A not so "bright" colleague & what else! The weather!

At work (the local sainsbugs) the other day I seemed to be getting a veritable flood of what I call "can you tell me's".  This is when a customer approaches you and asks where something is.  Mostly they say, "Excuse me", or "do you know where" a particular item is.  Some just walk up and will say the name of the item like "sugar!" to which my reply is "never use it".  however i digress. 

People were coming at me like I was the only one there!  I was going through the list of items that needed to be reduced and looked up in time to see a new guy who works on the fresh department, with a customer but pointing to me.  Ah ah! i thought that's whats going on.  I sorted out the customer and carried on watching him and sure enough 10 minutes later he did the same thing.  I questioned the customer when he got to me and he said the young man had only just started and didn't know where anything was.  From talking to a colleague from that department, "lets call her Debs" I knew this to be incorrect. 

As I went to clock out I collared him and put him straight about what he should be doing.  His reaction was one of surprise!  Mmmmmm, but he promised to take it on board.  I get the impression he might not be with us for long!

Now to the weather, what a rain lashing the south of England has had!  We had a very wet start to Wednesday but as the sun left the valley the sky was a wonderful colour, as can be seen from my saved weathercam pic

Thursday dawned a complete change in as much as it was very windy and once the predicted rain did start at around 1500hrs it hammered down.  My weather station recoded nearly half an inch of rain between then and when it stopped around 2300.  The pic below shows 0.42" in the 24hr period.

This would normally mean the the River Derwent, across the way from our house would start to fill up.  Thankfully we have around 12-15 feet of river bank before it starts to slop out onto what in effect is an old flood plain. 
One problem we have here is that upstream is the huge Ladybower Reservoir and if that fills too quickly, as it probably is doing right now, Severn Trent Water Authority will lower the spillway and this floods the river. 
There is an emergency procedure which telephones all the people living close to the river that the water is coming but sometimes the result can be pretty alarming.

This picture was taken in Feb 2011 and shows a track alongside the river covered with just over a foot of water.  The normal level would be some 12 feet lower at the base of the large tree on the left of the pic. 

So here we are, a pic taken a few minutes ago shows the river at pretty well its normal level.  If it starts to flood it can get to the top of the bank opposite and eventually into the flood plain field as well. 
With more rain forecast for the weekend it could be a different view come Monday. 

The pics and more can be viewed on our website at http://hakuraman.gotdns.com

Eeeeek its a spider and Sarah cant wear her lipstick!

Great exitement down at work the other day when someone spotted a spider in amongst the boxes of bananas.  After a brief chase it was captured alive and the procedure for getting rid of it followed.  Being a "caring company" we dont just squash them we have "a procedure" to follow, well we have a procedure for everything else so why not unwanted Arachnida!

I remember soon after i had started at the local sainsbugs a customer told me we had an infestation of spiders on a pallet of bags of sugar.  I went to investigate and sure enough there was a large web and whatappeared to be hundreds of babies all attached to it.  It was quickly removed from the shop floor and i'm not sure how it was cleared up. 

However i digress, "the procedure", must have fallen on its face because the spider was still with us 24hrs later.  A colleague "lets call him Glen", reckons its a "Hobo spider"and I have no reason to doubt his knowledge.   So here it is in all its glory.

If you look in Wiki its a native European spider and it appears to have flourished in most environments.  If it bites you it can be a painful but its unlikely to cause too much damage. 

At one point today (Sunday) in the shop we seemed to have more staff than customers, it appears that 14 colleagues consisting of a large group of "Christmas newby's" were in.  Being new they don't know where anything is and of course me, looking like i have been there since the doors opened i was their target for "can you tell me's".  Most of the day they would approach me either alone or with a customer in tow looking for something. 

Once i had acknowledged i knew where the "something" was they would attempt to skip off back to their previous task.  I had to forcibly drag them along to the "items" location and explain that they should really start to build up their knowledge!  on a couple of "colleagues" it seemed not to be assimilated!  could be an interesting few weeks to Christmas.

Sarah cant wear her lipstick!  The girls on "fresh" e.g. all the stuff in a fridge"  are quite a glittering bunch of girlies none more so than a colleague, "lets call her Sarah" she's apparently a beautician and arrives at work in some rather extreme make up arrangements! 

She started sporting a really fiery red lipstick and it looked ok to me.  It appears however her boss, "lets call him Paul" took offence at this colour and it appears now that she is banned from wearing it!

It seems ok that some of the young male colleagues can come to work like they haven't washed for a week combed their hair in a fortnight or don't know what a razor is but a young girl takes the time to put on her makeup in the morning before coming to work but because she wears bright red lipstick its not acceptable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it me?   

