Jamaica: (Was - Re: Money, Taxes, and Rebates)

Ok, Robert a little hijacking seems to be inorder, but since you are serving, I'll do it publicly.

BTW, if I was contemplating where to build now, I would probably hae Costa Rico at the top of the list as it is set up to cater to Us retirees, especially, NCOs.  I kid yu not.  Not speaking Sp;anish is a minor drawback, as many (most in the industries that matter) speak English.

30 years ago, when I first went to Jamaica, I went to Negril, which at the time was a sleepy little town with around 14 hotels (and I use the word hotel in the smallest sense, as even today the zoning prohibits them from building higher than the palm trees).  Natually, with legal mushrooms, inexpensive good ganjar, 7 miles of clean white sandy beaches, good good and a fine climate I decided to come back.  I told a few friends, who came with me.  After around three years of going down the first weekend in February for a week or two, a light went off in our heads, and while drinking fruity rum drinks under the shade of a pogada 15 feet from the water, the three guys said "Damn, we should buy some land here and build."

I was tasked with finding a suitable property.  The way it works with my friends, is that the parameters are given and the guy/gal doing the work is given free rein.  My next trip had me talking to a few people amd I was introduced to the neice of the widow of a guy who owned a property called Saxham, one sqauare mile of cane with a nice house on it.  I rejected the idea of paying $50,000 for an acre on the beach, as it would have taken almost all of our capital.  Given rising prices, with no regard for being able to get a return on one's investment, that was the only bad decision we made.   However, we would not want to live on today's beach.

Anyway, Eleanor Gubler, then on rich husband number two, introduced me to her Aunt Katie, then 75 in 1982 and, bottom line, we bought 8+ acres along the old cane road with a wonderful view for $US 8,800.  This portion of Saxham, for those of you who look at things through satielites, is located up the road from Green Island, up the cane road from Prospect, and just before Sprague Hill (another story). near Pell River and Grange. 
Believe me, it took a while to learn all these places.

Post now and then resume.

Over the next 7 years, we established our group as 4 couples.  We arranged to improve the road a bit through the Spragues land.  The spragues are a clan whose contentiousness is only exceeded by their fecundity.  They somehow agreed to have one of their own, Willi Vassel, assigned power of attorney for the group. 

As an experiement, around 10 years back, we rented a bulldozer during the dry seaon, and over a four week period with Tom Dimock and I overlapping trips), we built our storage building (called the fortress), a two storey building, 12' square interior, steel reinforced concrete, with a steel reinforced concrete floor between floors and four 650 gallon water storage tanks on the second floor.

Viola - it took a little longer and was about 10% over budget (these became reoccurring themes for all our construction projects), but hell, its Jamaica and it was finished.  We then spent the next two years filling it with all sorts of tools.

Next break

After I take a break, I'll resume and tell you about how we built a road for 1.1 miles, installed 16 steel reinforced concrete poles and got electricity to our place, all in three weeks.  While doing so, we created, briefly, one of the largest road construction outfits on the island.

Splitting for the sake of at least a semblance of thread continuity. 

Around 7 years ago, retirement hove into sight.  The Dimocks (Tom and JC) were going to be there in 2007, the Laughlins (Jeff and Diane) by 2010, The Elliots by the same year, and the Spiegels, fully retired by 2014, although I am merely keeping my hand in at this time.

It became imperative to have electricity to the property, as well as a good road.  We figured the entire 1.1 mile project could be brought in for around $60,000 (all prices are in US).  As there are a total of 10 properties along the proposed road, we figured $6K per property.  Tom took the job of getting everyone to contribute, i.e., herding cats.  He did an admirable job.  We jot a firm quote in writing from JPSCO (Jamaica Power Supply Company, a national monopoly).  JC ran the power end, while Tom arranged for the Bulldozer to start cutting the road (the old cane road was well overgrown).  did I mention that Tom owns a Bulldozer in the States and thus is fairly immune to Taurus defecation about running them.  When I came down, one week into things, the roadwork was proceeding apace, but the delivery of the marl (the crushed stone they use for non-asphalt paving, sort of like what is on our driveway in PA, but not the same) was way too slow.  And JPSCO was not even started with the electric.

JC is one of the nicest people in the world, but totally nonconfrontational.  Jamaicans often believe the validity of a position is directly proportional to the volume in which it is pronounced.  upon arriving in Jamaica, I went straight to JPSCO, where I got the distinct impression that we were getting jerked around because we were white.  I understand why, but it burned me and I did what I always did - I gave the guy in charge of the local office an ultimatum, and the minute he missed it, contacted the Company's number one troubleshooter, who happened to be located three quarters of the island away, and with whom I had spoken earlier.  Mr Stirling came down, read the local the riot act, and told me to call him if we had any further problems. 

The local guy, with three others accompanying him, came out to the project (by this time, I had contracted with six independent haulers, each with a truck capable of carrying between 15 and 20 cubic yards of marl.  they were making 4-6 trips a day per truck).  The local guy came up to me and said "You were a bit snippy today on the phone, Mr. Spiegel."

I replied, "Actually, I was a prick."

"Yes you were" he agreed.

"Remember that nice lady, Mrs. Dimock who called you earlier and whose entreaties you ignored?"  Honest to goodness, these are the words - Jamaicans like speaking like this and have wonderful vocabularies.

"Yes"

"She's the nice one.  I advise you to listen to her, otherwise you get the prick."

We now have a good working relationship, and he knows why he is not being promoted, but he does like working....

Meanwhile, we got 1700 cubic yards of marl delivered.  We found a road project one mile away, bribed the grader operator to work for us 6 hours per night, and got the stuff spread 12 feet wide, 8 to 10 inches deep for 1.1 miles (do the arithmetic).  We also build a retaining wall around a sharp curve.  The great wall of Valley View (the name we gave our spread).

All that remained was to rent two rollers for three days, and viola - the road and electric was finished.  Sounds easy - well it was not.
More tomorrow

Please keep telling Charlie. I am taking notes....haha you will also have to send pictures this place sounds beautiful.

You can find Nov 2006 pictures of the outside at

www.pyrotom.com/album/CharlieNov06/

Take a look at

www.pyrotom.com and look at any albums that have spiegel in them.  Hell, when you are bnot risking life and limb, you have lots of time - look at them all.
For perspective, the interior of the house measures 50 x 20 feet and consists of three major rooms, two 15 x 20 bedrooms and an 20 x 20 common room.

Each bedroom has a shower/sink/toilet set up that is around 5.5 ft by 10 feet and a walk in closet that is hurrican proof that measures 5.5 x 6.

