Today Was Sort Of The Day, But Not Really

This morning, I again get to the property bright and early... A little after 7:30AM a worker shows up, and promptly mixes up some mortar and begins finishing the parging of the septic tank.

Starting the Morning's Work

He works on it for a while, but it's apparent to me that nothing is going to happen with the well house, as far as removing the rest of the forms or finishing the hatch.

I had to make a run to get gas from my "contact" and to the airstrip to send some papers to our financial advisor via FedEx.

At the airstrip, I got the papers on their way, but the person working the counter wearing a Tropic Air polo shirt told me it wouldn't go out till Monday, as FedEx doesn't work on Saturdays or Sundays - even though he's doing the FedEx stuff for me. Not a problem. It apparently will get to Olympia on Wednesday or Thursday, so that's fine with me.

I got back to the site in time to catch the final finishing of the septic tank, and mentioned I wanted to meet with Isidoro. "Oh, he was just here, but he had to go get blocks for some of his other guys for another project", he said as he's putting his trowels into his knapsack.

Final Finishing Touches

It's apparent nothing else is getting done today. After all, it's Belize, Mon. I asked him to have Isidoro give me a call when he has a chance.

Shortly before I left the site, Dianna called and told me the "current" was out again. We'd lost water again earlier in the morning, now the current. I knew Dianna had bought a fair bit of food in anticipation of Elsie (our previous house guest) coming back into town this afternoon, and I knew she was worried that it might go bad.

A couple of days before, I had bought a commercial grade generator from National Hardware, and had left it in the box, just storing it in the meat house with the other stuff.

My New 56kW Generator

On the way home, I stopped and asked Cody and Anthony if they could come over in a bit and help me unpack the generator and get it set up. About a half hour later, they showed up and in about another half hour we had it fired up and running. Cody came up with a really long extension cord, which I connected to the fridge and we left the generator running. Loud but running.

Later in the afternoon, Isidoro stopped by and I got the rest of the story... He didn't want to remove the forms until Friday to give the roof plenty of time to dry and set properly. Ok, that made sense. It would have been nice to have known that a few days ago, but I can live with it.

He's also going to give me an estimate on building a fence around the property. We talked about the type of job I expected, other fences he had worked on, etc.

So, it looks like the project will really finish on Friday, now. Till it changes again.

After that, still without power or water, about 2:30PM, Elsie called from the Corozal Bus Terminal - she was back. And about that same time we had gotten power restored, so Dianna wanted to stay home to add the rest of the ingredients to her stew.

I jumped in the Isuzu and went downtown to the bus station and picked up Elsie. As I pulled up and jumped out, I grabbed the camera and snapped a picture of her just as she was coming out of the station.

Welcome Back Elsie

We got back to the house in a few minutes, and relaxed on the porch having a beer and bringing the three of us up on all that had happened since she left in July. Then we went for dinner at Patty's Bistro Restaurant in Corozal.

Finally, we have both water and electricity - for now. All things considered, it's just another normal Saturday here in paradise.

Tomorrow's the Workday - Not Today

So, this morning I got to the work site a little after 7:00AM, figuring I'd beat the workers there for once. Usually when I show up, at least one is already on site and "turning and burning", as we used to say in the canoe club.

First thing I did was grab the camera and climbed up the ladder to snap a picture of the well hatch they poured yesterday morning. This is it still in it's plastic bag liner - we use that to keep the newly poured concrete from sticking to the older concrete of the roof pour. When we take the forms out from under the roof, we'll remove the plastic bag - just lift up the hatch and pull it off, then plunk the hatch back into its spot.

Hatch Poured and Cured

Being the diligent boss that I am, it seems I'm always policing up the work area (or is that being anal?). This morning, I moved all the wood and leftover blocks into neat piles, more or less by size and type.

A Neat and Tidy Work Area

So, after finishing that, I sat in the Isuzu and listened to the morning show on LoveFM. It's a call-in type show on the radio where people call in to complain or compliment government or any other organization, and to announce public happenings, that sort of thing.

Workers this morning were somewhat scarce... As in 8:00AM coming and leaving and no workers. I called Isidoro to see if I misunderstood that they were maybe going to the Free Zone to work today instead of coming here. Turns out, because of the rain last night, they felt it was too wet at the site to work today, so they were off to the Free Zone. Saturday will be the day for completion.

Ok. We be flexible. I zoomed home and coerced Dianna into going with me to breakfast at Miss June's. Then we went grocery shopping to get ready since Elsie's coming back for a day or two. She's been in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, doing some diving, after spending the past couple of months at her daughter's home in Canada.

