Preparando

Julio y Agosto 2012.  No we haven't changed our plans for moving to the house we purchased in Fórtin de las Flores, in western Veracruz. Since returning to Anacortes in mid-July, things have been hectic as we have been preparing for the move. During this period we have been working on the following tasks and pre-move chores...

Opened a checking account at BanamexUSA. Our social security income comes in to BanamexUSA savings accounts so we can access it via ATM machines in Mexico, but withdrawals are limited to about US$300 per day. The checking account, funded with transfers from those savings accounts, can be used for bills we have to pay in dollars, and we can move excess social security income, if any, into other accounts in the USA. This took us a while, as the bank (in Los Angeles, all dealings done thru 800-number telephone), originally set us up with a money market account which didn't have the billpay feature we needed. Ultimately the paper checks arrived in time and the account setup was corrected.

Made a bunch of purchases for stuff we anticipate needing and which probably wouldn't be easily found in Mexico, or we needed for the drive down.. Vitamins and other supplements, some vehicle security tools (the “club”), a Guia Roji 2012 road atlas for Mexico, a GPS receiver for the car (Garmin Nuvi 1300, plus the database for Mexico), a small propane Mr Heater (to take the chill off the coldest winter nights, where at 3000 ft December nights without central heating could be briefly uncomfortable), a fitting to refill those throw-away 1# propane tanks the heater uses, an extra battery for the Acer netbook and the like.

Since the movers will not accept, liquids, foods, flammables and certain other proscribed goods, we started another pile of things that had to go down with us in the car: a few small propane cylinders, extra foods we knew were hard to get or pricey in Mexico (peanut butter, certain canned goods Carmen loves, etc), our meds, misc shop solvents & compounds, previously new items that wouldn't pass the six-month test (good paint brushes, door sweeps for the Fortin house, blank CDs & DVDs and more. Question now is will it all fit in the car, plus two large cat kennels, our trip luggage and ourselves? Most of this stuff got packed in empty three gallon rectangular buckets with snap on lids (formerly holding cat litter), reasoning that easily unloadable uniform units were better in a packed trunk (the spare tire being in a well below all this—just picturing us having to unload it all roadside if we had the bad luck to get a flat tire on that long seven day trip, made this packing option the one we went with).

Earlier in the year we had bought some other items, well in advance of the move so the adauna (customs) officials at the border would have no reason to think we were moving new goods down with us: an angle grinder, a reciprocal saw, a queen size latex mattress, and a Win7 desktop computer that replaces the old XP system we're leaving behind.

We (mostly Carmen) started boxing up household goods for the movers to bring down to us in Mexico. This was limited to the non-fragile items like books, clothing, linens and a selected amount of that must-have or might-need “stuff” we all accumulate, including memorabilia. The movers will inspect these boxes and seal them up, boxing up the fragile stuff and preparing the furnishings for transit. It was left for Dan to pack up all the tools, office and financial stuff, a task left until right at the end because sure as a tool, gizmo or file folder got packed, there would be a need to dig it out again, as life goes on as normal despite our worldly possessions disappearing into boxes stacked many layers deep in the spare bedroom.

While Carmen really did retire from her food service management job, Dan continued to work getting extended tax returns filed, and training clients (or persons found to assume these duties) to take over bookkeeping tasks for their businesses. The fact that we found one young lady who eagerly wanted to take over the client list, who proved, for various reasons, to be unsuited to the job, made things a little dicey for a time. Dan also took care of selecting thru all our important papers, getting them into our safe deposit box in Anacortes. Previously we signed papers which will allow Dan's daughters emergency access to this box, and they have a detailed list of the contents.

Since we plan on keeping the house in Anacortes for as long as it takes to let ex-pat life to become the norm (and at least three years until IMSS medical coverage fully covers all our needs, including pre-existing ones), what to do with the house in Washington was an issue. Fortunately, our good friend David, an ex-partner at Mountain Song Restaurant that we three sold in 1995, was ready to move into a suburban environment. After 30+ years of splitting firewood, shoveling lots of snow, and doing without the “conveniences” he was ready to move from his tiny rural cabin, and suggested if we were looking for a renter he would be interested. The monthly rent would be an issue, but, reasoning that if we could cover our expenses (insurance, property taxes—no mortgage payments as the house is paid off), and if he would pick up the utilities, repairs and maintain the house and yard, it was doable for both parties. Plus, he agreed to take over the phone line and post office box, relaying any messages or mail that might still come to us there. David will basically rent the upper level of the house, and have access to the laundry room, leaving the downstairs bedroom, office & garage (where the Smart car will be stored) for our remaining belongings and a space to live when we visit the area. Dan drafted a rental agreement, distilled down and adapted from some online examples, and David will move to the house in the week after we depart in early September.

