News From Guam

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Amos
Date: 25 Jan 04 - 09:11 PM

...freeing the rusted hulk of Personal Identity to be swept up in the currents of Sublimated Intentionality, out from the receding shoreline of Lost Hair toward the distant, shadowy Promontory of Salacious Aspirations...

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 26 Jan 04 - 01:14 AM

Amos, I think you are in the wrong thread with that last one. This thread scintilates with the sparkling wit of... uh, it shines with the brilliance of... uh, well, at least it isn't always dull brown and smelly.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: freda underhill
Date: 26 Jan 04 - 01:36 AM

i was most impressed with your post Amos, sounds like an interesting thread somewhere..

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Jan 04 - 01:10 PM

Freda and others-

"The Hamster of Time" thread is rapidly sinking to the bottom of the BS Realm. If you're interested in raising it back to the surface and attempting to navigate the dire straits of imagery:Click Here!

There are guidelines provided and a link to a wonderful list of examples (Humph's as they're refered to).

Work hardly, Brett!

Charley Noble, where it's still well below 0 F

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 27 Jan 04 - 01:43 AM

You would think by now I would be over getting the giggles every time someone tells me the temperature back home...

I just came back from the doctor's office for my follow up visit. I drove with the windows down and the wind blowing in my hair. The bay was blue-green in close. Farther out the rollers broke on the reef, brilliant white against the dark blue of the deep water. The rental jet skis were roaring around the track laid out for them in Tumon Bay. Farther down there were crowds of tourists at the Piti Bomb Holes. Some were walking out to Fish Eye, the stairs that run down to the reef so people can look at the fish without getting wet. Scuba divers and snorkelers were wading out to swim around the holes.

Cold enough for you?

Yep!

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Jan 04 - 07:26 AM

fancy folks complaining about cold when it's mid-summer!

Tomorrow night we're off to the James Craig for another shanty sing. I might take a shawl with me - it can get breezy at the harbour side (but the thin silk one, not a woolly one).

Yesterday the James Craig & the other Tall Ships were out on the harbour to celebrate Oz day - what a sight that would have been. But I can't tell you about it cos I wasn't there!

Summer in Sydney - beaches, blue skies, colourful clothing, boats & ships on the beautiful blue harbour ...

sandra

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Jan 04 - 08:24 AM

Sigh!

Maybe I'll take up ice-sailing. Folks used to do that around here quite regularly, not the light 3-point suspension models that flit about the lakes but real hulls with built in runners. They say that a well rigged ice boat could tear along at 40 or 50 mph. Of course, anyone still aboard would be frozen solid.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble, all alone on the frozen ground

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Jan 04 - 08:43 AM

Charley, leave the frozen ground & find a nice warm fire & lots of warm woolly things!!

Cats are warm & woolly, aren't they?

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 27 Jan 04 - 06:19 PM

Poor Charlie. Didn't I warn you that I would be laughing when winter returned and I was not there?

Still, I'll get a taste of it in March when I return. I hope I remember to bring my sweaters, jackets, gloves, and warm hat.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Jan 04 - 10:59 PM

Check out the "Festival of the August Moon" at Kuranda about a half hour from Cairns. I cant remember the exact date, but obviously it's in August and goes from Fri.night to Monday afternoon.
A small intimate festival held in a natural amphitheatre which has been minimally landscaped. It features mainly traditional type folk music and also has an array of bush crafts on show.
In addition, there is also a world renowned Aboriginal Dance Troupe who usually have a guest artist or two, such as Gulpilil.
You can get there from Cairns by train or via the "Skyrail,"
The best way is one way by train and the other by "Skyrail,"
both an experience in themselves.
There is a local caravan and campsite about fifteen minutes walk from the venue, bookings advisable.
Reply to [e-mail]

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 28 Jan 04 - 05:05 AM

I took the skyrail/train combo when I was in Australia last November. Very nice trip. I met a lovely lass there....

Kuranda didn't do much for me but the trip up and back was spectacular.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: bbc
Date: 28 Jan 04 - 06:34 AM

I've got about a foot of snow for you to miss this morning, Brett. At least, school is closed! Wish you were here. :)

love,

Barbara

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 28 Jan 04 - 07:45 AM

Tonight, whle leafing through the latest L. L. Bean winter catalog I realized I do miss cold weather. But not too much.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: bbc
Date: 28 Jan 04 - 04:34 PM

Little dry flakes have continued to feather down all day, Brett. My snowblower is great, my front walk short, & I've gotten lots of schoolwork done. In this case, hurrah for snow!

best always,

Barbara

P.S.--How's your flu, etc. doin'?

