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28 September, 2010

Trying to Whup Cabin Fever

Well, the doggies have told us they're tired of confinement. I had just come back from getting a loaf of 'Dirty Olive' bread from 'Breadman' Charles' place a little after 6:30 AM, so we could have it for breakfast. Toasted with a little Happy Cow cheese spread on a slice, yummers!

Anyway, as I got out of the car, Secret and Deohgee were busily attacking Cindy. I mean, really attacking her. She's lucky to be alive right now. The attack started just as I turned into our driveway. I handed Dianna the loaf as she came down the stairs from the house. Then I waded into the middle of the melee. Of course, there's always danger in doing that of receiving a bite, but the alternative would have been a dead dog, so you do what you have to do.

After I got Cindy away from them I had both Secret and Deohgee by the collars and got them leashed up. Then, they started going after each other. I put the bite (Cesar's way) on them both, wrestled them to the ground and increased pressure, waiting till they both relaxed and gave in. At this stage, I was going to chain them up together, but realized that would have be somewhat counter-productive. So, I sternly told them they were bad dogs and let them loose.

By this time everyone has calmed down and the fight was over. I was breathing like a mad bull and was pumped full of adrenalin, so it took me a while to relax after that. We humans don't seem to be able to relax nearly as fast as do dogs.

But, what better way to relax than to have a hot cup of Belizean coffee (I think Gallon Jug coffee with a spoonful of cinnamon in the grounds is way fine) and the aforementioned slice of bread.

After breakfast and getting ourselves calmed down, it was time to shower and see what we were going to do for the day.

Today was supposed to be the day we got our new eyeglasses. I checked with Doug and Twyla to see if they wanted to go. No. Twyla was out and Doug was playing house guard, so we took off by ourselves to the hospital and the Methodist Eye Clinic.

We walked into the clinic, which had about three people sitting there and no one staffing the desk. Not a good sign. We waited about 15-20 minutes (see, we've adjusted well) we decided to call the number Elia had given us. She had been at the desk when we ordered the glasses. Whoever answered, said yes, we could get our glasses today. So, we waited some more.

Other folks came in, waited a while and left. One girl asked us if we had talked to anyone working there. 'Uh, not yet,' was our response. So, this time Dianna called the number again and talked to the same girl. She had more information. Elia was sick today, and besides our glasses weren't ready. The recent bad weather (Karl with a K and Matthew) had hampered eyeglass production, so they wouldn't be ready till next Tuesday. Well, that was nice and relaxing. Good thing we still had a couple of other items on our shopping list.

We left from clinic to go to Cinty's so Dianna could buy about 20 yards of fabric and about 30 yards of ribbon for trim for curtains in the guesthouse. We took all that to Alex the tailor, who added everything up and and had a good laugh as he said that we were way short on the ribbon, and it was too narrow for what Dianna wanted to do. So back to Cinty's. I remembered I had my camera just in time to snap Dianna shopping in Corozal's premier fabric store.

Here, she's looking for some 3/8ths- to 1/2-inch wide blue ribbon. Note the well organized and spacious shelves.
Shopping for Ribbon At Cinty's
Actually, to us, the place (and there's three locations (Cinty's 1 - the original, run by Phillip Batty, Jr. - Junior to everyone, Cinty's 2, the middle one on the corner, run by one of his sisters, and Cinty's 3, around the corner and a couple doors up the block, run by Junior's younger brother) looks totally disorganized, with years of stuff piled haphazardly on top of other stuff. All three stores use the same stocking system.
I Think That's It Up There
A while back I was at Cinty's 1, Junior was very vexed, as they say. It seems the girls who work there (all relations of his) had started to clean and reorganize the store. He couldn't find anything and had just told them to knock off the reorganization.

If you come to Corozal for a visit, you owe it to yourself to go shopping at Cinty's 1, 2, and 3. Don't miss any of them. It's like no other place you've ever shopped at. Guaranteed!

Anyway, Dianna got her fabric and the 70 yards of blue ribbon and we got it delivered to Alex.
I Only Need 70 Yards
Alex, who I've written about before, is a slight built Hindu, who's shop is barely a cupboard. He has two ancient (but powerful) sewing machines and he has an assistant. He can sew virtually anything and is very good and very affordable. All the shorts I have now are made by him as all my store-bought ones wore out long ago. All my shirts (other than tshirts) are also made by him, some with another shirt to use as a pattern, some made from scratch with no pattern. Everything fits great.

