Hi there! I hope that you are well and happy!
Let’s talk pools! In espanol es piscine. The dictionary says it's "a small body of still water". Ever since I was a kid I have always associated it with that lovely contained body of cool water that someone else had in their back yard. A splashing, cannon balling rampage that was soooooo much fun. The place I never wanted to leave when I was told that we had to go. In addition it was always associated with a gathering of friends, hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, smiles and laughs. So as we all did when we were kids with the things we really liked but couldn’t have then we say that “if I ever get the chance I’m gonna’ have on of those”! I have always liked the water and obviously the reason why I became a scuba diver. As Debi and I like to say, “if some is good, then mo’ is better”! So becoming one with the water seemd like a great idea and it was.
Fast forward 45 years and guess what! LOL! We’re moving to Mexico and there are lots-o-pools there! So having a pool became a want, a need, a must! To that end I set aside the proceeds from the sale of my wine collection. (That heart breaking subject will be fodder for another story at a later time!) So now loaded with pool money and looking for houses in Merida the pool was a driving force in regards to the size of the property. The pool didn’t have to be humongous but I did want to be able to dive in without having to pull up short before hitting the other end! Those of you that still remember me know that stretched out I take up about eight feet in length. So calculating that with the speed of the glide thru the water after the dive, multiplied by the force of the dive, divided by the density of the water, yadda, yadda, yadda. So after doing the detailed calcs (yeah, right) I arrived at “I’ll know it when I see it”! LOL!
We were fortunate in that the place we found already had a pool. Good fortune or misfortune……..the jury is still out! The pool existed at 14’ x 29’ w
ith a max depth at 7.5’ and no filtration system. The pool was a priority but getting the house livable trumped the pool. As the work proceeded on the house it got to a point when the pool remodel could be started. The pool workers started by checking the level of the pool border/walkway. They found that the NE corner was lower that the other three. I thought that that was a good sign! They demolished the border/walkway to install the new piping for the filtration system and when they re-poured the border/walkway they made sure it was level. The existing steps were not what we wanted and they were demolished. The depth was deeper than I wanted so as the remodel was going on I had the workers toss the concrete/rock debris in the pool. It got rid of a lot of debris and we didn’t ha
ve to pay to have it hauled away. Double bonus! After the debris was said to be sufficient by the pool guys they poured a new floor and steps. So joyously I filled the pool, it leaked, it took five weeks to find the leak, it was repaired and I filled the pool again. Everything worked well and it was very nice. I enjoyed getting up, making coffee, taking my coffee and my water test kit and walking out to the pool and checking the chems. It was nice to have it while Joe and Suzanne were here even though the weather was a bit chilly at times for pooling! LOL!
Then as reported in the last posting the tile color deleima which took some time had to be dealt with. So now the tile is almost done. Salvador said that it would be done today Saturday the 26th. It will not be. But that’s ok. As you can see I have an alternate source of coolness and sometimes it's just too relaxing!
But such is life while one must wait for his pool! LOL!
One thing that usually takes a while to comprehend is that the culture here in regards to time lines and disappointment. Time lines mean nothing! Nada! It’s best just to view or think of what someone tells you in regards to when something will be done or when they’ll show up as optimism. This is a very optimistic culture. They do not want to disappoint you so in most cases they will tell you what they think you’ll want to hear. Similar to stopping and asking for directions, which Debi refuses to do any more. If you ask someone how to get to a certain place and they don’t know they’ll give you directions. Yes, that’s right, rather than disappointing you by saying they don’t know they’ll send you on your way pleased in the knowledge that they helped you. Of course not all do this but the majority will. So when a worker leaves for the day and you ask when he’ll be coming the next day and he says 8 AM, it’s a guideline. It will usually mean that he’ll get there sometime in the morning. But of course he may not show up at all. Adjusting to that has been hard, especially for me. I get in to that “my time is valuable” thinking and it is important to me but me only. If the worker is coming the next day and we decide to go to the market and he shows up to work it’s fine, he doesn’t have a problem with it. He’ll either hang around or leave and come back later or just show up a day or two later. No one gets upset. Now I don’t know if this process is good with the corporate world here but I have only been exposed to the everyday construction, cleaning, and gardener type people. Oh and very few of them are without a cell phone but they never call you to let you know that they are going to be late, not coming, etc. So the “laid back” lifestyle is exactly that but carried further than one might think. This fact is the reason why most people will set out to try and accomplish only one thing on any given day. There are so many things that can affect what you want to get done that if you try to do more then you are probably setting your self up for disappointment. Now after you’ve been here a while and get a better lay of the land things get somewhat easier but more importantly understandable! LOL!
Kind of got off the subject of the pool but all things are relevant! So here is the most recent picture of the pool for your viewing pleasure!
Here also is the most recent picture of the orchid we have blooming right now. We have a total of ten orchids right now. We are learning more about them as we go but the climate here makes it pretty darn easy to keep them happy!
