Friends,
We have now experienced healthcare in Mexico. Guess what, it is much better than the US. Different however. We went to the Dentist's office and asked to make an appointment. They could get us both in that afternoon. We begged off and scheduled for the next day. After that we went to the doctor to make an appointment for me. He could see me in the next hour. I made an appointment for the day after the Dentist. The next day we both went in for a cleaning and checkup. The Dentist did the cleaning along with the exam. The cleaning was done by the junior Dentist and the exam (for me at least) was done by both. The office had all of the equipment that you would expect to see in the US. Instruments were all in sterile packages and they had the coolest new X-ray machine. My bill was $35US (I had one X-ray) and Regina's was $30US. All in all, both of these Dentists detected all of our dental needs (crowns, replacement fillings, etc) that our US dentist told us about before we moved down here. The next day I went down to see Dr. Abosolo. I needed to get back on my cholesterol meds. Had a nice chat with the Doctor. He got out the Lab sheet and checked a few boxes and said to get the labs done and come back. Cost $30US for the visit. The lab is in the rear of his building. Walked back and interrupted the lab technician working on his truck. He rushed over and let me into the lab, looked at the paperwork while putting on his lab coat. He took two tubes of blood and a urine sample. Best stick I have ever had and yes he washed his hands and put on gloves. Total cost $60US. Said to come back in the morning for the results. Walked back to Abosolo's office and made an appointment for 9:30 tomorrow. I arrived at the Lab at 9:25 the next morning. They were feverishly trying to print my results. Seems that their Lexmark printer was running out of ink. Told me to come back in 15 minutes. So I went into the doctors office and waited. Fifteen minutes later I had the lab results (in English) and went back to see Dr Abosolo. Fifteen minutes later I had my prescription for a generic form of Lipitor. On to the Farmicia. Thirty tablets of Simlo for $250 pesos and I was headed home. Interesting observations of these visits. One: you can get an appointment with a dentist or doctor very easily. Two: They know that they are doing. Three: Lab work in 24 hours? Enough said. Four: I have my Doctors cell phone number. Fifth: The knowledge and professionalism the medical/dental staff was exceptional.
Well, it has been a month since the last update. I wrote the above medical visit experience the day after the doctors visit. Now it is time to catch up with the rest of the month.
We have been experiencing the local area without tourists. The last of the part timers left this week. August is the hottest month here and it is starting out true to form. You can equate the weather to Phoenix but with 15-30% more humidity. We had a dew point of 85 degrees a few days ago. Air conditioning is a must now. Gas mileage has also dropped as we run the AC in the truck all of the time. There are three types of winds; no wind where it is hot and very muggy and oppressive. An easterly wind that is very humid, cooler but still sticky. Then there is the wind from the southwest. It is very hot but the humidity vanishes and you would believe that you were really in Phoenix. I like the latter.
Been going to the pool a lot for water volleyball. It runs from 12:30 till 2:30. So far, we have mostly had at least 3-4 teams. Once in a while we have only had 2 teams and were in the pool the whole time except for a 10 minute break 1/2 way thru. We don't mind though. We are getting good exercise and a fabulous tan. I don't think that I have been this tan ever, even while in high school.
I got into the Dirk Pitt series of action novels written by Clive Cussler. Read four and decided to find the whole series. Camped on eBay and won an auction for all 20 in the series. So far I have gotten thru the first seven. Great reading, but I am trying to wait to read the rest until we get back to the house and loose 24/7 TV.
We go up to the house three to four times a week. The temperature has been hovering around 95 degrees inside the house. Good shake down for any hidden problems. The good news. Our propane and water pressure is holding wonderfully. Looks like we have no leaks there. The bad news. We have two huge floor to ceiling cracks, one in the office and the other in the guest bedroom. The problem is how I designed the rooms. Both rooms have a mid wall transition from the exterior walls (perform wall or rastra - look it up on the internet) and the concrete block interior walls. The difference in the expansion rates of those materials is causing the cracks. Architect Eduardo (we met him at water volleyball), came up and looked at it and it can be fixed but it will mean more plaster dust everywhere. He told me exactly what to tell our contractor to do.
We are sort of skimpy on pictures this update. The file names say it all.
We are going to spend our anniversary in Ensenada at the end of the month. Next update will be when we get back.
Love,
Larry and Regina
p.s. Gasolina is now $7 Pesos/Liter
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa15?authkey=Gv1sRgCPnpqrGQoZnN5gE&feat=directlink
Monday, August 4, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Casa Update 21
Friends,
Been a busy month here. Started right after the last update. Tuesday the workers arrived to finish the latest punch list and to finally build the grey water tank. They spent the whole week digging the hole (by hand) and building a 5x5x4 concrete water tank. Had 6 workers this time. Half worked inside finishing stuff while the other half dug. They brought their own water this time. Luckily it was still comfortable as we had to keep them company. Luis kept them busy and by Friday they had everything we agreed on fixed. We agreed to delay 3 things till September when it gets cooler. On Saturday we tested the grey water system and found out that the Master vanities and showers do not drain into the grey water tank. Monday they were out again digging up the back yard looking for the problem. They found it and fixed it.
