July 6, 2008

Maciel has disappeared. Well, his house and shop have anyway. I haven’t talked to the hardware store, yet, but I went up to Malinche to talk with Maciel personally. He has obviously moved. And, he took all the material from the shop, and all but the walls of the house. I will have to find out what happened there. So, Thursday, while Matta was installing the last bars on the house, I went to Puntarenas, to my favourite bank machine, and got money to pay for the bars, and maybe the mechanic, as I then headed to Brown’s to check the brakes.
A young fellow who works there diligently cleaned and adjusted all the brakes while I waited. It looked to me as if he was done. All the wheels were back on. Then, he pulled a hose off under the hood, and said there was no pressure there, where there should be. This led to the booster pump for the brake system. While he got that off and checked it out, I fell asleep in the car. Not sure how long it took, but it was difficult to get off. They had taken it apart, and woke me up to show me that the gear drive was stripped, and I needed a new booster pump. The booster pump is attached to the rear of the alternator, and so, I now have a new alternator as well. And brakes!
This was a costly affair, and I headed to the hospital in Puntarenas to use the other bank machine that accepts international cards. For the second time, it wouldn’t take mine, so I went home with less money than I wanted.
When I got home, Matta and his wife, were sitting at the table waiting for me. The bars were done! Big deal? Yes! That is the final stage of the house construction. The work stated in the contract is now complete, although the contract itself will remain the biggest written joke I have ever committed to file, ( in fact the only one). The time from contract signing, March 1, 2007, to work completion, July 3, 2008, is approximately 1 year, 4 months, and 3 days. The cost overrun was large, about 25%, but still within range of the value of the construction. The work, obviously was not completed by Carlos, but with Jose’s help, I was able to find good quality workmen for the welding. Jose and I did the rest. Including all those wonderful repairs I didn’t like having to do before the house was actually completed.
To complete a house, built to North American standards, and more important, to the standards of the owner, in this country, is an accomplishment. So many things can go wrong. The house Carlos built me incorporated ideas and structural standards that exceeded my expectations, and in spite of all the personal problems, I am very happy with the overall outcome. It has been a trying year with one problem after another to overcome, and one decision after another to make. I’m sure it has been harder because it is the first time I was involved in all the decisions of the construction of a new house. The Spanish thing didn’t help either. I think I will be less tense this year.
In Costa Rica, the government sets the gas prices. All gas stations charge the same. The government publishes all price changes before they happen. As such, I have been not been keeping track of the price of, in my case, diesel fuel. The price is going up tomorrow, and I tried to find something on the internet to tell me what the price per liter is or will be, but I couldn’t. The price per liter is not really pertinent to my driving, or to this story. More important is how much it costs me to drive for a week around here, or make a trip to San Jose, or Liberia, or on rare occasion, fill it up.
I bought the car in November 2005, and it came with an empty tank. It cost me $50 to fill it up. No manual, no idea how much diesel that was, sorry. In the year or so following that, I could comfortably go to San Jose from here, do some errands, come back, and squeeze a trip into Puntarenas on $30. worth of fuel.
The second rare occasion came yesterday. I was on my way to Puntarenas to try to get some money from my friendly bank machine. Their seems to be only one around here that likes me. On the way in, the gas light came on. Obviously, as I was going to get money, and didn’t know if I would be able to or not, I put in $20 at the Sardinal turn (not far from here). The money thing went okay, I got some stuff, mostly dog food, and headed home. Like I said prices go up tomorrow, and I had money, so I stopped at the Miramar turn and put in $40. I don’t like to fill a car right up, especially in this heat, so I figured I’d see how close I got.
It took another $40. in Judas, no problem. So in total, I put in $100 of diesel fuel, with a small bit of driving, and it still didn’t fill up. And I guess it will cost closer to $60 for my next trip to San Jose and back. The bus is looking more attractive all the time. At some point, rising fuel prices have to lower the volume of traffic. I haven’t noticed, yet.
In San Jose, they have extended the ban on cars on the highway around the city, and inside that circle, to 24 hours a day, to reduce auto use. Cars with licence plates ending in numbers 1 and 2 are banned Mondays, 3 and 4 Tuesdays, etc. They are ticketing 7 or 8 hundred a day for ignoring the ban. Don’t know what would make people cut down on the use of a luxury item they have worked hard to get, and helps them escape from the crowded buses, where you can’t smoke or listen to your music on the radio. Nothing’s working so far.