ATM Struggles, Lot Updates, FABULOUS weather!
Time is absolutely flying by - I feel like I wake up and before I know it, it's 2:30. I do the same things every morning - feed the cats, clean their boxes, make ice cubes, do the night's dishes, maybe make coffee (to fridge for Nathan's iced coffee in the mornings), pick up around the house, water/check on the outside plants, and then try to prioritize the rest of my day. This past week threw me some urgent curveballs, plus inconveniences like the ONLY Heritage Bank (where our account is) ATM was out of service. All week. It's a huge PITA to withdraw cash from a teller - I must take a check signed by us both, our passports, and tell them the reason for taking cash out. We had to renew our cart rental today, which is $1,400BZ, in cash. Belize Bank charges $7 + 1% for us to use their ATM. I went to Atlantic Bank's ATM, which wouldn't take my Heritage debit card, but did take my Chase debit card. It said there would be a $.25 fee if I had exceeded my allowed withdraws for the month, not applicable. That was, seemingly, it - but when I checked my Chase account the next day, they charged me US$15 to take $500US out. So that's not going to be the solution, either. UGH.
The new water taxi terminal south of town has opened, but let me tell you - their cargo department is a hot mess. It took them almost 20 minutes to find 1 large box for me, and an additional 25 minutes - and a manager coming to help - to find a smaller box with just a ring floodlight camera in it, which was in the office cubbies with other packages for cargo, where the cashier sits. There was no signage, so passengers were constantly waiting in the cargo line for tickets or cargo customers going to the wrong window first. If you can avoid using them for cargo for a few weeks, it's not a terrible idea until they work the kinks out. In better news, the new terminal is a HUGE upgrade!
The above-mentioned boxes were my Black Friday Amazon wares - junk food, some cat stuff for the SAGA kitties, improvement stuff for the villa. This weekend we (Nathan) installed house numbers (we used to have a hand-painted sign from our property manager over our door, but it came down when we had the villa painted/porch cover re-built), Ring Floodlight cam for our bodega (the old light, it turns out, wasn't grounded...so that's probably why it worked intermittently), 2 motion-sensor coach lights for our porch, plus some latches and hinges for our gates. I worked on sanding and filling the wood trim. Finish work here is not up to US standards, and at some point, the workers start to make things worse, so "I'll just fix it later". We're trying to finally complete the villa improvements before guests start rolling in next month - left to do is paint the fence (power sprayer en route), I need to paint the trim, railings, and doors, we need to build our garden boxes, have black dirt delivered, and 2 more loads of rock. Our water heater is also looking suspect, and we have extra roof coating we'll lay down as it's better to be safe than sorry. Still a fair amount of stuff!
Thursday we went to Secret Beach with David, who has offered to clear our lot and bid on installing fences. We showed him our property and also marked trees we want to keep (basically, all of the big ones). I'm sad to learn that this cool-looking beast of a tree is, in fact, a poisonous one that will have to come out. Bummer!
David is having a local architect draft out the fence placement and specifications and plans to boat in materials. We're looking at a cement foundation and block columns with poly (no maintenance!) slats, which won't be installed until our house is almost complete so they don't get damaged during construction. Here is a video of our lot visit - Secret Beach Lot Preparation
Nathan's birthday was yesterday the 12th; I gave him the option of doing house stuff on Saturday or Sunday, and he chose to goof off on Saturday, work on the house on his birthday. Saturday we drove out to Mistico, which isn't really taking off - they have hardly any signage, their Facebook page has barely 100 followers, they aren't getting the word out that they're open. We grabbed a courtesy beer each, then walked over to our land - neighbors from West Caye were there, so we met them! Very nice, just moved six weeks ago. It's so delightful to have sandy beach back again - we put down a blanket in the shade and enjoyed the afternoon. The water had been choppy on the west side for so long, but this weekend, it was calm and clear - the way it was when we fell in love with it.
David gave us a cost to clear the land for construction and crews were going to start today, but they were delayed, so we'll see when the groundwork starts. We haven't paid anything, and our home plans aren't ready, so I'm not aggravated...yet.
Saturday night, Nathan picked Caraumba! for his birthday dinner. $55BZ for 2 lobster tails with garlic butter, a baked potato, and steamed vegetables? (Other options available, that's what we picked). You can't go wrong. The food is consistently great there.
The weather is FINALLY drying out! The seas have been calm - Windfinder is saying around 2-3', where they have been 6-7' on some days! There's a little chill to the air, which is probably indistinguishable to visitors. It's been in the mid-70s and sunny. The water has also cooled down which is good news for the reef! It's very tolerable and even better, since it's cooler, there are no sea lice at Secret Beach!
I have noticed the bridge staff is considerably shorter in patience now that the tourists are here. I see the same bridge guy 10+ times a week, and today he was extra surly and acted like he's never seen me before, when I smile and wave every time and have something on our cart that he and I always joke about. I guess we aren't friendly, after all. *shrug*
I have a long laundry list to get on for this week, enjoy your week!