The situation with our canine companions is currently this:
We have to have forms to accompany the puppies from Dublin to Frankfurt to Johannesburg. These forms must be translated in German (because of the Frankfurt stopover), and they basically say that Ireland is free from some 5 or 6 diseases, and that they've had their rabies vaccinations.
The "Dilemma" comes in about the time that we hit the all-important "at most 30-days-before-departure-but not-less-than-10-days" window of time that the forms need to be filled out (now). And we find out that there are indeed MULTIPLE versions of the all-important forms, hanging around out there in the universe.
Form "A" (we'll call it the "good" form) is short and to the point, and requires the signature of the puppies' vet saying that they've been vaccinated for rabies, and Ireland is free from X, Y, and Z; as well as the signature from the Government vet stating the same.
Form "B" (we'll call it the "evil" form) is 4 pages long and requires appx €1600 worth of blood tests to be taken from puppies, shipped off to a variety of EXTERNAL testing labs (Manchester, Liverpool, Belgium, etc) and pronounced negative at least 10 days before departure. Well obviously that ain't gonna happen. We were told that was anunnecessaryy form by the South Africans who are actually receiving the puppies, and would be the ones who would need to worry about diseases coming in. Since they're used to doing this sort of thing on a daily basis, we chose to go with their advice. However, there's some smart-arse Government Vet running around Dublin at this point in time, who knows who we are and what we're trying to do (only because we were stupid enough to call him and ask for his advice and make sure that we were doing everything above-board), and has even put a phone call into our own vet saying that heunequivocallyy, definitely COULD NOT sign such a form unless the blood tests were done. Even though the blood tests can not even be DONE in this COUNTRY. !?!??
Now the waiting game.
We have located a local government vet who will sign the "good" form for us. He won't go out on a limb and sign the "evil" form without having blood tests done, even though the "evil" form has the same text on it that the "good" one does, and is essentially stating the exact same thing (that Ireland is free of these diseases and therefore tests are unnecessary). So we're going to try and push them through with Form A. Fingers crossed nobody stops us.
The positives:
* Our "receiving end" company in Joburg has told us that just as recently as September, they successfully received puppies from Ireland with the Form A.
* Our "sending end" company in Dublin airport told us really all they need is Form A and we don't have to worry.
* Our local Cork Government Vet says we should be OK with Form A, he doesn't mind signing it, and needn't worry.
* The puppies official private vet says he'll be happy to sign Form A, and he sees it go through all the time.
The negatives:
* Some fruitcake, red-tape-loving, upper-ranking Government Vet in Dublin is going to try and do everything he can between now and December 4th (when the form needs to be signed = 10 days from their flight date) to make sure that all underling Government Vets (including local Cork-guy) are made aware that FORM B IS THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE FORM FOR EXPORTING DOGS!!! Mainly, all because WE got in touch with him and alerted him to the fact that there is a "good" and "evil" form floating around out there in the universe!! DOH!
* If, for some unforeseeable reason, we get stopped mid-way through the process and instructed that under no circumstances is Form A acceptable, we have no backup plan. The window of time will be expired for the tests to be taken and results to be returned (from overseas) and flight to be made.
Fingers crossed.....
j2
Monday, November 27, 2006
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
No more wheels (J1)
Ok, the cars appeared in 1 newspaper last night. I received exactly 1 phonecall today, about my Toyota, they insisted on seeing it tonight. Jill was driving it today so she rushed it through the car wash, as it was in no state to be shown yet. I had not expected people wanted to come around this quick, and look at a car in the dark.
Result: SOLD, and for a pretty good price too. I will have to say goodbye to my good old Corolla tomorrow, as they (two Lithuanian guys) will show up with the cash tomorrow to collect. Only one more to go.....
J1
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Dwellings and Such. (J2)
A lot of thinking about living arrangements lately.... I guess it's natural, when you're packing your own place up (or getting ready to, in our case) and kind of "in between homes".
Anyway the jist of my story is that THIS is what you get in Cork City, in 2005, for +/- €320k:
Now, forget about what that's worth. Just think about this: in BW, you can get something like THIS for less than €170k!!!
I find that amazing. It also makes me sad that we're going to be renting when we first get over there!
Oh well, that's us exercising our "good judgement". :)
Monday, November 20, 2006
Cars for sale (J1)
Time is really going fast now, only weeks left and lots happening. First of all I have also handed in my notice last Friday, so finally no more secrets in Ireland. My boss took the news pretty easy, it took a while for him to sink in. He tried to convince me to stay longer, but after realizing there was no point he said he would give me a good reference, and that I would have a job if I would ever decide to come back to Ireland. He even asked if I would be willing to work for him from Botswana via email and telephone, while a new person is getting trained. I would love to do this, and have the chance to earn some euros while looking for jobs there. I do not think it will happen though.
Both cars are for sale, they will appear in 2 news papers this week. I have scheduled Jill's car for a NCT test (Irish roadworthy test) as this was expiring in January, and it might help selling. Hopefully we will be able to sell at least one of them quickly. We are both able to catch a ride into work with colleagues, and I could even use the train. I will sell both straight away if I can/ have the luck, in that case we will just have to rent a car for the remaining weeks.
The girl (she was South African....) from the moving company dropped by on Thursday, since we do not have that much stuff we will have to share a container with others. There are many South Africans moving from Ireland back to South Africa, and since our stuff will be shipped into Durban port, there should not be much difficulty. From Durban it will travel by road to Gabs.
Jill took our puppies to the vet again last Friday for blood tests and final vaccinations. Unfortunately there is a lot of confusion about the requirements, and the Irish veterinarian officials are telling us different stories then the South Africans. We have decided to play on the safe side, and carry out all possible tests. This might cost more money at the moment, but should rule out any possible problems.
This weekend we have had our last visitor in Ireland. Now that he has left we can start packing stuff, and taking things like bookshelves and guest bed apart. Many things like decorations etc can be packed already as well. The lucky thing is that we have loads of boxes and packing material here at my work, that we can easily re-use.
Our poor old tv is really on its last legs. We bought it second hand in Ireland when we first arrived, after a few previous attempts to let us down (which I managed to reverse by hitting and kicking it pretty hard) it went all purple last night. It still works, but the colors are all gone (except for purple), lets just hope it will hang in there for the last few weeks.
