Since Beryl threw down most of the fencing around this place I often have to chase cows out. If I don’t they leave their deposits all over, mash things up as they step on stuff, and break things when they rub against stuff.

Dawn and dust are cattle herding time …around 5:30am Wednesday morning I saw about 6-8 cows at the top, so I grabbed a few pelting rocks and went up the hill. I chased 1 bull through what was left of the fence on the south bound while the rest went down toward the sea.

Thu. Sept. 25

Thursday morning I was able to get a few loads of laundry done and hung before I made a run to town to see Dr. Davis to go over my latest lab reports as something of a 2nd opinion, and from a doctor without a heavy Cuban accent.

Sat. Sept. 28

Sometimes nature calls a little early like Sat. AM when I went out to take a leak and found 6-8 cows in front of the house. I was able to chase 4 out the front gap but 2 went up the hill and out with a flashlight. Got winded & too sweaty and I had to rinse off afterwards …another early morning start.

I had printed my Calif. special election ballot & oath documents last week and this AM I faxed in my Yes vote …yes we still use FAXs to vote from overseas. I also spent the morning collating all the medical records & reports I could find into separate file folders by year, and tucked them into a ziploc in my hurricane/suitcase ‘go-bag’.

When I went out for my pre-bed time piss call just before 9pm I found about 4 cows in the yard. So I grabbed my flashlight & some pelting stones and went after them …in my boxer shorts. Bad move, even though I tried to avoid the nasty zuti stinging nettle, I got stung. Not having any vinegar to quell the pain & itch, I tried lime juice which kinda helped. Next night time cow herding best be done in long pants.

Sun. Sept. 29 - Sat. Oct. 4

Besides a couple of runs to town, the next week saw me herding cows night and day. Following are some notes I took during those days.

Sunday 9/29

0730 saw 1 cow at the top – gone by the time I got up there – likely to the south

1930 chase 2 cows maybe 3 back up the hill – hope they go back south

2005 2 white cows chased back up the hill – they’ll be here in the AM I’m sure GRRRRRRR

Monday 9/30

0300 piss call – see cows in front – toss concrete block chunk at em

0528 cows at the top – too dark to chase

0540-0555 – chase about 6 cows up the hill and then over the south bound

0720 chased 1 cow back down & across road into the bush across from Kieth’s gate

Tuesday 10/2

0535 find cows in front chase out front fence gap / chase about a dozen from top of the hill toward the sea and a last calf out the south bound by the old house

0610 chase a calf out the font gap and down the road w/ mama & brother

0620 chase 1 cow out up at the top

1810 chase 4 cows out the gap on the front fence

1910 chase 4 cows out the front fence gap

1950 chase about a dozen + cows in front chase up the hill

2020 find another or more maybe cows in the front yard – too late to chase WAH!

Wed. 10/4

0500 cows seen up top

0550 chase 6-8 cows out front gap

0610 chase 1 cow out of front fence gap / then check up top and find 12+ cows behind the house, they went down toward the sea and then likely south and then back to the road and the pond for watering

0625 prop up fence post at front fence gap

1840 chase 2 cows out of front gap

1910 chased 4 cows in front of gate down the road toward the pond

1955 chased 2 cows & 3 calves out front gap

Sun. Oct. 5

Some folks here are struggling with real poverty. While my neighbor’s family across the road has a small concrete block house (still in need of more post-Beryl repairs), and have current, they cook always on an open fire. And sometimes, Casema, the mother comes by asking for a bit of cheese or flour or cooking oil. This AM she came for some cheese. I help them out with whatever I can.

Mon. Oct. 6

Monday after a couple of cow herding excursions I made a quick run to town for some groceries. I was somewhat thankful that my sandals waited until I got on the bus to break.

When I got to town I found a short piece of string on the ground and was able to tie my broken sandal together long enough to find a shop where I got a pair of flip flops so I could finish my shopping.

Tue. Oct. 7

I’ve had to use contact cement to glue the soles back on my sandals several times, but this was the first time a strap let go. Contact cement won’t work here where I have to poke the strap into a narrow slot, so it was time to break out some JB Weld epoxy.

Thanks to my dear sister Sue, this should be the last time I need to repair my Tevas, because she’s sending a care package with a new pair and a few other goodies …Thanks Muchly Sue!

Later that afternoon I started looking at if I could upgrade this laptop to Windows 11 before Oct. 14, when updates stop. Heavy sigh, it didn’t look like it would be doable, so I best think about getting a new laptop. I think that’ll be the 4th or 5th laptop I had to buy since I’ve been here, but this is the first time it wasn’t due to sea blast making them unusable.

Wed. Oct. 8

I had to make another run to town for a few groceries and to refill a prescription. I was pleasantly surprised when rather paying typically $100ecd for the refill, I was given $45ecd because they had over charged me the previous month. When has that ever happened to you?!

That afternoon when I got home I went ahead and ordered a new windows 11 laptop for $330usd. That’s what I’m using to write this update, and I gotta say I really don’t like this new windows OS, but I guess I’ll get used to it. I could have opted for a better one with a detachable battery that didn’t need to be recharged 4 times a day :o(

Thu. Oct. 16

Besides a couple of town laps and chasing cows out twasn’t much happening until this AM when I went over to Dave’s and took some measurements of a sink I might be able to install into my kitchen countertop somehow. My current fantasy is to mount it just below the countertop where I’d cut out a couple of covers for each basin. If I can doo that and plumb the drain, I’ll be able to get a pump and have running water in here.

Wed. Oct. 22

Tuesday AM I got an email from the Post Office saying I could pick up my new laptop Wednesday morning at the customs house in Harvey Vale. I would first have to make a $85ecd bank deposit to the Post Office for their fees & shipping from Miami & send them the receipt on WhatsApp. That done it was off to Harvey Vale where I paid another $110ecd for customs duties, for a total of $402usd to get a new laptop.

By the end of the week I had most of this new laptops settings working the way I want, but I’m sure there will be more to do.

The ultrasound showed something on my liver and that it was enlarged, so Dr. Freddy wanted me to get a CT scan to check it out. Luckily, I was able to schedule one on the day before my Urologist follow up appointment.

Tuesday Sept. 2nd

The first week of Sept. I was able to reserve a hotel room and when I tried to book a flight on SVG, their website was unable to take an online payment. No worries I thought, I’ll just go by the airport and purchase the ticket there.

While walking along the road to the airport a small car stopped, and it was Carmel, a neighbor in Bayaleau, and who works for SVG at the airport. She told me there wasn’t anyone there and the online payment system was down, but she’d call me and get my CC details and book my flight.

It’s sure nice living on a small island when folks take of each other like this. Sure enough, later that afternoon Carmel called and got the card details, and the next morning I received the SVG e-ticket by email.

I was also able to make the bank deposit to Qualitech Labs for a few of the blood tests that I would be getting Wednesday. The total cost including the government hospital’s charges was $640ecd or about $240usd for what looked like the full works.

