Casa Update 24

Hello all,

Well, it has been a very long time since my last update. We moved back into the house on October 2^nd. Was hot for the first few days and getting used to the generator was a pain. The satellite modem missed a major update during the summer and would not work. Without that we could not get DIRECTV going again. Had to have an expert in Hughes come by and fix it. On the third day, we had gotten back all of the creature comforts. Spent a lot of time at the pool and going to many socials. The snow birds are arriving and everyone wanted to have a party.

On the medical front, we are learning a lot. We have both had problems in the past few weeks. Regina came down with a large corn on her foot. A direct result of a botched surgery a few years ago to fix a hammer toe. Our local doctor thought it best that we see a specialist in Mexicali. He was great and took the corn out, gave her a set of shoe liners to start correcting the root cause for the corn. The only problem had been getting to his office. As of now, the streets in Mexicali are “all tore up.” Highway 5 is closed in two places and they are re-paving the best alternates.

I came down with what I thought was a sinus infection. Had some tests done and it turned out that I had Strep B. He put me on antibiotics. This is when I decided to make this update a critique on medical care in Mexico. So I waited and waited for the infection and headache to go away. After the fourth different antibiotic I was feeling better but the headache was still there. He told me that an MRI was in order to see if there was something else wrong. In early December we went to Mexicali for the MRI. Arrived ten minutes early for the scan and was immediately taken back. Twenty minutes later and 4,500 Pesos poorer we were done. The radiologist told us that the results would be available in three hours. So, we headed into the US and shopped all day. On our way home we swung by the Lab and for the results. After we got home the temptation on reading the results was too great and we tried to look at the film but gave up and opened the envelope. You didn’t need to be an expert in Spanish to understand “Subdural Hematoma.” I consulted with my doctor as soon as I could the next day. He looked at the film and said he would consult with a neurologist friend to see what to do next. He did and I was told that I should take it easy for a while and give up volleyball, golf, boxing and jogging. The headache would remain until all of the blood got re-absorbed. This could take up to a year. Good news, looks like it will not take that long. While I am still on pain medication, the headache is much better. We are still trying to figure out when this thing happened. The only event that matches the symptoms was a nasty head hit by a spiked volleyball in late September. OK, enough about me.

We are very impressed with the medical system here in Mexico. Everyone that Regina and I saw for both of our problems have been great and professional. The most difficult time we had was at Regina’s Orthopedic Surgeon’s office. He was the only one that spoke English and thankfully a lot of his Mexican patients spoke English and the helped us out.

Well, that is the reason that this update email is so late. Now back to the update.

As I said earlier, we moved back into the house on October 2^nd. After getting all of the creature comforts up and running we settled back into retirement. Water volleyball was still our exercise of choice. Weather started cooling off and turned wonderful. I stopped playing volleyball when I started the antibiotics so I was relegated to the bench. We went to the pool every day until the week before Thanksgiving. Got too cold for Regina (water was fine but the wind was too chilling) so she switched to Pickle Ball instead.

Halloween is a real big thing down here both for the Mexicans and us. They have the decorating of the graves and we have a lot of costume parties. We had many to choose from and a few pictures are included.

We went to Tennessee for Thanksgiving. Leslie drove down from Columbus. We had a very cold (snow) time with Regina’s family. We all went to Chattanooga for a belated Thanksgiving on Saturday and had all of the McCloud clan there. Regina’s (and my favorite) Uncle passed away on Thanksgiving Day. Very sad event but we were very grateful that we were there and could attend the funeral.

The week after we got back we had a great surprise from the Ranch. We now have a new friend. He is called “the gasoline guy.” He comes by every day and fills the generator and also the spare gas can. Since then, we have expanded the hours of operation of the generator. We now power up for 2-3 hours in the morning and run from sunset till we get tired (usually about 10:00). This has been great as it has allowed us to spread the electrical duties out. We don’t have to rush to get laundry in or start the dishwasher any more.

We bought our first Mexican Christmas Tree this year (grown in Oregon). Freshest tree we have ever had. Drank water from when we got it till the day it was taken down. We decorated for Christmas on December 6^th. Earliest that we ever have done this. We went and picked Leslie up from the San Diego airport on December 18^th. What a trip! It rained down here all the night before. We left the Ranch thru three miles of mud. About thirty-five miles north of town we ran into dense fog. That lasted all the way to the border. It rained in Mexicali and then sleeted and snowed thru the mountains to San Diego. We both felt like mailmen. We picked up Leslie and hustled to El Centro for the night. We planned on a two day trip so that we all could complete Christmas shopping.

