The pond Another month comes to a close. I can't believe I haven't posted in a month.
And what am I feeling, and thinking? How am I?
I’m well, quite well. I’m sitting on my roof deck, listen to the waterfall, the wind chimes, and looking out over the calm sea. Not a bad place to be—not at all. The sun is out, and getting hotter. I’m getting used to the heat, and the humidity, tho he latter isn’t so bad today. A light breeze helps. Much of my free time has been spent on my pond, my hobby. It’s ben quite and adventure, and a lot of learning. I’ve had the fellow over who got me straightened out on filtration twice to fix things. First the water flow was too small, and the algae kept blooming. So he upped the size of the pipe from the pump to the filter, and that helped—expcept that then, the inflow to the filter box was greater than the outflow, and the filter would fill up, and overflow. So he fixed that the next trip. Of course, that meant that the flow over the waterfall increased, and the waterfall, once againe, began to leak. So I rebuilt the waterfall. Now, the waterfall is over 4 feet tall, and it takes a lot of rocks to stack that high. And a lot of plastic to keep the water in the pond, as opposed to flowing over the place. It’s been a real labor of love. Then, like any obsessive-compulsive with time on his hands, I got the inspiration to add on to the pond. I bought a large plastic tub, and mounted it higher up (atop some plastic stools) and created a little stream flowing down into the main pond. This, of course, meant more rocks. I think half the recent guests here at the Everly resort must think there is some kind of insane “matsaleh” (white guy) living upstairs, who carries bag after bag of rocks up from the beach. I know there was one day I carried 10 bags of rocks, weighing probably 50 or more pounds apiece, up from the beach, up the elevator, down the hall, into my condo, up the spiral stair, and onto the the roof. Then washed them and stacked them. Whew!
What do I have for all this effort? A rock lined pool about 8 by 4 feet, with a waterfall flowing into it, and a second pool, with a small stream cascading thru the rocks into the main pond (kolum). A rock garden (talum) with smaller plants and larger palm trees around the whole thing. It’s beautiful. And it’s full of fish! I have probably a dozen koi, several sizes and types of goldfish, 4 varieties of gourami’s, a large school of blacks tetras, some rosy barbs and some tiger barbs, a few clown loaches, 3 Congo tetras (this one’s for you, dad!), silver and tri-color angel fish, and 3 or 4 varieties of cichlids. I also have some local fish—2 kinds of lampoon (a local river fish), klah (again a river fish—sleek and speedy), and both a bright orange and a white fish that they call parrotfish. It’s incredibly colorful, and an active little world. Oh, and in the upper pond I have more angelfish, goldfish, tetras, catfish, cichlids, and gourami’s. I call them, collectively, “the boys.”
I’m well, quite well. I’m sitting on my roof deck, listen to the waterfall, the wind chimes, and looking out over the calm sea. Not a bad place to be—not at all. The sun is out, and getting hotter. I’m getting used to the heat, and the humidity, tho he latter isn’t so bad today. A light breeze helps. Much of my free time has been spent on my pond, my hobby. It’s ben quite and adventure, and a lot of learning. I’ve had the fellow over who got me straightened out on filtration twice to fix things. First the water flow was too small, and the algae kept blooming. So he upped the size of the pipe from the pump to the filter, and that helped—expcept that then, the inflow to the filter box was greater than the outflow, and the filter would fill up, and overflow. So he fixed that the next trip. Of course, that meant that the flow over the waterfall increased, and the waterfall, once againe, began to leak. So I rebuilt the waterfall. Now, the waterfall is over 4 feet tall, and it takes a lot of rocks to stack that high. And a lot of plastic to keep the water in the pond, as opposed to flowing over the place. It’s been a real labor of love. Then, like any obsessive-compulsive with time on his hands, I got the inspiration to add on to the pond. I bought a large plastic tub, and mounted it higher up (atop some plastic stools) and created a little stream flowing down into the main pond. This, of course, meant more rocks. I think half the recent guests here at the Everly resort must think there is some kind of insane “matsaleh” (white guy) living upstairs, who carries bag after bag of rocks up from the beach. I know there was one day I carried 10 bags of rocks, weighing probably 50 or more pounds apiece, up from the beach, up the elevator, down the hall, into my condo, up the spiral stair, and onto the the roof. Then washed them and stacked them. Whew!
