Winjama

New Arrivals

2018-11-03T02:25:00.001-06:00

Ahhh, my pipe collection has just magically grown by seven. I now have eleven pipes in the rotation. Too cool. I admit it. I've always thought corn cob pipes were something from the Beverly Hillbillys, or something like that.

What tipped me to purchasing these, was reading a news item a few months ago, about General Douglas MacArthur returning to the Philippines. The accompanying photo showed him with his trademark corn cob in his hand as he was wading ashore. There's no way one could accuse him of ever being like the Beverly Hillbillys.

As They Arrived in the Bag

So, maybe it has something to do with the quality of the smoke. I've always heard they smoked cool and dry, two very desirable pipe qualities. Probably another large factor is the cost. They are extremely economical. Especially when you buy factory seconds by the bagful.

To be honest, I can't tell what makes these factory seconds. I've looked each of them over closely, and other than a large black 'X' on the bottom of the bowl of each pipe, they really seem to me to be first rate - as far as corn cobs go.

Missouri Meerschaum has been producing corn cobs by the hundreds of thousands every year since 1907.


No Glamorous Packing

And, these things are economical to purchase. A little less than $4.00USD each, makes them very attractive.

Even if these were prime, top of the line corn cobs, they still would come in at around $10.00 per pipe. It's hard to beat that price.

The hype is true, however. I picked the dark corn cob to try for my first 'cob smoke,' as it were.

I packed the bowl relatively loosely with Ashton's Smooth Sailing pipe tobacco. Smooth Sailing is an aromatic mixture that's a little nutty to the taste, with subtle flavors of maple, coconut, and dark chocolate.

A Satisfying Smoke

I smoked that bowl-full over a good part of the day, yesterday, between runs to town to take Dianna's new cell phone in to Technicell to be re-flashed. I don't know if it was something I did (or didn't), or some other problem.

We also had a dramatic and very loud thunder and lightning show pretty much the whole time we were in town. The poor doggies were terrified as we drove around.

I had to take Bella's pack in to Alek the tailor, to have a strap re-sewn, chewed through, I'm pretty sure, by Coco, our young pup. I also had to get a new case of Belikin and a case of Schweppes' soda water.

Almost killed Daisy. She was in the back seat of the truck, hiding from the lightning. I hit a bump or something that knocked over the case of Belikin, pretty much on top of her. She made it into the front seat in a flash That made for a close-packed ride with the three girls and me all in the front seat of the truck. What'er ya gonna do?

It was nice to get back home, get the girls all settled down from the lightning and thunderstorm. I settled down to catch up on email and fired up the corn cob once again.

I was quite favorably impressed with the corn cob. It truly was a cool, dry smoke. Very nice.

A New Old Hobby

2018-10-28T07:46:00.002-06:00

After a hiatus of around thirty years, well, maybe twenty-five, I've decided to take up smoking a pipe again. I decided I missed playing with all the accoutrements of pipe smoking, and the smell of the different tobaccos (and, man, are there a lot of high quality tobaccos on the market now).

Three of My New Tobaccos

The Other Three New Tobaccos

It's very hard to say just which is my favorite now. I'm leaning toward Bengal Slices, but then Three Nuns Green, or maybe Smooth Sailing. And, there's so many more on the market to choose from.

What is really cool, is so many of them are available in classic tins, which I just love. Although, I'm passing my tins to Dianna for her craft needs right now. I only have so many trinkets to store in tins.

As soon as I open a tobacco tin (they come vacuum sealed), and break the vacuum, to prevent the tobacco from drying out or molding, I transfer the tobacco to a Ball Mason canning jar for airtight, long-term storage

And, then you get into the pipes. Lordy, lordy, there is a whole universe of pipes out there. Everything from a Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipe for $3.00 USD, to an artisan crafted briar pipe being sold new for well over $1,000.00 USD. Don't look for one of those in my collection. Sure, I'd love to have one, but that much money for a... Pipe? You gotta be shittin' me.

I know I showed you and talked about the tobaccos and pipes previously (https://www.winjama.net/2018/09/something-about-well-packed-bowl.html), but that was before I had actually received my shipment of tobaccos, and hadn't been able to try out these wonderful pipes.

Butz-Choquin Dauphine Rhodesian

This pipe, the Butz-Choquin Dauphine Rhodesian, like all of these four pipes, came to me through Ebay. It's a gorgeous briar. Similar model Butz-Choquin pipes sell new for around $80.00USD. I won the auction for around $24.00. A little cleaning, polishing and such to rehab it, and it's once again, a delightful, cool smoking pipe. A bit heavy to leave unsupported in your mouth, but sitting on the pool deck, puffing away with a bowl full of Bengal Slices, wow! Very relaxing and satisfying.

Bruce Peters Bent Billiard

Bruce Peters pipes, are examples of 1950's smoking elegance. This model, sold when new for around $60.00USD. But back in the 50's, that was some real money. I paid $15.00 for it. It smokes, nice, but does require care to not draw too much and overheat the bowl.

Wally Frank Red Root Oom Paul

Wally Frank, Ltd. was one of America's oldest and most respected names in pipes and tobaccos in the early 1930’s. It's hard to say when this pipe was produced. It could have been a selection of Wally Frank's Pipe of the Month Club. Who knows? It's got a nice, deep bowl, and is very cool to smoke. Not bad for a $12.00USD bargain on Ebay.

Bando Full Bent Apple Briar

Bando, is, I think, a Danish pipe maker. This briar sells for around $30.00USD when new. I scored on Ebay for $10.00. Haven't smoked it yet. I have to go to the Post Office on Monday to pick it up. It was on the slow boat from New Jersey or somewhere.

Oom Paul Freehand Briar
By Nowakowski, Poland

Stanislaw Nowakowski is a Polish Pipe maker. In fact, when I won the auction for this pipe for $18.00USD, the pipe was shipped by mail from Poland, but not from him. I haven't smoked this one yet. It's an intimidating looking pipe with a wide bowl, that looks heavy, but is surprisingly light and very comfortable feeling in the hand. I might give it a try sometime today.

Here's some new pipes I've purchased, but not yet gotten my grubby little mits on them. the first is actually seven corncob pipes from Missouri Meerschaum Co. It's a pack of seven factory seconds. They might have blemishes in the finish, etc., but each is smokeable and in serviceable condition. For a little more than $26.00US, I get seven new pipes - for about $3.70 each, such a deal.

Missouri Meerschaum Seconds Sampler

The last one is a Falcon Pipes two-part pipe. The stem is metal with an acrylic bit, and the bowl simply screws onto the stem. There are several different shaped bowls available, so it can become more than one pipe. I'm curious to see how well it works in practice.

Falcon Pipes Two-Parter

Progress on Patio Palapa

2018-10-28T03:11:00.001-06:00

After several days of forced inactivity because of rain or things being wet because of rain, and just generally waiting for them to dry out, the past two days have seen a lot of activity.

Short Recap - the Old Thatch

In short, our old patio palapa thatch had deteriorated past the point of no return. We liked the way the parking palapa now looked with its new zinc roof and felt that was the way to go with the patio palapa.

We also thought it would be a short (ha, ha) project. A couple of weeks and we would be benefiting from having a quiet little retreat to read, meditate, zone out, or whatever.

So, of course, it has become one of those projects that seems - no, does drag on interminably.

Framing Added

Getting Angles

Mahogany Varnish Going On

Once the framing had been completed Mario's boys, started varnishing all the remaining wood of the palapa, a striking mahogany red varnish. This activity went quickly and was able to be finished before the rains started up again.

At first, we thought that it might be a bit too red, but not only does it grow on you, but the color darkens a bit and seems like the right shade

Varnishing All the Lumber

Add caption

Making the Screen Frames

Just like with the pool enclosure, the frames by themselves, look massive. Of course, those get the same varnish treatment as the framing pieces.

Screen Room Doorway

Looking Up to the Center

A lot of Wood to Varnish

Screen Panel Trial Fitting

Like Stretching a Canvas

Applying Varnish

Getting Ready for Screen

Another Can of Varnish

Looking Substantial

Pouring More Varnish

Anchoring the Doorway

Screens Up!

It seemed as though the varnish and the screens were installed simultaneously. They actually wern't, but it was a close thing.

Then suddenly, the zinc was here and they began cutting angles so the pieces would fit on the roof. No other way around it, there was a fair amount of waste, but surprisingly, a lot of scrap pieces were able to be used.

Zinc Has Arrived

And the First Piece

Being Fitted

Make Sure It Fits

Leftover Pieces

Showing Gaposis

Daisy Checking Everything

Checking the Work

Stuffing Foam Gap-Tape

Then we had a momentary distraction. On the front of our house was this huge tarantua. She was about 5-inches, wing-tip to wing-tip. And, she had a bright red behind that didn't really show up all that well in the left photo, but is really bright in the right. After taking a couple of pictures, we left her up to her own devices. As long as she stayed outside, we'd get along fine. They're actually pretty docile creatures.

