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.

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

Casa Update 13

Well, It has been a long 2 weeks. Been so busy that I have not been keeping everyone up to date. We finally got the BBQ done and pictures are attached. We ordered a custom made sofa and loveseat almost 3 weeks ago. We had pretty much full reign on what it looks like so if you don't like it don't say anything.

We have settled into a routine of 1 hour of power in the morning and 4-5 hours at night. Seems to work. Would like more but that is all the propane we can afford right now. Regina has been decorating up a storm as I can see from her dust trail ;-) We have the dining room done, bedroom all done except one picture. Got all of the pictures up in the hallway. It is really starting to look like our casa!!

Had a confrontation with HOA on the re-survey they had agreed to do (for free) as the septic tank guys buried a marker with their tank. Forwarded them an email from last year agreeing to do it and they put in our lost lot markers 2 days later. Got the electrical meter box installed the next day. Being polite with people (or being an area supervisor) must work. Been promised the ranch generator early next week. Not coming too soon as our contractor's generator is getting tired. Surprised it has lasted this long.

Need to explain one thing about our subdivision. It has one main long road (actually 2 interleaving) with cul-de-sacs on each side. After block 14, all even blocks are on the left and odd on the right. So when I say that they have been digging power up to block 27, I'm saying that it is only 4 blocks away. We can see the backhoe from the back yard!! They dropped off all of the main electrical vaults for the odd blocks this week and have sprayed a very nice white line all the way up the road.

Another thing. Seems that the Mexican workers like to leave something behind when they leave. Usually, it involves rocks. Picture attached.

Paid our property taxes last week. Online no less. Mexicali government is really getting high tech. Came to a whopping $185 for 2008. BTW, they only tax the land, not what is on it. Way cool!

We had our first full blown meeting with our contractor this week. Had the CS rep, the main supervisor and Abraham himself tour the casa. He was not pleased with what he saw. We are waiting for his response to the major items that we detailed. When we get it I will fill you in on what we asked for.

Well, This morning we went to the swap meet and ordered a 24x24 tile mural for behind the stove. It is a Tuscan scene taken (borrowed?) from a tile that Regina found up in Napa. It will be ready next week. Will take a picture of it then as the tile guy we hired to put it up will be up in the States for the next 2 weeks. When we got back home we got a call from Victor (the sofa guy) that our sofa and loveseat were done (stapling heard in the background). Regina took the truck and headed (mild term) for town leaving me to wait for the propane guy. She got back after noon with them lashed to the back. Have a picture of that too. We got them into the house, after an aborted attempt thru the front door, via the patio French doors. We have them close to where they will reside, we think, but always subject to change. Photos also attached.

Well, it is now Sunday morning and this letter still sits here. We waited all day yesterday for the propane guy. Never came. Now we have 1 day of propane to last 2 days. As most of you know, LA got a drenching last night. Well, so did we! Sort of. We had a gentle rain that started right at dark and lasted till after we went to bed. This was the first rain for us in the casa. Soothing sound. Didn't figure that you would be able to hear the rain hit the concrete roof but you can and is sounded great. Cloudy this morning so we can't look for leaks. Maybe spotted one in the hallway but it is too dark to see for sure. Be skimping on power today so I have broken out the Battery backup unit. Gives us about 10 hours of music from the boom box or about 4 hours of internet connection. Glad the laptops take only about 2 hours to charge up.

Well, we did find time and our monster flashlight to find 2 leaks and a possible 2 more. Not bad, I even figured out where the worst was coming from and about 2 Gal of concrete will fix that (remember that water runs downhill?).

I have included a picture of our nearest neighbors also. They live about 15 feet off the back porch. Think they will be moving out before it gets hot.

As I think you can tell it is now Monday. We had 2 propane guys show up today. The one who was supposed to be here Saturday and the one I signed up for today.

I have the monthly supervisor's meeting to go to tomorrow (Yes this email will be sent today) and we are planning a trip to the States on Wednesday. Our must have list is getting really long.

