Customer service and the USA

Customer service .... Usually something that all of us complain about ..... Especially when your trying to return something ..... If you are one of the readers of this blog that lives where the customer service is good then good for you.... No better said, great for you! .... Here in EC there really is no such thing as customer service .... Well they say there is but it really isn't, not in the sense we are accustomed to, that is, if your from the US, Canada or from Australia.

For example......

We are in the US for work and to visit my Dad and other family. The formally know GC asked us if we could return an item they bought, while in the US, sometime back .... Now in EC you have a unwritten 30 day guarantee .... After that if you have a problem it's your problem "not ours" or so they say ... I have figured out a few possible work arounds to that mentality but never actually put them into practice .... Perhaps one day we will try putting them into practice and find out if they really work..... Anyway, the return in the USA .... I go into BBB no not the better business bureau, Bed Bath & Beyoooooond, and the little lady at the "customer service department" asks how she can help,.... I share with her the problem with the item and she does'nt even look in the bag to see what's in there ..... There could have been a dead rat for all she knew .... No she didn't even look .... Just told me to go and get another one ..... Well there were different sizes so I didn't know which one to take back to EC to the Webbs .... At this point the manager gets involved and directs me to the exact item ... I ask what more I need to do and she says "nothing" .... Oh I'm sure there is something I need to do right? "nope" "well yes take your junk and go"! Nothing else? Nooooooo! She says ..... And looks at me like what is your problem mister ...... I'm thinking my problem is I live in Ecuador and this is just not normal, what your doing and I want, I need a little more resistance .... Nasty looks and general frustration when I try to return something..... What's the matter with you people? Oh I know what's the matter with you people, you've been taught to have a measure of customer service.... A really good measure of customer service!

Lesson learned

So the next time you have a problem and have to return something to a store, just remember that customer service does exist in many countries, and if you happen to live in one where it does exist, even if it's not perfect .... Be greatful as you could be trying to return something in EC and have them look at you like your a moron from another planet, and then have them tell you "we don't even sell that here" well not this week you don't ..... But last month when I bought it here you did.... And then have them tell you it's past the 1 month guarantee, Uuuuuuuuugh!

Oh one other thing... now you know, if you stay with the Webbs you have a nice mattress to sleep on ;-)...

Where has the time gone?

I was looking at the site and noticed it's been 3 MONTHS since the last blog ...... and to think I had plans to increase the amount of blogs sent out when I sent out the last one! ...... What happened? ....... New congregation .... that's what..... BUSY BUSY BUSY..... Arranging everything and with 2 elders and 90 publishers it's ... well crazy..... but the congregation is awesome .... the friends are wonderful and appreciative of all the efforts on there behalf.... we also got a great group of MS's that are hard workers ..... One is a fireman full time, a dad of 2 lovely children, an husband of the sister on the far right and a regular pioneer (spends a minimum of 70 hours in the ministry  ...... for those unfamiliar with the liiiiingoooo)

Just last night we qualified 2 new publishers to start in the ministry (1 of the 2...2nd from the left).... yes the 3 (formally 2) congregations are already starting to grow ... with lots and lots of new bible students regulary attending the meetings... Carol has 3 that are attending, 2 regularly and one of and on ......  AMAZING..... so for those that have the circumstances and the desire to go where the need is greater... come on down to Ecuador ..... we will leave the light on for you! You wont be disappointed ..... with the ministry that is ;-o !

As for some of the tom foolery that happens here we just have to share with you ..... We were with the Webbs yesterday and they share with us, their fun little episode ... seems they decided to purchase a bed not the mattress, just the part that makes the mattress look good... evidently they went in a few weeks back a made the deal-i-o with the furniture place... they specified the color and made sure the color was written on the paperwork and highlighted and underlined and bolded and...... well you get the idea .... it was clear what they were paying for.... well evidently it wasn't ! ... when the bed comes it's the wrong color and the finish was the Cuenca Ecuador high shine ... make that spit shine special! ... all we can all say about that is  ....... YUCK!!!!!!!   ...... UGLY!!!!!! ...... so when it came they asked what was going on as this was not what they ordered .... "well lets get it set up and deal with that later" or something like that was the response ..... Carl tried to talk to the sales person and then the owner but the owner wouldn't  take the calls, until Carl informed the delivery guys that they wouldn't be receiving the rest of the DINERO..... bed set up and they don't get all the money .... Carl had to escort the fellow that was the driver, who had nothing to do with the deal, out of the apartment due to the guy "sticking his spoon in the situation" ... (translated for the english speakers and readers).... well once the setup guy realized he wouldn't be returning to the office with all the bucks .... guess who calls Carl? .... Yup the owner .... "what's going on"? .... he says to Carl .... (listen to your voice mails buddy? if so you would know.... oh but you do know ..... that's right ... THAT'S THE REASON YOU DIDN'T ANSWER THE CALLS IN THE FIRST PLACE! YOU WERE TRYING TO IGNORE THE SITUATION) ..... well when there is money involved they don't tend to ignore you ..... well the long and short of it is that they are going to have it refinished ..... well we had a good laugh at their expense ...... (never want to do that, ......It always comes back to haunt you) .....

But usually not the next day ..... so this morning we call for gas (propane) .... we have some friends coming and we don't want them to have to take cold showers and not to be able to cook their food (it's always better when it's cooked isn't it?) ... so we call for gas as mentioned ... "how long"?  .... "30 minutes" ......  ok that sounded reasonable .... so an hour later I call and ask where they are and they mention that they had a problem that came up and that the truck would be here in 20 minutes .... fair enough ... 20 minutes it is .... 30 minutes later I call and ask where they are at "well our truck was there but you weren't" ... noooooo not so Mr. gas man ... I was here! .......  and then they tell me they will come again (again? no you never came the first time, so you can't come again .... just come the first time) and deliver the gas in the next few minutes ..... ok ok, calm down Bill, calm down .... you doooooo understand I was a bit upset as I had other stuff to do on my "day off" .... the one and only during the week .... for right now .... like I said earlier BUSY BUSY BUSY! .... SOOOOOO after several more phone call and  promises to be there "enseguida" (right away, immediately, ASAP) and then being told that I gave them the wrong address .... yes all 3 times I gave them the wrong address.... I still don't know where I live .... I'm an idiot! .... finally the truck arrives and they do the gas tank trade out and I pay the driver and mention they must be really busy today.... then he tells me he's been at the shop, getting the truck fixed, something to do with the brakes ..... So I go back into the house after paying him and call the gas mans office and ask for the jefe .... (boss) and let him know that I was told that the truck would be here about 10 times between 10-12:30, and all along the truck was in the shop, and they had no way of fulfilling the promises to deliver the gas and I don't appreciate being lied to and blah blah blah ..... and then I realized ........... I was speaking to NO ONE.... I guess when I told him I didn't like being lied to like that he didn't take it too well .... Customer service .... whats that? ... we saw Carl and Esli at the grocery store same day, and told them our story, ..... we all just laughed ... even though we weren't laughing when it happened .... seems when we moved to the neighborhood/area where the Webbs live,  we stole some of their golden-ness (if thats a word) and when they came by and visited yesterday they stole it back! It's good for some laughs! ..... and a lot less hair. .... (I have so little,.... hair that is,  I have nothing to loose)

We have moved .....

Yes we finally did it ..... we moved from the cold, mold ridden, noisey (screaming kids, who scream for no reason, other then to scream, car alarms that went off during the night for whatever reason, and PARTIES until 3-4 in the morning for no good reason) that was fun ........ Some months ago, when Carol had "the Hep", I started to look for another place.... one day when she felt a bit better, she came with to see an apartment, and in the process we (she) found a small 3 story building in the process of being built..... when we spoke to the husband of the owner, he invited us to take a look at the apartments and we mentioned we had a dog ("No problem") that seldom happens ..... we go to the top of the building, and what can I say....."It was love a first site" .... 3rd storey, view of the mountains, city and a large patio to enjoy the really nice (normally) weather! It was the Dream apartment ..... and as it turned out, it was a dream .... You can check out the view from, not quite the top of the 3rd storie, in this video...

