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******
Friday- Aug 31-Sept 16, 2018
FRIDAY 31
Aug
We packed all day Thursday and Friday morning. We are only moving about 10 kms but still
need to have everything secure and taped against movement, and labeled where
they are to go. We drove to Andalucia
first to bring the dogs to the backyard so they wouldn’t be in our way. On the way back, Cristina says we pick up
Carlos, her ex, and her niece for help.
She wanted to transport all kinds of valuables in the car but I pointed
out how small our car is when loaded with 4 people. It ended up that the niece was bummed out and
left, and Carlos rode in the transport truck, so we did end up bringing a lot
of stuff by car.
Cristina had contracted with a truck down the
street for about $85 for 3pm. At 3:15 I
walked down and asked why they weren’t coming.
“Oh, we though the booking was for 4pm” so I walk away angry. The big boss motors up on his bike to say
sorry, they have to make a quick delivery and will be right back. Naturally they don’t show up until 4:30pm,
and they have a bunch of youngsters with strong backs and little
experience. Cristina’s ex, Carlos was a
godsend. The first item of business was
moving a huge, heavy, tall wardrobe and that took most of an hour. Then there was no way that everything was
going in one trip so off we go to Andalucia, unload the big wardrobe (much
simpler when they finally listen to my ideas), and then off we go back to
Tulua. We load up again, clean and check
the house and give the keys to her sister Adiela for return to the
landlord. We come back to Andalucia,
unload quickly, give everybody a beer, and pay another $70 for the extra
trip. Still ridiculously cheap for all
the work involved. By 11pm we have our
main bed put together (Thanks again to Carlos who I like better every time he
is around) and we crash but hardly get any sleep because the dogs bark at
everything that moves, birds, etc.
SATURDAY 1
Sept
We got up as usual at 6am, let the dogs in the
house again as we began the chore of seriously unpacking and hooking up things,
setting up bathrooms, beds, 2 televisions, stereo, 2 computers, furniture,
kitchen, and more. Our new big fridge
got delivered and we had to wait 5 hours to plug it in. These have little refillable water reservoirs
in these fridges, no hookups for water which is kinda nice.
We run into LA14 in Tulua quickly (I thought) to
buy another wardrobe, some bathroom cabinets with mirrors, Corelle dinnerware,
and more. We ask for one wardrobe, same
as we have, they check and they have none in stock. We pick another one, they check and that
isn’t in stock either. We have so many
clothes that we need the extra closet wardrobes. Cristina gets a call that the niece was at
the old house and saw some stuff that was missed so we rush back To Adiela’s,
get the house keys, go to the old house and retrieve the missed articles,
nothing to write home about. Then we
have to run the keys back again…
Cristina was steamed because she was certain that
some recycler thief walked by everyone as we were loading the truck the night
before and made off with a suitcase of plastic basins, pails, garbage cans and
dirty clothes. She ranted all morning
about it, then after lunch she calls me to see this huge suitcase that she has
been walking around for 12 hours or more sitting on the patio… I guess we can’t see the forest for the
trees. It happens to me every day too.
I need to comment how wonderful it is to have a
decent shower, with adequate pressure, in a stall that is huge compared to the
closet showers we had before. I don’t
even mind the tepid water as it helps to cool us down a lot.
We slipped out to look at local furniture and found
a place around the corner with a similar wardrobe to our giant one, just a
little smaller, but a lot less money, and I saw a dressing table with a long
mirror that I liked too so we have arranged for both to be brought here for
about $240.
Then we looked at another local high-end furniture
store and found a dining set we like with 6 nicely upholstered chairs around a
heavy solid wood table for about $700.
We will complete the deal for that on Monday. After that we just need a decent living room
set and we should be done with furniture for a bit. It is nice to be able to support our local
stores and artisans.
Oh, and we had a small parade led by a firetruck
coming down our street as we returned.
By the time I got inside and grabbed my camera I just caught the tail
end of it.
Just before bedtime I swapped everything from the
old fridge (to be given to Carlos, the ex) into the new fridge. Having the cold water to drink will be a
treat.
