Weekend Project Update.

This is an update on a couple of projects that all seemed to hang fire at about the same time.

The driveway - All the curbing that needed to come out is now out.

Curbing Out For Escape Path

Thanks to Carlos and his son George. The electrical box that had been uncovered is now covered and protected by a slab of concrete.

Turn Off by the Gate

We're now ready to bring in two 15-yard loads of chippings, smallish pieces of rock that will be the fill for the driveway, both the new part and a new layer on the existing part.

Found Good Signpost

 We even have a sign that will be going up showing which way to go to use the driveway.

I raided my leftover pile and found a good length of fence tubing that will work great as a signpost. I even managed to find a cap for the post after it's installed in concrete. that'll keep rainwater from going in the post and rusting it out from the inside.

Custom Sign

Here's the sign that will be mounted to the post. I had it made down at CGI Graphics on Seventh Avenue. They're the same outfit that made our 'Beware of Crocodile' sign a few years ago.










The Solar Heater Pump - The service kit has been ordered, shipped, and received by You Have Mail in Medley, Florida. Now, I'm just waiting for the kit to be shipped down here. I'm hoping to get it this next week.

It should be a piece of cake to reassemble the pump. Doug and Twyla will help me with it to make sure that the motor isn't being overdriven by the solar panel. The Controller box should solve that problem.

The LG Refrigerator - I had reached the end of my troubleshooting skills and still hadn't solved the problem with the fridge. It wouldn't hold a charge. I figured there was a leak, but///

Anyway, I posted on FaceBook looking for some advice on what to do with a dead behemoth of a fridge. One of the answers came the next day from Nairobi Rancheron (501-604-6145, and on FaceBook), who works on refrigerators and A/C units He thought it was worth trying to repair it.

So, he arranged for a truck and some strong-backed young guys to move the fridge to his workshop. I think that was Saturday a week ago. He thought he'd be able to have it ready by the next Saturday.

Well, what do you know? He called up Friday morning and said it was all repaired. Nairobi got the same crew to move it back. I'll hand it to him, it works great. Turns out there was a leak in the condenser, which he resoldered. After a complete recharging process, and replacing the filter and a few other minor things. It's as good as new. It's cold, and it makes great ice. My hat's off to Mr. Nairobi. He has my highest recommendation.

More on the Driveway Changes

The posting on Friday (http://www.winjama.net/2017/04/well-driveways-been-going-through-some.html)occurred on Thursday. Friday was a day of inactivity for several reasons, none of which I'll go into. After that, we had pretty much given up hope of having anything done till Tuesday, the next available work day country-wide.

Imagine our surprise, on Saturday, about 9:00 AM, the dogs started barking, like they're supposed to do whenever someone is near one of the gates. I looked out and saw the operator. I quickly put the dogs in their pen (I always tell them it's time for them to go to work when that happens), and opened the gate for him.

As he was replacing the tire on the Bobcat, he apologized for not showing up on Friday, but his new two-week old baby boy had been sick with reflux problems - Dianna said it was common with newborns. I told him it wasn't his fault, but his boss's for not keeping me informed.

Anyway, we put that behind us, and he began by moving the rest of half of the layered concrete near the septic tank.

Half of the Concrete Pad Gone

I only had him move half of the layered concrete pad, where the house construction crew had mixed a lot of their concrete for the house.

Half of the pad, I had left because I was afraid that, moving it by machine, it might damage the piping leading to the Rotoplas septic tank. That will be better taken care of by hand and carefully.

Pile of Scrap Concrete

Here's where most of the scrap concrete ended up, by the second, smaller palapa. One day, it will be replaced by a concrete block shed, with the scrap concrete going into its base. The shed will house all the yard chemicals, paint, tools, and the mower.

Scrap Concrete and Gravel

Most of the gravel will probably end up in the driveway roadbed, but, I'm sure a good bit will be used to fill cave-ins, which we fairly often seem to develop small ones around the place.

That's just one facet of the paradise tax you have to pay if you live near the coast and have a limestone base underfoot. You get used to it. It's not as scary as some of the cave-ins that they have in Florida and other places. Now those would be scary.

That done, he began knocking down the big pile of dirt, grass, and other debris up near the gate.

The Big Pile is Long Gone

In this photo, you can see it's already starting to look normal. A little bit of time for the grass to die and decay and for some rain to settle the soil, and it will look like it's always been there.

What Pile? It's Always Like This

From this view, it really is looking natural.

In short order that all was done. I thanked him, wished him luck with his baby, and paid for the work done. It really looks nice.