Momentary Distraction

Nice Red Behind

Filling In the Holes

Endher Filling Ridge Cap

Better Doorway Shot

Fabricating the Palapa Cap

Fastening the Cap

Magnetic Screen Door

Now, we're just waiting for the wood screen door. We got a magnetic screen door from Amazon.com, but we need to have the wood screen door installed to be able to fasten the magnetic door to the wood frame of the wood screen door.

Let's See Now, Where Were We?

2018-10-05T13:35:00.001-06:00

Last time I posted about the patio palapa, the project had barely gotten started and that post was on 24 September 2018.

I suppose it would be better to give a brief synopsis of the project from the beginning.

Getting thatch from the bush, where you have to get it, has become expensive. The plants are still further into the bush and are becoming scarce, so it was time to rethink roofing materials.

We were very happy with the way the parking palapa turned out, so we thought, continue with a good idea for this.

What It Looked Like To Start

It was really looking raggedy and neglected. We waiting about as long as we could. Any more, and the lumber used for the structure would begin to rot before our eyes, and we'd be looking at completely starting over. So this was the perfect time.

Mario's crew, the same guys who redid our pool and its enclosure, were just finishing up a house for Sonja and Dan, friends of ours, building over in Ranchito near the airstrip.

We like their work, and attention to detail, so hiring them was really an easy decision.

Lots of Air Vents

I think in places, there was more air and daylight than thatch. It gave us a good indicator that it was time, time, time to get something done.

They got started removing the thatch and broken wood. That took pretty much all of the first day.

Once all the thatch was gone and the patio swept, it almost looked presentable again.

Framing Started

With things cleaned up, it looks nice.

You can see that the framing for the soffit area (I guess) and the framing for the screens which will go floor to ceiling is underway.

We have a ceiling fan that only works slowly. I suspect its capacitor is failing. It was in the utility room off the kitchen and has spent the past few months in a box.

Dianna suggested we replace the lantern chandelier with the fan and light because there are times when we used to use the palapa, where there was no breeze. It becomes stifling, and a fan might just do the trick to make it a nice, relaxing reading and relaxing nook.

Tool Repair

As with most tools down here, things break. One of their cordless drills, with a keyless chuck, naturally broke. Not good timing. Almost everything with this project involves screws, so it was really needed.

Forty-five minutes work, and it was back functioning again. I don't know if they were able to repair the chuck or if it required a replacement from Lano's Hardware.

Adding More Varnish

The next step after getting all the lumber in place was to apply a liberal dose of varnish.

Of course, when they started that, they were only able to do a partial coat when it started to rain. The rain continued off and on for three days.

Even after it stopped, it still took most of a day to dry the lumber out enough to be able to apply more varnish.

Screen Framing Done Too

Getting some real progress now. It's looking almost like it's time for the zinc roof to be installed.

But wait, there's more. I'm sure the framing for the screens will need a coat or two of the varnish.

I Think There's More To Do

Refilling a painting cup must mean that more varnish has to be applied.

That's what they're doing this afternoon. It was really doubtful that they'd be able to work this afternoon.

The forecast was calling for more rain and thunderstorms all afternoon.

Something About a Well-Packed Bowl

2018-09-25T14:38:00.001-06:00

I don't know if you remember 'head' shops, those funky little places where you could buy bongs, and glass or metal pipes, roach clips, UV reactive posters, all sorts of stuff like that that was designed to enhance your 'high.'

Then, after a couple of years, and lots of busts, they pretty much disappeared from view. Not necessarily all gone, just not anywhere as plentiful as there had been. That is, until now. They're all over the intertubes. It's like the internet has become a giant head shop.

Now, before you jump to conclusions, allow me to 'splain.' Many years ago, I used to smoke a pipe. Tobacco pipes, to be exact. I had a nice collection of pipes, and all the tools and other accouterments that went along with tobacco pipe smoking. Then, I gave it up. Sold my collection and all the other stuff.

Till now. I've had a hankering to take up pipe smoking once again. I guess you could say, that monkey never left my shoulder. That may be. But, I do miss playing with pipes, and of course, I miss the taste and the smell of a fine blend of pipe tobacco.

So, I began looking on the intertubes and using Google. That's where the headshop analogy came in. Everybody is selling bongs, glass pipes, metal pipes, rolling papers, rolling machines, etc., etc., etc. You actually have to look somewhat carefully to find websites dealing exclusively with tobacco and pipes.

Back in the day, my favorite tobacconist was Tinderbox, and my favorite blend as North Seas. Well, lo and behold, they're still in business (https://www.tinderbox.com/) and, they still sell North Seas. What a find! But, there's also some other fine pipe shops online. For example, Smoking Pipes.com (https://www.smokingpipes.com/). Their motto: 'Fresh Pipes Served Daily.'

Smoking Pipes carries an amazing line of pipes and tobaccos. Their pipes are gorgeous, but range a bit too upscale for my smoke. Their tobaccos, many of which are available in traditional tins, is really a world-class selection.

So, I needed to find a more economical sourse. What better place online for used stuff than eBay? There's nothing wrong with used tobacco pipes. In the pipe world, they're referred to as 'estate' pipes. You can score significant savings on eBay by participating in auctions. It's easy and fun. Sometimes too easy and too fun.

The only downside, once you've scored an estate pipe, is the rehabilitation of the pipe you just won. But, that's part of the fun of pipes. Sooner or later, you have to overhaul or rehab pipes that you might have purchased new, so it's chance to practice new skills, and the plus side, is that you end up with a pipe, that is as good as new, but cost you significantly less.

Here's the pipes I got on eBay:

A little cleaning and some polishing and this one should be one cool smoke. I'm looking forward to this one for some reason. I just like its lines.

Butz Choquin Dauphine Rhodesian

This one, I'm really taken with the shape. It's light, a few slight dings around the bowl, and the stem needs some TLC, but when it's done, should also be a fine smoke.

Bruce Peters Bent Billiard

I had an Oom Paul (Dutch for Uncle Paul) meerschaum years ago. I loved it. This will be a close second once it's cleaned and shined up.

Wally Frank Red Root Oom Paul

I'm still waiting for this one to arrive via USPS and Belize Post. It was really cheap and even better, it's unsmoked. Right out of the box, fire that puppy up.

Bando Full Bent Apple Briar

Then, this bomber. My bid of $7.00 US was the winning bid. Wow. It looks massive but is quite light, and like the Bando above, has never been smoked. Even cooler, it came all the way from Poland!

Oom Paul Freehand Briar
By Nowakowski, Poland

Now, I'm just waiting on tools, pipe cleaners, a reamer, some stem wax, and a pot of carnauba wax. That'll get me started for sure.

As for a fire starter, there's a ton of butane or Zippo-type lighters out there, but I'm a purist, as far as pipe smoking goes. I like matches. I've got two full packs of 10 boxes of matches, ready to go. I'd like to eventually get some sulfur-free matches. They improve the taste a bit, and you don't have to wait for the sulfur to burn off.

Oh, yes. The other important part that I'm waiting for is tobacco. That's kind of necessary with this hobby. I've ordered six tins of tobacco from Smoking Pipes.

First Three Tins

Second Three Tins

All six come highly recommended. I'm looking forward to giving each of them a try or two.

A quick note about importing tobacco into Belize. It ain't easy - or cheap. The duty is 100% for starters, then there's GST (Goods and Services Tax) and probably an environmental fee. Thankfully, each is only about 1.5 ounces so the overall cost will be bearable, or smokable, as the case may be. The tobacco won't show up till next month (October) sometime.

Patio Palapa - Labor Commences

2018-09-24T15:43:00.001-06:00

Carlos and I were out in the parking area assembling the last of 12 'tomato' cages (we'll use 'em for lots of other things) when I noticed Endher's truck parked just outside the utility gate.

Finishing De-Thatching

I was surprised at just how fast the last of the thatch was pulled down, and how soon the guys got the patio all cleaned up.

At my suggestion, the debris was tossed over the fence into Mike and Steph's yard. Mario's crew is under strict orders to clean up all the debris and remove it.

Carlos is keeping a close eye on things as maintaining their yard is his responsibility. They'll also be bringing in whatever lumber they need for the project the same way. Otherwise, it's a long walk around our house to dump debris into the truck or to bring in the lumber.

Endher and Mario Planning

Endher and Mario discussing how to do the framing. I want the look and feel underneath to be similar to the parking palapa, so those skinny sticks, for the most part, will be staying.

There's also going to be screening, just like in the pool enclosure, but we'll get to that when that part arrives.

Croc in the Canal

There's no shortage of supervisors either. Here you can see one of our local residents (inside the red circle) taking an interest in the goings-on.