As far as what’s going on around the Button Box, in the mornings I have to regularly have to step outside and watch for cows up around the old house because the fences are pretty much shot up there. Typically I have grab a few pelting stones and hurry up the hill and chase em out. Otherwise they’ll end up down here leaving their deposits and who knows what they step on or rub up against. I’ll try & remember to take a few pictures of our local free range cattle next time they trespass.

Wednesday Sept. 3rd

My little refrigerator is not your regular frost free freezer variety, so I took about 15 minutes and got rid of the collected and growing frost, thanks to this humid climate.

Morning chores done and it was off to town to have blood drawn and to get some breakfast because I hadn’t eaten since dinner and I was getting hungry.

The Hillsborough health Clinic has been upgraded and now are able to draw blood for tests instead of having to go up to the hospital. And Wednesdays is the only day blood is draw so that all blood tests can be sent directly to Grenada for analysis on the Osprey ferry. So I walked over to the clinic, but since one of the blood tests was a fasting test, they would draw blood for any of the tests. I took along the receipt for Qualitech Lab’s charges and cash for the government hospital lab charges. Then I went and found some lambi fritters for breakfast, did a little shopping and headed home.

Tuesday Sept. 9th

It was also time for another laundry the my shower/laundry room of my outhouse. In about an hour, I was able to get 3 small loads done …actually all that my clothes line can hold. And I measured how much water I was using per load, which includes a wash cycle with a small glug of bleach followed by 2 rinse cycles, the 2nd with some baking soda as a fabric softener …25 liters per load, not too bad.

Wednesday Sept. 10th

Wednesday the 10th I saw Dr. Freddy to go over the ultrasound & blood work reports for my annual physical. Thankfully, the blood work all showed good, but the ultrasound showed something on my liver which was also enlarged, and it was recommended that I get an abdominal CT scan in Grenada to see what it was.

Since I was going down to Grenada on Wednesday the 17th for a urologist appointment on the 18th, I was able to schedule a CT scan for the morning of the 17th when I arrived.

Thursday Sept. 11th

I’ve been trying to get started going through everything I’ve got stuffed into this little box and organize what I keep and get rid of what I would need or use. The shelf over the door was an easy start.

The 2 boxes of electrical parts and old books, photos and who knows what else will need their own evaluation days. The scuba divers suitcase gave up a bunch of queen size bedding along with my wet suit and a pair of too tight jeans. There was also a couple of cook pots, only one had its lid so I kept it, but the other one & the jeans were left on the garbage bin …the cook pot gone that day.

Since I wasn’t going to going scuba diving again …no need to spend that kind of money when I need to build a house first… so I took the scuba divers suitcase & wet suit into town and donated them to the local, and only for now, dive shop on C’cou, Deefer Diving.

Friday Sept. 12th

A quiet Friday I only had to chase the cows out twice in the morning. Later, my neighbor’s daughter Cecilia brought over a container of food from Jacob so I could keep it in my freezer for him, since he still doesn’t have current at his place. That was something I was going to get to experience the coming Sunday when the power company, Grenlec will shut the current off island wide while they install 2 new generators.

Sunday Sept. 14th

Yep Sunday was a quiet day with no current from 6:30am till 5:50pm, and the outside ambience is noticeably quieter when the current is off. I discovered later that my phone’s data plan was still connected, but I used the opportunity to stay off line most all day.

So I took the day to reglue my Tevas’ soles yet again with contact cement. I used short pieces of toothpicks to keep the sole & inside bottoms separated while the cement dried. Once dried out with the toothpicks and mash the 2 parts together and we’re good to go for another few months …I hope.

There was also a gap in the fence along the road that was closed up with some salvaged phone cable. That didn’t stop a young cow the day before that almost got stuck trying to get through that gap. I found about 12’ of barb wire and added that to the phone cable. Cows are just smart enough to not push against barb wire when they see it.

Wednesday Sept. 17th

Thanks to Jacob for getting me to the airport and to Ashford, my regular taxi driver Bombo’s son, for getting me promptly to Spice Isle Imaging for my first ever CT scan. This was another one of those fasting medical tests, so no breakfast or even coffee or water in the morning. After paying the $1,350ecd fee (about $500usd), I had to spend 3 hours slowly drinking 16 oz. or so of some clear contrasting liquid.

After that, I got to put on the see-more gown, (called that because they can see more of your butt, as Grampy told me). And then they laid me out on the conveyor table and hooked up an IV for a 2nd part of the contrasting liquid. They had me hold my breath as they ran me through the spinning x-ray scanner a couple times before they squirted the IV contrasting liquid in me, and then another couple of in & outs of the spinning CT scanner.

Done with that, I just grabbed a bus back to Grand Anse to find some food and the Siesta hotel to check in and just relax for the afternoon. That evening I went next door to the Blue Horizon for a light dinner; for some reason, fasting likely, reduced my appetite.

The next morning Ashford was able to get me to the government hospital for my urologist appointment. General hospital appointments work like this; one enters a waiting room with 3 dozen or so chairs that are mostly filled and one of those red Take-A Number dispensers. You take a number and wait till it’s called; there were 11 numbers before me.

After about a half an hour my number was called and I checked and was told thank and now sit back down. After another half hour or so, my name was called and I was moved to sit in a line of chairs outside the doctor’s office door where there were 2 other folks in front of me. About another half an hour it was my turn for about a 15-20 minute visit with the urologist.

He reviewed my PSA blood work results and after some discussion about how the new med was affecting the PSA results, he had me stop the new med, Finasteride 5mg per night, and return for follow up visit in 6 months to see what the PSA does.

That done I headed down to one of the major housewares stores, Courts, because I needed to find a small stainless steel sink that I might be able plumb into my Button Box, a seat cushion for my bony butt, and it was on the way to the Nutmeg restaurant for lunch. Then I just grabbed a bus to Grand Anse and the Siesta hotel for a real shower and shampoo with hot water - woo hoo.

Late afternoon I went over to the IGA supermarket to see if they had any lettuce (Nope), a small yogurt for b’fast, and a couple of goodies for Jacob. Then I found a couple of slices of pizza at the food court; one for dinner & one for b’fast. The next morning Ashford picked me up and got me to the airport and Jacob picked me up and dropped me at home.

I’ll be seeing Dr. Freddy Monday the 22nd to go over the CT scan and finish up my physical.

Monday Sept. 22nd

Saw Dr. Freddy this morning and he went over the CT scan results and what’s the deal with my enlarged liver that was found with the ultrasound exam. There’s a collection of blood vessels, a hemangioma, kind of like a birth mark, and a hepatic cyst, a little sack of fluid, neither of which are of any worry.

And basically that means I’m still a pretty healthy guy. Yea!