At this moment, everything is hooked up and the interior lacks cooking facilities, the kitchen sink fridge and furniture.  I plan on going down in March or April accompanied with around 4 grand to do all that plus finish the outside railing and porch.  Its good that it will be done, as I am just about out of discretionary income for a while.  Might have to sell my 1/1200 WWI ships.

Last trip I was able to do the three Ss.

After we got the road and electricity, things went smoother.  Not smoothly overall, because this is Jamaica.  Like when I designed the big  common room to be 20 feet across.  Understand i could have made it any width I wanted, which is the beauty of steel reinforced concrete.  I obtrained a price on some 2 x 10 x 22 feet long pieces to use as the span/ridge pole.  I ordered all the wood after for delivery after finishing the interior walls, only to find there were no 22 long pices of lumber in Jamaica - period.
"But you quoted it to me."
"Yes, that is the correct price for 22 foot long material."

"Then sell me two pieces."

"We don't have any."

"When will you?"

"Never, we never had any/"

SCREAMING "Then how in all that is holy could you quote me on it?"

"Well, Mr Spiegel, if we had them, that is whay they would cost."

Choices - 
1 build another interior wall, in effect making one of them twice as thick
2 Have a support in the middle of the room (so unesthetic)
3 Kill the guy who quoted me the price, which would make me feel better momentarily, but would not solve anything.
4 Come up with a brilliant save (If I say so myself - which I do).  Someplace there is a picture, but what I did was to design something that would protrude for three inches upon which the beams would rest.  It looks great and works wonderfully.  I still wanted to incorporate 3 above into the final solution, but my partners persuaded me to take a different approach.


When  construction began, it was apparant that it would have to be done in stages:

1 - Foundation, which includes all the upright steel work.

2 - Pouring the slab.

3 - Walls, with openings for windows and doors. Normally they build with block and later knock out the openings with sledges

4 - Roof - oh, what an adventure

5 - Interior tile

6 - Windows and bars
More later

-andy

I don't know why that is so funny to me, but I just burst out laughing at the office.

Andy rules.

And we at the office, were just talking about the differnt things you can do to monkies......i mean with monkies...or nevermind you get my drift.

So Charlie,
I went looking at costa rica, and doing some research in the down time while at work. I dont know how jamaica compares, but the prices for some lots were low, lowers then in the states, but for more land. Now, the questions I have. what helped you decide on your location?  and I understand you have several people involved in this, if I wanted to do it alone, or with family...the question I have is do you have someone watching your lands while you are not there? or is there always someone there?  reason im asking is it seems costa rica has a bad streak of vandlism and robberys to un watched homes. and alot of people have lost money on it. what would you advise?

anyway continue on my friend, I am listening.

I wrote a huge [post on the flight to FL, but they only have two computers in the whole joint that have net access so I cannot send it until I return.  Last night, had dinner with three men, total age of them was over 280.  My dad was the youngster at 83.

To answer your questions, Rob:

In the early 80's a group of us vacationed in Jamaica for one to two weeks a year, starting in the first weekend of February.  Our BoD nmeeting is still held then, on the beach, with alcohol and ganja being provided by the corporation.  We are very laid back.  This year's meeting was last weekend.
Everyone speaks English after a fashion, the climate is nice even during the rainy season, food is inexpensive and fresh, and services cheap.  Elaboration may follow

Vandalism is always a problem.  You don't think a guy with 5 stripes is wealthy, but by their standards you are.  If a couple owns a dwelling, social security provides enough to live comfortably.  Add a 20-25 year pension and you will do fine, in either place.

Eventually you will come to the photo album, which hopefully my DS&WW will upload, that has photos of our "burglar bars."  These were designed in suggestion by us, and wonderfully executed by Daniel, who designed a metal sculpture garden called Jurrasic Park.  The bars function to keep people out, which is a sad necessity, as all are convinced that we are rich.

We decided on our remote location as three of the four couples live in romote locations, and having an average holding of around 10 acres appealed to us.  Plus, by the time we move in we imagined that some others would be starting as well.  Probably can and will whore myself out as a construction supervisor, now that I have either done or seen it all done.  Plus I can read blueprints.

We have a full time caretaker, who works hard while someone is in residence, but not so hard when we are away.  Jamaica.  We pay him middle class wages, around $3000 a year.  We need to open communications better, because his concept of what yes means and mine differ somewhat, as well as the word finished.

I like living with some friends nearby, as that way, one is hardly ever alone unless one wants to be, and thee is usually someone to share an expeerience.  For instance, Tina is a birder.  So is Estelle, and to lesser degrees Diane and JC.  Diane and Estelle are Mater Gardeners, I am a gifted amateur, and helped set up the compost system (interesting explaining that to Garnett, or caretaker) as well as the terracing system.

Tom loves to tinker.  Jeff and I like to work on systems.  Dwarf is a mean bartender.  If I want to go to a soccer game, someone will want to go as well.  If not - its rare.  In our future are plans to build a communtity kitchen, a serious kitchen, as those of you who saw Casa Spiegel can attest, is important.  Of the 8 of us, there are several who are really good preparers of food.  Cannot wait until JC bakes somepies.  She did win blue ribbons in Tomkins county....Mmmm - pie.

It took us quite a whjile to settle on Garnett as our caretaker, and we are having him go through a serious trial now.  HJonesty, while of major importance, is not sufficient.  Naturally, we had to go to his house to bring back some of our tools.  Long story, which is being played out literally at this moment in Negril forduring his yearly evaluation.  Then I get to negotiate salary - maybe, because we are at loggerheads after 6 years. 

More later

COMBO BREAKER!

Alright, that answers those questions, Now you mentioned several others, do you split one building much like a time share? or do others have there own dwellings there building on the property so to speak...forming a sort of community? The caretaker....do you have a written contract with him, or is it all word of mouth? and seeing as you went to his house to get your tools, I take it he doesnt live there. Have you thought of perhaps a live in caretaker?
Also, how about Running water, did you have to drill or did the land have a natural source? How much clearing of the place did you do, and if you cleared any tree's did you sell the wood? Just some questions for the time being.

