Progress Report
July 1-9 , 2005 // CONSTRUCTION LOG #39
Contact phone numbers
Internet Phone:
New York 315-279-6711 // Toronto 416-907-5758
Costa Rica:
Cell 506-305-3965 // Land 506-282-0910
Pictures: 7 of Unit 107 and one roadway picture
CONSTRUCTION
Permit: Friday I signed the document to which
another complete set of papers were attached, all of
which had been previously submitted and couldn't just
be referred to, all 1" of them.... We are still
missing one document from the City of Santa Ana saying
they will continue to pick up our garbage as they have
been doing since God was a little boy. They are
taking their full 10 days to sign this letter. We
continue to experience how the City of Santa Ana
earned it's reputation amongst builders. When we have
that document (Wednesday) the entire package will be
resubmitted to SETENA for what we again believe will
be the end to this stage of the process. At that
point again we wait..
Roadways: guess I was a bit aggressive in my
previous description of the degree of completion.
There was a lot of forming to do on the west side for
the parking areas, side walks and protected gardens.
We fully expect to be completed all the forming and
finishing by Wednesday at which point this crew along
with a few others, will be diverted to beginning the
106 complex.
Unit 107: Wow!!!! this unit is really becoming a star
in it's own right. The front and back 2nd. floor
terraces, the ground floor see thru design, the
open, wrought iron staircase, etc. all contribute to
what will become another showpiece. The dry walling
is done except for some small touch up areas; the
stucco is done; floor tile on the terrace are done and
are started on the ground floor; kitchen cabinets
delivered for installation next week, primer painting
done on the ground floor, windows beginning to be
installed, roof detailing and rainwater gutters are
installed but not yet finished, parking area finished
but garden not yet landscaped.
Unit 106: We made arrangements with the long term
tenant to relocate to one of our newer units. We
expect to begin moving the plants to various parts of
the property and around 107 and to knock down the
current structure. We will probably have a back hoe in
next week to do that and to dig the footings... We'll
be hiring a few more laborers. It would be nice to
have the working drawings before we begin but it
wouldn't be the first time we didn't. We often times
get them midway thru the construction. Experience
allows us to do this but it's not the way I prefer.
Comment: the decisions and instructions made prior to
my leaving were executed very well. Sometimes it's
really nice to know you aren't needed on a day-to-day
basis, that you have responsible people to support you
and people who know how to and want to do the work and
you don't have to be present to have that work done.
I'm very, very impressed and pleased. I know there
are many, many stories of different experiences here
and perhaps this crew is unique, but I will challenge
anyone who says it can't be so...
OUR LIVES
This past week was and incredible journey in "self";
I'm still putting it all together and probably won't
fully understand it all for some time. Incredible
highs in reuniting with friends only to reach the
bottom of the barrel shortly after when saying
"goodbye". I guess one of the low points (although
certainly not intended to be) was the going away party
held by boating friends -eulogies of a former life- and
common experiences remembered and then seeing the "For
Sale" sign on the boat was an incredibly emotional
experience. After having come to the conclusion that
selling the boat was the only practical solution to
our dilemma, and getting an unexpected offer on it
with a an equally unexpected rushed closing date was
on the one hand exhilarating while on the other hand,
it was also very depressing. However as unlikely
stories have a way of being unlikely, the deal seems
to have fallen apart so...
The rush to entertain the last people and to say the
last good-byes, to pack for CR, to move our personal
belongings into an area of the boat which could later
be off loaded when the boat sold was exhausting-
emotionally as well as physically-especially for Lita.
We found that the lifestyle of our family and friends
really included virtually no spontaneous time for us
and the demands on our time didn't allow lots of
advance notice. Some friends and family we didn't
see -we had to book several weeks in advance. We
started to see cracks developing in the family fabric
-all working long hours so they can buy their third
house- and in our son's relationship.. We have always
had time for friends who come here. While our lives
are rich and rewarding with activities, we have the
flexibility to enjoy the spontaneity which seems to be
lacking in so many lives. I'll take our lifestyle any
day.
Lita did manage to get her "white cane" from the
(CNIB) Canadian Institute for the Blind only thru
shear persistence but they were too busy to show her
how to use it. We needed to make an appointment for
September. We did get her a few other aids like a
talking watch (which promptly fell apart) and a
Braille telephone . This was depressing but one just
does these things. Her vision is now probably 98%
gone. We are both having substantial difficulties
dealing with this emotionally and physically. Close
friends saw how emotionally raw this is with me when I
would just loose it when talking about how life is for
her, and for me. Others have adjusted; I can only
believe we will as well but let me assure you, it's a
rough road for each and for both that no one willingly
wants to go down.
Our trip back: As one friend said, any trip that
doesn't end in a crash, is a good trip. Just some are
better than others. By that definition, it was a good
trip; by any number of other definitions, it was a
trip from hell... All was perfect until we were land
in SJO (8:10pm) -it was socked in with pea soup fog.
Probably not far from the tree tops, the pilot
realized this wasn't going to work, so aborted. We
knew we were o.k. because the G3 force and a 30 degree
climb angle said we were. After his teeth stopped
chattering, he said we were bound for Libera. Liberia
was closed as no planes were scheduled to land. In
Liberia we waited on board for several hours hoping
for the weather to clear in SJO and for the pilot to
change his pants. Someone rousted a government
immigration employee out of bed -but he never fully
awakened. Any idea how long it takes a government
employee to get out of bed and arrive at the job in
the middle of the night??????? About an hour! An
hour. In another hour, he processed all 135 or so
of us. We boarded a bus back to SJO -5 hr bus ride.
We had two breakdowns on the way. We arrived at the
SJO airport to sunny weather, about 6:30 in the
morning. I stayed up most of the day and of course,
we got into a party that evening... Now I have a dual
recovery mode to attend to.
Our house was cleaned and organized when we arrived
although we still can't find things. Lita was
reunited with the bloody mean, ungreatful parrot.
Hugo was the loneliest (but otherwise fine) little guy
I've ever seen. He hasn't let us out of his sight
(even attending the party although he stayed in the
bushes). A friend returned home from reconstructive
breast surgery. After searing the air blue, we got
the karaoke machine working. The kitchen and bar are
in the process of being stocked. There's a big party
at the large pool. We're getting ready for another
little party this evening. Our Toronto home phone
number is now call forwarded to our VOIP number so we
miss few calls and will, I'm sure continue to get lots
of marketing calls. Life is returning to normal and
I'm really ready for it to.
Brian, Lita, lonely Hugo and irreverent Vicka, the
pigeon toed parrot.
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