What is that called? Pre-Christmas,... Christmas Eve Day,... what? Probably something really elegant in some foreign language. Sometimes English just is lacking in what something is called and the "work-around" is awkward at best. Anyway, Christmas Eve is tonight. So, this is what's happening today, before tonight. Ok?
Isidoro and his brothers work hard too. When I first glanced at the hole for the tank, I thought they were going to make a dual tank affair. That was wrong, as you can see below, with the wall coming out.
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And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
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Incidently, the digging of the hole, and casting of the floor all occurred last night. And of course, now that we're in the "dry" season, it rained most of the night, so they had to bail out the hole before beginning to lay the blocks. Of course, it helped settle the fill in the foundation of the guest house, so pluses and minuses.
In the final bit of digging, they hit the water table, so there's a fine layer of mud at the bottom.
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Finishing Dig of Septic Tank
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While they were finishing digging, the rest of the crew began cutting rebar to place in the bottom of the hole. Here, they're using Bob's cutter with a wired on stick as an extension for additional leverage to cut the metal.
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| Rebar Cutter in Action |
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| More of the Rebar Cutter in Action |
And, here, the rebar is being formed and tied into a rectangle to be placed in the bottom of the hole.
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| Tying Rebar |
Then, you have to get it into the hole, so, they're carrying it and putting it into place.
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| Moving the Rebar |
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| Positioning the Rebar |
Of course, the rebar can't just sit on the floor of the hole, it has to be supported up a couple of inches. Here they're positioning rock under the metal to reach the correct height.
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| Raising the Rebar |
Then comes the pour. Using the machine (as opposed to hand mixing on the ground) really makes things move along.
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| Mixing and Dumping |
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| More Mixing and Dumping |
Ah, the first load of concrete makes it's way into the floor of the hole. And Isidoro is using the precarious path to precision-dumping of the mix.
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| Pouring Underway |
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| Bombs Away |
This view shows the main foundation also near ready for pouring.
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| Almost Ready |
This morning, the blocks began going up in earnest.
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| Blocking the Tank |
They may get the roof of the tank ready to cast by the end of the day. We'll see how that all goes.
While the guys are working up a sweat, here's Lynn and Dianna dealing with the sweat on their rum and Cokes. Life can be so rough.
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| Relaxing On Our Front Porch |
Tonight, we're doing a traditional thing for Christmas. Dianna and I, along with Elsie, are going to a Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings, as they say. It's going to be at the Oasis. There will be two seatings (3:30 PM and 5:30 PM). We wanted to get the earlier one so we didn't have to drive in the dark, but we procrastinated too long.
It looks like others will be joining us - Mae and Craig, Robert and Lynn, and several other folks we haven't met yet.
We'll be bringing a nice bottle of wine to have with dinner - one of the case we bought on our last trip to Belize City.
Then it's home to wait for Santa. I hope we have some good cookies for him.
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