J1
Both cars are for sale, they will appear in 2 news papers this week. I have scheduled Jill's car for a NCT test (Irish roadworthy test) as this was expiring in January, and it might help selling. Hopefully we will be able to sell at least one of them quickly. We are both able to catch a ride into work with colleagues, and I could even use the train. I will sell both straight away if I can/ have the luck, in that case we will just have to rent a car for the remaining weeks.
The girl (she was South African....) from the moving company dropped by on Thursday, since we do not have that much stuff we will have to share a container with others. There are many South Africans moving from Ireland back to South Africa, and since our stuff will be shipped into Durban port, there should not be much difficulty. From Durban it will travel by road to Gabs.
Jill took our puppies to the vet again last Friday for blood tests and final vaccinations. Unfortunately there is a lot of confusion about the requirements, and the Irish veterinarian officials are telling us different stories then the South Africans. We have decided to play on the safe side, and carry out all possible tests. This might cost more money at the moment, but should rule out any possible problems.
This weekend we have had our last visitor in Ireland. Now that he has left we can start packing stuff, and taking things like bookshelves and guest bed apart. Many things like decorations etc can be packed already as well. The lucky thing is that we have loads of boxes and packing material here at my work, that we can easily re-use.
Our poor old tv is really on its last legs. We bought it second hand in Ireland when we first arrived, after a few previous attempts to let us down (which I managed to reverse by hitting and kicking it pretty hard) it went all purple last night. It still works, but the colors are all gone (except for purple), lets just hope it will hang in there for the last few weeks.
J1
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Contracts (J1)
The contracts for our house were supposed to be signed yesterday. I received a phonecall from the buyer yesterday evening. He told me that he went into his solicitor to sign and everything, but that our solicitor had made a mistake. She had basically forgotten to include the rights of the advertising sign on the side of our house, which obviously needs to be transferred to the new owner. I am just back from dropping this contract to her, she promised she will have updated contacts back to the buyers solicitor today. The buyer mentioned he has a cheque with deposit and everything at his solicitor already. I am not sure who to believe, but just keep hoping for the best.
While talking to the buyer, he asked if I could please leave blinds and curtains in the house, as he is planning to rent it out for the coming months. I agreed to also leave the fridge and stove in the house (we had no intention to bring these, as they are very old), and in return for this I can have the two signs on the front of the pub. How cool is that? I am really happy to be able to take those as souvenirs.
Anyway, the bad news is that J2 discovered this morning that her car mirror was broken again, this is like mirror number 5 between our cars, due to vandalism. And then I have not even mentioned the dent in my car, the broken windscreen and broken headlight (all those in the last two years). Both cars are for sale at the moment, and will appear in newspapers early next week, so we better fix this very soon.
The moving company is due to visit here in an hour, to look at our contents and access, to they can make a quote and arrangements. I guess it was lucky I had an early appointment for work this morning, which was cancelled, so I have actually time to organize all this. Do not have my next appointment until this afternoon (both in Cork).
The dogs are going to the vet tomorrow for blood samples. These need to be tested for 5 diseases, and this needed to be done within 30 days of arrival in South Africa, so basically tomorrow is the earliest we can do this. Their flight has been booked and we are waiting for confirmation of times and flight numbers.
J1
While talking to the buyer, he asked if I could please leave blinds and curtains in the house, as he is planning to rent it out for the coming months. I agreed to also leave the fridge and stove in the house (we had no intention to bring these, as they are very old), and in return for this I can have the two signs on the front of the pub. How cool is that? I am really happy to be able to take those as souvenirs.
Anyway, the bad news is that J2 discovered this morning that her car mirror was broken again, this is like mirror number 5 between our cars, due to vandalism. And then I have not even mentioned the dent in my car, the broken windscreen and broken headlight (all those in the last two years). Both cars are for sale at the moment, and will appear in newspapers early next week, so we better fix this very soon.
The moving company is due to visit here in an hour, to look at our contents and access, to they can make a quote and arrangements. I guess it was lucky I had an early appointment for work this morning, which was cancelled, so I have actually time to organize all this. Do not have my next appointment until this afternoon (both in Cork).
The dogs are going to the vet tomorrow for blood samples. These need to be tested for 5 diseases, and this needed to be done within 30 days of arrival in South Africa, so basically tomorrow is the earliest we can do this. Their flight has been booked and we are waiting for confirmation of times and flight numbers.
J1
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Stuff
First of all, the mapping available online for Gabz-city is pretty bad. We're looking at houses for rent at the moment (some are really nice) and it's just so difficult to place in our mind's eye where they are. Finding the right neighbourhood means everything down there. T. gives us advice on where not to look, but sometimes a house comes up in "Block 8" or something, and we have no idea where that is! The problem is that many of the suburbs/city sections are called by their "Block number". So there's like "block 2, block 3, block 4.....block 11" and so on. We still haven't figured this all out yet.
While this map doesn't necessarily show all the block numbers, it does at least give the major fringe suburbs. Tlokweng, Gabane, Mmokolodi, Mogoditshane, etc. I'm having fun with it at the moment, comparing it with available houses. For the record, T.&L. live in Gabane. That's where we'll be staying when we first get there. Out with the monkeys...
...No really, the monkeys. Gabane is such a cute little part of the greater Gabs area. Really rustic, at the foot of a mountain, lots of thatched rondavels... basically all of the more "scenic" photos from our Gaborone photo album (see links to the right!) were taken here. But it just makes me laugh exactly how rustic it is out there. I was talking to T. on the phone the other day, and he was saying they've recently just gotten over their second break-in. Not of the criminal variety, rather they were away for a weekend and the baboons got in. OUCH! Basically they came in through a slightly open bathroom window and had the most massive party ever. Throwing their poop around the house, breaking dishes, eating food, etc.
While I try not to laugh thinking about it, it just cracks me up to picture. OK, said T., the first time it was pretty funny, but they were obviously interrupted during the festivities by a neighbour or L. coming home or something, because there wasn't too much damage. Just a few broken things, and some pee and some random missing shoes (or something). The second time, they were there for probably more than a day. The biggest mess ever-- everything ruined. Did I mention how they love to throw stuff? Including their own poop? T & L had to clean for days.
