« April 2005 | Main | June 2005 »

Quiet Neighborhood

It's a rainy Sunday morning, and we just finished listening to our church service from Sierra Vista. The little monkeys were jumping through the trees behind our house for a while, proving to be a bit of a distraction. Dustin left for camp today, along with five other guys from Shell. They'll be at the Youth World retreat center north of Quito for the rest of the week. Taylor will be at home, and he's staying busy playing with Luke. I can't believe they've been out of school for over a week already. The first couple days they both seemed bored, but I haven't heard that complaint from them lately.

I haven't felt like writing lately, and I think that's a sign that I'm shutting down here. I'm not thinking as much about what is going on here with MAF, and thinking more about the next six months of our future. Today I thought I'd post because I want to be able to look back on this in years to come. I struggle with this blog sometimes, trying to decide just what I should and shouldn't write, because it's public. Our first year here we didn't have access to the Internet in our home, just e-mail. So doing something like a web log which requires access to the World Wide Web wasn't a possibility. I did have a web site back in those days, but updating it required a trip over to the hangar, and I worked at the school all day. During that first year I kept a journal, and mailed that to my immediate family each week. It was a lot more personal than this current blog. I realized after a year that not everyone in my family (or Ellyn's) really cared to get that e-mail every week, so I decided to post to the web log, and those who wanted to could read along. Once in a while I go back and read parts of my journal from the first year, and I'm looking forward to having this web log as a record of our time in Ecuador.

Over the past week I've been able to make some good progress, both at work and at home. Rachel has been using the wireless network connection to do work from home, and I've gotten some feedback from her that it is working well. I'm thankful for that, because she is working with MAF book keeping and a financial application. We can't have her losing any information or work time if the wireless connection happens to drop at the wrong time. I also have been able to tweak some of the VPN (virtual private network, which provides a secure connection across the radio link and into our local area network) settings, and it is functioning without a couple of the initial hiccups that were annoyances, but not show-stoppers. I've completed the documentation, and am happy with where things are at right now. I have one more important task to complete in the next couple weeks, and that is to train Richard to run the server backups, and check on the workstations to make sure Windows and Norton Antivirus remain current with updates. Bruce, our avionics technician, has taken a renewed interest in the servers and local area network, spending some time with me getting back up to speed on things. It's not going to be in his job description to do IT work, be he is going to be a big help in that area anyway, I know.

At home I'm slowly packing, going through my things in the bodega and my closet. Of course, this is making Ellyn really excited, because she can't wait to be all done. I think with two weeks to go in Shell, I'm right on track. The last thing I need to do at this point, is go through the clothes in my closet to decide what I'll take and what I'll leave. I have a few shirts and slacks in there that are over five years old, and I think I'll be leaving them behind. At any rate, getting ready to go has definately been made easier by Ellyn, as she's good at getting organized and weeding out the un-important things.

Our little MAF base is getting quieter all the time, as a second family pulled out on Friday. Our turn is coming soon.

Quiet Hangar

Manuel, our chaplain, is outside sharing the Gospel with someone. Yesterday two of our pilots flew a burn victim to Quito because the doctors couldn't help her anymore in Puyo. The hangar is very quiet, amost empty this week. Lots of people out of town. Three of the MAF families leave for good today, flying out of Quito. (Our turn comes in three weeks. I continue to feel nostalgic throughout various parts of my remaining days.) Today is a light flying day, with one flight planned.

Goodbye Party

The MAF staff and employees had a despedida, or going-away party, last night at the hangar. The function was held in the new multi-purpose room that was built over the past year and it was nice to be able to do that at the hangar, and not some other location in Puyo or Shell. All the families that are staying brought the food, and we ate Mexican. After dinner the families that are leaving share their plans for the future, and were prayed for. We've really enjoyed our five years here in Shell working with MAF. We're saying goodbye, but will see almost everyone again as they travel to the new MAF headquarters in Idaho.

Pets

The spoiled scarlet macaw at our house had pancake and scrambled egg for breakfast. She's going to move to Fatima in a few weeks, and I don't think she'll get that sort of food there. Right now she lives on a diet of cat food, raw peanuts, rice, scrambled eggs, and pancakes. That's probably going to change to rice and bananas.

The dog will be going to live with Chad and Andi in the center of Shell. The have a high-walled back yard, and she'll certainly have a change of scenery from our grassy yard and chain link fence. I'm a little worried that she'll bark too much over there. As I've worked on the tower and wireless network installation over there I've been impressed with how noisy it is in town. Dogs barking all the time, street vendors walking through town shouting their sales pitches, trucks driving through town with the driver shouting over a loudspeaker, "¡Cuarenta naranjas por un dolar!" over and over, zig-zagging back and forth across the blocks. It makes the sound of helicopters and planes seem very minor by comparison, as we live only 100 yards from the runway.

