I am about to embark on a whirlwind tour of London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dublin.  Leaving tomorrow and looking forward to it.

I just received word that the well we have been raising money for in Tanzania is now producing 1,800 liters of water an hour, which is more than enough to service 800 preschoolers and 50 households in the community for years to come.

While our classroom project was finished pretty much on schedule, this one took longer than expected.  I was disappointed when we went to Tanzania in February and learned that the drilling had not started. Plan Tanzania staff assured me that it was imminent and we saw the drilling rig working about 10 km away.  Apparently, there are very few reliable drilling rigs in Tanzania so when they found one that can be relied upon, they stuck with it.

It did indeed come through and the project can now be considered a success.  They are still waiting for a solar pump, but the children will have their clean, potable water in no time.  It has been worth the wait and having seen the looks on the faces of the children and teachers who are so satisfied with their new classroom, I can just imagine how they will feel about having water at their fingertips.  It is another reminder of why we are doing this.

Anyone wishing to donate to our new project to help young women establish small businesses, which will provide livelihoods for their families and education for their children, can do so by clicking on the “Donate” button on the right.

I bought a Kobo eReader about three weeks ago and I couldn’t be happier with it.  It is wireless, easy to use and I got it on sale!  The computer interface is easy and downloading books is quick.  It is light and easy to hold.  There are a number of covers designed for it that are relatively inexpensive.  I am not sure how long the battery life is before requiring a charge, but I have been using it quite a bit since I purchased it and the battery is down by about half.  Perhaps the biggest and most surprising feature became apparent when I was sitting in the brilliant sunshine on Sunday afternoon reading one of the 100 preloaded classic books. The text was perfectly clear with no glare! 

There are a couple of things that take a bit of getting used to though and both relate to speed.  I think the speed at which computers work has spoiled us.  At least it has spoiled me.  There is a slightly annoying hesitation when the page turns on the Kobo.  It may be a fraction of a second, but it is there. That can be overcome by clicking to turn the page just before finishing the last sentence.  There is an even longer hesitation when changing from one chapter to the next.  In fact, pretty much any action you do with the Kobo, with the exception of downloading, requires a bit of patience.  If you want things to happen at a lightning fast pace, perhaps you should consider a much more expensive tablet computer.

I find that the pros far outweigh the cons and, if you are looking for an eReader, I would recommend the Kobo.  I am even wading through one of the classics, Moby Dick.  I am finding it to be a slow read, but that is just personal taste.  I have downloaded a Tom Clancy novel that is waiting for me when I finally finish with the whale.  I am enjoying the eReader, but many of the classics may just have to remain unread.

Now this is something that doesn’t happen every day, thankfully.  Easter Sunday my wife and I returned to New Jersey on the second last train from Manhattan, having just seen our son and future daughter-in-law backing up Tiffany at BB King’s on Times Square.  It had been a great day in an amazing city.  It was 1 am and the parking garage was seemingly deserted.  We were on the third floor of a concrete maze. 

I inserted my ticket into the machine to pay and it was rejected.  I tried it again.  Rejected.  I tried two different machines with the same result.  Nothing.  My mind was kicking into gear.  How are we going to get out if we don’t have a paid ticket to raise the barricade?  I had visions of blasting through the barricade with a knife brandishing New Jersey gang hot on our tail.

There is a button on the machines to call the parking attendant.  Tried that.  No answer.  In fact, I pressed the button on all three machines and I could hear them all ringing.  Now my mind was really starting to react.  This IS New Jersey, after all.  Feeling vulnerable?  Yeah, just a bit. 

There was a police call box on the wall, which was comforting, but we decided to go down to the first floor to see if we could find someone.  I went to the attendant’s booth where there was a sign that read, “Back in Ten Minutes”.  Could this get any worse?  I went to another machine and tried the ticket, only to be rejected again.  I hammered on the door to see if he was sleeping in the back.  Who knew how long the “ten minute” sign had been there?  No reaction.  I pressed the call button just so I could have the satisfaction of hearing yet another phone dialing.  At least it created a sound.  The parking lot had been – dare I say it – tomb-like to that point.

Finally, about twenty minutes later I saw someone strolling down the ramp from the second floor.  I tensed until I could see who it was.  It was the attendant who had been making his rounds. I explained the problem and he apologized and tried the ticket.  Nothing.  He tried a new ticket.  He said, “it won’t be more than $5”.  “Uh, no it won’t”, I said.  The maximum at night was $2 and with the mood I was in, he was seriously in danger of being stuffed into the nearest garbage can.  Then I realized I probably wouldn’t be able to do that since the garbage can was likely already full of tourists who had been trapped in the garage on previous nights. I also realized that if I did that, we still wouldn’t be able to get out!

“Okay”, he said with a shrug.  “The system is down”.  Really!!??  Who knew?  After trying a series of new tickets, he finally got one to work and the barricade miraculously rose.  There were a few other cars waiting in the parking lot for their unsuspecting passengers who would be equally aggravated by the experience they had awaiting them.  I think the parking lot attendant’s night was about to become his worst nightmare when the last train arrived.

“Have a good night” I said, cackling rather maniacally as we made our great escape into the New Jersey night. 

Just to elaborate a bit on my previous post, I think my book, Kilimanjaro and Beyond, could appeal to a variety of people.  There is the adventure aspect with the climb of the mountain.  There is the change in lifestyle required to give me the strength and physical conditioning required to do the climb.  There is the fact that I did it as I move into my senior years, which demonstrates that it is never too late to do anything.  There is the father-son story line as I was able to complete the climb with one of my sons.  There is the philanthropic component as we experience the successes, failures, highs and lows of fund raising and finally there us the immense satisfaction of accomplishing a goal and giving others the opportunity to achieve theirs.

Because of the broad subject matter, I am hoping that the book will appeal to a number of people with different interests so I have been approaching a variety of magazines and newspapers regarding the book. Each requires a slightly different approach.  As I mentioned, it is labour intensive, but fun.  And what else have I got do as I wait for the cover design to be completed?        

This whole book writing/publishing/marketing process is new to me and I am learning every day.  I naively thought I would be able to write a press release that would serve many purposes.  But the more research I do into organizations, magazines, etc. that might be interested in my book, the more I realize that each has slightly different requirements or want submissions in a slightly different way. 

It is worth the effort, but let me tell you, it is labour intensive.  I am fortunate that this is a second career of sorts for me.  It is all new and interesting and there is certainly nothing wrong with learning by trial and error.  The days definitely go by quickly!       

After a week of golf in beautiful Myrtle Beach, it is time to get back to work.  Today will be a day of writing sponsor requests for the new events coming up and writing a press release for the upcoming book.  Lots to do, but somehow it just doesn’t seem like work. 

By the way, if there is anyone out there reading this who would like to help out, either by volunteering, sponsoring an event, donating or just offering moral supprt, drop me a line.  I would love to hear from you.