Utah Nature

Auto problems – It gets worse

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:43:57 +0000

When we took in our Honda CRV (1997) for service after flooding it out in the big rain storm, the Repair Shop examined the car and suggested preventative work that should be done, quoting a price of $68. Thinking this was a good deal, and since wheel alignment was free, we took the car in Tuesday, the next day and added several other minor things to the list, leaving the car while we went shopping.

Tuesday, May 15 was the second day of the King’s birthday celebration, so our original translator, Kim Thoy was available to go shopping with Sister Tuck. The plan was to go to one of the markets to purchase material to have sewn into blouses and skirts while the auto work was done. We called one of our standard tuk-tuk drivers and ended up spending $35 on material plus the tuk-tuk costs, but Sister Tuck was excited about her purchases. Later that evening after picking up the car, we took the cloth to the seamstress and should have the garments completed in a week or so.

Wednesday, we had a Senior Couple Going Away Dinner scheduled for 5 in the evening, so we left home early to purchase another chair for our office. The furniture store we have been shopping at is on Monivong just north of the Mission Home, and has head-in parking in front of the building. Accidently, I pulled in one parking space too soon, parking in front of the Victorinox store, but heard a loud popping noise as I drove over the curb. With the parking attendant not too pleased we went next door and bought the chair.

While we waited for the chair to be brought to us, a space freed up in front of the furniture store so I went to move the car to the newly available spot, but the when the car moved, it made a huge noise, indicating it wasn’t going anywhere. Looking behind the front drivers-side tire, we could see a broken part pushing down on the wheel. I feared it was part of the ‘A’ frame that had broken, but it turns out that a tie rod ball joint had broken, much cheaper to fix.

Broken Ball Joint

I had the Repair Shop’s phone number, so I called for them to come get the car and fix it. After they arrived and were assessing the situation, the parking attendant convinced me to go into the Victorinox store where I was convinced (guilt-ridden) into purchasing a $27.95 pocket knife. Admittedly, it is a good knife and I sort-of needed one. Sort-of.

When I entered the Victorinox store, the repair shop workers had the car jacked up and the wheel off with a plethora of tools surrounding them. One thing I noticed with great concern was a rope included in the pile of tools. When I exited the store, my fears were confirmed, the workers were trying to tie the broken suspension part up with the rope so they could drive the car to the shop. One look and I determined to leave and let the workers do their job and not worry any more about it.

We caught a tuk-tuk to the dinner, arriving a half hour late but in time to order and enjoy the company of the other Senior Couples. It was wonderful saying goodbye to the Snyders, and watching the Senior Senior Couple torch pass to another Senior Couple, and afterward catching another tuk-tuk to return to Ta Khmau. We felt greatly deprived, not having our vehicle, not that we needed it, but that we worried that we might need it.

Thursday morning we received word that the repair would be completed by 11:00 and cost $27. By 10:45, the cost had escalated to $77 and the repair time changed to 3:00. Ultimately the cost was $111 and the completion time was 4:00. We were lucky, in the States the repairs could have cost 10 times as much and taken two weeks.

Interestingly, without the car being flooded out in the rain storm, we would not have known who to call for the much more major repairs needed just two days later. We may not be able to avoid the problems of life, but it is a real blessing to be prepared beforehand.

Dear Friends and Receiving Help

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:01:39 +0000

When Sister Tuck and I first arrived in Cambodia, one of the senior couples, Elder and Sister Henderson were assigned to help us get situated. They took us around showing us the city and introduced us to the places to shop. They were a wonderful help and have become our best friends here.

But, we received additional (and fantastic) help from the Mission Office, headed by Elder and Sister Snyder and their staff. This is an emotional time because the Snyder’s have almost completed their mission and have trained their replacements, Elder and Sister Westover. The Westover’s are great, but we shall miss the Snyder’s, they have worked their way into our hearts because they loved us and cared for us, responding to our every need. One of the ways they helped us was by sending the mission handy-man, Kosal to do whatever needed to be done.

Kosal was one of the first Cambodian born missionaries to serve and now has a family and works doing odd-jobs for the mission. He became a close friend because of immediate and thoughtful care he gave as we became settled in our first apartment in Phnom Penh and then worked with us through our move to Ta Khmau, fixing what needed to be fixed and installing what needed to be installed. In the process of working closely with us, we discovered Kosal has a liking for American food, especially the snacks Sister Tuck likes to make, so we make sure we have something for him whenever he comes out.

