Progress Report
February 26 - March 3, 2007 // CONSTRUCTION LOG #125
Contact phone numbers
Internet Phone:
New York: 315-279-6711
Toronto: 416-907-5758 // 416-461-2203
Costa Rica:
Cell: 506-305-3965
Land: 506-282-4142 Ext. 101
NOTE: the New York and Toronto numbers are "local calls" for people in the area codes; calls from outside the area code will be billed at the normal rate from the caller's area code to either the "315" or the "416" area code.
NOTE: NOW THAT THIS DEVELOPMENT IS ESSENTIALLY FINISHED, THE LOG WILL FOCUS MORE ON THE RIO ORO DEVELOPMENT. IT WILL BE INFORMATIVE TO THOSE PLANNING ON BUILDING, THOSE LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO PURCHASE OR TO LEASE, AND FOR THOSE WONDERING WHAT EXPATS DO IN COSTA RICA AND THE LIFESTYLE OF TWO ORDINARY PEOPLE.
The STORY: "El Dorado" update and personal
hassle-AVOIDED!!
CONSTRUCTION
Condominio Hacienda El Dorado:
I'm awaiting a proposal for a logo development from my
trusted and reliable people in Argentina who did and
who continue to maintain my website. They are
fantastic.
I reviewed the architect's latest efforts on two
multifamily lots. I wasn't impressed; I'm hoping or
better results next week. We have a 7am meeting
scheduled for Monday; I hope to be impressed. The
application for fencing is now submitted-2 1/2 months
late!!! It hasn't slowed us up but the delay should
not have happened. We've been digging post holes and
making preparations to get water from the stream to
where we need it for mixing concrete. We've identified
a Bobcat which we expect to purchase. We will
probably move forward on buying an insulated shipping
container which we will turn into an office and
presentation/sales room.
Other: we're being considered to build two mega-homes
in Guanacaste. My initial concerns are that there
are a different set of problems there to be solved,
lots of travel, and both will divert our attention
from our primary goal. We'll see.
Residencias Los Jardines:
Satellite TV: My signal is now working fine.
Whatever connection there was between the garden
lights and the satellite cable signal to one set of
feeds has now been severed. We added a booster to
the splitter; we now have a strong, stable, quality
signal throughout...
Arrivals and departures: Friends left, leasees left
and two sets of leasees arrived. Musical beds.
Mosquitoes: normally not a problem but for some
reason we've had an outbreak. While this is the dry
season, we irrigate so I guess we've created a
breeding environment. We fumigated the entire
property Friday -$550. It's worked well in the past;
hopefully it will again.
Garden: It looks like we are loosing one of our
larger fan palms. This has happened before. A large
larva burrows into the soft center at the top of the
tree. This larva is about 4-5" long and 1 1/2" in
diameter. It eats the soft tender hear of the tree
and kills it. We were told in our case before that
the larva was probably in some new top soil we brought
in. In this case, we haven't bought any new top soil
so I don't know. This will be a disappointment if we
loose it but the uneducated eye won't notice it; I
will because it happened on my watch.
Rentals:
Unit 124: (Beginning May 1): one bedroom, 620 sf;
2nd. floor, sleeps 5 (1 double and 1 single in master
bedroom / 1 pull out sofa (double); full kitchen with
eating counter. Full display
cabinet/bookcase/computer desk. Home theater system
with 42" plasma TV and 2nd. TV in bedroom.
Beautifully decorated and fully furnished. On site
satellite TV, CableTica TV, high speed internet, 2
swimming pools each with waterfalls, social areas,
mainly expat community, security, extensive manicured
gardens. Separate storage locker Shorter term (less
than 6 months) preferred.
Resales:
Unit 108: 2 floors, 2 bedrooms (one on each level),
2 1/2 bathrooms, Jacuzzi, walk-in vault, executive
class furnishings including a 42" plasma TV, east
facing terrace looking over the large pool and
mountains and a ground floor back terrace for outside,
private dining - $270K.
Unit 120: single floor, 1,300 sf, 2 bedrooms, 2
bathrooms, executive furnishings throughout,
beautifully decorated - $190K. We have an offer on
this unit but the offer hasn't yet been accepted.
Note: Same owner for both 108 and 120; the owner
wants to sell one of the two units. |
OUR LIVES
Personal Hassle AVOIDED! Our passports showed up
the night before we were to declare them lost. What a
relief!!!! I guess I had become too casual about
them; I carried them in addition to copies.
Sometimes, only the original will be accepted. All
copies are suppose to be notarized and kept current
each 30 days (I think). This is a real hassle.
Anyway, I put them (and promptly forgot that I had
done so) into the back pocket of my dress pants.
After enjoying a fantastic meal at Bacchus, Lita
grabed my A... and got more than she expected. At
least, I'm now current on my filing and have
reacquainted myself with locations of various
different "things."
Bacchus Restaurant: Friends invited us to Bacchus
Restaurant in Santa Ana. We each had Cesar salads
(best I've had in CR) and all five entrees-each
different-were fantastic as well as the three
different deserts and coffee. The service was
impeccable. The total food bill for 5 including taxes
was around 50,000 colones or $20 each. Our bar bill
was far more but certainly very reasonable considering
the amount we drank. This continues to be a great
restaurant and seems to get better each time we go.
Wedding Plans: Lita's son and family arrived -not
without incident but they did arrive. Lita can now
fuss and focus on them. CR and out of Canada is a
new experience for the kids. Their friends will
arrive over the next week. Chaos and confusion will
reign... the hammock is a dream...
MacDonald's and Wendys are coming to Pozos. Some say
"there goes the neighborhood"; others say "we are now
on the map". The new Forum 2 progresses. Three
buildings are up and nearly finished. I see an
"ORACLE" sign on one The buildings look good.
The weather has been hot for us most of the
week-around 28 C or 85F. There has been little
wind-some slight breeze but may still days and nights.
No one is complaining.
CR healthcare and CIMA hospital: The wife of one of
our guests had some health concerns. She went to
CIMA. She was absolutely amazed at how efficient and
inexpensive it was. While the initial diagnosis was
serious (they investigated what could be done here and
when and did the same for Canada). There was NO doubt
where the would have had the procedure done-CR.
Fortunately, subsequent tests indicated that the
health issue was much less significant than originally
thought. The point here is that even though this
story had a happy ending, the research indicated that
they were very comfortable and confident in CR's
health care possibilities.
Status Assessment: We now have more people on site
than at any other time. It still is not crowded.
People do their own thing; new friendships develop;
new conversations which explore and exchange
information-any everyone has fun in the process. It's
nice to see that all technical systems including the
electrical and water systems are working perfectly.
In fact, everything is working as it should. My
personal goal was to build and deliver reliability.
We've had our teething problems but we seem to be
nearing my goal. It's ironic that I am the last to
achieve my goal (satellite TV). If it weren't for an
on site support group, a patient electrician, and my
own dogged persistence in solving this technical
problem that goal might not have been achieved. Lita
had given up long ago out of exasperation. We continue
to knock off problems and with each one of these
problems solved, we get closer and closer to my
personal goal.
Paintball: Sunday begins as a play day: young
teenagers vs. the old F.ts. As part of a birthday
present, a teenager organized a paintball group.
He's invited four adults to participate. We'll see if
agility and enthusiasm can beat cunning and
wickedness!!
Brian, Lita, Hugo and irreverent Vicka, the pigeon
toed parrot.
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