Progress Report

May 29-Jun 4 , 2005 // CONSTRUCTION LOG #34

Pictures: none (curbs are not very exciting).

NEW CONSTRUCTION

Permit: The soil study was submitted to SENTENA on Monday. It was a generic report on soil conditions, geological profile and known aquifers. This project was deemed to NOT represent a threat to ground water contamination. This report is the last known requirement. We wait.

Curbs and garden night lighting continued this week. Most of the night lighting is now done; the remaining will be done later after the construction is finished.

Misc: The wrought iron and ceramic table tops I had made are finally done but didn't end up being the bargain I thought they were going to be. The wall unit in 113 is also completed; it turned out nice.

The food preparation counter and bar-b-q area in the large rancho is nearly finished. I have a hunt on for a 7' pool table. It's early yet but if I run across one, I'll probably get it. I'm going to have some roll down curtains in the large rancho to protect from wind blown rain and from wind as I expect to have a ping pong table there as well.

Unit 107: The sub roof is almost fully installed. Rough-in wiring is proceeding as is interior and exterior boarding. It's beginning to look like a house. We enlarged the master bedroom and redesigned the master bathroom by encroaching into a small, rather non-functional area at the top of the stairs. This is going to be a very nice house; It has a fantastic unobstructed view of the large pool and the mountains behind as well as a west facing balcony for sunsets. On the ground floor, the back terrace can be accessed and seen from two different places. We are finding places to put storage cabinets and eventually, eye candy.

VOIP (internet phone): it is now working like a dream. We have added one other household to the line and we now have it wired such that it is very convenient. Calls are clear and there is no time delay -it's just like a normal phone call; distance is not an issue. In fact, the quality is better than many times when I phoned CR from Canada. For callers from the 315 area code in the U.S. and from the 416 area code in Canada, calls are considered local. Outside those areas, I believe the cost is to call that area code even though it rings in Costa Rica. A friend and his wife stayed with us on Monday. He brought us our mail-no disasters in the mail this time. They hopped a bus to their home in Ciudad Neilly near the border with Panama -a long ways and hot when you get there but they like it...

OUR LIVES

Lita cooked up a pot of curried lentils and whatever and made a party around the pool last weekend. We ate leftovers into mid week -it's amazing how far $4 can be stretched. She also cooked a wonderful pasta and organized a dinner Thursday evening for a friend who had fallen and hurt herself.

I was taken to see the new house of my maestro de obra (site foreman). Through his work here and a loan we gave him, he was able to buy a fixer-upper. It's a nice little three bedroom home and much better than the one he moved from. We had some kitchen cabinets which we had pulled from 107 that I gave him and some bathroom fixtures which we no longer needed. It's nice to see that you've helped some one improve their life.

We played pool one evening with a resident and his two young children. They were great and better than Lita and I (which isn't much of a challenge). I think their professor parents are teaching them to be pool sharks so they can supplement the cost of their university education.

Last night it was a Gino's pizza birthday party for Susan. Since Gino's is next to the church, he can't get a liquor license so we bring our own. As always, great pizza-we made several new converts to tuna pizza. And that's it for this week.Kinda quiet but useful work getting done.

Brian, Lita, Hugo and Vicka -the pigeon toed parrot

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