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I have to tell

I have to tell you about money down here. There aren't enough coins to go around. If you go to the average store and want to buy a seventy-five cent soda, using a $5 would be crazy, since there is almost no way the store owner would be able to give you change. They'd have to take your bill, and run to another store looking for someone who had the change. A $1 bill might be better, but not always. Yesterday I went to pay for such a soda with a $1 bill. The girl gave me 50¢ back and said I could bring the other 25¢ another day. I told her I'd probably forget, so just to keep the whole dollar.

I was at the bank earlier this week. I needed to register the car we are borrowing from friends. Here you don't pay the registration at the police station, but at a bank. I guess the government doesn't trust the police. Anyway, I had to pay $52.41 and the teller asked me if I had a penny, since I gave here $53. Turns out she didn't have enough coins to make the right change so she just gave me 60¢ back. And that was at a bank!!

I found out another

I found out another good reason it's not a good day to fly. Apparently the world-wide MAF fleet of aircraft is not covered by insurance. It's not current and we haven't been able to renew it yet with Llyods of London. The insurance ran out at noon today.

It's been a poor

It's been a poor day for flying. All over Ecuador. Lots of cloud and rain. The clouds cleared for a bit and I could see that it had snowed low on Altar, one of the two volcanos near us. Because there are no planes out, it's a good day for a garage sale. And that's just what Jim, the program manager, did. Today is his last day as program manager and he's returning to the US. He loaded his tools up on a table and gave the guys at the hangar first crack at things. Whenever a gringo has anything for sale, it causes quite a commotion, and the local people are always ready to buy.

I spent almost two

I spent almost two hours at the end of the afternoon trying to get a vehicle registered in Puyo. We got part of it done, but will have to go back again and finish up tomorrow. I'm glad we made the progress we did today though, because we were able to get a special number for the registration process and I didn't know how hard that would be to get. Also since the car is in another person's name, and they are in the US, we had to have a copy of their passport. Fortunately we were able to find one here in Shell in their files.

I had heard of big jungle catfish before but had never seen one. Today I saw a big one! The meat tastes great when it's smoked.

The view is different

The view is different at our new place. We can see the volcanos by just taking a few steps from the front door. Our other place wasn't like that. Here's what Sangay looked like this morning. Cool!

I didn't put anything

I didn't put anything up here the last couple days, so guess that means I was a bit busy. Friday was a holiday down here. I'm not sure why exactly, but something about independance for the Pichincha province. Maybe I should pay a bit more attention to the country I'm living in? Anyway, I puttered around the house on Friday, trying to get a few things checked off my to-do list. I also spent some time at the hangar working on some testing of a new e-mail system. I don't plan to switch to it here in Shell, but what I'm doing is good feedback for the MAF IT department in Redlands. In the evening we had the Weirs over for dinner. They are leaving for good. Their oldest just finished grade eight at Nate Saint school and they will be most likely going to Quito after their year long furlough.

Saturday Ellyn and I helped the Power family move out of their place. He was the teacher for grades seven and eight at the Nate Saint school this year. They head back to the States tomorrow. Several other people helped and before long we had all the furniture moved out of their place and back into storage. We needed some of their things to make our house complete, most notably the washer and dryer. By the time Ellyn dropped into bed last night she said she finally felt like the house was complete. I think I'll feel that way when I don't have a list of things to do around here. One of the bigger challenges I have left is to figure out a way to get the trampoline set up in the yard. There's not much space to work with.

Today was a nice lazy Sunday. Too bad I started the day off with allergies and an upset stomach. Wouldn't you know the day I can finally relax I feel lousy. Anyway, it was a nice day of hanging around the house, watching some TV with the boys and playing a board game a few times.

The excitement of the day was watching Lucy the bird climb the antenna next to the house. We've never seen her do that before, and since she doesn't know how to fly, we were a bit concerned. At first she started of by going about fifteen feet up. No problem, I thought. She'll just climb back down. Next thing you know, she was about fifty feet up in the air, sitting on the antenna for my HF e-mail system. At that point I was really hoping she wouldn't chew on any wires--she's known for biting on things she shouldn't. A few minutes later one of us noticed she was all the way at the top of the tower, and at the end of one of the ham radio antenna pieces. Now I was a bit worried about her getting down. Every once in a while she'd flip upside down, hang on with only her beak, and flap her wings. Her wings are clipped, and I didn't know how well she'd do if she came loose. At that point we went in and ate dinner. After a while we checked again, and she wasn't at the top of the tower! After taking a quick look I spotted her in the top of a low tree, thirty feet from the antenna. The only think I can figure is that she 'flew' off the top of the antenna. I've never seen her in the tree she was in, and I don't think she climbed down the tower and up into that tree.