I’ve got a tarp over my workbench on the north side of the house that’s been there since April and the wind & sun have taken their toll and a couple of small tears have appeared. So I used a bit of 200 mph duct tape to keep the tears from spreading. As I was doing so, the condition of the tarp told me it wasn’t going to last much longer.

When I moved in here in December I bought a propane stovetop that turned out to be a real problem. It’s fabricated out of thin sheet metal and everything that supported the pots & pans was loose, so I had to modify it to keep the pots & pans from sliding all over the place.

Then about a week ago the left most burner’s auto start sparker died, and afterwards I started smelling propane inside when the stovetop was off. Since then I have been going outside to turn the propane on and off whenever I did any cooking. I got bored with that and moved the propane cylinder inside where I can more easily turn the gas on & off easily.

Sunday the 24th it was obvious that the workbench tarp was a goner, but I thought I’d try a bit more duct tape to keep it together until I got a replacement, but I couldn’t reach the end of the growing tear.

Yesterday, Thursday the 28th, I went up to the old house and collected the cistern siphon hoses for the last time. Eight months of free gravity flow wash water was certainly a bonus, but with rainy season underway, my 2 1000 gallon water tanks are keeping pretty full so I’m good with water for cooking and washing.

Here’s a link to those images on google if you’re interested

The hose that goes to my outhouse/shower room needs some improvement. From about 9am till about 6pm the sun makes the water too hot to shower.

So I poked hole in the outhouse and ran the hose in through there and now I can take a shower any time of the day …Yea!

I was able to get a replacement tarp for the workbench earlier in the week and so it was time to remove what was left of the old one. I’ve been using the grey heavy duty tarps but they don’t seem to last much longer than the cheaper blue ones, so I’m downgrading.

It was a rainy day on Friday so I waited till this AM, Saturday the 30th to install the new blue tarp over my workbench. I support the tarp by sandwiching the 10’ ends between a couple of 1x2s that are screwed together through the grommet holes of the tarp.

Then I wrap the tarp around the 1x4s that will hang on the side of the house and secure it in 3 support hooks just above the lower window shutters. I’ve drilled a hole in the ends of the 1x2s into the support hooks and push a 4” nail in to keep it from blowing up and away. Then I unroll the tarp and hang it in the support hooks of the 2 2x2 poles and tie it down to a couple of tie-down stakes.

And this it for this Update, thanks for hanging around.

I had been able to keep my wash water jugs filled for the weekend, but on Monday afternoon, Aug. 4th I tried rinsing out a tee-shirt, but the siphon ended with a trickle, Rats!

The next morning there was a little siphon water, but I could barely fill 2 jugs and siphon ended with just a trickle. After a walk up the hill & an inspection, everything was in order. There is a possibility that the level in the cistern is down to the level of the top of the rise between the cistern draw pipe and the PVC input box and maybe that’s if for the siphon.

Wednesday AM 0630 I checked siphon & could only get about 3” in 1 jug, yep the siphon’s done again.

To get the siphon going again I need to fill the buried PVC line from the old house down to my place. I do that by bringing the 2 hoses from the cistern to the PVC line input valve down to my water tanks and run water through them till they’re filled. Then I haul the filled hoses up to the PVC input valve and connect one end to the input valve and take the rest of the filled hoses up onto the old house’s front porch so the water will be able to drain into the PVC line with a little head pressure.

The last time I did this I noticed that if the hose wasn’t real tight I could see air bubbling out of the fitting. So I thought maybe I could put one of those hose Ys there and have a way to let the air escape and the buried PVC line to fill quicker.

Wrongo! Opening the Ys 2nd leg there was no air escaping, just the water from hose on the front porch, Rats! So I shut that and just let it drain however slowly it will drain.

About 6pm I hauled a second hose’s worth of water up the hill to fill the buried PVC line, but this time no special hose, just making sure it was tight.

Thursday AM, the 7th I filled a 3rd hose worth of water, hauled it up the hill and connected it between the cistern and the PVC input valve. I figured that I had drained 2 hose’s worth of water into the buried PVC line and that would be enough draw to restart the siphon.

It had been awhile since I had a picture of the sunrise so I took one …not great but there it tis.

That afternoon I gave the siphon a test and only got 2 jugs filled before it ended with dribble. Maybe water is filling the buried PVC line and so thought I would check again in the AM.

Didn’t mess with the siphon until Saturday afternoon when a test showed no flow, dribble or anything. It seems 3 hoses worth of water are not enough to fill the buried PVC line and restart the siphon. Soooo I’ll use 4 fills and connect the 5th filled hose to the cistern.

Sunday AM I hauled up the first of 4 hose’s worth of water to fill the PVC line.

And to try and give the fill some gusto I hung the open end of the hose up on the front porch from a piece of the roof rafter. And this AM I got a pretty good sunrise.

Sunday afternoon saw the 2nd hose’s worth of fill water hauled up the hill and set to fill the PVC line. And on Monday I got 2 more hose’s worth of water set up to fill the PVC line.

Tuesday AM I hauled up the 5th hose’s worth of water and connected this one to the cistern.

That morning I only opened the valve in the outhouse to get a little squirt and kinda start the siphon. Later that afternoon I was able to fill 2 water jugs and get a pretty good rinse off.

The next test was Thursday the 14th when I was able to fill 3 jugs with steady water flow & no air pockets. Then took a rinse off and the air pockets started so I kept showering until they quit ...I hopefully hope the siphon is going again.

Then on Friday I filled 2 jugs, got a rinse off and rinsed out some boxers. There was air pockets when filling the jugs & the start of rinsing off, but the boxer rinse out had no air pockets, so maybe my siphon is ok again.

It's been awhile since I did some laundry, and after 5 loads, I noticed the water was running slow

There was still some flow but considerable air as well

But that was about it

So I went up to the input box and found the input line was way loose and was very easy to pull off …not good.

So I glued it this time ...what I shoulda done when I installed it

Then I brought the hose down and filled it with water so I could get the siphon going again ...or so I thought

At least I did get some laundry done, but I had wanted to take a shower afterwards ….so I best get the siphon going again

I waited till it cooled down some before I filled my hoses with water and then hauled em up the hill to the old house cistern and my new siphon draw pipe.

I kept the hoses kinked at both end while I got it connected to the cistern draw pipe

and after the other end was connected to the buried PVC pipe input fitting I unkinked it

I got the hose all stretched out nice & straight to restart the siphon ...or so I thought

and even though the input hose was nice & straight to restart the siphon ...but it just didn't work. I only gotta little dribble of water because there wasn’t enough water in my 2 hoses to fill the buried PVC line and restart the siphon.

More water would be needed up there.

So the next day, Sunday AM I borrowed another larger hose from Dave so I could haul more water up the hill to fill the buried PVC line.

I got all the hoses filled with water and their ends connected together for the trip up that hill …again.