We had a very interesting thing happen on that Monday. Our newsgroup posted a note that 2 of the 5 Pemex stations were out of gas and that they did not expect any for 5 days. Guess what that did? A run on the gas stations. We were going to go to the new one next to the Ranch. Not. There was a mile backup to get in. They even had the Federalies directing traffic. We ended up at the station on the airport road with only a 5 car line. Reason only 5 cars? They were out of regular and only pumping premium. We filled up anyway. By the late afternoon, there was no gas for 100 miles. The rumor turned out to be false but it took 3 days to get all of the stations refilled. Turns out that Baja is served by a tank farm south of Ensenada. A tanker ship was delayed and they were rationing gas for the rest of the week.
The following week we took off and did nothing but go to the pool for volleyball. We played a few times but mostly we chatted or read. We heard of a special dinner at the El Cortez Hotel. Wednesday Beef Filet night. You get: Margarita, soup, salad, a 8-10oz filet, baked potato, veggies, and desert. All for $10 US. Been there twice and were going to give it a break but were conned into going one more time with friends. We brought a bottle of red wine last time. Corkage: $0. Nice.
This week has been spent house sitting and watching the workers clear Ed's punch list. They almost got done. We are still waiting for the AC guys to come and balance one of the AC units to get the Master suite a little cooler.
We went around and took some pictures of the places we have mentioned. We have a picture of the Palapa Bar and Grill. It is attached to the Pool. That is where we had to go for internet last fall. The pool is where we go now. Also there is a picture of the new Pemex and our golf course, our beach and Juanito's Cantina.
Next update will include our experience with the medical system here as we have made dental and doctor appointments. Since we are just house sitting this summer, our house updates will be suspended and we'll just sent pictures of the area and the happenings of San Felipe.
I have included a copy of Ed's CFE (electricity) bill. Betsy, have fun translating :-)
Love to all,
Larry and Regina
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa14?authkey=Gv1sRgCPSTkKLPgaKIfQ&feat=directlink
Been a busy month here. Started right after the last update. Tuesday the workers arrived to finish the latest punch list and to finally build the grey water tank. They spent the whole week digging the hole (by hand) and building a 5x5x4 concrete water tank. Had 6 workers this time. Half worked inside finishing stuff while the other half dug. They brought their own water this time. Luckily it was still comfortable as we had to keep them company. Luis kept them busy and by Friday they had everything we agreed on fixed. We agreed to delay 3 things till September when it gets cooler. On Saturday we tested the grey water system and found out that the Master vanities and showers do not drain into the grey water tank. Monday they were out again digging up the back yard looking for the problem. They found it and fixed it.
We had a very interesting thing happen on that Monday. Our newsgroup posted a note that 2 of the 5 Pemex stations were out of gas and that they did not expect any for 5 days. Guess what that did? A run on the gas stations. We were going to go to the new one next to the Ranch. Not. There was a mile backup to get in. They even had the Federalies directing traffic. We ended up at the station on the airport road with only a 5 car line. Reason only 5 cars? They were out of regular and only pumping premium. We filled up anyway. By the late afternoon, there was no gas for 100 miles. The rumor turned out to be false but it took 3 days to get all of the stations refilled. Turns out that Baja is served by a tank farm south of Ensenada. A tanker ship was delayed and they were rationing gas for the rest of the week.
The following week we took off and did nothing but go to the pool for volleyball. We played a few times but mostly we chatted or read. We heard of a special dinner at the El Cortez Hotel. Wednesday Beef Filet night. You get: Margarita, soup, salad, a 8-10oz filet, baked potato, veggies, and desert. All for $10 US. Been there twice and were going to give it a break but were conned into going one more time with friends. We brought a bottle of red wine last time. Corkage: $0. Nice.
This week has been spent house sitting and watching the workers clear Ed's punch list. They almost got done. We are still waiting for the AC guys to come and balance one of the AC units to get the Master suite a little cooler.
We went around and took some pictures of the places we have mentioned. We have a picture of the Palapa Bar and Grill. It is attached to the Pool. That is where we had to go for internet last fall. The pool is where we go now. Also there is a picture of the new Pemex and our golf course, our beach and Juanito's Cantina.
Next update will include our experience with the medical system here as we have made dental and doctor appointments. Since we are just house sitting this summer, our house updates will be suspended and we'll just sent pictures of the area and the happenings of San Felipe.
I have included a copy of Ed's CFE (electricity) bill. Betsy, have fun translating :-)
Love to all,
Larry and Regina
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa14?authkey=Gv1sRgCPSTkKLPgaKIfQ&feat=directlink
Monday, June 2, 2008
Casa Update 20
Friends,
I cannot believe that a month has gone by. Well, the wall is finally finished. Took an additional two weeks to get the last gate in. They came with 2 gates and only put one up. Guess that the other didn't fit. Still waiting for the punch list work to start again. They were supposed to start today but have not heard from them. Met with the guy responsible for electrification. He is now promising electricity in November. They made some concessions to ease the burden until then. Not what we wanted to hear but we can live with it.
The weather has been spectacular except for a short hot spell two weeks ago. Got to 104 on the back porch even in the shade. Had a little trouble sleeping those nights. Been going to the beach and the pool a lot. Went to a beach party over Memorial Day weekend. Their house is right on the beach about a quarter mile from the Lighthouse.