What do I have for all this effort? A rock lined pool about 8 by 4 feet, with a waterfall flowing into it, and a second pool, with a small stream cascading thru the rocks into the main pond (kolum). A rock garden (talum) with smaller plants and larger palm trees around the whole thing. It’s beautiful. And it’s full of fish! I have probably a dozen koi, several sizes and types of goldfish, 4 varieties of gourami’s, a large school of blacks tetras, some rosy barbs and some tiger barbs, a few clown loaches, 3 Congo tetras (this one’s for you, dad!), silver and tri-color angel fish, and 3 or 4 varieties of cichlids. I also have some local fish—2 kinds of lampoon (a local river fish), klah (again a river fish—sleek and speedy), and both a bright orange and a white fish that they call parrotfish. It’s incredibly colorful, and an active little world. Oh, and in the upper pond I have more angelfish, goldfish, tetras, catfish, cichlids, and gourami’s. I call them, collectively, “the boys.”
"the boys"
Atop the waterfall is a little Chinese pagoda, and in a cave is a little statuette of a hermit having his tea. I’ve even set it up so that the light from the UV filter illuminates his little retreat at night. Beside the upper pool a little figurine catches a fish, and at the base of the waterfall sits a little fisherman’s hut on stilts. I’m just having way too much fun with this. And it fills my free time, and keeps me busy, and gives me something to focus on besides myself. Which is nice, because I’m sure that the sense of loneliness, and of missing my family, friends, cats, and home, would be more acute if I didn’t have all this to keep me occupied.
I also keep reading, enjoy watching the Giro d’Italia bike race on TV, and even catc some sun on weekends. It’s good. I go home in a week tho, and I’m really looking forward to that—it’s been a little too long.
I really like Malaysia, I like the attitude. Tho overwhelming Muslim, religious tolerance is a societal value, and they’re proud of it—and they should be. I think the folks back home could learn a thing or two—I don’t feel we are as tolerant of Muslims (especially since 9-11) as they are of Christians here. They outlook seems to be that all religions are essentially the same—love thy brother, be moral, develop a positive relationship with god as you understand god—no matter what religion you “use” to achieve these ends. And they all feel that the perpetrators of things like 9-11 are radicals, and not aligned with the teachings of the Koran as they understand it. Yet the majority seem to feel that the creation of Israel was a grave mistake, and a “crime” against the Palestinians of the region. So I find myself morally in agreement with people here, tho politically I feel that Israel is a fact, and we need to work from there—not condemn the creation of Israel in the first place. But we are all able to discuss these issues, and even agree to disagree. I guess I expected a little less tolerance, and a little more “:dictatorial” outlook here. Wrong gain, and delighted by that!
The food is excellent, and cheap—tho it’s funny—in Melaka, there seems to be approximately 1 restaurant per person (there are jillions of them!), and they all serve the same things. I think this is because, for most of history, food storage was a luxury, and so people went out, and had other do the cooking for them. Still, I’d kill for a little more variety. The pizza, tho more like home than other places in SE Asia, is always a little “odd.” Italian is plentiful, but usually chicken-based, no rich red sauce with a beef base. And a decent steak—forget about it. Of course there is seafood, but a shelled prawn is unheard of, so you have to fight your way to the good part, and it’s messy. The fish can be good, very good, or awful. And there is no good old Pacific Northwest salmon. There’s also plenty of Indian food-which I like. But Mexican? No way. So, it’s different, and I’ve adapted, but let’s face—there’s no place like home….
Work is going well, tho it’s often a struggle. The local design firm has finally swallowed their pride and admitted that they have neither the numbers nor the skills for this project. The folks they do have work darned hard, but it just isn’t enough for a project of this magnitude. So tomorrow we are bringing in 11 more people from the Jacobs Singapore office to help out. And this last week saw some significant improvements. As one of my coworkers, Tony, says “today better than yesterday, tomorrow better than today.” Let’s just keep that trend going, because at times I’ve been deeply concerned that we wouldn’t make the project schedule. So, I do what I can to help out. I’ve had 2 guys from the Portland office here, and they were a big help, they’ll be returning later this week. I’ve orchestrated bringing the folks up from Singapore. And I’ve applied my skills toward helping the local firm get more organized, prioritized, and understanding the true scope of the project, as well as how to address the major issues with an eye on success. SunPower seems pleased with my efforts, and I am as well. People are beginning to “play nicer in the sandbox,” and the work is beginning to show real promise of success. Most enjoyable!