Leaf cutter ants continue to chew their way through the plants around our house. They are worse right now than I've seen in a long time. There is not much you can do about them, as they are very resilient and keep coming back for more no matter what you throw at them.

MC the cat has turned out to be a very lovable addition to our family. Dustin has pleaded for a cat for years, but Ellyn's allergies always screamed a resounding "no!" to that idea. Back in January Ellyn finally gave in, when Dustin fell in love with a kitten of our neighbors' cat. MC lives outside, making occasional visits inside, and Ellyn's allergies haven't gotten any worse. Dustin continues to beg for MC to join us in the United States, but I'm sorry to say it's not going to happen. It looks like we have a lead on a good home, and it's going to be really difficult for Dustin to say goodbye to that cat.

Lost It All

You've got to be kidding! I just wrote a whole bunch, and then lost it. I was connected to the WiFi hotspot with the D-Link wireless USB adapter. It locked up on me, which it often does. Then when I went to disconnect it from my iBook (and I knew better than to do that), it locked up the whole computer. I have not been happy with this wireless adapter at all, on Mac or on Win98.

I'm not going to bother re-typing it all--it's too late. Short story is that I got the radio up at Kelley's house, and it connects to the radio on the MAF base at the fastest connection speed possible. I wasn't sure what to expect, and I'm very pleased.

Fast Connection

Last night Dustin had three of his friends over for a birthday sleep-over. We ordered pizza from the restaurant in Puyo, and they played Xbox and watched movies. I knew they were going to stay up late, and when I went to bed at 1:30 AM tney were still going strong. I guess they were trying to stay up all night, and made it to 5 AM before falling asleep. By 10:30 AM I had them up and was feeding them pancakes and bacon. After that I headed over to Kelley's house with the hope of getting the wireless connection to their house up and running.

Curtis and I climbed the tower and mounted the radio, and then ran the ethernet cable down the tower and into the study. At that point we crimped cable ends, set up the computer, and plugged everything into the hub. I opened up a web browser and went to the admin page for the Tranzeo radio, and sure enough, we were connected to the radio at the MAF base, with a full 11 Mbps connection! Later, I went up on the tower and aimed the radio a little more carefully, and was able to improve on the signal a little. The connection is great, and it's just like sitting at a computer connected to the LAN at the hangar. It will work really well for Rachel to work on the finances from home, which is the reason we set this connection up.

Today was a day with a couple close calls and one accident. At one point after the radio was mounted on the tower, it started to rain. I remembered I had a 5 gallon bucket clipped up on the tower by the radio because I was intending to go back up and fine tune the aim of the radio. I scrambled up to the roof to go get the bucket. It's a tin roof, and of course gets slippery when wet. As I was crossing the roof, my feet slipped right out from under me. I immediately found myself thinking about how close I was to the edge of the roof and wondering how far I'd slide. Turns out I didn't slide too far, and was able to get up and walk the rest of the way to the tower. Whew, close call, especially considering I was on the second-story roof. Later in the afternoon, I was coming down off the roof for the final time, and was going to use the small ladder to get onto the balcony. Because the balcony was wet, the ladder slipped out as soon as I put some weight on it. Fortunately I was holding on a pole mounted on the corner of the roof. Ellyn has been praying for me each day I'm working on the tower. Two close calls today and I wasn't even on the tower.

The accident occurred as I was going to take Curtis's truck over to the hangar to get some installation CDs that I needed. There have been a couple guys doing some painting work on the Curtis's house, and they had a couple cans of paint in the street right in front of the truck. I didn't seem the cans, and you guessed it, I drove right over one of them. I heard this strange popping sound, and stopped the car to find out I had splattered white enamel paint all over the street and on the underside of the truck. Fortunately not too much paint got on the bodywork of the truck. It looked like the truck had been four wheeling through marshmallows. Why coudln't it have been latex paint?!? We left the truck there, and Chad (MAF pilot who lives on the first floor of the same building) drove us over to the hangar to get some laquer thinner and some absorbant material to soak up as much paint as possible. It took quite a while, but we got most of the mess cleaned up. Curtis decided not to worry too much about the paint under the truck, figuring it will wear off quickly, especially since most of it is on top of dirt and/or grease.

Tonight we had a goodbye party for the MAF families leaving Shell. It was held at the hangar in the new meeting room. All the employees were there also, and we had Mexican food for dinner, and then a time of sharing where the departing families shared their plans. It was a nice evening, and I'll miss working with a great group of people.

Guy Wires

Curtis and I went to his place to work on the tower at 11 AM. Of course, just as we got up on the roof, it started to rain, so we headed back to the hangar. At 1 PM we tried again, and worked until almost 5 PM, with great weather. We got all three anchors and guy wires put up, so that was some good progress. I think we still have a solid day's work before we can have the radio up there.

