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. Double the length it looks with contrapuntal translation. 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.

Well, that didn’t happen. The devotional, by me, I mean, not the monastery bench overlooking the Fraser River. That happened. The schedule changed. Arnold gave a journeyman Bible based devotional that was more relevant to the Nicaraguans who arrived at 2:30 this morning, by bus, from Nicaragua, a twenty-four-and-a-half-hour journey. Arnold spoke on endless possibilities beginning with Matthew 19:16, “What must I do to obtain eternal life?” It was an inspirational message appropriate to the ramp up in activities.

The plan was to have ministry vehicles by now, but the bank transfer went astray for a few days. By the time the money came back into the ministry bank account we had experience with the vans for hire. The vans that the funds didn’t transfer successfully for would be inappropriate for the road to camp. But I digress.

We have more people today than transportation. We ferried to site beginning with the Nica work team leaders so they can get a handle on their areas of responsibility.

Some of the people waiting for the next van wandered away to the nearby convenience store but we didn’t have to wait long for their return so we could head to site.

We had breakfast and lunch at site.

Juanita and I played whack a mole with leaks. Once we had the water stopped from coming out where it shouldn’t we turned to unplugging things so water came out where it should.

We left camp about five. Juanita got off with others at the hotel. A few others and I went shopping. First, to a ferreteria for more plumbing parts, then to the Oasis, which had been billed as a farmer’s market but was a discount supermarket. The cook shopped for food. I took the opportunity to buy some bottled water, grapes and bananas. And some Off insect repellent to supplement the TSA sized natural stuff we brought with us. It might repel bugs but who wants to be sprayed with citronella scented baby oil?

Supper was at the hotel with food that had been prepared in the camp kitchen.

We loaded into the vans at 6:30. Well, most of us. Ben, Theresa, Joe, Michelle, Juanita and I got left behind to wait for a van to return. While waiting we looked at the motorcycle-based truck that the ministry had bought new for $2,000.

A local pastor showed up. There was a discussion of how various ministries cooperated and whether he could use some of the 105 convection ovens that are in the warehouse in Harlingen. He left for a nearby meeting with the police and we six sat down for coffee. The van showed up and we quickly downed our coffee. I asked the server the price. Q60. Not having enough small bills I gave here a Q100 bill ($7.50). There was no way we would wait while she went to the front desk for change. She did okay for a tip. When I got in the van Joe gave me a $10 bill. I did okay, too. 😉

When we arrived at the camp, group breakfast and devotions were over. The boys were digging for the sewer line. After we ate breakfast Juanita turned off the water at the tank up the hill. I assembled fittings for a couple of shutoff valves where toilets hadn’t had any and installed those and Juanita turned the water back on. Just realized why I only walked a little over 15k steps today. Juanita did all the walking up the hill to the valve at the tank.

We left the water blowing out of the supply hoses for a while after unplugging a couple of valves. Amazing how much black gunk builds up in seven years of unuse. The boys had found the sewer line. Joe cut a hole in the top and I stuck a hose in it.

There was no water coming from upstream although we knew there was water and other stuff going in. It flowed downstream okay. For a while. Then it backed up from the hose water, too. Plugged at least two spots. At least one upstream and one downstream. One basic troubleshooting technique is to work a system both ends to the middle. If its good at one end and not at the other, you check the middle. That way you eliminate half the system if it’s good in the middle. If it’s not good in the middle you may have a long day ahead of you.

I set the boys digging about fifty feet downstream. I had looked at the end yesterday. After digging a bit, they decided to go look at the end themselves. They may be young, strong and hard working but they aren’t interested in digging any more holes than they have to. I go to the end with them then they get some old water pipes and clean out some trash that had built up. Some water comes out so we think we are fine downstream. They move upstream of the first hole in the pipe and the ground. In digging for the pipe the pipe develops a hole from the digging bar. Oops. And up from the ground comes a bubbling crude, but not crude oil or Texas Tea. Nasty stuff.

They discover a concrete junction box that is filled with roots. Roots that go out into the waste pipes entering and leaving. Time for lunch!

After lunch they clean out the roots. Good to go. Nope. Still plugged downstream. We play with adjusting the levels on the pipe hung across the river under the bridge. Not optimal but shouldn’t be causing the backup we are seeing.

