Q: Can an old dog learn new tricks? A: No

We take many things for granted in the United States.  One of those things, especially in Construction, is standardization:  Construction members are placed every 16" or 24", coverings come with dimensions of 4'x8', and insulation is sold in dimensions to accomodate the spacing and sizes of the construction members.

Standardization is a difficult word here in Chile.  Insulation comes in sheets that are 19.6"x39.3".  That makes stud spacing difficult.  Wood sometimes comes in traditional US dimensions and other times in antiquated Chilean dimensions.

Here are a few examples of problems that we've had with maestros:
1.  Floor joist spacing.  I left one day to gather materials, and I came back to see that all the floor spacing was different.  See photo below:

2.  The round trunks that go below the floor joists are called "durmientes."  I worked with a chainsaw to cut one side so taht we had a flat working surface on which to work for the floor joists that sit on top of it.  I have spoken several times with the carpinters about how to put the log with that side up, but they insist on putting it down, which means we have to chisel out for every beam to level our floor.  (Also see photo above)

However, old dogs do know some good tricks, and I have learned already this week some good things.

1.  I've learned about subterranean plumbing installation. (See below photos)

2.  I've learned about Chilean foundations: (see below photos)

So, life is filled with lessons, and the best we can do is keep learning.

Construction Progress

Below are a few photos of the construction progress.  We started building last Wednesday around noon.  We had great weather for the first four days but since we have had rain and cold weather.  Today the weather did not allow us to work at all.

This is the site as we were beginning construction.  Not a more beautiful place to work in the entire world!

 Here commences the series of photos to show progress.  There are two small houses that neighbor each other.  In the future, they will be connected by a domed greenhouse.  Hope the pictures make sense.  Fun to see progress anyways...

Whirlwind of a week

Sometimes things don´t go as we plan.  Seems that the norm for life is that we get thrown curveballs and that it is rare that we get a fat fastball thrown just as we expect it, waiting to be hit out of the park.  So, the challenge lies in learning to read the curves so we can anticipate where the proverbial pitch will be when it arrives our way.

I arrived in Chile to carry out a project in renewable design and construction for a high-end, 5-star resort.  We arrived in Chile on July 4th and since then life has been great, but overly full of unexpected "pitches."  Within the past two months those unexpected situations led to us to be on hold for over a month waiting to start the project.  At the beginning of last week (Oct. 10th) things had bottlenecked to the point that I saw no reason for me to stay in Chile.  I decided to return to the United States within the week, which meant I would abandon the project and leave the company.  I was one click away from buying a new plane ticket when God spoke strongly, and now I find myself installing foundations in the construction project.

This past week has been a whirlwind because I had to re-jumpstart everything that had been stalled for over a month and Nathan had to get serious about getting the building permitted with sufficient details in the plans.  I had 6 days to re-estimate materials, re-write contracts, purchase supplies, and get laborers to the site to begin work.  I didn´t ever dream it would happen, but it did.  We began work yesterday with myself and four others.  Cecilio is the maestro of the crew, his right hand man is Pedro, and two younger guys named Pablo and Luis (Zapallo) are on our team.  Next week we will have three more and boy will things move then.

I have many pictures, so those of you who are interested in construction details will do well to look back in a day or two when I upload the pictures.  The details are very different from US construction, but also quite rich in the way things work.

Bottom line, I feel like in this last week and a half I learned how to read the spin on the ball, and so far it appears that I have hit it successfully, still with the possibility of a grand slam here in Chile.

Warning: Do Not Travel Alone

Last week marked three months in Chile.  As such, I was required to leave Chile in order to renew my visa.  So, I hopped over the border and took a brief trip to Bariloche, Argentina.  Here are my thoughts:

1.  The Andes Mountains are gorgeous.  I used to think that a mountain range was a mountain range.  That´s a bit like saying an Iowan is an Iowan.  The Andes range had a character of its own like none I had ever seen before.  The foliage was distinct, the rock formations, the water of the mountain streams, and the animals I saw were all different from anything I had experienced before.  Cool.

2.  Bariloche is a small ski center.  Parts of the town reminded me very much of a Breckinridge in the States, but there were more people that were just normal habitants of the town.  Less pretense.

3.  I was surprised by the Italian influence in Argentina.  I often hear the people speaking in Spanish and I mistook the accent for Italian.  I decided I don´t like the accent of Argentina.  Rather, I prefer the Peruvian and Venezuelan forms of Spanish.

4.  Traveling alone is not as fun as with a friend.  Dinner was the hardest.  Bus time was excellent and quite rich.  Memories are always more fun when they´re shared with someone else.  Memories are most enjoyed when they are remembered with other people, and when traveling alone, there is no one with whom to share the experience.

5.  Below are some photos.  Beautiful stuff.

This picture was taken from my illegal campsite.  Not a bad view, huh?

 City Planner´s/Architect´s Dream:  a town square that is actually used by the local people.  This was full all afternoon with people of all ages, many of whom were residents of Bariloche.  And it´s nice to look at.

When Markets Collide....

One of the current books I am reading is entitled "When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies for the Age of Global Economic Change."  It is a fascinating read, and my mind is being stretched in every direction.  As we enter the day of increased global economic policy and interdependency in multilateral agreements and policies, it seems as if it is evermore important that we as humans are aware of what is happening in the world.  This book has brought a few things to light, one of which I´d like share here.

Main Idea:  Commodity Prices are rising exponentially.

According to principles in this book and those of basic economics, there are three demands for money:  transactionary demand, precautionary demand, and speculative demand.  

Transactionary Demand- This is our use of money as a medium for everyday purchases (i.e. cars, homes, food, clothing, insurance, education, etc.)  This demand is the foundation for the exchange of basic goods and services.

Precautionary Demand-  When the kids leave the house and mom says, "Here, take this $20 just in case something happens," the mother is applying life´s precautionary demand for money.  This is what we would think of as an emergency fund, used to cover any unanticipated development that requires finances.  It is the "just in case" demand.

Speculative Demand- This demand for money is most necessitated by entrepreneurs and financial investors, as it is the need of exploiting possible wealth-creating opportunity.  This demand for capital can also exist within the context a simple home mortgage, if it is the owners intention to generate capital through that mortgage.

In the past 5-7 years, we all know that China and India have experienced astronomical economic growth on a global scale.  So much that they now have the largest Sovereign Wealth Funds in the world which they have invested in US Treasury Bonds, allowed the United States to hand out so much "free money."  But what is happening as their economies grow? Their citizenry is experiencing, for the first time, the ability to operate significantly and at consumeristic levels within the transactionary demand sector of economics.  This puts a higher demand on commodity prices, because now instead of the United States being the sole consumer, we are sharing our consumeristic culture with those of China and India.  

This is the point at which markets collide and details get sticky.  All of these commodities, of which the US has been the main consumer in the past century, are limited.  They are things like: oil, copper, grains, gold, natural gas etc.  In recent years, China´s demand for world oil has increased from 2.9% to 8.4%.  This puts pressures on prices, and as demand goes up for limited-supply commodities, prices will skyrocket.  

My thought is this:  we as Americans are so used to operating at high levels within the transactionary segment of economics as we consume, consume, and consume.   Perhaps the days of unchecked US prosperity are closing as we lose our dominance in the areas of product creation, capitalistic leadership, and technological advantage, and the day is nearing in which we should check our expenditures before we embark on new consumption.  Or even better, perhaps we switch paradigms entirely and enter the precautionary and speculative sectors for capital demand.

In conclusion, When Markets Collide....Things Change.  Let´s be ready.