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Actually, not much space is required for a household elevator. If it is only going to one floor above the first, a hydraulic cylinder and cable mechanism can all be installed at the bottom and requires nothing above.
I haven’t researched the availability of these units in CR, but they are not hard to install nor do they require a lot of structural engineering. There are even models that are intended for outdoor use from the driveway to the deck (in the snow!)
Contact the American suppliers and you might find someone here who does sales and installs.Possibly the term elevator is what is causing the confusion. Search for wheelchair lifts or platform lifts. These are not enclosed elevator boxes, but open platforms designed to lift people with their chairs. Some of them are rated at 750lbs or more. That should be adequate for most household stuff?
Alberto
Edited on Aug 21, 2007 14:36
I think he should give the ball to charity at a value of five dollars, plead poverty and apply for social assistance.
It may come as a suprise to you that some of us didn’t move here to get away from America. Some of us still like our homeland, but found opportunities and a lifestyle we enjoy here in Costa Rica.
I complain about the roads, but accept that this is part of where I choose to live, and taxes…… when you have employees and pay everything you are required to, they are not light by any stretch. Mostly the difference here is you can cheat and likely not get caught.I don’t hate Wal-Mart or McDonalds. I just don’t choose to buy products at that price/quality level. That said, you can find any kind of plastic junk you want here as well.
I enjoy my life here in spite of the frustrations. Just as I did back home.
Alberto
From Inside Costa Rica today
http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2007/july/23/nac01.htm which is a simple translation from La Nacion’s article
OIJ Without The Necessary Personnel, Official Says
One of the major problems facing the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) is the lack of personnel to handle the increased work load, where each OIJ agent has to deal with more than 100 cases a year.According to official reports, the OIJ lacks at least 1.000 investigators to deal with all the cases, meaning investigations fall behind and cases take longer to clear.
The sub-director of the oIJ, Carlos Morera, says it all makes no sense.
The OIJ currently employees 900 officials, the majority working in San José, receiving some 25.000 cases a year, 70% of which are for assault and vehicle theft.
The OIJ offices in Heredia, Alajuela, San Carlos, Puntarenas, Quepos and Limón are the worst off, where agents just keep “piling up” the cases on their desks.
Morera said that in some cases the OIJ delegations are working in the poorest of conditions, like that of Heredia, where the investigators work out of the basement of the court house, where not only space is tight, but the fumes from the vehicles outside are affecting their health.
Morera added that the OIJ does not have the budget to employ more investigators that are “urgently” needed, saying that this year there was money for only 108 jobs.
To bring the point home, the Heredia delegation receives some 5.000 new cases a year that are handled by only 35 investigators, which means an average of 142 cases per investigator.
The same is true in Limón, where 34 agents handle some 2.500 cases per year. Limón, the most violent region in the country, with 18 murders up to June, has only 2 murder investigators.
“It must be recognized that all our units and delegations need more people, it is a fact, but there is no money”, said Morera.
According to Morero, San Carlos is another delegation that is fast falling behind, as it deals with some 2.400 cases a year and the only delegation at the charge of a woman, Nieves Rueda, it counts with only 24 investigators.
Scot
No I don’t think it is an overblown at all. This is not a passing pickpocket incident. A tourist was held at gunpoint in an area where there are hundreds of other tourists. It is not an isolated incident! The standard hit is a car break in with all your belongings stolen.. This is far more serious.Apparently the police do not attend unless there is a body to pick up. An armed robbery, and the response was “ Call the OIJ in the morning”. What chance is there of stopping this if it is not even investigated for 12 hours?
When we came here in 1992, there was a special security force that patrolled the tourist areas in San Jose and at the beaches. They patrolled in pairs and were very visible. It gave us a real sense of security as tourists and was one of the reasons we decided to invest here. By 1994, we never saw them anymore.
Maybe the term drifting into lawlessness is incorrect, but the sentiment isn’t. In all parts of the society here, people are deciding which laws they want to follow and which to ignore. When I was driving through San Jose on Sunday, I was amused by the number of people that would stop at a red light and then if one car moved, they would all drive through.
How many places can you get a better price on hotels, restaurants or other goods if you don’t want a receipt? Only fools pay taxes!
My neighbor installed a water pump in a river on his finca. This was well off the road on private property. By morning it was gone. He was angry but not surprised. The Ticos that helped him install it told him it would be stolen.
David
Having a gun to your head is NOT an unfortunate incident. Unless it doesn’t happen to you personally. I have lived in American cities, and I had no problem leaving my car on the street overnight. Here, I wouldn’t think of it without live security.I don’t think that I am an alarmist. I have lived here long enough to be a realist. When you stop in Orotina for something to eat, leave someone to watch your car. They love to poke holes in the sides of your tires there. I have learned to keep driving on a flat tire until I can stop in a populated area. That gets me through OK, but being in the tourism business here, I cringe at the stories my guests tell me. I can’t tell you how many tourists we have helped in the last few years who lost everything the first day in this tranquil paradise.
