Wednesday, April 14, 2010

14 April 2010


The construction workers again made a lot of progress. They began the process of making the outside walls smooth with a layer of cement on both the kitchen/dining room and the master suite. Many of the workers have been smoothing out the walls inside the master suite, pantry and the storage area. They poured the floors for the storage and pantry areas today and were preparing the master suite floor for pouring tomorrow.

The wall separating the kitchen from the dining room was put in today. There will be no doors between the two, just a pass way around the wall.

The workers also poured the cement form on the far side of the jacuzzi. In the initial pictures from the CAD program, it looked liked the jacuzzi form would continue down into the studio. But as they work, it looks like the jucuzzi will be an overhang.... I'm still trying to configure my studio; where will the shelves be; etc.


Koki will be here tomorrow. It seems like we have finally lit a fire under him. The pace of the construction in the last week has increased at warp speed. We have a crew of 15 working 6 days a week. There is still soooooo much more that needs to happen, but each day we see a lot of progress.

Doug and Sanchez rebuilt the gate this afternoon. One side of the gate was simply falling apart, while the other side was separating from the cement post. Sanchez had acquired a piece of wood and was trying to figure out how to cut it into a piece that would work for the repair. Doug and I took Sanchez into town this afternoon and found a carpenter to rip it into the size piece he wanted. We then came back to the property and Doug and Sanchez went to work. Sanchez wasn't totally convinced that Doug was a carpenter, but after they got things done, he knew. Sanchez has been worried about not having a gate in place for the last several days. A local street vendor apparently came through the gate today selling his wares, which thoroughly sent Sanchez's security sensors into hyperdrive. He is so consciencious about this property. He does not want anything untoward to happen on his watch. We hope Georg knows what a treasure Sanchez is.

We have come to a point of conflict with Georg. While he was here over the Easter week, he asked about the rebar towers over the cistern. He was concerned that if the water tanks were located there, it would impede his view. During this entire project, we have been ultra careful to ensure his view was preserved as we built our home. All of the rooftops for our house are below the level of his property. The exception is the water tower. Originally it was located more toward the center of the property which definitely would have impeded his view. We consulted with him, and moved it to the east. Now that he has seen the tower, he is objecting that it obstructs his view. As we look at it, the only place that it obstucts the view is from one side of the master bedroom. The primary view is preserved. He has asked us to look at alternatives; including locating the water tanks on his property. According to the engineers, there are two viable locations for the tower. One was in the center of his view of the ocean and harbor; and we immediately rejected it. The other location is off to the east. The only thing it blocks is Georg's view of the properties along the beach; not the beach itself. The engineers tell us there are two alternatives; one is to locate the tanks at 5.2 meters which is a minimum height to deliver adequate water pressure to the bungalows. The other alternative is to raise the tower two meters. This might allow Georg to maintain a view throught the tower, and provide us with optimum water pressure. Georg has expresssed his dissatifaction with either option. Ah... the joys of construction in a neighborhood. I'm not sure how this will be resolved, but conflicts were bound to happen.

The spinach this afternoon was very fresh in the market. It came wrapped in newspaper an tied with a strand of bark from some sort of tree or palm. Wednesday is generally market day; the day that fresh produce arrives in town. When we went to our little market today, crates of fresh produce were stacked on the sidewalk. Large sacks of potatoes, yucca, camote and rice were being off-loaded. Such a fun day.

We saw a guy carrying cases of toilet paper two meters high on his shoulder as he delivered to various markets. There is an old (60's) Malibu that comes into town loaded with produce; the truck is wide open but loaded up to the top of the car with various sacks. More sacks are stacked on top of the car. He is sooooo loaded, it is amazing he can even maneuver. One of these days, I will catch him to take a picture.

1 comment:

  1. I hope you are able to come to a solution with Georg. Good luck...our thoughts are with you. Glad things are coming together much more quickly now. These last pictures didn't show again. Hope they come back again. I love watching it "from afar". =)

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