Another Dominican Miracle

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,329
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I have had a bad year - too amny problems .....I can't wait to leave next week , which is totally out of character for me.

Inversor blew
Planta blew
Pool light blew (empty pool, etc which means empty the cisterna too)
TV went berserk
Watchyman sleeps too much ( 2 of them)

It's a big list ending with the washing m/c blowing the day my wife left.

An LG front load.... muy sophisticada lavadora

I guess salt invasion but we see cucaracha droppings

the local Einstein comes and rips my washer apart.... pieces everywhere
I'm used to the RD way.... nuts & bolts are spread out helter skelter

The interface board goes away for checkiando...
my faith is slipping fast

He returns today declaring the interface board has no problems..... deep doodoo here

But - he says - there is another , bigger panel 'atras'....

sure enough the cockroaches have eaten it

no problema -- he snips and patches and who knows what.... FIXED !!!

they never cease to amaze me
I was doing logistics research to source an LG replacement - pronto

Issue averted............

I leave in a week to recharge on the shore of Lake Huron... where the Temp has crept above freezing for the past few days

The only issue will be the Chippewa tribe at Ipperwash .... reclaiming their land and negating a 100 yr old treaty.
Big Deal..........

Canadians may remember the Ipperwash Aboriginals/ First Nation / First People.... I 've lost track..... shooting , the whole enchilada during the last confrontation...
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
look for a replacement part anyhow. who knows how long the miracle will last.
 

rogerjac

Bronze
Feb 9, 2012
1,389
456
83
I had the same problems last month. The problems got the better of me and here I am in KW waiting to start work next week. In a few months my batteries will be recharged as will my bank account. Then back to the insanity. Good luck at the lake.
 

DR_Guy

Bronze
Feb 17, 2010
891
81
48
Good for you. I also have good luck with them repairing water coolers and stuff you would normally throw away.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,329
113
DR_Guy... they can fix anything - and rather well usually
they just take a different route doing it

roger
I always look forward to the 'recharge' experience at the lake (Grand Bend)
if anybody follows my posts, they will know i am a BIG RD supporter

for the first time - in 8 yrs - I felt like I was going under.......

I even screamed at a car today on the road and leaned on my horn.......clearly, I'm losing it

I leave for 2 months now and Sept/Oct..... that usually works


to be continued............................
 

Criss Colon

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
21,843
191
0
38
yahoomail.com
Things can only get BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, "It's ALWAYS Darkest before the dawn"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last time I went to Boston, I waited until the middle of May.
Coldest May in decades.

Get out your "Woolies"!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
6,247
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South Coast
Geesh, I knew about mice chewing things - but roaches???? SMH. Live and learn about life in DR, one day at a time.

Let's see, our year:

1. Had to replace 8 batteries, 4 were old, 4 were new but ruined because no one bothered to put water in them after we left last trip.

2. Front section of roof needed repainting, Mr. AE goes up to do it and finds out the concrete is crumbling. We decide to go with tejas/Spanish tile. $$$$

3. Middle and back section of roof are not looking so good. Bring a crew in to chop off the top 3-4" of cement, and repour a whole new roof. $$$$

4. Dogs are getting out because someone has cut the barbed wire in several sections of the fence. Hire guy to come in and put lots of extra sticks [live ones I'm told, which will root and grow trees] close together, and endless rolls of barbed wire.

5. Mr. AE painting inside of our walls [very long walls], have gone through 20 gallons of Salmon paint. Not done yet, not even halfway. While he was painting walls, he decided front of house needed scraping and painting too. More paint.

6. Not knowing there was a problem with our voltage regulator, we go out and buy a new washer because the old one [used for 6 months total] wouldn't run. Well, neither would the new one, until electrician cleaned something in regulator. 27,000 pesos unnecessarily spent, sold original for 10K.

7. Decided to build an extension on the house, actually onto a bedroom, a 20' extension and a bathroom. Foundation going in, Mr. AE decides this is the time to run the plumbing underground. No idea what happened, but the existing bathroom lost all its water. Two days of cursing and troubleshooting, now there's a trickle to the sink, toilet works, cold water in shower nice and strong, hot water has poor pressure [which means the on-demand gas water heater doesn't work]. Showering with cold water this week, which isn't so bad because it's tepid.

8. Breadmaker died soon after we arrived. Sitting on almost 50 pounds of bread flour. I like homemade bread, but I'm not going to hand knead it, Suzy-Homemaker I'm not. A month later I bought a replacement from a DR1er we visited.

9. Generac 8 KW generator bought a year ago. First it needed a new card. Got it. Guy comes to install and hook up, and when the propane was turned on...BOOM. Needed another part. Brought the part down with us in January. Bought a new regulator [which is what caused the boom], it's mid April and no one has shown up to do the installation. Called and called.

