The Walls are Plastered, The Water Is In

             

The  walls of the second floor are plastered, inside and out, front and back.  All the columns are plastered.  Macho Man says they are ready for paint, so in the next week or so I plan to be over there with my equipment and the paint and get started. 

                                

If you look closely, you can see the blocks on the first floor have not been plastered.  They will be, but not right now.

                                  

                                            Here you can see how smooth this plaster is.

                                 

The plaster is put right up against the electrical boxes and the window frames.  Jose is so particular about his work that he makes sure that each outlet is perfect and there are few, if any, seams between the window frames and the plaster.

                                 

And here is how they get the plaster so smooth.  The plaster is thrown up against the wall to make it stick in all the little nooks and crannies, and then Jose takes this 1 x 4 with hand holds cut into it and scrapes the plaster over and over until it is perfectly level.  Then it allowed to dry and get ready for paint.

                                

This is the front door, looking into the living room.  The front and back double doors will be made of solid Rosita 2x6s. 

                                 

The window and door frames are all in upstairs and we are getting ready to make the windows.  Last week the glass was installed in the arched portion of the windows.  The windows will be doubles, in the old  Spanish Colonial  style.  The windows will be made from Rosita 2x4’s.  The window niches are 6” deep, but they will be pretty much filled up with windows, screens and wrought iron security bars.

                                  

             This is very close to what the Rosita will look like with a coat of matte varnish.

                     

                                                                                

We have electricity, at least on the portico and in the living room.  We are trying to pick out the wood for the ceiling.  The biggest problem with that is we both like the look of bare wood, but in Honduras, if you don’t want to have the termites literally eat you out of house and home you have to use treated wood.   The treated wood is a sickly green color, which would have to be painted over.  It is also treated with arsenic, which I don’t particularly want to be breathing 24/7.  I wish we could afford to buy Rosita for the ceiling, but it is very expensive.

                                     

We have water in the kitchen and the bathrooms.  So why haven’t we moved in yet?  Because we haven’t installed the plumbing fixtures.  That will probably happen in the next week or so.  By mid-August, si Dios quiere, we will move in and continue working. 

                                  

I'm told this is the faucet for the hose I will be using to water my garden.  Yeah, right.  I have trouble walking on a flat floor.  Guess who won't be hooking up the hose. 

                                  

This is Pancho,  our watchman.  Pancho works 7 nights a week for us, and during the day he comes by if he sees anyone or anything strange on the property.  Sometimes he drops by and helps out with the work.  We have learned to ask Pancho his opinion on many things.   Pancho is about 70 years old, but anyone would be an idiot to mess with him.  He has a really nasty looking sawed off shotgun and a machete, and he knows how to use both.  Yet he is the gentlest teddy bear you could ever want to meet.  Chico likes Pancho, which says something.

We are blessed with the way our house is coming along, and with the friends who are making it possible.  Thank you Jose, Marvin, and Pancho.  Thank you, Ramirez Family.  And the biggest thanks of all goes to my beloved Macho Man, for building my dream house, and doing it so well.

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HP IS NOT EXPAT FRIENDLY

Have you ever tried to order something from the US when you live outside the country?  It is not an easy process, especially if that country is in Latin America. 

On May 3d I decided to order a new computer and have it delivered to my daughter's house in South Florida by the time we got there on the 14th.  I thought this was a pretty intelligent decision, since MM doesn't like taking his computer with him, something about using the SIL's wireless network(?); and I like to stay connected to my world.

I logged into The HP Store, 'cause I am partial to HP products.  I found exactly what I was looking for.  It was fast enough; it played CD/DVDs and had a writer; it was light; and best of all, IT WAS PINK!!!!!  Now, you are probably wondering why I wanted a pink computer.  Well, because I live in a land full of machos, and I have a theory that no real macho man is going to steal a pink computer.  After all, they haven't stolen my pink drill or hammer.

I customized my new computer, and then began checking out.  I dutifully gave them my billing information, which  is our Florida address.  I also gave them my shipping address, which is my billing address, and the same address they have had on file for ages.  In fact, I was logged in to my account at the time

 I received a message that my order was declined and to please call them at 1-866......  I went to customer service and found out I could start a chat session, so I did. Almost immediately I got a message that since their computer sensed that my address was outside the US they were terminating the session. 

I tried again and as soon as the chat window opened I typed "Please don't end this session.  I know I am outside the country, but I need help".  The agent  came on-line and asked me what the problem was, and I told her.  She advised me that the problem was not my credit, it was that they could not accept an order from outside the country, because they couldn't verify it was me.  She advised me to call the customer service desk.  Cannot do that! you cannot call an 800 number from a cell phone in Honduras.

I was then advised that I should go to the International Desk, and order the computer from there.  No, says I, I don't want to do that.  First of all, the computer cannot be shipped to the US from the International Desk.  Then, there is the problem of the computer having all the programs set up in Spanish, and that would be of no use to me, who speaks Spanglish.  Then, call the customer service desk at 1-866......  Huh?