The dogs did a lot less barking Saturday night as Cristina
said they would, getting accustomed to the yard and sleeping on the patio, so
we actually got some sleep.
SUNDAY 2
Sept
Then a glorious shower with nice water pressure and
we were ready to face Sunday. I managed
to put up the cheap bathroom cabinet on existing screws in the second (my)
bathroom.
We played with the dogs in the yard, picked up
oranges and mangoes, and watered the trees.
Then we came inside and tackled more unpacking of clothes. I tactfully gave Cristina 2 bedrooms and a new wardrobe for all her stuff,
while I was pleasantly surprised that my clothes mostly fit in the third
bedroom. So, the new place is really
beginning to feel like a spacious home and with a few small tweaks we will
really love it.
The new wardrobe for Cristina and the dressing
table were delivered, and they are both on wheels so they were a pleasure to
move in. Now that we have most things
where they belong, it feels like home, and it is ours… Oh, and did we mention,
no stairs… Seeing the smiles on Cristina
and the dogs makes me very happy.
We slipped out to a couple of local grocery stores
that Cristina wanted to show me.
Wow! Were they ever cheap
compared to Tulua stores! We filled up a
grocery cart and more with meat, veggies and canned goods for around $40
total! Amazing! I am going to like that part of living here
too.
It took me a while to set up my new Bug Zapper in
the patio running 2 extension cords from the lavanderia because there are no
outlets out back,.. yet.
In the evening we visited the cemetery, then went
into Tulua. Cristina had rescued
Negrita, another unpopular black dog here, and it had been boarding with Miguel
and Adiela all this time. So we are back
at our limit of 6 dogs again. Negrita is
young, but is accustomed to being with a lot of dogs so she is fitting in easily.
Adiela donated a hummingbird feeder to me that
needed a little adjustment so it would hang safely. Hopefully that is the first of many such
feeders. This will go along with the
birdseed feeder in the yard.
MONDAY 3
Sept
The dogs were grousing this morning so I was up at
3:30 and had the fans going at the doors and windows to cool the house
down. It was funny watching 2
neighbourhood cats spar with each other then follow up stairs, from balcony to
balcony and then go over the rooftops… just amazing.
I dug out a bunch of tools I had brought and that
gave me the idea that I could fix the hummingbird feeder so I did that. It should work..
We went to the local fancy furniture place about
the dining room set and they told us they have a location In BugaLaGrande with
more selection so we decided to look there too.
We found a set with more comfortable chairs for less money, under $700
so I got a small night table as well. I
got immediate free delivery as well as my old-fart discount.
We went to LA14 to get more money and did a little
shopping for sundries while there.
Cristina wasn’t done yet. She had her mind set on a little inside
flower/plant garden so we went to the nursery.
With them doing the potting, we bought plants, pots, dirt and 2 more
hummingbird feeders for under $70.
Cristina is quite happy with everything so far.
We had a nice nap then I put together all the 3
hummingbird feeders and filled them with nectar (sugar and water). They are hung in the backyard and we hope
that it won’t be too long before we are collecting hummingbird photos. Since there are 3 completely different types
of feeders it will be interesting which one attracts them first. I hope I am there to see that.
So far I am using the Lumix exclusively (the other
cameras are still packed) and on JPG mode only.
I find that I am getting much clearer shots this way from the Lumix,
although it sure limits the processing, for better or worse.
Relaxing after sunset on the patio, drinking an 80c
beer (better than Ontario), I got thinking of Mom’s glider swing and the good
times we spent on it. How I wish that I
had it here. I doubt that it will be
long before we have a swing or hammock setup here somehow.
Carlos dropped by tonight with his new girlfriend,
Ruby, and he was quite amazed at all the progress we have made in such a short
time.
TUESDAY 4
Sept
So this morning at 8:30 we went to the Driving School,
paid a deposit at a depot, got instructions to go to Transito in Tulua for my
testing,… vision, hearing, reactions, and quick medical. We got there at 9am and were not finished at
noon so we had to return at 2pm. In the
meantime we went to Dollar City and loaded up on many things. I needed repair items like string, glue,
Velcro, magnets, and more.
