Paul Alton MBA

We start the month in Harlingen, Texas helping out at Way of the Cross. We plan to go with them to help in Guatemala on the 12^th and return to Harlingen on the 30^th. I’ll try to keep you informed through the month depending on internet connection and my attention to the task.

Today is a day off for most people, including us. “Most” doesn’t mean “all”. Before we ventured forth to After a bit of unpacking and puttering, we ventured out into the world. The unpacking included our travel bathroom scale. The trip must not have agreed with it. It was grumpy and displayed all the increase in weight from my relaxed approach to calorie counting on the road. The puttering included dumping the tanks in the fifth wheel trailer we have been blessed with for our time here.

I dropped Juanita off at the laundromat and dropped the car off at the car detailing place and went for a walk. On my walk a car stopped and three friends got out and welcomed me back to Harlingen.

The car was ready when I got back from my walk. Juanita texted that she was ready. I picked up my tools that Byron had been storing then picked up Juanita. We went to the McDonald’s drive through for two of their five-dollar specials. The relative value of the US dollar to the Canadian dollar being what it is they throw in four chicken McNuggets that the Canadian McDonald’s don’t include in their five-dollar deal.

We drove to Harbor Freight to buy some tools and nitrile gloves. Then we went to Home Depot to make copies of the fifth wheel trailer keys. As I walked across the parking lot I reached into my pocket to get the key ring with the keys. They were not there! The tiny ring must have been pulled out when I removed my car keys and dropped unnoticed. Retracing my steps from this morning yielded nothing. The keys were lost and gone forever Clementine.

The trailer owner loaned us another set. I attached these to the big key ring that weighs down my pocket and returned to Home Depot. After all that they weren’t equipped to copy that style of key. Nobody open on New Year’s Day could.

While Juanita visited with a friend over coffee I repaired the leaking hose connection and sprayed for ants.

After a shopping trip to Walmart, we tried out the TooGoodToGo app for some food specials. The first Circle K we went to had no idea what I was talking about but after a call to the owner cobbled together a strange assortment of food items to cover the amount we had paid through the app. Good value if looking just at sticker price versus price paid. The second Circle K was on the ball, knew all about the app and handed us a good assortment of food. They even substituted a bottle of Coke Zero for the offered bottle of Big Red.

Between the two finds we had enough to share for supper and items left for another day.

I started this year’s read the Bible in a year program and we puttered at stowing stuff in our new digs. We were in bed by nine.

Oscar Brooks spoke in chapel this morning starting with Genesis 20:2.

Abraham lies about his wife being his sister  due to fear. It’s a half truth, but still a lie.

The king is prevented by God from fulfilling his intentions. This is an interaction between God and an ungodly king. When God puts up roadblocks, listen.

Reflect on how many times even before you were a believer could something have happened to you but God stopped it.

After God talked to the king. Gone on from ignorance to knowledge. “If you do this then…” “Give the woman back to her husband”. Pontius Pilate was warned by his wife but went through roadblock.

David was warned by Abigail. God sometimes sends people to talk to you and provide a roadblock.

After chapel Juanita helped set up for tomorrow’s drive through food bank. I helped Byron check out the starter on a staff member’s van and add hydraulic oil to a forklift. We measured the new convection ovens Ben wants installed then went out to the Training Center to look at possible location of oven installation. We went through a motor home slated for staff housing and tried to level it with the built-in leveling jacks. Some prior owner had obviously had problems. The control panel was hanging from the dash. Some wires to the pump were disconnected. We jumpered things and got the pump running but the solenoid wiring had insurmountable issues.  

We went back to the to warehouse for lunch and to pick up some bottle jacks and took them to the training center and leveled the motor with blocks. We temporary hooked up the water supply and identified a few issues and made a list of parts.

After work I took the car for an oil change. They managed to rip the brass insert for the drain plug out of the plastic pan. They pushed the insert back in and I, with some trepidation, drove the car to the dealer for repair. I left the car and they provided a shuttle ride home.

Oscar preached in chapel beginning in Romans with Priscilla as a deacon/servant. Then he moved on to Acts (17 or 18) with Paul and his shorn hair with the observation that even Paul had to seek permission to fulfill requirements. Sorry for the bad notes, but I was too busy fighting with the Bible app on Juanita’s phone to take good notes.