It's now evening. Rain is coming down again. I may have to take Cindy (not to be confused with Cinty's) to Dr. Sheila. She's limping pretty good. The rain is due to Tropical Depression 16, soon I'm sure, to be named Tropical Storm Nicole, heading for Cuba and south Florida. I hope it lets up this evening sometime. I just have to take the dogs for walkies. I'd rather not walk through a few inches of mud at the start to do it.

26 September, 2010

Not Happy Campers

Our dogs are not taking this rain stuff in stride. They're feeling very put out because they've been deprived of their daily walkies for about three days now. They just don't understand that I don't want to slog through mud and puddles and a small creek crossing our road.
The Girls - Stir-crazy
The rain, although not heavy for long, is continuing off and on all day and night. It does seem to be slacking off now, which is good. But even if it stopped, it's still going to take a couple of days for the road to settle down for walkies.

Not only that, but I've been an even crueler human by not taking them for rides in the Isuzu during this period of inactivity. Have you ever seen the inside of a car when three dogs with muddy feet get inside? I rest my case.

Here's a shot I forgot to take the other day when I was downtown. I was glad today was Sunday, so I still had a chance to capture this. It's the Corozal Post Office, boarded up and ready for a hurricane.
Post Office Boarded Up
The board in the middle of the shot is where our PO box is located, so it's nice to see they're concerned about the mail. I'll probably have to drop in to the office tomorrow to inquire if there's any mail for my box.

Well, so far today, it's only drizzled a tiny bit. With luck, we'll go for walkies in the morning. Did I ever tell you about the schedule I cranked up for their walks? This is a hoot. Two get to walk and one stays home, watching over the place.

So, for example,
Day one: Cindy and Secret walk, Deohgee stays home.
Day two: Cindy and Deohgee walk, Secret stays home.
Day three: Deohgee and Secret walk, Cindy stays home, and so on.
This is something that, on the face of it, seems really simple, but in practice, becomes very complicated. The girls are no help at all. They constantly forget who's turn it is to walk. So do I. I even had to make a chart to try and keep things straight. Then we have days like this with inactivity. Everyone forgets who's turn it is to walk. So, if we do go tomorrow, whoever has to stay home is gonna be really bummed.

24 September, 2010

Looks Like We Missed One

Just in time. It looks like Matthew kept going straight instead of curving up into Belize.
Matthew - Looking Good 
(Thanks to NOAA - National Hurricane Center)
I'm sure we'll still get a fair amount of rain out of this. That's ok. We don't mind that. It's just the high winds and other stuff we can do without.

Our back yard should be in much better shape pretty soon for the coming rain. Workers right now are changing out, with chisels and hammers, our one-inch drain pipes that went through the fence to two-inch drains. This should definitely move the water out of the yard where before it got to be four to six inches as it went through the smaller pipes.

This should also help stabilize the marl, so it's not as likely to create more cave-ins. We'll see how that all goes.

Anyway, I thought you'd like to know, things are looking better... for now.

Matthew - Lucky Thirteen?

Not that I'm particularly religious, in fact, far from it, but it is curious that in the Gospel of Matthew, he talks about flooding other disasters and the need for preparedness. Ok, maybe he's not necessarily talking about a tropical storm or hurricane, but it's certainly appropriate for today anyway.
4:00 AM Friday, Mathew's Projected Track
Also, not being overly superstitious, Matthew is the thirteenth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.  Each time I look at the updated projected track from NOAA's National Hurricane Center, it looks a smidge more favorable for us. I think we're still going to get a soaking out of the whole thing.

So, taking Matthew's words on preparedness to heart, and the fact that preparedness was my game for many years, we spent most of yesterday, doing just that - getting prepared. We moved the bed and futon we had in storage downstairs in the house over to the guesthouse.
Comfy Looking in the Bedroom
Futon Makes A Very Comfy Couch
We've moved bottles of water in, we have our solar-powered radio, lantern, flashlights, books, computers, important papers and records, supplies, kitty and dog stuff, and a whole bunch of other stuff in the guesthouse as well. In short, following our Hurricane Preparedness Checklist.

We're looking at this as, more or less, a test of our preparedness process. So, after the fact, we'll let you know how we did.

If Matthew makes it to hurricane strength, I'll more than likely take down the dishes. If that occurs, I won't be making any more posts till I restore them after the storm. We'll see.

