Homeless By Choice

I just saw a post in the Bocas Open Forum, the woman who bought my house and wasn’t going to do anything major until it was paid for had an unapproved contractor rip off the roof and let it rain inside the house for a month.   

This is what she posted in Bocas Open Forum on Facebook:

BOCAS BEWARE!!!! Enrique Moreno contractor from Changuinola came to me highly recommended by a well respected person to install a new roof on my house. I trusted this man and left him and his crew at my house to install the new roof. Pictures can’t describe how these people trashed my property and the horrific job they did of the partial work they did. To say the least, after he fooled me to pay him most of the money for the job, he abandoned the project, my house and my dog without notice and left one of the bedrooms exposed to the elements without a roof during all of the heavy rain from a few weeks back.

Have some of the 500 messages I recieved prior to closing:

Sat, Jul 21, 3:07 PM

Ok I just noticed that you sent me the docs I needed so I can have JB preparare the offer or real estate purchase agreement. Do you rather go thru your attorney and have my attorney review or how do you prefer? Again, please send me your phone number so we can talk.

Thanks,

Miss Take 

You told me you would cover JBs fees. I don’t know what they are but I have no agreement with him.

You two work it out and I want JB to reply all that your arrangement is satisfactory.

HI JIM,

1- Miss Takeis waiting for your approval on this …pls confirm so I can insert this in the contract 

“

We have decided not to start any major projects until we have you paid off 100% within 6 months from the date we sent you the down payment.  The following are the only projects I would like to complete when I return to Isla solarte in September and would like you approval in writing.  

1. clean up property inside and out

2. clea water storage tanks and septic tank

3. build small room under the house for care taker

4. build deck and bamboo screen under the house side with the best view to hang hammocks

5. fix loose boards and railing from wooden stairs

6. Might need to upgrade solar system and add 2 more water tanks

Jim, You’ve agreed to fix roof water leaks before I move in.  Please confirm.  Also, you have not confirm if the skiff will convey?”

 Hello Jim my client Miss Takewill be making an offer in the next couple of days she is in Costa Rica right now 

Your Approval Required 

Jim,

I’m trying to get this transaction moving along so both you and me can move on and do what you need to do and I can do what I need to do therefore, your approval is required on the following list of repairs or maintenance required to bring the property to acceptable standards.

Please note that the following repairs or maintenance will be perform at Miss Take expense and you will not be require to reimburse Miss Takefor any cost associated with any repairs or maintenance Miss Takechoose to do to improve the property.

Maintenance Items to be service or updated:

1. clean up property inside and out

2. clean water storage tanks and septic tank

3. build small room under the house and outdoor bathroom for care taker

4. build deck and bamboo screen under the right side of the house 

5. fix loose boards and railing from wooden stairs

6. If required, upgrade solar system and add 2 more water tanks

Jim has agreed to perform the following repair prior to vacating the property:

1. fix roof water leaks before   

I offered to gift you the skiff, but then you wanted it added into the contract, I am not sure if I can get hold of the guy who has it.  Then I would be in default if I couldn’t get it.  Complicating a contract with a gift was problematic.

You really need a Carenero water taxi boat, so your worker can pick up supplies and go with his wife.

Bobby has one for sale for $2,500 I told you there was a new suzuki for sale for $1,700.   

Also I can discuss how to build a platform to make it unsinkable at home and how to rig a bilge pump that won’t clog.

Scruffy 

I don’t keep my phone with me when I am developing software.

I reply to emails fast enough, but not when I am in the middle of something.

There is no need to worry about lost hair, I attacked him with clippers to get out the knots, it will grow back, he looks better with short hair on his head but he still doesn’t like the clippers much.

He is very happy and healthy, should get vaccines and deworming, but I don’t have time.  His teeth are sparkly, they have been brushed.

He is damn happy.

Hi there, do you have contact info for the guy that works on generators in Bocas? I’m looking at a 22kw Generac LP generator and want to make sure he can service it.

