Two Flat Tires Ruins a Day

Written by Lonny (April 3, 2010)

I had a good chat with my family this morning but the internet was having a hard time going.  I had to recall them several times and we finally gave up.  

I waited for Danny all morning so that we could go to Welkite  to fill our liquid nitrogen tanks but he didn't show up or answer his phone.   Danny showed up at noon.  He had had two flat tires and couldn't get a spare.  I will send him on Monday to get the nitrogen. 

I used the time to get more of my planning and preparing done.  Sometimes it is hard to find the things that you need here in Ethiopia. This is not an uncommon occurance where you spend all day just trying to do simple tasks like get a couple of new tires. The flat tires also speak of the terrible road conditions throughout the country. They are making progress but it is slow.

I put together three equipment lists of the equipment that we will need and gave them to Ayenew, our new purchasing agent.  He probably won’t be able to find much of the equipment here but any is better than none. I have contacted Delaval and some other dairy supply companies but their operations only go to South Africa. 

Danny having the semen tank filled with liquid nitrogen

Joe and I went to Avanti’s Italian restaurant for lunch.  They have very good food that is reasonably priced.  I had the seafood ravioli.  It was pretty good.  We stopped at Bambi’s to buy some groceries.  You can find most western style food there but it is about twice as expensive as in the states.

This evening I enjoyed “Conager” a movie based off of Louis Lamour’s book of that same name.  It was good to kick back and relax.  I was able to get a live steam of LDS General Conference tonight.  I missed parts of some of the talks but it was still very uplifting.  Afterward we had a fun time just chatting on Skype.  I sure miss my family.