Oh, a couple of other things that I did accomplish this morning... I got hold of Andy at National Hardware and got the names and phone numbers of the two guys he recommends as being skookum on well pump setup. Additionally, I bought 100' of 3/8" nylon line to use as a safety line for the well pump. I also got a call back from Mr. Williams, the surveyor. He'll be meeting me Saturday at the property to talk about surveying the place. Timely since I'm about ready to start fencing it.

One other thing I did was play around with a so-so photo I snapped on the back side of Villa's Hardware. I manipulated it to look like an oil painting - more or less. See what you think.

Van Gogh - The Early Years

The Last Little Bit and a Complication

It seems to me that the last bit of the well house project is taking an excruciatingly long time. Yesterday, the 26th, I got to the site and one worker was already there, parging away. Then about 9:00AM, Isidoro showed up. With both doing the parging they managed about an hour's work. That was it for the day. Mostly, because the roof needs another day or two to set up.

So, I went home and did some reading and watching movies on the tube. Don't get to do much of either it seems when you're working on construction projects.

Then today, I got there about 7:30AM, and again a worker was there hard at the parging. Being a repeat of the previous day, Isidoro showed up and they were able to parge some more and to pour the hatch in the roof that is over the well. That was it for the project.

Tomorrow, they will finish the well house, pulling off the rest of the forms, and finishing the parging on the well house as well as the back side of the septic tank.

As we left the property, Isidoro guided me into town to meet the guy that makes steel doors, since I need to get two made for the well house.

I met Rafie, who runs a little factory off of College Street (Vasco Windows and Doors) making not only steel doors, but burglar bars, hurricane shutters, windows, and roll-type shutters, etc. He has about six or seven guys working there, cutting and assembling all sorts of windows and doors.

Rafie had his estimator go with me back to the property to take measurements of the doorways and to find out exactly what I was looking for. When we got back to his shop, the estimator turned over his drawings to the office clerk, who phoned Rafie (on his way to work in the Free Zone) to discuss the price. Turns out for the two doors, all metal, jambs, locks, and installation included, the cost is going to be about $450BZ. They apologized for the fact that they won't be able to install them till sometime next week. Of course, I get to inspect the doors prior to installation. So, that's basically all taken care of.

I also talked to Isidoro about doing a concrete and chain-link fence for our property. He's interested, but can't start till week after next. We're going to talk about it this weekend. Something else getting ready to be checked off. Geez, I'm making progress.

The only downer today was the fact that about 12:30AM last night we lost water. I thought maybe it was us, a broken pipe or something. Not so, I found out when I met with the worker this morning. He said it was out all over Corozal.

After I got back to the house from doing the doors, I called Belize Water Service to see if they had an estimate on when water service would be restored. A little after noon the lady on the phone told me. Noon came and went... About 2:30PM, I called again and and was told the latest estimate was for 5:00PM. Guess what came and went too.

Finally, we managed to get a trickle of water, enough to flush the toilet about 8:30PM tonight. I hope it's enough to manage a shower apiece tonight. Going the whole day with no shower is no fun at all

Short Work Day Today

Today started off well - no rain, some breeze, a little sunshine. I thought to myself, "The guys will probably come close to finishing the project today".

Yup. Well, so much for pipe dreams. I got to the property about 7:30AM, unlocked the wheelbarrows and shovels, grabbed my cordless drill climbed atop the well house and unscrewed the hatch form. I knocked it loose from the surrounding concrete with a 2.5 lb. sledge hammer, and took it out. Cleaned the little bit of debris from the hole and laid some plastic sheet in it so they could pour concrete in it to form the hatch.

the Well House

Still Some to Do

A little later, about 8:15 with no workers showing up, I called Isidoro, thinking maybe I had misunderstood about leaving early yesterday, that they also weren't showing up today too. Isidoro was surprised that they weren't here as he had asked them to arrive early today.

the Septic Tank - Just the Backside to Finish

He drove over and apologized. He said he was on his way to work in the Free Zone today, and again that the guys were supposed to have been there early. He said they'd be there tomorrow and early.

I told him that it wasn't a problem, that I had other stuff I could get done in the meantime and that I'd see him tomorrow. I locked up the tools and that was that for work. As I was doing that, Isidoro asked what I was going to do about doors for the well house. That was a good question. I asked if he knew someone who did that? He's going to put me in touch with a guy who lives on College Street who does steel doors and burglar bars, etc. Another item on the checklist semi-checked off.

