the adventure I find myself in / das Abenteuer in dem ich mich finde

Month: November 2007 (Page 2 of 2)

About an old life

I watched the Return of the King the other evening. Nearly at the end Frodo reflects on his adventure and thinks/writes the following:

"How do you pick up the threads of an old life. How do you get on when in your heart you begin to understand there is no going back. There is some things that time cannot mend, some hurts that go to deep, that have taken hold."

I wondered about that. I believe that Jesus heals and I received a lot of inner healing over the years. Life with God changed me, and I guess the new creation taking shape has to do with it.

Still there are things in our lives, wounds that are to stay. Often for me it felt like a great weakness and hindrance on my way. But God says to let His mercy be sufficient for us, then in He is strong in our weaknesses. There is no going back in my life to change my past. There are some things that make me sad, things that cannot be mend. At least not in this life time. Hurts have taken hold.

This sounds very depressing and it would be if I would not have the hope that I will pass on to a life beyond this where I will get understanding, healing and closure. Frodo went of with the elves and left his life behind to start something new. On day my journey here will end passing over to a new adventure.

 

Surveying a new project

Just came back Yesterday evening from surveying a water project in a Lahu village. The existing piping doesn’t produce enough water anymore. In this particular village I did my first project nearly seven years ago. So we ventured into the mountains and worked our way through the jungle. I took the surveying instruments along, but were unable to use it because of the density of the forest. We had to go down into a deep ravine. Also my altitude meter didn’t work. I don’t know why. I used then my Swiss pocket knife that has an altitude meter. With this I measured the difference in altitude going back all the way back to the village. The distance we counted in paces and later measured the passes with a tape measure and so got the  distance. Once again I wished to have an GPS.
So now back in Chiang Mai I need to calculate the costs and think of how to do the water collection. Then we have to try to get the funds together. My first estimate without the tanks is about 30’000 Thai Baht. What we found is that it is actually possible to put the pipe through the mountains even though the area is very difficult.

Communication with a Mac

Even though I had my share of problems with my ibook lately (as I write this my ibook G4 is in repairs again)  I like Mac computers. I don’t regret switching even though there is a learning curve. Once the switch is made some kind of symbiosis takes place.

I our world of instant communication and connection we need reliability. A good and fast connection and the right tools. Internet connection has improved here in Thailand in the last 8 years, but can still drive you crazy. It is slow and fails all the time. But programs have improved. I use ichat, a mac only program. If a windows user wants to chat with me on ichat there AIM has a free program for Windows. Then I use MSN for Mac from Microsoft and of course skype . I must say I am no big "chatter". Still with some people it’s a great way to stay connected. With others e-mail is great. Others the occasional phone call is the way to go.

Logo_4I found another small application on the internet. (I like those little apps.) This one combines all the chat programs, except skype. So this way I don’t have to have them all open. Specially if you are the seriuos chatter and have lot’s of different screen names and chat programs. Here is a list of what you can use with Adium.

Click on the duck to get to the download page

The dilemma of the news

Maybe I read to much, maybe I just get to much information. I just feel overwhelmed by what is happening out here in the world. Through the internet, newspaper and CNN/BBC I have access to the worlds disasters, war, genocide and latest starlet gossip. I mostly get the suffering and the stupidity of the human race. Sometimes I get lucky and there is a story that inspires hope, but mostly I get information about the world going down.
There are big floods in Mexico and in Vietnam. Volcanoes are stirring in Indonesia, a power grasp in Pakistan and the tragedy of 103 children in Chad who apparently were being abducted by an organization called Zoe’s ark, while the news of last week is old news and we forget all that was then because we move on and focus somewhere else.
All the issues that are kept in front of our mind seem to be the Afghanistan and Iraq war, Global warming. Swiss news I neglected all together. Living in Thailand I focus more on the local and regional happenings. I do realize I have a momentous overkill. I know I can decide and select. But I’m just to curious a person to not to get informed. I am also aware that I cannot change anything.
The good thing is that I leave for the mountains for a view days again. Time to calm down and to reflect.

A lazy morning

I’m having a lazy morning. Luckily Lillian brought me coffee to bed and so I didn’t even have to get up. It is raining outside and the option of getting up was just not very appealing. It is cold today, at least for my own standards. I know in Switzerland they would laugh. But it is 21 degrees and I wonder if there is a need to put my book aside and see what the kids are doing. Lillian has left the building for a singing seminar and I’m in charge today.
I haven’t written on my blog for a while and so after breakfast I finally sit in front of my computer. Lately I wondered if I should stop this blog. Or if I should make another effort. Haven’t made up my mind yet. The last weeks were kind of busy and I often lack the discipline to sit down and write. Perhaps I should more use it as a journal. But then it might become too personal.
I wish you all a great weekend. I go now and try to seize the rest of the day. Do the dishes, order lunch, practice the guitar and plan next week.

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