Miss Millie goes on Holiday – East Timor 19th September 2006

Wayne and Ann went on holiday last Monday leaving me to run things here. Only hours after they had left there was a stone throwing incident outside the dive centre so I called the Joint Task Force. Within 10 minutes I had a bus load of GNR and 2 APV’s rumbling outside my gates. I was impressed, I made that happen! Of course the stone throwers had already long gone..

Before Ann and Wayne left I got Nelson to write down the staff schedule so I knew who was coming in when, and explained that I needed their help to make sure we had cover at all times. The next day the morning staff was late and the afternoon staff didn’t turn up! Apparently he got confused about the schedule, which I could understand if it was new but it turned out it was the same schedule as they have been using for the last 2 years! I think it was a case of ‘The Boss is away so what can I get away with?’ I soon put a stop to that.

I had dinner with Robbie last week, he’s off to Thailand for a month so Miss Millie (his goat) is also going on holiday to Baucau (an Eastern District of East Timor). Millie is going to be transported by car, her first road trip. We had visions of Miss Millie sitting in the front of a Pink Cadillac, donned in sunglasses and neckscarf like Penelope Pitstop. I have very bizarre conversations with Robbie!

The UN have upped the security level again due to the increase of incidents around town, so no UN staff are allowed outside of Dili unless they get prior clearance. What with that and the wind we have been having this week, it’s not great for the dive business. Jurgen text me yesterday with a security update ‘Rioting between 100 people on Hera Road, Becora. Spears in use’ to which I replied ‘ So what, I have 3 dogs, a chicken on the roof and a chick that’s fled into the house, I’ve a bigger riot going on here’. Doris is an absolute monster when it comes to chickens. Why on earth do the stupid animals come into the garden when they can see the dogs?

I’ve become the mummy instructor around here. My PADI Bubblemaker’s are increasing, now it’s the talk of the school. I had one little girl aged 8 called Georgina, who was adorable. Just before we went in the water she said to me ‘I’m soooooo excited!’ Then when we finished swimming through hoops, playing with the underwater torpedo and doing handstands in the pool, she said ‘Thank you very much, that was so much fun’. But the best bit was when I went to sign her diving logbook, complete with fishy stickers of course! She had written ‘This is the best day of my life’, my heart completely melted.