Prelude: Prodigal Pembantu

Where pembantu means "helper" or "assistant". So the pembantu is the housekeeper, but the Pembantu Rektor is the Vice-rector ot the University.

Anyway -- he came back. The "fold clothes before ironing, can't really be bothered to change a light bulb or clean the tub" housekeeper I thought I'd fired ten days ago. The last time I saw him he showed up on yet another Saturday, and I politely dismissed him on the spot, having done all the mopping, laundry, and dishwashing Friday anyway. He stayed gone all week, and I did all the cleaning again (including the upstairs, ma) on Friday in preparation for my buddy Mick's overnight visit. Mick and I head to the airport around 12:00, I come back alone at about 5:00. And I notice one or two subtle changes. The two socks and 1 pair of underwear are no longer in the bucket by the washing machine. The blanket on my bed is folded, but the incense ash on the bedtable is still there, along with the belly-up roach by the closet.

The son-of-a-gun snuck in on a friggin' Saturday afternoon when he knew I wouldn't be home, and can now argue about having done some work (about two-lifted fingers' worth). Seems he refused to be fired, and will have no work to do (slightly less than he did before, I guess), as I'm doing it. Came home from the office early Monday so I could catch him in the house. Sat him down again, paid him for the extra sessions, relieved him of his keys... waved goodbye... then waited. All the cans and bottles of two months of living in my house had never made it to the trash or out. He'd hauled them all up and hid them under the water tank by the roof, until such time as he felt like pushing himself to take them to a store and collect on the change... He must have strapped 200 items to his bicycle as he left.

Looking Into the Sun

Finally got to the beach. There are three lovely beaches an hour or so to the south of Jogja -- got to the first of them yesterday. If I'd known that Blogger finally got a technology in place to insert pics into these text entries, I would have done that here. Instead -- they are laid out below like always. Next time, I guess.