24 August 2010

I woke up at dawn and laid in bed watching the sunrise. It was truly beautiful and my vantage point was perfect. I then rolled over to sleep a bit more, but the Chairman was not having any of it. She figured since I'd awakened, it was time to play. She was wild and so I put her outside; then she proceeded to meow ceaselessly. I brought her back in, played a little bit and then tucked her under the covers and she settled in enough for me to get a little bit more sleep.

Koki arrived early in the morning. We spent about an hour going over all the work that still needed to be finished. We then went into town to do the daily shopping and pick up some items from the hardware store.

I fixed a shrimp chowder for lunch, which Koki and I enjoyed along with a few beers. We sat at the dining room table for a couple of hours talking (all in Spanish!). I felt much better after talking with Koki about how everything was going to get done in the next two weeks. There will be three workers here all week. The glass guys are here and are working on putting in the screens. The carpenter with the stairs will be here either Friday or Saturday. Once the stairs are installed, the glass guys can finish putting in their railings. Next week, there will only be one worker here, and he will finish up whatever needs to be done and to make all the final repairs. China has been with us from the beginning, so it is only fitting that he is here to the very end.
The glass guys did install the glass doors at pool level into the outside bathroom and storage room. Some kind of decal will be put over the glass on these doors so they are opaque. Seems to me it would have been better to use opaque glass in the first place, but...that's not how it is done here.

Chemo and his assistants continued work on the pool deck today. It looks so much better now that the gaps between each board is a 1/4". I didn't think it would make that much of a difference but it truly is a huge improvement. He will also redo the deck in the master bathroom. I've already dropped several items down between the gaps, so I'm looking forward to the fix. He will also correct errors in the roof line, gaps between the boards at the apex of the roof in the front and back, and plug the gaps at the corners.

The BBQ pit is truly going to be a BBQ area. It is a large round circle sunk into the ground with seating around the circumference. The is one section that will have a sink, a BBQ grill and a countertop. The center floor will be tiled with
the same tile as all of the outside terraces.

The entry way is looking really good as well. The wall you see is where I plan on putting my mural. Koki doesn't want to do anything further with this wall so the mural can be showcased. I hope my artwork is worthy of the display! It's a lot of wall to cover. At the top it is 8 feet high. Each of the three sections is 9 feet wide. I have a general plan, but that is still a lot of wall.

The painters left today, having finished their work. They were very meticulous and things really look nice. I haven't seen any where they got sloppy or accidentally went beyond the boundaries of where the paint was supposed to be. They were also extremely careful to cover the floor, sidewalks, etc. so they didn't drip on anything.

The service zone is close to being finished as well. They lack windows, doors, and bathroom fixtures. The laundry room will be fitted with two large cement sinks, a countertop and a space for the washer. The washer we bought in Lima, arrived with considerable damage. It looks like it was dropped off a truck and is totally bent out of shape. The manufacturer is sending someone to inspect the damage, and then we'll see what will happen next. I'm really tired of taking stuff to the laundry in town. It seems like they are taking longer and longer to wash, dry and iron a load. I'll be glad when I can do it myself.

We were still without water this afternoon at 5:00. It was supposed to come yesterday afternoon...but I've learned never to count on deliveries. We need to come up with a system that warns us when the water level is low, so we can order more and still have enough for a couple of days. At about 7:00 a truck arrived. This was a different supplier than we've been using. He's a bit more expensive, but since he isn't government subsidized, he will have less restrictions on who he can deliver water to. He has two trucks; one of equal capacity as the El Ñuro truck and one that is half again as big. We have contracted with him to supply us with enough water for the pool. Supposedly tomorrow, he will bring three loads of water; two in the large truck and one in the smaller truck. I don´t know if this will fill the pool, but it will help us get it filled.

Just as Koki and I were leaving for dinner after the water delivery, the El Ñuro truck arrived to deliver water. This load went into the swimming pool since we had just filled the cistern and tanks. I´m looking forward to seeing how much water gets into the pool by the end of tomorrow.

I was also able to play the piano for about a half hour today. It was really a lot of fun. I first played the one song I´ve composed, which changes everytime I sit down to play. It has a certain chord progression which I follow, but the melody changes and the beat changes each time. Then I pulled out some music and played from it. It´s been such a long time since I´ve played these pieces sounded pretty rusty. Even so, I didn´t care. I was enjoying playing; and enjoyed playing knowing that Koki and Celia, in the kitchen were listening. Hoorah, maybe I am finally at a point where I want to share what music I am able to make!