The following week,  the owner told us that her father had decided to take the place, as he was a recent widower, and preferred the smaller of the two apartments ..... Sounding like a bait and switch? ..... weeeell that's what it turned out to be..... after informing us that the 3rd story was not available .... "hooooowever the 2nd story (less view, no patio to enjoy the nice weather)  is available and you can have that unit" .... well the neighborhood is nice and the area is 1000 times more tranquil, and only 15 minutes to the city center (walking) ... so we decided to take the place ..... "Next question?" "When will it be ready?" 2 months she affirmed .... this is where it starts to sound like the movie "The Money Pit" .....  remember the Schreck or Shmelck or Streck brothers? (whatever there name was) .... "2 weeks" then 2 weeks later "2 weeks" well that's what happened here ..... roll the tape forward 4 MONTHS and we moved.... We gave notice on our old place and were ready to move in September 1, the day before the move, the place has yet to be cleaned up from all the construction ..... so we go in and start cleaning ... of course the owners think we're crazy (we probably are) Crazy Americans! But we had no place to go and they would have cleaned it,  and we would have Heilig cleaned it, then moved in .... so we decided to skip the second step and went right for the cleaning juggler .... grumbling along the way....

The apartment....

Then the actual move ....

A lady we met at a furniture store gave us a name of  "a guy" who does deliveries for the store ... she explains that he usually get a few guys from the low pay district and then shows up, to move all your stuff and it all costs less the 75.00 .... I'm in, as I don't have to lift a finger and it all gets moved! ..... So I give "the guy" a call, and he lets me know he can get together a few days later, and doesn't know exactly where we live, but asks me to come out to the street at a certain hour, so he can see me and then he will load up the goods and we will be on our way.... How simple can that be ... RIGHT ..... weeeell   evidently not that simple ...... I don't go out to the street at the appropriate time because no one and I mean no one is on time here... I told him to call me when he gets there ... which he didn't and finally when I call him he asks me why I wasn't there .... my question was "why didn't you call me if you were there, so that I would come out?" .... I have gone out to do that kind of thing before, and waited for 30-45 minutes ... so this time I thought I would make the most of my time, and keep preparing stuff, to get loaded up, and moved out ..... believe me it all made sense at the time.... well now he tells me he can't come for about an hour (that's translates 1:30 MINIMUM) When he shows up he's alone... so I ask him where are the other guys who are going to do the lifting, and he tells me, that I didn't tell him, that I wanted guys to do the lifting..... so guess who's going to do the lifting now ..... yeah ..... ME! This did not work out the way it was promised ..... "he shows up with a couple of guys to move all your stuff" ..... That's what I was told! (and yes it was in english, so I didn't get something fouled up due to the language).... Well we get all the junk here and of course some of it was banged up a bit .... but we got in and all is well .... It's a really nice apartment .... we're happy to be here .... new, no mold issues, sunny, lots of windows and a relatively quiet neighborhood ... quiet for latin America .... Right Carl?

Ooooooh by the way, speaking of Carl,  we are in the neck of the woods of the couple formally known as TGC or The Golden Couple .... so we are hoping that things will be going, all our way as we should be benefiting from the "the good vibes" coming from their direction 5 blocks away.

One other thing.... Carl upon arriving in Cuenca from the States (yes United or so they say) proclaims that "it's cold" ...... Well Carl you actually missed the "cold" (big surprise there) while you were enjoying the summertime on your trip ..... we had what I would call a cold snap... we probably had about 5 days during the month of August, when we had Mr. Sunshine with us ... there was one day, when I had about 4 layers of clothing on .... One young brother told me, his grampa told him this is the coldest it had been in 50 years ..... yeah we were here .... and Webbs?  ..... At the beach, in the warmth of Summer, in the USA.... Am I bitter? You bet I am! .... No not really... I'm glad they had a great time ..... No really I am!

Interesting times in Ecuador

Hello all... here I sit writing a blog, on on what would normally be a full day in our field ministry in Cuenca ..... Why you ask? Well seems that the Policía Nacional went on strike today ..... that would not normally be a good thing, as the Policía normally are the ones who try to stop riots and problems such as these.... It seems from what is reported that the President supposedly "has tried to reduce some of the benefits" due to the police.... So their response is "lets see what happens when the police are not working" ..... Well you can imagine ... reports of 5 bank robberies in Quito were on the news wire, and most if not all the shops here in Cuenca are closed for the day... when we say closed that means they pull the steel door down that covers the window and entrances... the malls closed down and there is not much activity on the street... you hear an occasional siren in the distance... not sure if its from the problems or from the lack of traffic, so they stand out more .... but whatever it is, it's for sure, different..... These kinds of problems are common here from what the friends say.... one thing Carol read was that in the last 120 some years, the presidency has changed 100 times.... so we will see what happens this time....

They also shut down the airport in Quito as part of the strike ... and the American Embassy encouraged all Americans to stay indoors .... so here we are, indoors!

There is something missing ..... but not strangely missing ... Carl, Eslie where are you guys?...... Ooooooooh that's right your in the USA..... always missing the happenings while serving here in Ecuador... last month they were in the US for work, while we suuuuuuuuffered terribly through one of the strongest earthquakes in years here in Ecuador..... and now the police strike, with bank robberies, rioting and looting and general decay of society ...... and where are the formally known GC? .... NOT HERE!  .......You guys are always avoiding all the fun stuff! Have fun on your trip to places beyond. (You know I couldn't miss that opportunity Carl)

To buy or not to buy ..... That is the question....??????

Hello everyone ..... we hope that you all are doing well .... things right now are going well .... more on that later (another blog) ..... As we have mentioned in earlier blogs, here in Ecuador, things are on the cheep ..... rent, food, restaurants are very reasonable,  and transportation is so cheep sometimes you ask yourself why do they even charge..... for example to ride the bus from one side of the city to the other, it costs .25 (yes that is cents) imagine going from Mt. Rose Hwy to Verdi (if you live in Reno) for 25 cents .... ridicules right? Wherever the rest of you live,  imagine going about 15 miles for 25 cents)  No that is not an endorsement for the quality of the ride,  just the price..... Here we tend to use the taxis as they too are very inexpensive 2 maybe 3 dollars and you get from one side of the city to the other..... that as you can imagine, without a 1000 stops, like you have on the bus ... (I can hear that voice in my head saying, "if I told you once I have told you a million times don't exaggerate!")

In the past we have shared our experiences talking about the bible with the Taxi drivers and we have had tremendous success sharing the bible hope for the future.... Just yesterday we had 2 out of 3 conversations turn out excellent... in fact one of them (the taxi drivers that is) we took a ride again today and he invited us to his house on Saturday to start a bible study with him and his wife.... I'll keep you in the loop on that one, as to how it progresses .... so here is the question for your consideration .... should we get a car? (Give us your feed back) We have been talking about getting one for the "Freedom" ..... when we think of the benefits of having one they include the ability to "go where you want to go ... and do what you want to do" (I know there is an old song that has those lyrics) but then with the great experiences we have, we think about the opportunities to share the truth we will miss out on,  if we get one.... (we wont use the taxis) no need, as we can be behind the wheel and drive like a crazy Ecuadorian!!!!!!

Other consideration, used cars here are very expensive.... I mean crazy expensive .... for example there is a website here called "Gringo Tree" the foreigners  get all the low down on local events and can also post want ads or stuff for sale... a few weeks ago someone (hope it's not another brother) posted an add for a 1992 Suzuki Vitara for $9,400.00 ... (yes that's American greenbacks) 17 years old! .... the truth is you can buy a 2010 for $21,000 taxes included ... used cars here are ridiculously priced can't explain it, just the way it is. The Vitara is made here in EC and it a Chevy product but if you decide to go Asian, the import taxes are a killer, about 40% is added to the price you would pay in the US..... Crazy!

To buy or not to buy that is the question....?

