Gray Water Woes

The housekeeper came on Wednesday. I explained to her that the gray water system had been rebuilt and there should be no more problems with doing the laundry. She was happy, and I was happy in my firm belief that the backups were a thing of the past.

That lasted about an hour when Cecilia came to tell me that the gray water was coming into the shower. What a disappointment..it means I have a bigger problem than I realized. There is evidently a blockage between the laundry room and the grease trap and I am pretty sure I know where. Back home this would be easy to fix....a bottle of Liquid Plumber and away you go. But you cannot always procure such luxuries here and right now I cannot get my hands on any. I have a plumber's snake but using it is awkward, requires kneeling and is definitely senior citizen-unfriendly.

They do sell a product for the purpose but the first (and last) time I used it, the fumes near rendered me unconscious and the reaction with water in the trap in the kitchen literally blew the plumbing apart!

So I may just get my buddy Juan Carlos to dig it up and do a re-design. But hey, that's life in the rainforest.

Grey Water Progress

We are making good progress with the gray water leach field. There is no sign of the crushed stone I put in years ago and the 2" drain has proven less than adequate. There is simply not enough outflow to accommodate wash water. Larger tubes and larger rock should rectify this problem.

Juan Carlos has exposed the tubes and is preparing the trench to receive the large rock.

Of course in the rainy season this ground is saturated and the drain can't work too efficiently anyway but that's life in the rainforest ;> )

Repairs

At last the drain field for the gray water system is being repaired. The field is ten years old - I put it in myself when I first came here. I bought this old derelict house which had been built to "gray-stage" but never finished. Squatters had moved in and I had to pay them to go away. There was water and power (wires strung through roof rafters) but little else. The drain to the septic tank was exposed and broken and had to be replaced. The most unfriendly thing to a septic tank is gray water. So I undertook to separate gray water and built the grease trap and leach field. It has served well over the years but has taken to more frequent clogging in recent times.

As I write this, my employee is digging up the old drain and gravel bed and will replace it with two larger diameter tubes laid on top of coarser rock to allow freer drainage. It will be wonderful not to have the gray water backing up into the shower every time you do one too many loads of laundry.

Life is good in the rainforest.

Another Flood

I've just had another flood. My housekeeper is here and the laundry water has backed up into the house. This has happened before but not to this extent. Hopefully nothing on the floor will get ruined. She is busy mopping up at the moment. I had asked our employee to come and pump out the grease trap and flush the grey water drain - routine maintenance - but he has been busy. I guess it's time to replace the drain with a larger one. After all, it has been ten years!!

Never a dull moment in the rainforest.

Productive Times

Yesterday was a productive day...in fact, the past few weeks have been quite productive. Readjusting to single life is interesting, to say the least. But all the things I never seemed to be able to get around to when I was not single are yelling and screaming for my attention. And I am loving it! I never feel like any one particular project MUST be addressed immediately as I used to. I just knock them off the list one by one and life improves continuously. I work slowly and deliberately throughout the day, making sure to drink plenty of water and resting in between projects. Of course, this is dovetailed with my responsibilities as Administrator of the Water Board although activity is pretty minimal these days. Yesterday I worked on editing and revising the Operator's Manual for my Water Management system, particularly the Year-end Procedure which I just went through.

Today will be similar. I have already glued up and clamped the kitchen island which had been traumatized by a somewhat overweight person who shall remain nameless. This is the third such round and hopefully the final. I have cleaned and vacuumed the pool as well. Of course, that is a daily event here. I have some food that must be packaged for the freezer and, well, you get the idea.

My exercise program is on track - 10 workouts now behind me. I am still challenged by the food part of it. I have work to do there but, hey, I've got time on my side.

Glorious Sunday

Well, it's Sunday and I have the irrigation started. My system of sprinkler stations is working out beautifully, I am delighted to say. I have got a little ahead of myself in the cooking department so I will probably not cook today although that will be a difficult temptation to resist. I have prepared and eaten breakfast - yummy fresh poached eggs on whole wheat toast - oh yes, my lone hen has started laying again - yippee!