5 Stripes? hmm, Im planning to go warrent soon. Learn to fly helicopters, one of the rare skills you dont see to many having. Perhaps hire myself out to personaaly fly a costa rican drug lord, hahahahahahah.  Just kidding.
anyway man.....Ill sit back drink a nice cold near beer....and Im listening away

Here's a link to some photos of our place in Jamaica, including the burglar bars, the 600 gal cisterns that collect rain water from the roof (or that we'll pay to get filled if there's not enough rain), the road, and a view of the house. 
www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=lvi6dsn.mgxwg47&x=0&y=fjjq0i
My avatar was taken on the porch.
Each couple/family is building their own "bungalow" which will have a bedroom/s, bath and small kitchen.  It's up to each partner who stays in their house pretty much although I don't think any of us plan on actually renting our houses.  We have another friend here in PA who's a locksmith and he's provided us with locks like you've probably never seen that are pretty much thief proof, and the bars should keep casual thieves away.  Running water right now comes from either the 4 cisterns under the porch or from the four emergency 600 gal cisterns up on the "fortress" at the top of our hill/property.  We've also plumbed gray water into barrels to use for watering plantings.  Word has it that the public water pipe is getting closer -- within a couple of hills.  Who knows how long it'll take to get to us, or when we'll decide to "go after it," but JA public water has never given any of us any problems when we drink it.  We've installed a cesspool/septic system that all the houses are hooked into.  The land had been sugar cane fields, so we didn't have to clear forest or lots of vegetation.  As for the tree or two that did come down, the wood was most likely used to cook lunch for the crew.  It's the bamboo that really puts up a fight, as our friend can attest to as he battled for a week to remove the bamboo clump that wouldn't die.  One thing we didn't do, b/c there were some other irons in the fire at the time, was solar hot water.  Our friends have it just put a solar hot water system  on their roof, so we can compare notes with them to see how it works. 
I'm sure Charlie will add to this....

If concrete based construction is not occurring, our2600 gallons of water should be enough to get us through the dry season with no problem.  Eventually a washing machine will be purchased (or we will contract with someone local), but that will use realtively little water.  Reuse of the grey water also saves. 

The locks - ah yes.  I have a standing wager with the work crew that they cannot force our locks.  I offer 70:1 odds, betting J vs US.  So far, its like giving chess lessons IG at KR .  They have no access to liquid oxygen or nitrogen, which is the only thing I can imagine that would allow it to be beaten.

We have a written list of what our caretaker is to do to earn his salary, plus a few bonus items.  At the moment, my pissedoffedness is quite high, as concerns him.  That is unfortunate, because up to now I have been the one who negotiated his "contract."  the last was a three year deal and this is the last year.  We eventually want our caretaker to reside on site, but it is too remote for his tastes at the moment - more importantly, it is too remote for his wife.  The local route Taxis (a route taxi allows one to get from station to station for a remakably low sum.  We can go the twoegs and 15 iles from the end of our road to the great beaches for under $2 US).  Its getting to Prospect or Grange, 8/10 of a mile or 1.5 miles, that requires walking, as there are not enough customers at or end to make it a regular route.  We can get special service for around and extra $3 0r 4, however.

Growing naturally on our proeerty are Mangoes, Limes, and some misc shade trees.  We planted orange, pineapple, banana, guava, opalm, grapefruit, soursap, cedar and pine (the last two are different than we know, being construction wood).  We use bamboo, an invasive grass, for all sorts of construction purposes in the garden.  The concept of composting is taking off slowly.  I made a "mistake" and used the phrase "vegetable matter" and Garnett took me literally and only put the remnants of vegetables in it.  AAARRRGGGHHH.

Roof
I will go a bit out of sequence here, as the roof was the next to the last phase of necessary construction to illustrate a point.  The roof at Casa Spiegel is an a frame.  We have a front porch, facing the view, that is around 8 feet wide.  I allowed the back to have a 4" overhang.  Thus, if the interior is 20', plus 4 feet, plus 8 feet plus a 2 foot overhang, one arrives at 34 feet.  I used 14 foot and 20 foot (IIRC) 2 x 8so tie into the ridge beams and plates.  I picked double 2 x 6s to use as the plate (the part on top of the walls around the perimeter).  Holes were drilled through the plate to allow the rebar to pass through and then threaded 3/8-16 and secured with wide washers and nuts.  Concrete nails and bolts were also used to gfasten the plate.  The 2 x 8s attached to the plate, as well as to the upright pillars. 

I have to go now to speak with the admin types here about moving my father.  Then a dip in the pool and I'll be back after lunch.

Selected my father's new apartment as well as sold his car.  Busy afternoon.

Anyway, back to the roof.  The 2x8s were attached to the plates with 3/8 -16 galvanized grade 8 lag bolts with nails and screws as well as the code required hurricane straps.  Being that our walls are around 10 feet tall, we used 6" square x 8 foot long pillars at the perimeter of the front porch.  A double set of 2 x 6 ran across the tops, to which the rafters were also bolted.  Thus the roof is attached both to the house and the pillars.  The building inspector (we were shocked that there was one) told us we had just changed the standards for single home consturction in Jamaica.  Our house was presented at the annual contractors whatever in Kingston.

Anyway, when you have 66 feet to be covered by the pillars and the 2 x 6s, it is imperative that the boards do not all end at the same junctures.  Jamaicans are pretty haphazard as to how they splice things, in that they would use the last 4" of a 2x6, and remove enough wood to make it a 1 x 6 for that 4".  The underlying piece would be likewise worked, so that when laid upon each other, it would butt, splicing things.  I explained the only place a splice cmay occur is directly and completely over a 6" square pillar.  It seemed obvious to me that is the only way the structural integrity could be maintained.

Ah, time to take a break.  Back later.

I drew a diagram of how things were to be spiced. I watched Coke (Erol Coke is the name of the contractor, and I use the word loosely.  Coordinator might be better) watch Calli, the lead carpenter do the first few pices correctly.  Then I had to scare up some material. My hemoglobin, unknown to me, was low, so I was tired.  Things were not helped by the ganja I had tried, along with being up late the night before at a concert.  I napped in my chair.  Waking upo around 4 PM to be shown the work that had been done, including putting iup around 10 of the rafters.  Naturally, the splicing was done incorrectly.  All assured me it was just as strong.

Using such Jamaican idioms as bumbleclot, mixed liberally with a few Americanisms, like incompetanes, laced with the very British Bloody idiots, convinced them that I firmly believed they were mistaken.  I thjen grabbed 4 pieces of 1/2 x 4 x 8 and made the last 4 inches 1/4 and made two splices, one of which I kept screwed together and hanging over nothing, the other which I put over a post.  Grabbing several cement blocks, I started piling them on the free splice.  I also put Jango, who weighs in at around 250 on top of the blocks.  No surprise, the splice broke - to be more accurate, it gave way and tore.  Naturally when twice the blocks Jango, Coke and I were on the other, it sagged a bit, but held wonderfully.

"I figure" I intoned in my best why does no one ever listen to the white guy voice "that it will take you about one days to undo things, plus you have to replace the 2 x 6s and maybe the 6" square pieces, because unless the lagbolts are in exactly the same place, nothing will hold.  I don't have the money for that, but I guess if you work for free it can be worked out."  Everyone knew the materials, being wood, cost more than the labor.  We can carry the excess over to the next time.  What really burns me is that I will not be able to finsih this trip, as there will flat out not be enough time."