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 28 Jan 04 - 06:30 PM

The flu is gone leaving in its wake the pneumonia that has settled into my left lung. This leaves me feeling listless and tired all the time. My blood gas (percentage of oxygen in the blood) was only 93% at my last meeting with a doctor. I'm working 1/2 days and essentially getting nothing done.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST,bbc at work
Date: 29 Jan 04 - 12:02 PM

I believe there's hope, Brett. My friend, who was a couple days ahead of you in symptoms, has been feeling almost normal for just the past couple of days. This flu takes patience, but I believe you will get your strength back soon. If not, get back to the doctor!

love,

Barbara

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 29 Jan 04 - 03:39 PM

Yesterday I worked a full day and then went grocery shopping! Of course, I was exhausted by the time I got the groceries put away. Still, things are looking up. I feel like I may be able to enjoy the weekend after all.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 Jan 04 - 05:58 PM

Hey, Brett, looks like the temperature is going to hit 30 F this Sunday. What a heat wave! I can hardly wait to go out in my shirtsleeves again and catch some rays.

Glad you're feeling a little more chipper.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 06:42 AM

Strange weather today. This morning I met Peggy at San Luis Beach to gove her the first snorkeling lesson. The sky was mostly cloudy, the water was cool, and the day was warm. When we'd finished and she'd washed her puppy (more about the puppy later) it clouded up and started to drizzle. By the time I got to the canoe the drizzle was rain. We waited for it to stop but there was no sign of that.

As we waited one of the rarest weather phenomena in Guam occurred. It got foggy. Thick walls of fog closed in on us and left the locals gaping at the grey sheets. Joe commented that he'd seen small patches of fog in the swamp but he'd never seen this weather in Guam. Of course, he's young. But Larry, who's been here 35 years, has never seen this on Guam either.

Cool!

Peggy's puppy is named Rosie. She's a young (mostly) black lab. She got the puppy from the local animal shelter where she does volunteer work. Someone had shot the dog and her back legs are paralyzed. She drags those legs behind her as she makes her way across the sand. The odd thing is that she has feeling in those legs and she can stand on them for very short periods but she can't seem to move them. They have sores from being dragged on the ground. The poor thing looks very happy and seems not to notice her disability. We took her into the water and she can swim after a fashion. She didn't seem to mind being in the water.

Peggy says she will give Rosie a month and if she isn't making any progress she'll put her down. I doubt if Peggy will have the heart to do it after a month but that is her choice.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: breezy
Date: 31 Jan 04 - 10:06 AM

This is an amazing read.
God bless you Brett.
Happy new year.
And to all his Friends.
God bless you too.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 01 Feb 04 - 08:04 AM

It's been a busy day. Yesterday I mentioned to Gordon that I felt up to walking in to Fort Santiago if he and his wife were still interested. This morning he called to say they were and that Larry wanted to go along.

So there we were in the early afternoon fitting all four of us into my pickup. I have an extended cab Ranger with two little jump seats in the back. I was the only one who could drive because I was the only one who could get us on to the base. With the exception of Gordon's wife none of us are under 6' tall. It made for crowded conditions.

Fort Santiago was one of the original four Spanish forts that guarded the harbor. After the USA took the island from Spain the fort was torn down and a gun platform was erected on the spot. After WWII the platform was only used for saluting guns and now even those are gone.

The path in to the old fort starts out as a nice wide track but ends in a wall of jungle. There is a tiny trail that winds up hill between the trees. After a while we found a clearing but not a clearing such as I am used to in the Northern Woods. Here was an open area but the edge of the jungle was a solid mass of green with small pink flowers. Those who have seen kudzu in the southern states of the USA know what a wall of vegetation looks like. The clearing looked as though someone had draped a sheet of green and pink over it. The green underfoot was the same as the green on the sides that grew up and over the edge above us and out of sight beyond.

The path led through this and plunged into the green wall. The heat was stifling and the air was still. We climbed, accumulating sticky seeds and cobwebs. Finally we came to the edge of the cliff but there was no platform and no ruins. We worked our way back down the trail and spotted another trail running n to the left. At the end of that one we found what we were looking for. It was overgrown and surrounded by jungle but there was an old safety rail and once you stepped up to the rail a fresh breeeze hit your face and cooled the sweat on your head.

