Hello…we have Internet back on after a week off-line and nothing has changed. Gnome said, “Nobody bothers writing emails anyway.” And sure enough, I’ve checked the mail and there were 42 junk emails. Anyway, it all started with a bad storm last Wednesday evening which resulted in our transformer blowing out. By the time electricity was restored, it was Friday so it was near enough to the weekend…and we all know nothing happens at the weekend here, so we called to get our Internet fixed on Monday.
Even before all of that happened, we have been experiencing computer woes. The power cable for our computer crapped out (after a thunderstorm and a brief power-cut) and then the computer shut down before we even knew what had happened. We did not get a chance to back up the hard-drive so I’ll need some time to retrieve my passwords for administrative websites. Oh, and the printer doesn’t seen to recognise this temporary computer so we can’t print our business labels out. Hmmm…somebody once told me that when you get electrical problems, it’s because Mercury is in retrograde (something like that). Let’s all hope (cross our fingers) that Mercury is moving forward again!!
Still messing around with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Whatsits. Today was really tedious because I had to delete all 824 pages of old blog posts and pages…one at a time…because it would not let me delete in bulk. Phew…it was totally brain-numbing and my head is spinning!! I had to remove the old blog because apparently you can get penalised by the search engines for duplication of information. Anyway, it’s done!! As a reminder, new blog is at blog.casamascia.com and apothecary is at https://casamascia.com/
After I had finished, Gnome decided to throw a bit of humour into the situation by saying,
“Oh Dearest…I have a Gnome Operation SEO for you….”
Gnome with Enigmatic Smile.
Munchkin none to pleased with the thought of more Internet work:
Our Internet has been a bit dodgy for the last two months or so; it is on and then suddenly it goes off (for minutes, sometimes hours) and then it comes on again. This is because a tree fell on top of the antenna a couple of months ago. And it is still there! Now you are probably wondering why we haven’t removed the tree already…well, it is because a bird has built a nest on the fallen tree. Gnome saw the cute little twittering bird feeding a a whole bunch of little twittering birdies (you can tell that we are not “birders” because the only birds we can actually name are toucans and parrots) and so he came back into the house with his un-used chainsaw. He said:
“We must save the birdies!”
The Gnome has spoken. That’s why we have dodgy Internet right now!!
Hello Everyone!! Thank-you to the people who responded to my question Who is/was Jonas? Where they any good? It appears that I have not missed anything on our 10 year Internet hiatus in the jungles of Belize. For all those people who did not respond, I don’t think that you actually realised that it was a real question!
It appears that our cat has taken a special interest in our Jonas bags…or is it the black bin liner? Isn’t it funny that we post pictures of our cat much like the way people post pictures of their babies?
Just a quickie to let you know that we are back on-line. We were up at 5am this morning in preparation for the technicians coming to change our antenna. We had to be ready for them because the antenna was attached to a 45 foot pole!!
Gnome on the Roof at 6am.Three Men and a Gnome.
They told us to receive them at 8am prompt; they arrived at 9.15am. One of the guys had to drive back into town because they forgot the antenna!! Anyway, it took half an hour to change the antenna and three and a half hours to find the signal. They actually ended up lowering the post to 30 feet to get a signal! The signal comes off the main tower in a pyramidal shape so the further you are away from the tower (but still within range) the height of the receiving antenna actually becomes lower. So, now our Internet is working better because we have a good signal!!
Yay!! You will be getting our regular posts again!!
Hello Everyone!! It is so difficult finding a time slot to write a post; right now, the Internet is reliable from 4am to about 8am…this is however, our outside farm time and business emailing. After 8am, the Internet is virtually non-existent with a few minutes, now and then, of Internet activity to download emails. Not enough to quickly write a post for a Blog. At about 5pm, the Internet starts back up in spits and spurts…this is when I dive in and take my opportunity. After 6pm, Gnome uses the computer/ Internet to do Linux stuff. Oh and by the way, we share the one computer so that also limits usage.
Sometimes, because of all these complications, there is simply no opportunity to write a post. Hence, the reason why you might get short periods of silence.
Anyway, it was town day today. Instead of waking up at 4am, we made a compromise and woke up at 6am. This is still really early because nothing really starts opening in Punta Gorda until about 9am. The Government offices start at 8am but they aren’t really getting down to business until a later in the morning. If you ask me…the best time to go a Government Office is at 11.30am which is just before lunch. Don’t go at 11.45am because they will already be enroute to their favourite Rice and Beans joint. Supermarkets (the majority are Chinese owned) open after 9am…the Chinese can be a tad tardy and if you drive pass one of this places, you usually see the Belizean workers loitering outside waiting for their Chinese bosses to open shop. It is all very slow and everyone takes their own sweet time to start up.
So, at 6am, we were up and jumping about like hyperactive frogs waiting for the faithful opening hour. Gnome was laughing at the fact that we had to wait three hours for everyone else to start. It is extraordinary how farm life works on a completely different time line from town life! Anyway, we mixed up a batch of chocolate soap in the interim:
Making Chocolate Soap.