10. Hired a lawyer to start the deslinde last year. Did nothing. Actually got our money back [shocker, I know]. BIL recommends another lawyer, someone he knows and trusts. 30K deposit. Has done nothing, doesn't look like any money coming back this time. Have contacted Guzman Ariza, fingers crossed.

11. Female rottie is sweet and lovable, 5 years old now. Kills anything that enters the property that can't run faster than her. Last couple of months that included a pig, several chickens, a cat and a guinea hen. She cornered a cow but Mr. AE was right there and saved the cow. [Another reason the fence had to be repaired, to keep cows out!] We paid the neighbor for his pig, even though we didn't have to, but told him if another one comes in and dies it's on him for not keeping them penned.

12. Leather recliners - 2 of them - the handle you pull to recline broke. In NJ we'd throw them out and replace. In DR Mr. AE took apart, looked inside, cut some odd shaped piece of metal out of scrap he had, and fixed them both.

The maid is very impressed, says that Mr. AE can fix ANYTHING.

I told him it's almost time for him to go on vacation, back to NJ, where everything works all the time, nothing breaks, electricity is always on.
 
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dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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AE, maybe your husband is a sankie? ordering all those repairs and spending your gringita money? :laugh::laugh::laugh:
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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South Coast
AE, maybe your husband is a sankie? ordering all those repairs and spending your gringita money? :laugh::laugh::laugh:

LOL dv8.

Since he's the one who worked non-stop for the past 50 years, I guess I'm the sankiette.

He gets more aggravated here than I do, my mantra is "Remember where you are". His frustration levels get to stroke level sometimes.

It's not all bad here. Yesterday a sweet old lady he's known since he was a boy came knocking at our gate. She's probably 80ish, and frail, and doesn't have much. Has never asked for anything. But yesterday she asked him if there was any way - next time we send boxes down - we could bring her a blender next year. She was quiet and teary. He said he'd try, and came back inside to tell me what she wanted. I reminded him I had an extra blender with a food processor attachment that I wasn't using, and told him to bring it to her. She wasn't home, so he left it with her grandson. Today she sent her daughter over to say thank you with a bag of onions she probably couldn't afford to splurge on. The whole episode went a long way to wash away some of the miserableness.
 

Contango

Banned
Dec 27, 2010
2,196
5
0
When you live in a gated community you don't have these issues... Why anyone would want to live in a Dom hood is beyond me when you come from a first World Country.. The only reason I came to this Country and bought a home was for the CLIMA! Now if you are an American Dominican or from wherever and also Dominican and coming home and can deal with living in the Dom hoods ( I can understand that) but for the rest of us Gringos, we are only here for the WEATHER.. The only other exception for living in a Dom neighborhood is being "Black".. You can fit right in..
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,329
113
I'm in a gated community......... MY gate..... my community !!!

I don't see any of my issues being solved by living differently
in fact, no power surges save me alot of grief , I expect

where are you . boy..... at your summer job? Oh Canada??
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
6,247
113
South Coast
When you live in a gated community you don't have these issues... Why anyone would want to live in a Dom hood is beyond me when you come from a first World Country.. The only reason I came to this Country and bought a home was for the CLIMA! Now if you are an American Dominican or from wherever and also Dominican and coming home and can deal with living in the Dom hoods ( I can understand that) but for the rest of us Gringos, we are only here for the WEATHER.. The only other exception for living in a Dom neighborhood is being "Black".. You can fit right in..

Oh, I didn't realize that things don't break or wear out in gated communities. Silly me.
 

Contango

Banned
Dec 27, 2010
2,196
5
0
I'm in a gated community......... MY gate..... my community !!!

I don't see any of my issues being solved by living differently
in fact, no power surges save me alot of grief , I expect

where are you . boy..... at your summer job? Oh Canada??

Post wasn't really referring to you Senor Webster, I know you have your shizzle together, successful business dude.. Its true you can have all those electrical probs in a DR gated community.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,329
113
Thats me...

yacht moored out front, plane out back ( a la John Travolta)

Chicas galore........... like James Bond's friend in Goldfinger... Pussy Galore

I wear my invisible suit most days............

hehehe
 

keepcoming

Moderator - Living & General Stuff
May 25, 2011
4,732
2,491
113
Ohhh boy can I relate to the issues WW and AE. Frig decided to stop working and no one seems to know why. Had to replace the AC unit in the front part of the house. Brand new ceiling fan will not work and again no one knows why. Taking it back tomorrow. And to top it all, drove over my cell phone..I know that one is my fault. And to think all this happened inside a "gated area".