They discover another concrete junction box. That has a root grown into it from a break in the pipe at an elbow about six feet away. The root fills the pipe and really likes where it is. With massive effort they remove the root. We have flow from one end of the system to the other. Success! We patch the holes we made in the pipes and patch the break at the elbow. The boys fill the holes they dug except the last one. We leave that open for discussion with Ben. We discovered a broken waste pipe there that comes from the two-storey house and the small house next to it. It goes to a broken elbow that leads to another broken pipe. Looks like the perfect spot for another junction box.

I move onto discovering causes of waterline plugs by cutting an elbow out of a water line and poking with a tyrap and a hacksaw blade to get a fountain of black stuff until clear water comes out. I let it run until supper is done. Cutting out that elbow in that spot is going to be a nasty repair job that might involve chiseling the concrete of the wall, but that’s future Paul’s problem. Time to squeeze into a van and head back to the hotel.

The plan is for us to all go to a Chinese restaurant for breakfast at 8 tomorrow morning, return to the hotel for a brief church service and then a free day. I’ll let you know how that goes.

We followed the above plan.

Brother Ben preached in II Kings 6.

He said that his message changed from the one planned. He had planned on expanding on a message Arnold had preached the other day, but listening to the Bible on tape had prompted him to change directions.

He likes to preach from stories from the Bible. If you have several stories stored away each time you use them, they become polished rocks available to pull from your pocket as needed.

In II Kings 6 there is a school for prophets in Jericho. There isn’t room for the expanded number of students. The students approach Elisha and ask to go cut down trees and bring them back to build additional rooms. At the river one of the students lost the head from his axe and comes to Elisha very upset because it was borrowed and axe heads, made of metal, were valuable at that time.

The axe head is symbolic of our cutting edge, our relationship with the Lord. Elisha asked the student where he lost it. The student knew where exactly. Elisha cut a piece of wood and cast it on the water at the spot. The axe head floated up.

When we lose our relationship with the Lord, we usually know right where we lost it. We can get so busy working for the Lord we lose our axe head. We can just keep looking busy swinging our axe handle without the head. We keep swinging the axe handle but our cutting edge is not there.

Elisha tells the student “pick it up yourself”.  A picture of the cross, that little piece of wood. Ben thinks it says that when we need to restore our cutting edge we need to look to Christ, the cross and pick it up ourselves.

We need to keep checking so the axe head doesn’t fly off. Prayer and the Word are the wedges that keep it tight. His listening to I & II Peter on audiotape this week helped him overcome his reaction to some recent events.

After church people who wanted driven somewhere got into one of the two vans based on where they wanted to go. The van with another couple and us went to the central park. The other couple wanted to walk back to the hotel and check out the street markets between the park and the hotel. We commandeered the van and driver. We checked out the park, had a shoeshine and peeked into the cathedral. A few curved illusion tracts got handed out in the process. None at the cathedral door to the exiting congregants. It didn’t seem like a good idea.

The driver was waiting. We did a drive by of the railroad museum (Museo Del Ferrocarril) that Google Maps says opens at 8 a.m. The entryway barricaded with corrugated tin says otherwise. Down for remodeling the visitor centre. A few kilometers away we posed on the one lane highway bridge that previously served as a railway bridge.

The van climbed the grade to a recent government construction with a covered amphitheater, a running track, soccer pitches, a museum showcasing the national bird, the quetzal. There was a plaza with statues of presidents of Zacapa and two stereotypical statues of Mayan entities. On the way in through the gate I gave curved illusion tracts to the three guards. One was taken by that and by us being Canadian, a rare species in these parts. She continued with us through the park explaining things in detail. She became emotional when the driver told her we were in Zacapa to help the group reopening the Bible camp she had gone to as a little girl.

There was group of about 20 outside the museum. I got their attention, half said the red card was bigger. As I turned the tracts were switched. The other half said the green tract was bigger. They all laughed. All wanted a pair of tract cards.

Seeds planted; we left for lunch at Jalapeno Xpress. Where else would you go in Guatemala but a Mexican restaurant? The Quesadilla Carne Asado and Quesadilla Lengua were fine. The driver seemed happy with his tacos.

No day is complete without a stop for bananas at the Maxi Despensa and the Super Ferreteria next door for plumbing parts. Ben was already there so I dropped my stuff for the camp in his cart, paid for the saw I wanted personally and left.

Back at the hotel a bunch of Nicaraguan lads were soaking in the pool. I joined them for a few minutes before getting back to keyboarding. We are told a van is coming to take us for supper at six. Let’s assume that happens. If it doesn’t, I’ll update you. If there isn’t enough bandwidth to post this until tomorrow morning this last paragraph will be rewritten.