Juanita worked on the food line. I helped Byron. We picked up a starter and motor mount for the staff member’s van. We looked at what was needed for the lights in the training center office and ordered more LED lamps.

It was cold today with not too many cars showing up for the drive through food line. Everything shut down relatively early.

Juanita got a ride home. I got a ride to the dealer to wait for work on the car to be started, then finished. They replaced the oil pan and rotated the tires. The mechanic was able to push the brass insert out of the pan with finger pressure. That was a risky four-mile drive to the dealer. I got home after dark.

It was a lazy morning. We were up early but relaxed in our approach to the day. We puttered at packing for Guatemala and made a list of what else we might need to take. I sorted the tools in the car.

After deleting a few emails and fixed the latch on the bathroom door then went back to computer stuff and keyboarded for a while on some blog write ups.

We went to Sam’s club , did some samples, got in some steps and ate lunch before buying our perishables and taking them home. Then off to Harbor Freight for mechanics’ work gloves and some tools to take to Guatemala. While in the neighbourhood we went to Home Depot and picked up some supplies for a small project.

On the way home we went to Walmart for echinacea and crackers. WE kept an eye out for citrus vendors by the side of the road. Today there were speed traps in the two locations vendors normally sit.

After a quiet evening of reading went early to bed.

There were reports on the news of icy highways in Kansas that have been closed due to multiple accidents. Highways we travelled over at posted speeds with no problems six days ago. Things can change quickly in the winter.

We were up early. I did some keyboarding before church.

George spoke. He is a former staff member visiting from Oklahoma where he and Giana pastor. They had their newborn baby with them. He spoke about being in the unfamiliar territory of the new year.

We are in a new year. The future is unfamiliar territory. The only one who knows is Jesus Christ.

Joshua 3. A generation not allowed into Promised Land. Two, Joshua & Caleb were. It was their job to lead the Israelites into this unfamiliar territory filled with unfamiliar enemies.

Joshua 3:1-3
In order to cross the Jordan River it had to be something supernatural. When they crossed the Red Sea it opened up and they walked through. Crossing the Jordan River was different. They had to start to enter before the water retreated.

OT the law. NT the spirit.

Josh 3:7-8. God going to let the people know that the same way He was with  Moses, He is with Joshua.

After church we quickly changed clothes and left for South Padre Island stopping for a lunch of birrias at a  Laredo Taco. At the island I walked on the beach and handed out tracts. There was a strong wind so Juanita mostly stayed in the car reading. I walked too far with the wind at my back until I had close to half as many steps as needed then turned around and headed back into the wind and blowing sand. It was a bit of a slog compared to walked with the wind at one’s back. How quickly we forget. I had worked out a tactic in previous visits to start walking into the wind half the distance then turn around and walk back past the starting point to break the walking into the wind into two sessions. Oh well. Next time. If I remember. Hopefully before the walk starts not too late to help.

On the way home we stopped at the Los Fresnos Walmart, Harbor freight and Home Depot for some stuff we’ll need in the coming week.

In chapel, Oscar preached starting with Genesis 20:1

Abraham said Sarah was his sister.  “Sister” was true with the intent to deceive. Is the omission of the truth a lie? When you introduce yourself you don’t tell everything about yourself.

He said, “you are pretty say you’re my sister”. He was afraid. When you see Abraham after God has chipped away at him, he is a man of God but at this point he has not there yet.

This lie was against God’s plan for him. He didn’t trust God to protect him. It also put God’s mission at risk because it was to be fulfilled through Sarah. God has to work with us as we are. But through the process he changes you. I pray that we wrestle forward. The war is between our flesh and our spirit.

Juanita helped with setting up for Wednesday’s food bank. I went to the same clinic I did last year for my annual commercial driver’s license medical. It is a medical ministry clinic that works together with Way of the Cross on some events. When I arrived, I started to explain to the person at the desk about my reasons to be there. She looked up from her computer and said, “sign the list” and handed me a clipboard. I was third on the list. That meant that most of the other fourteen people in the waiting room had appointments. I waited about an hour, reading the manual for the convection oven and cleaning up emails on  my phone.

