February 2012
Dear Friends, Brethren and Family
Motorcycle hic-ups
This past month saw two more flats on the front tyre of the motorbike.
I happened to stop by a motorcycle shop that rents bikes to tourists when Kathy and I went out looking at cars one morning. I had already been in and asked if they had 16 inch tubes which they do not. This morning I asked the right question, "do you have any 16 tyres?" They had one. It was only 5000 vt ($55) so I bought it, went by the Chinese bicycle shop and bought a new tube and they are now on the bike. The tread is a road/off road mix which should be better.
The second flat was after I put on the new tyre. It was a nail this time. It was on Sunday AM as I was going to pick up Steve's truck to take Morris and family out to Eton services. All the trash/rubbish trucks run past our house to the landfill and they have no protection on the trucks from rubbish flying off or nails dropping out. So far I have been flat less for three weeks (on the bike) (knock on my empty head). I also received the tyre that Jason sent me which I now have as a spare.
I just need to try and not hit potholes with the front tyre which is hard because the continuing rain is producing a bumper crop of potholes. The ones on the road outside our house are getting bigger and and bigger and especially at night you can hear the traffic plok into them.
New (used) car
As I mentioned last month we had received a generous donation for a car. Once
we had the funds over here it seemed that all the vehicles we could afford had
been sold and that there we not going to be any we could get without coming
up with several thousand more dollars. But like always as we waited the Lord
provided.
There was an ad in the weekend newspaper. We bought it from a missionary who is leaving. It costs 400,000 Vt ($4500) and with the Government transfer tax (7%) and the insurance we maxed out the donation
It is a 2000-06??? Opel Vita: 1.4L, SLX, 5 door hatchback, automatic. We don't
know how many kilometers it has on it as the speedometer does not work nor does
the fuel gauge.
The headlight assemblies were stuffed. Water had gotten into the sealed unit and there was no reflector paint in them. At night there was hardly any light getting onto the road. No parts here so I took them apart and repainted the inside with chrome paint to reflect the light. I resealed them and the water should not be able to get into them again. No service manual! But was able to get one from New Zealand. The air conditioning is inoperative right now because someone cross threaded the refrigerant lines at some point and they will have to be re-threaded or replaced.
Kathy will be driving it most of the time here in town as I will be spending a lot of time in the village trying to get the house there build and I can go out on my motorcycle. She was feeling pretty isolated not having a car she could drive. I guess it was meant to be as you will note there is an Apple logo on the back window and that is what I use.
When we bought the car it had low profile tyres and too low to the ground for driving conditions here so I put new tyres on it. Getting rid of the low profile tyres raised it about 6 inches with the bigger tyres. Should do better in the potholes as well!
However within 5 days I had a flat on the car. It was when I drove it in to have the yearly inspection. I took it back to the tyre place and found that the tubeless tyre had a piece of rubber keeping the tyre from sealing properly. Two days later I had to take it back in because the other front tyre was not holding air. This was because the aluminium rim was cracked. So we put a tube in that tyre until we can get the rim welded. (The man who does the welding is in New Zealand until next week.)
Vehicle Inspections
That time of the year where everyone is supposed to get their vehicles inspected
and pay road tax by March 31st. It is a sham!
You go wait in line and pay the finance office for the inspection, get your receipt and then you go wait in line on Tuesday or Thursday afternoon at P(ublic)W(orks) D(epartment) workshop, when (not if) you pass then you get to go to Customs and Excise and wait in line to pay for the road tax (where by the way they did not even look to see if it was last year's inspection sheet nor did they ask/check to see if I had current third party insurance - just pay the money!). It took over 3 1/2 hours to get it all accomplished!
Sounds okay but what exactly did I get for my money (24,000 Vt ($270 USD) - car 15,000Vt/ motorbike 9,000 VT) Not better roads that is for sure! The inspection I got: lights, horn, wipers, front steering, brakes. Less than 1 minute! My letter to the editor in regard to this was printed!
Wheelbarrows too!
Not to be out done I had to replace tyres and tubes on two wheelbarrows that month due to rotten tyres. Now guess who has a complex about flat tyres!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Building
We have completed the 5 rows of blocks for the house frame. We are still
waiting to get the trees cut down on the farm so the sawmill can get in place
and get the wood cut. We are getting rain continually which makes it slippery
for the sawmill trucks. If I don't get the wood next week I think I will set
up and pour cement pads for the front and side verandahs on the house out in
Eton as well as a room for the washer and dryer. I went out yesterday (taking
the cement mixer back out) and Sul and Tal helped me haul two trailer loads
of coral and sand up from the beach to the house for the cement work.
Kathy
at the house
Cabinets
When I built Rose Hannah's cabinets I was also asked to build some cabinets
for a local real estate company whom we are friends with. When I went down to
install the cabinets for Island Property they were having to repair and shore
up the whole floor area that had rotted out so I was a couple of weeks getting
them installed. But we finally got the job done.