Kosal is a man of many talents, skills and friends. When we bought the car, we bought it through his brother. When we completed the deal, Kosal told us he wished he had purchased the car, and in fact searched and bought one like ours but a year newer. When we wanted a table for our computer room, Kosal arraigned to have one made to our specifications (we wish we could take it home with us when we leave). We have grown dependent on his assistance.

Yesterday was P-day, the day we go our personal things, and it was the first day of a Cambodian 3-day holiday, the King’s birthday, so we decided we would go with Elder and Sister Henderson to lunch at the only Mexican Restaurant in Phnom Penh. We left the car at their apartment house and took a tuk-tuk down town, then had an OK Mexican meal at a place named ‘Viva’. I ordered a side of refried beans and got an itty-bitty dish with a dab of beans in it. The waiter said the price of refried beans in the market was too high for more to be served.

Following the meal, we walked along the riverside, then through a market, then hired cyclos to take us back to the apartment. A cyclo is a 3 wheeled manually peddled cycle that has a seat between the two front wheels. The four of us riding in a row must have been a sight to see, since we had our cameras out taking pictures of everything around us.

Hendersons riding Cyclos

We were chatting in the Henderson’s apartment when it started to rain, really hard rain. Their apartment is on the 5th floor so as we looked out we could see sheets of rain sweeping across the neighboring buildings. We waited for a lull in the rain, but seeing none ran to the car, finding the street in front of us had turned into a river.

Our first experience with High Water

We saw some children playing in the water and a few other vehicles driving down the road so ventured out ourselves. We got 2 blocks before the engine died, and we sat on the side of the road pondering what to do. We watched other vehicles drive past sending huge ‘bow waives’ our way, rocking the car, but noticed by looking at a curb that the water level was slowly falling. I finally decided to step out of the car and check the engine, and found the water was 10-12 inches high, but the engine looked OK and the distributor was dry. (This moment would have been an excellent photo-op, but the thought of taking a picture never entered our minds.) Wondering what might have caused the engine to die, I phoned Kosal. Within 10 minutes, he was with us in his CRV, and showed me that the air intake had become filled with water. We disconnected the air intake and left it hanging in the air above the engine and were able to restart the engine and head for higher ground, the main road. Once on Norodom, we did not see any more flooded streets. Kosal led me to a repair shop where they removed and dried out he air intake system and sold me another air filter, all for $12. I will return to that place for more auto maintenance work. I think Sister Tuck will invite Kosal and his family over for dinner for his selfless help.

When we got home to Ta Khmau after finishing shopping, we could not tell if there had been a flood here as well. This certainly is an interesting place.

I am thinking about installing a snorkel on the car. We’ll see.

With Great Sadness

admin — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:23:34 +0000

Sister Tuck and I are Birders, which are a more intense form of bird watchers, but we are in Cambodia working as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and are not here to watch birds.

That said, we are ‘opportunistic’. We will not go out searching for birds to watch as we did with reckless abandon prior to this mission, but if a bird comes our way we will look at it.

Well, one came our way. A pair of Yellow-vented Bulbuls nested just outside our front door so we photographed the nestling monitoring its growth. We first noticed an egg in the nest on April 2, and were excited when it hatched on April 14. It was fun, carefully watching so as to not be much of a disturbance as the chick grew.

Newly Hatched, on April 14

The chick grew by leaps and bounds being fed insects and berries by its parents. By 10 days it was positively huge, compared to its birth size, as shown by this picture I took on the morning of April 24.

Morning, April 24

As we left the home that morning for a meeting, we glanced into the nest and found it empty, but with the parents making a huge racket in the trees above us. We searched all around the nest hoping to find the chick had fallen, but to no avail. After the meeting we searched again and still found nothing. The parents hung around for another day mournfully talking to each other.

We felt something akin to love for this chick and mourned its loss with its parents.

It’s been more than a week now, allowing me to write this post. I understand the cycle of life for these small creatures, eat and be eaten but that does not relieve the sadness.

Happy New Year

admin — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:36:19 +0000

Yesterday started the Khmai New Year Celebration, which lasts from April 13 to 16 this year. Apparently the dates vary based on the moon phase. Searching the Internet, I found that this is year 2556 BE (Buddhist Era).

