Here We Go Again

Ahhh, another day, another project. This time it's the shower. Upstairs in the Mennonite house, the shower has developed a problem. Of course, this sort of thing is always an opportunity to lend the manly touch to the decorating scheme of the house. It always surprises me just how quickly I can populate a space with tools and bits of stuff - all necessary to the art and science of repair.

Handy Tool Storage

Tool and Supply Storage

I said that it had developed a problem. Actually, that was two problems. The first is the shower head itself. Since PVC pipe is used almost exclusively down here, that can create problems. For example. Our shower head used one of the shower head apparatus that hung off the shower pipe. You know the kind - with the hose attached and all that. Plus, we had a wire shower caddy attached with all the stuff that is normally kept there. Altogether a lot of weight on that little piece of pipe.

Well, the problem developed over time as the weight began to warp the PVC fitting the pipe screwed into. It seems that no matter how much teflon tape I used, and no matter how much plumber's putty or epoxy I used, it was going to leak.

As it turned out, not only had the fitting warped or stretched, but, when I removed the old piping, I saw damage that had been there since the piping was installed. Now, it probably didn't leak from the get-go, but over time, something like this just provides an avenue for water to begin its inevitable attack on fittings. Combined with expansion and contraction from hot and cold water, it's easy to see how driposis can begin.

Part of the Problem

And leak it did. At first, as you can imagine, it was a barely perceptible drip. Over time, that has increased to such an extent that we had to put a bucket under the pipes downstairs in Dianna's workshop to contain the drips. And it was only going to get worse. Something had to be done.

At first, I was going to tackle the leak from the front, removing a piece of tile and hacking away at the problem. I soon realized that if I was going to fix it (at that time, we didn't realize exactly what the problem was other than that we had a leak), I had to access the back side of the shower anyway, so that soon developed to be the preferred method of attack.

Not that that access was altogether easy. We first had to move our armoire out from the wall about two feet. Not the easiest thing to do, considering that it is about eight or nine feet long and made out of solid mahogany. It weighs a ton.

Narrow Working Quarters

I carefully measured where the shower head was and transferred a small 'x' to the back side to mark the shower head location and then used my trusty stud-finder to help define how large a hole I was going to need. Since metal studs were used, that was relatively easy to do.

Access Hole

I used my hole saw gingerly, mostly to gouge a small hole to be able to feel what I was running in to. I then used a razor knife to score and cut through the sheetrock so I had enough access to do any required work. This had an additional benefit in that using the knife really minimized the dust that would have been produced using the saw for the entire hole.

Small Mess

Replacing the damaged fitting is fairly easy. It's nothing I haven't done many times around here with as much PVC as we have all over the place. I am going to add a bit of wood to the setup, because the metal studs that were used in the walls of the Mennonite house just don't provide the lateral support needed to give the shower head fittings the rigidity needed.

By using the back side for access, I was able to leave the tile on the shower side alone. So, that meant just having to mess around with the two floor tiles. A bit of a relief.

Showerhead Hole

There's no way to really fasten the pipe to the stud to obtain the necessary rigidity any other way. So, I'll add a piece or two of wood and cobble something together out of wire or something to bind the pipe to the wood to hopefully obtain the stiffness it needs.

That was my initial thinking. As it turned out, I was able to use two pieces of wire run through the metal stud and around the pipe to securely fasten the pipe so it won't move at all. 

Coming From Faucet

Also, what we'll do is not keep the shower head and hose attached to the pipe. I'm going to see if I can get a wall mount for the shower head itself. If I can't , then it looks like it will be time to get a new shower head assembly that comes with a wall mount.

Here, you can see some of the wire used to hold the pipe in place. You can also see some of the staining that began to develop because of the leakage. By the way, that's not sheetrock that's stained, it's a concrete board product called Plycem. So, even though stained, it's quite undamaged by the water.

Shower Outlet

Here you can see the new pipe fitting jutting through the wall. I'm going to try to mount whatever hook I can find right in that area. I'll have to figure out an alternate location for the shower caddy. Who knows, maybe the one hook will do double duty. We'll see.

Showerhead Poked Through

The other big part of this project (remember, I mentioned that there were two parts) is we have a couple of floor tiles that cracked. They're rather large tiles (one-foot square) and removing them is proving to be a challenge - especially since we don't want to demolish the adjacent tiles. The grout is tough and the Thinset (used to mount the tiles themselves) is also tough.

