'Sarf & West mate, Sarf & West'

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Pete Bernfeld

Wed 17 Oct 2012 19:49

The 'new' electrician, Tapu, showed up and gave plausible reasons why he was a couple of days late. He apologised which in itself is unusual here and is somewhat baffled by Martin's business model.He assures me that his model involves completing the work at an agreed price and within an agreed timescale. I'm now the proud possessor of two engine temperature gauges, a collection of warning lights, fuse-boxes etc etc. That was all brought yesterday and hopefully today the rewiring will start.

No sign of the starter motor/alternator. I will be pricing replacements but I think it'll be a non-starter, if you pardon the pun. The only word from Martin has been a text asking for money for work done. I haven't bothered to reply but so far costs incurred by his failure to complete the work anywhere near on time are F$1200 and rising on a daily basis. This does not include the cost of replacement parts which I would guesstimate at approaching another F$1000.

Rejecting physical violence as a means of redress/revenge, I have decided that in future all villains in my books will be called Martin. It won't bother of course him but it amuses me to think of it. A case of the keyboard being mightier than the baseball bat perhaps?

For those who've maybe not looked recently, Steve on Dignity is making progress. He is about to start a course of radio therapy and I'm pleased to say is now writing the blog himself and sounding positive. 'Good on yer mate', if I make it to Brisbane hope to catch up with you and Helen.

http://aboarddignity.com/blog/

Speaking of friends, Maureen and Paul (Calypso) are still in Suva and it's nice to have our own 'net' first thing in the morning. In a way I'm glad that they've seen the difficulties that I'm having here because I know that it must sound unbelievable to most people. Paul's recipe for pineapple wine has turned out well but evaporation does seem to be a problem. Maureen has tried it and whilst perhaps not being a full convert has found it 'acceptable'. That's Paul's brew, I haven't convinced her to try mine yet.

I make no predictions for a departure date. Oh yes, I went to see Immigration the see if my visa application had been approved. 'It's being processed'. That'll be since the last week of August then! I had an unofficial word with Customs about extending the duty-free period for the boat. Put it in writing and we'll consider it was the answer. I've been told by one who would know that if a boat overstays then it has to stay out of Fiji for a full twelve months before being allowed to return. We'll see. I'll assemble the necessary paperwork next week and submit it, after all officially the cyclone season starts in less than two weeks now. I could be ready to move if all goes well but probably not with two working engines.

Well, that's it for now, except to say that despite Martin's assurances that my engines did not have a pre-heating system (I insisted, nay knew, that they did) we have found that I am correct. Unfortunately we found that out because the previous electrician had 'hot-wired' the system so it was permanently on! The starter battery was flat but luckily no damage apart from that. Mind-boggling! I now have the makings of a push-button pre-heating system, i.e. we brought the push-buttons yesterday.

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