We were out and about last evening and found many shops were closed and the traffic was substantially lighter than usual but that the main part of the city was decorated with lights strung in many trees along the avenues. The New Year Holiday is traditionally when the Khmai people return to their ancestral Provinces to visit family. In fact so many leave Phnom Penh that we were advised to purchase enough food to last for the holiday since the markets would all be closed. We wanted to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant but it and most others like it were closed. We ended up having a pizza at a place that serves the expat crowd.

As with all Cambodian National Holidays, we fly the Cambodian flag in front of our home adding our bit to the decorations lining the major highways.

Flags Amongst the Beer Signs

We have crossed the street going to the chapel several times today and see less traffic but the traffic that is there is moving much faster. Instead of traveling 25 MPH (about 40 KH), vehicles are going at least 35 MPH, probably faster.

It is interesting that several of Sister Tuck’s piano students on Saturday actually came to be taught which means that not everyone leaves for the Provinces.

I overheard a rumor that the transportation companies double the costs to travel because so many wish to leave Phnom Penh for the holidays. The people who told me this left several days early to take advantage of the lower fares.

Of the two bakeries just north of us, one has closed and the other had very few things for sale but had a number of vans in front of it as the occupants stocked up for their trip.

One of the things I have not written about is the number of vans crammed to the gills with people headed in and out of town. They are so crowded that people often ride on the roof, even when there is nothing to hang on to. Another interesting thing is that the van brand names are nothing we have ever heard, even when the manufacturer is Toyota. Interestingly, I have seen these vans pull over to a policeman and hand him a wad of Riels, probably not a huge amount but given the number of vans I see loaded with people, it probably significantly increases the policeman’s take home pay.

Opportunistic Birding

admin — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 05:50:05 +0000

Some interests can be suspended for a time, only to pop back up again. Sister Tuck and I are Birders, a higher form of birdwatchers, but when we came on this mission, we determined we would not actively bird (‘bird’ – a verb meaning to look for, watch and identify birds), but that we would be opportunistic, and look at birds when they happen to pop up close to us.

We were excited when we found a new nest right on our front porch and doubly excited when we found an egg in it. Next we noticed whenever we exited our home a bird flew up, indicating the egg was being incubated.

Nest with egg

Yesterday morning, I looked into the nest to see a small hairless blob at the bottom of the nest indicating the egg had hatched so I sat in a shady spot to see if the parents would ignore me and go to their nestling. I did see and identify the parents in the canopy above my waiting place but they would not approach the nest while I waited outside, however when I relocated into the home and watched through the screen door the bird did come to the nest, insect in its beak. I took a picture of the baby bird but decided to let it grow up a bit before publishing it.

The bird is a Yellow-vented Bulbul, which apparently is very common here. I was not able to get a good photograph with my point-and-shoot camera, but here it is.

Go and do the things that need to be done – part 2

admin — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:20:55 +0000

Three months have passed since we entered the mission so we should be up and doing whatever it was that we should be doing. In the time we have been here, we have identified several areas where we can help, some we have started doing and others which are waiting for us to get more organized.

For several weeks, I was bothered by the family we visited where no one could read so they were not reading the scriptures. Initially, I was upset with the father since he had not made sure his children had an education, but I realized I couldn’t change that. I have heard that people here often find they can read when they are given reading glasses and the scriptures are placed in front of them. Many of the people here cannot see well enough without glasses and are surprised that they have learned enough Khmai script by knowing the words and seeing signs and billboards along the road when they are given reading glasses. We don’t yet know if this would be true with this family.

However, I continued pondering this situation and remembered a scripture that said all people would hear the Word of God in their own tongue. I then had the idea to create a Khmai audio version of the Book of Mormon or selected parts in Cambodian for those who cannot read. One of the other Senior Couples has had some scriptures recorded onto cassette tapes, so as an experiment, I converted one of these tapes into an MP3 file. I feel the barriers are falling as I pursue this and will report how it is going in a future blog.

'D&C Section 42' spoken in Khmai

While attending the church meetings in the Takhmau Second Branch, I noticed a lack of young men attending. Pondering this, I realized my Scouting experience and training could be used to provide an interesting week-day activity for the boys and that I could teach them at church, perhaps increasing their activity and commitment to the Church. Again, as this develops, I will report what happens in a future blog.