Calli, Coke and Michael (the second best carpenter) had the good graces to look horrified at this pronouncement.  They could not very well deny the weakness of their splices.  Calli, who remembered how I had come up with a fix for the nonexistant 22 footers asked if I had any ideas.  Since my idea consisted of shooting them, they were not really interested.  However...if we got 1/4 thick steel by 4 inches wide and around three feet long and bolted them top and bottom where the bad splices were, structually it would be as strong.  It would look like shit warmed over, but it would be sufficiently strong.  Naturally, I did point out that this would require the entire 66 feet to be encased on two sides (bottom and that facing the house) with matching pine, the labor and material for which I will not pay a cent since I only pay for screwups if y ou do it my way.  No grumbling, but we agreed to deduct the cost of the new wood from future labor.  Maybe tomorrow I will explain how I had a 1" dip in the roof, and how that had to be fixed.

More about Erol Coke, who is a decent human being, a knowedgable builder, and a horrible estimaot of materials.  He is also a pastor of the Pell River Seventh Day Adventist Church.  In front of the entire crew he once told me that if anyone asked who he was here to see, just say Coke.  This was way to easy to pass up, so I said for him to expect a visit from the DEA.  Jamaicans all know about the Drug Enforcment Agency.  In response to why I said that when going through customs I was asked what the purpose of my visit was.  In reply, I said "Coke."  When asked if I knew where to find coke in Jaqmaica, I answered "This Saturday, I have it on good authority that there will be 60 kilos of cCoke in the Pell River Seventh Day Adventist Church."  He eventually realoized I was pulling his leg.  However, last Spring Break, when Tina, Jake, his friend Norman (Matthew and Nicholas' older brother, Norm's eldest) I asked Coke if his 18 year old daughtrer had a hot friend.  Coke, falling into my trap, assuming I was interested, said yes and why?  I mentioned it would be nice if the two yong ladies would take the boys to some Jamaican entertainment away from the tourists. 

Coke "You know I would have to kill you Charlie."

Me  "Don't you trust your daughter, Erol?"

Coke "Its not my daughter..."

Me "Are you saying my sone and his friend are not gentlemen?"

Gosh, I love yanking his chain. 

Tomorrow, more plus some Jewish Haiku

Not only does each couple have its own dwelling (at 1000 square interior feet plus some lower level footage which will total another 250 or so plus a huge deck at Casa Spiegel, ours has the largest footprint) we all have plenty of personal space.  The three bungalos? already up are in completely different styles, having in common steell reingofreced concrete walls.  Our roof is wood with asphalt shingles, while Dimock's and Laughlin's have a compositem roof which looks like ceramic tile, but is not.  Casa Spiegel has lots of wood on the interior, and even the exterior (three coats of neutral preservative followed by 4 coats of marine spar varnish, thank you - I know it was done properly because I applied it).  The Dimocks made their arches out of concrete (STEEL REINFORCED IS A GIVEN WITH REFERRING TO CONCRETE).  The Laighlins did the same, although their 750 square feet is one huge room with the bathroom closet walled off.  Who knows what Dwarf and Estelle will do, but they are considering a slightly pitched concete roof.  It can work, and will be quite the place to sit and watch sunrises or sunsets.  There have been a few shots of the westward view on the links.

We have taken down two trees to date, one of them being a "bad" mango and the other heavily damaged in a storm.  As Tiona said, cane is king in that area and we are working on containing the invasive bamboo and eliminating the cane.  Goats, if properly tethered are wonderful at keeping growth down.  Of course, they would rather eat our plantings (for forms sake, we have a around 150 feet of our frontage fenced, with 4 foot high poles with three wtrands of barbed wire.  The wire keeps out the goats and cattle, as the poles are sunk into concrete.  We planted nice stuff outside the wire, like bougainvilla and passion fruit.  The growth is up to 3 feet at this time.  We explained, nicely, that continued incursions by goats will result in either confiscation and involvment of the authorities, or curried goat.  Goatnapping is a serious offense in Jamaica, but they know we caqn destroy the evidence in a day.

Remind me to tell you of the nice Christian lady, Miss Sonia, who is also one of the best cooks on the island, and the "housewarming" party we had.  Very old testament with the goats.  Sspashing their blood to the four corners of the structure to be was very Santaria, but she was convinced it was not Voodoo, but Christian.  Either way, the goat tasted fine and as I consumed mannish water, I was accepted as a Jamaican.  Mannish water, for those who desire to know, contains anything that does not go into the curry, such as eyes, ears, tail, internal organs, etc.  Made into a soup/stew, it is quite tasty, so long as one does not try to identify the particular tidbit being consumred.

Lunch/dip in pool/move father three hour stint coming up.  So far, disposed of around 10 cubic feet of stuff.

hmmm, been looking at land all around the caribbian, and jamaica still seems to have some nice plots and prices, in soon to be constructed area's. or so the listing said. Charlie next time your there, could you please take a peak around where you guys are and see  what is availible...and if its worht the price or not....just wanting to see  what prices on the ground are, compared to prices on the internent and what not....my parents have become very intrested aswell in aqquiring off-shore (out of the CONUS) property and will likely if I do go the route I am wanting to go, do the purchasing for me. anyway , please continue, and btw just had a chancew to look over the pictures.....the place is amazing.

Thaks you, robert.  Interestingly enough one of our neighbors plots is probably availabler in that Ester died two years back and her husband predeceased her.  Let me write to the estate and see.  Seriously, in a year or so when you are stateside and after you get to spend some time with your child and such, we will plan a trip and it would be my pleasure to personally guide you for a few days, not to mention putting you up.

If you are googling it, or checking locations, stick with Westmoreland or Hanover Parish.  If you want to find our spot on a map, Start at Montego Bay, on the north side of the island, about 3/4 opf the way to the west.  Go along the coast and you will see a good sized town called Lucea.  The next town west is Green Island.  Follow the inland road until you come to Prospect, around 1.5 miles?  Turn left up the prospect road, not hard left but around a 135 degree turn.  From the turning point it is around 1.5 miles. Some maps might actually have Saxham written on it, but most will show Pell River and Grange. 

I am absolutely exhausted from the move and the walk down memory lane that ensued while sorting out various things.  Why my sister's and my baby teeth are kept in my father's safe, while such worthless items as a very fine, mint set of C-13-15 (The Graf Zeppelin air mail stamps) are left in a cigar box is anyone's guess.  Its not even a complete set of teeth, but I remember being the extractor for my younger sister.  I had a painless pinching technique...

Will upload some stuff tomorrow evening.  Keep in mind that having electric and/or water at your property, along with a road, makes is worth more.

"History is an omelet.  The eggs are already broken."