I connected my hose to the buried PVC line input fitting

and the other end of my 2 hoses to the cistern draw pipe

Then I connected the hose I borrowed from Dave between my 2 hoses so there'd be plenty water to fill the buried PVC line and restart the siphon.

I had all the hoses arranged down the hill from the cistern so the water would drain into the buried PVC line

and while I did get some flow

it didn't last long

sooooo I went back up up that hill and collected the hoses

and hauled them down in my wheel barrow

I left them in the wheelbarrow as I filled all 3 hoses again and connected their ends for the trip back up the hill

and there they very well are …back up the hill with more siphon refill water

and another dismal failure

Ok next morning time Monday the 14th it’s time to try again after a peep at the sunrise over PM

This time I drug all the hoses down the hill with their ends open so that I could ensure they were all drained out of water and any air pockets

I rested my 2 connected together hoses on the side porch of the old house

Then I connected only Dave's hose to the buried PVC line input fitting and pulled its open end way up on the old house front porch to help it drain completely

it seemed like a good idea at the time

but I got to thinking it would be better if all of the hose was elevated

So I put the majority of Dave's hose on the front porch and left it to drain into the buried PVC line overnight

Tuesday morning I drug Dave's hose back down the hill and refilled it with water.

Then back up the hill where I connected it back onto the PVC input fitting

Then I elevated Dave’s hose to the front porch again and let it drain into the buried PVC line

Tuesday afternoon I removed Dave's hose after it drained into and hopefully filled the buried PVC line

Then I reconnected my 2 hoses to the PVC input fitting

and the other end to the cistern draw pipe

Woo Hoo after some air pockets were expelled, it looks like I got the siphon restarted.

I was able to run the siphon for awhile and drained out some dirty water I had stirred up when connecting to the cistern draw pipe.

After the water cleared up I filled my Wash Water jugs and was able to shower and keep filling them for the rest of the week.

Since I had been filling my Wash Water jugs since Tue. the 15th, on Sunday the 20th I figured I could do laundry again and get a shower afterwards.

Looked like the siphon was finally working okie dokie

But after a half an hour & 5 small loads the water ended in a trickle

But I did get some laundry done and that afternoon I refilled my 2 hoses and took it back up the hill, connected it to the input fitting and left it on the front porch to start refilling the buried PVC pipe …yet again

OK Tuesday the 22nd I collected my 2 hoses that have drained into the buried PVC line since Sunday

I refilled my 2 hoses to refill the buried PVC line a second time

My filled 2 hoses are up on the front porch and will drain during the day into and hopefully filling the buried PVC line so I can restart the siphon

This time when I connected my hose to the input fitting I found that if I leave it not real tight, the air in the buried PVC line has a way out. Yet another siphon lesson learned.

ok Wed. morning time to collect my hoses

Hoses refilled with water

After the kinked hoses were connected to the PVC input fitting and the rest of the hoses & the other end up on the old front porch to refill the buried PVC line I unkinked em to let the water flow.

Wednesday afternoon it was time to bring my hoses down and refill em with water once more to restart the siphon. But before disconnecting the hose from the buried PVC line input fitting I noticed it was still bubbling some air out since I had moved the hose on the front porch. So I let it drain a bit more

.Then I brought the hoses down and refilled em with water for the 3rd time

I kept the ends kinked while I connected the hose to the cistern draw pipe

Likewise I kept the output end of the hose kinked while I connected it to the PVC line input fitting

Then I unkinked the cistern end

Then I connected the other end to the PVC input line fitting while still kinked. This time since the hose was connected to the cistern draw pipe I didn’t want to leave this connection loose to allow an air leak, so tools were used.

I was still getting some smaller air pockets as I was filling the 3rd test bucket, so maybe it's working again

After the 3rd test bucket filled and dumped, I was able to fill 3 wash water jugs and still had water for a quick shower, soooo maybe -I hope I hope I hope- it’s a siphon again.

Back in the middle of May I had pushed the siphon draw hose in a few more inches to gain some more wash water, and maybe that was that.

So it was time to reconfigure things. I rechecked the depth and found that there was still quite a bit of water in the old cistern. So maybe the draw hose wasn’t hanging straight down ...a reasonable possibility because hoses often coiled up get curves in their length.

I assembled a couple lengths of ¾” PVC pipe with a couple of threaded elbows so that I could straighten the 2 lengths out so they could be inserted into the overflow hole and then by rotating them 90 degrees, the weight on the longer draw pipe would rotate the draw pipe down into the cistern.

I had measured how long the draw pipe needed to be to keep it about 4” – 6” off the bottom of the cistern and the accumulated crud on the bottom.

It did take a bit of twisting & turning to get the draw pipe pointing down, and then I realized I screwed up -yet again- with the wrong gender of hose fitting on the end of my PVC pipe assembly and so I had to make a male to male gender changer so I could hook up the hose that took the water down the hill to me.

Ok, once I finally got my PVC draw pipe assembly installed I wasn’t able to test the siphon action up there like I wanted, soooooo I just hooked things up and hoped for the best.

I was hoping that the amount of water left in the hose from the cistern to the buried PVC pipe that went down the hill to the house would be enough to get the siphon going again.

It did, but after a fashion. The flow started out strong but kinda paused and seemed to be ok until I had filled 3 of my 5 liter wash water jugs. The 4^th jug also started to fill strongly, but then it paused and burped a lot of air and then quite a bit of what looked like small leaves & crud.

I believe that when I was twisting & turning the PVC draw pipe to get it to point down I stirred up the crud on the bottom of the cistern. It took about 60 liters or more before the wash water stayed clean.

This AM I filled another 5 liter jug and the siphon works and the water looks clean. There’s still some air in the line and I suspect that’ll just be the way it tis.

There’s a small herd of local cattle, just about 10-12 head that sometimes, somehow has been getting into the property where I’m living. Being concerned that they could step on plumbing, or just rubbing against stuff could break things ...not to forget about their deposits… I did some repairs on the fence along the road. There were a few low spots in the fence and since they knew to get out there I figured that’s where they were getting in ...or so I thought.

I was able to prop up one of the mashed down old old kinda rotten fence posts, and I found some old phone cable that I used to tie the prop to the fence post and also used it to tie up the tops of the BRC I used for fencing and the piece I used to plug the gap by the gate.

Saturday June 7^th

Got some surprise physical training this AM when I looked up to the old house and saw that herd of cattle munching away up there. Grrr so I grabbed some rocks and headed up that hill with a mind to drive them out from where ever they came in from. Turns out they just came through the overgrown bush near the front of the house from the adjacent property to the south.

I ended up driving them back out their entrance 3 times before the herd got split up & I was able to drive a few out the gate at the front of the property.

5 times up and down that hill gave me a good work out.

Sunday June 8^th

I wanted to do a small load of laundry of towels and a few underwear, and I wanted to fix the height of the wringer mount that kept the wash basins from being able to sit flat under it and beneath the wringer’s flip-flop/able water ramp.

