Conexiones

Domingo 21 - Sabado 27 Octubre 2012.  (Sun 21^st) Dan thought we might go out for breakfast, but Carmen would rather go to a Chinese buffet restaurant next time we are near one (there's one right up the street from both of the Chedraui stores) on some future shopping day. So, we indulged in waffles at home. Today Carmen reorganized the bathroom items, where she found the missing new faucet handles for the kitchen sink. We also put our living room TV in place on the newly varnished and now well-dried shelves and supports. This was after about a half day's effort for Dan splitting the cable signal and wiring in all the components (receiver, CD player, VCR, two DVD recorders, plus allowing for a computer and the Wii to be put in the mix too). He's so happy that the cable here is still analog, which means all the internal tuners in the devices will work independently for timer recordings. If you opt for digital service, it means all the content comes in only on Channel 3, so you must have an intermediate cable box (for each machine, generally rented from the company) to select the actual program channel that's visible to your recording device. The time/channel setup features of your recording device no longer are of any use. The option to get some free music channels seems to be the only advantage to a digital conexión, just not worth it when compared to the loss of utility in so many of our components.

In the late afternoon we walked to the park. Then a half block further and had a pizza. Enjoyed the park for awhile. Clouds started rolling in. Rainbow across the sky. Birds singing, children playing, adults strolling. Sprinkles came. People started leaving, booths were taken down, so we went to one of the corner ice cream stores. Dan got a yellow paleta of nanche. ( “Golden Spoon,” or Byrsonima crassifolia)...Carmen thought it tasted of melon, and Dan thought it to be more like pumpkin. It had a few large seeds. Carmen had an arroz con crema paleta, like frozen rice pudding on a stick, with frozen strawberry jam down one side...scrumptious. Meandered home by way of the grocery store for milk. Lightly rain sprinkling all the way. Watched some TV and then read in bed a bit before falling asleep. Another good day.

(Mon 22^nd) Dan has been trying to install the almost new HP monitor, which worked just fine in the US. However that is not the case here, when connected to any of our computers, as some interference pattern displays on top of all the screen content. Sending a duplicate signal from the video card to the VGA input on the TV allows him to make output adjustments, but the HP monitor refuses to clear up –he's extremely frustrated. How does spaghetti sound for lunch? Or, is it dinner, since after breakfast we usually have but one large meal a day, in the late afternoon. Actually there is the pan dulce (pastry) or dona (donut) at mid-morning, and then maybe some fruit, vegetable and/or crackers & cheese in the evening. We are still losing weight slowly, or at least not gaining. Very soon we will reach our goals where we will try to stabilize. Then we will have to somehow adjust our eating habits, because we are quite satisfied the way they are at present. Today Carmen baked some peanut butter cookies. The sugar is different here. More crystalline, and it makes the cookie texture different.

Bugs etc. Always wanting to live in the tropics, one hesitates because of the insect problem. We must say that they have not been a major problem. Few flies and mosquitoes. An occasional cockroach. Thousands of ants but we are getting along – sort of. However, when we took a pan out of a cupboard and thought that some how a piece of banana was on the pan and it turned out to be a dying slug, now that just got the best of us. Last evening Gardi was excited about some tiny something that was along the floor. Finally he got it by Dan's feet. Carmen got the flashlight to see what kind of spider it was and it turned out to be the tiniest cricket ever seen. A foot immediately stepped on it and Gardi spent quite a long time trying to find his new friend.

(Tues 23^rd) Watched the presidential debate last night. Dan has connected the internet to our large TV, with wireless keyboard & mouse used from the comfort of the futon couches. Makes for more enjoyable browsing. Carmen spent the day upstairs reorganizing a wall closet of storage items, and Dan worked on stowing away all the audio and video media in our entertainment center and emptying the last few boxes downstairs. For lunch we rolled a fish filet in rice flour with fresh grated lime rind and some garlic salt. Fried in oil. Then poured lime juice over it. Wow! Most delicious. Found a small zucchini in frig, frozen. Turned up the temperature control a bit. Fried it in the fish pan. Also cooked potato and then when nearly done, added fresh cauliflower. Drained when done and put a bit of butter on it and hard cooked for a minute. So good to have a more special meal sometimes. Now it's evening and time for some TV. The two small dogs next door are exercising their lungs...a street dog must have walked past, as they don't usually bark at people. Dan was able to connect with his brother, Burr, on skype today. Always good to talk on skype.

