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Gettin things done!! August 14th, 2008 |
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August 14th, 2008
I was hoping to sleep in a bit but to no avail. The PA system was working across town and the person singing was there as well. I needed to get caught up on some blogs so I got started. After a while I was informed that John (the fence guy) was here so I went down to meet him. The materials for the fence gate was not on the jobsite as planned so I called Willis to find out what was going on. He was just at the ICIPE gate so I told John to meet Willis and they could get it all straightened out. John was concerned about wanting to do more work as this job was coming to a close so he tried to get me to employ him to keep the place cleared off while I was back in the states. I told him I had it covered. He thanked me, told me to be at the property at 2:00PM to see the gates, and went to meet Willis. On my way back to my room I made a cup of tea and went back to writing blog entries. When I looked down at the cup there was an ant in it so I plucked it out and went on about writing. Bugs are simply a part of life here. In just a few minutes another knock on my door and it was a young man who noticed my van was very muddy and wanted to clean it for me. I asked how much and he said 100 shillings. I took it over to the wash area here at ICIPE and let him get started. I walked back to the masonette and finished writing the blog entries and got them posted.
When the van was all cleaned I took it down to the base to get started on the plumbing repairs. I needed to replace the flush mechanism in one of the toilets and change out 2 flex hoses on one of the dorm rooms. I got started on the toilet first as it would be the most complex. I emptied the water from the tank and removed the entire flush mechanism and inlet valve assembly. I took the new ones I purchased in Kisumu and installed them only to find out things would not seal. I took the whole thing apart a few times and re-assembled it each time to have water leaking from the seal at the bottom of the tank. This was getting very frustrating so I decided to use my secret weapon. I brought a couple tubes of silicone sealer for aquaponics projects so I went back to the masonette and got my caulk gun and the silicone. On the way back I met Don and Nancy with a bunch of people walking around the base property. Seems there was some land office issues they were trying to resolve and a fence had been installed in the wrong place. Don was very frustrated and even mentioned whether all this is worth the trouble when the land officer was being such trouble. Things are in a constant state of confusion here most the time with no one really knowing what’s up. They even had two pieces of land with the same identification number! It is all part of the fact that many times people here have positions based on who they know rather than being really qualified. I got the sealer and returned. I siliconed both sides of the gasket and installed the flush mechanism and left it to set up. Don had informed me that they needed to get the water tap on the garden functioning so they could get water to the kitchen so I started on that project next. It was going to be a challenge though as there was not a proper fitting going from the plastic to metal junction. It had got broken when we were excavating the pipe to find the blockage the other day so I whittled a stick to the right size and forced it in the pipe to seal it. I now had to find a way to soften the plastic pipe and expand it over the metal pipe end which was larger than the plastic pipe. The water system was poorly designed when it was put in and there was no main shutoff valve so when I pulled the wooden plug water was going to come out full force. I removed the pipe at a tee and forced a stick in the tee and wedged it in place. It was leaking some but not nearly as much as with it fully open. I then took the metal and plastic pipe back down to the house and used the propane cook stove to heat the plastic enough to push it over the metal pipe. Once it was expanded I poured cold water over it to make it set. I then went back to the garden and assembled the whole thing, turned on the valve and only a trickle!!. I took the metal piping all apart and reamed out the inside of the pipe with a stick. I was finally able to get it clear and the water flowed nicely. By this time I was good and muddy and it was around 2:00 PM.
I left to go to the property to find the fence guys on the road coming home. I got them paid and went with a David to inspect the work. They had the gates built but it was obvious they did not have any concept about joinery of any kind. Everything was butt joined and not a lap joint to be found which made for a very “flexible” gate. I will have to redo the whole thing next trip. It is at least enough of a gate I can lock the place. Eric was also there and informed me the sub chief wanted to see me in his office tomorrow. Seems Henry is not finished yet. I told him I would go with him to the Josephs office to see what is going on and we made plans to meet at 9AM. I went back to the base and repaired the flex lines on the upper dorm and went down to the house to see if the silicone had set up yet. It seemed firm enough so I tested it and it worked!! Nice dry joint and the toilet functioned properly. I changed out the seat with a new one and the plumbing on the house is done!! Don came down and I asked how the water to the kitchen was going. He was very thankful that I got the garden tap working and said they had water to the kitchen now. Things are getting done!! Yahoo!! I hung around a bit and then took Allie and Leah back to the masonette. Allie and I have dinner tonight with some friends of ours here. On the way back I met with Willis and made the final payment on the materials for the fence.
Dinner was to be at 6:30 at the Cochran’s so Allie and I pulled into their place at 6:30 sharp. Judi had Mexican on the table with tacos made from spiced beef, rice, guacamole, beans, chapatti’s and some very nice salsa. It was quite good. We had a very nice visit and talked until 9:30 at which time Allie and I returned to ICIPE. All in all a full day with some things finally getting accomplished.
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