Lucy used to always spend the night in a tree right next to the house. With her family, the Toomers, gone, I think she's a bit confused. She's a great bird and hopefully she'll decide to stick around. At any rate, unless she learns to fly, she's not going to go very far. I wonder if her antics today are a preview of what's to come?

Like Many Other

Like many other things, planes need to be painted every so often. MAF often has to import their own paint into the country. Because it's HazMat it ends up costing quite a bit, and the total cost can be as much as $100 a gallon. Figure it takes five gallons of white and two gallons of red to paint a plane, and that's a chunk of change. This week we're checking out a company from Quito that imports DuPont paint. We're interested in doing business with them so they've sent a rep down here to show us some products. Right now they're painting parts of the plane that's getting a new engine.

The summer exodus

The summer exodus is beginning. The Schmidts left for Quito today. They have a son graduating from the Alliance Academy tomorrow. Then they're off to the US for the summer. Ron and Margie Grant have also left for the summer. They are from our home church in Oakhurst, so they're getting to visit people and places near and dear to our hearts. Our program manager and his family leave for good in June. A few other people are taking short trips and will be gone throughout the summer.

Not a good day

Not a good day for flying. Bad weather here in Shell and across much of the jungle. Darryl Holland came down from Quito with Chad and Andi Irwin. They've been waiting for the weather to clear so they can fly on down to Sucua where they live. Looks like they're finally going to get out of here. In case I haven't mentioned it before, MAF has a new base down there in Sucua with two pilot-mechanics. MAF also keeps one plane based in Quito with two pilots, and four planes in Shell. All are Cessna TU-206 aircraft.

Dustin found some little

Dustin found some little caterpillars today--the hard way. Here in Ecuador many of the caterpillars are poisenous, so you don't touch them. Dustin brushed up against some very small ones with his hand. They were on a plant right in front of our house. Since they were small they didn't hurt as much, but his hand was red and irritated for a while.

We also finished his unicycle today. It took us a while, but we're finally done. It wasn't that much work, it was just a matter of figuring out how to do it. Now he's busy learning to ride it. You should see his legs. They took quite a beating today, especially his shins.

I managed to make some good progress on the installation of Windows 2000 Server on a machine for testing a new e-mail system MAF is going to be using in some of its programs around the world. Our system here in Shell is working well, but I hope to use this new server up in Quito. Anyway, after some problems getting the install to work, I'm finally on my way.

After dinner we all played a game of Sorry. That game can take a long time! We didn't have time to finish, as I had to install a doorknob on the back door. There was only a deadbolt on that door, and the boys were forever leaving it open when they went outside since it wouldn't latch. It took me a while, but I got it done and it fit well. There's a lot to do around here, but we're slowly getting it done.

It's Dustin's birthday today.

It's Dustin's birthday today. He's ten years old. Since we had his party on Monday night, we all forgot that it was his birthday today. I ran back over to the house after I got to work to wish him a happy birthday. He had forgotten also!

The weather was lousy

The weather was lousy all day. The four Shell planes sat on the ground. Actually, of the four, only two are operational at the moment. One is undergoing an engine replacement. The prop hit the ground the other month when the plane Dan was flying hit a hidden hole in a . When that happens, it almost always means an engine replacement. Fortunately this engine was almost ready to replace anyway. The prop wasn't damaged, and the engine was likely OK, but you can never be too safe.

I managed to get a good number of things done today. Finished working on the Information Technology budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The cost of internet access in Ecuador is not cheap. Helped Dan import his address list of supporters into his new Handspring PDA. Took a trailer full of water containers six miles up the road to fill them with spring water for all the MAF staff. With Ron gone for two months, I'll be doing that job each Tuesday. The boys came with me, and rode in the trailer on the way there. They really enjoy riding in the back of pickups and trailers. Something you can't do in lawsuit-happy California. Re-installed Windows 95 on a computer for our Avionics Technician. He likes to stick with what works for him. I also checked two teachers out for the summer.