This is a juvenile croc, probably around five to six feet in length. He cruises past our place at least once a week. It's either this one or another juvenile that spends a lot of his/her time under the fishing pier across the canal from us.

Whenever I backwash the pool, which empties into the canal, the croc scoots across the canal and keeps his nose right next to the marl cloud released as part of the backwash process. Sniffing a potential meal no doubt.

Cutting Compound Angles

This afternoon, the guys have been spending their time getting angles cut in preparation for setting a facia board (may not be the correct term, but it'll do). It's basically going to be a six-sided structure surrounding the old palapa.

Hanging Palapa Lamp

Here's the old metal lantern lamp that hangs from the center peak of the palapa. It will be reinstalled as soon as possible to keep it from getting damaged.

Little Better View of the Angles

This photo gives you a little better idea of the angles involved. Of course, nothing is even all the way around, so it becomes tricky.

Also, all day today, we've dealt with thunder, lightning, and periods of rain. Since a woman in Ranchito having been recently killed in her backyard by lightning, safety is more on everyone's mind than normal.

Patio Palapa Makeover

2018-09-23T14:57:00.000-06:00

Like I said on the last post, on a tentative note, Mario's crew is supposed to be starting Monday morning on the patio palapa. But after one of the biggest holidays of the year, Independence Weekend (Independence Day was 21 September), it remains to be seen just how up for the task they'll be, come tomorrow morning.

Patio Palapa

What they 're going to be working on is the roof of the palapa. We're having them replace the thatch with zinc, just like was done for the parking palapa. And, it's going to be screened in, just like the pool enclosure. We'll have a screen door as well, but also, when we're using it, we can leave the screen door open, because we'll have one of those magnetic screen curtains across the doorway area.

Yes, It's Seen Better Days

Although it looks like it got whacked by a hurricane, nothing like that has happened. The thatch just needs some serious repair. But, since thatch is becoming harder to get, as well as more expensive, we delayed repairs as long as possible.

No Hurricane - Yet

What we're going to now is similar to what we did with the parking palapa - it will get a new zinc roof, which should last much, much longer.

The current roof just lets too much light and rain in.

Oh, I almost forgot. It will also be screened in so a favorite place to sit quietly and read a book will be resurrected once again. It should be similar to the screening we currently have around the pool enclosure.

A 'Lee' Bit of Gardening

2018-09-23T14:18:00.001-06:00

I wanted to make some tomato cages. Thanks to Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/), I came up with the perfect solution. When I typed in 'tomato cages' in Pinterest, one of the first photos that came up was a whole role of 'matting', as used for concrete pads, walkways, etc. I thought that's perfect. Now all I had to do was find some matting.

I texted Mario Zettina, the same contractor who rehabbed our pool, and the parking palapa, to see if, by chance, he had some extra matting just laying around.

Brand New Tomato Cages

By a happy chance, he did. A couple of days later, Endher, his foreman, swung by and dropped off a partial role for me. Today was the day I decided to take a whack at making them.

I figured they would need to be roughly three-feet high, and about twelve inches or so in diameter. Oh, I could have used the old standby formula, 2𝝅r. I skipped that, and went directly to the intertubes for it to work the formula and give me the answer. The answer was about forty-three inches +/- a smidge.

The full roll was six-feet wide, so I cut the roll into two roles then laid out flat one role and cut that into 43-inch sections.

Roughly 36"H x 43" Circum.

Putting the sections together by crimping a bit of the wire to its opposite end of the section, I was able to come up with a round cage just the right height and diameter to work as a tomato cage.

After making four of them, I was covered in sweat and was pooped. So, I figured the rest could wait till Monday when Carlos was here and he would be able to help me make the rest.

I should end up with eight to ten tomato cages. We'll be able to use a couple of them for the cucumbers as well.

Miss Noel Supervising

Of course, no job can be done here without adequate supervision. You can see Miss Noel checking the quality of the work. She likes to ensure that standards are maintained throughout her domain.

Cucumbers Grow Fast

We have four cucumber vines that have taken off like rockets in this bed. I was going to use a couple of cages here, but I'm afraid the cukes have progressed too fast to be able to use them.

I'd like to see some zucchini growing as well. Since we've been on the Keto diet, we use zucchini for all sorts of things, like spaghetti noodles, ravioli wrappers, chopped up in salads, and for a host of other things as well.

Sweet Peppers Grow Slow

The slowest starting of the stuff we've planted is the sweet (or green) peppers. Carlos swears that there are four pepper plants growing in this bed.

On a tentative note, Mario's crew is supposed to be starting Monday morning on the patio palapa. But after one of the biggest holidays of the year, Independence Weekend (Independence Day was 21 September), it remains to be seen just how up for the task they'll be, come tomorrow morning. More on this breaking story as it happens

Drain Spotting

2018-09-13T11:56:00.001-06:00

The first signs that it was happening was with my mustache. This was about twelve or so years ago now. Gray flecks began showing up in it. No, it wasn't dandruff or cookie crumbs. Honest to goodness gray. From there it kind of gradually took over the whole 'stache.

Then, it migrated to the beard gray areas (not flecks now, mind you) began taking over. And, eventually, one morning, I woke up and looked in the mirror. Son of a bitch,. The whole damned thing had not only turned gray, but white! I swear, overnight.

Then for a good long while, things more or less stabilized. I did begin to notice that there was more hair collecting in the shower drain in the mornings. But, since the dogs variously took turns napping in the shower (nice and cool in there), I assumed that was the source of the hair.

Somewhere in the damp and dark recesses of the back of my mind, I suspected the truth. But, it was still easier to blame it on the doggies, and Dianna. I was sure she was losing hair. That had to be it.

That is, until this morning. Dianna and I had appointments for haircuts with Lourdes at her salon, Hairways, here in Corozal. Lourdes had been up in the States for several months, visiting her daughter, who is a computer tech in the US Air Force, stationed in Missouri. So, it had been three or four months since she had seen me, much less cut my hair.

I was first in the chair to 'get my ears lowered,' as we used to say in the military. The conversation was the usual, getting caught up on local events, what might be happening with hurricane Florence and the Carolinas, and our own potential with Tropical Storm Isaac. Just normal stuff until Lourdes dropped this one on me.

She Asked me if my hair was getting thinner. I took it manfully and was able to respond that, yes, I thought it had been getting a little thinner. She agreed and said it seemed quite a bit thinner on the crown. I said I had noticed more hair in the shower drain, but assumed it was Dianna's, which brought an exclamation from Dianna.

Oh, no! I finally was forced to admit to myself that, yes indeed, it was. Getting thinner. Lourdes eased the pain somewhat by saying she saw some new gray sprouts springing up in place of the old brown hairs. Nice of her.

So, besides, achy joints, and graying of the mustache and beard (not to mention chest hairs and some others), thinning on top is now part of the new reality.

Well, there you have it. I'm finally having to admit that that gray-haired old fart staring back at me from the mirror, isn't just an image, it's me. It's probably all going down the drain eventually, one strand at a time.

Followup on Dogs and Barrels

2018-08-28T10:09:00.001-06:00

First, we did our usual walkies this morning. For those who don't know, we do about four miles from Casa Winjama into town to the Post Office, the market, and other places if necessary.

When we had the opportunity to support the barrels being placed around town, Daniel Cano, the artist, asked me if I wanted anything special on the barrel. I thought about it for a second or two and suggested something about doggies as on our walks, I had been admiring all the new barrels along the waterfront. This barrel is the result.

Bela and Daisy Admiring the New Barrel

Unfortunately, even with a new trash barrel right there, as you can see, some people have trouble raising their arms enough to drop their trash into the barrels, not quite two feet away from where they had to be standing. Some people are just pigs. No other word for it.

I've heard over the years that people are reluctant to put their trash into the barrels when they're provided, because they are afraid that the people who
I wrote about the aggressive street dogs, as you can see below, at least two of them have collars. I put that entirely up to lazy, non-caring owners, who don't deserve to own dogs. Unfortunately, the pit bull-looking light tan dog right in the middle with the white flea collar is the biggest aggressor of the bunch.

The Street Dogs I've Mentioned

Naturally, this morning, as I was taking the picture of Bela and Daisy with the new barrel, this pack came up, aggressively as usual, then stopped a good distance away and were relatively well behaved, so I took their picture. The shepherd is a new one in the pack.

Doing Our Little Bit

2018-08-27T02:14:00.001-06:00

A group of Corozaleños, Corozal Daily (our local online news source), and Daniel Cano, artist, are working to help clean up downtown Corozal. We got the chance to have a small part in that activity, by sponsoring Daniel to paint one of the barrels.

Most of the barrels have various sealife depicted on them. I thought it would be nice to have something for the girls - the girls, in this case, being Deohgee, Bela, Daisy, and Coco, since we do walkies past those barrels pretty much every day.

