Connections

An open question.

Why is it so difficult to find F connector wall plates? You know, the kind you need for satellite TV. Is there some law about importing them or is the case (as it is often) that I just haven't found the one shop in all of Nusantara that sells this animal?

Allow me to explain. A while back I decided to renovate the house. Part of the renovation involved installing cable outlets in all of the rooms so I could enjoy TV in any room without  without having a bunch of unsightly cables lying about or having holes drilled in my window frame. A noble plan. I also have a mother-in-law suite on the property, that I may decide to rent out in some alternative future. Its nice to have the connections in place so that all the tenant needs to do is buy the decoder. I'm happy to say that the cables are now where they need to be. The issue is the connections. The only available wall sockets here are whats known as a Belling-Lee type. The satelite provider (Indovision) uses F connectors. The two don't mix. Moreover I've been unable to find an adaptor. Its been grimly amusing visiting upteen hardware stores, electrical suppliers, stereo and home entertainment shops and getting various versions of the blank stare. Reminds me of the great toilet adventure of a few years back.

The only workaround at the moment is to build my own "PJ" cables which have F connectors at one end and Belling-Lee connectors on the other. Tedious but I don't know what else to do.

Renovations

I'm planning a general spruce up of the property this year. Keeping up with the Wayans, Mades, Nyomans, Ketuts and the like. There has been  a something of a building boom  in the neighborhood lately and I'm feeling left behind. Its also a chance to fix up some of the more glaring problems of the old house. Anyways I've clipped a first draft of the reno. Trying to think of a name for the place. Ideas gratefully entertained...

The House That Joko Built (an update)

The day hums sweetly when you have enough bees working for you - Baron Vladimir Harkonnen

Last February, the groundwork for a new villa across from my place was just getting underway. A fair bit of progress has occurred since then and it now seems like a good time to update.

Now we are getting somewhere. The foundation has been filled in and the walls are up. The beginnings of the swimming pool can be seen on the left. The Villa will three bedrooms along with a living area and kitchen. The pool is planned to be one of the overflow types with a waterfall - that should look nice.

Today's usual peace and quiet was broken by the noise of a cement mixer starting up and lots of shouting of instructions in Indonesian. Today was the day for pouring cement into the forms that would soon become the main support pillars for the house. A few extra helpers were called in especially for the occasion.

The bucket brigade is at the ready.

The bucket brigade in action. The whole time there were pouring cement they were singing a song - I suppose it makes the work go by more pleasantly. Their singing is what got me out of my house to see what was going on.

The best job of the day - mixing cement! I once watched a crew build a three story hotel using one tiny cement mixer along with a block and tackle to get the cement where it needed to go. Amazing!

Someone was planning ahead or maybe he just got lucky. The gravel arrived just-in-time to go into the mixer. Who says Indonesians are not abreast with the latest critical path management techniques?

The cement will take a few days to set and then the forms can be removed and the next stage of building started. Some of the workers have taken advantage of the lull to go home for a family visit.

It will still be some time before this house gets done so I may be able to milk 1 or 2 more postings from it.

pj

btw Just a little something on this whole villa thing.

Although there have been several villas going up in my neighborhood lately, there is still no sign of anything resembling infrastructure from the government. The access road is in terrible shape and some some of the residents of this street still prefer to dump their trash roadside as opposed to having it picked up(for a very reasonable fee). Electricity is at a minimum and the waiting list for power is at least a year (unless you want to pay extra and even that's no guarantee). Anyone thinking of buying a villa here should really apprise themselves of what they are getting. Prices are not cheap and the quality can be frighteningly poor. Caveat Emptor.

The House That Joko Built - Part 1

This is the farmer sowing the corn,
That kept the the cock that crowed in the morn,
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn,
That married the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
- Nursery Rhyme



For the past few years I have enjoyed the view of the swamp/sawah across from my house. One of my neighbors has a water buffalo and its somehow reassuring to see him every morning, bellowing away while chest deep in the mud. But all that's about to change. A few days ago some folks turned up with survey stakes and some string and proceeded to mark out territory in what I've come to think of as my swamp. Apparently the land has been sold and someone is building a villa on it. I have no real objection to this - They will build something anyway and better a villa than a bengkel (motorcycle repair shop). The project could take a few months depending on the flow of materiels so I thought I would take some photos now, and some more a month or so and see how they get on.



Before any work can be started the accommodation of the staff must be considered. There are about 6 or 7 workers and they assembled this bamboo lean-to from scratch in a couple of hours. Haven't worked out where the water and err... toilet facilities are just yet. Not much in the way of lighting at nighttime either. The mosquitoes must be feasting. Apparently it's cheaper to bring in laborers from Java then it is to hire locals. The disadvantage of course of using imported labor is when you discover faults in the piping 2 months after the house is built these guys will be very difficult to track down.

The work proper. There is enough going on here to keep any critical path analyst busy. There will eventually be a wall where the trench is and the area inside the trench will be filled with crushed stone to make the foundation for the building to come. The limestone piled up next to the road will have to be spread by hand over the entire area - one shovelful at a time. Note the lack of anything resembling power tools. This is all done by hand - very impressive in this heat.

This man is assembling the rebar for the beton bertulang (reinforced concrete). These will be used in foundations to give the structure some earthquake resistance and tensile strength. Each of the cross members is attached to the stringers by means of baling wire.

More rebar. Note the safety footwear.

Eventually there will be a wall where this man is digging. The wall will support the crushed stone that is being dumped in. The guy dug this trench very quickly...about a day and a half from start to finish

Of course any project has its detractors. These bovine former residents look on in dismay at the of the loss of their playground.

As an engineer, I'm rather interested in this project. I was away when my house was being built. From a personal perspective my Father built a house from scratch back in the 80's. Mom and the kids were conscripted into his personal labor force; luckily I managed to avoid most of the draft by having 2 jobs at the time. Dad would have loved these guys.

Hope to update later this week.

My update - 12-feb-2009. Posted 25-feb-2009

I meant to get this in earlier but I had a plane to catch. The boys (and girls) have started on the foundation. These foundation walls are disconcertingly large.

They also started drilling a well. this part of town has yet to be hooked up to the city water supply. Usually they drill to 50 m.

This will be all till I get back. Stay tuned!

Pj

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