18 May 2012

Construction Update: Where are the doors?!?!?

So close and yet so far… Here we sit, waiting on electricity, waiting on cabinets, and waiting on doors.

We won the standoff with I.C.E. (the national power monopoly) that I mentioned in an earlier post. Our little service road has now been declared a public rode and I.C.E. showed up last Saturday and actually ran power cables up to the pole in front of our Casa. First thing Monday morning, we went to our local I.C.E. office and requested new service with an electric meter to be mounted on the service pole a couple of meters from I.C.E’s new power pole. Cindy, the I.C.E. agent that waited on us, said the law states electricity must be hooked up within 10 business days of the request for service. At this time, she thinks it will be installed in 4-5 business days. Today was day 4, so I’m hoping, by this time Monday, we have power. Do you think we’re being too optimistic?

Doors!!!

Where are the doors?!?!?!


We inked the deal for the 11 doors on the 10th of April. At that time, we were told it usually takes a month for an order, but they felt they could have them ready in about 2 weeks. Yeah, right. Two weeks have come and gone, a month has come and gone, and still no doors. We really need the 4 external doors, like right now. With doors, we can actually start moving our stuff out of the Casita’s garage and start unpacking things we haven’t seen in almost a year. We’ve had problems getting John (not my John, but John the door guy, whose name is also John, not Juan) to return phone calls or give us a straight answer. So our builder Rodolfo told us where the door workshop is in a neighboring town. This past Tuesday we took a drive and after a few stops for directions, we found the workshop. John wasn’t there, but his dad, Eduardo, was busy making doors and was well aware of our order. He said they could probably install the external doors on Thursday (yesterday) or Friday (today), and the internal doors can be installed Monday or Tuesday of next week, “si Dios quiere” (if God is willing.) Yeah, right. At 2 p.m. this afternoon, no external doors had been hung and I called John the door guy again. This time he told me they are just putting the finish on the doors and they can probably be hung tomorrow, “si Dios quiere.” Now I don’t know, but I really believe God wants us to have doors and He wanted us to have the doors about 3 weeks ago. I don’t think it’s a matter of “si Dios quiere.” I think it’s truly a matter of John the door guy “no quiere” and God doesn’t enter into this equation at all. What do you think?

I think the cabinets are supposed to be ready sometime next week too. William (not Guillermo) the cabinet maker is a pretty reliable guy. He worked in New Jersey for about 15 years as a cabinet maker when he was younger and he tells it like it is. So far, he has been great to work with and he has made some beautiful furniture for our friends, Maritza and Vinicio. I trust that when he says 2 to 3 weeks, he means 2 to 3 weeks. He doesn’t get caught up in the Tico way of telling you what he thinks you want to hear, he tells it like it is.

Other than these few finishing items, we are almost finished and we are extremely please. I know I’ve promised to post more photos, but I’m holding off until everything is done. I want you to enjoy the full effect.

¡Pura Vida!

2 comments:

  1. So far the house looks beautiful. Imagine having all these glitches in the past as you sit comfortably in your new home enjoying the life....ahhhhhhh. Makes me almost weep... Hoping the doors and electricity arrive as promised. That would be a godsend right?

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  2. Thanks, Edna. We truly are looking forward to enjoying life, with all this behind us. The exterior door frames showed up today and if things stay on track, we'll have doors and electricity early next week and we can move in.

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