Home Stretch
Ok – this is it. The last week on the Emergency Plan – or at least the “last week” to get this phase done. Have lots to do, aside from my other work (and this is a busy week in the base case), I have “Table Top Exercise” to facilitate Tuesday (6 hours) that explores worst case scenarios. Then we rapidly update the plan on Wednesday – print 6 copies of 400 pages – and have a final review with our country manager on Friday. After approval/sign off – then we print 25 official copies. Then, somehow, I need to get myself out of this business and back into my normal duties – people now look to me as the expert for this … but reality is, the process owner is a different department. They just don’t know how to do it. Nevertheless, I need to find a way to “handover” the process back to them … and give them guidance as to the “next steps”.
As for the various health issues ….
Dona (driver), Decy’s brother, went home (can’t remember) either Thursday or Friday. He is resting and recovering. I don’t expect to see him returning to work until the end of the week. He has about a 30 minute motorcycle ride to get here … so he needs to be sure he has his strength before getting out and about.
Nunung, our house boy, came home on Saturday. For the most part he is resting. However, he is trying to help out when he can … but not overdoing it. For example, he is spraying the bedrooms at night for mosquitos … and he helped me change out a 5 gallon water bottle (although I carried it). Given that he lives here with us and has access to good food, I expect we will see gradual return of duties step-by-step throughout the week. One thing we did learn about Nunung, is that he had a lingering case of Thyphoid that was affecting him and his pancreas – so we were able to treat that while he was in the hospital.
Sumi, one of our maids, came home Sunday. It is going to take her longer to recover. Sumi isn’t very good about taking medicine and struggles with understanding the importance of “fighting” this disease. Only your body can resolve this – as it builds up immunity. The medicines are to address the symptoms and complications – it is not a cure.
As for Decy – other than being exhausted trying to keep the house running on limited staff, dealing with maintenance issues (such as water pumps not working, Thasya’s AC not working), going back and forth to doctors/hospitals, and beginning to prepare for vacation – other than that – she’s doing fine. She’s a strong woman and a fighter. I know she needs this vacation as much as I do ….
As for Thasya – sniffles seem to be gone. She’s bored bored bored. No friends here. Ahem, soon we will be gone too.
As for Chely – she has 3 more nights of work at Tiga Puluh. Overall, I think she has learned a lot. Most importantly, how hard it is to earn just a few dollars a day, which is all one can expect here if they don’t have an education. I think Chely will take some driver’s training this week.
As for me – I’m up and down. Stomach problems are residing, but now I have a head and chest cold. Seem to swing between being hot and cold (but I don’t have a fever). Also, it feels like my migraines want to come back – but I am fighting that – as these were triggered in the 1990’s in Colombia due to stress – but then went away as I lost weight, exercised, hashed, and just “let loose” from time-to-time. Thus, I need to continue finding ways to fight the stress.
Speaking of fighting stress, even though I have a cold I got on the treadmill and figurately “went to town”. Cranked up the speed and inclination to 8.5 km/hr and 2% right from the start … couldn’t go to 4% (due to breathing) … held that for about 35 minutes … went to 0% grade … slowly brought down the speed but held it at 7.5 km/hr until 67 minutes. By the time I completed my cool down … I had run 85 minutes, 10.5 kms and burned 500 calories. Last time I had run 10 kms was back in 2001 ….
BTW – just want to say a special thanks to all those that prayed for me and my family. Last week was a rough week – but the prayers got us through it – and we have turned the corner and are on the mend.
Also – a special thanks to Decy’s sister Dolly (who reminds me a lot of my sister Norma). Dolly has been instrumental in helping us get good care at the hospital. And, has been able to negotiate discounts for us – which is very helpful given that only Nunung had insurance at the time (now all 3 do, but there is a 30 day delay).
** For the avoidance of doubt, we were going to wait until Sumi had 6 months experience and we knew if we would continue her employment before getting insurance. Her 6 months is end-June. As for Dona – he has been filling in as a driver since about March/April – and technically we haven’t decided whether or not to “hire him” … although I think Decy will continue to use him as long as he continues to learn about our needs. But, reality is – siblings working for each other can create challenges – and they don’t want to jeopardize their relationship. On the other hand, Dona is able to earn more money driving for us, than doing other jobs …. sooooo ….
Enough blogging … I need to take care of some other things.
Ciao Ciao
