My dad was a carpenter who had a whole trunk full of tools — a car trunk, that is, a ’55 Chevy Bel Air trunk to be more precise. One day, when I was in the fifth or sixth grade (if I remember right), we had a huge snowstorm. Our garage was in the alley and, when he got home from work that day, there was no way for my dad to get the car through the alley and into the garage. That would have required shoveling a path wide enough for the car through a half a city block of two-feet deep snow. He had to park on the street. The snow continued to fall throughout the night and the plows continued to plow.

I don't have any pictures of Dad's car, but this is how deeply it was buried.

When he tried to go to work the next morning our car, with his tools in the trunk, was buried under a ten foot deep ridge of snow and ice left by the overnight snowplows. We couldn’t even tell exactly where it was. To say that Dad was displeased would be like calling the Pacific Ocean a puddle. He eventually found a way to work and had to borrow tools from co-workers while every day, before and after school, I shoveled at that monstrous pile of snow. I don’t remember how many days it took, but I thought I’d never get done.

I’ve felt a little like that during the past two weeks since our return from vacation. This digging out is taking longer than my childhood assignment, but at least my fingers and feet aren’t frozen. Here’s a little list of our accomplishments so far in recovering from the big lightning hit, as well as some other things that we fixed along the way. It’s been a little like damage control on a navy ship, thankfully without the human casualties.

• Solidified network communications between the audio shop and the transmitter building.
• Reestablished network communications between the audio shop and the studio building.
• Reestablished network communications between the mission houses and the studio building. This is vital since the satellite dish got hit and this link is our route to the Internet and the FTP sites we have to use to get all our radio programs until the satellite dish is working again.
• Determined that it is the LNB of the satellite dish that is bad and ordered a replacement.
• Brought the FM broadcast computer back from the transmitter building to the studio on Friday. Yesterday we were finally able to have our first live Request and Dedication program since October 14.
• Installed a device that enables us to turn power on and off to some of the transmitter building equipment via a web browser from any computer on the radio station’s network.
• Replaced the starting battery for the transmitter site auxiliary generator and we are close to deciding on a replacement battery charger for that machine.
• Made improvements to over-all network performance.
• Developed and implemented a work around to re-enable auto starting and transfer of the station’s generator until we have time to get RECO to fix a problem on their high voltage lines.

Except for the satellite dish problem and the extra work that generates, I think life is nearly back to normal here. But there is still a lot to do.

• Replace the lightning rod on the tower here at the radio station.
• Install the new LNB on the satellite dish, once we get it.
• Coordinate with RECO to get us back to three phase electrical service.
• Replace our well pipe and the pump’s electrical cable and see if we can get it deeper into the well. We hope that will help us be able to go back to supplying the community with water for four hours a day. We have had to cut back to two hours a day even with all the rain we’ve had.
• Decide if we want to keep the AM computer at the transmitter site or bring it back to the studios. Since we do not do live broadcasts on AM, it will be happy wherever we put it. We just need to figure out what is best for us.

The list of things to do is essentially infinite, so I’ll stop there. I don’t think any of our listeners — or really anyone other than our staff — can comprehend what it’s been like for the past two and a half months here. I’ll just say that this sudden spurt of successes over the past week have really lifted my spirits. So, too, have some of the comments I’ve heard from listeners. One of them told me Friday how he could see that Satan would be out to get us because of all the Biblical truths people are hearing on HRGS. I guess if you’re going to take a poke at the enemy, you shouldn’t be surprised if he swings back at you. He fights dirty, too, but the battle is still ours because of Christ. Thanks for praying for us.

Cruise Ship From Plaza Mar

Here’s a look from one of the grocery stores we shop at. Roatán can be beautiful even in rainy season.

… then I must be healthy as a horse by now. I can’t believe how many hours I’ve been sleeping. A couple nights back, I had an episode of busy brain syndrome — planning and organizing all the things I need to do when we get back to Roatán— and didn’t fall asleep till after 3:30. But most nights I sleep at least nine or ten hours. I guess I was more run down than I thought. I’m feeling much more rested now and, in fact, getting a little antsy. I think we have all our shopping done. We got a few things for ourselves and some for the radio station, mostly replacements for items damaged by that last lightning hit on October 15th. And we’ve been very busy being involved with Mildred’s parents and her dad’s medical issues. Having Jesse and Kristin here, too, has been icing on the cake.

Mildred’s dad is all set up with Hospice now and he really likes the people he’s met so far. We do, too! The difference between Home Health Care and Hospice is pretty remarkable. HHC is focused on getting you cured, so they were rather restrictive in the things Dad could and couldn’t do. Except for church and doctor appointments, he was practically home bound. Hospice emphasizes comfort and getting as much out of life as you can. They got him an oxygen concentrator right away, so he’s way more comfortable and energetic.