The Doggie Barrel We Sponsored
(Used with kind permission of Corozal Daily)

This barrel is close to the new (and very popular) exercise equipment, donated by the Republic of China (Taiwan), on the waterfront, close to the Hok 'ol K'in Guest House.

First Time For Everything

2018-08-25T15:52:00.003-06:00

Mmm, my ears still ring

Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug

-Thanks to Roger Miller, way back in 1964

Now that I've implanted that 'earworm' for you. That's what a tune is called that you just can't get out of your head. But that song isn't the focus of this posting.

What is the focus, is this photograph.

My First Selfie

Well, that and the fact that the black object I'm holding in front of my bathroom mirror (at 2:45 in the morning) is my first smartphone. I resisted as long as I could.

I have to say, it is pretty cool having something you call a 'phone,' but is generally considered only a phone a minuscule part of the time.

It has the capability to do so much more, it's almost as if you were carrying a desktop PC around in your pocket.

The other fun fact is that this isn't some derelict from AT&T, Verizon or some other big communications phone. This one, a Redmi Note 5, an Android phone, came directly from China, banggood.com, in fact. It was mailed to me directly from Hong Kong to Belize.

That's actually the second thing I've ordered from them, the first being a digital kitchen scale, that worked fine until I ruined it by letting some fruit or veggie drip its innards on it, which seeped in and ruined the screen and the electronics. I guess it wasn't quite as waterproof as I thought it was going to be.

My replacement digital scale, by the way, if you're interested, I found at One Mall, our super-sized (for Corozal) grocery and other-stuff store. The scale now hangs on the side of a kitchen cabinet, safe and dry.

I know that taking a selfie is no big deal these days. But, it was my first one, and I wanted to share.

What was weird though, is this. Give it a try. First, while you're in front of a mirror, hold up your phone, and wave it in front of your face. Look at the phone screen. It blocks your face, right. Now switch the view of the camera and wave the phone in front of your face. In the mirror, it still appears to block your face, right? But, if you look in the phone's screen, your hand is invisible.

If someone was a stoner and tried that with a buzz on, that would provide at least a half-hours entertainment, wouldn't it?

Cheers,

PS - Get away from the mirror and put the phone down. - d

OMG! We're Just So Hi-Tech!

2018-08-22T11:54:00.001-06:00

Talk about leap-frogging technology. Here we are moving speedily into the future.

We started our adventure here in Belize, when we stayed at Tony and Nellie's house in Ranchito, with little more than a 300 baud modem and a phone line with BTL (Belize Telemedia, Ltd), which we quickly upgraded to DSL while we lived there. At the time, BTL blocked Skype, and all the other calling programs, since they wanted you to do any calling through their system.

After we moved into the Mennonite house, for several years we had HughesNet satellite internet. It was better than a phone line but really susceptible to clouds, rain, and too many subscribers at any one time.

Then, I forget what service we had for a while. It was cheaper, and so-so on speed. Eventually, we went with Mojan. We've been with Mojan for a few years now. His service was good, pretty fast at about 4-Mbps (Mega-bytes per second). We were happy with Mojan.

Then comes BTL again with DigiNet. Fiber optic internet came to town. They've blanketed the town with what seems to be hundreds of these little trucks for the past couple of weeks, putting up fiber cable up all over.

They offered a deal that was hard to pass up. Free Installation, and depending on the package you went with, various other perks like a free mobile plan, free prepaid SIM cards, etc.

So, Dianna and I opted to go with BTL's middle plan - DigiDouble, as they call it. A whopping 10 Mbps. So, we lept boldly into fiberland

BTL DigiNet Service Truck

Roughly two days after I stopped into BTL's office downtown, I got a call that the DigiNet guys were here to do a site survey prior to installation, to make sure it all went smoothly.

They told me I would have to trim some tree branches, no big deal, that happens all the time. So, I thought we were ready for the big day.

Here they came, Monday morning. How un-Belizean of them. We weren't expecting them till Wednesday, at the earliest. All set to start the install. Oh, but wait a minute. There's a great big wasp nest up under the eave of the Mennonite house. That will have to be removed before anything can happen.

Esquivel and Son's

Oh, no! What do I do now? Luckily, Irma, who does property management, had posted on Facebook the day before, that she had called Mr. Esquivel, who, along with his sons, are beekeepers and produce some delicious honey. They also will remove wild hives for people.

I was dealing with a wasp colony. I thought it was worthwhile to give them a call to see if that was something they would do. About a half-hour later, Mr. Esquivel and his sons show up. I pointed out the nest as they began to put on their beekeeping hoods and gloves.

Five minutes later, the wasp nest was history, contained in a plastic trash bag. Mr. Esquivel told me they were pollinators just like the bees they usually dealt with. The wasps were going to be released across town. As long as their queen was ok, the hive would reestablish itself. Very good work on their part. If you need to contact the Esquivels, click on their logo, all their contact information is there.

As the Esquivel's left, I was on the phone calling the DigiNet crew that had been here earlier. Amazingly, about a half-hour later, here they were back and ready to install.

Fiber-Optic Cable Spools

The biggest problem they had was the rain, which came and went every few minutes. Some parts of the installation were impervious to rain, others, it simply wouldn't do to get wet and things halted till the rain blew on through.

Two sets of cables, as we're essentially doing two installations, one in the Mennonite house (at 5Mbps) and one for our house (at 10Mbps).

Mounting Cables to the Pole

So, as soon as they could, they started unreeling cable to run it down the road to connect to a special box (no simple splicing into fiber optics).

Right away, a problem. Not mine, however. Another wasp nest in the telephone pole. Turned out not to interfere with their work so the cable pull went unimpeded.

Keeping Unspooling Kink Free

For the DigiNet crew, pulling the cable was the hard part of the job. Everything after that was fairly technical.

Keeping the cable from kinking is very important. The glass fiber, narrower than a human hair, can break. Still, it's amazingly flexible.

Modem and Cable Storage Box

Here's the two bits that go into the house. The top box is for extra cable, which is simply coiled up and kept in there until needed. The other box is the modem itself. There are actually two big parts to that - the wall mounting plate and the modem itself, which fits onto the plate.

Mounting Cable to Mennonite House

Next comes the actual mounting of the cable to the corner of the house. With the wasps gone that was no problem and went fast. The cable went directly through the porch wall and over to the kitchen wall. The cable for our house was a direct shot from this outside point down to our place. Easy peasy.

Inside the Back Porch

Once through the wall, then it's quickly over to the kitchen wall and on into the kitchen.

Installing Cable Storage Box

Drilling through the kitchen wall, and mounting the extra cable box in the same location.

Installing Wall-Mounted Modem

Inside, quickly installing the modem mounting frame around the hole already drilled for the cable to pass through.

Almost Had to Move the Modem

A good bit of luck as far as positioning the modem. There almost wasn't enough room for the modem antennas. It worked out just right in the end.

Now Comes the Technical Bit

This is where it gets quite technical. The fiber has to basically wind up at this stage in pristine condition. It has to fit into the modem in a precise way. Thankfully, they have a couple of alignment jigs to help. It's still really delicate work in any case.

Tons of Documentation and Photos

Of course, every bit of the installation is documented, by paper, forms on the laptop, photos of every connection, and testing with meters, etc.

Install Beginning at Our House

Once everything is done at the Mennonite house, then it was dodge rain squalls and on to the main house.

Installing Cable Hook Under Eave

The installation there begins with hanging another hook to anchor the cable run from the Mennonite house.

Modem Mount Next to Window

Then, it's simply a matter of drilling through the concrete and duplicating the work already done up at the Mennonite house.

We Have A Connection!

A final check with a meter. One, is there a white light, check; and Two, is there a good reading on the meter, check.

Put it all together, and button it up. Mission accomplished.

You'll notice a circle of light behind his hands. That's actually me holding my high-intensity flashlight so he can see what's going on - my office is normally pretty dim.

The End Result - WOW!

After they departed, I got all our stuff hooked up and finally had a chance to do our own speed test. Like the caption says, 'WOW!'

Our Newest Little Girl

2018-08-05T12:27:00.001-06:00

Here's some shots of Coco, the newest member of our family. She was about four months old when we got her. The first four photos were taken on 05 May, 2018. We'd had her about a week at that time, I think.

I would see her along with her siblings at the realty building next to Henry Menzies' Caribbean Village on 7th Avenue. Her mom was the guard dog there. She would come to the fence and bark at me and the girls as we walked by every day.

The mom looked to be at least part Doberman and the five pups were all really nice looking and active. I decided to stop at Henry's office to see if it would be possible to get a pup. The office manager asked if I wanted all five. Well, yes, but, no. One would do. Finding out that one of them was a female and with really nice markings helped make the decision.

Coco, as we named her, is very much part Doberman, and probably has at least a bit of Rottweiler as well, as a couple of Henry's other dogs were Rotties.