I left the site and went to fetch Dianna to take her to Dr. Garcia's so she could get a test to try and get a handle on her prodigious perspiration problem that has been plaguing her since we moved down here. Last time we visited the doctor, I saw a print he had hanging in his waiting room. A really old naval battle scene about 3' x 4', framed in a simple wooden frame. The print is slightly the worse for wear, with several wrinkles and marks. I remembered to bring my camera today.

Naval Battle Scene in Dr. Garcia's Office

Maybe the next time I visit him, I'll remember to ask if he knows the name of the print, or the name of the battle or vessels.
Finally, last evening we were sitting watching the tube (BBC America, of course). Dianna happened to notice the setting sun shining on the cactus beside our driveway. I really had a nice highlight. I caught the last vestiges of the brightness, but by the time I got out there, it was already fading.

Some Sort of Cacti

Work on the Well House

This morning, I got to the property about a half hour before the workers showed up, so I unlocked the barrows and tools. Taking one of the wheelbarrows, I began loading the left-over blocks and hauling them over to the septic drain field to build a temporary protective barrier.

I had backed into the berm twice and figured if I could do it and knew and appreciated the significance of the berm, what would some ignoramus that didn't give a hoot, do?

The Drain Field Barrier

Let's see, gray skies, drizzle, goes on for most of the day... Are we back in the Northwest? Naww, it's just one of those weird days down here that happen once in a while. It sort of slowed things down for the guys doing the concrete work.

After parging the inside of the structure, they had to cover it with a tarp in order to keep the rain from damaging the stucco, as they call it.

Trash Bin - Street Side

Well House - Canal Side

This morning, once the guys got there, framing up the forms for the roof pours began to move forward quickly. Both yesterday and today, I made several trips with lumber to Tony's house to cut it to required lengths for the forms.

Trash Bin Form Takes Shape

Myo Framing Up the Well House

The shots below show the guys finishing the form for the well house. It's amazing how well this technique works.

Finishing up the Well House Roof Form

Finishing up the Well House Roof Form

Final Touches On the Well House Form

Esidoro Setting up Form Framing

Now it's moving. A three bag mix of cement, sand and gravel takes shape in the road. A big mix. I was at Villa's Supply this morning getting concrete and wood nails when Isidor called me on the cellphone. We need five bags of cement. I added them to the nail purchase and loaded the works in the Isuzu. Let me tell you the Isuzu is not built to haul 400 pounds of cement - it forced me to drive very gingerly back to the work site from Villa's.

3-Bag Mix Getting Done

Somewhere along the way, since we don't have a Porta-Potty on site, I had to answer nature's call. Well, while I was discretely doing so, I noticed a hole in the ground beside an uprooted poisonwood tree. When I was done answering the call, I looked around to see if I could get a better position for a picture. I couldn't get too close as all the downed trees right there are poisonwood. So, I just picked the best site I could find and snapped three successive view for your enjoyment.

Looks Like a Little Hole

Looks a Bit Bigger

Whoops - Don't Get Too Close!

As disconcerting as finding a hole like this is (it's on the neighbor's property to the north, not Jeff and Barb's), it's fairly common here because of the limestone substructure all around. About all you can do besides hoping it's not too big is to fill it in with as many loads of fill as it takes - hence the hoping it's not too big. This one looks fairly good sized, but not being able to get too close, I don't know for sure. I haven't heard of any one fall in one. In this case, the water table is only three or so feet from the surface, so you wouldn't free fall for a long ways. But still, it'll be a pain for someone someday.

While working on the well house, I noticed bees, flies and ants kept converging on a spot on a poisonwood antidote tree (Gumbo Limbo (Bursera simaruba)). What it turned out to be was a natural water hole in the crotch of the tree that collects rain water. This little pond is extremely popular and is visited by all kinds of bugs (and probably other small critters as well) all day long.

The Watering Hole
(bicycle handlebar to right for scale)

There's a good picture of a poisonwood tree trunk and the trunk of the antidote tree at: http://family.webshots.com/photo/1114374244053444091BlscQe

Morning Inspection

This morning, on our way into town to get some important stuff (alright... a bottle of rum, ok?) we stopped off at the property so Dianna could see the progress we made yesterday.

In the background you can see the 80 blocks we unloaded last night. All ready for the guys to finish tomorrow. The trash house (the part you see in the photo) is as high as it goes. The poured roof will add about 3 or 4 additional inches to it. The well/pump house part at the rear, will go up an additional two courses and it'll also have a poured roof.

Dianna Inspecting the Work

Here's some of the tools at the work site. I lock them up with chain and padlock each night. The wheelbarrow at left is Bob's. The bright one on the right is mine - having just bought it at Cinty's. The remaining bags of cement are under the bin for protection from the rain.