Two of the three restaurants on the Ranch are under new management. The new guy looks like he knows what he is doing. Prices have come down and the food is much improved. We had a buffet brunch at the pool yesterday. Great selection with unlimited fresh juice and coffee included for $7US.
We have started our summer house-sitting job. We met a couple formerly from Sunnyvale that has the same contractor as us. They summer in the Sierras just above Murphys. They asked us to house sit for them so that our contractor could finish their punch list also. Well, we moved in May 20th. We now have 24/7 electricity. What a treat!! We are about a mile from the casa but two miles by car.
We continue to meet a lot more people thru the Thursday Socials. Met couples from: Castro Valley, Vallejo, Hayward, San Ramon and Concord. No one from Benicia yet but that might change in the fall.
Since we are online most of the time now, you can use AOL IM to chat. Our screen names are LarEWill50Baja and RegMWill54. Pop in if you get a chance.
I have put together an assortment of pictures taken over the past month.
Larry and Regina
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa13?authkey=Gv1sRgCNXj4s_f94T23AE&feat=directlink
I cannot believe that a month has gone by. Well, the wall is finally finished. Took an additional two weeks to get the last gate in. They came with 2 gates and only put one up. Guess that the other didn't fit. Still waiting for the punch list work to start again. They were supposed to start today but have not heard from them. Met with the guy responsible for electrification. He is now promising electricity in November. They made some concessions to ease the burden until then. Not what we wanted to hear but we can live with it.
The weather has been spectacular except for a short hot spell two weeks ago. Got to 104 on the back porch even in the shade. Had a little trouble sleeping those nights. Been going to the beach and the pool a lot. Went to a beach party over Memorial Day weekend. Their house is right on the beach about a quarter mile from the Lighthouse.
Two of the three restaurants on the Ranch are under new management. The new guy looks like he knows what he is doing. Prices have come down and the food is much improved. We had a buffet brunch at the pool yesterday. Great selection with unlimited fresh juice and coffee included for $7US.
We have started our summer house-sitting job. We met a couple formerly from Sunnyvale that has the same contractor as us. They summer in the Sierras just above Murphys. They asked us to house sit for them so that our contractor could finish their punch list also. Well, we moved in May 20th. We now have 24/7 electricity. What a treat!! We are about a mile from the casa but two miles by car.
We continue to meet a lot more people thru the Thursday Socials. Met couples from: Castro Valley, Vallejo, Hayward, San Ramon and Concord. No one from Benicia yet but that might change in the fall.
Since we are online most of the time now, you can use AOL IM to chat. Our screen names are LarEWill50Baja and RegMWill54. Pop in if you get a chance.
I have put together an assortment of pictures taken over the past month.
Larry and Regina
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa13?authkey=Gv1sRgCNXj4s_f94T23AE&feat=directlink
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Casa Update 19
Friends,
It has been a beautiful two weeks. Temperatures have been in the mid 80's cooling down into the mid 60's at night. Humidity has been hovering between 13-30 percent. RV John finally got the right part and our refrigerator is back up and cooling. We watched the workers continue on the wall, went into town a few times and spent an afternoon at the pool. One afternoon while we were reading on the back porch, a little lizard wandered up. The same kind that we had back in Benicia. He was watching the flies landing on the tile and every once in a while he would take off after one. Cautious little one. We had an idea and I swatted a few flies and we placed them around for him to eat. He eventually attacked two of them and then scampered off. Another night at dusk, we were visited by 2 coyotes. A very skinny one and a plump (pregnant?) one. We were still, they were cautious. The skinny one got within 40 feet of the back wall. They hung around for that seemed to be ten minutes and then left. Well, I got to pull the dumb thing with the generator this time. We were getting ready to eat dinner Saturday night when the thing quit again. Went outside and again, oil was everywhere. This time the dip stick was loose. Guess that I didn't get it inserted all of the way after checking the oil that morning. Didn't think that it could look any worse after sitting next to the cement mixer and sand pile. Wrong, will include a picture of it. They didn't finish the wall on Saturday either. I did not know that they were going to add an additional 4 inch concrete cap to the wall and columns. Unless they do some more creative construction they will surely finish this next week. We had another adventure with lizards Sunday afternoon. We found two of them having a feast on the dead flies on the front porch. The workers called them chameleons. I would call them a grey desert lizards. Their bodies were about 6-8 inches and same for the tails. These two feared no humans. After they had just about devoured all of the files, I thought that it was time for them to leave. I yelled, stomped and finally charged them. All to no avail. Finally I had to sweep them along to the gate. Once they got to the hot sand, they beat a path for the desert and disappeared under the cement mixer. Have a feeling that they will be back. This past week has been very quiet. Regina and I came down with an intestinal thing. We think that we brought it on ourselves. Something went bad in one of the coolers while we were waiting for the refrigerator to get fixed. That slowed us down till about Wednesday. The cement guys packed up and left on Tuesday. Guess that they are waiting for the concrete to dry as no one has been back since. Paint, gates and the cleanup, that is all that is left. We had Kaaren and George up for dinner on Friday. We attempted to play a game of Wineopoly but it just got too late. Saturday brought us to two last events. This morning was the last "Swap Meet" till late September. We stocked up on veggies. Looks like when they run out, we will have to trek into town. The vegetable lady is always at the swap meet and has a stand in town that is open only on Tuesdays. Fresh produce has always been a problem at the local Mercados. Always hit and miss. Saturday afternoon was the Annual "Club de Pesca" Chile cook-off. We had a great time. I personally tasted well over a dozen different recipes. The two that I liked most were "Oso Chile" and Beach-N-Chile". Hey, I didn't pick the names. But they were good! Best thing was that it was Free! I bought 100 Pesos worth of drink and food tickets and we spent a very relaxing afternoon at the beach drinking tecates, eating chile and hot dogs while the local rock band "Blue Agave" played all of our favorite oldies. That was the last event of the season. Things will start slowing down here now. The snowbirds have been leaving in droves over the past 2 weeks. They will be replaced by the Mexicalies till June. Then San Felipe will once again become a quiet little fishing village, except for the 4,000 or so Ex-Pats that will brave the hot summer that is. Well, that is it for a while. The punch list is back up into the low teens and Lupe promised to be here Tuesday to get started. I think that was a couple of Tuesdays ago. I will send out another update when the wall and punch list are finally finished.