Anyway, just as well we're looking for places in the city centre.
While this map doesn't necessarily show all the block numbers, it does at least give the major fringe suburbs. Tlokweng, Gabane, Mmokolodi, Mogoditshane, etc. I'm having fun with it at the moment, comparing it with available houses. For the record, T.&L. live in Gabane. That's where we'll be staying when we first get there. Out with the monkeys...
...No really, the monkeys. Gabane is such a cute little part of the greater Gabs area. Really rustic, at the foot of a mountain, lots of thatched rondavels... basically all of the more "scenic" photos from our Gaborone photo album (see links to the right!) were taken here. But it just makes me laugh exactly how rustic it is out there. I was talking to T. on the phone the other day, and he was saying they've recently just gotten over their second break-in. Not of the criminal variety, rather they were away for a weekend and the baboons got in. OUCH! Basically they came in through a slightly open bathroom window and had the most massive party ever. Throwing their poop around the house, breaking dishes, eating food, etc.
While I try not to laugh thinking about it, it just cracks me up to picture. OK, said T., the first time it was pretty funny, but they were obviously interrupted during the festivities by a neighbour or L. coming home or something, because there wasn't too much damage. Just a few broken things, and some pee and some random missing shoes (or something). The second time, they were there for probably more than a day. The biggest mess ever-- everything ruined. Did I mention how they love to throw stuff? Including their own poop? T & L had to clean for days.
Anyway, just as well we're looking for places in the city centre.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Blackpool (J1)
As promised, a few pictures from our neighborhood in Cork.
For all our Blackpool pictures click HERE.
J1
Our street
Our house
Kingston Butchers across the road
Our favorite neighborhood pub 'The Groves'
The Glen Valley Park
For all our Blackpool pictures click HERE.
J1
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Irish people (J1)
Let's start with some 'fun facts' about Ireland today, just bits and pieces I picked up in the newspaper in the last few weeks. a) Ireland is one of the most corrupt Western countries recent research has revealed. b) Ireland is the worst country in Europe with regards to CO2 emissions effecting global warning, and the government is making very little effort in tryin to change. 3) Ireland has officially the worst record when it comes to traffic accidents and casualties in Europe. 4) Irish people think on average more often about suicide as an option to solve their problems then any other European country. 5) Ireland has officially become one of the most expensive countries to live in, and Dublin one of the most expensive cities in the world.
Of course we knew all of the above already (unfortunately by experience), maybe I would like to add to this list that they probably have the worst weather in Europe as well. Does anyone still want to ask why we are leaving?
Ok, the whole house thing. It was supposed to be signed a week ago, but this has obviously not happened up to date (as has the paying of a deposit). We are dealing with a real cowboy here, as mentioned before. The good news is that he has reached an agreement on the pub next door as well, and has given me 'his word' it will be signed next week Wednesday at the lastest. I will believe it when I see it.
We have been checking on this property website for rental houses in Gabs, and unfortunately there does not seem to be much choice out there at the moment. They used to have like 5 pages, now they can not even fill 2. There is loads available which is not on this particular website, but it does give an indication of availability. Our friend there also informed us that most rental contracts are yearly renewed, this usually happens in December and January, meaning that this is the time people move around. There will be no problem finding something, we might just have to compromise (that is what renting is all about I guess....)
I have sent out my job applications, so will have to keep my fingers crossed on that one. I have not written my resignation letter yet, and decided I might not quite next week yet, and leave it until the very last minute, the week after. I am obliged to give 4 weeks notice.
Other things to organize: the puppies will have to get their blood taken for tests and certification next week, we really need to get their crates as well, the cars will go for sale. During all this poor J2 is very busy correcting reports again to help the company making deadlines.
One last small thing: I realized that I can not remember certain things from my old neighborhood in Melbourne anymore. Simple things like the milkbar on the corner, and the entrance to the park where we used to take the puppies. Last weekend we have gone around our good old Blackpool to take some pictures for later memories. I will upload them this weekend and link it to this blog.
J1
Of course we knew all of the above already (unfortunately by experience), maybe I would like to add to this list that they probably have the worst weather in Europe as well. Does anyone still want to ask why we are leaving?
Ok, the whole house thing. It was supposed to be signed a week ago, but this has obviously not happened up to date (as has the paying of a deposit). We are dealing with a real cowboy here, as mentioned before. The good news is that he has reached an agreement on the pub next door as well, and has given me 'his word' it will be signed next week Wednesday at the lastest. I will believe it when I see it.
We have been checking on this property website for rental houses in Gabs, and unfortunately there does not seem to be much choice out there at the moment. They used to have like 5 pages, now they can not even fill 2. There is loads available which is not on this particular website, but it does give an indication of availability. Our friend there also informed us that most rental contracts are yearly renewed, this usually happens in December and January, meaning that this is the time people move around. There will be no problem finding something, we might just have to compromise (that is what renting is all about I guess....)
I have sent out my job applications, so will have to keep my fingers crossed on that one. I have not written my resignation letter yet, and decided I might not quite next week yet, and leave it until the very last minute, the week after. I am obliged to give 4 weeks notice.
Other things to organize: the puppies will have to get their blood taken for tests and certification next week, we really need to get their crates as well, the cars will go for sale. During all this poor J2 is very busy correcting reports again to help the company making deadlines.
One last small thing: I realized that I can not remember certain things from my old neighborhood in Melbourne anymore. Simple things like the milkbar on the corner, and the entrance to the park where we used to take the puppies. Last weekend we have gone around our good old Blackpool to take some pictures for later memories. I will upload them this weekend and link it to this blog.
J1
Friday, November 10, 2006
Terrified in Ireland (J2)
Today I will be quitting my job.
I am so very very very very nervous!
Likely because I've been scarred before by psycho employers who take resigning as a personal insult. But regardless, I know I'm going to let some people down and I feel bad about that.