Sister Tuck noted that no one in the branches we attend seem to know how to play the piano or how to direct the singing properly. So she has been teaching piano lesions at the church while I assist youth in learning how to pronounce English words. We fear playing the piano will take a significant amount of time to teach. Piano playing isn’t something quickly learned, but once learned by the local youth will provide music in the meetings to gladden the heart and bring the Holy Spirit in more abundantly. Now, Sister Tuck plays the hymns for all the meetings we attend. When we leave Cambodia, we want to leave behind several people able to play the hymns in church. Directing classes will wait a bit.

We feel that we are learning the names of the people too slowly, partly because they are in a language we have trouble pronouncing and because we only interact with many of them on Sunday. To make it easier, I have been taking pictures of families following the church meetings, and have a form where they list the names of the people in the photograph. Although a space is provided for their name in Khmai and Romanized English, most of the time they provide only the Khmai script of their name, causing us to seek help from the Branch President in providing the Romanized name. This is an ongoing project because often the entire family is not in attendance so they wait for the next week. We hope this will give us a picture and a name to learn from. As an added incentive to have their picture taken, we present the family with a copy of the picture, which are received with gladness.

Several Families in Ta Khmau 2nd Branch

As an interesting side note, we learned while taking the pictures and trying to cross-reference their names with the photos that the Khmai way of naming does not match ours. First, the family name proceeds the given name. When a couple marry, the wife retains her name without change. When children are born their family name becomes the given name (!) of their father. So far I have not been able to detect any gender specific naming conventions, but then their names seem to be interesting anyway. These naming conventions will play havoc with genealogy since it will not be possible to follow a surname back numerous generations.

For example, one of the families we are close to have lots of children, three of which are named Kunthy, Sokunthea and Monyroth, two girls and a boy. My guess the reader will not be able to determine which one is the boy. It is the middle one listed, whom we call Kunthea.

Actually, while we don’t yet know everything we are here to do, we do know these people are easy to love. We want to serve them well.

Yesterday it Rained

admin — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:59:57 +0000

We attended the Ta Khmau Missionary District meeting, which includes all the Missionaries in the Ta Khmau area, 4 Elders and 2 Sisters. There, the Sisters asked us if we would go with them for an investigator visit at 5 in the afternoon and drive them in our car. We agreed.

At the appointed time, we drove to the Sister’s apartment and picked them up to make the Investigator visit. We left not understanding who we were to visit and what our destination was. We crossed the bridge headed west, then soon turned onto a bumpy dirt road, turned toward the river and paralleled it for a kilometer or so at which time it started to rain. We next turned onto a more primitive dirt road and drove up to a house we had been to before. This house really is a shanty at road level with a dirt floor but extended out over a canal on concrete stilts where it has a wood plank floor. By this time it was raining hard with rivulets of water running off both sides of the road. Unprepared for rain, we sat for several moments waiting for the rain to abate and watched the two youngest children play nude in the rain enjoying the shower. The rain did not abate so we got out of the car and hurried through the downpour into the relative protection of the home, getting mildly soaked in the process but noted that the rain was warm. We started the meeting with the Sister and her children but her husband did not show up. This family has major problems with the husband requesting permission to take a second wife. We were told he has a drinking problem so I offered to teach the Church’s Addiction Recovery Class if he would attend.

Missionary visit in the rain

The rain was pounding so hard on the tin roof that Sister Tuck and I could not hear what was going on. Fortunately, the small electric light that illuminated the bed platform where we were gathered did not go out.

The rain slacked a bit, but picked up again just before we left. Soaked, we got back into the car and headed down the dirt road to an intersection where we could turn around, only to find a pickup headed my way that just had to pass me in the intersection. I backed up and went to the side of this now very muddy road, in the dark with a heavy rain falling, remembering the ditches on both sides and let the truck pass. It rained heavily all the way home as I inched my way carefully paralleling the river. I hesitate to think what would have happened to the Sister Missionaries had we not taken them in the car. We passed numerous people on bicycles who were wearing light plastic ponchos but looked drenched.

After dropping the Sister Missionaries off, we drove the main streets home, at one point passing through a large puddle that appeared to be over a foot deep. I would probably not have driven through it had it been daylight permitting me to see it more clearly, but we made it through without killing the engine.

Of course, when we arrived home, the power was out as has been a normal evening event, then was on and off sporadically. This was the first major rain we have experienced while living here in Dakhmau, but we expect much more when the rainy season officially starts in two months.