We had a terrific view of the harbor. Below us a sport boat was coming in trailing a white wake behind. A grey Navy security boat rolled out to meet it but didn't interfere. There was a container ship moored out there and the whole coast of the island ran off to the north beyond it. The sun was bright and the sea was that lovely darkest of blues.

As we walked back to the truck we strolled more slowly and the other three discussed the different trees and plants that surrounded us. We saw plenty of papaya, males and females. There was pseudo rattan, nonos, and even some ifit trees. Larry and Vickie discussed the medicinal quality of some of the plants we saw and when we reached the truck I noticed Larry was munching on a piece of fruit he'd picked off one of the trees.

Once we'd all scrunched back into the truck we drove up on to the abandoned runway. Larry was sure he remembered where there was an old wrecked airplane from WWII so we went looking for it. We finally found tthe sign at the head of the trail in to where the plane was. There was a warning that the trail was rough and long and that walkers should consider their experience and fitness before trying it. Since Gordon was only wearing sandals and Larry said the trail was rough limestone we decided to leave that adventure for another day.

This has been a good day.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 10 Feb 04 - 10:43 PM

Refresh
Nothing new????
How about your plans for visiting Maine?

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 06:33 AM

Well, last week, on a Wednesday morning, I went into work as I usually do, with a jaunty step and a song in my heart, i.e., drag in late and grumpy, to be greeted with the words, "The cost plus mod was signed at 2:00 this morning."

This was not good news.

Cost plus contracting is a method where the contractor gets paid his costs in performance and then is given an award fee asumiing he's done a good enough job. The award fee is his profit. The costs covered are his actual expenses and his overhead expenses.

Sorry about the lecture.

What our illustrious leaders had done was to take half our contrat and convert it from fixed price to cost plus. The only drawback to that scheme is that none of us (read zero percent) have any experience with that kind of contracting. So, we've been doing a lot of learning in a very short time. Plus we have to figure out the intricate details of how to make this animal run. It ain't fun but that's what I get paid for.

The end result is that I drag home in the early evening and the last thing I want to do is settle down in front of a computer screen again. Sorry.

Plus the weather has been crumby for the last 5 days and it's supposed to continue crumby through the upcoming weekend. This is supposed to be the dry season (D-R-Y!!!). The sun is supposed to shine in an impossibly blue sky while puffy clouds skim from east to west on the trade winds.

What we actually have is a dark grey ceiling and wet drizzle broken by intermittent downpours. The wind tosses the palm trees and tries to snatch the hat from your head while it drives the rain into your face. One of these days I'm going to HAVE to fix those windshield wipers.

And, as though that weren't enough, there is a tropical depression forming to the southeast of us that looks like it has a good chance of building into a typhoon.

Is that enough? I hope so.

On to pleasanter things. As Mary said I am going home. I will be in San Diego from February 21 to March 5. Amos, you listening? Then on March 6 I head for Manchester, NH, where I will rent a car and head for Houlton. That week coincides with my daughter's (Mudcatter Tenjiro) spring break so she will join me in New Hampster and go with me. I will be back in southern Maine on March 12 to visit my old office and start a weekend of getting in touch with old friends. Then on March 15 I fly out from Manchester to San Diego and on to Guam.

I am really looking forward to this. I will stay with Charley Noble and my sister at various times while in the south. It will still be cold and I will have to remember not to wear my shorts and sandals.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: bbc
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 09:56 AM

Sounds great, Brett; keep us informed. BTW, my son's job offer in CA fell through (management put a freeze on all new hiring), so he will not be joining you there. Sigh, more NY winter for him!

Barbara

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 14 Feb 04 - 08:19 AM

I guess it's time to make another entry. I'm sorry I've been so lax in adding to this but work intrudes. For those in a romantic frame of mind who might think I was distracted by a lady you can guess again.

I had a few things I wanted to do today. I had a package to pick up at the Post Office in Barrigada. I wanted to buy the wood for my new sawhorses. I needed to look for some epoxy putty for sealing holes in the bottom of fancy flower pots. And I wanted to go to the cultural fair at Gef Pago. I decided to skip the Seafarer's meeting.

