Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2011-50

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IN THIS ISSUE

• Zvonko Springer continues his story of a holiday in Africa
• We get letters from Dixie Augusteijn´s daughter, Geoff Goodship, Lew Carter, and Mike Yeager
• Pat Moore sends a recipe in time for your Christmas baking
• Gerrit deLeeuw´s story compares cheap beer to cheap flights
• Catherine Green recalls the story of a bagpiper at a graveside
• The editor finishes her story about the new bathroom
• Sites are suggested by Bruce Galway, Catherine Nesbitt, Jay, Tony Lewis, and Zvonko

Zvonko Springer continues his account of their

WORKING HOLIDAY

(Pictures in text can be enlarged by clicking on them)

The working part of our holiday at the Bamburi Works came to an end, with significant improvement in the control of the construction sites of various buildings. The progress was satisfactory, so they would be able to start with the installation of the second rotary kiln line as anticipated.

The second part of our holiday entailed a long trip via Nairobi to the Islands of Mauritius and Reunion, and we would return home via Djibouti. We attended some farewell parties held for us by our friends from Bamburi Works, and on January 31 we left the Reef Hotel in Nyali and boarded a plane for Nairobi. There we stayed at the New Stanley Hotel, and I had more work to do.

In Nairobi I met the management staff of the East African Portland Cement Co. Ltd. (EAPC). I had inspected the construction works carried out at the plant at Athi River as a part of the modernization process. They would start the installation of the second kiln line that worked by a wet process in due course. In CIPAG we had several problems at the beginning as drawings of the existing plant were not available. EAPC had greatly appreciated that CIPAG was able to almost halve the original budget cost for the civil engineering work.

The tricky foundation work was the main problem that I solved in a unique way. The works were located on an ancient volcanic field consisting of large boulders strewn all over. It would be tedious work excavating all the boulders to the designed depth and to the area needed for the building foundations. The boulders were heavily interlocked or "glued" by nature, so getting these apart would be another costly job. I decided that the contractor should first clean the surface and cracks of fine dust or sand as well as possible, then pour almost fluid concrete mix over the foundation area until none of it would sink into the surface. After the concrete had set, there would be a perfect foundation floor. On this surface they would construct the designed foundation in reinforced concrete. This solution saved a lot of cost and was certainly a novelty in construction practice.

We had a few friends in Nairobi that we visited on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday we booked a safari to the Nairobi National Park using a taxi on our own. We spent most of the day there, and our driver took us around the park we remembered well from our previous visits. Of course we had to see the orphanage that still cared for a few young animals as before. Time passed swiftly in Nairobi, and we left for the Island of Mauritius on February 3, 1975.

The flight lasted several hours so we arrived in the afternoon at the Plaisance International Airport some 50km south of Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. The airport is located near the town of Plaisance situated on the Plaine Magnien, a wide plain on the south of the island. We were met by Mr. Joseph (Jose) Rae, the manager of Mauritius Portland Cement Co Ltd. (MPC). I had found Joseph to be a pleasant person on my previous visit in September of 1974. We remained good friends for many years until his recent death.

Volcano Trou aux Cerfs on Mauritius

From the airport Jose drove us to our first sightseeing point on Mauritius. We visited a nice lookout point at the edge of an extinct volcano known as "Trou aus Cerfs", meaning "The Hole of Stags." This animal abounds on the island as they were imported from India long ago. Their meat is often on menus in various eating places there. After this brief tour, Jose continued driving to his house in the nearby town Curepipe. There we met his children and his wife, who died a few years after our visit.

Our Bungalow in Hotel Trou aux Biches

After a brief five-o´clock tea we got on the main road through Great Plains via Quatre Bornes to Port Louis, the capital and harbour where the company managed a silo station. The later was my objective on this visit and I would have to return there for a thorough check the next day. At last Jose took us to the same hotel I stayed in previous year, "Trou aux Biches", located on the northwest of the island. In front of the hotel there were miles of sandy beach, providing safe swimming. The reef was some hundred meters out, stretching along the west coast of the island. At the south end of hotel area there was a casino that the islanders were keen on using. Most of the visitors were local Chinese, who are known to enjoy gambling.