Mowing grass & chopping leaves

The grass isn’t all that tall yet, but the leaves were getting deep. Mildred’s dad likes to run them through the mower to chop them up and blow them off into the field. I worked on  it a while yesterday, but didn’t get it all done. It was nice to be outside after so many days of rain. As you can see from the picture, that is a sweet mower! Now the rains have come back, so we’ll have to wait and see if it dries out enough to finish the job before we leave on Saturday. Earlier in the day yesterday Dad, Jesse, and I all went to the barn and removed the orchard sprayer from the tractor. Jesse got to drive and I got to wrench. Then I got to wash all the chunks of rust and other crud off my face that I collected while working under the sprayer.

[Show as slideshow]

Jesse is the proud new owner of his first ever digital SLR camera. He and I have been having a wonderful time roaming the farm and filling up our memory cards. We’ve been shooting everything from the mundane to the spectacular. We got some great sunset shots last night.

[Show as slideshow]

Yesterday was a big day with the mowing, the mechanical work in the barn, visits from the Hospice nurse and chaplain, and visits from other health care people. Today is another big day. Dad has a doctor’s appointment for some minor surgery for skin cancer on his nose and then we plan to have an early Thanksgiving meal with Mildred’s brother and their family. With the six of us plus John and Linda, some of their kids and grandkids, I think we’ll have a great time.

Saturday will be another big day and a long one. Our flight back to the real world leaves Columbus at 7:15 AM. Since it’s over an hour to the airport, we’ll be getting up early, even for me. But we’ll get to Roatán pretty early the same day, which is nice. I wonder what route the plane will take since it looks like there will still be a hurricane in our normal flight path. We’re just glad it veered north of our island home.

No, I’m not referring to myself, even if that does seem to apply. I’m talking about our situation following the big lightning strike last Tuesday, August 30th. With Mildred’s and Romel’s help I now have both the FM and AM back on the air with nearly normal programming. But it sure took (and still takes) a lot of work.

FM computer on the air from the transmitter building.

After we got back from Tegucigalpa Friday afternoon, we started getting cables and other gear ready for relocating the FM computer to the transmitter building. I took it all up there Saturday morning and hooked it up. It went on the air just before the noon Request and Dedication. For reasons that should be obvious, we can’t do that program — or any program — live, so it was all voice tracked in the studios. That was another part of our Friday preparations.

AM computer on a card table next to the transmitter rack.

I managed to relax for the most part on Sunday. On Monday I gathered up a router and some network cables along with the AM computer and headed back up the hill. Before leaving, I had to make a new cable to connect the RCA plug connector on the control console to the mono phono plug input on the microwave transmitter. It’s always nice when a cable works on the first try. I put it all together in the transmitter shack and fired it up. Looked good! Needles and LEDs bouncing like they should on the transmitter room gear. So I turned on the AM transmitter by telephone remote control, went out to the truck and tuned the radio to 1290 AM. Yay!! We were back on the air on AM before 1:00. Then I had to set up the network so the two computers could communicate. We have a special little program that copies fresh files from the FM computer to the AM. Then I could just take all the new programs and voice tracks up there and feed them to the FM computer and let the copy program do its thing.

Since then, I’ve developed sort of a system for keeping all the programs up to date and not letting any slip through the cracks. As I was working on my list, I came to realize that we have a lot of programs. Including the little one and two minute vignettes like Route 66 or Portraits of Grace, we air 54 English programs. Most of them are daily. I didn’t try to count the Spanish ones, but I think it is similar. The whole thing would be a piece of cake except that there are two programs that air during Sunrise Serenade, one of them being at about 6:15 AM. Those programs don’t come off the satellite to us until the middle of the night, just before they air. That means I have to go to the station at about 5:00 AM each morning to get those programs and one other latecomer (Family Life Today) onto the portable hard drive so I can get to the transmitter before 6:00 and copy them to the FM computer.

We had hoped that Peter and Sandi would be able to bring the new data link radio with them when they come back from vacation this Saturday. But the tsunami in Japan a while back nixed that dream. Gerry Pruden, who does our buying and lots of other important stuff up in the Tampa headquarters said that the tsunami wiped out the factory that makes the radios and he had a terrible time finding someone who had one in stock. He finally found one in Canada, but it will not arrive in time to come down with Peter and Sandi. That means it will be late next week, most likely.

The good news is that I have caught up to the point where Mildred and I could get some rest today. I even did some mowing yesterday, but that turned the day into another 12 hour work day. Oh well! It was worth it to see the lawn looking more civilized. Today is our theoretical day off, so I got away with only working about four hours this morning. We treated ourselves to lunch at the Blue Bahia over in Sandy Bay. They have a huge variety of seafood, barbecue, and other delicious stuff there. The view isn’t bad, either.

[Show as slideshow]

Peter had to drop off his vehicle at the repair shop this morning, so I followed him into town to give him a ride back. There is a Coast Guard cutter in town today and I mentioned to Peter that last time there was one here I’d tried to get a tour, but my timing was bad and they could not accommodate me. I said it would sure be fun if we could get on board this one. Well, Peter is an even bigger kid than I am so, as we were passing the port on the way back home, Peter said, “Pull in here. Let’s give it a try.” When the boss says, “Let’s have some fun,” you go with it!