While sitting there I got a phone call from the clinic scheduler in response to a friend entering me in there system the previous week. She said the earliest scheduled appointment would be a week from the coming Friday. By then we plan to be in Guatemala. I went to the desk in the waiting room. There was a different person manning the computer. He said I might get seen today if I sat and waited but he couldn’t guarantee it. Tomorrow they are closed. Wednesday they are open at another location. I said I’d see if I could get in at another clinic and left.

Back at the warehouse Byron was hooking up the staff member’s van to be towed to a nearby shop to install the starter and motor mount. It’s more complicated than it looks and there are other priorities.

I went to a clinic mentioned on Google Maps. That clinic was reluctant to use the form I had. Their business manager would have to make the decision and she had stepped out. I could wait.

The waiting room was full. Apparently, it doesn’t fill right away when they open. I said I’d come back when they open tomorrow and bring last year’s form as an example that filling out the form is not as complicated as it looks.

Byron and I measured for wire and conduit for installing the convection ovens at the training center. Then we set up the sewer and water hoses on the motor home to be used for staff housing. The valve bib for the water hose was leaking at the stem with the valve open. We went to Home Depot for parts. When shutting off the water for the RV sites the valve handle broke off and water spouted from the valve. Byron shut off the main valave for the property.

Off to Home Depot for parts.

While Byron dug up the RV sites shutoff valve I changed the two hose bibs at that site then helped with the shut off valve replacement. There was enough water on the pipe to thwart the glue so there was a leak when the main shut off valve was turned back on.

Off to Home Depot for parts.

We redid the repair, being more vigilant to keep the connection dry. Byron left. After waiting twenty minutes by walking for the twenty minutes I turned the main valve back on. When I came around the building to the repair location I could hear the roar of water. Oh no!

No problem. The roar was coming from one of the hose bibs I had replaced. Ah. System is now flushed. I closed the hose bib. No leaks anywhere. I love it when a plan comes together. I filled in the hole around the valve compartment and t4xted Byron that all was well.

After supper I worked on filling in the information the air line wants from travellers and did the seat selections for our upcoming flights.

Dropped Juanita off at the warehouse and went to the commercial walk-in clinic for a driver’s license medical. They would accept the form.

After the medical I worked on getting the lights on the walk of the cross working. There were two problems. I had repaired the first break when Byron showed up. We repaired the second problem.

After lunch we changed light bulbs on the cross walk and measured for the circuit run to the planned convection oven.

After work I worked on a couple of doors in the fifth wheel trainer we are using. Then we went to buy more travel stuff and groceries at Harbor Freight, Walmart and Sam’s Club before settling in for another quiet evening.

Oscar spoke at chapel jumping off from Revelation 19:8

Fine linen is the righteous acts of saints and God. Fine linen is part of the dress of people who follow the Lord in heaven. That is the church. Also in chapter 18

Ezekiel 9:11 Angel dressed in fine linen. Daniel 12:6 -7 Ezekiel 40:3

Going from fine linen to something in his hand.

Linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. The linen is the righteous being for those who honour him not just in heaven but here on earth.

Holy - our flesh does not like that word. It seems too restrictive. But the word is all over the Bible. Starting in Exodus, David was dressed in linen when bringing the ark.

Ezekiel 40. Measuring Rod in the hand of this heavenly being. Trying to lead Ezekial to the throne of God and all humanity. What is the linen cord there? The river ends at the throne of God. The book of Ezekiel tells you where it starts. At the temple.

The lack of holiness keeps you from seeing or getting near God. He has in his hand a linen cord. He is saying there is a path to God but you cannot walk that path in the flesh.

Ministry is planning on going into Guatemala. That path must be followed must done with God not with flesh.

You don’t compromise the Gospel. You lose the linen cord.

Juanita worked on the drive through food bank line. I went to an electrical supplier to get quote for wires, conduit etc to install convection ovens before going to the training center office to change lamps in the ceiling fixtures. Byron worked on a water leak where a fitting had failed. When he was done with that we worked together on the lights.

After work I designed some stands for the convection ovens and made up a materials list and a cut list and updated the blog narrative for December.

We woke up cold at 1:30 am. The furnace stopped working. I got dressed and went outside into the even colder night air and switched propane tanks.

I was up early emailing myself pictures for blog inclusion.

