We did not make it to Bible study tonight because Steve has been attacked by the back door trots. It is not unusual here in the tropics in a third world country. A friend of my parents used to say, “The Russians are coming!” When he had stomach distress! Whatever you call it , it is not fun. When Steve called Timothy to let him know we would not be at Bible study tonight he said that he was not going to be there either because he was in Makaliyi helping with his mother’s funeral.
I was so put out with the carpenters /roofers this morning. They started the second round house; these houses are both in the front yard of the compound; they are like twins. We paint them the same and we want them to look alike. We had to make them raise the roof line on the first house and we made it very clear that we wanted tall roofs. When they got the roof set this morning it was obviously shorter than the first round house. I told Baba, the carpenter foreman, that the roof was not tall enough; he started arguing with me. First he said they were both the same height. I told him they were not and he said they were. I guess he thinks I am just a woman and couldn’t tell that it was shorter. I went in the house and got Steve so he could help me measure the roof peaks and prove that one was taller. Sure enough there was over a foot’s discrepancy in the heights. Then he said it was our fault the roof was low because the second round house was a little bigger than the first one! What kind of excuse is that? We are not the carpenter; we didn’t do the measuring! Then he said that if he made it taller he would have to use more roofing sheets. I told him I did not care! Then he said that it was too late because the lumber was already cut. He then told us that this height of a roof was good for this round house! In reality it would have been difficult at that point to buy, treat and re-cut the lumber. I was mostly annoyed that he would not take responsibility for the mistake and tried to make it our fault! I waited until Abochi, the real carpenter, came to work and I told him I was not happy! He had already talked to Baba and he started the same song and dance that the round house was bigger than the first one and so on and so forth. I told him that it did not matter how big the round house was; I could make a round house as big as the whole front yard and a carpenter could make the roof any height I wanted it to be. I told him it was someone’s fault that the roof was low but it was not mine nor the round houses fault. He conceded and said that they did not measure the houses and assumed they were the same size. He told Baba to make the cuts the same as the cuts on the first building; hence the problem. Just admit you made a mistake and let’s move on!
Hopefully they will start putting up roofing sheets tomorrow.
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
P.S. Please pray for our friend Mike; he fell off a 12 ft ladder and broke his back and some ribs. He had surgery yesterday.
Also pray for my Aunt Daris; she is having a medical procedure on her heart, I think it is called a “Watchman”.
The Monkeyshines
I did not get to play outside until this afternoon. I did get out of jail on good behavior early this morning. I helped Mom sew. I have figured out that when I am inside Mom’s shirt/dress that I can see through the weave in the fabric. I usually take a nap inside her clothes when she is sewing. I sit quietly and watch her sew through the fabric; when she puts down a straight pin or her snips I quickly stick my hand out of the neck hole and grab whatever I want. Mom is quick but this technique always catches her off guard! I am the clever one!
This morning I helped the parents sort the onions they bought yesterday. I love to peel off that paper outer layer of the onions. I was so much help that at one point Dad told Mom that she was going to have to put me out of the room! My feelings were hurt!
While Mom was washing dishes and cutting up fruit for me for the next few days I just messed around. I got in a little trouble when I found and destroyed the third ink pen. They are those blue Bic pens. First I pull that blue thing out of the end and then I pull the ink cartridge out of the pen and bite off the roller ball thing and then I crack the clear case with my teeth. It is the sound of that case cracking that alerts them to the fact that I have destroyed another pen! But it is great fun!
Love, Skeeter
