The uneventful week that was quite eventful
Another week bites the dust and we rush closer to the end of another year. As far as my life in Ghana over the last week, there is one word that immediately came to mind as I sat down to write the blog – uneventful.
I am making the three hour round trip to our new site every second day, which is dramatically improving my off road skills, and had the one effect of me hiring a replacement “gelunderwagen” mainly due to the shocks on the old one proving impossible for the guy hiring me the vehicle to fix. Driving on potholed and corrugated roads in a machine that “walks” all over the road was not a pleasant experience. So, I am down driving a (manual) Pajero which is a tad old, smokes more then I do and tells me the temperature in C rather then F. All this at $5 cheaper a day then the old one was costing me. Oh yes and it is diesel and defiantly has the tractor sound to it. BUT!!! The shocks work well.
Tuesday did see me climbing to the top of a half built stacker conveyor, which given my love for heights – yeah right – was heart in the mouth stuff. The fact there were no handrails from around 10m up, with the total height 22 meters above the ground added to the thrill value of the ride. Why the hell did I do this you ask? All part of the learning process. This conveyor was built and before completion kind of bent and buckled and did not look good at all. Our job - Fix it! Well in the process of working out how we were going to fix it, this lil accountant walla studied the drawing and worked out the problem after huge discussion with people that knew what they were looking at. All it took was logic. And logic I do well. To prove my theory, I had to toodle to the top of this piece of equipment and show everyone why the debit side of the conveyor had to equal the credit side. Turns out that after all the discussion, there was a simpler solution then the one proposed by myself, and that gets tested tomorrow. If it does not work, then we go my route. I have a bet of 10 bottles of scotch that we will revert back to my idea, but to be dead honest – it is a bet that I will be willing to pay as we would have resolved the client’s problem in 8 days, instead of three weeks. And that makes us look good!!! All it will take is 11 people, a 60 ton crane (ours) 55 ton crane (theirs) and 45 ton crane (also ours).
Keeping your lads happy on site is a challenge. We have 21 people there in total, and managed to secure a local camp – which is basically 12 rooms and an ablution block.
Problem? No electricity and a pump which drives water to the ablution blocks which is electric.
Solution: Gensets.
Problem, Genset that came with the camp is beyond repair.
Solution: Power from the mine
Problem: The mine takes 8 days to install electricity.
Problem: No food facilities
Solution: Give guys GHC 30.000 per day to buy food from the local village.
Problem: People at the village know a good thing when they see it and the price of food goes through the roof meaning GHC 30.000 although been more then enough in Tarkwa is totally insufficient where we are.
Solution: Mine caterers supply food for $2.00 a plate (GHC 18.000) – oh yes and add $0.25 for the take away container. (seems like the caterers have the same idea as the village.)
And so it continues:
I did lose my temper in a big way this week. Possibly only the second time since I arrive here . There was a huge amount of time and effort taken by our new expat to fix the 60 ton crane, and effectively the entire crane was rewired, bridged units corrected and generally refurbished. The client was jumping up and down as he needed the 60 ton to do the conveyer job, and we could not get the crane out until it was all done. Well – come Thursday everything was running, moving, beeping and generally the crane was ready to get out into the field. Said expat runs off to site to fix the starter on a genset (turns out the original starter was stolen and swapped out with a broken one), and when he returns, “someone” had tightened the bolts on the alternator and sheared five of the seven bolts. Run the motor for 10 minutes and *poof* the entire section self destructs. Couple this with some loose wires which suddenly appear, and the crane does not quite make the grade to get out to site.
Solution. Call all workshop staff in a group and read them the riot act. Liberal use of the F word, the C word and even the P word, seems to have the desired effect and since then we have not had any more “mysterious failures”. Those that know me well know that I do not lose my temper often, but when I do……. Find somewhere safe.
Worked this weekend, on fairly arb stuff. We are actually up to date fully on the admin side and I have even reconciled all my income statements to the end of October. Quite impressed I am. The balance sheets come next week!!!! This of course assumes that we have connectivity, as today the internet connection and email connections were dog slow and basically unusable. The phones worked well, so it leads me to believe the problem is in SA rather then here. Month end on Thursday and we seem prepared. Gawd, we have even reconciled creditors in full.
Finally got my contact with the company constructing the new project in the country, and I am off there next week (five hours away) to make contact and get the show on the road. From the length of the trip, I will be spending a night in some nice town hotel somewhere. I am also applying my artistic talents (sic) to produce a nice Ghana Glossy on what we can do. Now all I need is a color printer. It amazes me that I have possible gone back 15 years in facilities available and this all reminds me of when I started in Swaziland in 1991. Oh for the high capacity color printer I had at Unicell that did all my presentations………..
George Bush has not responded to my open letter (refer previous post) and I am sure it is because he is so busy trying to repair the U S Dollar, appoint a new secretary of state and take time off at Camp David. The imam therefore is taking full advantage of this and has increased the volume of his call to prayer (maybe he is not getting full houses now that Ramadan is over) and keep it up between 4.30am and 5.15am meaning sleep is impossible once he gets going. I do believe for my own sanity I am going to have to move soon.
