iBankCoin
My name is Rob and I'm a gregarious gentleman who travels and blogs. http://stophavingaboringlife.com/
Joined Jan 9, 2014
222 Blog Posts

Building Insanity

I feel like I’ve lost my mind as I see my small house slowly come to completion. That said, still lots to do almost an overwhelming amount really. The other house has a new builder who ripped everything out and is starting from scratch.

To make matters more insane, I had a friend from Texas come visit who loved to party. I basically burned the candle at both ends in ways I never knew possible and yesterday felt like I actually died. Today I woke up feeling fresh because I shaved my beard aka the least you can do to say “let’s start again”.

I’ve realized building is a lot like life, you always need to be ready for what’s about to happen, planning for what you know is going to have to happen and reacting to what has happened. Sunday morning was a fragile one and as I walked around the corner to where I stay there was this crew with a utility pole.

In broken Spanish I said I might be interested a few days ago but here it was in a light drizzle. I held my ground pretty well when they tried to change the price but literally broke my $@#Cking back when we got to my place and they said “drop the camera and come help us”. You don’t know heavy until you’ve felt a 40+ treated wood pole on your shoulder.

Myself and 5 other gents backed that thing 100 feet or so until we dropped it in its current spot. A rule around here and in life is never pay until the job is done. It’s supposed to be installed so I’m just biding time, they will be back. If not we’ll see what happens as I’ve got the green light on electricity and water.

A joy of building in the middle of nowhere is running a 300 foot water line that has to be dug by hand and installing your own electricity pole and which will require ~120M of line. I find the whole processes empowering and humbling all in one. At any rate, I’m exhausted and it’s 6:45pm. I woke up at 4, did this and that, worked all day, moved a huge pile of gravel to my walkway, swam 400m in the Caribbean Sea and edited a few videos.

I’m rambling but realize I’m in exam time now. That or one could say my two kids are really young and I need to put some time in now or forever regret it; you know set them up for the future and building a strong foundation type of thing.

More on everything later.

Tips hat,

Comments »

Chase Time NOT Money

Greetings,

I’m writing this from my office on Corn Island after a day in Bluefields rectifying something in the registration so my neighbour could finally become the rightful owner of his land. If you don’t remember that story from behind it’s not important or the purpose of this post.

You should all be chasing time, not money. Money is infinite and time is finite; if that wasn’t enough we all know about “leather seat syndrome” right? You get a new car and some asshole asks you about every little feature smiling more and more until they ask you if you have leather seats… You say no and then they become deflated and look at you as though you own some piece of shit.

We shouldn’t care about what that guy or girl thinks but life is a little strange. Time is so precious and even if your’e seen as wasting some here and there from a productivity point of view, just remember we were never really put here to do anything. You think a cow fucking cares if it becomes a good steak or if its milk is of the highest quality?

Some of us will always try and live to a higher standard but the ultimate form of wealth is time. Without time you’re still poor. If getting rich to make it rain is what you’re all about, keep chasing your tail but if you want to really do what you want while you’re alive consider this a friendly reminder that you’ll need time.

In other news, construction starts again next Monday and all the supplies needed for the final push on the small property arrived on Saturday. This isn’t costing me that much financially but when it comes to time it’s taking a big withdrawal; that said I’ve got lots.

I mention this because I know many friends far wealthier financially than myself that would love to do something similar but they have no time – to build, travel or enjoy it…

That’s all for now.

Tips hat,

Comments »

Construction Continues

Greetings, I’m writing this from my office on Little Corn Island and glad to say that my house is the way it was when I left. I will note that there are mangoes everywhere and you couldn’t sell one if you tried; also there are different types and I’ve become a mango snob.

Below are a few more videos and tomorrow I’m off to Bluefields to get my deed situation rectified with the gent who bought near me (on the small one); more on that later.

Have a great week.

Comments »

A Few Photos From Hong Kong

Greetings,

These are photos from my second day in Hong Kong. I had never really spent much time in Hong Kong, was only there once before to catch a flight to Amsterdam via Moscow. I really liked Hong Kong, it was kinda sorta like Singapore but also very Chinese if that makes sense; I loved it.