She's growing by leaps and bounds. She will be a big dog. I think her feet are growing faster than the rest of her, so if that is any indication.

She's had her first and second puppy shots and is coming up on six months old. We'll be scheduling her 'tutoring' soon.

Coco has also started walking with the other dogs. She took readily to the leash and is picking up the routine and rules of the walk quickly. I started her off on a short walk, from here to One Mall (our big, super-sized grocery store) and along the highway to Tony's Inn and back home - about a mile or so for a walk. That worked so well, that after a couple of times, I shifted her over to the long walk, about 4 miles. On that one, we walk to the post office, market, and other places.

All of this is done, starting at 5:30 AM, so we avoid most of the heat of the day. Still, by the time we get back, my shirt is wet enough, I can wring out the water.

I'll work at getting a current photo of her for comparison. She's growing quickly.

Coco Looking Out

Checking Out Small Ants

A Nice Image of Her

Lost Her Toy Under the Table Pedestal

Checking Things Out

Laundry Day at Casa Winjama

2018-08-05T08:54:00.003-06:00

It happens every now and then. Well, pretty much weekly. Laundry. All the salt stains and sweat have to be washed out of everything you wear here, especially this time of year. But, since our uniform of the day consists mainly of swimsuits, shorts, Tees, and polo shirts, doing the laundry becomes a fairly cut and dried affair.

Thankfully, it's a task with willing assistance.

For example, Admiral Lord Nelson sees it as his beholden duty to make sure the hamper is sufficiently tamped down so that nothing will fall out en route to the laundry room.

Nelson Doing His Part

I managed to carry the hamper with him in it the full length of the house. It wasn't until I set it down in the laundry room that he decided he'd had enough of that falderol and jumped out. Since he weighs on the order of twenty one or so pounds, he adds significantly to the hamper load.

It's not a very clear photo. I tried sharpening it up, but no go for that. What can I say?

Renting Out Our Mennonite House

2018-07-31T12:29:00.001-06:00

Elevated (2nd Story) HOUSE for rent

This rental is an upper-level (second story), wood, newly-painted exterior (off-white with blue trim), fully furnished, move-in-ready house. It is on a large fenced lot, with owner’s separate house on the property. Owner’s dogs reside on the property (tenant pets are not allowed).

Location of property is about 2 miles from downtown Corozal and is on the bus line. It’s in a quiet south-end neighborhood.

Rent is $600USD monthly, plus electricity and butane. There is an initial damage deposit of $150USD. Six-month (minimum) lease required.

House is on its own electric meter.

* Adults only
* Second story dwelling is NOT handicapped accessible
* One bedroom with an office that can be used as a second bedroom, one bath
* Recently upgraded 30-MBPS fiber-optic WiFi included; suitable for streaming
* Tenant is responsible for electricity, and butane.
* Ceiling fans in all rooms - No A/C
* Additional amenities are listed with photos.

Please email me (dave@winjama.net) if interested.

You can click on each of the photos below to view an expanded version of each.
Use your 'back button' to return to this page.

Front View of Upper Story Rental

Screened-In Front Veranda

Living Room Area

Dining Area

Fully-Equipped Kitchen
With Appliances, Cookware,
and Dishes

Double-Bed First Bedroom.
All Linens Are Provided.
Not Shown is the Armoire

Bathroom And Large Shower
Towels Are Provided

Second Bedroom/Office
Comfortable Double Inner-Spring
Mattress Futon. Large Closet and
Shelves Not Shown

Back Screened-In Veranda

Street-Side Entrance Stairs
Home Has Security Lighting
and Other Security Features

Lower Level Laundry Area. Not
Shown is Part of a Generous Secure Storage Area

For Gardening Enthusiasts
A Raised Bed Garden Area
For Your Use

Floor Plan and Property Layout

Lackadaisical Blogging

2018-07-30T08:56:00.002-06:00

I've been more than lazy regarding the blog. I've been apathetic, careless, dull, inattentive, indifferent, lackadaisical, lethargic, passive, sleepy, tired, weary, asleep on the job, comatose, dallying, dilatory, drowsy, flagging, idle, indolent, inert, laggard, lagging, languid, languorous, lifeless, loafing, neglectful, out of it, procrastinating, remiss, shiftless, slack, slothful, slow, slow-moving, snoozy, somnolent, supine, tardy, torpid, trifling, unconcerned, unenergetic, unindustrious, un-persevering, unready, and whatever else might be in your thesaurus.

Through all that inactivity, I have been thinking about blogging again. I just didn't have all that much motivation.

What really got me going was this morning (actually yesterday morning), we found out that photos we had of our Mennonite house that we want to rent out, were not appearing in Facebook for many folks.

Panic ensued. So to get something up in a hurry, I cut and pasted Dianna's Facebook posting to the blog. Naturally, the photos were another story. Anyway, all is up as a post on the blog (http://www.winjama.net/2018/07/renting-out-our-mennonite-house.html), more or less mirroring the Facebook post.

Thought you might like to know. I have been missing blogging. So, we'll see how it goes.

Cheers,
Dave

Parking Palapa Gets a New Top

2018-02-09T10:14:00.002-06:00

The thatch on the parking palapa came to its end a few days ago. We had the roof restored with 'zinc' as they call it, sheet metal by any other name would smell as sweet, or something like that.

Just Getting Started

Even though the thatch was beginning to show its age, developing more holes everytime we had a heavy rain, taking it down was still not an easy task. The way the thatch is wrapped around the horizontal stick part of the frame meant that each frond had to be pulled apart individually.

It Doesn't Go As Fast As You Think

Now we're beginning to see the skeleton. Quite an impressive structure. We'll be keeping that underneath the zinc.

Starting Framing For Screws

And, just like that, the thatch is all gone. Now they're putting up board framing so there is something to screw the zinc into, and to even up the roof framing so that it looks smooth and the zinc panels don't look wavy from the ground.

First Piece of Zinc Going Up

I just made it out of the house in time to catch the first panel of zinc going up. Already looks impressive, eh?

Close to Being Done

Here it is, almost all done, complete with ridge caps, which are shaped strips of zinc designed to fit over the ridges and help provide a water-resistant roof.

Underside View

This is what it looks like from underneath. Really shows off the original structure. I like the way it looks.

Tricky Corner

This corner of the palapa always was tricky. We had to cut back the thatch here because the corner of the concrete house was a bit close. Endher trimmed back the zinc roofing to allow for that as well, in order to keep rain from running down the house wall. He said a bit of the gutter will be run around there to help with drainage.

Endher Fitting Gutter Sections

Yesterday was a full day for the crew. Fitting gutter sections, digging trenches and putting it all together. It sure looks good as the end result.

Chillin'

Sidewalk superintendent taking in the view of the workplace.

Digging Trench for Floor Drain

Here's the trench for the floor drain going in. This will make number four for the floor drains along the driveway. Combined with the flow from the gate area French drain, the Mennonite house, parking palapa, the floor drains, and the new house gutters, there's a large volume of water shooting out of the pipe into the canal during and shortly after a rainfall.

3" Drain Everything Connects To

Here's the three-inch drainpipe that runs pretty much the length of the property (it's roughly 250 or so feet long.

One Side Done

The gutter (eves-troughs to those of you used to calling them that) is in place on the north side. Soon to become blue like the rest. The structure is really looking nice.

Fitting Clamps for Downspout

Endher fastening the downspouts to the brackets. I really like the metal brackets they use. I hadn't seen them before Endher and the boys used them. It keeps the pipe off the wall surface and facilitates painting too.

Positioning Floor Drain

The four-inch floor drain going in. A two-inch drain would work, except the metal top is exceedingly thin and wrinkles up at the drop of a hat. the metal on the 4" drain is about 1/4" thick so it's extremely durable.

View From Mennonite House

A much cleaner view now from the upper landing of the Mennonite house.

Making It All Pretty

Touching up the final coat of blue on the gutters.

View As You Approach

This view is as you approach the palapa on the driveway. Looks very nice. All that's left now, is for the crew to install a shelter for my bike so that I can come and go easily and the bike is somewhat protected from the elements.

Wednesday Morning Grab Bag (Short Form)

2018-02-09T10:14:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've done a Sunday Morning Grab Bag. Why wait till Sunday to pull it off, I ask? Why indeed. It's Friday. It's time.

Add caption

Dianna's conducting a beginning art class on sketching. Here the class is hard at their lessons. The students all seem enthusiastic about learning the new skill.

Dianna is a good instructor as well. It's fun to listen to the class as their lessons progress.

My Electra

My new ride, An Electra Coaster 3. Hotsy-totsy kinda bike, I guess. Electra bikes are made in San Diego and are designed for beach cruising, implying flat terrain, just perfect for Corozal.

