Snip/Snap, Cat Dental, Property Taxes, Visas, Beth, Lease, and Lawsuit...
I knew I would have trouble sleeping last Wednesday night before Selene's dental surgery. I did not need the assistance of BEL, our electric company, to keep me slumber-free, yet there they were, flicking power off and on over multiple hours Thursday morning, island-wide. We actually had some rain, for the first time in 2+ months, which must have impacted the lines. The power would cut out, then power back up a few minutes to an hour later, with everything "beeping" back to life. No power means no A/C, so we were nice and sweaty to boot. Then anxiety ramped up - what if power wasn't restored before Selene's appointment...? Would we have to delay her surgery another few weeks...? She mostly refused to eat on Wednesday, so I knew I had to get her in!
Current came back around sunup, but we were both begrudgingly already awake.
I took Selene to SAGA for her 9 am appointment - they told me to drop her off and return around 3:30, unless they called sooner. I figured a, "call sooner" would mean something went wrong, so I hoped not to hear from them, and tried to kill time running errands around town - I paid property taxes late. OOPS! I had it in my mind they were due April 30th, but they were due April 1. No penalty was assessed, thankfully. If you are curious, the property tax on our villa (3 beds, 2 baths, about 1500 square feet) is $600BZ or $300US per year. At least SOMETHING is cheap down here!
I returned to SAGA a few minutes before 3:30 and waited. And waited. And hoped everything was ok. Eventually, the gentleman at the front desk said he was just waiting for her medication, so that implied she was still among us. Around 4:15, I was brought into an exam room where my very dopey kitty was in her carrier. Ms. Ingrid said she had a broken tooth in the back, which they had to extract. They also said she sneezed a bit, and wanted her on liquid antibiotics for the next ten days, 2x per day. My tab with the cleaning under anesthesia, a tooth extraction, and Clavamox was $180BZ/$90US. Okay, there are TWO things that are affordable down here!
When we returned home, Selene was entirely out of it, she couldn't even stand up. We kept her in the carrier until bedtime, and I slept on the Living Room floor so she wouldn't try to jump into bed and hurt herself. I don't know if it's her age, how long she was under, or what kind of anesthesia they used, but I've never seen a cat this loopy.
By Friday morning, she was more mobile and hungry. But if you think a nine-pound, almost 13-year-old cat will take smelly liquid antibiotics easily, you have never been more wrong! She still has a TON of fight left in her!
Selene recovering on my pillow
Friday, we headed to Immigration right when they opened at 8 so Nathan could be home and working by 9. "Open at 8" is more of a suggestion than a hard-and-fast-rule; the staff rolled in together around 8:15. We got our slips and went to the treasury to pay....and - fun fact - they don't open until 8:30. Jesus. PRO TIP: You may as well wait until 8:30 to go to Immigration! The Labour Department has a new entrance under construction, at least - a big improvement over the dark alleyway I passed through a few weeks ago!
New exterior entrance is under construction - much more welcoming!
After dinner on Friday, Nathan thought he was going to pass out and be sick - he had to lie on our tile floor to cool down, just felt awful. I imagine it is stress-induced - we have a lot going on and he works a full-time job - and hard - on top of it. We decided to lay low for the weekend, stay home, and relax, except I had previously soft-scheduled a meeting with builder #391 for the weekend. He had printed out our blueprints and wanted to meet us before putting together pricing. I let him know about Nathan and that I could meet him at Secret Beach.
This builder is actually going to cost out our home! Not this lame, "price per square foot" we've been receiving, with no detail as to what that includes, nor the ridiculous "cost plus" scam other builders are working under. He works with ICF, and I have two excellent references. I still expect it to come back above our budget, and we still have the access issue...but damn, wouldn't it be nice to actually have an educated number...?!
Saturday night, one of our major stressors finally resolved - we have had a lease out for signatures since the beginning of April on a parcel of land, and the tenants, after playing games and stalling for weeks, finally signed! It's a huge relief to have that one off our plate.
Sunday, we again stayed home, kept the drapes closed, and binged Andor Season 1 - Nathan has seen it. I have not watched any Star Wars anything - I'm not into sci-fi - but he really likes this one, and Season 2 just released, so we relaxed and watched eight episodes. It was a good distraction, as it was the fourth anniversary of my losing my career mentor and good friend, Beth. She scooped me up from an underperforming builder in Nashville in 1999, had faith in me, and rewarded my hard work. Taught me how to play Blackjack and took me to Vegas for the first time. She moved, I moved, but we always stayed in touch. 19 years later, she again saved me from the most toxic of work environments and put me in place to have my best year ever, introducing me to now life-long friends, and in general, being an amazing person.
She rescued horses and brought them to her ranch; one bucked her and tragically, we lost her out of nowhere, I think she was 56 at the time...? It was the absolute downfall of that builder - the wheels entirely fell off, and the division was never the same. It's amazing what an impact one person can have on an entire company.
Monday brought another "hair on fire" event - our attorney told me at 11 am that I needed to find a "High Court Commissioner" to stamp my affidavit due to be filed by 4:30 pm that same day. The Belize Court system link to the High Court Commissioners, naturally, is a dead link. I hit Facebook groups with urgency, and once again, Kristian Guerrero, real estate agent and Superman, let me know his Grandfather is one, and sent me his phone number. As soon as our attorney sent the affidavit, I went to get it printed, then to Mr. Guerrero's home for stamps, to scan and send it back to our attorney.
Our second settlement hearing was slated for Tuesday at 4:30. The defendant did not attend this one, either, after missing the first. A default judgment was levied against him as he did not respond to the claim when it was served on him a few months ago, yet he was trying to fight it with a Canadian attorney. Our attorney has concerns that the defendant will fight any settlement judgment on account of "not knowing about it", so we again are delayed on a ruling to serve the defendant with notice. We really, REALLY would like this matter off our plate! It's been going on for six years now.
Enjoy the rest of your week!