SUZI: Punctuality is the Art of Kings

My dad not only expected punctuality, he demanded it.  If he said we were leaving the house at 6 a.m. for a vacation, we had better have been in the car at 5:55 a.m. because at 6 (if not before) we were pulling out of the driveway.  No questions asked.

It takes great discipline to be on time; you have to quit what you're doing to move yourself along.  It takes planning; you must schedule your day well and include enough time for the travel to get to where you need to go.  It shows respect to those who are waiting for you; their time is as valuable as yours so you won't keep them waiting.  A Czech proverb says, "Punctuality is the art of kings."  Being on time is a noble habit.

Normally, I'm a pretty punctual person.  At least I was as of six months ago.  Some how, though, I've found myself running late more than I ever have in my life since Cooper has arrived.  It's normally based on one of the follow things:

1)  Cooper is asleep.  Who in their right mind would wake this child when he finally fell asleep?

2)  Cooper has just filled a clean diaper.  Again.

3)  When Cooper filled that diaper for the second or third time, he managed to get it on his clothes.  Or mine.  This requires an outfit change for at least one of us.

4)  Cooper has spit up some doughy, curdled milk concoction that can't be simply wiped off.  Another costume change.

These are merely the primary reasons among many, many subsequent ones.

Recently as I was running late (I believe reason #3 was the culprit that day), I felt such a sweet presence of the Lord.  The thought of His love for me was so overwhelming.  He loves me whether I'm late or on time.  There's nothing I can do to change His love for me.  I can't ever be perfect enough to make Him love me more.  He loves me even when I'm late.

It's so easy to say the words "the Lord loves me unconditionally."  But somehow in that moment, the reality of that statement took hold more than ever before.  I realized that I do things trying to ensure His love.  The fact is, I don't have to.

Of course, it doesn't mean that He's pleased with everything we do or that He accepts things against His Word.  But He's certainly not standing over us with a lightening bold ready to zap us.  I'm so thankful to know such a kind God.

Does all of this mean that I'm going to quit trying to be a punctual person?  Absolutely not!  That noble habit is still what I'm aiming for - some days its just pushed aside while I change a diaper or two.

Two Things Thursday

Item Uno

So, I'm back in Amman and to add to the fun, I've got Adam Hunley to run around with... it's just a very good day.  I got in just fine and blew thru immigration using my residency card from last time I was here.  I then waited for mine to show up till after every other bag was off the plane.  It's always nice to roll into a city and feel comfortable enough to stop by and grab groceries on the way home.  We spent the today roaming around downtown with Nathan, who hadn't seen much of the area there.  That jaunt's not complete without some mansaf at Cairo restaurant which just put a pretty li'l bow on the afternoon.  We prepped tonight and will hit the day running tomorrow for the first day of conference services.

Item Dos

It's 3AM.  I'm wide awake.  WHY?  You may ask?  Well, it's the beauty of that tiny, internal clock that runs around with you and, when it winds down, causes you to *yawn* and drop dreamily into cozy-land.  It takes longer to adjust than you think you need, and when you swap sides of the world, as I just did, it thinks, "Oh, it's still Missouri time, let's go out and play!"  When your mind is saying, "About the time Brad gets up to preach tomorrow, I'm gonna fall outta my chair in a sleep-deprived stupor!"

Fun times with the jet-lag, ladies & gents. Fun times...

So, do you have a fave way of dealing with time-zone changes?  Post 'em up and let's compare notes!

Newsletter Update

We send out a newsletter to our supporters periodically to keep them updated on our activities... Seeing as I haven't talked much about any of our current plans, I thought I'd post this as a beginning to that conversation.  More to come!

Why I didn't change my own Alternator

I had some work done on the Escape last week and felt the need to share this little tidbit.  Now, I love my truck (above in Arizona)... what with it's 160,330 miles and unlimited uses.  It's hauled everything from popcorn machines to kayaks to table saws... and once hauled me in the back deck on the way to St. Louis.

So, when the battery light started coming on periodically and our friends at Autozone said the alternator wasn't charging at full capacity, I decided I'd try some DIY with Dad in the garage.  Then I pulled up the following directions.  By the time I got to the part about removing the front axle, my eyes had glazed over and I knew I was outta my league.  Off to Gibbs Garage it went, where they reported it "took a little longer than we expected."

Uh-HUH...Really?

DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE
1. Block the tires, set the emergency/parking brake, and put the truck up on jack stands and remove the front wheel.
2. Remove the black plastic splash shield from underneath the right side of the engine. It's held on by about 5 M8 bolts, and one Phillips head screw.
3. Remove the serpentine belt. With the cover off, from underneath you can put a 3/8" drive socket into the tensioner pulley.
3. Next you need to remove the front axle. Do it in one piece. Loosen the 32mm nut that assembles the shaft to the spindle. Back the nut off so about half the threads can be seen- you will hit the head of the nut to get it to go back through the spindle. Remove the front (15mm) and rear (I used a 3/4" but it was slightly too large) bolts holding the lower control arm to the frame. I pulled the assembly away from the truck at this time and braced it. Use a socket on the nut. This will star the process. After it started to go through I used the jack handle until the axle went back through the spindle. Now remove the 2 nuts (10mm) holding the half-shaft bearing and slide the front axle out of the trans-axle case in one piece. PLACE A CATCH CAN UNDER THE AXLE, YOU WILL LOSE FLUID!!
4. (YOU DID DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE, right?) There are 2 plastic snap clips holding the back splash guard for the alternator. A flat head screwdriver will pry these out and and if you're carefull you can reuse them. There are (3) M13's holding the alternator, two on bottom, one on top (do the top one first, it's easier to hold the alternator up to get the last bolt out. Remove these bolts and slide the alternator out of the way. (Try using different extensions and a u-joint on the ratchet, they can help in different combinations. This will also help when you are removing the alternator bracket.
5. Now, that the alternator is unbolted, you need to take off the alternator bracket. There are 3 (10mm) bolts that go from the rear into the engine block. The top can be seen from under the truck. The next one is below and the third is easily remove from the side of the car near the wheel.
6. Once the bracket is out, you can you have a little more room to get to the electrical connections. Be careful with the regulator connector, you need to push inn the tab that holds it in. I used a flat screw drive on the tab to release the lock. If you look at the new alternator and you will see a square hole in the connector where the lock engages the connector). The positive wire is held on by a 10mm nut.
Put it all back together. You will lose a little over a quart of tranny fluid so you may want to pick that up when you get the alternator.
The hardest part for me was literally unplugging the alternator. There is no extra wire so getting in there to push the tab and pull the plug was rough.
Total time from start to finish was 2hours 15minutes from the time I broke the first lugnut until I started the truck, this included a run to the auto store to empty my oil container so I could catch the tranny fluid and a 10 minute break for some water. It was about 90 degrees and very humid. I used all hand tools, no air. I'd be happy to go another 6 years and 180,000 miles before I had to replace this thing again, especially in the summer when my other truck is broken down and taking up the space in my air conditioned shop.

This just can't end well #102

Two Things Thursday

Numero Uno

CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE! CHILE!
What an amazing drama that unfolded out in the badlands of the Chilean mine-scape.  As with freeway chases and little dogs stuck out on a frozen lake, the world sat down with their take-out dinners and gaped and guessed and guffawed for the entire 69 days leading up to the emotional final 24 hours.  Truly, it's amazing that these 33 guys were able to be pulled from depths at all, much less after 2+ months of captivity.  It will be interesting to see how Chile changes on the world stage... and how the industry changes as a whole.
There were a few personalities that stuck out to me... Chilean President Pinera, who swore he'd hug every neck that came up the shaft and then pulled an all-nighter doing so. Luis Urzua, the shift foreman and last man out, who kept order and morale up for the first 17 days and then organized the rescue from below. Mario, second miner out and absolute rock star in my opinion.  He brought up rocks to hand out as gifts and stage dived into the fence line full of rescuers... and then gave a point blank assessment of the situation:

"I was with God, and I was with the devil. They fought, and God won."

And a Second Thing
Cooper and I went to Rothwell Park for some Big Guy/Li'l Guy time a few days ago.  He got a chance to play in the leaves and swing and talk to geese.  I know he's not gonna remember one second of that day, but it's got to be adding some levels to his foundational development.  I never understood why parents would take their kids on a trip to Everest or Branson when they weren't able to comprehend where they were or enjoy the surroundings.  Makes perfect sense to me now... bag the kid up, we're going on an expedition!

Cooper Shots

Somehow, time got away from me and I didn't get Cooper's 5 month photos published.  Actually, I know how time got away from me, but there's no reason to go pointing fingers or laying blame at doorsteps, you know, that partisan kinda thing and all.
Anyway, last month we went into the shoot with the intent of doing our normal, lay-the-kid-on-his-back-and-shoot-til-something-cute-shows-up routine.  But instead we got this:

So glad we could communicate that to each other: I don't like laying down anymore...
Cooper's contract now specifically states:
"Model will not be required to lay on back during scheduled photo shoots or a serious and absolute conniption will be thrown, alerting the neighbors that you are terrible parents.  And you don't want that."

So we started with sitting up, but first had to get him to quit grabbing the camera:

All our hard work paid off... and once again we captured the beauty and mystique that embodies a growing boy... we thought about trying to capture the other part of that mystique that happens at 3AM, but it was too dark and the flash would have blinded us all, probably causing me to trip into the changing table, and coming away with a handful (if I'm lucky) of the Goo-That-Requires-Showering.  So, you don't get to see that part.  Although, feel free to stop by for a personal experience anytime you happen to have late night cravings.  Bring some Steak-n-Shake if you do.