072015

Coming home from Quincy, it was raining there but clearing on our way home to Nauvoo.  The humidity has been up around a suffocating 80% almost all of the time so when I go out for my morning jog, I'm pretty drenched by the time I get back to the ti-plex....and pooped also.  However, heading back this afternoon, it had cleared out a bit and we got some nice, cool weather, well, relatively speaking, and some pretty skies to look at:

This was taken in the town of Ursa.  Note the corn fields that are heading towards harvest in the not too distant future, the soybeans, the vastness of the acres and acres of land under cultivation.  It's hard to imagine how vast of an area is planted out here.  Their towns are sprawling, to say the least.  If you remember the Superman movies, it all really looks like that, everywhere you go.  Hard to believe that if you come from Kalifornia.  

...and, yes, it's green out here.  That comes from water falling from the skies.  You all from Kalifornia remember what that stuff is called, don't you?  It's called "rain".  They have gotten all of your rain out here, more than anyone can ever remember in forever.  Oh, and they don't seem to irrigate the crops.  Wonder why...thank the Lord for air conditioning....

071915

Another exciting week has flown by and here is another update.  Last Tuesday was a special "Missionary Fireside" at the stake center here in Nauvoo.  Since it was Tuesday night, we thought it was a bit odd but, Arlene and I work on Tuesday nights so we knew we would not be able to attend.  When we got to the temple that night, we were told we needed to be there.  So, we made the arrangements to go.  Since we had to be in our seats 20 minutes before 7 PM, that meant we had to leave at about 6 PM to get dressed in our "civies" and get over to the stake center (it's a block and a half away).  Both the temple and the site missionaries were attending so we knew the soft seats up front were going to be at a premium.  We got over there as soon as we could.

We got just about the last of the soft seats available.  There was a roomer flying about that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was in town but that seemed a bit out of the question, but promptly at around 7 PM, sure enough, he walked into the stake center.  We had filled the stake center so it was pretty crowded.

He was there just doing the grandpa thing with his grandkids on a church history tour of the US and Nauvoo was one of his stops.  It was quite a treat to sit at the feet of an Apostle of the Lord and hear him speak.  He encouraged and thanked us for our roles at Nauvoo, for bringing history to life and for helping out/serving as we do.  He also mentioned that he was in the temple the day before when the chillers had quit working due to the electrical/rain storms/bad power and the temple got pretty warm and wet inside (humidity).  We did't even know he was there.  Fortunately, I was off that day so they can't blame that one on me.  What a day to have a chiller failure.  It was a great fireside and special to us.  A once in a lifetime event.

Since it was 8 PM when he finished up, we realized it was early enough for us to go watch the Nauvoo Pageant so we headed down to park and walk in.  The seating was not as good as Monday night but it was good enough.  The Nauvoo Pageant is different from the British Pageant as it is about the Saints here in Nauvoo and their struggles.  It's pretty spectacular in it's own right.  I have a little video of it also.

Just for Mark Johnson, we happened to be sitting right next to the pathway for the flag ceremony as they marched into the arena at the very start of the Pageant.  Couldn't resist taking this for him.  However, due to the limit on the amount of video I can upload for the blog, this is shortened so it doesn't show them going up on stage.

I shot this sideways so the top appears to be missing sometimes.  It's not.  This is one of the final scenes of the pageant.  In the last scene the real temple is illuminated but that video, unfortunately, didn't make the cut.  I'll try to get it before it closes in August.  It takes a lot of people to put this thing on.  It's such a pleasure to be here.

We taught lesson number 6 today at the Burlington Ward Family Relations Class.  Only 2 more classes left.  I guess the Bishopric is thinking about what they are going to do next.  Temple Prep?  Family History?  Who knows for sure....

Oh, and it's been between 90 and 95 here all week with humidity levels up around 90% +.  Highlight of the week was Thursday as I was up in the attic of the Arrival Center in the afternoon working on the A/C because it was not working very well.  I found the air filters completely clogged with dirt so I pulled them out.  However, because they are located in the attic, difficult to get to, and a pain in the pattootee to work on, it takes forever to deal with.  I pulled the filters out (two separate units up there) and talked to the President.  Then just put everything back together so the A/C would sort of work.  The President said he would make some calls.  I figured he'd have them fix it Monday.  I get a call from the Arrival Center telling me the President has two filters on the way there in about half an hour for me.  Ugh...I hafta go back up there?  So, when they arrived, I went back up there and put them in as best I could.  Needless to say, I was a hot, sweaty mess that night.  Hope I don't do that too often.  I'm just too old for that....must of been hotter than Hades up there.  Or, at least, close to it...

...and, apparently, I have a replacement Grandpa in the Camino Ward while I'm gone.  Way to go, Brother Gardner!  She likes gum!