Unfortunately, the first wringer mount screw’s head was so rusted I had to drill it out and ended up having to remove that screw in 3 pieces after disassembling the entire wringer mount and stand. What could have taken 15 minutes took about an hour mumble grumble.

But I was able to get it all reassembled at the right height for flat bottom wash basins as close to the wringer as I could get.

With that done I finally got that small load of laundry done and hung ...as I was able to do with the wringer mount board.

Jacob needed a little help mixing some concrete for a couple of fence posts at his gate. He had some cement, sand & gravel, the tools, and some water all ready. Since it was just a small amount, we mixed it on the ground , leveled up the posts and we’re done.

Sunday May 18^th

I’ve been using wash water from the old house’s cistern since I moved in here in December. There’s no roof up there to catch anymore rainwater and I’ve been wondering how much is left to siphon down to the Button Box. Last Wednesday, the 14^th I had pushed the siphon draw hose a few more inches into the cistern to hopefully gain a little more wash water supply.

I hadn’t thought about the cord I used to suspend the end of the draw hose to what I figured was about 6” off the bottom of the cistern ...or I should say the silt on the bottom of the cistern. That meant I hadn’t actually lowered the end of the draw hose, so Sunday AM I went up and lowered the cord the same few inches I lowered the hose.

Update Tuesday May 20^th – While filling my wash water jugs, it seemed that the flow from the cistern siphon was slowing and sucking air. It is possible that the end of the siphon draw hose is not hanging straight down, but could be curved and maybe near the surface of the water in the cistern.

Woo Hoo – Just gotta call from my good friend Paul Paterson, the original chief engineer at KZAP, and later at KVMR, and went to the Caribbean with me for a gig networking computers in the jungles of Guyana, a gig that thnakfully fell through.

Wednesday May 21^st

Today I got my new laundry arrangement set up in my outhouse shower room ...or at least to a workable state. It’s not quite right yet, but I can do some laundry, although I am concerned that the increased wash water use will end the cistern siphon before too long.

Here’s a link to the day’s images on google; https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bb9ZpZmeuoFudwjb9

Wooooo Hoo Flow, one of the 2 phone companies in Grenada, came by and connected me to the Internet with a fiber hard line to my house. It seems to be throttled considerably from what fiber could connect at ...this AM’s (5/14 0620) shows 250Mbps d/l & 29Mbps u/l, but I’ve seen it down to 25Mbps d/l & 17Mbps u/l ...likely depending on how many folks are doing what. (5/15 edit - seeing consistently 250Mbps d/l & 29Mbps u/l lately)

Tuesday May 13^th

I’ve been washing my few clothes in buckets but it’s time I improved that chore. My hand wringer had gotten quite rusty over the past many months, pre-Beryl, so I needed to give it a clean up and then I can figure out where to set up my laundry room.

I’m presently thinking about my shower room, because I’ve got wash water plumbed in there with a hose. I can set up some supports for my hand wringer similar to how I used I on a pair of saw horses on the porch of the old house.

Wednesday May 14^th

My wash water is from a siphon I set up from the old house cistern back in October, that is plumbed via a buried PVC line and a few hoses into my outhouse & shower room. I should be able to cut the plywood that I mount my hand wringer and rest it on some supports nailed to the studs ...we shall see

But I’ve been using cistern wash water since October and I am getting a bit concerned about how much is left up there.

When I got the siphon going I had arranged the hose that draws the water to hang about 6” off the mucky bottom of the cistern. This AM I went up and lowered it about 3 inches ...hopefully not touching the mucky bottom. I won’t know for sure until I draw enough wash water to see if any muck comes out after 12 to 15 gallons.

I really need to re-do this 3” draw hose drop and extend the white security line that was supporting the end of the draw hose the same 3”

.Thursday May 15^th

When I first moved into the Button Box, the current fantasy was to hire a builder and use the gofund me donations to get a new concrete block wall house built and moved into before the next hurricane season ...or so I thought.

Hurricane/rainy season means soggy ground and plenty mud around the Button Box that I don’t want to track inside, so I needed some more stepping stones for a path way to my workbench. I’ve got a stack of 8” & 6” concrete blocks and I’ve cut a bunch of them some years ago for around the old house, so it was time to do that again.

I hooked up my angle grinder with a masonry blade, put on some coveralls, goggles, and a dust mask and carved a bunch of 8” concrete blocks into 8” x 16” stepping stones so I can get to my workbench when the ground gets muddy this rainy season, so I don’t track mud onto the steps or porch.

Another household chore this AM was defrosting my little fridge. Nope these little cheapo units are not frost-free with a drain & collection bin. Since I’m an old fart I have experience with refrigerators that one needs to defrost on occasion. It’s the stow the froze stuff away, put in a pot of hot water and then scrape, and wipe out the sloppy ice and water …30 minutes and job done.

When I moved in here, I thought it would be until maybe June or July of 2025 when I’d have a new house built, so I didn’t figure on any real plumbing. Now I gotta figure out some way to find someplace I can install a sink without losing any kitchen countertop space.

I have been posting more of my earlier recovery/rebuild updates on my new substack; I’m into December 2024 and only have Jan.-Mar. to get the Day To Day section up to date. The Fall months of 2024 I did a lot of work, no wonder I’m tired after kinda reliving it.

Here’s a link to some of the work done on this Tiny Home of mine; https://johnbutton559865.substack.com/t/tiny-home-evolution

It was back in early April that the tarp over the workbench showed signs of imminent death and needed to be replaced with something stouter than the low budget blue tarp I used. So I took it down and rolled it up on the supports that held the *what I thought was* blue 8’x 10’ tarp ...I ‘knew it was 8’ x 10’ because that’s what I had up at the old house.

It took me a few weeks before I could find a heavier 8’ x 10’ grey tarp, but when I did I was able to unroll the blue tarp and swap the edge supports onto the new tarp and put it up and unroll it and set it onto the uprights ...or so I thought.

I was wrong ...yet again. The blue tarp was a 10’ x 12’ and the uprights weren’t gonna work where they were. mumble grumble mumble grumble mumble grumble

So, I core drilled a couple more upright holes and plugged the uprights back in their metal tubes, but close enough I could stretch the 8’ x 10 grey tarp.

Only trouble was the tie downs were too short to really tighten them, and the 1/2” rebar U stakes weren’t holding things tight enough and would loosen after a few days of wind.

So I used a couple pieces of 1/4” x 2” angle iron stakes I made for concrete forms.

and drilled a couple of holes in them for a couple of chain quick links so I could connect up the tie down rope without cutting it and use them as a couple of pulleys to get some mechanical advantage.

And I discovered a hose clamp can be used to secure a bunch of ropes together without tying knots.