Oh, and I started the day making breakfast for eight boys. By the time the boys all left, I didn't make it to work until after 9 AM.

Finally, here's a picture of the latest addition to our family. It's not a great picture, and I'll take another one later. Canela is a boxer who is living with us for the summer, and probably will become our dog. Her family lives in Quito and is going on a summer furlough. They'd like to find a good home for her, as their apartment on the tenth floor isn't the best place for a dog. Taylor had wanted a puppy, but if he decides he likes Canela, we'll keep her. Canela means cinnamon.

I forgot to put

I forgot to put a couple photos in here yesterday. Or maybe it was that I ran out of time. In the afternoon Vaughn and Sunshine came over to say goodbye. Sunshine was Dustin's teacher this year and today they flew out of Shell. They were Working Visitors with HCJB and here just for the year. Vaughn worked with the Maintenance department and the two of them were a great addition to the missionary community here. They'll be missed. I wanted a picture of Dustin with his fourth grade teacher. I have a picture of myself with my fourth grade teacher from PNG. Like father, like son.

I think I mentioned before that the house came with a bird. Dustin really enjoys Lucy, and does really well with him. Yes, the name is Lucy, but the thought is that the bird is a male. Anyway, here's a shot of Dustin holding the macaw. That's neat, because there aren't very many people Lucy will do that with, nor many who are brave enough to risk being bitten by that incredibly strong beak.

It's late once again.

It's late once again. You can tell when I've had a hectic day--I don't put anything in here until it's late. The boys are downstairs. Well, that's normal, but what's not is that Dustin has six friends over for a sleepover. He's having his birthday party tonight. We had hotdogs and smores over a fire, and then they made a bonfire with school papers from this year. Presents, cake, movie, popcorn, and now, finally, bed. Of course they're not sleeping yet, but carrying on with burps and laughing.

A neat thing happened at six as the kids started showing up. The house we're in now is right next to the 'jungle'. Craig and Dustin spotted a little monkey in the tree 40' from the corner of the house. I don't know what kind it was, but it was small and cute. He didn't seem to afraid of us either, coming into plain view so we could see him for a bit.

Now the boys are downstairs painting Dean's toenails. I guess he had the misfortune of falling asleep first. I've just been down again and now they've done Craig's hand. I wish they'd go to sleep. I've got to get up and go to work in the morning.

Yes, that really is

Yes, that really is the time. I should head to bed. I just had to get some things out of my e-mail inbox. I was helping Ron and Margie Grant tonight with a PowerPoint presentation. They're heading back to the States for a short two month furlough tomorrow. They're from our home church, Sierra Vista Presbyterian Church.

Feeling more like a

Feeling more like a homeowner now. I had to go out and change the propane tank and relight the pilot light on the gas water heater. Wasn't sure it would happen at first, but after repeated attempts the pilot light lit. I also have a couple leaky water faucets outside to repair. The thresh hold at the back door wasn't fastened in place, so that was done today. I ran a phone extension into the room we're using for a study, since we have two modems and a phone in that room now. I've still got more to do, but we're making progress.

I wanted to get

I wanted to get something written down yesterday, but it never happened. We were busy moving. By 5 PM I was beat, but everything was moved over to the new place. Things were put away well enough for us to finally check our e-mail by 11 PM. I had to stretch out a long phone cord to reach the jack in the other room, but we made it.

Being in a new house is always different. We had gotten very used to our old place. I don't like a lot of change, but I think I'm doing OK with this move. I have lots of little things to do to make the place 'ours', but that will happen with time.

The boys sleep downstairs. Taylor was bothered that he had to sleep with his mattress on the floor, but by next weekend he'll have a bed frame. We also slept on the floor upstairs in our room. It's going to be different not being closer to the boys. Taylor sleep walks occasionally, and it was quite easy to wake up and keep an eye on him when it happened. With him being downstairs who knows what will happen.

Here it is, late

Here it is, late at night again. The two of us are exhausted. I'm actually going to try to get to bed early, but that usually doesn't happen. Taylor is still up. He can't sleep, so he's out in the living room drawing. I just had to show him how to put wings on a plane he drew.

