Creating Concrete Dust

 The alarm on my I-Pad Touch awakened me with its irritating but effective "piano riff" sound at 6:00 AM.  My mind was a blank – what could be important enough to wake me from a dreamless sleep other than Mother Nature.  Struggling with the concept of deliberately being awaken before full daylight coupled with my spouses´ prodding I finally realized this was the day that the initial renovations of our Puerto Vallarta condo was to begin and we needed to get the rooms contents squared away before the workers arrived.

 The first of three major projects was about to begin: 1) new stackable doors for both bedrooms, 2) complete remodel of the main bathroom (including removal of the cement-tiled bathtub, and, 3) remodel of the kitchen counters.

 To install the sliding-stackable doors it’s necessary to cut and chisel a 6”w X 2” deep trough in the cement floor in order to set the bottom tracks.  This is done with an open blade cement saw that distributes cement dust throughout the condo as well as the immediate neighborhood as good as any artificial snow machine.  This isn’t a problem with new construction, but for remodeling….?  From last years’ experience installing the living room door we knew that we needed to relocate and cover as much surface as possible to at least minimize the environmental impact.  And there were two rooms to be done this day.  The following day we had two professional cleaners in to do away with the mess.   A two day job - with wonderful results.

The second project has just been completed.  Its main feature was the removal of the large tile bathtub which was made of solid cement.  Since it took over 30 minutes to fill it we never used the tub – just wandered about aimlessly while taking a shower.  The job took a week.  Fortunately there was only one other person in residence to enjoy 2 ½ days of noise from a handheld jackhammer from 11 AM to as late as 8 PM.  WOW!



Sans Bathtub

Counter - Right

Counter - Left

Materials for the kitchen have been ordered and we expect that to begin in a couple weeks with minimum noise, but another mess.  Fortunately none of the owners are in residence.

Time to jump in the pool.

Hurricane Bud – the Dud

"Gushing" Downspout - Bud?

On May 24th Hurricane Bud was predicted to visit Puerto Vallarta in the PM.  I had been talking with our admin to get the downspouts installed for our new gutters for approximately the previous 4 weeks (the gutters had been installed 2 months ago).  Miraculously the workers arrived with the 4” tubes the afternoon before “Bud” was to visit and completed the installation that same evening.  We were safe!  The local government had issued a “No Swimming” edict for the local beaches.  That evening the rain struck and I went down with my camera to record the gushing waters as evidence to our absent owners of how well the new rain protection was working.  Nada.  I´m convinced the “deluge” evaporated in the gutters before it could be carried away by the downspouts. Hmmmm.  Obviously the storm had moved on-shore south of PV and quickly dissipated before reaching our city.

I´ve always postulated that the rainy season in PV starts on June 14^th at approximated 4:00PM.  However, even that event failed to materialize this year.  The rain clouds did occur at 4:30 PM then quickly disappeared to let the sunshine highlight our disappointed faces as we swam in the pool (disappointed - I can imagine my Seattle friends looking at each other while making little circles with their fingers next to the head).  Today we took advantage of the weather and had our veranda repainted.

The replacement for the old Juniors has now reached the 7^th/8^th floor, depending on how you count.  The work is proceeding at a rapid pace – 6.5 days a week from 8 am – 6 pm.  While somewhat “noisy” it’s interesting to watch the new building rise. 

Josahara and Parents

Josadara  Adanary, one of our local niñas and a member of Dolores’ Seven reached her 15th birthday and a Quinceaños was held June 2 to honor the event.  The Quinceaños, or Quince años ("fifteen years" in English), in Latin American culture, is a coming of age ceremony held on a girl's  fifteenth birthday, comparable to a Sweet Sixteen celebration in the United States.  Like many other coming-of-age ceremonies, the Quinceaños is associated with the Quinceañera "becoming a lady".  We were invited both to the religious church ceremony and the reception.  What an honor and thrill.

After the Church ceremony we departed to the celebration hall where we joined 200 other guests, where the Quinceañera and her court entertained us with dances and wonderfully choreographed performances.  Then we all ate then danced to after 2:30 AM – we were told.  Our home arrival was somewhat earlier – 12:45 AM.  This was an especially meaningful event since we knew the family very well and most of the guests at the reception.