Getting it done, and electricity

I'm reading on facebook that Jakartans are complaining about the electricity supply being suspended, due to some breakdowns. I don't think they know how good they've got it. Here in Banda Aceh, I had intermittent electricity Saturday, ending in the evening. It came back on for about 10 minutes Sunday morning, then nothing. About 4pm I dumped all my frozen steaks, lamb shanks, ground beef and *ahem* pork *ahem* into a cooler and took it the office, where there's a genset. Oh, I have a genset too, but it doesn't work -- that's my next project. I was told all it needed was a new battery.

I had earlier found a diesel jerrycan, filled with a dark liquid. Dumped that. Spent an hour looking for the old battery, only to find it has been in the car for months. Now I needed to find a motorcycle battery store open on Sunday evening. I got a few suggestions, and drove around those areas, but no luck. I headed home, keeping my eyes peeled for any prospects. There it is! I spied a Honda / Castrol motorcycle parts store on the other side of the street. I drove a long way for a break in the median, maybe 1/2 a kilometre, then turned around. The store was closing the last door for the night. I ran up and asked them if they sold batteries, and they said yes. I showed them my old one, but they didn't have one that size. Give me the biggest you have in 12V, I said, and they did. I had to fill it with acid at home, then connect it and then...

Nothing. My new purchase was too big to turn over the big single diesel, so no dice. Fortunately the PLN juice was back on by now, so I slept in air-conditioned comfort until 5:30, when it died again. I waited for my great pembantu, Ifa, to show
up and ask her to send her father, the mechanic. They got it started using the battery from my car and some kind of cable end adapters. Two hours and $50 later, I own an appropriate sized battery and I'm ready to go.

The office is back to life today, after a somewhat slow Monday. I forgot to distribute the bika ambon cake I bought in Medan airport on Thursday, and it's probably no good now, so I'll toss it when nobody's looking.

Getting work done. My strategy is due this week, and I've barely started, but I always work better to a deadline anyway. I've got it laid out and the sections are filling quickly, so I'll get it in on time, I think. I need to plan a "Capacity Development Program" for the Aceh legal affairs bureau. It's not really rocket science, and I've got some good colleagues and a nice, hardworking counterpart from the government, so I should be alright.

The reason, or one reason, I'm behind schedule is that a lot of short-term things have jumped up, which I'd like to ignore but can't. We've designed an initial training program for the bureau, even though we don't have a strategy yet, but at least they'll know we're serious. I've also got foreign consultants visiting, who will take some of the other work over, but of course it takes time to get them up to speed on what we are doing.

Tonight is our weekly expat beer ^H^H^H^H dinner night. Looking forward to a good crowd, with visitors and most back in town.

By the way, the electricity hasn't failed since I got the genset working. Sigh.