Sample "Gringo Tree" ad.... You too can be a extranjero living in Cuenca follow the events here in Cuenca .... need a Pig?

WANTED: A spacious home for a sweet, affectionate and smart baby black pig. "Pig Floyd" was found along side the road and we wanted to save him from a short and/or unhappy life. He would do great out in the country with a caretaker who cherishes his company and who has no interest in eating him!  We estimate he's about 2 months old, and due to our constant attention, he is very socialized, and actually seems to like dogs and wants to play with them!  Please consider this lovely animal companion.  Unfortunately we really do not have the room to keep him for much longer. 

Please email primalgrace@yahoo.com

To unsubscribe to GringoTree: http://www.cuencahighlife.com/unsubscribe.aspx

Earthquake

Good morning to all.... You maybe waking up to the news that there was an EARTHQUAKE .... yes EARTHQUAKE in Quito, Ecuador..... yes we felt it! It happened about 7 AM and it was a good shaker... I got out of my seat at my desk to get ready to get out of the building when it stopped... Carol was just waking up and was out the door of our bedroom in a good flash.... I can only imagine what it was like in Quito .....

Of course this should go without saying ... but you have got to know that TGC was not affected by this event... as they are in the USA right now.... from now on our travel plans will be mimicking theirs ... just kidding .... about the travel plans that is .... not the fact they are back in the States while we live through the natural disaster...

Of course the friends down here have insisted that they don't have natural disasters here in Ecuador ... maybe they will change their view after this episode..... LOL!

We are fine .....

TGC debut in Ecuador

Hello to all ....

We hope this blog finds you all doing well..... we're also doing well, as we just finished the District Convention in Guayaquil .... each year the branch here in Ecuador provides the program in English for all the "need greaters" that are serving here, it's a very loving provision,  as we are far from home and yet we have the convention in our mother tongue .... everyone who lives down here anxiously looks forward to it, as it gives us all the opportunity to see friends we haven't seen in a year or so .... Brent and Kassi have something similar in Nicaragua at the branch ... with the same kind of feel .... what is that feeling? Like your at an international convention .... nothing like it... and to think we get something like an international each year.... The reason I can say that, is because there are brothers serving from all over the world here in Ecuador... for example we had a brother and his wife from Finland on the bus we rode on today .... there are friends from Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, friends serving in Chile, were at the convention, as well as Peru ... and of course we had the missionaries that serve here from places like Sweden and Italy and other European countries.... Mini international ... we had 1,268 for the peak attendance today.  ALL IN ENGLISH... ENGLISH, ENGLISH, ENGLISH!
PURO INGLES!

Getting back to the purpose of this blog, ... it was to give you an update on our favorite people .... TGC ..... remember them? Yes ......  The Golden Couple!  .... Oh yes things are as golden as ever ..... for example, .... we stay at the same hotel, we are on the 4th floor, they are on the top floor over looking the .... well ..... semi beautiful area of Guayaquil ..... of  course they get the TOP FLOOR! they are TGC!!! I almost forgot one thing regarding the room ..... During the various days we stayed at the Hotel Howard Johnson, each day we had to get our Room door lock card updated, because if you didn't it wouldn't work .... so sometimes you could jump in the elevator, to go to your room when someone who had already updated the card (you needed it also updated to use the elevator) unknown to you and then when you got to your room, your card wouldn't work, now the problem is you need to get back down the elevator... not as easy as going up from the lobby..... TGC never needed to reset their card .... YES I KNOW,  it is unbelievable .... I don't make this stuff up, this stuff really happens.


Then on the bus trip down, they are part of a two bus group, that came from Cuenca .... while the other bus had problems, their bus had none ... after speaking to some of the friends in the group of the other bus, I assumed they too had problems (TGC that is.... I know, I know, what was I thinking?) they are The Golden Couple NOTHING goes wrong from them.... But then when I mentioned something about the problems they had with the buses Mr. TGC informed me they had no problems on their bus and he didn't know what I was referring to .... then he reminds me of a simple and important point, they are TGC .... no problems on their bus. Got it MR.TGC! And I wont forget it! ;-)


Then to take the cake .... On Saturday Mr. TGC sees me, an asks if he can borrow my lapel badge (he is part of TGC but he's not perfect) .... I ask, what,  your going to be on the platform? Yep! ....... Here for 6 months and already on the program ..... Well,  I wasn't sure, exactly what part or when so I wasn't totally prepared for the DEBUT but below you can catch a part of the demonstration they did ...... 

Oh and need I mention .....  they nailed it!

Summer up North and Winter in the Hemisphere South

Our greetings to all ....

Soooooooo,  in the past I have written about the nice weather here, while you all suffer in the North during the nasty winters, we have the constant beautiful weather 70-75 degrees (it's our summer) .... In the North you all have your winter sports and we do too ..... when it's winter down here, which it is right now ..... Ugh! .... We have constant 65 degree weather .... the friends here say "chai chai" no not the drink silly.... (Quichua for "cold") actually reeeeeeeally cold ..... of course they think 65 degrees is cold ..... Hey Spanky, let's get out the down parkas, I'm freezing!  ...... CRAZY!

Anyway back to the winter sports .... kids here have their version of tobogganing, see attached and hope you enjoy the video!

Let me introduce you to .....

Patricia Gonzales!

This little sister was in our congregation but just moved to another part of town, thus a different congregation .... Patricia has one sister in the truth who serves in sign language Spanish (Marlene) and her mom Imelda (no not Marcos, .... Gonzales.. although she likes shoes too, now that I think of it) who is in the truth as well.... Both the sisters are excellent examples .... Patricia in spite of her physical problems, is a regular pioneer. Even though she often has broken bones, she is in her ministry or has her bible students come to her house to have their study .... she is a trooper! Always with a positive attitude ..... she is a joy to work with in the ministry.

One day (the same day as the video) I asked her what she looked forward in the New World? What do you think she said? ........ I'm thinking she's going to say getting out of this stinking wheelchair and running around like a little kid .... That's what I would have said! (selfish me) She has been in her chair, or on crutches for most, if not all her walking life aaah rolling life!  (Let me ruuuuuunnnnnnn) Nope, her response was she can't wait to be able to share the truth and teach those who will be resurrected! Now how cool is that! I have to say I was a bit ashamed at my original thought being a bit more selfish ..... Oh I'm sure she won't say when the day comes "I prefer to be in the chair, pushed around by all my friends" ...

She is a great example.

What you thought she was going to be speaking English? ...... Where do you think we are Reno USA? We're in ECUADOR no one speaks English here .... So what's she saying?..... Well she's saying how much fun we had in the ministry that morning and that Bro. Guillermo (me) is a really nice brother and blah blaah blaah ..... but I could say just about anything, and most of you wouldn't have a C L U U U U E would you!

What's up with the Heilig's

Hello everyone...

We hope things are going well for you all. We have been busy and also dealing with heath issues.... Carol was diagnosed with Hepatitis about 4 weeks ago.... She has been sick on and off, since the beginning of March ..... after about 10 days she started feeling better, but every time she tried to get going she felt exhausted and would poop out, after just a little bit of activity... at times she had problems breathing and she thought we were going to have to go to the hospital at one time... then the breathing got better .... but still tired all the time ..... when she was young she had Hepatitis A and supposedly you can't get it again.... well at least not the No. American version .... but we're not in No. America anymore, Toto .... so it appears that it can be had again ..... (Perhaps you remember the Hardings,  they had the immunization for the Hep before coming from Australia, but Gail got it anyway) ... Something appears to be different here ...... We finally had a blood test completed which revealed Carol has the Hep ... that being said she has been in rest mode for about the last month ..... while taking it easy,  the computer has been her constant friend, her window to the world ..... problem was once she started feeling better from the Hep, she got a cold from me ..... And I even tried not kissing her, (that was hard to do) while I had it, (the cold that is) so as not to add to her woes (you can take that however you want) ..... She started feeling better from the cold and then,  from spending a fair amount of time on the computer,  she developed a problem with her wrist....clicking the mouse pad I would guess.... that has been excruciating,  the pain that is... one of the nights this week she couldn't sleep from the pain, so,  I couldn't sleep from the pain either .... I don't know if any of you have had any carpel tunnel type of problems, but that is some of the worst pain I have ever experienced and now she is dealing with it.

