Month: November 2020

Lots of little things annoy me and here a few.

Renting an expensive tool for the day only to use it for ten minutes. I tend to run around looking for things to saw, hammer, drill, bash, batter, paint, crimp, dig or whatever just to get my money’s worth. Also, I never take it back until two minutes before it’s due. That’ll show ’em.

Having to buy two of anything when I only need one. I’ve ranted about this before but it still annoys me. I have one each of a car light bulb, a weird type of battery that I will never use, a notebook which I find hard to fill. Two pens are okay as I usually lose one anyway. Two earbuds…Oh no, wait! You get the idea. How come useful things like wine and big-screen TVs only come in ones? Luckily, wives only come in ones too.

I hate bad service. When I pay for something I expect to get the service that goes along with it. When you go to buy something like a motor home, the salesperson is the nicest guy you’ve ever met. He remembers your name the licence plate and year of your car, your phone number and probably your SIN number as well. Once you’ve bought whatever it is, the next day he has to look you up on the computer to see who you are. Even then you have to send a photo to jog his memory.

Inconsiderate people also get on my nerves. this particularly comes up when driving. No turn signals, texting, running red lights and stop signs. This endangers everyone but they don’t care.

I once had a couple try to cut in line at Expo 86 and when I told them to get to the back of the line they called be an a**hole. I replied “I may be an a**hole but I’m not at the back of the line.” I got a round of applause for that one.

Cooking food in the microwave oven to the exact time and finding it frozen in the middle.

Making the tea and forgetting to boil the water. (That happens too often.)

Losing an object, ordering a new one on-line, only to have the original turn up the day you get delivery. Another reason I have two of everything.

And of course donald trump. My spell check keeps trying to capitalize his name but I don’t think he deserves it.

And of course people who tell us that we’re nuts to be living in Mexico because of Covid. Are you crazy? Down here we are the eleventh in the world per capita. Not as good as Canada perhaps but still not crazy bad. Besides, we like it here so there is that.

Black Friday really pisses me off too. Stores raise their prices and then slash them just so they can see a bunch people fighting each other to buy something they don’t need and probably can’t afford.

It’s not about what an individual needs, it’s about making sure he/she gets it before the other guy does. This is the new version of Hunger Games. There is no point to it, just the idea and the fun of the violence that goes along with it. I think it may pass football as the most popular contact sport in the USA.

I have to stop now as the ice is melting in my Margarita. That’s pissing me off too. Oh boy! I think I’m just one angry little man.

After having used the BBQ for smoking out the mozzies we thought it would be cozy and practical to get a chiminea. Also the temperature here drops to 24 C over night so you have to be careful not to get frostbite. In February I’ve seen it as low as 10 C .

Because of the bites we already have we went up town and bought some antihistamine. I foolishly suggested that as we had been cooped up so long (two days) there was a need to go to the beach for a margarita. Rosalie reluctantly (yea right) agreed.

We went to restaurant Bugambilia and ordered our drinks. Because we go there often and speak to the waiters with our limited Spanish our drinks seem to get stronger. They are lovely people and it’s fun talking with them. I also love the way they crack up laughing when I try to say something in Spanish.

While there, a fellow Canadian, another Gerry, whom we met last year, showed up and told of his adventures over the last year. It was interesting to compare notes.

Staggering out of there we hit the highway to Aguacate (The town of avocado). But first we had to stop by the Bodega to restock Rosalie’s tequila.

Rosalie’s tequila (3 Litres). Notice there’s already some missing.

Continuing on, we were so intent on talking, we sailed right by the chiminea place. I made a u-turn and went back the way we came. Pulling to the side of the road we leapt out and found just what we wanted. This was fortunate as it was the only chiminea they had.

The thing cost a minor fortune as it was hand made clay. We parted with 500 pesos (about $35) and loaded it into the back of the car.

That evening we burned the last four cascara de cocos and again fought the mozzies off. This left us with nothing else to burn so we went back to the place we got the husks before. This time, for some reason, he wouldn’t sell us any.

On the way home we stopped off at a side road and stocked up on some dead wood lying around and so had another nice evening of smoke and fire.

And they say life sucks.

Having a need for comfort we planned to get a couple of loungers. We found the loungers okay but no luck finding cushions for them. We decided to make a trip to Cihuatlan and look there. No luck as it happens. However, on the way home we stopped in at yet another coco place and managed to get a trunk full of fuel. Choke mozzies, choke!