Thanks 

Re: Scruffy 

I know but, I also need basic utilities like light and water as well as a new roof and a safe way to get up to the house before I kill myself on the very unsafe stairs.  Today I had a contractor here that you recommended and we found a massive termite infestation that has started to eat the under the house support infrastructure of the house and has already eaten a large portion of the stairs to the point that is very usafe. Sadly that’s not all, Pierre took at look at the solar system and most likely it will also have to be scratched plus the water pump is missing the pressure whatever and the roof is leaking from everywhere beyond repair, so in all honesty I feel like I have made a very bad investment but, I’m not prepare to lose my $40K so I’ll just have to bite the bullet and make lemonade with the lemon you sold me.  Now I understand why this was hell for you, it’s hell for me too 

You have provided the caretaker a small bedroom, no bathroom, no kitchen, next to a noisy generator and are setting the family up for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Re: drawings for caretaker room and generator room 

The caretaker’s room is big enough to store a weeks worth of propane bottles for a 20k propane generator.

Now you just need a place for the caretaker to live, cook, and shit.   You can cut cost by having a bigger deck while providing some room.

Re: Scruffy 

What under the house support infrastructure is being eaten by termites? Termite trails do not indicate termite damage.

Send some photos.  

It rained every day when I was there, you walked through the house and it was completely dry inside.  Now you tell me it is leaking everywhere?  Very strange.  But, yeah, a new roof is in order.  

Send photos of the stair damage.   Some risers need to be replaced, they should be made out of nispero, fresh nispero is $1.50 a board foot, it doesn’t have to be dried.  

A 10′ section 2″ thick is 20 board feet, about $30.  Labor should be about $10.  So that’s about $40 a riser.  Most of them are in satisfactory shape.

It’s a DC water system and a pressure tank is not required.   You need a clean filter to get good flow.

Contractors are generally incompetent or dishonest.

I brought the sun with me so no rain since I got here. I’m over my meltdown so is paradise today and enjoying my camping out experience until I can get thing working. The termites have not been able to penetrate much of the foundation rafter s which TG are all nispero but have found a few week spots that they have started to eatup. As for the leak s inside the home Felipe was the one to tell me and you can visibly see the holes on the roof. Take a look at termites infection and compromised foundation piers that require concrete retaining wall to stabilize.

Images of a termite nest in the bodega that she already knew needed a new roof. It was a nest, no termite damage

Re: Pics 

There have been three earthquakes on Bastimentos in the last 30 days I see no evidence that pier has shifted a centimeter.  Is there any gap between it and the surrounding clay?

On Mon, Sep 10, 2018 at 9:37 AM Miss Take wrote:

I brought the sun with me so no rain since I got here. I’m over my meltdown so is paradise today and enjoying my camping out experience until I can get thing working. The termites have not been able to penetrate much of the foundation rafter s which TG are all nispero but have found a few week spots that they have started to eatup. As for the leak s inside the home Felipe was the one to tell me and you can visibly see the holes on the roof. Take a look at termites infection and compromised foundation piers that require concrete retaining wall to stabilize.

Re: Pics 

Termite trails are everywhere.   A trail is not an indication of damage.   So as far as termites, there is a nest in the roof of the bodega.  Scrape it off and all trails and wash with white vinegar.

This is a non issue.

As far as the piers, how is it obvious that they are floating?  How large are the gaps next to the clay?   Please send photos of gaps with a ruler over the gap.

On Mon, Sep 10, 2018 at 10:56 AM Miss Take wrote:

Yes, the termites nest are inside the bodega but, the trails are under the house and they are very active looking for any week parts of the wood so they can go after it.  Gary told me that the foundation has been compromised  to fix it is with a concrete retaining wall anchor to the concrete piers.  is very obvious that at least 3 of the piers are floating because all of the dirt was removed from all the digging done around them by your Argentinian dude.  I got hold of the guy that has your lil skiff.  I told him that have purchased your property and your skiff and that’s mine and I was on my way to go and get it. He told me that he’ll bring it to me at noon today and all he needed was gas money.  I agreed.

Pleasesend me an email confirming that the skiff is mine so I can show itto him when he gets here in canse he needs proof.  as soon as Iget it the money will be deposited into your Chase bank account.

On Mon, Sep 10, 2018 at 10:24 AM James Schmidt wrote:

They look like photos from the bodega.

Who told you that you need a retaining wall? 

On Mon, Sep 10, 2018 at 9:37 AM Miss Take wrote:

I brought the sun with me so no rain since I got here. I’m over my meltdown so is paradise today and enjoying my camping out experience until I can get thing working. The termites have not been able to penetrate much of the foundation rafter s which TG are all nispero but have found a few week spots that they have started to eatup. As for the leak s inside the home Felipe was the one to tell me and you can visibly see the holes on the roof. Take a look at termites infection and compromised foundation piers that require concrete retaining wall to stabilize.

