Sunday 26 February 2012

Sunday at Longwood

Today I went to Longwood School Family Farmyard Funday, much like school Fete's the world over I guess (does every school have a Farm? I don't Remember one when I was 10). For logistical and Animal Welfare reasons the Agricultural competition didn't involve trucking livestock in from all over the island - instead the judges went for a Drive last week (now that seems a whole lot more sensible - why don't they do that in Devon? then they could make the County Show a much smaller event with less Traffic...) Like most school Fetes there wasn't much for a grown adult to do (I had to drive home so the bar was out, and they wouldn't let me on the bouncy castle). So I took some photos and came home after a couple of hours.

On the way to Longwood I went down Ladder Hill (yes I took the scenic route) as there was no Traffic about I stopped, got out and had a good look at the road - if any of you are thinking these Cliffs are unstable then you're probably right, but the road itself is in good condition which surprised me, I had rather assumed it would be slowly sliding down the hill... I had a chat with a few guys who were sitting by the road having their lunch, still no Traffic, quite nice and quiet really considering it's the busiest road on Island. One of them kindly moved their truck as it was blocking the road to let me pass, but I had to move the Road Closed sign at the far end myself (and put it back again once I'd gone past).

Reading the paper this morning I discovered there had been a Pancake Race at Longwood last Tuesday, so I was only third in a Regional Race, not a National, phew the stress was really starting to get to me.

I forgot to mention that on Tuesday there had been a night-time Carnival after the pancake Race. Bridgwater Carnival eat you heart out, attendance was huge and about 1% of the population was involved, with the 2 'floats'! Perhaps next time there's a Carnival I'll have to get the Scouts organised and show them how it's done.

DSV Hugely Improved!!!

DSV has been Hugely Improved. At about 2am the entire A1 and the Road to Sandy Bay were uploaded (I seemed to have enough spare internet) and this morning another update linked the A1 images to an embedded Google Map.

DSV will continue to be updated and added to for internal use within the Roads Section, but it probably won't all go online, sorry. However I do intend to link the Sandy Bay Street View to the embedded map as well, but it's not so easy as I don't know the road so well.


Incidentally, whilst at Sandy Bay I took some more Photos see: www.malpas.cwi.sh

Saturday 25 February 2012

I'm a National Athlete plus...

I've been rather lax this week with no posts, sorry.

On Tuesday it was Pancake Day, a good day :) I met quite a few new faces as the Scouts helped set up the stalls and then provided a large number of competitors for the Pancake Races, unfortunately that meant Paul (the Scout Leader) and I took part in the Adults Pancake Race, which meant I had to run. But on the plus side it means I came third in a national race. Olympics here I come! or not...

Update: I have been questioned how many participants there were. No there was not just 3, there were about 8-10 I think. There's a photo of me in the paper (well you can see me, I got off to a bad start so I'm at the back) http://www.saint.fm/independent/

Other than that, this week's been quiet, lots of work and not so much time off. Thursday saw another Diving lesson, 2/5ths of the way through the classroom (but I'm doing my homework and 3/5ths of the way through the book). On Monday I hope to get a date for the first pool session :) can't wait. Friday we went to Pub Paradise for a Curry night - slightly more Normal than my earlier trip to Godfathers Rock Club - but the Goat curry had rather to many bone splinters for my liking. Still the Orange and Chocolate Chip ice cream for Desert more than made up for it :)

There's a round island boat trip in 2 weeks on a Saturday, I'm toying with the idea of going as I'd love to do it and it's the first time I've seen it advertised on a weekend. But it's an all day thing so I may not go as there's lots of other things I want to do.

Talking of other things, DSV has been much improved - but isn't on the web yet (and the mapping still won't be because of Copyright). I've replaced my MWMM (and the associated LOTSEH) with some relatively simple Java Script which makes it all so much easier. I'm planning to go to Sandy Bay this afternoon and so that may get uploaded tomorrow as I think I have enough Internet left this month.

Sunday 19 February 2012

Another Car

For those of you who despair that I now have 2 Freelanders I thought I'd show you a photo of my Morris Minor. Unfortunately the Police car arrived as soon as I parked it on the drive...
       ...I'm not sure whether they were more concerned about the headlight being out (shipping damage) or the fact that it had the same numberplate as theirs!

