where_the_heffalump_roams 917 AF

[where_the_heffalump_roams]

I stopped by https://www.zerodeclination.com/ this morning and talked to KP. Seems like a rad guy who understands my goals and is willing to help in the future.

I'm flying out to Guatemala this week and had already planned on leaving the heffalump with a RV guy to see if he could help sort out the generator issue. But if he can't I may have zeodeclination help out. He will at least be available to help out with some of the other projects.

I know this is a travel forum and not about global health or politics. But >90% of my travels into Latin America are for health related NGO goals. The goal of this trip is to continue the development of a women's health initiative with one of the NGO clinics I'm a part of. Guatemala has one of the highest rates of cervical cancer but the majority of rural, indigenous women do not know what a Pap smear or cervical cancer are. Many aren't aware the symptoms of vaginitis or urinary tract infections are not normal and most can be treated quite easily.

But the primary goal of this trip is to lay the ground work for future research. In 2019, we initiated an IRB approved pilot study on safely ironizing larger quantities of water for community consumption. The pandemic put that on hold. Prior to covid, a leading cause of mortality of the developing world is simple malnutrition secondary to extreme poverty. One of the sequelae of chronic malnutrition is iron deficiency anemia. In these populations, around 40%-70% of the communities are profoundly anemic. In developed countries, we transfuse blood if hemoglobin levels drop below 7. In these populations, we often find children and women with hemoglobins rates between 3-8. If this isn't corrected within the initial 1000 days of life, irreversible neurodevelopment and physical stunting occurs. In older populations, mortality rates increase during birth, with chronic GI bleeds that are common due to infectious diarrhea due to poor water sources, and during prenatal periods.

For me, this type of traveling enables opportunities to meet people and learn about cultures not experienced on more common paths. This is something profoundly important to my life and experiences. Thought the heffalump has had challenges. I honestly believe just in the short time I've traveled in it and called it home. there have been more experiences gained vs what some achieve in their entire lives. I'l share some truck pics below. Pics are mostly in remote areas.

The nuns are some very sweet ladies that run a small center in Baja that takes in geriatric homeless men with medical needs. It's a pretty fucken rad place!
This is near Mammoth in California.




There are some boondocking spots that give access to some fun mountain bike trails just above Wenatchee, WA. The views at night are nice.

This was a boondocks site in Southern Idaho.


This was one of my favorite places of 2022. I worked a covid site on the boarder that housed immigrants until they cleared the virus. On my day off, I posted up south of Ensenada. This was about 1-2 hours from San Quintin. My pup and I had the whole beach to ourselves and one nite, we got to see iridescent waves for my first time.

 

[where_the_heffalump_roams]

I'm pretty sure I can get the Webasto hydronic heater up and going again once I have time to post up somewhere and tear it down. But for now, my truck has no heat. It was a hard start in freezing temps this morning and I want to fix the OEM cold start system. I hasn't worked for me or the prior owner.

Does anyone have a diagram of the flame start system? I see the glow plug that goes in the intake on the left side of the engine, it is wired from a harness on the right side. I have some broken wires on the right side and I'm wondering if the repair it's a simple swapping out a broken wire.

 

[baipin]

I'm pretty sure I can get the Webasto hydronic heater up and going again once I have time to post up somewhere and tear it down. But for now, my truck has no heat. It was a hard start in freezing temps this morning and I want to fix the OEM cold start system. I hasn't worked for me or the prior owner.

Does anyone have a diagram of the flame start system? I see the glow plug that goes in the intake on the left side of the engine, it is wired from a harness on the right side. I have some broken wires on the right side and I'm wondering if the repair it's a simple swapping out a broken wire. View attachment 774414

The wiring diagrams here, around page 24, as well as the wire descriptions (by colour and by harness) may be helpful!

https://techwebasto.com/phocadownload/documentation/archive/blueheat/generic/5000778b.pdf

By the way, I see you are running 315/80R22.5's. How do you like this size offroad; particularly in the soft stuff? Do you feel as though you get a decent footprint? Do you air them down at all?

Cool rig!

