Smooth Operator

That Britt is one sharp cookie. A German Shepherd doesn't far too well in 100 plus degree heat day in and day out without a good plan. Well, I uncovered Mr. Retired Mine Dectection Dog's secret to keeping cool today; he takes a shower.

I've got this English 'bloke' hanging around renting tent space on the compound. Very nice fellow, bored with aerospace engineering so he's now doing a bit of this and that including some large scale plumbing--setting up water pumps and filters for villages here in SS.

When I learned he was a plumber and kitchen installer in his post aerospace life, I quickly set about testing the water to see whether or not he'd be interested in some projects around this place.

He was game so he and I were wandering around looking at the space and ended with a tour of the bathrooms. as we're exiting after a run through what needs to be done, trotting up comes Britt. He is not one to really wander into the buildings to much, so when I witnessed him enter into the bathroom block I was a little surprised. On the left as you enter is the shower and in he went. One of the things Malcom and I were looking at was the leaking shower head. It's been leaking for some time and Britt took note a while back I assume. It's clear that through the day when he gets toasty he goes in for a dip. That explains the very damp and muddy Britt that has been appearing more and more of late.

He'll be a little upset with me since the shower head was fixed this evening. Probably won't be long before the other shower starts leaking, so he ought to be fine.

Smart cookie taking note of something like a leaking shower.

Retirement Community

When there's Juba, why bother with Boca and Palm Springs?

The FSD/SIMAS compound is not shared with a tenant, a commercial demining organization called The Development Initiative, or TDI.

As a part of their 'Toolbox' they have mine dogs. Mine dogs are like bomb sniffing dogs in airports or train stations except they get their smell on looking for mines.

Brit--or maybe it really is Brett like the Brett in Flight of the Conchords whose name is pronounced 'Brit'--is a retired mine dog. Brit was brought up in South Africa and has been living in Sudan working as a mine dog for some time. Not too long, but long enough to justify retirement. Brit is 12. Having Brit around is a real pleasure. He is very well adjusted and mellow. He suffers in the heat as much as the rest of us do, probably more. Makes you a little nervous the way he is constantl changing positions, but I guess he keeps looking for a cool spot. He's always got a smile on too, which is nice. He's getting a little brazen trying to enter the kitchen all the time, but who can blame him?

I'd been talking about a compound dog, not some ugly-ass whippet looking local dog, but a burebred like Dr. Brit, so his addition was a welcome one. He isn't much of a guard dog, but the locals don't care for him by nature, which is good, because then we have a well mannered mine dog that does undercover work as a security dog!

Dry Season

It is dry season in lovely South Sudan and that means dust. Here is a shot from the Dell desktop that the FSD IT guy who is here visitng took apart to clear. Amazingly this puppy was still working reasonably well considering all dust and cobwebs.

This is only a year's worth of gathered dust and cobwebs.