Oklahoma Engineering 101

an email from Jan 2005

Well, I think we are officially past the camping stage of our experience in Nicaragua. Since our move Dec 2003, we have done without certain things, like an oven, and coped with certain aspects, like a BS water situation, as our time at the Nuevo Millenium complex was limited. We thought. We are still looking for the perfect piece of land and the longer it takes, the more we have been moving toward our creature comforts to help make life easier.

Our rental doesn't come with an oven and I had decided it wasn't important now as we'll be buying a nice, big one for our house. Why have two, huh? Last week, I gave in and spent my Christmas money from my Dad at the Galerias on Carretera Masaya on a convection oven. It had been a year since I had one and I celebrated by playing in the kitchen for two days, artichoke bacon dip, tomato pesto bruschetta, pork taquitos, crab stuffed mushrooms. I think Roger gained 10lbs this past weekend.

Dealing with the water situation at the Nuevo Millenium complex, or should I say the lack of it, has tested our relationship, strengthened our resolve to make our life here work, enabled my son to realize the importance of the simple things in life, forced us all to gain an understanding of water conservation, and basically made us stronger whether we liked it or not.

The problem is nothing more than poor construction and the resident's inability to understand motors. The pipe to the complex is way too small to support the number of residents, and nobody knows to shut off the pump whenever the power goes off so the seals burn out. There's been lots of meetings, fingers get pointed, nothing gets resolved, and we slowly go nuts. So Roger took matters into his own hands, used a little Oklahoma Engineering 101, and rigged up a 2hp compressor to a 35 gallon plastic barrel. We now have water all the time, hot showers with the press of a button, I can wash dishes when I want, and we all enjoy the simple pleasure of being able to brush our teeth when we get up in the morning. Wow, life is good again!