Wish me strength for walking into A's office and saying the right thing that (a.) doesn't make me look like a jerk for leaving the section in the lurch; (b.) is easy enough to come up with to say, that I don't get a stomach ulcer before 10:30 a.m. I know I shouldn't be nervous-- I haven't done anything wrong and I have a fairly good excuse (how many people get to use "moving to Botswana" an actually mean it?) but I know that when they interviewed me I made it sound like I was in Ireland "indefinitely", and now it's been 2 years and I bail. I do have some guilt there. Is that what's giving me the shakes?
I also know the workload that will subsequently fall on PW and others' heads because of me bailing. Guilt again.
I guess my fear is seeing A. slap herself on the forehead and do the whole "NO! NO! NO!!! NOOOO!!!" thing. Which will make me feel soooooooo bad. And I'm not speaking as a raging egomaniac, I just know what kind of workload I'll be leaving behind. That's all. There's the guilt again.
I think I'll do it after coffee break, around 11. Then I owe it to PW to let him know first.
Then the boys and I will go to the Chinese restaurant for lunch at 1pm, and I'm going to tell them, then. Now that's going to be the hard part. For a different reason, of course.
I am so very very very very nervous!
Likely because I've been scarred before by psycho employers who take resigning as a personal insult. But regardless, I know I'm going to let some people down and I feel bad about that.
Wish me strength for walking into A's office and saying the right thing that (a.) doesn't make me look like a jerk for leaving the section in the lurch; (b.) is easy enough to come up with to say, that I don't get a stomach ulcer before 10:30 a.m. I know I shouldn't be nervous-- I haven't done anything wrong and I have a fairly good excuse (how many people get to use "moving to Botswana" an actually mean it?) but I know that when they interviewed me I made it sound like I was in Ireland "indefinitely", and now it's been 2 years and I bail. I do have some guilt there. Is that what's giving me the shakes?
I also know the workload that will subsequently fall on PW and others' heads because of me bailing. Guilt again.
I guess my fear is seeing A. slap herself on the forehead and do the whole "NO! NO! NO!!! NOOOO!!!" thing. Which will make me feel soooooooo bad. And I'm not speaking as a raging egomaniac, I just know what kind of workload I'll be leaving behind. That's all. There's the guilt again.
I think I'll do it after coffee break, around 11. Then I owe it to PW to let him know first.
Then the boys and I will go to the Chinese restaurant for lunch at 1pm, and I'm going to tell them, then. Now that's going to be the hard part. For a different reason, of course.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Out of the office (J1)
This is turning out to be a pretty nice week, Monday was a bank holiday, and Wednesday, today and tomorrow I am driving around Ireland with this work contact visiting pharmaceutical factories. This means nearly one whole week out of the office, so I do not have to face my boss and his usual nonsense.
I have really been going over the whole handing in my notice regularly in my mind. I can not wait to see his big ugly surprised face. This one moment will make up for the last 4 difficult weeks, which I am sure he will create for me. I do not think he will take the news very well.
Anyway, to stay on the job front. I have heard absolutely nothing from my job applications I have submitted so far. On one side I am very glad about this. There are plenty of opportunities out there apparently, and I would like to end up in a position which I like, and can hopefully benefit our company in some way as well. I have found a list of engineering consultancies active in Botswana, and will start sending some resumes in the coming week. As time is coming closer they might be interested, and it gives me something to follow up once I get there. Time to start selling myself, instead of stainless steel equipment.....
No signing contracts on the house sale yet. As expected the buyer is dragging things out. We really have to start pushing this along. I will consult our solicitor on Monday on how we can do this the best.
On the dog moving front everything is getting organized. We tried to get a date booked with the airline, but unfortunately they do not accept bookings more then 30 days in advance. I also spoke to an official in the department of agriculture (Irish). The dogs have to be bloodtested in the last 30 days before shipment, to show they are free of 5 diseases. The diseases to not exist in Ireland, but internationally Ireland is not official recognized as FREE. More hassle, but at least we were prepared for this.
Besides writing my resignation letter and some more applications, I might start to prepare some advertisements for selling our cars the coming week. It would be nice if we could sell one pretty soon. I think we can survive on one for the last few weeks, and that only leaves one to worry about in the end. It is also nearly time to make contact with the moving company, for them to visit our house and list all items to be shipped.
J1
I have really been going over the whole handing in my notice regularly in my mind. I can not wait to see his big ugly surprised face. This one moment will make up for the last 4 difficult weeks, which I am sure he will create for me. I do not think he will take the news very well.
Anyway, to stay on the job front. I have heard absolutely nothing from my job applications I have submitted so far. On one side I am very glad about this. There are plenty of opportunities out there apparently, and I would like to end up in a position which I like, and can hopefully benefit our company in some way as well. I have found a list of engineering consultancies active in Botswana, and will start sending some resumes in the coming week. As time is coming closer they might be interested, and it gives me something to follow up once I get there. Time to start selling myself, instead of stainless steel equipment.....
No signing contracts on the house sale yet. As expected the buyer is dragging things out. We really have to start pushing this along. I will consult our solicitor on Monday on how we can do this the best.
On the dog moving front everything is getting organized. We tried to get a date booked with the airline, but unfortunately they do not accept bookings more then 30 days in advance. I also spoke to an official in the department of agriculture (Irish). The dogs have to be bloodtested in the last 30 days before shipment, to show they are free of 5 diseases. The diseases to not exist in Ireland, but internationally Ireland is not official recognized as FREE. More hassle, but at least we were prepared for this.
Besides writing my resignation letter and some more applications, I might start to prepare some advertisements for selling our cars the coming week. It would be nice if we could sell one pretty soon. I think we can survive on one for the last few weeks, and that only leaves one to worry about in the end. It is also nearly time to make contact with the moving company, for them to visit our house and list all items to be shipped.
J1
Sunday, October 29, 2006
That's what Bank Holidays are for... J2
Yes yes yes I suck at posting these days. Too much action in la casa de Westra for me to sit down at the computer.
At any rate, here are some things on the list of "stuff to report":
1. There is another blog out there that we've been having a really fun time reading, for a few months. It's by a couple around our age who's living in Molepolole (about 50 km outside Gabz), stationed there with the Peace Corps for 2 years. They've wrapped up year one and are well into year two, and have kept their online journal for the whole time-- starting even before they left the US. Really neat to read all about their experiences, and know we'll be going through the same, shortly. OK, without the support of the Peace Corps, but still. Also being that my best friend Heidi G is an ex-PCV, I have a really soft spot for reading all about everything PC, having heard the same sort of things from her, only out of Ukraine instead of BW.