My diet is going well. My pants are still tight, but at least I am enjoying the change in food. I love been able to cook for myself again and get back to the tastes I am used to as opposed to the mass produced taste that we have been getting over the last few months. A care pack is due up next week and I am looking forward to smoking B&H again as opposed to the Rothmans cough drops that we are forced to smoke when the Bennie runs out.
There are elections here on the 7th of December, and campaigning is in full swing, you know you are in a form of democracy when you pass a bicycle flying a 2 meter wide NPP flag. Cars are plastered with posters and the imam’s trick of using a loudspeaker is taken and placed on moving vehicles that extol the virtues of the three candidates running for president. The local Ghana website gives full details of the election and makes for interesting reading. Given Ghana’s interesting political past, all these shenanigans cannot be that bad.
Another hot topic is the Goldfields/ Harmony takeover and this forms a part of any meeting we have with our local clients. It is so interesting to hear everyone’s point of view and live with the rumours that this generates. The pot is boiling and it again will be fun to see the outcome. It affects our business, so it is something that will be watched closely. Again, both goldfields and harmony websites are dedicated to the bid, and each thrust and counter thrust is lauded on the respective website that represents the company that won the battle. Once again, I am constantly amazed by the suits in the buildings in SA that think up these ideas. Oh yes – did you know that Goldfields Tarkwa produces fully 30% of Goldfields earnings. This and other amazing facts available on their website.
Rose (who does our catering) leaves on the 7th of December (or earlier if she can), and that leaves us all alone in procuring food. Based on the fact that the local butcher is an open fly infested table in the market, and all our meat comes from Khumasi (3 hours drive away), meat could become a scarce commodity unless we can do some fancy footwork on the procurement front. That said the price of Fillet (GHC 42.000 ZAR 28.00 per kilo) is the same price as mince, chuck and for that matter any other cut of beef. Ergo, curry using fillet is a fine idea here. Calamari is R22.00 per kilo and lamb R48.00 per kilo. Strange prices……. I am toying with an idea of a fixed GHC 1.000.000 per person as a budget, and I do believe you can live rather well on that amount. It remains to be seen in the new year….
Right – The Block has finished – I typed this during Carte Blanche and the Sunday night movie is on – Vin Diesel so I am off to watch the movie with a bottle of water and pack of ciggies. To that stead – I watched XXX last night for the first time. Good movie that was – not sure how I missed it when it came on circuit.
Have a stunning week people and peoplesses…… I know I have less then a month till the big kick home!!!!!!
Sheesh – did I say at the beginning of this blog that the week was uneventful?
I am making the three hour round trip to our new site every second day, which is dramatically improving my off road skills, and had the one effect of me hiring a replacement “gelunderwagen” mainly due to the shocks on the old one proving impossible for the guy hiring me the vehicle to fix. Driving on potholed and corrugated roads in a machine that “walks” all over the road was not a pleasant experience. So, I am down driving a (manual) Pajero which is a tad old, smokes more then I do and tells me the temperature in C rather then F. All this at $5 cheaper a day then the old one was costing me. Oh yes and it is diesel and defiantly has the tractor sound to it. BUT!!! The shocks work well.
Tuesday did see me climbing to the top of a half built stacker conveyor, which given my love for heights – yeah right – was heart in the mouth stuff. The fact there were no handrails from around 10m up, with the total height 22 meters above the ground added to the thrill value of the ride. Why the hell did I do this you ask? All part of the learning process. This conveyor was built and before completion kind of bent and buckled and did not look good at all. Our job - Fix it! Well in the process of working out how we were going to fix it, this lil accountant walla studied the drawing and worked out the problem after huge discussion with people that knew what they were looking at. All it took was logic. And logic I do well. To prove my theory, I had to toodle to the top of this piece of equipment and show everyone why the debit side of the conveyor had to equal the credit side. Turns out that after all the discussion, there was a simpler solution then the one proposed by myself, and that gets tested tomorrow. If it does not work, then we go my route. I have a bet of 10 bottles of scotch that we will revert back to my idea, but to be dead honest – it is a bet that I will be willing to pay as we would have resolved the client’s problem in 8 days, instead of three weeks. And that makes us look good!!! All it will take is 11 people, a 60 ton crane (ours) 55 ton crane (theirs) and 45 ton crane (also ours).
Keeping your lads happy on site is a challenge. We have 21 people there in total, and managed to secure a local camp – which is basically 12 rooms and an ablution block.
Problem? No electricity and a pump which drives water to the ablution blocks which is electric.
Solution: Gensets.
Problem, Genset that came with the camp is beyond repair.
Solution: Power from the mine
Problem: The mine takes 8 days to install electricity.
Problem: No food facilities
Solution: Give guys GHC 30.000 per day to buy food from the local village.
Problem: People at the village know a good thing when they see it and the price of food goes through the roof meaning GHC 30.000 although been more then enough in Tarkwa is totally insufficient where we are.
Solution: Mine caterers supply food for $2.00 a plate (GHC 18.000) – oh yes and add $0.25 for the take away container. (seems like the caterers have the same idea as the village.)
