The car going to Bissau can hold five people. I found out last night that six people (including me) wanted or needed to go. In the final analysis, I could find work to do here in Lendem so I volunteered to stay behind. For the first time, Corey and I aren't working together.
I spent most of the day creating documents Lendem needed to have on hand to perform certain tasks as well as updating reference files our IT department keeps online so that anyone can retrieve information about the work done here and to provide accurate remote support.
It's also natural that the other missionaries that are here for the OneStory workshop would grab me to deal with problems on their laptops. I spent about 5 hours today looking at a national worker's small laptop trying to understand why it was starting up with some odd messages and then calling the manufacturer to identify some solutions. I used my MagicJack to make that call over the Internet back to the US for free. What a handy device!
Frankly, I didn't get any good information from the support technician that will solve the problem. I also found that, though the computer physically had a wireless network card inside (is this getting too deep? Hmmm... ), the computer itself didn't think it did. Unfortunately I also found a third software-related problem, know what needs to be done but don't know how to do it.
So I had to report to the worker that it would require manufacture repair to fix it. Since it was purchased by an American and given to her here in Africa, is over 2 years old and out of warranty, and would cost more than she can afford to fix. it's probably a goner. That is a real shame but one of the other US missionaries is going to try to find a source for another computer.
I was wondering why the people in Bissau hadn't gotten back at the normal time. They finally rolled in and I discovered that the car had overheated, causing a delay of at least 30 minutes, and then needed to have the clutch popped to start the car (a weak battery). Sure glad I wasn't out there on the road in the heat.
It was such a long day for Estevao (the director) and his wife that they went to bed almost as soon as they got home. His kidney stones are not traveling through his system as fast as he and the doctor had hoped and these long days traveling to/from Bissau are really hard on him.
If your prayer list isn't too long, add Estevao to the list as well as reliable and safe transport between here and Bissau the rest of the week.
I have some tricky technical issues to discuss with the Bissau Internet provider tomorrow before I can be sure that my network equipment in Bissau will stay on line. I will need a good translator to help convey my English into their Portuguese. Pray for someone to be in Bissau that can help me and pray that the Internet provider is willing to accommodate my needs.
Corey has been collecting parts some major work on the power systems in Bissau. He's hand manufactured some modules that he will begin installing tomorrow. Where he's working can be hot, dirty and sometimes risky/dangerous. Pray for his safety and productivity.
If I'm counting correctly, we have 10 more full days in Guinea-Bissau... almost half way.
I spent most of the day creating documents Lendem needed to have on hand to perform certain tasks as well as updating reference files our IT department keeps online so that anyone can retrieve information about the work done here and to provide accurate remote support.
It's also natural that the other missionaries that are here for the OneStory workshop would grab me to deal with problems on their laptops. I spent about 5 hours today looking at a national worker's small laptop trying to understand why it was starting up with some odd messages and then calling the manufacturer to identify some solutions. I used my MagicJack to make that call over the Internet back to the US for free. What a handy device!
Frankly, I didn't get any good information from the support technician that will solve the problem. I also found that, though the computer physically had a wireless network card inside (is this getting too deep? Hmmm... ), the computer itself didn't think it did. Unfortunately I also found a third software-related problem, know what needs to be done but don't know how to do it.
So I had to report to the worker that it would require manufacture repair to fix it. Since it was purchased by an American and given to her here in Africa, is over 2 years old and out of warranty, and would cost more than she can afford to fix. it's probably a goner. That is a real shame but one of the other US missionaries is going to try to find a source for another computer.
I was wondering why the people in Bissau hadn't gotten back at the normal time. They finally rolled in and I discovered that the car had overheated, causing a delay of at least 30 minutes, and then needed to have the clutch popped to start the car (a weak battery). Sure glad I wasn't out there on the road in the heat.
It was such a long day for Estevao (the director) and his wife that they went to bed almost as soon as they got home. His kidney stones are not traveling through his system as fast as he and the doctor had hoped and these long days traveling to/from Bissau are really hard on him.
If your prayer list isn't too long, add Estevao to the list as well as reliable and safe transport between here and Bissau the rest of the week.
I have some tricky technical issues to discuss with the Bissau Internet provider tomorrow before I can be sure that my network equipment in Bissau will stay on line. I will need a good translator to help convey my English into their Portuguese. Pray for someone to be in Bissau that can help me and pray that the Internet provider is willing to accommodate my needs.
Corey has been collecting parts some major work on the power systems in Bissau. He's hand manufactured some modules that he will begin installing tomorrow. Where he's working can be hot, dirty and sometimes risky/dangerous. Pray for his safety and productivity.
If I'm counting correctly, we have 10 more full days in Guinea-Bissau... almost half way.
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