2. Starting to get the butterflies. Quitting time is just around the corner. I tried not to think about it until now. Here's what I figure: I need to give RPS 1 month's notice, which means if I'm planning on finishing up around the 21st or so, I need to quit at the latest on 21 Nov. I was figuring that since I'm not too worried about getting the ice-man-frigidity-treatment from this boss (as per my last job), I could do the nice thing and quit a little bit before the 1-month-mark. That would at least give us some extra time to get things sorted & settled before I leave. Which means it's coming REALLY soon. Hence the butterflies. I don't really know what I'm going to say or how I'm going to deliver it... something nice, I guess. . . something along the lines of "well it's not that I'm unhappy in this job, it's just that...." (insert random touchy-feeley reason). I've toyed with the idea of blaming it on Hannes? Like "oh well see Hannes isn't happy here", but that would ensure that they never hire another foreigner again, because they're already worried about imports hating Ireland and shipping off after a year anyway. (Why should I care?) But basically I don't have a plan yet. Even considering the "It's not my fault, we got headhunted" route or something. I really don't know. They're all going to freak out anyway. I'm the only person (that I know of, at least) in the country who does what I do, so I really have no idea what strategy they're going to try out to get someone else in, or how they're going to shift my duties. Which makes me feel guilty a bit, but I just try not to think about it. Not my problem, right? But since I like my job so much, I do feel bad. To an extent.
Whatever.
3. Minor sadness going through all the "lasts" over the coming weeks, and the recent ones. Last trip to the cliffs, last Cork Jazz Fest, last Franciscan Well Oktoberfest, last meal at Banna Thai, last pickup & dropoff of visitors at the airport (Note: just found out this is inaccurate, Martin is actually coming for a weekend in Nov! yeah!), and last work halloween party. Still haven't told many friends about our move though, so I'm sure the REAL emotional discomfort is still yet to come, but that's part of the gig. But everyone else outside of Ireland is being so excited and enthusiastic for us that it will surely balance each other out. Really, we've had about 10 friends tell us in the last month or so "I'm already looking at holidays to BW for next year!", which is really cool.
4. NEWS FLASH TO ALL AMERICANS! Delta is launching a new direct flight to Jo'burg starting December 2006! (that's less than 2 months away!) Making it the only US airline to service Africa, there launching Atlanta-Jo'burg direct (via Dakar)! Mark it in your favorites. South African Airways already operates two daily flights to the US, one each to Washington Dulles and New York's JFK airport. I seem to remember Delta doing one Atlanta-Joburg (via Cape Verde) some time ago, but it seems that was stopped and now it's coming back again.
(if anyone's wondering why this is such a complicated flight corridor, here's some free info courtesy of a very informative website: Johannesburg International Airport is regarded as a "hot and high" airport. Situated some 1680 metres above sea level, the air is thin. This has implications for the performance of aircraft at altitude. For example, a flight from Johannesburg to NYC, currently operated with an Airbus A340-300e, must stop in Dakar for refueling, since the aircraft is not able to make the run on one tank of fuel. This is because of decreased performance on take-off from the airport, where an aircraft cannot take off fully laden with fuel, cargo and passengers, and must use a longer stretch of runway to reach take-off velocity. By contrast, the return leg of the flight from New York to Johannesburg used to be a non-stop 14-hour flight, with better performance of the aircraft in New York because the city is at sea level. Interesting, no?)
5. Setswana lesson for the day: "ga ke thaloganye" = "I don't understand". "g"s prounounced with a gutteral dutch-like throat. More like "haa". But you'd know that if you'd ever hear anyone say "Ghhhaaborone". Very similar to afrikaans/dutch sounds. Everything else is pretty much phonetic. (Obviously I broke the CD ROM out again)
Can't think of much else for now, but excited that we booked our Amsterdam-Joburg flights. Stopover in London Heathrow included, so we don't lose all connection with the British Isles just yet.
At any rate, here are some things on the list of "stuff to report":
1. There is another blog out there that we've been having a really fun time reading, for a few months. It's by a couple around our age who's living in Molepolole (about 50 km outside Gabz), stationed there with the Peace Corps for 2 years. They've wrapped up year one and are well into year two, and have kept their online journal for the whole time-- starting even before they left the US. Really neat to read all about their experiences, and know we'll be going through the same, shortly. OK, without the support of the Peace Corps, but still. Also being that my best friend Heidi G is an ex-PCV, I have a really soft spot for reading all about everything PC, having heard the same sort of things from her, only out of Ukraine instead of BW.
2. Starting to get the butterflies. Quitting time is just around the corner. I tried not to think about it until now. Here's what I figure: I need to give RPS 1 month's notice, which means if I'm planning on finishing up around the 21st or so, I need to quit at the latest on 21 Nov. I was figuring that since I'm not too worried about getting the ice-man-frigidity-treatment from this boss (as per my last job), I could do the nice thing and quit a little bit before the 1-month-mark. That would at least give us some extra time to get things sorted & settled before I leave. Which means it's coming REALLY soon. Hence the butterflies. I don't really know what I'm going to say or how I'm going to deliver it... something nice, I guess. . . something along the lines of "well it's not that I'm unhappy in this job, it's just that...." (insert random touchy-feeley reason). I've toyed with the idea of blaming it on Hannes? Like "oh well see Hannes isn't happy here", but that would ensure that they never hire another foreigner again, because they're already worried about imports hating Ireland and shipping off after a year anyway. (Why should I care?) But basically I don't have a plan yet. Even considering the "It's not my fault, we got headhunted" route or something. I really don't know. They're all going to freak out anyway. I'm the only person (that I know of, at least) in the country who does what I do, so I really have no idea what strategy they're going to try out to get someone else in, or how they're going to shift my duties. Which makes me feel guilty a bit, but I just try not to think about it. Not my problem, right? But since I like my job so much, I do feel bad. To an extent.
Whatever.