My Post Beryl Updates

Monday April, 21st

Change of plans. I was planning on replacing the hose I was using to get cistern wash water to the house with PVC pipe buried so the water wouldn’t get so hot during the day. But after looking at the situation and adding up the PVC fittings I’d need, I just shook my head and said Simplify.

The length of hose from the cistern output box is long enough to reach the corner of the house and maybe convert to PVC there. So I finished off the shallow trench to the corner of the water tank platform and buried the hose in it.

While rerouting the hose I found a leak at the hose repair fitting and fixed that with a hose clamp. I also removed the in-line hose valve so it wouldn’t restrict the flow any more. The 2nd hose that brought water to the outhouse & shower room is long enough to reach the 1st hose at the corner of the house and has been routed close to the house so it’ll stay out of the sun till late morning.

Since I moved in here I’ve been struggling with a poor excuse of a 3-burner propane stovetop. It was all I could find on Carriacou when I was ready to move in …it’s workable but made of flimsy sheet metal parts that weren’t really secured together. I had to poke some holes and secure the pot support rings and more recently I had to use JB Weld to repair it again.

As much as I prefer propane for cooking for its instant temperature control I am going to get a 2-burner electric hot plate. It will have a solid flat surface that pots won’t slip & slide about and will be a bit smaller on the kitchen countertop.

As for a sink, I’m thinking I can mount a stainless steel, small single basin sink about where the cutting board is in the image below. I hopefully will be able to install it just below the countertop with a lift out section so I can have the full countertop to prepare food. I’ll lift out the section when it’s time to do dishes and clean up. I’ll probably still use one of my wash basins for washing dishes, the sink to rinse them and a 2nd wash basin with a dish drainer to drain em in.

Once I get water into the house it’ll go out through the sink drain and I’ll need to dig a bit of a trench out from under the house and workbench to a grey water house drain along the bound line past the outhouse. Next will be upgrading the shower room plumbing …all in due time.

Thursday April, 3^rd

It’s been just over a month since I hurt my back again and had to just stop doing stuff for awhile, take pain meds and lay down a lot. It sure does take longer to recover from injuries when one gets older. I’ve got one more day of pain meds and thankfully they are helping, and hopefully I won’t need em afterwards.

My next Button Box improvement effort will be plumbing water into and out of the house. I’ve been using 1.5 liter jugs to store and use water from since I moved in here back in December. I’ve got several jugs with the letter “W” on them for wash water and a few more with the letter “T: for tank water that I use for drinking and cooking.

My wash water comes from the old house cistern via a siphon and a run of PVC pipe I installed some years ago when I started building the shop. From the end of the PVC pipe run I’m using a couple of hoses to get wash water into my outhouse and shower room where I fill my “W” jugs.

There’s no roof on the old house to catch anymore rainwater and there’s all sorts of rubble and debris rotting on the floor where rainwater will catch and then run into the cistern so I do not want to be drinking that stuff.

So the plan was to plumb wash water from the end of the PVC pipe run with some more PVC pipe buried so it doesn’t get stepped on & broke, and so the water won’t get too hot in the sun.

This is where laying around on my backside can improve things because I realized I could just bury the hose from the end of the PVC pipe run to the end of the house and then transition to PVC there. The reason I hurt my back was because I was trying to dig out a big rock in the PVC pipe’s trench so the hard plastic wouldn’t be against the rock and possibly break. Using the hose eliminates that possibility.

As getting the path for getting water into the house is important, getting water out is more important. And that’s where and when I realized I neglected my 7-Ps; Perfect Pre-Planning Prevents Piss Poor Production (Thank You Jesse Robinson for that one). I’ve got my workbench and implement cabinet right up against the wall where the house drain will be coming down & out.

But with a little work and some more shallow trenching I think I’ll be able to get a house drain out to the back of the outhouse and then down the bound line a ways ...and I will be getting help with digging that trench shallow.

The other engineering issue will be how to add a small sink of some kind to my kitchen countertop and still have a kitchen countertop.

Sure the culture is way different and the climate considerably warmer, but being recognized in your village and in the shops makes me feel welcomed. Plus I would be able to afford to live here when my small Social Security benefits wouldn’t have allowed me to do in the US.

After 13 years here I was able to experience my first hurricane, Beryl, a category 4 or 5 depending on your source, passed directly over Carriacou and with very few exceptions, pretty much devastated the entire island.

This section is a collection of the day to day emailed updates of my recovery and rebuilding efforts because I want and need one place where I can go back & see what I've done & when. My first post-Beryl Update was on July 12, 2024 ...I'll be adding them here as I can dig them out of my email Sent box.

About a half hour after I landed and my good friend and taxi driver, Bombo had picked me up and we dropped off my suitcase at the Siesta Hotel, I reminded myself I should take a few pictures. So I turned around and got a shot of Grand Anse Beach near the hotel;

I’m not sure why I didn’t take more images of the ride into St. Georges and the shops I searched for a better tabletop stove, but when I got back to the hotel I found a rather distinctive Taxi waiting for a guest;

Later that afternoon Bombo took me to my Osteopath appointment way out in the Westerhall district of St. Davids. I only got few pictures of the first part of the trip. Bombo knew something about the traffic around commute time and we headed up into some neighborhood just off of Grand Anse Main Rd. onto Montessori School Rd;

The first few minutes was clear sailing;

…up into some neighborhood;

Still no traffic on these narrow roads;

And then about 5 minutes in, we find some other folks with the same idea coming down the hill;

Looks like we’re getting out into the country side;

I wasn’t sure of where we were but it appears we were on Grand Anse Valley Rd.

I figured that out with Google Maps and this image of Caribbean Welding at the junction of Grand Anse Valley Rd. and Clarks Court Bay Rd. in the village of Ruth Howard;

I’m not sure why I put the camera down, but I got some more from the next day.

They’re pretty powerful planes, we were in the air using just a third of the runway or less;

Climbing quickly, we can kinda see another cruise ship docked in St. Georges;

Here’s a few shots of the south of Grenada as we start bearing north toward Carriacou;

About one quarter of the way up Grenada, we’re over St. Davids Parish and can make out one of the several affordable housing developments that China has been building around Grenada and there’s one on Carriacou;

Basically, they’re a bunch of quadplex apartment buildings and I can only imagine how they alter the nature of the villages where they’re located;

A few minutes more and we’re over St. Andrews Parish and can make out the somewhat crowded Grand Bras Cemetery below;

As we near the north end of Grenada, we pass over the village of River Sallee, in the St. Patrick Parish;

Then out over the sea at Bedford Point where we see little Green Island and the smaller Sugar Loaf;

Soon we can see Caille Island and the southern tip of larger Ronde Island;

Here’s a little more of Ronde Island;

And now the northern end of Ronde Island;

In another 5 minutes we’re approaching Carriacou and can see the Two Sisters dive site below. When I was diving I got to go through the narrow channel between the 2 guano covered rocks;

Here we see Point Cistern, Mabouya island above and what's left of Sandy Island a little further on;

I gotta peep of the shallows & reefs inside Point Cistern ;

Another look at Mabouya island;

And there's what's left of Sandy Island after Beryl's passing it was almost cut in two and lost a lot of palms;

Coming around to make our approach to Lauriston Airport over Paradise Beach;

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Thursday morning I had a follow up doctor’s appointment at St. Georges General Hospital. After 4+ hours of waiting in a couple of queues, I had my brief & free visit with the doc to go over my recent PSA blood test (I am an old fart) & Abdominal Ultrasound exam. All looks good for the present, continue with the new meds and come back in 6 months.

