I just want to brag on my wife a bit. She has had the desire to be a runner for years. She started walking on the treadmill at the YMCA about six months ago. Then her walking turned into jogging a little bit. Then it was a mile, then two. Three to five times a week she is out there working out.
Tonight she passed a new landmark. She ran for FIVE miles on the treadmill without stopping. The boys and I are very impressed. In fact, during the last three weeks since her 40th birthday, she has run over 42 miles! Amazing.
Go baby, go!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Danta Uno System Repairs
As you may recall, our team designed and built a functioning "pico hydro" system in the rural village of Danta Uno, Honduras, during the summer of 2008. It served 23 homes with a modest amount of electricity and was the basis of a small electric company to generate wages for several families. But this is a harsh environment.
Around October, 2008, lightning hit the village and damaged some of our electronics. We ordered some replacement parts, but before we could get them paid for and in the luggage of a friend on the way to Honduras, a large flood hit the river and tore out our canal system of PVC pipes. In retrospect, the pipes were not sufficiently secured, and the lightning protection was inadequate. But we are learning.
The lightning damage was repaired by Sergio, who can do anything and everything, but the flood damage could not be repaired until May 2009, when a new team returned. This post is a brief chronicle of the repairs to, and redesign of, our intake and canal system.
The above photo shows Matt, Ryan, and Blaine surveying the damage. Behind them you can see a low concrete wall that used to be used for drinking water collection, but has long since been out of commission. The concrete walls are about five feet tall, and the pool upstream of the dam is full of silt and rocks (where they stand). The hole in the dam near Ryan is where our 12 inch diameter PVC pipes used to take water to the generator. You can see the rusty generator box off to the left. 
This photo shows David cleaning out the rusty generator box, nicknamed the swirlificationator because one of its functions is to cause the water to swirl before encountering the blades of the hydro generator (the propeller).
This photo shows the upstream protection we installed to protect the dam and the generator from large debris (like trees and boulders) floating downstream in floods. In English, they are called gibbons, and in Spanish, "gabiones". They are wire cages a little bigger than a four-drawer filing cabinet, and filled with rocks. After they are full, we wired them closed. They make a very inexpensive, very heavy wall. They guys that worked on them the most (Matt, David, Brian, and Ryan) we nicknamed the Gabiones Brothers. Our estimate is that they moved and caged about 20,000 pounds of river rocks!
The intake system with the new PVC pipe was redesigned using about five times as much concrete as last time. One of the wooden forms, unfortunately, is still in place in this photo, so the intake of the pipe is mostly blocked from view.
This is a bird's eye view of the freshly painted swirlificationator. The generator sits in the hole in the middle. As the water goes down the hole, it turns the propeller and poof! electricity comes out.
On our last day in the village, our team posed on the newly constructed wooden walkway installed above the canal pipe. You can see the bubbles and turbulence at the base of the pipe as the water flows.
Water + Gravity + Electromagnetism = Usable Energy = Improved Lives = God's Love Tangibly Expressed
That's what we (try to) do.
Around October, 2008, lightning hit the village and damaged some of our electronics. We ordered some replacement parts, but before we could get them paid for and in the luggage of a friend on the way to Honduras, a large flood hit the river and tore out our canal system of PVC pipes. In retrospect, the pipes were not sufficiently secured, and the lightning protection was inadequate. But we are learning.
The lightning damage was repaired by Sergio, who can do anything and everything, but the flood damage could not be repaired until May 2009, when a new team returned. This post is a brief chronicle of the repairs to, and redesign of, our intake and canal system.
The above photo shows Matt, Ryan, and Blaine surveying the damage. Behind them you can see a low concrete wall that used to be used for drinking water collection, but has long since been out of commission. The concrete walls are about five feet tall, and the pool upstream of the dam is full of silt and rocks (where they stand). The hole in the dam near Ryan is where our 12 inch diameter PVC pipes used to take water to the generator. You can see the rusty generator box off to the left. This photo shows David cleaning out the rusty generator box, nicknamed the swirlificationator because one of its functions is to cause the water to swirl before encountering the blades of the hydro generator (the propeller).
This photo shows the upstream protection we installed to protect the dam and the generator from large debris (like trees and boulders) floating downstream in floods. In English, they are called gibbons, and in Spanish, "gabiones". They are wire cages a little bigger than a four-drawer filing cabinet, and filled with rocks. After they are full, we wired them closed. They make a very inexpensive, very heavy wall. They guys that worked on them the most (Matt, David, Brian, and Ryan) we nicknamed the Gabiones Brothers. Our estimate is that they moved and caged about 20,000 pounds of river rocks!
The intake system with the new PVC pipe was redesigned using about five times as much concrete as last time. One of the wooden forms, unfortunately, is still in place in this photo, so the intake of the pipe is mostly blocked from view.This is a bird's eye view of the freshly painted swirlificationator. The generator sits in the hole in the middle. As the water goes down the hole, it turns the propeller and poof! electricity comes out.
