
Back at Faith, the volunteers began arriving shortly after the new year, ready to get to work on projects around the church. We helped ensure they had an understanding of the work ahead and that their supplies were staged and ready to go. And we had a few projects of our own as well. And we took time out to visit with Cathy's sister Carolyn one weekend. When it wasn't too cold, we did some bike riding on nearby trails.

Baby, It’s Cold Inside
It was becoming an unwelcome routine at Faith. Sunday morning dawns with chilly temperatures. Someone flips the switch to turn on the heat in the sanctuary. And nothing happens. The oil-fired boiler won’t light and the congregation has to bundle up to stay warm. Even after the repair crew was called. Still no heat.
With Fred’s arrival in January, the work on the boiler stepped up a notch. He analyzed the problem and worked with the repair company to identify, order and install a new fuel pump. With the repair, the boiler was working fine, so the plan was to leave it running until Sunday. However, on Saturday morning, he checked and someone had flipped the emergency switch and turned it off. Fred wasn’t happy. After restarting it, signs were placed on the switches, and fingers crossed for the next morning.
But come Sunday morning, Dave gets a text from Fred that the boiler is off again. And it wasn’t a switch this time. Just as all of his options seemed exhausted, Dave arrived to see him kick the boiler. Pastor Michael arrives shortly after, having been praying for a solution on the drive. And, miraculously, the boiler starts up. Was it answered prayer? Dave’s timely arrival? Or just a well-placed kick?
More visits from the repair company cleaned out blockages that were limiting fuel flow, improving the reliability, but not eliminating unexpected outages. A recent large fuel delivery at the beginning of the winter season is suspected to have stirred up sludge in the fuel tank. So, that will likely be the next target of investigation.
It was becoming an unwelcome routine at Faith. Sunday morning dawns with chilly temperatures. Someone flips the switch to turn on the heat in the sanctuary. And nothing happens. The oil-fired boiler won’t light and the congregation has to bundle up to stay warm. Even after the repair crew was called. Still no heat.
With Fred’s arrival in January, the work on the boiler stepped up a notch. He analyzed the problem and worked with the repair company to identify, order and install a new fuel pump. With the repair, the boiler was working fine, so the plan was to leave it running until Sunday. However, on Saturday morning, he checked and someone had flipped the emergency switch and turned it off. Fred wasn’t happy. After restarting it, signs were placed on the switches, and fingers crossed for the next morning.
But come Sunday morning, Dave gets a text from Fred that the boiler is off again. And it wasn’t a switch this time. Just as all of his options seemed exhausted, Dave arrived to see him kick the boiler. Pastor Michael arrives shortly after, having been praying for a solution on the drive. And, miraculously, the boiler starts up. Was it answered prayer? Dave’s timely arrival? Or just a well-placed kick?
More visits from the repair company cleaned out blockages that were limiting fuel flow, improving the reliability, but not eliminating unexpected outages. A recent large fuel delivery at the beginning of the winter season is suspected to have stirred up sludge in the fuel tank. So, that will likely be the next target of investigation.

What does that say?
The screen had been hard to read for months, but one Sunday the rear projector just wouldn’t work at all. While the main projector was fine for the congregation, the choir was all of a sudden fumbling for the words to the hymns. So, the tipping point had arrived and it was time to install a new projector.
While there are complexities to finding the right technology, ensuring both projectors will work with the computer without hiccups, this was not the only challenge. The projector sits 2 stories high, suspended from a pole in the even higher ceiling. So, while Dave identified a projector and got it on order, we turned to Joe to climb the 16ft step ladder to swap out the device.
The screen had been hard to read for months, but one Sunday the rear projector just wouldn’t work at all. While the main projector was fine for the congregation, the choir was all of a sudden fumbling for the words to the hymns. So, the tipping point had arrived and it was time to install a new projector.
While there are complexities to finding the right technology, ensuring both projectors will work with the computer without hiccups, this was not the only challenge. The projector sits 2 stories high, suspended from a pole in the even higher ceiling. So, while Dave identified a projector and got it on order, we turned to Joe to climb the 16ft step ladder to swap out the device.

The change was made a little more complex, because it was decided that it made the most sense to install the new projector to serve the congregation up front, and move the existing front projector to replace the failing one in the rear. That meant repositioning a 16ft step ladder a number of times. So, we started by having Joe make the swap from the front to the rear. However, when the swap was complete, the projector would turn on, but wouldn’t communicate with the computer.
With difficulty, we ruled out faulty power cords (although one was loose), problems with the remote receiver for the HDMI signals, bad cables, etc. Until we discovered a switch that turned off the power to the projector that someone had flipped probably before Sunday’s problems. With the switch on, the projector worked fine and was a vast improvement over its predecessor.
With difficulty, we ruled out faulty power cords (although one was loose), problems with the remote receiver for the HDMI signals, bad cables, etc. Until we discovered a switch that turned off the power to the projector that someone had flipped probably before Sunday’s problems. With the switch on, the projector worked fine and was a vast improvement over its predecessor.