(Wed 24^th) Today we drove to Orizaba to search for a carpentry store that Dan located in the yellow pages. Carmen was handed the map and asked to get us there and locate some parking. The parking being the difficult part. The store was near the river and the streets were parked full. Carmen directed Dan to the west side of the river and we found a lovely large parking spot, but three blocks from the store. We walked back and crossed one of the bridges over the river. There is riverwalk access along the river at this bridge crossing, with a habitat/display for some cocodrilos. We have walked along the river before, but not at this area a bit south of the center. On to the Carpintodo store, where for the first time here, we actually found what we were looking for, some trim to use for additions to our kitchen cabinets. Retail wood items are rare here, and so are good carpenter's tools. They also had a great selection of cabinet hardware. A few blocks in this downtown shopping area are closed to auto traffic. We checked out the large Soriana supermarket, while the clerk at the woodshop held onto our purchased trim piece. Lovely area to walk in on this perfect weather day. Since we were parked but a block from the big alameda park, where we had seen an outdoor concert last winter, we walked around there and sat down to absorb its ambiance for awhile. Certainly is designed for children, as well as adults. Full of trees and flowering shrubs.

Next we drove back towards Fortín and stopped at the Chedraui store. Bought various things, then left our car in the parking area under the store, and walked down a block to a Chinese buffet for lunch. Then on to a Waldos dollar store. Back to the car, and one more trip into the big store for perishables. On the way out of town we stopped at the Maderas de Orizaba, a lumberyard. The lumberyard in Córdoba stocks only large pieces of wood, and one must special order anything, which they'll cut to order to your dimensional requirements. Here in Orizaba there was a selection of plywoods from Boise-Cascade, plus some pre-cut dimension lumber & trim boards (all, however, rough cut, as carpenters here must supply all the sanding & finishing labor). A good find for us, and they will deliver to Fortín for a 50 peso charge. Got a fillup at a convenient Pemex station, where the ladies gave the windshield a cleaning too. Shortly thereafter, Dan stopped by the curb and suggested to Carmen she should take a turn driving. He is afraid she might forget how, and not feel comfortable driving here. He had just run thru a light turning red, with a cop standing at the corner and thankfully, not watching.

With Carmen behind the wheel, a few blocks later, there was a light at an intersection that seemed not to be working, at least no colors could be seen on it with the low western sun shining into it from behind us. Carmen was about half way thru the junction, along with a car in the right hand lane beside her, when from the street to the right came barreling out two rows of traffic with their horns blaring! Guess their light was working, and they nosed around the two cars until the light changed again. On we came towards Fortín and in Cuautlapan there beside the road was a lady selling pineapples. We think we could smell the ripeness of the pineapples driving by on the road. No traffic behind, lots of parking area and good entrance and exit, so what could Carmen do but whip the car right around the stand and park. We bought three good sized ones, at about US$0.75 each. Talk about sweet!

Down at the Metlac river bridge we decided to take the old back road into Fortin for a change of pace. As it's always fun to do and see something different. Actually this used to be the only access into town from the west, but a less steep new road is now the main ruta libre from Orizaba, now coming up into the south end of Fortín. We had walked down this old road a couple years ago with Ania on a hike into the Metlac canyon. The road surface has suffered due to lack of maintenance, and it was difficult to avoid the potholes. Now, we did not remember quite where it came into town, which proved to be at the far western end of Avenida 1 which runs along the northern edge of the park. Stopped to check on our paint order and no, it still was not in yet.

(Thurs 25^th) Dan spent most of this day with personal finances on the office computer and Carmen did a major deep cleaning in both bathrooms. Oh my! What be this? Another new born besucona (“smoocher”) or gecko, with its egg sack still attached.

One of Mexico’s most endearing reptilians which was snuck in cargo ships from Asia and now lives wild, ranging from South America to central Mexico residents is the gecko, known as guerita (blondie) in the coastal towns and villages where they are common. When you hear their homey clicking sound (for which residents affectionately call them besucona, the “kissing one”), don’t be alarmed. Quite the contrary, for each home cannot be without its resident gecko to properly cleanse it of gnats and mosquitoes.

Check this webpage:

http://www.vallartaonline.com/information/SpotLight/TheKissingGeckoFriendlyAllies/

(Fri 26^th) While on our almost daily walks into town, we had a realization. Mexico tries very hard to make certain that all adults are registered for elections, and actively promotes voting in public service announcements and on billboards. It seems in many ways to be more democratic (small D) than the US, which holds itself as the paragon of free elections. We have been noticing two vans parked at the edge of the park – sole purpose is for voting registration. Now isn't that a bit different from the US, where our two major parties are sparring over who gets to vote?