This is written as I wing my way to Florida to help my dad relocate in his complex from “normal” to “assisted” living.  The entire family agrees that next time he gets a heart attack, to have some consideration and do it other than a holiday weekend when the fares are triple normal.

Building a house in Jamaica – building anything in Jamaica – is completely different from any other construction project you can imagine.  Unless of course, you have built in Lahu (a small region located near Chang Mai, in what used to be called Thailand), but that is another story best told by Joey Z, known professionally as Joseph Zammarelli, PhD.  Really, the truth is much better than fiction.

First, we have always paid the equivalent of union wages.  Today they are:
Casual (unskilled) Labor $1200/day  $17
Journeyman carpenter  $1500/day $21.50
Master carpenter/mason  $2500/3000/day  $36-$43
Site supervisor  $3500/day  $50

Understand that these prices are in J.  The current rate of exchange is 70:1 so the second number is the value in US dollars.  Labor is easy to come by, especially as we always hire for between 8 and 20 days straight.  People tell those for whom they are working that they will be taking X number of days off, because our work is time dependent, that is, they can only work when we are present.  You can guess why, but don’t worry, I’ll explain.

We found out quickly that there is a Jamaican way of doing things.  Mostly, we were ok with them, unless it conflicted with our way, i.e., the correct way.  How can you tell when your Jamaican site boss does not have a clue?  When the phrase “I know exactly what you mean” crosses his lips.

Putting in a foundation is straightforward when there is no need to worry about a frost line.  A trench is dug around 18 inches wide to a depth of around two feet below the surface.  The trench is as level as possible, except for when it will drop or rise the height of a cement block, around 8 inches (our blocks were 16” long, 6” wide and 8” high).  Digging was done by four men, working along lines provided by stakes and string overseen by the site boss.  While this was going on the steel man set up shop.  Jamaican code requires steel through every other course of block and the steel to be 3/8 of an inch rebar.  Naturally, my/our specs called for ½ inch steel to be in every block, with the entire to be filled with concrete, making it not just steel reinforced, but with the added stability of concrete.  The difference seems slight, but in theory there is almost twice as much steel in ½” and around 40% more tensile strength.  The bar is capable of being bent double, so it will not snap.  A hurricane might crack something, but I will be hung if it will collapse.  Steel men charge by the pound.  Unfortunately they insist on treating ½” rebar, which is actually 15/32 to 7/16” diameter as if it weighed what half inch does.  There is a substantial difference, but it is an island wide system not assailable by logic or measuring tools.  ::sigh::

Along the bottom of the trench the steel man assembles a beam, which consistes of six lengths of steel, tied (held) together at each end with a rectangular frame, also made from ½” steel.  The separate pieces of steel are hled in place with binding wire, a flexible size.  The six pieces that make a beam have their ends protrude, some going up the wall and others forming a foot at the base.  Its nice that rebar comes in 20 to 22 foot lengths.  Working steel is a science, not an art.  Having seen it done, I can do it, including making the jigs.  I’d rather pay someone to do it, as it saves time and for the money, its worth it. 

Their normal building practice calls for placing smaller beams above each window/door opening.  When I suggested using ½” thick by 4” wide steel across the tops of window and door openings, one would have thought I had come up with the wheel.  Sufficiently strong, and saving a great deal of time and money, it revolutionized local construction.  I kid you not.  Wait’ll I tell you about the roof.

Needless to say, we learned that buying steel by the ton was cost effective.  Having been in that business, I knew three years ago that the Chinese were going gonzo with cement and steel, so we ordered and sat on 5 tons of steel.  Hey, we made money on it, because we needed every bar and the price increased substantially, both in J and US.  Cement is up from around US 6 to $8, but there is no way to store it for more than a few months.  We keep up to 200 bags (at 45 kilos per bag that’s ten tons of cement, folks).  Early on, we learned that our site boss knew most aspects of the building trade, but was not the best when it cam e to estimating materials.  My group looked for someone with ready arithmetic skills.  Tom is our water commissioner, Jeff (Jeef, or Boss) our water commissioner, Dick is our supernumerary (he watches), and I handle local relations – like the parish council, neighbors, etc.
Back to the road for a moment.  As I said, we built from Prospect, which was our second choice, the first being to go through Sprague land as it was shorter.  It would also have the advantage of bringing the Sprague’s a nice road and electricity at zero cost.  Win-win – that’s how I learned to nail down a negotiation.  The aforementioned Willi Vassel was the legal representative of this numerous, contentious, and distrusting clan.  I met him in person, came to an agreement, gave it to our attorney to put in writing (it’s a British system, non-adversarial, so the same attorney can represent both sides).  Our original deed was made legit by the affixing of a postage stamp, hand canceling it, and having the attorney attest to it in writing.  Only took a decade to get a hard copy from the parish.

Anyway, there I am, down for a three day weekend with the sole purpose of meeting Willi and Mr. Frater, the attorney who represented both parties and then signing the agreement.  Having spoken to Willi three days earlier, I knew the time and having been to his house on my previous visit, the place.

I arrived at the appointed time, which means I was early for Jamaica and was not surprised to see a few cars there, as it is not every day that such an agreement is reached and signed.  I knocked and the door was answered. 
“My name is Charlie Spiegel.  I’m here to see Willi Vassel.  We have some business to conduct.”
“I’m afraid you cannot speak with him, Mr. Spiegel.”
“Really, he is expecting me and wants to see me.”
‘I am certain he would like nothing better.  Unfortunately he died yesterday.”
After my jaw raised itself from the ground, I turned to Eric Frater, a fine man, a superb attorney, and a plain good guy.  “What happens now?”  Pointing to the people gathered around the large table, he said they were the elders and could probably come to an agreement.  Unfortunately, led by the formidable Beryl Sprague, of sufficient age to more than remember the bad old colonial days, they were loathe to sign the 30 foot right of way granting the electric company the right to maintain their lines.  It seems way back when, such instruments were often used by unscrupulous people (mostly white, I must say) to separate Jamaicans from their land.  No matter what Frater and I said, they were adamant that this was a scheme to steal Sprague land. 
Three years after the road was finished, we ran into Beryl, who was well aware of the benefits we had brought to the few Jamaicans who lived between Prospect and our property, none of whom were Spragues.  She admitted as to how she had made a terrible mistake in blocking our project from going though their land and asked if we were going to extend the road to either Grange or Cauldwell, which would bring things through their property, in varying degrees.  ::sigh::

Concrete is made the old fashioned method.  Cement is mixed in proportion with sand and ½” stone, so many wheelbarrows of each per bag of cement.  Mixing is done by shovel and water is added and the resulting concrete is shoveled into either wheelbarrows or buckets and carried/wheeled to where it is needed, the steel having been placed ahead of time.  Thus, to maximize time, the steel man must be finished before the trench is finished, so he can begin placing the steel.  Once a tier of steel is in place, the making of concrete can commence.  It only took a week to get that concept through.  It would not have cost me any more money, but time mattered, as I only had 8 working days the first house trip.