The day before yesterday we had chiseled, grout-sawed, pounded, cussed, sweat, cajoled, cussed, poked, prodded, grappled, (did I mention cussing?), drilled and drilled, and all manner of other rites and incantations to try and remove the old tile, all to no avail. Both Dianna and I took turns attacking the tiles, and have gotten pretty much nowhere. What to do?
What to do came to us yesterday evening. Dianna suggested calling Carlos to see if he could come and fix the tile part of the project for us. By that stage, that seemed the most expedient solution to the problem, so I called him. He'll be able to come over and help us Friday morning. Some things are just best left in the hands of the pros, I guess.

There were also a couple other spots where the grout was failing or where, for whatever reason, a couple of the little plastic spacers were left in the grout track. Carlos removed those and will re-grout those as well.

Carlos Chipping Some Defects

Here's Carlos showing just how easy it is to remove the tile - if you know the trick. Obviously, we're not qualified to do this stuff.

Carlos Almost Done Busting Out Tiles

It might not be quite like they would do on Hometime or This Old House, but it's getting the job done, and it will last.

Carlos Doing the Tiles

Carlos will finish up the grout tomorrow morning and we'll have our shower back. It's not like we haven't been able to shower in the meantime. We've been using the shower down at the pool house. It's just a convenience thing, y'know?

And just like that, it's this morning. Chilly, gray overcast. Reminds me of the Northwest. Only thing missing is the drizzle. Come on Sunshine!

Carlos showed up around 8:00 AM this morning and was ready to tackle the grout. He opened the bucket that had three bags of left-over stuff in it. Was any of them grout? Of course not. A partial bag of Thinset, a partial bag of white cement, and a partial bag of sand of all things.

Well, it just wouldn't be a good project without at least one trip daily to a hardware store or something. So, off we went, Carlos riding shotgun and me with the reins, to Creative Tiles and Windows in Corozal.

Carlos was pretty sure they sold small bags of grout. I wasn't sure. I had never seen a small bag of it before, at least at Creative. Lo and behold, they actually had two-kilo bags, which was great. Even greater, it was available in a tan color that closely matched what we already had in the shower.

Carlos Working the Grout

After scoring the grout, we swung by Lano's to see if they might have a bracket for the shower handle. Naturally, I didn't call it a bracket. I called it a 'hook' which presented a minor problem which was easily solved by the same girl I had the discussion with about 'inch and a half' pumps'. She asked if I meant "a bracket". Perfect was my response. And they had it too. Now all I have to do is bore a couple of holes through the wall tile and hang the thing up there, probably just off center from the pipe outlet in the wall.

As you can see, the outlet is framed nicely by the chrome bezel from the old shower setup. I had to use a hole saw and my drill to expand the hole for the outlet pipe. A bit dicey, but it came out quite nice, I think. All I need to do now is apply some caulk around the inner and outer edges and that's done - well beside hooking up the actual shower hose and handle.

Add Some Caulk and Done

The only thing left, which Dianna will do this afternoon, while I'm at an all-important Corozal Men's Group meeting (solving the world's major problems, of course) is to apply grout sealer to all the new grout. Dianna thinks we'll have just enough to handle the job.

So, after all that, guess what? We'll have a functioning bathroom once again. Just in time to relax Sunday and gear up for another episode of Downton Abbey in the evening.

Just Your Average Men's Group Martini Meeting

Even though we've sworn oaths that 'what goes on at the meetings, stays at the meetings', there's some things that are worth sharing with the outer world. The Men's Group having a 'Martini Meeting' is probably one such thing.

It started off, actually, with the last Men's Group meeting at Bill's house, where someone made the suggestion that we should have a 'martini meeting'. At first, it seemed just a funny idea, but quickly coalesced to some semi-serious planning and eventually, actual preparations.

I'd already gotten a load of veggies from the market (thanks in no small part to the doggies for their help in carrying everything back home - including a nice pineapple. I had gotten some boneless chicken breasts from Caribbean Chicken, Craig had also stopped there and had gotten some nice, mildly spicy chicken sausage.

Since it was nominally titled a 'Martini Meeting', we had to have the appropriate alcohol. I rounded up my bottle of Bombay Sapphire, some Martini and Rossi vermouth (although my favorite is Noilly Pratt, a nice French vermouth), a bottle of scotch (Johnny Walker Red), not my favorite, but adequate for dirty martunis.