Naturally, I have loads of other things to do, e.g., a refrigerator crisper that desperately needs cleaning, a new neck that wants to be surgically attached to my bass, an extended handle for the pool vacuum. etc. There are always things to do.

So I guess I'll spend the day knocking things off my to-do list.

Over the Moon

I am absolutely over the moon this morning. I went to get my bloodwork done and I am a healthy man! I was tested in late July and there were some disturbing results. Since then I have changed my diet to eliminate things "bad for me" but oh so good to eat. Two and a half weeks ago I embarked upon the weight loss program I described previously and today I learned I have dropped 3 pounds which means I have lost more than this in body fat because I am adding muscle through the workouts I do religiously 3 times a week. My cholesterol is down significantly to something approaching a normal level and so is uric acid. Overjoyed is not the word.

I intend to be healthy again and stay that way. It is n0t hard to do and the benefits are obvious. I definitely will not get married again!!

Catching up...

The AGM went as well as could be expected. We had a bit of excitement as one of the directors failed to attend and consequently could not be re-elected under our constitution. An alternate was prepared to take his place. But at the last minute, in response to a phone call, he came to the meeting and a vote was taken. He lost!! But the very magnanimous alternate withdrew in order that the director could retain his seat. I think there was a message there and I hope it was received. I also hope we can resolve some issues this year. My job as administrator is stressful enough without problems at the Board level.

Sunday was, as usual, simply wonderful. I love Sundays. They are my only real day off. The phone does not ring and nobody comes to the house. I spend the day cooking and cleaning and watching football. Yesterday I managed to get in the pool and give it a good cleaning. I have not been able to use the pool for a while because of an infection I sustained that is pretty well healed now. During that time a lot of dust accumulated and settled. Yesterday I got it all stirred up with a broom dedicated to the pool and this morning it looks ever so much better.

I suspect I will have a little dip later in the day, after my workout. Workout, you ask? Yes, three times a week I perform a routine of weight-resistance exercises to tone and build muscle and burn fat. I have a food-management program to go along with it that reduces dietary fat intake and emphasizes good nutrition. It recommends 6 small meals a day and I must admit I have difficulty with this aspect of the program. I tend to work right through what should be meal or snack times and get everything out of whack. But I intend to try harder and am determined to do better. I need to lose some pounds and get back in shape.

New Year in the Rainforest

I know.....it was a week ago. It's hard to keep up. But this is a very busy time for me what with fiscal and calendar year-end and an AGM looming for the Water Association this Saturday. I have a lot of work to do closing out 2009 and opening 2010 and preparing for the AGM. I'm not whining..that's just my reality.

On New Year's Eve I went to the local watering hole for happy hour, accompanied by my separation-anxiety ridden canine. There was a good crowd and I had been invited to a party later. I left and went home to put little Sally in her kennel but by that time the fireworks were underway and she was terrified and trembling. I decided to stay home with her since she wouldn't have been welcome at the party and besides, they always have the biggest, most impressive fireworks display in the community. She wouldn't have liked that!

So Sally and I watched the ball drop in Time Square and were safe and warm at home.

The next morning, we had the 24th annual Polar Bear Swim down on the beach in front of the Hotel Bahia del Sol...the original and for many years, the only hotel here. This event is pretty interesting. There is always a good turnout and many folks get in the water with a banner and everyone takes photos that wind up in Canadian and (perhaps) some American newspapers. Some years, every one is given an ice cube to hold. And, of course, there is a stuffed Polar Bear in attendance.

When it is over, all hands head to Perla's for breakfast. That was where we got the bad news. Overnight there had been a fire. Surfside Supermarket and adjoining real estate offices had been razed. This was an iconic establishment in the community. My heart goes out to all whose lives and livlihoods have been compromised by this unfortunate event.

Then we were alerted to the discovery of a body on the road. Cursory inspection confirmed that it was a corpse and belonged to an acquaintance of many of us...a gentleman who had recently arrived after a two-year absence and had planned to stay for a few months.

Kind of put a damper on ringing in the new...but hey, that's life in the rainforest.