071315

Hey all, I guess no one looks at our blog anymore.  Guess we're forgotten now.  Oh, well, that is to be expected.  We're really busy here.  We work 40 plus hours a week from noon till 8 PM or longer each day during the pageant schedule.  Since most nights there are longer times in the baptistry, we end up getting out of the temple at about 8:30 or later.  It just takes us a long time to finish up things each night.

Each day I have about an hour of looking at each floor, all five of them, to check the status of the lights and change out burned out light bulbs (there are between 2,500 and 3,000 of them, haven't counted yet), to check the condition of things and to make sure everything is in tip top shape for the patrons.  I have responsibilities everywhere throughout the building so there are always many things to look at.  Everyone there knows me by sight, if not personally, so I get stopped at almost every floor asking about the condition of various things., telling me about things that need to be looked at, and asking about other issues that may need to be looked at.  One of my favorite is it's "too cold/hot in here".  The building is kept at about 70 degrees across the board but the humidity is the thing that varies a bit.  You'd be surprised at what happens when the outside humidity varies by 20%, how many questions I get about how hot/cold it seems to the ordinance workers.  Waiting an hour or so usually remedies the issue.

I have logs to take on operating equipment.  There are three huge air handlers plus associated equipment like chillers, boilers, humidification boilers, glycol system heaters for winter, fire pumps, two water treatment systems, and many other miscellaneous associated systems that need to be tended to and watched over.  Needless to say, the six sets of logs take 30 to 60 minutes to take two times a day, morning and evening.  Plus there are always projects going on.  I am currently working on an issue with the hot water glycol valve that was leaking by.  I've pulled it apart and have checked it out plus reinstalled it, stroked it so that it closes correctly, and will do some testing this week.  We have some parts on hand if I need them.  I have an outstanding project on one of the washers to replace the display board but we won't be doing that till after the pageant and the hectic season slows down and we have accumulated all of the parts.  That's a major hassle and major change out.  The laundry really does't want their washer down during this time.  Other issues crop up constantly.  It's a big building and needs care on a regular basis.  That's why I am there.  To do my little bit to help.

Arlene works in the office all night and does the paperwork needed there.  She needs to stay each night till everyone is done so we're late each night.  There's a lot of coordinating that needs to happen each day and it's almost overwhelming.  There's lots of stuff that needs to happen each day and she does a champion job of getting all it done.

We got to watch the pageant rehearsal last night.  It was the first time they could actually use the stage due to the rotten, wet weather we've been having recently.  The weather was gorgeous last night.  Since it's an outside theatre, the weather needs to be nice to pull it off.  However, unless it is pouring down rain, they still put the pageant on.  Drizzle is OK.

Since it was a run through, they were kind of ad-libbing this section so the bagpipers left but they had a flag presentation and all the associated ceremony.  

This was the closing number of the British Pageant.  It really is a very well done production and worth going to see.  I completely enjoyed it.  There are a lot of people involved in this pageant.

070615

Sometimes, Elders in the mission field just need to be silly on their P-Days, I guess.  Elder Seger in the Chicago Illinois Mission is no exception...

It's nice when we get to exchange emails with him on Mondays and a picture now and then.  Sometimes it's a live exchange of emails.  Once in a while a goofy picture comes through.  Nice to know he still has a sense of humor!  We miss our ginger...

070515

Happy 4th of July to everyone!  Hope you had a good weekend.  We worked all of the 4th in the temple until 8 something at night.  We then went just outside the temple on the front lawn.   As we were waiting for the fireworks to start and the sun to go down, we saw the sun looking like this.  For the last few days it's been really yucky weather here.  There is smoke in the air like back in Kalifornia
that has been pretty bad.  It looks and sometimes smells nasty.  Reminds me of the fires at home.  Of course, the temps have been in the low 80s so can;t complain a whole lot.  I guess that's better than the 100s.

So, after the fireworks that were across the Mississippi, which is a pretty wide river, and look pretty small, we were about to head off when the Nauvoo pageant were doing some practicing and decided to light up the temple.  We got this shot:

This is really lit up compared to normal.  The pageant has a set of lights just across the street that they have set up and they use at the end of the pageant to light up the temple for their finale.  The pageant starts Tuesday.  They are having a dress rehearsal tomorrow sometime and we're hoping we can get there and see it.  Otherwise, we work every night during the pageant so we will have difficulty getting there.  We work noon to 8 PM every night Tuesday through Saturday, the nights they put on the pageant.

Tonight was "break the fast" and we were the host family at our house/apartment.  I decided to do a lasagna and we had the two other couples bring a salad and a dessert.  Worked out well.  I didn't hear any complaints about my lasagna and they wanted some to take back for later so I guess it was a hit.  We also took some over to one of Arlene's clerical supervisor's for her to eat tomorrow night.  Her daughter is going to be operated on and she will be otherwise occupied tomorrow with worry.  

At any rate, new 40 hour work week schedule for the next 5 weeks and we'll be back into the fall schedule.  We will be doing line/ordinance work starting this coming Friday so that I don't forget what I've learned so far.  

Best wishes to all of you.  Hope to hear from you some day.