Doug, even though he wasn't physically here, was here in spirit, having had his wife Twyla deliver a bottle Old Master gin, which we used to good effect. Bill even brought a bottle of gin to the soiree. I had a couple bottles of large martini olives, Craig brought another jar of olives and a can of black olives, and Bill brought a bottle of cheese-stuffed olives and a can of anchovie-stuffed olives. I didn't even know you could get those sorts of things.

In order to make this event fly, that is, for it to be a success, we had to start preparations early. Thankfully, offered to help with some of the preparations. We'd probably have gone off half-cocked without her able assistance. She and I started bringing stuff out to the pool house in the morning. Craig was going to join us around 11:30 AM, to help get veggies sliced and to help skewer the kebabs.

Dianna helped immensely to get Craig and me organized in the kitchen. First, we had to cut up all the veggies, then the chicken breasts. She reminded me to soak the skewers, so they wouldn't just simply burn up on the grill.

Dianna Organizing the Work Area

Here's a shot of Craig cutting up the pineapple. Fresh pineapple is one of the great pleasures down here. They're usually plentiful at the market and folks even grow their own - which is something we're going to try. I took the top, after Craig lopped it off, and planted it in the patio garden. A simple process, you bury the top about an inch into the dirt, leaving the leaves exposed to the air, and then wait till it starts to grow a new pineapple. Easy peasy.

Craig Slicing Up Fresh Pineapple

After Dianna's help getting the kitchen work table organized, Craig and I got busy skewering the kebabs. We alternated with cubes of onion, green pepper, chicken, black olives, sausage, and pineapple. Each skewer held about two iterations of the ingredients.

Naturally, we made sure that Dianna went away before the arrival of the majority of the members, to pursue her own devices, and so not witness any of the secret mysteries of the Men's Group.

We've Got a Regular Assembly Line

Of course, there were times, it being hard work, where one just had to sample a bit of pineapple or olive as Craig ably demonstrates here.

Craig Sampling the Goodies

It's really starting to look quite colorful. We also mixed up some nice barbecue sauce. We took bottles of hot BBQ sauce and traditional BBQ sauce and mixed them. We added a liberal dose of vegetable oil and there we had a great sauce to baste the kebabs.

Preparing the Kebabs for the Grill

I think it took us a little over an hour or so to get the food preparations done. Well worth it, I must say.

Dave and Craig Almost Done

I ask you, is that yummy looking or what? It actually didn't look like that much all stacked on the table. But once we began cooking and serving, there was a lot of chow for the boys.

Looks Like It's Out of a Cookbook

Along with the food preparations, it was necessary to prepare the sacred martini juice. Craig made an initial batch of martini juice that was quite good and sufficed for the two of us. Craig comes from a long line of bartenders. His father and his grandfather were bartenders and Craig upholds that family tradition.

Bill arrived just in the nick of time to help with the drink prep. He brought a bottle of martini juice all ready to go as well as the cheese and anchovie-stuffed olives.

Bill and Craig Conducting the Martini Ritual

As the whole crew arrived, sampling became the order of the day. In fact we almost got side-tracked and nearly forgot to put the kebabs on the grill, but thankfully, clear minds prevailed and we did manage to get the stuff on the grill without incident.

Sampling the First Martini Batch

I'd fired up the grill a good hour before, so by the time we put the kebabs on, it was plenty hot. Basted with the sauce/oil concoction, it took no time for everything to heat up to perfection. We served it up and everyone promptly started devouring the offerings.

Bill, Roger, and Craig Under the Palapa

Naturally, there was a lot of conversation regarding the arcane art of barbecue, martinis, music, the weather, sunshine, etc., etc.

Eat and Talk, Eat and Talk

Speaking of music, I had the old iPod fired up with an appropriate selection of classic jazz, including a liberal dosage of music featuring the Rat Pack, Frank, Dino, Sammy, and others - the perfect accompaniment to martinis and barbecue.

Come On Guys, There's More to Eat

After we had all eaten our fill and being fairly well lubricated with martini juice, we once again gravitated to the pool where we pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon.

One of Our Mysterious Rituals

There, we practiced some of the arcane rituals of the group. Some might call it hi-jinks, skylarking, grab-ass, and other frivolities, but it is all serious activity, conducted in the most solemn manner as befitting the occasion.

Mysterious Ritual Nearing Completion

What an afternoon. It was a shame to call a halt to the solemnity and serious nature of the task at hand. But, eventually the brothers had to consider still being able to get home, and as the day was drawing to a close, so must this glimpse into the inner workings of the Corozal Men's Group.