Larry and Regina
p.s. For up to date San Felipe information please browse to: http://www.sanfelipe.com.mx/. The best is under the news tab. Select "Kat's Corner."
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa12?authkey=Gv1sRgCN6B-NWtsvapDg&feat=directlink
It has been a beautiful two weeks. Temperatures have been in the mid 80's cooling down into the mid 60's at night. Humidity has been hovering between 13-30 percent. RV John finally got the right part and our refrigerator is back up and cooling. We watched the workers continue on the wall, went into town a few times and spent an afternoon at the pool. One afternoon while we were reading on the back porch, a little lizard wandered up. The same kind that we had back in Benicia. He was watching the flies landing on the tile and every once in a while he would take off after one. Cautious little one. We had an idea and I swatted a few flies and we placed them around for him to eat. He eventually attacked two of them and then scampered off. Another night at dusk, we were visited by 2 coyotes. A very skinny one and a plump (pregnant?) one. We were still, they were cautious. The skinny one got within 40 feet of the back wall. They hung around for that seemed to be ten minutes and then left. Well, I got to pull the dumb thing with the generator this time. We were getting ready to eat dinner Saturday night when the thing quit again. Went outside and again, oil was everywhere. This time the dip stick was loose. Guess that I didn't get it inserted all of the way after checking the oil that morning. Didn't think that it could look any worse after sitting next to the cement mixer and sand pile. Wrong, will include a picture of it. They didn't finish the wall on Saturday either. I did not know that they were going to add an additional 4 inch concrete cap to the wall and columns. Unless they do some more creative construction they will surely finish this next week. We had another adventure with lizards Sunday afternoon. We found two of them having a feast on the dead flies on the front porch. The workers called them chameleons. I would call them a grey desert lizards. Their bodies were about 6-8 inches and same for the tails. These two feared no humans. After they had just about devoured all of the files, I thought that it was time for them to leave. I yelled, stomped and finally charged them. All to no avail. Finally I had to sweep them along to the gate. Once they got to the hot sand, they beat a path for the desert and disappeared under the cement mixer. Have a feeling that they will be back. This past week has been very quiet. Regina and I came down with an intestinal thing. We think that we brought it on ourselves. Something went bad in one of the coolers while we were waiting for the refrigerator to get fixed. That slowed us down till about Wednesday. The cement guys packed up and left on Tuesday. Guess that they are waiting for the concrete to dry as no one has been back since. Paint, gates and the cleanup, that is all that is left. We had Kaaren and George up for dinner on Friday. We attempted to play a game of Wineopoly but it just got too late. Saturday brought us to two last events. This morning was the last "Swap Meet" till late September. We stocked up on veggies. Looks like when they run out, we will have to trek into town. The vegetable lady is always at the swap meet and has a stand in town that is open only on Tuesdays. Fresh produce has always been a problem at the local Mercados. Always hit and miss. Saturday afternoon was the Annual "Club de Pesca" Chile cook-off. We had a great time. I personally tasted well over a dozen different recipes. The two that I liked most were "Oso Chile" and Beach-N-Chile". Hey, I didn't pick the names. But they were good! Best thing was that it was Free! I bought 100 Pesos worth of drink and food tickets and we spent a very relaxing afternoon at the beach drinking tecates, eating chile and hot dogs while the local rock band "Blue Agave" played all of our favorite oldies. That was the last event of the season. Things will start slowing down here now. The snowbirds have been leaving in droves over the past 2 weeks. They will be replaced by the Mexicalies till June. Then San Felipe will once again become a quiet little fishing village, except for the 4,000 or so Ex-Pats that will brave the hot summer that is. Well, that is it for a while. The punch list is back up into the low teens and Lupe promised to be here Tuesday to get started. I think that was a couple of Tuesdays ago. I will send out another update when the wall and punch list are finally finished.
Larry and Regina
p.s. For up to date San Felipe information please browse to: http://www.sanfelipe.com.mx/. The best is under the news tab. Select "Kat's Corner."
