coconut and coral in the middle of woop woop: The stresses of technology

Dealing with technology is not an interest I can spend hours exploring or nattering on about and when I am around people who do my luddite attitude seems to shine rather brightly. Since being in Kiribati I can spend hours trying to work out some of the simplest of tasks to do with computers, printers etc and have gleaned the patience of a saint particularly when waiting for internet access.

I don’t want to relive the challenges and dilemmas faced at work on a daily basis so will stick to those at home, the ones that are vital to keeping in touch with the rest of the world and making life here bigger than it perhaps is. Even the idea of writing about this stuff bores me but after the stresses of trying to connect to the world last week for a “live” radio interview my experience has grown, slightly.

Arrangements had been made for me to be interviewed on Australia’s National radio broadcaster as past of a “meet the listener” segment on one of my favourite programs. One phone call and a few emails and we seemed to be set, I would get called on my mobile at a given time, chat chat for 10 minutes then it would be all over red rover. Sounds simple enough and I just needed to be conscious of not rabbiting on at this opportunity to be talking to “home”.

I am living in a developing country and should know by now things more often than not don’t go as planned !

View from just out the front door as clouds take their position.

I welcomed the rain and especially the cool early morning as I reached for a blanket and cuddled up remembering what winter was like, embracing that feeling and the cool air on my skin whilst listening to the wild seas just outside my windows. I had organised to work from home so took a leisurely approach to the morning and was enjoying the wettest and wildest days since arriving here. A couple of hours before the arranged phone up I checked the mobile for battery charge but found the mobile service was down and out. This has happened before when a truck hit a pole or something but not an experience I had had due to bad weather. Ok, 2 hours out and no mobile range, I’m thinking no interview or possibly a reschedule. I do have access to a satellite phone (that I was yet to have success using !) and thought well maybe this is the occasion to get it right. For some reason we can have internet access and no mobile range or vis versa, (luddite confirmation here) so there’s time to try internet access, just.

To access the net here I have an external modem that is suppose to sit somewhere inside the house and let Scotty beam us up. Just one problem, no range inside, so the poor little modem has to bare the weather and sit outside in the one spot that seems to connect. To do this there is a small hole in the wire screen from a window in the living area and the wires have been poked through. So each time I want to connect I have to pull the wires through the window, plug into the modem and balance it on the step with support from a shell. After this it’s turn on the power, hold my tongue right and wait for a signal to connect, which can take some time and on occassions not connect at all. Being an indoor modem it’s not really made for weather, that’s where the umbrella comes in, it sits warding off the rain allowing connection to continue. The lovely pink number gets more outings protecting the modem that keeping me dry. And the other more frequent disruption is dogs or a pig running over the cord and knocking out the range.

Patience is more that a card game……….

Looking into my front door with the nice umbrella keeping the modem dry, still working on the sewing machine ! And that's a very rusty jaffle iron weighing down the umbrella.

There she is complete with shell for support.

So back to the interview, I successfully get internet access and email what I think is the satellite number to the radio program. I take the thing outside and wave it around trying to “connect”, walking around like a woman on a mission, the chooks scatter and the 3 little pigs keep munching away. I get a GPS reading and finally get picked up by a couple of satellites.

Mobile range seems to be back, it’s almost the time for “the call” and I’ve got my hands filled with telecommunication devices. Turns out the satellite number I gave was incorrect and the interview took place on a bit of a dodgy mobile line.

I managed not to rabbit on too much (I think) and can’t believe I forgot why it is so challenging to live here, seems I have got use to only getting 3 varieties of fruit (bananas, paw paw & coconuts) maybe 4 veggies and waiting 4-6 weeks for the boat with supplies to come in. A cask of wine costs $95, there is no transport after about 10pm, no streetlights or TV and the highest point above sea level is about 2 meters. I don’t think I sold Kiribati to be Paradise but you do need to be a resilient being.

Living here is fine it’s this technology stuff that will do my head in !