We returned to finish the testing and the one gal
even answered all my brain test questions to save time and exasperation. Needless to say, I passed all with flying
colours. The medical guy spoke English
and French as well. He even gave Cristina
a free blood pressure test because he liked her, a lot.
We came back to the Driving School to register,
paid some more, and I show up at the beginning of classes, put my index finger
in the fingerprint machine to show I was “present”, then after class I show up
to say “bye’bye”. There are 3 different
classes, 8am, 10am and 2pm so I have to show up at least 5 times a day. By law I have to put in about 26 hours or
so. At least I am not an inexperienced
Alberta truck driver from India getting a free ride and being a danger to the
public, like the one who hit the Humboldt bus…
I have 56 years of experience in road rage… lol.
Carlos happened by as we were leaving to come home
and he was on his way there. At our
house his sister and mother are waiting to come and see the place. We barely get them settled with some juice
that Adiela shows up too. Carlos and I
just got to work and hooked up the stove hood fan, then put up our house
sign. He also thinks he knows how to fix
our doorbell but I need to get the right battery, a little 12V Lithium-like
unit.
So tomorrow will be another interesting day as we
juggle our times and we put Carlos to work.
That man sure has a great work ethic.
Adiela also mentioned that she wants me to come and
get her Mom to come and visit the place on Thursday. I should be able to manage that between my “classes”.
Boy! Did I
ever conk out immediately tonight! And I
had a vivid dream, and I don’t usually remember dreams, about a guy who invited
a group of us to stack convention-style tables and climb them. He said his record was 28 tables… The insurance man in me still works, even
when asleep. Tables are generally almost
32’”high so 28 tables would make a tower seven stories tall. They would have to be on a solid surface,
probably concrete… One little slip of a
table leg and all those people would come tumbling down, likely dead,.. and
would that idiot’s Personal Liability policy pay for this fiasco?? Jeepers, it is still bothering me.
WEDNESDAY 5
Sept
We had a refreshing rain in the early morning as we
worried about when we are going to get our Internet…
We went for our first sign-in for driving school
class and returned 2 more times in the morning which is a bit of a pain but
easier than actually taking classes.
Carlos came over before lunch and we got quite a
few things done. In the afternoon we
went shopping for screen, door locksets, electrical outlets and more. We even went to the dreaded HomeCenter
because they actually might have a selection of what we needed. I grabbed a DeWalt 20V cordless drill which I
dearly miss for convenience. Of course
the salesman lied when I asked him 3 bloody times, if it came with 2
batteries. I will keep it anyway as I
will not need to use it much. We bought
bathroom lights, a johnny-pole, and a reversible ceiling fan to be used to send
hot air up and out of the house.
I set up our air-conditioner pretty much on my own
which eliminated the need for a ceiling fan in the master bedroom.
Now I am tuckered and ready for another great
sleep, because tomorrow promises to be a busy one again.
We are getting a little pissed that Movistar has
not yet come to install our Internet. I
am ready to move to the outfit that the previous owner had… At least we already have their connections…
THURSDAY 6
Sept
Carlos said he would be here at 9am and he came at
2pm… Grr.
I am still “going” to classes and have my phone
with several alarms to go 5 times a day to sign in and out. At the end of the morning class the one girl
said to come back at 1:45, so I did as I had intended anyway and the head girl
said that I had no afternoon classes… WTF.
In the morning I had spotted a huge tangle of what
Cristina said was kite string in one of our orange trees so I spent most of the
morning untangling what I could and saving the good string.