Our paint order has still not arrived at the Sayer paint store. We finally checked at the other four places in town that sell paint and no luck there either. We are trying to buy an acrylic enamel and a clear varnish for outdoor use (water cleanup, low VOC's and easy on the environment & our lungs). Picked up another lock that we had left at the locksmith's a few days ago (for our back gate), plus had hopefully our last needed key made, for a bedroom this time. We have certainly given them a lot of business. Meandering home in the heat of the day, we purchased some red ripe tomatoes from a tiny stall in front of a house that always has a nice little selection of produce.

We spent some time cleaning the floors. Discovered that the few shiny tiles in the dining room need dried with cloth after mopping or they leave water spots. Gardi cat had to walk on and check out every wet floor. Dan moved some tool boxes from dining room to hall and kitchen, in preparation for building the cat walk near ceiling and rebuilding the cat tree we brought along. Carmen fertilized the rhododendron out front and Dan cut the lawn since Carmen assured him it would rain during the night. Finished the day with a movie. Seemed to be a Chinese movie with English, dubbed in and Spanish subtitles,

(Sat 27^th) Rained last night! This morning Carmen finished cleaning the floors upstairs and cleaned some windows, while Dan pulled more nails from our salvaged liftvan lumber. Then we put four 2x4s in the car and drove the nine blocks to Frank's construction site. Here we used his table saw, since we did not bring our radial-arm saw down with from the US, and he didn't want to make a possible mess of it with our hand-held circular saw. Ripped the boards into 2x2s in preparation for building a cat walk high along the wall above the living room windows. Ania and Frank drove up just as we were about to leave. Ania gave us a tour of the construction and pointed out all the little things one might not notice. Really will be a lovely house when done. We finally wore out, after a week of non-stop projects – nap time, after a tall fresh orange juice. Ania had told us that we have a hierba santa plant out in the backyard and that it can be used as a wrapper around baking fish. Today was the time to try it out, and we can now report it was truly delicious.

Siempre Adelante

Domingo 14 – Sabado 20 Oct 2012.  (Sun 14^th)   First sunny day in three days -- could the rainy season has finally broken? Did a big laundry including a rewashing for a pair of jeans which had developed a musty smell from drying on line for days. Final assembly of the small table & futon chair in the sala (living room) and the single bed in the small recamera (bedroom) upstairs. Dan struggled to get his office computer running.  Seems it won't work with the new HP monitor so he used the old Acer one. Office computer finally up and running!

(Mon 15^th) Big day! We Voted, and sent the ballots by email, which Carmen had arranged for before moving SoB. We moved the remaining big liftvan box out of roof drip line in the backyard; it certainly is one heavy item. Yea, a second day of sun! So, we did more laundry. Crazy thing to say, since nearly every day of the year here starts with the sun shining brightly. Stored stuff on top of shelves in the largest bedroom, mostly boxes of packaging materials, just in case we make another move. Hard to imagine at this time. Also put suitcases and seldom used items up there. Sure do miss all the enclosed storage places of our last house, of which Dan had built many. Apparently with the humidity here, one must not put items in enclosed spaces.

We had hired Artemio to do some monthly yard work, before we got our “stuff” down here. He was disappointed and unbelieving when we told him that we would mostly be doing it hereafter ourselves. Then today when he came past he found Carmen on her knees hand digging weeds from among the plantings along the sidewalk. She assured him that she was doing what made her happy, which is true. Carmen has always said that digging in the dirt is like soul food. He had not seen Dan earlier using our weedeater on the small amount of grass we have. Took us less than an hour, with a little pruning of the bougainvillea and other bushes. It had taken Artemio three hours, but this was working from a more overgrown state.

Moved our heavy cedar chest into a more permanent room. Unpacking more clothes. Smij cat has found a new favorite day sleeping/hiding place. Found her in a drawer under the single bed; though we thought the drawer was packed, she had managed to get in there from the back side and scrunched a spot just her size. Guess we will let her be at peace and except the fact that her 'spot' will become covered with her long white angora hair. Thankfully Gardi cat likes to stay near us during the day, mostly sleeping on a rug on top of a coffee table, in the sun. His theory is that this way he probably gets a treat every time we do.

Our door bell rang! When were were here in the summer, it was often a couple young boys having fun. This time it was the postman, on his motor bike. He wanted to be sure that he left the letter for us at the correct address. It was from Dave Arnold, and had taken two weeks to get here, with the proper postage on it. Our first real mail – other than a water bill for a couple US dollars. Our meter has not been read for awhile – so who knows what it will be when finally read.

Dan put more office stuff put away, using some file cabinet drawers for supplies, since there are no other drawers in room. Discovered, when getting ready for bed, that we had no hot water. Had we run out of propane?

(Tues 16^th) First thing in the morning, Dan set up and climbed our extension ladder to check the rooftop propane tank. He found it was at 55%, so we have been using about 5% per week. Next stop, the hot water heater, where it was determined that the pilot flame was out, so he relit it. Presumably there is a way to ream out the orifice a bit to get a slightly larger flame. Amazing how good a shower can feel when you have had to wait for it!

