Work, friends, & JCO

Hi folks,

Well another month+ of my service has come and gone. It's been a busy one and has flown by, but that goes without saying at this point. Significantly I completed my sixth quarterly report for my university. At least in number that makes me 3/4 of the way done, though I have a good amount of work to complete before I am anywhere near ready to defend my masters. The decision support tool for onsite sewage systems I mentioned in my July post has moved forward in small fits & starts. Basically I am heading toward working with a wider group of professionals, agencies, and community organizations to give it broader potential use. I hope. In the next few weeks I'll be doing this, and I'll update accordingly. Also significantly, I had my first official visitors about a year and a half into my service. Newman & Shiffer visited early in February, Newman for 1 week, and Shiffer... well he's still bumming around the island somewhere. It was great to see some faces from home in Jamaica, and it has really buoyed my spirit. Thanks for visiting guys! Picture postings soon come. Finally, I spent a few days with the Jamaican Caves Organization (http://www.jamaicancaves.org/) exploring Gourie Cave in Manchester and supporting the exploration of Volcano Hole (with Jenny) in St. Ann and 'Mystery' Hole in Trelawny. It was a great experience as before and I thank all the gang for letting me be a part. Pics are at http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/557844170eDbjBL, and if you look through them, you'll find a few of Shiffer bumming around with the JCO crew too.

That's all for now. I'm taking another brief junket off island, probably last of my service, but will check you again in March.

Peace to all,
Drew