It’s all routine these days, which really isn’t so bad. I’m still on the 1-9 shift, which pretty much eliminates doing anything else all day except the fitness regime. I really need to kick that up a notch but unless I wake up early, it’s not possible. It’s at about 2 ½ hours now, so it might be as good as it will get.
My long walks to work may wind up halting soon because the rainy season is on its way. We’re told possibly November, but the weather is changing right now.
That means something different in a tropical zones than it does in places that have more than two seasons – rainy and dry. Basically, here it means it’s getting more and more humid and the winds are kicking up.
This is illustrated on a daily basis, not with cool breezes but by trash blowing in the breeze.
At my new little office perch – which, BTW, is *primo* -- trash has the ability to mesmerize.
See, all the copy editors shifted down a few spaces to enable there to be more Web folks. (I guess – they’re a long way down at the other end of the table and by the time I get the news, it’s sometimes exaggerated. Think the “Telephone game.”) Three of us somehow got bumped to another long table, which happens to be by the window.
Somehow I got lucky enough to get a window seat, but the luck didn’t stop there. I’m on the *end,* which means that I can plop my crap down on the side of the table, which just happens to be where unused drawers go to die.
At some point, I’ve explained that our little work spaces – you can’t even call them desks – are short and the space is tiny. We don’t even have room to unfold a newspaper to read. And the drawers are low, so that anyone who’s over, say 5’6” has to re-train their knees to not bang into them.
Some people found that impossible, so they just tossed their drawers. What they did with their stuff, I don’t know, but the drawers themselves wound up beside my new little area. And honestly, that’s cool, because I stand them up and boom! I have an end table.
We’re on the top floor and, during the daylight hours, I have a nice view. I can see a lot of South Jakarta, including the World Trade Center down the street from my apartment. I can’t actually see my apartment building because there’s another building under construction (there’s always construction), but I know where it is.
During the evening hours, the window somehow turns into a mirror and I can spy on the other copy editors behind me. I usually don’t get that bored, though.
Anyway, during the daylight hours, I’ve noticed this past week that there is A LOT of flying trash. Plastic bags, sheets of paper and runaway kites alight and toss and turn in the wind. It’s really amazing how much trash there is, and how high it gets. I mean, we’re on the 11th floor and sometimes the stuff gets higher than the building.
Litter is a huge problem here. Honestly, I think it’s as bad as Morocco. I mean, America has litter and it’s bad, but you rarely, if ever, actually see someone throwing trash into the street.
Here, it’s a rare day that you don’t see someone tossing a piece of paper, plastic, cigarette butt or otherwise into the street, sidewalk, sewer or what have you. It’s amazing that there’s no sense of giving a crap about the environment. It’s utter filth everywhere.
Like in America, people blame everything on the government. The government, people say, should tell people that it’s bad to do things, such as litter, splice electric cords or carry five people, helmetless, on motorcycles.
Like in America, the government is stupid, too. Such as, when a woman is gang-raped on a transport bus, having the governor of Jakarta send a warning that women must not wear shorts or miniskirts on public transport so as not to tempt men. (I wish I were making this up.)
Or when they say if we put in public parking (which they should do), it will clear the sidewalks of the motorcycles (yeah, right), which will then eliminate litter (yeah, right.)
It’s everywhere, and it’s disgusting. I just don’t think anyone needs to be told (especially from an inept government) that throwing litter left and right is bad. I think these folks should be strung up and then shot down.
There are a few honest attempts at beautifying the place, but they’re on such a small scale they get shut down quickly. Last week, someone tried to reclaim a tiny bit of sidewalk to make into a park and the stuff (including fake grass) disappeared. Sigh.
Someone’s trying to beautify my overpass, though, and so far it’s nice. It’s taking them forever, though.
My stretch of Jalen Doktor (the name of the road, I think), is currently under construction and has been for some time. Right now, in addition to the road improvements, they’re doing something with the water. There are several spots on my last leg home where I have to walk out in the street because there are workmen in huge holes.
These guys are RED. Like Alabama clay red. I have no idea what kind of earth Jakarta is built on, but the clay used in construction is red. And these guys standing in the holes are completely covered head to toe. Honestly, they could pass off as another race.
And my overpass is blue. Some other guys have been painting it for a couple of weeks now (sort of a cobalt and kind of a navy) and it’s looking good so far, although the cement is still nasty and there’s trash all over the sides.
My guess is that some bank bought the naming rights because all of a sudden, it’s got a lighted billboard for ANZ on it and now it’s got blue shiny handrails. And today, they were ripping off the tin roof and installing some fiberglass-like blue stuff.
Now at night, it’s kind of surreal. It’s all blue and gives off this blue vibe that’s kind of moody. With the new roof, I wonder if it’s going to be lighter (and if that one guy is going to be able to continue sleeping.) They weren’t quite done with the roof when I passed by after grocery shopping today, but even in the daylight it seemed lighter. I think the fiberglass is a bit translucent or something.
But night is a very bluesy feel. I almost feel like someone should be sitting in the little stairwell, playing a harmonica.
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