The house is painted. Tomorrow we move in earnest. Today Ellyn moved the kitchen things and food and we actually ate dinner there at a card table. I've got lots of work to keep me busy at the hangar, pressing work, but that will have to wait for a day. We'll spend tomorrow night at the new house.

I've been feeling a bit nostalgic about our little place. We've been here almost two years, and although it's small, it's been a nice place for us. There definately are things I'll miss. The new place feels like a real house to me. More rooms, a study, a yard to take care of. I say a study, because at our current place we cram our desks into our small room. In the new house Dustin and Taylor will each have their own rooms. They'll even have a desk in their rooms. Maybe I'll have time tomorrow to add a couple photos of that.

The yearbook CDs are done. I'm happy with the way they turned out, especially since I didn't think we'd have enough digitals photos to make it happen. I don't think I want to do it again next year. Maybe we'll just take the digital photos from the school year and burn that to a CD.

We just came back

We just came back from eating at the local corner restaurant. Your usual chicken and rice meal with a bowl of soup. The boys had salchi papas, which are fries with a hotdog. While we were eating, there was a little chicken running around the restaurant. An old lady came in and tried to catch it, but she was way too slow to catch a fast little chick. Dustin and Taylor tried to help, but that didn't work either. She came back a few minutes later with the mama chicken on a rope. She carried the chicken into the kitchen where the chick was, and that did it. The chick followed mama right out of there. Not quite what you'd expect at a restaurant in the States, is it?

We were outside throwing paper airplanes a few minutes ago. It's a beautiful clear night, with lots of stars. A somewhat rare treat around here. Remember, it rains over 20' a year here, so that means lots of clouds.

The boys and I spent the day at the local camp with the rest of the school. The event was our Olympics day. The camp is run by Gospel Missionary Union. Each student entered six events, and we had a beautiful day. In fact, by 2 PM it was downright hot, which made the free swim a real treat at 3 PM. Too bad I forgot my suit. The water was very cold. My boys aren't super athletic, and that's OK. They did have a great time. Dustin won the paper airplane toss, and was really happy with that.

I'm almost done with the yearbook CD. I'll burn the 35 copies tomorrow. Right now I'm headed over to Ron and Margie's place. They are heading home for two months and need some help with e-mail setup. I'm also going to help with with a slide show on the computer using some digital photos.

Ellyn continues to make great progess on the house along with the help of our painter. We should be moving in on Friday. What a hectic week it's been.

Ellyn has been very

Ellyn has been very hard at work. We're moving into a new place and there is a lot of work to do. It needed to be cleaned up a lot after the other folks moved out. The painter was supposed to start yesterday, but of course he couldn't make it. He said he'd be here today at 8:30. He showed up at 7:00 AM, way before Ellyn was ready to go over there. You just have to learn to be flexible here.

She ran over there while I got the boys ready for school. Actually I got Taylor out the door. Dustin took care of himself, and was ready to go before 7:30. He headed over to the house to feed Lucy, the bird that goes with the house we're moving into.

What is it tonight?

What is it tonight? Now the termites are swarming. One just crawled across my computer and another one up my back. There's goes another one across the room. Next thing you know the bottom of my clothes drawer will be full of termite wings. This happens every once in a while that the termites are swarming.

Our good friends, the

Our good friends, the Toomers, left yesterday. It's going to be different without them here. Actually, the whole summer will be full of change. Many people are taking trips to the US over the summer. We'll be one of the few families staying the whole summer. There are enough other families with kids staying that Dustin and Taylor will have enough playmates. Our program manager is leaving Ecuador for good in a few weeks. We still don't know who his replacement will be.

I just chased a

I just chased a frog through the house. Ellyn noticed it when she crawled into bed. I tried to catch it but he got away. A few minutes ago I was walking out of the room and there he was. I had to chase him through three rooms, but I finally got him. We get quite a few of these little guys in the house. They're just over an inch long and green. I'd think they were cute, but sure wouldn't want one jumping on my forehead while I'm asleep!

I've got some photos

I've got some photos from the races on Saturday. I should have linked to them sooner, but the weekend got away from me. Since I didn't have my boots that morning, I thought it better to take a photo of the spectators pulling a car from the mud rather than jump in an help tug. Here's a couple more shots of the racing.