We are making Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and White Cocao Butter soap for the new tourist season in November. This is the Milk Chocolate Soap:
Solid Chocolate Soap.
Oooooh…looks like you could eat them!!
Anyway, we managed to get into town…trundling along slowly. Here are some pictures of places that we frequent in Punta Gorda.
We usually pick up the “chocolate trash” from The Cotton Tree Chocolate Factory. We use the trash for mulch around our trees:
Cotton Tree Chocolate.Chocolate Waste For Our Trees.
And this is Tropic Air; we deliver all our orders nation-wide with Tropic Air because they are reliable, very friendly and they have a flight everyday so orders can be dispatched on the same day (yes…you can get 24 hour delivery in Belize).
Tropic Air Office.
The staff are absolutely lovely:
Tropic Air Staff.
After town, we went to visit our friend Isabel at Cotton Tree Lodge.
It was really muddy and wet driving up to the lodge. At one point, our wheels nearly got stuck…we had to go on 4-wheel drive for the whole time. Boy, what a drive…the heavy rains have really made these back roads difficult to travel in.
The last few days, Gnome has got into a right tizz over everything breaking down.
Poor Gnome!
First of all, the brush mower stopped working and it looked like the electric clutch had burnt out; Gnome explained to me that this would mean no more mowing and we would have to bring the parts in and wait another 3 months to continue clearing the bush. Boo hoo!! Also, for the last three days, the Internet has been down. Again, Gnome gave me story of doom and gloom, he reckoned it was a problem with the antenna post, which is slowly splitting up the middle. He told me that we would probably have to replace the Internet post (this is a major endeavour for us because Gnome wants to incorporate a water tower into the entire structure) and this would probably take the best part of a month…with Gnome single-mindedness and ingenuity. Yes, you have guessed it…he wants to single-handedly put up the structure by himself with a system of pulleys, knowledge of physics and Gnome brains. The Munchkin mind boggles…
Anyway, today started off really well with Gnome finding his 1/4 inch chisel…do you remember a previous post about “chucking a maddy” all because we couldn’t find this chisel? Well, we finally found it and guess what…we don’t need it anymore!!
The brush mower actually miraculously sprung back to life, despite Gnome’s poor prognosis. It turns out that it isn’t a problem with the electric clutch (yay…it would have cost $200 to replace) but some poor connection with the battery. The problem is that the mower is not charging the battery so when the voltage on the battery drops, the clutch stops working. So, all is well as the problem has been solved: the battery is charged with a battery charger after every use. Oh, and there is a broken switch so Gnome “hot wires” the mower to start it up now. I am pleased to say that the mower is working and is now thoroughly Gnome-Rigged!!
And, yes, we are back in business with the Internet. The technician came out today and said that the “gateway box was fried.” Furthermore, he reassured us that the antenna was still in the right position, so the post, despite its weakness, was still doing its job. A big thank-you to Renin, the technician…he was really quite helpful and took the time to sort things out for us.
Now, Gnome has informed me that we are still going ahead with a Gnome Tower for the Internet antenna and water back-up. Also, we are still looking for a camera…
Hi Everyone!! This is a quick “drive by” post to let you know that we are having Internet problems. For now, we will try yo keep you posted when we can get to an Internet Cafe so you will not be hearing from us everyday.
With regards to the Internet, we do not know what is wrong with it but the only certain thing is that it is not working!
Right now, you will just have to imagine that we are up to our usual Munchkin and Gnome activities on the farm!
I am writing this post at 10am today and I have scheduled this to come up later this evening. We are waiting for our car service (that part was done over-night) and now the replacing of an array of ball-joints and universal joints. If you can recall a previous post from two weeks ago, we had complained of all sorts of funny creaking and screeching noises emitting from the rear of the truck. We did come to the conclusion, in our professional opinion, that it was a “God-Knows-Watsit-Joint-Problem.” So here we are, stuck in Belize with really slooow Internet. We also stayed over-night at a hotel in Belize City with virtually no Internet (although they boasted Free WiFi). I now feel better about our really bad Internet access; I always thought it was due to the fact that we lived in the middle of nowhere. No, it actually appears that the problem is across the whole country, regardless of location.
Anyway, I am not that bothered about the Internet being slow. It is not as if my life depends upon it and that I will fade into nothingness without the distractions of a computer screen in front of me. Although, I have seen some people react in such an irrational way…I am not sure what emergency emails they are basing their whole existence upon.
I am hoping that we can get out soon. The waiting is really tedious with bad television (we haven’t watched television for 20 years). The adverts get really ridiculous; seems like everything is marketed to the hilt and sensationalised. Also, the law firm adverts are really scary…makes it sound like you can get sued at any moment. Boy, I am so glad that I live in Belize with no television. It is a simpler life out here.
Let’s hope we can get out of Big City soon so that we can get on with our schedule. So far, no schedule has been fulfilled!!
We did see a fridge on a pick-up yesterday. Didn’t get a picture because it zoomed straight pass us I fumbled about looking for the camera!
The Gnome has spoken. That’s why we have dodgy Internet right now!!
