Text 16016, 103 rader
Skriven 2007-05-28 01:31:52 av RUTH HANSCHKA (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av GLEN JAMIESON
Ärende: MILITARY BRATS 79527
============================
->  -> "misfits" I met when he was out on bail, awaiting trial for breaking
->  -> into a supermarket while drunk and stealing packets of laundry soap,
->  RH> Stealing soap?  He must have been hard up for things to steal. 
Then
->  RH> again, it's easy to unload soap.
-> 
-> He admitted to being _very_ drunk when he broke into the supermarket!

Three sheets to and a few extra oil cans, just to make sure from the sound
of it!
 
->  RH> (absolutely grinchly grin)  I almost like this guy; I favor
->  RH> creativity, if not thievery.
-> 
-> When I met him he was running a car wrecking business.  Some friends
-> in Lae had built a "haus wind", garden shelter in their front garden,
-> but without getting local council permission.  An officious council
-> official then told them it was an illegal building and they had to
-> dismantle it.  They were very despondent, until I suggested that as it
-> was built on short piles, clear of the ground, a set of wheels would
-> turn it into a caravan on piles, and therefore not subject to council
-> regulations.  We went to the wrecker, Peter Fuller, and explained that
-> we were looking for wheels and axles.  He was not very helpful until we
-> said that it was to beat officialdom, when he became very enthusiastic,
-> found wheels and pipes for axles, and came to the house and installed
-> them on the little building - all for a carton of beer.  No trouble.

People do the same thing here.  As long as a shed doesn't have a permanent
foundation, the town doesn't require a building permit or anything else.  
Use old cinderblocks, railroad ties, rocks, etc and you're fine.  There are
lots of sheds on cinderblocks and very few with foundations.  
 
->  RH> specialized in boat and motorcycle engines.
-> 
-> There are millions of small engines there, and a good mechanic is
-> always in demand, and essential to the life of the villages.

I'm not surprised.  On Cebu Island boats were a major means of commerce and
transportation.  A guy who could repair marine motors could make a good
living.
 
->  RH> I'd imagine not.  There's a difference between tradition and
->  RH> titilation (ahem).
-> 
-> At the major shows, the competition between dance groups gets very
-> intense, so no non-traditional items are allowed.  That includes
-> underwear.  At the Pt Moresby show, on one occasion I noticed a group
-> of local lads watching a women's dance group with more than just an
-> academic interest, as the grass skirts swirled around the girls'
-> thighs.   The nearest girl also became aware of their drooling gaze -
-> so swung her skirt a bit higher!

Good for her!  I'm not sure if they should have disallowed underwear, but
as long as the guys weren't wearing any either....  
  
->  RH> Cool.  I'd imagine it might even be useful in parts of California,
if
->  RH> the Samoan version is anything like.  Maybe even in Hawaii - lots
of
->  RH> Samoan immigrants.
-> 
-> The Samoans are Polynesian, and so speak an entirely different language
-> from the racially different Melanesians.  The Micronesians are of a
-> different language group again.

I wasn't sure of that one.  The original native languages may have started
out close together, but time and distance put paid to that.   
  
->  RH> as a cult or an "other" religion.) One does wonder how Adventists
make
->  RH> out there, food-wise, since a lot of those I know are
->  RH> vegetarian....dragging this on-topic.
-> 
-> In the Highlands meat, mainly pig, is only eaten on special occasions,
-> and then usually to excess, causing a sickness known as "pik-bel".  The
-> rest of the time people eat sweet potato and a large variety of greens.
-> The "Seven-days" run an excellent vegetable farm, supplying the markets
-> of Goroka and Lae.  (Food reference!)

Vegetarians would do pretty well, then.  I'd imagine coastal areas include
seafood.
 
-> In recent years, so many extremist religious missionaries (mainly from
-> USA) have been establishing themselves in the Highlands that the local
-> population was becoming very confused, so the government had to put a
-> ban on any more coming into the country.

Oops.  I wonder who ends up under that umbrella.  The Russians kicked the
Salvation Army out of Russia because they were an "army". An army that runs
drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, homeless shelters, and other
things, but an army.   Go figure. That was a turf war with the Orthodox
Church, IIRC.  
  
-> Like tractors and cars, all people have much the same internals,
-> irrespective of their nationality, so good car/body mechanics/doctors
-> can work anywhere.  Only the faults experienced vary somewhat according
-> to the operating environment.

The docs have to get recertified according to local rules, but that's no
different from a mechanic learning to repair the machinery as built for use
in the area.  
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