27 March 2008
Same Same?
During our visit to Bali, Megan and saw a lot of bumper stickers with the expression "Same Same" on it. Small merchants had these for sale, they were on motor scooter helmets, and, of course, they were on bumpers. We would often say to each other "What's Same Same?" We figured it was a quote from a movie we hadn't seen or a quote by a politician, such as GW, in speech we hadn't heard. We both completely forgot about it. Until we saw it on a tshirt worn by Benicio Del Toro in the movie "Things We Lost in the Fire". The movie was neither good nor bad, it entertained us for ninty minutes or so. However seeing the quote our minds began to wander, "What small part of pop culture did we miss?" A week or so (obviously not knowing wasn't killing us) went by before I remembered to look it up on the Internet. Turns out Same Same is/was a pop band consisting of identical twins. You may or may not have heard of them, but I began to wonder what other pieces of useless information are not taking up space in my tiny brain. I think the Giants won the Super bowl. Surely Paris Hilton was up to something that made CNN. Do you have a useless piece of information to share?
23 March 2008
V6AF
On Thursday, March 6 Megan and I moved into a small apartment adjacent to the V6AF radio station studio. A few weeks prior the owners/operators of the radio station had to go off island for medical reasons. Originally a different couple had planned to watch the radio station the whole time the owners were gone but they also had to go off island, for business reasons. So Megan and I have become radio station operators. This mainly entails getting up early to record the daily weather forecast, managing workers, filling in shifts when the workers can't come, and picking up and dropping off workers that don't have a car. The reason we were asked is because running the radio station actually means running a computer program and while many locals are computer literate they don't have near the experience that Megan or I have. Except for the news, which is played via shortwave radio from Australia or Guam, the entire radio playlist for the station is generated by the computer. So, as long as the computer is running we are on air and so far we haven't gone off air.
Here is a picture of me in the studio...
Here is a more detailed look at the studio. In the middle is a CD player and a minidisk player that we use if we cannot get good reception for the news. On the right is a short wave radio. We don't use the reel to reel...
During our second week at the station the vet came so we were able to get a crate for Oliver. In case you didn't know we plan on bringing him back to the states with us...
There is a dog that lives at the radio station his name is Frisky. At first him and Oliver didn't get along too well but they eventually warmed up to each other...
On the radio station property there are a lot of banana trees, papaya trees, and sugar cane. They also have some pineapple growing. I'd never seen a pineapple plant before. They are really neat, the pineapple grows right in center and it looks like it's on a pedestal...
While they are gone they have let us use one of their cars. It's an older Mercedes E190. It's great to have a car, but don't let the Mercedes title fool you it is far from luxery. I don't have a picture of it but it looks like the one pictured here.
Here is a picture of me in the studio...
Here is a more detailed look at the studio. In the middle is a CD player and a minidisk player that we use if we cannot get good reception for the news. On the right is a short wave radio. We don't use the reel to reel...
During our second week at the station the vet came so we were able to get a crate for Oliver. In case you didn't know we plan on bringing him back to the states with us...
There is a dog that lives at the radio station his name is Frisky. At first him and Oliver didn't get along too well but they eventually warmed up to each other...
On the radio station property there are a lot of banana trees, papaya trees, and sugar cane. They also have some pineapple growing. I'd never seen a pineapple plant before. They are really neat, the pineapple grows right in center and it looks like it's on a pedestal...
While they are gone they have let us use one of their cars. It's an older Mercedes E190. It's great to have a car, but don't let the Mercedes title fool you it is far from luxery. I don't have a picture of it but it looks like the one pictured here.
10 March 2008
What should we name our housemate?
Here in Kolonia we have quite a few critters living in our house. These range from large Mammals, such as Megan and Oliver, to small insects, such as ants, mosquitoes and ticks. Somewhere in between mammals and mosquitoes is reptiles and our pet lizard. At first we noticed a few lizards in our house. We never minded their presence. Their diet and our hate of biting bugs and swarming ants created a kind of symbiotic relationship. In wasn't until we had been here a few months that I noticed the same lizard over and over again. Our lizard is a gecko, or more specifically, a mourning gecko. He (or she) is a pale, fleshy color most of the time but does have the ability to change colors depending on what surface he is on. The reason I know it is a single gecko as opposed to a family of geckos is that our gecko seems to have gotten into some kind of disagreement with another gecko, or maybe a bird, and consequently lost his tail. After some time his tail started to grow back so it was fairly easy to identify him as the length of his new tail was always unique. One interesting thing is that the color we see him as is not his "natural" color. When his tail was growing back it was his natural scaley color much like the color of the lizard here. So for quite awhile (maybe two or three weeks) he walked around our house with a tail that did not match his body, this made him very unique.
He is very special because he seems to hang around the places we desperately need a lizard, especially one who eats ants. Most of the times we see him either on our counter tops near the sink or near Oliver’s food dish. Both places that attract ants and both places that we have had a major problem with ants in the past. Even anteaters can’t match his wits when it comes to catching ants. To navigate ants follow each others trail, they probably leave some kind of chemical to do this, so when our little buddy finds one ant he usually finds quite a few. It is nice to have someone of his occupation around our house.
Our new friend is the best kind of pet. He feeds himself. He entertains himself. He doesn’t need to be let outside, of course we will not be able to house train him but his exhaust is minimal. As he is now a part of our household he needs a name. Oliver got his name because when he looked at me when we first met his eyes were asking, very sheepishly and respectfully, “Please sir, can I have some more?”. But I am unable to think of a clever name for our ant eating, tail growing friend. Please comment on this post with a suggestion for a name and Megan and I will choose the one we like best in a week or so. I know I have some nieces and nephews who would claim that naming animals is their specialty so please give them a chance to speak up.
