothing is as simple as it should be.

The good news is my land has no town water or town sewerage connections, and thats fine by me. The water will come from a bore or from rain and will be stored in tanks, and not being connected to town sewerage is fine by me too now I hear they can test the recreational substance use of an entire community with a single tablespoon of effluent. Just whos tablespoon they were planning on using I dont know. Heres where it gets tricky though. In order to protect the water table, septic tanks systems are banned,and homes must install fully self contained sewerage treatment facilities on site. Cost? Last time I asked, about five years ago, they were ten grand. I doubt theyve gone down.

Then theres power. After Cyclone Larry the power went out for weeks in some spots because the power lines are run through the jungle and over mountain ranges, and repairing them was a massive task. So, I want to be 'off the grid' so Im not dependant on the town power supply. Again its not that simple. Solar panels are wonderful but have a very finite life span. Still, they do make sense given the fact clouds are so rare here people shoot at them out of fear when one turns up. Solar energy.. not cheap, not particularly powerful, especially if you want to operate a machine shop. Wind power is a good choice because turbines would work fine on my land with its strong steady winds, but there are quality of life problems, as in 'neighbours'. Wind turbines were touted as the answer to all our energy problems right up until the moment one was erected and some person went 'Oooh! Thats ugly!'.

So, now every time a wind farm or a home turbine is proposed, someone finds an endangered species that will be put at risk if the project goes ahead. Just how a Giant Gippsland Earthworm is going to feed itself into the blades thirty feet up is beyond me, but the victim of choice these days is the now legendary Orange Bellied Parrot, or 'OBP'. OBP's are magical creatures, like unicorns or bigfoot, because while theres only supposed to be a few dozen of the fluffy buggers left, they seem to appear in every damn electorate across southern Australia. Most birds migrate from feeding ground to breeding ground, but the OBP seems to migrate from council to building site to electorate, usually arriving in October each year just before the end of year elections. If the electorate is a marginal one, you might even see two. Mind you, they will only appear at the site of a proposed wind farm. It beats me why people who visit KFC twice a day give a damn about a parrot that cant even color co ordinate.

So, solar is expensive, wind power is 'visually polluting' and the only thing you're allowed to burn in Mareeba is the local cash crop, one joint at a time. Looks like Ill have to go nuclear with these here plans I found on the internet. That or a really, really big hamster and a ferris size wheel.

K

Im assuming thats how you spell it. The worst thing about having the flu is having to fiddle with the balance on your car stereo to compensate for the ear thats totally blocked. Well, that and the nausea. I made the mistake yesterday of thinking that my symptoms had cleared enough to allow me to fly, and the result was two blocked ears screaming in pain as the aircraft cabin went from 8000 feet altitude to sea level in twenty minutes. I wont be flying anywhere for a little while now.

Flu season in Australia and, I guess, everywhere else. The government has released its emergency stocks of Tamiflu, stocks they had built up to cope with the bird flu epidemic that always seems to be a possibility. Indonesia had one or two fatalities from bird flu last week but the current strain of influenza doing the rounds in Australia has killed about seven people. So far I know of some people who have had lingering effects that have lasted nearly three weeks.

Maids? In Papua New Guinea the term is 'Haus Meri' or, if the helper is male, 'Haus Boi'. I think the whole concept is a holdover from the colonial days in Papua New Guinea when expats had live in help, and it makes sense if you have a family. For a single guy it doesnt make a lot of sense, as if theres nothing to do about the house its tempting to spend your spare time drinking heavily, watch Sally Jesse Raphael on tv, drink some more.. . I had house help at a couple of places in PNG because they pretty much came with the house and depended on the income, but I was happier at places without a maid. In Hong Kong I was surprised to find that maids often have their own mini apartments near the laundry complete with phone, tv, fridge etc. I gather its the same in places like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Major film being shot here in North Queensland. Steven Speilberg and Tom Hanks are doing a mini series titled 'The Pacific' and its going to be a pacific based version of 'Band of Brothers' or 'Saving Private Ryan'. I think the locations depicted in the film will be Guadalcanal and maybe Peleliu or Tarawa. Coincidently, the USS Peleliu is on a week long visit to Papua New Guinea and the crew have been helping repair schools and grade roads. Its a good news story that never made it to CNN or the BBC, which is a pity.

K

It probably sounds prententious when I talk to normal middle class folks, outside this lifestyle, about having a maid that cooks and cleans 5 days a week. That's just one of many things assumed when trying to relate the experience, we are having as expats. It's not a new concept to employ one or more domestic's living abroad, my aunt was doing it in the Phillipines in the late 70's as an Air Force wife, which was my first exposure to the concept about having a maid that wasn't a discussion in reference to my grandmothers secondary job. I honestly only had conversations about it as a wish living in the states and probably would not have ever had the financial means to afford one had I stayed living there. What can I say about it, it's great! I'm glad I was taught to make my bed, pick up my clothes etc. but didn't do it (more often than did) and took the punishment. I learned what needs to be done and am luckily living in an enviornment I can have it done for me, I see now that the wish came true. Although that's not where I originally was going with this rambling... I guess my point is, I can add funny language translations when ordering fried chicken and it ends up being the feet, head or something else, warm beer served with ice cubes and the answer "yes" to everything to the list of things I wouldn't have thought would be afforded to me.

