Miercoles 12 –
Sabado 15 Sep 2012. (Wed 12th) Our first stop in town
was the Super Ahorros grocery, where the faces in the store remind us
again how very friendly this little town is. Next, home again, home
again, jiggidy jig. As we turn south onto our street, Calle 11 Sur,
there is our blue house, just waiting for us! We're about five
blocks north of the home and we see a possibly familiar car coming
off a side street and would you believe! Ania is driving. She saw
us too. She turned her car around and then drove down to pull in
behind us as we parked in front of the house to unload. How nice to
immediately see another friendly face! Later in the day Frank
stopped by to welcome us home.
Unloading went
quickly, despite all the stuff stashed in all the nooks and crannies
of the car. Oh, we dropped a box of vitamins and where did they roll
to? Hither and yon. The rest of the job went smoothly. Gracious,
we did wonder how we managed to get so much in our car. Put kitties
in their kennels in dining room to watch us bring stuff inside and to
get the first sense of the (now pretty empty) space that would be
their home. After we moved our car into the backyard parking area
inside our gate, we took cats up to our temporary bedroom.
Temporary, because our roof leaks a bit in the master bedroom. A
major project facing us now is getting all the roof tiles stripped
and then coating the concrete slab roof with waterproofing
(impermeabilizante), bought from Fester. Going to be quite a
job. We probably will not have the crew to help with this til
December, but anyway we need to wait until the September rains end.
Dan turned on
the electric breakers in the house, attached the handle to the water
valve and turned on the city water, and got out the ladder to turn on
the propane tank valve on the roof. He read all the meters and found
that there has been no usage in our absence, as it should be. The
propane hot water heater was also turned on and Carmen checked that
the stove pilots work. The refrigerator is plugged in and
perishables from the store get put inside, plus a pitcher of water
filled from the garafon on the counter. This is a small
11cuft Whirlpool frig, and it chills down quickly. There are now
containers all over the place, in the kitchen, bathroom and office,
from which we will eventually unpack all those items that were not
able to be shipped down by the movers with our furniture.
Back to the
kitties. Being used to hotel rooms each of the past nights, they
were eager to explore every corner of the bedroom immediately after
their kennel doors opened. They did not mind that we went back
downstairs to fix a quick pasta meal and devour it. Was one of the
items we bought before leaving here past July. Then we all went to
sleep for the night. Next morning the kitties followed us
downstairs, seeming most surprised that their space was bigger than
one of those hotel rooms. What fun watching them dash around, would
swear they were smiling as we assured them this was their new home.
(Thu 13th)
Started our day by walking into town for desayuno
(breakfast). A lovely 16 or so block walk, and it promises to be a
great day. At this time of year, the mornings here are mostly sunny,
getting up to the mid-80's F after lunchtime before cooling down with
late afternoon or evening showers. The Cafetería Fortín (a
restaurant, not a cafeteria in the US sense of the word) is southwest
of the central park, next to our favorite bakery. The breakfast here
is a bit smaller than the meal we'd get four blocks from home, but it
is open today. They both allow us to use their wi-fi internet access
for no charge while we dine. We sent off quick emails to say we
arrived. Did a bit of grocery shopping for fresh fruit, vegetables &
meat on our way home. Lots more cleaning. Seems that the dust in
Anacortes was pale tan and here it is dark gray. Unpacked more
tubs, trying to determine the best cupboard, cabinet or shelf for
each type of thing we had moved down here with us. We worked on
reconciling our Strom-White packing list and the one the mover
developed the day the vans got loaded up. Dan mapped out the
electrical circuits in our house – all the lights are one one 10amp
circuit, and all the outlets on another one. The third circuit must
be for the water pump that, when necessary, moves water from the
emergency underground cisterna to the rooftop tinaco
(still to be proven, however). Still very weary from our seven day
road trip.
(Fri 14th)
This morning we had cereal for breakfast at home. Walked over to
visit Frank's obra (new house, under construction), and Frank
had not yet arrived for the day. Next walked on into town to pay the
water bills for July and August, both of which were in our mailbox
waiting for us. July we had used very little, and August none, so
both bills charged us for the minimum amount. Total under $5 US for
the two months together. Next on to our favorite hardware store in
town to buy a cold chisel. Then we traversed a different route of
sidewalks and passed a fruit stand. Probably the best in town, for a
permanent stand. Many street corners will have venders of fruit or
veggies hoping to sell their items which are stacked on a wheel
barrel. Purchased oranges at a price better than we'd seen yesterday
at the grocery store. Heading back towards home, we grocery shopped
again. Our purchases included chocolate ice cream. Dan was in
charge of selecting the ice cream and yogurt, while Carmen selected
the bakery. We tend to buy small amounts each time, so that our
purchases are not too heavy to carry home. Also we get fresher
breads this way. While walking home, we saw some big net bags of
oranges, maybe 40 pounds each, stacked up and for sale on a corner,
nine blocks from home. The cost was 40 pesos, or about US$0.075 a
pound. We walked towards home, and talked about bringing the car
back for them, when low and behold, Frank pulls up beside us. He can
not understand why we walk when we have a car. Frank, who was
heading towards the hardware store, offered to take Dan and pick up a
bag and take to our house. Meanwhile Carmen took today's purchases
and walked on home, quickly, so she would be there by the time they
got to the house.
