Month: October 2024

Our car, like us, is getting old and decrepit. Since we returned, it developed a grating noise in the front brakes. The same thing happened a few years ago. I suspect the dust and sand have a way of wearing down the brake pads.

We have tried several repair shops, but we needed one close to home so that we could walk to and fro in the heat without too much discomfort.

Our very first repair was done by a shop owned by a couple of brothers, Los Hermanos, but they moved so another Oxxo could move in. So when we heard that they were at a different location, fairly close by, we looked them up.

We showed up one morning and the brother who spoke English, Juan, remembered us from our repair four years ago. He said that they were short-staffed as three of his guys had Dengue. He told us to be there the next morning at nine o’clock and not to be late. When we finished laughing at his precise time we went back home.

Juan

The next day and just to mess with him we arrived at Exactly 9 am. He told us that we would get the car back that day. (Sure!)

After arriving home and preparing to go to the beach, Juan called me and said he couldn’t find the security socket to remove the wheel. I suggested several locations including the trunk where the spare tire was kept. But no, he couldn’t find it.

Rosalie was down for a nap so I grabbed my Tilly hat and sunglasses and hiked to the repair place. My leg was still giving me a hard time so this was a bit of a chore.

When I got there I rechecked all the places I had told him to look but with no success. Then I checked the trunk and in the well where the spare was, I found the missing piece. Juan said that he had checked in there but hadn’t find it. I think he was stalling for time.

Me after checking the oil.

As my leg was sore I got him to drive me home and he promised to call when the repair was done later in the day. That didn’t happen. We had gone to Tito’s for refreshment and didn’t hear from Juan for the rest of the day. However, it was two-for-one at Tito’s so by this time we didn’t care anyway.

I called him the next morning and told him we needed the car pronto as we had friends to pick up at the airport. He said it would be finished in two hours. Sure enough three hours later he showed up at the door with the car. I ran him back to the garage but didn’t have enough money to pay him so I told him that he would have to trust me. He said, “Don’t worry I know where you live.” I said I would be back in an hour and took off. I thought I would wait for two hours just for some revenge.

The car drives great now. They replaced the rear brake shoes (not the front) and one cylinder, the total cost was 2,000 pesos, about $140 CDN.

Juan also told me that there was a squeak in the front end, which I knew about but couldn’t get anyone to fix it previously. So, next week, I will return again and wait another couple of days to get the car back.

While on the way to the bus depot, we asked Manuel how much he would be charging us for his services. He had taken us on four trips. He said 300 pesos ($20.81). We thought he had done far more than this as he was available whenever we needed him and was never late. So we gave him 500 pesos ($34.74) 

He was happy and told us to call anytime we were in town and in need of a driver.

The bus ride down was uneventful and I even naped a few times. Not like me at all.

After arriving home we dropped off the luggage and walked up town for some food. Jorge at Terazza Cortez was happy to see us and we had a nice meal. We were also greeted by other Mexicans whom we know.

Nice sunset, a cool breeze, a cold drink, and a nice meal, all great except for that darn condensation.

There are some disadvantages to living here. For example, at lunch the other day, I ordered a glass of wine, and the condensation ran across the table, and I put my elbow in it. This is a classic first-world problem.

The next afternoon, we went to meet Castulo to get our car out of storage. There are several locks on the garage door, and he has about 2000 keys to choose from. So, we sat and waited in the shade until he sorted it all out.

Then he opens the door and there’s our baby, under about a half inch of dust. The driver’s door was blocked so I climbed over the seat to unlock the hood. After reconnecting the battery I climb back in and turn the key: Brooom! starts the first time every time. It’s an old Mexican beater car but it’s reliable and we don’t worry about looks.

There is so much sand in the car that we ordered a small shop vac. There is enough sand in there to start our own beach.

Down here, we only use windshield wipers for dust removal. In this case, the water had run out, but most of the dust was removed. I dread thinking about what the wipers would be like in the rain after all that abrasion.

Part of staying at Stephen’s casa was that his friend/neighbour Manuel, who is an Uber driver, lives just around the corner and we could use him whenever we wanted to. Very handy!

In the morning he drove us down to the Malecón so that we could get acclimated, have lunch and a few two-for-one margaritas.

One of our favourite places is the Zoo. It’s a lot of fun and the monkey likes me. You may remember this video from a blog a few years ago.