Re: Priorities 

Gary said stairs are beyond repair and it would cost at least $20K to replace plus, roof will also cost $10K plus with that said, $60K is nothing and it will not go very far just to make the house safe and livable

On Mon, Sep 10, 2018 at 12:09 PM Miss Take wrote:

Based on how much Jim Weaver said solar would cost and Gary

On Mon, Sep 10, 2018 at 11:48 AM James Schmidt wrote:

Determine your power requirements for your living conditions, you only need air in the bedrooms I would think.  

Make a list of all appliances, wattage per appliance and how many hours a day they will run.

Determine peak wattage and number of kwh per day.

An absurd example is six one ton air conditioners running 24 hours a day.

That’s 6 kilowatts.   If that’s what you want to do, and I think that is insane.  Then forget solar and just put in a 7.5 kilowatt diesel generator and run it 24 hours a day.

You can pick those up from between 2,500 to $5,000.  Some are as quiet as 62 db.

Yous aid you could pay $100,000 down.  I am assuming you have $60,000 to play with.

Get a generator, install it in the bodega and insulate it, brick up the walls, put on a new roof on the bodega.

That should be way less than $10,000. Fuel for 2.5 kw (2 air conditioners, refrigerator, fans in every room and water pump running non stop should be less than 1 liter an hour maybe 20 liters a day, say, $25 a day in fuel.

Install wall fans on the deck for maximum efficiency or really good ceiling fans.

You can buy up to 60,000 cubic feet per minutes celing fans.  at nightly temp of 

Re: Priorities 

Gary is full of shit.

At most 15 stairs treads need to be replaced. None of them are likely to break in the next five years. They are about 4 feet by one foot by 2 inches, 8 board feet, $12 apiece out of Nispero and the old dock section has plenty.

Some risers need to be replaced $50 apiece installed.

This is not a safety hazard, they don’t  totally collapse and if they did you would fall one foot.

There is less than $1,000 to fix the stairs.

You could fix bid the whole thing for less than $2,000.

For $5,000 you could have all the stairs taken apart, planed and reassembled.

I never met Gary, forget about him

Want to make a bet that with a ten pound sledge hammer Felipe can’t break a single step in 15 blows?

On Mon, Sep 10, 2018, 1:13 PM Miss Take wrote:

Gary said stairs are beyond repair and it would cost at least $20K to replace plus, roof will also cost $10K plus with that said, $60K is nothing and it will not go very far just to make the house safe and livable

Yes,it’s so true that good help is hard to find I know that so well butonce I find it I hang on to it.  In Austin my housekeeper hasworked for me for 15 years, my nanie that helped raised my daughteralso worked for me for 15 years and my gardener has worked for me forme for 10 years but, only God knows how many people I had to go thruto the keepers.  As for company, I’m meeting alot of nice expatthat I’ll visit with when I need company.  My husband will comeand go about 50% of the time.  I’ll spend a couple of months inthe state during the winter so I can ski and the rest of the time,I’ll be here creating a paradise. Prior to meeting my husband I wasdivorced and lived by myself out in the middle of nowhere and learnedto do my own pluming, electrical work, handle and trailed a cigaretteboat in out of the water, up and down hills and back under thehouse.  I learned to be totally self-sufficient and I’m notafraid of anything and loved.  I got a big can of wasp spray,pepper spray and a big machete next to my bed and if anyone tries tobreak in the house I’m prepared to chop them up into mince meat. Thatmay sound very mean but, if is between me, my family and my dog, it’sgoing to be the bad guy that’s going down.  I’m also a lifetime hunter and I’m planning on getting a permit to carryso I can own fire arms here for self-protection.   Betweenall the cameras, motion sensor security lights and siren I’m havinginstall in January and my ability to protect myself I don’t expectanyone to come around here with any bad intention.

Wow it sounds like you’re really living the dream, I’m happy for you!  

Take care!

On Mon, Sep 24, 2018 at 9:38 PM Miss Take wrote:

I have not had a chance to check on the nispero yet. been working on getting roof and gutters replaced.  I opted to go with a very expensive commercial grade PVC roof because is very environment friendly and no metals on drinking filter water plus it has 40 years warranty.  It will be delivered at bocas town on Friday and the contractor will start installation on Monday, one week for today.  Virginia is handling the labor contract and payments for me as well as inspection to verify completion of work and quality workmanship.  This contractor works for my surveyor in Changuinola and I inspected some of his projects in Bastimentos and was really impressed with the quality of his work. I ended up having to pay $135.00 to get the carb cleaned and having them show me how to operate the generator.  I’m getting new battery for the solar system this week and it looks like Zach and his wife may end up house sitting for me.  The entire country of Panama knows that most Bocas people don’t like to work even my panamanian friends from the states have told me that. 

