Progress Report

October 30 - November 5, 2006 // CONSTRUCTION LOG #108

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.

CONSTRUCTION

Weather: mostly sunny with the odd overcast and mist-very unusual for October.

Unit 102: The owner is installed and happy. We have the shower doors to finish and two decorative sidelights but these are small items and will be done when the product is ready.

Irrigation system: no progress but moving higher on my list

Satellite TV system: The new system / technology seems to be working.

The new house - Unit 126: Work on this unit progresses nicely. The interior is now boarded with drywall and the first coat of taping is going on. Kitchen / bedroom / bathroom / and living room cabinetry has been ordered. Granite has been selected. We will be adding an uncovered terrace on the inner courtyard side to enhance it's desireablity.

Electrical Meter Billing: We have received the first bills for each of the 30 electrical meters. A number of them make NO sense. At this point in time, I'm prepared to suggest that ICE spend more time improving their business competence than protesting in the streets. We'll continue to work through what appear to be anomalies or whatever.

Phone lines: We're having to change the administrative arrangements which connect us to ICE. The process is causing us some hassles and in the meantime, our PBX system doesn't role forward to vacant phone numbers that we have. In a land where we acquired phone numbers when and how we could, we now have a hodge podge of different prefix numbers and since not all the numbers are in our names, we now have to give up some and get some new numbers. But in this country, you don't give up what you have until you get what you need. Supposedly ICE has surplus numbers in our area-we'll see.

Rio Oro Development

We've continued clearing the land and the stream. The perimeter survey is all but done as is the interior roadway staking. Soon we will be able to determine if roads need to be altered slightly so as to save trees and / or to improve lots.

OUR LIVES

A quieter week such that I could spend more time with a friend from my previous life. Lita returns to Canada from the Philippines this next week and I'm off on Monday to Granada so I can get back on the 3 mo. exit schedule that Lita is now on. The parrot and I continue to get along; he spends his days dancing around in a large tree from which I retrieve him in the afternoon -or if he isn't ready to return, he stays. He plays his games, he stays... very simple. I wish I could say he's learning but I can't... But I have to keep him alive or I'm sleeping in Canuk's now vacant house -it's now bad since it has arched windows and door way and is water proof but it doesn't have a microwave or TV -I'll have to work on those improvements if the parrot doesn't make it until Lita's return...

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

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