Hopefully I’ll be back again in the not too distant future. Once I get into the whole Corn Island vibe I stopped going to Asia, once my houses are done I’m going back there for a month or so a year; Asia is good for the soul, stomach and makes cents (sic) if you’ve got any shopping to do.

best_bowl_soup_hong_kong

butcher_hong_kong

butcher_shophong_kong

fruits_.hong_kongJPG

local_chiller_hong_kong

local_life_hong_kong

markets_hong_kong

more_butcher_hong_kong

produce_hong_kong

shopping_hong_kong

electronics_shopping_hong_kong

soup_restaurant_hong_kong

specialty_hong_kong

spices_such_hong_kong

streets_hong_kong

vegetable_stand_hong_kong

I’m in Ottawa now for a few days, flew home yesterday for Mother’s Day. Photos from day one were better as I did this big bus tour and really got out and about, can’t find them though and I’m ploughing through my mental to do list on this fine Monday morning at 6:36am.

Tips hat,

Comments »

Helicopter Tour of London

helicopter_tour_london Greetings,

I’m writing this on a train to Toronto and I should be there in ~3 hours or so. That said, I want to take a quick minute to talk about a helicopter tour of London. I have a video coming sooner than later but my vlog is ~40 days behind haha. I’m almost done the editing which I view as a monumental feat but that is neither here nor there.

I mention the vlog because I’ll share it here once it’s done and video tell such a better story than text and photos ever will. Anyways, if you’re in London you can take a helicopter tour of the town for 150GBP. It lasts about 20 minutes or so and is worth every penny if it’s in your budget. It’s easy to get lost in a forest and focus on a few trees when traveling. That said, having an birds eye view really gives you the lay of the land and helicopter rides are always good times, yes?

I’m off to Hong Kong tonight on a 15 hour direct flight with Cathay Pacific to test out their premium economy class seats. I’ll be in Asia for a few days before heading to my parent’s place in Ottawa for Mother’s Day; the back to building. Once this whole building process is over, life will be easier.

Ever done renovations? Was it fun? Did you have problems? Did you want to fire or strangle your contractor at some point? Now imagine in a foreign language with a whole lot of other obstacles; yeah that’s where I’m at these days. I quite like the train but love flying.

Tips hat,

P.S: I’m big time into video because it’s more fun to edit than write and look at this photo. It gives you a few words from the book which was the tour; the video gives you a few chapters…

Comments »

Best Kind of Day

Good day,

I’m writing this from a suite in The Milestone Hotel which is across from Kensington Palace with Hyde Park in the middle. I left Hamburg this morning on the 6:30am flight and had a fully stacked day here in London. The weather is warm and I walked more today than most of you will in a month; I’m dead serious.

I also bought a new GoPro Hero 4 Silver. I picked one up in Miami and believe it or not, I grabbed the 1 in a million aka the one which had serious issues. One thing lead to another and I thought the 19% tax in Germany was added to the final price, NOT included which lead me to buying a Canon G7X only to realize it doesn’t fit in my jeans; they aren’t skinny jeans but I’m also not letting loose North American style anymore.

How did I start talking about my camera woes? Anyways the conference in Hamburg was a success aka had a great time, saw old friends, met new friends, learned some stuff and made new business contacts. I took the tube to Covent Garden in London and strolled through Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and made my way to St. James Park, then Buckingham Palace, then Green Park before hitting the tube once more.

Now I’m doing some boring admin stuff before meeting a mate aka friend aka another gent for dinner. Following that it’s full pass out mode as tomorrow I’ve got some commitments. After that I have no pressing issues until the 3rd of May when I fly to Hong Kong. That said, I don’t have a flight back to Canada which isn’t the end of the world but lately I’ve been getting killed on last minute flight pickups; they really ring ya.

We’ll do a photo essay or something like that at some point; just figured I’d chime in as it has been a while and I don’t want to get axed from my favourite blog even tough I don’t really read any blogs anymore; make sense? When all this is done I’m going to try and buy a BMX bike and go back to Little Corn to finish building. Once this build is over I can live again. I’ve also realized I don’t need to see the whole world.

I only need to eat fine foods and play the best golf courses in the world. Think about the world as a buffet; why not just fill up on smoked salmon and the like instead of spending energy and time eating some plain rice or stuff you don’t even like?!

London is a great city but that’s not news.

Tips hat,

Comments »

It’s Travel Time

Greetings,

I’m writing this from my office on Little Corn Island donning a pair of Air Flight’s with shorts an ex-girlfriend tried to burn a few times. Spent the morning aka 5:30am on sealing all the bolts on my roof because the work team made a mega error and messed up my roof, royally. It’s a joke it’s so bad and I have contemplated ripping the whole thing down when I realized I don’t really care as long as it doesn’t leak.