Here is a pic of our
06 March 2008
Islands = Monopolies
The last few weeks the rise in the price of goods has caught my eye. Things that I used everyday in the states cost quite a bit more in Micronesia. Two of those reasons are obvious to me. The first one is the cost of shipping things. It doesn't take a genius to recognize the fact that shipping Tillamook Cheese to Pohnpei, Micronesia costs more than shipping it to Salem, OR. The second obvious reason for higher cost of goods is small population and a small market for the things I'm interested in. There are about 110,000 people who live in the FSM, 35,000 people who live in Pohnpei and less than 10,000 who live in Kolonia, where we live. I am not sure what percent of locals purchase things at the grocery stores I shop. It could be as high as 50% or as low as 10%. The less obvious reason for the high cost of goods is Monopolies, and not the game sold at Toys R Us.
In small town USA there is probably a Wal-Mart, or some other large store, within a short drive. I'm not saying this is always the case, there are always exceptions. However if you live on an island your opportunities are limited to the size of the island. So small island = small opportunities. For example, here in Pohnpei there are two gas stations both operated by the same company, Mobil. Currently Gas is $5 per gallon. Mobil also supplies Pohnpei Utilities with Diesel that powers the whole island (Yes, the whole island is powered by a ginormous diesel generator). There is no room in the market for another gas company. If one where to move in, both the new one and Mobil would not make enough money. Another example is Continental. The only airline to come to Pohnpei is Continental, they have a monopoly in Micronesia and abuse it in more ways than just high prices. It costs $1100 to fly from Pohnpei to Honolulu but less than $250 to fly from Honolulu to Portland. If you don't want to pay that much you'll have to swim because Continental is the only airline to come to Pohnpei, so they can charge whatever they want. The only way to combat high prices is to have government regulation or competition. I am opposed to regulation and believe that the market is not big enough to handle two airlines. But the example that hits closest to home is the fact that there are basically two grocery stores here. There are more but the two large ones supply the smaller ones. When we first arrived we paid $15 for a case of milk. A case is 12 cartons, 1 liter each. The price has risen every few months and yesterday I paid $23.50 for a case (actually I bought two cases because last time they ran out and didn't have any for over a month). I would think that these two stores would compete for customers but that doesn't seem to be the case. The store nearest us, Palm Terrace, started selling eggs for $3 a dozen. Consequently we started getting eggs at the other store, Ace Commercial. Who sold them for only $2.50. Palm Terrace is much closer to our house so we go there several times a week and I noticed that the price of eggs didn't come down, it went up. First to $3.50 now to $4. Yesterday eggs at Ace commercial where $3.25.
The other thing I've noticed is that prices on goods never come down. The only thing I've seen on sale was expired cereal and canned goods. The price of gas goes up every time the price of crude goes up but it never goes down. Even after Christmas, New Years, Valentines day and other holidays things don't go for a reduced price.
How can locals afford to buy anything? I believe the reason for this is that in this culture only foreigners pay rent or mortgages. When locals get married the family gives them either a house or some land on which to build a home. Thus they have quite a bit of money to spend on consumables.
Bananas still cost 25 cents a pound though : )
In small town USA there is probably a Wal-Mart, or some other large store, within a short drive. I'm not saying this is always the case, there are always exceptions. However if you live on an island your opportunities are limited to the size of the island. So small island = small opportunities. For example, here in Pohnpei there are two gas stations both operated by the same company, Mobil. Currently Gas is $5 per gallon. Mobil also supplies Pohnpei Utilities with Diesel that powers the whole island (Yes, the whole island is powered by a ginormous diesel generator). There is no room in the market for another gas company. If one where to move in, both the new one and Mobil would not make enough money. Another example is Continental. The only airline to come to Pohnpei is Continental, they have a monopoly in Micronesia and abuse it in more ways than just high prices. It costs $1100 to fly from Pohnpei to Honolulu but less than $250 to fly from Honolulu to Portland. If you don't want to pay that much you'll have to swim because Continental is the only airline to come to Pohnpei, so they can charge whatever they want. The only way to combat high prices is to have government regulation or competition. I am opposed to regulation and believe that the market is not big enough to handle two airlines. But the example that hits closest to home is the fact that there are basically two grocery stores here. There are more but the two large ones supply the smaller ones. When we first arrived we paid $15 for a case of milk. A case is 12 cartons, 1 liter each. The price has risen every few months and yesterday I paid $23.50 for a case (actually I bought two cases because last time they ran out and didn't have any for over a month). I would think that these two stores would compete for customers but that doesn't seem to be the case. The store nearest us, Palm Terrace, started selling eggs for $3 a dozen. Consequently we started getting eggs at the other store, Ace Commercial. Who sold them for only $2.50. Palm Terrace is much closer to our house so we go there several times a week and I noticed that the price of eggs didn't come down, it went up. First to $3.50 now to $4. Yesterday eggs at Ace commercial where $3.25.
The other thing I've noticed is that prices on goods never come down. The only thing I've seen on sale was expired cereal and canned goods. The price of gas goes up every time the price of crude goes up but it never goes down. Even after Christmas, New Years, Valentines day and other holidays things don't go for a reduced price.
How can locals afford to buy anything? I believe the reason for this is that in this culture only foreigners pay rent or mortgages. When locals get married the family gives them either a house or some land on which to build a home. Thus they have quite a bit of money to spend on consumables.
Bananas still cost 25 cents a pound though : )
05 March 2008
Still More Pics
My Dad started a blog a few weeks back and posted some pics of my parents trip to Pohnpei. Have a look at:
salem-herm.blogspot.com
salem-herm.blogspot.com
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