Work Tools Huddled Together

Construction is Moving Along

The past few days have been hectic. Acting as my own contractor makes for a busy, busy day, even with small projects.

For instance, just finishing the septic drain field entailed hiring two men to move wheelbarrow loads of fill to the top of the mound, covering it to a depth of six inches. Part of the project involved cleaning up some of the area around the mound near the tank. We had several huge rocks that needed moving.

Our plan originally was to have the guys roll the rocks out of the way. Back-breaking labor at best. They came up with the most workable solution - the Taiwanese Ambassador's place down the road from ours has some yellow gear (front-end loader, bulldozer, etc) there. I went down and talked to Leeno the foreman to see if I could borrow/hire the front-end loader long enough to move the rocks. He was amenable to the idea. So, about an hour or so later, here chugs up the front-end loader.

The Completed Septic Drain Field

Short work was made of the rocks, to my worker's relief. Not only that, but he also placed four loads of fill up on the mound, speeding up the project immeasurably.

For about 20 minutes work, the fee I paid to Leeno was $20BZ. Very reasonable. It probably went into his pocket alone, but that's between him and his men. We got our work done and were able to move on.

Now the only thing remaining on that project is to parge the exterior walls of the tank, so it looks nice and finished. That'll be happening near the completion of the well house project, when it's walls are also parged.

I finally got the "Economic Assessment" from Belize Electric, Ltd., the fee for installation of a transformer at our property. It came to a total of $6196.35BZ or $3098.18US. Besides the oddity, to us, of having to pay it at all, most folks around here seemed to think it was a reasonable amount. Now, having paid that, we should have it actually installed sometime this next week and get our "current" hooked up so we can run power tools and the well pump, etc. Yippeeeee! Finally!

The project that is currently underway is the construction of the well house and trash house. It's coming along fine. We would have had the block work all done yesterday if we hadn't run out of concrete blocks.

Mixing Mortar On Ferry Road - Literally

It was my fault. I ordered 180 8" concrete blocks and I didn't check the invoice - the girl had written 1oo on it, so that was how many were delivered. Yesterday morning, I went to the block factory to order the other 80, only to find they were closed due to a death in the family (indicated by a black ribbon and bow hung from the front door of the office as is the local custom).

Well House Rising

What to do? I went back and told my workers no blocks today. They said what about Belmont? I'd never heard of them, so they explained to me how to find them. I had no idea there was more than one block factory in Corozal. Turns out there's three or four in the area. Amazing what you find out.

Another View of the Well/Trash House

I headed off up the Santa Elena Road (the highway to the Mexican border) to find Belmont Block Factory. It's tucked away back from the road. Of course, they don't have a sign on the road itself (it may have been destroyed in the hurricane). And of course, there's no rush to replace that sign if that was the case. Anyway, I found them and ordered the additional 80 blocks.

I missed the morning delivery since that all went to the Free Zone for construction going on there as a result of a massive three-day fire they had up there that had fire departments from as far away as Belize City respond. It's coming on the afternoon shipment.

I went back and spread the good news. The afternoon progressed. About 3PM, there were no more bricks to be laid. The guys poured some concrete down the holes where the rebar had been pre-positioned and waited for more blocks. About 4PM, I told them, I don't think it's coming and to go home and get ready for the independence day celebrations to come on Friday - a national holiday.

Speedily Running Out of Blocks

After locking up the wheelbarrows, shovels, rake, and level, securing the unused cement under cover from possible rainfall, I headed home.

After taking a shower and putting on clean shorts and t-shirt, and relaxing with a cold Belikin, I was getting into the swing of relaxing for the evening. All of a sudden, Dianna said there was someone at the foot of the driveway, which is the usual way visitors show up. That is, they seldom come closer, because of watch dogs, and Tanya's a big dog, even if she is a bit of a wuss.

I trotted down to the gate to see what he wanted. Turns out it was one of Isidoro's neighbors relaying a message for me (Isidoro is actually the contractor for the block laying. The two workers I had work for him.). He had a phone number for me to call. Something about the truck delivering the block had gone to our property, but no one was there, so he was heading back and ran out of fuel (in this case, butane).

I don't have a clue how Isidoro's neighbor got involved in this, but I'm glad he did. I called the number, explained things as I understood them to be to whoever answered. They said "Oh Shit! We'll get fuel to him." and hung up.

I explained to Dianna what I thought was going on, grabbed a grilled cheese sandwich (Dianna had been making our favorite meal - tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches) and headed down toward the property.

