The guys
were diving again this morning, instead of heading to Menjangan island though
they were going to be setting off from the beach. Tony was a bit dubious about
how good it would be, but the proximity meant that they would be back and able
to hang with us from about 2pm rather than the usual 4-5pm.
At 9am Tony
was across the road at the dive shop, waiting for his partner in crime. No sign
of Francois. A few minutes later the straggler passed by us in the dining area
and went across the road. The two of them chatted for a while when suddenly we
noticed Francois dashing across the street towards us. He shot by and headed to
the rooms. We looked questionly at Tony who yelled out that Francois was
wearing trousers and not his swimmers.
Few minutes later all sorted, Francois (and his swimmers) were back over
at the dive shop. Literally two minutes passed and Francois was again jogging
across the road to the guest house. What now? Look to Tony: “Money!”. He’d need
money as they’d be back at the beach in time for lunch. Sheepishly he passed
the laughing gauntlet that now faced him on his return to the dive shop. Surely
they’d be setting off any minute now. No, wait, really?? Back again for a third
time?? Dude!! Where’s your head at this morning? More questioning looks at Tony
who simply shook his head and made a few hand gestures. For a third time poor
Francois had to sidle past us. A book! To read for the afternoon. Cue face
palms and peals of mean laughter. Never change sir! Life would be a lot less
entertaining.
Geoff joined
us late at the breakfast table, and was given a quick recap of the morning’s
events. Cue him booming across the street in his loudest Aussie accent, “Hey
Francois, have you got your swimmers?”. Thumbs up from the Frenchman. “Have you
got some money?”. Again, thumbs up and a resigned grimace. “Have you got a
book?”. More hand gestures, just not of the thumbs up variety. Hilarious!!!
As of the
past two days we have been in a standoff battle with a Spanish couple and their
gorgeous baby Ellie, for the right to claim the comfy day beds. The couple tend
to sprawl and take over more of the seating areas than they can actually occupy
at any one time. They’ve got towels on the beach loungers on the sand, on the
day beds, on the stools and at the lounger by the pool. They are just two
adults, but they are everywhere!! The cuteness of Ellie let’s them get away
with murder, one smile from her has us all melting like butter, but Robin is on
a mission to get there first today. He pegs it down to the beach for just
before 11am and manages to claim a precious day bed. Get in!!
Lunch was
had at the bakery, I was presented with the largest crepe I’ve ever seen, it
was humongous. The accompanying homemade lemonade was fabulously refreshing and
tart. Lu is addicted to the Greek salad. Feta is her favourite food, she’s been
saying it all day.
Most of the
group headed back to the guesthouse or popped to get some treatments done. I
opted to head back to the beach. Walked along the shore and headed to see the
swingseat that was at the edge of the headland.
Time to
dwell on life, and what the hell I’m planning to do with mine. Having been
informed before my trip that I was being made redundant after 13 years, I now
have a terrifying prospect of what next! I’ve agreed to work with a start up
company for the short term, but realistically it’s not a runner, my vacation
time is bog standard, there are no perks or BIKs. I’m back at the bottom of the
ladder and while there might be room to advance way down the road, it will be
way down the road. And I now have a house. And a mortgage. And monthly repayments.
And notions of a jet-setting lifestyle. Shit!
I’m the
first to admit that I’m a dinosaur, a lifer. Change terrifies me. I suffer
badly from analysis paralysis. I’m also acutely aware of the fact that my
degree is now meaningless as technology and software has changed so much since
I graduated and I have not bothered to keep in touch (as I do not have the
interest in it). Therefore, what exactly am I qualified to do now...
Job was
first out of college and instead of doing the correct thing, moving on after
2-3 years, I stayed and stagnated. Became institutionalised. It was easy.
Colleagues were great fun. Job at the beginning was on upward spiral, business
was changing exponentially and every three years I undertook a different role. Boss
allowed me to take holidays whenever I requested, no question. Managed multiple
3-week breaks and even wrangled an 8-month sabbatical outta them. So instead of
upskilling, furthering my CV and learning new skills, I festered, happy to go
with the flow. Never gave the future a proper thought – although in fairness I
knew it wasn’t a position I’d be in until retirement age.
Now I’m at a
loss as to what I want to do. If only I had a burning desire for a vocation, or
an idea of something I would love to do. Yea, I should not be left too long
alone with my own thoughts, I get very maudlin, anxious and freaked out. Darkness is beginning to fall so, absolutely
none the wiser, I made my way back to the guesthouse.
Drinks were
had on the patio; the rum, gin and Southern Comfort are slowly getting worked
through. Off to the bakery for dinner tonight. They are open until 9:30pm and
since they do such nice sweet stuff we figure they might have tasty dinners as
well. The night is as humid as hell, and there’s not one lick of a breeze to
bring any bit of relief. Our assumptions were correct and dinner was delicious.
At 9:40 all the staff bar the cashier went home. Taking that as a hint we
wrapped up and thanked him for a lovely meal. It’s impossible to stay out late
over here. Everything shuts down. Hmmm, maybe there is a business case to be
made to keep somewhere open for Westerners who cannot get their heads around
early nights, and want late night drinking establishments...
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