The Plot thickens, or the plot thins

[bill_bly_ca]

We got up north this past weekend.

We took the boat across lake Huron (Chee CheMaun) which made the trip to a lake side cabin for the first evening. Got some astrophotography in and it wass OK for my first kick - A little blurry when zoomed in but OK for thumbnails like the attached.

When at the plot we found we had new neighbors who are from the city where my Mom lives (Hamilton) and we struck up a conversation. They bought last July and have one acre.

We trudged the 200' into the bush, moved some logs, took some measurements made some observations and left two trailcams set.

A return trip the first 2 weeks of Nov will show if the trail cams find anything and a new set of cards will be popped in then. In discussion with those neighbors it came to light that another neighbor (We are at the corner point of 4 - 100 acre parcels with a few small cut outs) has a water well.

That neighbor, with the well, is also squatting on public land - Apparently an exception of structures built before 1978 allowed it to stand. The structure is very tired and the elderly owner does not get to it often. The 4 of us (Corner land owners) will see if we can convince the fellow to allow access to the well - The well is on public land so it should be not that much trouble to just mimic another beside that well pump shack.

Working now to get a road access to the property that will allow a equivelent to building permit to be generated. As it is an unincorperated township there is not a building certificate, but a certificate of conformity. The CofC is just a drawing that shows structure #1 here, structure #2 there making sure it is a certain amount of distance from the property line.

[KeyWestPirate]

Fascinating shit! Untold adventures in the waiting.
Makes Nicaragua look like a walk in the park. We've got SINSA,, after all.
At least some of us are getting out and about.


It will be nice to have somewhere cool to go (albeit virtually) in Nicaragua in April before the rains start.

So, you need to get a U tube channel going, with a catchy name so we can all subscribe.

Nanook of the North
is already taken


Most of the rest of us are just sitting around, listening to Bob Dylan,, waiting for the fat lady to sing.

J&J's vaccine is coming from behind, but looks like it might be the eventual winner for a number of reasons.

Johnson & Johnson has begun manufacturing the vaccine on an industrial scale to build up a supply that can be released immediately if the vaccine is authorized, Dr. Stoffels said in an interview on Wednesday. He expected to have tens of millions of doses ready by the end of the year. “Then we can ramp up to many more batches,” he said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/h...d-johnson.html

[bill_bly_ca]

So review time..

So the initial plan was (All those long years ago)

... Jan 21 2021 is the drop cube life for split time in Niclandia and work for 3 or 4 months a year.


Then it pivoted in 2018 to Canadian Turkey day (2nd Monday in October) 2021 for split time. That would be one year from this weekend.


But I have been mulling it over and discussing with Chilo and it has revised yet again.

The Mother corp is somewhat fearful that they will not have the old folk (you know people who can use an oscilloscope, read a schematic, solder and actually trace a circuit) until this technology fades into the sunset (about 10 to 12 years)

So there is some cash on the table and some accommodation on attendance on their part.

So over the last bit we have settled on 6 weeks off, unpaid, for 2021. This is over and above my one day shy of 4 weeks vacation allotment.

In those 10 weeks we should be able to knock out the remainder of the house in Masaya (two - 2 week - visits) and get the cabin framed and dried in in the 6 weeks in the fall

Then in 2022 with a full 2 months off, the final tweaks can be made and then we revisit the real split time - time line. Heck maybe we can even build appartments once His DOS-ness is re-throned Nov 2021

My (work) boss was turning blue as I laid this out lime line as she thought I was actually coming in to say I am done and going to retire now before I brought up the unpaid leave time lin..

So in US Corp based foreign subsidiary talk.... I am safe for one more quarter

[bill_bly_ca]

Daniel called today that Jimmy is good to start again and we do not need an additional sizmica (sp) to finish off the first floor columns to hold the 2nd floor.

Also Chilo Jocote trees are doing great.

We should be cementing in the remnants of the first floor this week and be done mid Oct.

Another cleanup was done this week - Things grow like wild fire on the lot.

And the Bougainvilleas have taken a strong foot hold and the sidewalk is looking more like a sidewalk :-)

[bill_bly_ca]

Came across the post from 2017 where the lotification across the street was selling for $49K - They are now listed for $69.5K and from the look of the lot map, they are selling.

https://www.facebook.com/residencialElCoyotepe/

[cookshow]

Watching prices, is a bit boggling, looks like many spots have seen increase in price, with many fewer buyers. A marketing ploy??? All is well, jump on in... Hurry before the bargains are gone.