We started out walking twice for town, coming back to get forgotten items, a letter to be mailed for one. But then decided to wait until the sun was cooler after the stores reopened at 4PM. Dan took this time to repair our upper bathroom sink faucets with borrowed 5/8” deep socket from Frank. Now with all the days and hours that Dan has put into this sink repair, wouldn't you think that it could behave itself? Nope – NOW the cold water supply line started to leak due to a a little movement at the upper end as he was working on the faucet. Turns out the tubing itself, not the fitting at either end, had cracked. If it were not for the fact that this is a most beautiful hand painted sink, well-cemented into place, we probably would have replaced it and the old faucet set by now.

Just before 4pm we headed into town, and stopped first to mail the letter, but found the the Correos office closes at 4pm. But we did buy a new cold water supply tube, and made a bakery stop. Have started freezing extra, so that we can have fresh from freezer each day and not have to take the hour+ out of our busy schedule for an into town walk. Life is so hectic when one is retired! Suppose the walks would be shorter times if there were not so many fantastic flowers, trees and shrubs to inspect along the way. Now, we could take the same route every time and would have to make fewer inspection stops. Also, one must be pleasant to all passers by. What a great life!

Taste buds say that it is time to make some chocolate no-bake cookies. Added dried cranberries, which we would not do again. Raisins are good in these cookies/candies, but the cranberries overpower the chocolate taste. Now what to do with these sweets to keep ants out? Good, Dan knew the answer. Put a shallow pan of water on counter, stand a can in the water, then put your container of sweets on top. Ants will not cross the water. Carmen has never before lived where ants are a problem. Many kinds of ants here. Some are no bigger than a tiniest grain of sand and they are light tan. Very hard to see, but we do not wish to find out how they taste. Carmen calls them her thousand little helpers. They are great of cleaning up food slops, or cat barfs.

Found Gardi has a favorite window near bougainvillea (bugambilia) out by the smaller north bedroom. There is a gecko there and butterflies. Makes for hours of happiness for a cat. Frank stopped by and we gave him four sheets of plywood salvaged from the liftvans. He thought to build some shelves from it. Pretty bad stuff for building, but Dan plans to do the same with some.

(Wed 17^th) Dan unpacked books – now the office is pretty much in order – if only the kitchen would magically do that. Carmen took day off, slept and read all day. She has had a sore throat and chest – just too exhausted. Dan walked into town and got that letter mailed. A small envelope to US cost us MX$12.5. He bought some fresh vegetables and donuts. After he got back he fixed the water supply to bathroom sink—so, finally after weeks of thrashing around, we have a functional sink there. Dan got the angle grinder out and cut out the dryer vent tubes from the cuarto de servicio wall, as the stacked laundry machines will go in other corner, and later walked to Frank's obra to return the borrowed socket. He then sanded the audio-video console area supports and shelves with the mouse sander. Our shop is still along the south wall of the dining room, as moving all the tools to new concrete shelves in the laundry building will happen in sync with installing the washer-dryer there.  Carmen got moving late in the day and we walked up to the Fogon & Paila restaurant to buy their 2 for 1 Wednesday special charcoal-grilled chicken, for today's dinner and to refrigerate for later in the week.

(Thu 18^th)   We continued adelante (forward) with our getting settled in.  After more sanding, Dan varnished the shelf supports in the living room, the shelves (where the audo-video stuff will go), and also re-varnished the upstairs bathroom mirror. Dan mounted a magnetic knife rack on front of the concrete range hood. Carmen hung all the knives, and wished we had bought the longer rack. He also hung the produce trays that we bought last week, to get the items off the top of refrigerator where Carmen couldn't see them. Is she too short or is the frig too tall? Carmen sprayed back patio with herbicide (a RoundUp clone) which is a quarter of the US price here, or lso. Dan made a large hook for back gate to hang garbage bags out of reach of dogs. It is great having garbage pick up twice a week. With the hot humid weather and lots of fresh fruit and veggie trimmings and rinds, the garbage odors can get bad fast.

Decided we needed fresh biscuits to go with leftover chicken today. Hmm, have not had them for many months. Carmen was reminded of them from reading in a book last evening. Books are good for something other than relaxing.

