042815

Just to catch up a bit...

Last Sunday we attended the Site Missionary Sunday services at 8 AM along with all of the new Temple Missionaries (86 of them) and the site missionaries.  It was an interesting Sacrament meeting.  Typically, Sacrament is in a family ward but this is almost totally made up of senior missionaries, the rest being young sister missionaries serving in the visitor's center (total is to be about 20 this year).  There were enough "gray heads" to fill the chapel, the stand (they were singing a choir number that day) and probably a dozen or more rows in the first overflow so that would be in the neighborhood of 300 to 400 members attending.  The stand was packed also.  Imagine that there are no Aaronic Priesthood as there are no youth, the youngest being a sister missionary of 19 or so.  The oldest or average age being in the 70's.  What really struck me was the fact that it was quiet but 3 minutes before the 8 AM hour and church was to start, it got absolutely quiet and there was not a sound but the playing of the organ prelude music.  Now, that was strange.  No one said anything, it just got quiet all on it's own because the members knew it was time for the meeting to start.  I suppose that is what it will be like in the afterlife...

Tonight we had all of the new temple missionaries meet over at the Nauvoo Inn for a combined dinner get together.  That was about 100 of us including the Temple Presidency.

Room full of temple missionaries.  Not all of them either.  

The Jacobson's sitting at our table, across from Arlene.  They are our neighbors in our tri-plex.  Nice people.  They've been here for 6 months.

This was our server.  Closest thing to a smile I could get out of her.  She's posing with Sister Jacobson.  She served on a mission but had to come home for medical reasons.  She works at the temple and is the sweetest girl you could ever know. Just a real sweetheart.  ...and makes fantastic cinnamon rolls!

We went to "Rendezvous" tonight.  It's put on by the site missionaries.  It is a daily attraction and was quite fun to hoot and holler as they talked about early Nauvoo.  Lots of fun to watch. 

One of the group songs

The principle narrator (the Nauvoo Neighbor printer)

One of the performers cutting up.  quite entertaining stuff.

 Loved it.  Will probably go see it again.  Pageant starts up in May so can't wait for that!

Only 3 days of shutdown left!  Yippee!  I don't think my back can take much more....

The new temple missionaries start their training in the assembly room tomorrow morning.  They did some sessions in the temple today.  The ones that I talked to really love being here so far.  One sister stopped me today and asked me "Do you ever get over the emotional feelings you have in the temple"?  I assured her that she would but also told her that as an Assistant Engineer, I view the temple somewhat differently that she does.  While she walks down the hallways breathing in the spirit there, I am constantly looking for things that I can correct or fix, light bulbs that I can replace, things that can be straightened up, what I need to take readings on in the next hour, the sound of air flowing in the ductwork.  It's just a little bit different for an engineer than it is for someone visiting the temple for the first or second time.  It's quite necessary for a few of us to be that way otherwise no one would enjoy it.  I guess someone needs to be "made" that way so it might as well be me...and that's one of the reasons I volunteer to be an ordinance worker for one shift a week just to keep my head in the game...

042515

The first week of shutdown is over and, somehow, I managed to survive!  I don't think I want to do that again...  What a week.  I'm sore and exhausted.

Monday was a prep day as the laundry was still up and running, cleaning up all of the leftovers from last week so they still had to have the high pressure boiler up.  Since my first job was the condensate system that comes off of the HP boiler, it was sort of necessary that the boiler be shut down before I could do any work.  The float controller, or what is called the "manual alternator", was leaking pretty badly and wasn't controlling the level at all, so the whole mechanism had to be replaced.  That had to happen first.  That took a day since it was fairly complicated.  However, setting the levels for pumps start/stop was not going to happen till I could get some water in the tank and that wasn't happening till I got one of the pump's seals replaced because it started leaking also.  Fortunately, they had the parts on hand.  All I did on Monday was to get ready to tear into the controller on Tuesday Morning.

Arlene came to the temple with a couple of other sisters and set up the storage containers for the new temple missionaries that are coming on Friday.  There is a 4th floor storage area for the whites and other temple clothes for ordinance workers.  She was helping getting that all set up for them.  She is also assigned some of the prep work for the new missionaries and, since I am working all the time during shut down, will be handling that.

