Thursday, April 5, 2012

About 2:00 this morning, the generator stopped working.  One phase of the three phase system was on, and it just happened to be the phase for the fans in the bedrooms.  That one phase stayed on most of the morning.  After calling the power company a couple times, the power went off around noon.  That was a good sign; they were working on the problem.  I rode with Joe to pick the kids up from school to enjoy the AC in the car.  When we got back home, the power was back on.  After fifty-three hours of not functioning properly, everything was up and running.

The generator repairman came and found that the voltage regulator on the generator had burned out.  He tried to find one here in town but ended up having to order the part from Accra.  

The big freezer had defrosted, but everything seemed to be frozen still.  While moving the freezer to wipe up the water, I saw a mouse go under the freezer.  Joe moved the freezer a little more and stomped the mouse.  That is the third mouse we have killed; Joe killed one in the middle of the night last night when he was up with the generator woes.

The handle on the washing machine broke.  It is a front loader with a latching mechanism.  Joe took the handle off and came up with a new way of opening the door.  At last, we got to free the clothes which had been trapped for fifty-three hours.  I washed them again before we opened the door.  : )

During supper tonight, Bonnie was telling us that she and "Toffeela" had to go to the office today.  I asked her, "What did the principal say to you?"  She replied, "He said, 'Who put saliver on the table?' That's what they call spit, Mom, – saliver."  Joe and I both got tickled.  Gilbert agreed with her about the pronunciation of saliva.  "Yep, that's what they call it – saliver."  Then, Bonnie went on to say, "I pointed at Toffeela and said, 'Toffeela did it, not me!"  Bonnie said she sat on the bench outside the office while the other girl got her punishment.  

The men from Rock of Ages went to Cape Coast with Brother Nixon today.  The clutch went out on Nixon's car; they were stranded on the side of the road.  They tried to find a bus but ended up on one of the "tro-tros," a van which is supposed to hold eighteen passengers but sometimes has a few more than that along with their goods – fish, rice, charcoal, pots, bowls, etc.  Joe went to meet them at a gas station to take them back to the hotel.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie