We have not had any rain since Charity and the boys left. We are hoping to get at least one more before they stop completely but the dry season is upon us and this is the way that it is supposed to be!
We heard on the news last night that Nigeria has had her first confirmed case of Ebola; the patient came from Uganda. About a month ago Uganda declared herself free of Ebola because they had not had a new case in a month. Nigeria is very close to Ghana. Only 2 small French speaking countries separate us. Ghana has a high population of Nigerians. We are always concerned with what is going on in Nigeria.
I spent almost the whole day in the office. Steve spent at least ½ the day in the office. Steve reminded me that we have to figure the raises that we will be giving the workers in January. We have to figure their Social Security as well as their IRS taxes. We also have to pull their portion of the Social Security tax and pay it ahead for the year. It has to be taken to a special office in Tamale. A few years ago, the Ghana government decided that it would be better to divide the Social Security tax so that all of it was not in one fund just in case the main fund ran out of money, the people would still have another fund to pull from when they retire. We don’t really understand all the ends and outs of it so we just do what we are told to do; which means lots of paperwork for us.
Steve took time out this afternoon to paint the walls in the lower part of our shower. The paint has been peeling and he was tired of looking at it. The paint here is such poor quality; the oil paint is so thin that it wants to run off the walls. Drips everywhere! Steve only painted half of what he intended to paint because of the poor paint. I think he is going to look for a different brand next time we are in Tamale. The oil paint also smells so bad; it cannot be good to breathe those fumes! He has all the windows open and the fans on and still it is awful!
Solomon, the motorcycle mechanic, stopped by this morning; he has been working on Timothy’s motorcycle. He had to have new sleeves put in the motor; the sleeves help the pistons fit more securely, so I am told. He also needed a new headlight, shock covers and a lot of other odds and ends that needed replaced or repaired. Solomon rode the motorcycle out to the mission house this morning so Steve could see the work he had done on it. He is still waiting on one more part to come in but he is going to go ahead and give the motorcycle back to Timothy. We know Timothy will be happy to have wheels again!
Donkey decided that he wanted to use the terracotta paint and paint the trim on the wall. We do not let him trim anything because he is such a mess but he insisted that he knew how to use the masking tape and keep everything clean. Well, guess what? He used the masking tape but he did not know how to put it on the wall; he obviously does not have a straight eye and he left a gap between the white wall and the black primer so now we have a wall that is white at the top; has a very suspicious black strip between the terracotta trim! Maybe it will be a new design! White, terracotta and black walls! The worst part is that he does not see anything wrong with his painting job! Steve told him he would have to redo it.
Take care! Have a great day!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie, and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
I broke another mirror today so Mom decided to fortify the mirror by wrapping the edge with that black Gorilla duct tape. I tried and tried to pull off the tape but it was too sticky for me! I will have to work on that again tomorrow!
We watched a movie this afternoon that had horses but Mom did not take a nap today so I did not get a nap either! I cannot sleep when a movie is playing! I was pretty cranky by the end of the afternoon! It was all I could do to help Mom cook supper! Mostly, I just sat there and watched her! I was happy when I saw Dad chopping up fruit and vegetables for my supper and he headed out the door! I thought Dad was taking me back to my condo but he gave me a bottle and put me in the big mango tree which was not at all what I expected! I was anticipating snatching all the grapes out of my food dish and lounging in my hammock until it was time for bed!
While Mom was working this afternoon, I took off my diaper! I try to take off my diaper almost everyday but the parents usually hear the Velcro when I try to open them. Also, Mom has to cut a hole in them for my tail; she puts them on backward so the Velcro is in the back! That is pretty clever of her but I can still get them open. Now she adds an extra measure of safety; she puts a strip of tape over the tabs so I can’t pull on them. But if I work at it hard enough, I can pull off the tap and then lift up the tabs and I am free of the diaper! Today, I took off my diaper completely before she realized what I was doing! Before she could stop me, I was perched at the end of the bed and as any red-blooded American boy would do I pee-ed off the bed! Most of it landed on the floor! Mom was cleaning and fussing; hand-sanitizer was going everywhere!
Don’t laugh at Mom when she is annoyed!
Love, Skeeter
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