--Tuesday, 17 October 00--
Had a 10 AM with the leaders of the only other bank in town and they were
very helpful and suggested that we accept guaranteed checks at the Customs
posts. It seemed like a sound idea to me so asked for two proposal letters.
Had lunch with Mike and Tony at the Evergreen. I told the waiter, "No
salad, no garnish, just hamburger, cheese and French fries." The
result was a cheeseburger with French fries in the bun. Tony told me that
you have to specify that the French fries are to be in a bowl in order
to get them on the side.
--Wednesday, 18 October 00--
Had lunch at Napoli with three expats. Two of them left money and early
and the remaining person took over the calculation of the bill. It seemed
to me that he put himself out so that I would not get a subsidy from the
fact that I had two beers which meant that I should pay more.
The bill for the four of us was 37 DM and I put in 20 DM. He examined
the details of the bill and put coins into the pot and then took money
out of the pot. He screwed his face up adding numbers and generally put
a lot more effort into the calculations than I thought worthy of the result.
He fussed and he fuddled and he re-examined the bill. After a while he
gave me a 2 DM as change and remarked that it was difficult to calculate
exact amounts for a bill when people consumed different lunches (hint:
different amounts of alcohol). I said, "Not if you don't care."
After more calculations, In a guilty move, he gave me another 2 DM coin.
I had no idea if I was over or under paid.
And I didn't care.
--Thursday, 19 October 00--
Potholes and muddy puddles - far less than pristine Prishtina
This morning was from Hell. At one point there were five people who wanted
my immediate attention including Ali, the co-head, Petrach, the assistant
budget director, someone on the phone, Adelina and someone else who I
can't even recall. I was running up and down the stairs trying to get
everything straightened out.
Ali wanted me because the people at the Gynecology Clinic at the hospital
had still not been paid and some Albanians had approached him for help.
They had not been paid because the payroll cash had been robbed in the
building and the person carrying it had been murdered. Apparently no one
had resubmitted the payroll. I told Ali's friend that I needed the payroll
and he went to get it. I got a POSA and Adelina helped me with the codes
and then I called Andreas who said that he would conduct the guy to the
BPK and arrange things with Mr. Rudi. We both agreed that under the circumstances
we should required everyone to go to the bank and pick up their salaries
personally.
I had another of those strange dreams that seem to afflict me here. I
was in a meeting where an instruction had been given that some nearby
employees should be paid for back work. The people responsible for paying
spoke in rocky twists and thorny contradictions -- which seemed to amount
to saying that payments had not been made but it was not their fault because
they had not received a memo.
Someone said they would go back to their office and write a memo but suddenly
the story changed again that no one had been able to contact the paying
office so they didn't know if it was open. Everybody else in buildings
around the paying office answered the phone and said that everything was
normal but not the paying office so the boss of the organization didn't
know if his office was open.
This was repeated several times to no point. Someone remarked that if
they sent an armored van there and the office wasn't open that perhaps
it might simply turn around and come back.
But such cold logic ruined my dream and I awoke to find that comforter
had fallen on the floor and I was chilly.
--Saturday, 21 October 00--
I am still trying to reconcile the contingency account and thus the General
Fund. If I can get the contingency account reconciled, I can be sure that
appropriations in FreeBalance are correct. I have been doing this for
weeks and really want to finish it.
Local Names Unlikely to Catch-On in the States
Fati Kosmstics
The Krapi Carwash
Labia
Sod Soup
Bolls Stew
My search for cheddar cheese continued. Today I went with Glenn and Mike
to the Maxi (a second Norwegian PX: they know how to make a business of
this) and the Supreme PX. Neither had any cheddar but there were numerous
other items that I picked up.
What I bought was sufficiently heavy that I decided to take the bus home
with my purchases, but where are the bus stops? There are a few clearly
designated areas but you can try to flag a bus anywhere and they will
or will not stop depending on whether they are full and whether the driver
thinks that you are at an approved stop. It makes for a confusing system.
I walked from my apartment back downtown under the circling flocks of
blackbirds as the orange-tinged sunset faded into night. I picked up an
International Herald Tribune and went to Kukri to read it. Ran into the
Aussie contingent. Tony told me that they were about to leave to find
a warmer place to eat/enjoy. I wished them well, sat, relaxed, and read
the Herald Tribune.
Smile arrived just as I laid the Herald Tribune down. He asked me the
time and I asked him about his watch. He told me that the had dropped
it and while the light button would work, no time showed. I said, "You
used it to glow more than to determine the time so I am surprised you
are not wearing it." He didn't seem to get it.
He said he had come to the Kukri to meet someone from an organization
that might give money to an ecology NGO that Smile wants to create. While
we were talking, he told me that he had felt ill and gone to bed and woke
up soaked to the skin. Whatever it was he seems fully recovered now.
He told me that the has his new scheme to open an ecology group and get
funding from European Agency for Reconstruction and Development. Guy from
same arrived and Smile left. I saw him slapping the guy's back and doubling
over in laughter. Smile is a natural politician.
--Sunday, 22 October 00--
Smile said he would be coming by between 11 and 12 AM to show me his wannabe
home. He did and it turned out to be a poured slab and the rebar in place
for 4 columns. It was set in a hillside 2K south of the hospital (itself
at the southern edge of the city).
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Two additional rooms will extend on the second level between the lower level and the tree. |
There were six workers on site manually leveling the edge of the hillside
that will contain the extension of the second story. Smile's plan is basically
good. The ground/below ground level will be two small rooms that face
north. The first floor will be twice as big and have southern exposure
and fine views north toward Sunshine Hill. He talks of a second story
-- to be added later.
He asked jokingly if I wanted to help the driver unload 650 cinder blocks.
Smile has perfect style. He implied in his question that I didn't/shouldn't
help but he was more than prepared to accept my help if I was foolish
enough to offer it.
As it was, his question left me a graceful way out and I took it. Smile
drove me back to the hospital entrance and I walked over the backside
of Sunrise hill and navigated home perfectly. I got my tanning goggles
and walked downtown, got a 30 minute zap and walked over to the Kukri
for an Efes draft.
The staircase leading to the tanning salon I use here has a 15th step
that is significantly higher than the preceding ones, even though this
is the first step that has no marble top coat. It makes me think about
construction standards and Susan Michael's remark about spitting and freedom.
From my apartment I can hear the sound of the mullah's voice broadcast
by loud speakers near the top of the minaret. The sonorous chant is a
characteristic sound of the old city. The Christmas lights are on only
while the mullah chants.
Joe
A Virtual Tour of Kosovo |
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