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Broadband Connection

I'm tired and not feeling well, so this will be short. I really wanted to take a shower, as I'm so dirty from today. It's not a grimey dirt, but a sweaty dirt. But as I headed to the showers in my shorts, without a shirt, I started shivering uncontrollably. No use getting in a cold shower, and it was all I could do to grab my laptop and get to bed, while I clamped my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. What a contrast from today when I was melting in the sun, wearing a shirt and jeans. My stomach has been hurting all evening, and I skipped dinner. I think I ate a bad can of hot dogs this afternoon. I'm sure with some time and sleep, I'll feel better. I haven't taken my malaria meds yet, and I think I'll skip that today. It's too late, and it will just make me feel worse, especially on an empty and upset stomach. The people who are staying in town are impressed at the lack of mosquitos here on the field, as they have many of them. We are blessed with very few, and I don't even put on repellent, even when going shirtless until the late evening hours.

Today we had many more people using the internet café, and there was a steady stream of people coming through. Some have their own laptops, and want to use those. We scan the computer for viruses, then enter their machines network adapter address into our system so they can access the internet. That usually takes about a half hour, depending on the number of files on their hard disk, and on how many people we are trying to get registered at the time. Then we have three Toshiba notebooks that people can us. They don't have to register or sign up in any way to do that. Everyone who uses the system is so impressed at how fast it is. Not bad for a VSAT and tent full of notebooks on a soccer field. We have broadband in Meulaboh!

After setting up the UPS last night, I had it running all morning, and I was pleased about that. Soon after lunch it started cutting out, and turning itself off. Jonathan thinks it's because of the heat, and the load we are putting on it, and I tend to agree. We talked about some possible solutions, and then he started working on one. We've been running on our own generator all day, and that worked well. At least it did until about 7 PM when it ran out of diesel. I filled it up again, but it won't run properly, and there must be air in the system. That's a problem for Thursday. We switched back to the 'city' power for the evening. But, about 9 PM it started getting flakey, so we shut the system down again. One of these days we'll get it right.

Elias went up to Banda Aceh today to get started on the second install. I went out to the airport with him. When we arrived he discovered he had forgotten all the tools at our tent. About an hour after I got back from the airport, and chopper landed, and the Air Serv guys picked up the tools and a couple other boxes. Very nice to know someone with a helicopter! By the way, Pactec is putting in these systems at the request and funding of Air Serv. I thought I'd bring Jonathan Dukes back to the UN base camp with me, but he had the chance to head north in the amphibious Beaver, and I didn't blame him. He arrived at our tents in the early afternoon, and I was happy that he eagerly started troubleshooting the battery Inverter. He will be in the country for two months, and he's replacing Melvin, who leaves this weekend. Jonathan is a student at Seattle Pacific University, and he's also an MAF MK from Indonesia. So to have someone here who speaks the language, as does Melvin, will continue to be a help.