Each week we also devoted time to getting the yard in shape for David, who seems quite overwhelmed with the new responsibility of keeping a suburban lot presentable. To this end we heavily pruned back a lot of the shrubs so that they might last two years until it was again needed. We cut back the growth outside of the cyclone fence on the alley, so that the neighbors who use this as a driveway had ample passageway. The vines that had borne fruit already were pruned back for the next year, a job we usually save until later in the fall. Cut back the blackberries to the ground, where we usually leave them looping over the shrubbery for the winter birds—they'll be back sooner than one thinks. Each week the yard waste container was sent off full to the brim, stomped down and heavy with green and wood waste. The week before we leave will be the last of this service, as David says he will haul the clippings and trimmings he generates off to the woods in the upper valley with his truck. During our absence in June the sidewalk project was started, so for the first two weeks we were home the front driveway was blocked off and the Ford Focus blocked in. Upon completion of the new driveway entrance we spent a few days setting up the planter box and rockwork along the new entrance to the street. At the end of August, while Dan was doing his backing up of files and packing up the office, Carmen cleaned out the inner flower garden, with the trimmings, since we no longer had the yard waster service, going into our compost bin. A final lawn mowing and the yard is much less overwhelming and so is in good enough shape to turn over to David's care.

We urged Sally, our dear neighbor across the street to avail herself of the many fruits generated on our property, as David seems uninterested in the bounty. Dan will especially miss the two trees loaded with Italian plums, one of his favorite fruits, since it seems we will just miss them coming into full ripeness mid-September. At least we got to eat the cherries, the few blueberries and some tayberries. We paid little care to our fruiting plants this year. Knowing that there would be no freezing of the excess. Heather came just around Labor Day and picked the remaining pie apples and kiwi's, plus some plums to ripen. The 4-variety pear tree, the figs, the Spartan apple and the medlar are still ripening their fruits for later in the Fall.

Changing our various financial accounts to online statements and access took some time too. This meant closing some accounts, setting up for online payments, and being sure we can move our funds around as may be needed. Hopefully the regular paper mailings will eventually cease. Also meant advising all of the account purveyors of our plans to be in Mexico, so accounts wouldn't have a hold put on them when accessed from abroad. Over the course of the previous year, periodical subscriptions were ended, and for a few, change of addresses were given. Eager to see if the issues actually do arrive. Others will finish out their run coming to the house for David's use, or not. We also re-upped our membership at the Anacortes library, to be sure we can access ebooks online there for the next couple of years.

Carmen contacted the county offices, to make sure we were taken off the rolls for jury duty, and would be able to get our absentee ballots for upcoming elections. She also arranged for copies of medical and dental records to take with us should health providers in Córdoba need this info. We have always insured our home and vehicles with Amica, the top-rated firm in the country. Unfortunately, they do not insure rental properties, and of course we'd be driving the Focus across the border, requiring a Mexican company for its coverage. We eventually went to Allstate for the rental house coverage, plus an additional earthquake policy with Geovera. The homeowner's policy stops and the rental policy starts the same day in early September. Carmen also learned that Allstate also would cover the stored/unused Smart car for about $40 a year, comprehensive only. We can call either Amica or Allstate right before we drive back north over the border for coverage on the Ford. We'll advise Amica to terminate the current auto policy once we cross in Mexico. Dan arranged for a Mexican auto policy to take effect the day before we cross the border, purchased online.

We considered several options in regards to our possessions and the move, including just having a massive yard sale and moving down with just what would fit in the car, buying new when we got here. Another option of just getting a van or pickup and making several trips over the next year moving stuff down little by little just didn't suit us, neither of whom enjoys long-distance driving. And we are talking about 3200 miles between homes, crossing northern Mexico with all that implies at this time. No thanks, one trip will be enough. But for having to bring the cats down, we may very well have just flown, paring our carried stuff down drastically to what would fit in a couple of suitcases each.

As it happened, Dan was very reticent to leave his tools, electronics and computers, and Carmen her collection of serving dishes, cookware and decor, and of course memorabilia for both of us. Reasoning that it wasn't much more of a stretch to add in the little furniture (and that mostly flat-packable) we had, (leaving all the bulky appliances for David to use, and so the house would be functional for us when we visited in the future), we costed it all out and determined it would cost just about the same to move the stuff or to buy it all again in Mexico. Plus, we'd have “our”stuff, and wouldn't have to suffer the many, many days of searching out and shopping for replacements that the move-bare-naked option called for. We did leave “yard-saleable” items packed up in the basement for eventual future disposal.

Included in all the sorting and packing that took place in these two months, was the selection of specific items that went immediately to Dan's two daughters, who live in the Seattle area. We also made the effort to distribute to friends and relations lots of bags of home frozen fruit and vegetables that we were unable to consume these past few months, since the chest freezer will be emptied and turned off while David lives here.

We investigated renting a van and driving to the border (or using a mover to get a load there), contracting there with a customs broker, and hiring another vehicle to get the goods to Veracruz. We eventually came to our senses and hired one firm to do the whole job. We settled on Strom-White Movers, based in Ajijic, Jalisco (with US office in Big Fork, MT). They will contract a domestic mover locally, to load up our things in Anacortes and transport them to the Strom-White warehouse in Laredo. From there Strom-White's broker will get the goods thru customs, from which the company's Mexican movers will ship, deliver and unload them into our house in Fortín. Teresa White is eager to help, and answers all our questions promptly & completely by email and phone. The plan is to have the actual move take place right after Labor Day, in the first week of September.