(Fri 19^th) Today Dan started the difficult job of constructing the supports for the TV and components. Frustrating when the walls are not square. Carmen stained an outside bench. Really disappointed with the results. The product being used was supposed to be clear, but it has a grey color. Well, now we have a gray instead of wood colored bench. And the finish was dull, so it now needs another coat of maybe a clear varnish. So frustrating to have to believe a salesman, and have it be wrong. Dan's day is going no better. The support construction isn't working out right, and there is no wood to waste in a country where finish quality wood is so hard to find. We have spied a new Home Depot being constructed in Córdoba. Can hardly wait for it to be opened. There was supposed to be a Lowes going in, but they seem to have stopped all new construction. Carmen cleaned the mirror edge that Dan had varnished yesterday, with razor blade. The mirror refinish looks great!

(Sat 20^th) Dan had more struggles with the building of the support shelves today., but it finally came together. Victory was ours! Next we stained all. Then of course had to spot white paint where the stain had touched the walls. Today Carmen has started re-doing some of the areas where she had just tossed items into storage when emptying the moving cartons. She attacked the kitchen drawers. Hard to put all that she had from 10 kitchen drawers before, into only four drawers. So anything extra, not used on a daily basis, has now been stored down in the cabinets in a couple containers. Hopefully we will find some utensil hangers for the walls, which will give some relief to the at-hand utensil drawer.

Near end of day, we were on the front porch, our covered outside work area, putting together the bench that was paint-stained yesterday. A couple in their mid-30s stopped at gate and introduced themselves. Oscar and Nancy Roman. They live two doors south of us, in a pinkish lavender colored lovely house. They have a daughter who is now learning English in school, and they know a few English words. People here are so very friendly. They told us that the house between our homes is a political office. That explains why no one is there over night, only from 9am 'til 5pm. Not many boxes left to unpack. By the looks of the boxes, we do not believe that our items were examined by the aduana at the border, as does frequently happen. Everything seems to be here, and not much broken. All good.

Descargando

Domingo 07 – Sabado 13 Oct 2012.  (Sun 07^th)  Big laundry today, since there will be none done tomorrow, since our moving van load from the US is to be delivered. We also included the curtains found in the laundry building (cuarto de servicio), which can be adapted to go over kitchen windows. Carmen thinks she might use some of the colorful cloth purchased for pillow covers, in the US, along with this white, for the kitchen. Dan is seeming doubtful. The kitchen window is made up of four framed panes. The center two slide sideways and meet together in the middle; the outer two are fixed. Now seems as if the center two would look quite chipper with cafe curtains in cheerful yellow flowers. All other curtains that came with the house downstairs are white of a muslin texture (nothing curtained upstairs, but the dowels that would hang them are there). Carmen has gone outside at night to be sure nothing can be seen thru them. She just can't believe her eyes. Nothing can be seen thru these white curtains. How can that be? Once our sewing machine has been unboxed, all the curtains in the house will be rebuilt to fit our new way of hanging them. All the rest of the windows in the house hinge at the sides and join, without a stile, in a lap joint at the center; a full width 1¼” dowel along the window lintel held the curtains hanging down inside. Opening the windows was difficult, since the curtain got in the way. Dan came up with a way to mount 1/2” diameter curtain rod lengths, held off each window frame with adapted plumbing elbows...so we can open windows the way we like, without interference from the curtains, which now ride on the hinged windows themselves.

We painted a coat of vinyl sealer (sellador) and three coats of Comex white paint in laundry room where the washer-dryer stack will be, and also in the living room TV area. Again, like Anacortes, our house has all white walls. While we do love the Mexican standard brightly colored walls, we just apparently like white better, at least for inside. All the walls in the house were other colors, but were painted white when the former owner was trying the sell the place—the white, contrasted with all the wood in the house, really felt good to us when we first saw it. A brand new 3” paint brush fell totally apart (purchased in US, perhaps made in China?). Big hunks of bristles just fell out! Never saw that happen before, maybe the Mexican brushes will last longer? While Carmen painted, Dan bustled about moving things about getting ready for delivery. Also he printed off a copy of our packing list, to use as a checklist

About 1pm Frank & Ania showed up to help unpack. They thought our delivery was today. They invited us to come over at 5pm, to play a board game or whatever. When we drove over there, we found that Tim & Tamara, neighbors of F&A from Coscomatepec, were also there. They have extensive avocado plantation and farm product thing going. She is Mexican-German and he is from New York state, and has lived here for 15 years. Probably for Carmen, all spoke English, and the evening was spent in pleasant conversation. Back home by 7:30pm. Hard to sleep with the excitement of our goods being delivered the next morning.

