Monday and Tuesday

This covers Monday, 05 December, and Tuesday, 06 December, 2016.

We have now officially got two separate metered circuits here at Casa Winjama. One is for the Mennonite house upstairs and the downstairs laundry room. All the rest of the downstairs, gate, well house, and everything else, is on the other circuit. We're inching forward one step at a time.

One of the benefits of becoming an old fart here in Belize, is that once you become 65 and get a Golden Citizen Social Security card, there's actually two things that can happen.

One, you're able to get on the list for a ten-percent reduction in your electric bill for a year. It's a lottery thing and there's only so many slots per year for that. We're on the list for next year. I'm hoping our chances to win that are zero. I'm sure there's many more deserving people who could really benefit from a reduction in their electric bills.

Two, if you want to get a second electric meter for whatever reason, then thanks to the Golden Citizen card, there is no fee for the new meter. We definitely took advantage of that.

Back Corner Fence Repair

The back fence rebuild is almost done. It's really looking good.

Almost All Done

The steel is back in place, the mound of dirt has been smoothed out and several plants that I thought had bought the farm, look like they're thriving. Good for them.

Looks Good From the Dock

From the outside on the dock, the rebuild looks very good.

Flawless, Complete With Autograph

The rather large hole that had been cut in the dock to ensure drainage all the way to the canal has been almost seamlessly patched. You'll notice that somehow, unbeknownst to me, some doggy managed to autograph the patch. I have no idea how that happened. Dianna wondered if a dog that she saw back there one day, had been the guilty party. That might be right.

The Other Corner Got Done Too

The other corner of the back fence, although I hadn't asked them to fix that (cost savings, you know), was more than adequately repaired the the guys. They had some left over concrete and went ahead and did it. So the whole back dockside looks good. All that has to happen now, is to bring Cody, our retired caretaker back on for a couple of days to paint the fence, then all will be ship-shape.

Panels Galore

Getting the circuits separated required another 16-breaker panel. So, that is what we have now. The upper and lower panels in the middle, are, as you might expect, upstairs circuit and downstairs circuit.  The box to the right is the generator transfer switch which for right now only takes care of the Mennonite house. The small box to the left is the whole house surge suppressor that takes care of both upstairs and downstairs. We also have a second whole house surge suppressor in the pool house utility room

Upstairs Panel

The upstairs panel. The chart to the left needs to be redone. It's a guide for activating the generator and the order to turn on breakers when on generator power.

Downstairs Panel

Here's the downstairs breaker box. Rather simple. I still need to get with Bani and have him go over all the breakers with me so I can create updated charts for both boxes.

Concreting By the Hose

Endher created a small ramp for Dianna around back coming from the patio to the door that goes into the veranda.

Looking Down From the Deck

The guys also concreted the area right around the hose faucet to minimize chances of mud. The pipe sticking up will be a small floor drain once it's trimmed down.

The West Ramp

At the other end of the deck, Endher created another small ramp so that Dianna has a smooth transition to the parking area. Both this ramp and the one above have been colored and stamped. Nice work.

The Day After Monday

That would make today Tuesday, 25 October, 2016. Just think, only thirteen and a wake-up, as we used to say in the military. That's enough on that topic.

I talked to Mario this morning about having the pool pump and the waterfall pump raised up about knee-high in the pump house, so that they will be easier for me to work on them, replacing bearing kits, or O-rings, etc.

He reminded me that to maintain the prime, each of those pumps have to be slightly below the water level of the pool. Oops. I had completely forgotten that basic fact. Oh, well. Pumps get to stay down low. The valve manifold will be elevated for ease of operation and ease of repair should the need arise.

I also talked to Mario about getting Bani, his electrician to sort out the wiring for the Mennonite house so that the Mennonite house and the laundry room are on one circuit and one meter. The rest of the downstairs (the basement) and the pool house, pool and well will all be on the other meter and circuit.

Part of this project will also be to get the gate doorbell to work again, so we can use our new WiFi doorbell, Ring.com (https://ring.com). Actually, the old doorbell doesn't need to work. What needs to work is the current. There needs to be 12-VDC to the doorbell for the new one to work. It's wireless in operation, but it needs the 12-VDC to power the device. There is a rechargeable battery version, but I wanted to go with the powered one.

Right now we only have one meter. Luckily, I checked the other day, since I'm an old fart now and have a Golden Citizen Social Security card, about the discount available on the electric bill. Yes, there is a discount of up to $18.00 BZD per month, but only a certain number of accounts get it each year. Kind of a lottery sort of thing, and the available slots are closed for this year. We'll be in the running for next year. That's not a big thing for us.

What is a big thing, is this. With my Golden Citizen Social Security card, if we want to get a second meter, there is no charge for that from BEL. Since we're looking to split the buildings into two metered accounts, that is just perfect for us. I will be taking advantage of that as soon as Bani gets the circuits squared away. Something to keep in mind.

So, today's workday follows. We had a fairly good amount of rain last night. So far, today is the usual gorgeous Corozal morning.

Polyducto Creeping Around

A new run of polyducto this morning going from the pump house to the utility room to provide power for the pump timer. It's getting close to the deadline for running water and current as the deck and ramps are scheduled to be cast sometime this coming week.

Plastering Guides Up on Beam

If you're wondering what the wood strips fastened to the edges of the beam are for, why they're plastering guides. They're set to extend about 1/4" to 1/2" beyond the edge of the beam. Then plaster is applied and smoothed to the height of the guides. Once that side is dried, then the same thing is done with the next side till all four sides are done.

Timer Box Being Installed

I mentioned the timer box. Well, here it is. No wire yet, but as you could see with the polyducto, it's on it's way.

Plastering Unifies the Beam

You can see from this before (left) and after (right) that the plastering really does smooth things out and helps unify the whole thing.

Bani Running Wiring to Timer

Working in the somewhat confining quarters of the utility room, Bani is running wires to the timer. It's a challenge as he's running six wires in a very narrow surface wiring channel.