Island Property cabinets in use
I also had to tear out the old cabinets and to repair the tile backsplash and re-route the plumbing. The profit I made from this job helped buy a tabletop planner that I will be able to use to plane the finishing wood I will be using to make the house at Eton.
Cement Pad
The past couple of weeks I poured a cement pad (8' x 20') in front of Morris'
hours here in town. We had to go out and get the coral and sand from the beach
and haul it back to town. We brought the cement mixer that was out at the house
in Eton.
That was so he can get in and out better with his wheelchair and can sit outside
now. Before that he was pretty much limited to his bedroom. We will put a roof
over it next. Got 'er done! (That cement work is hard - meant a good afternoon
nap!)
I also put new cyclone shutters on his room to protect them during a cyclone.
Life (going ons)
It is hard to believe that 41 years ago a small bundle (bald headed little female)
was born to us while we were in the USAF on Okinawa. (My favorite moment: her
falling to sleep swinging on her new swing set in Lubbock after Jason was born.)
She now has six children of her own. Happy Birthday Terasa! (Feb 20th - President's
Day: funny concerning all her children are named after GOOD presidents, Back:
Harrison, Jackson - Middle: Taylor, Regan - Front: McKinley, Truman)
Website
Anyone who checks our website will have noted that there have been no updates
since Novemeber last year. That is because the company that was hosting the
site (free) are no longer in business due to hackers. (The website is still
active I just cannot upload new information to it). So I am trying to find another
affordable (free) and reliable host for our website. I will try and get it found
and uploaded soon!
Earthquakes
We have had over 20 (feel-able) earthquakes in the past 30 days. So far no damage!
We had a week or so of really nasty weather. We had a number of low pressure
systems roll right over us which brought high winds and rain. We had over 373
mm ( 15 inches) of rain this month. The humidity is never below 70% and the
barometric pressure was under 1000 hPa, going to 992 hPa a couple of times.
It is 5-6 shirts a day for me and Kathy could not hang out anything to dry so
she used the electric dryer. Sometimes she put the washing in with clear skies
and by the time she gets ready to hang it out the clouds have blackened over
her head. But she has no complex!
Fiji had worse flooding than our 2009 flood and it got worse because the systems hitting us were smacking them as well.
Cyclone Jasmine
There were several possible systems that could have developed into a cyclone
but they didn't until early February when a cyclone developed off the East coast
of Australia and headed straight for us. We were spared the cyclone as it veered
Southeast just as it came within range of our Island Efate. Some of the Southern
Vanuatu islands sustained heavy crop damage before the cyclone went over and
beat up on Tonga.
However the government offices were closed for a day even though the
storm did not affect Port Vila, go figure!
Dental woos!
On top of everything else that happened I broke my front teeth off the top denture
this month. It happened as I was chewing a piece of French bread at Eton during
our after service meal with Morris and his family. After several attempts to
super glue them (and them breaking again) I finally came up with what seems
to be holding them together: I super glued the broken teeth back on the denture,
took out the soldering iron and soldered the plastic together, and then got
out the dremel drill and buffed off the rough edges. We'll see! I take them
out to eat but they are purdy wearing teeth! Nothing worse then someone looking
and seeing you missing two front teeth and lowering your IQ about 40 points
(of which I have few enough IQ points as it is with out going into to the negative
column).
New neighbors
We have new neighbors in the 3 bedroom flat next to us. They are Australians
with a 10 years old boy. Becka came up first and got the house and put Brody
in school (right down the road from us). Her partner Jeff came up for a few
days but had to go back to work in Australia. They came in on tourist visas
not knowing they could not just move over. They do water well digging and there
is interest in them moving here but they still have to get all the paperwork.
He is trying to buy a drilling rig from the USA and get it shipped over but
the banks are being slippery about funding. Yesterday Becka had an appointment
with immigration and said she was grilled repeatedly about they relationship.
Vanuatu is noted as a "Christian nation" and are very tough on non-married
couples coming to reside. Hopefully it will work out but if not they will have
to leave. She is a believer in God and a good prospect to influence.
Travels
It has been almost two years since we have been back. Kathy's mother turns
85 this year and Kathy wants to be there for her birthday with the rest of the
family. Kathy and I have also been asked to teach a class at the Pepperdine
Lectureship this year. Bonnie's birthday is in March and the Lectureship is
in May. So we have booked Kathy to return to Joplin March 20th. I will stay
here and work on the house. I hope I can get the house finished before I come
back so we can at least get the container and all the other stuff moved out
there and stored. Kathy will fly back to California and meet me when I come
back May 1st. From there we will travel to Reno and speak with the brethren
before flying back to Joplin later that week.
Our plans are to be there until August 16th when we are booked to fly back home here to Vanuatu. I have Veteran medical work to be done, Kathy needs a physical and both of us need dental (my denture Kathy lost a crown last month).
We really need your help again: if you have or know someone who has a vehicle (hopefully fuel efficient because we will be traveling around) that we can borrow or rent real cheap from March to August please email me; especially we need your prayers!