Did you notice the use of Spanish and latin there? Man, I’m smart. Cascaras de cocos means coconut shells or husks or what ever.

There have been a lot of mosquitos here lately, so we bought some bug coils and bug spray. They help but we still get bitten frequently, not only by mosquitos. So we decided to do it the Mexican way. Down here they burn coconut husks and shells to create a smudge pot.

We mentioned this to Mike and he suggested that we go out into the country and pick some up at the side of the road. Well, we’re too lazy for that so we asked Omar about it as he seems to take a lot of coconuts from here. He told us that he throws all his away but that we could get some from a place down near Cihuatlan. We had passed this site before but hadn’t taken too much notice.

Needing an afternoon road trip, we loaded up the car (Rosalie, me and a plastic tub) and away we went.

Having found the place we tentatively drove in. There was a guy loading great scoops of the stuff into the back of a truck. As soon as he saw us he stopped and came our way. In our best Spanish we asked if we could buy some coconut husks. He said no! But we could help ourselves. He then helped load our plastic container. We gave him a tip and were soon on our way.

Being in a somewhat positive mood after this little coupe we went looking for a couple of loungers. Not having a lot of luck there, we somehow ended up at Papa Gallo’s on the beach where they forced a couple of margaritas on us.

Our favourite waiter, Rafael was happy to see us again and we had a great conversation with him. He told us that he and his wife were caught in the flood and how they had raised their bed, and their couch, onto bricks to avoid the rising water. They also elevated their fridge and the water was about an inch from it when it receded

Eventually, we staggered back to the casa and I tried out our newly found mozzie repellent. I lit a couple of the husks and the next thing we knew the place was full of smoke. No Mosquitos but (cough) a lot of smoke. I think this may work but a lot of detail will have to be given to wind direction. The fire needs to be tended to frequently but that’s okay as I need the exercise.

So far we haven’t seen a mosquito and the other bugs are staying away also. I think another trip to the coconut fields may be in our future.

We waited in all day for the Amazon delivery but finally at 9 pm we got a notification that our parcel had been returned to sender. Oh well!

I was very disappointed!

While in town we went to the immigration office to finish up our ‘temporal’ status. After the fingerprints (This time with a machine and not ink) photos and signatures, we were told to report next week Friday at 12 noon to get our new cards.

I needed some stuff from the hardware store which was just up the street from immigration so we popped in. I ordered some rope for the hammock. I needed about 10 Metres so the young lady wound it off and then…weighed it. Huh!

I also need a garden hose and had to buy it by the metre. I added a male and female fitting and two hose clamps and we were set to go. The whole thing came to about $20 so I was happy.

Next, we made our way to the market where we bought a few things. I wasn’t nearly the size it normally is because of the plague but we still found stuff to buy that we didn’t really need.

Ruby was cleaning the casa today so we ate out. We decided to go to Esemaralda’s as we hadn’t seen her for a while. We parked the car and was about 30 metres from the restaurant when my phone rang.

Yup! It was the Amazon delivery guy still trying to contact us. I, as usual, passed the phone to Rosalie but she was obviously struggling so I suggest that we hustle to Esmeralda for help. After explaining the situation Esmeralda took the phone and spoke to the guy. After a long conversation she said to deliver the package to the restaurant and gave detailed instructions, only to find out that the guy was still in Manzanillo. He had to pick up more packages but would be in Melaque later in the day. Esmeralda closes at 3 pm so he had to hustle.

Esmeralda had told us that she would phone when the package arrived but we decided to go back at 3 and wait. On the way back we passed a DHL truck as well as a FedEx truck. Neither of them showed up at the restaurant so we went home to wait. I think I should have stopped the DHL guy to ask if he had my package.

Update: At about 7 pm we got a call from the Amazon driver. He had been trying to find people who spoke English and he finally got the guy at Camino Del Mar Hotel to call us. Deciding that explaining how to get out here was too much of a pain, we asked him to take the package and we would pick it up in the morning. We also told us to give the guy a tip and we would reimburse him. I won’t believe it until I have that package in my hands. Watch this space.

Update on the update: We drove to town today and finally picked up our package. Now we have to find a location where we can get stuff delivered in the future. No sign of the goats though. I hope they lost the package. We can buy goat soup up town so Rosalie’s okay with that.