I opened an email just before dozing off last night. It arrived in the in-box in the afternoon, but the in-box has been neglected of late. My brief reply explained I had only reached for my phone to jot down a thought that I wanted to remember and didn’t want to keep thinking about. Phone notes is a good place to park such thoughts.

The e-mail was from a friend. She was letting me know the “sad news” that her younger sister had died. Another link gone to another person on this orb. Misty moments.

Let me tell you about an afternoon the younger sister and I spent kind of together. You might find it diverting. Writing it is certainly my attempt to distract from more somber thoughts.

The family had rented a couple of rooms to a pair of young, construction pipefitters. We had named them the ugly roomer and the persistent roomer although neither were either. They had been reading a magazine devoted to UFO’s (unidentified flying objects) as they called them then. I thumbed through the magazine and thought, “if I couldn’t do as well as these obvious fakes, I’d give up photography as a hobby.”

Soon after that I had an afternoon free. She threw objects into the air off the sun deck. Her father retrieved them. Garbage can lids. Dog dishes. Actual saucers. Anything that might look flying saucerish when photographed with my SLR at slow shutter speed and as wide an aperture as feasible. I took the film home, developed it and arrived back with a blotter roll of still damp 8x10 prints. We selected the best of them.

The roomers arrived home.

“Look what we saw this afternoon! We even got pictures. Look, there’s the neighbour’s chimney.”

“You should report it to the authorities. Fill out the form in our magazine for reporting sights.”

“No. No. We don’t want to get involved.”

“We’ll fill it out. We’ll say we saw it.”

“No, we’re just playing a joke. We didn’t really see them.”

“You’re just saying that because you don’t want to get involved.”

A pleasant afternoon with garbage can lids and a fun evening with the incurably gullible.

Or maybe the afternoon my wife and our kids spent with her husband and their kids shooting gophers from their sundeck in the foothills of the Rockies and sat back as the dogs retrieved the results of our successful shots.   

Last van squeeze. The Nicaraguans will be staying at the camp starting tonight. Henry spent the day putting a new roof on the Tienda so it could be used as a sleeping room. The lads painted the two-story house. About four they downed tools and started assembling beds to put in one of the four sleeping quarters.

When we arrived this morning Juanita shut off the water and I installed a valve on a line that will feed the showers under the chapel stage. We had repaired the broken line early last week but had been instructed to cap it because it fed some grotty showers that aren’t planned to be used. A few days after that no water to the showers under the stage became an issue. “They worked before!” “I was told to cut the line.”

The new valve allowed us to reconnect the line without shutting off water to the whole site. We used The reconnection as a fill-in job while we waited for other things. After it was done and tested somebody covered the line with concrete so nobody could step on it and break the pipe.

But I digress. We ate breakfast. Ben led devotions, compressing his hour and half story on Ruth to thirty minutes. By then the glue had more than ample time to set.

We turned on the water before the masons noticed they didn’t have any for mixing mortar and concrete. We spent the time before lunch restoring water to three of the four bathrooms in and around the two-story house. The last one had real issues. Not just plugged lines. There was a fountain from the broken supply line in the field in front of it. Digging revealed the broken line but not what it had been attached to.

Later.

Let’s eat lunch.

We did the line for which we installed an isolation valve first thing this morning before circling back to the fountain. There had been a sink for handwashing on the front of this little building. Inside was a shower and a toilet. The outside sink is long gone. The sink supply was hanging by a shard of pipe coming out the wall.

We broke off the old pipe sticking out of the wall and did some keyhole surgery to remove the remains of the old pipe in the elbow deep inside the wall. I installed a hose bib, stole a washing machine connecting hose from the new washing machine and hooked up a garden hose to back flush the line coming to the little house. Soon we had a fountain at the end of the other half of the broken supply pipe. I borrowed a bar and broke out enough concrete to access the pipe end. The repair was quick. What to do about the broken sewer line under the newly repaired supply line is tomorrow’s problem.

The ride to town tonight was not squeezed except by the constraints of a van built for little people. Yay!

Silly me and the “last squeeze.” They dumped the second hired van. Those remaining at the hotel squeezed into the remaining van along with half a dozen 20-liter water jugs.