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa12?authkey=Gv1sRgCN6B-NWtsvapDg&feat=directlink
Monday, April 21, 2008
Casa Update 18
Friends,
Sorry for taking so long to get this together. Been 3 weeks in the making. The House Blessing went very well. We had all of the rooms blessed except the pantry and garage. We fit everyone in our double shower! That was 14 people. After the blessing we had a nice Mexican lunch. A great time was had by all. I've attached a few pictures from that. Bob, Debi, Jim, Leslie, Betsy and Giovanna stayed at our contractor's motel and Jeanne stayed with us. Weather was perfect. In all, we had 14 here including the locals. Betsy, Giovanna and Jeanne left on Sunday. Bob, Debi, Jim and Leslie left on Monday. It was 1/2 a day till the Phillips (our ex-Benicia neighbors from 2 doors down) arrived for the rest of the week. On Wednesday we tried to get to Mike's Ski Rancho. Took an hour to get to the dirt road leading to the rancho. Took another hour to get within 6 miles of the rancho. That was the point that I feared for the Explorer's survival and called a halt to the drive. The road was definitely a 4x4 road. Took another hour to get back to the paved road. Turns out to have been only 24 miles round trip on dirt. We will go back again, but this time in the truck. George and I played golf on Thursday. First time since the cervical fusion 3 1/2 years ago. Did as well as expected. The course is beautiful!!! Except for the sand traps. They placed them exactly where my drives and second shots reached. Have never played out of the sand that much ever. We capped the week with dinner at the El Nido and a short stay at Al's Back Street Cantina (no stickers yet Bob and Jim). We also learned that the Screaming Cholla is really Tequila (made from Agave planted in the distil-masters back yard and watered well). We bid George and Beverly farewell early Saturday morning. We had a great time that week. Now back to the deafening silence. I got back to fiddling with the propane refrigerator that was having a hard time keeping temperature. On Sunday I had to up to temperature setting to max just to keep the inside temperature at 40 degrees. Stopped by RV John's on Monday to seek help in getting it fixed. He didn't come to look at it till Tuesday. That blew our Tuesday re-stocking trip to El Centro. Meanwhile, our contractor finally started on the wall. It has always started the same way. At about 8:00 in the morning a very large truck will pull up and unload a lot of stuff. Then, about anywhere from an hour to 2 days later the workers will arrive. This time they showed up right after lunch. I had told Lupe that the cistern was closed to construction workers. So, after they laid their string everywhere, they started bucketing water out of the cistern to water the sand. What can you do. If I chase them off, they will not get paid. I called Sabina again and by the end of the day we had more water tanks in the front yard that you can imagine. Empty of course. The water truck did not arrive till sometime late on Tuesday. After RV Johns visit on Tuesday, he says that we might have a "blockage" in one of the refrigeration lines. We need to do a 12 hour max cycle followed by a 12 hour off cycle. Freezer is full. We again seek help from Kaaren for freezer space for a few days. We borrowed a few coolers from George to store the non-frozen stuff and prepared to cycle the frig and headed for El Centro. Got back late Wednesday to find a huge pile of sand next to the generator. Next to that was a huge pile of gravel. Mind you this was the generator that ran for 4 hours with the oil cap off. For Wednesday and Thursday we were cycling the refrigerator on and off while the workers sifted sand and gravel in the front yard and worked on the wall. We went to Val's Thursday Social and low and behold we meet a couple from Vallejo. He owns one of the largest propane refrigerator sales and service shops in Northern California. He volunteers to come by and look at the refrigerator. They come over on Friday for a visit and we get a free consult on the refrigerator. He says that the problem is either low gas pressure or butane has clogged the filter in the thermostat, Seems the Mexicans mix butane (20%) with their propane. Tells me that butane is an oily gas that can cause problems with filters. He suggests that we run the refrigerator on AC and see what happens (take propane out of the equation). If it cools correctly, then he is right, if it still has problems, RV John is right. We had a great time chatting with them while the workers continued with the wall. The workers got about 20 feet of wall up while we chatted on the back porch. After they left I called Puerto RV (John's business and found out he was in the states getting parts.) Told them what Allen said and that I was going to do the AC test that evening. That night we switched the refrigerator to AC and let it run while we ran the generator for the evening. When we were ready for bed, the refrigerator was the coldest I have seen. Score one for Allen. It is now Saturday and RV John has not called back. Workers finished early this morning after pouring the last of the footings and had left by 10:30. I finally got to take a good look at the generator. You don't want to know. It looks like it was just unearthed from some archeological dig somewhere. More on that later...... The rest of Saturday was uneventful. On Sunday we were invited to another Jenga tournament at Kaaren and Georges. This time we had 4 "stacks" going with 14 players. I went out in the first round and Regina in the second. Today RV John showed up with a part. At this point looks like that was not the problem. Will call him again tomorrow. The workers started in on the wall again and made very good progress. If I was in the US, I would say that they might finish this week.