Carlos and I finally put the feet back on the big
wardrobe then he got to work on Cristina’s vanity light, finished off hooking
up the stove hood fan, then we tackled the ceiling fan in the hallway.. There is an opening in the ceiling that goes
up to be a vented shaft covered in plexiglass to allow a lot of light and to
help with airflow. I wanted to go one
step further… Hot air rises, right?? So I want to give it a boost to go up this
shaft by way of a reversed ceiling fan (Westinghouse 36” for $65). Time will tell if I am a genius or not. I had a support idea for it which Carlos
improved on, but I admit I seriously had my doubts that it would be strong
enough to hold, but it seems to be working just fine. Sometimes he wants to take shortcuts or
proposes something strange, but between the two of us we make one pretty good
contractor, lol. We will do the final
hookups on that tomorrow.
Carlos also had a fellow come and take away the old
fridge, yippee.
No hummingbirds yet at the feeders but I am pretty
sure I saw one zip by…
We applied a week ago Tuesday to have Movistar swap
our Internet/TV/Phone to here and they said within 7 days, so of course it is 9
days and counting… Grrrrrr.
Today’s photos were taken with the Canon as I
finally got to unpack my final clothes and cameras, yeah!
FRIDAY 7
Sept
Could not get through to the service number at
Movistar, it keeps saying that we have no services with them, so they have
obviously cancelled our service at the old place, so now we have to run into
Tulua over this to see when we can get service….
Carlos said he would be here at 8am… He came at 9.
I went for the early morning class and had no
problem signing in and out, but when all of us tried to sign in for the 10am
class the system went down…. Grrrrr, so everybody is off until Monday. Latin America is definitely exasperating. It turned out that the Government was
installing a new platform for their system, so we will have to wait and see how
that will work out…
Then the guys came with the new glass for the
dining room table ($35). Right behind
them was the whipper-snipper guy to cut the lawn ($12).
We finished as best we could setting up the ceiling
fan but Carlos just could not get the lamp to work without it shutting off the
fan. I finally said that the light there
is of little use anyway so we could just skip it.
After lunch we went to Movistar right for 2pm when
they opened. We were about 6th
in line, so a 20-minute wait to get a number to get in a certain line, 30
minutes to get our turn and then 50 minutes of frustration. The stupid @#$%^&*() cancelled our
internet and television and somehow lost the instruction to switch it to
here. There was no management person to
complain to. So help me, bureaucrats in
Latin America are the worst I have encountered anywhere, and they are so
lackadaisical about anything that does not affect them or their family. We also tried to pay my cel phone bill there
and they only accept a debit card, but the systems were down (now where have we
heard THAT before??) between them and Bancolombia…… I was fit to be tied, again…. God, give me strength not to strangle
someone!
Next Cristina had this unstoppable urge to get a
bunny rabbit, so with Adiela’s help we got a damaged, rescue rabbit that was
tossed in the garbage by someone and it has damage to its nose and ears. She has named it “Angel”. It was eating and moving around well so we
have high hopes for it.
We had left Carlos the house keys and he got to
work on outside outlets for the patio.
SATURDAY 8 Sept
Carlos was only ½ hour late today and got to work
finishing the outside electrical outlets and filling in some concrete. He and I discussed a different location at
the end of our huge patio for building my proposed storage/tool shop with a
screened-in lookout above. 2 walls are
already there, as well as the concrete base, so it will save a lot of money
doing that, and we don’t need to break up our beautiful yard.
I invited him to join us for lunch but he
misunderstood and left. Cristina and I
went across the street and had a truly enjoyable, cut it with your fork, pork
cutlet lunch. They are the same people
who do burgers next door in the evening.
Misunderstandings due to languages are common
between Cristina and I, and today we had another example. She ordered a door to be installed in the
small doorway the master bedroom. I am
not happy, because the opening is already small and I thought the door was a
replacement for the second bathroom…
But, once installed it is not so bad.
I found it interesting that they used rivets to secure the hinges (the
door weighs nothing).
The bunny took a quick turn for the worst, stopped
eating, lost all strength and died about 6:20.
I think I am taking it harder than Cristina and can’t keep the tears from
my eyes.
