Commute

My daily commute used to be very painful. Most of the time it took 40-45 minutes. Now, I just have a few minute walk or bus ride. There are still complications, though. Two days ago it rained quite a bit. When I got off the bus I had to walk through the puddle to get to my trailer. Not too bad. I have a lot of socks.

Reminders of the Past

When I returned to my trailer a few days ago I was reminded of a day about 8 1/2 years ago. It was the summer of 1998 and all of Brasil was racing to prepare itself for the opening match of the 1998 World Cup in France. As the defending champions, Brazil opened the tournament playing one of the teams in their pool, in this case, Scotland.

The rules of the mission were not as clear about the World Cup as they are with some other topics. With a new mission president (he had been there less than one month) and the excitement of an entire nation, I think some of the missionaries bended whatever guidance we were given. My companion and I decided to return to our apartment and spend the time catching up on letters home and some personal study.

As we walked to our apartment I continued to notice people outside their houses adjusting their satellite dishes. Most Brazilians have television and no programming is more important than a game of the Selecao. What was remarkable about seeing Brazilian men adusting their satellites became hilarious when I started to see some of the contraptions the men were using to mount their satellites to achieve the best signal. One in particular was a satellite dish mounted on four pieces of bamboo strapped together. It was rediculous to see how this guy had put together this contraption for his satellite dish. We smiled and gave him the thumbs up. Brazil won that night and I think the entire country was partying.

This brings me back to a couple of days ago and me arriving at my trailer. After spending a few thousand dollars to get a better, faster, more reliable internet connection, a few of the guys/girls in the unit recieved the satellite dish and other parts. We are as determined to get a better internet connection as the Brazilians were to see their beloved team play. The next step in the process involved setting it up and pointing the dish in the right direction. After attempting to mount the dish using a couple different methods, the group decided on mounting it to a modified 4X4. This is what I saw when I arrived at trailer. Though it wasn't bamboo, it reminded me a lot of that day in Brazil.

20 Something

Happy Birthday Katie!

Dinner with the Lawyers

I went to dinner with the attorneys last night. We went to one of the nicer dining facilities around this place. The food was the same at the other facilities, but the environment was incredibly nicer. I ate on real plates and used silverware for the first time since my arrival. The discussion was good, too.

Add 1 More to the Family: Take 2

Katie called me earlier today and told me some great news. Her sister had her baby, a boy they named Koy. This was quite exciting, yet unexpected because the due date was in early March.

She told me everything went well and he was healthy and strong. Congratulations TJ and Rachel.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

My Grandpa turned 70 something on Friday. I called to wish him a happy birthday only to get the voicemail. Hopefully he was out with my Grandma celebrating. It is great to have you around, Grandpa. You are a great American.

Add 1 More to the Family

It has been almost a week since my last entry. I would like to be more consistent, yet I continously finding myself wanting to write about things that I am not able to. Usually personalities at work or things associated with the conditions here. Some things are taboo and will get you in trouble and my blog shut down, so I just don't write about them. Otherwise, I think there is enough to write about.

It was an honor to become an uncle again this week. My youngest sister, Kassie, gave birth to her first child, a boy named Jackson. I like the name. This now makes 25 nephews and nieces with one more on the way. Just since being mobilized for active duty, I have missed 5 babies and will miss one more in March. Quite a few...and I think I remember all of their names. Congratulations Kassie & Jose.

A Chair from the Garbage

I finally got my pad set up the way I want it. I am sure other things will come along during the next few months and adjustments will be made, but two months and a few days into the process and I am happy with the results.

While watching the SuperBowl last night I think I had a few too many Gatorades. I say this because I ended up going to the outhouse around five times during the night. Each time I went out I passed the garbage next to the road. Normally, this is nothing worth noting, yet last night there was three damaged office chairs sitting in the dirt next to the dumpsters. The second time I went out I casually examined the chairs and observed other than dirt and broken wheels, the chairs actually looked quite nice. The fourth time out, I decided to put two of the chairs in the vehicle with a plan to take them to my trailer later in the morning. I was sure I could fix at least one of them to be used with my desk in the trailer.

This morning, I drove the vehicle, with the chairs, to my trailer. After unloading them and putting them outside the doors, I quickly got to work on cleaning the most sturdy one. About 20 minutes later, I had a chair I felt I could take into the trailer. Sure enough, there was enough room behind the desk and the chair has found a home. I felt good, salvaging through the trash, saving a few dollars, and using equipment that was headed to the dump. Well, I don’t know where the trash actually goes, or if there is a process that exists where people screen the trash for salvageable items. Either way, I have one nice chair in my room (I sit in it as I type this blog entry) and another outside. I think I am going to sit in that one when I get done with my shift. Kind of like Alan Shore and Denny Crane on Boston Legal...without the cigars. Denny Crane.

Laker Girls and M&Ms

A couple of weeks ago someone in the organization brought in a bunch of signed posters of dancers representing one of the teams from the NBA. They were distributed among the troops and soon they were plastered over the walls of the facility.

This started a wave of emails requesting signed posters from the cheerleaders or dance teams of our favorite teams. Professional teams, college teams, the requests were far ranging. Since my favorite college team doesn't really advertise the fact that they actually have cheerleaders or a dance team and the posters we received earlier were from from my favorite NBA team, I decided to request the LA Laker Girls, commonly known in the sports world as second to only the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.

A simple email and a five day wait was all it took. On my wall is LA Laker Girl poster signed by the ladies. Too easy. Up next, the San Diego Charger Girls.

To cap the week off, Katie sent me a Valentine's package with a real sweet gift. She went to the M&M website and ordered me a package of personalized M&Ms. On one color there is a message "KATIE IS LOVESICK" and the other color, "ADAM IS MY CURE". It has been a good week.