I on the other hand,  have had problems with my stomach, pain and frequent trips to the bathroom (Incan revenge) then the cold, (La Gripe), oh I almost forgot while I was in the worst faze of the cold, during one of the nights I was snoring (hard to believe) evidently a LOT and was getting jabbed during the night, so WE didn't sleep that night, very well.... So I decided to sleep on the couch the following night, and slept like the proverbial BABY, but when I got up, my lower back was killing me.... kept thinking it would go away... it didn't, ... so the Chiropractor brother and I were companions this week, a few different times, now fortunately,  I'm on the downhill side of all that, and waiting for the other shoe to fall .... just kidding!

Even the dog (Gracie) has had problems with something down here, allergies, itching skin, tick ....etc .... ... more exercise seems to have helped her condition, so we are keeping up on that regiment..... she doesn't mind a bit.

Soooooo it's been fun and games for the last several weeks... And for that, I have been blogging less ...... Some of you are I'm sure, are thankful for that! ;-)

Sorry no photos :-( ........

Well no photos when I did this blog, but today the photos I can attach, Videos which worked last night don't work today..... What in the world?

Running the Gauntlet ...... Daily

Carol ... my dear wife and I are afoot daily.... some days for several miles ... like 5-7  ..... miles that is ...... yikes! We usually start the day with a taxi ride to the meeting for field service .... but after that, it's all uphill .... then downhill ..... then across the hills ......and then back and forth...... up and down .... I'm sure you kind of get the picture, but until you have done it for a week or two, it's hard to get a real flavor for what we are talking about....(right Hughes?)  Let me give you an idea,  after 2 months of doing this walking routine,  I lost 4 inches from my BEEEELLY .... no gym, no diet ... just one foot after the other ..... (in fact we eat what we like, and as much as we like,..... not that were hogs or anything like that) Additionally, I weigh now,  what I weighed, 20 years ago ....well more or less..... (Yeah I know what some of you are thinking ... "you were a porker back then too"!

Well to get back to the purpose of this blog or perhaps better said the "Theme" of this rambling . ..... Running the Gauntlet ..... Daily! ....... Here out, for the sake of simplicity ..... "RTG"

As has been mentioned on this blog in the past .....  "Safety" is a word in the Spanish language (seguridad)... but in most Latin American countries ... well, how can I say this with tact,  and in a dignified way, so as not to offend? ...... I CAN'T ! .....  I DOES NOT EXIST... well,.... it doesn't, what can I say?  (You'll see what I'm talking about,  in the photos and videos in this blog) ...... Yes I was tactful, and truthful! ..... So there! ..... Everyday there are hundreds of things waiting for you to just slip up, just for a moment ...  not paying attention and WHAMO! .... you get it ... in the head ... almost in the EYE... in the ankle .... shoulder .... you name it, your always exposed to DANGER ..... Then there is the not so dangerous, but none the less,  "No Fun" stuff, like,  dog waste that is usually on the sidewalks (sometimes human .... niiiiiice .... NO not really .... nice that is, .... yes it too, is on the sidewalk) that you have to constantly be on the watch for .... Brent and Kassi have the same problem in Nicaragua .... they refer to them as land mines. "Ten cuidado hay minas" (Caution there are mines) NO photos on that one... don't imagine any are needed, to make the point.

For example here at the apartment we have these stairs that go from the building ....  directly into the driveway ..... people, when they drive down the driveway, on the way out of the complex, seem to think they are doing 0-60 MPH tests.... which is fine, except for the fact,  that people are coming out of the building directly onto the speedway .... there are no handrails to catch yourself if you fall ..... as you fall, you fall, directly onto the speedway as the car completes the speed test. ..... Yes,  you start the day, each day, ......  "RTG". Now this is an example of what never happens ..... Someone actually going slow down the track as "someone" descends from the building.... So this we can say is a bad example of a good example of what happens. Got that?

While ... "IN TOWN" OR ....  "THE CITY"  ......We saw several OSHA violations!!!!! ..... Carol says if OSHA were here everyone would be working for them,  as there are so many OSHA violations,  that they would need to have everyone employed caring for the problems ahhh violations ...... Of course then there would be no problems as there would be no businesses to have violations .... that's crazy talk there! We have a new family from Australia the Birketts ....  Peter B and wife, own a scaffolding company, when he saw some of the tom foolery, that they call scaffolding he said something like that would result in HUGE fines back in the LDU. (Land Down Under) See video for the wonderful world of scaffolding here in Cuenca Ecuador.   

Meet the Birketts

Speaking of the Birketts .... when they where moving into the house they rented .... they had the "installers" come in to "Install" the washer .... here they don't know what a ground wire is .... well not really, but they don't have outlets for them .... unless you want to install an outlet, with the spot for the ground on the plug ..... problem is,  there is no ground wire to connect to the outlet, so you have gone in circles and gotten no further (sounds like Ecuador) ... spent time to change the outlet and then you can plug it in, .... but you still don't have a grounded plug... solution?   ...... Cut off the ground part of the plug, then there is no need to change out the outlet.... Problem is says the "manual",  that negates the warranty .... let alone the safety issues .... Sometimes "RTG" is actually living the gauntlet as is the case in this ramble. Fran Birkett "la esposa" the wife,  said she was afraid to use it at first (the washer).... of course we calmed her fears, letting her know that, as of yet we had heard of no one, that had been shocked by an ungrounded plug. Don Harding said "get used to it" .... "there are no ground wires here" ..... "Safety First" (my words) here in Ecuador.

SIDEWALKS .... here, is where time helps you, avoid any real damage ... to your body that is.... In the "States"  yes the USA most sidewalks are in excellent shape .... I can say that, in comparison to here, there are very few, if any, bad ones that exist! ... problem here is, that they are narrow, then wide, then narrow, then don't exist,  then ...... (those areas where they are nicely contoured for your car to drive up into the driveway, from the street, and for those afoot, to have a nice gradual smooth drop off as they walk,  in the US,  I speak)  ... here there is no smooth contour and gradual lowering they just ........ drop off! ... So while you are looking out for the dog stuff, so as not to step in it, and the glass, that is broken on the sidewalk, so as not to tread in it, and the missing man hole covers, so don't you step off into oblivion, you have to keep  your eye open to the "driveway drop off" (I wish I could say or write that, with the voice that is deep and echoing)  .... while working with Fran Birkett one morning a few weeks ago in the ministry out of the corner of my eye I see her falling away from beside me ... she fell victim to the "driveway drop off" she didn't go down as I caught her by the arm and steadied her .... but poor thing, ... I heard a few days later she took a header .... I'm wise to those nasty things but it took me about 4 months to get there ...... "RTG" daily! I'm sure one will sneak up on me one day when i have one of my regular lapses in concentration .... and I'll go down just hopefully not into traffic.... and not into a pile of dog stuff either!

CROSSING the street .... Oh you can do it, (but we don't recommend it)  but don't plan on the driver stopping for you even though your in the crosswalk .... they just try to maneuver around you .... after all even though you have "the right", don't insist on it,  or you will be a hood ornament.... and even though there are laws to protect,  "your rights" there are no Police officers that insist that you are shown your rights ..... translated? No tickets for those crummy drivers!  Look twice before you cross? NO! look twice then keep looking while your crossing! "RTG" daily.

SEATBELTS .... yes they have the "LAW" here,  that you are to use them,  but no one does .... when you get into the taxis you reach for them, but they are no where to be found..... cut off, tucked under the seat, broken .... of course the drivers have theirs,  not that they wear them,  except when a Policia pulls up, and then they reach over and pull it over there shoulder, to fake out the officer ;-0 and then, when the coast is clear, they remove it.  Sometimes it's "Driving the Gauntlet" ..... Speaking of which.......

