Mr. Fix-It

Anyone who has lived in the tropics knows that the climate does a number on most everything.  We wish we could live without "things" that need our attention, but so far we haven't found a way to make that feasible.  It is amazing the number of things Darrell has had to fix in the short time we've been here.  It's a good thing he has a good brain for things like that or we'd either be out of money or living with things in disrepair.

When we arrived the Sheppards told us that the AC in the vehicle needed to be repaired; Mark had hoped to get to it before they left, but all those last minute things kept popping up.  That was Darrell's first repair, but that one had to be done at a shop that Mark told him about.  Soon after that was fixed, the fan for the AC went.  Mark knew there was a problem so had left a spare fan for them to put in the same time they made the first repair, but they told Darrell the fittings weren't right.  Well, don't tell Darrell something can't be done!  He fixed it himself, but.....now he thinks the original repair is not holding, so it may be going back to the shop.

We have 2 water systems--city water when it is running and well water for the rest of the time. We pump water from the well into a holding tank on the roof. There is a one-way valve in the line so when city water is running it by-passes the tank, but that valve quit working so water was constantly overflowing the tank when the city water was on. That meant Darrell had to climb up on the roof umpteen times--to find out what he needed to fix it, back up to fix it, back up to tighten it to stop a leak, etc., etc.

Shortly after getting that fixed, water started dripping from the kitchen ceiling.  That didn't make sense because he hadn't been working over the kitchen, so he had to go up into the "attic" to see what was going on.  He wasn't too impressed to find a pressure tank that had sprung a leak--not in the pipes or fittings but in the actual tank.  He "fixed" that by putting a piece of roofing up there to catch the water and direct it outside.  Well, it wasn't quite as simple as that, but you get the idea.

Not long after that I was walking by the bathroom and heard running water.  Uh-oh!  The shower control had decided to die and needed to be replaced..... NOW .....because there was no shut-off valve.

Add to these things the screens that needed to be replaced (which meant he had to run all over trying to find aluminum screening only to find it in a small shop down the street), the fans that needed fixing, the toilets that needed adjusting, and on and on it goes.

These things weren't a shock to us since we had lived here before, but it still amazes us how much time can be spent just keeping things working.  One thing to be thankful for is that these things make life so much easier or more pleasant for us.  God is good!