Arriving at the
Ferretería Urbina-Andrade hardware, Dan realizes that Carmen
cannot get into the house, since he has the only set of keys in his
pocket (Frank has not yet returned the set we had given him while we
were in the US). In the hardware store, Frank offers to let Dan take
his truck to get back to the house so Carmen does not have to wait.
Dan gets in the truck, and for the life of him cannot find reverse,
and proceeds to roll the pickup forward with each attempt to move.
He goes back into the store and learns that reverse is down and to
the right, not to the left. By this time a guy has parked his moto
in the little space behind the truck, leaving less than 18” in
total (front & back together) to maneuver in. To much amusement
of the guys on the street, gringo Dan finally manages to move the
truck out of the tight parking spot (many short front and back
movements, cranking the wheel each time, trying not to bump the car
in front or knock over the moto behind) and heads off, thinking all
the time of Carmen waiting at the doorstep. He makes a quick stop to
get the bag of naranjas and heads home. This has proven to be
a lovely hot day. By now Carmen tried to shade the groceries, since
there was ice cream in the bags. She waited and waited and waited,
and was beginning to worry that there had been an accident. Finally
Dan arrived and explained the un-parking trouble that caused the
delay, and the ice cream made it into the freezer. He then headed
back to pick up Frank, who was happily eating a sandwich (torta)
from the shop next to hardware store. He watched as Dan parallel
parked into a (now sufficient) space in front of the store, then took
the opportunity of being in town to tap his ATM up the block, and
also recharged his cellphone at a little shop nearby. Finished with
the errands, he dropped Dan off at home before returning to the
jobsite
Late in the
afternoon we walked into town again to recharge our own phone, since
Frank had told Dan that there was a special going today, MX$120 for
the cost of MX$100. Bought two dishes of hand-scooped helado, and
sat on a shaded bench in the park behind city hall to enjoy it.
Carmen picked a flavor that proved to be black cherry with nuts, and
Dan had cappuccino flavor. Gave us strength to walk on home. We
decided to go to the Cablecom office to scope out service plans;
we'll need to decide on package details and bring a copy of proof of
residence (a water bill) and a copy of the US passport, in order to
place an installation order. Carmen at this point is really fighting
with a sinus infection, cold or what ever she had picked up in Utah.
Thankfully Dan has stayed healthy so far.
(Sat 15th)
Carmen sort of stayed in bed today, trying hard to snap out of her
cold. Dan went by himself to the Urbina hardware store to pick up
some electrical parts. He also stopped by Cablecom and ordered a
package including TV cable (91 channels), telephone (free local 271
lada calls, calls outside this lada and calls to States MX$1.19 per
minute or about 8 cents US), and internet (10 megabit speed). This
will cost us about US$65 per month. Dan paid the US$15 installation
fee, and the young lady said it would be installed within a week.
When he got home he swapped out those 10amp breakers in the SquareD
box, for some 20amp breakers he had kept from Mountain Song days. As
all the wiring in the house is 12 gauge, this seems a safe &
quick fix for circuits that would overload should we plug in more
electrical stuff, once it arrives. He pulled two ungrounded outlets
from the box in the wall over the kitchen counter, and snapped in two
of the grounded type. (Understand, these are not actually grounded,
but will now accept the 3-prong plugs that all our small kitchen
appliances are equipped with.) He also replaced the hanging bulb
socket over the front gate which had rusted in the rain, for a
surface-mounted lamp holder mounted out of the wet under a beam. At
the end of his workday, Frank stopped by to drop off the set of keys
for Carmen, and enjoyed a Gallo beer with us.
The cats seem to
have adapted and settled in to their new digs well. Gardi assures us
that he would be okay being allowed outside to see the rest of his
new world. But this is not in the plans for him, so we are careful
as we go in and out that he is not in a position to dash outside. He
holds back, as he seems to understand our wishes about this. Smij is
doing her usual thing of hiding out (presently under the bed covers)
and sleeping all day. As soon as our light goes out at night, Gardi,
from downstairs, starts calling loudly to Smij to come play, or at
least it seems that way. Soon he comes to our bedroom and performs
his nightly grooming and then sleeps the rest of the night on a shelf
above our heads. Wonder what Smij finds to do all night?
