The Move

It did not go well, but I am now in the new house. It was a mammoth effort that took 6 trips in all, as I had to use my motor bike. But, because the police always like to stop me for a bit of spare cash, I only go as far as the main road and then have to use angkotan kota, the local bus service. It takes 3 angkots to get to the new house, even though it is not that far, but on the first trip, after the first angkot, I was offered an ojek ride. Ojek is a motorbike taxi service.

The ojek’s price was $3 for the house and return, more than I really wanted to spend, trying to do the move as cheaply as possible, but the time savings and convenience made the ojek good sense. So the journey was one third motor bike, one third angkot and one third ojek.

It was a bad time to get a tooth ache, but that was par for the course on this day, It wasn’t too bad and I was able to work through it.

On the fourth trip, an angkot driver offered to take me to the house for extra money. I asked how much from the old house to the new, thinking I could complete the whole move in one go. He wanted $8, but I could carry on as I was and do it for $7, so I offered $6. He was reluctant, but eventually agreed and dropped the other five passengers off at another angkot. Quite unbelievable really, imagine a bus driver in the UK telling all the passengers to disembark, because he wanted to earn extra cash – there would be riots.

When we got to the house and he saw the unpacked mess of stuff that had to be moved, he went back to negotiating for $8. I came up to $7, which was break even for me, but he would not budge, demanding $8. Crazy for him, but the deal was cancelled over $1, as we both had principles. He dropped me off at where I had left my bike and I paid what I owed for the ride, which was 30c. I lost nothing, but he lost all the money from the passengers that he kicked off and the opportunity to make $7. I was quite shocked that he did not take the deal. Having got him to the house, the negotiation advantage was mine. I was a bit miffed, but admired his principles. It was all a bit silly really, for both of us.

The final trip was the difficult one. It had to be made at 11pm, as the police stop work at 10pm. The final trip had to be all the way by motor bike. I rolled the bed sponge mattress up as tight as possible, which was a bit like wrestling a 20 foot crock. So with the mattress tied behind me, the triple tub buckets tied on to the rear, a wok strapped to my back, a 15L water bottle between my knees and a washing bowl on top of that, I set off.

I only got 20 yards and the bike packed in and refused to start. I was in big trouble now, as I had posted the key through the window and had no way to postpone the final move, as everyone was asleep by this time. I had experienced this problem before and figured it was a faulty connection on the ignition circuit. So, in the dim lighting from a nearby house, I managed, with no tools, to strip the wires higher up the circuit and twist them together. The lighting circuit blew, but I had no choice but to continue.

I finally arrived, only to discover the house was already occupied. We agreed to live together and share the new abode. We share the bathroom and I get the rest to myself, after all, how much room does a tiny toad take up.

I wrote this blip yesterday, but the internet was down, also no photoshop.

Dave