Larry and Regina
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa11?authkey=Gv1sRgCNjdy5G63tybVA&feat=directlink
Sorry for taking so long to get this together. Been 3 weeks in the making. The House Blessing went very well. We had all of the rooms blessed except the pantry and garage. We fit everyone in our double shower! That was 14 people. After the blessing we had a nice Mexican lunch. A great time was had by all. I've attached a few pictures from that. Bob, Debi, Jim, Leslie, Betsy and Giovanna stayed at our contractor's motel and Jeanne stayed with us. Weather was perfect. In all, we had 14 here including the locals. Betsy, Giovanna and Jeanne left on Sunday. Bob, Debi, Jim and Leslie left on Monday. It was 1/2 a day till the Phillips (our ex-Benicia neighbors from 2 doors down) arrived for the rest of the week. On Wednesday we tried to get to Mike's Ski Rancho. Took an hour to get to the dirt road leading to the rancho. Took another hour to get within 6 miles of the rancho. That was the point that I feared for the Explorer's survival and called a halt to the drive. The road was definitely a 4x4 road. Took another hour to get back to the paved road. Turns out to have been only 24 miles round trip on dirt. We will go back again, but this time in the truck. George and I played golf on Thursday. First time since the cervical fusion 3 1/2 years ago. Did as well as expected. The course is beautiful!!! Except for the sand traps. They placed them exactly where my drives and second shots reached. Have never played out of the sand that much ever. We capped the week with dinner at the El Nido and a short stay at Al's Back Street Cantina (no stickers yet Bob and Jim). We also learned that the Screaming Cholla is really Tequila (made from Agave planted in the distil-masters back yard and watered well). We bid George and Beverly farewell early Saturday morning. We had a great time that week. Now back to the deafening silence. I got back to fiddling with the propane refrigerator that was having a hard time keeping temperature. On Sunday I had to up to temperature setting to max just to keep the inside temperature at 40 degrees. Stopped by RV John's on Monday to seek help in getting it fixed. He didn't come to look at it till Tuesday. That blew our Tuesday re-stocking trip to El Centro. Meanwhile, our contractor finally started on the wall. It has always started the same way. At about 8:00 in the morning a very large truck will pull up and unload a lot of stuff. Then, about anywhere from an hour to 2 days later the workers will arrive. This time they showed up right after lunch. I had told Lupe that the cistern was closed to construction workers. So, after they laid their string everywhere, they started bucketing water out of the cistern to water the sand. What can you do. If I chase them off, they will not get paid. I called Sabina again and by the end of the day we had more water tanks in the front yard that you can imagine. Empty of course. The water truck did not arrive till sometime late on Tuesday. After RV Johns visit on Tuesday, he says that we might have a "blockage" in one of the refrigeration lines. We need to do a 12 hour max cycle followed by a 12 hour off cycle. Freezer is full. We again seek help from Kaaren for freezer space for a few days. We borrowed a few coolers from George to store the non-frozen stuff and prepared to cycle the frig and headed for El Centro. Got back late Wednesday to find a huge pile of sand next to the generator. Next to that was a huge pile of gravel. Mind you this was the generator that ran for 4 hours with the oil cap off. For Wednesday and Thursday we were cycling the refrigerator on and off while the workers sifted sand and gravel in the front yard and worked on the wall. We went to Val's Thursday Social and low and behold we meet a couple from Vallejo. He owns one of the largest propane refrigerator sales and service shops in Northern California. He volunteers to come by and look at the refrigerator. They come over on Friday for a visit and we get a free consult on the refrigerator. He says that the problem is either low gas pressure or butane has clogged the filter in the thermostat, Seems the Mexicans mix butane (20%) with their propane. Tells me that butane is an oily gas that can cause problems with filters. He suggests that we run the refrigerator on AC and see what happens (take propane out of the equation). If it cools correctly, then he is right, if it still has problems, RV John is right. We had a great time chatting with them while the workers continued with the wall. The workers got about 20 feet of wall up while we chatted on the back porch. After they left I called Puerto RV (John's business and found out he was in the states getting parts.) Told them what Allen said and that I was going to do the AC test that evening. That night we switched the refrigerator to AC and let it run while we ran the generator for the evening. When we were ready for bed, the refrigerator was the coldest I have seen. Score one for Allen. It is now Saturday and RV John has not called back. Workers finished early this morning after pouring the last of the footings and had left by 10:30. I finally got to take a good look at the generator. You don't want to know. It looks like it was just unearthed from some archeological dig somewhere. More on that later...... The rest of Saturday was uneventful. On Sunday we were invited to another Jenga tournament at Kaaren and Georges. This time we had 4 "stacks" going with 14 players. I went out in the first round and Regina in the second. Today RV John showed up with a part. At this point looks like that was not the problem. Will call him again tomorrow. The workers started in on the wall again and made very good progress. If I was in the US, I would say that they might finish this week.
Larry and Regina
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa11?authkey=Gv1sRgCNjdy5G63tybVA&feat=directlink
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Casa Update 17
Hi all,
Well, Phyllis left on Thursday and forgot to take her cold with her. I found it. The acid wash guys showed up after lunch. They spent the entire afternoon on the rooftop deck and back porch. They came back on Friday and re-did it all again. We spent the weekend just messing around the house. Monday brought the acid wash guys back and the contractors guys to redo the vent for the water heater. All left before lunch never to return. We went to El Centro on Tuesday to re-supply. Emailed the contractor to complain about things stopping. Wednesday was spent running to town to get everything done as the San Felipe 250 is this weekend. You do not want to be going to town for milk for the next few days. We have spent the last few days using the "ditch road" as they are putting the final layer of asphalt on the southbound lanes of Mexico 5. Looks like they will be done with the road construction well before the house blessing.