   (Mon 08^th) Cloudy day. Dan just knew that it would be pouring down rain when the movers arrived, though after searching the sky from all directions from the second floor windows, Carmen assured him it would clear off. Dan did not believe her – but, she was right this time. We were tempted to stay in bed til eight AM, but got up at seven, had breakfast, and low and behold, the truck arrived at eight! Since we had been told they would be here between nine and ten, we expected them about eleven – since it is well known that Mexico time is always late. We had to do some hustling...finish with dirty dishes, take clothes lines down, etc. By the time they got the truck where they wanted it, we were huffing and puffing, but ready. Three guys, Vicente, Mario & José Luís were with the truck. We were mightily impressed with this crew. They worked with us, unlike the crew in the US. Carmen checked everything off her list and they checked it off theirs, as it came off the truck. She told them - in español (yes, note the small 'e'), which room to take the boxes to, and Dan was in the house directing and carrying some if the items in. It was hard work for three guys shifting the liftvan crates (7x7x4) around in the truck, since the side door was too narrow and only one could be emptied at a time, and had to be lined up with the single door. This truck had smaller dimensions than the truck the liftvans were put onto at our Anacortes house. They had been sent out with a hydraulic pallet jack on the truck, but with no dolly or ramp! It slowed them down dealing with the unnumbered and duplicate numbers on many items, and they expressed frustration with the US team had which been sloppy with its work. We did give them cold beverages a couple times. We offered beers when the job was finished but they all refused and went with water or pop. Nor did they smoke (all three on the US crew did, and smoking breaks ate up some work time). They were here at 8AM, and pulled out at 12:45PM with no breaks. As each liftvan, which by itself weighed 300 pounds or so, was emptied, they moved it from out front of the house where they did the unloading, around the corner to our backyard. We had moved our car out of there for this purpose, and the five empty crates filled up the space with no room to put in the car for the night. The plan is to use the plywood and 2x4s they were constructed of.

Dan finished off the day with unwrapping, and putting together the living room futon couches and long table. Our furniture colors and material designs look really good next to the stone wall. Carmen concentrated on starting to unpack in the kitchen. Oh yes, we were exhausted by day's end.

(Tues 09^th) Sore from unloading previous day. Oh horrors, Dan found that the printer had leaked inside its bag, inside the box, which apparently had not ridden down here with the top side up. There was lots of cleanup with Qtips and paper towels. Pretty much took the morning. Wanted to send our ballots for the 06 November election by email, using the scanner function on the printer, but found we could not since the scan program is not on our netbook. Have to wait until the office computer is set up. Hammer-drilled and inserted wood plugs (taquetes) into the holes to mount the medicine cabinet in lower lavatory. Dan found various tools he needed (wonderbar, crowbar, etc.) and started taking apart two of the liftvans. Many people stopped and asked the gringo if he had a use for the plywood or would consider selling it. If so – they would like some. We stacked the plywood, after denailing and destapling, on the front porch. Carmen finished unpacking kitchen. Was almost dark by the time we unpacked our smaller Sony LCD TV and watched “Lassie” w/Peter O'Toole. Exhausted, and more sore.

(Wed 10^th) Dan went out back and disassembled two more crates. Really strenuous work. And yes, the sun was in full swing. He left one up for outdoor temporary staging/storage. We maneuvered the final liftvan so that there is again room for laundry to be hung outside, and to park the Focus in the backyard again. More itemss unpacked--Carmen is happy to see her dustmop again. They do not seem to be sold here. Where to put everything? Had we purchased everything down here instead of bringing all our items in with the furniture, we at least would be able to find a spot in the house for them as they came home with us little by little. Who would think that we had so much, in spite of leaving some behind? Of course we knew we had enough of everything to last us another lifetime. Carmen blames Ania for bringing so much kitchen stuff. Ania assured her that she would want everything she had for the kitchen, that Carmen had planned to leave behind. So now – where to find the appropriate spot for such things?

(Thu 11^th) Took a needed break from the unpacking chores and drove into Córdoba, stopping at El Clavo and to buy some yellow carpenters glue. We had found this before at Metalurve, but in containers that were waaaay too large for our use. Then Walmart for cat litter (bought several brands this time to see which Carmen preferred to clean up after it was used). Kitties seem happy with all brands thankfully. Carmen does not like the odor of her favorite brand, Scoop Away, as is available here, and she has not found the un-perfumed type here yet. Also bought a four foot mirror for the downstairs half bath door. No groceries here as we knew we'd go on today to the Chedraui at Plaza Crystal mall. Tried to find the Madera en Torno shop in east Córdoba hoping for wood trim. We did encounter lots more one way streets and streets being worked on and therefore blocked off, but we eventually located the shop, in an otherwise residential area. But, no simple trim in stock, just turned spindles and cabinet parts. Dan is doing great learning how to maneuver on the streets in the city. Carmen is learning how to read the street signs, and find the upcoming topes and huecos (speedbumps and potholes) for Dan. We do make quite a team.

