Fuel, surgery, and sand

Good morning, well it is just after 5:00 here, but that is an improvement. I woke up a few times during the night but was able to get back to sleep each time until about 4:00. My computer is still set to pacific standard time which is 8 hrs earlier, my body is somewhere in between.
Yesterday Rusty had to do his least favorite regular duty, monitor the fuel delivery to the powerhouse. First about 10:00 the power went out, that is not unusual here for various reasons, but because the hospital is on the system it is crucial that it keep working. The hospital has a backup generator, but it doesn't work, a story for another time. The powerhouse has 4 generators, one that hasn't worker for a long time, a newer more expensive one that was suppose to be more dependable, that you guessed it, isn't working, an old Cummings powered one that keeps chugging along, unless it runs out of fuel, which is the case now. The fourth is a John Deere powered generator that is used as backup and when the load is to large on the Cummings. It is too small to run the whole ELWA campus on its own so Rusty had to cut the power to half of the campus. Luckily Rusty and Jamie's house is on the half with the hospital, Jamie was afraid she was going to have to start cooking everything in the freezer. Back to the powerhouse, each generator has a fuel tank with enough capacity for a day or so. There are two 5000 gal tanks in the ground outside and fuel is pumped from those to the generators as needed. If all this is not complicated enough, Service in Mission (SIM) who owns and funds Eternal Love Winning Africa (ELWA) is having a hard time raising funds because of the current economy and there has been some funds gone missing from ELWA. So the new director here, who Rusty believes to be a good capable man, is trying to cut corners and save money to make up for the "lost" funds. One of the cost saving measures is only buying 1000 gals at a time. Rusty had warned that fuel was getting low, but the director was trying to make one more day. Anyway when Rusty first got here the fellow who used to monitor the fuel delivery warned him that they would try to short you fuel so the drivers could sell the extra, and he believed they had a way to alter the delivery meter. So Rusty would measure the tank before delivery started and after they said they had pumped 1000 gals he would measure again, always coming up with less than they said. Then after arguing for awhile they would put a little more in. Measure, argue, little more fuel, measure, argue, so on until Rusty thought that they weren't being cheated too badly. Over time a system of 4 oil drums was set up, with a connecting manifold that dumped into the underground tank. Now they fill the four barrels, Rusty checks each barrel to make sure they are full, almost every time they have to add a little more, then Rusty opens the valve and dumps the fuel into the underground tank. That process is repeated until 17 1/2 barrels are filled and dumped, add in spilled fuel, leaky pipes, sticky valves, barrels filled out of order, and when done the meter on the truck said we were due a little more fuel, you can understand why Rusty dislikes it. I might add that the fuel truck is manned by 4 workers, a driver who has to remain in the truck to keep putting it in gear and out because there is no nozzle on the end of the hose, one to run the hose, one to argue with Rusty and one to stand around.
After that we went to the hospital because the air conditioning in the operating room had quit working. In an effort to save money the new director had purchased two used units for there, both had quit, after some discussion with the electrician and a AC tech it was decided to cannibalize one to make the other work and move the one from the morgue to replace the other. I had said I wouldn't have a problem going to the dental clinic here, the hospital is another story, I would have to be pretty sick, I'm talking life or death sick. If it is your only choice, then I guess it will have to do, but anybody complaining about our health care system doesn't want to come here. When we came out Dr, Rick Sacra saw us and came over to Rusty to "beg" for AC in the OR, I imagine operating while you are sweating profusely is not good. The Operating room is not sealed off as well as you would expect, but it doesn't have good ventilation, so it is stifling without ac.
D'Linda and I had walked up the beach to get some pictures of the guys carrying the sand, they weren't, but the women were. I took a picture of one with the 50 lb sack of sand on her head and her baby on her back, for you women wanting to lose that extra weight after pregnancy. I have been trying to load some pictures, but I'll haven't had any success so I guess that is all for now.