Shower. Tired. Breakfast. Working at clinic at 8. I
was planning on jumping two terminals in the control board of the autoclave (as
the company tech support dude sent me the manual and a solution for the problem
too! Best support ever (all within 12 hours too! O.o)). Anyways I arrived at
the clinic with Dan and we moved the autoclave into position and then we were
going to put the jumper in, but I didn’t have any of the jeweler screwdrivers
capable of opening the screw block terminals, so I had to put that project on
hold and we headed to the hospital (after stopping by the hostel to grab the
two wheelchair wheels). At the hospital we worked on drilling the four holes to
get the inner hand rim on the wheels (the part attached to the wheel to allow a
person to roll themselves around in the chair). We had to drill through the
steel or maybe aluminum rim which was one of the hardest drilling jobs as the
tip would drift so much until we scored the area and then dented the area to
drill (after that it was smooth drilling (not like that oil drilling disastrous
method)). I also had to try and paint one of these hand rails with a can of
spray paint without a top on it which ended up with the thing painted where it
needed a touch up, but also made quite the impression on my arm and fingers. We
eventually got all the 8 holes drilled and then got the hand rails on (despite
minor issues with mounting even-ness).
Dan working on the hand roll rims
After that we went to the bike shop to
have the wheels put back on the chair (as the chair was there) and I changed
some money (so we could actually pay for the work on the chair and buy some
other parts). The bike shop turned out to be closed because the main guy was
sick (or had a toothache or something O.o why is everyone sick down here (I
heard a rumor at the centro de salud that one of the chicks from the
Netherlands also had Dengue and was in the hospital O.o)). Anyways we went to
our favorite hardware store (Constrúmas) and asked about bolts and plate for
our chain project (to tie up the O2 tanks against the wall (and
prevent GMOD esque disaster with thrusters)). Anyways we found some good parts
there and decided to go measure the parts of the hospital for the different
bolts etc before we bought them. Smart decision. Back at the hospital we found
ourselves presented with an ECG that was not printing properly. We tested the
device and the best solution we found was to try and move the needle closer to
the paper, which changed nothing really so we think the needle needs to be
replaced as it doesn’t seem to heat properly or display right (seeing the
sticker on the back about being checked for maintenance back in 1994, I think
it’s safe to say that probably won’t happen). I think this ECG should just be
replaced by a newer model. Anyways after that we went to the pizza place for
lunch and ordered the chicken pizza with cheesy crust, but the waiter told us
the oven wasn’t working (not getting hot) (and this is the first issue we’ve
had with them in like 5 meals, so it’s alright (unlike the place on Ometepe
that burned a pizza and ran out of gas (one incident per trip (2 total))).
Anyways after that we just ordered a chicken salad (hunks of chicken, not the
mashed up chicken salad from the States). It was decent and we chilled a bit
before heading back to the Constrúmas store to buy our plate, bolts, nuts and
spray paint. We ended up spending like an hour at the store (until like 2:30
PM) buying 24 nuts, 24 washers, 1 half roll of steel metal sheet, 2 cans of
dark blue spray paint and 3 long bolts to cut down. The fun part of this whole
experience was that we actually did the cutting and whatnot in the hardware
store and in the front of it. We cut the bolts with a hack saw into 25 cm
segments (four per bolt) (with one store dude, Dan and I each cutting one
bolt). We then had to cut the metal sheet. Another dude took out the metal
sheet and put it on the street out front and then we markered the 6 foot by 1
foot strips and then he cut them out with metal shears on the sidewalk. Pretty
danged legit. Dan and I also got to cut out the metal squares (about 1 ft by 1
ft) which was fun.
Bolt and metal sheet roll (also spray paint speckled hand)
Dan working on cutting those bolts in the store
Out front doing work on that sheet metal
After all of that we had a brief scare thinking the purchase
was more expensive that it was, but the roll only cost 220 Cord (~ $9) instead
of 440 cord (close to ~$18). After all of that we headed back to the hospital
and dinked around more on that stupid ECG which was still not working properly
and thus our conclusion. We also cleaned one side of all the plates with
alco-gel and then I tried painting two of them, but the paint came right off as
the metal had too much sheen to it, so we then proceeded to rough up all of the
remaining ones and the one that had the paint come off with 60 grit sand paper and
the paint looks much better on there. After that it was like 4:20 and we called
it a day as tomorrow we have to work on that and I have to go to the clinic to
work on the autoclave that I still don’t know what’s wrong with it (for the
shorted connection model) and to jumper the other connection (which is safe
according to the tech support dude (he said that issue was common with a lot of
those models)). Anyways it’s been a decent day save for me being extra tired
from being over excited last night about life and whatnot. Today we also did 1
more item of inventory and finished the gynecology room off our inventory list (only
having a radiant warmer for tech). Also it turns out I may be joining the smart
phone revolution (mainstream?) now with an upgraded phone from Credo (more
charity and positive societal action oriented than other carriers). Anyways
that’s the day in a wrap! BAM!
Talk about leaving your mark on the hospital! (Allowed by the hospital techs and we put our names up there)
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