At the Chedraui store we got some fruit, vegetables and some good breads & cheeses. Found some herb breads from their bakery, and some loaves with nuts and raisins. Will definitely buy these again. The breads here in various bakeries are so very good and varied – why bake? Actually Carmen's homemade bread is different so she will still bake occasionally. We found some delicious smoked Mexican cheese, plus a couple others that we have not yet tried. It is good to know that we can spend more on specialties here in this country, since it is overall less than half the cost to live here. Prices are going up here, as in US. Today we found that the eggs have gone from US$0.10 to 0.12 each, and the meats have gone up to some now US$3.00 a pound, with fewer at US$2.59 a pound. This is true of all cuts of meats, unlike such varied prices for cuts NoB. Also bought four sealable rolling bins that will fit on shelves and perhaps under new queen bed frame we'll have built later. Back too late to visit sheet metal shop, since it is one of the many places that closes between 2-4. How do we know? Yep, we got there during that time. Just never know which places will be closed and which open. Best to assume all close for the two hours, except Walmart and Chedraui of course, which are similar stores. Bakeries seem not to close either, but of course, remember that fresh baked goods here do not come out until afternoon. Home to more unpacking. Finished up this day with a movie on TV. There seems always to be something in English, if one browses the upper channels carefully..

(Fri 12^th) This morn Dan cut up a sheet of plywood and built temporary shelves for tools along wall of dining room, supported by some of those double-size milk crates we brought. The 30+ sheets of 1/2” plywood we'll get from the liftvans are not in the best condition, especially from the two vans that seem to have been around the world a couple times. But even cutting off the outside edges where they have been stapled and nailed (some of which pulled thru in breaking them down), there will be something useful from each piece. Dan then happily unpacked his tools. Having the right tool at the right time is important to a tool guy, and he can't really imagine making the move down here without his collection, some of which would be hard to replace here. As he has to have his tools nearby, so does Carmen feel about her small appliances, cooking utensils and kitchen tools.

(Sat 13^th) Walked into town, stopping first at Frank's obra, but no one was there. Got caught there by a short rain, and glad to have a roof over our heads. Did pick up the lock that we had a key made for. We have had several locks remade by a very good locksmith. Next we stopped by the PintuSayer paint store, where we were told our order would not be there for another week. It was coming in from Mexico City, since the local distributor was out of what we had ordered. Walked home a little damp, since it had been raining most of our time out and everyplace in town does not have an overhang over the sidewalk. After our mid-afternoon dinner, Dan drilled ¼ inch holes in the wall and set taquetes to affix his desk structure to wall in office. This is the homemade corner desk he had in Anacortes, taken apart and shipped flat in pieces in the liftvans. Set up desktop and 2-drawer file cabinets which provide some of the support. Carmen did more unpacking. The unpacking is not the hard part. In fact it is rather like Xmas. It is the finding a place to store everything that takes patience and redoing several times to get it right. We are finding out that Carmen is not the only impatient one in this family. But, every day we make progress and this house is becoming more a home and not a warehouse full of boxes.

Un Poco Más Allá

Domingo 23 – Sabado 29 Sep 2012.  (Sun 23^rd)  We drove the whole four blocks to the Fogon & Paila restaurant, since the sky let loose just as we started out the door, and we were going to head out of town after eating. Rain does not often arrive before late afternoon. While breakfasting at the restaurant, Dan posted the blog and we both caught up on emails. It was sunny, warm and humid (all those puddles evaporating) when we left two hours later. There were only a couple other tables occupied while we were there, so we probably helped their business rather than taking up a needed table. Next we drove to Orizaba the back way via Cuautlapan & Ixtaczoquitlan. Such a beautiful drive on a slow traffic day. Mountains and lush vegetation! Didn't find the sawmill/lumberyard that Frank thought was there. Strolled thru the Chedraui superstore which is much like a Walmart. Still looking for a small pressure cooker with all it's parts in the box. No luck. Did find some mightily fresh donuts though!

(Mon 24^th) Hung around debating whether to go into town to hassle the people at Cablecom, since the Saturday install didn't happen. Decided to just hang out at home instead, just on the chance they should arrive today. How we do enjoy looking out our windows at the banana fields across from two sides of our house. Rained off and on today. Dan removed old deadbolt locksets out of the front and back doors, as we have no keys for these.

