Hello Family and Friends:
Here we go again, another week shot. Very busy week for work. Sometimes 55 to 60 hour weeks are just not enough time to get everything done. There were all sorts of guests at the plant this week, so that along with all the other changes going on made for a long week.
I made the suggestions for layoffs this week. So it looks like about 50 people will be going. Most of them will not be laid off immediately but will work to the end of their contract and then their contract will not be renewed. They know it is coming but most are in a state of denial. Even the salaried people don’t understand how bad the company is doing and are lackadaisical about making the necessary changes to stem the bleeding. It is like a nanny state. Everyone expects cradle to grave services and they don’t understand the money has to come from somewhere. If the company doesn’t make money, all benefits go away for everyone.
So anyway, next week is the Board of Directors meeting. So that will be exciting. There was a group of high powered consultants here last week looking at what would be necessary to turn the operation around. We went through a number of areas that need to be improved that would help production and improve the bottom line. We were able to convince them we knew what we were talking about and they presented the recommendations to the board in advance of the meeting. So it looks like we will be getting some more capital to improve the plant and help get us back on track. There is so little cash, we can’t buy parts to fix equipment when it breaks down. Not a good way to run an operation.
So anyway, so much for work. You are probably more interested in what Debi is doing. She is living the life of leisure. Cook, maid, housekeeper, gardener, husband at her beck and call. What more could a woman want? Today we went on a cheap safari. It started off good, we saw: zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, impala and Thompson gazelles, ostrich, guinea hens, élans, Masai on motorcycles, a lot of native villages, and an area that has all kinds of fruit growing. Africa is quite the place. You should all come for a visit. We saw elephant poop too, but no elephant. But at least now we know they are here!!!!! We were in a game reserve called Shampole. It is a high priced place that Bill Gates has been to. A lot of granola crunchers/tree hugger types. Anyway, I’ve driven there two times. I haven’t ever been asked to pay a fee to get in or out. This time they would not let us out until we came up with some money. They wanted 800 schillings for the three of us (driver, Debi and me) and 200 Ksh for the car. I didn’t have that much. When we said we didn’t have that much they were going to call the police and have us put in jail. One of the biggest problems I have in Kenya is the dishonesty of some of the people. The sheet they showed us trying to justify the charge didn’t have 800 shillings per person anywhere on it. It said 200 per person. The longer we stayed there the madder I was getting. I finally tool all the money I had out of my money clip and handed it to the driver and told them that was all they were getting. It may have been about 1,400 shillings. They finally asked the driver for 100 shillings. What a bunch. What a joke. The 1,500 shillings is about $18. Any way, it will be recorded as an experience.
So still an exciting drive to Nairobi for church. I never thought it could happen, but Debi can sleep on that road. It has pot holes and you have to stop frequently for goats and cows. But doesn’t bother Debi, she is out as soon as we are out of town. It looks like Debi and another teacher will be in charge to the primary program this year. The Primary president was not here again today so Debi and the other teacher started preparing the program. It will be presented next month.
They talked about splitting the branch again today. Looks like they will submit the paper work in the next week or two. It is so difficult for people to get to church here because of transportation cost that every attempt is make to get the meetings close to the members. We will be about a half hour closer to the church when the change is made. If they let us go to the closest branch. A comment was made a few weeks ago that they may ask us to continue going to the current branch. I continue to be impressed with the members here. Those that are faithful and come regularly have testimonies as strong as anywhere we have lived, and their understanding of the gospel matches their testimonies.
Time to go to bed and get this email to press. For those of you who want more Africa stuff, Debi has a blog, I think it is intoafricaadventure@wordpress.com If you can’t get there talk to someone who is friends with her on face book and they can give you the link.
Hope this makes sense. I started it yesterday and finished it today. If it doesn’t make sense, read it fast.
Love you
Paul/dad
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