Auto Tire Diameter Calculator

We found that the tires on the 4Runner are a bit bigger than the manufacturer recommends, resulting in a slightly off speedometer. This site, Auto Tire Diameter Calculator, tells me how much. Cool.

What a great idea!

This Cards from Africa program is neat, and cards are quite reasonably priced. I've heard stories of these types of simple export businesses radically changing the lives of people.

The Place Bike/Hike

While I was in Mississippi, Ken joined a group from church on a bike/hike. They started at the top of Sycramore Canyon and rode down to the cove on the beach; probably 7 or 8 miles.

Here, he's trying to warm up by the fire after the cold beach breezes have chilled his damp jersey.

Photos from the Barn Painting

In August, I organized a barn painting service project for church members from The Place. We had a great turnout. I'm just getting pics, which is why the photos are with the original post about the event. Ken is on the bucket on the right.

Painting!

Priming!

New (to us) Cars

And, to replace my Santa Fe, we found a 2000 Toyota 4Runner. Drives really nice! Shopping for it was quite an experience. We started on Thursday by driving to a dealer in the San Fernando Valley. They had one at a great price, but the interior smelled like a skanky hotel room; stale smoke, etc. Gross. Then on to another one. And another. The six more on Friday. They were either nice outside and beat up inside or vice versa. Very frustrating. Finally, after driving around the Los Angeles metro area all day yesterday, we settled on this one. As nice inside as a five-year-old car can be. The paint has quite a few little chips from rocks and gravel on the road, but you don't notice unless you're up close. So good deal!

Here's our replacement for the van; a 2000 Civic EX. Now, to get the van ready to sell....

Kelley Blue Book

So we're looking to get rid of Ken's van, which guzzles gas and drives, well, like a van. Considering current gas prices, we're planning on a used Honda Civic. How did anybody ever get a fair price before kbb.com? Buying a car is scary; too many things can go wrong!

Donate to Katrina relief

Click the photo to donate now.

Disaster Response Training

I think Ken and I are going to attend some Adventist Community Services Disaster Response Training Courses. It's just too frustrating to sit around and not be able to help when something like Katrina happens. And we know from Bible prophecy that these events will only grow more frequent and more severe as this earth's history comes to a head.

Made it home!

After rescheduling flights several times, I finally ended up being able to fly out of Mobile last evening and arrived home about 10:30 p.m. We left Biloxi about 1 p.m., hoping we might find gas more available further east. That turned out to be true. We arrived in Mobile about 2:30 and went straight to Sam's Club. The wait for gas was just about an hour; not bad, considering the four+ hour wait in Biloxi. The price was remarkable, too; they'd run out of regular unleaded, and premium was about $2.53/gal. Cheap! Then we went into Sam's and found an ATM working so mom got enough cash to get her by, 40 lbs. of dog food, 6 gallons of water, and lots of other supplies. It was a very productive trip, to say the least. My flight left at 5:45 p.m. I hated to leave, and probably wouldn't have if I didn't have to work. Even though my work is usually very mobile, it does require power and internet connection, neither of which we had. Until... Mom says her power (and internet!) came back on a bit after 8 p.m., too, which was a major blessing.

I have too many photos to post, so if you want to see them, click the link HERE to the CostCo/Snapfish site and create a (free) login (if you don't already have one) to view the Katrina photos. Some of the pics are from my cell phone, thus the poor quality. You'll probably be able to tell which are from my good digital and which are from the phone.

Thank you so much to all who cared and prayed and called and wished the best for us. We were very comfortable inside the hospital (relative to those outside).

Hurricane Katrina: Further Update

Hello, again. I just want to update everyone on the current situation with Alicia and Mary who are in Biloxi, MS in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

As most of you know, the girls were able to ride out the storm in the Biloxi, MS Veteran's Hospital where Mary is a nurse. Fortunately the hospital was able to maintain power due to the huge generators in the complex and they have had running water as well. These are HUGE blessings, especially having access to clean water.

On Thursday, Sept. 1st those whose homes were still habitable were asked to leave the hospital to make room for the medical clinics to reopen. Mary and Alicia returned to their house which fared very well during the storm. After picking up the shingles and debris from the yard they realized that the house had running water. Although the water pressure was low they were able to take cool showers and relax a bit. The power is still out which makes it difficult to cook anything or boil the water for drinking. They have some non-parishables stored away and will live off those as long as possible. However, they are running low on food for Mary's two golden retrievers.

The problem now is that they are running low on cash and gasoline as well. With the power still out in most of the state the ATM's are not working and the banks have not yet reopened. At this point it's a 'cash-only' situation. The hospital is serving 3 meals a day in the cafeteria, but it's been using up most of their available cash to eat. To further complicate the situation, they are running low on gasoline which they need to drive to the hospital or the store, if one should open. Mary is still expected to report to work during her shifts. At this point there really isn't any available fuel anyway.

Luckily they were able to get cellular service for at least part of the day on Thursday, so Alicia kept me updated on their situation. This will work as long as her phone's battery holds up. She can charge it with the car charger until the car's battery dies. If she runs the car while she's charging she uses up the small amount of fuel they have left. And of course they don't have money for gasoline. And round and round we go!!

Alicia is scheduled to fly home on Saturday, Sept. 3rd, provided the Gulfport/Biloxi airport is functional again and Continental Airlines is in service. I will be glad to have her home again, but I know that we will contiue to worry about Mary being in Biloxi alone.

I will continue to keep you posted as information comes available to me. Please keep these poor people in your prayers, especially the ones in New Orleans who have lost everything.