Old Man Morgan

Hi friends, family, readers (probably very few of the later). I am back safely from Aceh. It was a pretty quiet time up there, not much to write about. I went up there to check on the Controls Assessment that is currently underway. Technically, I began vacation on Friday evening … but wanted to ensure the folks were “on track”, plus, I knew Decy would be busy at the salon this weekend. So …. I did a little bit of business.

When I go to Aceh it is like going thru a time warp. Depending on what you are trying to achieve … it could be a step back 15 years … or 50 years. One clearly has to adapt. Overall, I did ok … but got incredibly frustrated on one item after wasting an hour trying to do something on the internet which simply proved impossible.

On Sunday morning I started my return trip to Jakarta. I had scheduled a 2 hr layover in Medan so that I could buy some cakes (bolu gulung) to bring back for the staff and family. My flight from Aceh was delayed 70 minutes … and then took off late. I landed in Medan at 830am … and was scheduled to leave at 925am. I had to get my gym bag of clothes and then hustle to the other terminal. Once there, I went thru security and started looking for my “cake lady”. NOTE: There is a lady I always buy the cakes from and Decy has her phone number … thus, we had pre-arranged the order.

I found the cake lady. She brought me the two boxes of cakes (9 cakes total). She got me to the counter … helped me jump the queue. I checked in and then went to pay my airport taxes. Again thru security … to the waiting area … went to the restroom …. then stood in line at the boarding gate. Time: 855am … boarding in 10 minutes. It never ceases to amaze me … when Indonesia “works” it works absolutely incredibly well …. when Indonesia “doesn’t work” it is a nightmare.

Flight home was fine. Went to get my luggage and noticed that I was given only one baggage check bag (I had two boxes of cakes). One of my boxes was the first one off the plane (yahoo). No second box. Then I started to worry and fret – perhaps it was intentional that I had only one luggage tag. I said a quick prayer and reminded God that the cakes were not for me but for others and this is really important to them. Finally, after about 10-15 minutes the second box arrived. Yahoo. PTL.

Found Pak Yono and off we went …. as we were getting in the car, I noticed there was no cooler. Usually the staff give me a G&T or diet coke, and a sandwich. The decision was to not give me a sandwich – because lunch would be waiting for me when I got home – that’s ok. The decision was taken not to give me a G&T – because it was still early in the day – that’s ok. They overlooked the diet coke …. not ok, as I was very thirsty. Anyway, I mentioned it to Decy and she mentioned it to the staff. I didn’t want them to think I was angry …. just a reminder that with a long drive from the airport … drinks (even diet coke or water) is appropriate.

Made it home around 1pm and had a pleasant lunch with Thasya. Decy came home early (approx 5pm). At about 530pm, the parents of Carissa (one of Thasya’s friends that is going to Puncak with us) came by to meet us …. and make sure everything was ok. It was a short visit because it was the father’s birthday and they were going out that night. Then later I received a phone call and SMS from the father of Aashna (another of Thasya’s friends going with us to Puncak) … to make sure everything was ok. I assured all of them that all would be fine. **** Odd how I have gone from a house of boys … to a house of girls. Oh well, such is life.

Decy and I did our packing early, and then spent some time together in the evening. Everybody is still sleeping this morning but will be rising soon. It is 650am … the staff are setting the table for breakfast. Before too long all will be up and eating … and then we will leave at approx 830am. I know this will be a working vacation and I accept that. What is important to me this week is to spend extra time with Decy and Thasya …. even if just a bit this week (JIS school break week) … I need to sleep in, rest a bit, relax a bit, spend time with Decy … and get ready for a Full Court Press for the rest of the year … before heading off to a full and complete vacation with the rest of the family (whom I miss very much !!).

BTW, in closing …. we gave Thasya her birthday present early so she could enjoy it this week with her friends …. it was a new camera. I may had mentioned she dropped hers in the pool one day many months of ago and was using a very old one we had … which was malfunctioning on a regular basis. We did a little drama about her “inability to focus lately” and then gave there the camera to help her. She’s pretty excited about it. We need to get more memory, a backup battery, and a case … but we can do that in due course. For right now, she has a new 10 mexa-pixel camera with 1Gig of memory …. clearly a step up.

With that note, I will close … have several things I need to do. God Bless All of You reading this blog. Ciao ciao.