Me when they handed me my pacel.

One good piece of news we read, was that Mexico had dropped from 3rd to 8th and now to 11th in the Covid stakes. According to W.H.O., I was happy to read that today. There don’t seem to be any cases in our area and mainly people have been distancing and masking. Except for one party further up the coast which was visited by lots of people. Idiots!

Even though we are living here, we have to carry on the tradition of buying stuff from Amazon that we really don’t need.

There are a few issues with this though. Firstly, we have to order from Amazon.mx and their site is all in Spanish. Secondly, there is a lot of confusion about our location.

I ordered a small item and waited expectantly for delivery that was expected last Saturday. That afternoon I got a call from the delivery guy, who spoke no English, asking where we were. I tried to tell him but he didn’t get it so I handed him off to Rosalie. She had less luck than I did and the guy eventually hung up.

Our address is as follows: Francisco Villa 27, Pinal Villa, Costalegre, Cihuatlan, Jalisco Mexico 48972

It looks straightforward forward but we have found out that we are actually in the town of Villa Obregon. The rest of the address is still correct so we have had to add Villa Obregon to the special instructions. To add to the confusion, most local people know our location as ‘El Rancho Pimienta’, also added to the special instructions.

We did have a package delivered here last year with no issues so we have no idea what the problem is this time. Amazon has a policy that if something is undeliverable it is returned and we get a refund. So there is that.

I did get the idea that if it wasn’t delivered by the next business day I should contact someone. I thought yesterday was the next business day but it turned out to be a holiday. They only had one two weeks ago. So today I wait.

Trying to find my way around their Spanish-only website to try and clear up the confusion only creates more confusion. I keep ending up where I started with one more degree of frustration. So for now I give up.

I should have had it delivered to our address in Canada where we could pick it up in the spring. I would probably be quicker.

While we waited for delivery I was looking around Amazon.mx’s website and I think I may have ordered a couple of goats by mistake. We may never know though as they may not be able to deliver them. We could use them as the grass is getting a bit long and Rosalie loves goat soup. (Ugh!)

Well I thought this one was pretty cute. Look at that smile; and those dimples.

Mike and Pat sent a message inviting us to go with them to Chantli Mare, a small hotel up the coast from Melaque. We have been there several times but this time was more memorable.

That’s our table in the corner.

We had just finished lunch when one of the waiters came to our table and excitedly said “Tortugas! Tortugas!” We looked over the side of the deck we were on and saw a whole bunch of baby turtles heading out for the water. There must have been fifty or more of them by Mike’s count. We grabbed our cameras and headed down to watch.

The thing that got me was that the locals were as excited as we were. I’m sure they have seen this many times before but were genuinely loving it. One of the young waitresses dove under the deck and was helping the little guys out of the hole their mum had laid their eggs in. She was also righting the ones who got turned on their backs and had trouble getting back upright. I did a few too; it was cool.

We followed them to the water’s edge and I was surprised by the speed that they moved. Also, the fact that they knew where the water was. I followed one all the way to the water’s edge and we became such close friends that I named him Tommy Tortuga. He wanted to stay with me but a wave came in and ended the discussion. Unfortunately not many of them make it to adulthood there are just too many predators.

After Mike and Pat dropped us off we contacted Gerry and Elaine and went to their new location to see how they were doing. They have a great location two houses away from their old one.

When we got home we tried a trick that Mike had told us about dissuading mosquitos. Down here they burn coconut husks to make a smudge pot. Mike told us that egg cartons burn slowly and do the same thing so we tried it out. As we had no coconut shells handy (tomorrow we go looking for some) I lit an egg carton and blew out the flame and sure enough, we had a really smoky mossie deterrent. It worked great. It smouldered for about two hours. Thanks, Mike!

I hope it works on large ants also. Last night I was sitting on the patio minding my own business when I felt something land on my head; not unusual as all sorts of things fall from above. However, this one hurt. I brushed it off and at the same time felt a stinging pain on my noggin. I noticed that it was a large ant and later as it revealed itself I taught it a lesson. I hurt for about half an hour but eventually the pain went away. We are living in a semi-tropical country after all.

This guy survived because he has attitude.

I’m sure most people are happy that I’ve not been posting. The WiFi here just sucks. At times I couldn’t get into WordPress to write. It seems the kids here are also schooling online so that puts a load on an already weak system.

