Filed at 11:45 pm under Diving by glennstu
Posted February 1, 2008
“I swim like a fish in the sea all the time, if that’s what it takes to be free I don’t mind” – Toots Hibbert
Sunday mornings on Roi-Namur for me meant it was time to go diving. The local activity center provides Bayliner boats for fishing, diving, and other water activities. The Roi-Namur Dolphins SCUBA club has several buildings on the Lagoon side of the island near the marina where members can store their equipment. So my Sundays would start early, with a hearty breakfast skillfully prepared in the cafeteria. Next, I would load any equipment I had in my apartment onto the trailer on the back of my bike and ride down to the SCUBA shack as we termed it. There I would gather the rest of my equipment to be loaded onto the boat. You could comfortably fit 4 divers onto a boat and 5 if you needed to in a pinch. Four was optimum as you had 4 ways to split the rental cost but you weren’t too packed. So while the other guys got ready the day’s captain would head over to the marina and sign out the boat then steer it over to the SCUBA dock where the crew could load the boat. Today we would be heading towards Speedball, a favorite site due to the large school of sharks that frequent it. I think the site got its name because it is close to where in ancient times they would launch Speedball missiles from or something like that if my memory serves me well for a change. Read more »
Filed at 12:22 am under Island Life and Cultural by glennstu
Yokwe. Tonight I was sitting in the bar at Buffalo Wild Wings playing buzztime trivia with my friends. I was having a decent night having won one game and finished second or third in all the others and had a perfect game going into the last question when I heard a voice behind me talking to his buddy and mentioning that a basketball player had played at Kwaj. The average person would have minded his own business but then the average person does not go and live on a small tropical island for 3 years, so instead I turned around and asked the dude if he’d been to Kwaj. That might sound cheeky to you but there is a certain camaraderie amongst Kwaj and Roi survivors. As it turned out he had lived there approximately the same time as I did but perhaps a little before me but with some overlap. Naturally we discussed life there and common acquaintances etc. Turns out there is a reunion group here in Tucson and if you’re a part of it please contact me because I’d like to participate. I registered on some kind of Kwaj roll at some point or you can get a hold of me through this highly entertaining and informative blog site. But our mutual reminiscences brought to mind a story that a good friend of mine from Kwaj once told me. To protect his identity I’ll refer to him as Sam. Read more »
Filed at 5:18 pm under Island Life by glennstu
Posted 1/1/2008
The title is kind of a tease because I only know one Roi-Namur ghost story. There was a huge battle fought on Roi back during WWII. There were quite a few Japanese soldiers and a few American soldiers who lost their lives during the battle. Some of the more notable sites are signposted. You would think that with that many guys giving up the ghost some of the ghosts that got gave up would still be hanging around. So if you know of any good ghost stories or even some bad stories about ghosts on Roi or Enniburr please send them to me and I will add them to this blog.
OK here is my Roi ghost story. Read more »
Filed at 12:04 am under Island Life by glennstu
Well Christmas is almost upon us so I would like to thank all of my readers and wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Most likely your next question is, what is Christmas like on Roi-Namur. That is a very good question but it is one I cannot answer. I spent almost 3 years on Roi but never a Christmas on Roi. My first year there, 2002, I skipped off to the Philippines to visit a friend there. It was my first Christmas in a different culture but the Philippines is a Christian nation so they celebrate on Christmas Eve. I spent Christmas Eve with my friend’s family and it was quite fun and there was a lot of celebrating going on around town. In sharp contrast, nothing at all was happening on Christmas day. Evidently they do not celebrate the actual day of Christmas in the Philippines. Read more »
Filed at 2:06 pm under Blogroll by glennstu
Posted 12/20/2007
The average Joe on Roi-Namur is not allowed to have a weapon. Nor is the average Eric, Matt, or Glenn. I mention those names because just about every man and maybe one or two women on Roi have one of those names. It makes it a little easier to remember names. There was one Glenn on Roi who was allowed a weapon, a Marshallese police officer known at the station as the “Real Glenn” as opposed to me who was generally known as 2NGlenn because of my neurotic insistence that my name be spelled correctly though I was also called “Off-road Glenn” by at least one guy for an incident on Pohnpei involving a chicken and a rent a car. But I digress, and for a good reason, the story I am about to tell you has virtually nothing to do with Roi-Namur other than the guy who told it to me once had a friend who lived on Roi (me).
My friend whom I will refer to as Russell told me over lunch today that his nephew recently passed the red neck test. Naturally, being a city born Yankee, I asked him how one passes a red neck test and Russell who is from east Texas related the following story. First he noted that one should always be concerned when a red neck asks you to hold his beer and you should be down right afraid, apprehensive, beside oneself, bothered, clutched, distracted, distraught, distressed, disturbed, fearful, fretful, frightened, hung up*, ill-at-ease, nervous, on edge*, overwrought, perturbed, solicitous, tense, tormented, troubled, uneasy, upset, uptight, worried stiff* if he follows that up with “watch this.” In his nephew’s case it turns out that at a recent routine doctor’s visit the doctor found a bee-bee lodged in his groin. This explained the very visible pain he was in but not how he entered that state. If I got the story right, the nephew had told his mother that he fell while out in the woods and a piece of metal had somehow broke off and stuck there. But it is difficult to explain the presence of a bee-bee. So he finally admitted the truth. His friends were using his belt buckle for target practice. I know cowboys wear large buckles but I can’t believe I could ever be comfortable with the idea of letting someone take pot shots at a belt I was wearing no matter how large the buckle. But I’m a Yankee and a bit of a coward and perfectly sober at the moment so perhaps all those factors make me look at it a bit differently. I am certain that if I did consent to allowing my belt to be used for target practice I would take it off first. Russell did not mention if his nephew had been drinking with Dick Cheney at the time.
