I'll have to say if there's one good thing about working in Sri Lanka it's the time off for holidays.
This week we get the 13th and 14th off for Sinhala and Tamil New Years, yeah! Friday is our usual half day, so it's a two and a half day work week. If you were very crafty you could have taken vacation this week, burned up 3 vacation days and utilizing last weekend and the upcoming weekend quite the long vacation to get off the island!
Along with the usual local holidays we just have to love it when the Sri Lankan president decides for whatever reason (his birthday party) to declare a national holiday.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Book Corner - Finished Reading
Blood Test (Alex Delaware series) by Jonathon Kellerman
Paperback
360 pages
Mystery thriller
Against my better judgement I decided to give Kellerman another try. True to his style the books keeps you interested in the beginning. In fact I was tearing right through it. But then much like the previous novel I read by him it got, well, stupid. The dialogue between the bad guy and Dr. Delaware seemed ridiculous.
Judging by the reviews on Amazon I wasn't the only one who felt this book was not a good read.
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
Living in Sri Lanka.
The Good
Watching the wonderful sunsets from our apartment
Looking at the twinkling lights of the ships anchored out at sea
Relaxing on the beach at Hikkaduwa
The Bad
The corruption
The huge number of stray dogs and cats
The poverty
The Ugly
Story time. We just went shopping across the street and ended up with a few more bags then we thought we would. Easy enough, we would get a tuk tuk to take us to our apartment. Chris went to find one and in short time she was back. The bagger loaded the bags, the tuk tuk driver didn't help. He took us across the street which meant leaving the parking garage, turning left and going about 50 feet, making a U-turn, returning about 50 feet and going down the ramp to our parking garage. Again he didn't help unload the bags and just sat there. I counted out 80RS (we figured 50RS was certainly sufficient) and he shook his head and said no, he wanted 100RS (or at least that's what I thought he said). Chris told him in no specific terms what he could do with his request. I being the diplomatic one said I had 100RS in our apartment,I would get it, against Chris' wishes. I told the driver to wait. I got the 100Rs and came down, stifling my anger I handed it to him and he said "No sir, 120RS". At that point, diplomacy went out the window. I went full Drill Instructor on him. Huh? I used to be a Marine Corps Drill Instructor, we have a special way of yelling when we get "upset". The driver called me a few names, I told him to "GET THE #$% OUT OF HERE". One of our splendid apartment guards was in the garage, he started approaching, then he backed off, go figure.
The beloved Colombo tuk tuk driver, always giving Sri Lanka a good name.
The Good
Watching the wonderful sunsets from our apartment
Looking at the twinkling lights of the ships anchored out at sea
Relaxing on the beach at Hikkaduwa
The Bad
The corruption
The huge number of stray dogs and cats
The poverty
The Ugly
Story time. We just went shopping across the street and ended up with a few more bags then we thought we would. Easy enough, we would get a tuk tuk to take us to our apartment. Chris went to find one and in short time she was back. The bagger loaded the bags, the tuk tuk driver didn't help. He took us across the street which meant leaving the parking garage, turning left and going about 50 feet, making a U-turn, returning about 50 feet and going down the ramp to our parking garage. Again he didn't help unload the bags and just sat there. I counted out 80RS (we figured 50RS was certainly sufficient) and he shook his head and said no, he wanted 100RS (or at least that's what I thought he said). Chris told him in no specific terms what he could do with his request. I being the diplomatic one said I had 100RS in our apartment,I would get it, against Chris' wishes. I told the driver to wait. I got the 100Rs and came down, stifling my anger I handed it to him and he said "No sir, 120RS". At that point, diplomacy went out the window. I went full Drill Instructor on him. Huh? I used to be a Marine Corps Drill Instructor, we have a special way of yelling when we get "upset". The driver called me a few names, I told him to "GET THE #$% OUT OF HERE". One of our splendid apartment guards was in the garage, he started approaching, then he backed off, go figure.
The beloved Colombo tuk tuk driver, always giving Sri Lanka a good name.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Consuming The Consumables
Over a year ago we received our shipment of consumable items. We were of course curious to see how far the items would go.
Kitty litter (about 400 pounds) and kitty food, long gone
Peanut butter, long gone
Balsamic vinegars, still have
Mustards, still have
Restaurant sized plastic wrap and aluminum foil, plenty left
What we do have plenty of is cleaning supplies. Initially we had a difficult time making sure our housekeeper would use it. I think she was afraid to and she would end up purchasing stuff at the store when we sent her shopping. Now she knows to use it. We probably have a good years worth of cleaning supplies left.
Now the toothpaste and toothbrushes was used up a few months ago. What has remarkably held out is my 10oz can of Skintimate shaving lotion. Yes it's a woman's shaving lotion but like I mentioned before it's an old Drill Instructors trick to use it, works great. I think the original can will deplete this week, but whats cool is that it also came with a free travel size can and at this rate it will last me another two months at least!
Kitty litter (about 400 pounds) and kitty food, long gone
Peanut butter, long gone
Balsamic vinegars, still have
Mustards, still have
Restaurant sized plastic wrap and aluminum foil, plenty left
What we do have plenty of is cleaning supplies. Initially we had a difficult time making sure our housekeeper would use it. I think she was afraid to and she would end up purchasing stuff at the store when we sent her shopping. Now she knows to use it. We probably have a good years worth of cleaning supplies left.
Now the toothpaste and toothbrushes was used up a few months ago. What has remarkably held out is my 10oz can of Skintimate shaving lotion. Yes it's a woman's shaving lotion but like I mentioned before it's an old Drill Instructors trick to use it, works great. I think the original can will deplete this week, but whats cool is that it also came with a free travel size can and at this rate it will last me another two months at least!
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