Oscar spoke in chapel starting with Revelation 22:1

This is after all pains taken away. The last chapter of the Bible. River.

Leaves “for the healing of the nations”. Why do they need healing if all pain and sickness is taken away? Healing mentioned in Ezekiel. It’s an interesting word. The root of our word therapy, to be cured, healed also translated as worship in some passages. John not talking of curing a sickness but health

12 different types of fruit. Fruit and leaves for healing. Preventing anybody from getting sick. God is going to give us this fruit for life and health. Going to be a continuous process because it is something you can enjoy forever.

After chapel I looked at a forklift starter briefly with Byron. Juanita and went to the training center and checked some measurements for new ovens and looked at what fittings would be needed to decommission the old convection oven.

We took the propane tank to gas company for refill. While there I tried to buy a fitting to cap the gas line to the old oven. Nope. Tried other supplier for fitting. Nope. We took the propane tank back and reinstalled. Then we went back to the warehouse for lunch. Added to the material list to cover oven installation at warehouse. I went with Byron to buy wood and screws for the oven stands. We took them back to the warehouse and unloaded.

We went home. I keyboarded and added pictures until time for Juanita to go for coffee with her friend. I went to Lowes and got in the rest of the daily steps and bought a couple of items for projects.

Back home we ate supper and finished the December update, posted it and started on January narrative.

Oscar Brooks spoke at chapel beginning with Philippians 3:12.

“That I may apprehend…” Like child’s game of tag. He tagged me. Now, I’m trying to tag him.

Luke 24:28-29. “but they constrained him…” Many times the Lord plays hard to get. A woman who was not a Jew wanted healing for child. “Bread is for the children not for the dogs”. A slap in the face to her. “But even the dogs get the crumbs”. Jesus turned and went into teaching mode.

I’m going to put a roadblock in front of you and see what you do.

Elijah 4 times told “stay here“. God puts resistance in front of you to see if you’re willing to pay the price required. Naomi to two daughters in law, “Stay.” One turned back and disappeared from the Bible. Ruth persisted and we have the book of Ruth.

Zachias can’t see. Climbs tree. Overcomes obstacle. Paul said, I was apprehended and the rest of my life I have chased after Him.

 After chapel. Juanita helped with the start of the drive through food bank, then came and helped me build the oven starts while Byron played whack a mole with forklift problems. He got the starter installed with one. It wasn’t long before the plastic fan blade came off and the same forklift was back in the repair area needing him to remove the damaged radiator. In between forklifts he helped with oven stands and painted the first stand while Juanita and built the second.

After work it was off to Walmart to buy some last-minute items for the Guatemala trip.

Back home Juanita went for coffee with her friend. I walked around for about ten minutes to get my step count then got on the phone to deal with a couple items before the Saskatchewan and Alberta offices closed for the day.

Then it was a quiet evening of keyboarding before an early bedtime. We are in training for the O dark 30 wake up required on Sunday for the flights to Guatemala.

Woke at 1:30.

Got up at 2:30, turned on coffee, took a pill, and started microwaving some Walmart breakfast croissants.

Shut-off alarm at 3:00.

After we had eaten, brushed teeth and shut everything off that should be off when one is away from a fifth wheel trailer we walked over to the office. There we got in the way of the people loading suitcases into the van. Hey, everybody has to do their part. Right?

Michael showed up and the van along with its people and bags left for the McAllen airport.

United Airlines has chosen to compete with budget airlines on posted fares by offering Basic Economy. One of its features or lack of features is no carry-on luggage, just a personal item. I had wondered how they efficiently managed that on the ground. I know we like to knock airline efficiency but all we see is surface noise. The basic system has to flow downhill without constant staff input. The solution appears to be that Basic Economy people are placed in boarding group six. Anybody in group six who shows up with a carry on gets their bag snatched away and put in checked luggage for an instant additional fee. Once on board the basic economy fare traveller may think they are gaming the system by putting their personal item in the overhead bin rather than under the seat, but everybody who paid for carry on with their fare has had first dibs at the overhead bins.