Oh, did I mention that just because one paid for material in advance there is no guarantee that it will be there or delivered when one needs it?  True.  There are times that there is an island wide shortage of cement, or it rained and trucks do not want to risk the hills, especially before the road was done – even now, delivery during the rainy season is problematic.  Cement is ASTM B-164, also known as Portland cement.  Most of ours, due to a scandal effecting Caribe Cement, came from Egypt.  Bags had a picture of a pyramid on the side, the ASTM info, and said “Over 5000 years of experience.”  Gosh, I love some aspects of this frustrating, yet informative, experience.
Now landing in Ft. Lauderdale 79 degrees F.

A new link to some new pics.  They interior shots are mostly from Casa Dimock, but you can see our stone walkway in one of them.

In the photo entitled something to the effect "relaxing with friends on the beach, please take notice of the guy in the white t-shirt.  It is from him that we receive our smoke and strobes.  We go back to our HS chess team.


www.pyrotom.com/album/Jamaica08/Feb28/Photos.html

I leave the 25th for two weeks to finish the kitchen sink, cabinets, buy appliances, oversee the making of two waterbed frames and a few minor items.  Bringing down some air mattresses and buying some cheap furniture so the boys will have something in June.  Will also have one bureau custom made (its still tres cheap) and will look into the cost of a railing for our porch.  What the heck, if some drunk falls off and breaks their neck it is good that Jamaica does not recognize stuidity on the part of the deceased as legal grounds for a lawsuit.

Seems my hot water system was damaged by a cow.  i had enclosed the storage tanks and exposed pipes under the main structue with a half wall enough to stop someone from emptying a tank and stealing it.  Some untethered cow stuck her head in and damaged a significant portion.  This coming Wednesday, if the damage has not been repaired, I will gain an first hand lesson concerning the Jamaican legal system when I bring a constable to the owner's house.  Having a deserved reputation for being "the prick" will serve me well in this endeavor.

You catch more flies with honey than vinegar dear; and remember not all of Valley View's residents want to be known as pricks, but your influence does rub off on all of us.

Ja Construction
    I knew from past experience that nothing goes as planned, but there were several nice surprises.  Upon arriving at Casa Spiegel around 930 Wednesday, Lordi, a young man I always hire for casual labor when building stopped by to say hello and thank me for what he considers my having saved his life.  In actuality I was present when some idiot put paint thinner in an unlabled bottle and Lordi took a healthy swig, thinking it was water.  I merely walked him through the procedure of spitting, coughing, and vomiting, followed by drinking water and repeating the procedure, as per the emergency instructions on the side of the tin.  Doubtless he would have done just fine, but my also giving him a day off with pay is knd of unheard of in Jamaica, so he felt he owed me.
      I mention this by way of explanation as to how I came into possession of a lump of really nice black hash, along with around half an ounce of first rate Jamaican Ganja.  In return, I changed the style of the music, with my something for everyone approach.  Jimi Hendrex (Including his last performance), Carlos Santana – Buddy Miles Live, Grateful Dead Barton Hall May 1978, Bob Marley 1973 Live and The Stones’ Begger’s Banquet Live.

    Also spent around J$94,000 (or around 1,340 real dollars) on obtaining ten cubic yards each fine sand, concrete sand, and concrete stone, along with ¼ ton of half inch rebar, and 1,125 kilos of cement, not to mention miscellaneous hardware and plumbing supplies and 200 cement blocks.  Then there is the matter of the J$34,000 I spent on cedar, plywood, marine spare varnish, and the like for making one king sized waterbed frame with six drawers underneath, along with some extra material for a few odds and ends projects.  The prices all include hefty delivery charges to Sticksville and we will see if tomorrow (29 March) if the trucks materialize.
    The uprights have been cast for the kitchen sink, the top will be cast on Sunday assuming the carpenter shows up to frame it for the pour early in the day.  Meanwhile Lordi and another casual laborer, under my direction, are excavating near the water tanks, to prepare for an 8 x 15 workshop/storage shed to be constructed.  Then there will be some footers for a modest retaining wall in the back, so as to allow complete backfilling with stones.  Coupled with a few minor corrections that have to be resolved (remember the splicing in a much earlier post) and correcting a screw up by the electrician, and there are a few minor things to do as well.  Things seem, however, to be falling into place and my goal of being able to leave with things completely habitable looks good.

After three days staying at Mr. Irving’s marvelous Palm Treea Guest House, I was going to stay an extra two days, just because I wanted to, but was informed by Sharmie that my standard room had been rented and there were no more to be had.  Mr Irving kind of smiled and asked me if I would be disappointed to stay in a cottage, a suite actually, at the same price.  So, here I am in the lap of luxury, sitting in a leather armchair, ceiling fan whirling lazily, fruit punch next to me, typing away.  I do not think I mentioned the bed is as large as a small playground, able to sleep three without any contact between them whatsoever if desired.  Cooking area as well, and including gratuities and taxes, I will have to shell out $50 US a night.  DS&WW, the fountain even works and the pool is magnificent.  The boys will have swimming privileges when they come down.

Today I purchased a two burner gas stove, gas, a water cooler and water, plus some staples and a fan.  Move in tomorrow  Whoo Hoo.!!  Serious shopping this Monday with Jeff L.  Life is good.

In case you have not yet figured things out, this is a stream of consciousness work.  As it goes into excruciating detail about things that mean nothing to you, unless you are interested, save the time for something else.
    Will have to borrow 150# from Bingie and replace it next week. Bingie owns the nearby (half a mile) convenience store and is on the way if you come via Pell River or Cauldwell. Bingie must wait a bit before he can use it due to a paperwork snafu.  Today Coke is going to pour the top of the sink-countertop section.  Naturally after he framed it I walked over and measured things and lo and behold, it would wind up two inches higher than the drawing.  Coke, who is a Pastor in the Cauldwell Seventh Day Adventist Church, made several unPastorlike remarks as he ripped down the frame and lowered things by two inches.

    Glory be – the alternate route through Francistown is good enough to pass small trucks.  There will be steel tomorrow.  Tomorrow will work because Paco, the steelman, got caught up in a church meeting.  Note to self:  TELL ABOUT GOATS AND BLOOD.  Got your attention, there, didn’t it.  Gosh, I’d love to get Sonya to come to an Event and have her prepare curried goat ala Sonya, which entails killing the goat on the spot as well as cooking it over a wood fire.  Very OT, if you read the parts about animal sacrifice.  The sprinkling of the blood is merely to appease the spirits.  Their concept of Christianity, but I suspect a deep and abiding strain of Santaria runs through it.  In any case, except the skin and bones, everything, and I mean everything save the digestive system contents, are consumed. 