On our last day in the village, our team posed on the newly constructed wooden walkway installed above the canal pipe. You can see the bubbles and turbulence at the base of the pipe as the water flows.Water + Gravity + Electromagnetism = Usable Energy = Improved Lives = God's Love Tangibly Expressed
That's what we (try to) do.
Friday, July 10, 2009
DeMint Makes Strong Point, Bad Spanish
Senator Jim DeMint not only reviews the facts, but asks the hard questions of Obama/Clinton. This is a long speech (16+ minutes) but it explains, quite clearly I think, that the complex activities that recently occurred in Honduras were within the bounds of Honduran law.
Melvin's Protest
A few weeks ago I told you about a deaf Honduran subsistence farmer and his family of four daughters named Melvin. Strictly speaking, it was the man whose name is Melvin, not his daughters. Actually, they each have their own name, and even though I can't remember what their names are, I think I would remember if they too, were named Melvin. I mean, yes, they are poor, but they can afford a name for everybody. Hand-me-down names from Dad are OK as a last name, but not at the beginning. Well, in Latin America, it's really the next-to-last name that comes from Dad; the last name comes from Mom. But you understand.
As I sit here and type as if my stream of consciousness had a direct link to my fingers (and yet you read on?), I realize that Melvin has never heard the sound of his daughters' names. What other-worldliness he must live in. In fact, to him, their names are something else entirely: a hand sign, a lip movement, or perhaps, a scent. I am reminded of the Biblical account of Jacob tricking his father Issac into giving him the blessing of his older brother Esau. Some Old Testament scholars, in fact, think that Issac actually had a third son, not mentioned in the Bible, whose name was also Melvin. But I digress...
The purpose of this post was not to wax philosophically like, say, the deep-thinking salon attendant that did my back that one time, but instead to celebrate the arrival of a new computer to post new photos from Honduras! One of my students compiled several hundred shots from every one's cameras, so now I have many good images to share with you. We will start with Melvin.
This is Brian and Melvin after a hard day's work on the hydrogenerator canal. It was sorta like the Panama canal, only smaller and made of PVC pipe. Despite it's smaller size, our canal was a lot of hard work to construct. Brian and Melvin were two of our strongest workers, as you can see below.
I include this photo to show that Brian was, in truth, a strong young man. He was able to lift large styrofoam blocks like this one for hours at a time. My point, while covered in layers of absurdity, is this: that Brian said Melvin was the strongest and hardest-working person he had ever worked alongside. And Brian picks up boulders, so he must be strong himself.
It looks like Melvin is cooling off in the river, but actually, he is protesting the way the United States is interfering with democracy in Honduras. He told me, through hand signals, that he plans to sit in the river as a silent protest until Hilary Clinton brings him a hearing aide paid for by socialized medicine. Or at least I think that's what he said.
As I sit here and type as if my stream of consciousness had a direct link to my fingers (and yet you read on?), I realize that Melvin has never heard the sound of his daughters' names. What other-worldliness he must live in. In fact, to him, their names are something else entirely: a hand sign, a lip movement, or perhaps, a scent. I am reminded of the Biblical account of Jacob tricking his father Issac into giving him the blessing of his older brother Esau. Some Old Testament scholars, in fact, think that Issac actually had a third son, not mentioned in the Bible, whose name was also Melvin. But I digress...The purpose of this post was not to wax philosophically like, say, the deep-thinking salon attendant that did my back that one time, but instead to celebrate the arrival of a new computer to post new photos from Honduras! One of my students compiled several hundred shots from every one's cameras, so now I have many good images to share with you. We will start with Melvin.
This is Brian and Melvin after a hard day's work on the hydrogenerator canal. It was sorta like the Panama canal, only smaller and made of PVC pipe. Despite it's smaller size, our canal was a lot of hard work to construct. Brian and Melvin were two of our strongest workers, as you can see below.I include this photo to show that Brian was, in truth, a strong young man. He was able to lift large styrofoam blocks like this one for hours at a time. My point, while covered in layers of absurdity, is this: that Brian said Melvin was the strongest and hardest-working person he had ever worked alongside. And Brian picks up boulders, so he must be strong himself.
It looks like Melvin is cooling off in the river, but actually, he is protesting the way the United States is interfering with democracy in Honduras. He told me, through hand signals, that he plans to sit in the river as a silent protest until Hilary Clinton brings him a hearing aide paid for by socialized medicine. Or at least I think that's what he said.Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Important Video on US Role with Honduras
Wow! This senator has it right! Please take a look at this, then call your congressman/congresswoman, senators and Ms. Clinton and tell her you agree!
State Department Comment Line: 202-647-6575
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