Electrician Hunt, Independence Day Prep, and Voting Abroad
Monday, I had a waxing appointment in town at CG Esthetic - this was rescheduled from Friday, due to a staff miscommunication, which had my guard up. I met Deli, the esthetician, and she is DELIGHTFUL! Born and raised in San Pedro. I spoke with three providers on the island, and she was the best priced - one was higher than I paid in AZ for the same service. I am glad I have that "in search of" person identified! She also does nails (I'll get pedis so my feet don't look heinous), and the owner does hair, so hopefully I have found a one-stop-shop.
After lunch, Hilton and Alexis came to the villa to go through the items that ProSolar found and asked for, plus a few bonus items we'd like completed. Turns out our entire roof-top deck needs to be refinished, and our front porch cover is failing - the rebar is rusting behind it and will eventually bust out. Fantastic. Hilton and Nathan determined that the short in our service panel is due to an uninsulated wire going directly into the ground. The villa was built on fill and we have a fair amount of water under it at all times. I can feel my construction friends cringing, reading that! It's taken out our outdoor outlets on the front of the villa, as well as our sump pump outlet. Eeek. Hilton suggested we ask our property manager for an electrician who commonly works in our community, as they won't waste hours trying to figure out what was installed here.
On Tuesday we woke to incredibly still water on the lagoon! It was breathtaking.
They are probably always here in large numbers, but the stillness of the water allowed us to see dozens of jellyfish, instead of just a few. We believe they are Cross Jellyfish, but aren't certain - they stay smaller than a dinner plate and have short tentacles. Here are some in a massive school of feeder fish!
I ventured to town to grocery shop, knowing that produce arrives to the island on Tuesdays, my best shot at getting fresh fruits and vegetables! I hit the jackpot and also found an item for my, "Try It Tuesdays" series - Rambutan - see the video here: Try It Tuesdays
I also found the sketchiest of expired goods: a large log of goat cheese (a soft cheese, so extra risky) that expired December 2023, still on the shelf of one of the biggest/nicest "Expat Grocery Stores".
This reinforces my commitment to check expiration dates! I was shocked it wasn't green and/or black at this point. So I rolled the dice and bought a goat cheese that expired "only" last month.
San Pedro Town is already preparing for Independence Day, September 21st - in 1981, Belize was granted independence from England - previously, it was British Honduras and fell under British rule as a territory. We haven't been in Belize for Independence Day, but it is regarded as one of the largest parties; I am already seeing postings for parades, events, concerts, and more!
Our Property Manager didn't have any new electricians to refer us to, so I reached out to John East - I followed his blog years back as he chronicled the construction of his home. He responded back with an excellent recommendation, fingers crossed that gentleman will respond and be available!
Someone north of us is getting a new palapa! Cohune Palm fronds are used here, and are harvested on the silver moon - this prevents bug infestations and rot, allegedly. I'm still sorting out what is proven fact vs. Old Wives' Tales! Thatch Roofs last 6-8 years and are waterproof, which is crazy to me! Each frond runs about $1 U.S. so these are not inexpensive materials when you consider how many are needed to cover even a modest-sized palapa.
After work, Nathan came outside and I suggested we run an extension cord over to our septic pump and see if it would run - as a short-term fix. We found an exterior outlet that had power, plugged a cord in, verified it had power, and plugged the pump in. No sound, no feel of current going to it...not good...!
Wednesday morning I reached out to John's electrician, and heard back within the hour! He is scheduled for Friday morning. We're hoping he can quickly and inexpensively fix our many issues.
I also followed instructions posted in a Facebook group to be able to vote electronically. We want to vote in Federal elections as local ones no longer apply to us. I had to fill out PDFs that we'll go to town to have printed, then we can sign them and scan them back to Arizona. The instructions were vague so I confirmed that we do not need to mail them in, we can do so electronically. Whew!
Tonight we have our family fantasy football draft, and I plan to get take-out wings from The Alibi - the fried chicken was so good, the wings can't be bad, right?