On the way up to Barrigada I finally found Hafa Books. It is the ONLY used book shop on Guam. I've been looking for it for 8 months now. Actually I gave up the search because I assumed the typhoon had blown it away. And for those who think I should have called, I did. There was no answer. Hafa Books is cleverly hidden behind Green Video (or VIDEO Green as the banner proclaims). It is in the same shop as Creations In Wood. It's in the basement of the building but there is a little sign that says Hafa Books and Creations In Wood.

It's a lovely shop with a good selection of used books and artifacts from Asia. There is a glass case with a variety of items such as a copper Chinese warrior about a foot high, a carved wooden skull from the Philippines, Inuit scrimshaw on mammoth tusk, an ingot of Chinese silver labeled "not pure", and a tray of carved stone Buddhas. There are also a number of baskets and glass and pottery items. I found Pills To Purge Melancholy. That book seems to turn up everywhere. I also found a compilation of NPR interviews from 1996. And I paid $10.00 for a DVD, Space Truckers, a Dennis Hopper Godawful science fiction farce that I have always enjoyed.

It was raining when I left Hafa Books. Someday I'll have to get the windshield wipers fixed. I had decided to do so when we get to the next rainy season but I may not be able to wait that long if the dry season stays this wet. I figured the cultural fair would be rained out so I headed home.

My neighbor is planning a huge fiesta for tomorrow. The festivities start at 1:00 with hula dancing at 3:00. Our dooryard is a 60' paved parking lot and he has covered the whole thing with a set of canopies. He has power washed the pavement and is working hard to clean up his side of the property.

This morning on my way out I met a friend of his who came by to help. We talked for the longest time. He told me of Sumay, the old village when the Navy base now stands. He remembers playing in the area called the Spanish Steps before the Navy built the ammunition pier and closed it. He described the fish and how they would stretch their nets. Then they lay back and waited for the tide to change. When they hauled the nets they were always full of fat large fish. He talked of hunting the coconut crabs and when he described the crab he hunched his body and held his arms out to portray the crab's pincers. He described the work of his sister who dabbles in taxidermy and how she has mounted a coconut crab and a monitor lizard. He is a very interesting person.

Yesterday evening I went up to South Finegayan to help the junior officers build a cardboard boat. The senior officers in the wardroom had decided the wardroom had to have a boat in next weekend's cardboard regatta and had tasked the junior officers to do it. I got drafted when I convulsed with laughter at their "design" which included the phrase "pointy front end".

We went to one member's house to do the work. when I got there they had cut out a twelve foot polyhedron. We broke down the boxes and got to work. I think I gave them pretty good design but they haven't got a chance. When I left they we gluing it together with white glue. I hope the paddler can swim.

Something happened that evening that still rubs me the wrong way. Our host made the comment that he wanted his wife to meet the other wives so they could get together and do woman things while we worked in the garage. The whole implication was so bigoted and tossed off so lightly that I just stared at him. Consider, if he had said, "Let the black guys get together and do black things." he'd have been strung up for not being sensitive to racial pride. But here the women seem to agree and see it as the natural way of the world. Men do men things and women do women things and if there is a need for some crossing over they wait for the other gender to come along and take care of it. When I went into the house for a trash bag our hostess and one of the other wives were crouched in front of a China cabinet looking at antiques cups and saucers. Our hostess leaped to her feet to make sure I, the man, had what I needed. There was something almost apologetic in her attitude.

I finally did get down to Gef Pago. I drove down the east side of the island after a shortcut through Talafofo. What a disappointment. The "cultural fair" was little more than a set of carnival booths without the carnival. They were selling plastic toys and cheap CDs, games of ball tossing abounded. Everyone a winner! Pitiful. The only craftsman there was Taitano the wood carver.

But across the street a woman had a booth selling fruit and tuba. I bought a bottle of tuba and a papaya. Now, some of you may wonder how you get a huge brass instrument into a bottle. The simple answer is you get the orchestra drunk and they lead the tuba player into the bottle. The real answer is that tuba is fermented coconut sap. It is sweet and very surprising in it's power. If you drink it for a while your legs forget how to hold you up according to my friends at work. They say it's even better if you add a little beer to it.

I guess I'll have a drink and go to bed.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Feb 04 - 10:39 AM

Brett-

Could you start a thread on your revisit to Maine and New Hamshire in March so we can better coordinate what could be happening?