Back to the salt mine, Sally's a lady of leisure! & No 1 Daughter is the last one out of Turkey!

After a week to get over the holiday jet lag it was quite easy to get up and cruise down the road to Sainsbugs in Matlock to start my first shift of the 6 i do.  After the usual "how did the holiday go?" comments and whipping through the bread delivery it was as if i had never been away! 

A new guy has started working the weeks I'm off, I had him for an hour when he was doing his induction training.  It didn't take long for a couple of the bakery colleagues to tell me he seems to be "coming up short" on following the rules.  Ah well we shall see how he performs when the chips are down around Christmas. 

I'm still taking pics for my time lapse project which is a pic of a view across the river and I was quite surprised at the difference 2 weeks away can make to the view.  Heres a pic from the day we left on the 24th of October

This one was taken the day we returned on the 9th of Nov. 

I can imagine it wont be long before we get a snowy pic although I read an article a couple of days ago that the winter could be a mild one.  This could also be the "kiss of death!"

the biggest change of course is that Sally, my wife is taking "time out" from the "treadmill".  We were on holiday "hangover" until last Monday but then we seemed to be getting back in "the groove" and it was strange that she wasn't rushing off to Chesterfield and work leaving me to my own devices. 

We did actually bump into each other a couple of times trying to get things done and i wondered if i would  have to "alter my routine".  On my working days now though and its quite nice to be handed a steaming cup of tea as soon as i get home! 

My No1 daughter Caroline and husband Mike have been away the same time as us to Turkey.  She remarked that it was the last week of "the season" and as more and more people left the hotel, the staff were removing tables and chairs.  It was almost as if they were being asked to "lift their feet" as the staff cleaned up and i got the impression from her comments that maybe they would be asked to "switch off the lights" as they looked to be the last to leave!

Finally we are starting to "close down" the garden for the winter.  We tend not to plant winter flowers etc and already have plans to chop this down, move that to another place and introduce a few new things here and there.  So it will look a little different by springtime from the pic below

Happiness is a pile of clean holiday laundry!

So there we were on our last morning of the Kurumba Maldive holiday.  Stuffing down our last Champagne breakfast and musing on the success of the whole trip.  "Pity we didn't see nay more dolphins at breakfast" said Sally.  On queue a whole pod of spinner dolphins spread over a distance of about 150m  glided gracefully past and the holiday was complete. 

We crossed to Male on one of the resorts speed boats after saying a few goodbyes and explaining that we would not be returning next year but maybe some time later. 

VIP lounge entry was free courtesy of KUONI our travel firm and at the appointed time we shuffled along to our departure gate.  The flight was late taking off but the consolation was that the seats around were empty so we had 3 each. 

We landed 10 hours later at Gatwick at 1800 having made up some of the time due to tail winds and all in all the flight wasn't as bad as some we have had to and from the Maldives.  In true BA fashion though the flight attendants were the most miserable bunch of reprobates I have seen running a plane since we flew BA back from LA last year. 

Bus G4 at Stop 8 our instructions said, free ride to the hotel, we were walking to the stop and I was commenting that 1 would have just left the bus stop when i spotted it coming along.  I dashed to the side of the road and managed to flag him down. We had organised parking and an overnight stay over the internet. 

So 1 hour after landing we were wandering into reception of the "Gatwick Europa" hotel.  We booked in to be told the lift had just broken down.  our room was on the the top (3rd) floor and strangely enough farthest down the corridor from the stairs.  We saw another couple by the lift who commented "The lift has never worked all the times we have stayed here"  I didn't bother to ask how many times that was, Sally and I shared a knowing glance. 

The 3rd floor was hot and stank of "Chlorine" I discovered that some kind of vent from the swimming pool seemed to be venting into the stairwell and then along the corridors.  The room which thankfully we had upgraded from a "standard" to an "Executive".  Was small and hot and had no A/C it did however have a good shower, plenty of hot water and clean bedding! 

The whole hotel is, well lets just say "a little tired" and could do with pulling down and rebuilding. 

We had pre booked a dinner so after a quick drink in the "very full" bar we ventured to the dining room.  Sally noticed on the menu there was "Tie (yes Tie) Green Curry.  We shared another knowing look and quickly had a go at the carvery. 

After another drink we scurried off to bed having already decided to get up early skip the pre booked breakfast and try to beat the rush hour back up to Darley Dale.