TTFN,

Larry and Regina


P.S. Regina's camera will take QuickTime movies. When we get that figured out, we will give everybody a quick ;-) casa tour.

P.P.S. I have just finished my first book in Baja!! Walter Cronkite's autobiography. Very good reading. I never knew how much stuff he did in his lifetime.

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa8?authkey=Gv1sRgCM3moLK5rJWfOA&feat=directlink

Casa Update 12

All,

Well, we got the tile and they did not come! We submitted another punch list and they did not come. Then, on Friday, did they come! plumbers, electricians, and the laborers to work on the BBQ. Electricians drilled 2 new holes for additional undercounter lights, said they were going to lunch and never returned. Plumbers fixed the minor stuff and left, leaving the guestroom bath shower still leaking. Our laborers kept plunking away at the BBQ. Have 3 shots of their progress. We cleaned out the garage yesterday. Got all of the boxes that have to be opened, opened. All the rest are neatly stuffed against the walls. Went out for breakfast today. Great breakfast with coffee and Regina had fresh OJ and it came to 125 pesos. Nice. Regina's friend Margaret came by this afternoon and they attacked the dining room. I have the Celtic Cross to hang along with Regina's Grandmothers quilt and that room will be done. Pictures included. Tomorrow we head down to pay for our utility hookup (even though they are no way close) to assure us a place on the list (and get a ranch provided generator). My best birthday present was to see someone dropping off the main electrical underground vaults along our main road. They went from block 16 to block 28. We are block 35, progress! After the carpenter fixes the mess that the electrician made putting in the lights, I will take a shot of the kitchen. We broke out the short sleeve shirts for the past 2 days, supposed to get colder tomorrow. Was nice while it lasted....

Larry and Regina

p.s.

Failed the HOA final inspection with 2 dings, Debris in the common area and no rear wall, duh they lost our lot markers installing the septic tank and we can't put in the rear wall until they come out and survey again. Viva Mexico!


Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa7?authkey=Gv1sRgCPmovOubtb-tvgE&feat=directlink

Casa Update 11

Well, you are probably wondering how we are doing. It has been 2 weeks without pictures. Well, we have slowed down to a crawl. No changes on the house so no pictures are necessary. A lot of boxes have been broken down and moved to the garage. We had no workers here during the holidays except for the laborers working on the BBQ. They started the Thursday after Christmas. We just got the tile today so I expect that they will be back tomorrow. We have our HOA inspection tomorrow to confirm we built to plans. If that goes well, we can apply for our real generator with the developer. The current monster eats 3 liters of propane an hour at 5 Pesos per liter. It is up to you to do the math. I finally broke down today and went searching for a can of WD40. All of the doors have started to squeak terribly (dust?). Walking around at night had become unbearable. Found a can and all is good now. The propane refrigerator has become a life saver, as a last minute thought. Looks like about a 15-18 cu foot model but we have it cram packed with perishables. We keep the stuff that needs to be cool in the real frig that stays on only about 6 hours a day. Watching are the OSU-LSU debacle in HD though. Love technology. We have Satellite Internet and TV when we have power. Otherwise I have started reading again!! Still about 20 years behind in reading, but starting to catch up slowly. If they show up tomorrow to tile the BBQ, we will have pictures this weekend.

Love to all!

Larry and Regina

Casa Update 10

All,

Well, We are finally in and have spent the whole week with Leslie in the Casa. A lot of rough edges and a new experience managing a propane generator that really loves propane. We only have internet when the generator is running but that is a lot better than driving 5 miles to get email. Here are a few pictures of Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

They started working on the BBQ on Wednesday. Pictures of that in the next email. Pictures do not do the Casa justice. You have to be here to see it. We know that there is a lot left to do and we are not exactly resolved to the Manana attitude so we are in for more frustration. If you want to experience the Mexican experience, get the book "Gringos in Paradise", it is well worth the read!!

More later,


Larry and Regina

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa6?authkey=Gv1sRgCOqJvKvV6cnI0gE&feat=directlink