And so it continues:
I did lose my temper in a big way this week. Possibly only the second time since I arrive here . There was a huge amount of time and effort taken by our new expat to fix the 60 ton crane, and effectively the entire crane was rewired, bridged units corrected and generally refurbished. The client was jumping up and down as he needed the 60 ton to do the conveyer job, and we could not get the crane out until it was all done. Well – come Thursday everything was running, moving, beeping and generally the crane was ready to get out into the field. Said expat runs off to site to fix the starter on a genset (turns out the original starter was stolen and swapped out with a broken one), and when he returns, “someone” had tightened the bolts on the alternator and sheared five of the seven bolts. Run the motor for 10 minutes and *poof* the entire section self destructs. Couple this with some loose wires which suddenly appear, and the crane does not quite make the grade to get out to site.
Solution. Call all workshop staff in a group and read them the riot act. Liberal use of the F word, the C word and even the P word, seems to have the desired effect and since then we have not had any more “mysterious failures”. Those that know me well know that I do not lose my temper often, but when I do……. Find somewhere safe.
Worked this weekend, on fairly arb stuff. We are actually up to date fully on the admin side and I have even reconciled all my income statements to the end of October. Quite impressed I am. The balance sheets come next week!!!! This of course assumes that we have connectivity, as today the internet connection and email connections were dog slow and basically unusable. The phones worked well, so it leads me to believe the problem is in SA rather then here. Month end on Thursday and we seem prepared. Gawd, we have even reconciled creditors in full.
Finally got my contact with the company constructing the new project in the country, and I am off there next week (five hours away) to make contact and get the show on the road. From the length of the trip, I will be spending a night in some nice town hotel somewhere. I am also applying my artistic talents (sic) to produce a nice Ghana Glossy on what we can do. Now all I need is a color printer. It amazes me that I have possible gone back 15 years in facilities available and this all reminds me of when I started in Swaziland in 1991. Oh for the high capacity color printer I had at Unicell that did all my presentations………..
George Bush has not responded to my open letter (refer previous post) and I am sure it is because he is so busy trying to repair the U S Dollar, appoint a new secretary of state and take time off at Camp David. The imam therefore is taking full advantage of this and has increased the volume of his call to prayer (maybe he is not getting full houses now that Ramadan is over) and keep it up between 4.30am and 5.15am meaning sleep is impossible once he gets going. I do believe for my own sanity I am going to have to move soon.
My diet is going well. My pants are still tight, but at least I am enjoying the change in food. I love been able to cook for myself again and get back to the tastes I am used to as opposed to the mass produced taste that we have been getting over the last few months. A care pack is due up next week and I am looking forward to smoking B&H again as opposed to the Rothmans cough drops that we are forced to smoke when the Bennie runs out.
There are elections here on the 7th of December, and campaigning is in full swing, you know you are in a form of democracy when you pass a bicycle flying a 2 meter wide NPP flag. Cars are plastered with posters and the imam’s trick of using a loudspeaker is taken and placed on moving vehicles that extol the virtues of the three candidates running for president. The local Ghana website gives full details of the election and makes for interesting reading. Given Ghana’s interesting political past, all these shenanigans cannot be that bad.
Another hot topic is the Goldfields/ Harmony takeover and this forms a part of any meeting we have with our local clients. It is so interesting to hear everyone’s point of view and live with the rumours that this generates. The pot is boiling and it again will be fun to see the outcome. It affects our business, so it is something that will be watched closely. Again, both goldfields and harmony websites are dedicated to the bid, and each thrust and counter thrust is lauded on the respective website that represents the company that won the battle. Once again, I am constantly amazed by the suits in the buildings in SA that think up these ideas. Oh yes – did you know that Goldfields Tarkwa produces fully 30% of Goldfields earnings. This and other amazing facts available on their website.
Rose (who does our catering) leaves on the 7th of December (or earlier if she can), and that leaves us all alone in procuring food. Based on the fact that the local butcher is an open fly infested table in the market, and all our meat comes from Khumasi (3 hours drive away), meat could become a scarce commodity unless we can do some fancy footwork on the procurement front. That said the price of Fillet (GHC 42.000 ZAR 28.00 per kilo) is the same price as mince, chuck and for that matter any other cut of beef. Ergo, curry using fillet is a fine idea here. Calamari is R22.00 per kilo and lamb R48.00 per kilo. Strange prices……. I am toying with an idea of a fixed GHC 1.000.000 per person as a budget, and I do believe you can live rather well on that amount. It remains to be seen in the new year….
Right – The Block has finished – I typed this during Carte Blanche and the Sunday night movie is on – Vin Diesel so I am off to watch the movie with a bottle of water and pack of ciggies. To that stead – I watched XXX last night for the first time. Good movie that was – not sure how I missed it when it came on circuit.
Have a stunning week people and peoplesses…… I know I have less then a month till the big kick home!!!!!!
Sheesh – did I say at the beginning of this blog that the week was uneventful?
1 Comments:
I'd love to see a post when you've had a busy week ;)
Hey, you could cook for everyone after the 7th?
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