At this point it looks like a song party at my house in Richmond on Friday, March 12th, and a special session at the Press Room on Saturday, March 13th.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Amos
Date: 15 Feb 04 - 10:49 AM

I hear ya, Brett!! Can't wait to see you again!

A

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: JennyO
Date: 15 Feb 04 - 11:11 AM

Wish I could be there!

Jenny (sitting next to my biggest fan - he keeps me cool)

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 15 Feb 04 - 08:41 PM

Well, Nick and Carmela's party was a big success. Lots of people, lots of food, laughter and beer. They were celebrating five birthdays. The festivities started at 1:00 and there were hula dancers to entertain at 3:00. When I came out of my half of the duplex I found my front yard full of people. I filled a plate and joined in the fun. I sat with the old men, the patriarchs, and talked of Guam and the world, solving all the problems, as I watched the rest of the people. there were little kids and their parents and grandparents. There was an inflated jumping pad out in the field next to the house. A few of the older kids were tossing a football in the street.

At 3:00 the hula entertainment began. It is a dance company located here on the island. Their instructor is from Hawaii but they do dances from all over the Pacific. It was odd seeing those little girls, the oldest couldn't have been more that 14, doing the sensual dances from Tahiti. It just didn't seem to fit. But they were graceful and beautiful and very good. There were some movements I didn't think possible for a human body.

After the entertainment I retreated into my house and left the party to the locals. It isn't good for me to be in the company of women these days. I start to think about the benefits of a relationship and I don't want to go there again.

I forgot to mention something funny that happened the other night when we were working on the cardboard canoe. we had stopped for supper and I was talking to the host's two kids, 7 and 9. I was obviously the oldest person in the room so I decided to have fun with them. I told them I was the oldest person on earth and had them try to guess my age. We got up to 100 and I was still saying "Nope, older!" Finally they began to ask for the anser so I told them I was older than their dad. That was easy to see. So I told them I was so old that when I was young I had only black and white TV. That didn't impress them. So I told them that I was so old that there were no computers when I was born. The older boy's eye got big and he said, "That's even before the pilgrims!"

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 16 Feb 04 - 06:33 AM

Brett - maybe you can impress the lads a bit more.

sandra


      When I Was A Boy
      Copyright 1997 by Frank Hayes, Firebird Arts & Music (BMI)

      When I was a boy our Nintendo
      Was carved from an old Apple tree
      And we used garden hose to connect it
      To our steam-powered color tv.
      But it still beat that ancient Atari
      'Cuz I almost went blind, don'tcha know,
      Playing Breakout and Pong on a video game
      Hooked up to our radio.

      And we walked twenty miles to the schoolhouse
      Barefoot, uphill both ways,
      Through blizzards in summer and winter
      Back in the good old days.
      Back when Fortran was not even Three-tran
      And the PC was only a toy
      And we did our computing by gaslight
      When I was a boy.

      When I was a boy all our networks
      Were for hauling in fish from the sea--
      Our bawd rate was eight bits an hour (and she was worth it!),
      And our IP address was just 3.
      And you kids who complain that the World Wide Web
      Is too slow oughtta cut out your bitchin',
      'Cuz when I was a boy every packet
      Was delivered by carrier pigeon

      And we walked twenty miles to the schoolhouse
      Barefoot, uphill both ways,
      Through blizzards in summer and winter
      Back in the good old days.
      Back when Fortran was not even Two-tran
      And the mainframe was only a toy
      And we did our computing by torchlight
      When I was a boy.

      When I was a boy our IS shop
      Built relational tables from wood,
      And we wrappered our data in oilcloth
      To preserve it the best that we could.
      And we carried our bits in a bucket,
      And our mainframe weighed 900 tons,
      And we programmed in ones and in zeros
      And sometimes we ran out of ones.

      And we walked twenty miles to the schoolhouse
      Barefoot, uphill both ways,
      Through blizzards in summer and winter
      Back in the good old days.
      Back when Fortran was not even One-tran
      And the abacus? Only a toy!
      And we did our computing in primordial darkness
      When I was a boy.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 16 Feb 04 - 07:30 AM

That's excellant. I wish I had the tune and the chords.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 11:49 PM

I'm back! I had a friend try to cure my computer's senility while I was off island. He did but in the process wiped the hard drive clean. I don't miss many of the files. No big deal.