Holy Cow! It's Alive, It's Alive!

I just now got my Internet service restored. Whew! What a pain in the butt. It's a long story, some of which is below. Everything is working again, now... I hope. This was some of the stuff I've been compiling during the down time.
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So, what *Else* could possibly go wrong? I mean now, with everything that has already gone wrong, broken, fallen apart, etc.?

Well, why don't we try something like the satellite modem going down for the count? That's right. It went - gone, broken, melted-down, zip, blotto, crapped out, fizzled, quit, died. The damned thing died Wednesday before last. Two weeks ago, now. No biggie, I thought at the time. I must have inadvertently hit some key combination or something that caused it to not connect. It’ll be back up in a jiffy. Uh huh.

Anyway, my time to work on it was limited because I was leaving that Friday morning with the Men's Group Expeditionary Force for our planned invasion of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye for a weekend of wild living. This would include traveling the length and breadth of the island in a six-passenger golf cart, dining out, drinking some beer, playing Hearts and Spades - not at the same time you understand. Playing Hearts all afternoon on Friday, and on Saturday, playing Spades. If you’ve never done it, it can be quite challenging to keep things straight since the games are quite similar, but different. Try it sometime. Nothing like reliving one’s wild bachelor days of marathon Hearts and Spades games. Woohoo!

That's what happens when you put five middle-aged guys together by themselves. We even went so far as to have one evening (alright, it was Saturday evening, if you must know) where, with reckless abandon, we decided on milkshakes for supper. We headed down to Dandee's Ice Cream parlor, where we ordered Sundaes, and malted milk shakes. Watch out San Pedro. You don't know what's been unleashed.

We had started off some time back. after our successful first expedition to Ambergris Caye, saying how we needed to mount another trip somewhere during the next year. Little did any of us dream it would be a return to Ambergris Caye and so soon. I’d have thought we would have been flying high if we made a similar trip within a year, but inside of three months? Wow.

Here we were, headed back to the island again. We took off in what seemed a largish plane (for Maya Island Air, anyway). Two engines and all. The cabin was somewhat cramped with us having to hold our carry-on bags in our laps. Even with two engines, the trip was slow. It took us an ungodly 25 minutes to complete the flight. Usually, we can complete it in a single-engine job in 15 to 17 minutes.

Anyway, we touched down at San Pedro Airstrip in good fashion, disembarked and hoofed it the couple of short blocks to Ruby’s Hotel. Ruby’s is kind of unique on the island for several reasons. First, it’s located within an easy walk from the airport; it’s right on the beach; it’s in the center of town, located right on the main drag (I think it’s called Front Street); and the rooms only cost $40.00 (US) per night. We lessened the cost by requesting rooms with twin beds, so two guys to a room (I shared with Denis, who is a good, quiet roomie), so for $20.00 US apiece, it was a deal. Ruby’s office staff are very helpful. The office is now located behind the hotel, right on the beach, in a little bungalow.

My Roomie - Denis

Some folks may turn up their noses at Ruby’s. No dressers - you pretty much have to live out of your pack or suitcase or whatever for the time that you are there. There was a small table in the room to keep your keys and other trinkets on.

The beds are firm, although Denis reported his mattress did have a spring that periodically poked him in the ribs - mine was just fine. The sheets, although clean, felt like they had been starched, of all things. Not sure if that was the case or if they were just stiff. There were two fans in the room, which we put to good advantage, aiming them each directly at the beds so we had plenty of breeze to get through the nights.

The private bathroom had a sink with mirror, toilet and extra TP, a tub - usable only as a shower, not that I wanted to soak in the tub. I just mention it for reference. The tub was also somewhat flexible when you were standing in it. Not sure if that’s an undocumented feature or just the tub wearing out.

Fluorescent ceiling lights in the bedroom and bath, with a separate fluorescent over the sink. The room was clean and was tended to each day by the hotel maids.

So, what more could you ask for? I know, I know. A lot, probably. But we weren’t planning to spend all that much time in the rooms anyway.

The crowning touch, the piece d’resistance, you might say, is the three decks, one on each floor overlooking the beach and the Caribbean Sea. They’re worth the price of admission in their own right. Two shade you from direct sunlight during the heat of the day, and the third, top deck is outstanding for its view of the waterfront and reef, not to mention the breeze.