Just ran across some notes emailed to myself from on plane:

Awake at 1:30
Web surfed until abt 2:30 b4 3:00 alarm
Coffee & breakfast croissants
Turned off heat set AC at 80
Stowed last items (chargers & toothbrush)
Shut off the water & propane
Walked to office and got in way while bags stowed
Checked bags in
Went through TSA
Walked while waiting and handed out curved illusion tracts.
Good visit with college girl sitting next to us.
Boarding announcement from escaped call center person with already incomprehensible accent talking through mask.

Boarding went okay

My United app had originally said we were landing at gate C10. It gave a 14-minute route through the terminal to the departure gate in E terminal. The actual gate number had been a bit dynamic, with several texted updates. The latest was E18. The pilot of our flight to Houston announced we would be arriving at gate E16. Perfect! We quickly walked to E18 after disembarking and found two well located seats. As we were about to sit down another text arrived saying the gate was now E22. Off we went. This gate was a little more crowded. We found a couple of seats at E23 where we kind of could see the action at E22. Juanita read and I walked for a while.

The inbound flight ran a bit late. The cleaning crew did a rush job and made up some of the time. The pilot made up all but ten minutes in the flight to Guatemala City, Guatemala.

We had filled out an entry form online for customs and immigration. Displaying the QR code from that exercise got us into a line to see a person who efficiently checked and stamped our passports. Then out into the bustle of the uncontrolled part of an airport terminal.

After a brief wait a couple of Hyundai vans arrived. The big suitcases were stowed on top of one of the vans. Smaller luggage and people were squeezed into the vans. We stopped at a KFC on the outskirts of the city for lunch. After a brief foray into the Chinese goods store next door we got on the mostly two lane highway to Zacapa. It rose and fell and twisted a bit. At one point there was a passing lane up a mountain. We got past the truck load of concrete blocks we had followed for about twenty kilometers. Only a couple of near misses with vehicles coming down the mountain and using the “extra” lane to pass as well. They scoff at double solid lines here.

We arrived in Zacapa about sunset, stopping at the Maxi Despensa which has the same colours and lay out as a Maxi Pali in Nicaragua. It is presumably owned by Walmart. We bought snacks, supplies in non travel sizes and bottled water. After a stop at a burrito restaurant for supper we headed to our hotel.18 people show up at a hole in the wall restaurant and boost their dining room from 2 to 20. There is still a steady arrival of takeout customers at the sidewalk. It might take a while.

The hotel room is big enough. I have designed bathrooms in Nicaragua with sinks that size. Thus my having to juggle soap, water glass, toothpaste and tooth brush is fair punishment for that particular sin on a long list of more cardinal ones. There is plenty of hot water and the AC works well. The beds are comfortable even if the headboards are loose and bang against the wall when the bed moves.

I walked the 1300 steps needed to reach the daily goal while Juanita showered then it was my turn. Just before the shower, I answered an email from a friend ending with, “Going to have shower do laundry and go to bed. Tomorrow is a workday. I have to get a well working with the tools and supplies available.”

I lied. About the shower and laundry part. I had meant to but sitting there on the edge of the bed getting ready I realized it was a country too far. Shower and laundry could wait.

Good night

I woke up and took the shower deferred last night and we did the deferred laundry. That took enough time that I gave up on my plans on doing some keyboarding at a table outside the room. The shorts and shirt set aside for that can be used tomorrow. I dressed in work clothes and joined the crowd forming for coffee and devotions.   

After devotions, two van loads drove to a restaurant. A local pastor joined us for breakfast and other activities. The usual delays occurred when you swarm a small restaurant, but we all got to eat more than we needed. And it tasted good. An overall success.

We all went to camp. It’s about a forty minute drive.

The property is a four-acre Bible camp that has been unused for seven years. It has lots of facilities but unuse and the climate have taken their toll. Ben has big plans for the property. There is not much accommodation. In the past campers would bring their tents. He plans on adding dorms and doing repairs and upgrades to the existing buildings. There are nineteen people coming from Nicaragua on Friday. We will attempt to be ready for them so they have what they need to work and stay.

One van left with a couple of staff already familiar with the property. They were off to the temple of the moneychangers and other business matters. The rest of us got a tour of the four-acre property with Brother Ben. Everybody has a work list. After the tour they got with it.