When the election shit starts, is going to get uncomfortable for many Gringos.

[bill_bly_ca]

So after another 4 / 5 week break we start building it again.

The last 4 columns are going up and the bathroom wall which be the last C'ment structures on floor 1 . Jimmy thinks he will be done in 2 weeks.

After that we have to figure out the 2nd floor support mechanism. Still vacillating between cement beams and steel beams. I think in the end steel will be the final configuration. Mainly as we want to poke out 1m from the over the currently non-existent sidewalk for some floor extension.

[bill_bly_ca]

Jimmy started again Tuesday . I asked BIL to take a short vid the room vs time line is in the description.



Edit

Oh yea - You can't see the description in a embedded video..

The final structures of the 1st floor being cast in stone Taken by my Brother in lawOnly a min 30 and a bit - Like to show ore but we just can not get there reasonably at this time
0:00 to 0:16 the main 1st floor room
0:16 to 0:30 looking into the bathroom enclosure
0:30 to 0:40 what will be the kitchen panning towards the Garage
0:40 to 0:54 a pan of what will main are of floor 1 again
0:56 to end - Compound where we will build a few apartments for rent 2022/23

[bill_bly_ca]

So Saturday we took a run up to the Island to place some stakes for the driveway and review the SD cards on the trail cams.

700km there - 700km back it took 16h:20m total including 2 hours on site - 45 min talking to my neighbors across the road. hey are a group of 6 guys who bought 200acres 20 years ago and each has 2 weeks in the summer along with the entire bunce (or subset) of guys there for hunting season in November.

They (The neighbors) do get internet there at speeds sufficient to support Netflix - So the good news is Chilo can get her Novelas and I can do some internet side work if that is still an option.

Most of that group is based around Windsor (so south Detroit and Journey the band would sing) so their drive is 4 hours longer than ours.

There was a Buck and Doe on the trail cam - No Bears.

I tried to fire up the Drone but silly me had fill drone batteries, but the controller battery was flat - S#!t

Apparently this area of the island we are in was owned by a Chicago based paper conglomerate which sold off a couple 100,000 acres in the mid 90's - There is still a 20,000 acre parcel to the north and east of us that has 16miles of Lake Huron shore line . They want 14M Canadian for that.

Unfortunatly we will probably be back up there before we get back down south to Masaya.

[bill_bly_ca]

Jimmi will be done the top beam today or tomorrow and we will be ready for the 2nd floor trusses to be welded up and placed.

[bill_bly_ca]

So the 1st floor is cast in cement....



Now we work on the trussing. BIL is going to weld up what the architect student will draw up - I threw a dart at the wall at 1m spacing and a 300cm cross hatched truss. They want a few more trusses. 2x5" (Final 4x5) pralines for the red and 2x6" (4x6 final) for the yellow. Looks like they want the trusses horizontal only not the V shape I stabbed at. The ends of the trusses will be fastened to the cement buy 1/4" plate.

The orange boxes are the stairs - the rectangle are the stairs, the square is an emergency exit by ladder if for some reason stairs are not good.

[bill_bly_ca]

Interesting bit on the land up north.

On da faze book group for the island came this notice on a large tract of land being sold to the Nature Conservatory of Canada

A few of the posters outlined the land as a map and our plot is where the red arrow is. It is almost 20,000 acres

The blacked out blocks are 100acre blocks that are not part of the purchase.

So our east, north and south border will now be land akin to Crown land - The NCC has until end of Jan to raise the $16m bucks. They did the same, bought large swaths of a nearby island, a few years ago.

Here is their (NCC's) promo video - The land will be bought with donations.

[bill_bly_ca]

So ... A twist

I was looking to change the drawings as supplied by the archetect so that the 2nd floor was trussed with metal spans as per the Dec 12 post.

Well fast forward a month and a bit and we are bouncing back to cement. Apparently the approved drawings have cement trusses for the second and changing to steel is a real pain in the butt. Both from approvals, inspection (if they happen at all) and cost. Apparently we can increase the floor space from the original without issue, but changing to steel is a no no (as in opening a can of worms) - I'll see if Jimmy can beef up the re-bar in the trusses to give it a little more strength.

With all of this getting straight we should be mixing and pouring the 2nd floor by the beginning of Feb.

