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.

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.

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.

Sunday Morning Grab Bag Comes On A Monday

Just a slight change in the routine, but hey, we're flexible, right?

As usual, this a smorgasbord of stuff, mostly photos I've shot, that don't really fit anywhere else.

For example, the shot below is of one of our two kitties, Miss Blue. She retired from the Washington State Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) - well, at least that's where she spent a good deal of her time at their offices. They were located about two houses down the street from our duplex apartment, so much so that they even fed her.

When we moved, several JLARC staffers made us promise to provide updates on her activities. Below is one of her favorite things to do. She sends her best wishes to all her friends.

Miss Blue, Still Enjoying Retirement

Now, a few days before Easter, while walking the doggies, I spied this character, using the initials of E.B., somewhat relaxed on the sidewalk. That photo was taken sans bottles. I implied that perhaps they had been tossed over the fence before the shot was taken.

This photo, corrects that mistaken image. Here we see EB in all his glory. Of course, now it's after Easter and he can claim to be relaxing after an epic journey providing Easter eggs around much of the world. Uh huh.

EB - The Photo I Should Have Used

Changing scenes once again, we're now at a meeting of the Corozal Men's Group (also known as The Royal Order of the Knights That Do Nothing, International, Belize Branch, Corozal Chapter 001).

This particular meeting was at Nigel's place - that's him below preparing some of the fine fare the group is noted for.

Nigel Working Magic At Men's Group Meeting

Of course, as anyone can testify, we work mightily at solving the world's problems at each meeting, applying liberal doses of beer or other tipples, and of course, high quality junk food. You can see an example of our deliberative processes going on below.

Solving The World's Problems

Shifting once again on our stationary pedestals, we are now treated to a different scene, although one which has become fairly routine in our neighborhood. Mr. Trummer's 'trac-hoe' or 'high-ho' as some folks refer to it, most recently was excavating for a canal bulkhead at Doug and Twyla's place. It's also tasked with placing those large boulders back into the trench its bucket digs.

A Common Neighborhood Sight

Here's an example of the filled trench the trac-hoe leaves when it's done.

Doug and Twyla's Bulkhead Aborning

And now, back to Casa Winjama, where we see the ladies taking part in their Friday afternoon exercise/swim session in our pool. This session usually last about an hour and a half, then everyone who didn't join in the exercise session gets together for happy hour, a social get-together where those attending provide their own snacks and drinks. Strictly an informal affair.

Lady's Swim Time

A couple of weeks ago, Dianna and I barbequed some pork ribs our Godson Isaiel had provided for us. Man, were they ever good - and they fed us for about two or three meals as well.

Real Men Wear Aprons

As you can see, I'm sporting a proper chef's apron. Probably not exactly the way Hiram Abif would have done it. But, if he'd thought of it and if he'd had a nice BBQ and a great set of ribs, he'd have done it just like this!

The Master Chef At Work

Here's a shot I've been meaning to take and post for quite some time, but it's just one of those things you never seem to get around to, y'know? Anyway, this is the side door of the local Roman Catholic church in Corozal. It's had carved and painted and celebrates the consecration of the first native-born Belizean bishop, O.P. Martin, in 1982, and when Pope John Paul II visited Belize in 1983. A pretty big deal, I guess, for those of that faith.

We walk past it every day, and I thought it was interesting and worth posting.

Carved Church Doors

Ok, we've reached the end of another grab bag. Aren't you glad?

I've got to run. I just got a text message from Loreta that she and Bill are watching the Cubbies on SI.com. I've got to check it out.

Cheers,