2 halos and a backpack.

Mood: Vacant
Listening to: Muted office sounds and traffic

Message from our hosts:

Hi JandS!

Last friday, our server had been hacked by an unkown party. Therefore, we decided to take blogigo offline and take some time off to fix the security holes. That was the reason for the downtime lasting until last tuesday morning.

In the meantime we have found the security hole, fixed it and put blogigo with all your data back online. However, some functionality such as the forum is still missing due to security reasons. We are going to fix that in the next days.

We are sorry for any inconveniences the downtime caused to you,
Markus and Martin from blogigo

Friday's events seem even more cruel given that the search for safer accomodation away from the main road has paid off. The move went ahead despite feeling extremely down about losing Dara. The new bungalow is reached via a couple of dirt tracks so we can't give an address for it. Any post should now be addressed to us at:

Tsunami Volunteer Center
26/61 Moo 7
Tambon Khuk Khak
Takuapa
Phang Nga
82190
Thailand

A very hot day was spent pool-side at the Khao Lak Viewpoint resort. As the name suggests, it offers a pretty impressive view across the area and out to sea. Jamie (32 yrs) is clearly less intelligent than Dara (15 weeks) who spent most of the day in the shade. Jamie is now various shades of pink. Sabrina did an extraordinarily good impression of a starfish in the pool.

Some things you may like to know about Thailand:

a) As long as you have Buddha on your side, it is impossible to be involved in a traffic accident. This is why it is perfectly acceptable to overtake on blind corners going uphill in the rain in a bus.

b) Sell-by dates offer no value to anyone. There is no shame in proudly displaying chocolate bars that expired in 2002.

c) Although the word 'no' does exist, it must never be used in response to an enquiry. An alternative suggestion however misleading should always be used.

d) Thai pop music has mutated out of traditional audio torture methods. Under no circumstances should catchy rifts or tuneful singers be employed. Wailing and repetitiveness are key to chart success.

e) It is perfectly acceptable to serve up sweet and sour pasta and add salt to a lemon shake.

Got very drunk. Meanwhile, Dara thought it would be amusing to chew through Jamie's mouse cable. Jamie was not in agreement.

Dara has been renamed 'Batty' on account of her bat-like ears and tendency to go a bit mental for no apparent reason. See Fig. 01 for ear detail.

Fig. 01

Mood: Serious

http://www.tsunamivolunteer.net/longtale/2005_11_issue_02/

Sabrina eats at pretty much the same little shack-kitchen every lunchtime. It belongs to a 'Sue', a tsunami survivor that sadly lost family and business. Sue had been wanting to improve the kitchen for some time, and so when 2 American ladies appeared from nowhere to offer a big chunk of money as a non-organisational donation, Sabrina knew where to point them. Work on a spanking-new floor commenced within days.

Mood: Bored
Listening to: whing whing whing

Boys, please feel free to leave Carly and Katharine a message, they will get back to you as soon as they can.... 

Running out of diesel could have been quite tricky for the Tap Tawaan team if wasn't for the fact that they rolled to a stop directly outside the home/shop of the nicest man with diesel in the area. He swiftly siphoned us off enough of the dark stuff (for free) to make it the nearest station. Where upon returning with the change from the fill-up, the attendant randomly gave us 4 free cartons of tepid sweetened UHT milk. These were of course duly passed to the unsuspecting colleagues in the back. Oh, and all of you that have ever wondered what a cement burn looks like, Jamie got one specially for you:

Jamie returns to the site at Tap Tawaan and lays his first sloping floor. Bit trickier, but does OK and gets Scott (experienced constructor) to finish it off 'cos he gets tired, like a girl. Down at the office, Sabrina takes the opportunity to remind certain self-obsessed people of the reasons we're all doing this, as they start referencing volunteers as 'theirs' and 'them'. The evening was spent at Baan Nam Kem village (about 10k down the road) as the TVC volunteers were invited to a celebration there. Once J & S had successfully out-run a storm on their Honda 100cc moped, much free food, drink and entertainment was enjoyed with the villagers, although the dance interpretation of 'pain, darkness and death' was fairly missable.

The boat in background was carried .75km inland:

End of the evening:

Went for a walk in the local national park. Which is basically a huge bit of ocean-hugging jungle. The resident gibbons were not spotted, but the odd piece of rustling bush was duly noted. 1.5 km of sweaty marching rewards you with a few mozzie bites and a lovely bit of uninhabited beach.

Later Jamie gets a foot massage whilst watching television (featuring pig-chasing and freaky cartoons with babies that have gross oversized pink heads) and Sab's gets her toes painted by one woman and three toddlers.

Even later, J & S are robbed of a decent nights sleep by a constantly (seriously he wouldn't bloody shut up) howling dog. However, due to later reports of a 2m brown and red snake prowling our bungalows, he may have had good reason.

The latest TVC volunteer signs up:

Bit 'o sun, bit 'o rain. What've you got your end?