Juanita and I worked on repairing the sewer line coming out of yesterday’s bathroom. The waterline feeding that bathroom ran above the sewer line. The ends of the damaged waterlines had looked strange. They were a few feet apart. One end was easy to find. Just look for the water spraying from the pipe laid right at the surface of the ground. The other end we only found by back feeding from the bathroom to create a second fountain. Not that much water was coming out of the supply end which was also strange but no time for forensics. Shut off the water, cut the line ends, fix the break and call it done.

Today, while working to fix the sewer line the reason behind the mess became apparent. Somebody had built a fire to burn leaves and garbage. It burned the waterline away completely beneath the fire and melted the top of the three-inch sewer line a few inches down. It must have occurred during the years while the water system was offline. The fire melted the end of the supply side piping enough to seal the line until we had removed enough crud from the system with our flushing efforts. Mystery solved.

I had seen a couple of four-inch tees in a pile of stuff that had been removed when cleaning out the storeroom. Checking through the pile this morning for a three-inch tee I found a five-foot piece of three-inch underground PVC sewer pipe. There is lots of four-inch sewer pipe lying around and we have used several pieces for making repairs. This is the first and only three-inch piece I have encountered on the four-acre site. Just enough for today’s repairs!

The repair was not pretty but it was our baby. Looked beautiful to us. Maybe not to anybody else or a code inspector. The masons covered it in concrete. Only concrete can prevent sewer fires?

The masons also chipped out the concrete around a shower valve for us so that valve could be replaced. I did it live and then found something in the sun to do to dry off. Meanwhile Joe and Michelle were doing a demo of some nasty shower rooms near the river. They were built from square steel tubing sheeting in with asbestos panels and needed demolishing for sure. Joe saw a piece of wood stuck in the end of a piece of pipe. “I wonder what this is?” He pulled on it. He found out.

That spot is about as low as you can get downhill from the tank at the top of the property. Lots of pressure. Joe got drenched. He needed to spend some time in the sun after that. The shutoff valve we put in first thing yesterday morning isolated the deluge. They carried on with their demos. We went back to what we were doing. Joe dug up a tee going to the demoed shower building and the showers under the stage. Before lunch I cut the line from the tee and put a cap on it. As I was twisting the cap to get a good glue joint there was a cracking noise. I pulled harder and the connector near the tee pulled apart. Feverous tugging rescued the cap for reuse on the tee.

During lunch break a couple of the Nicaraguan lads held a ladder while one of them went up to a cave to set a trap where they had spotted some iguanas.

Later, after lunch, I turned the water back on. Part of the old pipe burst. Water off, ditch dug, and a new line run at a forty-five to minimize amount of new pipe used and maximize amount of old pipe replaced accounts for much of the rest of the working day but not all.

Juanita and I were investigating the shower drain for a bathroom up the hill. Somebody came and found us. While opening up the sewer line in the junction box a worker had used a sawzall with a coarse blade instead of the multi tool he had. I could digress about the social capital of precision and riff on Fukiyama’s thick book on trust, but the pipe was spraying water.

While it was still spraying, we went up hill to cut into and glue fittings onto a two-inch supply line that needed isolated. That done, we came back down and did the repair to the cut into line. Along about the time the glue was set and we turned the water back on the town people showed up. The masons were interrogated why they weren’t working. “No water.” “Paul, have you got the water turned off?” “Not anymore” “You can’t turn the water off. The masons need it.” “Talk to Kevin.” Excuses. Excuses. Blame, like water, flows downhill.

Meanwhile the Nicaraguans are calling Kevin a “caballo” (horse) for cutting the line. I told them a story about a friend’s father who went to Cuba as a missionary. Early on in his ministry there he preached a sermon about Jesus being a gentleman (caballero), not forcing himself on anyone. For the entire message he kept saying “Jesus es un caballo” meaning to say, “Jesus es un caballero”. The Cubans politely listened. The Nicaraguans laughed at the story.

Workday over we headed back to the hotel. Us and seven empty 20-liter water bottles. In Santa Lucia we stopped for half an hour to have a photocopy made of every page of Theresa’s passport, an apparent requirement to buy the van for the ministry. The time was not totally wasted. The driver scored some fresh rellenitos; sweetened refried beans in the middle of mashed plantain, deep fried and covered in sugar. Tasty. Obviously not good for you.

We skipped doing laundry tonight. Juanita soaked her legs in the pool. I surfed a bit and managed to stay awake long enough to have a shower before going to bed about 8:30.  

