EyeMax. Get yours at bighugelabs.com/flickr

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Christmas Family Vacation

We were able to take a couple of days and head to Shell for a night, then over to Tena and spend two nights at the Casa Del Suizo. Tena is in the rain forest - and it did rain. What a great, relaxing time we had! You get there by leaving your car at a parking lot and traveling down the river by canoe. All food (wonderful food) is included in the price, there was a large pool, butterfly farm, great view of the Napo River, private balcony with a hammock, king size bed, (did we mention the hammock?) . . . just a great way to relax and prepare for Christmas. Or, just swing in the hammock on the balcony and read. Can you tell we liked it?

The whole trip was 372 miles (598 kms) and one big circle - Quito, Shell, Tena, Baeza, Papallacta, Quito. The longest leg was from Tena to Quito. Due to the roads it took us 6 1/2 hours to drive back today - a lot of it at 10 kmh!

Here are a couple of videos as well to give you a sense of our travel by canoe.

Lots of photos on Flickr.com (click the link to the right).



Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Christmas Concert AAI

Last week Stacey and Erin participated in their Middle School Christmas Concert. Below is a video clip. Enjoy!


Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Annual Car Registration - the quick and the dirty

OK, it was not quick (started in November, finished today) but it was dirty. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Every year those of us who live in Quito have to have their car certified for emissions and safety, and then renew the registration. We started the process (we thought) early enough to avoid the rush. But, how wrong a person can be.

The certification part went OK, but when Graham went to pay for the renewal of the registration the problems began. "It is already paid" said the lady at the bank. "No, I haven't paid it" replied Graham. "But it is paid."

Problem - to renew your registration you need an original receipt from the bank showing you have paid. With the registration already paid, Graham could not get an original receipt. What to do?

After trying to get a second copy of the original - that someone else paid by error, no way of telling who - Graham finally went to the top. He went to the Police Department responsible for vehicle registration and spoke with someone there. They told him he needed to go the Tax Office (SRI) to clean up the account. "Happens all the time" they assured him.

So, off to the SRI. After waiting an hour or so, a lady listened to Graham's story and said "Yup, happens all the time." She pecked away at her computer and then looked up and assured Graham it was fixed. Now, he had to go back to the bank.

At the bank there was NO lineup (whoooHOOO) so Graham gave the car registration to the teller, and guess what - he was able to pay it! Now we have the original receipt. It has taken half a day to get to this point.

Next, Graham heads back to the Police Department to do the paperwork to get the new registration. Oops, don't get too excited Graham. First, the sign says you have to wait 48 hours after payment before getting the new registration. Second, you need photocopies of the old registration, passport, etc. Graham didn't have this stuff. It is Friday. Gotta wait until Tuesday.

Today, Tuesday - here is where the dirty part happened.

Graham is standing in line. They are 20 minutes late opening the gate at the Police Department. It is raining slightly. Suddenly, a big drop of rain runs down Graham's back. Yuck. Oops, it’s not rain. A pigeon has just unloaded it’s morning constitutional on him, hitting Graham on the head and running down his shoulder.

He had a Kleenex with him, so the guy in line behind him tried to wipe Graham's shoulder and back while Graham wiped off his head. He stinks – big time. Those things let go with a huge quantity, Grade "A"!

But, he wasn’t about to quit. So he made everyone around him suffer with the smell. Finally the gates open and he got in line and was given ticket number 13. Yeah, think about it. Lucky 13.

But guess what – numbers 1-8 didn’t show, so inside of 5 minutes they are calling #9. Then two more windows open. Numbers 10-12 are called immediately. Then #13. So Graham is at the window, in all his poopy, smelly glory. The girl smiles at him and asks “Where is your Cedula?” (Ecuadorian ID card). Graham explains he doesn’t have one, just a censo (ID card for foreigners). She looks puzzled and leaves her computer. Uh oh he thinks.

She returns seconds later with a piece of carbon paper (needs it to print the form he has to sign) and finishes the paperwork. Graham asked her “Do you want to see the censo?” “No” she replied. "There’s a photocopy here." So he has no idea why she was originally puzzled.

And then, in the next instant, Graham's wildest dream came true – he held a brand-new, valid-for-one-year vehicle registration in his hand!

Registration in hand, poop on head, he headed out to grab a taxi and head home. But now, it is morning rush hour. So the cab slowly crawls back to the apartment, the taxi driver constantly looking back at Graham with a funny expression. The cab stunk. Finally, once close to home, Graham paid him and jumped out. He could walk the rest of the way faster than could be driven in the traffic, and could no longer stand himself.