English is the official language on Mauritius, yet most of the people speak the Mauritian Creole that is their lingua franca. The people there are of several ethnic groups: Asian, African, Chinese, and French, yet the first European explorers did not find any indigenous folk living there. The Republic of Mauritius got its independence from the United Kingdom in 1968. The Republic includes several islands like Cargados Carajos, Rodrigues, and the Agalega Islands. Mauritius Island is geographically part of the Mascarene Islands that include the French Island of Réunion, which would be our next stopover.

Jokingly Jose told us that unfortunately he could not show us the Dodo bird. It became extinct some 80 years after initial European colonization started, as they ate them all. Thus ended Jose´s brief story about his home island that he liked so much.

On my first visit to Mauritius in September of 1974, I wanted to learn more about this island. Briefly I repeat a few facts of this island that was known to Arabs as Revis Island as early as the 10th century. Later, Portuguese sailors visited the Island, yet had left it uninhabited until a Dutch fleet was blown off its course by a cyclone in 1598. They named the land in honour of the Netherlands Prince Maurice of Nassau, thus the origin of island´s name. The Dutch introduced sugar cane and the Java stag deer, but had abandoned this island by 1710. After them came the expanding French, who took over developing a prosperous economy based upon sugar production.

The Great Plains are the example of this cultivation as huge plantations of sugar can create a green cover all over. One could recognize many small black pyramids in this green "sea" that were actually stacked-up lapilli, or even volcanic bombs, that are larger in size. The volcanic bombs cool after leaving a volcano, but they do not have grains, so they are extrusive igneous rocks. The lapilli, material that falls out of the air during a volcanic eruption, range by size from 2mm to 64mm in diameter, whereas any pyroclastic particle greater than 64mm is correctly known as a volcanic bomb. This is enough of my lecturing.

To be continued.

NOTE: Zvonko sent a large number of pictures along with this series of articles. They are arranged in several albums here. These albums will be slow to download as they are very large files.

Album 1: Mauritius Island on Arrival

Album 2: Pictures when Cyclone Gervais hit Mauritius and some from better days

Album 3: End of holidays by the way of Reunion and Djibouti

CORRESPONDENCE

Through some glitch in cyberspace, my letters to Dixie Augusteijn have disappeared, but she got in touch with me recently through the link on The Tale Spinner site. That letter appeared here, but my answer to her again disappeared. I asked Jay to forward it to her, but there was no answer, so I asked my daughter, Judith, to try forwarding it. She received a reply, but it was from Dixie´s daughter, who writes: This is Dixie´s daughter Elizabeth, replying on her behalf. Dixie has spent the last few days in bed. She is needing to be on oxygen 24 hours a day and is finding it more difficult to get about recently. Currently all the family are here, as we gather together every Christmas time, so she is in good hands and getting lots of attention.

ED. NOTE: I know you all join me in wishing Dixie a rapid recovery and a happy time with her family, and if any of you wish to write to her or send her an e-card, you have only to drop me a line and I will send you her address.

In commenting on the article by Rebecca Solnit: "Vision: How a Better Future Is Being Made Right Now", which I forwarded to you separately, Geoff Goodship writes: Indeed it has moved me. Thank you. I´ve shared it with our three children and Freddie [Geoff´s wife].

Lew Carter writes about the same subject. He does not want credit for what he did; he just hopes it may offer an example of what people can do when they are confronted by a problem, and perhaps inspire someone to help out where there is a need:

Let me take you back 45 years to 1966, when I arrived in Baton Rouge to help run the city´s black radio station, WXOK. The owner had swapped WXOK´s daytime frequency for a more expensive full-time frequency and the manager, a Thomas McGuire, was unable to increase the station´s income the required amount so the owner, Stanley Ray, hired me to help turn the station around, which I did. He later let Mr. McGuire go.

I´m white. A black man named Gussie Trahan told me that black boys were not allowed to play baseball in the Little League, which went by the name of the Baton Rouge Kids Baseball Clinic and Little League. Couldn´t we do something about it? Couldn´t we, asked Gussie, form our own Little League?

Yes, and we did. We called it the Capital City Kids Baseball Clinic and Little League.

Gussie was elected president; Willie, a black coach, was elected vice- president; and I was elected secretary. Pinky Meyer, white, president of an advertising agency, was elected treasurer. We held all our meetings at the Mt. Zion First Baptist Church, the city´s largest black church.