SUNDAY 9
Sept
At sun-up we
buried poor Angel at the end of the yard beside the rose bush. Then we headed to the cemetery to put fresh
flowers on Christian’s grave while the sky was still cloudy. The lovely live flowering plants that have been
put around the outside, and in the form of a cross inside, are looking really
good. The gravesite is easily one of the
best there.
The heat is quite oppressive so now we understand
the need for afternoon siestas.
We went into LA14 to pick up a few groceries and
also came home with another floor fan.
We now have 4 of those, a ceiling fan, and the portable air
conditioner. I am usually up with the
sun to have them all going from front to back to cool the house off for the
day.
Cristina went off to visit local family while I got
into a Clive Cussler novel. When she
returned there was a very loud birthday party going on next door that lasted
until past 10pm. We tried to watch a new
movie and had the volume full blast but I still could not hear it well enough
over the music from next door so I switched everything to Spanish so at least
Cristina could enjoy it.
MONDAY 10 Sept
This morning I again began the regimen of running
to classes every 2 hours. We went in
early to get the final house papers at the Registro office in Tulua. Naturally, the papers are still wrong and
unacceptable, so we had to return to the Notary in Andalucia for the THIRD time
over this. Now he is making us wait
until tomorrow to get the corrected papers, which we will need to run into
Tulua again, and wait another 2 weeks.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
We returned and Carlos said that he would come at
9:30. He never came until after lunch… I am not a happy camper over this lateness. Cristina and I didn’t wait, we went across
the street again for their pork cutlet special.
At only $1.50 you won’t find a better meal anywhere, and I don’t think
we could cook such a meal for less.
We hoped to get more work accomplished. We got some trim & fill work and painting
done. I will have to wash some walls
once the paint dries a little. I had
Carlos connect my bug zapper to the outside electrical to free up two of my
long extension cords. Our bedroom door
handle is also Fubar’d, so we will get a new one tomorrow when we work on door
handles and screens.
I went around 4pm to sign out from my third class
of the day, which we managed, hoping to sign in for a fourth class but, you
guessed it, …… the Government systems were down…. Grrrrr
Between our house and the driving school is a
mechanic/car wash so I stopped to ask how much for an in and out wash. I almost died when he said 12,000 pesos (a
whole $4)… Some things are good… as long
as they have zero to do with bureaucracy or Government.
It was so hot today, almost no clouds, even the
Colombians were wilting. I think my
thermometer in the bedroom must be off on a holiday. It says it is 29.7C at 4:30pm and that is the
coolest room in the house, all day…
TUESDAY 11
Sept
So we went to the Notary only to find that one of
his operatives is taking the papers themselves to the Registry office to sort
out the problem. I think that is a good
thing. There was no word yet about
confirmed driving classes so while we were in the car we went into Tulua to
pick up some medications and cheap meat for the dogs. I also ordered a photo 80cm x 38cm of
Christian, that I did a ton of work on, to be printed on canvas and put on
stretchers. That cost me about $27.
Then I took Lizzie in for that car wash while we
got word that driving classes had started again at 10am so I had my first class
today was at noon. It seems that about
10 or 12 people sign in for a class but only half actually stay to learn
anything.
I picked up the car at 1pm from the car wash ($4),
all shiny, polished and even the tires gleam.
From there I went to get a set of emergency keys cut (in case we lock
ourselves out… That cost a whole $1.35
for both. A guy at the central park
tried to sell me fender mouldings for $50, which I was certain was Gringo
priced, so I declined politely. It
started to sprinkle just as I made it home…
The Rainmaker at work.
We are supposed to be putting easier entry latches
on the back door and lavanderia door, and fixing the broken latch on the master
bedroom door. Carlos said the locksmith
would be here at 8am. Yeah, right…. He pops in twice for 5 minutes and nothing
gets done today. Grrrrrr…
Then we get a call from the gal at the Notary
office apparently saying it is their mistake and suggesting that we pay $100
more from the prior owner, or us, and start the paperwork from scratch. I told Cristina to tell them where they could
stick the $100, and that they should be paying us for all our time and gas
instead. My gosh, the nerve of these bureaucrats… They have a legally fixed fee schedule so
this kind of request is probably illegal, and a Notary, who is supposed to be a
top lawyer who should know this.
