Wednesday Morning Grab Bag (Short Form)

It's been a while since I've done a Sunday Morning Grab Bag. Why wait till Sunday to pull it off, I ask? Why indeed. It's Friday. It's time.

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Dianna's conducting a beginning art class on sketching. Here the class is hard at their lessons. The students all seem enthusiastic about learning the new skill.

Dianna is a good instructor as well. It's fun to listen to the class as their lessons progress.

My Electra

My new ride, An Electra Coaster 3. Hotsy-totsy kinda bike, I guess. Electra bikes are made in San Diego and are designed for beach cruising, implying flat terrain, just perfect for Corozal.

It's not new, but it's way cool. A three-speed with coaster brake. I added the front basket and collapsible pannier baskets on the back, which came off my old bike, a 21-speed Schwinn. A nice bike, but about 18 more gears and other high-techery than I needed.

Sunday is the Weekend

Sunday, 27 November, 2016. No workers today, and no doggies in their pen.

I cooked chili omelets this morning for breakfast. The eggs were new and fresh, the chili that went in the omelets was leftover from Saturday night's supper.

After breakfast, I decided to whip up some tuna salad for sandwiches - totally forgetting we were going to Jam Rock for bingo later on.

Last night I had read a tip, I think on Reddit, but it could have been Facebook, that if you put ½ teaspoon baking soda in the water as you boil eggs, the shells become very easy to separate from the eggs. By Jove, it worked. Not one hundred percent, but significantly better than the past few times I've done hard-boiled eggs.

The reason I mentioned eggs is that they were part of the ingredients for the tuna salad, four of them, along with half an onion, a dozen dill pickle slices, two sliced stalks of celery, a healthy dose of mustard, two cans of tuna in agua - drained, and, of course Hellman's Mayonnaise. Mix it all together, slap some between two slices of bread, add some chips of your choice, and you've got lunch. We'll have that tomorrow.

Sundays at Casa Winjama is laundry day. So, I fired up the trusty old wringer washer and tubs - Hah! My mom used a Westinghouse wringer washer until I left home to go in the Navy. She wasn't real keen on newer technology. Ok, I loaded the washer and pressed 'Start.'

Mr. Nelson In His Hideaway

 Doing the laundry did get off to a bit of a slow start. Nelson, since I didn't open his weekday hideaway downstairs in the Mennonite house, has, as his alternate hideaway, the laundry baskets when they're stored on the top shelf in the utility room of the new house.

Jam Rock's Proprietor, Rocky

 About 12:30 PM, we loaded up our stuff, including Dianna's go-kart, jumped into the Sport Trac and headed down to Jam Rock.

It's been a while since we've had burgers there, so Dianna and I splurged and each had a bacon cheese burger with fries. Yummers.

Mike Selling Bingo Cards

Bingo is usually at JamRock on Sundays, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Thanks to Rocky for allowing us all to enjoy the afternoon at JamRock playing Bingo.

Here you see Mike, of Mike and Terri, who run the game, selling Bingo cards to JamRock patrons, in this photo, it's members of an Orange Walk motorcycle club.

Cards usually go for three for $5.00 BZD. Three games played and it's time to get new cards. The money from card sales makes up the jackpot for each game, minus a bit for overhead.

Terri Issuing Pencils and HiLighters

Here's Terri, passing out pencils so players can mark their cards during the game. Terri also calls the games. Rocky has a nice sound system that works great for just that purpose.

Incidentally, the game of Bingo can trace its roots to the Arabian Peninsula around the 1500's. It passed on to Europe and eventually to the new world, well the British colonies, I guess.

Around 1929, the game became formalized as Bingo, having been known up to then as Beano and other variations. Several companies began marketing it, along with copies of the rules and it reached the form, more or less, that we know today.

Terri and the Shipley's

Today's game is a special one. the big jackpot, from the final game, is going to the Shipley's, whose restaurant, Shippley's Coffee Lounge Restaurant/Cafe, on Second Street, North, in Corozal, suffered a devastating fire a couple of nights ago. This is an effort to help them get back on their feet and reopen - soon, we hope. There is a Go Fund Me page that has been set up to help them rebuild (https://www.gofundme.com/reopen-shipleys-coffee-lounge). Please help, if you can.

Bingo Game One Getting Started

Bingo is about ready to get started. I had to rush this shot as Terri started calling numbers right after I snapped this. It's too easy to get behind doing other stuff, so I had to hurry.