 

[where_the_heffalump_roams]

The wiring diagrams here, around page 24, as well as the wire descriptions (by colour and by harness) may be helpful!

https://techwebasto.com/phocadownload/documentation/archive/blueheat/generic/5000778b.pdf

By the way, I see you are running 315/80R22.5's. How do you like this size offroad; particularly in the soft stuff? Do you feel as though you get a decent footprint? Do you air them down at all?

Cool rig!

Thanks for the diagrams! The prior owners provided nearly all the manuals for nearly everything associated with this truck and has been invaluable with tech support. They are really good people and I'm very fortunate to have purchased the heffalump through them.

The tires were bought out of necessity. Though I had planned on replacing the set, I had hoped to squeeze a bit more life out of the prior set, but the Continentals they came with were falling apart. Supply chains at that time provided very few options. The prior owner suggested a wider tire, but I bought what was available and actually wanted a more off roadish tire. But in honestly, running time is moistly spent on the highway and these tires fit the bill.

I do air down in gravel roads, beaches, or loose sand encountered in SolCal or Baja. the lowest I've gone is 40 psi (I'm afraid of breaking a bead on a big ass rig like this and ending up in worse trouble). There is limited sidewall deformity but there is improved traction. I've gotten stuck in the sand over a dozen times and have been able to self-recover so far with tire pressure changes, locked diffs, shovel work, and traction boards.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Glad you and Kp were able to catch up. Hopefully you can get some systems figued out. He is also usually good about letting you pick his brain, or letting travelers work on their stuff in the shop when it fits. That shop will do a lot of things others wont, based on the customer.

The broken wires seem like a great place to start. Maybe thats the ticket. Can always use jumpers/with double aligators( Providing the guage matches for the load) to test it.

Feel free to write about the NGO work. I have never been shy about including it in my thread. Remote Medicine has always been a large part of my traveling.

 

[where_the_heffalump_roams]

Feel free to write about the NGO work. I have never been shy about including it in my thread. Remote Medicine has always been a large part of my traveling.

Thanks man. I actually got a call from one of the sister's last night. They are overwhelmed with patients right and very short on wound care supplies. We are trying to get ******** to them now.

I'm currently en route to Guatemala right now. I received a beautiful text from my friend Kathy. She is a phd and dept head at Washington State University. Our research was just approved for publishing in the journal of global heath reports. ? We are hoping to further research our theory through additional research and will share the formula when/if proven.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Thanks man. I actually got a call from one of the sister's last night. They are overwhelmed with patients right and very short on wound care supplies. We are trying to get ******** to them now.

I'm currently en route to Guatemala right now. I received a beautiful text from my friend Kathy. She is a phd and dept head at Washington State University. Our research was just approved for publishing in the journal of global heath reports. We are hoping to further research our theory through additional research and will share the formula when/if proven.

That's awesome!! Congratulations, i will look for that when it comes out.

when i was working for one of the global giants. We would have pallets of " expired" gauze, saline, ETC. I world so hard trying to find an NGO that would take it, even ones i was a part of. It was always so frustrating that places wanted it, but could not take it for risk management reasons. I always joked it should fall off a truck somewhere it was needed.... It would of been hard to explain that one though.

Keep up the good work!!. We actually have a medicine sub forum on expo. Unfortunately its pretty dead.

Sent from my almost BlackBerry pocket tool. From somewhere remote. Happy Tails & Safe Travels

 

[danneskjold]

Glad you and Kp were able to catch up. Hopefully you can get some systems figued out. He is also usually good about letting you pick his brain, or letting travelers work on their stuff in the shop when it fits. That shop will do a lot of things others wont, bassed on the customer.

The broken wires seem like a great place to start. Maybe thats the ticket. Can always use jumpers/with double aligators( Providing the guage matches for the load) to test it.

Feel free to write about the NGO work. I have never been shy about including it in my thread. Remote Medicine has always been a large part of my traveling.

+1 on KP. I’ve known him for several years and is one of the few guys who runs an “overland” shop who has actually spent a significant amount of time living out of a truck and traveling. Absolutely stand up dude and won’t BS you.

 

[where_the_heffalump_roams]

when i was working for one of the global giants. We would have pallets of " expired" gauze, saline, ETC.