3. Minor sadness going through all the "lasts" over the coming weeks, and the recent ones. Last trip to the cliffs, last Cork Jazz Fest, last Franciscan Well Oktoberfest, last meal at Banna Thai, last pickup & dropoff of visitors at the airport (Note: just found out this is inaccurate, Martin is actually coming for a weekend in Nov! yeah!), and last work halloween party. Still haven't told many friends about our move though, so I'm sure the REAL emotional discomfort is still yet to come, but that's part of the gig. But everyone else outside of Ireland is being so excited and enthusiastic for us that it will surely balance each other out. Really, we've had about 10 friends tell us in the last month or so "I'm already looking at holidays to BW for next year!", which is really cool.
4. NEWS FLASH TO ALL AMERICANS! Delta is launching a new direct flight to Jo'burg starting December 2006! (that's less than 2 months away!) Making it the only US airline to service Africa, there launching Atlanta-Jo'burg direct (via Dakar)! Mark it in your favorites. South African Airways already operates two daily flights to the US, one each to Washington Dulles and New York's JFK airport. I seem to remember Delta doing one Atlanta-Joburg (via Cape Verde) some time ago, but it seems that was stopped and now it's coming back again.
(if anyone's wondering why this is such a complicated flight corridor, here's some free info courtesy of a very informative website: Johannesburg International Airport is regarded as a "hot and high" airport. Situated some 1680 metres above sea level, the air is thin. This has implications for the performance of aircraft at altitude. For example, a flight from Johannesburg to NYC, currently operated with an Airbus A340-300e, must stop in Dakar for refueling, since the aircraft is not able to make the run on one tank of fuel. This is because of decreased performance on take-off from the airport, where an aircraft cannot take off fully laden with fuel, cargo and passengers, and must use a longer stretch of runway to reach take-off velocity. By contrast, the return leg of the flight from New York to Johannesburg used to be a non-stop 14-hour flight, with better performance of the aircraft in New York because the city is at sea level. Interesting, no?)
5. Setswana lesson for the day: "ga ke thaloganye" = "I don't understand". "g"s prounounced with a gutteral dutch-like throat. More like "haa". But you'd know that if you'd ever hear anyone say "Ghhhaaborone". Very similar to afrikaans/dutch sounds. Everything else is pretty much phonetic. (Obviously I broke the CD ROM out again)
Can't think of much else for now, but excited that we booked our Amsterdam-Joburg flights. Stopover in London Heathrow included, so we don't lose all connection with the British Isles just yet.
More news and stuff (J1)
First of all, please do not worry about my last comment on the financial performance of our company. Some of you were worried about this (nice that you are concerned). It is the nature of consultancy business, and this was one of the reasons we stayed in Ireland ourselves for so long. This was why we had two (Euro) incomes to support and get things started. The problem with these big projects is that you might be working for months before you see any money. But when we get there we should be in good shape, as planned.
Other big news: We have just booked our ticket from Amsterdam to Johannesburg. We are leaving from Amsterdam after Christmas and New Years with family, and hope to spend a few days in Pretoria with our family Polson, and visit our dogs (will be in the Joburg kennels then). After these few days we might fly or drive to Gaborone.
Other big news: We have just booked our ticket from Amsterdam to Johannesburg. We are leaving from Amsterdam after Christmas and New Years with family, and hope to spend a few days in Pretoria with our family Polson, and visit our dogs (will be in the Joburg kennels then). After these few days we might fly or drive to Gaborone.
Gaborone airport - hopefully we can come and pick many visitors up from here!
I know we have a link to a website with details about Botswana on this blog, but dear mother (in law) just forwarded this one which was pretty good. Especially the map and the flag, which you can see below are pretty nice.
That's really all for now, nearly time to start thinking about quitting our jobs and stuff. That will be interesting. Definitely time for J2 to make a contribution to this blog, don't you think??
J1
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Last visit (J1)
With our friends from JC visiting us this week, we did a few small daytrips this weekend to show them some of our favorite places around Cork. Places like Kinsale, Novohal Cove, Cobh harbor etc. The strange thing was that J2 and I realized it might be our last time there. Kind of weird.
The house thing is still slowly moving on, too slow really, buyer already dragging things out, as expected. I won't waste anymore of this blog on this at the moment.
Our dogs had their first visit to the vet, in preparation for their trip over. They are now microchipped, rabies vaccinated, and also had their yearly booster. Back in a few weeks for blood tests, but the vet said we might not need to, because Ireland is disease free. I have to find this out from the department of agriculture.
Our poor little company down in Botswana is in cash flow problems (again). A few very big outstanding invoices which are not being paid very quick. This is usual stuff for Botswana, but makes things pretty difficult sometimes. This means our private funding will have to temporarily cover for things like office rent and wages. Not too big of a deal (done it before) except for that we need $$$ for the move etc as well.
J1
Thursday, October 19, 2006
SOLD (again) J1
The big news: the house is sold again. We agreed a deal with the builder who also bought the derelict pub next door. It is hard to get excited until everything is finalized, but we end up getting a little more then with the first deal, so that's good news. We are signing contacts in 2 weeks, so after that it will be a sure deal. One good thing: he is buying 'as is', so no more engineers with strange findings.
I suppose the sad thing is that within a year or two some bulldozer will go through it to make space for apartments or shops, meaning our beautiful bathroom, garden and decking area will be destroyed. But it is his now, and he can do with it what he likes. The good memories of our first house and the many small renovation projects will remain.
To stay on the property subject, I found this article online about Gaborone property. Prices have increased 550% in the last 10 years. We are looking for investment opportunities, and this looks tempting. We decided not to take our money from the house to Africa, and will probably stick with that.
phakalane golf course and housing estate
Hopefully this will be the last about all this house sale, real estate stuff. We probably completely bored everyone with this. I am sorry, but it was / is a huge worry.
Coming Saturday morning our puppies will go to the Vet, they will get their microchips and also their rabies shots. Also a good opportunity to discuss all paperwork and blood tests that need to be done at a sooner stage before their travels.
Also, I found some very good airfares on ebookers.com from Amsterdam to Johannesburg. Our man T. On the ground in Gabs confirmed he would be there around the 3rd of January, which is handy to know as we kind of invited ourselves to stay with them the first week or so. The plan is to stop in Pretoria for a few days on our way to meet up with the Polson family, and then move on to Gaborone.
