Day to day living: the things we put up with

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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There might be a lesson or two here.

This morning over some pancakes with maple syrup and Don Pedro salami, the lights which had gone out a few minutes earlier, came back. We knew they would since it was Friday and they use Tuesdays and Thursdays to open circuits for new installations or maintenance. Yesterday we had a 6 hour blackout. Okay, it was Thursday.

BUT, seconds later, the lights went out again. Okay, this is the DR and we "know" that nothing is perfect. The day wears on and on, I send to get diesel for the generator, no problem (well except for the @#$^price of it!!).

Now it is 5:00 p.m. and wife is really irritated and starts to call neighbors to see if they have lights and somehow our automatic switch has messed up and not switched back. But no, Do?a Pilar called and told me that she had lights "from the street." So I go hummm...WTF?

Then I go across the street to our friend's office. Their generator is on, too. Then I go a short block over to the colmado and no, they are on "street" power, too. More hummmm.

I go to the Sky Max office next door...no, they are on "street" power. And I go across the street, to the Accessory Store (Soraya's) and no, she is on her generator. HUMMMM??? Three of the four corners are without lights and the rest have electricity.

We file complaints with Ede-Norte.
"Sir, what is your contract number?" Bla bla and finally they give you a complaint number...The repair brigade will come...

We call friends at the Ede-Norte to push things along. At close to 7 o'clock the crew showed up. By that time I had identified a fourth house without lights but just us 4! About 20 minutes later we had "street" lights.

This nearly 1800 pesos in diesel was due to a poor corroded connection of Ede-Norte. Will I ever recover it? I do not know, but I am talking to my lawyer on Monday to explore the possibility. After all the Horometer on my generator now has over 3000 hours on it. That means they owe me 4500 hours of electricity, by law!!

But why did I wait, and why did my neighbors wait so long before filing the complaints?
Lesson 1: Well we live in the DR and these blackouts are part of life here. We are accustomed to them. So we relaxed and figured it was "normal"
Lesson 2: You need to know how to file a complaint. You need your light bill in hand and what your contract number is.
Lesson 3: You need friends in Ede-Whatever....someone you can call and talk to, not the robots...
Lesson 4: You need to have friends in the neighborhood that you can ask about things like the water or the lights and who can ask you...if Pilar had not called I would still be waiting and going to buy more fuel.

So, things are back to "normal"....and I need a beer!

HB
 

Gordon

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Jan 24, 2011
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but the stuff from north east sugar maples right? must be expensive. one pays a lot now where it comes from. it takes 40 plus gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. yum yum yum
 

Gordon

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Jan 24, 2011
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sorry HB, I did not mean to steal the thread. good luck on your recovery. the Canadian utilities contracts are so tight even the major insurance companies have a hard time squeaking any recovery money out of them. just no guarantee of steady power there. it is critical supply especially during colder months but tight contracts regarding supply.
 

Gordon

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Jan 24, 2011
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I used to bring down gallons and gave a lot away to friends as treats after it became less cool to hand out cigars. Now I stay longer and it gets a lot harder to give away. Not sure I gave any away last entrance. But reconsidering as the calories look better on my friends
 

Acira

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Sep 20, 2009
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I used to bring down gallons and gave a lot away to friends as treats after it became less cool to hand out cigars. Now I stay longer and it gets a lot harder to give away. Not sure I gave any away last entrance. But reconsidering as the calories look better on my friends

Damn...just now I decided to go on a diet!
 

RacerX

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Nov 22, 2009
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You don't worry about your cholesterol eating all them pan fried sausages and whatnot?
 

Gordon

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Jan 24, 2011
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I was moseying around the local supermarcado and found an unmarked, what looked to be a recycled brugal bottle with a brugal cap and full of a sweet syrup. I added a box of mais dulce mix and brought home a sort of pancake like end result with a topping that was not close to maple syrup luxury but had an intriguing nice taste over a sickeningly sweet sort of pancake. it was awful but somehow at the same time deserving of two. I am not even sure what it was but I might even do it again some time. odd
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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In answer to the inquiring minds.
I have friends in Northern Climes who regularly bring maple syrup. I have syrup from Michigan, Quebec, Ontario, Maine (! the BEST), New Hampshire and Vermont.
As far as cholesterol is concerned, I do not worry about it. I lead a healthy, active lifestyle, I get irregular checkups from my many doctors and I am amazingly healthy for anyone of my age.

Be well and learn.

HB
 

MaineGirl

The Way Life Should Be...
Jun 23, 2002
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Back to your point, HB. It seems to get things done you have to be aware of the problem, you have to have due diligence (keep the papers), have connections to those who can solve the problem, and last but not last have local connections with whom you can discuss the issue.

Key word here is connection!
 

CaptnGlenn

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Mar 29, 2010
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In the U.S. here, ('burb of Pittsburgh). We don't get many power outages, and when they do it's invariably some kind of F&^% up of some sort. A vehicle takes out a pole carrying a power line, a contractor cuts an underground line with his backhoe, or something of the sort. ON occasion it's something at the power company ... transformer, or whatever. Regardless of the cause, we pay the company on amount of electricity used, not for period of service ... we have no recourse for any kind of recovery due to loss of power.

As for Maple Syrup... it's one of the best bargains I've found at Costco. They sell it under their house "Kirkland" brand, and not only is it fabulous, it's half the price of what it costs in the supermarket. Maybe not as cheap or as good as one might get in New England or Canada... but it puts a smile on MY face... and ever higher numbers on the bathroom scale. If anyone wants some in the Cortecito area, I'd be happy to bring a few with me on my next trip down. Place your orders now, space is limited. LOL
 
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