Dancing In The Streets

You'll see the connection between a fence post and dancing in the streets in a minute. But first, this important message.

All we need is music, sweet music,
There'll be music everywhere
There'll be swingin' swayin', and records playin',
Dancin' in the street

- Single by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - 1964
Also recorded as a single by Van Halen - 1982
and as a single by David Bowie and Mick Jagger - 1985

Elsie's gate post had broken, rusted through, somehow. In the photo below, it looks just fine but, every time we opened the gate, it wobbled severely and was getting worse. I was afraid the gate would just lay down and then where would we be?

The Gate Post In Question - Before Repair

Cody, who was just recovering from a bout with the flu, came to work yesterday and I immediately put him to work repairing the post (I'm such a slave driver). I worked with him and later on, Cody even brought his brother Anthony in to help mix the concrete.

The length of pipe below is the piece of fence post that was buried in concrete. We had to dig the concrete out as much as we could, then we attacked the concrete blob with a 6' breaker bar and eventually with a two-and-a-half pound sledge and cold chisels. What a chore.

Part of the Old Broken Pipe

Eventually, we were able to bust out the piece of pipe and left the majority of the concrete ball in place. The new 8' length of pipe fit right into the groove left by the old pipe, so that was a real help, both in saving of concrete needed and in allowing us to reassemble the fence and gate without damaging the newly poured concrete.

Here you can see the new fence post in place and ready to have the fittings attached.

New Post In Position

This view of the hole shows the the lump of old concrete with the new pole in place. It was really awkward and exhausting trying to break out the concrete in that hole.

Ready for Some Concrete

We managed to save some money by borrowing about three five-gallon buckets full of gravel from Mae and Craig's construction project across the street. Here, you can see Cody wheeling the barrow over there to pick all that up. Cindy, as usual, is right on the job, guarding the gate against trespassers.

Cody Going to Get Gravel

We needed sand and we were going to borrow some of that also from Mae and Craig, but it turned out that we still had plenty of sand left, so we used that.

Elsie, it'll be easy to repay Craig for the gravel. Just buy him a six-pack of Belikin Stout. That's his favorite. I'm pretty sure that would square things up for that.

Loading Up Last of the Sand

While Cody was loading up gravel and sand, I took the opportunity to scope out some of our orchids growing in the front among the banana trees. Quite a few of them are blooming and look really nice.

Some of Our Orchids

So, here we come to the 'dancing in the street' bit. This actually is quite nostalgic for us. Cody figured it would b easier all around to mix the concrete close to where we were working and still also get a hose for water to it. So, here's Anthony Williams (Cody's brother) spraying the water and Cody doing the mixing.

Anthony and Cody Dancin' In The Street

For some reason, the song 'Dancin' in the Streets' just came to mind while I was shooting them working the mix.

The last time anyone mixed concrete in the road was about four-and-a-half years ago, when Canadian Bob was mixing up a batch for our power pole - which was the first thing constructed on our lot. As you might figure, I have a shot of that too.

Canadian Bob Mixing Concrete - 2007

The road was just a little quieter back then. You could pretty much count on being able to do whatever you wanted in the road with little or no interruption. Not the case now. We spent the whole time working the mix, keeping an eye peeled for dump trucks and the myriad of other vehicles that populate our road every day. Hey, it's dangerous out there.

We finally got the mix mixed and dumped into the hole. Here's the end result.

Concrete Has Just Been Poured

Of course, the whole time we were working, we had adequate supervision. Cindy and Deeohgee stayed right there making sure we did things correctly.

Our Supervisors

We let the mix sit for about an hour-and-a-half after we poured it. By then, it had set enough for us to reattach all the hardware and the gate. That presented its own problems. Reattaching the chain link without a chain link fence stretcher (reminds me of a bulkhead stretcher from the Navy) was tough. First we used the 6' breaker bar to help draw the fabric closer to the hardware. Then we hit on the idea of using heavy nylon strapping and twisting it to draw the fabric in. That worked like a charm.

A final tightening of all the fittings and hardware and the job was done. The gate now works better than it has for a long time. Time for a beer. Now we can really go dancin' in the streets

Just Finished

Weekend = Busy, Busy, Busy

The other name for that could be the question we ask alot - How did we find time to work when we worked?

We were kind of busy this weekend - all weekend, it seems. First, let me say that for purposes of this discussion, last weekend began on Thursday as that's the day I worked on the pool pumps, valves, unions, piping, etc.

Would you believe I worked from 7:30 AM, Thursday morning until 4:00 PM that same day? I did. It was a severe day as well. Working in that cramped little octagonal-shaped building, where there never is a breeze, and where the heat just multiplies as the day goes on.

In fact, to give you an idea of the heat, around 11:00 AM, I took my phone and my keys/gate remote and left them in the pool house as I was afraid condensation would damage them. It was so be that, by the time I knocked off, I noticed I was dripping sweat from my shorts!

Anyway, here's what I worked on. First, I have wanted to raise both pump motors off the floor for a long time. I took the opportunity when I removed the main pump to service the pump seal of raising both motors on concrete blocks. This naturally entailed re-doing the plumbing going into and out of each pump. You can see the waterfall pump (the orange thing below) sitting comfortably on its block.