    My driver, Delroy, has to move his house, as the land, which is owned on his wife’s side of the family, is needed for something.  He had more than adequate notice, but as they were preparing the move, someone died on his wife’s side, necessitating a one month delay.  Just as he was getting reorganized, another on his wife’s side keeled over, causing yet another month’s delay.  Jamaican wakes and funerals are something else.  A superstitious family, I told Delroy, might well take the two deaths as omens from the gods that it is bad juju to force the move.  His wife’s side, I know, is VERY superstitious.  Ya gotta work with what Valos gives you, I always say.

    Cloudy, a little rain, very cool, and the 2400 gallons of water storage at Casa Spiegel are topped off, along with around 1800 at the fortress and all of Dimock’s 1800 gallons.  We are water rich, as they say in Dune, and I for one, know that one cannot have too much water, although the rainy season officially begins in a month or less. 
::SIGH::  Must speak with Trevor, whose loose goats ate some of our fence plantings, not to death, but to the vine.  The discussion will center around adequate compensation, preventative measures against future occurrences, what the consequences of said further incursions will be and do the words “Curried goat will destroy the evidence” mean anything to you?  I confess that after two years of various untended goats belonging to various people snacking on our plantings, my patience, never in high supply when it comes to the errors of others impacting me, is at an end. 

    I have taken pains to learn the ins and outs of Parish council, as well as having spoken to the local police and our Jamaican attorney and I have a chat set up for April Fool’s Day.  Since Mr. Frater retired last year, I should get to know her better, as she is our legal line in all manners.  Talk is cheap, literally, as she wants to get to know us better as well.  It is part of my job description, so maybe Jeff and I will learn a bit about each other’s bailiwicks this trip – he arrives today and I have laid in a supply of beer to go with the other supplies, to help facilitate the thought processes.  Our Parish councilman is a Mr. Allen, and we hope to convince him to put either the Francistown or Whitetown road approaches on his list of discretionary spending.  I will have to be diplomatic about this, but I know the language.  Maybe in May, as there will be a given two to three hour period each day when it will be raining.

Put a coat of varnish on the thirteen 6” square supports, which makes the fifth coat, four being applied last year.  I want to put another coat or two on them this trip, as well as getting another two on the eleven 4” square ones out back.  My list of small things to do grows as I start checking off the big ticket items.  Interior deadbolts, buying mops, brooms, etc., as well as whatever.  Two stands of bamboo both block our view and are too close in the event of a wildfire.  I can utilize the cut wood for terracing projects and will have someone here tomorrow who does bushwork, tedious, hard, miserable, unskilled, but it pays and a large lunch is included.  If I only can get Garnett to actually have lunch around 1PM as opposed to today’s 330PM, life would be better.

The wood for the bed and cabinets are here, finished and ready to be final sized, drilled for final assembly, fitted, disassembled, preserved, varnished and final assembled.  That is going according to schedule.  ::WOW::

April Fool’s Day for me started appropriately enough when I awake to a hissing sound.  As I exited the room heading toward the source of the sound, I wondered how the water pipe broke.  HAH – the plumber neglected to use adhesive on the first right angle connection from the hot water tank.  Easy enough to fix by hand, allowing Coke to properly repair it later. 

Sitting on the porch typing while a downpour interrupts the day’s routine (its only 1340, and the rain usually arrives around 1500.  There is no open sky in the direction from which it is coming, which means the rain will not be a 10 minute heavy shower, rather a road closer for the rest of the day, so far as trucks are concerned for the last 2 klicks.  As some of the improved road washed out due to the attitude of the residents along it, with out money, as part of the arrangement with JPSCO (Jamaica Power and Service Company) had us putting in electric/telephone poles (concrete) from Whitetown, which is a total to our property of 1.4 miles.  We fixed and improved the road through Whitetown as well, providing some employment for some of the people there for a week.  There was a verbal understanding that they would maintain the drainage (ditching) but they did not.  Having gone through this before, Valley View (the Ltd’s formal name, chartered to do anything legal and customary) decided not to do anything about it this year and use other, dirt roads.  Accordingly, truck deliveries must occur before a serious rain, or problems can ensue.  We got everything we need before today’s rain EXCEPT the cement blocks, because the driver did not want to change the order that he was loading (it was our order, after all).

Picked out the maho (a local hardwood) for our rolling island, a 48” x 24” x 34” high rolling whatever.  It will contain our flatware in two drawers built under the top, and the top will serve as a cutting board.  The lower shelf will hold “stuff.”  Whoo hoo – two of the three ceiling fans are up.  I made a deal with Jeff, trading him one of our 48” ones (the third one) for a to be delivered 52 incher.  Life stays good.  Also, the rolling island’s 48” turned into 42” with appropriate changes to the wood frame.  This was as the longest board we could find that would clean up to 2” plus thick was 7’ 3” feet x 14 inches, so if cut in half it will finish to one piece 2 inches thick, 42 inches long and joined to 24 inches wide.  It’ll do.  Flexibility/adaptability is required to have a good chance of success.

We are long on paint thinner, as the 55 gallon drum required for Casa Spiegel’s gray water system had 4 gallons remaining in it, so I bought them to allow simultaneous delivery of the drum with some of the sand needed for making concrete.  If things keep moving like they are, I will run out of money (construction budget) before time, which means I get to play for a few days, i.e., visit friends in Negril.  I can live with that.  It’s the shock of having this happen that will tax my system.
Our first guest mammal (defined as by finding it asleep in the house, as opposed to outside was a – well, first guess.