TAXI RIDES .... this is crazy ... here, they allllll think they are Nascar drivers Vroom Vroom ...... Ooooh maybe that's an exaggeration ..... Nooooo, .... no it's not .... it's all out on the gas peddle, then, slam on the brakes.... power into the curves and race to the next stop light, I guess they drive like that, so they can replace those brakes,  sooner then they need to .... In the US, you would have to pay big bucks to have the Nascar experience, but here, ....  it's only two bucks.... this is the great oxymoron, this is the land of never being on time ... but what we don't understand, is why, as they drive, like there is no tomorrow, ...... based on the way they drive, they should be always early, .... One day last week, we get a driver on our way to the meeting for service, the driver, (young, hes got the cool glasses, and the hat, and is gettin down wit the drivin) yeah he has an attitude ....  when we get in the car, we say hi to him but no response ... not a good sign...He's too cool to say hi ..... so we take off and I mean TAKE OFF! ... only to race to the stoplight, and you got it slam on the brakes .... we are third in line from the light, so when the light turns green, the horn honks for number one in line to get going .... problem is, there's on coming traffic,  (no where to go chico) but that doesn't stop chico impatient from laying on the horn ... finally traffic starts to move and there is one car in front of us ... so he starts the horn thing AGAIN... now Mr. and Mrs. Heilig are getting impatient as well, but not with traffic,  rather the driver.... he keeps on the horn, and finally the driver in front, looks back at him as he makes his way through the light, out chico decides he's passing Mr Slow Poke and "Mr Slow Poke" (which he wasn't) is not happy that our chico is being such a jerk... so of course he speeds up,  and now,  there is on coming traffic ..... ON COMING! " "Traffico" I shout out!  At this point the Mrs..... Heilig that is,  says in a loud,  powerful voice, in perfect Spanish "YOU ARE A TERRIBLE DRIVER"!!!!!  .... At which I say "you let us off here and NOW at the corner"  ..... In not so perfect Spanish.... (But he understands perfectly) he pulls over,  and doesn't say a word,  doesn't ask for partial fare nothing (he knows he went toooooo far with the gringos).... Doors slam shut,  and he races off to his next fare. Good riddens you maniac, knucklehead!  "LTG" Livin the gauntlet, ......  Daily!

It's all good! ;-)

Can you tell what is in this photo .... uuuuh x-ray?

OK, so we have this couple that we study the bible with... they have 2 boys named Fabrioso and Daniel... So I stop by one day to say hi and see how they are doing... just a bit before I leave, Daniel comes into the room crying and carrying on and pinching his neck... When Miguel (the dad) asks "what's wrong"?  ......Fabrioso says Daniel swallowed a coin! But evidently it hasn't gone down ... it's stuck in his throat! So dad suggests he drink some water to carry it down and then hopefully it will pass (not much more detail needed there ... right?) I thought it sounded like a good idea .... with all my medical background seemed logical ..... He couldn't get it down by the time I was leaving but I figured it would make its way there.... Move ahead three days ....

Last Saturday we go to have our study with them .... Miguel tells me they had to go to the doctor the day before to have the coin removed ...... from his stomach? ..... No his throat! ...... Can you imagine? Stuck in his throat for 2 days ..... I was thinking it would pass but when you see the size in comparison with his body there was no way that penny was going to pass through his system .... Shows you what I know about helping the little guys .....

Good thing Carol was around to help Brent when was a little guy ... probably the reason he is alive .... you know it wasn't because of me ..... yikes!

Yeah he feels better now.... Daniel

TGC Update

So Carl calls me yesterday afternoon ........

and says that wants to give me something to write about (seems he's gotten into this TGC thing) He says "remember how in the building we are in, there is all that retail space below, on the first floor?" ....."yes Carl, I I I I I remember" ... "well you'll not believe what's happening" ..... what? "they had a drawing and you won some furniture?" (I say with a sarcastic voice)...... "NOooooo" he says, as if that would be out of the realm of possibility with TGC...... "nothing like that" he says, and then starts laughing .... "you won't believe what kind of shop they are putting in, and they are having the grand opening at 5PM today" (ok .... so I wont believe it, .... then why are you calling me?) "They are putting a coffee place (like a Starbuck's, but better I'm imagining) with pastries and great coffee" (all for a pittance here in EC) ..... "Nice to hear that Carl" ..... "You guys should come by and take some photos, so you can put it on the blog", he says enthusiastically ..... O oooooooh ok, .... Im starting to get the picture here (you know the saying "salt in the wound" ... got it!) And of course we can't go,  because I have a call to make, at above hour,  ........  and that was the reason for the call, to invite us to the Grand Opening. There so nice aren't they... MAKES ME SICK! ;-)

Perhaps your thinking ..."Coffee Place"? .... not much to get excited about down there ..... well for Carl "Coffee Place" would be like .... how can I say it? .... I know, ..... the rest of us hitting the mother load or something like that ..... He/ they ..... L O V E   C O F F E E! and I mean LOVE IT!!!!!!! So now they don't even have to leave the building, to get great coffee ..... 


TGC thing #7 in Ecuador .... Not even here for 2 months and they have more good things happen to them then most of us have had in a lifetime! .... This is getting ridiculous ;-) 

One of our mutual friends wrote us after the original blog on TGC and said .... "But I tell you, they do leave in an alternate universe from the rest of us" .... that comes right out of the email she sent us (cut and pasted) .... I think the word you were looking for was "live",   not leave,  Anna,  (leave is live with a latin accent ...... oh no .......Oops ...... didn't mean to reveal my source) but believe me we know what you mean..... Jerry's Kid ... :-0 (No ones safe on this blog ... AM ...... no one .... beware of the crazy blogger here in Cuenca) .... Yeah! that was fun! 

TGC ....... TBC! (to be continued) .... have a good day....... 

Photos of the "Coffee palace" to follow,  ..... uuuuuh "place" I mean..... whenever we can get over to the nice part of town. The Webbs live in latin AMERICA and we live in LATIN america

Small bugs here in Cuenca

Dave Souza and I are in our ministry the other day and Dave stops me in my tracts and asks me when was the last time I saw one of these babies back in Reno....

Never!

This guy is about 4-6 inches long depending if you add to the measurement the things that are sticking out from his/her ? head!

!!!!! NEWS FLASH !!!! - Golden Boy and Wife arrive in Cuenca!

Of what do I write? Well many of you know Carl and Eslie Webb, (Here seen doing what we do when we are not doing the other thing we do ..... PREACHING!) however many of you do not .... that being said, a bit of background is necessary..... "The Golden Couple" from here forward, referred to as, "TGC" came into our lives several years ago from California.... as they moved to Nevada to serve where there was more need in the Spanish circuit of congregations around Reno .... if I remember correctly they moved directly to the Sparks area but traveled to Fernley to serve in a Spanish congregation .... I think I have that part right..... They have had the privlidge of serving in 3 congregations since coming to No. Nevada that I know of, and have served in substitute circuit work ..... they are a great couple! ... When we came back from Ecuador in November 08 ... the following day of our return there was the Special Assembly Day and talking to the different friends about our experiences Carl a bit later asks, if, when we go back to investigate Cuenca, they can come along? Of course!

When we return to Cuenca in March / April we are all together and have a great time at which time they can see themselves serving here.... upon return to Reno they start working to get down here and make Jan 2010 their move date.... move ahead 7-8 months and here they are! Arrived after a brutal trip, getting rerouted through NY from LA difinately to long way around ..... They arrive a day later then planned..... Well I didn't say they were the platinum couple just "TGC"!!!!!

Upon arrivng in Guayaquil, .... they have 1 instead of 2 nights to stay at the Branch due to day late arrival, ...... while there, they are informed that the electricity rationing and water rationing has finally stopped in the country.... (Carol and I joked before hand, that when TGC arrived, the rationing water, electric would all stop, once they arrived,.... and so it did, ... right on arrival) Am I saying they have the ability to change the weather and very powerful forces in place? ........ That's exactly what I'm saying!