Driving

admin — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:03:11 +0000

I didn’t want to purchase a car and one of the reasons was I had seen how the Khmai drivers drive. A tuk-tuk offers an excellent platform to watch the road dynamics because after you tell the driver where you want to go, you can sit back and leave the driving to him (I think I saw a woman tuk-tuk driver once but only once).

I tried to capture in movies what happens on the street but never was able to obtain the feeling I was after. I suppose one reason was that the tuk-tuk was part of the mayhem. Tuk-tuk drivers are a fearless lot. They merge into traffic even when there isn’t a spot to merge into. They cross lanes seemingly without even looking. They even disregard one-way streets. The problem is that the same can be said for the moto drivers, cyclo drivers, and auto and truck drivers, especially the Lexus drivers. The Lexus seems to come with a built-in attitude.

The only saving grace is that everything happens in slow-motion.

I saw a speed limit sign that said ’40′. I thought “Wow, that’s a respectable speed”, then I realized that was 40 kilometers per hour, not miles per hour. 40 kph is about 25 mph. The average speed in Phnom Penh has to be less than 20 mph, and most of the time less than 20 kph.

Takhmau where I live is about 5 miles from the Independence Monument in the heart of Phnom Penh but it takes me almost a half hour to make the drive, more if it is rush hour.

Independence Monument

Tuk-tuks are narrow, probably about a meter wide, and are fairly short. They attach to the moto by a pin fixed in the middle of the passenger area of the moto seat.

Tuk-Tuk Hitch

This means that they can turn around in their own length. This small size gives them a lot of maneuverability which the drivers use when trying to get to the front of a line of cars waiting for a light. But, this maneuverability is nothing compared to the fearless moto drivers. Motos can squeeze between cars, turn and cross between cars to get to an open spot on the other side. In fact motos are like gnats; they swarm all around you working their way to the front. And when the light changes…no, way before the light changes, they are crossing the street. In fact, many moto drivers ignore the traffic lights and cross whenever they want, only sometimes waiting for the cross traffic to ease up.

And all this mayhem works because of the slow-motion speeds traveled on the roads.

And, now since I have a car, I am part of it. I drive as if the lane markers are mere hints and I move to the right a half lane to pass other vehicles stopped to turn left. I might or might not signal, depending. I don’t like honking, but the car is quiet and if I don’t honk, the moto or tuk-tuk driver ahead or beside me may not know I am there. I am as bad as the other drivers.

I hope I can revert to US driving when I return home.

Sister Tuck and I drove out into the countryside to a zoo on our ‘preparation day’ which also happened to be our 42nd wedding anniversary, and encountered relatively uncrowded roads where I was able to drive up to 35 mph, somewhere around 56 kph. Sister Tuck told me to quit speeding. We have gotten so used to the under 20 mph speeds here that 35 feels like we are speeding. I think it best for me to stay off the freeway for the first several weeks after I come home.

Our home in Takhmau is right on a major highway and we see a lot of eye-popping things on the road. The most memorable (to us) has been the carts of earthen ware pulled by Brahma bulls. We were most astounded when one of these carts pulled out of the street (really a 1 lane dirt track) beside our house. We had thought the road dead ended so we walked down it and we still think it is a dead end. We have no idea how those bulls and the cart got onto the road to come out of it. When we walked down it, we didn’t find anyplace big enough to turn the cart around.

Brahma Bulls Pulling Cart

Someday I want do a picture study of all the things they haul on the back of a moto. Several times we have seen a big round fluff of dark red on the back of a moto that turns into a large number of chickens tied together by their feet hooked to the moto back seat, heads bobbing in the rushing air. It took us a long time to capture a good picture of this because it always took us by surprise and we didn’t have our cameras ready.

Chickens Going to Market

I don’t know whether the propane tanks or the tall stacks of merchandise tottering in the wind is the scariest I have seen on a moto, but if it fits on the seat, even crowding the driver forward, it is carried.

We have seen a number of accidents along the highway, mostly with a moto down. It appears that the main cause is excessive speed and reckless driving. This is especially worrisome when I see motos with 3 or 4 people on it, most often one of them being a baby. The moto is the family car. When they go somewhere together, the entire family has to fit on the moto.

