Dumpster Diving

One of the stranger facets of life in GTMO is that many things are not readily available that one would think would be. Things like grass seed, shoe polish that is not black or steel wool. If you ask a Jamaican who works at the Exchange if they carry some item you are likely to get a response like "Don't worry mon, it will get here soon" or maybe "It's on the barge". Supply barges arrive from the States twice a month but they have been out of grass seed for at least two months.

Larger more durable goods are often in short supply also. Take lamps for instance. The NEX furniture store carries three styles of lamps. Four if you count the boxed floor lamps that you have to put together. All are exceedingly ugly. The company I work under furnishes our quarters with used battered stuff that one would expect to find at a Goodwill shop. The lady who selects this stuff and delivers it to your quarters is known for behavior that might easily fit under the category of sociopath or unstable. It does no good to ask her for assistance as she is likely to label you as a trouble maker or fly into a fit of rage. She chose some used lamps for our quarters that were nice enough if you turn the shade just right so the holes are not visible. One of the lamps had a socket that was broken beyond repair and thus useless.

So we cope with these minor inconveniences by learning to dumpster dive. Every one who takes out the trash leaves their damaged but possibly useable items outside the dumpster for others to peruse. "Useable" takes on a new meaning here. Blue plastic barrels cut in half are highly prized as plant containers. I could make a fortune if I could figure out how to get a shipment of old whiskey barrels here. Old battered chairs with missing parts are snatched up. I was thrilled to come upon an old floor lamp that was missing the glass bowl that goes on top. I took my prize home and showed to Cathy with a grin on my face. Soon I was out on the patio carefully disassembling the corroded components. I tested the socket and then installed it into our broken table lamp. We now have a MATCHING SET of fairly nice looking lamps AND they work!

Over time you can actually see items resurface outside different dumpsters as folks fine tune their collection of "gently" used furniture. The only thing I see that nobody wants are used mattresses. They get so worn out that when a couple moves into their "furnished" home and try to sleep on lumps bumps and depressions they quickly go to the furniture store and buy new mattresses. Thank God that is one thing the NEX seems to stock consistently.