Juanita and I assembled a submersible pump. Then we pulled the cover off a bored well. There were large spiders and several large cockroach-like bugs living on the casing sides above the waterline. The bugs were big enough that I mistook them for bats at first. The surface about ten feet below the lip of the casing had a scum of leaves, cans, plastics and other stuff. The depth is said to be about one hundred feet. “I hung a rope down and it didn’t reach bottom.” The submersible pump manual in Chinglish says it needs 4 meters depth beneath the pump, so it doesn’t stir up sediment and suck it into the pump.

We didn’t have a rope but were given a couple of “one hundred foot” extension cords. I found a tent stake made from 1” rebar and we taped that to the end of one of the “one hundred foot” extension cords. That didn’t reach bottom. We tied the second cord to the first. That hit bottom. I marked the point on the cord with electrical tape. After pulling the cord and rebar out of the well I paced from the end of the cord to the tape. Twenty paces. Let’s say sixty feet. Let’s give the well a nominal depth of 155 feet. The pump has a hundred-foot cord. No problem with having 4 meters below it.

Good to go.

There is some discussion of inrush current to the pump. I have used a rule of thumb of 6x running amps. Ben has used 2x running amps. We are both wrong, but Ben is closer to the value I get when the numbers are plugged into an online calculator back at the hotel. It says a little below 3x. I don’t know where I came up with 6x. I’ve used it for years. Maybe its for 3 phase 600V motors but I doubt it. A mystery for another day. Probably never get to it. Like the free Kindle mysteries that I buy through Book Bub.

We make a list for fittings and pipe.

The pump came with a fitting to reduce the 1-1/2” outlet to ¾” NPT and a ¾’ check valve. The powers that be declared that to be “way too small” so my parts list is developed based on 1-1/2” pump outlet to a bigger check valve to 1” pipe. The other side of the pressure tank will go to an existing 1’1/4” pipe that has been declared by the powers that be to be the main line going to the camp. Who am I to doubt? Time has its way of telling. We’ll know when we turn the water on.

The other van returns with sandwich fixings. After lunch both vans go to town for the adventure of shopping for things the stores don’t have. If I recall correctly the time was about 1:30 as we pulled out of camp. I thought to myself that I hadn’t expected such a short day. Hold that thought.

Both vans arrive at the ferreteria next to the Maxi Despensa. It is brilliant and clean and organized looking, with plenty of helpful staff. Ben picks out a pump and pressure tank combo. The pump is too big for the electrical supply available, but we’ll just pump through the pump body and not energize that pump’s motor.

The groups split up. Some walk to the Maxi to buy cooking pots. Then that group leaves in one of the two vans. Joe, who is working on the electrical system, myself installing the well pump and Barney, who is installing another pump on the cistern on the property all poke around in the fittings and parts bins adapting our list to reality. Joe gets a lot of what he needs. Barney gets everything and I get all but two fittings.

The pressure tank pump combo, a couple of pressure washers, shelving and a bunch of other stuff gets loaded onto a police department truck. The two police officers and several of our people leave for the camp in the police department truck. Don’t ask. I don’t know.

Ben and Salomon go to the Maxi. Several of us leap on the opportunity and buy personal stuff before they are done with camp purchases. Juanita waits outside with my backpack. I buy two paletas. The girl said something about Mango. It was mango and pepper. Odd. Juanita ate hers. I ditched mine. The bright spot is that they took Apple Pay for the paletas.

Done at the Maxi we head to another store for fittings and pipe. We manage to buy several fittings that when assembled just so, will do the job of one of the two fittings. Just one more fitting and we will be in business.

Not today.

Maybe tomorrow.

Maybe never.

We load the pipes they had that we wanted. We add the pipes they didn’t have to our wish list. Off to camp again to unload the pipes, eat watermelon and load our sticky selves back into the vans to town for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. There are about twenty people including drivers, swampers and the two cops from the police truck. While we wait for dinner to appear I tap blog notes about today on my phone and email them to myself.

It was after eight by the time we were back at our room. Showers, laundry then bed about 9:30. Just as I was dozing off my last thought was “what if those extension cords were not a hundred feet but only fifty? That started the wheels going. I fell asleep about 11:30.

I woke about four. The dog ate my blog notes. That email from the restaurant last night never arrived. I pecked out a new one on my phone. I am sure the original was clever and witty., but we will never know.