We had a great time for the ten days that Leslie was here. We had friends over for dinner and went to a few parties. Leslie and Regina went on an “outback” ATV trip with the “girls.” That was a twenty-five mile trip (one way) up to the base of the mountains. That is where the group decided to relocate three small barrel cacti for us. You will see them in the pictures. We had a great quiet Christmas opening presents and keeping to our traditional Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals. Leslie left on the 29^th and we were back to just us. We started missing her on the way back from the airport.

We had an uneventful New Years Eve (as we always do). Could not find an early showing of the Times Square ball dropping so we called it a night and were in bed before midnight.

Bolstered by the relocation of the barrel cacti, we went in search of more. We found some Saguaro cacti hiding under some Palos Verde trees nearby. They now are safe with us and will have no fear of the contractor’s axe.

I have also decided to get back to work. Partially from the collapse of the economy but also to keep my computer skills honed. I applied for permission to get a business license from Immigration in June. They approved it and I applied with La Hacienda (IRS) to get a tax number. After two months of trying to explain to them that we did not have a power bill my accountant finally interceded and we got the tax number. Then off to immigration again to get it added to my FM3 (Green card). They shut down from Christmas and to have computers installed. I am still waiting for the office to open again so that I can get my stamped FM3 back. I should be legal to work within the next two weeks. Name of the business? It could have only one name: “The Computer Guy.”

Well, that is what has been happening here over the past three months. Regina is almost fully recovered from her foot problem and I am feeling a lot better. I’ll try not to get this far behind in my update emails.

Till next time,

Larry and Regina

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa17?authkey=Gv1sRgCMPe-KrP6re4pQE&feat=directlink

Casa Update 23

Friends,

Well, it has been more than a month and I am finally getting around to updating everyone. August and the first half of September was hot and humid with us spending a lot of time inside reading or going to the pool. Keeping out of the direct sun is a must. We had rain twice with the skies looking and sounding ominous many many times. All of the thunder storms bypassed us. Tropical storm Julio dumped a huge amount of rain north of us. Highway 5 was washed out in many places between the Military Checkpoint and La Ventana. The highway was closed for almost one day while repairs were made. We awoke early one morning to the crash of thunder nearby. We spent the next hour watching the most spectacular lightning show we have ever seen. It was all around us and almost continuous for a half hour. We ended up with 3/4 inch that morning.

We have a monthly event down on the beach called the Full Moon Mixer. We have gone to two so far. The activities staff provided the hot dogs or tacos or tostadas and we provide the rest. Lots of fun with a area for casino games. Problem with the full moon is it is also low tide. But anyway that is a different discussion. On this past mixer, I got a nice glass of sauvignon blanc as a bribe since we were the only ones that brought a corkscrew. The pictures are from the August mixer.

We spent four days on the Pacific coast celebrating our 29th anniversary. We were in Rosarito Beach for two days staying at a house one block from the ocean and in sight of the Rosarito Beach Hotel. Weather was beautiful and cool. Lots of good food, shopping and sightseeing. Then we were off to Ensenada for another two days. Stayed at a very cute resort called Punta Morro. Look it up on the internet. Had dinner in the hotel overlooking the Pacific. Actually, the restaurant is on peers and we were over the ocean looking down at the breakers. Food was excellent. We found another restaurant next door. Website sounded interesting and we tried it. The building was definitely two star. But once inside, one entire wall was plastered with awards. Definitely a five star meal!! Smoked Marlin Quesadillas anyone? On our last day we went to La Bufadora. We saw two whales migrating south. Look it up! Traveled thru the Valle De Trinidad on the way back to San Felipe.

We had another thunderstorm the other night. They got 8/10 inch of rain in town but we got a light show, wind and just enough rain to mess up cars. Back to the carwash this week.

We will be moving back into the house at the end of the month. Ed and Sandy will be back October 1st and we have to be out. Don't look forward to packing up but it will be good to be back home.

Friday we were invited to a couple's renewal of vows service at a local Catholic Church (we snuck Communion). After, there was a catered reception at their casa. Almost 70 people were there for a sit down dinner in the back yard. They hired two of our (ranch) activities staff to act as MC and DJ. We all had a great time.

Tonight is "Dive in Movie Night" at the pool. First one of these that we have gone to. Vincent and Chuey are hosting it with their 20 foot projector system (they do all of the Directv/Dish/Hughes installs and are probably pimping for business).

I have figured out the dress code for down here. Casual is tee-shirt (logoed), shorts and sandals. For smart casual, all you do is tuck in your tee-shirt and upgrade your sandals. For formal occasions, just trade in your tee-shirt for a Hawaiian shirt.