Come On, surely you realised it was a TOY Freelander?

Saturday 18 February 2012

St Pauls Cathedral to Scotland in 5 minutes

Well, today I drove a Landrover from St Pauls Cathedral to Scotland, it was less eventful than my previous post about driving to Scotland, and it took less time, a lot less.

I've uploaded some photos of the A1 to my website. You've previously seen DSV which covers the section of the A1 from Jamestown to the top of Ladder Hill, I've now uploaded photos of the Key Landmarks on the rest of the A1. There aren't many. I then drove to Scotland.

Update on Diving:
I didn't get wet and I have homework :( But on the upside I should be able to complete the theory in a couple of weeks and then start the practical :) Next lesson Wednesday, dry again :(

Thursday 16 February 2012

The Job

Since arriving I don't think I've blogged much about the reason I'm actually here, have I?

The Job isn't what I thought it was, especially it isn't what I thought it was when I was on Ascension, which is a good thing.

If you can imagine a Highway Authority, say North Somerset or Devon. In that Authority there are people who plan routine maintenance; people who do inspections; people who design maintenance schemes; people who know about structures, who inspect them and plan repairs; people who know about drainage, again inspecting, planning repairs and designing improvements; people who co-ordinate work, who talk to the utilities to make sure that roads don't get dug up too often (I know some of you don't believe me, but it's true we DO do that); what have I missed? Oh yes there are people who know about road safety; people who write traffic regulation orders; people who design road signs; people who design road improvements; people who design town centre improvements; people who arrange traffic surveys; people who do Traffic Surveys; people who speak to developers to make sure they don't screw up the roads; people who deal with difficult members of the public and people who liaise with Councillors. Oh I nearly forgot, people who know about materials, who sample materials being used and make sure they meet the standards; people who write those standards; people who oversee works;  people who run databases with asset records and construction histories; people who make sure that contractors do what they're supposed to. In small authorities some of these people may be the same person, but in many Authorities these people will be a small (or large) team of people. In St Helena they're me. Well they were till Monday, now I have a Technician.

Oh I did forget, in the UK you would also have Senior Management levels with the Contractor; Plant Managers; Trainers; and the like. That's mainly me too.

That's not to say I don't have a very good team working for me, I do. But they're people who actually do real work, there's the Guys who dig the holes (you know what I mean), the Guys who tell them to dig the holes and give them the spades, the Guys who make sure the holes are where we want them and they've got enough spades; and the Roads Maintenance Manager, who is basically a Works Manager (but isn't as the Works Manager is a completely different job, same words, different meaning - it's caught me out a lot) and makes sure everyone is busy and deals with day to day running of the contractors operation.

It's a challenge. While I've done many of these jobs before, I've not done them all (Plant Manager?) and I've not done them all together!

Last night I was listening to the Radio and I heard an announcement: "The Directorate of Infrastructure and Utilities are seeking Expressions or Interest to supply a..." I was intrigued, what are they after now? "...Lorry Mounted Road Sweeper", oh, its me, I want one of them. And with a bit of luck next week it'll be a JCB, Dumper, and 2 Transit Trucks. Oh and a Tar Spray Tanker. What do I know about any of this stuff? Well a lot more than I did a month ago, and, unfortunately, more than anyone else it seems...

But I don't just buy plant. On Tuesday I commissioned a speed survey at Half Tree Hollow so I'm now working with my Technician (ok he is doing most of the work) to try and work out how the speed loops work....  Commissioned wasn't really the right word.

Oh and I need to make sure we have enough Colas (Tar) to keep working, and because it's in short supply I need to make sure that everyone knows to prioritise jobs that don't need it.

And I need to design that bridge widening....

Luckily, as I've said, I have a very good team. So the next job is being developed by my Works Manager and he's doing all the public liaison and ordering the huge concrete pipes that we need (I didn't want to design a whole bridge!). I don't actually have to supervise much, once or twice a week I pop out to make sure my face is recognised and to make sure they're doing things ok.

Yesterday (Wednesday) we had a works meeting. I did a power point, which I think went down ok, there were a few Jokes and some serious stuff. Whether I got the balance right I don't yet know. They certainly seem to have accepted me, but whether they think I'm weak I don't know. Still, I think there may be a couple of disciplinaries coming up, so that should set the record straight.