It's pretty common or many NGOs to not accept expired packages although all the science sez they are fine. I actually got a call from sister superior from Baja last week. Their site is being a bit overwhelmed and she is requesting wound care supplies. They are overcapacity right now with residents, many have ulcers, amputations, etc.

I'm currently down in Guatemala and the heffalump was left in Nevada in hopes that the generator issue could be repaired. But it sounds like the shop is having a hard time with it.

This past week, we have continued to build upon a women's health initiative that serves some of the smaller communities at Lago Atitlan.Prior to this program, women did not have access to basic tests for common diseases such as urinary tract infections or vaginitis. The clinic will soon also provide pap smear screening and assist with coordinating care for abnormal results. Indigenous women of Guatemala are one of the most marginalized groups in the world. The majority of women on these areas do not know the symptoms of urinary tract infections and vaginitis. They do not know that these ailments are abnormal and can be treated. Moreover, women are not aware of cervical cancer or pap smears even though Guatemala has one of the leading rates of cervical cancer deaths in the world.




Today, we make our way up to the northern highlands to do the ground work on other programs that will involve research in sustainable, safe, and novel interventions for severe anemia that is common in underdeveloped regions.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

As a risk manager, I understand why places won’t take anything. Even “expired” wound care material still sealed. As a Medic, I don’t like it to know the cost of supplies and the waste.

When I was working the remote medical contracts in Alaska. We had folks from all over the world. It was not uncommon for me to be the only “clinician” they had ever seen…. Prospective is good. Education is good. Making the world a better place is worth its weight in gold.

 

[where_the_heffalump_roams]

Spent just over 2 days on chicken buses to reach the northern highlands of Guatemala. It normally does't take that long, but we broke up the trip from Lago Atitlan by spending the night in Huehue. The next day we stopped because I wanted to show my travel friend a cafe at over 3K meters. We had lunch and coffee, then jumped on another bus that took us to Soloma. That was very interesting. We literally spent >4 hours trying get on a bus to San Mateo and ended up having to spend another night on the road. The is the view from the hotel in Soloma. The rooms are basic and clean. I liked the restaurant and they had cold beer. In the morning, they put coffee in to go cups for it and that was really nice.

Once we made it to San Mateo Ixtatan, we got placed in small clinic that had small living quarters. We later met up with the school principle where we discussed program development, cost projection, and anticipated timelines. On Tuesday (school is closed this tomorrow), we will check hemoglobin levels on about 50 children at the school.


This is the newly built school where we may focus our efforts. When I was last year, the children were using rooms at a local church. The principle I met with is very passionate about improving conditions in his community, raised funds, and piloted this construction of this school. Obstacles for this program include the need to install a nutrition program so all the children can receive a simple meal that is supplemented with iron sulfate.


The EMT that is traveling with me will do this, she is working hard to pick up Spanish and is coming along. We walked around town after the meeting. There are quite a few of older MB trucks here, they are just as common as Hinos and Mitsubishis. But the most common trucks are probalby old school Toyotas which I have drooling over.





View of the valley from one of the streets in town last night.


In terms of the heffalump, I've don't think we have made any headway on getting the generator to power the systems. I think I will have time in about 2 weeks to remove the Webasto, take it apart, clean, and hope that it works when it goes back together. I'm going to post up a friend's house in Yuba City, CA for that. He is a jet mechanic for the Air Force, I'm hoping we might fix some of the other heffalump issues while I post up at his house. I am also having some upholstery done down here. When I first arrived in Antigua, I was referred to a nice lady from a friend who is making cushion covers to wrap around the existing cushion covers. This is to give the place a bit more color and it helps remind me of the goal of driving the PanAm soon.

Another project in the works is a new counter and table top. The propane cooktop was removed and there were limited options for an induction unit in terms of wattage and volt requirements. The new one has been working great, but it is much smaller than the older propane top. The original plan was to have make a stainless steel grommet to fill the border gaps, but the quotes I was getting were about $200, at that rate, I could replace the entire counter top and just cut an appropriate sized hole. That spiraled into matching the table grains to the counter. A woodworker in Washington is making mixed grain butcher slabs for a new counter and table top. That's also going to give the living space a bit more color. That most likely won't get installed for several months and isn't a project priority.