Tuesday I was able to remove the old controller, which was a real challenge since it had been in place for many years and was really rusted in place.  Got the new one installed and it sort of adjusted till I could get some water in the tank for the final adjustments.

Wednesday was tackle the pump day.  This required removing the pump from it's mounting,  inspecting the impeller and wear ring.  All of the other parts were going to be replaced so I didn't much care about them.  The impeller was a mess so I opted to replace it and found a new one with a new wear ring.  The motor shaft was very rough with lots of pitting.  It was a 50/50 decision as to whether to replace the motor or not.  The seal rests against the shaft and if it leaks at all, it damages the shaft.  It was obvious it had leaked in the past and the corrosion of the shaft was obvious from previous occurrences.  So, the motor had to be replaced.  They had a spare.  So, new motor, impeller, wear ring, nut, bolt, seal assembly and it was like brand new top to bottom.  Got that all back together.  Fired up the boiler to get some water in the system and waited to adjust things.  Once the water came up, set the start/stop of the pump switch and all seemed to work just fine...except the other pump started making noise....they don't have parts for that one...well, not enough right now anyway.

Thursday was the next project.  In January they had a sprinkler line in the overhead freeze, break and flood the 5th floor sealing room, damaging the room and running all the way down into the fourth floor.  There was a check valve on the 5th floor janitor's closet that should have stopped the glycol from going back into the system that didn't.  So, my job was to replace this check valve.  However, this check valve is in a 2" system.  So, we're not talking about small pipe wrenches.  And, of course, they weren't in the middle of the room but against the wall.  The parts were there so they informed me as to how they wanted the check valve installed and I figured a way to do it but it involved a 36", a 24", and a couple of 18" pipe wrenches plus an assortment of other tools, pipe dope, rags and clean up stuff.  Since this had been installed when the temple was new, it did not come apart very easily and it required a torch and heat to even get it to budge a small amount.  It also took Brother Russ Fellows, a fellow Asst Engineer, to come up and help as it's about all I can do to lift that 36" pipe wrench, let alone use the thing.  Sure wish they had those in aluminum!  Managed to get it all put together by the end of the day and ready to test on Friday.  I was really hopping I wouldn't need to do any more tightening 'cause those joints were hard to tighten in the first place.  It was pretty easy when I was 30 but at 66 this stuff is a bit more difficult when I really want to lay down and take a nap a lot more.

Friday we charged the glycol side with the appropriate fluid and the fire side with water and it didn't have any leaks.  Yeah!  All that plumbing experience pays off!  Hope it still isn't leaking on Monday morning...  In the afternoon I spent almost all the time cleaning up as that was a pretty messy fill process.  The pump wouldn't work unless I loosened the end cap.  When I did that, the pump would turn but the fluid would squirt all over the place so I had to loosen it up, get the pump going, then tighten it back up again so we could pump the fluid up into the stand pipe and into the tower vent, actually all the way up to just under the Angel Moroni!  Took about 30 gallons.  So, I ended up with glycol in my hair, my clothes, just about everywhere (floor, ceiling, etc.) in the janitor's closet, including my mouth (yes, it does taste sweet in case you have ever been curious).

So, because we got a lot done this week, the head engineer gave us Saturday off.  I slept in and got caught up on our blog and working on a couple of laptops for friends here.  Think I'll take a nap.  Oh, and we're going to a dinner for the 38 couples that arrived here for their 6 month missions at the temple yesterday!  Yeah, more people!

Arlene met with an assigned couple and showed them their apartment and some of the area Friday afternoon.  That took a fair part of the day.  The temple president's wife sets up a food basket that is delivered to the apartment by the "Winter" missionaries then they go meet with them to show them around a bit.  We got assigned a couple but, of course, only the engineers are working.  Our wives hafta do this little task while we're working.

