Thursday, April 05, 2007

From the "end of the world... temporarily" dept.

Takoradi, Ghana
[Written offline Thursday April 5, 2007 - apologies for formatting
issues... it's something that happens when I email my postings -- if you
know how to fix this, email me!]

I'm writing this from the confines of my humid kitchen/dining
room/hallway because the internet is still down at work. This will not
last. I am ordering service for my home. I don't care how much it costs.
It certainly will be no more expensive than dropping 60,000+ cedis on
taxi and cafe fees every few days. Not to mention the long hours spent
watching a tiny hourglass preform a never ending sequence of somersaults.

My thinking is this: I will be able to access the net easily (provided
it works) and at any time (provided it works). I'll be able to download
updates and the New York Times overnight (provided it works). And maybe,
just maybe, I can listen to the 20k stream of Radio Paradise (provided
it works). All this for about US $70 a month. Definitely worth it! And I
won't be disappointed because I've already lowered my expectations!

Elsewhere: My French press is no more!

All I did was set it on the tile counter and the bottom fell out. That
means a return to the labour intensive method of using funnels, coffee
filters and slow pours. I'm certain I can find a replacement in town...
otherwise I might have to switch to Nescafe during busy weekday mornings.

This week's JHR post (which will appear here) is about the road I walk
to work on each day. It's gone from bad to worse. But it's also kind of
funny.

The rainy season is definitely underway, but that has made no difference
to the nearly daily water and power outages. Some of the power outages
are due to the load-shedding exercises the electric company conducting.
As mentioned previously, they now occur in 12 hour windows every three
days. There are also bonus outages that make it hard to determine when
the real outages are taking place.

Life remains good. Work is going well, though the editing of the Flame
documentary is always being delayed due to more important concerns like
daily news and commercials. Not sure when it will ever get done. I just
wish it would!

Easter is almost here, and that means 3 or 4 days off, depending on what
industry you work in. Less if you're a journalist. But I intend to spend
at least a couple of days on the roof, with some fresh mango and rum
concoctions... heck, what better way to celebrate Easter? I'd hide
chocolate eggs, but they'd melt. Or the ants would carry them off.
Although maybe the ants would drown in the melting chocolate? Hmmm.

And with that...

Cheers!

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