We've had rain off and on throughout the night. I just heard a car go by and the road sounds pretty sloppy, so walkies for the dogs is doubtful today. Which means we can get right to it and continue with preparations.

21 September, 2010

I'm Missing the Parade

As I'm sitting here writing the Independence Day parade in Corozal is going on. I can hear the cacophony of drum teams, sirens, horns, etc. Since we were down there the past couple of years, we figured, staying close to the cool beer and the warm pool take precedence. We will however, offer a heartfelt toast to Belize's 29th year of independence!

So, the big holes in the back yard are now a thing of the past (till the next huge rains anyway).
Enrique Putting Rocks Into Smaller Hole
And Putting Rocks into the Larger Hole
This is pretty much what we had after the guys dug the muck out of the holes, down to firm rock anyway. This next photo shows the small hole after they've packed it full of rocks.
Smaller Hole Filled In
And finally, after they've covered it with a good layer of marl. Almost as good as new. Enrique even re-planted the little palm.
Small Hole All Done
Big One's All Done Too
You're probably wondering what I'm going to do with all the left-over marl? Good question. I'm glad you asked that. It's all going to the back side of the guesthouse, to cover the horizontal pipes of the roof drain pipes, to stabilize them so they don't get blown about in a strong wind.

Well, that's it for today. Time for a peanut butter and dill-pickle sandwich, then... Pool Time!

Happy twenty-ninth birthday, Belize!

19 September, 2010

Catching Up On the Weekend

Well, let's see, where are we? Oh, we're right here. Even though Karl (with a 'K') didn't do significant damage, I've noticed several trees down around town. Right here at home, one of our coconut palms has developed a noticeable lean.

In addition to the lean, it's the cave-ins. I told you about those on the last posting. Here's an update.
Working On the Smaller Cave-in
We have two major ones inside the back yard and one right at the rear corner (north) part of the bulkhead deck. The guys spent a good part of Saturday digging them out. Monday, they'll pack them with rock, pound 'em into submission, cover them with marl, and we hope that's all that shows up.
Work on the Larger One
At one time, these cave-ins would have terrified me. Now it's just a part of living by the sea. It's gonna happen. Sure, I would rather they happen to someone else, but it's no real big deal.

In addition to filling cave-ins, the guys were also removing form materials from around our bulkhead deck.
Removing Forms and Sticks
I was struck by the view of the bulkhead decking from the pool deck, so that's why I took the next picture.
Boat Slip Deck From the Pool Deck
Sunday's are supposed to be quiet and sleepy. Not here. We had several visitors. Some of them were our Godson, Isaiel, his wife, Amarily, and their son, Joshua.

Isaiel had come in part to install the last of the burglar bars on the guesthouse for us. These were destined to go over the A/C units.

Here he's giving them a final wipe-down prior to installing them over the outside part of the A/C unit.
Final Wipe Down Prior To Installation
And then installing them went fast. Well, it did for me anyway. All I had to do was hold the ladder.
Final Bit of Installation
The other thing Isaiel had come for was to show us the new stacking table he had made a Dianna's request. We have a set of plain ones that he measured and used as a template.

What he produced in light-years better! These three tables are simply gorgeous. He fabricated the metal part of the table, hired a Mennonite carver to carve out the three tops, and then, he also added a 3/16" plate glass top for each table.
Isaiel's Gorgeous Stacking Tables
We're trying to convince him to display these at Art in the Park. We think they'd be a hit. They're beautiful, utilitarian, and, they don't take up much room when you're not using them.
Isaiel Proudly Showing His Tables
These are going to be a great addition to the furnishings in our guesthouse. We love them!

16 September, 2010

Perils of Coastal Living

Or, sometimes you'd really rather not know...

Today is a good example. We were rather smug yesterday thinking that the only damage we'd gotten was to the oleander tree growing in our parking area.
Cody Repairing Oleander Tree
I knew it wasn't going to be a good day when, as I was taking a shower, Dianna told me that the workers downstairs wanted to show me something. I asked her to go ahead and sub for me till I finished. When she was gone a long time, I surmised that it probably wasn't going to be good.

What I secretly was hoping was that they had found a stairway leading down to a waterproof subterranean area that turned out to be the never-before-seen Mayan control room to be used to focus all the Mayan temple energies to save the earth in 2012. Not sure if that would be a good or bad thing to have that on your property. But, that wasn't what they had found.

