Casa Update 15

All,


Well all is settling down after the week of waiting. With the Gas generator, we are free from the waits. We are in control and can go and get fuel any time we want (the new Pemex is open 24/7 :-)) Spent the weekend putting up more pictures and FINALLY I got all of the drawers and cabinets lined. It has also finally warmed up and I am starting this letter on the back porch in a short sleeve shirt for the first time in 6 weeks. While on the back porch Friday morning, we watched a Coyote trek up the next street down the hill from us. We had Kaaren and George over last night. Everyone was on the back porch when I went to start the generator. Apparently, there was another Coyote hunting nearby. That generator scared the hell out of him and he comes blasting thru the next lot. Great view for everyone, boy they can run fast. Guess that is why we have not seen a lot of rabbits.

On Sunday Regina emailed Sabina enquiring as to what was going on. Monday AM she replied that Abraham was in Mexicali and she couldn't set up a meeting till Tuesday. Well, they arrived in mass again Tuesday morning. They fixed the dining room window that was sticking and started to tape and paper all of the wood off. That continued today. We expect the cabinet maker will show up Thursday to re-stain all of the wood. After that we hope will be the acid wash of all the tile. The only remaining major issue would be the leaking guest bathroom tub faucet.

Thru this last wait I read Carl Segan's "Contact". Much better than the movie! On to Dan Brown's "Deception Point." After this I will have read all of his books.

Well, the carpenter showed up on Friday. Worked all day and ran out of stain and did not finish reworking the French doors. On Monday they were back to finish up with the doors and on Tuesday they finished the stain and doors. They are beautiful and hand made. They do their own rendition of double pane down here. It is literally double pane. What they failed to do was to clean the glass and seal the openings. That let dust in between the panes. Looked like a great door for the front of a haunted house. All better now. Each door had 20 panes of glass, so they removed 10 (X4) and cleaned, then replaced. Finished "Deception Point" during all of this. Now onto "The Sum of All Fears."

We went on our normal shopping trip to the US on Wednesday. Got back after dark. Fired up the generator got ready for a quick dinner as we were tired. Just as we were getting ready to sit down and eat, the generator quit. Bummer. Got the flashlight and headed out. What a mess! There was oil all over the place. The Oil cap was missing. I thought that it must have rattled off and we searched everywhere. Could not find it. So we put almost a quart of oil in and I found a rag to stuff into the oil cap hole. Generator fired right up and we quickly ate and cleaned up. Sometime during the night it came to me. We were talking to Gordy the day before and he had a similar problem (no oil but an OK oil cap) the day before. He said that they would be out to change his oil on Wednesday. What if they did our oil that day also and forgot to put the cap back on. So when we got up, I went out and looked on top of the electrical kiosk and low and behold there was the oil cap. Had been there all of the time and if we would have gotten home in the daylight, it would have been obvious. Called the ranch and they sent someone by to clean up the mess. They did not speak much English but pointing to the cap on top of the kiosk was about all that was needed. Mexicans laugh the same as we do.

We had the Granite guy in Thursday to touch up some nicks. I truly believe that we now have the best granite installation in all of Baja. Caught the whole lunar eclipse that night. Was clear as can be. Weather is warming and we have not needed any heat in a few weeks.

We took Friday off and just got out of here. Went down to Puertocitos for a day trip. It is about 90KM south to the end of the "paved" portion of Highway 5. Be careful of the word "paved" in Mexico. A nicely graded dirt road can be sometimes 1000% better and a "paved" road. Wonderful trip. All of the desert wildflowers were in bloom along the road and the Ocotillo were greening up. Had lunch at a small restaurant near KM35. Regina had the best Enchiladas in a fantastic Mole sauce that we have ever had (I got to try some).

Well, that has been the last 2 weeks in Baja. Looking at a beautiful sunset right now. The clouds are on fire! The reds, oranges and pinks are unbelievable.

More later,

Larry and Regina


P.S. I'm starting (trying) to write a little every day. So, there might be a lot of Thursdays mentioned above ;-)

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa10?authkey=Gv1sRgCJGY6sbVj8W7eA&feat=directlink

Casa Update 14

All,

It has been another interesting week. We got the ranch generator on Wednesday while we were in El Centro. It was sitting next to the old one when we got back. Called our contractor and let them know. They wanted to come the next day and get theirs. I told them that I still had 3 days of propane left and would like to use it. They said OK and would come on Saturday. Well, they only work ½ day on Saturday so at 11:50 I called to see when they are coming. They said Monday. I told them that we did not have enough propane to last till Monday. So, the compromise was to send the electricians to hook up the new generator and they would get the old one on Monday. Well, at about 12:30 the electricians show up. Very long story, but with the help of an electrical engineer (me) they got it hooked up. We went on gasoline that night.

We have been invited to a long standing Thursday night social. It rotates between hosts weekly. We have been to two so far, great group. It does not substitute for our old Friday night Happy Hours but it will do.

We had Margaret and Danny up to see our progress later that day. While we were showing off the house, a Caballero rode up to the front of the house. I saw him first and went out to see what was up. He was just sitting there on his horse looking at the house. He spoke no English. Thank God Danny did. They hit it right off and come to find out; he was taking the horse to get a new shoe and could not find his friend. Turns out that he owns Mike’s Sky Rancho (look it up on the internet). We (Danny) chatted for a while I loaned him my cell phone to call his friend and Regina gave him a bottle of water and he was off.

Sunday was supposed to be a Super Bowl party but our host ended up not feeling well so we planned on just watching the last ½ at home. Got an unexpected visit from another 2 friends that we met and 2 hours later, we ended up watching the last ¼. Well worth it though.

Well. We were running out of both water and house propane and planned on getting it all on Monday. Went down and signed up for both Monday morning. Well, the water guy calls back and says he cannot come till Tuesday and we agree on that. At the end of the day we still had no propane. Regina went out to get the mail and finds out that it is a national holiday. So, we honker down on Tuesday and wait for water and propane. At this time propane tank is down to 15%. Water guy shows up at 9:30, the propane guy never shows up. Soooo, I go down on Wednesday and sign up again. Finally at 4:00 he shows up while the ranch guys are changing the oil in the generator. There is never a dull moment in Baja.

One thing that needs mentioning again is that our address for packages will not let us know when one arrives. We have to know that you have sent us something. A Christmas package sat there till 17 January and if I had not seen the name on it, it would still be sitting there. Address it to "Lawrence Williams&YET Mail" only.

I have enclosed a few pictures from the past week. We are going to be checking out accommodations for the up coming House Blessing. There are at least 2 places that we will recommend on this side of town, and that’s where you will want to be. It could be that there will be left over spring breakers, but we don’t think any of the younger folk will want to stay this far north. We will see what is available and try to hold some rooms. Margaret told me today (she owns a condo at La Vantana Del Mar) that she will offer her 2 guest bedrooms for the upcoming event. As soon as you all know what your plans are let us know ASAP. Things are getting busy here in this little town this spring, and we don’t want anybody who wants to come down to see us not to be disappointed because there is not a place to stay. I will remind Rev Jeanne next week to put the announcement in the Epistle, and the up coming service sheets. We want as many of our friends to come as can, but we need to know how many very soon.

Manana,

Larry and Regina

P.S. We need a plumbing opinion and have a picture of our plumbing under the kitchen sinks. If you know plumbing or know some who does, I will send you the picture separately if you let me know.

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa9?authkey=Gv1sRgCO7s5-G7vOPY7wE&feat=directlink