The monkey wasn’t there today so I spoke to one of the meseros and asked “Donde esta el Mono?” “Where’s the monkey?” He told me that it was his day off. So I showed him the video. And he burst out laughing.

It seems that the guy in the monkey suit is gay. I showed the video to some of the other meseros and they too found it hilarious. One of the guys said that the monkey starts with the nips and works his way down. I wasn’t as uncomfortable with this as I should have been but it was a great laugh. In the meantime, we had our margaritas and I also had a glass of wine, then started going to meet Manuel.

Realizing that we had nearly an hour to kill we made the mistake of checking out a tequila store. It wasn’t a good idea as Rosalie was already a little wobbly so she ended up buying a $100 bottle. It was lucky that there was a bit of time to kill as the sales guy knew his stuff and gave us a seminar on different kinds of Tequila. Rosalie’s bottle is great tequila though and I might even get a sip or two.

At this stage, the cash peso money was getting a little low so we got Manuel to take us to the marina to get some more food and replenish our finances. After that, we were totally done in. With the change in temperature and the jet lag to say nothing of the margaritas; there was also a lot of walking done today.

In the evening, after Manuel rescued us again, we just sat and read our devices had a little snooze and cooled off.

We were up at 3 am for the drive to the Comox airport. I hate getting up at that time but it is worth it.

We got to YVR and walked about five miles to our gate.

We had checked our case in Comox as well as the box with the 3D printer and hoped for the best. 

I was worried that when we got to PV the Mexican customs would make me open it up. I didn’t like the idea of doing this as it was packed with all sorts of other goodies.  I had 2 kilos of wine gums and didn’t want to use my season’s supply (well about three weeks actually).

All our stuff arrived in PV okay, and we had no real problems. I had purchased straps with handles to make carrying it easier. One broke at home the second time I lifted it and the second one didn’t show up in PVR. Crap quality.

We got a taxi to the bus depot and purchased our tickets to Melaque. Then we had to get another taxi to Stephen’s house and that’s when the problem began.

The taxi driver obviously didn’t even know what city he was in and after driving around for a while we told him to drop us at Soriana’s supermarket to get wine and the phones recharged. He charged us twice the going rate and didn’t even get us to our destination. After calling Claudia she spoke to a different driver and we arrived tired but undefeated.

The way Rosalie looks says it for both of us.

That evening, Claudia took us to a hamburger restaurant Carl Jr’s for dinner. There was a two-for-one special on and the lineup circled the inside of the store. It went down fairly quickly though and we were seated in about twenty minutes.

The weather is bearable and not as hot as we expected. That evening, we slept like babies.

When I was an eight-year-old kid in England, there was a comic called Lion. I loved it and wanted to be a member of their club. I sent away for the official badge and the waiting began.

Sometime later, I was reading my beloved comic when my fifteen-year-old brother Joe came in and said he would give me a small package if I gave him the comic to read. I was so excited I immediately agreed, my badge had arrived; I was in heaven.

This all came back to me when I watched “A Christmas Story” where young Ralfie gets his decoder ring. I felt the same jubilation that he did. It’s such a small thing to bring so much happiness. I’m sure today’s kids get the same thrill we did, but I wonder over what.

They may get some joy out of online stuff but we got a solid object to touch and feel and most importantly, to show off to our friends.

Back in those days, we got all sorts of things free with our comics and magazines. When I worked at a wholesale newspaper and magazine distributor the women’s magazines often came with a free sachet of shampoo. As the unsold magazines didn’t have to be returned we usually ended up with a whole bunch of free shampoo to take home.

We used to get Playboy magazine but there were never any free samples. As a nineteen-year-old, I was quite disappointed.

I remember one time there was a free 45 rmp record but I can’t remember what it had on it.

Our last days

With a couple of days to go before we leave, it’s time f0r Rosalie to clean up all the leftover food. This is the time I suffer the most all season as I have to eat up all the stuff I didn’t like in the summer that Rosalie saved ‘for later’.

I didn’t feel so good after all that food

It’s an odd time; I have so much to do but most have to wait until the last day. For instance, I can’t pack up the chairs on the deck as we still use them in the evening sometimes. All we’re able to do now is light a campfire, sit down and enjoy a glass of wine. Oh, how we suffer.

Anyway, enough whining, in a day or two from now we will be in the sunshine, heat and oppressive humidity; and loving every minute.