Progress Report

November 27 - December 9, 2006 // CONSTRUCTION LOG #112

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.

Pictures: none

The Story: Completion of 126 and traveling.and THE WELL!!!!

CONSTRUCTION

Weather: Beautifully perfect

Irrigation system: I'm waiting for two design proposals.

Satellite TV system: More people are showing interest in the satellite TV signal now that the new technology seems to be more reliable.

Telephone lines: The new lines are up and running an our PBX system is working as it should.

Unit 126: We added an outside terrace and landscaping which now completes the unit. We have several offers on it which we are evaluating.

Rio Oro Development: The warehouse and the washroom facilities are finished. We are evaluating the roadways as drawn and making some final adjustments. The application for the fencing got kicked back as it was missing some non relevant information but has been resubmitted. Don't argue; just give them what they want.

House Resales and Rentals: The re-sale of 111 has been completed. We still have one of two units the owner wants to sell. .

Rentals: Unit 110: We have one 1,300 sf 2 bedroom/2bathroom unit available for lease-fully furnished at $1,350 mo or partially furnished at $1,250 mo. Most of the furnishings have been completed.

Unit 126: Studio unit with full kitchen and terrace. Lots of built-ins and very well furnished. Rate depends on length of lease.

Water: Our well is not functioning as it has in the past. This year we had very little rain and articles in the paper say the water table is dropping. As a result we pumped the well dry the other day and it has not come back. We have city back up water but we are finding that we will have to modify the plumbing to make full use of it. We have a plan; let's hope it works. Fortunately we did have a back up system/plan but it was only designed as a emergency back up system and not one to sustain us for long periods of time. We'll have to work our way through the mechanics and logistics of all this. Technically, we have permission for more City supplied water than we now are using but I don't know if they will honor the agreement or have it to provide if our current emergency system proves inadequate.

Comment: There always seems to be a challenge. We get the electrical system solved, the satellite TV solved, the VOIP and internet systems solved, now it's WATER. I always knew this could be an issue and thus connected to the City for reliability/redundancy.

Residents Returning: One resident owner arrived this week and several more residents are slated to arrive next week.

OUR LIVES

We've been having lots of co-op dinners and some great food and great company. A number of people have gotten into the act and each is experimenting a bit. One of the dishes we've been having some fun with is "beer can chicken". Very simple-take a roasting chicken, season, and place a partially filled can of beer up the back side and stick the bird(s) on the bar-b-q and lent them roast from the outside and steam from the inside.--easy and fun-even the non-chefs can master this one. We took a few pictures hope to market the recipe to the local beer company... so far... no interest...

Lita and I took off for a few days of R&R. Initially we went to the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula-there's a large, all-inclusive hotel that I had heard about (Hotel Playa Tambor-part of the Barcelo chain). Off to Puntaranas, across on the ferry and on to the hotel. It was o.k. but at $172 a night, we stayed only one night. I couldn't eat and drink enough to justify it. Lots of German and French there. I'm sure, being on a tour, that they got better rates than we did and not being a resident, we got hit the worst. Hoping to find something more to our liking, we moved on the next day. We drove on to Montezuma-I was surprised by how small it was; I felt claustrophobic. We left disappointed and returned to the ferry where we waited in the grueling heat for 2 1/2 hrs. We got to Punteranas at 6:30 and I didn't like the prospect of driving in the dark so we found an acceptable hotel for $32 per night. We are likely to repeat this trip soon. We moved on to our favorite beach-Samara and Carrillo-and stayed at our favorite hotel, Hotel Guanamar. $70 for ocean view and $50 for the other...The high season rate kicks in Dec. 15. It is an absolutely spectacular view. There were very few people there; in fact, there were very few people in all of Samara-tourist season hasn't really hit yet. I saw a bit of development gong on there but not much. Some of the projects which I have been following seemed to now be dead. We made it back on Monday in 4 1/2 hrs-a record time for us only because there was less traffic. All in all, it was a good get away and while we didn't find a new destination we did explore an area we hadn't seen before and we did reaffirm our love for Samara and area.

In retrospect, I'm amazed that a hotel would locate there-access is difficult-ferry controlled and bad road--, the beach is rocky, there is no sunset view as it faces South, supplying and maintaining the facility must be problematic, and there is nothing else around there-it's a one destination place. But it seems to be successful with European tour groups.

We now have both DISH TV (unabridged) and CableTica. I've never had it so good!!! Some 400 channels and 80 digital radio stations... wow!!!!!!!!!!!! I just have to learn how to use the technology (my nemesis). We still have some more simplification to do but we are heading in the right direction.

It's December and the local custom seems to be to let off "firecrackers" - especially around 5am... Friday morning around 5am. 10 bright flashes of light followed by a thunderous explosion. I'm not sure why those who do it find it exciting but... it's part of the local culture here.

Brian, Lita, Hugo and irreverent Vicka, the pigeon toed parrot.

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