I know that there are those who advocate that we all carry guns and defend ourselves, but this isn’t America of the 1800’s. We can’t have public hangings to control the bad guys.
The statistics in AM Costa Rica show a decrease from one month. That is not a trend! It is a monthly comparison. Show me stats from two or three years. What good are your stats when tourists aren’t even able to get the police to respond?
I do apologize to all the perpetual tourist/realtors I have offended by speaking the truth. I wish you could have sold your development properties sooner to unsuspecting tourists, but that’s how it is in paradise today.
Alberto
Just remember that no one is doing this from the goodness of their hearts. There is always a payment made somewhere for the service. Sometimes booking direct gets YOU that discount!
Other times you may feel it is worth the service you receive.
Hotels allow it because it give access to a customer that may not have known about them. It is a booking they might not have anyway so a commission is justified.
The problem has come with the internet. Anyone can call themselves a travel agent and there are few people who would know differently. A good travel agent has often visited the location and has specific recommendations for a reason. Others just know which one pays the higher commission and that’s where you are sent.
Alberto
There are lots of companies that rank high in the search engine rankings that are not really representing the hotel at all, but make commissions for sending bookings. Unfortunately they don’t always pay the hotel for them.
As a hotel owner, I can tell you it is becoming more common each day. We have stopped allowing some of these travel organizers from booking with us because of the fight we have trying to collect.
We have to charge the guest, and let them try to collect from their agency. Many of these “agencies” are nothing more than expats making a living without residency, so you really are taking a chance some times.Call the hotel directly to make your bookings, then you have a physical company you can argue with if you need to.
It seems sometimes that tourists are here to be taken advantage of, and it is not always the locals doing it.
Alberto
Ahh…… such a negative bunch here today. Sounds like someone is afraid of the competition?
Of course there is room for a finishing carpenter here. Like the European craftsmen that came to America in the early 1900’s, there is a difference in the final quality. Costa Rican craftsmen are usually willing and eager to learn new methods of finishing and as a partner/supervisor, you could be well qualified to teach them. The most common complaint I hear and see is quality of finishing.As far as finding a company willing to take you on, you would need to dedicate some time and gas to travel to different sites and talk to landowners. Sometimes a landowner doesn’t have the ability to oversee the project, but has the vision of what they want on their land. I think that could make a profitable partnership.
As for taking the place of QUALIFIED Costa Ricans, the good ones have all the work they can handle, and the others could use some guidance to improve.
Good luck,
AlbertoI left Canada not because I didn’t like it, but because Costa Rica was a new experience for my family. New culture, new language, different speed, and a whole list of other differences.
I would hate to see that those differences would be considered negatives. I can cross the border from Canada into the US by car in about 20 minutes. Yesterday, I spent 10 hours getting from Nicaragua into Costa Rica. Both of these crossings are a result of the cultural differences, so is one wrong and the other right? Certainly one is more efficient, but the other has people selling food and drinks and sitting around talking while they wait. They accept that entering a country takes time and don’t seem stressed about it. I learned a lot about their process and will likely only take 2 hours next time. Pura Vida!Possibly being accepting of different values is a prideful attitude I don’t know. But ignoring the problems is not the same as accepting that it is part of the country, good and bad.
Not that anyone needs my advice, but when you add the negatives and the positives, is it still some place you want to live given that you probably can’t change it?When it changes too much for me and is NOT worth it, maybe I’ll move to Cuba or England or somewhere else. For me, the last 15 years here have gone by quickly and I still want to stay.
Pura Vida
AlbertoTo me, a “third world country” is one where sanitation is a problem, clean drinking water is not available, political upheaval is rampant, and the rest of the world’s developed nations send aid.
None of this applies to Costa Rica.
Why is it that anything that is not the same as North America is considered a negative? If the combination of “positives” is enough to make you want to leave there, doesn’t that make North America a negative?
In Vancouver, Canada, the papers were filled with people who were offended by immigrants who wanted their adoptive country to be more like their homeland.
Leave your culture behind and adopt the culture of the country you have moved to.Sorry, I get offended when people want to move here, but want it to be just like home.
mcpeake – I am trying to import a handicap converted vehicle into CR as well.
Please tell me how you did it. Do you have the name of a lawyer that could do the paperwork or did you do it yourself?
I have been told that by one lawyer that the law was repealed and there is no exemption and I have also been told bring the vehicle in and “no problem we can put it through.”
Now I have the vehicle here and the second lawyer will no longer take my calls!Possibly it is more work than he is willing to put forth?
Any help you can provide would be most welcome.
Alberto
