June 25th-28th

We got some great recommendations on an electrician, but at this point all the plumbers that we tried to contact were busy and couldn’t help us out. Even if you are the general contractor on the job, you still need a licensed plumber and electrician to obtain the permit for you and to request an inspection. This meant that before we poured the floor we needed a plumber. In desperation, we tried a new tactic. We went to DPNR(Department of Permits and Natural Resources) to ask the plumbing inspector for advice. It turns out he had a friend that was a plumber that could help us out. Hopefully this would also make our plumbing inspections go smoothly.


June 29th

We figured out that our great connection in NJ (a relative) got us a bum truck. Transmission was out. Not an easy concern, esp. in the islands. We made it over to St. Thomas to have it redone. We had a rental reserved, but wait….WHAT? I DON’T HAVE NO STINKIN’ RESERVATION! WHAT?! It’s amazing what you can do when you are a “local”. Suddenly, out of thin air, a car appeared! Who knew. It’s really hard to get a car with no notice….especially when Carnival is on the horizon.

June 23, 2007

Scott’s Birthday! Received Formtech block at the job site. These are the Styrofoam forms we will use to build the structure. We then went to Vie’s to snorkel. It was VERY murky. Saw a 5’nurse shark swimming by. Had an incredible meal at Asolare.

June 24, 2007

Beach day – Won’t say where we caught those lobsters! They were legal!

JUNE 21, 2007

WE HAVE WAITED AND WAITED FOR OUR ARCHITECT TO GET OUR BUILDING PERMITS! SOON COME! SOON COME!! It took US all this time to secure OUR OWN PERMIT. He was worthless in this regard. So, TODAY WE GOT OUR PERMIT THROUGH OUR OWN INITIATIVE! Sometimes, like we’ll say again and again, YOU HAVE TO RELY ON YOURSELF if you want things to get done in a timely manner. If you have not experienced this, plan on LOTS OF HARD WORK – BUT, DON’T GIVE UP!!!!




June 22, 2007

The building inspector, Carlos Nicholson approved our foundation and its ready for concrete. He said “APPROVED!” Very nice experience dealing with the St. John DPNR! They are very courteous and friendly. After the first conversation with Mr.

15th
We slept in and then hiked Reef Bay trail from 10:30-1:30. The architect called while we were on the trail, saying DPNR couldn't find our CZM. What else could possibly go wrong with getting our permit? Much of the process of building on St. John and being successful is planning well in advance and developing a great deal of patience.

17th
Still no permit. We are waiting around killing time. It is a lot of fun going to the beach and relaxing, but at the same time it's unnerving waiting for the stupid piece of paper to continue. We finally get the news on the 20th of June. Our PERMIT is ready for pick up!

6-9-07

The Scorpion King and crew worked from 8-130. They showed up late due to a flat tire a short distance from our build. We put the crew to work while I helped the Scorpion King get his tire off. He still charged us for an eight hour day. Man I need to talk to my boss about getting these kind of benefits. We went to town at 8 to get another tire for his exploded one. We worked until 3 or so tying rebar.

Over the next week we’ve continued to call DPNR diligently trying to get our permits so we can pour concrete. It has truly been a waiting game. Architect, whom we asked to initiate this process MONTHS in advance, has been no help whatsoever. Won’t even return our phone calls.

June 6, 07

Today we finish the forms and cleaned up getting ready for rebar.


June 7
Professional killers sprayed for pests. Its one of those things you need to do if you plan on keeping out unwanted small creatures living with you. They pump 50 gallons of chemicals into the foundation with a guarantee of being pest free for one year.

The St Thomas Experience

June 4, 07

In the morning we went to STT to buy a generator. It was obvious that we were going to need one for a long time.

When we came to the Caribbean, we decided to use people that had built here and therefore had some idea of the codes for the region. We found that this did not always work to our advantage. The Scorpion King talked us
into deviating from the blue prints. That was a mistake! After many misgivings and a discussion with the Steve the excavator, two of the forms under the cistern were incorrect and they had to be filled in and compacted. This meant another trip to Allied for a jumping jack compactor and another expense. At the end of the day we took a beach break @ Maho.


June 5, 07

The generator we bought in STT had a manufacturer defect and would not start! With it broken, it’s back to STT to replace the pig. This time we put gas and oil in it at the Home Depot parking lot and started it to make sure it was functioning properly. It started in one pull. We went back to STJ and continued working on building forms. At the end of the day we took a break @ Francis Bay.

June 1, 07

Paid the scorpion king today and it was pouring. Had a day off. No beach, no accomplishment. We didn’t work the next day as well.


June 3, 07

We are still waiting for our building permit which was supposed to be taken care of by our architect. We found out it was not submitted until a few days before we arrived on island. With nothing to do, we decided to go to the beach. It was a gorgeous day. Very few people were there.