Today began with the usual duties of cooking breakfast, feeding the dogs, and getting to work by eight. The interesting thing is that when I set my place at the table, I have to wipe off the table with a cloth every day. I’m always amazed how much brown dust comes off the table onto my washcloth. In fact, every day everything it is coated with a very, very fine layer of brown dust that comes in through the open windows. I now understand why many people employ maids here. It is impossible to keep up with this fine layer of dust that settles everywhere in your house. I generally just clean the areas that I’m eating from. I also wear slippers around the house, or else my feet would be completely black in a minute.
Today, immediately after devotions, I photographed and interviewed Benny Saragosa. I had mentioned to the three Bonairian workers yesterday that I would be interviewing them and taking their photo for the Staff page of our new website. I noticed that they all came in this morning with their nice TWR T-shirts on. I think they are all very flattered that we are featuring them on the website.
Benny is a 26-year veteran of the local staff. Benny is the supervisor of maintenance, and also one of the antenna riggers. He is a wonderful Christian gentleman, with a very refreshing attitude. He always seems to have a smile on his face. He is one of those guys that people just like to be around. He puts his many talents to use as part of the team here, and shares in broadcasting the Gospel to millions in the region.
Today he showed me around in the maintenance department. He also showed me some of the tool boards in the maintenance room. I’m wondering if Dad set those peg boards up. There is a wall where everything has a time when it is scheduled for maintenance.
Benny and the maintenance crew are currently working on a house renovation project in addition to all their other duties. Man, these are some busy guys!
Once I fired about a million photos, I took Benny back to the lunchroom where I brought out my iPad and typed up the first draft of his bio. I then emailed that to Brandon, who massaged it a bit. It is now on the Staff page of our temporary website.
Next I went around and took a few shots of Brad Swanson. He is one of the most capable people here, and very humble. He runs the most popular blog for TWR on Bonaire, but there isn’t a single shot of him on his own website. I took a picture of him using Adobe Audition, as he was reviewing the programs scheduled to be broadcast later that night. Brad has continually amazed me with how much technical skill he has. He runs the local network for us, and seems capable of solving any problem we hand to him.
Laura worked remotely today, so I worked on my own most of the day. I completed the Ministry Partners page, Staff page, and the Contact page, as well as did some work on a few other pages.
I spent time today working on the photo sorting project. We haven’t quite determined the best way to handle this yet. But, we’ll get back to it on Monday and figure out a solution.
At lunch, I went across the road to the Seaside Restaurant. Unfortunately the sign on the door said CLOSED until further notice. Apparently about three major restaurants have closed within the last few months. While I was there, I took some photos of the dock area, and the Sand Dollar Condominium complex next door. It was this beach where I first learned to scuba dive from. Formerly, this is where Hotel Bonaire was situated, but it has since been torn down.
As usual on Friday night, I went over for pizza and a movie with the Pedersen family who live in the Belnem area. I told them I would be there between six and 6:30. When I pulled up about 10 after six, I discovered the kids waiting for me at the front gate. Apparently they had been making bets about how many cars would pass before I arrived. I guess I’ll have to nail down an exact time next time so I don’t wear these kids out. As usual, they wanted to play with my electronic gadgets, and all piled on top of me on the sofa.
After pizza, we watched the Star Wars movie, “Phantom Menace.” I’m an avid Star Wars fan, and he had it on a big-screen TV from a Blue Ray disc. It was spectacular!
Movie night wrapped up just a bit after nine, and I went home in order to get to bed in good time, as tomorrow I will be diving. My ear problem has cleared up, and I’m good to go!
I’m actually dictating this blog from the Divi Flamingo Casino and Resort, which is directly across from my home. They have better WiFi than I get from my neighbour, Brandon, so I have started to hang out here in my off-time. It’s nice having the run of a resort without having to pay the resort prices. I think with my Tilley hat and so on, I fit right in with the tourists here, but I do spend a fair bit of money at the dive shop, so it’s all good!