Waterfall Pump Raised

The main pump (the black thing below) was what started this whole project. About two weeks ago I noticed leakage out of the back of the pump, just in front of the motor. Oops. Not a good sign. I learn quickly. Last time, I didn't notice that leak and that lead eventually to water going onto the front motor bearing which caused it to scream progressively louder until it failed. Thankfully, Terence Leslie, a small engine mechanic here in Corozal, is also a veritable wizard when it comes to replacing electric motor bearings and such.

Main Pump Raised

Anyway, this time I was able to pull the pump out of service before it self-destructed. I also took the opportunity this time to re-route the outlet pipe to each pump so that it's joining union was off to one side of the pump. That way, when I do remove either pump, residual water in the piping will fall harmlessly to one side of the pump instead of cascading over the pump and the motor. In my mind, the design of these pumps is pretty poor. They should be designed with the outlet on the pump's side. It won't care which way the water leaves the pump.

I also took the opportunity to add two more valves on the inlet and outlet side of the main pump to facilitate removal of the pump without the gyrations I previously had to go through. Things like a little plug I had made to stopper up the skimmer as there had been no valve installed when it was built to stop water flowing from there to the motor. Since the motor was lower than the water level in the skimmer, without the stopper in place, a flood in the pump house developed rather quickly. I also had to turn off the valves for the floor drain and the spa jets. Now all I  have to do is turn two conveniently located valves and presto!, the main pump can be disconnected easily. You can see the two red-handled valves in the photo below and at the bottom, you can see the outlet union for the pump is now off to one side.

New Valves and Piping

I also had to replace a union on the filter (the cream-colored round thing below). The inlet union is now white. The dark gray union it replaced had been leaking for quite some time. When I went to tighten it, it snapped into two pieces - the threaded part was one piece and the top piece that connected to the other part of the pipe. I suspect it had been broken for some time and that that was where the leak was. When I attempted to tighten it, that was all it needed to fail completely.

Pool Filter and Piping

Next thing that happened, was the union at the pump refused to quit dripping. So, on Friday, Carlos (who's building our patio area) and I looked at it and decided that epoxy would be the best thing to stop the leak. I applied that and it almost worked perfectly, with still just a little, little leak left.

Well, anyway,jumping ahead for just a second, now on Monday, no leakage anywhere. First time in ages that the floor of the pump house has been completely dry.

So, back to Friday... Carlos was there and cast the bar/counter top, with only the barbecue area left to build for the basic parts of the structure.

Carlos needed the barbecue grill itself to see how to build the whole structure for that. I had to go to Dr. Sheila's to get some heartworm meds for the dogs. As I drove past Pancho's Welding shop on the way to Sheila's, I saw he had a BBQ standing out in his yard. I whipped in to take a look.

After a quick look, I thought that was just what the doctor ordered and for $150BZD, it was perfect. It's made from a medium-sized butane tank and some 3/8- and 1/2-inch rebar, oh, and about an eight-inch piece of exhaust tubing.

Our New BBQ Closed Up

Here you can see the grill opened up. It's got an expanded metal grate. Hey, not a Cadillac, but, certainly up for some fine barbecuing. And if it lasts for a few years, all the better.
Next thing that happened was our pressure tanks - one for the reverse osmosis drinking water system and the other for the well.

We've never had spectacular water pressure here. I just assumed that was what we had. Our pump/pressure switch was automatically set, so I wasn't sure how to adjust it or that it could be adjusted. And the reverse osmosis system. A couple weeks ago, it began to loose pressure such that it was able to maybe have enough water to fill one liter water bottle before running out of water. Here's the RO system pressure tank below.

New BBQ Grill

Reverse Osmosis System Pressure Tank

Anyway, I asked Doug (my neighbor and dog walking accomplice) if he knew anything about pressure tanks and how to adjust them. Turns out he did. Good thing too because when I read the manual for one of the tanks, all I could say was, "huh?"

So, Sunday, Doug comes over and we started to look at the RO tank. He said let's start instead out at the pump. We need to find what your start and stop pressure on the switch is anyway. You can see the well pressure tank below and the pressure switch.

Now, we have amazing water pressure in the house - about 40-45 lbs which the most we had before was 30-45 lbs. Quite nice. The water pressure for the RO system now can fill at least several bottles and do it quickly. Yea!!!! What a relief that is.

And finally, well almost finally, our orchids, which we've had growing on trees an posts here and there, mostly ignoring them and never watering them at all. This morning, as I was coming back in from shopping, some delicate white flowers among the orchids caught my eye.

I decided I'd take a few pictures of them for the blog as well, so I did. Here's the one that caught my eye. Quite nice.

Well Pressure Tank

Our Orchids Flowering

And here's some more. Like I said, we don't do anything with these guys. They continue to thrive.

More of Our Orchids

Here's Cody, our caretaker trimming hedges this morning. The front yard is beginning to really look nice..

And Yet More of Our Orchids

Cody Trimming Hedges

And the reason for that is Dianna. It's finally getting cool enough she can get out and garden, which she has been wanting to do for quite some time.

Dianna Seeking Shelter

Now, last but not least. The only other time I've seen one of these critters here in Belize, was a couple years ago when I snapped a photo of one on one of our gate lights. Here it's on our front stair railing. He (or she) is about six or seven inches long, so they're pretty good sized.

Praying Mantis on Stair Rail

Alright, that's officially the end of the weekend. We're both exhausted.