OM - Day 30

<NERD>

Today has been a great day for working. Yesterday, Edgardo and I worked on the laptops that I had been working on WAAAY back in Atlanta. I gave a 1.5 hour introduction to Ubuntu Linux, so hopefully he will be able to teach the kids at El Refugio some basic keyboarding and computer skills. We also discovered yesterday that he has two really old computers that are completely shot, but it's fun raiding computers for all their parts! (You nerdy people should at least be chuckling by now. If not, go back and read the previous sentence.)

But back to today. Today we got Windows installed on a nice HP Proliant server with a beautiful BIOS. I had to deconfigure a RAID 1 array to get Windows to detect the disks, so that was fun. Bad news is that HP doesn't think anyone will ever install Windows XP on their servers, so they don't provide XP drivers. We may be able to scrounge up parts from other computers though.

We also got another computer legal and tore apart Edgardo's laptop, attempting to disable the speakers (somehow they ended up making an AWFUL whiny noise whenever the computer was on, so we just unplugged it). Finally, we had an adventure with another desktop. It kept randomly turning off, and Edgardo wisely suggested an overheating problem. Yup, turns out the power supply fan is cooked! It's covered in some kind of black soot/grease and barely turns. If he can buy a replacement fan, I might be able to juryrig it to the power supply by running the fan cable outside into the case.

</NERD>

So today is the last day of June, and I am slightly more than halfway done with my trip. My future travel arrangements include:

- Travel by bus to Uruguay Friday, July 3 (and 4th)
- Travel by bus to Brazil approximately July 9
- Travel by plane to Atlanta Wednesday, July 15 (and 16th)
- Travel by plane to Kalamazoo Wednesday, July 22

All this traveling has left me in a wonderful quirky spot. It turns out that my trip will cost about $700 more than what I have raised at the moment, meaning I need your help. If you have some spare change in a penny jar, you might consider supporting a cause such as this one. If you do, let me know and I'll give you a great big hug when I next see you. (Which doesn't mean much because I'll give you a great big hug anyways...) I may even be able to give you a personalized LOLcat to sweeten the deal.

Ahem. Anyways, OM makes it really easy to give online if you so desire. The steps are as follows:

1. Go to https://usa.om.org/GiveOnline/ in your favorite web browser
   
2. Click the button next to "Give to support OM's ministry through a person" and click "Next"
   
3. Enter your information in the appropriate boxes. Enter my name as "Jesse Denardo" and missionary code as 2268760.
   

That's it! Thank you! I will try to keep you updated with my progress as it happens. Thanks so far to everyone who is taking the time to read my blog regularly. It's good to know that I have the support of a bunch of family and friends back home.