Questions and Answers about the Sanctuary with Mike Doyle – General Manager
Michael, General Manager at The Sanctuary, recently agreed to answer any questions thrown his way… true to his word, he didn’t flinch when any of these questions arrived on his desk. Read on to get a brilliant insight into the mind of our Dear Leader………
After nearly 14 years as ‘captain’ of the good ship Sanctuary its an honour to answer some of the questions that have been submitted . As you can imagine there have been 1,000’s of questions over the years . Questions i have been asked a lot .. really truly… What time will the boat come ? , will the rain stop ? , Is Koh Pha Ngan an island ? .. well ill leave you figure out he answers to these ones .
How long have you lived at sanctuary and how did you come to work there & do you have any regrets about living there ? .
I first came to Sanctuary in 1991 to the opening party and like many of you , i was hooked from the very first visit . Between then and 1998 when I came to work and live here i tried to get here 1 or 2 times per year. In my past life I was a nurse manager / project manager and was lucky to live in Borneo for some years .Sanctuary was the only place i found where I could totally STOP, put the breaks on and be here / now .
My only regret is that , after finding the PERFECT place for a holiday – i now need to leave Sanctuary to take my holidays – i lost my holiday destination ….. but that’s OK
What is the best thing about living at Sanctuary :-
Phew – where to start . The openness of people, the perfect tropical lifestyle or …it must be :-
Meeting so many really nice, sincere people . Its such a juxtaposition to how we life ‘out there’ where we are thought to not trust someone unless they are introduced etc .Here – its Yippee – lots of sincere people hanging out and exploring life
Why do so many mozzies bite me???
A good question that is asked a lot here.
In fact I like it when asked because usually it’s by new guests & I have found that mosquitoes seem to like ‘fresh blood’- in that they seem to focus on new arrivals over the old stock like me – Lucky me !
Scientists have identified several proteins found in mosquitoes’ antennae and heads that latch on to chemical markers, or odorants, emitted from our skin. These markers are produced by the natural processes of our bodies and, like neon signs, they let the mosquitoes’ smell center know you’re around.
Personally I agree with this theory : Blood-type markers are chemicals released by people of a specific blood type – so if someone with AB blood emitted a marker, it would be different than that released by B. One study found persons with Type O blood suffered more mosquito landings because of the odorant markers they emit than any other blood type.
pregnancy seems to be a big winner for mosquito attraction, probably because mothers-to-be exhale 21 percent more carbon dioxide (quite a turn-on to the six-legged species) and are on average 1.26 degrees Fahrenheit warmer around the belly than their non-pregnant counterparts, due to the temperature of amniotic fluid. Also, having just 12 ounces of beer increases your mosquito appeal, possibly because of the increase in body temperature it causes or because skin markers change when metabolizing cocktails.
For whatever reason, its best to protect yourself at sun rise and set – the mozzie times . At certain times of the year when the risk of Dengue fever is high we also use a government recommended FOG to break a disease cycle . Thankfully we have not had a dengue outbreak for over 12 years due to our diligence .
Why are we not growing our own food in the bay?
Over the years we have had specialist gardeners and permaculturists come and visit and some even stayed for a few year . In the early days (1991 to 1995) we attempted to grow some of our own fruit and veg but actually it proved a very time-consuming exercise, requiring a lot of management due to bugs and the like, and only ever offered minimal returns . We tried only 5 years ago to grow our own organic lettuce but again this proved to be much more work than the returns we managed to get from the program. To actually grow enough supplies to assist our customer services would require a lot more land that Sanctuary has available . So we will concentrate on what we are good at ………………..
Do you have psychic powers?
Do you mean -can I predict the Lottery numbers or can I move rocks by telepathy or tell the future: NO . But I do believe we all have an intuition, an ability to connect with the universe and become one … nae briefly for most, in this space. I also believe that the energies of the universe can be used for healing and have experienced this many times first hand – how can I not, living at Sanctuary for 14 years . Do I have Psychic powers ,I certainly have healing powers as do we all. We just need to be open to being in that space of oneness and let the energy do its thing .
What is presence ?
Surely its Being Here / Now
Why does the sanctuary not use solar power?
20 years ago we experimented with solar power on one of the houses . The power to light ratio simply did not work for us then. Now I think that the technology has come on in leaps and bounds and between better panels and deep cell batteries it is more achievable . However now our problem is that we have grown a lot and the investment would be huge. Its not something we have disregarded but do not see it as a viable project at this time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Why, when babies drink only white liquid, does their sh_t come out very smelly, creamy, and various shades of green?
FIRSTLY – WE DONT DO KIDS AT SANCTUARY – HA HA – but this is obviously from a new Dad
Yellow, Creamy Poop – Looks like Cottage Cheese (Breastfed Babies)
If you are breastfeeding exclusively – meaning that you are not using any formula, your baby’s poop will become yellow and have a creamy or mushy consistency. It may look like you’ve mixed cottage cheese with mustard, and there are seedy specks in it. The baby poop may smell mild, and maybe even slightly sweet.
Sometimes, your baby’s poop may turn a green hue, and if your baby does not have any other symptoms – such as looking uncomfortable – you shouldn’t worry. This change in color may be caused by something that you (mom) ate, and it passed to your baby through breast milk.
From Hip Chics guide to pregnancy ,babies and Poop