On Mon, Oct 8, 2018, 7:10 PM James Schmidt wrote:

———- Forwarded message ———

From: 

Date: Mon, Oct 8, 2018, 3:20 PM

Subject: Re: Camera, lens, accessory, hardware wallet

To: James Schmidt

Not back in Texas yet. Will get there this evening. Karl can get your camera tomorrow at xxxxxx. Have him call my husband first at xxxx or we could leave it at the front porch bench. We normally don’t have anything go missing from our front porch. 

It’sbeen pure hell at what I thought would be paradise. Solar system whendown on Friday. Batteries not charging still no power. Justimagine in the darkness at night hotter than hell andfkin bugs eating you alive. Nothing I planned for. JimWeaver is coming out this morning to see if he can figure out whybatteries are not charging and see if he can find a temporary fixthat’s no going to cost an arm and a leg. There is no doubt that Imade an emotional decision and not a smart biz call as I normally dowhen purchasing investment properties. I clearly over paid $25k sinceall I got a very difficult to build Clif with a nice view and 4 wallsof nispero woods. Everything else is 100 crap that either needs majorfixing or scrapped. You either lie to me or you’re out of your mindwhen you told me that there were 12 people living there andeverything worked. But I don’t blame you, I blame myself for notthinking with my head and getting a home inspection done and notwaiting for JB to come back and help. Well the bottom line is that Igot a bag of fkin lemonons and my only choice is to keep spendingmoney to make limonade and hopefully I can sell my limonade.

Apologies, I now have working internet and will try to catch up on Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia as well as trips to see monkeys, apes and Komodo Dragons.  In the mean time, have a review I just left on TripAdvisor.

——

Just a short walk from my hotel is a four story shopping mall dedicated to electronics.  I knew what I wanted to buy, a Canon Rebel SL1, sold here as the D100.  I had been disappointed in the white balance and vividness of the D4100 and most pictures required post processing.  The camera also lacked autofocus in movie mode.  Whatever.

I was just going to buy the camera, a UV filter and a circular polarizing filter.  I ended up buying the 55-230 lens; I figured I would just regret not having it on my trip to Borneo, starting tomorrow.  This is the lightest SLR on the market and has received rave reviews on its quality of pictures. I was quite pleasantly surprised to find a store at the mall that sold cameras for less than Amazon prices and that there is no sales tax or VAT in Malaysia.  I also bought two UV filters and a Circular Polarizing Filter and a monopod.  They threw in a bag, a screen protector, a blower bulb and brush. Then I bought a 1,500 milliamp spare battery.

Next stop, get a lightning cable for charging my phone.  A standard USB cable has four wires, two for carrying current and two for data. A lightning cable shorts the data lines.  In this mode the phone will charge at one amp versus 500 milliamps with a standard cable.  Amazingly they wanted $20 for a $3 cable with the wires shorted.  I then spotted a 17,000 milliamp external battery pack. My current one is only 850 milliamps.  This beast would give my phone five charges.  Really I need to have a phone at all times.  As I said yesterday, google maps for taxis, track my walks, find points of interest with TripAdvisor, take pictures and yes, chat on Facebook.  They wanted to sell me this lightning cable for much faster charging.  I told them the cables that came with the battery pack were power only cables and I didn’t need anything else.  They didn’t believe me.  I downloaded three apps that show the charging rate and they all indicated 1 amp.  “This device puts out 2.3 amps.” So what dude, the phone won’t draw that.  I also advised them that the cable should only be used on AC adapters.  I don’t know if I got through to them.

When I got back to the hotel I looked up the filters I had bought and realized that when I stopped asking questions about prices the guy went nuts.  I went back to the store and told the guy I wanted to return the filters as I had been charged four times the value and showed him the prices online. He complained that online prices can’t be matched by stores.  I told him that four times the price was ridiculous and that I was sure I could buy at the online prices at another store.  He gave me a cash refund of a $150 and apologized profusely for having been caught.

All right, laundry is done, time to book a flight.  Orangutans, coming up.