I also keep reading, enjoy watching the Giro d’Italia bike race on TV, and even catc some sun on weekends. It’s good. I go home in a week tho, and I’m really looking forward to that—it’s been a little too long.
I really like Malaysia, I like the attitude. Tho overwhelming Muslim, religious tolerance is a societal value, and they’re proud of it—and they should be. I think the folks back home could learn a thing or two—I don’t feel we are as tolerant of Muslims (especially since 9-11) as they are of Christians here. They outlook seems to be that all religions are essentially the same—love thy brother, be moral, develop a positive relationship with god as you understand god—no matter what religion you “use” to achieve these ends. And they all feel that the perpetrators of things like 9-11 are radicals, and not aligned with the teachings of the Koran as they understand it. Yet the majority seem to feel that the creation of Israel was a grave mistake, and a “crime” against the Palestinians of the region. So I find myself morally in agreement with people here, tho politically I feel that Israel is a fact, and we need to work from there—not condemn the creation of Israel in the first place. But we are all able to discuss these issues, and even agree to disagree. I guess I expected a little less tolerance, and a little more “:dictatorial” outlook here. Wrong gain, and delighted by that!
The food is excellent, and cheap—tho it’s funny—in Melaka, there seems to be approximately 1 restaurant per person (there are jillions of them!), and they all serve the same things. I think this is because, for most of history, food storage was a luxury, and so people went out, and had other do the cooking for them. Still, I’d kill for a little more variety. The pizza, tho more like home than other places in SE Asia, is always a little “odd.” Italian is plentiful, but usually chicken-based, no rich red sauce with a beef base. And a decent steak—forget about it. Of course there is seafood, but a shelled prawn is unheard of, so you have to fight your way to the good part, and it’s messy. The fish can be good, very good, or awful. And there is no good old Pacific Northwest salmon. There’s also plenty of Indian food-which I like. But Mexican? No way. So, it’s different, and I’ve adapted, but let’s face—there’s no place like home….
Work is going well, tho it’s often a struggle. The local design firm has finally swallowed their pride and admitted that they have neither the numbers nor the skills for this project. The folks they do have work darned hard, but it just isn’t enough for a project of this magnitude. So tomorrow we are bringing in 11 more people from the Jacobs Singapore office to help out. And this last week saw some significant improvements. As one of my coworkers, Tony, says “today better than yesterday, tomorrow better than today.” Let’s just keep that trend going, because at times I’ve been deeply concerned that we wouldn’t make the project schedule. So, I do what I can to help out. I’ve had 2 guys from the Portland office here, and they were a big help, they’ll be returning later this week. I’ve orchestrated bringing the folks up from Singapore. And I’ve applied my skills toward helping the local firm get more organized, prioritized, and understanding the true scope of the project, as well as how to address the major issues with an eye on success. SunPower seems pleased with my efforts, and I am as well. People are beginning to “play nicer in the sandbox,” and the work is beginning to show real promise of success. Most enjoyable!
In the rubber treesAlmost every day at lunch, Rob and I go mountain biking. It’s a pleasant, if exhausting, way to leave the cares of the office behind for a while. Bombing thru the palm and rubber tree plantations is an amazing experience. I’m getting much better at it too-finally not falling over every little bump, and better able to climb the (incredibly steep!) hills Rob loves so much. I ride in much less a state of shear panic than at first. It’s surprising the different skills mountain biking requires compared to road riding. And I feel much healthier, stronger, and yes, lighter, because of it. Right on! Between the biking and the rock work, I feel pretty fit. It will be interesting to see how this type of biking pays off when I get home and hit the road-riding once again.
So I spent the rest of today laying in the sun and reading.
PERFECT!
A street scene in Kuala Lumpur (KL).
What did you see in malaysia daddy? The back end of a Proton!
Another business that probably wouldn't do too well in the States....
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