Colleen and Bruce - Big Win Coming?

Here's our table mates concentrating on the game. This is probably the only photo I have seen of Colleen where she isn't 'on' for the camera. See? There just isn't time to fool around playing Bingo. Serious stuff!

Dianna Enjoying the Game

Even Dianna is hard at work on her cards. We had a great afternoon. It was a lot of fun. She's just enjoying herself way too much and grinning ear to ear.

Two Young Bingo Players

We even had a couple of young boys who got in on the action as well. They played seriously, just like the adults.







And, there you have it. Action-filled Sundays in Corozal. We live life to the fullest!

Saturday in the Park

Well, that's the lyrics that came to mind. Although Chicago sang about being in the park. How about our pool? and almost mid-October. Close enough for gummit work.

Work is progressing, although I'm sure Dianna wishes they'd just go away. She's in bed with a pretty good cold. I fixed her some chicken noodle soup for supper last night, and she's staying dosed with Benjamin's Cold and Cough Medicine. I think it's kind of like Buckley's. Tastes terrible, but it works.

Prying the Forms Apart

Another nice day here in Corozal. Already reaching for that 90°(f) mark. The guys are speedily dismantling the sides of the chain forms. The base and the sticks will stay for roughly 10 days or so, to cure properly.

Taking Away the Wood Pieces

Big pieces, small pieces, and everything in between coming down.

Scaffolding for Plastering Going Up

Work platforms are also going up right away so the plastering can begin. Here the first one is going up in front of the waterfall part of the pump house.

Good View of Metal Brackets

This picture shows the metal brackets on top that will be used to anchor the cross braces that will anchor the metal beams that will help support the shade cloth roof.

Plastering Has Begun

Mario said this part will really seem like the project is slowing down. Probably so.

The plastering moves along, but after a bit, it seems slow too. That's experience from past projects speaking.

Chipping With a Hatchet

One of the things the junior guys of the crew are doing is chipping all the smooth cast concrete surfaces to roughen them up using a hatchet. Slow, mindless work.

Applying the Rough Coat

Around the edge of the pump house roof will be smooth and painted blue. the rest of the pump house will be textured and terra cotta color like the new portion of our house..

A Natural Golf Swing

The last piece of the metal framework that held the awning over the pool is going away. Erwin seems to have a natural swing developed for that.

The Other End

Here's the other end of the structure for the old awning. Almost seemed a shame to get rid of it, but it did it's job for a long time, so it's ok.

Last Blue Support Coming Down

Here it is, actually coming down. Who knows? Some of it may yet be used as a support for the circular staircase.

Carrying It Away

And away it goes, just over to the little palapa to await its fate.

Pool House Expansion Project, Day Thirty-Four, 09/11/15

The Excavator arrives and gets to work.

Day Thirty-Four, 09 November, 2015

Excavator, Track Hoe, Big-Ass Piece of Equipment, whatever you want to call it. Should be here Monday, around 10:00 AM or so. And so it was. It arrived about 10:30, give or take a few minutes.

It was mounted side-saddle on the low-boy trailer so they just had to drive it off the trailer and through the gates with plenty of room to spare.

Trummer's Machine Arriving

 Here it comes through our trees. Kind of cool how low it can tuck itself to get through. Not bad for basically a huge machine.

Ducking Down Below the Trees

 Arriving at the actual place where the work needs to be done. It's first order of business is to move as much of a pile of sand that was in its way as possible.

At Last - Into the Work Area

 First off, un-tucking itself, it stretched, and then got righ to work.

Stretching It's Arm - Ready To Go

 A couple of scoops of sand and this pile was no longer a problem.

Gotta Move the Sand Pile

 I thought you might like to see the nuts and bolts that actually anchor the trusses to the chain.

Some of the Nuts, Bols, and Washers to Hold the Trusses On

 Now's the fun part. The machine picks up the first truss and begins to swing it around and move it up to the north end of the roof.

Hoisting the Fierst One - the North Gable End

 Up and over. Gently does it. The guys are keeping it under control with lines on either end as the Track Hoe moves it along to its final position.

Up and Over As It Goes

 Omar's directing its placement on the end. It will still need some final tweaking and adjusting.

Omar Wants It Right Here

 Everybody gets into the act. This first one was the hardest. The boom hadn't gotten to the site yet, so there was barely enough room for the Excavator to maneuver the truss. It was tough for the guys to move it too. Each of the gable end trusses weigh about 1,500 pounds, or so. All of the truss lumber is bullet-tree wood, an extremely dense and heavy wood, that can effectively only be cut and drilled while it's still green. All the truss lumber for this project weighed in the vicinity of six and three-quarter tons. Magnificent, heavy stuff. Virtually termite-proof because of the density.

