I have been working hard trying to get the electrical system up and running in the house and garage. Everything on my end is finally completed, just waiting on the electrical utility company, Union Fenosa, to connect to the grid. This may take a while. Ummmm, who is it I have to bribe? Just kidding. It is not quite that bad, should be soon now. Must stay positive.

I took advantage of Señor Uri Valdez from the near-by town of Tonosi and his electrical crew to go ahead and run cable from the well house over to the project maintenance shed. It’s really nice to finally have some lights in there.

Here in Panama the electric company hates to enter private property to see the meter, so the meter has to be out by the property line somewhere. Of course that helps them place the majority of costs on the property owners end. If you have a large parcel and your home is far away from the edge it can be expensive. Luckily the house and garage are not to far from the property line. The only problem is there is a rather steep inclined slope from the meter to the house. We went underground to avoid future tree pruning. Uri and his crew got on the hill side and “busted it out” even while it was raining. I can tell you from experience, digging ditches on a steep hillside in a tropical rain is not fun. Every shovel and pick strike to the ground comes up with a couple of pounds of clayey mud stuck to it. It can be a royal pain in the you know what trying to free your tool of this sticky goo. But they made it happen in the time promised.

Uri is the only contractor here so far that I can honestly say has done everything he promised in the time at which he promised. Amazing! I highly recommend him for any electrical work. He is a little pricey but worth it. No headaches or waiting endlessly.

Remember, mañana in spanish means tomorrow but in Panama it means not today! I’m unsure if Mr. Valdez knows or understands this. Thank goodness!