Installing the new projector had another challenge. It connected to the computer and worked without problem, but we discovered that the mount removed from the old projector would not work on the new one. So, short of setting it on the 16ft ladder, we had no way to use it on Sunday. With only a few days to get this right, we needed to find the right adaptor the first time. After a couple of phone calls, we had the correct part on the way. It was just a lot more expensive than we had anticipated.
By Sunday, everyone was pleased with the brighter screen in front and back. And the 16ft ladder was put away for a while. We hope.
Nomad Projects
By Sunday, everyone was pleased with the brighter screen in front and back. And the 16ft ladder was put away for a while. We hope.
Nomad Projects
The Nomads put the supplies we had purchased to good use. After clearing an area near Wesley Hall of bricks that were being displaced by tree roots, they removed a rotting walkway by Asbury Hall and installed a beautiful brick walkway and ramp to make the side exit usable again. They assembled new furniture for the remodeled narthex in the sanctuary, and they removed the plexiglass panels on all the stained glass windows to remove years of mud dauber activity.

RV Stuff
That angry red face on our Power Watchdog became a recurring problem after an initial outage one afternoon. Initially, it detected a momentary low voltage error and then restarted, which we attributed to the recent arrivals of a number of rigs and some cold weather. However, the low voltage readings started happening more often. And since our electric heat would go off and not come back on automatically, this was becoming a problem.
With a neighbor’s help, Dave tested the pedestal with a multimeter and a SurgeGuard device – both of which confirmed the power in the pedestal to be fine. We reported it to the manufacturer of our watchdog, which caused them to send us a replacement under warranty. While we waited, we bypassed the Watchdog, until we came home to evidence of another outage.
We decided to try a different solution. We put the Watchdog back in service, but plugged the RV into a different pedestal. And waited for the power to go out. After many days with no outage, the replacement unit arrived. Feeling guilty, we called the company and explained what had happened. They understood, and said we should keep the replacement and just send back the old unit, which we did. And the power has stayed on since.
That angry red face on our Power Watchdog became a recurring problem after an initial outage one afternoon. Initially, it detected a momentary low voltage error and then restarted, which we attributed to the recent arrivals of a number of rigs and some cold weather. However, the low voltage readings started happening more often. And since our electric heat would go off and not come back on automatically, this was becoming a problem.
With a neighbor’s help, Dave tested the pedestal with a multimeter and a SurgeGuard device – both of which confirmed the power in the pedestal to be fine. We reported it to the manufacturer of our watchdog, which caused them to send us a replacement under warranty. While we waited, we bypassed the Watchdog, until we came home to evidence of another outage.
We decided to try a different solution. We put the Watchdog back in service, but plugged the RV into a different pedestal. And waited for the power to go out. After many days with no outage, the replacement unit arrived. Feeling guilty, we called the company and explained what had happened. They understood, and said we should keep the replacement and just send back the old unit, which we did. And the power has stayed on since.

When you open the faucet, you just expect the water to flow. So, when it doesn’t, it gives you pause to say the least. Dave experienced it first on overnight trip to the bathroom, but by morning he took a shower with no problem. However, the next evening it suddenly stopped working again. Only this time, it didn’t start again. It was pretty clear that our fresh water pump had failed, but replacing it required us to empty the compartments under the RV. Given the cold temperatures, we decided to wait until the following afternoon to tackle it. Luckily, we already had a spare pump on board.
The new pump was identical to its predecessor, so the installation was quick, and water started flowing again soon after. We were grateful that we only had to do without running water for less than a day.
The new pump was identical to its predecessor, so the installation was quick, and water started flowing again soon after. We were grateful that we only had to do without running water for less than a day.

So, they say trouble comes in threes. And our next problem to address was a living room light that had gone out. Dave took the opportunity when buying a replacement to upgrade another light in the process. Cathy wanted a switch on the light nearest the bedroom. So, we swapped that one for the one in the living room and put the switched light in the hall. Another easy installation and we have light where we want it.

Grease off / Wax On
Never one to let things be, Dave started watching videos about the best way to grease your bike chain. He came to the conclusion that the solution was to not grease the chain, but to remove the grease and put wax on it. Wax is not nearly as dirty to start with and doesn’t pick up as much dirt along the way. So, we used a full bottle of spray-on degreaser to remove all of the grease on the chains and gears on our bikes. Then applied the wax in a few coats to the same parts. After a couple of days, we took our first bike ride with the our waxed chains, and they worked great. The wax is easy to re-apply, and stays clean, so no black marks on socks or jeans.
Never one to let things be, Dave started watching videos about the best way to grease your bike chain. He came to the conclusion that the solution was to not grease the chain, but to remove the grease and put wax on it. Wax is not nearly as dirty to start with and doesn’t pick up as much dirt along the way. So, we used a full bottle of spray-on degreaser to remove all of the grease on the chains and gears on our bikes. Then applied the wax in a few coats to the same parts. After a couple of days, we took our first bike ride with the our waxed chains, and they worked great. The wax is easy to re-apply, and stays clean, so no black marks on socks or jeans.

So, we took the bikes on some familiar trails and some new ones. We made a trip covering the eastern half of the Jacksonville-Baldwin rail trail. On another trip we made our way further east to ride along the coast on Little Talbot Island and Big Talbot Island just south of Fernandina. This was a quiet ride and could have taken us many more miles north to Fernandina Beach, but we decided to turn around before crossing over to Amelia Island. Maybe another time. Our last trail was less peaceful. The Black Creek Trail ran along US 17 on Fleming Island, and the road noise was a little overwhelming when trying to communicate with one another. The side street crossings were hectic at times as well. This trail wasn’t one we were likely to repeat. But the bikes are letting us explore different places and helping us to stay fit. And that’s what we were hoping for when we bought them.