 

[where_the_heffalump_roams]

In terms of the A/C system. At some point a Toyota a/c compressor was installed and power was routed to an aftermarket rocker switch that powers it and that is what is being used now. I'm wondering if I can send this circuit through the OEM switch. The back of the OEM switch has these 2 male connectors. When the switch is at the off position, they both have 24v. When I turn the switch on, a dash fan turn on and I get 24v to only one of these connectors and not the other. With my very limited understanding, I was thinking these might be OEM connectors for the compressors, but the voltage reading I'm getting is confusing.


I'm writing this while out of the country but trying to get this figured out so I can work on it when I get back. As always, I'd appreciate any guidance!

 

[where_the_heffalump_roams]

Flew back to Reno, NV from Guatemala yesterday. The heffalump had been sitting at a RV repair shop that unfortunately was unable to diagnose the generator circuit issue.
While down in Guatemala we continued to develop a women's health initiative in San Pablo and San Juan, 2 towns in Lago Atitlan.


Afterwards we jumped on the chicken buses to head up to the northern highlands to visit friends in more remote areas that lack tourism. It's funny, I was with a newbie traveler and I was transparent about chicken bus rides, but it was I that met most of the challenges. We spent 3-4 days shuttling around uncomfortable buses and rough roads. I almost got urinated on twice. Luckily I narrowly dodged those situations, managed to get vomited on once.

Back in 2019 we initiated a research project in reducing anemia in regions where it is extremely prevalent. We screened children in San Mateo Ixtatlan found that fortunately for them, they did not have anemia.

Back in a smaller town about 1 hour away from the tourist hub, Antigua. A very nice lady was sewing up some new cushion covers for the heffalump. The prior owners had some very durable and beautiful cushions made for the dining area. But I wanted to add some color and some personal touches that anchor me to places I love visiting. These covers were made to go over the existing covers so they can be removed and kept clean. I picked them up on the way back out. I really like how they turned out. They give some new life and feeling to the dining area.



I'm hoping to finally receive the brake parts later this evening. Fedex has had them for over a month. With any luck, I'll have them installed tomorrow morning and have functional parking brakes. It's been a bit unnerving to park this big ass rig without locking brakes. This weekend I'm working in San Jose, CA, afterwards I'm heading to a friends house where I can park the heffalump and focus on some projects for a few days before another work block. Crossing my fingers I can take some of them off need to do list!

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

The seat covers look great!

I like the local flora and fauna used in the diagrams, that’s a fun way to bring in some levity, as well as make everyone more comfortable. Which will lend itself to a better learning environment.

I hope you can get some more systems dialed before your next rotation.

 

[where_the_heffalump_roams]

The seat covers look great!

I like the local flora and fauna used in the diagrams, that’s a fun way to bring in some levity, as well as make everyone more comfortable. Which will lend itself to a better learning environment.

I hope you can get some more systems dialed before your next rotation.

Thanks!
Those were done by our "health promotors". They are an indigenous team that receive education and training at the clinic. They in turn do community outreach and serve as cultural sensitive bridges. They are essential to these processes. After going over simple anatomy, they were put in teams and asked to create their own diagrams. They independently added the flora and fauna themselves. I think it really highlights the cultural differences, approaches, and further confirmed how useful they are in the communication to the community.

In terms of the systems, the biggest obstacle for me is figuring out the generator issue. I think most of the other ******** can be sorted out. I do have an appt at KP in Reno in July, (thanks for the referral!). But I want to tackle as much as I can and resolve issues before heading back there. I had hoped to spend this summer in Canada and maybe AK, but there is just too much that needs to sorted out.

The generator is only function is to power the a/c system and charge the batteries. I'm considering a newer a/c system such as this. https://www.cruisencomfortusa.com/hd-series
The current system can't power the habitat while driving, so the habitat heats up quite a bit in hot weather. That system runs off 12 volts and can be used while driving. I'm thinking the truck's alternator can keep up with it. The question is, can the battery bank handle that much load when it's stationary. But since the generator feeds the batteries, it might be a better option anyhoo. That a/c system may also take up less space and free up more room for a larger battery bank.