(Tue 25^th) Cablecom arrived around midday, no phone call notice given, and installed our cable & internet. Two TV outlets, a line into the office, a new phone and modem, plus installation, all for US$15. They mostly used the existing holes drilled thru the concrete walls, but all the wires and connectors are now new. We have had an afternoon rain every day except one, and today was not an exception. Took a little time to update some of the programs on the computer, and to view the bank account, since now we are using our own connection. This blog had 120 viewers yesterday, whereas it had been chugging along at perhaps a half-dozen, mostly friends and relatives. We thought this was strange, before Dan checked John Calypso's current VivaVeracruz blog entry, and discovered a great mention in his most recent post, suggesting that folks check out our efforts. Thanks John, maybe some of the newest viewers will stay with us. We hope our experiences, faithfully recorded, give some help to others thinking about a move here.

(Wed 26^th) We took the car and drove into Córdoba for our initial visit to the IMSS medical clinic we were assigned to in July. No parking, except on street, how different than the US where offices are required by codes to provided parking for expected visitors. At least 25 taxis lined up to take people home. This new facility is not on any convenient bus route, hence the huge taxi area. We were each assigned to a separate doctor's office. A huge new building, seems to be really well set up. Dan was in his doctor's office when Carmen was called into hers. She says she did not do too badly, but when she and the nurse finally got to the point of not understanding each other, in Dan walked just in time. Now we have been given appointments for our initial dental and doctor consults. A general impression is that IMSS services and wellness outreach programs are much more wide ranging than in the US, where one must frequently seek out specialists. All appears to be without co-pay or additional charge beyond the annual fee (US$270 or so) we paid for the August thru July year when we signed up.

(Thu 27^th) Planned to walk into town but rained most of the afternoon, during which Frank stopped by to invite us to come over for a game of RummiKub this evening. Gardie is Carmen's sidekick today! She put his harness & leash on him this morning and took him into our outside areas to see the rest of his world today. He is so good. When told it was time to go inside, he walked over to the door. He has learned, since here, that some human food is good. Smij is spending her days under the bedcovers. Just like in Anacortes, where she always hid out for the day. At night after we go upstairs, Gardie goes downstairs and hollers for Smij. Her eyes get all big and downstairs she trots. They have adjusted really well. All will be better when our furniture arrives. Drove over to Frank &Ania's just before dark, stopping at the Aurrera supermarket for meat specials. Carmen drove home since Dan had had some alcoholic beverages. Our garbage bags are still, at 9:30pm, hanging on the back gate.

(Fri 28^th) The garbage was gone this am when we got up—guess the collectors had a long day yesterday. Walked into town via Frank's worksite, to check progress. Looks like all the marble tiles have been delivered. We stopped by the cerraduría and dropped off the deadbolt locks to get keys made—these are special high security keys with four faces. Bought catfood samples at several stores, and then visited the hardware store, where we purchased cut lengths of curtain rod (comes in 20' lengths, cut to order for no charge), plumbing elbows with which to make brackets for the curtain rods, and bird-blocking mesh for the top of the chimney. We visited the Comex paint store facing the park and talked to the owner about refinishing outside wood surfaces, and we also bought a gallon of white interior paint. Tapped the ATM. On the way back to our home in Colonia Las Azaleas, We bought takeout meals of barbacoa de borrego (lamb BBQ) at the El Rosario Restaurant, and mojarra (bream or similar fish), at 2 for MX$100 (US$7.70) Friday special at the Fogon y Paila. Ate the fish tonight, the the BBQ is waiting in the frig for tomorrow. Dan researched alternatives for finishing exterior wood doors exposed to sun and rain. Traditional or polyurethane varnish, even marine-grade, does not look like a lasting option.

(Sat 29^th) A desayuno of pancakes and bacon at home. Carmen likes the Más Fácil brand, as it already contains eggwhites. Doing laundry today the water was left running a bit too long and it overflowed onto the floor. Was someone telling us it was time to clean the kitchen floor? Walking around town seems to take up half the day, so many stops to make scattered about. Seems like everything one could want is just around the block (a la vuelta) or just a little farther (un poco más allá). First we visited a window/door shop close to home, way down in the SW corner of the same long block as our home. The young man there spoke some self-taught English and was eager to put together an estimate for some pieces of plexiglas, which we'll get on Monday. Next to another paint store selling the Sayer brand. A young man there also spoke some English, and we determined that this would be our source for wood-finishing materials, as we are going with acrylics and water cleanup, not the two part catalyst/varnish that Comex sells. We picked up the keys ordered yesterday. and then we waited to get another set of front door keys we can stash somewhere outside for the day we both forget/lose our keys. A final stop at the grocery store. At last in late-afternoon we got home, hungry, and had the lamb barbacoa and corn on the cob (elotes) for almuerzo (lunch). It has been a perfect weather day. Dan made a batch of fresh oj with our hand-operated orange press. Eleven small oranges go into two tall glasses. A light late supper of toast & crema de cacahuate (peanut butter), with a little dessert of three pieces of extra-dark Swiss chocolate. So smooth...so delicious!