Security

This happy chappy is my security guard.

Living here in Bandung, I get the feeling of England neighborhoods from 30 ? 40 years ago, when people left the front door open and people wandered in and out, with a cheerful ?yoohooo? from the door step. People drank gallons of tea, wandering from one house to the next for another cup of tea and a digestive.

But experienced expats have warned me not to let my guard down as there are bad people here. I must never forget that Indonesia people are relatively poor, compared with UK citizens, but apparently that is changing fast. The point is, that I am a potential target and I must never forget that fact.

This guy seems to be around 24 hours a day. Not sure when he actually gets any sleep, but I could hazard a guess. As you can see from the blip, he is a very cheerful guy, friendly, good natured and always willing to lend a hand, should I need to lift something awkward or heavy. He even climbed through an upper window for me once, when I accidently locked myself out.

If I am doing a lot of sawing, I always keep the off cuts for the security. At night, they wrap up in scarves, anoraks, woolly hats and light a fire at the edge of the road, even though the temperature has only dropped to around 70°F. Some nights I really wonder what they are using for fuel, as I am gagging in my bed. I guess it is all relative. They think I am nuts, still walking around in T-shirt and shorts.

After 23:00, the security patrol their patch, carrying a big chunk of steel bar, clanking it against steel railings and posts as they go. At first, I found this extremely irritating. Then it was explained to me, that this tells the bad people that this area is off limits and tells the residents that the security are actually doing their job and earning their crust. This activity seems to stop around 03:00, but then the mosques kick off about 04:30 and after that, the cockerels start. I usually catch a few zeez in the afternoon, when it is too hot to do anything else.

Enough already! Have a nice day y?all.

Dave