1st GC thing to happen in Ecuador......Then when they get to Cuenca, they have a furnished apartment available (Spauldings from Australia on leave for vacation and work, .... back in the land down under) to use for the first 3 month here, if they want to ... no hurry, no worry,  just scurry into town and get settled..... after getting their bearings ..... (6,000 mile trip takes it out of you, even if you are TGC)... they start looking for an apartment of there own and find a nice new 2 bedroom, In what we consider to be the nicest part of town! It wasn't originally available so they were going to take a 3 bedroom in the same building, then, at the last minute the owner of the 2 bedroom calls and says the renter fell through and they could have the 2 bedroom, if they still wanted it ..... TGC thing going on again.... I always seems to work out for them!

2nd GC thing to happen in Ecuador ..... they invite us to come and see the apartment an check out the 3 bedroom (perhaps we would be interested in it) Well we were but it wasn't now available (We're not TGC,  and as you know, things don't work that way for us ;-)  ..... Upon inspection of their apartment,  I'm looking out the office/ guest bedroom, and what is directly across the street of the apartment? ... A pay booth where you pay all your phone, electric, internet, water .... one stop shop and pay.... this place is a clear shot from the apartment, attach a rock to the bills and the money owed, and give it a throw, ... TGC doesn't even have to leave the apartment to pay all the bills other then the rent! (well not literally) ....

3rd TGC thing to happen in Ecuador.... Oh yeah  "The Apartment" ........ this place is on the 3rd floor perfect view of the mountains and I mean the nicest mountain view available in Cuenca! "The Apartment" has nice granite countertops and beautiful cabinetry with roll out drawers, bathroom with bathtubs (not normal here) bus stop a 100 feet of their entry door to the building all for? ................. 270.00 a month!


4th TGC thing to happen in Ecuador! Then once the deal-e-o is signed, they have a good portion of the place painted all done for 80.00, .... including the paint! They don't even have to go and look for someone to do the work, as the maintaince guy in the building does the work! TGC thing going on again!


5th TGC thing to happen in Ecuador! Then Carl has to inform me that they took our advice on when to go, and what to show up with, at the offices of immigration, .....  for them it was less then an hour for everything! You may or may not remember that it was an all day thing for the Heilig's..... That had TGC thing, written all over it!

6th TGC thing to happen in Ecuador! They get an assignment to serve in a congregation that has the meetings here in the city more or less.... but beautiful productive territory going out from the city..... In fact all they do is talk about how beautiful and green  and creeks and blah blah blah ... how nice the territory is ... yes we understand, we understand already! However they do mention that the territory is up and down and hilly and WHATEVER (Its just a little hilly ;-0 ).... they got it GOOD! Photos attached....

Finally in all fairness they don't have it all perfect (Thank goodness!) They have to go up against the mighty latin american slowness and confusion trying to  get things done ..... THE INTERNET hookup! it took them 6 weeks to get it done..... As you can imagine I sighed a bit of relief, as I thought it was just me that couldn't get things done down here .... of course they thought it was not that big a deal and that it all went fine ... TGC attitude! I'm learning from that!

If you think I sound bitter? ..... I AM!!!

Naw ..... Just kiddding.

Crazy Latin American Stuff

Hello everyone...

Well since I last wrote a blog we have had some interesting experiences here in Cuenca ..... Since right after the Dec 25 holiday here in Latin America starts the next round of celebrations called "Carnival" ..... this Tom Foolery is all about being crazy in the weeks and months leading up to "Ash Wednesday" when you have to do penance for the 40 days leading up to Easter.... so seeing that they have to pay for their sins ..... I guess the thinking is "let's sin it up"! This is a "christian celebration" but when you do the research ..... (I know this will come as a gigantic surprise to most of you) it's origins go back to Babylon .... haaaaa ...NO...... made there way through Egypt ..... I know another surprise..... then onto the Romans .... couldn't be ........and finally Celts /"Christians" and to quote one site "since it couldn't be suppressed by the church, it was adopted by (you got it) Christianity" ...... One of the goofy things that they like to do is here is pull off water pranks .... ie: water balloon throwing, as you walk the streets, from cars passing by, ..... to PAILS of water being dumped on you, as you walk down the sidewalk from above..... yes I got it a few times,  and my Carol and Carol Souza while returning from their ministry yesterday, got it from some water balloonists,  as they were no more then 100 yards from the apartment.... this we understand, is child's stuff,  because,  some have spoken of pigs blood being splashed on you, .... water with dye in it,  being splashed on you and if that's not enough, some have mentioned (this has been outlawed and for good reason) water balloons that have been frozen being tossed and even killing people .... it evidently gets pretty crazy as our Coordinator suggested at the meeting Thursday night, that we dispense with formal meetings for service and just go to prearranged studies and return visits until next Wednesday. (I'm new here, so who am I to say otherwise) As I was walking back from meeting for service yesterday, there was a parade of school children with there outfits made up of balloons and there cans of spray foam, so they could shoot whoever was stupid enough to come nearer then 6-8 feet. I didn't think of it at the time, because I was a man on a mission .... to take some video footage of this goofiness, so you could see it for your self! I'm sure that I will be afforded a few more opportunities over the next few days, to have something to share with you. Stay tuned!

A week ago yesterday Friday evening the 5th, ..... I'm using the computer and check the email about 9:45, then leave the computer and come back about 10 PM ..... no internet connection ..... big surprise, as I had been having connection problems for a few days .... So I call the provider the next day as they have no 24 hr service here ... when you ask them about why they don't, they look at you like why would you have service people working to care for your needs at that time of day, are you crazy?.... (yes call me crazy) anyway... I call them the next day and well, they do have a person on call, who then tells me, he is working on his house (why he tells me that I don't know, .... perhaps to dissuade me from asking him to fix my problem and him having to go to the office to remedy the problem) .... so he lets me know that he will go to the office and check on the problem .... 40 minutes later he calls and tells me "you have no internet connection"! Yes that's what I told him when I called 40 minutes earlier .... then I let him know I would appreciate it, if he would have someone come out to the area where we are at,  to remedy the problem ... as mentioned we had been having problems for the past several days so I assumed this was more of the same junk going on in our area of town....  he lets me know that they will have someone come out on MONDAY.... Whaaaaaaat! "Monday?"... "we don't have people working on the weekends, who would do that?" Indeed who,  in latin america, would do that ..... I had a lapse of good judgement there! .... Monday arrives and the "tech" comes to fix everything ... but he can't get a signal to try to fix whatever connection problems we have .....  so off he goes and gets a new antenna to install on the mounting arm located on the roof 5 stories up.... this is where the story gets goofy .... I get the keys, that give access to the area where the antenna is and when we go through he secret passage to the "restricted area" the antennas and the mounting arm are gone! YES GONE! .... when we go to inspect the spot where it was mounted, there you can see,  the bolts broken off in the wall.... the guy just looks at me as if to say "what in the world"... cables lying on the ground one disconnected and the other torn in shreds .... I start to try to figure out what happened, other then the obvious,  but how did they get into the "restricted area?" .... well there are a couple of ways to get to that side of the roof without keys,  if you want to take the chance of falling 6 stories ... and it looks like for someone, it was worth the effort ... the internet guy said he had never seen  anything like this happen before ... DITTO for me .... well a week later it gets reinstalled and we are back online and writing blogs .... how fun .... we spoke to Brent and Kassie yesterday and Carol asked if they ever get an enjoyable day off during the week ..... because it seems like everyday that should be a day to relax we are always fighting ..... or better said "solving" some problem or taking care of some disaster .... plumbing, electrical, some appliance going on the fritz and having to deal with that ... always something! THEY JUST STARTED LAUGHING ..... same there in Nicaragua! The only thing we could come up with is that everything is made so cheaply here (think "Made in Ecuador" = to "Made in China")  that it's ready to break within months..... So if your thinking that it's all fun a games and we're on an endless vacation down here .... Think again ..... the preaching is awesome, the living is well ....... a bit frustrating at times .....  you get accustomed to thinking ..... what's next? Wait until tomorrow and you'll find out!