Grrrrrr…
I signed out of the 3:30 driving class by the skin
of my teeth just as the system started acting up again. No more classes today.
WEDNESDAY 12
Sept
They have two machines at the driving school to
sign in and out of classes and it takes a photo of your hand for confirmation,
kinda high-tech.. but this morning one of the machines stalled in the middle of
my sign-in. Luckily the other machine
was working okay.
Carlos tells me that the locksmith is old and sick
so he can only come when he is feeling well…
At least Carlos came to install a rear railing for safety.
Sign-out before noon was delayed because one idiot
came really late. As a result, none of
us were allowed to sign in for the noon class… Grrrrr
We installed plastic screen to the front door and
the lavanderia door to keep the dogs from escaping us, which happened this
morning when Negrita got loose. Then we
installed bug screen to the front window.
There are times when I am amazed at the ingenuity for shortcuts by these
carpenters by hand, and other times I shake my head at doing things the hard
and sloppy way. Today was such an
example. Carlos tried to build a frame
by measurements and used little pieces to secure the screen to the frame. Not only did it look like crap, it didn’t fit
and we had to take it all apart. I
pointed out that we simply had to screw down the angle aluminum to the screen
edges and we were done! I did learn a
few smarts from my super carpenter Dad, measure twice, cut once…
It is not that we have many bugs, but the screen is
more to keep anyone from reaching inside the house. Colombians are really paranoid about
thievery.
There was also a small bamboo screen lying around
that we hung at the edge of the patio for a little more sun block. Eventually I will get this place cool enough
to be comfortable all of the time. We
will soon add a front awning to really cut down on the heat.
Then the car wash proved its worth once more when
we got a nice refreshing thunderstorm today.
The Rainmaker strikes again!
THURSDAY 13
Sept
The rain did not stop, it appeared to have
sprinkled most of the night, and continued all day. The sad part of that is that the dogs don’t
like to go in the yard and get their paws all wet, and it also makes a mess in
the house. Other than that, the cool air
is certainly a welcome reprieve.
Acclimatization = When 23C feels cool….. and that
is the best temp for the day…
Our classes this day were cancelled because the
instructor is sick. It is a blessing in
disguise because we needed to go to Tulua for many things this morning.
Surprise, surprise, Carlos and the welder/locksmith
came to install the lever handles on the lavanderia and back doors, and to repair
the master bedroom door. It still seems
to me that they do things the long, hard way when they have tools at their
disposal, like making a hole in metal by hammering a screwdriver, instead of
using a cut-off saw… The acceptance of
sloppy work is a way of life here. As
long as it works, they don’t care what it looks like…
So we left them to finish the work and made our
first stop at Movistar to try to get our Internet hooked up. I by-passed the line this time and went
straight to the Manager. We got to see
the same slow guy as last time (his photo is as Employee of the Month.. ha, ha)
and, Cristina thinks it is acceptable that we have to probably wait another
7 days… I am fit to be tied at this
constant ridiculous BS…
We make it just in time to pick up the “painting”
of Christian, which was not processed
on canvas as instructed… Unbelievable…
Nice, but not at all the finish I wanted.
We had to skip going to the Fiscalia to try to find
out the cause of Christian’s death due to siesta time….
We originally were supposed to pick up Cristina’s
Mom, Ana Julia to stay with us until Sunday, but that got scotched because she
would be bored to tears without television.
We stopped at Bancolombia main branch, they are
closed for siesta and their bank machine is not working… Latinos just do not give a rat’s ass about
service to their customers and it wears on me.
So we end up at the bank machine at LA14 and we get
what we need there. We go to my
favourite La Servillana for lunch and order the 3-meat plate between us for
$11, including salad and a drink. This
is truly a superb meal that easily fed us both.