So, it’s done. Now Graham is clean. Clothes are in the washing machine. End of story. Not quick, but definitely dirty.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Visit to Spain


Sunset in La Linea
Originally uploaded by EyeMax
Graham's job now includes participating in the International Management Team. This meeting was in La Linea, Spain. A beautiful country and with very friendly people.

It is the point of entry for Gibraltar. To cross over (Gibraltar is an independent country) all you need to do is show you passport and keep on walking. La Linea is Spanish, Gibraltar is English. The Rock is full of historic evidence, giving testimony to it's strategic naval position.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Winter Prayer Letter available

We have just posted our Winter Prayer Letter on the BULHORN Group file page. You must have a Yahoo! ID in order to log in and download the prayer letter. We will also be sending it out via email to our mailing group (not getting our emails? Follow the link over there on the right side, or click here to head on over and sign up.) If all else fails, send us an email and we'll do the work for you.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Plane adventures


IMG_6742
Originally uploaded by EyeMax
About a month ago, this plane skidded off the runway at Quito's airport. On Sunday we went out to see the progress as they try to remove it from the safety zone at the end of the runway. The plane is only a few dozen meters away from crashing into a residential area. We are so thankful that it stopped when it did. More photos and details are here.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Thanksgiving - friends, food and fire

We are back from our weekend at Calacali. It will appear from the pictures that all we did was eat. Close, but we did do some other things: Sharon hiked up the mountain, Hermann and I fixed the water pump after several hours without water (thus, without bathrooms!), napped, watched Christmas DVDs, napped.

It threatened rain, and did drizzle lightly on occasion, but overall we were dry and well fed, and had a great time enjoying friends!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Paperwork and Processes - III


Another trip down to the immigration office this morning - Graham left the his office at 6:50 AM. When he arrived at the immigraiton office, he was told they weren't handing out numbers yet. But then, a few minutes later, an American couple left and said "Yeah, we have our numbers." So Graham tried again, and this time they gave him a number - 510. "Oh-oh" thought Graham. This is going to take a while. He had hoped to be one of the first.

While reading a book (The Speed of Trust by Covey - a good read!) a lady came up to Graham and asked if she could switch ticket numbers. She had 507, but her husband hadn't arrived yet and she didn't want to lose her turn. Graham happily gave a 510 for a 507! Settling back to continue reading, Graham realized that the numbers were rolling by quickly! They had opened three windows for service! AND started early! At about 8:07 they called 507, and 5 minutes later Graham had his new censo. On to the salida (permission to leave the country).

Amazingly, no one was in the line, or in the waiting room. Graham got ticket 209, and then they immediately called for 209. Two minutes later Graham was out the door. By 8:15 he was looking for a taxi and back to work at 8:25. WOW! That is the FASTEST we have ever gotten those documents.

The only down side is that Graham didn't get much reading done . . .

Monday, November 19, 2007

Paperwork and Processes - II

What a difference an office can make. Graham went down to the other immigration office this morning to clear up the problem of being duplicated in the computer system. The office opened at 7:45 (15 minutes early), and the officer at the computer was ready to receive people. Graham was the first, and inside of 3 minutes the correction was done. Graham was in a taxi and back at work by 8:00 AM!

So, sometimes things do work with great efficiency here!! Now Graham has to go back to the first immigration office tomorrow to get his censo now that his data has been corrected in the computer system.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Paperwork and processes

Yesterday we headed down to the office where foreigners have to renew their registration with the government. We had all our paperwork in order. Graham left the house at 6:45 in the morning to get a number in the line (the office opens at 8:00). He was able to get ticket numbers 502-505. Fortunately, the series started at 500. A few minutes before 8:00 Sharon and the girls arrived. We thought we were in good shape.

It turns out that the part of the office that handles this paperwork didn't start working (for whatever reason) until about 8:15 or so. They called "500." The first guy goes up. He doesn't have all his paperwork correct, so he leaves. "501." A young mother goes up. She waits. And waits. And an hour later, is still waiting. The natives are restless. The young man behind the counter is on the phone with his supervisor, unable to get the computer to accept the inputed information. Finally, it works. Now it won't print. More phone calls. A visit from a co-worker. Finally, the documents (called a censo) print.

Meanwhile, an hour and 25 minutes has gone by. Everyone is restless. This is supposed to be a 10 minute procedure. The young man behind the counter is flustered. And then a lady who does not have a ticket tries to jump into the line. You can imagine how that was accepted. (In case you can't - it wasn't!! Lots of raised voices and yelling between the others in line and this lady).

Our turn. Graham gives our documents to the young man, and he announces "You are in the system twice. You have to go to another office on Monday to fix that, then come back." Sigh.

