Same Same Different Day

Well I know it has been a very long time since my last post. My job is going well and it provides quite a bit of entertainment for me. Unfortunately though it sucks all my energy so I never feel like writing emails, blog updates, and posting pictures.

My work days are pretty consistent:

06:30 Wake up and get ready for work. Pack my bag.

07:10 Walk to 7/11 and buy milk then bakery for bread.

07:20 Get to work, eat, clean camera lens.

07:30 Introduce myself to the day's customers.

07:45 Walk to pier ahead of customers to catch them walking to the boat.

08:00 Film, Dive, Eat, Film, Dive, Film, Film, Film.

13:30 Arrive back at shop and start the video capture process.
13:45 Walk home and take shower, relax for 20 minutes, possibly nap for 20 minutes.

14:30 Walk back to work and start editing.

18:00 Finish editing and start burning DVD.

18:10 Find and order dinner.

18:20 Go pick up and dinner, bring it back to the shop, and eat.

19:00 Make the critical decision whether or not to walk home for the next hour or just work.

20:00 Wait for customers to arrive and show them the DVD.

20:30 Shmoose with customers to see if they want to buy DVD.

20:45 Burn more copies of the DVD if more than 1 copy sells.

21:00 Wait around because I have to be back to the shop at 21:30 for boat assignments for tomorrow.

21:30 Receive boat assignments for the next day and decide whether or not the customers are worth selling to.

21:45 Pack my divegear box and order lunch for the next day.

22:00 Decide whether or not I want to socialize with friends or go home and collapse.

So basically my work days end up being effectively 14 hours usually.

Some days I end up going out the bars with friends until midnight or so. If I don't have to dive I usually stay longer. Unfortunately the only place to socialize on the island is bars or at work--therefore I spend the majority of my time here on the island at work. This is fun sometimes and wears thin other days. There are a lot of personalities at work and of course there are some people I prefer to be around and others I wish would forget to show up (occasionally this happens too!).

My boss is a German man that has been on the island too long. He has the European machismo thing going on and can be quite obnoxious, unreasonable, and rude. It's okay though because he does it out of the respect and love for his job right?

I have other co-workers that follow in the same suit and think it is their moral imperative to be obnoxiously condescending and flip at all times.

Ryan has a theory that being on the island too long makes a person 'affected'. I can't think of a single diveshop manager on the island that isn't socially screwed up in some way or another. You just need to learn to deal with these people, or plain avoid them.

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I enjoy life here. It's different. It's fun. It's relaxed even with the long work hours. Despite all this I'm very excited to be leaving the island for a visa run today. This is the first time I get the leave the island since I arrived on Phi Phi back on October 1st.

I'm headed to Laos. I will be flying to the Thailand/Laos border and then will take a minibus or series of minibuses to Vientiane. This is where I will hand over my passport at the Thailand embassy and then wait for them to put a brand new visa in there. I hope to see some culture while I'm there and maybe even take some pictures. I will be back to Phuket on Dec 24th and back to Phi Phi on the Christmas morning ferry.

Have a great holiday season and wonderful time with family and friends!

~Chris

P.S. Today will not be Same Same Different Day!