Another Quiet Month for Construction News

It's the end of September, another month has slipped by. News on the construction front has been almost nonexistant. Just a few more pictures of the walls being plastered and that's it. I hope that they will start working on finishing the cistern so we have water when the house is completed in January. With only two months left in the rainy season, we're running out of time. But from what I've heard, there has been very little rain in the Consejo area.

The plastering in the kitchen area is just about finished.

The east side bedroom. Each bedroom has four large windows, like the one above.

Looking west from that same bedroom towards the living room and 2nd bedroom.

View from the kitchen area towards the 1st bedroom and living room.

The work on our home here in Camarillo is progressing faster than the construction in Belize but the contractor (me) is always taking time off to do other things. We're headed back to the fair today with friends, to pick up the mirror we bought and to view what we missed the last time. Then tomorrow we are going to Angel Stadium to watch our Angels finish the regular season and attend a big rally and fireworks show after the game to give them the push into the playoffs. We have tickets to game 2 of the playoffs against our nemisis, the Boston Red Sox, and if and when we beat the Sox, we also have tickets to game 2 of the American League Finals, probably against our other nemisis, the New York Yankees.

Then on Saturday, lobster season opens and several friends and I are going down to Newport Beach to dive for lobsters. The ocean is still fairly calm and the water temps remain warm (around 70 degrees) for California. Should be lots of fun.

Pictures from last years dive off Newport.

Then Sunday, it's back over to the Camarillo airport for ultralight lessons. I've been doing quite a bit of video work and helping to set up a new business plan for the owner, Mike. After a recent crash at one of the only other ultralight flying schools, it has left SkyRider Ultralights as the last teaching facility in Southern California. I'm lucky it is in my own backyard so I don't have a long commute to fly. Fall is here and it should be a great time to fly.

Let's All Go To The Fair

It's the time of year for the LA County Fair. This month long affair is a great place to go to buy junk you don't really need, eat way more than you should and walk until your legs are sore. We went on Friday so we would miss the real mad house crowds that come on the weekend. The fair sits on over one square mile of grounds with over 14 large show buildings, thousands of vendors, horse races, farm animals and a couple of hundred rides and carnival booths for the kids. It is probably one of the biggest fairs in the States. Mischelle and I have stayed the night nearby so we could visit for a second day, it is that large. Almost too much to see in one day.

Food, food and more food.


Mobile advertisement for Shock Beer.


The World's Largest Fire Hydrant. It's next to the dog park, of course.



Beer, beer and MORE BEER. Of course, at the Draft Beer Depot.

And of course you have to have pictures inside the cutout artwork.

There were lots of outdoor displays but we focused on getting ideas for an outdoor cooking area and bar. With that in mind we took a few pictures of the ideas we liked most and that we could build on our own down in Belize.

What would a fair be if it didn't have lots of animals. The petting zoo was fun to watch with all the little ones toddling about amongst the animals. It was just as much fun to watch the parents.

The parade of cars showcased vintage cars all restored to their showroom condition. I wish I could show all of them that were in the parade but there were just so many I only picked out some of the best.

This years' outdoor garden exhibit theme was Africa. The many displays featured flowers and fauna from all over the Continent. There were some live animals and flora displays.

My former employer, AT&T, had one whole building dedicated to reptiles of the Jurassic Period. They had live motion displays that were quite impressive.

All to soon, day gave way to night, and the fair lit up. All the carival rides and games came to life.

And what kind of fair would it be if you didn't buy something. So Mischelle and I bought a HUGE mirror for our new home and got lots of ideas for the front door.

So it was a fun day at the fair. Didn't get to see everything I wanted, but we did see a lot. Who knows, maybe we'll need to go back again this year before it closes.

A Weekend at the Beach

Labor day is here and that signifies the end of summer for a lot of people. It's the weekend everyone tries to squeeze in that one last trip before the kids return to school. In other words, it's a mad house. The ones that don't go on a trip, head to the malls or department stores for all the back to school sales. In our city of Camarillo, we have the factory outlet stores and they are filled to capacity with shoppers. I dare not venture into that area of the city around school shopping sales, anytime around Christmas and especially the AFTER Christmas sales.

I spent the Labor Day weekend flying ultralights down by the beach. Like last weekend, I took a video of my flights and made a small film production for the owner of the ultralights, who in return provided me free flight time. I think it has turned out to be a good deal for both of us. You can check out the full video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTaCh0ZTbaU .

Not much happening on the construction of the home, but the plastering continues as they finish the ceilings and final coats. John will be up here next week, so we can catch up on all the construction news then. I just hope he remembers to bring pictures.