Home for the holidays...

I've just learned that we will be here at relief headquarters over Christmas. Nevertheless, we'd already told all our personnel to try to make pre-Christmas flight reservations, and so Louise and I will be the only ones left here in the Technology department after the 22^nd. We even lost a person today -- transferred to the storm relief operations in the Midwest, which are really hurting for staff (and we thought this operation was tough to staff -- those responding to the ice storms will almost certainly be out over the holiday).

It's not really a big deal for us, especially since we were likely to have to wait around until after the holiday to get our engine serviced. And, this way, we'll have a built-in "family" with whom to dine on Christmas: the half dozen or so people (from all departments) that will still be here.

We've also contacted our friends in the area, in the hopes that we will be able to get together when we are done here.

I've posted a couple of pleas over on the bus bulletin boards for shop recommendations in this area. So far, I've come up empty. We need someone with either a pit or heavy lifts, since there is no way to get at the steering pump otherwise. When we find one, it is quite possible we'll have to wait until after New Year's to get in for service.