On top of the rock

On top of the rock
Our Cliff

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Today....

...was I guess a rather typical day for us now. We woke with the sun about 6am. We had coffee after Maurice went out and started the generator. We do have the batteries charged but the coffee pot for some reason is a big drain on them so he chose to start the-not-so-quiet generator. After our coffee and our cookies I went for a walk on the beach. It is about a 3 minute walk to the beach, around the base of the cliff and I go for about an hour. “I go for about an hour”. Kind of makes it sound like I am out there hoofing my 2 ½ miles every day!……well so far it has been twice in the week we have lived here. I will try to make it routine but life may get in the way! Tomorrow, for example I am volunteering at a dog neutering clinic (DON’T ASK!!) and I will try to walk first, but after the making of our coffee, the drinking of our coffee, the making of the bed, the sweeping of the floors, the heating of the water to wash my hair, (since I am without any friends at the Presidente) we may run out of time……

O.K. so back to our typical day. We had a meeting here at 10:30 with our engineer and our pool guy, Alejandro. We were supposed to be making some decisions which today we found to be close to impossible. Valente brought some large print outs of our house plans with some changes that he wants us to approve. First quesstion, “Is this little rectangular off the kitchen big enough for the laundry room?” Of course, pain that I am I want to know just how big that little rectangular is. Once we figure the size out we try to decide if a washer and dryer will fit in it. I mean shouldn’t that really be the architects job? Why design a laundry room if you are not sure you can fit in the washer and dryer? Yes, I guess I am a pain. So we all decide this is small, but adequate.

Next he wants to know where to put the shower nozzle in the bathroom that is in the guest room in our house. “Well“, I say, “I want it on the opposite wall of the outdoor shower so you can flow from indoor to outdoor shower“. “Oh, you really want an outdoor shower?” Yes, that is why it is on the paper you are showing us. Since apparently he thinks that I am now becoming an architect he wants to know how this whole set up should be laid out. I told him Maurice and I would figure it out and let him know on Saturday. NEXT? Valente asks, “What about the master bedroom?....Here are the plans”. To be fair I have changed these so many times even I am a little confused BUT what he is showing me is wrong. WHAT DO I WANT?! “Well, I would like someone to design what I have describing for the past 12 months!” I guess after 6 attempts I am not being very clear. Maybe it is that I-don‘t-speak-Spanish issue. “Not to worry Valente, Maurice and I will get back to you with a plan on Saturday“. We are promising Saturday since this is the day he is coming back.

Our first job is to design an indoor outdoor shower. Second job is to design our master bathroom/bedroom. Hmm..maybe our $9,000 architect was a little expensive after all.

Next Valente talks about the main entry into our house. We had decided we were going to have reverse steps with a planter on each side of these. Now the pool guy, Alejandro, says we need to have an area around the pool to “hang in” so he wants us to connect the entry to the pool, making this whole area on one level. They draw this out on a flat piece of paper and we all agree it “will do.” Alejandro then leaves, as he is coming back on Saturday, too.

Valente, Maurice and I then go up to see how our newly drawn entrance will look. First Valente goes over the changes with Don Jose, and the workers have to draw it out on the ground and figure it all out, which took about 30 minutes. When Valente shows us the finished design we are not happy. There is no natural flow and this is certainly not the vision I had. I think everyone is getting frustrated but I tried to explain this is a huge decision. When he drew it out on paper it seemed O.K. but when they put it next to the house we did not like it. Sorry!! We want tiered terraces, not a large wall around the pool area. Anyway...we will get back to him on Saturday.

Tomorrow after the dog neutering clinic I am attending architect school. Hopefully I can find an overnight course which will be completed by Saturday.

After all these big decisions we head to Todos Santos. We had laundry to do, plumbing to buy (we now have a drain in the kitchen!!!) gas to buy, drinking water to get, lunch/dinner to eat, and ice cream to buy. Four hours later we are now back at the bodega. It is 7pm, getting pretty dark now and the stars will soon be exploding in our sky.

I took lots of pictures today but it is really hard to tell what is happening. They are getting ready to lay the floors on Saturday. A large cement mixer is coming and it will have two pumps to pour the cement on the floors. This will be for the two casitas and the main room. They can not construct the master bedroom and guest room until later. Once these two rooms are completed they will block the entry for Senor Backhoe Retro to deliver materials so they will done last. Yes, Senor is still around. Pretty much daily he is here, and we still like and trust him.

So here are some pictures. Casita number one is ready to have the concert poured. The workers are now on casita number two, readying that floor as well. The plumbing in being put into the main living space, and they are also working on the entry steps and planter. They are moving so quickly we were told they will probably finish a month early! That means landscaping during the hottest months of the year here. Anyone wanna help??



P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONATHAN!!! WE MISS YOU!

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