Pacing ourselves

Pacing ourselves, yes that's what we are doing. Since our friends and neighbors, Dave and Jan, arrived back in the country they keep telling us that we need to pace ourselves because if we don't, we will finish everything on the house and then what would we do!? So now when Dave decides that he's going to rest in his hammock for a few hours or I decide to rest in my hammock for a few hours we are not being lazy, we are merely "pacing ourselves". I like that phrase, it completely legitimizes laziness and makes it seem as if it is a prudent decision.

I've updated some pictures to show our subtle color choices in our island home. Our three safety wires on the balcony surrounding the upper deck are finally installed after more than 2 months of waiting for wire to arrive and after a dozen blades for the dremel tool as Dave was cutting and swaging the wires. It only took from June 14th until September 10th to get the wires shipped into country from West Marine, that's right on schedule for the DR. We've touched up the paint upstairs and painted the downstairs (the garage area for lack of a better term). Best of all, we've still managed to avoid any hurricanes this season and keep our fingers crossed for the rest of the season.

On the electronic side of things we have both seen our phones go swimming in the water this past month. (This is the time when our neighbor Dave would point to his "wallet" which is a ziplop bag he carries in his pocket containing his phone and some pesos. He claims he can hear through the plastic and it prevents him from having to buy a new phone when he falls into the bay. He tested this theory last week when he attempted to stand on the rickety dock at Puerto Blanco Marina bright and early in the morning and fell in up to his ears...but his phone was dry) Dave's phone fell into the bay in about 10 feet of water but with zero visibility he decided not to venture into the bay and fish around for it. My phone took a swim when it fell out of my backpack that had tipped off the wall where our dingy was tied up. I bought a new phone the next day but rinsed out the old one and it works. Now we have a spare for when Dave drops another phone in the water....it's just a matter of time folks. Thank goodness the high dollar phones we use cost only 450 pesos.(That's $12.55 currently)We tried to buy just a battery for my phone but they don't sell batteries, it's a whole new phone or nothing. We are currently collecting cell phone charger for an undetermined art display in the home.

We have been told that there was an article in the Washington Post recently stating that Dominicans are some of the happiest people in the world. We believe it. When you don't have much, you don't worry much about losing it. We also read that of the over 600,000 drivers of motos here in the DR less than 3% have a valid license. Based on the drivers we have seen in this country we think the 3% estimate may be a bit high. Speaking of valid drivers licenses,we just found out that our dentist got her driver's license by trading out dental work to someone in the licensing office. It's good to know that the barter system is alive and well.

We hope everyone has a good September and enjoys the last 3 months of the year. What happened to 2009? Adios and Buenas Noches. Liz, Dave and Bear

Sep 13, 2009

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