Tuesday, 27 September 2011

Well, things have been busy around here the last several days.  Have spent much time working on the solar panels: getting them into place, securing them, and wiring them up.  I think by the end of today I'll be ready to turn them back on and see what happens.  Hopefully I've made no mistakes and everything will work as it should.
 
Kids are doing well.  Everybody is healthy and reasonably happy.  I say "reasonably happy" because their momma's not here and that isn't an easy thing to deal with under the best of circumstances.  Throw in being 1/2 a world away and at times difficult communication and it makes it even more difficult to deal with.  However, considering everything, the kids are doing remarkably well.  They are happy with their lives here and really do enjoy their friends and their home.
 
More of the same planned today.  I hope to post pictures of the solar panels in the next day or two.
 
Enjoy the day.

Wednesday, 21 September 2011

Hey!
 
Well, we've had quite an eventful week thus far.  What started with a huge windstorm on Sunday has turned out to be a very hot and humid week.  We even had another small windstorm and it has rained at least 3 different times.
 
The good news is that the solar panel supports are back up on the roof after having been straightened out and repositioned.  Tomorrow they will be welded to the containters and hoepfully that will eliminate the problem of the flying solar panels.
 
Also, the roof over my office has been rebuilt and all that remains is the concrete work and some additional concrete work on the leading edge of the sheet metal.
 
We have been blessed by a work crew that has really gotten after it and things have come together nicely.
 
As Hanibal would say, "I love it when a plan comes together!"
 
Have a great day.

Sunday, 18 September 2011

Had a bit of a windstorm today along with a very heavy thunder storm.  Thankfully nobody was hurt.
 
We can repair the damage but we won't have any solar power for a while.
 
This damage happened because the wind came from a direction from which it normally does not come.... from the North.
 
Please pray that we can get this repaired quickly.
 
sf

Thursday, 15 September 2011

A shout out today must be given to Gracey....
 
She's been such a huge Blessing to me (and her siblings) during our separation from the rest of the family.  She cooks, she cleans, she even homeschools the kids all the while never complaining or grousing.  She is such a pleasure to be around and has gone out of her way to allow me to do what I need to do at the Welcome Center.
 
She is such a Godly young woman.  And, a great example to her siblings.
 
Love you, Gracey!!!
 
 

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Well, things are chugging along pretty good except for the weather.  It has been very humid and I don't particularly care for humid.  I'm sticky all the time, my glasses fog up on occasion, and everything in the house seems to be perpetually damp.  It has also been wonderfully cool with highs only into the mid-90's.
 
Kids are all doing well but they miss their siblings and of course their mother.
 
Tawnee's obviously been thinking about her mom because last night she asked me if, when Janice and I got married, I was nervous kissing mom in front of everybody at the wedding.  I told her no I wasn't nervous and she said oh that's weird!
 
Hope you all have a great day....

Monday, 5 September 2011

Hey there....
 
The saga of the generator continues.  We've now entered a rather strange condition:  The generator runds fines.  Goes for hours without a problem.  Only thing is it is still leaking oil and today we had the radiator removed so it could be cleaned.  This won't do much for the leaking oil (that fix will come later this week).  But, it should help with the non-functioning radiator.  Thankfully, it hasn't been that hot so there's been no problem.
 
The kids and I are doing well.  Everybody's healthy and we've all been eating pretty well.  Today we had fish and chips.  That is probably one of my favorite, if not favorite, things to eat here.  And, tonight we are having hobo stew.  First time I had hobo stew was in France when Payton and I went camping with some of the students at the language school we attended.
 
I expect to see the return of the radiator tonight and then we'll have electricity!.... maybe.
 
Been working my way through a myriad of paperwork in the office.  The last 4 months or so for Marcos were particularly difficult and things in the office bear that out.  No worries, though.  I'll just keep plugging along until it is done.
 
Solar panels and batteries are still giving me fits.  Performed many checks and verifications of connections and wires.  Just waiting to hear from my comrades in the States who have been helping me with the system.
 
Until next time....
 
Blessings.

Thursday, 1 September 2011

Been a very pleasant couple of days.  The generator has performed well.  The battery / solar system has worked well. (I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that the Welcome Center only has one guest in it?)  We've been eating good.  Kids have behaved.  We have cold water.  Even had a few minutes to watch something on the computer with the kids.  About the only complaint has been the humidity.  This morning when I came outside at 4:30 am it felt like I was walking into misty air.  Of course there wasn't any mist but the humidity has got to be near 100%.  Hasn't been that warm.  Highs have been around 95 degrees.  But this humidity really is terrible.  The nicest thing I can say about the humidity is that my hands don't need as much lotion as normal!

 

Was able to get Emma's tests that she needs translated into French today.  That should help us when we go to a lab.  We had had a bit of trouble figuring out exactly if the local labs could provide the tests or not.  The doctor that translated the tests for me said that our local hospital (it is 10 minutes away) should have no trouble providing the tests.  (He said he's even been there to look at their setup and it is quite good.)

 

As I said, the generator has ran perfectly for the last several days.  No complaints except that it is leaking oil.  Our mechanic will be by on Saturday to fix it and hopefully that will cure the problem and we can then enter a nice "quiet" period of generator use. 

 

I've been able to chat via Face Book with Janice and the kids several times this week.  That is such a great thing to be able to do.  I would love to be able to do that right now too if only I could get online (I'm typing this offline since our internet connection isn't working).

 

Have a great day!