Week three ! Its coming together ;-))

Well as you may learn from the title, in week three things really started happening, which is very very encouraging indeed, since I have to move soon, as in 10 days !... I can only work at the renovations Tuesday till Saturday, since Mondays I still have too much to sort out in Cape Town..Had sleepless nights during the weekend and this resulted in me deciding that a manager cum business partner was, for a combination of reasons, not really what I wanted, and had to tell him that I would 'go it alone' from now on.. well thought out and honest decision and lets not elaborate further..

Anyway.... Tuesday got the boys going and went 'shopping' for material in Hermanus, quite a mission since the road is one up from  a dirt road, has some potholes in it and is quite dusty, sometimes one can 'race' at 80 kmph and sometimes you have to just bear in mind that the car is also just a car, and have to drive somewhat slower.. My Ford Ranger Pickup is quite a blessing and proves to be the workhorse I hoped it would be !

Getting back to the farm a blue pick up just pulled out and I made way for them to pass, turning down the window saying 'hello' (its what you do in the country, you wave at other cars, or just stop for a little chat, so different from city life !) and hey, I was talking to the guys of the Internet !!! Wonderful.. where are you going ??.. 'Well.. we cant install, there is no electricity !' Oh but there is, I just need to extend a cable, I promise you and the coffee is ready in 5 !".. so they did a 7 point turn (that road is very narrow;-) and followed me back to my 'plaas' (afrikaans for 'farm or smallholding')..

There I met the one and only Ferdi, from the internet service B360 and we started chatting about the installation of course.. wandering round the farm to assess where best their signal could be picked up from with their binoculars.. they had to identify the mountain, some 10 km away from my place, where their antenna is located and find the spot where the signal would be best received.. no easy task since I have Blue Gum trees on the farm some 30  meters high that interfere !! (they will go in due course) and, question, where is the pole where we can attach the receivers transponders and what have you ?.. well.. after identifying where exactly the right spot was,  5 meters from that very point there was one of those trees, and  trees happen to be what poles are made of, no ?.. well. ehh,, yes ! This 'pole' is only growing and still has roots, but other than that...... ;-)))) So, off to Caledon I went, bought 45 meter electricity cable, connected that in the milk shed, and power point was established, for now.. In the meantime Ferdi 's assistant had already attached all necessary equipment to the pole (or tree if you like) and we happily plugged everything in, and VOILA..... after some wiggling and moving the receptors to and fro, a signal was detected !!! YEAHHHh.. those guys are truly amazing (and very very friendly, so I can recommend them !!!)

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Ferdi sitting in the grass calibrating the signal, what a nice guy !

Ferdi's assistant wigglig the receiver, yep we have lift off !!!

And after this truly amazing feat, I could 'do' my emails again, and use my Skype to make phone calls, (Vodacom is still not covering my farm ;-) How amazing technology works these days. Installation cost is quite a bit, the equipment is pretty valuable but, when all is said and done, the monthly subscription is only 295 rand @ 8mbps, so quite fast too .. I am CHUFFED with my Internet.. a real HotSpot which is called, well ??.. Ricks Network ;-))) You only experience what communication means when you've been without it for some weeks ! So I now have an office too ! herewith the pic ;-)

My office with a view..

Next pleasant surprise was the digger loader making its way onto the plaas.. there he was, the big yellow mean machine that would dig my trenches for my Electricity (official approved connections that is), level the access road a bit, and deepen the pond and reinforce the dam wall.. yeahhhh.. .here is the machine at work !

Digger loader messing up my 'garden'

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Wednesday afternoon the truck from Penny Pinchers arrived and dumped a lot of materials in the 'double garage' if you may call it that, and we proceeded to install the windows (and the glass) which proved a bit more difficult than anticipated (lets do this quickly just does not exist when renovating I tell you) but we got the job done, and here goes with the pictures.. !

Bigger windows, more light, better view

One in one to go

Tadaaaa ~!!!!! after a lot of $%^&*&^%$#$%^&*!!!! ;-))

So there you go.. windowframes and glass in, double doors are fitted.. and now for the electricians, who arrived friday afternoon and completed 'the job' on saturday.. that is, the pipes are in the walls and floors and ceilings, lots of angle grinding and sweating and DUST !!!! To give you an idea, here goes some more pics !

No the cottage is not on fire, we're working with an angle grinder here !

The kitchen/pantry , a counter top with power points, so  I can at least install the most elementary equipment when I move next week (dishwasher, washing machine, fridge, microwave and coffee machine) which will make it all 'habitable' and  that is the aim ... Plumbing I will do next week ! and a 'real' kitchen will follow at some stage..

Here I hope to put my furniture 10 days from when the pic was taken !

And this is the situation on the 26th of February 2011.. I have to move and empty out my house in Cape Town by no later than the 8th of March !!! Getting some extra workers involved the coming week and lets see how far we get.. walls need to be screeded (inside first) then the electical will be finished... floors need to be levelled and a new layer of concrete and then we're on the right track.. For now, that's it for my blog, resting this sunday, organizing lots on monday and monday evening off to the farm again to prepare for the 'great treck' a week later ! I remain optimistic and it will all work somehow.. I'm sure and not stressing at all.... have a place to sleep, and a plug to connect the coffee machine, so am not complaining and won't !!!

Max looks fat on this pic, but he just had his dinner ;-)))

And the dogs ???.. well they  are adjusting just fine.. Zarah sleeps most of the day.. the darling is 16 years old in a few weeks, and the puppy Max(i) is overtaking her in size quite rapidly.. he is fast, playful and interested in just about everything.. he loves it out there, just like I do.. becoming a real farm dog chasing from here to there, but to where I still have to find out ;-))))


greetingszzz.. 

Rick

xxx