What they had found was several holes in the earth, that naturally led down, but of the cave-in or sink-hole variety.
Backyard Cave-in
These all were right in the back yard by fence, and a result of problems we had that necessitated the bulkhead installation in the first place.
Close-up View
These are all connected by the small underground stream emptying into the canal.
Little Palm Has To Be Moved
It seems to start up near the pumphouse for the pool. Anyway, what we're going to do, is have John's guys who are already here working on the bulkhead, just continue on for a day or so, digging these cave-ins out, filling them with rocks and topping with marl. This is pretty much what everyone who lives on a waterfront area, whether it's up in Consejo, Finca Solana, or here on the south end, has to do sooner or later. This is our third year and each year, we've had holes to fill. Some, I've filled (really Cody) three and four times. Small ones around the palapa posts, but still, they need filling.

Now, even with our nice new pour on the bulkhead deck, we found a new cave-in right at the corner of the fence and the deck. So, the same process will be followed here, dig it out as necessary, pack it with rocks and cover it with marl.
Some Worse Than Others
Here's the main hole in the yard, after the guys attacked it with a shovel. Unfortunately, the rocks won't be delivered till tomorrow - the road to the gravel pit is still too soft for the trucks to make the journey.
After A Little Shovel Work
While all this was going on, work on the bulkhead deck was proceeding along too. The foto below shows the finish coat being applied to the deck. It's not the way we would do it up north, but, hey, the job gets done.
 Brushing On the Finish Coat
In fact, it happens everywhere. Here's a cave-in we found on the road right in front of our place yesterday. After being hit by a couple of vehicles, it's now protected by a large stick topped with a Monster soft drink can.
Road Cave-In
I called Corozal Department of Works (Public Works) and reported the cave-in in the road. The guy I talked to said they'd be by to take a look.
Surprisingly, about an hour later, when I was just getting ready to head into town to take care of some errands, here they showed up and fixed the problem by tossing a bunch of stones into it and bashing them with a sledge hammer. they're doing essentially what we'll be doing in the back yard.
Corozal Public Works Working
Well, that's it for now. It's time for lunch. Dianna's been out in the garden all morning helping Cody prune and gossiping chatting. I promised to fix lunch. Probably going to be a nice cool tuna salad. Yummers!

15 September, 2010

Got 'Er Done

Stealing a line from Larry the Cable Guy, a noted high-brow comedian, just seemed appropriate for today's effort.

Here we were, in the midst of TS Karl (that's Karl with a 'K'), with the wind which kept picking up, and the rain, which also was increasing its tempo, and here were the guys mixing cement and hauling the resultant concrete around to the canal area to fill in the deck for our bulkhead. I thought they were crazy, but what did I know. Our half is finished!

Here's the view of the completed pour from our fence looking to the canal.
The Pour Is Done
Another view looking around the bend and up the canal
The Big Picture
This one shows how the boat slip area looks after the pour.
The Boat Slip Area
This one, last of the pour shots, gives you a good idea of the slope. It looks steep in the photo, but when you're on it, you forget that it's sloped. Of course, when it ices up, it'll be a different story...
Showing the Slope
A few days ago, we had a conversation with a friend of ours regarding the need to fill the vacant lots. I took a couple of photos that are pretty self-explanatory.
Lots Beside US
Yes, you do need to fill, and serious consideration needs to be made to drain the property away from the road to the canal. That's what we did and it works well.
Looking Toward the Canal
Ok. That's the end of things till tomorrow. Oh, yes. I forgot to mention effects of K for Karl - we lost current for about 2.5 hours (not unusual in itself), we lost a branch off a small tree in the parking area, and we had an old deck umbrella blow from under the palapa into a planter bed. Short version: no problemo.

Workers will be back tomorrow, starting on Elsie's half of the project. Till then...

Whistle While You Work

I was all settled in, listening to the wind whipping around and the pitter-patter of rain falling on the zinc roof, when Dianna called to me, "Workers are here".

What? That can't be. They're not that crazy, or are they?
Just Workin' In the Rain...
Ah, what could be better than pouring a slab in the middle of a Tropical Storm? Not much, apparently. At least, according to our workers - "It beats doing it in the hot sun". I'll have to give them that, but I still think they're crazy.
Dumping A Loaded Barrow
They had to lay a boardwalk so the loaded wheelbarrows didn't get bogged down in the marl.
Smoothing Out the First Loads
Here's the first of the pour being smoothed out. Just a few more loads to go. Starting at around 7:30 AM, they'll more than likely be done before noon.