Technorati Tags: target practice, red neck, Texas, Texan, gun, beer, belt, worried, Marshall Islands, Kwajalein, Roi, Roi-Namur, Micronesia, travel
Thanks to Thesaurus.com for the synonyms
Filed at 9:02 pm under Blogroll by glennstu
Posted 12/12/2007
Ask Mr. Rat
Most of my original stories of my life and adventures on Roi-Namur have already been published on this site so I decided to start a new feature. You the reader can ask me questions, preferably about life on Roi or there abouts, and I will answer them. I have already opened up my mail bag and here are some of my first questions.
Q: Mr. Rat, I am planning on retiring next year and am considering moving to Tucson. How can I find in-depth information on a variety of topics having to do with Tucson? - George W B of Washington, DC
A: I’m glad you asked me that George, if I want to know anything about Tucson, whether it would be golf courses, parks where I can walk my dog (if I had one), great restaurants, hiking or a variety of other subjects I go to www.tucsoncomplete.com.
Read more »
Filed at 10:56 pm under Island Life by glennstu
Roi Namur Survival Kit
Posted 12/7/07
OK, let’s say you’ve just landed what looks to be a challenging and highly rewarding job working on Roi-Namur and you’ve started going through all the usual steps of preparing to relocate there such as the thorough physical examinations that are required to insure you are in the prime of health. You’ve also put most of your household goods in storage, stored or sold your car and now you’re wondering what is it you should take with you to this island paradise. Here are a few tips. Read more »
Filed at 10:49 pm under Island Life by glennstu
Day in the Life
If you’ve been checking out this web-site for a while or even a first time visitor you may be saying, “OK we’ve read all about your many exciting experiences in a highly entertaining format but tell me what day to day life is like on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific.” Well today I will walk you through what it is like to live on Roi-Namur. My first caveat is that Roi-Namur is not your typical south sea island that you may have fantasized about. It might look a little like that in places but the presense of several radar antennas, an airport, and various buildings does not solicit images of living on a beach and talking to a volleyball. But that aside I will walk you through what life is like on this island. Read more »
Filed at 12:53 am under Cultural and Uncategorized by glennstu
It is with great sadness that I write of Lucky Dube passing. Dube, 43, was shot dead in a hijacking in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, on Thursday night, police said. He had just dropped off his son when he was attacked.
This post has little to do with Roi-Namur I admit but still Lucky Dube presence was felt even on that tiny island. I always began my radio show with Bob Marley’s “Rastaman Vibration” followed by Lucky’s “We Love It”. Other of his songs were requested by my audience. I had the great pleasure of going to one of his concerts years ago, in the early 90s in Seattle Washington. It was actually one of the first reggae shows I ever saw, a sunsplash. At the time I am ashamed to admit, I did not know who he was but was greatly impressed by his singing. I’ve been to many concerts, both rock and reggae, seen many of the most popular artists, The Who, Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, Ziggy Marley, BB King, Wise Rokobili, and so many others but honestly I am not sure I could name an artist with greater range of vocals than Mr. Dube. He was a good man, who lived a clean life. He did not use Marijuana, did not drink or smoke cigarettes. He was devoted to his family and to his country. It is terribly sad to think that greedy criminals could take the life of one who has given so much to the world and to South Africa. This great man did more for the world in his short 43 years than most of us, including myself, could ever hope to do in 70 or 80 years. I don’t imagine they will ever read this blog but still I’d like to offer my thoughts and prayers to the family and loved ones of this great man.
Technorati Tags: reggae, bob marley, radio, kvzi, lucky dube, wise rokobili, South Africa, Johannesburg, Marshall Islands, Kwajalein, Roi, Roi-Namur, Micronesia, travel
Filed at 9:55 pm under Island Life by glennstu
Posted for the first time October 17, 2007
My radio show started from humble beginnings and over time it grew into a show that was not quite humble anymore but still close to being humble. I think I can say with all due conceit that it was the very best reggae show on Kwajalein atoll. I guess it was also the worse reggae show since it was the only one but I’m a glass half full guy except when drinking beer. But all seriousness aside, it did grow as an island event. When I started I was by myself at the station but at some point we turned it into an event where folks would come down to the station and BBQ (outside) and play frisbee and generally hang-out keeping me company while I did my show. At times we had maybe 15 people there, which was about 15% of the island population. I wonder how many radio stations in the states could boast of having 15% of their city at the station or even listening to their show. We had a stereo system that we would carry outside so that the folks could hear my show while they BBQ’d and played frisbee. You might be asking yourself how I could enjoy the show when I was hard at work spinning the hits. Well, I had a number of CDs that were compilations of various artists, such as Roots, a mix of Jamaican and Hawaiian reggae. I could put one of those CDs on and go outside and play frisbee through several songs…. Read more »
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