Christmas came a little early for Peter and Sandi. They found their missing dog, Saydee. It is a bit of a long story and, if you remember, it was while looking for Saydee that the Silseths got their vehicle stuck for a week. So let’s just say it was quite a reunion. Of course, now we’re getting lots of sunshine, after Peter spent a pile of money on people and equipment to get him back up the hill. But I’m not complaining after weeks of daily and nightly rains.
The old phone system
To add blessing upon blessing, the gremlins are taking a break and we’re making some forward progress on a few things. I’m almost done installing a new-to-us phone system that we inherited from the home office in Tampa. The old one has been getting a little flaky. I know nothing about it, and can’t find any instructions, and I’m afraid they quit making spare parts for it several decades ago. I’ve run new cables to all six rooms that use phones and have the cables terminated and tested. I have one more phone to plug in and check and then I’ll be ready to start learning how to program it. At least this one has a manual — a huge manual. I think it weighs about ten pounds!
Rats nest of wires and three punch down blocks will be replaced by just one punch down block.
We have a couple other things going on. One is our soon to be unveiled Facebook page. Peter is heading that up and we’re pretty excited about the potential for more interaction with our listeners. Many of them are on Facebook and are already personal friends. That’s coming up on January second.
One of the things many people miss since we completed the dual language project last year was having Sunrise Serenade on both the AM and FM bands. The folks out on the Utila Cays say they especially miss hearing the weather forecast early in the morning because they can’t pick up Sunrise Serenade on the FM band. We figured out a way to get the program on the AM and then switch it back to Spanish until the regular switch from Spanish to English at 3:00 PM. We’ve also set that to begin on January second.
So we are pretty excited about the cool stuff going on at the station now. We’re also excited about personal stuff. I mentioned Peter and Sandi’s truck retrieval and Saydee’s return. When Peter and I recorded the HRGS Update (below), Saydee was still roaming the hill above the airport trying to survive.
The other big thing is that we are having our first ever Christmas meal at an islander friend’s home. We’ve dined in lots of island homes with various friends, but this will be our first Christmas as guests. We’re looking forward to it. Speaking of listeners, they say the sweetest things. Here’s part of a letter we got recently. I’ll share it virtually unedited.
Dear sisters and brothers at HRGS. Just these few lines to you all. Trusting by God’s help as it reaches your hands everyone will be well and in the best of good health. Every day I get a blessing from you all at the radio station. Thank God for HRGS and for you all wonderful Christian people. I want to wish you all a Merry Merry Christmas and God’s blessings always and may you live to see many more.
I’m thanking God for affirmations like that and for the supporters who make it possible for us to be here. Mostly I thank Him for the message we have because of Christmas and the cross.
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Wow! The truck is back, Saydee is back (YEA!) and the phone system will soon be on line. For Roatan that is cruzin’! But really Jerry, I think the manual for the phone system only weighs 8 pounds. In any case we will be praying that the new year will be so filled with blessings and success that the negatives will seem insignificant.
Gerry, the phone system is on line now. It’s not all done, but it’s fully functional. Peter said it’s been like playing country music backwards. LOL!