Quick 'n Easy

This project, a new desk for Dianna, proved to be one of the quickest and easiest projects I've had yet. In no small part due to the speed and skill of David (of David and Elizabeth), and his willingness to put those to use for in the construction of the desk for Dianna.

David and I had earlier (on the 12th) treked over to Orange Walk to New River Enterprises, Ltd, (http://www.newriverenterprises.com/) to see about getting a large hunk of mahogany for the desk project. Turns out a piece about one-inch thick by sixteen-inches wide by eight-feet would have been prohibitively expensive (at least for such a simple project). However using cabinet plywood with a mahogany trim would easily fit in the budget.

So that's exactly what we did. Some nice half-inch by two-inch mahogany for trim on a nice piece of plywood was going to do just fine. The other reason we went to New River was because they have about the only kiln-dried wood that I know of in the area. They are quite a large operation and David was curious to see what they had for some of his future projects.

I was supposed to help him on Sunday with the construction of the desk. I had purchased a sheet of 5/8-Inch cabinet plywood, as it's called down here, on Monday or Tuesday at Cinty's (the younger brother's place) and hauled it from there to David's place on top of the Isuzu, secured with a couple of pieces of string - in true Belizean fashion. I did make sure to take the back road most of the way, only venturing onto the highway for the last few hundred yards before the turnoff to David's place.

I suspect that David was looking for a project to do, as I got a call from him on Wednesday (I think) saying he had it built and wanted to know if the dark walnut stain and a satin finish varnish was ok. It was. The next message I got from him was that it was done and he wanted to know if I wanted to pick it up or have him deliver it. I think that was on Thursday or maybe Friday.

I hot-footed it over to his place as soon as I could (don't forget, this is in the midst of our working on the shower project. Hey, we're a two project family over here. We needed a small break from the shower project anyway.

I wasn't able to install the desk until the following day. I gathered my expandable wall anchors and got to work. The desk had to be positioned to clear a small bookcase and a small 4-drawer cabinet that both had to fit under the desk. This meant that the supports for the desk had to be positioned such that they didn't interfere with the pieces under the desk, but that they could still offer adequate support for the desk itself.

As luck would have it, they were able to be positioned almost perfectly to provide the necessary support for the desk - at either end and almost exactly in the middle. We couldn't have planned it better if we tried.

Once I finished hanging the three support brackets (also made out of the mahogany trim and stained to match), it was a simple matter to position the desk top and secure it to the supports.

After that, Dianna was able to arrange things the way she wanted, so she could finally have a functioning desk designed to her specifications.

Dianna Organizing Her Desk Wiring

It didn't take her too long at all and she was hard at it, and happy too, as you can tell from the photo below.

She's a Happy Camper

We owe David much more for this project than the Belikin (that's one Belikin) he wanted as payment. He works cheap for such quality workmanship.

After this, it was back to the shower project. A nice respite while it lasted.

One, Two, Three or Four Shower Days

You know, I used to think those were somewhat in the past, what with us having a pool now to jump into whenever we want. Was I ever wrong. When it's rainy season, and that means lots of thunder and lightning all around us for most of the day, every day lately it seems, then jumping into the pool just doesn't seem to be so attractive.

So, there you sit, your tee-shirt stuck to your back, even with the sweat still dripping down your back, your arms feeling sweaty and gritty from dust blowing around (even when it rains), and your hair constantly in a state of dampness. Yes, I know mine's a bit longer than most, but even Dianna's sticks to her neck.

What do you do? Well, today, I started out after meeting the Coke delivery guys at 5:15 AM, to get a case of the local pink-colored tonic water, and after swapping out the butane tanks (the 100 lb. jobs) so I could cook breakfast. Luckily my pancake batter waited for me to do that. Then, I took shower No. 1.

I spent part of the morning surfing the Intertubes, as you do, then at 11:30 AM, I had an appointment with Lourdes Saldivar to get a bit of a trim on the pony tail and for her to lawn mower my beard. After that, I had to do some of the daily shopping amongst the frequent rain squalls.

Shortly after getting back, I noticed that I had become sweaty... again, and itchy as well. Some of my beard hair had managed to lodge itself in my tee-shirt. Time for Shower No. 2. Ahhh, what a relief. Not as good as the pool, mind you, but refreshing all the same.

Now, it's a little after 3:00 PM, and the sky is once again darkening, and booming and we're not in the pool. We almost went for it, but thunder and lightning flashes has a way of deterring those thoughts.
It'll be supper in a couple of hours - too late then for pooling. Besides, then the mosquitoes come out for their half-hour rampage. I forgot to mention I put on bug-juice to meet the Coke guys this morning. I'm sure they're attracted by the smell of 'eau de deet'.

Then, about 8:30 or so (a couple hours after sunset here) it's time for beddy-bye. Ah, but with fans only to cool us in the rack, what do you do? Of course! Take another shower. Shower No. 3 coming up. And the Cubs aren't even on TV this evening.

So, you see. Having a pool lends a false sense of fewer showers in one's life. Only during certain seasons - like winter and the dry season.

There you have it. My daily schedule, more or less. And, I dare say, it's probably a familiar and similar one to most Gringos (lumping all Norte Americanos, Europeans, etc., into that category) living here.

See you in the pool... or the shower.
Cheers,