The other day Omar was walking across the lawn with a ladder and Rosalie started to get all excited. “Omar, coco locos” she shouted scaring the life out of both Omar and myself. I think she wanted to hold the ladder so he could get the job done quicker.

He brought three coconuts and emptied them into a jug. We didn’t have vodka so he settled for gin. I noticed that this time he was quite a bit more generous with the booze. They also tasted better than last year.
We had a great time for an hour or so. I know his favourite is Rosalie but he seems to be getting used to me a bit more.

The conversation was all in Spanish and I was surprised how much I could contribute. I also understood a lot more than normal. I’m mostly there as a backup for Rosalie. If she gets stuck on a word I look it up for her. Sometimes to my surprise, I can help her without looking it up.

There were some things left here last year that we didn’t expect to see again. One was the WiFi expander and the other was the wireless doorbell. Well, Omar showed up with the WiFi extender and admitted that he had saved the doorbell push button. Surprisingly, the WiFI extender still seems to work.

We thought the kids would have had the door button. I know if I was a kid again I would have. Can you imagine the fun of standing outside the door with an innocent look on your face with the button in your pocket where none can see it and pressing it just as the aggrieved neighbour went back inside? Awesome!

We’ve had to go out for supplies a few times. The other day as we pulled up to the store a guy asked if we wanted the car washed. I think he was a bit surprised when we said “yes!” It’s good to help even in these small instances as he seemed to be handicapped.

After we got our groceries and went back outside, he didn’t seem to have done much. The guy was nowhere in sight and I thought we would have to drive off. At that moment he showed up with a tub of water that he got from somewhere. He finished the job, by hand, and wanted 50 pesos so we gave him that as well as a big tip. The irony is that by the time we got home the car was just about as dirty again.

In a previous blog I mentioned the damage in Melaque from the rain storm. I said that one street was washed out. It appears that it was actually sucked out when the lagoon was opened up to let out excess water. They have built a wall there now to prevent it from happening again.

Today was a good day in many respects. First, we had to get our Residente Temporal renewed. As the car was still with the car Doctor we had to get a taxi. The first call was to the wrong taxi. Just as I called for Omar to help, the phone rang and it was the correct taxi service. They work in zones and can’t pick up outside of their zone. On the way to town, I heard a scream from an approaching motorcycle. A three-foot cocodrilo literally galloped across the road. I don’t know who was more scared, the cyclist or the cocodrilo.

The immigration office was open (closed previously) and except for a small error on one of our forms, they duly updated our visa for the next three years. Everything went as smoothly as they had explained last season. There were a lot of wild rumours: about not being able to renew it, if it was already expired. One couple had trouble crossing into Mexico from the U.S. We decided to ignore all rumours and on-line advice and do as we were told (for once) by immigration and it worked out great.

Our immigration paperwork.

Part of the process was going to the Banamex bank and parting with a large sum of money. Our last visit was a bit of a hassle, we had trouble with the procedures so we asked Raquel to help us. While we were waiting for her we went for lunch on the beach. There was no one else there, the waiter was masked, so we were fine.

There has been a buzz in the air that we are required to self-isolate, but coming into PV no one informed us of this and anyway what are we supposed to do? It was essential to have our car, to get food and other supplies. Also, we had to check in with immigration within five days so we had little choice. All the correct protocols have been done: masking, distancing etc. so we think we’re fine. Maybe some people think that, because they personally want to isolate it’s a state requirement, I don’t know!

Because of covid procedures, there was a lineup outside the Bank letting only a few people in at a time. Raquel was supposed to meet us at 1:30 but she arrived a half-hour early and called us. Gulping our food, chugging our drinks we scooted.

Just as we were finishing at the bank the phone rang and Juan told us the car was ready. He picked us up outside and talked mostly nonsense incessantly as we drove back to the garage. We paid the bill $1,680 pesos ($104 Cdn) and went home.

Look at me, parking like a true Mexican. I’m so proud.

So, the Temporal got renewed, we got our car back, saw a little cocodrilo and managed to have lunch on the beach. Not a bad day at all. After one more visit to immigration, we’ll get back to isolating in case the isolation cops come for us.

The car had been sitting for five months so I had no idea whether it would start or not. I took off the cover but noticed that it had been re-tied, haphazardly, but effectively. I think it may have come off in the wind. When I opened the hood there was a bunch of leaves in one corner that I first thought was a nest of some sort. As I took it apart I found that it was just a solid bunch of leaves; again, the wind.