I am supremely jet lagged. The last two days have ended with me dragging myself around trying desperately to stay awake until the real bed time. It ain't easy. And it's going to be a while before I want to fit myself into an airplane seat again. It's a long way from New Hampshire to Guam.

Today I went by the canoe to see who showed for the regular Saturday meeting. There was quite a crowd but as I approached I could see it was only a buch of kids. There was a strange van parked there. It was a group of troubled kids on an outing. Some of them were very interested in what we were doing and asked good questions. Manny had a model of a Chamorro canoe he'd made and he showed them how the thing sailed. Then we went over to the real canoe and showed them what we are doing. We fielded questions ranging from "How many people can sail in the canoe?" (4), to "Where is the bathroom?" (Men forward of the outrigger, women through the hole in the bottom of the deckhouse.)

I also heard the whole story of the Quest, our canoe. she was built by Manny's father for fishing off the island of Hoak. After we bought her they sailed her from Puluwat to Pikelot, an uninhabited island where the islanders harvest turtles. It took two days to make that part of the trip. It was 118 miles. They rested on Pikelot for a day and then sailed for Guam. They made that leg (382 miles) in 4 days. Later that day they sailed her to Saipan. After that they made short trips around the island until the typhoon damaged her. She hasn't been in the water since.

I also heard the story of how Malapi lost his left hand. If you remember Malapi was the old man who helped out with the canoe for a while. Back in 1972 he was spearfishing at night from the reef off Puluwat. He had a fish and was headed back to his friends on the reef. He swam with the fish on the spear in his right hand, pulling with his left. Suddenly something grabbed the left hand. He pulled and got free but then realized he couldn't make any progress swimming with his left hand anymore. It was gone. His friends rescued him and took him to the Peace Corps volunteers on the island who arranged to transport him to a hospital.

This morning my friend Peggy and I went out to look at houses. she is curious about what houses are going for. I think she is also trying to persuade me to buy a house. She had one listing of a place in Umatak that they wanted $22,000 for. The other was in Agat and they want $63,000 for that one. The Agat house needs lots of work. It seems structurally sound but it could use paint, a new kitchen, utilities upgrade, new bathroom fixtures, some new windows, air conditioning, reconstruction of the side steps, and extensive demolition in the back yard. There is a 4" cast iron sewer line running across the back yard that is broken in places. It looks as though a previous occupant was building a concrete covered patio back there, maybe an outdoor kitchen. There was water leaking from a pipe in the middle of the yard and another leaking pipe at the outdoor laundry fixture.

The other house was worse! It had no roof, no windows, and no doors. There were pipes in the house but no wires and no apparent utilities in the place. We found the remains of the roof in the back yard. Great view though, mountains all around.

It's great to be back home. The weather has been wet and gray but also warm and friendly.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Amos
Date: 20 Mar 04 - 12:54 AM

Brett:

I don't mean to be obsessive or anything, but.....did you find your passport???


A

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 20 Mar 04 - 04:10 PM

Amos, waiting is. You cannot grok a person or event until waiting fills. You should wait, praising and cherishing this event until you grok it in its fullness.

In other words, I will tell you when I find it. **grin**

I forgot to mention that I found out how the canoe sailors deal with a storm at sea. When the seas build up too rough to sail in they take down the sail and lash it to the deck. they then lash themselves and anything loose to the canoe, let it fill up with water and ride out the storm, either inside the canoe or hanging on to the outrigger. Once the storm passes they bail out the canoe and raise the sail.

Also, I found out that the canoe ships water continuously while sailing. A loaded canoe has almost no freeboard so every wave adds to the load. There is one person who bails continuously while at sea. There is even a special seat built into the bottom of the canoe for him/her to sit in while working.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 22 Mar 04 - 07:45 PM

Our cardboard boat performed well in the regatta. They used a double paddle and won the race with the boat still intact and way ahead of the other 11 boats. The boat is now enshrined in the area of the building where they keep the trophies and photos of the management heads. Maybe I have a future as a boat designer after all.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Amos
Date: 22 Mar 04 - 08:03 PM

Well -- did you get the packages you mailed yourself in which you believed it would be found? Or is it still to be found somewhere alse?

A

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Mar 04 - 01:41 AM

No packages yet. Maybe the slow boat got delayed.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Mar 04 - 01:53 AM

I didn't mention my new project. When I was home Dad gave me a his photo album from his days in the Marine Corps. He also told me the whole story of how he ended up in the Corps and what he did while enlisted.