It's not new, but it's way cool. A three-speed with coaster brake. I added the front basket and collapsible pannier baskets on the back, which came off my old bike, a 21-speed Schwinn. A nice bike, but about 18 more gears and other high-techery than I needed.

Spiffing Up the Mennonite House

2018-02-07T10:44:00.000-06:00

A good pressure wash and a couple of coats of marine spar varnish is just what the Mennonite house needs to bring it back up to par. it was looking kind of dingy on the outside.

A good marine-grade spar varnish (we use Helmsman UV-protected polyurethane Spar Varnish) will help add years to wood's life, in addition to making it look good. The down side of this, is that here in the tropics, even a top grade of spar varnish, like Helmsman, will only last a smidge longer than a year. We generally sand and re-brush the wood of the Mennonite house every year.

Kane Getting the Ladder Ready

Part of painting or varnishing a wooden house that's nine feet up in the air is like only working on the second storey of a house. Up and down the ladder all day long. That part of the job is plain getting to be too hard for this old fart. Much better to let a younger man, like Kane here, do it. Besides, I know he appreciates the work too.

Results of Pressure Washing

As you can see from the photo at left, the results of pressure washing. It removes all the grime and deteriorated varnish, leaving a nice clean wood surface for varnish to be applied. Of course, after the pressure washing, we let the wood dry out for a day or two, then a light once over with the sander and it's ready for a coat of varnish.

Brushing and More Brushing

We've found that the only effective way to apply varnish is the time-tested brush. We've tried using Wagner sprayers. They just don't apply varnish thick enough, nor is it easy to control over-spraying, contrary to what the manufacturers say.

vive la différence

The difference is simply amazing. A good coat of varnish really brings brings the wood to life.

Altogether, the pressure washing of the whole house took Kane one day. The varnishing of the exterior with two coats will take about three days. Then there's the front and back porches that will each take a coat of varnish. A good week or so of work and it looks wonderful.

Power Supply Stops Supplying Power

2018-02-06T13:24:00.001-06:00

It just wouldn't seem natural down here if something didn't break.

Case in point. My desktop PC has been acting squirrelly (that's a technical term, by the way) for months. About two weeks ago, it hit the breaking point.

When I would turn on the PC, the fan would start, and promptly stop. The cursor arrow would show up, and that was about all. A dark screen. Then, if I left it alone for a few minutes, the screen saver would start and work normally too. Joggle the mouse and the screensaver would vanish just like it was supposed to. But you would still have a dark featureless screen. After a week of that, I couldn't even get it to pretend to start. No fan, no curser. In short no nothing.

In case you might have been wondering why I slacked off on the posts, again... here's the reason why. Oh, sure. I could have made little posts with my iPad, but with my past experience with that, it's less than satisfactory. It's easier to wait till things get fixed and I can do postings using the desktop PC.

I futzed around using my iPad, trying to find a cause for the woes with the PC. I finally landed on HP's tech support site and went through a troubleshooting questionnaire they had. This indicated that the trouble was the power supply. Ok. I knew what the power supply was and where in my PC it was located.

What I didn't have was the HP part number. That took some more surfing to ferret that out. Once I found what the part number was, it was obvious. Right on the label of the power supply was the number, front and center. But, if you didn't know what that number was, there was nothing on the power supply to give you a hint.

With the number in hand, I jumped on the intertubes with my iPad and looked diligently at eBay and Amazon.com. The only real true match was on Amazon where I found a used one for $40.00 US. Well, hell. I already had a used one. That didn't strike me as a particularly good deal.

There were several power supplies in same 'family', that is, with similar part numbers and a similar look but very different power ratings, etc. The prices for those were not similar. They were going for $110.00 US and up. Not such a good deal either.

I then had the bright idea to take the power supply to our local computer professionals. I decided to take it out of the PC with the hope that it could either be repaired or replaced. I took the following photos just as a reminder to me of where everything went when I reassembled it.

This Little Plug Goes Here

Just for your edification and enlightenment, the '20/24 ATX plug' powers the motherboard. Then there's the 'ATX P4 plug' which also plugs into the motherboard. Its sole purpose is to provide power for the processor, which is attached to the motherboard.

This Littler Plug Goes Here

There's a little plug called a 'MOLEX plug' that connects the hard disk and other drives. More than likely, there's at least one 'SATA plug.'

This One Goes Beside the Blue Pin

This powers SATA standard hard drives. Finally, if the PC is for gaming, it probably has a 'PCI Express plug' that provides power only for graphics cards.

Now you've been exposed to enough terminology to get yourself deeper in kimchi than you probably should.

I started with Fred Orio at Corozal Virtual Office. I should have left it with him. Instead, I simply asked if he had any used PCs for sale that I could dump my hard drive into and carry on. He didn't.

So, I stopped over at Blue PC. He said he could probably fix the power supply. If not, he could a power supply to fit. So, I left PC and power supply with him.

Unfortunately, three days later, there had been no progress. I took my toys and went home. As a last resort before seriously trying to find an exact match in power supplies in the states, I called Fred that evening and asked him once again about the power supply.

He said to go ahead and bring it in, which I did. We talked a little and he said he'd play around with it and see what he could find out.

That brings us to this morning. I drove down to CVO and Fred greeted me with "It's an interesting morning." That was strange. I thought at first he was indicating no joy on the repair. But he excitedly showed me my PC with the original power supply installed and powering his monitor as well as the PC, which was working. Wow.

Turns out he'd gone to a repair blog where someone who had had a similar problem recommended swapping out a couple of pins, so that was what he did, and it worked.

I told him that he was a miracle worker. I got off cheap on the repair too. $35.00BZD for a successful resurrection from the dead. I'm writing this on my newly restored PC and it feels great!

How We Buy Some Things

2018-01-23T15:45:00.001-06:00

Life isn't all just going from one Chinese grocery to the next. Some variety has come gradually into our lives and it's done in some different ways too. This is sort of the Belize version of online grocery shopping.

Like what sorts of things? You might ask. Well, like cheeses, and snack stuff, exotic breads, meats, canned goods, Health Foods, and such. Just a lot of items that either isn't available in the local stores or might make an appearance there sporadically.

Santiago Castillo

Santiago Castillo, started in 1926, is the largest food wholesaler in the country. They have a distribution center in Orange Walk as well as several other locations around the country.

Santiago Castillo has a small truck that comes to Corozal more or less every other week. They usually stop at someone's house (an advance email or Facebook Message let's most folks know where and when they'll be located.

Santiago Castillo Travelling Show

I suspect these visits provide more than just a convenience for customers for hard-to-find items. It's also a way for Santiago Castillo to let the public know about new products that may not yet have made their way to the local stores.

They even have their own private label foods line, marketed under the Tastee label.

Another company is Ian Anderson's Caves Branch Adventure Company and Jungle Lodge. It's a multi-faceted company with adventure touring as a mainstay. They have a resort as well. And, something a bit odd-seeming, they make some wonderful world-class cheeses.

Caves Branch Cheeses

Not only cheeses but they have some great smoked meats, breads, and spices. I've included their catalog as well.

For a while, Caves Branch was making a bi-weekly stop here in Corozal to sell a selection of their catalog. That was very convenient, but I suspect the market here wasn't yet large enough to sustain that effort over the long haul.

As it Comes Via Tropic Air

But, you can order everything they have. It's packaged up and delivered by Tropic Air to your nearest airstrip.

Here's our package that came from Tropic. Colleen took care of the group-ordering for us. She messaged me yesterday evening that our orders had all come in.

For some reason, Ian Anderson, the owner, was enroute to a meeting in Chetumal, and he brought the order with him to Corozal.

Our Purchases

Denis and I went over to Colleen and Bruce's this morning and picked up the goods.

Dianna and I had ordered a wheel of Trappist cheese, which is a tasty, firm cheese and goes great on sandwiches.

We also ordered a wheel of Parmesan cheese. The perfect topper for all sorts of dishes, and really puts canned parmesan to shame.

Wonderful Firm Parmesan

To give you an idea of the size of the wheels I included my hand for scale.

Using a cheese grater, this wheel will last us at least three to four months. I old wheel is speedily becoming a sliver, so it was definitely time to order.

Goodness on Sandwiches - Trappist

Our Trappist wheel is a firm cheese that goes great on sandwiches, and would probably make good grilled cheese sandwiches too. Haven't tried it though.

Caves Branch Catalog

This is the Caves Branch catalog of all the foodstuff they offer. It's all good, to turn a phrase from a Canadian grocery chain. This is quite a different offering for a company that is ostensibly a hotelier and an outdoor adventure enterprise. You can read on their website (https://www.cavesbranch.com/belize-adventure-travel-blog/post/articleid/208/making-impossible-cheese-in-belize) all about how the owner, Ian Anderson, got interested in cheese and cheese making.