Fortunately, Sharon and the girls are not duplicated in the system, so they proceed to get their new censos and a second document called a "salida" (a document confirms you have Police permission to leave the country). You can't get a salida without a censo.

But not everything is bad . . . in the mall across the street there is a Baskin & Robbins. We head over there and have ice cream to celebrate the partial victory. On Monday Graham goes to the other office to start the process of getting the duplicate entry erased from the computer system. Then you have to wait 24 hours for the system to be purged. On Tuesday he can go back and try to get his censo and salida again. We'll keep you posted!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Feria de la Salud


Dental station #2.
Originally uploaded by EyeMax
We ran a pilot project today, offering free or very affordable health services on the HCJB compound and at the Quito hospital. We want to make health services affordable for people of few economic resources. So today, (and hopefully once a month or so) you could get your blood pressure checked, eyes checked, teeth cleaned and body mass index checked for free. For $5 you could make an appointment with a specialist in the hospital.

We did this without advertising, except one brief interview during the morning on the radio. We rendered approximately 900 services, and had about 2000 people visit the radio compound or hospital. By all measures it was a success.

While people were getting checked - or waiting to get checked, or waiting on someone else who was getting checked - a musical team played Christian music, and for a short while, the Ecuadorian Police Band played patriotic music.

More photos are on our flickr website here.


Saturday, November 3, 2007

Rainy, Rainy day update

It poured all night. It is raining right now. So we all eagerly ran to the laundry room to see if it leaked. And, except for two little spots where there were drips (due to the building design, not the roof) it is as dry as a bone inside. WOW! It has NEVER been this dry since we moved in a little over six years ago. Way to go Marcos and German - good job guys!

On the downside, the soggy weather has forced us to cancel our get-a-way plans for today. We were going to head to a hosteria named "San Luis" and then up to the town where they have a huge outdoor market (Otavalo). But, alas, an outdoor market in rain is not very fun. Nor is a hosteria where all there is to do is walk through the woods. So we'll go grocery shopping in the mall instead. Kind of boring, but necessary.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Home Improvements IV


Finished!
Originally uploaded by EyeMax
Yup, the job is done. Just as they finished up the rain started. So far no drips. They also improved the exhaust vent for the dryer so we hope that will solve a few problems too (i.e. lint and moisture in the laundry room).

Home Improvements - III


In with the new.
Originally uploaded by EyeMax
The new panels are being installed. One of the good things is they are (where possible) full length of the laundry room, eliminating a lot of seams (where it leaked terribly before). Between panels (width-wise) they are caulking (wow, there's a novel idea) before attaching to the steel beams.

Home Improvements - II


Old panels - for sale!
Originally uploaded by EyeMax
This is the state of our old roofing panels. Many of the hooks holding them down were completely rusted due to the water leaks. The guys have just left to our local Home Depot (Mega Kywi) to buy new panels. The new ones will be thicker and of better quality - should last a lot longer than these ones did.

Home Improvements

After a loooong period of tolerating wet floors and dirty "stuff" in our laundry/storage room, we finally decided to hire a couple of guys to put on a new roof, clean the eavestroughs, and generally give the room a make over. Why wait so long? Our landlord had made arrangements to have it done, but those fell through. What made us decide to do it ourselves? The leaks had changed from being small drips to something more akin to Niagara Falls. Our washer and dryer were in the line of fire and we didn't want to damage them. As the work progresses today we'll keep you up to date with photos.

Monday, October 29, 2007

What are the chances?

On Saturday a colleague (who shall remain namelesss 'cuz we don't want to embarrass RK) came into the office to do some work. Wow - such dedication. His arms were full and to open the door he had to put something down. In his hand was a cup of matte (a drink made up of tea-like leaves and hot water). He put the matte cup up on top of the hub/router box (see photo) and immediately his cup disappeared. The whole on top of the box was EXACTLY the right size for his cup to fall through. What are the chances of placing his cup EXACTLY in the center of the hole so it would fall through?

Fortunately, matte is not like coffee (all liquid) and no great damage was done to the components inside.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Welcome to our BULHORN

In case you are new to who we are, you can check out our group page at Yahoo Groups (you can add your email address there to get on our email list). As a family we are living in Ecuador, working for HCJB Global and enjoying it!

We also have a bunch of photos posted at Flickr - head on over and take a look.

In case you don't know, BULHORN stands for "Bulmer Update Letter Heralding Our Radio News." Although, truth be known, we do a lot more than radio these days. Sharon teaches at the Alliance Academy, Graham serves on the Academy's board, and as part of the administration of the Latin America Region of HCJB Global, Graham has as much to do with health care and education as radio. But BULHORHCEN doesn't make sense (radio, health care, education). So we'll stick with status quo.