When we got back home we found one dog loose in the
house, the doors installed (cost $17) but needing the finishing touches. I need a nap…
Cristina got a call from installers from
Movistar… They were at our old address
in Tulua… And yet she wants to continue
with these dummies…
It was quite cool (by Cristina’s standards, 23C) so
the dogs slept inside tonight.
Friday 14
Sept
It rained a good portion of the night too, so it
was a very humid day as it warmed up. I
took Turi alone for a short walk to familiarize myself with the
neighbourhood. Turi is so calm and a
pleasure to walk, not tugging or barking at everything.
Back for classes.
After today, only one more hour of classroom to log in.. Yea! Then I get to show them how to drive, lol.
Carlos came about 9:35 and got to work finishing
the doors, fixing odd items and putting the screen on the back door (my way),
and in the afternoon, we got to discussing plans for the front awning and the
2-storey gazebo I want to build in the back.
We even took a tour of town on his motorcycle to see awnings around
town. There were only 2 awnings within a
block of my house that were anywhere close to what I want.
I took the Canon in the back yard for 10 minutes
and took a few shots of the dogs and the lovely birds that visit us. Still no hummingbirds… boo hoo. We are finding giant African snails in the
yard which Carlos says are dangerous for the dogs. Escargots anyone??
I gave Carlos a couple of head and hat-mounted work-lights
that I so rarely use and he was very grateful.
Then he gave us Christian’s hammock that we quickly set up out back in
the shade of the trees and enjoyed right away.
I may sleep in it tonight…. I
guess we were both in a giving mood.
SATURDAY 15
Sept
Boy, slept a good 10 hours last night as the rain
continued to fall. Even the dogs all
slept in well in the cooler weather.
I opened the back door for the excited dogs this
morning and was dismayed that their claws had already made holes in our nice,
new screen. So I decided to cover the
bottom portion again with the old white plastic cover as well… The joys of
having pets.
We got 3 phone calls from Movistar and they say
they will be here in the morning (so you just may get to actually read this
Blog tomorrow…)! I’ll believe that when
I see it.
Since this Sept 15 and the sun is moving almost
directly overhead here at 4ºN on its way to the Equator, then the Tropic of
Capricorn, I wanted to get photos of my non-existent shadow for you, however
the cloud cover did the work for me, I think….
We made a quick visit to the cemetery and added a
flower arrangement. The construction of
the mausoleum is almost done and again I marvel at what is considered acceptable
workmanship… The person who made the
saying that “Close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes” surely didn’t
live in South America. Then we stopped
in to see the Grandma. Carlos’ sister
Carmen had just brought home a little portable speaker/sound machine that she
had won and they were having trouble getting a decent radio station so I
offered the use of the music on my memory stick attached to my keys. The music opened up with the Country tunes
and Grandma just loved it. So our next
stop after the ice cream shop was a Papeleria where I could buy a memory stick
to copy some music for her. A copy is
now ready for delivery.
Christian’s last girlfriend, a darling girl named
Jessica, came to visit us from Buga, almost an hour south of us, by motorcycle,
and naturally the last part was in the rain.
Cristina and her are like two school buddies having a sleepover… and the
rain just did not stop. Then the lights
went out for an hour.
I went to bed early and missed the arrival of
another of Christian’s friends, Andres, who also spent the night.
Sunday 16
Sept
We still managed to sleep with 4 dogs on the bed
with us, Jessica had 2, and it was still raining this morning. Movistar actually did show up as the rain slowed
at 8:45 and proceeded to install satellite reception for our phone, internet
and TV. Because of our move here, we get
a new home phone number, which doesn’t matter as the old one never did work..
Finally! We
have Internet, maybe. It works when it wants to, so they are coming back tomorrow. Still no TV. Our local phone and my NetTalk appear to be working OK.
I will post this for now, and maybe another later
today.
I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.
Al
******
© All my work is COPYRIGHT protected and may
not be used in any way without purchase, or without my permission.
If you want to borrow a picture to share with family and friends, Facebook
or whatever, at least PLEASE give me credit for the photo.
NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.