Fast forward 45 years and guess what! LOL! We’re moving to Mexico and there are lots-o-pools there! So having a pool became a want, a need, a must! To that end I set aside the proceeds from the sale of my wine collection. (That heart breaking subject will be fodder for another story at a later time!) So now loaded with pool money and looking for houses in Merida the pool was a driving force in regards to the size of the property. The pool didn’t have to be humongous but I did want to be able to dive in without having to pull up short before hitting the other end! Those of you that still remember me know that stretched out I take up about eight feet in length. So calculating that with the speed of the glide thru the water after the dive, multiplied by the force of the dive, divided by the density of the water, yadda, yadda, yadda. So after doing the detailed calcs (yeah, right) I arrived at “I’ll know it when I see it”! LOL!
We were fortunate in that the place we found already had a pool. Good fortune or misfortune……..the jury is still out! The pool existed at 14’ x 29’ w
ith a max depth at 7.5’ and no filtration system. The pool was a priority but getting the house livable trumped the pool. As the work proceeded on the house it got to a point when the pool remodel could be started. The pool workers started by checking the level of the pool border/walkway. They found that the NE corner was lower that the other three. I thought that that was a good sign! They demolished the border/walkway to install the new piping for the filtration system and when they re-poured the border/walkway they made sure it was level. The existing steps were not what we wanted and they were demolished. The depth was deeper than I wanted so as the remodel was going on I had the workers toss the concrete/rock debris in the pool. It got rid of a lot of debris and we didn’t have to pay to have it hauled away. Double bonus! After the debris was said to be sufficient by the pool guys they poured a new floor and steps. So joyously I filled the pool, it leaked, it took five weeks to find the leak, it was repaired and I filled the pool again. Everything worked well and it was very nice. I enjoyed getting up, making coffee, taking my coffee and my water test kit and walking out to the pool and checking the chems. It was nice to have it while Joe and Suzanne were here even though the weather was a bit chilly at times for pooling! LOL!Then as reported in the last posting the tile color deleima which took some time had to be dealt with. So now the tile is almost done. Salvador said that it would be done today Saturday the 26th. It will not be. But that’s ok. As you can see I have an alternate source of coolness and sometimes it's just too relaxing!
But such is life while one must wait for his pool! LOL!One thing that usually takes a while to comprehend is that the culture here in regards to time lines and disappointment. Time lines mean nothing! Nada! It’s best just to view or think of what someone tells you in regards to when something will be done or when they’ll show up as optimism. This is a very optimistic culture. They do not want to disappoint you so in most cases they will tell you what they think you’ll want to hear. Similar to stopping and asking for directions, which Debi refuses to do any more. If you ask someone how to get to a certain place and they don’t know they’ll give you directions. Yes, that’s right, rather than disappointing you by saying they don’t know they’ll send you on your way pleased in the knowledge that they helped you. Of course not all do this but the majority will. So when a worker leaves for the day and you ask when he’ll be coming the next day and he says 8 AM, it’s a guideline. It will usually mean that he’ll get there sometime in the morning. But of course he may not show up at all. Adjusting to that has been hard, especially for me. I get in to that “my time is valuable” thinking and it is important to me but me only. If the worker is coming the next day and we decide to go to the market and he shows up to work it’s fine, he doesn’t have a problem with it. He’ll either hang around or leave and come back later or just show up a day or two later. No one gets upset. Now I don’t know if this process is good with the corporate world here but I have only been exposed to the everyday construction, cleaning, and gardener type people. Oh and very few of them are without a cell phone but they never call you to let you know that they are going to be late, not coming, etc. So the “laid back” lifestyle is exactly that but carried further than one might think. This fact is the reason why most people will set out to try and accomplish only one thing on any given day. There are so many things that can affect what you want to get done that if you try to do more then you are probably setting your self up for disappointment. Now after you’ve been here a while and get a better lay of the land things get somewhat easier but more importantly understandable! LOL!
Kind of got off the subject of the pool but all things are relevant! So here is the most recent picture of the pool for your viewing pleasure!
Here also is the most recent picture of the orchid we have blooming right now. We have a total of ten orchids right now. We are learning more about them as we go but the climate here makes it pretty darn easy to keep them happy!
The rear of the house has gone thru a few changes and getting it painted will probably be one of the next things in the future to have done. But in the mean time I keep talking about the jardin so I guess I should show you a photo of it. Debi has been st
eadily working away and she is doing an amazing job with it. Except for the iguanas it would be perfection but there always has to be some one or something messing with the order of things! You'd think that they were here first or something and we are just planting things for them to snack on!
eadily working away and she is doing an amazing job with it. Except for the iguanas it would be perfection but there always has to be some one or something messing with the order of things! You'd think that they were here first or something and we are just planting things for them to snack on! Well, we are looking forward to having the pool completed. Not only because it will be nice to cool off in it but it will mean that there are no more workers coming every morning! We have had someone showing up every morning except Sundays for way too long. It will be nice to have the mornings and the house to ourselves for a change. A worker in the house or outside the house creates restrictions and removes our ability to go some where together except on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. We'll be getting into what will be normal living here in Merida!
I hope that you find my ramblings and pics at least entertaining! I enjoy sharing what we are doing here.
Until next time take care and keep in touch!
Tom
1 comment:
Tom, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Matt, the cat "asleep" by the planter in a picture above? I truly believe he is dead. Gone to a better place.
That photo should be in the Day of the Dead posting area.
Why are you keeping dead pets around?For Decoration? For Sentiment? If you need help decorating I am sure you have many friends that will make helpful suggestions.
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