Well, things are finally moving with our pool project. For starters, we were put in touch with two other contractors and, figuring we had nothing to lose, asked them for estimates. Turned out it was a good decision. We now are signed on with a Mr. Mario. He has done lots of construction, including pools, in the area. He has three teams of workers, owns his own equipment, such as cement mixers, and is as nice as can be.
We have already taken delivery of gravel and sand...
...and the crew will be here tomorrow morning to start digging the foundation. We're also going to get another load of sand on Monday. If all goes according to plan, the project should be done in about eight weeks. Clearly, I will be blogging throughout, so be sure to check back here for updates.
Water Pump
We don't have a well, and instead rely on city water. And while it's perfectly fine for doing the dishes, taking showers, and such, it's not so tasty to drink or cook with. So we have 5 gallon jugs of purified water delivered to our house. But here's the thing -- a common way of dispensing the water is to hoist a 5 gallon jug, turn it upside down and stick it onto a base that has a manual on/off valve.
But boy, are those full jugs heavy and we aren't getting any younger, especially our backs. We figured there had to be some device out there that wouldn't require lifting the jug and turning it upside on a dispensing base. And here's the solution:
This is a battery operated pump that is screwed into the top of the water jug. We purchased it through Amazon and it only costs about $20 (USD). So far, it has worked like a champ and a worthy investment.
DVD/Blue Ray Woes
The DVD/Blue Ray player we brought down with us from the States recently gave up the ghost and couldn't be repaired. So we went to Court's, here in town, to see what they might have. They had a new LG model that fit the bill, so we purchased it.
Not long after, we popped one of the movies we brought down with us and in that process the player requested its software to be updated. Thinking nothing of it, we let the update do its thing.
Not long after that we wanted to watch another movie we had from States. However the player spit the disc out with a message, "Check Regional Code." After doing some online investigation, we discovered that when the software update happened, the device recognized we were in Belize and not the region that it was originally programmed for.
Now on older models there is a code you could tap in to change the region. But on the new models, there are no codes, and when we contacted the LG customer support they let us know they won't/can't change the code. They also told us that we should have no problem playing DVDs produced in our region. Not much chance of that happening.
Now here's the irony: this region code exists to prevent movies being pirated. The only movies that we can play are the bootleg ones sold in almost every grocery store here.
So what do we do now? Order a player from the States and disable the software update feature. Sigh...
Avian Visitors
The other day, while sitting on the porch, we noticed this mama bird and her two babies:
No sooner had they flown off, then this gorgeous guy showed up in our field across the lane:
You just never know what kind of wildlife you'll encounter here!
P.S. If you have a moment, check out the latest dishes appearing on The Wright Table, including:
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