Taxes, Construction, Drool Nap, Hijacking! Neighbors Selling..?

Very hectic 10 days here, I'll skip the small stuff and focus on the larger.

I finally finished our taxes - I lost steam after realizing we were going to owe. UGH. A combination of only having half a year of mortgage intrest and taxes in the US to write off, and we killed it on 1099-INT income from Betterment - at times last year, it was paying 6% interest with no cap on what you could deposit, it's FDIC insured, and incredibly flexible - you can withdraw or add money without restrictions! We parked the proceeds from our house sale there, then rates started dropping, down to 4% now. But hit my link for 4.5% on the first 90 days.

Taxes were submitted at 5 PM on April 15th, in typical Sharon-procrastination style.

The winds have calmed down, and the weather has been dry and delightful! So much so that over the weekend, I took a nap on our patio sectional - and only woke up because my drool puddle expanded so large.

Shade + breeze + gently-wavy-water-sounds = epic nap!

Our "neighbor" at Secret Beach, Villas Secreta, has moved her listing over to our agent, Kristian Guerrero - he has been an absolute rock star/saviour for us on many occasions, I highly suggest his services if you are in the market to buy or sell. If you are looking for an off-grid AirBnB property, here is the listing: Secret Beach AirBnB For Sale 

We also heard a rumor that perhaps the two lots (front and back, like ours) to our immediate south may be coming to market with a different agent. I guess no one wants to be our neighbor! Joking aside, we're super curious to find out what they list at (if the rumor is true), and I will definitely share the listing if it comes to fruition.

Things have stalled on our beach house; without access, we have to reassess our options. It SUCKS. We didn't count on losing road access - the owner of the Airbnb had cut a road in, that it turns out, was not legal. The owner of that land has built barriers so the road is not accessible. We'll eventually have a road built behind us, but who knows when that will happen...? And building our own would be a six-figure venture. &*^%!

On the topic of construction, methinks my future hangovers are going to be a little rougher: 

Our next-door neighbor, not the one that perpetually has construction going on at his home, this is the other side, had a ton of sand, gravel, and block delivered. He has his girlfriend's brother and buddies building something on his roof, so we question both the structural integrity and the speed at which it will come together. 

Today has been interesting....I overheard chatter at LC Distributors this morning about a Tropic Air flight and hopped online, fearing one had crashed - instead, I found this:

Everywhere in town, it was the topic of conversation. 2 passengers were injured, and a San Pedrano ultimately shot the hijacker and killed him, allegedly as they had 5 minutes left of fuel (although I still have not heard any confirmation of whether he was shot in the air, or when the plane landed at Belize International.)

In what is the last thing I wanted to hear, the hijacker was American. He wanted the plane to take him back to the US. 

There is a contingent of Belizeans who are displeased with the number of immigrants here, and episodes like this - taking a plane full of passengers (both Belizean and foreigners) hostage - is not helping the situation. America, please keep your crazies within your borders!

In better news, my Belizean Queen order arrived at the water taxi cargo department last night....containing our water heater heating elements!!!! I went to claim them this morning. Naturally, finding a 1 1/2" socket wrench was a wild goose chase, but stop #3, Castillo's Hardware, had one. Nathan installed the new elements on his lunch break, and here is what the ones we burnt out when we had a hot water leak looked like:

The new ones he installed were similar to a brushed-nickel finish, parellel and straight, so these guys were absolutely fried.

We have not had hot water since March 16th, so fingers and toes crossed that tonight we have scalding-hot water! Cold showers are no bueno!

Easter is a huge celebration here in Belize, and many folks from the mainland come to the cayes for the long weekend (Good Friday through Easter Monday - although I am still unclear on what goes on Monday, other than nursing hangovers.) Many bars and restaurants are doing big parties, which is not our scene, so we will probably lay low.

Happy Easter if you celebrate it!