Shut off the 5:30 alarm last night to allow us to sleep in today. I was awake about 5:20 and at the keyboard at 5:37. We are staying back at the hotel today.

There’s not much left to do plumbing wise until plans are finalized on how to tie the gravity and pressure systems together. When that is done, I expect lots of whack a mole activity. If they get to adding to the caretaker’s house and adding a bathroom there to turn it into a director’s house there will be some plumbing. I can’t see that happening in the next week and a half. Good time for a pause. I plan to have a quiet morning adding pictures to the blog. If no bandwidth I will at least have a list of what goes where to be able to capitalize on having bandwidth in the future.

We planned a celebratory lunch at a nice restaurant and a bit of shopping for plumbing supplies for a couple of known small jobs left.

Things went close to plan. It took until noon to get pictures from the camera and the cloud onto the laptop and then into a folder on the web site server. We walked down the street to Rico’s Restaurant for a lunch of Gringas and licuados made with fruit and no sugar. We have been avoiding the hotel licuados made from powder.

We are still dealing with bug bites. Juanita is affected worse than me. I just get a little swelling and itching. She gets some serious swelling. Her ring finger started swelling from a bug bite. It went quickly beyond soap and water stage of trying to get the ring off. Fortunately, the dental floss trick worked for her. One of the other volunteers wasn’t so fortunate. Her husband had to cut off her rings today. Her finger was turning purple and the string trick didn’t work for removing her ring.

After Rico’s wonderful lunch we walked to the hardware store across from the original breakfast the group dined. Then to the pharmacy for drugs to help with the bug bites. The pharmacist didn’t know of a barber in the area but said there was one in the market about four blocks further away. After the haircut we bought mandarin oranges and bananas.

We walked home, arriving back at the hotel about 4:30. Juanita had a nap and I added pictures to the web site until about 7. We walked down to Rico’s for licuados and a visit with Joe and Michelle dining there.

A pleasant, productive day.

Out by the pool by 5:15.

Alone, except for one staffer, prairie dogging at her room door looking for Salomon. Or, more precisely for the coffee urn he has so reliably sets up early each morning. I come out to sit and write at the booths in the eating area many mornings, but it is touch and go and the times vary from 4:00 to later. Every day so far Salomon has the coffee urn on one of the tables by 5:00.

Not today.

He is lactose intolerant. Yesterday, he drank something the cooks made with raw milk. He had a hard night. He was late with the coffee and quiet on the way to camp this morning.

During my keyboarding, the laptop had said it needed to update. It would be a long one. Did I want it to update now or wait until tonight. Not now. Tonight. It didn’t get the memo and starting the long update when it was time to get our things together and head to the van. After about five minutes with the percentage complete creeping up so slowly, I just closed the laptop hoping for the best. Ben said he had been held up for many things, but this was the first time for a laptop.

We got to camp with a stop at the water store on the way. There was pipe laid out on the ground from the chapel to the well. Ben has decided to switch the camp from the cistern to the well. They lost water twice yesterday due to leaves plugging the cistern inlet. There are more passive, simpler, solutions but motion is always more appealing than action.

I set a couple boys digging a trench from the pressure tank and a couple of boys digging near the bathroom building east of the kitchen to find the pipe supplying the bathroom. The pipe comes in 6-meter (20 feet) lengths with a swage on one end. A built-in connector. They had cut the pipe in half to be easier to transport. Juanita found all the pieces with the bell ends and laid them out. Beside the road. We had enough to make it without using connectors which were in short supply.

The boys (we call them that, but they are about 24 and some have wives and children) found the pipe supplying the bathrooms. I came and looked and chose a spot to tie in and they started digging there. They struck water, but not much was coming out from the puncture they made. We left it running. Not going to shut off water to the masons until lunch time. They left digging out the connection point for later. They started digging the trench toward the other digging team.

I wasted some time salvaging a fitting at the pressure tank before as per Ben, I ripped out all the pipe we had connected in the first days here. Once we started over things went quickly. Juanita and I connected all the pieces of pipe and laid them along side the trench or where the trench would be.

While the trench was being dug all the way we went to the kitchen to install a drain and a water supply for the new washing machine. When the trench was complete, we connected to the line we had cut in at noon and kicked the pipe, pipeline style into the trench. The lads covered the pipe with dirt after a successful pressure test of the new pipe. The expected whack a mole of the rest of the system wasn’t that bad. A couple of 2-inch fitting blew apart and had to be re-glued.

Meanwhile a group of pastors showed up for lunch dressed in their finest. After lunch Ben delivered his message of his vision for the future use of the camp for evangelism training. Considerably dressed down compared to the pastors we stayed in the background but could hear the message from where we worked on the washing machine connections. The vision was enthusiastically received by the pastors with some not only wanting to send some people but attend themselves.

The van left camp at 4:30 (ish). Joe said, “this is the earliest we have left. It will be the longest ride.”

It wasn’t quick. We followed a herd of cows until they turned off into their yard. Then we followed the camp motorcycle truck with a load of broken concrete. That motorcycle truck is turning out to not be the bargain the $2k price would suggest. It is bouncy on the bad roads and unstable. It has already flipped once. Maybe the tire pressures are too high or maybe it is inherently unstable like many trikes.

Back at the hotel at 5:30 (ish). Juanita soaked her legs in the pool while I web surfed. After showers we had supper in the hotel.

We left the hotel later than usual planning to get to the Maxi Despensa for groceries when it opened. We were a little early so went to fill the gas cans for the pressure washers. When we got back to the Maxi it still wasn’t open so we went to the ferreteria next door. I grabbed what they had on my list for the camp and dropped it in Ben’s cart then went to the now open Maxi and bought the stuff they had on my personal list.    

They had everything but protein bars and a Bic lighter. Bic lighter? I use it for softening PVC when getting pieces of old pipe out of fittings. Not exactly a propane torch or heat gun but it works. The other day when I had a big piece of PVC mold to cover something, sticking the PVC into the cook’s wood fire for a few seconds worked more quickly than a Bic lighter.

Arrived at camp with the groceries. We didn’t stop for water jugs on the way. There was no room. Two people stayed back today. We filled that space with groceries.

Shortly after I got off the van I was handed a piece of pipe attached to the valve that had blown off the pressure tank during the night. They had switched back to the cistern for water. Obvious poor workmanship. After cleaning out one fitting and digging out some of the line that was laid yesterday, Juanita and I installed it more securely. Hopefully the threaded plastic fitting screwed onto the galvanized nipple isn’t so tight it cracks. Apparently, I screwed it on too loosely last time.

Everything all better again we switched back to the well.

Then onto install a toilet supply valve without shutting off the water. The boys are painting in that bathroom so I asked them to stop for a while because there would soon be water spraying everywhere. On the way to do that Salomon tells me there is stuff backing up from the floor opening where the mason went to set the toilet in the bathroom by the bridge. They don’t use wax rings in Central America. They stick the toilets to the floor with mortar.

I’ll look at it a few minutes, Salomon. The boys are waiting for me, and I have to go with Henry to show him something to be welded out at the well. You’re on the list.

There was much more water than intended. I broke an old fitting by not using a backup wrench. The giant toad lurking in the corner without moving decided it could stop faking being dead and move a few feet away. I doubt the toad appreciated the deluge had washed off paint spots the boys had dripped on it. Toads probably aren’t that vain. The boys moved on to other projects. I found Henry and we headed to the well to show him the small welding job and to shut off the valve coming out of the pressure tank so I could glue a new fitting onto the toilet supply line.

Looked at the stuff oozing out of the hole for the toilet. Hmm. Don’t think I have what I need. I text the people in town to buy the biggest plunger they can find and maybe a closet auger. It turned out the pathetic little plunger in the far bathroom was the best available in town. A bigger plunger wouldn’t have helped any way. Time for lunch.

The camp now has wi-fi! I take an extended lunch break. At least as long at the Nicaraguans for a change. Usually, I don’t sit around after eating. I just start on the next thing on my list. They are in it for the long haul and take their scheduled breaks unless they are pouring concrete, then they eat in relays.  The only thing on my list is the sewer and I am less than enthusiastic to say the least. And we have wi-fi…

But when everyone else gets up I do too. Troubleshooting reveals we don’t have a toilet problem we have a mainline sewer pipe problem. I won’t gush over the details. Gushing comes later. Moises, one of the lads, and I worked at it improving line slopes and cutting windows in the top of the pipe and cleaning out roots and two inches of mud and using a garden hose until he hit the mother lode of plugs. Then we found another total blockage at the top of the septic tank and cleared that. The final scene of the opera was to flush all the mud out of the pipe with a two-inch hose stuck into the junction box. I manned the hose and Moises manned the hydrant. Wrong kind of hose, no fitting to connect to the hydrant but holding it to the hydrant worked.

Dramatically.