But the truth is, we are here for the preaching, and that makes up all the rest!

Bible Study with the girls

Each week we study the book Learning from the Great teacher with 3 young girls ... Carols starting a study with the mother this next week .... The girls are always ready and we normally have a wonderful study with 2 of the 3 as the youngest one has a very short attention span and goes of to play... for whatever reason the youngest sat out the whole study but wanted to focus on the Bible Story book ... so while I was sharing the GT book with the two oldest Carol was helping the youngest ......

Roll the tape ..... Oh don't be surprised at the nose picking .... there just kids.

Next Blog .... "The Golden Boy has arrived in Cuenca" (Get ready Nick M. this will confirm all you have ever thought!)

Fun day in Cuenca

Hi everyone .... thought I would share a few experiences all of which we had in one day .... TODAY! .... While in our ministry this morning I suggested we go to town and get lunch and a Shu-shine and Carol asked for some flowers too (3.00 for all of those in the photo, she was in a tropical mood as you can see) ... So after two hours in our ministry .... it was off to the city proper .... let the fun begin....

First we get a taxi and have a great conversation about the truth.... I go to place the "Bible Teach" book with the taxi driver and he says he already has it (great)  .... In fact, that book is how he learned, God's name Jehovah .... so he said, with a smile on his face .... then when we were about finished with the ride, he thanks us for the encouraging conversation and said he will look forward to learning more from the friends that are calling on him and he looked forward to seeing us in the future.... we hope to see him too ... perhaps next time as a brother! From this time on, things take a turn ...... we're all smiles as I look for a shu-shine man as I don't see my usual guy.... so I stroll down the side walk and see a shu-shine guy probably in his early 20's, who obviously had a few handicaps, a deformed hand and some other problems ... he sees my shoes, and that they are 6 weeks past due for a shine, and with puppy dog eyes, asks if he can shine my shoes ... So of course I feel bad for him and let him shine the shooooes .... before I sit down, I ask him, if he can make change on a $10.00, he says he can, so I get up on the throne for the shine. First thing I noticed is he doesn't use the same method to do the job, that i'm used to but everybody has there own way of doing the shine job... and of course, I being a nice guy, figure I'm going help him out, after all he not begging,  no,  he's trying to make an honest buck (wrong) finally he finishes and the shoes are shiny and they have some color restored but he doesn't do a very through job... well, it is only .50 and they do look better, or so I reason.... then I give him the 10.00 and he starts to tell me that the shine is 4.00! So we go back and forth and, I explain that, no ones pays 4.00 for a shine here in the middle of town, and a poor shine at that! So then he digs out two .50 pieces, and looks at me as if to say, ok I'll give you a 1.00 discount, now get out of here, scram! I'm not going away, so he then tells me he will go and get change for the 10.00 and will be back .... Carol looks at me a reminds me that I better follow him, so I do, but when he enters a familiar restaurant, I wait outside as the cashier is just around the corner from where I am standing ... so I'm waiting and after about 30-40 second I look to see what's taking so long.... and the guy is gone! The bathrooms are upstairs so I think he ditched me into the bathroom and so I wait for him to come out, and when the person that is in there comes out,  it's not him! So I start to go up stairs to see if he's seated, and ready to spend the money, ordering lunch with the money that he just ripped off,  and of course ....  he's not there either! Where did he go? ... I check the kitchen, and everyone in there starts looking at me like I'm the bold and crazy "gringo" going into the most holy of holy areas of the restaurant..........not there! The only thing I can figure, is that he walked through the restaurant and then waited at the other door ..... watched me, and then went out the other door as I came in the front door..... I look up and down the street, but I can't find him anywhere ....now your probably asking yourself  ..... "all that over 3.00"? ..... "Heilig has lost his mind" .....  Well here it is, he thinks I'm a sucker ..... And I figure I'm not getting ripped off, especially from someone I thought, I was helping out .... So I now find my usual shine man and he comes to see what the deal is  .... I explain what happened and he's standing by the other guys "throne" and sees all the guys stuff and says "he'll be back"...... Yes but when? ...."Soon" by now you know what that means.

So off we go for lunch, and as you can imagine, this little escapade was the talk over lunch.... after, which, we return to the scene of the crime and of course the shoe shine boy/man ..... but at this time, he has a customer on the throne, and while the husband is getting his shoes shined, the wife waits patiently by his side for shoe shine boy to finish..... While he is working, I let him know I returned for my change ..... By the look on his face, I'm sure he was shocked to see me return ... I'm sure he thought he saw the last of this "stupid tourist".... first thing he does, is tell me that he has been waiting for me to return so he can give me my change, (riiiiight) then hands me a dollar, at this point I'm still a buck fifty short .... He still thinks he's going to get the best of me ..... so I hold my ground and he tells me that he's "working" (didn't stop him from giving me that buck) and I'll have to wait until he is done, by this time the people (Ecuadorians) getting the shoe shine, are wondering what is going on, so I tell them that he is trying to charge me 1.50 at this point for the shine and of course they start looking at him, and asking him, what he is going to be charging them for a shine ..... "uuuuuuh .50" he says "then why are you charging this man 1.50"? .... I'm not, he just has to wait for his change, which I'm going to give him when I'm done with you, he just needs to be patient" ... at that point, I told him I had been patient, as I had already waited for over an hour to get my change, and I had no patience left ..... so he hands me another .50 "I'm still a dollar short" I say .... "well you need to wait" .... "no! .... I'm not waiting any longer, please give me my change so I can go" ... at this point the couple asks him, why is he doing this to me (thank you for your help) and he tells them how he did all this "extra stuff on my shoes and that it cost's more to do all the extra work" so I show them the shoes and demonstrate the fact that he didn't even do a good job  ....... (no extra work) he didn't even do the job he was supposed to do .... now they get involved and tell he shouldn't be treating me this way ..... finally, he pulls out the balance and gives it to me .... Of course I'm feeling terrible about the fact that I have to go through this whole rig-a-marol with the folks that are getting there shine done, and apologize to them for the inconvenience, but they start telling me that all is well, and they are sorry for the fact that this happened to me.... As for the shu-shine guy I told him that I had decided to have him do my shoes because I could see that in spite of the fact he had a few disabilities he was working to care for his needs and I wanted to help him, but after what he did he should be ashamed of himself........ And to think I had been waiting for over a month to get this shoe shine experience ....

And you guys think it's all fun and games down here.... ;-) Not always!

Summertime in South America!

Hello all..... 

Hope you are all well .... sad to hear of our dear brothers and friends in Haiti we know Jehovah will keep them in his loving care.

Well just got back from service this morning and thought I would share a few things from the other "land down under" We are down under the equator! As you know it's Wintertime where most of you are reading this... and is it ever! Temperatures in the teens ... YUCK! As has been mentioned on this blog,  this writer HATES and I mean HATES the cold! In South America of course it's Summertime and that means we get all the Summer fruit and more because of the fine climate here. This afternoon on our way back from our morning of walking about 4 miles in the ministry up and down the hills of our territory in Tortoracocha (Cuenca) …. Carol And Carol decided to stop at the open market that is open each Friday, about a mile from where we live, to get some flowers ... so I decided to meet them there ... I was early and decided to mosey around and see what's for sale at the market  .... Well I can tell you, just about everything! But what really caught my eye were the fruits, that are in season here in South America, the majority of which come from our dear fiends in the California of South America ...... Chile,  if you look at map, you can compare the latitude of Chile with different areas of the Western Coast of the US and see that Santiago is at about the same latitude as Los Angeles not exactly but very close. That being said all those fruits that you have available in the US, that come from Chile and you pay a boatload for, are here for, you can imagine .... very cheap! .... Quality? Think Whole Foods ..... What's available you ask? Well Cherries that are even better then those ones that we all wait for at Costco in the Summertime 1.50 a pound (gringo price) Avocados 4 for 1.00 .... apricots 8 for a dollar .40 a pound and large ripe and ready to eat mangos 5 for a buck .....(salivating Karla Linares?)  Raspberries 1.00 a pound ... and Carol Souza bought a half dozen roses with greenery and babies breath for 1.00 ... yes it Summertime in S.A. and we are enjoying the fruits for those Chileans labor also, but at a fraction of the price of what is paid in the U.S. Going back to those cherries they are larger and are sweeter then anything we have ever experienced in the U.S. .... Now if we could only get the wines here from Chile for the prices that they are sold for in Chile .... We saw bottles of wine in Chile that are the same brand and harvest for 1/5 the price of what we pay here .... It's the import taxes here that kill the prices on the fine wines in Ecuador... 