The other bit that is worth it’s weight in gold is Ruby’s coffee shop, which opens promptly at 5:00 AM each day, and offers great coffee (hot, black, no frills). None of that foo-foo latte-type stuff. They also offer hot johnny cakes with Happy Cow Cheese thickly spread and ham; or with bacon, egg and cheese. Sometimes they even have cookies.

The trick is, wake up, get dressed and down to the coffee shop when they open. You’ll probably have to wait in line. Ruby’s is very popular with the locals, getting ready to start their workday. Get yourself a large cup of coffee (they even have lids, which is a new feature), and a johnny-cake and hot-foot it back up to the third deck to watch the incomparable sunrise. That, my friends, is what you came here for. I mean, as long as I’ve lived in Belize, the sunrise from Ruby’s third deck, fully equipped with coffee and eats, is something I’ve never gotten tired of. It is simply amazing and has to be experienced to appreciate. That alone will make you want to come back and be a repeat customer of Ruby’s.

I mentioned the office staff of Ruby’s. They’re great. Jackie and Raquel took very good care of us. They also make sure to have plenty of Belikin and soda in the office fridge for sale throughout the day. Of course, we took full advantage of that this trip with our marathon card games and all. If your room isn’t ready when you arrive (surprisingly, our was), you can store your bags with them. They take good care of things.

Ok, enough about Ruby’s. What else did we do? Well, first thing every morning, after everyone got up, sh**, showered and shaved - as we used to say in the sea-going services, was head north up the beach to Estelle’s beachfront eatery. Estelle’s is a sand-floored restaurant, which serves an ala-cart breakfast that is hard to beat. The place is dripping with atmosphere and has great service to boot. You order off the chalk board menu, then go hunt up where you want to sit, including several tables out toward the water’s edge.

Craig and Bill In Paradise

Keep in mind now, we’re here on Friday morning... There’s a reason we take the 7:30 AM flight to San Pedro. Fifteen minutes later (ok, this trip, twenty-five) you’re in town and walking up to Ruby’s. Dump your bags and keep heading up the beach a couple of blocks for breakfast. See? It’s not even 8:15 yet and you’re off to a great start.

After breakfast we headed further up the beach on Front Street so we didn’t get too much sand in our sandals. We were looking for Chollo’s Beach Bar and Golf Cart Rentals, so we could see about renting a six-passenger golf cart. Well, Chollo’s doesn’t exactly stick out to the casual observer, so we wound up at Pollo’s Golf Cart Rentals, which was easy to find. Incidently, we did find Chollo’s after the fact. We had walked right past it on our way to Pollo’s.

A few minutes later and we were off exploring the island. First, we headed south to see what we could find. Bill and Craig were all for scoping out a couple of grocery stores where you could get some exotic (for Belize) cheeses and other things that are unavailable elsewhere in Belize. We cruised past the Victoria House, a very up-scale resort, and several other higher-end lodging places, and made it to the very south end of the island, where mangrove and the bush still holds sway.

From there we turned around and headed north, over the toll bridge and on to adventure. I made sure to show the guys all the stuff we had discovered during our Eternal Eight trip to Ambergris Caye, except this time we didn’t rent a boat, I’m sure to George’s chagrin, since he’s a died-in-the-wool fisherman. Some other trip, George.

George's First Adventure With The Men's Group

We went past Debbie’s Beach, where the E8 had stayed for a week, past Captain Morgan’s (a confusing, disappointing, joint), past Grand Caribe Resort, where we intended to return to swim later in the day, past Indigo condos (not sure if it’s a resort or just the condos) and went quite a ways further north, exploring. That is, until the road got to be just too rough to bother with and we turned around.

On the way back south, we paused for a necessary break along the way and spied a metal contraption sitting near a house. We never did find out what it really was, although there were plenty of theories floated about. We even asked some knowledgeable-looking passersby if they knew. Turns out, they weren’t any brighter than we were.

Big Metal Contraption Thing

We headed back down south, stopping at Grand Caribe. I had told the guys about the pool, bar and short-order grill, and that all was available to the public (that’s us).  I had completely forgotten that if all the tables with umbrellas were occupied, there’s virtually no shade except in the bar. So, we didn’t swim at Grand Caribe. But, we could have. We even brought swimming togs if the urge was really strong.

The reason I knew about the Grand Caribe was that during the E8 visit, several of us had stopped at the Caribe for breakfast, which turned out to be good. And while there, we found out from the staff that the facilities were, in fact, open to the public. Our theory was that their pool, etc., was probably within the sixty-six foot setback from the low tide mark for public land and that they kind of had to make it open.

