African Contracting

I have taken a brief leave of absence from composing words that stir deep emotions and sometimes anger with the occasional dose of joy, not to run off to India to hug a monk in the snow and then stare into a dirty mirror and announcing "I have found myself".

No I was simply in a rut of life overrun with frustration, sprinkled with anger and lightly dipped in anger.
Our industry of onsite engineering quality control is one where you are on the receiving end of abuse, anger and threats, yes similar to marriage except the prospect of occasional intercourse is not an option. For all purposes of logic and sanity, we are pushed to the limits of our capacity as would the mother of three year old twins, we work hard, grunt growl and flex flab and lock heads with contractors who plead innocence and  sometimes beg for one more chance, just one more Ted.
I have seen less begging and negotiating from a  toddler in a toy store. Its a daily occurrence, certain conversations even begin with "How are you today Ted, you look angry". The scowl I have had surgically plastered to my frown is the same I bear when my girls use the words "yummy" and "cute" and "oooh" to describe the bottom feeding lying treacherous slimy badly clothed stealing thugs commonly referred to as teenage boys.

My work colleague Danny, a petite 148kg  6ft3 gentleman has both a tazer and a large stick which when all else fails, are his toys that he will use to escort visitors from my office. He is the gentlest of souls unless you attempt to hold his hand while he driving or insist on a man hug at any time of the day.

So why do we do it?

Its a combination of living an ex-pat lifestyle coupled with guaranteed work for a period and beats an office situation any day. The drives around site, interacting with locals and the beautiful countryside, my amazing cleaning lady who I have trained in making the perfect cuppachino are all plus factors that balance the madness.
Photographic opportunities and working alongside professionals, plus the joy of training new individuals so that they will be able to further their careers and gain valuable experience make it a joy to do what we do.
So without further ado, let me go chase off the elephants from the tree in the bush that is our urinal and until next time . . .

Nite All