The Lord continues to provide
We received some additional funds and have been able to cut back on expenses
this month and that allowed us to get more cement and hopefully I will be able
to buy the metal door frames and wood eterior doors we will need for the house.
Counseling, chatting, reading,
sharing ........ being family
I am still spending time (during the week and weekends) talking with Morris
and other brethren here on spiritual growth and freedom in Christ. I am still
teaching a series on Paul's Letters at Eton covering a book a week.
I have also been asked by Morris to put a songbook together with music and the words of their local language. So downtime on the house and from teaching I am on the computer a lot. So far we have earmarked over 50 songs that I already have the music scans and English words from the Pidgin, Fiji and Bislama songbooks we have already done. I just have to insert the local language and get Morris to proofread it before we print copies. Morris is concerned that the village, adults and children alike, are losing their local language skills. I am just glad we can help them this way.
Financial Needs
As you have read moving here has been expensive and
living here will be expensive. We still need to increase our monthly support
$500-1,000. If you can or know of someone who can help this need please pray
about it and let us know.
I repeat some of the needs we have as we move forward: house ($35,000), guttering, water tanks and pumps ($1,800), a solar hot water unit ($2,800), a bigger generator ($5,000), a solar/wind power unit ($2,500), septic system ($1,200), a classroom ($12,000), a student duplex ($15,000).
Thank you so much for all of you who are supporting us and have contributed to our needs. God bless you!
Sweat rash (FYI)
I have finally found something that I think might apply to my rash. This is
after many doctor visits and living in PNG, Fiji and now Vanuatu. The rash was
severe my back right and the itching about made me go postal. It is as bad as
shingles!
Sweat rash is extremely common. This irritating condition is caused
by candida, a yeast that occurs naturally on your skin. Trapped perspiration
can sometimes upset the natural balance of the skin allowing candida to cause
an irritating, itchy and often unsightly red rash. It's difficult to know when
it might strike as everyday things such as sweating it out at the gym (or
laying in bed here at night) could potentially lead to this common fungal
skin infection.
Who gets sweat rash?
Anyone could get sweat rash at anytime. It is often caused by candida (a yeast
that lives naturally on your skin). Things such as rushing for the bus, working
out at the gym (breathing, walking, small things here)
and even wearing tight fitting clothing can all upset the natural balance of
candida on the skin. This can result in a red, sore, itchy rash that can drive
you to distraction.
People who sweat more are more likely to suffer - candidal sweat rash is therefore more common in sporty people, the overweight or the immobile but as candida lives naturally on the skin it could be experienced by anyone especially during the summertime.
Rash from Sweat: Why does Sweating cause Itchy Rash?
Rash from sweat is a common condition prevalent in tropics, due to hot and humid
climate.
Skin rash due to sweating usually occurs where there is more skin friction. It is especially seen in arms and underarms, neck and groins and between the legs. (In my most recent case shirt and skin.)
In adults aside from prickly heat, rash can be due to fungal disease.
Several names such as pityriasis versicolor or Candida yeast infection are given to these fungal infections. Fungus thrives inmoist and humid environment (too true!), sweating in the folds usually facilitates its growth as the area becomes suitable for the fungus.
Symptoms of rash from sweat may include itchy red papules causing prickling sensation. The rash may be generalized, that is it occurs all over the body or localized that means it occurs in selected areas, where there is more moisture and sweat.
Itchy rash from sweating causes considerable discomfort to an individual. (you think!) Together with itching there may be burning sensation and swelling (you bet!). Bacterial infection sets in if not treated on time in some cases.
Treatment of skin rash from sweating is usually simple and basic.
Avoid direct sun (yah right!) till you feel relieved from rash symptoms. Cool and fresh climate will definitely benefit and soothe the itchy skin. (Not sure a trip to New Zealand is affordable every time I get the rash!)
Applying calamine lotion for prickly heat is beneficial. Whereas anti fungal lotion and ointment brings relief from Candida yeast infection.
Do's (except most in the tropics where we live)
*keep your skin cool and dry
*try to avoid getting sweaty in the areas in which you experienced sweat rash
*if this is not possible be aware that sweat rash could return and treat it
early if necessary.
* dry your skin carefully using a separate towel to dry the infected area -
do not rub it as this can damage the skin and spreads the infection
*wash your hands after treating your infection to prevent it spreading.
I guess the idea is not to sweat!
Fortunately the pharmacy here has the cream and calamine that is recommended.
I hate to scratch and leave but...........
Your seed sowing workers in the Kingdom.
Tobey & Kathy
Contributions for Huffs and building the Bible school, vehicle and house can be sent to:
Huffs/Bible School
c/ Mt Hope church of Christ
2830 Mt Hope Rd
Webb City MO 64870
or
Mailing Address:
PO Box 3229
Port Vila, Vanuatu
South Pacific
Ph:
(678) 710-1617
(678) 22-418