Monday we start all over again but I think the big projects are over.  We need to do a fire alarm test, replace any lights that are burned out, and any of the last minute stuff.  The new temple missionaries will be doing endowment sessions on Wednesday/Thursday.  We start the spring schedule the following Monday as this temple does Monday sessions to accommodate the crowds.  However, the engineers are off that day.  Well, the missionary engineers are off that day, anyway.  The full timers aren't.  But, we work Saturdays, they don't so much.

041615

Monday was Family Home Evening for our senior couples and we had two couples leaving in the next few days, the Rich's and the Greene's so we had to have an excuse to get together and have a potluck.  Here are the pictures from that pot luck.

In the foreground is Sister McArthur, the Temple President's wife.

These missionaries can really make some great food!

Settling in to enjoy.  It's still a bit cool but we survived.

This is "our" group, the Wilson's on the left, the Hendrick's (he's the other Assistant Engineer with me, and Arlene.

Here is our temple picture we're sending to the family.  Brother Moffitt took it for us.  He has done professional photography and been a temple president in South America.  He and his wife are the nicest people.

Here are some of Brother Moffitt's photos:

Some of our local stuff that is blooming right now.  Pretty, huh?

041115

A beautiful day we had today.  When we got off after serving on our Saturday morning temple worker shift, we found out that Kevin had a family that has him in their ward regularly, the Puente's, visiting their family here and Nauvo.  They made every effort to find us at the temple.  In fact, spent of of a frustrating day trying to get in contact with us.  We're kind of hard to find on a Saturday.  But, perseverance pays off and we finally met up with them.  Mom at her time and me just before they left.  Very nice people.  They really like Kevin and say he has a gift for Spanish and speaks it very well.  A lot better than he has been telling us, right Elder Seger?  They love Kevin.  We may have a picture coming along sometime in the future as there wasn't a lot of time when we were talking.

Also, we got to see the video of Michael and Nicole's "Reveal Party".  Looks like there will be another namesake to carry on the Seger name in the future.  My Dad was so concerned that his end of the family would be the end of the Seger name.  Guess not, Dad!  You are well represented.  Now, won't that be pretty spectacular when all the Seger kidlets get together?  I mean, really, we all know how well they got along as kids at our house, growing up, don't we?  Absolute terror anyone?

So, you have something to look at on this post, the tulips at the Nauvoo temple popped this week.   Sorry but I had to use my iPhone.  Here they are:

Mom, what are you looking at?  The tulips are over here?  Sweety?

Now that I have your attention...

That green grass in the back was dead brown when we got here three weeks ago.

The Hyacinths look a little peaked due to the wild weather we had a couple of days ago.  They didn't stand up to the wind quite as well as the tulips did.

So, we have officially been gone from Kalifornia for a little over a month.  So far, not missing it much.  No real time to miss much of anything except sushi...have not had time to find any good restaurants out here yet.

The days are long and event filled and we're thinking, albeit not a lot, about what we're going to do in 17 months when the time draws to an end.  The missionary people we work with here are past temple presidents, stake presidents, Bishops, and personally know general authorities and we keep wondering...how'd we end up with these people?  We are so outclassed!   But they are really, really nice and down to earth people.  Many are serving on their 4th or 5th mission.  They get home and submit papers for their next mission to leave as soon as they can.  They want to keep going as long as they possibly can.  We are about the youngest couple out here.  Arlene is one of the "babies" among the women.  Seriously.  Wonderful people.  Now the people that live here, well, that's another story to come a little later....

040915

We took some time and walked around our lovely town of Nauvoo to visit a couple of the homes here in the "flats".  We first visited the Heber C Kimball home:

Heber C Kimball

That is an interesting wood stove

If your have any kind of physical handicap, you are not going upstairs..

One of the original "Scoville" plates listing the Quorum of the Twelve on the edges

This is hand drawn in 1855 of what was left of the temple.  The artist is remarkable at detail.  I think this is the East side of the temple.

