Hell Week

No, I am not pledging a fraternity, this week, but we have finally started on the rest of the floors in the house. This means that for the next week, our finished living areas will be confined to the domestic wing of the house, namely, bedrooms, hall and bathrooms (glad we have the bathrooms). But the office, dining room, living room and kitchen will be in various stages of construction, so we (including the pets) are confined to smaller spaces. We can use the kitchen to cook (for now), but we eat on plastic chairs and folding wooden tables. However, it will be worth it to finally have all of the house completely tiled, removing the last of the old asphalt tile squares. The photo at the left is our floor after the tiles have been taken up.

At least we have our bedroom finished and can use the TV and DVD player to keep ourselves entertained, while work goes on. If the weather were better, we would love being outside, but this weekend was dreary and wet. In fact, last night we had the most severe lightning storm (though brief in duration) that we have experienced, here. One strike came so close, that it might have actually hit some house circuit. Can't be sure, but after the lightning had moved on, Denise noticed a weird crackling sound and light coming from inside the stove. She got me out of bed and I unplugged the stove, after finding out the the electric element for the broiler in the over had melted! Can't actually figure out how that could work, since the electrical outlet showed no visible darkening and nothing else was affected. However, we did unplug everything immediately. I will have to figure that out later, but for now, I was able to disconnect those wires in the stove and we can still use it (actually never did use the broiler, so it wouldn't be a big loss if it never gets fixed). The photo at the left is our pet's cramped quarters in the hallway. Still, with lots of fluffy pet mats and loads of sticks and chew toys, they seem to be adjusting well.

The Fusca (VW beetle) has finally come back from the 2nd mechanic. The first mechanic that we used (at the recommendation of our vet who owns a superb show quality beetle), was good for brakes, bearings, new tires and such- but was sadly lacking in expertise on motors. He rebuilt the carburator without finding the broken acceleration pump and never mentioned the fact that the choke cable was missing. When I got it back from him, I was barely able to start it and it ran horribly. However, the 2nd mechanic we found (Steve in La Floresta gave us his mechanic) was a master worker. The owner was a trained VW mechanic who set up a small shop when he retired. He, his son and another mechanic work there, in what might be described as a hole in the wall. Very out of the way, with little indication of the business. A very large work space, but off the ruta. When I got it back from him- the motor was noisy, it had little power and a very rough ride! In other words, it ran like a proper VW Beetle. He fixed everything the first mechanic had missed. I would heartily recommend him.

The pets are getting along wonderfully. Nate (the cat) has integrated with Barney (the black dog) and Shila (the brown furry, cute dog). They enjoy playing together, and it was a wise idea to get a 2nd dog- to keep Barney company.

Our tile guy says that we will have the house back together after this coming weekend. Tomorrow we will actually see some tile going down.

This will be our second summer. Last summer we had workers here every day for 5 or 6 days a week. No privacy and little chance to enjoy the house. This summer should be different.

Hell Week- your days are numbered.