We had a little trouble with the port guard, but once a friend of ours who works there asked the crew if it was OK, we were cleared to go. The OD gave us a nice tour. We even got to meet the captain, and at the end of the tour, Peter decided to really go for broke and asked if we could come back later with our wives. He said we could, but we neglected to set a time, which caused a bit of a snag later on.

After Mildred finished spending over an hour and a half in line at the bank (She had to go today, but she normally avoids the bank on the 15th because that’s the day everyone else wants to be there.), I met her at the cruise ship dock. The port security guard  was not about to let us out there without someone else’s OK, but she could not get in touch with her boss. Initiative seems to be frowned upon here. On top of that, the crewman who came out to talk to us said that they were about to have a ship come alongside to take away their waste  —  a situation that takes lots of concentration and therefore they don’t like to have visitors while that is going on.

About that time, the XO showed up with a bunch of ice cream and other treats for some of the crew and he said that it would not be a problem to have us on board. But the port security guard still had not talked to her boss and she said we could not pass, even though the Coast Guard invited us and I had been admitted earlier by a different guard. It was starting to look like Mildred would not get to see the ship. The port security boss showed up right at that moment with a little common sense and said that of course we could go across the big, empty dock to the ship. Yay! God even looks after the little diversions that help us keep our sanity.

The XO took us on board and then handed us off to an ensign who gave us an outstanding tour. I won’t mention his full name because one of the things he talked about is how they have to be careful about not letting slip to their families where they are going. Since they are just on R&R and since he let us take his picture, I’ll assume that it’s OK to use it, but I’ll leave out his full name, just to be on the safe side. He explained all sorts of stuff about life on the ship and how to find your way around. He answered a ton of questions about how they schedule their watches, how they organize meals, how they fight fires, how they take on fuel at sea, and so on. Of course, there were a few places that were off limits due to either security or safety issues, like the engine room, combat information center, etc. We were probably on board for about an hour. I didn’t look at my watch; I was having too much fun. Mildred said she really enjoyed it too, even though her feet were hurting from all that time at the bank, walking to the dock, and then the tour.

[Show as slideshow]

The name of the ship, by the way, is the Tahoma. She and the USCGC Mohawk were among the first responders to the Haiti earthquake last year. I was really impressed by the professionalism, esprit de corps, and hospitably of everyone we encountered. And they all said they were impressed by West Bay Beach.

While I’m at it, here is this week’s HRGS Audio Update. I don’t usually get a chance to bring it to you this early in the week.

Our electrical woes are not quite over. The new wires sure seemed to make a difference, but we were getting voltage sags many times per day on one of our three phases ever since the wire got connected. So, yesterday I set up a multi-meter and an oscilloscope on the phase in question and I caught it in the act. The quick & dirty video below shows some of what I saw. Electricians call it “hash.” It’s not good.

Click here to view the embedded video.

After throwing that little video together late last night, I put it on my laptop and told Peter I was going to take it up to RECO (Roatán Electric Company) the next morning, which would be today. At 4:30 I woke up sweating. No A/C and no ceiling fan. Grrr. But we did have partial power. It took about 1 second, even in my groggy state of mind, to figure out that we’d blown a fuse again. It was the 1st time since RECO replaced the wires 16 days ago. This is the same fuse that gave us trouble before, but on a different phase on our side because two of the phases were crossed and either I or RECO straightened that out when we hooked up the new wires.

So, I did my first-thing-in-the-morning stuff and, by that time, the generator was running. I then went back to the shop to rearrange wires like we had been doing before RECO replaced our service entrance wires. And then I was able to shut off the generator to save fuel. After that, I had breakfast and took my laptop to RECO for my little dog and pony show. Lots of head nodding, chin scratching, and rapid fire Spanish between the engineers. They said they would get out today to replace the fuse and see what they could see without killing power. Then they would come back either Thursday (our day off) or Friday to either investigate further or fix whatever they might have found today. As of now, the fuse is back in place, but I have not put the wires back. I want to watch it a bit without a load on it to see what it does.

I’ve been so wrapped up in multiple critical and mysterious issues that I forgot something this week that I’d never forgotten before. On the way up to RECO at about 7:20 this morning it dawned on me that I had not voice tracked today’s program log, which would become public knowledge in about 20 minutes if something wasn’t done about it. That meant no song or program introductions. Not good! I called Peter (PTL for blue tooth!) and he scooped up my fumble and I was soon hearing his voice on the truck radio. So, after I got back and got a couple chores out of the way, I went right to the studio and voice tracked Friday just in case I have another bad day.

Sunrise over Coxen Hole, Roatán

But it isn’t always all work. Every time I leave the house, I look to the east — partly because that’s the way our door faces and partly because that’s the direction our weather generally comes from. This morning, when I looked to the east I said to myself, “Self, I don’t care if there’s a fire in the studio. Go back and get the camera!!” Here’s what I saw. For the photo buffs, I shot this at ISO 100, 1/2 second, f/5.6. I didn’t have my tripod, so I sat on a rock and made one with my knees.

OK, here’s this week’s HRGS Update. You’ll get to find out what some of our new Christmas music is.