I got up about 4:30 and went next to the pool to keyboard and to donate blood to winged bloodsuckers. The hotel wi-fi speed that last night was in kbps last night is 40 Mbps at 4 am.

Devotions at 7

Left hotel for breakfast.

Juanita had bug bites Similar looking bug bites had developed into cellulitis (sp?) in the recent past so after some texting to an authority we decided to start with amoxicillin with a back up plan of doxycycline. When we arrived at the restaurant asked Juanita to put in my order for scrambled eggs. I walked down the street to a farmacia and bought a course of both antibiotics. Back at the restaurant I sorted Spanish curved illusion tracts into pairs until somebody mentioned a ferreteria across the street. I was off and was able to buy all that was needed to complete the well job, as far as I knew. A store clerk helped me carry the three 6 m (20’) lengths of 2” pipe across the street and lay them on the sidewalk.

After breakfast, one van went to Guatemala City on a mission to buy some vehicles. After we tied the three lengths pipe to the side of the van, our van went to the Maxi for groceries for lunch and supper. There was nothing on my list from there, so I walked around outside and handed out curved illusion tracts until it was time to help load groceries. Pro tip – when you see somebody make a box by just folding the flaps, pick the box up by the bottom not the sides. I picked up the stuff from the floor placed it into a cart and remade and reloaded the box once it was sitting in the van.

First order of business for plumber Paul and plumber’s helper Juanita was to unroll a “hundred foot extension cord and pace it off. Thirty plus paces. Close enough. No risk of lowering the pump into sediment.

Then we drilled a hole in the side of the well casing big enough for a PVC coupling. I cut the ridge out of the middle. More carefully after slicing my palm a bit with the knife. Some toilet paper and electrical tape putting on a glove was the quick temporary solution to that. Probably not too deep, It didn’t hurt much and I didn’t see the point of poking around at the cut in that less than sterile environment.

When the hole in the well casing was big enough and the ridge was removed enough from inside the coupling to slide a 1” galvanized nipple through we glued the coupling in place with silicone caulk.

Then we ran the site 2” irrigation pipe as close as we could to the well, added some of the PVC pipe I bought this morning, and duct taped all the joints. All the joints but the elbow at the well for the pipe that goes below the existing scummy surface of the water. Then we turned the water on at a cistern at the top of the property. The cistern is fed by a passing irrigation canal that runs along the property line.

The water rose in the well until it was close enough to the top of the casing for Juanita to skim the worst of the items off with a rake. When the water was higher, I dodged the giant spiders and skimmed by hand. We shut down the flush water over lunch figuring things would drift to the surface with less turbulence.

The water dropped closer to the level this morning than the level before lunch. We added more flush water and got off as much of the stuff as we could see. The water was coming out of the through fitting we had added this morning. The level didn’t seem to be gaining after that. Just holding its own. We shut off the flush water and pulled apart the flush waster piping and added four jugs of bleach. It might need more later.

While the flushing was going on we anchored down the pressure tank. Joe the electrician wired the supply to the pressure switch and an electrical receptacle on the side of the pole near the pressure tank.

We replaced the check valve that came with the pump with the bigger one purchased yesterday, glued one inch pipe to that and added more lengths until we reached the place on the pump power cord needed to exit the top of the casing. Then we added the fittings for the top end of pipe from the pump. We taped the cord to the pipe. Then we tied a couple of ropes to the pump and taped them to the pipe. It was ready for all hands to pitch in and lower the pump and piping into the well. Once the pipe was hooked up to the nipple through the casing and the support ropes were tied, we tested the pump powered with an extension cord. Impressive flow.

I chiseled a path in the casing lip for the power cord and Barney put the cover back on. We hooked up the supply side to the pressure and put all the fittings together that came with the tank. When we went to add piping on the outlet side of the valve on the pressure tank, we were one fitting short. Salomon went to town for the fitting and bought two.

We tested the pressure tank by powering up the well pump with an extension cord. It reached pressure quickly but there were three small leaks. We tried to fix them with what we had but they just became smaller drips. It was getting dark. We tidied up and took our parts and tools to the storeroom then joined the others for a delicious chicken soup made on the site from ingredients purchased this morning.