Another set of problems we encounter often on the roads are the weddings and funerals. Custom has weddings and funerals in large temporary halls set up like tents in front of several of the businesses that line the road, reaching out into the roadway, often taking up more than half the road. We can tell the difference between weddings and funerals by the color of the lace draped on and over the walls, black, white and yellow indicate a funeral, pink, white and yellow indicate a wedding. These things spring up at the oddest places and stay for one or two days playing the loudest music imaginable (calling it music is a stretch). Anyway, encountering one of these is always exciting because the road squeezes down to a one lane road with people darting in and out seemingly at random.

The most recent road hazard we have found are motorcades of several cars being escorted by Police or Soldiers riding motorcycles, lights and sirens just a blazing. There seem to be 2 or 3 sets of uniformed police and/or soldiers on every corner, each one with a radio in his hand (and maybe another radio on his belt). These police and/or soldiers jump out into the street and motion everyone to the side just in time for a small motorcade to come speeding past. Most often this leaves traffic in intersections in disarray, taking a cycle or two of the lights to restore order.

One thing they have here that I like is a sign with big numbers telling how much time is left before the light will change. The waits are horrific, sometimes being over 99 seconds but it is nice to know when your turn will come.

The Car

admin — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 02:10:39 +0000

Our assigned area has been Ta Khmau and Kean Svay (pronounced Dakamau and Geen Svy) so when we arrived here we arranged to go with the missionaries on their teaching appointments. This meant we were renting a tuk-tuk to travel from Phnom Penh to one of these towns, picking up the missionaries, then traveling wherever they were going, which generally was another community further south. Ultimately, we stopped asking the Elders if we could go with them, but told them we would go if they made prior arrangements, but regardless, we ended up spending about $500 on tuk-tuk rides that first month. The tuk-tuk drivers loved us because we doubled or tripled their normal expected monthly earnings, which we were told is about $100 after expenses.

This high cost caused out Mission President to suggest we move to Ta Khmau which we did, which ended up increasing our rent by $300. This move caused us to travel to Phnom Penh by tuk-tuk for normal purchases. We have not yet weaned ourselves from American foods and there are markets in Phnom Penh that carry American foods which do not exist here in the Ta Khmau region, but we are beginning to purchase more from the local markets, the subject of a future blog post.

Therefore we determined we needed a vehicle, but not just any vehicle, we needed a four wheel drive, we thought. We arrived here at the start of the dry season and have had very few days of wet weather but we have heard stories and have seen youtube videos of the wet season, then we traveled out into our area and saw the roads we would need to drive on, unmaintained dirt tracks bordering deep ditches. We believe we need four wheel drive, so that’s the kind of vehicle we looked for.

One of the Mission Office workers told us his wife worked in vehicle sales and leasing and might be able to get us a ‘deal’, so we set the wheels in motion to buy a 4X4 SUV. As you might expect, auto salesmen do not let grass grow under their feet when they have a ‘live customer’. The next day we had several Toyota Rav 4 and Honda CRV SUVs to look at in our price range so we chose a CRV.

Next we had to get our money here. What a chore. We had to gather the money from various institutions into our primary bank and find a way to get it here. This all took time, so it took a week to accomplish. We ended up increasing our daily ATM limit and withdrew the daily maximum over a several day period to get the money.
When this was done, we consummated the deal, passing over a huge pile of cash.

Although I had been warned to insure the vehicle actually had four wheel drive, when I looked under the vehicle I did not know what to expect so I did not notice the driveline from the engine to the rear wheels was missing until I had it in my drive way. I immediately called my contact for the vehicle purchase telling him I wanted the drive line reinstalled. The seller responded “We should have told you we removed the drive line as a way to increase fuel economy.” He told us to bring it back and they would install the drive line, which we did, giving him a list of other problems we had noticed. So now when I looked, I saw the driveline, and I believe we have four wheel drive. I also expect lower fuel economy.

CRV Drive Line

Now that we have a car, I expect we will be asked to take missionaries and branch members all over. I expect to be a ‘hard guy’ and say ‘no’ quite often. Just estimating the cost of driving based on our first fuel purchase and the distance we have traveled, it looks like I am getting about 2.5 miles per dollar. Miles per gallon calculations are difficult because they sell gas by the liter and I didn’t get a full tank when I paid $50 at the station. I believe my high fuel usage is because my driving here is slow with frequent stops.

