I've always been a fan of Darwin, but...

How is it that natural selection hasn't taken care of snoring yet? I mean, what purpose does it serve other than increasing your likelihood of having someone smother you with a pillow while you sleep? Also, wouldn't snoring be a natural barrier to mating? Although I guess by the time you find out they snore it's probably too late.

9 days...

Turns out my new roommate is a snorer. Oh well, that's what iPods were invented for isn't it?

10 Days to Go

So my countdown has officially started, I'm just over a week until I'm done here. Unfortunately I've also become incredibly busy at work so it's going to be a tough week, at least it should go by pretty fast. I've got my doubts though that I'll be able to get through everything that my boss wants me to get done before I go. Somehow for every problem I solve, two more pop up. That seems to be the nature of things around here though, nothing was done properly in the first place it was just hammered together well enough to get by. Unfortunately that means when you start trying to make improvements everything kind of falls down around your ears because it was only being held together with duct tape and shoe laces to begin with. I am continually amazed at the state of some things around here. We really would be better off tearing things down and starting fresh in a lot of cases.

So Scott will be leaving on Saturday and then Jim will leave on Monday. I'm planning on giving Jim my computer to take home with him because I don't really want to travel with it. Unfortunately that means I'll have to do without for my last week here. I guess I'll finally get to do some reading. Not that I haven't had the chance, I just haven't made the time.

So Dean (the billeting guy) dropped by my office again today to tell me I'd be getting a roommate. This is the third time he's told me that in the last week. The last two times never happened. I think this time I might actually get one though because when I got back to my room after work the second bed was made up and there was a new desk in the room. I thought I had actually walked into the wrong room. On the upside, Dean said that the guy he was putting in with me is just a "visitor" and he was only going to be here for three days. I think I can handle having a roommate for three days.

It's hard to believe it's been nearly three months now. Feels like I just got here.

... doing the backstroke I guess

I almost ate a fly this morning. It was swimming in my coffee and when I took a sip I felt something in my mouth. Very gross!

So oddly it's rained here the last two nights in a row. Not for very long, but it came down pretty hard. This evening I walked over to the mess just after the rain stopped and it was so clear out. The rain took all the dust out of the air and it just seemed very clean and fresh out. It was really quite nice.

Well 15 days to go...

Moved

Well yesterday was a pretty productive day for me especially considering it was my day off. I got a good sleep-in and then wandered over to get some brunch around 11am. After brunch I figured I would bake in the sun a little so I got changed and went up to the sun deck. There was already someone up there and we started talking. It turns out he was the billeting guy, a good Cape Bretoner named Dean. As we were chatting it came up that I was still in B-block and he said I should go see him after lunch to arrange my move to S-block. Perfect!

So I laid out in the sun for a bit and then went over to see Dean. It pays to be friendly, he gave me my new room key and although I technically have a roommate he'll be out on leave until after I'm gone. Even better!

So I got all packed up and Jim and Judy helped me move over to my new accomodations. They're pretty much identical to my old accomodations, just closer to work. Oh, and now I have wireless which is nice.

I did have a good laugh my first time through the bathroom though, they have these signs posted above the toilets.

Pooping. Yer doin' it wrong!

The Final Plan

So I don't think I ever updated here to actually explain my final plan for my post KAF trip. I booked my tickets a couple of weeks ago and it's basically going to be a month of travelling and relaxing in Borneo. I'll leave KAF on April 24th to fly out to Dubai and I'll stay there until the 27th. I figure I might as well spend a couple of days to see the city and I'll probably take a day to go out on a desert safari. I was actually hoping to do an overnight safari but of the three operators that I've been recommended, none of them do overnight tours on the days I'll be there. Oh well, a day tour will be fine I'm sure.

 

Anyways, on the 27th I'll catch an overnight flight to Tawau, Malaysia and then I'll hop on a bus to go to Semporna, that's where I'll take my scuba lessons. I'll take five days to do the open water and advanced open water dive courses and then I expect I'll spend another four or five days diving off of islands in the area. The dive operator I'm going to book with is based in town and they have a hostel across the street from the docks so I'll stay there while I do the course. Following that I might move out to a resort on Mabul island to spend the rest of my time there. I'll definitely spend a day diving at Sipidan island, it's supposed to be one of the top dive locations in the world.

 

So after I'm done in Semporna I'll head inland. There are a couple of nature reserves in northern Borneo and I'll definitely stop in at one of them on my way past. One is renowned for it's orangutans and the other is a proboscis monkey reserve. I'm kind of leaning towards the orangutans but we'll see when the time comes.

 

After that I'll continue to the west coast to Kota Kinabalu which is the largest town in Malaysian Borneo (I think). From there I would like to climb Mount Kinabalu, the view from the summit is supposedly spectacular. After KK, I think I'll head out to some islands off the coast. There is a nature reserve there called Tunku Abdul Rahman park (for any of you MBAer's that are reading, that guy is seriously connected). I may do some more diving there or just explore and relax.

 

After that I'll take my time heading south along the coast, maybe passing through Brunei. There are lots of little areas to explore along the way and I don't know how much time I'll have left by then so I may need to rush through it a bit. I've not planned that part of the trip in much detail because I feel like things will change a lot along the way. I have to be back in KK by May 21st and I'll catch a flight to Singapore. I'll have a 2 day layover in Singapore and then I'll catch my final flight home.

 

I'm really looking forward to this trip now. I only have three weeks to go here and I'll be free. It's going to be great!

 

ps. I bought some new running shoes today. As much as I hate that I had to do it I only paid $85 for the shoes and they would have cost me $150+HST at home so I should just be happy that I got a good deal... right? I hate thieves.

Give me back my shoes!

The office was pretty quiet today because over 140 people got on the plane this afternoon to head home. There is a bunch more that have moved over to other companies too. I'm not really sure how many are left, but it sure was quiet this afternoon.

The parking lot between A and B block was a disaster today. Everyone moving out had tons of garbage to get rid of so there was junk everywhere. On top of that, for some reason the company wanted everyone moving out to bring their mattresses outside too so there was a big mountain of mattresses there.

While everyone was moving out and getting rid of junk they don't want anymore there were others picking through the junk to claim their prizes. I figured that I would move my shoes inside my room because I didn't want anyone making the mistake of thinking that I was getting rid of them. When I got home from the gym this evening after all the moving madness was over I made the mistake of leaving them on the rack outside my room as I usually do. Well I went to supper and when I got back, guess what? Some asshole had stolen my shoes.

I'm really pissed! I just bought those shoes last month specifically to go to the gym because you can't use outdoor shoes at the gym here. The ridiculous thing is I have size 13 feet and I am sure there isn't a person left in the building that would come close to fitting in those shoes.