When we get back to our casa, I will have more time without TV. Maybe that will encourage me to send out the update more often.

For now,

Larry and Regina

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa16?authkey=Gv1sRgCOe5iMCA057KkAE&feat=directlink

Casa Update 22

Friends,

We have now experienced healthcare in Mexico. Guess what, it is much better than the US. Different however. We went to the Dentist's office and asked to make an appointment. They could get us both in that afternoon. We begged off and scheduled for the next day. After that we went to the doctor to make an appointment for me. He could see me in the next hour. I made an appointment for the day after the Dentist. The next day we both went in for a cleaning and checkup. The Dentist did the cleaning along with the exam. The cleaning was done by the junior Dentist and the exam (for me at least) was done by both. The office had all of the equipment that you would expect to see in the US. Instruments were all in sterile packages and they had the coolest new X-ray machine. My bill was $35US (I had one X-ray) and Regina's was $30US. All in all, both of these Dentists detected all of our dental needs (crowns, replacement fillings, etc) that our US dentist told us about before we moved down here. The next day I went down to see Dr. Abosolo. I needed to get back on my cholesterol meds. Had a nice chat with the Doctor. He got out the Lab sheet and checked a few boxes and said to get the labs done and come back. Cost $30US for the visit. The lab is in the rear of his building. Walked back and interrupted the lab technician working on his truck. He rushed over and let me into the lab, looked at the paperwork while putting on his lab coat. He took two tubes of blood and a urine sample. Best stick I have ever had and yes he washed his hands and put on gloves. Total cost $60US. Said to come back in the morning for the results. Walked back to Abosolo's office and made an appointment for 9:30 tomorrow. I arrived at the Lab at 9:25 the next morning. They were feverishly trying to print my results. Seems that their Lexmark printer was running out of ink. Told me to come back in 15 minutes. So I went into the doctors office and waited. Fifteen minutes later I had the lab results (in English) and went back to see Dr Abosolo. Fifteen minutes later I had my prescription for a generic form of Lipitor. On to the Farmicia. Thirty tablets of Simlo for $250 pesos and I was headed home. Interesting observations of these visits. One: you can get an appointment with a dentist or doctor very easily. Two: They know that they are doing. Three: Lab work in 24 hours? Enough said. Four: I have my Doctors cell phone number. Fifth: The knowledge and professionalism the medical/dental staff was exceptional.

Well, it has been a month since the last update. I wrote the above medical visit experience the day after the doctors visit. Now it is time to catch up with the rest of the month.

We have been experiencing the local area without tourists. The last of the part timers left this week. August is the hottest month here and it is starting out true to form. You can equate the weather to Phoenix but with 15-30% more humidity. We had a dew point of 85 degrees a few days ago. Air conditioning is a must now. Gas mileage has also dropped as we run the AC in the truck all of the time. There are three types of winds; no wind where it is hot and very muggy and oppressive. An easterly wind that is very humid, cooler but still sticky. Then there is the wind from the southwest. It is very hot but the humidity vanishes and you would believe that you were really in Phoenix. I like the latter.

Been going to the pool a lot for water volleyball. It runs from 12:30 till 2:30. So far, we have mostly had at least 3-4 teams. Once in a while we have only had 2 teams and were in the pool the whole time except for a 10 minute break 1/2 way thru. We don't mind though. We are getting good exercise and a fabulous tan. I don't think that I have been this tan ever, even while in high school.

I got into the Dirk Pitt series of action novels written by Clive Cussler. Read four and decided to find the whole series. Camped on eBay and won an auction for all 20 in the series. So far I have gotten thru the first seven. Great reading, but I am trying to wait to read the rest until we get back to the house and loose 24/7 TV.

We go up to the house three to four times a week. The temperature has been hovering around 95 degrees inside the house. Good shake down for any hidden problems. The good news. Our propane and water pressure is holding wonderfully. Looks like we have no leaks there. The bad news. We have two huge floor to ceiling cracks, one in the office and the other in the guest bedroom. The problem is how I designed the rooms. Both rooms have a mid wall transition from the exterior walls (perform wall or rastra - look it up on the internet) and the concrete block interior walls. The difference in the expansion rates of those materials is causing the cracks. Architect Eduardo (we met him at water volleyball), came up and looked at it and it can be fixed but it will mean more plaster dust everywhere. He told me exactly what to tell our contractor to do.

We are sort of skimpy on pictures this update. The file names say it all.

