Author Archives: Britton

Killing Bugs and Zombies

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Well we’ve been busy lately killing all kinds of bugs and zombies. Once you’re done killing one, another takes its place.

– Zombies are sometimes harder to kill and can be reoccurring.
– Bugs aren’t serious but can be annoying and they grow in numbers.

Cassie and I use ‘bugs’ and ‘zombies’ as metaphors for errands or things that pop up from time to time that need attention. Like for instance my car needs work, and we are trying to find a renter. We also have minor things that get pushed to the background when we focus on these other things. Like in the zombie movies, there are usually a few that need tending too first -the ones about to bite you and eat your brains- and there are all the others that you can see in the distance lurching at you. Yes, and if you let them get to you, you will become one!

I was thinking about it and to me it seems that we seek these things out. My brain(s!) at least tends to find things that need fixing. The problem with this is that something ALWAYS needs to be fixed. I complain about it, but I constantly search these things out and would be bored if I didn’t have them. Kind of a catch 22. In fact that’s all I do at work everyday, kill bugs! (system/application admistration..computer bugs)

There is a Pearl Jam video at the bottom of the post. I remember it from when I was growing up. The lyrics are pretty spot on:

I got bugs
I got bugs in my room
Bugs in my bed
Bugs in my ears
Their eggs in my head
Bugs in my pockets
Bugs in my shoes
Bugs in the way I feel about you

It’s funny but I distinctly remember identifying with this song when I was 18 years old. So this whole ‘bugs’ thing isn’t new to my world. I just have more of them and have become better at killing them so the ones I complain about tend to be bigger.

Bugs on my window
Trying to get in
They don’t go nowhere
Waiting, waiting…
Bugs on my ceiling
Crowded the floor
Standing, sitting, kneeling…
A few block the door

No matter what, you can’t get away from them. They are literally everywhere! The paint isn’t right, the wood needs sanded, the hedge needs trimmed, the car needs vacuumed, the pets need fed and on and on and on.

And now the questions:
Do I kill them?
Become their friend?
Do I eat them?
Raw or well done?
Do I trick them?
I don’t think they’re that dumb
Do I join them?
Looks like that’s the one

I kill quite a few of them but there are some you just have to be at peace with. Things you can’t really do anything about. The funny part of this video is that he totally screws it up at the start. Bugs….

It Came to Me in a Dream

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Well I guess it’s as sure as it’s going to get so here is the scoop:  We signed a contract to buy a place in Rincon!

A few weeks ago while I was sleeping Jack  (Cassie’s Dad who recently passed) came to me in a dream.  We were in Puerto Rico on a sunny day on top of a hill.  It was on the west side of the island and I could see the ocean from where we were.  I don’t remember all the details about it but a few things stood out. 

  1. Jack was waiting for us in Puerto Rico or already had a place.
  2. The house reminded me of playground equipment for some reason.
  3. The place had an ocean view.

When I woke up I told Cassie about the dream.  I had been waiting for Jack to visit me in my dreams and he finally did!  I remember telling him something like: “Well if you already had a place in Puerto Rico why didn’t you tell us!!! This would have been so much easier!”

Fast forward a week…Maybe a week and a half.  A Realitor calls me while I am at work.  I met him in PR when I was down there last time and we looked at a property.  He said that the sellers of the property wanted to extend an offer/price.  They knocked $270,000 off of their inital asking price!   Well I told him that I’d have to ask Cassie, but I am pretty sure we would make a deal. 

Here are a few pictures of the place.  I have some video to upload later on too.  There is a main wood house, a small studio concrete guesthouse and 4 acres of land.

This place meets nearly all of Cassie and my criteria.  It is a perfect compromise really.  It has some land to move around/build on, it’s located in Rincon and it’s affordable.   We really like Rincon because it will be an easier transition to move to, there is the possibility of making our own rental/vacation home business there, and there is a lot of great events and things going on. When I looked at this place before I didn’t take it too seriously because they were asking so much.

The house is a wood treated place which is good and bad.  It’s good because we will have a place to stay while we are down there.  It’s bad becasue we are planning to eventually take it down and put up a concrete house of our choosing.  I like this though because it is more of a ‘pay as you go’ option.  We don’t have to take out a major loan, we can design it how we want it and it has something we can use now.

Both of us are SUPER excited about it, and even more certain that it is the right decision.  The down side is that we have a contract on the other place near Isabela.  We are going to break the news to that realitor soon that we had something totally unexpected come up that will prevent us from purchasing that property.   There isn’t much money on the line so it is something that Cassie and I are willing to let go and chalk up to the cost of the other place.

This place in Rincon is going to require a lot of work and improvements to make it what we want.  That’s fine though.  We are looking forward to the challenge (as we’ve done before with our rentals)! And in the mean time, we can enjoy the sunset over the ocean from our literal dream home in the tropics- which will make it all the more worthwhile.

Life Prefers Warmer Temperatures

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I read thru a political forum from time to time.  I find it interesting for a number of reasons and it gives me an opportunity and a reason to try and educate myself on a number of things.  Just recently someone posted an article about prosperty and global temperatures.   The premise is pretty basic.  When it is warm out life grows more readily there is more food and more wine consumed!  When it is cold food is scarce, wars break out and societies collapse. 

The article doesn’t attempt to explain the reasons for the warming and cooling and it really isn’t the point.

I thought it was relevant because we are trying to move from a climate that has extreme swings in temperature thru the seasons to one that is much more steady.  In the summer in Colorado it can get up to 110F degrees and in the winter it can get to -20F.   I’ve started to notice that with those swings I also experience a change.  In the summer things are growing, I have more energy and am generally way more productive.  In the winter things die, I have less energy and it’s more difficult to try and be productive.

I would think that not experiencing the extreme changes in seasons and temp would keep humans (and all life for that matter) just a bit more on the productive and energetic side.  It will be interesting to see what my own experience is like living closer to the equator.

From Up Above

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Well I found the property on Google Maps.  It looks as though my memory was right in that we are the only house in the area.   I had a GPS location from my phone I grabbed during my last visit but I couldn’t figure out exactly where it was at.  We are excited for this new year and the things it will bring. The real estate agent received our contract, so we are on our way to an exciting year!


Click for larger View

There are 2 clearings (triangle shaped and one directly across from the property that is squarish shaped).  The clearing across the street had been filled in with Greenery by the time I got there but the triangle clearing was pretty much the same from what I remember.

Both areas would make for good places to build additional housing.  In total there are 11 cuerdas (acres).  Our plan today is to build another cabana and a pool on the property and visit as often as we can.  Over the next couple of years we will work towards moving permanently.

We have a plot plan and I am trying to match it up to the picture so we know our borders.  That will help us with the planning out of where to build the next structure and where to put our pool!

Well I wanted to put up a brief update as to what we were doing.   I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a happy new year!