Building alterations finished

Hi to everyone,

As this blog is being started on a Saturday morning, we are seeing the finishing touches to our ascensor (elevator) installation. It is very simple - just 4 steel posts with an open platform inside the posts lifted and lowered by a steel wire on a winch just one floor by a 2hp electric motor mounted on the ground behind the posts. A little noisy, but we will not be using it every minute of the day; in fact we will still be using the stairs to maintain a modicum of fitness. The ascensor is looking towards the future when we are really old and decrepit and of course it will be useful for taking bulky and/or heavy items up or down. Maximum payload is 400 kgs.

About half of the laundry roof is also being replaced today, but now delayed by rain. Hopefully it will be finished tomorrow - Sunday. We wanted an all glass roof - same as the carport - but the gas califont water heater which we bought at the local Homecentre in Rio Negro, is actually the wrong type for inside installation. They did not tell us that there were two types - inside or outside. And they wouldn't take it back as it was already installed before we realised the situation. We can still install it on the wall in the laundry, but it needs to be flued to the outside and the flue must be absolutely vertical with NO bends. This means that it has to be led upwards through the roof, but as the roof was tempered glass, we could not create any holes in the glass. If you try and do that it just shatters into millions of tiny pieces!  So, we have to remove one of the two glass roof panels and install a conventional roof where we can create a hole for the flue. Not really a massive problem, but annoying to have to change the original design and obtaining all this information originally was like pulling teeth.

But apart from that, the whole renovation operation has gone very smoothly and we remain eternally grateful to our fellow ex-pat, Peter, for introducing us to Humberto who project-managed the whole operation. Humberto was always punctual (7am every morning) and, unusually for a Colombian, always anticipated future requirements in a timely manner. He and Ivan and at times Ivan's son, did a great job. They were expert at concrete foundations, brick-laying, tiling, electrical, stonemasonry, roofing and plumbing. Apart from that we had outside contractors (organised by Humberto) for the kitchen cabinets, benchtops, timber work for the new stair construction and window joinery.

However, having said that, we are now having problems getting Humberto back to sort out the laundry roof. We know that he has a contract to build a house for someone, but he does have an obligation to finish jobs already 98% complete. We will keep you informed of on-going progress!

We have now organised Alberto, the portero and gardener for the urbanizacion, to excavate our 17 sq. metre front garden and replace approximately 20 cms of topsoil with his own proprietary mix of chicken manure and topsoil. Alberto has a poultry farm and we buy our eggs from him. He's charging 500,000 Pesos (NZD190) for the entire operation including the replacement soil and manure. 

We have also run into a small problem with the HOA (Administracion) of the property here at Alameda Campestre. Before we started the work, we asked the administrator to come here and review our plans. We needed to ensure that our proposals were in accordance with the HOA rules. He duly came and we had a very agreeable meeting. The only issue was that the new kitchen window which was originally planned to have a black frame and a curved top, had to comply with all other windows on the front facade. So, we had to change it to a rectangular design with no curves and the frame to simply be aluminium. This was done. But, we think there is a disgruntled neighbour who has nothing better to do than complain about our window, which instead of a big plain glass panel, has small panels, which we decided on for security reasons as well as appearance. And one wall of the carport, which needed some bricks replaced after another new window installation, was a problem because we couldn't obtain the matching special bricks. So, as that wall does not actually comprise any part of the front facade, we decided to paint it a very restful shade of green which we have also used in part of the living room extension. We have now had an email from the HOA mentioning these two issues and asking for them to be changed, but we do not agree that they should be changed in view of what we were originally advised and so we emailed back (in Spanish!!) to advise that we would not be making the changes requested. Both would be very costly and difficult to do and the carport wall would not look good, to say the least. This is likely to be an on-going discussion, but we will not be budging. Any more of this nonsense, and we will threaten to paint the entire front of the house a bright Colombian yellow (amarillo)!! Amarillo seems to be the predominant Colombian national colour.

On the car front, we were persuaded to allow the acquisition of an electronic part from Mexico which we were told would fix the transmission problem with the troublesome B Class. This was done at a further cost of 4 million Pesos, but it made no difference, so for us that was it. We asked our car dealer friend, Rodrigo, to advertise the car "as is". This was done and we eventually agreed on a price of 17 million. This represented quite a loss, but we had been pulling our hair out and at least now we have prevented the hemorrhaging of any more money. We just feel relieved to have it out of our lives. It is so sad because the Mercedes B Class is a brilliant design - spoilt by an inherently unreliable CVT transmission. The rest of the car, in spite of being 15 years old, was perfect and had only done 78,000 kms. We hope that the new owner can effectively deal with the transmission which probably needs replacing entirely - or converting to manual. Either way it will almost certainly cost in excess of 30 million, which we were just not prepared to do as the car only has a retail value of no more than somewhere in the high 30 millions - if in good operating condition. A new one is at least 150 million!!

It was a good decision to go to Bogota back in February to buy the 1993  W124 - 300E. It only cost 26 million and their value in the US is 4x that as their reputation for build quality and longevity is growing all the time. It is a great car (only done 100,000 miles - miles, because it was originally delivered new in the US) and we have replaced some items which were starting to malfunction as well as preventative (a word that doesn't exist in Colombia!!) replacement of things like brake hoses. As time goes on we also need to fix the power sunroof, power driver's door mirror and power antenna, but none are urgent. The car fits yours truly like a glove and is so reminiscent of the 1987 W126 420SEC which was the last Merc owned in NZ before we left on the boat in 2011.