Most everything got finished on Friday. As you can expect, there is still things on the punch list. It has gotten very windy and we can hear the racers practicing the course in the background. We got in touch with the "Blind guy" and he came over. We ordered blinds for most of the windows. About 1/2 the cost of up North. As luck would have it, they will be installed the day after the house blessing. Well, after dinner we go to do the dishes. No hot water. Pilot light is out. So I re-light it. Then again, again, again. It will not stay lit. Sent an email to the contractor and we washed the dishes with some stovetop hot water.
Saturday brings the race and the wait for the plumber. Who will come first? Well, the race wins and we try to watch it from the rooftop with binoculars. Best view of the dust cloud and the chase helicopters that I have ever seen. They were at least 3-4 miles away to the west. We could hear them clearly. The drone lasted way past when the plumber finally arrived. He takes one look at the new vent pipe and throws his hands in the air. Now I stare at it. Something does not look right. Jorge gets on his cell phone and calls someone. After a minute he hands the phone to me and it is Lupe. Lupe tells me that there is a problem with the vent and they will have to come back on Monday to fix it. Jorge will try something on the roof to fix it temporarily. Jorge runs up top and I hear some banging. He then tries to get the pilot light lit. Success! we have a big flame. He leaves and we miss the race. I go back and look at the water heater again. Then I see it. The vent pipe attaches directly to the top of the water heater. There is no "air gap". In plumbing terms, that means that all of the air rushing (or being sucked) up the vent has to come from the bottom of the water heater, passing thru the pilot light and burner flame. That is why it is going out. It is real windy here today. Think it is going to be a cold water weekend if the wind does not stop blowing. I was correct.
Sunday was another lazy day. We hung the curtains for French doors. We will do another round of pictures when we get back.
Monday is the wait for the plumber. He does not show up but the Propane guy does! We have invited friends over for a traditional American St. Patty's day feast. Wind finally dies down 1/2 way thru the evening and I get the water heater working. We will have hot water for a while.
Tuesday brings a call from the contractor assuring us that the will fix everything by 5:00 on Wednesday. Well, at 1:00 here they are again. This time it is Luis' crew. He is Jorge's older brother and the best worker we have seen down here! He does the same thing as his brother did after looking at the hot water heater. He speeds away and 15 minutes later he is back with the right part. He called it a "sombrero." As he fixed the water heater, his crew acid washed the front porch and my office. They now are the best looking floors in the house! Wish we could have had them the whole time. Funny thing. Both Jorge and Luis do not speak any English. I have a better success communicating with them with hand signs and noises than with the other works that speak a little English.
Well. It is Wednesday now and we had Luis and Jorge back here today to install the water filter and weather-strip the French doors. The punch list is now down to less than 5 things and it is time to get out of here!!! The rest can wait till late April.
We are off to the Bay Area for a week and will resume our Mexican saga then. Everybody have a great Semana Santa and we will be back on March 28th.
Larry gets on Soap Box:
It is a shame that some of you have listened to the press and equate the problems in Tijuana with all of Mexico. We have never felt uncomfortable down here and I feel safer here than in San Francisco. There is a lot of trouble near the border relating to the "drug" issues. It does not spill to down were. The only "crime" that we hear of is petty theft. Common sense would protect you from that. Mexico is a cash economy where both the Dollar and Peso are readily accepted. That means that very few places accept credit cards. The Mexicans carry cash with them too and we have not heard of them being robbed. Of course there are ATMs in town if you need to get more Pesos. Problem is they sometimes run out of cash on the weekends and they have to come down from Mexicali to fill them. Not a good thing if you need the Pesos that day. So, if you plan it right and understand the environment, you can have a GREAT time down here without feeling uncomfortable. We would not have moved down here if we had believed the press coverage of Baja.
Larry gets off Soap Box.
Till later......
Larry and Regina
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Casa Update 16
Friends,
Here is what has been happening around here for the past 2 weeks. Been getting very lazy about writing once a week.
We were invited to a Jenga tournament Saturday evening. Had a great time. Attached a few pictures of that. Spent Sunday just recovering from the tournament and did a little snooping around the neighborhood. There are currently about 20 houses either up or going up. Some are real interesting designs, others just look like tract houses except for all of the concrete. A couple of them have some real design problems. One house has its garage facing the right side of the lot. They built an outbuilding between the garage doors and the street. I'm guessing that they can only get one car into the garage. Another two have the garage facing the same way only it is 1/2 underground (allowing for a slightly higher elevation). Guess where they put the Electrical transformer? Half way between the garage and the lot line. I'm betting that they can park a VW bug or ATVs in that garage. Will try to include pictures of these.
We went out on Monday and got the accent tiles for the mosaic tiles that we are putting up in the kitchen. Got the mastic and George is back so the mural should be up by this weekend. Have to order the little tiles next. Stopped by the builder and turned in out updated punch list.
Well, its Tuesday and they started. Promised to be out of here by Saturday. Don't see how they can do that but we'll see. Plaster patches everywhere from where the tape that was used for the re-stain process. Have a supervisor's meeting this afternoon.