So a couple of beers later, we decided to leave Grand Caribe to the folks staying there and continued on south, stopping for a late lunch at Legend’s Burger House.

There is a difference between nighttime and daytime at Legends. We were the only customers in the place. I recommend stopping there for supper and on days when they have a band playing. Also, at night, they’ll have gotten supplies in to fill out the menu. The burger I ordered this afternoon needed blue cheese. Cheddar is an ok alternative but that makes the burger just ok as well. At least the beer was cold. The service was good and there’s plenty of memorabilia to scope out while you’re there.

After Legends, it was back across the bridge and into San Pedro. We parked at the hotel and got refreshed in our rooms, meeting back on one of the lower decks and proceeded to try to drain the fridge of beer and play hearts for the afternoon. George didn’t play, but did keep us tuned in to the world as he was surfing the Intertubes the whole time.

Long about five-thirty, we decided we may as well return the cart, so a couple of us headed back to where we had parked it. Wouldn’t you know, I had picked up a parking ticket. $24.00 BZD just for being the only cart parked within 35 feet of an intersection... I don’t know. It looked to me like there were a lot of carts parked as close or closer to several other intersections, but what do I know? I probably didn’t have as flexible a ruler as the local traffic gendarme.

Since we had had such a late lunch, we decided a supper consisting of milk shakes would be in order. Our favorite ice cream parlor, Dandee’s, was right at the top of the list. After dumping the cart at the vendor’s, and giving them the money to pay the parking ticket for us, we went back to Ruby’s, where we played our second set of card games before dinner.

We walked the five or six blocks down to Dandee’s working up an appetite for our supper. Apparently, rumors and tales of our abandon spread like wildfire among the islanders. As we walked into Dandee's that evening, the lady who was running the shop, announced to everyone already in there, "Here come my card-playing boys!" I mean... Damn. Is that what it's come to? That's what 'being out with the boys' is reduced to? Well, I guess when you've become old farts, that's what you get. At least we played aggressively and with panache. Anyway, that's not the focus here. It's the modem, or was, right?


Sunday morning Bill and Denis started a new thing. Bill had brought a cribbage board, so that kept them going for a while. Then Craig took Denis’ place at the board. Our flight back to San Pedro was around 3:00 PM, so we had plenty of time.

Craig was planning to stay over till Wednesday with Mae, who flew in and joined us for a while on the hotel deck.

After all the bright lights and distractions of San Pedro, and after a faster flight back to Corozal, I could concentrate on the matter at hand - the boat anchor that used to be the satellite modem.

I piddled around with it for hours, putting all my vast IT skills to bear on the thing. After all that, I know I had it quivering in it's boots, so to speak.

Monday, I gave up and called in the big guns. That'd be Roger. Roger's a Brit who's lived here in Corozal for about eight years and has helped many folks with their computer problems (he only thought he'd retired to build his dream home), including me a time or two.

Anyway, we messed around with it for a couple of hours and came to the conclusion that there was something seriously wrong with the modem. Back-tracking a bit… Up to this point, we didn't know that for sure. It could have just as easily been the router, my laptop, cables, or some unknown demon inserting itself into the mix.

Well, we pretty much narrowed it down to the modem. I thanked Roger with a couple of beers out on the pool deck while I contemplated my next move.

I called Computer Ranch over in Spanish Lookout. Abe and Harry, a couple of enterprising young Mennonite business men, run the place. They sold us the satellite system in the first place.

Harry was perplexed by the symptoms of the modem as I had described them to him, asked me to send the modem to him. This I did. On Tuesday, I trotted over to BPMS (Belize Package and Mail Service) with the modem all padded and boxed up and shipped it over to Harry.

I was hoping to hear from Harry Thursday as to the state of the modem - whether it's been given the last rites or whether it will be coming back. Depending on Harry's answer, we would figure out our next move.

That move is being driven in part by a sense of panic - I mean, we haven't even been able to check our email in over a week, much less making a posting to the blog.

If we have to order a new modem, we have some issues to consider. This is germane to you folks considering moving down here, and to you folks already here. I could find one on eBay (probably having to do my searching and ordering at my local Intertubes Cafe, of course, what fun that might be), but then, as Roger reminded me, you run the risk of buying a 'box' (as we affectionately call the modem) that has been locked out by the satellite company, and then you may as well have purchased a boat anchor or a brick.

