Friday, February 18, 2011

Chapter 40 - The Wiring

            I have been involved with wiring for one different reason or another for many years.  I have a healthy respect for the wires which bring conveniences to the house.
            In Costa Rica there is a different view.  While we were waiting at the church on Saturday for someone to come to go to San Jose, I looked around at specifics of some of the older buildings, and I was appalled at the callous way wires were attached and patched together.  Large higher voltage wires at the front of one building were open and dangling with another connection jimmied onto it.  I wouldn’t be surprised with this type of wiring,  that a person would need to keep a sharp watch on their electrical bills because it wouldn’t be a lot of effort for someone else to tap into the power of the neighbour.  The new houses are different.  They seem to be stand alone dwellings with probably better control of their wiring.
            We had a unique experience this morning.  While we were away on Saturday, Rita came to the house with a technician and he installed high speed internet service for us.  Melaney was delighted when we got home, and found this bonus.  On Sunday, after church, she tried to use the internet, and it gave her a message that the service was discontinued, that it was good for only a 24 hour period.  She phoned Rita.
            Rita and another technician were at the house by 11 on Monday morning.  That’s great.  He checked a few things, and went outside to check the incoming wiring for the internet.  It meandered through several big mango trees.  Alberto was shimmied up into the diseased tree whacking the limbs off with a machete.  We had been telling Rita that had to be done for over two weeks.  I was concerned that whatever it was that was evident in the leaves would spread to the other trees in the orchard.  I wanted him to take it and burn the limbs.  I don’t know where he put them.  In the meantime, one of the limbs grabbed the internet wire as it fell and sagged it almost to the ground. 
            With the help of a ladder, some wire cutters, a hammer and a stool, the internet technician brought the wire up, almost taught, wrapped it around one of the porch roof supports, fed it through a couple of plastic bands that were holding the SKY TV wire, and fed the end through the window screen and into the house.
            That should have been the end of the story.  It wasn’t.  In short order he said that he needed 50,000 colones ($100) to go into town and pick up some equipment and that he would come back with invoice.  He wasn’t sure what it would cost.  Rita took him back into town.  We still have wires all over the living room floor.  I will conclude this story later.

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