Wait a minute, I am signed to your web site, using the same address and password you have had on record for ages.  I am using an American credit card, on an American Bank, which you have had on file forever.  I am asking you to ship the computer to the same address as my billing address, again which you have had on file forever.  And you cannot verify it's me?  WTH!!  It was apparent we were not communicating, or he was named Peggy and living in Siberia. 

So, on to Plan B.  Let me email customer service and see if I can get someone who can help.  The email that came back looked like a form letter, restating all the above reasons my order can not be concluded until I call customer service, or have someone in the States call customer service.  So, I asked my daughter to call and see what she could do.  Nothing, so I decided to take a deep breath and wait until we got here.  And I got another nice "thank you for trusting HP, we are sorry....."

I sent another email outlining how dumb it was to say HP could not verify who I was.  After all, Amazon.com doesn't have thar problem, nor do several companies I deal with.  I gave them a step-by-step outline of how they could set up to be security conscious and at the same time expat friendly.  They thanked me for my effort.

Monday night, I called customer service and got a cheery, "Thank you for calling HP.  How can I help you tonight."  I started to tell her, but decided better, so I just explained the situation yet again.  "Oh, Mrs. Ramirez. I am so sorry  you have been so inconvenienced.  I'm sorry, but we can't ship that computer now. because it has a build date of 5/19, and we couldn't get it to you before you go back  You should have called customer service.  And, I'm sorry, but we can't ship the computer out of the US" 

 Here I did lose it, and after a few words, I promised her I was going to put this on FB and I was going to blog about it so that everyone I knew would know just how unfriendly HP was.  I told her how many expats there are in Central America, and assured her I was going to try reaching everyone of them.  She hung up on me.

I got off the phone about midnight, fired up the SILs computer and ordered another computer.  Same credit card; same bank; same billing address; same shipping address.  It was delivered before 10AM this morning.  It's red. 

So, here we are, I am keeping my word.  I have posted on FB, and now I have blogged about it.  Expats. arise, let these companies know we don''t like it when they are not friendly to us, and we have money.

Update on the Construction.

It is has been so long since I had a chance to write.  I have lots of new pictures of the house.  We are to the point that even though Macho Man is working every day it is hard to see his progress.  I try to only go to the site on Saturday, because then I can see how much is done during the week. 

You can see that the front is really shaping up.  It still needs the banisters upstairs and the finish coat over the blocks.  All of that open area in the ceiling area will be closed in with heavy  screening to keep out insect, bats, birds and critters. Oh, and the windows and doors have to be installed. 



The back portico.  You can look all the way through from the back to the front door. Jose has finished the plaster coat on the back portico.  It is ready for paint but that is not going to happen until the rest of the house is ready for paint.

Scaffolding and ladders, Honduran style.  I don't think OHSA would approve.  You can see that the sewer pipe is in and  the pipe to the septic tank is being buried. 

I took this so you can some idea of how tall the entrance doors and windows are.  Macho Man is about 5"9" tall.

 

This is the rosita the window and door frames are made of.  I think it would be foolish to do anything other than varnish it.



The door and window frames will be attached with 4" nails to the blocks.  Nails will also be driven through the frame into the notches and the notches filled with concrete.  Somehow I don't think they will go anywhere.

 

These doors have their frames.  The bracing comes down when the concrete is cured.  These are the doors to the laundry and the pantry.  The door to the outside enters a corridor which goes to the front balcony on the second floor.  Yes, it has a view, too.

                                                                            

I know y'all think I am obsessed with the septic tank.  I guess I am, for two reasons.  The most important is we can't move in until we have water, electricity, and sewage.  The second is, I have never seen a home-made septic tank.

In the top picture, in the lower center, you can see two large black spots.  These are rocks, big rocks.  These rocks are so big there was never a question of digging them out.  Marvelous Marvin to the rescue!  Marvin and his trusty  sledge hammer got into the pit and banged away on those rocks until they were even with the wall.

The center shows the masonry work.  Every wall is plumb and every block is in its place; and much of the time the mason was balanced on the scaffolding or on the ladder.

The bottom picture shows the framing for the top, which will be poured in place.  I don't have a clue how you would pump it out if you needed to get to the bottom of things. ;-D

We are making progress poco-a-poco, but we are making progress.  We couldn't do it without José and Marvin, and we surely could not do it without faith.

We are blessed.

Florida Visit, Part II

This has really been a productive trip.  The basic medical check ups were good, although I may have to make a quick trip back in a couple of months to finish up some procedures.  We have been to WalMart, Walgreen's, and Home Depot.  Coming up tomorrow is CVS, and yes, the Salvation Army Store.

We bought fans for the upstairs of the new house, lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, and paint samples.  Tomorrow we get the hot water heater. We bought razors, shampoo and conditioners, hair color, clothes, and as many other things we can't get in Honduras as possible.  Throw in canning lids and rings, doggie treats, spices, OTC meds, napkins, and much, much more.

We have had a wonderful time with our children and the Grandbrat; we visited Macho Man's former boss, Don Armando; and my sister comes tomorrow.  I had a chance to talk to my brother this morning.  We had a very good lunch today in little Havana with the two girls.  The only problem with Latin restaurants is they put too much food on the plate, and it is so good you clean your plate (Gro-o-o-o-an).