You could purchase a guaranteed functioning box from this outfit up in Montana, with the attendant problem - either ship it directly here and pay the freight accordingly, or find someone who's coming down here soon, to be your mule and lug it in their luggage for you. That's nice, but then you end up owing them all this beer.

Or, you could pay more money and get a box sent over here from Computer Ranch via BPMS (Belize Package and Mail Service. We have to use that service as Tropic Air doesn't fly to Spanish Lookout. BPMS is sort of an in-country UPS). Harry would have to drive all the way over to Belmopan to send something via Tropic, so that would probably cost more then shipping by BPMS).

Hmmmm… Let's see, buy a box that you don't know the condition of, and may get ripped off during shipment anyway; buy a box that may sit in your friend's living room, collecting dust and kitty barf until they depart for their vacation down here in paradise, which could be months; or pay the extra amount and get a box sent here to Corozal, that might arrive by Monday, that you could hook up, re-commission, and be functioning on the Tubes that same day? Hmmmm… Decisions, decisions, decisions.

So, that's where we were. Waiting to hear from Harry. I suspect I knew what he was going to say. It would have been a miracle if he said there was nothing wrong with the box. If that would have been the case, that still would have been no good answer for us as it only means that there's something else that's gone kerflooy and we would still have to figure it out. Lord only knows how long that would take to determine and then we'd still have to figure out how to solve that.

See, this is all a distraction from my true project, the shade house for Dianna. That plays on my mind. I can hear her mentally tapping her foot, somewhat impatiently, wondering when this oaf of a husband is going to get back to work on that bit. This thing with the modem is simply a delaying tactic to avoid working on the shade house. But, along with that, it's preventing her from checking her email. Thank the powers that be that she's not on Facebook. There'd be no end to the problems that would entail. Come on, Harry. Give me an answer soon.

Ok, Friday afternoon. I heard from Harry. Well, it's my own fault even if the equipment isn't working quite right. I forgot to renew the credit card info for the account when the card renewed. So, as far as Hughes was concerned, the card expired. If the modem software had worked correctly, there would have been an indication that the card had expired. Instead, I spent $25.00 BZD and a ton of aggravation to find out the card was expired. Again, arrggghhhh!

It’s interesting that Hughes was able to successfully bill us using that credit card number, although expired (in their records anyway), for almost two and-a-half years, finally realizing that it was expired and then pulling the plug on the modem. Alert play guys. I guess the same thing could be said about the credit card company - paying out dinero for that long on an expired credit card. Wow. Gives one a great secure feeling, doesn’t it?

Harry said that once his techs checked out the modem (after the modem agreed that the card was good with the new expiration date I had given him) he'll send it back via BPMS, probably tomorrow afternoon. Means I'll get it Monday and hooked up and everything should be copacetic - we'll hope so anyway. I wonder if Harry is shipping it back COD? I guess I would if I was in his shoes.

I talked to Computer Ranch Friday morning. The modem is in good shape and will be returning to Corozal via BPMS, hopefully today. That means, if BPMS is open on Saturdays, I could get the modem back and installed sometime Saturday afternoon. If not, well, it’ll wait till Monday. What was that song by Carly Simon - *Anticipation*?

Just a bit ago I called Computer Ranch to see if the modem was shipped. Not yet. They gave me Harry’s cell number.  I called him to see if he had any details. He said he was going to call them directly to tell them to contact BPMS to pick it up. Ok. He asked me to call and make sure his people had my address (even though it’s plastered all over the modem. One of those ‘You can’t miss it’ sort of things.

I called and they had found the address, no problem. Then a quirky question. They asked me if I knew if Harry was coming in to work. Uh, first temptation was to give them a smart-ass answer, but I resisted and just answered that he hadn’t said.

So, at this stage of the game, I’m assuming the modem will soon be on its way back to Corozal - assuming, of course, that they did call BPMS to come pick it up.

I called BPMS in Belize City, as that’s the only number on their receipt from the Corozal office when I shipped the modem (why would you put a local number on it?), to ask for the Corozal BPMS number, which they gave me. After calling them, I found out they’re not open on Saturdays, so Monday is the day - I hope.

I did work on the shade house for a couple of hours on Saturday. I drilled holes and mounted bolts connecting the vertical pipes with the flange nipple. Now, I just need to get more fittings and the thing should go together quickly. We’ll see.

Just to prove it's not all 'work and no play' down here, here's Deeohgee playin' it cool.

Sup, Dude?

More to come on the next posting.

Cheers.