It's been a couple

It's been a couple days. I forgot to write that there was a fatal accident in the Oriente last Tuesday. A single engine Cessna went down with four on board. All were killed. The pilot was an ex-military 15000 hour pilot. At this point I haven't heard that the cause of the accident has been determined. Sandy says that the pilot took off from the in the opposite direction that is normally used, and had a fully loaded plane. The operator of the plane is Aereo Regional, the company right next to MAF on the runway. Needless to say, that hits too close to home for our MAF pilots.

For those of you thinking about Mother's Day, I just have to rub it in a little. Flowers are a big export market for Ecuador. That also means that we can buy them very cheaply here. I bought Ellyn two dozen red roses for Mother's Day. Cost me four dollars, and that is almost double the usual price.

The boys and I went to the four wheel drive races in Puyo today. That was a fun experience. And muddy too. I had been told several months ago that when I did go to the races I should where my rubber boots. I forgot to do that, and found myself carefully looking for places to step where the mud was shallow. Of course it was raining most of the time, so that didn't help things. We got there early and had to wait over an hour and a half for the first race to start. That was no fun, and by the time the first race was over the boys were ready to go. During the time we waited, there were some cars practicing so it wasn't like there was nothing happening.

This evening we had an MAF get-together. We welcomed two new staff families and said goodbye to a short term teacher family. It was a good time, with lots of good food. We all shared things we like about Ecuador and advice for them. There were some great things shared, and it was neat to see how much Ellyn and I have learned in the past two years here.

More travel for me

More travel for me today on the Baños road. If you think your county has a lot of potholes, it's probably nothing compared to this. It takes us 1:15 to travel the thirty-five miles to Baños.

We had lunch today with Sandy and Trish, and that was the reason for the drive up to Ba�os. We went to a nice little place up there, and it's always nice to get away. They leave this weekend, and we wanted to get together one last time. Trish also did a little last minute shopping for those hard to find things. Ellyn was excited to see a new market in Baños. It even has shopping carts! I think she'll be back to that store once in a while to do some grocery shopping.

Looking for a house to rent in Baños? Maybe this place is for you.

I've been wiped out

I've been wiped out by allergies today. Well, except during the five hours I took to climb Iliniza today on the way home from Quito. Joel and I parked at 12,000' and climbed to 16,800' and had a good time doing that. The mountain was covered in clouds today, as it is most days that I've driven or flown by. We did get a glimpse of it before we started the climb, but then climbed the mountain without seeing much more than a few hundred feet in front of us. I would have loved to see some of the other volcanos of Ecuador from the summit, but there was only white all around. Cotapaxi, at over 19,000' was across the valley, but out of sight. We did see it last night from Quito, where I took this photo.

Anyway, I'm home, it's late, and I have a pile of e-mail to catch up on, a graduation program to think about for Friday, see what's going on with things at work, and the school yearbook CD to finish up. I'd love to do all that without allergies tomorrow.

I came up from

I came up from Shell yesterday. Joel and I drove up. Joel lives across the street from me. He's the fifteen year old son of Rick and Sharon LeBouef. I thought he might enjoy a trip with me while I was working on the computers up here. We also plan to climb Iliniza Norte, a 16,800' peak south of Quito. The trip up was mostly uneventful, with the exception of a window which broke. It's an electrical window, and a gear broke. When we arrived in Quito we had the mechanic just up the street from the MAF office look at it. He fixed it temporarily, and wanted to charge me $20. Joel was able to get him down to $10. Probably still too much, but a little more bearable.

Last night we went out to dinner with Pablo Waris. He's from Finland. He used to be a pilot with MAF here in Ecuador. Now he works with the churches in the jungle. I helped him with a problem he had on his laptop. Oh, we went out for Chinese before that. Great food and good company. While I worked with Pablo, Joel changed the strings on a guitar.

Today was spent working with Brian on beta testing the documentation for a new e-mail server installation. Brian also used to fly with MAF. Now he does other things for the organization. He helps me with IT tasks here in Quito, since I can't get up here every week.

Anyway, I better run. Joel and I ordered pizza, and it should be here soon. I'm at the internet cafe. We can't order pizza in Shell, so I take advantage of that when I'm up here.