I forgot to take photos during the final stages of the project, but here's a few more so you can see the results.

Part of the New Driveway

Here's the driveway from the cut-off by the gate. It's looking almost finished, except for the odd piles here and there.

The Parking Palapa and Side Route

This shot shows how we'll now be driving into the palapa. It's a lot easier this way. We don't have to back up and swing in, which was pretty much the rule coming in the other way.

The side route allows vehicles a way out when both the parking spaces under the palapa are taken. We had to move a couple mature plants and only one other plant bought the farm in the transition.

The next step is to finish removing the curbing by the entrance to the cut-off by the gate. It was necessary to do it by hand as both well-water, storm water runoff, and electricity are run under the curbing. Then comes at least a couple big loads of chippings, the small easily compacted gravel that always looks so good.

After that, we'll be adding some six-inch high curbing around the driveway and plantings. then it'll be done, well, after we add some solar yard lighting around the drive. Most of this is like a year or so down the road, I think.

Well, the Driveway's Been Going Through Some Changes

With apologies to Buddy Miles. I haven't thought of this song in ages. Changes was a hot tune back in the sixties.

After the miss-start with the tractor with the backhoe, it's nice after a few days delay, to see the Bobcat coming through the gate. They sure do look like fun to play with.

Bobcat Coming In

They seem to be really tiny and cute. But as you'll see, they are real powerhouses and timesavers.

I think we were lucky to get this one right before the Easter holidays.

Making Initial Cut

 He's making his first cut into the sod on the cut-off from the original driveway - just about where the backhoe tractor dug up the power lines.

Heading to Dump His Bucket

And there he goes, off to dump the first of many buckets-full of spoils from the project.

They told me there would be a large amount of dirt. I was ready, but it was still a bit of a surprise just how much dirt was removed.

Almost Done With That Section

 I'll admit to being a bit skittish or gun-shy when he got near where we had the electrical dig up the other day. But the operator's skills and deftness in controlling the machine were impressive.

Removing Some of the Gravel

Elsie had a substantial bed of gravel laid down for her driveway from the gate to the palapa. What I didn't leave in place for a service driveway, I've had moved to be able to reuse it somewhere else.

Digging the Sod

A lot of sod needed to be removed. None of it planted by us. It's all spontaneous growth and all of it is the crappy spongy grass that's prevalent down here. "Onto the spoils pile with it, I say!"

Beginning the Wide Part

This part of the driveway is the widest, right in front of the house, which is OK, as it will also double as visitor parking as needed.

Looking Like a Parking Area

The wide area is taking shape. I think it will be able to accommodate a row (one behind the other) of parked autos, and still give room for a vehicle to pass by.

Dusty Work Moving Rocks

To allow for a lane for vehicles to pass by, we had to move more of the pile of rocks. I didn't think we were raising much dust during the whole operation, but Dianna said there was quite a lot of dust on the front veranda.

Finishing Up the Parking Area

Just adding more to the big pile of debris up by the road. I hope he'll be able to move that stuff around and make the pile appear to be lower, if not smaller.

Smoothing the Parking Palapa

I missed a photo or two of breaking the curbing in the palapa. Here, they're all moved over by Elsie's palapa and the operator is smoothing out the transition so we can drive into the parking palapa easily.

Digging the Bypass

We realized with the original plan for the driveway, if two people were parked under the palapa, there was no way for someone else to get by if they were heading out of the place.

We decided to create a bypass right beside the palapa. This meant we had to move/do away with a couple of plants and dig up more curbing.

Smoothing the Bypass

Here, you can see the bypass is almost done. I think it's going to work quite well.

Busting Up the Concrete

This is scrap concrete (and a lot of it too!) left over from the construction of the house. This is where a lot of concrete was mixed when they didn't use the cement mixer.

Actually breaking It Up

Probably a good five or six bags of cement went into making this pad. When we get the concrete out, we'll replace it with marl to level it out.

A Huge Pile of Spoils

They warned us that there was going to be a large pile of leftover dirt and sod. They were right too. I'm hoping they'll be able to smooth it over and spread it out, so it's not so tall

Towing its Own Trailer

Just as he was getting ready to move the big hunk of concrete, Bobcat developed a flat tire. So, that effectively ended the work day.

Here, he's bringing the trailer for the Bobcat inside the fence. The plan is to leave it and the Bobcat here overnight.

Fixing A Flat

Loosening the lug nuts. He's going to take the tire in to get it fixed and will finish the job in the morning.