I now have his photo album and I bought a scanner. I plan to scan all his pictures into digital format, have him write down what he remembers of those places and people, and put it all together in an electronic album or a hard document. Once that's done I think I will start with other family photos.

He joined the Marines in Connecticut, went to basic training at Paris Island, and ended up and an engineering battalion working in Peking. His unit was one of the last to be pulled out of China when the USA realized it couldn't influence the outcome between the communists and the Kuomintang.

Time to go. I have a date with a beach and some warm salty water.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Mar 04 - 06:56 AM

Brett - I really missed this thread with it's descriptions of life on Guam. I hope you realise that it's your real job, telling us about life on this wonderful tropical island.

Check out the Oz Catters meet @ Easter @ the National thread - there's info on the Top Half Folk Festival in Darwin in June. I dunno if you could do it in a weekend, tho, Darwin is half a continent away from Cairns.

sandra

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Mar 04 - 08:56 PM

But Sandra, didn't you know I make it all up? Just kidding. I will keep up the thread for as long as I think anyone is enjoying it.

We started out the day with a power outage. The computers quit and the lights dimmed until they went out. We were two hours without power. Apparently it was island wide. I'll have to check the paper tonight to see what happened.

I never did get to the water last night. I left the office later than I intended and then had to come back to retrieve my ID card. Tonight I have to do my laundry but I should be able to get to the beach before that.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Amos
Date: 23 Mar 04 - 10:20 PM

Brett:

About losing identies: You made it very clear to me when you were here that you have a really world-class personality. Personable, accomodating, warm and funny and smart as a whip.

Don't make me come over there!!

:>))

Stay well, pal,


A

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Mar 04 - 10:47 PM

So, what is it that I have to do to make you come over here? Besides sending you two plane tickets that is...

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST,freda underhill
Date: 23 Mar 04 - 11:21 PM

yes, Naemanson, lots of us enjoy your made up stories from Guam. keep well & best wishes

fred

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 06:44 AM

Wow! This place continues to amaze me. Last Saturday I met two amazing and interesting people. One is a racing sailboat captain. He works for a very rich man who has a deep and abiding interest in racing sailboats. His employer owns 5 boats, 40', 50', 75', 90', and a 115'. Al's job is to coordinate the 9 permanent crew members and keep them trained to a fine point for winning races. They are based in Hong Kong but he doesn't like living in Hong Kong so he lives in Guam and does most of his work by remote link. He is currently rebuilding a damaged catamaran and building a power trimaran to use to explore the Pacific islands and to carry mail and cargo between them.

The other person is a Japanese woman who is attending language classes (English) at UOG. She is a carpenter in Japan with a shop and all her own tools. Those of you familiar with the chauvinist society in Japan should realize how unusual this is. She was extremely interested in the carving on the canoe parts working her way in close to help as best she could. Unfortunately she had to leave before she could get her hands on an adze and do some cutting.

One funny thing happened. When I saw my middle sister two weeks ago she gave me a T-shirt she had decorated with Japanese characters. She told me it meant "wisdom". At the canoe Wakana saw the characters and asked me if it was the name of my girlfriend. While one reading of the kanji is "wisdom", or "smart head" as Wakana put it, the other interpretation is "pretty girl" and is used as a girl's name in Japan. My sister got quite a laugh out of that.

You know, adventures come in all shapes and sizes. Since I left Maine I have been determined to enjoy whatever adventure comes my way. Now I doubt if I will ever get involved in the grand adventures like climbing Mount Everest of canoeing down a class 5 rapid but the little adventures are much more fun. One jumped out at me (literally) last night.

I had just eaten dinner at the only Indian restaurant on Guam. It was very good. I had Tandoori Chicken and Paratha bread. I was getting into my car when a lovely young woman engaged me in conversation. She is Egyptian and very talkative. She kept the talk flowing while standing inside my private space and making a point to touch my arm whenever she could. I was immediately suspicious. My first impulse was to cut and run but then I decided to ride the train. She was VERY friendly and it has been a long time since I had any female contact after all. And she was quite sexy.

Now, I would like to remind everyone that one of the common themes in sea songs in the harlot who invites Jack Tar to drink with her after which he wakes alone and naked. This came to mind repeatedly as she talked and pranced and then finally asked me to come into the bar where she worked to by her a drink.