I have survived my second day of the "daily grind" in my new position as mail clerk. Having been used to a working enviornment based on lots of people interaction, (which I'll be getting plenty of the, good and the bad), I am unable to choose who I interact with in this job. It's a come one come all, we're the only game in town and I got what you want arrangment (sorta sounds like a drug dealer or religion, doesn't it?).

It's all to apparent in my short time at the job, it will at some point in some way be my fault a parcel doesn't arrive in time for Jimmy's birthday or someone's 50,000" flat screen HDTV doesn't work after being bounced acrossed the Pacific. On the other hand, twice a week I can also be revered as the equivqlent of Santa Clause. I figure with just under 16 months left here and a limited captive audience, I won't even begin to scratch the surface of my rep-par-tware with this crowd.

Two and a half weeks in Singapore and I had no time to drink... only five beers. Anyway..

Heres the hard and short version. Arrive at Changi airport, reach bags in fifteen minutes, reach cab five after that. Ride into town costs maybe $15.00 Sing which is about $8.00 U.S. Know the routes and tell the cab drivers you want the expressways or suffer the scenic routes when using the cabs. The cabs themselves are neat and tidy but avoid the 'Prestige' cabs such as the white Mercedes Benz's. These guys have a terrible reputation for ripping people off, especially early in the mornings outside hotels. Stick to the Hyundais and Toyota Crowns.

The hotels are heavily booked thanks to an economic boom in asia, and everyones travelling to Singapore to spend up big, so book ahead and think laterally. If you dont have to stay downtown, find somewhere a little ways out with a MRT train station nearby. Trains and buses are dirt cheap and excellent value. Get a travel pass and save even more.

If you dont have a roaming phone account, consider buying a sim card from Singtel ( present your passport ) for eight dollars. Thats will get you a card AND ten bucks worth of calls so you have a contact number for friends and relatives. StarHub calling cards, available at 7/11, allow you to use hotel or public phones to call the U.S or Australia for maybe five cents a minute, and right now ten dollar cards have an extra five dollars credit thrown in. Thats over three hours calling to the U.S for about U.S $6.00.

Internet cafes range in price from a dollar an hour at the unairconditioned caves on Mountbatten Road behind Roxy Plaza to seven dollars for 15 minutes in the hotel lobbies and even more in the rooms. McDonalds 'McCafes' have free wireless internet for those with a laptop. Dont use the hotel phone services unless your using a phone card.

Shopping? For everything but at a slightly higher price, theres Orchard Road, the main shopping drag in Singapore. Be prepared to fight to survive when shopping there on weekends. Stores open anywhere between 11.00 am and one pm and stay open until 10.00 or 10.30 pm. Electronics? Go to Sim Lim, a five dollar cab ride or ten minute bus ride from Orchard Road. Its about five floors of nothing but electronics... cameras, phones, computers, software, medical, entertainment... you name it. Laptops are particularly cheap, as are phones.

For general shopping, try Sun Tec Plaza nearby. It has a Carrefour spread over two floors that sells everything you could possibly need.

Prices? Laptops, phones, computers, accessories are cheap. Software isnt bad but I didnt think it was a bargain, and Ive had one or two bad buys there. Watches are everywhere but I didnt see any bargains. Clothing and running shoes are very cheap, bedding is cheap enough, luggage is cheap, beer is bloody expensive, hotels are becoming expensive, food is excellent and very affordable, books are about the same price you would pay in the U.S but the selection at Borders ( Wheelock Place, Orchard Road ) is mind boggling to someone from Australia. If you are into the offbeat or curious, check out the Yellow Pages... I found one tiny store the size of a broom closet at Katong Plaza that specialised in antique British and American plastic model aircraft kits of the sixties, seventies and eighties in their original wrappers ( my personal collection is now about 500 ). If I could find someting that specialised, you should find what youre after in one of these rabbit warrens too.

Do's. Do walk around and talk to people. Its a terrific city and its so cosmopolitan you feel at home very quickly, more so I found than in Hong Kong or Japan. Do eat out every night and try the little bars rather than the big ones. Look hard enough and youll find little places that have a hot rod theme, a western theme, a line dancing theme... karaoke is everywhere. Do go nuts shopping but remember your weight allowance for the airport.

Dont's. Drugs. The penalty is hanging and being a foreign national in Singapore doesnt mean you will recieve any leniency. The law is applied equally, quickly and effectively and Singapore hangs a significant number of foreigners every year. Dont jaywalk, speed, spit, litter, abuse or assault anyone. One guy shoved a traffic warden and got a year in jail while I was there. Its a very clean and polite city but theres a reason for that. Dont rent a car and drive over the causeway into Malaysia for the day unless you enjoy being 'fined' by the Malaysian police for driving with a dirty windscreen or an expired paintjob. Oddly enough, the fine is always fifty bucks, cash, and they never seem to have receipts. Singapore police are far more professional.

In a nutshell, its a good city to visit and not as sanitised as I remembered it from years ago. Use public transport, eat out every night, explore the little shopping centres rather than the large ones and you really should have a good time.

K