We had a staff meeting tonight at Chad's and Andi's place. Our last staff meeting. Time is short, with about one month to go.

Finally

The day started out rainy, but around 11:30 AM it was dry enough to go out and finish the work of grounding the tower. After lunch I was on the tower by 1:45 PM, finishing the install of the radio and antenna just after 4 PM. None too soon, as the rain started up again within fifteen minutes. Perfect timing. So far I'm pleased with the way the setup is operating. I'm able to get on the network from the hangar, my house, and Bruce's house. Those are the three locations I've tested so far. Now to get back over to Curtis's house and finish the tower over there. One more section to go.

Getting There

We're having better weather today, and I was able to finish putting in the ground wires. I still need to get them connected to the tower, and need to get some stainless steel pads to go with the stainless steel clamps. I'm trying to make sure that there is the least potential for corrosion between the tower legs, clamps, and ground wires. It's amazing how wet everything is here, and how fast things will corrode. It's strange for me to have the weather be such a factor in what I do. I put the last two ground wires in this morning, and was both rained on and roasting in the sun, all in the space of an hour. At one point we needed to get a #6 bare copper wire (somewhat flexible) underneath some bushes. I didn't want to disturb the bushes, so dug the trench as close as I could on both sides. I was able to shove the copper wire through a foot of dirt, at a depth of twelve inches! That should give you an idea of just how wet and soft the soil is here.

This And That

I really could have used less rain today. I've been waiting for some good weather to work outside since last Wednesday. Of course, both days of the weekend were really nice, especially Sunday. Sunday afternoon we went to a goodbye party for those who are leaving Shell. There are a lot of families leaving in the next couple months, and I didn't realize just how many 'til we started saying goodbye to them all. We're looking forward to the next step in our lives, and it's an exciting time. Of course we'll miss our friends and co-workers here in Shell. And, I have a feeling that in six months I'll wish I was back here. I think that has more to do with my being a missionary kid and enjoying life overseas than anything else. Anyway, back to my work. This morning I had done all I could in the hangar getting the radio and antenna connections sealed and doing a final check of the wirelss settings. By 2 PM it had stopped raining so I went out to the tower to work on getting in ground rods and wire. Not surprisingly, it started to rain again. I was able to get two ground rods in, and it wasn't easy working with the heavy wet dirt. Two more to go, and I hope and pray the weather is better tomorrow.

Ellyn and Dustin went up to Quito today for an ortho appointment. They made great time, and were back by 6 PM. Several other MAF folk made the trip too. Dave, the program manager drove up in his vehicle, taking two other guys from Dustin's class who needed to see the orthodontist. Kevin and Curtis both went along, and they were hoping to make some progress on thier licenses. They should be back by now, as they were only going for the day.

On the home front, Steve managed to get out of Shell when the weather cleared up, but ended the day stuck out in Makuma. I think he was the only pilot who had a flight today.

Progress

Here's a shot of the gear for the Base WiFi. Will put this fifty feet up on the tower, and hope to do it early next week. These are fun toys I'm getting to play with now. Not the rinky-dink stuff I was trying to use last year.

Short Timer

Only 40 more days in Ecuador! Time is short.

I'm trying to get some work done outside today, over at the Base tower, where I want to put in some grounding rods. But it rains, then stops, then starts...so I find something else to day inside. Now I'm running out of inside things. Or, at least things I want to do, because I really want to get this WiFi antenna and radio going.

It rains about twenty feet a year here. We've been here five years. That means we've enjoyed 100' of rain in Ecuador! I'll miss that!

Kayak Trip

I just helped Chad tie my kayak to his truck's roof rack. Hopefully the next time I'll see the boat is in the US. Several MAF families are sending belongings back in a container, and if there's room, the kayak will go in there. I'll send the paddles back that way too. My boats not in great shape, but the price is right, as it won't cost me anything to send the kayak or paddles. I never thought I'd be hooked on kayaking at age 42, but I am, and it's all Dustin's fault. I got into it because he wanted to learn to kayak, and it's not something he can do alone. I'm happy we're headed to Idaho to live and work, because there are a ton of rivers in that state!

Watch That Dog!