Braving the Chilly Waters

Several members of the Corozal Men's Club (TKWDN) along with their wives and friends braved the frigid waters this first day of the new year 2012, in the first ever (and we hope, continuing) Corozal Men's Club Polar Bear Swim and BBQ.

We even had certificates to hand out along with a commemorative t-shirt (available at cost, of course) for those brave enough to at least dip a toe into the frigid waters.

Polar Bear Swim Certificate of Accomplishment and T-shirt

Everything kicked off around one PM with very nice weather, sunshine and scattered clouds, with the temp a chilly 82 - strangely, the same temp as the water.

Alan and Elsie Sporting Their New Tees

Elsie was in charge of setting things up so that, after the swim, loading the plates went smooth and orderly, so that we minimized hypothermia among the participants. Alan was co-Chef d'Barbecue and made sure none of the hot dogs suffered unnecessarily.

Bruce and Denis made sure there was an orderly distribution of certificates and t-shirts among the participants.

Bruce Keeping Track Of Certificates and Tees

 And, here's the tees, all in order.

The Tees Ready For Distribution

The certificates were impressive. Many, including Chuck, said they were suitable for framing.

Chuck Showing Off His New Certificate

The t-shirts, probably not suitable for framing, were a popular feature as modeled by Colleen. Although one has to wonder why she's holding a capped bottle of beer.

Colleen Showing Off Her New Tee

There were a lot of conversations going on around the place. Groups formed and reformed all afternoon.

Polar Bear Revelers

A lot of this activity, I'm sure, was simply folks working up the courage to get in the water. It did take a certain amount of bravery to do that.

Never A Shortage Of Conversation

Always a good tale to be told.

Some More Of the Crew

The menu didn't vary much, as we only had hot dogs - some with cheese in them and some without. But, Doug and Alan ran a tight ship around the BBQ pit. This was the first tryout for our BBQ, made from an old butane gas bottle. Slow to heat up, but once it got going, they managed to keep everything from burning. Good job guys!

Doug and Alan Our Erstwhile Chefs d'Barbecue

As you can see, it took a fair amount of lubrication to keep the barbecue process functioning smoothly. I'm sure Carlo Rossi played a large part in that.

Doug Hard At Work

It actually took more that just the two of them to manage the BBQ area. Here's a few of the folks who volunteered to help during the cooking process. Good cooks always want lots of help in the kitchen, don't they?

Just Hangin' Around

It was a struggle throughout the afternoon as people gamely tried to enter the local waters. It required a herculean effort just to get down the steps. In fact, it nearly took your breath away upon first entering the pool.

Elsie and Maria Braving the Frigid Waters

We had several different groupings of folks braving the waters. Here's another shot of some of the revelers in action.

Roger, Maria Elsie and Dianna Braving the Frigid Waters

Like I said, the commemorative t-shirts were a popular item. Some folks required more assistance than others in getting theirs on correctly as Elsie demonstrates, helping Alan get his sorted out.

Elsie Helping Alan With His New Tee

Ahh, the official, big, group photo of most of the brave polar bears. There's Twyla fullfilling the letter of the requirements with a toe dipped in the icy waters.

Braving the Frigid Waters For The Official Foto

Colleen even brought over a centerpiece for the table. A cute little bobble-head ornament who dances the hula. It's uncanny how much he looks like Jim, one of our former members, now living up north in Florida.

Colleen's Musical Hula Ornament - Looks Suspiciously Like Jim

Of course, all good things must come to an end. Just about the time things here were beginning to wind down, the heavens unleashed buckets of rain. And more rain, and more rain. In fact, once it started, it didn't quit till early in the morning of the 2nd. in fact, it's thundering outside right now, so I don't think it's done yet.

Of Course, Later In The Day It Turned

We managed to finish just in time. Colleen and Bruce had ridden their bikes here, getting their feet wet coming through the mud and rainwater crossing the the road. They left just before this latest downpour started. I imagine they had a time of it getting back home.

Rain And More Rain

We were lucky to have such nice weather for the polar bear soiree. Yesterday, New Year's Eve, Colleen and Bruce had an afternoon New Year's party, complete with ham. We missed that because of so much rain at the time. I thought this was supposed to be the dry season. I think we've gotten more rain in the past month than we did all through the rainy season.

Our road certainly looks like it. We've been severely hampered walking the dogs - the water and mud on the road is too deep. In fact, in some places on the road it's nearing the bottom of the doors on an SUV. Some cabbies have even refused to try driving through the mess.