Traffic here is amazing as is the almost total disregard for traffic laws coupled with the food stands that extend out into the roadway during the dinner hour when the clothing factory workers end their shift. The darkness of night comes early and the people seem to like to wear dark colors, making night travel especially difficult. At these hours people are crossing the roadway on foot, riding bicycles in every direction, zooming or slowing and turning every which way on their motos, and an occasional large truck or Lexus driver demands right-of-way. It is chaotic.

I do not expect this to be the last of my tuk-tuk days because many places we want to go have poor parking so we may go to the Mission Home and take a tuk-tuk from there.

You Cannot Hide

admin — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:05:05 +0000

Age happens. I had hoped we could avoid the problems aging brings, after all we are over 6000 miles from home and surely old age couldn’t find us here. But it has.

Sister Tuck has had some problems seeing, especially when she is trying to play the piano in church meetings. So she scheduled an appointment with an ophthalmologist here in Phnom Penh, one highly recommended as being as good as can be found anywhere.

Admittedly, Sister Tuck has had eye problems before but she had visited with her eye doctor in Provo just prior to coming to Cambodia, so she was shocked to hear that her optic nerve was dying in her left eye due to Glaucoma and that nothing could be done about it and that she needed to have laser treatment in her right eye to prevent retinal detachment. The doctor did prescribe some drops to reduce the pressure in the left eye and told her to come back in a week.

The next day, the missionaries stopped by to ask a question, so I pressed them into service to give her a Priesthood Blessing, which was as good a blessing as can be asked for.

Sister Tuck had not wanted to alarm our children about this, but the missionaries strongly suggested she tell them to obtain the benefits of their faith and prayers. Of course, they panicked but did fast for her.

Bad things do not only happen to Sister Tuck. I have had my share as well as this next story will tell.

Several days later, the same day we bought our CRV, I fell down. It is our habit to use the bathroom in a different bedroom than we sleep in, due to the better shower. Last night, after preparing for bed, I walked in the dark to the front bedroom to use the facilities there. I could see light coming in from outside so I stepped in confidently. Unfortunately, it was the stairwell I stepped into.

I went down head first, and yelled for Sister Tuck to come help me, but the stairs kept coming at me, hitting me about the head, shoulders and hips. I yelled again then came to a stop. At first, I thought I was at the corner where the stairs bend, but soon I discovered I was lying on the floor of the foyer on my stomach. I just laid there hurting, then Sister Tuck arrived in a panic, calmed herself and said a prayer over me. I rolled over and checked myself out to see if anything was broken, but aside from some major hurts, all seemed ok.

Top of Stairs Looking Down

I laid there for a while gathering confidence and composure, then got up, climbed the stairs and laid on the bed. I had a fitful night full of thanksgiving for the protection the Lord had given me. Yes, I have some hurts.

I have some minor lumps on my head, my neck hurts a bit, especially when I turn to the extremes. Both of my hands, shoulders and hips hurt as well as my left ankle. None of these hurts have resulted in bruises yet, but I do expect my hips to bruise over the next few days.

This fall could have broken bones, or worse but I was protected by the Hand of the Lord.

Here it is several days later and we visited the Ophthalmologist for the appointment to have the laser treatment. We drove to the Mission Home, parked and took a tuk-tuk to the Ophthalmologist’s office which is located in the center of Phnom Penh on a narrow street that runs east from the head of Russian Boulevard, and there is no parking. We arrived 30 minutes early, and wonder of wonders, the Doctor took Sister Tuck right in.

After a quick examination, the Doctor said that the pressure in Sister Tuck’s eyes had decreased considerably, most notably in her left eye where the optic nerve was dying, down from 24 to 10. He then put some drops into her right eye to dilate it. After several minutes, he took her into an adjoining room where he proceeded to laser about a quarter of the circumference of the retina, firmly attaching it to the back of the eyeball. According to Sister Tuck, the process hurt and the doctor said that if it didn’t hurt, it wouldn’t work. Twice during the procedure, Sister Tuck had to put her head between her knees because she was getting nauseous but she toughed it out.

The doctor said he had done the worst parts but that we should return in 3 months for a check-up and to get more laser treatments if needed, and go in for tests every 3 months for the rest of her life to preserve her sight. When we left the bill was $100, so much less that what a comparable procedure would cost in the US.

As we were sitting in the operating room following the laser treatment, Sister Tuck looked at the vision wall chart with her left eye, the one the doctor had given up on, and read some of the letters surprising the doctor and his assistant. Prayers do get answered.

We are really not old yet, but some days it feels like it.