Progress Report

Apr. 18-23, 2005 // CONSTRUCTION LOG #28

Pictures: show new construction and renovations of #107.

Synopsis: Roof and collar ties along with reincarnating 107.

NEW CONSTRUCTION

Permit: SENTENA has the paperwork and has, by law (yea!!!) 30 days to turn it around and as I said before, I'm 7 ft. tall. The City hasn't been here so they seem to be sticking to their word.

Units 114 / 115 / 116: The structural roof elements are mostly in place and the subroof (corrugated tin) is being installed. As before, I place an insullative foam cushion between the tin and the structural elements. This prevents metal against metal which can cause cracking noises went each heats / cools at a different rate. The cushion also thermally isolates one from the other and acoustically as well so any rain noise doesn't translated into noise inside. Kitchen designs approved and granite secured. The bonding broke down on areas of parged walls; these areas were cut out and are being redone.

Units 117 / 118 / 119 / 120: We've concentrated on framing and pouring the exterior wall collar ties. This is now finished. The collar ties on the interior walls will be the focus next week. On Tuesday, we should be working on the structural steel for the roof. We will be using a slightly different system; it will be faster and just as effective.

Units 121 / 122 / 123: no progress here -design pending completion of working drawings for 107.

Miscellaneous: Doors: price-quality-delivery evaluation completed. Order to be placed initially for 50. Closet doors to follow finalized design. Granite supplier moving closer to here; he wants my business-his price and delivery seem to be o.k. Purchased more hand tools and repaired many -they are used hard and periodically need to be repaired. We buy only the brands which we have a decent shot at getting repaired -DeWalt, Skil, and Makita and I prefer Dewalt or Skil. Getting works insurance has been a nightmare this time; they keep changing the system and has this time, taken 5 trips and I still don't have it finished -Monday is another day, another trip. We have about 50 people on the payroll.

RENOVATIONS

Unit 108: Minor deficiency work continued. The coral stone for the shower and other areas was started. It appears we put the wall safe in upside down so the tumblers on the locking mechanisms don't work. That will be fun ripping it out and redoing it!!!

Unit 107: This unit is beginning to take shape. Once we have it done, the architect can draw it-this isn't the way it's suppose to work but not everything is normal here.

Marketing: We sold three units this week -#116 which was to be the unit for Lita and I but we're flexible, and two units (upper and lower) in the fourplex planned for the 106 area.

VOIP phone: I'm currently trying a new battery -the original one didn't seem to hold a charge. It's still a technical challenge for me. I just want a phone that allows me to turn it on,, dial a phone number, and turn it off; I don't need a phone that does a million other things.

Comment: We've been plagued by small but persistent mechanical failures this week: the automatic gate system continued to act up: The UPS system on the gates seem to fail -various ideas suggested and discarded. We're currently working on one theory which seems plausible. A component in the sand filter on the large pool failed and it's taken some time to find the part. At one point I had a cross over valve installed for this very situation-it would allow me to isolate one of the two filters while the other was out of service. However, this plumbing got changed when I wasn't here (and wasn't advised) -and no, it wasn't a Tico who did it, but a gringo. He also screwed up some other aspects which I had carefully and purposefully built in to the previous plumbing design, like serviceability. Not all N. Am. know what they are doing.

OUR LIVES

Dealing with paperwork also included dealing with mail which finally caught up with us. That was and continues to be really depressing. Bad news always finds me. Only minor joy in that bundle of mail. Looking at the positive side of it, the bags of depression are the very same items which drove me to look for a better quality of life here. The solution may be to cut all ties with the source of discontent -Canada. This morning's e-mail reminded me of another reason:

A quote from a potential purchaser who has temporarily returned to the U.S. and who wants to move from the costal area to the Central Valley-he has quite a way with words:

Greetings From the Midwest! Skies gray, temps enroute to mid 20's, we're to get 3-5 inches of snow tonight... I'm tickled spitless about being back here.

Lita's eye sight continues to deteriorate. It's now difficult for her to see TV -6 mo. ago I didn't hear these comments. She mentions her eyes hurting; I interpret this as more light receptor cells dieing. That being the case, she shouldn't have pain much longer -there will be nothing left to die. When I think about it, I get emotional, angry, depressed -obviously I haven't made peace with it yet. Just one more area of helplessness / hopelessness. Our present and future will be different than planned or preferred.

I haven't again found the Argentinean black angus tenderloin -hope it wasn't a one off.

It's becoming increasingly obvious that the planned return of June 13 won't happen. Neither one of us is that unhappy about it but we do have some adjustments and arrangements to make for extending our stay here.

Vicka continues to be her squawky, destructive, annoying self. She's a parrot and that's the way parrots are, I guess. I haven't had time to put together the sticks I picked up at the beach to turn them into a perch for her. The carpenters have been too busy.

Hugo has decided to defend his territory from several interlopers. Eating out of his kibble box night after night was just too much. He's taken a stand. I don't know yet who's winning but he hasn't come back mangled yet; I don't know about the other guys.

Brian, Lita, Hugo and Vicka (the pigeon toed parrot).

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