Last week we went down to Medellin to have these items replaced on the car by Alejandro of Greiautos - check ignition coils, replace brake hoses, water hoses, headlight bulbs and fan belt. That was going to take 2 days and so we left the car with Alejandro and stayed with American friends, Dave and Marta in Envigado. We used the time for shopping - 18 light fittings all made here and a total of 1.7 million Pesos (NZD625 - average of NZD35 each - would you buy them for that in NZ?) plus some household items. The light fitting manufacturer has been in business since 1954 and originally started out making ashtrays!! The light fittings are many and varied and all of excellent quality. There is a guy called Armando who has a local shop in Retiro selling hand-made light fittings and window blinds, some of which he had already installed for us. He met us at the shop in Itagui, Medellin and assisted in the choices. He will install them next week. 

It was great staying with Dave and Marta in their attractive apartment - older style, but we like that. Many good conversations with great insights into the horrible things happening in the US these days; their political opinions exactly paralleled ours. They have a parrot which they brought with them from the US when they emigrated and it was fascinating to watch Ziggy daintily feeding himself at the table!! He had a famous saying which he said every morning - "who let the dogs out?"  

We had recently had timber bunks built in Retiro by a furniture manufacturer and now we have some single sheets for them. Retiro has quite a flourishing furniture manufacturing industry - some mediocre, but most quite stylish and very well made and very attractive local timber. So, now we are quite prepared for the nietos from Miami in a couple of months.

We continue to enjoy living in Retiro - the only thing we miss is warmer weather and the ability to swim, but we will just have to organise alternative exercise. At least recently the weather has been much sunnier with little rain. Last Sunday morning we walked up to La Liebre (The Hare) Restaurant for breakfast with our NZ orchid breeder friend, Andy. We remarked during our pleasant walk which included a stretch along the Rio Retiro, that so many people that one passed all said "buenos dias", which we reciprocated. This would in the main not happen in "western" type countries. We buy "Pan de Yucca" buns from a bakery in the Macedonia Mall. Jean in particular loves these because they are gluten free and have a unique taste, being made from the flour of the tuber of the Yucca plant. Yuccas are grown ornamentally in NZ, but not sure whether they would produce edible tubers.

We now have a left wing President, Gustavo Petro (since 7th. August), but so far so good. He is reviving the Peace Agreement negotiated some 5-6 years ago with the various Narco militias under UN auspices, but which had been torn up by the preceding far right government of Duque/Uribe. We think that's a good start at least to redressing some of the horrible atrocities and land thefts of the past. But as regards financial matters such as income tax, it is far from clear whether the Conservatives in Congress will allow full reign to the Socialist policies that he would no doubt like to introduce. Time of course and as always will tell.

We will limit ourselves as regards political comment - whether world-wide or specifically in NZ, because it has all been said. But the US mid-terms, which everyone is hoping will turn control of both Houses of Congress back to the GOP, will be a very welcome turning point and will greatly influence future governmental direction world-wide. Normally the difference between Democrat and Republican wasn't so great and neither were trying to destroy their own country, but these days sadly that isn't true. The Dems have to be turfed out of office and in many cases impeached or outright prosecuted for crimes of corruption and sedition against their country. If this does not happen, the outlook for ALL of us is bleak indeed.

It will take at least 2 full GOP presidential terms in our estimation to finally turn things around and it will be a tough 8 years, but it must be done, and if Trump can be re-elected for the first 4 of those years where he could groom a suitable successor, such as Governor Ron deSantis of Florida, the stage could be set for at least 12 years of GOP rule. It shouldn't be difficult as the American People are increasingly seeing the unconstitutional leftist illegal excesses of the Biden crooks. November this year and November 2024 should see a Democrat rout which hopefully and deservedly they will take many years to recover from. 

NZ, Australia and Canada should follow suit if their populations have a modicum of sense. Then and only then can we kick 3 Waters and all the other race based abominations down the road. In Australia's case we heard only today that over 60% of the country's land mass now legally belongs to the Aborigines (who comprise 3% of the total population) and that anyone of another race cannot enter these vast areas unless permission is sought and granted.    

There is one bright star on the horizon; China's economy is on the verge of bankruptcy and indeed according to one report we have read, will not last beyond mid September without a major default. We must therefore all just hope that in the view of the Dem induced military weakness in the US, that Xi Xingping doesn't make a snap decision in regard to Taiwan - that it's now or never. If he were to do that soon, with America's military being so weakened by wokeness and underfunding, and the fact that they left 80 BILLION dollars worth of state of the art weaponry in Afghanistan last year, Taiwan would be toast and America and its allies totally defeated and humiliated. The sum total of all the foregoing would be a body blow to NZ's economy given the absolutely negligent foolishness of allowing 30% of NZ's total exports to be reliant solely on the economy of the Chinese Communist Party. Shades of NZ's dependency on the UK in 1973 - some people never learn!! More to the point; these days no-one knows any history, even recent stuff.

Let us hope that all of the world's woes can be alleviated without too much bloodshed and without too much economic damage. But unfortunately, thanks to the leftist inspired Chinese Virus hoax, much of the economic and social damage has already been done. 

At this point all we can hope is that our families and friends remain well and that the leftist madness infecting the world can at last be reigned in and purged from our societies.

With lotsaluv from El Retiro in Colombia...................

Jim and Jean