St. Georges General Hospital is up on the hill, just below St. Georges Fort at the entrance to the Carenage not far from the Cruise Ship Terminal and complex.

Here’s a google map excerpt;

After my appointment I was able to step out and see a not so big, but kinda big, cruise ship at the Cruise Ship Terminal;

Just above the hospital is St. Georges Fort that is closed temporarily while they do some fix up …there’s a tower crane up there doing something;

And just below the hospital near the Cruise Ship Terminal is the Esplanade Shopping Complex;

From here one can walk down a fairly steep path to some stairs that get you down to the road below;

Those stairs are also rather steep;

And the end up at the exit of the Sendall Tunnel;

From here it’s about 700m to the St. Georges Bus Terminal;

Then we made a left hand turn out over the sea and can see the village of Bogles and the Craigston development in the foreground …kinda;

And then about 8:41am and about two thirds of the way to Grenada are Ronde (the larger one) and Diamond Islands;

Just south of Rode Island is Caille Island, where you can see a bit of brown Sargasso sea weed in the bay;

And then at 8:43am here’s the north end of Grenada, just 13 minutes from Carriacou;

And then there’s Green Island and the smaller Sugar Loaf;

And I think this is Bathway Beach on Grenada Bay;

And this is Lake Antoine;

…a little further on, that white area is a rather full cemetery;

There’s plenty of rural areas in Grenada, with several villages along the ridge tops;

Over the past few years China has been developing several affordable housing developments, basically several multi-family apartment buildings (the 3 rows of buildings in the center;

Here’s a crop & zoom of them;

This is Woburn Bay and on the left a portion of Hog Island that is accessible via the Hog Island Bridge;

Here we have David Christal's mooring on the right and Mt. Hartman Bay on the left;

And on the right is Prickly Bay and a little further on, the Maurice Bishop International Airport, our destination;

As we make a wide right hand turn to reach the runway we see a bit of Glover Island just below and that white dot in the bay by the end of the runway is the Dolly C ferry;

Here's a crop and zoom of the grounded Dolly C ferry, that has made getting building materials to Carriacou quite a bit more difficult as she is one of 2 ferries that can carry loaded trucks;

Then at 8:53am, after 10 minutes flying over Grenada, we make the big turn to make our approach to the runway …the island of Grenada is just about as long as the distance to Carriacou is;

Wednesday Mar. 12

Since I got lazy & bored over the past couple of weeks of very little actual physical work I decided this was the morning I’d dig the shallow trench from the cistern output box to the house in preparation for plumbing the cistern & the tank water into the house. It’s been pretty dry lately so the ground had gotten quite hard, so I got my pick out and scratched the trench line along a stringline I had stretched. Then it was back with the broad end of the pick to start digging the trench.

I got about 6 or 8 feet going from my tank platform toward the cistern output box when I ran into a large rock about 4” down. That was going to have to come out ...or so I thought. I dug around the edges and was able to get to pointy end of the pick well under the big rock so I could pry it up. It seemed like it was moving so I gave it all I got until I felt a POP in my lower back along with a lot of pain and I just laid down on the ground ...the stupid idiot hurt his back yet again!!!

This was as far as I got before I hurt my back.

Well, that was the end of that and I spent the rest of the day laying down. I will be going to Grenada next Wednesday for a urologist appointment at the govt. Hospital on Thursday and I was able to get an appointment with the osteopath that treated my upper back after Beryl and my excesses then on Wednesday along with an appointment for an X-ray.

Thursday morning Jacob was able to take me to see Dr. Freddy so I could get some pain meds.

Monday Mar. 17

WHEW Whew whew ...finally a full night’s sleep without getting woken up with back pain. So thankfully, the lower back injury seems to be healing.

I’ll still be getting an X-ray and an osteopath treatment in Grenada this coming Wednesday, but I think the injury was only a temporary thing. Nonetheless, I have been again reminded that I cannot push (or pull) myself as far as I have when I was younger and I am going to have to start hiring folks to do the heavy lifting.

Additionally, I need to acknowledge & resign myself to the reality that I’ll be living in my tiny 8’ x 12’ Button Box for another year or so. Finding a builder to even sit down with and go over the plans & ideas for my new house has proven mostly futile. Back in December when I was having my outhouse built, I was hoping that the same builders would be able to start work on my new house and that maybe, maybe it could be built before the next hurricane season ...but that is just not to be.

I do understand and accept that there is still an awful lot of rebuilding that still needs to be done here on Carriacou and that builders will likely & reasonably want to help family & friends before they have time for that crazy white guy down the road in Bayaleau.

Sooooo, what to do ...what to do in the meantime??? The last major chore for the Button Box is to plumb water into and out of the house. After that it’ll be making this tiny home more livable so the next year or so won’t be such a struggle. That’s going to mean a lot of boring tidy up and reorganizing efforts that will not be exciting Update fodder.

Another project will be to see about setting up a SubStack as a place to archive my recovery & starting over updates and share some of the adventures in my life that led me to where I am today.

Here's dem 16 Grenada images; https://photos.app.goo.gl/VDktof4k6ZfPi9J76

Hopefully this coming week I can finally finish the house design and when the SSN check lands, maybe even get started on plumbing water into the Button box ...I am so tired of using 1.5 liter plastic jugs for water.

Cheers - John

Finally got back on the porch roof project on Tuesday. I wasn’t thinking when I cut the 2x2 Rough lumber for the rafters and cut them about 6” too long for the 12’ lengths of galvanize roofing I got that I will be cutting in half for 6’ lengths. I needed to cut the ends off at a bit of an angle so the facia (called bash boards down here) would be plumb when installed. Using a circular saw while on a step ladder, and hanging out over the end of the rafters didn’t seem safe so I got out my grandfather’s hand saw.

I had marked the ends of the rafters using a level to make sure the cuts would be plumb and clamped a piece of 1x4 as an edge guide for the saw. I’ve always been meaning to restore and sharpen both of my grandfather’s saws, this a crosscut saw and a rip saw, but that hasn’t happened yet ...and it just seemed too hard. So I moved the guide 1 1/2” up the rafter and grabbed my cordless jig saw and got em cut off ok.