                       Well we can't have everything!

                   Can you taste these fruits? We can!

Miami Airport

Hello all .... well after working for the last couple of weeks (for the man) we are on our way back to Ecuador and looking forward to getting into a good routine of ministry and conducting bibles studies..... just before we left Carol had started 6 BS's although not able to count them all as of yet .... (3 strikes and you count them .... you know how it works) After going to Las Vegas last night and getting about 4 hours sleep, we were up at waaaaay before the crack of dawn, 3:30 to make the flight to Miami at 6:00 yes, of course AM! :-(

Anyway we took the American Airlines "No Frills" flight, (they all appear to be no frills unless your on 1st class... but who wants to spend that kind of money for a meal .... the 1st class, $1000.00 breakfast) where even though you are flying during the hours that most people would be eating breakfast you get NO Breakfast, not even peanuts ..... what in the world? Finally after getting to Miami airport we had the opportunity to purchase lunch if you are on the East coast and breakfast on the West or perhaps better said, "brunch". After ordering up our salad and pizza and finding a spot in the "dining" area (that would be a loose use of the word dining) then getting near finished with our "food",  the cleaning lady who was mopping the floor, started mopping the floor in our area to the point, that I'm sure that there was not a Germ, within the upper 1/4 inch of the surface, as she was scrubbing away and away and away..... finally after mopping Carols feet (shoes) for the 4th time, she asks (tells us) if we can leave so others can use our table,  and she said it, with a bit of irritation in her voice, we kind of laughed as evidently she thought that by mopping Carols shoes she was giving us a subtle hint that we should be leaving and making room for someone else, .... truth was we hadn't finished our meal... turns out she was the hostess and not the cleaning lady, or perhaps she was auditioning for the job as hostess .... anyway with all the fun stuff that happens in Latin America it appears that the fun is now starting at the Gateway to Latin American as Miami at times, at least in the airport, seems like you are in a Latin American county.....

Have fun everyone ..... it was great to see some of you while in Reno and Las Vegas .... even if we didn't get to spend a lot of time together and if we didn't get to see you please don't hold it against us.

Nice experiences

Ok, so you remember Segundo the Taxista .... we have had studies but not consistantly.... HOLIDAYS and our travel have made it difficult to have the study consistantly ..... mainly the HOLIDAYS .... "Hermano Bill I have to make hay while the sunshines" ..... that would be the rough translation of what he has told me.... he promissed to get back to it after the holidays.....


Another experience ..... after getting here and getting settled some months back, we leave the meeting for service and go out in the door to door work .... which just happens to be the the same block as the meeting for service.... first door, or better said, place to talk is a restaurant .... (here we work everything on the block, a business is just like a home, and the owners don't think a thing of it,  if you stop to talk to them at their business, at times they will even ignore the clients when they approach, if they are engrossed in the conversation,..... just like back in the States right? ......  Riiiiiiight!) So we have this really nice conversation about "Who really rules the world?" .... at the time we have no Bible Teach books as previously mentioned in another blog, some time ago, (we were out of them at the hall).... so I made arrangements to call back and discuss more about the solution to the problem ....ruler of the world that is... and deliver a book, once they are in our grubby mitts ..... Well I tried several times to go back but each time the restaurant was packed, so I would continue on my way ..... eventually I put it (the call) on the back burner, as this was the problem each time I went.... but while on the back burner it was burning a hole in my brain (well not literally.... but you get the idea, .... I needed to get back to him!!!) So two weeks ago on a Thursday, during the week of the CO visit, Carol wants to go out in the afternoon ... not a normal day for us to be in the ministry .... when she tells me this at lunch, I think to myself NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! But she continues to talk about some calls she going to do and how she wants to get back to them ... blah blah blah.... and I'm thinking, not saying mind you, just thinking ............Noooooooooooooo ..... I don't WANT to go out this afternoon, I'm tired..... Just being honest here! .......... But not wanting to curb her enthusiasm, ... I GO, .... but honestly my heart was just not there ..... anyway we go and do her calls, some home, others not and we are not far from "the restuarant" so I think to myself, what the heck, I might as well try to see if the guy is there (by this time I'm not thinking about being tired).... well he is, and the restaurant is not full, in fact it's almost empty .... so I ask for Miguel and of course he comes out, and I ask him if he remembers me,  and he says he does, and I mention that we had this really nice discussion about, who really rules the world and he says he remembers it, and that you (I) stopped by about 2 months ago, and I tell him more like 4 (with my head hung low) and that the bible teaches that it is "Satan" is the ruler of the World (my jaw drops because that seldom happens  ...  it normally takes about 3 visits and then review, and then rereading the scriptures to get them to remember that Satan is the ruler of this world  ..... and he remembers what the bible taught in one sitting .... got a live one here!) So we continue our discussion and he has a million questions (that might be an bit of an exaggeration ... but he has a lot!) So, I show him the book,  Bible Teach that is, and he can see that most of the questions are in the book ... so I ask him, Which one he would like answered first? and he says "lets start from the beginning" (that's always a good place) so we demonstrate how we study the bible with the help of the BT book, and make arrangements to come back next week, after the restuarant closes.... then after making the arrangements, we realize we have the Circuit Assembly that week, and the Pioneer Day meeting, on that day, so we have to go back and tell him that we maybe a bit later then mentioned, as we have the meeting .... "No problem" (after all he has been waiting 4 months for this moment) ..... The day arrives and it's Christmas day (how did we forget that when we made our plans? I think to myself  ..... MORON, I am) ...... So I give him a call after the meeting, and get his wife, and she puts me on hold, and then comes back to the phone and says "we will be here" (really? on Christmas day? Don't you want to spend time with your family? Nooooo of course I didn't say all that,  but I was thinking it!) So we go on down to their place, and they are cleaning after a "very busy day" his words,  and he asks if we can wait for about 10 minutes (that's Latin 10 minutes which is code for a minimum of 20 minutes on everybody elses time piece) so after they get all cleaned up, and yes, we did offer to help them clean up .... but they said Nooooooooooo, with a smile on there face.... They come out changed, all spiffed up, and we sit down for the study and have a wonderful study with them as a couple,  of the first 3 subheadings in the book,  Chapter 1 "What is the Truth about God".... after the study we are chatting and he mentions that they have not eaten dinner and would like us to stay for dinner with them .... at first I'm thinking we have safer food at home and there will be no chance of us eating PORK or CHANCHO at home (a Heilig no no here in EC, as it causes toooooooo many problems for us .... if you know I mean .... and I'm sure you do)   and tell him we have a few other things to do, which we do, but he won't take no for and answer, so we stay and it's CHICKEN with a plate full of rice ..... RELIEF no CHANCHO and NO next day, next week, next month problems after eating it.... Jehovah had mercy on us !!!! Thank you!!!!!! Then we told them that we could not get back for the study, due to travel for work plans, we need to care for ..... "no problem, we will be waiting for you until you get back" (that sounds good)..... moral of story .... get back to those RV's sooner and be more diligent (down here we have soooo many calls it's easy to put people on the "back burner") and when my wife says "let's go out" when I DON'T WANT TO, .... to go anyway ... because evidently the Spirit works more powerfully with her then me (Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch comes to mind ..... in this case Carol and the Resturantur)  And thank Jehovah when he makes it possible to have a study, that after, serves you dinner ...... and it's not Chancho!


Love to U all!!!!