The hangar was a

The hangar was a busy place this afternoon. And it was Sunday. Dustin wants to build a unicycle, so we were over there tinkering with that. It's not as easy at it might seem. I'm used to working on bicycles, and this is a different concept. Ron came in to put an alternator in one of the vans. I'm not sure why it did it today, but it's been out of commission for a while, and maybe someone needs it tomorrow. It's one of two rental vehicles available for MAF families here. Fred and a couple emergency flights today. While he was out on his second one, one of the doctors at the HCJB hospital called and asked if MAF could make an emergency flight to Quito. A child had aspirated a marble. It was too late in the day, and we couldn't do it. I'm not sure what happened. Then Darryl flew to Sucua and right back with a guy with a broken back. He got here just before sunset, and will have to spend the night. He lives in Sucua at the new base we're opening there.

Well, I took a

Well, I took a few days off from this. We had the day off on Friday. The national holiday was Wednesday, but the HCJB hospital and MAF decided to take the day off on Friday. Make a three day weekend out of it. I enjoyed a lot of hanging out this weekend. Probably stayed up too late, but then I always do that.

I was able to get a lot done on the school yearbook. I need just a few more photos, and also a lot of captions and some text. I think I'll get some of the students to do that later in the week. These will be burned to CD, and I got the CDs tonight.

There were a couple very excited boys in the house tonight. They had saved up and ordered some Legos. Actually Taylor's were ordered, but Dustin's was found on eBay. I was able to buy Dustin's outright instead of bid, and I got a very good deal. Especially since it's not manufactured anymore. We were able to buy one new in the box. Amazing what you can find on eBay.

When I was a teenager in PNG I was into radio controlled model planes. When I wanted a new model, I needed to first save some money. Took a couple months for that. Then I had to mail the order to the States. Took a couple weeks for that. Then I had to wait while it was shipped back by surface mail. Took at least three months for that. In this day it's a little different. My boys save up some money. Takes a couple months for that. Then we go online and order the item. Takes twenty minutes for that. Then a friend sticks it in their suitcase and brings it to Ecuador. Takes a week or two to line that up. Must be nice!

Anyway, there was a lot of Lego building going on in our house tonight. I think if we had let them, the boys would have stayed up all night. As it is, they'll have to finish their building tomorrow after school. Or before school if they wake up early.

I'm off to Quito tomorrow. We're hoping to set up a new e-mail server, and I hope it's more viable than the last one I struggled with.

Just about time to

Just about time to go home. I spent a lot of time today doing housekeeping paperwork. Each month I send a brief report to MAF headquarters in Redlands, CA. I also updated all client information as well as info about the computers on our network and their locations.

The guys in the hangar are working on an engine change. Well, make that Mateo and Oscar. Taking an engine off and replacing it is no small task, and it's very detail oriented. They also took the pod off today. The pod gives us the ability to carry more cargo. Things like dead pigs, diesel containers, chickens, suitcases, car batteries, and more.

Oscar came and asked me to take a picture of something. On Monday a lizard crawled into the plane. They finally were able to get it out today.

It's power outage time

It's power outage time. Power was out for several hours last night. It's also out again right now. Apparently it's a planned outage and will last for four hours. We're running on our generator at the moment. It's enough to power the hangar, with the exception of the air compressor, the laser printer, and the photocopy machine.

Just the facts

Just the facts. I was going through our mailing list. Started when Dan Rogers asked me a question the other day. I'm a long time Palm user, and he just ordered a Handspring electronic organizer. He's going on furlough in August, and wants to use his organizer to keep track of his appointments and his supporters' addresses. I told him I thought there was a way to get MAF headquarters to send him the address list electronically, and then we could import it into our electronic organizers. So yesterday I wrote and asked for our list. I've been playing with it tonight, and looks like I can easily import the list.

As I started playing with the data, I found that there are 358 addresses on the list. There are 22 states represented. 79% of the addresses are in California. Countries represented on the list include the USA, Canada, Ecuador, Brazil, Chile, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Mali, Uganda, Senegal, United Kingdom, Australia, Taiwan, Indonesia, India, Russia, Netherlands, and Greece.

Makes it seem like a small world when our little newsletter goes that many places.