In essence my summary of my job is 3 lines:
  • The Road Structure is basically fine
  • The Road Surface is basically not
  • The Road Section organisation is in disarray from divided management (now resolved) and no clear dedicated leadership for the last year or so.
If I can sort the last one I think the middle one will be ok. But to sort the last one means buying plant, setting standards, getting people trained up... and at the same time actually keeping the section running by dealing with the Day Job. Luckily all those working with me seem to be keen to step up a gear and try new things. So I don't have to do all the jobs, as with the right support they'll do them. I guess that's my main task, to provide the right support.

I think I'll probably cope, but it's going to be a tough first year or so. Still, looking forward to tomorrow when I get my first diving lesson J there are some advantages of being here!

Monday 13 February 2012

Getting Wet

Over the weekend it's rained a lot, and was basically wet all day Sunday, it's drier now though... Annoyingly the guttering on my house seems to be designed to maximise the noise made by the water, which isn't great at 3am...

On the plus side, now it's raining I may as well get wet. First diving lesson on Friday J can't wait!

Sunday 12 February 2012

DSV Lives

For those of you who are interested in the Roads, one of my ambitions before arriving was to set up DSV. Well now I've got a trial version up and running. It needs more work, and I don't think I'll ever be able to post it all online, but for now I've uploaded the main road out of Jamestown as a trial.


p.s. if you can decipher the acronyms, answers on the back of a postcard :)

Edit: Checkout slide 127 - extra interactivity - you can turn right!!!

Saturday 11 February 2012

Cars

I've resisted, there is a Blue Toyota MR2 for sale and I haven't bought it. And I won't. Some may know that I had an MR2 until December 2010, when my brother decided to buy a derelict house and needed my help to do it up. As an MR2 isn't the most practical of cars for carrying eg a Shower Screen or rolls of loft insulation, when it broke I bought a dull Honda Estate. I've always missed my MR2 and seriously considered buying one to bring with me...

Anyway, instead I am settling for a second Landrover Freelander, as the photo shows, one parked either end of the Drive :), sorry it's a bit fuzzy. There's another photo here which may be clearer.

Thursday 9 February 2012

Dreams

Do you ever wonder what you'd do if you won the lottery? C'mon I don't believe it hasn't crossed your mind some, think of the things you'd do if you had £5million or so sitting in the bank.

Or, what would you do if you were Prime Minister - clearly anyone can do better than the current chap, (whenever you read this I'm sure it applies, except if its a chapess).

Or, you've just won the Apprentice, you've got £250,000 and are going into partnership with a Business Giant...

Well, now I know. Starting at the bottom, if I'd just won the Apprentice, I'd apologise to Mr Sugar and give him his money back. If I was Prime Minister I'd call an election, and not stand.

If I'd won £5m on the lottery things would be different. I'd take a month off work to go to the UK and buy a few nice cars. I'd ship them back to St Helena and petition the lands executive for an old warehouse to park them in. I'd pay someone to clean them and maintain them and open a National Car Museum! Then I'd go back to work.

Dreams don't work here, why would you want to change it? The only big problem is that it takes so long to get here, but the Runway is already under way and once we have one of them I don't see what else I'd want.

Oh, a working Asphalt Plant, but that's another story...

edit: ... it makes me wonder why Napoleon didn't like it here...

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Photo Update

Just finished a photo update, www.malpas.cwi.sh

Don't miss the odd photo of the RMS and another ship in James Bay www.malpas.cwi.sh/063.html

Snow? Scouts and a Late Night

Well I heard the forecast for snow and remembered my training, so I got out my Yellow Jacket, my Yellow Snow Shovel and found some salt/sand mix ready to treat the icy roads.

But it didn't seem very cold, so when the Scouts asked if they could use the spade to dig a hole in the beach I agreed. I took off my yellow jacket and went for a swim in the Sea. Boy, did that feel good, after a long day at work, then driving down into the heat of Jamestown, a nice swim was just what the doctor ordered.

After about an hours swim (no we didn't go out to the RMS) we returned to the Scout Hall for a continuation of lasts weeks activity. Last week we built Lego Rocket Cars in the Bloodhound theme. As some of you may know, Bloodhound is a Landspeed Record Car designed to go faster than the Ground-level Air Speed Record (see the animation '1000 mph race'), so after Lego Rocket Cars we had to see if we could do better with Rocket Paper Planes!