Gussie and I did the bulk of the work. Gussie gets most of the credit.

We organized teams, arranged playing sites on local baseball diamonds, and at the end of the season had a grand banquet in the Showboat Room of Baton Rouge´s largest hotel. (The Showboat Room took the whole top floor). As special guests we had major league baseball stars (black).

The following year the Little League took black as well as white kids.

Gussie, Willie, Pinky, Mr. Ray, and Mr. McGuire all have died. I am the only survivor. There are certainly a number of black men in their late 50s who played baseball that year because of our efforts.

I´ve never written about it. Never put it in "Lew´s News." But after reading Ms. Solnit´s article, I thought I´d tell you. Good things don´t just happen. In Baton Rouge, black kids had a baseball season and were eventually allowed to join a mixed team because there were people who cared enough to make it happen.

Mike Yeager writes: I liked the article. It´s an attitude and a way of seeing the world that is more optimistic. I hope she is right and we can change things in a big way from small acts of kindness and compassion.

ED. NOTE: You undoubtedly know of many acts of kindness and compassion that have made a difference. At this season, which is supposed to be one of goodwill to all, why not tell us about some of those acts? I for one need the reassurance that most people are altruistic and will help when they become aware of a problem. Whether it was something you did yourself, or something you witnessed, why not write and tell us about it!

For those of you who still bake, Pat Moore reminds us of this recipe so you can start early on your

CHRISTMAS BAKING

Jose Cuervo Christmas Cookies

1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila

Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl. Check the Cuervo again to be sure it is of the highest quality. Pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.

Add one peastoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point it´s best to make sure the Cuervo is still okay, so try another cup, just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit off the floor.

Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters just pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who geeves a sheet. Check the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Don´t forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the Cose Juervo, and make sure to put the stove in the wishdasher.

Cherry Mistmas!

Gerrit deLeeuw dedicates this story to everyone who has flown Ryanair, "Europe´s first and largest low-fares airline":

CHEAP BEER

Spare a thought for Michael O´Leary, chief executive of Ryanair!

Arriving in a hotel in Dublin, he went to the bar and asked for a pint of draught Guinness. The barman nodded and said, "That will be one euro please, Mr. O´Leary."

Somewhat taken aback, O´Leary replied, "That´s very cheap," and handed over his money.

"Well, we try to stay ahead of the competition," said the barman. "And we are serving free pints every Wednesday evening from 6:00 until 8:00. We have the cheapest beer in Ireland."

"That is remarkable value," Michael commented.

"I see you don´t seem to have a glass, so you´ll probably need one of ours. That will be three euros, please."

O´Leary scowled, but paid up. He took his drink and walked towards a seat.

"Ah, you want to sit down?" said the barman. "That´ll be an extra two euro. You could have pre-booked the seat, and it would have only cost you a euro.

"I think you may to be too big for the seat, sir, can I ask you to sit in this frame please."

Michael attempted to sit down but the frame was too small, and when he couldn´t squeeze in, he complained, "Nobody would fit in that little frame!"

"I´m afraid if you can´t fit in the frame you´ll have to pay an extra surcharge of four euros for your seat, sir."

O´Leary swore to himself, but paid up.

"I see that you have brought your laptop with you," added the barman. "Since that wasn´t pre-booked either, that will be another three euros."

O´Leary was so annoyed that he walked back to the bar, slammed his drink on the counter, and yelled, "This is ridiculous, I want to speak to the manager!"

"Ah, I see you want to use the counter," says the barman. "That will be two euros please."

O´Leary´s face was red with rage. "Do you know who I am?"

"Of course I do, Mr. O´Leary."

"I´ve had enough! What sort of hotel is this? I come in for a quiet drink and you treat me like this. I insist on speaking to a manager!"

"Here is his e-mail address, or if you wish, you can contact him between 9:00 and 9:10 every morning, Monday to Tuesday, at this free phone number. Calls are free, until they are answered; then there is a talking charge of only 10 cent per second."

"I will never use this bar again!"

"OK, sir, but remember - we are the only hotel in Ireland selling pints for one euro."

Catherine Green reminds us of the story about

THE BAGPIPER

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a paupers´ cemetery in the Kentucky back country.