"Jet Lag" kicked in at our "holiday" getting up time, and I pressed the button on my watch to illuminate the time at 0230 to hear a little voice say "what time is it".  After a very brief conversation we were up showered and packed, "after opening the windows to let some air into the room and listening to the traffic thunder along the M23". 

We passed on booking out due to the "merry" band of patrons slurring their way through some rhetoric whilst leaning on the reception desk.  After adding a little air to "Cyrils" tyres we sped away into the night just an hour after making the decision to leave. 

Gatwick Europa Hotel score out of 10.
Bar staff 3
Dining room staff 5
Food 2
Bedding 7
Room 3
Hot water 8
Lift 0
Recommended "No"

So having sped up the motorways we arrived home just as dawn was breaking and immediately, as we always do unpacked and started washing all the holiday clothes!

We picked up the cats from the cattery "Stankirk".  I'm always worried about our old cat Tom as he just seems to curl up in a ball and sleep once he's in the prison!  This time we decided to take along all their own food and bedding so they wouldn't feel "too far away from home"  We left written instructions for feeding which was ignored and their bedding was removed because the staff spotted some flea dirt on it!  They are 2 outside cats they have fleas!  So after we paid the bill we whisked the 2 of them away back to the cottage. Note to self: Change Cattery! 

After a good 8 hours of sniffing around the house, garden and anything else sniffable they appear back to normal.  Sainsbury is in front of the fire and Tom has decided that "Happiness is a pile of clean holiday laundry"

BLESS!

 

I ordered dolphin for breakfast and - - - its time to compare!

We were sat in the Beach Bar the other day when only about 100m away we spotted a few dolphins cruising past the island.  We had never seen them before in our previous visits and laughed at our past "dolphin safari's" both in The Gambia and here in the Maldives where we had seen diddly squat!

Talking to the waiters at breakfast the following morning, which sitting at your table you have a great view of the ocean over the top of your glass of champagne!  they mentioned that when its calm they sometimes see huge pods of them swimming by. 

It was calm this morning and i received an odd glance from the next table when i announced to the waiter, "I ordered dolphins for breakfast". 

You know how it is when you have a special meal on holiday and you get to comparing it with what is billed as the same meal at another place you have been.  Well maybe not the "same" meal but that's what you read into it when you are looking at the menu on a chilly afternoon in the summer house in UK when you are looking forward to your holiday. 

We had spied this thing on the menu called a "Maldivian Tasting Platter for 2" at $115 dollars it must be some dish i exclaimed and a must to try! It was described as Grilled Lobster, Jumbo Prawn, Sea food skewer, Grilled rib eye, Tuna, Fragrant rice & Palm heart salad.  We had had what we thought was similar dish when we were at Malolo Fiji it was called a "Fish Platter"  and cost $90 so we imagined ourselves to be in "for a Maldivian treat" 

So last night we tried it here are a couple of pics for readers to compare, try picking the one you would have gone for? 

Fiji Fish platter $90 

 

 

Maldivian tasting platter $115

 

We then got to pulling out the Fiji pics and looking at other things.  The Fiji coral is better because i think the water's a bit cooler and it grows better.  You see far more fish in the Maldives though for some reason when you are snorkeling than in Fiji. 

 

Sunsets! we thought which is the best.  Again here's a couple of pics what do you think?

 

Fiji Sunset

 

Maldivian Kurumba sunset

 

Personally i think the Maldivian Kurumba one takes some beating on that one.  Maybe you shouldn't do the comparison thing but it was the dinner bit that started us off.  "Presentation" springs to mind.

 

Some Russian observations!   I cant  help noticing that some of the Russian blokes on the resort seem to have brought their "nieces" on holiday with them such a nice and noble gesture don't you think?  Another snippet i picked up talking to one of the staff is that the Russians will bring wads of $100 bills to pay for everything rather than use credit/debit cards!  Also they are "allegedly" charged twice the price that we are in the UK for holidaying on the resort!?

 

Finally then with only 2 full days to go and then back to the cold of UK I must away and try to improve my suntan!  After spending 8 days here in Feb i returned to work and upon mentioning the holiday was asked by one colleague, "lets call her Jodie" "oh you have been away then?"

 



 

 





The Russians drink gin! and we meet Katherine of Aragon

We were down at the "Sand Bar" in the hope of watching the amazing sunsets that "Kurumba" is blessed with and couldn't help noticing, mainly by the noise of the conversation, that 4 Russians were "Having a session!"

They had been there "some time" when we arrived and as it was not the sunniest of days they had one complete side of the bar to themselves.  2 blokes were having what looked like a furiously loud debate, probably discussing the price of gold or something like that!