If you've a mind to, you can also learn to make cheese while enjoying a jungle vacation.
Caves Branch has a formidable list of cheeses that are available, especially for a part of the world that is not generally known to produce good cheeses.

Here's the rest of their catalog:

Cheeses

Cured and Smoked Meats

Breads

and then the newest find for us is this place, Shoots Alive. Elizabeth turned us on to this a few days ago.

Shoots Alive

Shoots Alive (https://www.facebook.com/Shoots-Alive-733442000116898/) is located on the Western Highway in Georgeville, Cayo, Belize, near San Ignacio.

I have to confess that I screwed up right away visiting Shoots Alive on Facebook. They have a new customer page (https://shoots-alive.myshopify.com/pages/new-customer), on their Shopify website (https://shoots-alive.myshopify.com/) which I all but ignored. I didn't read the pertinent information regarding minimum orders.

The New Customer page has all Shoots Alive's ordering, shipping, and payment details. Don't do as I did and space right through all that. I wondered why Elizabeth said something about that she had ordered with a couple other people. I could have saved a bit of money if I had just paid attention.

I'm aware now. I'm looking forward to this Wednesday when my first order arrives in spite of myself at the Corozal Airstrip. In the meantime, I'll content myself with munching on some exotic (for Belize) cheeses. and my pickles from Santiago Castillo.

Mama Lowe's
Photo Courtesy Mama Lowe's

With all these places, I can't forget a new local Corozal grocery - Mama Lowe's Oriental and Organic Produce (https://www.facebook.com/Mama-Lowes-2199860093572731/). She sells a lot of other stuff as well.

They're located right at the south-east corner of Central Park in Corozal, 55 1st Street South & 4th Avenue, in case you're into specifics for an address.

Mama Lowe has so much goodness of an oriental nature. There's a ton of stuff that I have no idea how it would be prepared or even what it would be used in. I love just strolling through the store.

Now, I guess the clincher is that, recently, Dianna and I decided that weight (especially for me, was out of control). Thanks to Catherine of Catherine and Charles for turning us on to the Ketogenic diet.

Years ago, we had been on the Atkin's Diet and lost weight. Of course, we didn't keep up with it at the time. It might have been around the time we were nearing moving down here to Belize, I don't remember exactly what was going on. Anyway, we fell off the diet wagon and moved here.

Now, we're working to get a bit slimmer. I'll write more about this as time goes on. For now, I've lost eleven pounds and counting, so I'm happy. But, the dichotomy here is, that with the keto diet, there's a lot of stuff at these businesses, and virtually every other one in Corozal, that we can't eat. But, there's is stuff at each of them that we can.

Like I said, more later on the diet. For now, I think I'll have a handful of nuts and some cheese.

Cheers

Bubbles in the Pool

2018-01-14T12:44:00.003-06:00

Finally! After many months of tracking it down, at long last, I've solved the mystery of air bubbles entering the pool from the returns as they're called. These are the jets that shoot water back into the pool from the filter.

Bubbles From a Return

When something has gone wrong, air bubbles appear and come into the pool from those same jets.

If the bubbles are coming into the pool from anywhere other than the spa jets (where you want bubbles), the bubbles are an indication of something amiss.

Bubbles anywhere else in the pool means the pump is pumping not only water but air through the system as well.

This causes problems in several areas, the pump, the filter, and the piping. Decreased filtering because of excess air can lead to water quality problems, and potential safety hazards, like the possibility of the filter rupturing, in my case, a sand filter with a large tank.

There are basically two sides to the pool pump. The suction side and the pressure side.

A Hayward Pump Example

The suction side draws water from the pool, from the pool skimmer, vacuum cleaner, or the pool floor drain, for example. The pressure side returns water to the pool from the filter.

The dividing line between the suction and pressure sides of the pump is the impeller.

Before water gets to the pump, the pool pipes are under some vacuum pressure or suction, and any gap or hole in a pipe, fitting, valve, or gasket, such as an O-ring, will suck air into the pipe or the pump. I don't know how much vacuum pressure the suction side is under, but on the pressure side, it is usually anywhere from 20 to 50 pounds.

Any leak that begins on the pressure side of the pump will generally, be relatively easy to find because it will leak water. I've found that pressure side leaks are much, much easier to track down and solve.

An air leak will probably be visible in the pump strainer cover, which is a transparent cover for that very reason so you can look for the presence of air bubbles.

There's a whole bunch more to troubleshooting pool air leaks. Generally, you would start with the easiest causes and work your way on from there.

The threaded pipe entering the pump might just be sucking air. I just removed mine and put a good twelve wraps of Teflon tape on it before re-threading into the pump body. I made sure it was tight by using my pipe wrench to ensure it was really tight. This fitting can be an ongoing source of leakage, as it is really susceptible to vibration or other problems.

There's a little drain plug in the front of the pump right near the bottom. It's easy to overlook this when checking for air leaks. There's also a drain plug at the back left side of the pump housing body, but that's actually on the pressure side of the pump, so it's no worry in this instance.

Leaks can also develop from worn diverters, ball valves, couplings or unions. Control valves from the skimmer, main drain, or vacuum cleaner might be in the wrong position. Incoming valves might have worked loose. The strainer cover might not be tight enough. It has a large O-ring that might be stretched out of shape or missing.

I've read that there is a way to check for air leaks overall on the suction side, by pressurizing the system from the skimmer, using a Drain King at the skimmer, and a plug in front of the pump. I've never done that. They're sold to unclog household plumbing, so it's an idea to keep in mind if you've reached the end of your rope, bubble-wise.

It can drive you crazy tracking down an air leak. I chased my air leak for at least several months. Before that, For years, I had an intermittent air leak that showed up, then went away of its own accord after a while. Try troubleshooting that.

I finally found my air leak this morning. It was a combination of the threaded pipe enting the front of the pump and the little drain plug at the front near the bottom. Once I re-wrapped the Teflon tape on the threads and tightened the drain plug - no bubbles. Life has suddenly become good again. Now all we need it for Mother Nature to stop refrigerating our air and we'll be back in the pool in no time.

Belize's First Tsunami and Warning

2018-01-11T09:19:00.003-06:00

Dianna and I had already gone to bed. I slept through it. Dianna was awake enough to hear our roll-up doors rattling. She said it sounded like wind blowing against the doors, only there was no wind.

Our dogs, the neighborhood's dogs, and all the dogs as far as we could hear, all went batsh*t barking their heads off.

Dianna and I were looking out the bathroom window to see what the ruckus was all about. We saw Denis and Vivien outside, walking around the driveway. They heard us holler ineffectively to the dogs to quiet down.

Denis called over to us, asking if we had felt the earthquake. He said Vivien felt the couch move, and he saw their lampshade moving erratically. They were all excited as this was their first earthquake. We told them we hadn't felt a thing.

After that Dianna and I went back to bed, being the seasoned earthquaker's that we are, coming from the northwest. Instead of sleeping right away, I got on the intertubes to see if I could find any information on the earthquake, such as intensity, epicenter, etc. Naturally, I couldn't get anywhere to check that out.

About that time, my phone rang. It was Mojan, our Internet Service Provider (ISP), wanting to know if we had felt the earthquake. It was a surprise to us that he called us, but we didn't quiz him on that. Maybe he wanted us to let him know if his tower was still standing or something. Mojan said he thought it was his kids waking up and making a racket, but then he heard all the dogs in his area of Corozal going berserk. He lives in the Sant Rita area up by the Belikin distributor.

Shortly after that, I got a Facebook message from Vivien saying she heard the earthquake was a 7.8 and wanted to know if there was any danger of a tsunami. I guessed from our experiences with the Nisqually earthquake of 2001 in Olympia, Washington, at the time, it was called a 7.8 or 7.9 earthquake. In the years since then, the level apparently was refined down to a 6.8.

With the damages from that earthquake as a guide, we assumed that the earthquake here in Belize was not very close to us. We initially had no indication of direction though and assumed that the quake had been centered in Guatemala or Honduras, as those areas are where most of the earthquake activity around here seems to come from.

When Vivien asked about a tsunami, I assumed then the earthquake had probably occurred out in the Caribbean Sea somewhere. We also have had a fair amount of experience in tsunami preparation and training up in the northwest. I said with a 7.8, that a tsunami was unlikely. Maybe if it had been like around an 8.5 or 9.0 or so. Shows what I know.

With that, Dianna and I went to sleep. It wasn't until the next morning that we found that, yes indeed, there had been a tsunami warning issued. But since we didn't have the radio turned to Love FM, and don't have cable TV, a warning was non-existent.

Earthquake and Tsunami Warning - Image Courtesy USGS

Apparently, around nine PM the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) in Palmer, Alaska, had issued a tsunami alert for all land areas within a 620-mile radius of the earthquake's center. The warning stated that the first tsunami wave could reach Belize by 10:30 PM.