That is pretty much all for now, we might start thinking about packing some stuff soon maybe? That will be a big job, which we will probably do after work and weekends, since both of us are still very busy working. I really wonder what will happen after handing in our notice in about 3 weeks. I am looking forward to it, just to see my boss' face. Not sure if J2 feels the same.
J1
I suppose the sad thing is that within a year or two some bulldozer will go through it to make space for apartments or shops, meaning our beautiful bathroom, garden and decking area will be destroyed. But it is his now, and he can do with it what he likes. The good memories of our first house and the many small renovation projects will remain.
To stay on the property subject, I found this article online about Gaborone property. Prices have increased 550% in the last 10 years. We are looking for investment opportunities, and this looks tempting. We decided not to take our money from the house to Africa, and will probably stick with that.
phakalane golf course and housing estate
Hopefully this will be the last about all this house sale, real estate stuff. We probably completely bored everyone with this. I am sorry, but it was / is a huge worry.
Coming Saturday morning our puppies will go to the Vet, they will get their microchips and also their rabies shots. Also a good opportunity to discuss all paperwork and blood tests that need to be done at a sooner stage before their travels.
Also, I found some very good airfares on ebookers.com from Amsterdam to Johannesburg. Our man T. On the ground in Gabs confirmed he would be there around the 3rd of January, which is handy to know as we kind of invited ourselves to stay with them the first week or so. The plan is to stop in Pretoria for a few days on our way to meet up with the Polson family, and then move on to Gaborone.
That is pretty much all for now, we might start thinking about packing some stuff soon maybe? That will be a big job, which we will probably do after work and weekends, since both of us are still very busy working. I really wonder what will happen after handing in our notice in about 3 weeks. I am looking forward to it, just to see my boss' face. Not sure if J2 feels the same.
J1
Monday, October 16, 2006
Slacky Slackerton Returns
I'm about to get in trouble with the husbanator for not keeping up with the blog, so here I am to write something about something.
How about my feeble non-existant attempt to learn Setswana before we actually arrive in 3 months?
Well, my "Teach Yourself Setswana" CD ROM hasn't really been broken in yet, needless to say. In fact it's only made one or 2 appearances on our computer screen since we bought it. So I need to get up some resolve to tuck into it, soon.
If only it were a CD and not a CD ROM, I would load it onto the ipod and listen day in and day out. But I'm only ever at a computer at work (not an option), or at home (usually busy working or actually doing something FUN or otherwise non-work-related for a change, so studying doesn't really appeal to me.
Also I have this fear that spending 2 weeks in Holland over Christmas is going to take all the Dutch knowledge I can possibly muster and I hate having multiple languages floating around in my head at once. That's why most of my spanish has floated off with the clouds....
Either way the point of this is that I need to get my CD ROM out and start putting some effort into it.
J2
How about my feeble non-existant attempt to learn Setswana before we actually arrive in 3 months?
Well, my "Teach Yourself Setswana" CD ROM hasn't really been broken in yet, needless to say. In fact it's only made one or 2 appearances on our computer screen since we bought it. So I need to get up some resolve to tuck into it, soon.
If only it were a CD and not a CD ROM, I would load it onto the ipod and listen day in and day out. But I'm only ever at a computer at work (not an option), or at home (usually busy working or actually doing something FUN or otherwise non-work-related for a change, so studying doesn't really appeal to me.
Also I have this fear that spending 2 weeks in Holland over Christmas is going to take all the Dutch knowledge I can possibly muster and I hate having multiple languages floating around in my head at once. That's why most of my spanish has floated off with the clouds....
Either way the point of this is that I need to get my CD ROM out and start putting some effort into it.
J2
Monday, October 09, 2006
real estate and stuff (J1)
Well, did not get much time to get back into things after coming back from such a nice break. The biggest thing keeping our minds a little worried and occupied at the moment is obviously our house. After a week of not much action on this front, our estate agent had a second viewing with people who had already viewed it when it came on the market in the very beginning. They own an accountants firm and are planning to turn it into offices. They told him after the viewing today that they will be putting an offer in tomorrow. Good news hopefully.
But......I heard a rumor in the neighborhood during the weekend that the empty and soon derelict pub next door to us might be sold. On the other side of the pub a developer just put down foundations for apartments, and the story was that he might be buying the pub for re-development as well.
I decided to do some research (google proved helpful again) and found his name and address, and then the phonebook was all I needed. I made a call this afternoon just to let him know that our property is actually on the market as well, just in case he might be interested. I told him who the estate agent was etc etc.
He rang me back very soon, telling me is is very glad I made him aware of it, he wants to view the house immediately, and do a deal direct with me, without the estate agent. He is already talking about 'I think we will come to an agreement, which will suit both of us' etc, etc. We know the history of his planning application for the apartments, and how he was taking care of the site in the meantime, and are skeptical about any of this being true.
There is a dilemma now, what to do further? We have decided that if we risk going with this guy, instead of the accountant, he will need to offer very serious money. The risk is if he and the owner of the pub do not come to an agreement, then he is likely to pull out of our deal as well. Where as when we have a buyer that has nothing to do with the whole pub, our chances are much better. He is coming over tomorrow night, wait and see.
Even everything written so far is total speculation, the accountant might never put an offer in, and developers in Ireland are usually pretty shady.
Besides this J2 is very busy again with an airport report for the business, this time Maun airport. I believe it is due pretty soon, so pressure is on yet again.
We are hoping to take our dogs to the vet this weekend, to discuss blood tests etc for their move, so hopefully no big surprises there.
That's a short update for now, I am going to check out some flights from the Netherlands to Africa for after new years now.
J1
But......I heard a rumor in the neighborhood during the weekend that the empty and soon derelict pub next door to us might be sold. On the other side of the pub a developer just put down foundations for apartments, and the story was that he might be buying the pub for re-development as well.
I decided to do some research (google proved helpful again) and found his name and address, and then the phonebook was all I needed. I made a call this afternoon just to let him know that our property is actually on the market as well, just in case he might be interested. I told him who the estate agent was etc etc.