The past couple years I've enjoyed having John in Redlands record and send me tapes of bicycle racing, particularly the TdF. I'm going to leave the tapes here, and I'm slowing taking the time to watch highlight stages of the 2003 TdF. What a great race that was, and what a fight it was for Lance to win that year. I wonder what will happen this year as he goes for win number seven? It was sad to see that his team mate, Ekimov, was hurt in a training ride crash this week, and won't be riding the Tour with Lance. Sadly, I too lost my riding partner late this afternoon. John and I try to ride a couple times a week, heading up to the military checkpoint above Mera and then home again, for a distance of twelve miles. John hadn't done a lot of riding before, and he's really improved a lot over the past couple years. It's been great to get to know him on our weekly rides. As we were coming down the hill toward the Rio Alpayacu at about 35 MPH, John wasn't able to avoid a dog that was crossing the road. He hit the dog broadside, and went over the bars, landing on his shoulder, then rolling and skidding down the road for twenty feet. Unfortunately John wasn't wearing his helmet; he's leaving for the US in two weeks, and had already packed it away in his shipment. He did hit his head after he landed on his shoulder, and was fortunate to get away with a small gash. Several cars stopped and some people helped me get John off the road, and we put a t-shirt on his head, and another shirt to sling his arm because of the collar bone. I flagged down a pickup taxi, and we went straight to the hospital in Shell. A broken collar bone, ten stitches, lots of road rash, and a few hours later he left the Hospital Voz Andes. He's going to be OK, but he sure will be sore for a few days. The really bad thing is that he's travelling back to the US in two weeks, and won't be in any shape to handle the luggage. The really good thing is that he wasn't hurt worse. Oh, that and his bike is fine.

Tower Progress

I couldn't shake the allergies this morning. By noon I took a Benedryl, and that helped. Probably not the best thing to take right before going and climbing around on a roof and a 50' tower! But Curtis and I managed to work a couple hours this afternoon on the tower. At first I didn't think we'd be able to, as it started raining during the noon hour. But by 1:30 PM the roof was dry and we were at work. Our gin pole didn't fit perfectly, but we improvised, and were able to use it. The fourth section was really difficult to get on, but Curtis finally got that bolted on. Then we switched places and I clipped in at 40' while Curtis pulled up the fifth section and I guided it into place and bolted it on. We are ready for the final section, but need to get the guy wires on first. The challenge there is to find places to anchor them, as Curtis lives right in the middle of town, houses all around, and not many options for anchors.

This morning I was presently surprised to receive a computer in the latest shipment form Redlands. It had been donated to the program months ago, and just arrived yesterday. Truthfully, I had forgotten it was on the way, so it was fun to be surprised. Better than being impatient for something to arrive, that's for sure. I'll put the computer at Rachel's and Curtis's place for her to use over this wireless connection to do the financial work at the hangar. Everything is coming together nicely.

Tower Time

I guess I'm starting to lose my motivation to post anything--only nine posts last month. There's still lots going on here, and I think about sharing some of it, and it hardly ever happens. So here goes. Some random thoughts.

Last weekend we sold the trampoline and go-kart. I also found a buyer for the two kayaks. Ellyn is the one who takes care of selling the house stuff, and I sell the toys. I still need to take care of some tire and tube issues on the boys' bikes before they can go to new owners. They both are spoken for, and I'm sure I can get rid of them any time. I'm going to wait a while longer though. When I sold the go-kart, it really hit home that we are leaving. I've put a lot of time and effort into that, and we've really enjoyed having it. It's amazing what goes into moving when you've been somewhere five years. We've never had to do that before, except to come here, and I guess I've forgotten a little what we went through. And, we have it easy compared to some of the other families here who are leaving. Four of the families are sending back shipments, and several of those families have been here ten years. We'll head out of here with eight suitcases and my bicycle. When it comes right down to it, we're taking less with us than we brought. I think that's a good thing, and means we've been able to clean house and get rid of the non-essential things.

The pilots did hardly any flying yesterday. I think Dale made the only flight, going out to Sarayacu to pick up a medical emergency patient. That's not good for making ends meet financially. Today was better, and I saw two planes away before 9 AM, an early start for around here. Work has been done to get HC-BMO ready for sale, and from what I hear, that sale could happen soon. The program probably won't replace it, as we just don't have enough flying for six planes.

Curtis and I worked at his house on Saturday and this morning, continuing work to put up a sixty foot tower. At first he said he'd probably stop at fifty feet, but it looks like we're putting up all six sections. Today we tried to put up the fourth section, and attempted it without a gin pole. Not a good idea. So we ended up back at the hangar just before lunch to make a gin pole. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a pole with a pulley at the top which is attached to the side of the tower. You pull the next section up into place using that pole and a rope passing over the pulley. If weather and time permit we'll try it out tomorrow and see if we can get up to fifty feet. We'll probably need to get some guy wires up to go all the way to the top. The tower is tied in to the house at two different points, the topmost being at about twenty feet high, so that helps a lot, but probably not enough. At any rate, I never thought I'd help put up a tower like this, but it's turning out to be a challenging and fun adventure. At one point today, I was calling out "Safety second!", which seemed to be a fitting motto for the day as we tried to wrestle the fourth section into place without a gin pole. It seems that so often in Ecuador safety takes a back seat, which is exactly where I don't normally want to be. Today I was too close to that position though, and that's why we took a break to go build the right tool for the job.