Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Installing things.

Being relatively mechanically inclined, I find that my mechanical skills are put to use quite often in areas other than aviation. On one 3 day trip to far eastern part of Bolivia, I helped to install a screen door on a church. The hardest part of getting the sun to come out and recharge our drill batteries via the solar panels.

More recently, I completed my 3rd air conditioner installation. Living in the tropics has made me an expert, along with moving every year, I am averaging one installation per year! As I joked with some of my friends, my life motto should be, Making the world a cooler place, one A/C at a time.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The truck.



While spending the night in a remote town in Bolivia last week, some fellow North Americans let us borrow their "truck" for the afternoon. I think it used to be a Suzuki Samari, but its hard to say. The gas tank is a 3 gallon plastic jug which as on the floor, there are not doors, no exhaust, and no brakes. Stopping was accomplished by turning off the ignition and letting the clutch out in first gear. Needless to say, neither OSHA nor the DOT are know entities in these parts of Bolivia.