By this time things were winding down for the end of the work week. I had to find somebody with a storeroom key to get glue to install the sleeves needed to cover the windows we had cut. All the tools had been put away and the tool room locked. This meant also that we had spectators and helpers and not so helpers by now. Besides, we were the best entertainment so far today since the guy showed up to shoot an iguana on the cliff across the river. More proactive than trapping.

The lines cleared. All the inspection windows we had created sealed up. The job is done. It’s four-thirty. Salomon is herding us into the van. I have time to wash my hands and my arms which got a little sprayed in the afternoon’s activities.

When the van arrives back at the hotel we are invited to go directly to a somewhat fancy grill restaurant. I think I’ll pass. I’d rather get out of these clothes and have a shower and change before I eat, thanks. The van leaves. We shower and change and head down the street to Rico’s for gringas and licuardos. Ben joins us.

Oh. By the way. While trying to turn on showers to have some water flowing into the sewer system we noticed there was no water. Lifting the cover of the well we could hear the pump ninety feet down. It’s not in water. Well has gone low. We switch off the pump and switch to the cistern. The well is Monday’s problem.    

I worked on the blog early out by the pool, interrupted by frequent trips to the bathroom.  

Ben has a planned meeting with the mayor. It will be “over by nine, then we’ll all go out to the camp to say our goodbyes and get back to hotel around 11. The van to pick us up will be here at one which is checkout time.” I said we had said our goodbyes yesterday and I wanted to stay as close to the bathroom as possible. 

We all had breakfast at the hotel.  We stayed in the breakfast area, adding the last two day’s photos to the blog. It was a slow process. The app kept losing the network connection and having to start over. I left yesterday’s pictures uncorrected for rotation where the rotation was wrong.

Ben, Arnold, Theresa, and Salomon got back from the meeting with the mayor at 11. The meeting went well. The mayor promised to send equipment to improve the road to the camp. She is sending block layers and helpers to speed up construction. She sent linesmen to look at the transformer.

Everyone was given the option of going to the camp or staying at the hotel. One couple took the trip to the camp. The other three stayed back.

Juanita and I went to Rico’s for waffles covered with peaches, strawberries, crumbled Oreo wafers and chocolate syrup washed down with banana chocolate licuados. Last week I noticed my belt was one notch tighter than when we arrived. I think desserts and meals this week have solved that problem.

The van got back about 12:45. The camp has power again. The linesmen did some maintenance to the transformer and fixed a loose connection.

We were on the road to Guatemala City about 1:30 arriving in Guatemala City about 5. Hotel Capri. It is about thirteen minutes from the airport. It is clean and was maybe something in it’s day. It’s okay for one fifth the price of the Ramada at the airport. We have a room one flight up overlooking the busy street facing west. The sun is beating in, so we close the curtains. It won’t be sunny for long. Sunset is soon and there are buildings across the street to block the sun before that.

We all went out to a chicken restaurant about 6. We walked about six blocks through busy, grimy, crowded streets. It reminded me of the Main and Hastings area of Vancouver, but busier, more crowded and narrower. Several storefronts had a row of shower/bathroom stalls available for use for hygiene and perhaps other use based on the old, unattractive prostitutes lurking near the entrances. Dystopian would be a kind adjective.

After dinner we managed to walk back to the hotel without getting run down by the large articulated modern buses that dominate the streets. We had instructions to meet in the lobby at 5 am. Early to bed. The jalousie windows in the bathroom offer no barrier to the street noise. Noise is no barrier to sleep. Woke briefly about 2. It was strangely quiet. When I got up at three you could hear street people but few vehicles. I woke Juanita at 4:15.

Everyone was in the lobby by 4:45 for the 5:00 departure. Everyone except the couple that flew out at 2 this morning. Also missing was the driver, Bryan. Somebody knocked on his hotel room door. We all moved onto the sidewalk in front of the hotel. A few minutes later he emerged from his room, hustled down the hall, dropped off his room key at the main desk and went downstairs to the parking garage and brought the van out to in front of the hotel. I had looked longingly at the taxis waiting at the curb as we came out onto the street but resisted the urge to spend money and just get going.

We load our suitcases in the back of the van. A few people pre-emptively get into the van then have to get out so the driver can get in and tie the rope that holds the back door closed. Then we all load. It is crowded, but not as bad as yesterday. Two fewer people. Two fewer suitcases.