Tomorrow we are going to figure out what we need to ship and what we have to take in the plane.  We definitely will ship more than we carry.  We went by Rapido Cargo today, and they will send someone to pick the boxes at my daughter's house, ship them to Puerto Cortes, process them through Customs, and deliver them to our door in Trujillo, all for $.70/lb.  How is that for service?

We have had five days filled with love.  The companionship and family closeness has been inspiring.  There has been no bad weather.  We have had no accidents.

We are blessed.

Florida Visit, Part I

We finally got to Ft Lauderdale yesterday at about 6 AM, only to find our US phone has been deactivated, so we had no way to call and let the family know we were on the ground.  Thank goodness they figured it out and came to get us.  I am really glad because it was so cold you could see your breath.

Last night I got to snuggle with the Grandbrat while we watched a movie on TV.  I haven't done that in a long time and it was so familiar and so wonderful.  She's not the little darling she was, but she has grown up to be an outstanding, beautiful teenage girl who will continue to blossom into a beautiful, outstanding woman.  And, no, I'm not the least bit prejudiced.

We went to Mass this morning and it was so nice to hear Mass said in English again.  I can follow the Mass in Trujillo, but not as well as here in the States.

Today is my 24th wedding anniversary and the children took us to 15th Street Fisheries, my favorite waterfront restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale.  It had warmed up enough we could sit outside and enjoy the free boat show that goes up and down the intercoastal everyday; everything from dinghies to mega-yachts and even the occasional water taxi.

Tomorrow we start shopping, going to the doctor, going to get our taxes done, and some other running around.  It will be a little hectic for a couple of days, but then we can slow down and draw a deep breath.

We have a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, clothes on our bodies, and family who loves us.  What more could we want?

We are blessed

We Have a Roof!!!!!

We have a roof!! It is such a great feeling.  To celebrate, we had the first, but not the last, barbecue on the balcony.  What a great day Sunday was!!

Macho Man, Pablo, Marvin, Jose, and two others actually started this project on Saturday, but it rained really hard and they didn't get much done.  Sunday morning we woke up to a glorious, bright, sunshiny day and back to work they went.  Here is what it looked like Saturday morning. 





The boards laying across the rafters are what the men are using for scaffolding.  Pablo, my brother-in- law, is the one in the Honduran Safety harness.  It consists of one heavy duty extension cord wrapped around the waist of one person, with another person holding on to the other end.  It works.  Pablo fell and would have hit the ground from about 25' feet up if he hadn't had it on.  OSHA would have shut this down a long time ago, if they had anything to say about it.

Sunday morning was so beautiful that the crew was working in overdrive.

 After the guys were a little over half way through, we fired up the grill and my sister-in-law Chena cooked us a stupendous barbecue.  We had chicken, beef, beans, tortillas, chips, and Pepsi.  My niece, Jeisy and my grand niece Nicole, were there to celebrate with us.

Chena is cooking tortillas on the grill, and heating up the beans   while Jeisy plays with Nicole.  If anyone went away hungry, it was their own fault

Then it was back to work.  The guys got all the lamina  up on the trusses and screwed down in a couple places.  MM, Jose and Marvelous Marvin have been up on the roof yesterday and today putting in more screws. They should  be finished by tomorrow.

We never could have done this job without all the help from MM's family and friends.  It almost felt like an old fashioned  barn raising.  They sure did eat a lot over three days, but it was worth it.  :>D

We are blessed



The Trusses Are Up, the Roof is Next

The trusses, ceiling joists, etc. are up!!!  Hooray!! Hurrah!!!

These are the ceiling joists and trusses before



These are  the ceiling joists and trusses after 









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MM calls this wood San Juan Chin.  It is a very hard, dense wood that termites do not attack.  That is very important here in the tropics.  Termites can destroy a property in a very short time-space.  Once this wood dries you cannot nail it without drilling a hole first.



This is the roof system from the ground

If you are wondering why so many pictures of the trusses, it is because I am so very, very proud of my little Honduran Honey  Bun and Marvin and Jose. These are not prefab, machine-made structural components.   Macho Man is a Master Carpenter, but all his adult experience has been on cruise ships and yachts, not houses.  Marvin and Jose are getting a lot of OJT.  The three of them have constructed the roof support system with a carpenter's square, fishing line, hammers and nails, and a table saw.  Yet, look how precise it is all  put together, how perfectly aligned it is.  It is truly magnificent.  It is a work of art. 



This is my new roof, before.  The after pictures will come next week.  My BIL is going to try to come next week and bring some helpers.  If they come it will certainly speed things up

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These are my door and window frames, and even my doors.  Part of this may even become part of the ceiling.  The wood is Rosita.  It  has a beautiful grain.  It is another dense,  heavy hardwood.  Once you get a nail into it, you can't take it back out.  It is also too hard for termites to chew. 

This house is truly a house built out of love.  To me, not even the Taj Mahal is more beautiful.  The best part is that when it is finished, the house is paid for.  It cannot be foreclosed on.  It cannot be repossessed.  It is ours.  Thank you, Macho Man.

We are blessed.