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| Turi in the yard |
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| Empty Master |
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| Empty Lavanderia |
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| Empty Hall |
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| Empty Bath#2 |
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| Empty Master Bath |
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| Empty Kitchen |
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| Empty upper hall |
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| Empty car space |
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| Empty Bedroom 2 |
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| Empty Bedroom 3 |
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| Empty Living room |
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| Parade #1 |
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| Parade #2 |
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| Parade #3 |
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| Living room.. |
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| Bedroom #3 |
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| Hallway |
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| Bedroom #2 |
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| Kitchen with new fridge |
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| Hallway |
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| Bath#2 |
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| Lavanderia |
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| Master bedroom |
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| New closet for Cristina |
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| New dressing table |
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| Turi enjoying the sun |
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| 1/2 of our huge yard |
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| The other 1/2 |
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| Yard and patio |
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| Huge patio |
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| Green oranges |
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| Green mangoes |
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| My lovely view in the cemetery |
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| Beautiful cemetery |
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| NeNe, Cristina & Negrita |
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| New dining room set |
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| Our greenhouse place |
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| New dining room set |
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| New dining room set |
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| New flower garden |
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| Flowers in the house |
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| Relaxing on the patio |
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| Hummingbird feeders |
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| Just need hummingbirds... |
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| Hoping to attract them soon |
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| Set of 3 feeders along the wall |
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| New bug-zapper |
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| Night lights in the yard |
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| Carlos sister and Mom visiting |
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| Adiela came too |
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| NeNe and Princesa |
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| New house address sign |
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| Buddy's usual pose |
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| New bath cabinet in master bath |
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| Brace for the new ceiling fan |
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| Carlos wiring it up |
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| Almost finished |
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| New glass for the dining room table |
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| The lawn guy |
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| Gorgeous red bird visits often |
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| Newly mowed |
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| The dogs getting extra special rations |
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| Adding electrical outlets to the patio |
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| Added plastic conduit for this part |
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| Our little Angel lasted one day, poor thing |
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| Installing new bathroom door |
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| Closing in the conduit and installing outlet |
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| Can always use electrical outlets |
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| This is where I will build a 2-storey gazebo |
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| Repairing damaged ceramics |
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| Nice door installed - cheap! |
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| Need fans to keep air flow |
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| Fabulous food plate across the street $1.50 |
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| Painted over the conduit, all done |
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| I washed the wall later |
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| Getting a complete car wash $4 |
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| Installing a solid railing |
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| Rust-free paint |
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| Finished, with end caps |
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| Little bamboo screen helps against afternoon heat |
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| Soon I will have a view over that wall |
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| Installed low screen on lavanderia door to keep the dogs at bay |
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| Installed higher front door screen |
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| Front door |
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| Trying to build a frame for front window screen |
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| I just screwed it right to the frame |
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| This is a great addition, for lots of reasons |
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| Welder/locksmith at work |
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| Seasoned welder |
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| Making holes with a screwdriver tip.. |
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| 3-meat meal at La Sevillana |
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| Door needs finishing touches.. |
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| This one too |
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| Much easier to get in and out now |
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| My hard work |
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| Printed and hung on wall |
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| Yellow bird on lawn |
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| My little red visitor |
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| Buddy |
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| NeNe |
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| NeNe |
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| Another yellow bird |
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| Turi |
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| Princesa |
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| NeNe |
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| We have a hammock! |
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| No comments needed |
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| I will have to get accustomed to it |
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| New screen on the back door |
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| Giant African Snail about 3" |
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| The sun directly overhead at noon |
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| No shadow at all |
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| Additional dog protection |
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| A lovely day in the cemetery |
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| Mausoleum construction |
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| I know,... I love this view |
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| A Pieta statue in the chapel |
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| Super tall palm trees |
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| Cristina and Jessica |
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| ...with our 6 babies |
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| Movistar here to install phone, TV, internet |
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| Climbing the pole across the way |
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| Our new dish |
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| Andres practicing with my camera |
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| Cristina, Andres, Jessica |
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| Our rats nest of wires near the new modem |
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| Wiring everything up |
