Building “walls” …what ocean and when does it end - Time management on Cozumel (?!)

The pool tiling continues throughout this week. Getting the sheets of tiles to line up is painstaking work. It’s now well into the rainy season and heavy rain showers interrupt the work, we can only tile when the surfaces are dry. When it rains the workers retreat to work on the new washer dryer area.

The stone masons continue work on, with little regard to the weather, to finish the vista maya wall and we are also making good progress with wiring of the palapa deck area.

I am pleased to see the washing machine closet is coming along nicely. We should probably have checked the washer dryer actually worked before we started the project, we didn’t – and there is no point in doing that now!

My builder suggests I may never get a car in the carport again with this closet in place, but I am not worried. We still have an area of garden I can extend into should the need arise.

Invariably, while building here, you hit the two “walls of progress”. The first is when you reach the stage when you forget you are actually on an idyllic holiday island … this is referred to here as “what ocean?”. The second “wall” is more disheartening. It’s the day when you start to feel the work will never end.

I hit the first stage some weeks back. It’s easy to spot. You become embroiled in building plans and trips to suppliers, then one day you find yourself near the front streets and are caught off guard when you see the sea … the sight of it actually comes as a shock!

I have now hit the second stage, This stage tends to creep up on you and gradually. I am finding it hard to imagine that my garden will ever be the same again. Since I have confronted this “wall” many times on past building trips, it discourages me less than it did at first but its still a bummer and saps your creativity and energy. (Thanks MS Word for clarifying that little blur of a sentence for me!) My builder has been very reliable too, which helps immeasurably.

When I hit the second “wall” I am always reminded of the 60’s TV series “The Prisoner” . Those who have memories of the show will know exactly what I mean.

For those who are unaware of this little cult classic, the premise is that the star, Patrick McGoohan, is a top secret agent and “type A” personality, who decides to resign from this lifestyle. On doing so he is kidnapped, and mysteriously wakes up on a strange little island, cut off from civilisation as he knew it.

The place is attractive, the people friendly and his accommodation is comfortable, but while in this unique and eccentric little place he has little control over his life and it appears he cannot escape.

In order to find a way back to his former life he attempts to adjust to the lifestyle and passes his days trying to understand what makes the place tick. He is invariably met with frustration and confusion … and often looses his "James Bond" coolness factor.

The intro on You Tube tells the story above in one very retro 60’s gulp . Relive the memory here.

For what its worth, the series was filmed in the bizarre little village of Portmeirion in Wales… a country many people have successfully escaped from. (and before I am attacked by hoards of Welsh spammers … as a Brit of a minority country myself, I do only jest).

Time management ...
is a contradiction of terms in Mexico. Determining how long a project will take (or eventually cost if you tinker) is next to impossible.

I have already extended my stay by one month. Abandoning my previous deadline was no surprise. My builder has performed admirably but due to a variety of reasons we are behind on our original schedule. I have been adding here and there, the weather has played some part, but generally the expectation of time needed to complete work is always on the wishful side on Cozumel.

Doubling the originally given time estimate is a good idea if you want to retain your sanity and keep hair on your head. If, like me, you like to tinker and modify along the way, tripling the time should keep you on track.

Then maybe add another week or two … just to be on the safe side!