242 CHAPTER 15 evening, there was a notice on the hotel door (in French) that said, “Out of Business.” I went behind the hotel counter, found my room key, retrieved my belongings and disappointedly found the restaurant closed. I talked with a French-Canadian tourist and got in contact with our agent who agreed to come by “tomorrow” and find a new hotel. This turned out to be fortuitous because the new hotel was one of Guadeloupe’s beach resorts. Nice, white, sand beaches, first class food and accommodations, a definite step up from the original tourist hotel. The dining room was a semi-open area with a fixed menu and hours of operation; consequently, all guests ate at the same time. There was the usual level of conversation associated with a large group. Being a French Island, the majority of the guests were French but there was one group of Americans and they could be heard above all the other conversations. I could see why American tourists had a less than stellar reputation. — Bill Duersch P.T. SWEET INDOLAMPUNG: P. T. Sweet Sugar Factory in Sumatra, Indonesia was one of the most challenging places I have ever stayed. The guest accommodations were at a row of cheap, motel-style rooms that shared a bath (if it could be called that). Each room had a bed, a wardrobe, a small refrigerator, an air conditioner (that almost worked), with concrete floors and walls. The rooms were bug infested and the shower facilities, primitive at best. One of the first things we did; go to a local shop and buy a large can of Baygon (insect spray), a large package of mosquito coils, a bar of antiseptic soap, several kilos of kacangs (peanuts) and a lot of Bintang beer (an American- style, Indonesian made, Pale Lager, produced by a company owned by Heineken). Before “moving in” you sprayed the wardrobe, door and window frames with Baygon and watched the bugs run out. You repeated that process every few days; I’m not sure breathing all that bug spray was too healthy either. Indonesia is a tropical country and one of the hottest places I have ever worked. At night we would sit outside, set up a ring of mosquito coils around us, drink beer and eat peanuts. The meals at the motel were served in the dining room. They had limited cooking facilities so dishes were cooked in advance, placed on tables, and covered with large, screen domes to keep out the bugs (at least the big ones). Food would sit out for an hour or so in the heat and humidity. Laundry too was done locally and, if you were lucky, it would actually be returned. Later we were provided with a house in the compound which was a major step up. We hired a lady who would cook and clean and a driver for transportation. On weekends we would go into Bandar Lampung and grocery shop. The highlight of my house stay was when we got an American-style toilet to replace the Asian- styletoilet(a“squat”toiletwhichwasusedbysquatting, rather than sitting). Small things make you happy. — Bill Duersch P.T. TRANGKIL: In 1975, I went to the P.T. Trangkil Factory in Indonesia to install a complete centrifugal station. In addition to the centrifugals, we supplied all of the steel structure, all electrical wire, conduit, TRADE MARK M O NDE SELEC T I O N M O NDE SELEC T I O N M O NDE SELECTI O N TRADE MARK M O NDE SELE C T I O N M O NDE SELE C T I O N M O NDE SELECTI O N