I reconnected the battery and started it up. No problem at all except for the power steering leak. It did need a good wash though as it was really dusty.

We needed some more supplies so we took the car for a run into Melaque. I was a bit concerned about the power steering fluid. I had requested that Don and Peggy get some for our initial supply run and they did just that.

Ah, those Mexican topes

Melaque looks about the same from what we’ve seen of it. A lot more sand around but then again we only really looked downtown. We will explore more when the car gets better. Our real aim was to get a margarita on the beach but with the new lockdowns in place, we will have to wait a few days. So we went home and had a swim.

The following day we again went into town to check in with the immigration office but they are closed until tomorrow. So far everything they told us before we left last year is playing out just fine.

We went into Super Hawaii and immediately bumped into Mike and Pat. It wasn’t a good place to catch up so we’ll check in with them later. After we got the rest of our groceries we went home for lunch.

In the afternoon I used the last of the power steering fluid to get us to the garage for some repairs. As it turned out we met the same guy as last year. He had the same line too. “My brother knows all about this but he’s busy now.” We suggested that he take us home and keep the car until later in the day. We know we probably won’t see it again for a couple more days.

He’s reading my blog!

Although we weren’t told too, apparently most people coming in are quarantining for a while. We aren’t able to completely isolate ourselves but we are staying clear of people and holing up as much as possible. And of course, wearing our masks and washing our hands a lot.

We met up with Omar again and he seemed happy to see us despite the thrashing I pretended to give him last year. My Spanish must be improving as we both understood each other quite a bit without tequila.

We went to the trailer and put away most of the stuff for the winter. All we had left to do was pick up a rental car, winterize ours and pull the slides in on the trailer. Packing and organizing what can and can’t go with us was a bit of a challenge but we got it all done.

We had to be up at 2:30 am to take our bedding back to the trailer and make our way to the airport for our 6 am flight. It was cold, 2 C. The rental car had to be filled with gas in Courtney but our usual station was closed. Oh, panic! Fortunately, there was another one across the street so I did a slightly illegal maneuver (it was 3:30 am with nobody about.) and we got our gas.

At check-in, they told us that we had to check our carry-ons. We were a bit miffed but went along anyway. After passing security and made our flight to Calgary with no problems. Boarding was just starting as we got to our departure gate for P.V. so it’s lucky we didn’t stop at Timmie’s along the way.

Our flight out was delayed 45 minutes as one of the passengers was ill and had to get off. To make things a bit worse, they had to de-ice the plane before we left.

Although many flights are getting cancelled we noticed that 20 minutes before we left another West Jet flight was also going to P.V. and both were packed.

I found that both our flights were very cold but when they announced that we were landing in 15 minutes, I unzipped the legs of my pants, took off my overshirt stowed my jacket and I was ready. It was after all 33 C outside.

After all the rumours we heard about trouble getting back into Mexico with our expired Temporal Visa we approached the counter with a bit of trepidation. We needn’t have worried, the only thing we did wrong was to forget to fill our re-entry forms in. They stamped our passports and away we went. For some reason, Mexicans seem to delight in stamping stuff.

Next, getting our checked luggage. We found the correct carousel and one bag arrived pretty quickly. I waited and waited for the next one but…nothing! Then the carousel stopped! There was a lot of luggage on the floor but we were being told it was for a flight from San Francisco. I finally found our bag at the back of this pile of stuff. After this disorganization, I knew we were home.

After the flight delay, immigration delay and missing luggage we were a bit later than expected meeting Eddie our driver. He told us that he too was getting a little concerned. However, we made it back to Pinal Villa just after dark. We did drive through a little bit of rain on the way but nothing serious.

The trip from P.V. takes 4 hours. So for Eddie it was a full days work and it only cost us $200 Canadian. He had to go back the next day to get someone else. He does it a lot so makes a good living at it.

Peggy and Don met us at the house with some supplies for the evening and we had a pleasant glass of wine with them before settling in for the night. It was a bit sticky inside as the place had been closed up and it took a long time to cool it down. As we had been up since 2:30 we didn’t have too much trouble sleeping.

We woke up this morning to another beautiful day and I was immediately chased by a mosquito.

We’re Back!