One of the inevitable challenges of leaving the condo unoccupied for eight months in a tropical beach environment (read salt/sand in the air) is the requirement to repair everything that needs it upon re-opening. That’s what we’ve been doing for the past couple days. I, at times, have an elevated opinion of my abilities to play Mr. Fixit. Those are always challenged when we arrive here without my usual compliment of tools. The list, this year, was fairly normal. The living room light, the main tv’s Blu-ray player, the guest room air conditioner, and the front door digital lock. I was able to fix the door lock (including re-programming!) and the Blu-ray player (bad USB cord) but we had to bring in the local pro for the air conditioner.
I
had to go pick him up in the village of Las Lajas this morning. As soon as he
pulled the cover off the outside component of the air conditioner, a cloud of
dust erupted. He was soon knocking off more dirt (they make their nests out of
mud) and I finally realized, to my intense discomfort, that he was knocking off
hornet nests. Panamanians are a lot more sanguine about interacting with the insect
world than I am and I was checking for the nearest exit. Luckily the hornets seemed
to have decamped prior to our intrusion. Since the unit had been inactive for
the eight months, I guess they felt empowered to take up residence.
Sunset Ceremony Time
Today
our designated handy man was scheduled to arrive and undertake installation of the
balcony sun blinds we put up each year as well as a number of other tasks. My Favorite
Panamanian also felt our closet was too small and asked he convert an area of shelves
into a hanging closet for my clothes. This follows a trend from back home. In quick
order I had the new closet and was evicted from the part of the closet I had heretofore
shared with my wife. Once she noticed there was some space left after I took up
residence, she was busily moving some of her clothes there. She then started
moving a number of clothes she had hanging, unbeknownst to me, in the guest
room closet. I’m simply in awe of her ability to acquire clothes. This follows
the trend back home where all four bedroom closets house part of her wardrobe.
Air Conditioner Top with Hornet Nests
TV with Permanent Gray Screen 
Master Bedroom Curtains 
My New Closet
The
handy man installed the indoor blackout curtains in both the master bedroom and
living room. We had a minor issue when the fixture used to hang the curtains
pulled out of the ceiling. So, he’ll be back next week to repair that and
install a new shower door in the guest bathroom (it is a never ending effort). Over
the past couple days the TV in the our bedroom also went on the fritz so we’ll
have to replace that next week (yes, that is important). While all this was
going on today, the upstairs neighbors had a local woodworker in to install
their latest furniture. My Favorite Panamanian stormed upstairs and I met the guy (surprisingly young) who was now
contracted to build a new bed for us. So it goes.
After my Wife Noticed the Open Space
While
all this might sound kind of busy, there has still been time to accomplish the requisite
beach time. We’ve re-established the daily sunset ceremony with our upstairs neighbors.
That means you gets some of the sunset pictures that I inflict upon you as
often as possible. So, this is really phase 1 of fixit time as the handy man
will be back next week and I have a stationary bike and a new TV to install. At
least I’ve got this view to hang out with. I hear they’re getting ten inches of
snow in Worcester this weekend. Just sayin.
My View
Sunsets from the Last Two Days
RECURRING CHARACTERS:
ABFA – Amazing Best Family
Athlete - my daughter
in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter
#3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel -
second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue
about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut
Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor
of the big river; Curbside Girls – close
friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of
course); FBR - First Blog Reader -
first granddaughter; First Friday –
celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene
Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene,
NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend
since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife –
her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew –
son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia
member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends
of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin
Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we
have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high
school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the
Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather -
my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course
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