It is Wednesday and they are still plastering and they have started to sand. We now have a real dust storm going on in here. Covered up everything with sheets and towels. We hired a local artist to paint the Casa name on the courtyard arch. He came today and finished in 4 hours. Looks beautiful! Really slowed down all of the other work as everyone had to stop and watch him for a while. They finished the sanding finally. Electricians have done everything they were supposed to do. We have the new pendant light poles up and they look marvelous. Got a call from Sabina that Alex (the carpenter) could refinish our bar stools (they got pretty banged up in the move) right away. Packed them up in the truck and headed off to his shop. Looks like Thursday will be a day of cleaning again. Plumbers coming Friday.
Thursday was a day of cleaning and staying out of the painters way. They finished!! Now for the plumbers and the laundry room and guest bathroom tub. We went to the Thursday social late even though we were supposed to be there at 4:00.
Friday started out poorly when the plumbers just walked in without knocking. They went straight to the Laundry Room and disconnected the washer and dryer. Next came the hammer drill and 6 hours of chopping out the floor from the washer drain to the outside wall (seems that when we do a load of clothes, the washer fills the guest bath tub during the rinse cycle). They finished at about 5:30 way past quitting time. We were supposed to be down at Kaaren and George's at 4:00. Had a very nice late dinner after we got back.
Saturday brought us a new concrete floor in the Laundry Room plus plastering the hole in the Guest Bath wall along with a visit by the Contractor's main supervisor for a bitch session. I was getting tired of yelling at the Customer Services rep and thought it was about time to take it out on management again. We successfully got the plumbers fired from our job and a new set of plumbers will be assigned from the contractor's personal staff. We went off to the San Felipe Home show. Very nice exhibits. We found that our kitchen was included in the granite company's display and literature. Nice feeling. Got a lot of ideas from other vendors at the show. We then had a very nice lunch at the pool and I got a haircut (85 pesos) from the haircut lady. On the way home we called George and asked if he had time to install the mural behind the stove. He said sure and we speeded home to resume cleaning. Well, an hour later 2 trucks show up; it was Kaaren, George, Long Hair Larry and Debbie. George finished the tile in about an hour but no one left till well after dark. Had a great time getting more ideas from LH Larry. He started building his home (they also have a Ramada on the lot next door) this past week. Will be made out of adobe blocks. Going to be great fun watching this one go up.
Sunday started off well till we turned on the generator to get showers and clean up the dishes. Regina shrieked that the courtyard was flooding. Ran outside to see a gusher of water! Shut off the main water valve and sat down to think. No one in Mexico works on Sunday. There are no emergency Plumbers. Electricians, etc,etc. Checked the cistern and decided we had enough water till Monday. We turned the water back on and had our showers and finished the dishes. We then finished up the dust removal as we were going to have company on Monday. We Vegged the rest of the day. I finished "Sum of all Fears."
Monday morning brought the workers back to tile the Laundry Room and Guest bath. Lupe was close behind to look at the water leak. We turned on the generator and before I could get back to the house, he said to turn it off, he knew what was wrong. He dug up a corner of the courtyard and found a pipe to nowhere. Had jagged edges as if it was cut with a shovel. The new plumber came by to cap the pipe and to check that everything drained OK. That afternoon the workers were back to grout and paint. Phyllis, our company arrived after 3:00 and we called it a day for the house and we spent the rest of the evening chatting.
Tuesday was spent waiting for the plumber to come back and hook up the washer and dryer. Not really, we gave up on him at 10:00 and headed for town. Spent the whole day touring and having fun. Invited Gordy over for dinner. Fresh Corvina in a roasted pepper relish sauce. Yummy!
Wednesday the plumber showed up at 8:00. He got the washer and dryer in place and we went out for breakfast. After that we toured the ranch looking for landscaping and exterior ideas. I stayed home and read while Regina and Phyllis went to the beach. At 5:30 we fired up the generator for the evening. First was the test of the new plumbing. Started a load of clothes. We were all standing there waiting for the rinse cycle. Cycle started and within a minute the tub was filling again. So much for all of the hammering. Regina gets the clothes out and exclaims, "They are hot. I washed them on cold-cold!" I checked the back of the washer and yes, he had reversed the hot and cold water. I fixed that myself.
Thursday brings the departure of our friend Phyllis and a day of putting together a new punch list, run into town to get more Pesos and do a little shopping.
Friday brings all of the workers back. The new plumber tries to reverse the hot and cold water lines again on the washer. He then goes outside and starts looking at the drainage problem. After about an hour and a consult with his brother Luis, they come and get me. Well, they gray water line from the Laundry Room and Guest Bathroom seems to go nowhere. We all laugh and shrug. Lupe even drives back to see it. He tells me; "Larry, we will get this fixed today." And they did. We had a 60th Birthday party to go to so we chased away the workers at 2:00. They will be back Monday. We did leave the acid wash guys there as they were working on the rooftop deck. We had a blast at the party. It was George's 60th. That is George of "Kaaren and George."
Well, it is Saturday and I have to eventually send this email. We spent the morning watching the acid wash guys do the back porch. They left at 12. We have been lounging ever since. The San Felipe 250 is next weekend. I have a shot from the roof and you can see the trail of dust from today's practice sessions. We are going to have our Valentines meal tonight. It got postponed due to all of the commotion of the past 2 weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