The other 2, a man and a woman looked to be having one of those one sided conversations where the bloke is doing all the talking/rambling and the woman is trying not to fall asleep! 

And so it came to pass that the bar was emptied of Tequila,  not sure how many bottles were finished but, they were "out".  1 of the 2 barmen was about to trot off for a replenishment when the loudest of the Russians realised what was going on and said, in that strange meercat advertisement language, "No problem Gin will be ok".  So on they went drinking beer and shots of gin treating it like a tequila with the lime and the salt.   Pheoowwww!  shots of gin!!! it was no surprise that i dont think any of them saw the sun go down!! 

So here's a shot of one of those amazing sunsets, this one yesterday 2nd Nov

The sky and clouds just seem to take on all the wonderful reds and blues before the darkness takes over.  Or could that be the afterglow of the champers!

Before we arrived we had been in contact with one of the managers "lets just call her, Katherine of Aragon" about the room we were going to have.  We had booked a pool villa but had been asked to take an upgrade to a "Presidential Villa/Suite".  We met "Katherine" in the bar not long ago and we were discussing some of the more bizarre complaints that have to be handled! 

I started it all off by mentioning that someone once said, "the sea was too salty", to which my reply was, "Well its a 5 star resort they should be able to do something about it".   A visitor asked where the "Shopping Mall" was

The island as can be seen from the pic above is all of 500metres long and half that across, methinks a little re-search before visitors arrive wouldn't go amiss!!

Another one was "there are too many fishes in the sea"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today dawned a little cloudy but the sun soon broke through and we ventured to the bottom of the picture above to snorkel up the left hand side of the island on whats known as the house reef,here are 2 pics form today's snorkel. 

 This quite big fish, about 2 feet long is being cleaned by a couple of wras so i think that's why he allowed me to get so close.

These pufferfish normally scuttle off as soon as they spot you but this one didn't seem too concerned. 

Who ordered the cyclone? and, What is a man to do!

The spate of wet and windy weather we have been experiencing  now has a name he's called "Nilam" and hes a cyclone who has just battered Tamil Nadu in India and we, sitting in our remote island in the Indian Ocean are on one of its tails unfortunately. 

I gleaned this information from "Anna" the Russian guest services lady who we were chatting to whilst looking west at the approaching rain clouds just after breakfast.  She it seems was waiting for another batch of her countrymen who she said would blame her for the weather!  

Here's a pic from the Maldivian Weather Service showing the cyclone. 

You can clearly see the outline of India and Sri-Lanka and the red arrow points to us at Kurumba in the Maldive chain of islands. 

There are reports of "Nilam" weakening since it hit land about 6 hours ago so with a bit of luck it should clear.  However at the moment we seem to be getting a lot of "warm" rain. 

One thing about the effects of "Nilam" is that it drives people "inside" and the sumptuous Beach Bar  is one of the refuges that has been taking some hammer lately.

  Its a very nice bar and is complemented by being quite open at the sides and it has 34 ceiling fans that are lazily turning or whizzing round at a tremendous speed.  Yeah yeah! sad i know to sit there and have counted them but thats before "the entertainment arrives!"  The entertainment in this case is "The Americans!"

A group of about 10, equally divided by5  girls and 5 boys but with a clear and distinct "hierarchy".  There's the Barbie lookalike for the girls and the Ken "Alpha male" one for the boys! The others looked like a band of what you might call "loose associates"

We were in the bar the other night when a rock group was playing in the corner and we were sat at the bar next to "the Americans" who were talking loudly enough to be heard over the band.  We sat there, as you do, listening to the conversation, but more to the point "watching the predators circling the prey!" 

A couple had broken away from the group sitting down and were stood at the bar.  Looking a little like 2 adolescents hoping to sneak away from the herd for some illicit bonking!  This seemed to concern our "Alpha male" who kept coming across to the couple and stroking the female of the pair in an effort to get her to rejoin the herd. 

After the 3rd attempt by our "Alpha male" failed the pair left rather hurriedly without saying good bye to the rest of the herd and disappeared into the night.  Our "Alpha male" looked taken aback on realising one his fillies had escaped but soon forgot about it when "Barbie" eased over next to him and started stroking his thigh!  A bit like giving a baby a dummy I imagine

"Alpha male" further stamped his authority on the group by dancing wildly (it has to be said, he could dance)  with most of them and even managed to bring a couple of Russian beauties back to the table.  This infuriated "Barbie" and 2 others and they left sulking.  Dear dear what is a man to do!!!!!!!