The city wakes up early. Narrow streets. Everybody in a hurry except those who just stop, put on the four-ways and start loading or unloading. Sure glad its not me driving through the dark frenetic scene.

We arrive at the airport and park at the curb. The people get out. The driver gets in and unties the rope. The driver gets out and starts handing out luggage. Juanita and I travel with carry on only. Hers was on top and falls out as the door is opened. Mine is next. We are off. We checked in online with no checked bags so we head straight to security. A bit of a wait, but painless. No concession for those over 75 here so we remove our shoes like the young people. Nowhere to sit to put them back on, either. We shuffle a ways and find a wall I can lean against to put on my shoes without impeding traffic. Juanita doesn’t need a wall. She can stand on one foot and do this task. Remarkable!

While Juanita heads to the head I circle back a few steps and buy Egg McMuffins and a coffee. The departure display screens say our flight leaves from gate 15. The boarding passes in the app have updated to gate 17. I check with the airline staff at gate 17. Yep. This is the place. We look for two seats together. There are, but one of the seats is occupied by the bag of a sleeping man. He could move his bag to the empty seat on the other side of hm. If I could waken him.

Polite efforts fail. A woman across the waiting area notices our plight and gives up her two seats to sit in the empty seat next to his bag. We settle in for breakfast. By the time the people in our group show up we had finished, and I had gone and returned from getting a bottle of water and two small bottles of Coke Zero. They had bags to check and tickets to find on the airline computer and all that stuff that smart phones do for you these days.

Time to board. We couldn’t understand what was being said so we got in line as it looked like group three was thinning. Staff were checking boarding passes. “What group?” “Four.” “Perfect.” They officially announced group four.

In the online check-in procedure yesterday, we had been offered better seats for $29 each and earlier boarding for a similar premium. I declined both. Overnight our seat assignments were changed. We had been upgraded for free. The flight was not full. Juanita and I had three seats to ourselves with more legroom than the seats in steerage we had paid for. The woman in front of us had three to herself. Juanita was happy taking pictures out the window. One other of our group scored an aisle row seat. My guess is they rewarded the old people with a bit more comfort once nobody paid extra for the premium seats.

The flight was smooth. We landed in rain in Houston and worked on our step count walking the roundabout way through customs and immigration and security again to get to a gate in the same terminal. Juanita settled in at the gate for the flight to McAllen. I worked on my steps for twenty minutes then brought some food and drink to where she was sitting. We started on that. The checked baggage people showed up. They had to wait at a baggage carousel for bags before completing the customs ritual. We boarded and finished our food and drink on board. We had received a text from the airline to expect delays due to thunderstorms disrupting departures and gate assignments, but we left pretty much on time to arrive at McAllen pretty much on time.

Michael was waiting with the van. We dropped Salomon at his home in Pharr. When we arrived at the training center we all dispersed to our dwellings except for Moises and Alysia who got in their truck and headed to their home in Mexico. I turned the water and gas back on, got my car keys from the neighbor and returned some credit cards etc. to wallets. I called the RCMP to report some renewal credit cards that had been diverted from our post office box in Meadow Lake while we were in Guatemala. We went to Sam’s for steps and supplies, came home to put them in the refrigerator and went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner (thanks for the gift card, Becky).

An RCMP officer called just as we were settling the bill for dinner. Not wanting to talk over the ocean of sound in the TR, I asked if he could call back in five minutes. We went out and waited in the car for his call. I gave him the details of somebody using the replacements for a couple of our expiring credit cards to try to make purchases at a Meadow Lake clothing store. I forwarded him the emails from the bank. We headed home, stopping at HEB for items that Sam’s didn’t have.

At 7:59 I texted our nephew the Wordle results. “Got it in two. I guess zombie mode works. Good night.” Then slept for eight and a half hours which is two or three and half hours more than my usual five or six.

I woke up at around 4:30 and got up an hour later to start puttering at the blog narrative for the last couple of days. Juanita slept until she too woke up. We had breakfast and shared a phone call from our daughter in Saskatchewan.

Juanita left for the laundromat and I headed to the shower for a quick shower. Note to self – turn the water heater back on. Then I worked on adding my pictures to the blog and correcting the ones that displayed with the wrong rotation.

After lunch we drove up valley to Costco for some things that Sam’s didn’t have and to collect enough steps after sitting keyboarding all morning. Then supper and adding Juanita’s pictures since Sunday to the blog.

Thus ended January. I doubt February will generate enough to write about daily. Be well.