Sunset is about 5:30. We left the camp at 6:15 and drove home in the dark. Back at the hotel we showered and did laundry. I put Polysporin and bandaids on Juanita’s multiple bug bites. She did the same for my palm cuts. They are not too deep but in an awkward spot. A nitrile glove works to hold the bandaids on.

Good night. Sleep well. I am well tired and hope to be well rested by morning.

Devotions at seven.

We drove to breakfast at the Mi Tierra restaurant for the last time. The camp is coming together. Meals will be there from now on.

While breakfast was being ordered and prepared, I bought more antibiotic to cover the suggested regimen. Juanita’s needs out of the way, I went across the street to the ferreteria for a pipe fitting and thick Teflon tape. They don’t sell pipe thread sealant there. After eating I darted back to the pharmacy and bought gauze and other dressing supplies. I got back to the van right as the van was ready to go.

We stopped to fill the gas cans for fueling the pressure washers. The gas cans ride along with us on the floor next to our feet. Then to the Maxi for groceries. I checked the ferreteria next door. No sealant either, just tape.

I bought bandaids, scissors for gauze and other supplies at the Maxi. They don’t take Apple Pay even though the ice cream booth in the store does. I would have been late back to the van but the people with the official reason for stopping there had to go back in for eggs.

Juanita and I had the piping apart at the pressure tank retaped and back together again quickly. No leaks! Then we cut and glued pipe between the pipe in the ground and the pressure tank. The system was up and running before noon, but we couldn’t find where the water was going.

It was going somewhere.

The pressure was a steady 17 psi and the pump was running continuously with the outlet valve on the tank open. With it closed the pump reached 45 psi and shutoff.

There was a wet spot by a retaining wall. We dug down and found a black pipe. The pipe going into the ground was white but the same size as the black one. Following the general direction of the pipe I arrived at the cistern. There was a black pipe coming out of the ground, going up the side of the cistern and feeding into the top.

We lifted the lid on roof of cistern. The cistern was as full as it could get. We checked the end of the connection for the black hose. There was a good flow. The flow stopped when we went back down the hill and shut off the pump.

We then tried to back flow into the camp supply system by connecting to various spots with a garden hose hooked up at the pressure tank. Before we had run out of places to try there was suddenly no pressure. The pipe from the submersible pump broke at the top. With the help of 3 strong men we fixed that, changed where the support ropes were attached and started back feeding again with no joy.

It was supper time. Then it was dark. We left the camp site at 5:55. Back home at the hotel Juanita and I did the showers and laundry routine with a hopefully temporary added routine of wound and bug bite dressing.

We take turns doing the devotional. Today is my turn. At least it won’t be too long.

Here’s the text as written.

Fifty years ago, about eight months after accepting the Lord, I was on my way to a weekend retreat at a Bible camp. The trip there was not rushed and there was a bit of time for exploring along the way. The exploration included the tour of a monastery. I walked up to the front door, knocked, and a brother showed me around the building and the grounds.

He explained how they got their water. They dug a trench below frost line for several miles and ran a pipe to the monastery. They grew their own food. They worked together in pairs or alone or pulled together as needed. There was ample time for contemplation and prayer. They ate meals in silence or with a brother reading scripture while the others ate.

The brother showed me some of the property including the cemetery for brothers who had passed since the mission was established in 1861. Then he left me to further explore the grounds and walk the paths. For a long time, I sat on a bench overlooking the river and pondered the attractiveness of this lifestyle. I could get into this!

I am an introvert. Extroverts get their energy from crowds. If extroverts are alone or with just one other person for a long time, they deflate. Introverts get their energy from being alone or one on one with a tiny group of people. They can function in large groups, but they need to recharge by being alone or close to it.

The monastery life seemed perfect. You get to build things. You have time for prayer and meditation and there is silence. Blessed silence. You can eat in peace.

While sitting on the bench I opened my pocket New Testament. The first verse that I read was John 17:15

John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

Oh.

So, we’re not supposed to lock ourselves away from the world with other introverts. We have to be in the world with the extroverts. Those overly friendly, large, wet-puppy people. And we have to do it surrounded by evil.

Okay.

I guess so.

I’ll do it, but at least let me be in the background, Lord.

Choosing Bible verses by randomly opening your Bible, lifting them out of context and basing your life on them is not on the list of best practices. However, God spoke to me that way, that day.