With the rafters cut to proper length I was able to replace the front purlin (called lats down here) because I split the front one I had to remove to cut the rafters. The 12’ sheets of galvanize needed to be cut in half and for that I was able to drag out the corded Skilsaw and a metal cutting blade along with a guide clamped onto the sheet made short work of that.

And the day’s images; https://photos.app.goo.gl/qxRv7oWcRGfiYh2M6

Wednesday Feb. 19

To get the galvanize up on the roof I used a borrowed extension ladder as a ramp to drag the 6’ sheets up onto the roof. At first I thought it would be good to get all three 42” wide sheets up on the roof and then go about screwing them down. I had to put up a temporary support for a ladder on the north end of the porch so I could screw the galvanize down there and then up on the porch with a step ladder to get the rest of the screws in.

That’s when I realized that there wouldn't be room for me to get up above the purlins on the step ladder with the third sheet of galvanize hanging off the south end of the roof. So I took that third sheet down and got the 2nd sheet installed. Turns out I was able to just pick up the third sheet while standing on the porch and hoist it up over my head ...with a couple toss up & catches... and deposit it on the roof.

Screwing the third sheet down was also a bit of a stretch, literally, because I had to use a ladder at a rather low but workable angle and I had to stretch way out to reach the north edge of the sheet of galvanize where it overlapped the second sheet. AND And and for each screw I had to give the galvanize a sharp whack with a hammer & an awl so the screw would have a place to start ...big fun.

Next I put up the fascia (called bash board here) up on the front to the roof where I’ll install the guttering, and on the sides of the roof to finish it off nice. All told it took about 6 hours including putting the tools away.

The day’s images; https://photos.app.goo.gl/mHVTbYmE9jEmrz7X9

Thursday Feb. 20

I made a town run for a few groceries and to order the guttering & down spouting I needed for my roof porch & outhouse. The 2 building supply shops had a confusing collection of what looked like different sizes of gutter parts that I couldn’t make good sense of how they’d fit together, so I called a local builder, Adrian, and will ask him to acquire & install the guttering.

That afternoon I gave Dave hand sorting out some issues on his laptop ...he’s on a MacBook & I’ve been on Windows forever so it was a little slow going but we finally got things sorted out ok. While at Dave’s the local postal letter passed by with Dave’s utility bills ...and mine as well.

Yow, after 13 years on Carriacou I got home delivered mail ...yeah it was delivered to Dave’s, because the letter carrier knows folks in the village and where we live and who we hang out with ...it’s almost like early days in Ft. Bragg, where it was small enough that Dad would deliver the mail on the north end of town one day & the south the next, with the one other letter carrier ...so everyone in town knew Dad & he pretty much knew everyone as well.

Oh and my electricity bill for the past month was a total of $26.15 ecd or just under $10 usd.

Friday Feb. 21

With the 16’ x 16’ house plans & drawings done, I got to thinking I might need yet another backup plan ...something a little smaller and cheaper, so I started working on a 12’ x 16’ design. Still a concrete block wall house with an 8’ x 4’ bathroom/shelter with concrete block walls and a concrete ceiling. This shouldn’t take too long because I can use parts of the 16’ x 16’ 3D model and edit those for the 12’ x 16’ design ...or so I thought.

Also on Friday I contacted Adrian so I could hire him to put up the guttering on my porch roof, only to learn he & Titan are back at their regular jobs, engineers onboard a big freighter. Not only will Adrian not be able to help with the guttering, it sounds like I’m going to have to find a different builder for my new house.

Saturday Feb. 22

More 12’ x 16’ house design

Sunday Feb. 23

12’ x 16’ house design done and drawings uploaded

12’ x 16’ step by step drawings; https://photos.app.goo.gl/w6327HSZkhzi8RU28

Monday Feb. 24

Made a town trip this AM for a few groceries and to pay my electricity bill of $26ecd and got the receipt so I’ll have a utility bill that will help me apply for a local Grenadian bank account, that will be helpful when I can find a builder and start building my new house.

Not much done on Tuesday except planning for a couple of March trips to Grenada for a doctor’s appointment & an ultrasound exam. The hospital on Carriacou doesn’t do ultrasound exams and it turns out the government hospital on Grenada is booked up for ultrasound exams & is no longer making appointments. There is a private medical exam outfit on Grenada called Spice Isle Imaging that does ultrasound exams, so that’s where I’ll get mine; they also do x-rays, CT & MRI scans, and blood work.

Wednesday Feb. 12

Wednesday was a town shop day for some groceries and to purchase a little lumber and galvanize roofing for my porch roof.

Thursday Feb. 13

On Thursday I got a partial delivery of just the lumber, two 16’ lengths of 1x6 for the porch roof facia or bash board as it’s called here, that I’’l hang the guttering on. We’ve had a bit of rain off & on so I didn’t get started on the porch roof project. I guess I’m getting a little lazy and it’s harder to not get sucked into the news of the crap that’s going on with politics.

Friday Feb. 14

Friday was another town shop day for some groceries and to buy the SVG Airlines round trip ticket for my first Grenada trip on March 4th for the ultrasound exam. Carriacou celebrates Carnival starting the week before, so I wanted to be sure to get a ticket before they all sold.

I also did a little tech support at Dave’s, it seems their starlink system went down. Try as I could I couldn’t get the system to even power up ...this is going to have to be dealt with as Dave has friends from Switzerland coming for a visit.

I’ve also been getting a little worried about getting my new house built before the next hurricane system, and if I’ll even be able to afford it as I’ve designed. The builders I want to use have been very busy with other projects and I still need to meet with them about the design & potential cost. So I stew & worry and start working on a back up design of a smaller 16’ x 12’ design that would cost less and take less time I would think.

Saturday Feb. 15

Saturday I finally got started on the porch roof while waiting on galvanize to arrive. I started by cutting the side facia a little over length so I could cut the angle to suit. But after looking at things I realized I had cut the porch roof rafters a few inches too long for the length of galvanize I bought, so I’m going to have to cut them off so the galvanize will end with enough overhang for the guttering. I’m also thinking I may want to put the galvanize on first and then the facia so I can install it tightly under the galvanize.

I did a little more tech support for Dave’s internet connection by making a town shopping trip with Dave’s Swiss guests. So I got to show them around town as we visited most of the grocery shops and I took a side trip to Digicel to get Dave a new phone with a data plan until the starlink system can be fixed.

Sunday Feb. 16

Just s’more 16x12 design.

Monday Feb. 17

Didn’t get any porch work done but I did get to spend about an hour of “quality phone customer service” with CitiBank trying to make a few changes on my profile, like my password. Why you may ask... After all these years, decades really, of online activity I’ve never encountered any real threats of identity theft or stealing of bank info, until recently when I received an email with a pdf file threat that I deleted because it was using an outdated address. But then I got a follow up email from the same “person” with a pdf I didn’t open, but did report the sender as Spam. While I doubt they really have any access to my bank or CC accounts I am changing PINs & passwords where appropriate.