Sure enough, about 200 yards from our property was the block truck dead in the road. I put on my flashers and parked right in front of it. I got out, talked to the driver and told him I had called and what they had said. He seemed happy with that.

About 20 minutes later, here comes a dump truck from the block factory. I thought that was an odd truck for refueling butane. Turns out, the two guys in the dump truck brought a small 2-gallon gas bottle for him to refill his truck to get it back to the factory. I thought they would help him unload the blocks and get things done in a hurry. Hah! They dropped off the bottle and headed back for the barn. They weren't going to be late for any independence day celebrations.

After he got the truck running, he backed up down the road to our place to unload the 80 blocks. I grabbed my gloves, and we made short work of unloading. I'll admit, the last 6 or 7 blocks were weighted down with lead, at least. The driver was very appreciative of my help, and as soon as we shook hands, headed off to drop off the truck and begin his holiday celebrations.

I headed back to have another grilled cheese (cold) and a hot cup of tomato soup. Thus begins my own independence day celebrations. Happy 26th year of independence, Belize!

Progress, Progress... Oh My!

Well, it was a pretty good day yesterday. Edilio showed up promptly at 7:45 AM at Tony's house, and when we left to get to the property, beat me there. He was riding his bicycle and I was in the Isuzu.

Anyway, after getting four bags of cement, Edilio mixed sand, gravel, water, and the cement and poured the mix into the form for the well house. Here's the result below. It also provides an anchor for the well head to help protect that.

Well House Pad

Later in the day, I had 180 concrete blocks delivered to construct the actual well house and the trash bin. It was interesting finding the block factory where they're made. I got the approximate location from Mr. Gomez when I bought the bags of cement. It was located near the Sports Complex or Civic Center (same thing, depending on who you talk to). I drove around and found a yard with huge stacks of blocks in it. There was a house nearby, but with no obvious connection from afar.

As I pulled up nearby, I saw a few decorative blocks laid against the wall of the house, sort of like a display. Then I saw a small sign on the front door - "Office". Must be the place. I opened the door and found a woman sitting behind a desk and a man sitting across from her. I asked if this was the block factory. She said "Yes, of course", like it was perfectly obvious to anyone.

So, I had found the right place and ordered the blocks (180 blocks @ $140BZ + $10BZ delivery fee).

Here they are on site. We're ready to go, assuming I can get Isadoro (skilled brick layer) on Monday to do the job. He'll also parge the outside of this structure and finish parging the septic tank outside, making everything look nice and clean.

Blocks Ready to Go

Later in the evening at home, Dianna hollered to me that we had another milipede invading the house. They're relatively harmless, eating mostly decayed plant material. They do have, as a defense mechanism, the ability to emit poisonous liquids and some even hydrogen cyanide, so don't eat them. I've heard you can get blisters from them too. However, some are pretty docile, even being kept as pets... Why anyone would want to keep one of these as a pet is beyond me.

Black Milipede on the Move

Lotta Things To Do Today

This is the first day of working on the property that I don't have Canadian Bob acting as my contractor. It's all up to me... (gulp!)

I've got Edilio coming to the site at 8:00 AM to begin mixing concrete for the pour for the well house.

I've got to pick up three bags of cement, order 180 concrete blocks for delivery, pick up an 8-inch cap for the well pipe, and finally (I hope), get the "economic assessment" from BEL for the transformer. That's essentially - what is the transformer going to cost us? In other words, the economic assessment is, how much can we get them to pay without squawking too much, or something like that.

This morning, before our 6:20 AM wake up concert by the birds, we had a low-level thing with two of the big birds just outside our porch on the wire. You can see them below. Kind of a cooing, coquettish, courtship sort of thing for a while. They pranced back and forth on the wire for quite a while.

Love in Bloom

Our Well House Takes Shape

This morning at the crack-0-dawn (about 7:15 AM), Bob and I went over to the property after gathering some tools and lumber from his place, and began preparing our well to have a well house built around it. Actually, it's a combination well/pump house and a small trash house - locally, that's where people put their trash for easy pick up.

The pictures below show the form and rebar positioned, ready for 3 bags of cement with 4 5-gal. buckets of sand and 6 5-gal. buckets of gravel for each bag. Mix it up with the right amount of water, pour it into the form and wait for it to harden. What could be easier?

Form In Place For Our Well/Pump/Trash House

Form In Place For Our Well/Pump/Trash House

I put about 4 wheelbarrow loads of sand down around the well casing. I thought it was going to take forever before it filled up. A smallish cavity must have developed due to caving in before they put in the 8-inch pipe casing. Anyway, I got it filled.

Construction of the house will essentially be just like the way we did the septic tank.