He rang me back very soon, telling me is is very glad I made him aware of it, he wants to view the house immediately, and do a deal direct with me, without the estate agent. He is already talking about 'I think we will come to an agreement, which will suit both of us' etc, etc. We know the history of his planning application for the apartments, and how he was taking care of the site in the meantime, and are skeptical about any of this being true.
There is a dilemma now, what to do further? We have decided that if we risk going with this guy, instead of the accountant, he will need to offer very serious money. The risk is if he and the owner of the pub do not come to an agreement, then he is likely to pull out of our deal as well. Where as when we have a buyer that has nothing to do with the whole pub, our chances are much better. He is coming over tomorrow night, wait and see.
Even everything written so far is total speculation, the accountant might never put an offer in, and developers in Ireland are usually pretty shady.
Besides this J2 is very busy again with an airport report for the business, this time Maun airport. I believe it is due pretty soon, so pressure is on yet again.
We are hoping to take our dogs to the vet this weekend, to discuss blood tests etc for their move, so hopefully no big surprises there.
That's a short update for now, I am going to check out some flights from the Netherlands to Africa for after new years now.
J1
Friday, October 06, 2006
Silly J1
My husband neglected to add
"The Full Cupboard of Life"
Number 5.
Which I am currently reading.
J2
(thanks Dan!)
"The Full Cupboard of Life"
Number 5.
Which I am currently reading.
J2
(thanks Dan!)
Thursday, October 05, 2006
back in Ireland (J1)
After probably one of our last little European trips (we have really failed to see all of Europe before leaving) to Greece, we are back in Ireland again. During our holiday we were both reading a series of books by the author Alexander McCall Smith. There is six books in the series in total, called:
- No 1 ladies detective agency
- tears of the Giraffe
- Morality for beautiful girls
- Kalahari typing school for men
- Blue shoes and happiness
- In the company of Cheerful ladies
It is all about an African lady, who has started a detective agency in Gaborone Botswana, and her adventures with this company. It is written very very funny, and we recognize loads of small things. I would definitely recommend these to anyone who has ever been in Africa, or is interested. Eventhough they are fiction, there are some wise lessons for us to be learned from them, such as: never get on the Gaborone roads on pay day (end of month) as there are so many drunk drivers that it is an absolute chaos, and accidents everywhere. Never say anything bad about anyone, as all people know eachother somehow, and are related many times. It is a very polite thing to ask people if they have slept well, when greeting them.
Getting back into reality now, with house sale etc. I will update soon.
J1
Friday, September 22, 2006
House for sale.....again (J1)
J2 beat me to it! (see post below) Anyway:
Bad news this morning, or disappointing news. The buyer of our house decided not to go through with it. They have made such a big deal out of absolute nothing. We had an engineer looking at it and writing a statement to convince them otherwise. The bad thing is that we wasted nearly 3 weeks of time with this whole thing, and are now back where we started.
I should have listened to my dear wife, instead of to the auctioneer, and we should have chosen a harder line straight away with this buyer. This could have saved a week or 2. Anyway, there is still loads of time, the solicitor has done all groundwork already, which means we can close a sale within 4 weeks. This leaves a whole 2 months to find another buyer. Who knows, maybe we might end up selling it for even more.
Not looking forward to having people going through and inspecting the property again, having to keep it clean and tidy at all times etc, but I guess we have no choice in the matter.
J1
Unsurprising Nonsense
Well the sale of our house fell through.
I'm not really surprised though, because it all seemed just a bit too easy.
So this prospective buyer-guy rings up the estate agent today and (apparently) says that he's "been advised by some people not to go for it", and that the engineer's report we acquired to combat HIS engineer's report (the one that said our roof was shot) "didn't really prove anything one way or another", so he's pulling out.
My initial reaction is to beat the snot out of the prospective buyer, particularly because it all leaves me feeling cheated-- how he held us hostage for three weeks by having put down a deposit, which effectively takes our house off the market and prevents other prospective buyers from seeing it. That's 3 weeks of employing a real estate agent who isn't actually doing anything, 3 weeks of waiting, and 3 weeks of jumping through his stupid hoops of getting engineers' reports re-written etc etc etc for nothing.
If it sounds like much ado about nothing, consider the potential impacts:
A) No one else wants our house for that price?
B) Someone else wants it and sends their engineer in to evaluate, who ALSO has issues with some completely different aspect of the house not even related to the roof-- subsequently causing us to jump through more hoops & them to back out at the last minute as well?
C) 30 other interested people want to come in and have a look, making us clean the bejeezus out of the house each time, only to drive ourselves insane with cleaning and still no one's seriously interested?
Whatever. Anyway. I only make myself frustrated by thinking about it but I suppose since everything else seems to be in order, we just move along.
In the words of my old friend Ralf Waldo Emerson: "Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you should begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense".
I'm not really surprised though, because it all seemed just a bit too easy.
So this prospective buyer-guy rings up the estate agent today and (apparently) says that he's "been advised by some people not to go for it", and that the engineer's report we acquired to combat HIS engineer's report (the one that said our roof was shot) "didn't really prove anything one way or another", so he's pulling out.
My initial reaction is to beat the snot out of the prospective buyer, particularly because it all leaves me feeling cheated-- how he held us hostage for three weeks by having put down a deposit, which effectively takes our house off the market and prevents other prospective buyers from seeing it. That's 3 weeks of employing a real estate agent who isn't actually doing anything, 3 weeks of waiting, and 3 weeks of jumping through his stupid hoops of getting engineers' reports re-written etc etc etc for nothing.
If it sounds like much ado about nothing, consider the potential impacts:
A) No one else wants our house for that price?
B) Someone else wants it and sends their engineer in to evaluate, who ALSO has issues with some completely different aspect of the house not even related to the roof-- subsequently causing us to jump through more hoops & them to back out at the last minute as well?
C) 30 other interested people want to come in and have a look, making us clean the bejeezus out of the house each time, only to drive ourselves insane with cleaning and still no one's seriously interested?
Whatever. Anyway. I only make myself frustrated by thinking about it but I suppose since everything else seems to be in order, we just move along.
In the words of my old friend Ralf Waldo Emerson: "Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you should begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense".
J2
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