The RAV

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Every feel like your brain might be working against you?  Every wish you could turn it off?

I have an internal debate that has raged, well, gimped and limped is more like it, for years.  My current line of work has given fuel to continue the conversation.

I often work long days.  Tuesday, for example, was a thirteen hour day, 7am to 8pm.  I prepped for and taught a class, I worked on some lesson plans and additional projects, we had a team meeting. It was a very long day.  I actually didn’t mind because I felt very productive.  I was complimented by two different people about my training abilities.  It was nice to have concrete projects to work on, instead of trying to look busy while not having anything of any importance to do. There was quite the debacle a couple weeks ago involving one of the contracting companies (not mine) and overtimes rates, so as a result, we’ve all be told NO overtime, period. That means watching hours closely.

A thirteen hour Tuesday, plus five hours Monday and seven hours Wednesday means I am already at 25 hours for the week. Friday I’ve got classes all day so ten hours there, leaves five hours for today. 

Here’s the internal conflict:  After a long Tuesday, a short Wednesday followed.  I was home and finished with tasks by 2pm. I wanted to be lazy and read or watch Hell on Wheels or be generally non-productive.  Then the RAV (responsible adult voice) in my head says “What? There is a dishwasher to be emptied and clean clothes that need to be moved to the dryer.  You haven’t walked the dog in two days.  What about those hobby projects you always want to work on. And the . . . .” This is all true.  Some of those tasks are need to’s, some are want to’s, but there are always to do’s. 

Invariably I give in and do some chores. By the end of the day, I’m tired and sometimes resentful of not having down time. On the semi-rare day I do lounge around a bit, I feel guilty for not having accomplished one of the ever present To Do tasks that come with living in a big house that needs cleaning and maintenance, with two animals that shed and eat and poo, an wearing clothes and using dishes and the like. 

I try to balance all this, tending towards the productive, accomplishing things more often than doing bupkis, but it ain’t easy. Maybe this is why people started drinking.  It turns the RAV into a tone only dog can hear and it’s hard to be productive with a hangover. Even harder to think or feel guilty with one.  

Possible solution to my dilemma? Drink more!

3 P's in JKT

This is not THE 3 P's as in a definitive list.  For those of you know know, this is not 3P, an entirely different adventure. These are 3 different and unrelated P topics that have occurred to me in the last day.

PALESTINE

courtesy of www.aworldofprogress.com 

          As an American, I grew up assuming every person and every country was an ally of Israel.  I learn about the atrocities of the Jewish history not only in school, but in my house.  My family is Jewish, or partly so anyway.  Jewish history was something I took a particular interest in, even if I'm not a practicing Jew. After years of reading, classroom lectures and the nightly news, it was a logical assumption. I knew there were a few allies for the Palestinian cause, thinking namely of Iran or Saudi Arabia or some other Middle Eastern country.  For want of real information, I filled in the blank with other "enemy" countries.  If the US didn't support Palestine and we were at odds with Iran, then they must be in cahoots. 

         I hadn't thought much of it since my arrival in Jakarta until an incidents fairly recently when the Israelis broke through a "Gaza-bound aid flotilla", the BBC's term.  During the time that this was occurring, there were mass protests outside the US Embassy in Jakarta. These were massive protests in a city where the populous likes its protests. In my time watching the world from the back of a motorbike, I've seen lots of Palestine stickers on bikes, cars and helmets.

          It makes sense that the largest Islamic state in the world would support it's brethren. It had just never dawned on me that anyone in Indonesia would be particularly interested in Palestine, especially when most people here tend to barely see past their neighborhood.

PETS

Another issue I didn't think of in context to religion; dogs vs cats.

   the kitten is courtesy of myspace.com,
   the puppy from diypuppytraining.com


          Equally adorable right?  The difference is that in Islam if a dog licks a Muslim, he must immediately go and wash thoroughly.  This means that few people here have dogs. There are a few street dogs (though vastly outnumbered by cats, rats and automobiles). The street dogs are treated horribly.  People stop at them, yell and throw things.  The dogs live in general misery and fear.  Even for dog lovers like myself, the dogs will not approach. If they're lucky, they find other dogs to pack up with which increases the chance of survival and quality of life marginally.

           Cats on the other hand are absolutely freaking everywhere.  They are great protection against the rats, if they are bigger than the rats which isn't always. They're the best thing I've seen against cockroaches since the roaches are bigger than the lizards here. The cats are particularly friendly in general but are harmless.  They tend to scatter quickly and avoid people but will mill about if there's food.

            The cats and dogs will break your heart equally.  Neither species get spayed/neutered so babies abound.  There is a momma dog just outside my kost (boarding house). When I first moved in there were two puppies with her, about 6 months old.  I was told one had been hit an killed just two weeks prior and one had died at birth.  Of the remaining two, one must have been hit last week because it disappeared.  Then this week the other one has vanished.  I'm trying semi-successfully to convince myself that someone adopted them, or took them to their village.   I was convinced that momma dog was in mourning until yesterday.  As I walked out to catch my ojek to work, I saw a mass of about 5 little tiny puppies.  It's either this momma dog or one other that roams nearby.  I'm mustering all my will not to bring one home.  I had a disastrous incident with a kitten in my second month here that wrecked me emotionally.  As much as I've always been an adopter, I have to fight that urge here.

              I used the term pets, but so far I've really been talking about street animals.  From what I can tell in student surveys, most kids have hamsters, birds, fish or turtles.  Turtles seem to be neck and neck with the hamster as the favorite pet which surprised me since in the States people always talk says that turtles bring more disease than other pets ("Salmonella!!!")


              Upon examining this blog post in the preview, I've decided to move the third P to a separate post but leave the title of this as is.  As a request, I'd like some feedback now that I've put up a few posts.  Are more shorter posts better? Longer posts but less often?  Is anyone out there?