Other jobs we did

I could not recall the dates on several things we did on our trip, so I am simply listing them as a final statement of accomplishments.

1.       Removed Doris’s stove that was not working and replaced it with a new one they had received. The height was different and had to be adjusted. The fittings were different and had to be re-worked. While installing the stove, Bob noted that the two side cupboards had been charred by a seal that did not keep the heat in the old stove. He also noted that the countertop was starting to loosen. Thank goodness there was no fire.

2.       Repaired connections in the electrical supply at the guest house. A solar array is used to charge 12 volt batteries that then deliver electricity to 12 volt lighting. In order to have 110 volts, an inverter is used. When we arrived, the connections had not allowed the batteries to charge properly, so we did not have much in the way of lighting. Bob took this apart and repaired the connections, so we were able to have lights while we were there. We never got the inverter to work, which was a function of low battery life in the system.

3.       Installed a new printer/fax/copier for Doris. The old one was giving an error message saying there was paper caught in it. After completely taking it apart, Bob could find nothing, so he installed a new one they had purchased for the school.

4.       Repaired the oven control in the guest house. When we went to use the oven, it would shut off when you tried to turn it higher. Bob fixed the control knob so we could have bread and rolls baked to perfection. This was actually pretty interesting. Bob was looking for some way to fix the knob and was headed to the shop. He saw a piece of tubing on the ground that he thought looked like it might work. It fit PERFECTLY! Quite the ‘coincidence’ wasn’t it?

5.       Looked for and plugged a rat hole in the bathroom. Now we are not sure if the rat is stuck inside, or if it will keep others out. Dave did see the rat early one morning. We could not find rat traps, so we will have to live with it.

6.       We cleaned up the grounds. In addition to buckets and wheelbarrow loads of stones, we picked up barbed wire and boards in an effort to clean up the area. As I stated earlier, it would be nice to have someone on a future team pick up stones, broken concrete block, sticks and trash. It would go quite a ways to beautify the grounds.

7.       Norm baked bread twice and sticky buns 3 times while we were there. The first batch of buns was a bit crispy-see number 4 above.

8.       Norm and Hunter made balloon animals and hats for the kids. Their smiles made the hassle worthwhile.

9.       Cleaned the dirt out of the drill press motor and got it running.

10.   Celebrated Dave’s birthday on Tuesday evening. He said he will never forget the circumstances of this day. Huh. Who’da thunk?