Belize City sent fire trucks out sounding their sirens to alert the city's population. Apparently, one is supposed to instinctively know to tune in Love FM, which serves as the country's emergency alert station. Not that that would have done us any good up here in Corozal.

The earthquake was believed to have been centered near the Great Swan Island off Honduras. This would put the earthquake about 300 miles from Belize.

Belize coastal waters did recede after the earthquake. In the case of hurricanes and tropical storms, this is not an unusual occurrence. For the waters to recede for no apparent reason, is disconcerting, to say the least.

In Corozal, our caretaker Carlos, told us the following morning when he came to work that local Corozal police had been trying to chase people away from the waterfront and encouraging them to head for high ground. He also said that a line had formed at the One Mall gas station of cars trying to get some gas (most local folks normally only keep a few gallons in their cars at any one time). That was short-lived as One Mall closed shortly after the earthquake. Carlos also said he heard that the Corozal Fire Station had sounded its siren in an attempt to warn people. None of us down this way heard that at all.

Channel 7News said that in Belize City "the streets were desolate and the air was tense." A few minutes before eleven PM, the tsunami warning was terminated and NEMO gave the all clear for residents to return to their homes. We got none of the warning messages or information at the time.

It turns out the tsunami, such as it was, ended up being forecast for 28 centimeters - about eleven inches. Almost laughable, but it just as easily could have turned out to be like Aceh, Thailand in 2004. A tsunami like that would have rolled over our cayes like nothing was there, and would have likely caused severe damage to Belize's mainland coastal communities. The NTWC said that a wave with a maximum height of 1.2 inches was recorded one a sea-level gauge at Carrie Bowe Caye, east of Sittee River in southern Belize.

Around midnight, water was returning slowly back to the shore and everything was soon back to normal. There was no major tsunami in any of the countries within the threat zone. In Honduras, water went out 10 to 15 feet from the coast and did not return to regular levels until the following morning.

So, we lucked out big time. For a first-ever tsunami warning for Belize, the government agencies, NEMO, the National Fire Service, Belize Police, all performed well. the warning was issued, inadequate for sure, but still, the proper responses were made.

One thing that was apparent was the lack of an effective and functional warning system. Not just for tsunami, but for any large emergency or disaster. I suggested via Facebook, the following morning, that the Government of Belize (GOB) and NEMO should embark on instituting a warning system incorporating both of Belize's mobile telephone systems, Smart and Digicell, so that, in the future, when a warning is issued, it automatically goes out over the cell system's to warn the maximum number of people possible. A very brief message of what has occurred, and what to do, should be sent out and probably sent out repeatedly during the event, and an all-clear issued repeatedly for a time at the end of the event.

Now What?

2018-01-08T03:35:00.000-06:00

Saturday night, I'm sound asleep.

Nelson Surveying His Domain

Nelson, our boy cat, frequently wakes me up about this time, about eleven o'clock, when I've developed a really good snooze.

In his mind, his food is not correct. Not necessarily that he's out of food. The level of food could be low. Or, in the case of his wet canned food, it might just need my 'fluffing' it up to make it more appealing to him. Or, as it often is, he's just looking for reassurance that there is adequate food in the bowl.

He seems to rely heavily on my judgment in these matters, especially late at night. Just sort of a casual consultation, you might say. And, it wasn't like I was doing anything anyway.

That was the situation Saturday night. He comes into bed and sits beside my head, meowing softly until I wake up. Sometimes, he just wants to say hi. My waking up and scratching his head is enough to make him happy and he goes off somewhere to sleep.

Other nights, he's awakened me and lets me know that it requires my attention by gently putting his paw on my forehead, cheek, or nose until I tell him that I'm awake and actually begin throwing off the covers and getting out of bed.

Such was the case Saturday. I had to get up and go check the food. So, off we went to the kitchen. Me in my starkers and he in his extremely soft fur coat. He was right. The wet food supply was low and could definitely use topping up. So that's what I did. I added about a half can to his bowl and got some on my fingers in the process.

Nelson, of course, disappeared sometime while I was topping up his bowl. He went off to find a comfy place to sleep, his mission being completed.

I turned to the kitchen sink to rinse off my fingers so that I could head back to bed. Only one thing. When I turned on the faucet, no water. Not even a sigh of receding water in the pipes. Nothing. Uh oh.

We've had things like this happen before. Once, I went out to our parking area and the hose faucet there had snapped off, PVC piping being PVC, it had degraded because of constant exposure to UV light. Fifty-some pounds of water pressure became too much and it just snapped apart, shooting water straight up about eight feet into the air. That was an easy fix and resulted in my new policy of trying to paint every piece of exposed PVC piping we have, and there's a lot of PVC piping around here.

The other time, very similar scenario with no apparent cause, and after an hour or so, the well-pump decided to start working again. We never found anything that pointed to a cause or even an effect.

Back to Saturday night. I woke Dianna and told her what was going on and that I was going to go and check it out. I put on my cargo shorts and Crocs, and grabbed my flashlight, and went out to survey all our outside piping, expecting the worst. I looked around the pool, checked inside the pool pump house, all around our house, followed the main line along and into the raised planting bed, all around the Mennonite house, over to the new storage shed, which has a utility deep sink, and finally over to the well pump house beside the main gate. Nothing.

I listened at the door of the well-house. No sound. By now, I'm accompanied by all three dogs (they're sensing an adventure beginning), and by Nelson and Noel, two of the three cats, who, by the way, frequently accompany me when I head up to the gate. Whether its to take trash to the bin, which is just on the other side of the well-house, or to greet whoever might be at the gate. So they thought something entertaining might be happening too. I had forgotten to bring my keys with me, so I headed back to the house to retrieve them, accompanied by my retinue.

After grabbing the keys and opening the well-house door, I looked inside, always being careful not to step on the odd gecko, frog, toad, or snake that might be hiding inside. No such visitors tonight. But, no activity in the well-house either. Not a sound. I tapped the pump a couple of times with my flashlight. I hadn't realized how much it looked just like my pool pump. I also tapped the pressure switch. Nothing. I flipped the two circuit breakers that control the gate motor and lights, the well-pump, and the lighting inside the well-house. The gate motor and lighting all worked as normal.

Nothing for it at this time of night. I headed back to the house and got back to sleep. I thought about calling the plumber, but it wasn't anything that couldn't wait until morning.

In the morning, I used some bottled water from the fridge to make coffee, and I retrieved a bucket of water from the pool to use for flushing toilets.

At about 7:30 AM, I called Eddie the Plumber. He's the most knowledgeable plumber I've found down here. He's definitely the go-to guy for anything plumbing emergency related. He said he could reach our place about 9:00 AM. I thought that was outstanding, and for a Sunday too.

Meanwhile, Vivien had come down to say good morning. She and her husband, Denis are visiting, staying in the Mennonite house. They too are affected by the water problem. In fact, they actually noticed it about 7:00 PM, Saturday evening when Denis went to take a shower before going to bed. They figured we'd notice it too and so didn't panic and went to bed. Denis helped me supervise Eddie during the repairs.

When Eddie showed up I showed him the well-house. He looked over the pump and zeroed in on the pressure switch. Eddie took the cover off of it and immediately found the problem. Half of the switch contacts had disintegrated.

Pressure Switch Broken Contact

You can see, from the photo at left, that all is not quite symmetrical inside the pressure switch. The contacts on the right side, where the pointer is pointing, are missing. They weren't missing when Eddie first removed the switch cover, but they had separated into about four or five tiny pieces and when he removed the switch, they fell out and disappeared in the driveway gravel.

The broken contact brought the whole water operation to a complete and total standstill. I didn't think to check the pressure switch, as I wrongly assumed that there couldn't be anything wrong in there. I had assumed the problem had to be with the water piping, or the pump itself, probably because of just recently having rebuilt the pool pump. Well, live and learn.

Corrosion on Contacts

This is something to keep in mind that will more than likely occur every few years, because of corrosion, like at left with the contact points, but more likely, material degradation due to plastic becoming fragile and brittle in this environment.

Everything breaks down here. Metal, wood, plastic. It doesn't matter what the material is. It all breaks and breaks down eventually. This switch lasted about seven years. I'll know what to look for next time.

While Eddie was disconnecting and removing the defective pressure switch, I headed up to Lano's Hardware and got a new switch. I was glad they open for half-days on Sundays. Being without running water definitely changes your lifestyle.

You might think it would be prudent to have a spare pressure switch on hand just for such a contingency. What you can't forget about is the environment here. Even though something is in storage, even if it's protected from exposure by boxes, wrappings, etc., it's still going to be affected by the environment. The high humidity and high summertime heat will conspire to destroy even the most well-protected piece of equipment.

Right after Eddie finished hooking up the switch, he turned the circuit breaker back on and immediately we were treated to the familiar humming of the well-pump. Life was quickly returning to normal.