The viewing angle throws it off a bit, covered portion is 24 x 29 and the uncovered is 50 long and expands from 29 wide to 35 wide at the back.

[bill_bly_ca]

And ... .An untwist

It looks like expanding the 2nd floor to the entire fence perimeter of the house is becoming a nightmare.

So we are just proceeding with the 2nd floor as the original drawing prescribes and going to cover the area where an expanded 2nd floor was to be.

Someday we may 2nd floor that area but we really need to put this house to bed so we can actually stay in it when some type of travel is feasible.

It is not too bad though as the square footage will still be in the 1000sq foot area when all said and done.

[bill_bly_ca]

We dropped another chunk for Jimmi to continue on - Both because of the banking uncertainty any just to get a better deal on all the "Stuff" from the fereteras

Unfortunately Jimmi had an accident involving a 45gal drum making a 40+ stitch gash across his calf - Like sucking air through your teeth as you look at the picture - So Jimmi is convulsing for anther (he says) two weeks -I think it would be closer to four..

We are thinking now that we will not be down there before the election.

[bill_bly_ca]

Interesting bubbling seems to be coming up from the street..


One Expat I know (US retired Navy) was talking about inability to transfer cash over 3K

Another expat talking to Navy guy, also can not transfer over 3K

Now on Da Faze Book a past member of TRN also says $US can not be sent (It can be sent in Cords, just not Dollars)

We did not have that problem when we packed on a few bucks than normal to BIL, who also gets his pension sent down in $US - That total was over 3K (not much but it was) and was no issue..

Usually the "Hey can you bring in money" posts are singular and most of the time says "Oh I fixed it by..."

These are not followed up with rectification that I have seen.

Jimmi's stitches are coming out - Daniel sent a photo - A Frankinstinian gash from the back of his knee down diagonally across his calf down to just above the achilleas tendon.. <shudder>

[el duende grande]

Ahh, the joys of being an expat. Got a phone call from the consulate a couple days ago. They had a check for me. Joy of all joys, another trip to managua! $100 later after paying a car and driver, it was a tax return. IRS or my bank screwed up and did not autodeposit it. This happened once about 10 years ago and is a colossal waste of time and money, and risk being on Nic's bad roads.

Thanks IRS for sending me a check that cannot be cashed in Nic. and sending it to the Consulate because you don't trust the Nic post office. To add insult to injury, the check was dated October ! It has been sitting in somebody's drawer somewhere for 4 months.

Went to Lafise customer service- No, can't deposit a US check. "We used to be able to but we can't now". Tell me about it. I asked again and they got on the phone and 30 minutes later with 2 visits from the manager they said they would get back to me BUT the correspondent bank would charge 80 bucks and they might reject it anyway because IRS put my wife's initial, not her full first name, on the check. I thanked them profusely for at least trying and I'm sending the check up with a friend who is going to put it in the US mail as soon as she gets home. This bank hasn't (yet) blocked my online banking so I will know when it arrives so I can go to town and suck it out of an ATM--I hope.
I betcha if I were in the Canary Islands this crap would not be happening.

[cookshow]

I don't see banking getting any easier. Waiting to see what happens when Western Union can't get money.

[KeyWestPirate]

Money Mules ??

Can you still carry as much as you like as long as you declare it?

I understand that you May have to answer a few questions,, as transito always asks,, "de donde viene, y a donde vas?"

And where did you get all that money?

[el duende grande]

?trabajaba como un esclavo negro por 40 anos?

Money Mules ??

Can you still carry as much as you like as long as you declare it?

I understand that you May have to answer a few questions,, as transito always asks,, "de donde viene, y a donde vas?"

And where did you get all that money?

[bill_bly_ca]

?trabajaba como un esclavo negro por 40 anos?

That quote reminded me of Chali - Chali is a cousin to Chilo from her mother's side , the Espinosa clan. Chali spent about 30 yrs in LA sending up a portion of his hard earned cash so Humberto (Marta, Chilo's older sister's, husband) could keep their auto parts store open.

Humberto had a brain aneurism in '96 and passed away so Chali came back with all of his belongings to live the dream of Nica small business ownership.

All the time he was complaining about the HP gringos and their go go go dog eat dog money making...

Of course he screwed over Marta on her half of the parts store , and then got screwed over by the Taiwanese consignment stock holder and closed up the Masaya shot to just focus on his Managua shop

https://flic.kr/p/6nu94k