That was Wednesday. This is Thursday. Easter weekend is staring us in the face. The operator and his supervisor told me they would be back at 8:00 AM today, to finish the project.

8:00 AM came and went. I waited till 9:30 AM and texted Mario to see if he could tell me anything. After a while, Mario texted me that they would be there around 10:30 AM. Then about 10 to 15 minutes later he texted me that the operator's baby had gotten sick and he had gone to the hospital and would most likely be here after lunch, which I assume is probably 1:00 to 1:30 PM.

Good thing I texted Mario. Most businesses are closing around noonish today. I still had a few things to get us through the long weekend that I needed to shop for in town. That is one pet peeve of mine. Disrespecting the customer by not bothering to call or text to keep them informed.

So, it's now 1:00 PM. No operator. Hmmm. Why am I not surprised? The operator's baby must really be sick. If that's the case, that's fine. I'm just PO'd that no one is bothering to keep me, the customer, informed.

At 2:00 PM, you can guess what I said as I opened a beer and got in the pool. Well, there's always tomorrow... More likely, Tuesday. I wonder what I can sell a Bobcat and trailer for?

The Revised Drive Way - Wait a Minute

Below is a photo of our layout. You can see the proposed additions to the driveway in transparent white. If you know where the main gate is (lower right-hand corner) you can follow the driveway as it currently is configured, or follow the new driveway.

Take the first fork to the right and follow it around, bearing left till you come to the parking palapa (lower center of photo). Now, if we're parked under the palapa, that would present a problem departing easily.

You'll notice a second white area (immediate right-hand side of the parking palapa). That will allow those departing to get out without trying to drive under the palapa. From there, just follow the drive to the main gate and out.

From the other gate, (Chain Link), that's just going to be a service entrance if a big truck is dumping chippings, gravel, etc.

Proposed Driveway Changes

The long-awaited driveway renovation project began today. And, just like that came to a halt.

Unfortunately, communications between the backhoe driver and myself were somewhat lacking. I had assumed he was only going to use his front scoop and only scoop out an inch or two of grass, etc.

Stakes Showing the Wa

You can see the stakes I pounded into the marl to show the proposed areas to be scraped. They more or less match the image above.

Backhoe Bucket Tracks

He immediately set to work, positioning himself to use the backhoe. I assumed that maybe he was going to use that to pull out the curbing in that area. Wrong. He didn't go for the curb but set the bucket teeth into the soil. I signaled to go no more than three or four inches down, which is how he started, but for some reason, the bucket began to go deeper.

The Damage Done

By then, it was too late. Up came the PVC tube with the cables providing current to the main house. Or, they did provide current until they broke.

I immediately called a halt to the operation. Needless to say, I was none too happy and told the operator that he was done.


I immediately got on the phone, texting to Mario Zetina, our contractor for the swimming pool and enclosure rebuild, to see if, by chance, Emanuel, his electrician was available for an emergency repair. I assumed that it would be too much to hope for that he would be available right away, but I was hoping, maybe for the following day. Even though this was about our hottest day of the year so far, reaching 92℉.

Mario texted me back and said that he would have Emanuel come by as soon as he finished lunch. Wow! Too much to hope for. I was figuring, even if he showed up right away, that it would still be a good day or so before we got the current back, I was assuming the whole run of 300' of #6 wire x 3, or 900' of wire would have to be replaced.

After about forty minutes, Emanual and his helper showed up and immediately started clearing marl out of the way. Thankfully, he remembered he had constructed a junction box for wiring to go to the Mennonite house.

Starting to Dig Out

They've just about got the junction box uncovered. I had totally forgotten about the box.

After checking the wires at the dig site, Mario went to the power panel by the gate and determined that most of the three wires were in good condition. They had simply been pulled out of the screw posts.

Making It All Right Again

After refurbishing the wires and replacing the mangled PVC pipe (I had enough pipe left over and a coupling fitting for the repair) Emanuel reassembled the whole thing back into the junction box.

Good View of the Repaired Junction

Here's the completed junction box without the lid being attached.

Reconnecting Everything

And, in amazingly very short order, we had current again. Fans, ice, cold beer, and iced tea. In short, the whole nine yards.

Now, all I have to do is bring back the tractor and ensure that the operator only uses the front scoop and only does it exactly where I tell him, and we'll be good to go. Of course, after that, a large trip or two of chippings and getting that all spread over the driveway and we really will be good to go.

Stay tuned for part II - The Finishing of the Driveway, or Let's See What Breaks Next.