I’m in the middle of somewhere far from everything and the whole process would cause a lesser man cardiac arrest. My roof has character, much like it’s owner and waiting for rainy season to see if it holds. Also going to paint it with latex. It’s a real shame as I bought the most expensive one you can find because I thought it looked fly(no pun intended).

I’m off to Managua to meet a new builder, on the Pacific side they have some killer cribs and my small project which is will be known as the Lobster Pot was just my entry position, this big one I’m going for gold and want someone who has a track record for excellence. I’m not trading this piece but going long so I want to make sure I’ve got the right gent. Not being sexist but it’s a dude, obviously.

I’ve learnt so much in this process that I can now join in on most building conversations and seriously, this has been the coolest / most stressful / exhausting experience of my life. Jumping on trains, flying in planes and cruising in cars is fun but this is a character building experience. I feel like I’ve grown up considerably and guess what? Little Corn Island has a 12MBPS connection now, yes! The only time I was on one before was in Manhattan and to say it’s sick would be an understatement.

It’s at the luxury resort which has the best view ever so another office of mine has been established. The classic island cafe Tranquilo has a 5mbps… The other say on the fast one I uploaded 12 videos at record speeds it was nutty, insane and delicious just like the smoothie I enjoyed while doing it. Some jerk was trading stocks with who knows what kind of program bogging it down, I felt like telling him to stop having a boring life and enjoy the island but I refrained, obviously.

I’m off to Managua tomorrow morning for a few days then Miami for a night or two then Germany for a few days. Should be good times and excited to travel again. Some people said stuff like wow, Little Corn must be cool to get you to settle down… Settle down? Huh? I’m just building a house, not getting married with kids; there is a big difference. Now all I need is a thong loving lady who is a master chef and loves doing squats; then I’m set.

I digress and I have stuff to do aka clean my room out before I push it too late and it becomes even more of a chore. This gent is taking my room, I told him I’m giving him my room and when I’m back he’s out, where he goes I could care less but that’s my room aka the only one with a solid 3G connection. Oh how life has changed, now I just download music for videos whatever and save all my uploads for the smoothie shack (it’s not a shack).

Kinda excited because I’m also going home. I need to get my deed to rectify the problem for my neighbour and set things straight. Here’s a tip for all of you, if you pay a contractor or builder to build something and he puts his team on the case without him around, call him and say “I made a deal with you, not for you to take my money and put some kids in for a man’s job”. You’re welcome and wish I had thought of that when my roof was being put on.

Tips hat,

Comments »

Sunday Cinema With Dubz

Good day,

I’ve got the keys to my house around my neck, it’s not finished but it’s a shelter. Windows, roof and locked doors is a home this gent. If I decided to give up on life I could harvest coconuts and wash myself in the sea. That’s not going to happen but I have a house, mortgage free too; indeed.

Below are a few video and I hope you have a wonderful day.

Comments »

Planting Roots in the Caribbean

 

Greetings,

The title says it all and this is the next instalment on the house build vlog, today was an interesting one and I’m leaving soon so I had all my supplies moved from a job site to a friend’s house for safe keeping. Lots of building going on and I have a feeling that if I left for a month, it would slowly get nibbled away so figured I’d just avoid the situation.

This year has been quite different than my last few on the island for obvious reasons and definitely easy for a change of pace. I’m off to Managua then Miami before a stint in Germany. From there I’m off to London for a day or so and flying to Ottawa or Montreal. From there I’m going to Toronto where I’ll fly to Hong Kong for a few days before heading to Vietnam; then back the route I came until I get to Toronto.

After that, it’s time to head back home and get my house finished; busy times. On the topic of houses, spoke with the hardware store on Corn Island and enquired who the builder was of a certain house which looks out of this world; must have a conversation with said builder before moving forward. Beyond glad I did the two house approach because I learned a lot on the first one and hopefully can apply that to the next build.

Comments »

Comedy of Errors – Indeud

beautiful_little_corn_island

My life is a comedy of errors these days and seems like every year I suffer a “digital death” on the Corn Island. This year I took an absence as I got lost in the building process and mingling with too many tourists in the evenings. I rectified that and then my new Macbook Pro stopped charging.

Today was trying to say the least and it’s like I’m some manic man on a ridiculous roller coaster where the admission is massive and there is no end in sight. That said these are the times that make or break a man and I remind myself while I smile at the small victories and shrug off the missteps.

I woke up at midnight and for more just click here, I wrote this long diatribe.

I’m not going anywhere but glad I caught RC with my April Fools’ joke.

Tips hat,

Comments »