As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost, and being a typical male, I didn´t stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.

I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place.

I didn´t know what else to do, so I started to play. The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends.

I played like I´ve never played before for this homeless man. And as I played ´Amazing Grace,´ the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together.

When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.

As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen nothin´ like that before and I´ve been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

Apparently I´m still lost. It´s a man thing.

FROM THE EDITOR´S DESK

You are undoubtedly waiting with bated breath for the latest news from Faulty Towers, so here is an update on the situation in 304.

As I told you, the bathroom sink was leaking, so I phoned the manager and reported it. You may remember that he arrived at an inopportune time, but he inspected the plumbing and declared that it was rusted out and I needed another sink. He then asked if I´d like a new tub too, because they had an extra downstairs. I said why not?, and he said the workmen would be along sometime in the next week.

Not knowing when the workmen were going to arrive, I got up (reasonably) early until the following Wednesday, when a plumber appeared and said they were going to take out the tub. He gave me half an hour to clear out all the things that would be in his way, and finally appeared and started chipping off the ceramic tile from around the tub.

The clanging and banging that went on for the next few hours were deafening, and there was dust flying everywhere. The workman wore a mask, but a woman who later appeared to scoop the broken tile out of the tub into a big barrel was not wearing one. I asked her why not, and she gestured to one on the sink and said she was almost finished. So much for safety....

They left for the night, leaving the studs and insulation bare in the walls surrounding the tub. The next day another plumber appeared and removed the tub, which for some reason also entailed a lot of banging. By the end of the day he had put in a gleaming new tub, but of course the walls were still naked.

I asked him when they were going to remove the sink, but he had no idea.

The first worker, who seemed to be a combination of plumber and tiler, appeared about 11:00 the next day, and proceeded to tile the three walls. Then he and his woman helper disappeared, without a word about when they would return.

By Tuesday, when I went to George Derby Centre for my volunteer stint, we had still heard nothing. Charlotte saw the manager and dragged him into the bathroom, and asked when the sink was to be replaced because we had removed everything and it was sitting in boxes around the apartment. She said he seemed surprised, evidently having forgotten that it was a leaky sink that started the whole business. He promised that the workers would be back soon.

They arrived the next day about 11 o´clock, to take out the sink and toilet. We were warned that we would not be able to use the loo all day, but were told we could use the washroom on the main floor.

They crashed and banged the sink unit and the toilet out, and then laid new tile on the floor. They had told me they would be finished that evening, but at 5:00 o´clock the plumber/tiler told me they couldn´t work any more because the glue on the tiles would not be dry. He said they would be back in a couple of days!

After a day and a night of going downstairs to an icy washroom and having to use the kitchen sink to wash in, we were getting more than a little annoyed. I phoned the manager and asked why the delay. I said I had never heard of a glue that took two days to dry, and this just wasn´t good enough. The workers came back next day.

Finally, finally, the sink and toilet were replaced, and we no longer had to make the trek downstairs. You never miss the water till the well runs dry! Today they came back to replace the bar that makes it possible for me to lift myself out of the tub, and I sincerely hope I never see them again.

All this for a leaky sink! Next time I´ll keep my mouth shut and put a bucket under the leak!

SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Bruce Galway suggests this site, which shows a video of village workmen installing solar lights made from plastic bottles in homes in the Philippines:

Bruce also sends a link to a video of a much more complicated source of energy, which he hopes to live long enough to see becoming commercial practice. Justin Hall-Tipping, CEO of Nanoholdings, explains how nanotechnology is set to change the future of energy and replace fossil and nuclear fuels:

Catherine Nesbitt forwards this link to a site that illustrates the altruism that was the subject of three letters in this issue. Watch as the camera tracks an act of kindness as it is passed from one individual to the next and manages to boomerang back to the person who set it into motion:

Catherine also suggests this site for a video of a three-year-old violinist playing with Andre Rieu´s orchestra:

Jay sends this link for those who watch game shows such as Let´s Make a Deal. It solves the question of whether or not you should switch after having chosen one door of three for a prize:

Tony Lewis sends this link to a video of a magician in Times Square performing a truly mystifying card trick:

Zvonko forwards this link to a video showing Croatia´s claim to fame in the fashion world:

To check out the features of the "freedictionary", which changes daily, go to