A Little This Way

Here's a shot showing the blocks that had to be trimmed so that the end gable on the north end would seat just so. This had to be done, as this is where the two structures, the existing pool house and the new construction actually come together. Wasn't necesary for it to be done on the other end.

The Angle Fits Perfectly

Now, with the boom in place, moving the trusses is significantly easier, and since most of them aren't gable end pieces, they're quite a bit lighter and more easily maneuvered into place.

Picking Up the Third One

From the inside, you can see progress is coming fast. Once the boom got here, the process moved right along. The machine was only here a little over three hours, much faster than we had initially estimated.

Adjusting Another One

Just a shot to show you the cubby above the closet that will also be where the access hatch to the attic will be located.

Future Site of Attic Access Hatch

In addition to bolting each truss to the anchor points, they are joined by wood pieces temporarily until the furring strips can be added prepatory to the roofing zinc being added.

Joining Them Together With Wood Pieces

The last truss is in position and being fastened into place. Not as hard as we thought it might be.

The Last Truss Going Up

Carl had to use a couple of wood pieces to push the center of the last truss into place until weight could be applied to the truss.

Bracing With A Couple of Boards

Once that was done, we had one last chore for the machine - dig the septic tank hole. Since we're going to use a Rotoplas plastic septic tank, a deep hole, relatively small diameter had to be dug within the confines of the steel markers.

Marks Where the Septic Tank Will Go

The first push into the ground. That lets you know just how powerful this machine is. That marl is as hard as concrete, but seemed like butter to the machine.

Starting to Dig the Septic Tank Hole

The machine's operator, is really an artist with that thing. Notice how close he's come to the markers.

Fine Precision Work

After about ten minutes work it was all done.

Finished Septic Tank Hole

About that time, after the danger of falling debris, etc., had passed, Dianna thought she would come down and inspect how things have gone.

Dianna Inspecting the Work

 Altogether, a short day's work for the crew. Hot but short. There's a ton more photos of this phase of the project. See the next paragraph to access them.

There's many more photos than appear in each posting. You can see all the photos of the construction project on Flickr at: https://www.flickr.com/gp/winjama/0wVc3s. There will be new photos added each day of the project.

Pool House Expansion Project, Day Nineteen - 14/10/15

Here we are at another day of the Pool House Expansion Project.

Day Nineteen - 14 October, 2015

Things are moving right along. The guys are already using an elevated stand to lay blocks along the east bedroom wall. How cool is that?

East Bedroom Wall - Using a Stand Already

Some other views of the activity. Luckily, the weather has been great - hot and humid, but no rain. That may change soon as the forecast is calling for rain over the next few days.

East Side - Blocks Are Going Up

Slight mistake in the bathroom. Reading from the wrong drawing, the shower controls were going to be too narrow. This was a good time to catch the error. They're being moved out one foot and things will move on.

Had To Reroute Shower Spigots

Our supervisory team has taken time out from the pool to help ensure a quality product. Here you see Sara and Dianna, with hands on hips, a sure sign of intense scrutiny, watching the bathroom work.

Inspection is Underway

The guys are taking advantage of some shade to catch a quick 'nooner', as we used to call them in the sea-going services. Basically, an after-lunch nap. Pure and simple.

Taking A 'Nooner' After Lunch

Bedroom wall with window openings, really starts making things look official now. Won't be long and they'll be ready to cast the chain around the top. Then come the roof trusses.

Outside of Bedroom Wall

The guys are using plastic sheeting to protect the walkway from concrete splatters. I'm sure it's all unnecessary as they are very neat and tidy fellows.

Plastic Sheeting Protects Walkway From Splatters

From the south side, the house looks impressive. The screen window openings are showing up very well. It's looking nice.

South Side - Blocks Also Going Up

I'll be hooking up flexible gas line (commonly used here) to the on-demand water heater that will be mounted on the wall outside of the bathroom but inside the walkway. I'll cut the excess tubing off and save it for some other project.

Water Heater Gas Line Waiting To Be Hooked Up

There's many more photos than appear in each posting. You can see all the photos of the construction project on Flickr at: https://www.flickr.com/gp/winjama/0wVc3s. There will be new photos added each day of the project.