Thursday July 5, 2018 Homeowners Again

Please see more of my artworks for sale at my websites:  http://souvenirphotostudio.neocities.org/ or http://saccc05.tripod.com/

REMINDER: If you are interested in getting the Blogs via email, simply send me an email to aljbourassa@gmail.com and I will add you to a special list in my Blog settings. Even though that does not appear to work again either…...  Google sucks. 

THANK YOU all for your patience and support.

******

Thursday July 5, 2018

Yesterday was just a fog, thinking about the new house, etc.

Maybe this is a day I should have just stayed in bed. 22 years ago I lost my first wife to cancer.  It is so hard to believe that so much has happened since then.

I got word from my Facilitator in Cuenca that Claro wants us to wait around another 10 days to confirm the cancellation of my plan.  Uggghhh...  

I got a bill from my Internet company charging me another month….  Uggghhhh….  That was all supposed to be handled before I left…..

My realtor and lawyer still have not sent me my sale documents which will allow me to withdraw some of the proceeds that i just sent to Colombia.. Uggghhh...

My phone has lost wi-fi connection, one foot from the router, with signal strength “excellent”…  Figure that one out.  In trying to reboot the router, etc, etc, now I have lost my NetTalk connection.   Ugggghhhh…

My bro-in-law is awaiting news from his lawyer that they can help with my Visa application but has not been contacted as promised.  Uggghhh….

I spent many hours looking online at vehicles for sale here.  While they are a little cheaper than Ecuador overall, it will be interesting to see what we end up with.

I really don’t have the temperament to put up with the multiple idiosyncrasies of Latin America..............

However......

We took a chance and went to Andalucia to allay the doubts I had about the house and to put in an offer if everything looked OK.....

First I had Miguel drive the car into the front parking area, which we can't call a garage, because it is not a separate room....  I had thought that it was a lot tighter fit so was happy to see that there was more space than I anticipated, and less hindrances for other things.

I was also happy to find that the house has a water reservoir for emergencies and outside lighting for the back yard.  And it has passive upward ventilation to remove heat from the house.  All kinds of little pluses.

I tried to negotiate for some of the furniture as well but that didn't fly.  Anyway, we haggled a little with the affable owner and settled at 156,500,000 pesos or $54,381 USD at today's prices, for a magnificent house around 2,000 sq ft with a yard around 4,000 sq ft.  We will sign papers on Monday and have possession in about a month.

I liked my previous house, which was built very impressively, but I am over-the-moon at some of the touches in the new place, which is a private bungalow with a huge yard, just like we wanted.

I hope you enjoy the pictures (some repeats).  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.

OK

 

So this is our new house

Great kitchen with double sink

The yard is humungous, with high protective walls.

We won't run out of mango juice

Oodles of room for the dogs to run

I have plans for this big covered patio..

The front looks very far away

Lots of elbow room in the Master bedroom

Vehicle space, electric door opener

Miguel's car fits, no problem

It doesn't block the bedroom/office

This is a 1/4 of the house view

Checking the kitchen out again

Tuesday July 3, 2018 Excited

Please see more of my artworks for sale at my websites:  http://souvenirphotostudio.neocities.org/ or http://saccc05.tripod.com/

REMINDER: If you are interested in getting the Blogs via email, simply send me an email to aljbourassa@gmail.com and I will add you to a special list in my Blog settings. Even though that does not appear to work again either…...  Google sucks. 

THANK YOU all for your patience and support.

******

Tuesday July 3, 2018

We went to the bank at 8:15, shortly after it opened, and that was a mistake, because all of Tulua had the same idea.  The line stretched outside around the building just to get a number to get to a teller or a service rep.  Being an old fart did not help anything unless you begged someone to let you squeeze in front, as some did.  This did not include all the people bypassing the line to get to the bank machines.  When we finally did get to see the service rep she was not helpful because I need a Colombian residency visa card (Cedula) to do almost anything, same as Ecuador.  So I am transferring a lot of money here to an account that I cannot have access to yet..  After 95 minutes we got out of the bank to find no line-ups at all.  I guess we can sleep in next time.

The next stop was the Notary office to notarize Cristina's letter asking to allow my visa as her spouse, and notarize a copy of her Cedula.  Then I came home and organized all the documents which I then scanned for safety reasons.  I now believe that I have all the documents necessary to apply for my visa.  

