2001 Revisited - We've Found the Monolith!

For years, one of my favorite movies was 2001 - A Space Odyssey. Unfortunately, it's become a bit dated. I always assumed it was fiction, however, we have just made a major discovery. We have unearthed an obelisk similar to the one depicted in the flick. It's not black like the one in the movie - It's a kind of cement-gray. I attribute this to the bright Caribbean sunshine.

Front and Back Views of Mysterious Obelisk

Front and Back Views of Mysterious Obelisk

We anticipate a visit from NASA any day now... although probably not till after the hurricane.

In other news, the pit, which now sports a bed of hardened concrete, still has water in it. Unfortunately, with the approach of hurricane Dean, the tidal flow is a bit higher than normal. Water in the canal is abnormally high, and this has caused a further influx of water into the pit. As a result, we still have about 2 to 3 inches of water in the pit. Further work on the box will probably have to wait for a few days before it can proceed.

The Pit - Ready for Walls Except for A Slight Problem

That is, When the Tide Comes In, Water Comes In

Associated with the pit and the septic tank box is the drain field that will empty from the box. the below picture shows Edilio (I had been misspelling his name in previous editions) in the process of constructing the drain field. It will be alternating rows of gravel and white marl, with each row being 40 feet long from a central pipe from the tank, making for a total length of 80 feet or a total of 240 feet of drain field pipe. I'll have more pictures to demonstrate how it comes together later on.

Edilio

TGIF

I am sure glad the weekend is here. It's been tough taking all these pictures.

Anyway, the septic tank pit is finished as far as the digging goes. Below, you can see we hit ground water - about six inches before we wanted to, but it'll work. Bob is planning on putting a dry concrete mix into the hole and letting the water suck into the mix and complete the job.

Ground Water in the Septic Tank

Raymond Finishing the Corner of the Pit

Bob really loves his diamond saw blade. He takes delight in showing how easy it cuts through just about anything. Here, he's cutting one of the large blocks in half for the tower.

Making a Cloud of Dust

Back at the property, Bob is mixing mortar to complete bricking up the tower.

Mixing the Mortar

Laying One of the Last Courses on the Tower

Bob using his truck as an expedient scaffolding. And viola! The finished product. Well, not quite finished. It will get a top coat of mortar to smooth it out. I'll then paint it, and then, Bob will add the boxes, poles, and wire. Hopefully, it won't be too long before Belize Electric sends me the estimate for the installation of the transformer. Then, we'll be rocking.

Finishing up the brick work

the tower on its own

We're going to let Franz (Mennonite house builder) know that we're ready now for the well driller to come and do his thing. We're going to put it fairly close to the tower, and cap it till we need it. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it'll be sweet water.

And, Below, you can see the job that Ed and his Cat have done. We now have a flat piece of property, about a foot higher than it was before. It even looks bigger now for some reason. Ed also said he saw near the canal (right picture, left side toward the trees) a rather large rattlesnake. Fun, fun, fun.

The difference between a US diamond back and a Belizean rattler is the US version is dangerous and the Belizean one is deadly. We'll be most watchful. He also told me of an American up near Xiabe (pronounced "shy-bay") who will buy them as long as they weigh at least three pounds. He milks the venom to help produce anti-venin and also grinds parts of the snake into various powders... Sounds like a mix of science and voodoo. I could be wrong, who knows?

Looking to the Street

Looking to the Canal