I just had to take a break for a second... One of the workers called to me. My Isuzu was parked right on the water hose they were using to fill the barrels for mixing. They had filled the barrels last evening to get ready for today and this was the first they had to turn the water on to refill. Oops. So, I'm sitting here dripping wet having just got back in from moving the vehicle out of the way.
Always A Clown
It's moving right along. Already the stack of bags is significantly lower than it was yesterday. I suppose I'll have to brave the elements in a bit to go out and take a few more fotos of the fun and games. At least it's a warm rain.

That's Karl With a 'K'

Yesterday morning we drove up to Santa Rita hill, beside the Corozal Hospital to visit the Methodist Eye Clinic, which is open on Tuesday mornings.
The Eye Clinic
We met Doug and Twyla there. Twyla was doing the same thing. Eventually, we all got in to see the technician, who from my perspective, gave a very competent exam. My right eye is really screwed up. I suffer from astigmatism, and have a developing cataract and some other stuff that causes straight lines to look wavy. An interesting thing to go through when you're trying to measure lumber and cut straight lines.

The left eye is apparently A-OK. The technician told me I need to schedule annual exams to keep track of the cataract and the wrinkling. Eventually, I'll need an operation for the cataract. I'm not sure there's anything that can be done for the wrinkling. Getting old is such fun...

While waiting at the clinic, I called Blue PC, a reliable local Internet Cafe and computer repair shop located right next to Central Park. I wanted to get his prognosis for my 2-year old laptop. Well, it looks like the motherboard is toast, so I'll begin shopping for a new laptop. Fortunately, I've already found someone to bring it down for me, so other than the frustration of moving everything (yes, I've actually been doing daily backups!) and installing software, it'll be a short time and I'll be back to normal. For this, I'm using my old, old Toshiba that I converted to Ubuntu Linux as an experiment and as a play toy. It works pretty good. It just doesn't have some of the software I've come to rely on for fotos, etc. But, I must say, since I've been forced to use the Linux machine, it's not half-bad as an OS.

Looks like we stand a chance of getting at least mildly whacked. Karl, a brand new tropical storm, grew up from an undefined group of showers and clouds that had been passing slowly by Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, etc.

Just yesterday morning, it was still looking kind of iffy - whether it was going to do anything or not. Well, POOF!, there it was - a tropical storm.
TS Karl - Courtesy NOAA National Hurricane Center
If it holds to this track, we might just get brushed. Hopefully, it won't go POOF!, it's a hurricane. We'll keep paying attention.

Actually,it was a little past 1:00 PM and we had just gotten to the Purple Toucan for the monthly Friendship Luncheon. I was talking to Charles and he informed me it was now TS Karl. Just before we left home to head there, I had checked its status on the Internet. How fast things change.

Of course, by the time we got back home, the guys working on the bulkhead had heard the news about Karl as well and were busy at work trying to get it ready to pour in the morning (assuming there's no rain at that time).

By way of a recap of the day, here's some shots I took that provide a pretty good recap of the day. The guys put in an almost 12-hour day, trying to get everything ready for this morning - hopefully before the rains from Karl arrive (right now, it's 1:47 AM and the rain has started, so I'm not sure if the pour will take place today or not).
Here's the Forms, Looking Good
This one shows the form laid up outside of the bulkhead itself, so that when poured, it becomes an integrated unit (I hope).
Forming A Nice Rounded Corner
Bracing On Outside of the Forms
This is a nice shot, showing the sticks used to brace the form as it hangs over the edge of the bulkhead.
Laying Rebar
The guys worked hard trying to get this all done for a projected pour for this morning. One of the last steps was placing and tying the rebar.
This Bit's All Ready For the Pour
Working Their Way Into the Corner
Boring Holes to Anchor Rebar
The rebar is all anchored into the fence footing, giving it an additional brace to hopefully keep it from slipping in the future.
Looking Straight Down On Anchored Rebar
This is an odd shot. You're looking straight down the fence to the rebar anchored in the footing - kind of disorienting.
Laying and Tying Rebar
I think it's safe to say that morning walkies is out of the question. By the time 5:45 (our start time) rolls around, the road will be a quagmire. Unless I miss my guess, I think the pour is going to be delayed a day or two as well. Oh, well. At least it's ready for the next step.