The Government website says that I could apply online, and I am tempted, but my Spanish is rudimentary and I don't want to screw it up.  I also have no idea how I am supposed to pay the fees, etc.  My friend Tom got everything handled by a facilitator up north who speaks no English so I am hoping to find someone here that can handle it for me in a similar fashion here.  I am loathe to give up my passport to any courier services or the like.  

Then we had another big World Cup game between Colombia and England.  Colombia got their first shot on goal in extra time, in the 93rd minute, to tie the game at 1-1,.. totally lucky on their part and keeping the hopes of all Colombia alive.  After a scoreless 30 minutes of overtime they went to the penalty kicks.  When Colombia got up 3-2 it appeared that the upset might be complete, but it was not to be.  Their next 2 shooters missed their shots and they lost, as predicted by me in my Monday blog.  Sweden also won, so I am still a skilled prognosticator... lol.

I tried to take a few shots of the herons on 2 occasions today but I am not entirely happy with my results yet.  I will keep trying...

I also took fresh shot of the 6 dogs for you.  All are not bad except the photo of Mariposa.

Then Cristina insisted that Miguel and Adiela had made arrangements for us to go house-hunting not leaving here until after 5pm, making a stop, driving to Andalucia, waiting for the realtor, etc, so it was almost 6pm by the time we actually got any action.   But,... did we ever hit paydirt on the very first house!!!  It is not perfect, but close....  From the front it is clean but unimpressive (good for security) but inside.......  it is long.... really long, and spotless.  It has 3 bedrooms (master is monstrous with an ensuite) and another full bath, beautiful kitchen, fantastic floors, walls and ceilings, proper electrical outlets, then the piece-de-resistance, ..... a monstrous double back yard with a huge covered patio and fruit trees!!  The dogs will just love the room to play and have fun.  We think it is a winner.  The only problem that I have to try and solve is the open garage (electric door) right next to the living room..!  I find it odd that anyone could be sitting in the recliners watching the World Cup right next to their Chevy.  But the price is right, and it is in a Strata 2 location so utilities will be really cheap.  This house would be worth much more money in a bigger place like Tulua.  The neighbors are nice and long-term, and the place is 1.5 blocks from the main square.  Everyone was enthralled by it.  So I will begin quiet preparations to get a deal done....

The realtor took us to a few more places as well but they seemed like Beverly Hillbillies houses in comparison to the first beauty.  

Andalucia has an attraction for us because of the natural rural beauty in the foothills of a cordillera of the Andes and the simple life it offers, just minutes from Tulua.  Cristina has lived here for 7 years previously and her ex-in-laws are here, as is the cemetery where Christian is buried.  Hopefully things will progress smoothly as we settle into a permanent place that we like.

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.

OK

 

This is the line around the corner of the bank building

We move up and we can see the doorway..

Lago Chilicote in the morning with the herons still in the center tree

Two lovely herons

This is just around the corner from our house

Lots of herons in this area

Ready to cheer on Colombia (note the jersey)

And we have a kickoff at 1pm

Tied at the end of regulation

 

Before the penalty kick phase

This is our new pygmy pup survivor NeNe.  Love his resilience.

Princesa is my happy dog, always nearby.

Raton is the puppy brat of the bunch, always in motion.

Buddy is our cuddly furball

Mariposa is our crazy redhead

Turi is our calm protector.  She will love the new place.

Buzzards in the neighbourhood?

Dusk, a heron headed to the big tree in the middle of the lake.

 

The herons begin to nest for the night

The ibis come to the top of the tree

Not much problem between ibis and heron

Peaceful coexistence

An ibis in flight

Back to the big tree

Gas prices per US gallon (divide by 2.9)

I like the idea of whirlygigs to suck out heat....

This is the front, garage door partly open

Monster double lot back yard with fruit trees

Huge mangoes, as well as oranges and lemons

View from the back patio

And it is a HUGE patio!

Looking from back door to the front, very long

Master bedroom.  Ensuite.  Monstrous

Kitchen/Dining.  Check out floors and ceilings.

The next house we saw was a joke.  Didn't photo any others which were worse yet.