I put an ad in Craig’s list several days ago and received four or five emails.  One guy promised to come and buy my camera on Wednesday night as he was in Pattaya, a beach town about 100 kilometers from Bangkok.  After several exchanges, he never showed. Around eleven Wednesday night I received an email from an engineering student who wanted to buy it for his girlfriend who was taking a photography class.  We agreed to meet at the hotel at nine.

He finally showed up at 10:30, inspected it and got the Nikon D5100 camera body, three lenses, a right angle viewer, four macro lens/filters, U/V filter, Circular Polarizing Filter, lens hoods and a bag I picked up in Sagada Philippines.  Used on Amazon that was about $700, I let it all go for 8,500 baht, about $275.   I just didn’t want to carry all that stuff anymore, the only thing I had used was the camera body and the 18-55 mm lens.

Off to the airport, I paid 10,000 baht in fines for overstaying my visa by 20 days.  What a dope.

A two and half hour flight with lots of knee room and I was in Kuala Lumpur.  I had booked a hotel in an area called Bukit Bintang.  The online instructions were

From the KLIA Airport, you need to get to the KL Sentral station (the airport is 60km away from KL).Then, take the monorail to the Bukit Bintang station. The fare is RM3.70 (~฿37.41)

The train was ridiculously easy to find and in short order I took a very comfortable 60 km ride to Sentral Station.  Then the fun began.

I waited in the queue at the token machine while a woman paid her 3.70 fee in dimes.  It took her forever to insert them and to scrounge around.  I was inclined to walk to the front of the line and just insert a couple of bills, but I remained patient.  The next person, who certainly appeared a malay stood in front of the machine for a confused five minutes before figuring out how to use it. Eventually it was my turn.  I pressed the screen over a station labeled Bukit Bintang.  There were no clear signs. I made inquiries and was told there was no way to get there.  After half an hour I decided just to take a taxi but it appeared that there were none at the central terminal. I made another inquiry and was told I would have to go to Masjid Jamek and transfer from there.  That was easy. I hopped the train, got Masjid Jamek and finally saw a transit map. From here I would have yet another transfer. I decided to go back to the Sentral Station and find the monorail.  I had bought a new phone, A Samsung Galaxy Note 3 a few days earlier and developed the habit of carrying it in a pouch over my shoulder.  In the pouch I also carry a charger that will top up the phone. I need a phone all the time.  Nearest places of interest, google maps to direct taxi drivers, yes and chatting on facebook.  As I was departing the train a girl about age five ran off the train and handed me my phone.  How the hell did that happen?  I inquired as to the location of the monorail and was told it was in the mall.  From the station I took the escalator into the mall and wandered around without any clue as to where it was.  I was finally directed to leave the mall on the far side.  I found the monorail and six token machines, all with their lights off and no way to board the train. What the hell?  Somebody else told me to take the elevator down to the ticket office.  I did so and found a couple of guys in their early twenties from Turkmenistan who were studying in Kuala Lumpur.  We joked around for a bit and then they told me that the ticket office was across the street.  Come on guys, a sign or two couldn’t hurt.  I secured a token and headed to my stop.  Broad sidewalks of granite, litter free, were populated but not crowded with a great many people.  A very short man completely covered in gold glitter did the old statue trick and posed with tourists who paid to take pictures with him.   Time to grab a taxi and get taken to the hotel.  Easier said than done.  I only found a taxi every twenty minutes and none of them knew where the hotel was even provided the address in writing from the booking confirmation.  I made my way to a McDonalds and availed myself of the wifi. The hotel didn’t have a website and none of the booking companies listed it’s phone number.  I finally found a facebook page for the hotel that listed the number and packed up.   My phone was now dead, but my Mac Air can run on batteries for 12 hours.  I found a taxi showed him the number, he called the hotel and then quoted me an outrageous fee.  I told him to use his meter, he refused. I finally got him down to 25 ringgit and he took me to the hotel.  I arrived at the hotel three hours after arriving at the airport.

I met a german lad who was on his way to Singapore. I mentioned that it was very expensive.  He knew, he was staying at a hotel at the harbor for $300 a night.  That’s way the hell out of my budget range.  He mentioned that he was going to Bali and I told him I had a couple of friends there and then showed him pictures of the bikini models I spent three weeks with in the Philippines.  I mentioned that they were from Guadalupe.  His parents winter at their house in the Canary Islands.  Few bucks in the family.  I introduced him to my friend Candice.  He seemed quite excited.  Dinner and time for bed.