I found this interesting.....found it over at http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/adventures-at-orangemund-diamond-mine-2007-12-07
"About 24 years ago, I had to go to the town of Oranjemund to recommission the diesel engines at the power station. The diesel engines' generators were the original source of power for Oranjemund, and they had been superseded by a new transmission line which supplied power at 132 kV. One day, an aircraft flew through the 132 kV power lines and Oranjemund was plunged into darkness.
The process of mining involved excavating beach sand near the shoreline. The excavations were below sea level and the escalated pit was kept water free by dewatering pumps. When the power failed, the works flooded –they couldn't start the diesels, all of which cost the operating company a lot of money. So they decided to recommission the diesels.
The company that I worked for, GEC, designed a scheme to upgrade the elements of the diesel power station and I had been sent to commission all these elements. I had been chosen, I think, as being the most dispensable of the GEC commissioning engineers.
At Oranjemund I found that I had been allocated accommodation in the contractor's camp.
At that time, if you were a contractor on the Oranjemund diamond mine, then you were basically a person of a different species compared with the people who actually lived on the mine. You might try and talk to the locals or even try to set up some of the rather nice nurses. Your chances of receiving a warm response were absolutely nil. This was not due to the locals being unpleasant, but more to the fact that the contractors were almost to a man madder than a group of mice on amphetamines. The fact of the matter was that Oranjemund was a long, long way out of communication (no cellphones then) and so the sort of people who would want to work in Oranjemund were not the sort of people who could get work elsewhere.
I soon experienced the madness first hand. Carlos was a Portuguese fellow who had decided to build a small garden in front of his cabin. Each afternoon, he would return from site and lovingly water the strip of ground – about 2 m x 1 m. Mention "garden" to him and it could take up to an hour to escape as he detailed his landscaping ideas.
Padda, on the other hand, loved his Alfa Sprint Veloce motor car. He didn't know that 'Veloce' was pronounced 'veloo', and he pronounced it 'velokie'. He kept adding carburettor barrels until the engine could do 0 km/h to 100 km/h in two seconds, with the car following shortly after.
But it was AJ who asked me if I could help him make a still to distill peaches into alcohol spirit. He had a small copper still, made in the workshops, and he had made some peach wine which was truly awful. Distillation, he thought, would raise its status. From me, he wanted a design to control the boiling rate of the liquid in the still. I feared losing my job and wouldn't help, but he wore me down. Finally, I suggested a simple stove switch and a geyser element. The following weekend he showed me the still working well, slow drips of who knows what dripping from the copper spout.
Some days later, I was in the pub. A fellow contractor sat down next to me.
"Shame 'bout AJ, huh?"
I went cold. "What about him?"
"Got blown up and burned. Him and Padda, too."
I spent the night worrying if the stove switch design could be traced to me.
The following day I visited them in the clinic. They were cheerful, if bandaged.
I asked AJ if it had been a big bang. Very big, he said. Nearly blew up his cabin and the still, too.
So it wasn't the still? It didn't blow up? Oh, no. Padda and he had decided to see if a cupful of peach spirit in the carburettor would make the 'velokie' go even faster. It did, briefly. But after that, at very high speed, the poor Alfa engine blew to bits. The car rolled and caught fire, finally landing in Carlos's lovingly tended garden, destroying it completely."
It would be interesting to know this contractors name.........
Sorry my mistake, this piece was written by one... Terry Mackenzie-Hoy
FUNNY STORY ....
If it's true, it must have happened in the late 70's
"The fact of the matter was that Oranjemund was a long, long way out of communication (no cellphones then) and so the sort of people who would want to work in Oranjemund were not the sort of people who could get work elsewhere."
This piece I thought was rather uncalled for! image14
Mmm missed that one Dunja .. but take note of the comment now .. we had some of the finest artisans there .. contractors included those guys from many corners of the earth by my opinion were hard and skilled workers .. the lure years ago was money and yes a carefree life .. pity about the division .. but that never got in my way .. had lots of contractor friends as well ....
When we first arrived, the late Frank Quirk said to me in late 1981 "Mike, don't get me wrong but Oranjemund is a strange place made up of strange people". What he meant was that Oranjemund is a unique place made up of unique people. This still applies today, and if you look at all of the people that use this forum most still have connections with Oranjemund.
Nice to mention Uncle Frank ... a bright , intelligent , sensitive and intuitive soul , misplaced in where life put him by my book .. but he made the best of it ... always had a soft spot for him ... and yes the word strange as he said it may apply .. I would say it even better " pleasantly disturbed " thats what makes people interesting ...
Quote from: SandyB on March 27, 2009, 07:11:35 PM
.. I would say it even better " pleasantly disturbed " thats what makes people interesting ...
Sandy... Sorry but I must correct you on the "pleasantly disturbed" issue... Some of us..., well myself actually..., would prefer to just refer to ourselves as "disturbed".
:wow1:
After almost 30 years in O'Mund I feel this is the only way to do justice...tice...tice...tice... (excuse me a moment...
image061 that's better).
Now where was I? Ex-Oranjemunder.. Ex-Metallurgy.. Ex-Security.. Umm, I'll have to get back to you on this ----- must go take my medication..............................
:buffo9: :buffo9: ha ha
I stick by my " pleasantly disturbed " I like it and I like people like that ... they harmless ... I had my experience with the disturbed as well .. got the T shirts and needle marks to show as well ... as for being in O'mund for 30 years .. nothing wrong with that ... hammer
I know that my parents moved to Oranjemund because the benefits outweighed the lack of communication with the outside world. My dad was a very gifted individual and know that he was a highly skilled man that chose quality over quantity!
Oranjemund gave me the best years of my life and if I could give that to my son then half the battle of motherhood will already be won.
Suppose the writer himself could not find work elsewhere and his last resort was to be a contractor in Oranjemund, without a wife and without any children.
pls Sorry, guess that struck a nerve!
Quote from: DUNJA WRBKA on March 28, 2009, 05:17:56 AM
... if I could give that to my son then half the battle of motherhood will already be won.
I agree.
I felt blessed that my children could grow up in an environment such as O'mund (BTW my 3 daughters were all born in the OMD Hospital...).
Ahem! By the way my two daughters and ONE SON , were born in the OMD hospital......
The point being..... a lot of people over the last 10 years, who were expecting, had no faith in this hospital to deliver their baby..... Well, Michele and I have always had the best service from the the entire hospital staff..... never any problem ..... and all done in a professional manner..... A lot of other people, take their wifes down to CPT or WHK to have the delivery..... We are just proud to have our kids born right here in Omund....
Thanks to Dr Nashandi, Dr Abigail.... Dr Doppies.... Sister Maggot... awesome stuff... you guys are great.......
daman dawoman numberone 3d smiles(281)
This was not due to the locals being unpleasant, but more to the fact that the contractors were almost to a man madder than a group of mice on amphetamines.
I like this.......
I don't really care how other people see me, so I'm Sooooo happy ....
1. My parents moved to Oranjemund before I was born,
2. I was born in Oranjemund and spent my first decade and a half there, and
3. I can still call myself an Oranjemunder even though I left years ago, and are being accepted as one by current Oranjemunders!
woo_hoo
Dunja... that was my wish to... that my children could grow up in Oranjemund like i did... I was also born in Oranjemund Hospital. Oranjemunders just are special people and have a bond with others they dont eben know.. just the fact that we are all Oranjemunders bonds us in a unique way..