What the hell, I thought, and I took the plunge. What followed was an hour of shameless teenage cuddling while we drank overpriced drinks. At one point while she was away from our corner I stole a sip of her rum & coke. I couldn't taste any booze in that drink. Finally I begged poverty and left. It was true. I had spent my last forty eight dollars on the four drinks we shared. She gave me her phone number and told me I had to call her but I will not. I can't afford her tastes. Still it was a very amusing incident and has given me more of an idea of what the world is like.

The bar, by the way, is a karaoke bar. I had never been into one before. There were TV monitors in every corner showing insipid scenery and scrolling the words to the songs. Some were in English but later an Asian man started singing and the words scrolling up the screens looked to be in Vietnamese or Thai. It was really very lonely. He sat at the bar, alone, with the microphone, while he sang the song. He looked very sad.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 08:19 AM

Brett-

She took me aloft and her tops'ls she lowered,
In a snug little harbor she soon had me moored;
She laid in her fores'ls, her stays'ls, and all,
With her lily white hand on me reef-tackle fall...

Here's luck to the gal with the black curly locks,
Here's luck to the gal who run Jack on the rocks;
Here's luck to the doctor who eased all his pain,
He's squared his main yards, he's a-cruisin' again...

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 06:16 PM

You know, we sing the songs but who ever really expects to live the life reflected in those songs. But then, there has to be a reason those songs grip us and lodge in our hearts and minds.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Amos
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 06:29 PM

Jeeze, Brett, your story reminds me of a lovely lass in Gran Canaria de Las Palmas, who earned her living in a sailor's bar some thirty-odd years ago.   She had an address, but fortunately, she was not at home, so the adventure went no further and I was blessed with a lucky escape. Not the first nor the last, but certainly the last of that kind.

:>))

A-roving! A-roving! Since roving's been my roooo-eye-innnn....


A

(Find that passport yet???)

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 10:37 PM

On my way home I drive by a Navy housing area. There is a contractor replacing the huge concrete fence around the area. It had been damaged in either an earthquake or typhoon. The old fence is coming out in 2'X4' pieces of precast concrete blocks. My friend Gordon has been making off with these blocks by the pickup truck load. He's been using them as walkways and patio blocks at his house and at a rental house he has in Agat. I saw him there when driving in to work the other day, sweat streaming down his face as he carefully tipped another block into his truck. He estimates he's moved about two tons of them by now. He's quite the scrounger and pack rat. And he is yet another example of the good people I have met here.

Today at lunch one of our officers had a list of places we can easily reach from Guam. The list showed terrorist and criminal threat levels. Some areas, like North Korea, are strictly off limits. Others, like China are low level threats. One amusing point. Each country is listed as having a certain threat level for criminal activity. That would denote a certain familiarity with the police reports in those countries. The indication for Guam, a United States possession, is "undetermined". Ain't that odd?

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 Apr 04 - 10:22 AM

what does it say about Oz? We might be a low crime spot, except for a few pockets!

Over the past couple of years criminals in Melbourne have been shooting each other all over the place (24 dead at last count?) Latest was the father of 2 previous victims. The papers are full of the supposed next victim! And naturally nobody's talking, including the next target. After all the latest victim wouldn't talk, either.

Of course Sydney & Brisbane are a different world.

Do we have a good (safe) rating as a potential terrorist target?

sandra

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 02 Apr 04 - 06:17 PM

I don't remember what the list said about Australia. I will check on it and report back. It seems ludicrous to have one line for a place as big as Oz but then they may only be refering to the Cairns area because that is the easiest are for us to reach.

Thursday night I went down to Le Tasi Bistro to listen to the folk band and deliver a couple of CDs a friend wants to get some air play in Guam. (He likes the idea of being able to say his music is heard on the radio as far awa as Guam.) Anyway when I took my seat some women at a table called me over and invited me to sit with them. They had heard me sing there the one time I filled in for the band during their break. One of the women invited me to come to a party, a BBQ she was having at her house. When I agreed she passed me her card for the address. She is "Diane M. Strong, Ed.D, Diver, Adventurer, Writer..." She also gave me a postcard with the cover of her latest book about one of the tour divers in Chuk (Truk Lagoon). Her web site is http://www.strongdiver.com. I haven't had time to check it out yet but will after I finish this post. The admission to the party is one musical instrument. I believe she is trying to set up a music party.