Next we walked over to the Wilford Woodruff home, between the raindrops and the wind that was beginning to blow terrifically.  We had a couple of hours until our shift and thought we had some time.  It was predicted that there would be thunderstorms last night.  Well, close, as we were under a tornado watch until 8:30 PM last night.  One touched down a hundred or so miles East of us and did a fair amount of damage.  The wind was really blowing through Nauvoo last night.  We're hoping that this doesn't happen too often here.  The doors were slamming and even the pictures by the temple walls were lifting away from the walls when the patrons entered the temple.  It was a pretty interesting night for all of us.  

Some of President Woodruff's personal effects

A picture of the First Presidency just after the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple with President Woodruff

The kitchen "stoves" in one part of the house.  These were mostly relegated to a room outside of the house but President Woodruff designed the house to have the kitchen inside, supposedly for added heat during the cold winters in Nauvoo.

We had a good time walking around and getting our "exercise" for the day (so we can wear our jeans and T-Shirts legally) as long as wed're on the "flats".  It was muggy and around 75 with the approaching storm but the day before it was 100% humidity, around 50 degrees, and foggy.  Couldn't even see the river and it's just a couple hundred yards away from us!  Today (the 10th) it's bright and clear, drier, sun is shining, warm and really nice.  But...summer is coming....trees are starting to bud out, Daffodils and Tulips are blooming.  Must be spring back here!

040615

P-Day!  Out on the town.  First we visited Richardson's Point, Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail in Milton, Iowa.  It's the site of two graves of Mormon Pioneers laid to rest in 1846.  James Monroe Tanner, 15 months and Edwin Sobieski Little, age about 30.  It's on a family pig farm and the odor was lovely...so to speak.

The over all site.

One of the grave markers

Next we moved on to the thriving metropolis of Cantril Iowa.  It's a Mennonite Community that runs the store we visited and it has lots of pretty interesting things to look at and purchase.  We did some shopping for a few items we were lacking at home.

The bustling downtown of Cantril.

Dutchman's Store is pretty unique, as I will show you.  Just so many things you don't see any other place, especially in Kalifornia!

I mean, really, how often do you ever get a choice between a 10 pound and a 25 pound manual sausage stuffer?

...and, of course, they had the electric, powered ones also...just not something you would see at your local WalMart, huh?

What Family Home Evening would be complete without a game of Farm-Opoly?

On the toy isle, beautiful metal cars, trucks, and farm implements but not a single firetruck, military vehicle, or police car to be found anywhere in the store.  Farming is the way things are done here and it shows everywhere, even in the toy isle.

On the way back, the toll bridge was swung over and we had to wait a bit.  We got to watch a couple of barges move up the Mississippi and sit back and relax for a few minutes.

Nice day to be out with the Hendricks (engineers) and the Wilsons (temple) missionaries.

Lest you think I am poking fun at the store, it was quite an opportunity to see what they had to offer.  They were very nice and they had all kinds of items for sale you just don't see anywhere else.  Including a giant, $1300 hand ice cream maker.  Home made craft items.  Lots of hand packaged food items and breads/pies.  We had a delicious Raspberry/blackberry for dessert at home tonight.  Too bad you missed out.  Yummy!  Back to work tomorrow...

040515

Watching General Conference this morning.  What a wonderful opportunity to hear the words of the general authorities and leadership of the church.  Inspiring direction and counsel.  After the two conferences today we have Easter dinner at President/Sister McArthur's house (temple President and his wife).  They are really nice people and we have enjoyed talking to them and working with them.  It has been a pleasure to be here so far.  Miss all the kidlets and family but we're serving where Heavenly Father needs us to be.

Happy Easter to all of you!

033115

Today we had to stop at Keokuk and take something back to Wal-Mart then decided to head up to Burlington, Iowa to see what was up there.  On the way up, we saw this rest stop across the Mississippi from the temple and saw the temple there in all it's glory.  Thinking about it, this would have been the last view the saints had of their beloved temple as they headed West in 1846.  Well, except for the rail cars and the water tower next to the temple, but you get the idea...  We have been told that the dam/powerhouse built downstream at Keokuk raised the river about 20 feet so it is much wider than what it was in 1846 through 1848 when the Saints left Nauvoo.  None the less, a spectacular view of the temple from the West side of the river.