After some testing it became apparent that Paper Planes were significantly better than Rocket Planes, with the end result that the car would do about 3.5m, but wouldn't go over the next crack in the concrete floor. The winning plane managed an incredible 14.9m!

After Scouts I was feeling rather lazy, so a good meal at Anne's Place (the only restaurant that was open that I know where it is) I had a wander around Jamestown in the dark, even going 69 steps up Jacobs Ladder (before I gave up). There will be some photos on my photo page later, but they're not great. I really, really, really need a Tripod - will have to make that my mission this weekend!

The snow and ice never did come.

Sunday 5 February 2012

Krystal Clear and Cooking and Roads

Don't worry, Krystal Clear is a boat not some South Atlantic trip-pill. Krystal Clear is what is know as a Glass Bottomed Boat. But it isn't. What it has are viewing windows positioned at the bottom of watertight tubes (think of how James May built a keel in his amphibious Triumph Herald) that way if the glass breaks the boat doesn't actually sink.

So I spent the morning out on a boat again, viewing the various wrecks and wildlife of the ocean floor without the waves making visibility difficult. Not to many photos as they wouldn't make much sense because the windows were only about 250x600mm (small in old money). Was fantastic to see the ocean floor rise an fall in no distance, and the huge numbers of fish (nothing interesting, we passed some Dolphins, but they didn't go under the boat). If you ever get the chance, I recommend it, anywhere in the world.

I spent the afternoon making sure I don't starve. I now have ready meals of Spag Bol and Curry in the Freezer. I also have Frozen Carrot, Frozen Onion, Frozen Potato, Frozen Roast Potato and Frozen Lemon Cakes. I say Frozen, they will be in a few hours... Previous experiments at Frozen Mashed Potato have all gone wrong, so I haven't pre-mashed it this time, but I will when I get another idea! It's not that you can't buy this stuff, it's just that the local produce is so much cheaper and nicer than the frozen stuff shipped in from the UK. My cupboards still look worryingly bear though. I wonder what filled them when I was in England?

My kitchen also looks more like a kitchen as I have finally unpacked my second Freezer and sorted stuff out. I've also done my washing up, well I say done - I have a machine for that.

I know some of you are wondering about work, well I will get to that, for now though read the Sabre Wiki which I am currently writing: http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=St_Helena

Saturday 4 February 2012

Cruise Day and Highknoll Fort

Just realised I never 'published' this one... oh well it's a week late.

It's strange how the arrival of a cruise ship is a big thing, it's Sunday today and the bank is open, the Post Office is open, a lot of shops are open, there's a market and music playing in the street all because of the Cruise Ship parked in James Bay. Still it gives me a chance to pretend to be a tourist, so as soon as my camera battery recharges I'll update my photos site.

Highknoll Fort
This is a strange experience, much like the fort on Ascension. I walked up here on my first night alone, to discover it all barred off with big signs saying it was dangerous and falling down. Today it's open for people to just wander in and explore however they want.

As a fort it's at the top of a hill with huge walls and easily defended. Perfect really, with a few big guns it could easily defend against ships in James Bay. Inside there are lots of rooms without windows, but with only my camera providing light (and the battery dying) I didn't explore too far, I'll come back another day with a torch :)

Weather and Money

Well I notice in Somerset it's been threatening snow (has it actually snowed?) and temperatures are hovering around 0C. The weather has deteriorated here as well, the worst rainstorm I've experienced since arriving started at about 11am, it must have lasted for a full 5 minutes and nearly soaked into my T shirt. Temperature's today are cooler, I haven't got all my windows open, and if it drops any further I may have to find my fleece.

I'm still struggling to come to terms with money here. It's been 13 years since I really used cash or 'went to the bank'. But here there are no cards and no online banking. If it was easier to get off the island (and then change money into a usable currency) this would be a thief's paradise as everyone must be carrying a huge wedge of cash every time they go shopping. I'm used to doing my accounts using online banking and credit cards to track what I spend. Cash being only about £10-20 a month. Here everything is cash. I have no idea how much I have spent on food since arriving, because I only know how much cash I've spent, and I've bought Diesel, Food, Meals Out, Drinks, Boat Trips... and you don't always get receipts...