And the answer is



a BAT
2 April begins (after a breakfast of tea and fruit) with a call from the driver delivering 200 cement blocks, wanting to know the condition of the roads.  I told him not to come from Prospect or Grange, but from Francistown.  I asked if he knew the way and he said yes.  Said goodbye to the Dimocks (shed no tears; they were in residence over 3 months), got my final) and Jeff’s shopping list and chartered a ride to Savanna-la-Mar (Sav) a 40km ride through a main road, that is two lanes, twisty, uneven and occasionally washed out.  Ignore the cane trucks that easily take over half the width, and that is without considering their maximum “loadout) width at your peril,
Scored the tile, home cleaning stuff, a 52” fan, some fittings for the gray water system, while fielding a call from the truck driver who was stuck in the mud somewhere on Spragg Land after deciding that the white guy doesn’t know crap about local road conditions even though he drove them that day and the guy who drove him lives along the road, in Francistown.  Hope you had fun unloading 200 cement blocks in the sun, getting unstuck, and reloading.
Although the tile did not arrive until around 2:30PM, the tile guy and I are mostly on the same page and he is well underway and still working at 7:45 PM as I prepare to go up to Jeff’s (He and Diane are uphill from Tina and me).  Good thing I did hang around, because he got one little thing wrong that would have looked awful. 
While I was shopping (another day, another $J40,000, although half was Jeff’s money) Lordi excavated a pit for the graywater system.  I would have liked it deeper, from a design perspective, but when a jackhammer (hand held) was required…  Tomorrow he will dig a narrow trench for the ½” pipe that will empty the drum.  Since the system will collect used water, it must be emptied every day someone is in residence.  Need to do some measurements to determine what I/we/ use. 
Naturally, municipal water is now 1800 feet away.  To hook up to it will cost around $J80,000.  The investment would pay off in two or three years at the most, but this year we have no capital budget, feeling we had enough special assessments for necessary capital improvements.  FYI, Rob, we had to replace the manholes (access ports) to our electrical and plumbing systems at $J16,000.  This was solely due to the fact that we made our own to start as a cheap placeholder.  I keep using J because the mental practice is good.  70:1, so $J1,000 is $14 (ok, $14.28, but that would make things harder to do). 
The current electrician is really upset at the miserable standards of his predecessor.  Should make for an interesting situation.  I have this thing about not paying for work I have not inspected and Mr. Daly, the first electrician did not finish on time and had to finish after I left in April 07.  This was my next trip and a great deal of the wiring is wrong.  Since my contractor, Coke, insisted that I pay Daly, I am insisting that Coke make good on Daly’s work and pay Junior, the new (and much better) electrician.  The difference comes to $J30,000, a not insignificant sum by any standard.  It represents a full week’s pay for Coke, who is the highest paid person on the site.  Stay tuned for news at 11.  Junior understands that he will get paid regardless, which is important.  Backtracking, today Coke agreed that he would make Junior whole for the labor and materials he must expend to do the job that Daly did not.
Still need to get the doorstop strips put on all my doors.  They got the first coat of varnish today, which means a Saturday installation.  This is good.  Callie (along with his brothers, Neil and Dwayne, and the latter’s girlfriend, Simone, will finish installing Jeff’s cabinets tomorrow (Thursday) morning.  Afternoon and evening they will work on our bed.
Fourth night, coming up, and I have eaten breakfast and dinner here, dinner being chicken salad, and three different fruits, papaya, watermelon, and mango.  Jeff approaches, as Callie has finished installing his cabinets (and can restart my stuff tomorrow).  Time to restart the thinking process, fueled this time by Fresh OJ and Red Stripe.  Need to buy salt.  Should be able to hook up the stove Friday (two days) night. 
Jeff and I dined on chicken salad sandwiches, with tomato and lettuce followed by watermelon and banana.
WONDERFUL HOT WATER PRESSURE.  DS&WW and my heir know what this means.  Life is damned good.

Today the tiler finished almost everything, and would have had he told me earlier that we need more than the 90 tiles I purchased.  A few minor mistakes and my cutting things close necessitate another box of tiles.  Unfortunately the tile store (Fairway, in Sav) closes early on Thursdays, a not uncommon practice here, but one that hit just wrong, as the tiler did not tell me in time.  No biggie, as he will finish if not Friday, then certainly Saturday.  In the interim, the plumbing of the sink and the boring of a hole for the gas for the two burner stove will take place tomorrow, Friday the 4th.  The carpentry for the base for our waterbed is finished, with the drawers ready for their first application of mineral oil.  The bottoms of the 6 drawers will be fitted tomorrow, and work will commence on the top part of the bed, a much simpler, though more exact construct.  I’d really like to go to Negril and play a bit, but I need to be here when they start it.  Jeff will handle this shopping trip, getting my tile, along with bread, eggs, bacon, and jam.  Omelets loom on the horizon for Saturday’s breakfast. 4 full days to go and its looking like most of my checklist is happening.  The May trip can truly consist of a major cleaning and furniture set up, with just a little furniture making and some simple things.  The cost of doing this will be greatly reduced due to a cheap ticket and being able to live and cook here.

I get a bat; Jeff has an iguana.  About a foot long, the thing is an insect eating machine.  After having seen the original seal-a-meal (a spider spinning around its caught prey), and a brace of parrots flying by over the first breakfast I cooking in Ja (onion, green pepper, thyme omelet with bacon and home fries accompanied by coffee.  Watermelon and a banana rounded things.

Here is a link to some photos I took and Tina uploaded.

www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=lvi6dsn.nd0...99kwi&localeid=en_US

Picture Key

1 – Outside of the water storage room (2,600 gallons capacity)

2 – Rough casting of the kitchen sink/work area

3 – Back of the house, Paco installing the steel for the two courses of block which in turn will hold the 16” of stone for the walkway

4 – Dwayne and Simone working on some trim

5 – Installation of one of the three ceiling fans

6 – Finished installation of the fan in Tina and my bedroom

7 – Cut bamboo

8 – Tile being cut for the kitchen

9 – Water storage area – the dark areas are rough cast as preparation for the installation of the grates.

10 – Finished detail of the sink.  The tile at the curve was later changed.

11 – Excavation of the graywater system

12 – Removing bamboo

13 – Burning bamboo stumps

14 – Backsplash Kitchen tile.  The gash was used to move wire and will be covered by tile

15 – Front of house, with view of the bed under construction.  Cedar

16 – Dang, its looking good

17 – Nice Sky

18 – Top view of the base of the bed with the drawers not installed.

19 – Simone, Michelle and Callie taking a break from working on the bed

20 – Storage container and clothes hamper

21 – Tiling almost finished and the fridge is working.

22 – Lived in look

23 – Paco finished the steel and Woody laid the block (see #3)

24 – Excavation prior to putting 12” of stone over the water pipes.  The ramp to the top is juxtaposed to the steps on the other side of the house.

25 – Nice rain, view of the Dimocks and a path along with some bamboo retaining wall.

26 – Lordi posing by the bamboo retaining wall

27 – Water cooler and mechanical room/pantry.  The new kitchen counter/.sink is to the right of the door.

28 – One of the grates installed for the water storage system.

29 – Ready to burn bamboo

30 – Burning bamboo stumps

31 – After

32 – a poor picture of Colleen, who upon seeing a photo of our son, asked when he is coming to Jamaica

33 – ditto

34 – Lordi shoveling stone

35 – the result of shoveling stone.  See 3 and 23.

36 – Step and manhole details.  The covers contain the water and sewage junctions.

37 – under the front, note the excavation for a workshop in the background.

38 – Close-up of excavation footers poured

39 – Water storage system grates installed