We are going to spend our anniversary in Ensenada at the end of the month. Next update will be when we get back.

Love,

Larry and Regina

p.s. Gasolina is now $7 Pesos/Liter

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa15?authkey=Gv1sRgCPnpqrGQoZnN5gE&feat=directlink

Casa Update 21

Friends,

Been a busy month here. Started right after the last update. Tuesday the workers arrived to finish the latest punch list and to finally build the grey water tank. They spent the whole week digging the hole (by hand) and building a 5x5x4 concrete water tank. Had 6 workers this time. Half worked inside finishing stuff while the other half dug. They brought their own water this time. Luckily it was still comfortable as we had to keep them company. Luis kept them busy and by Friday they had everything we agreed on fixed. We agreed to delay 3 things till September when it gets cooler. On Saturday we tested the grey water system and found out that the Master vanities and showers do not drain into the grey water tank. Monday they were out again digging up the back yard looking for the problem. They found it and fixed it.

We had a very interesting thing happen on that Monday. Our newsgroup posted a note that 2 of the 5 Pemex stations were out of gas and that they did not expect any for 5 days. Guess what that did? A run on the gas stations. We were going to go to the new one next to the Ranch. Not. There was a mile backup to get in. They even had the Federalies directing traffic. We ended up at the station on the airport road with only a 5 car line. Reason only 5 cars? They were out of regular and only pumping premium. We filled up anyway. By the late afternoon, there was no gas for 100 miles. The rumor turned out to be false but it took 3 days to get all of the stations refilled. Turns out that Baja is served by a tank farm south of Ensenada. A tanker ship was delayed and they were rationing gas for the rest of the week.

The following week we took off and did nothing but go to the pool for volleyball. We played a few times but mostly we chatted or read. We heard of a special dinner at the El Cortez Hotel. Wednesday Beef Filet night. You get: Margarita, soup, salad, a 8-10oz filet, baked potato, veggies, and desert. All for $10 US. Been there twice and were going to give it a break but were conned into going one more time with friends. We brought a bottle of red wine last time. Corkage: $0. Nice.

This week has been spent house sitting and watching the workers clear Ed's punch list. They almost got done. We are still waiting for the AC guys to come and balance one of the AC units to get the Master suite a little cooler.

We went around and took some pictures of the places we have mentioned. We have a picture of the Palapa Bar and Grill. It is attached to the Pool. That is where we had to go for internet last fall. The pool is where we go now. Also there is a picture of the new Pemex and our golf course, our beach and Juanito's Cantina.

Next update will include our experience with the medical system here as we have made dental and doctor appointments. Since we are just house sitting this summer, our house updates will be suspended and we'll just sent pictures of the area and the happenings of San Felipe.

I have included a copy of Ed's CFE (electricity) bill. Betsy, have fun translating :-)

Love to all,

Larry and Regina

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa14?authkey=Gv1sRgCPSTkKLPgaKIfQ&feat=directlink

Casa Update 20

Friends,

I cannot believe that a month has gone by. Well, the wall is finally finished. Took an additional two weeks to get the last gate in. They came with 2 gates and only put one up. Guess that the other didn't fit. Still waiting for the punch list work to start again. They were supposed to start today but have not heard from them. Met with the guy responsible for electrification. He is now promising electricity in November. They made some concessions to ease the burden until then. Not what we wanted to hear but we can live with it.

The weather has been spectacular except for a short hot spell two weeks ago. Got to 104 on the back porch even in the shade. Had a little trouble sleeping those nights. Been going to the beach and the pool a lot. Went to a beach party over Memorial Day weekend. Their house is right on the beach about a quarter mile from the Lighthouse.

Two of the three restaurants on the Ranch are under new management. The new guy looks like he knows what he is doing. Prices have come down and the food is much improved. We had a buffet brunch at the pool yesterday. Great selection with unlimited fresh juice and coffee included for $7US.

We have started our summer house-sitting job. We met a couple formerly from Sunnyvale that has the same contractor as us. They summer in the Sierras just above Murphys. They asked us to house sit for them so that our contractor could finish their punch list also. Well, we moved in May 20th. We now have 24/7 electricity. What a treat!! We are about a mile from the casa but two miles by car.

We continue to meet a lot more people thru the Thursday Socials. Met couples from: Castro Valley, Vallejo, Hayward, San Ramon and Concord. No one from Benicia yet but that might change in the fall.

Since we are online most of the time now, you can use AOL IM to chat. Our screen names are LarEWill50Baja and RegMWill54. Pop in if you get a chance.

I have put together an assortment of pictures taken over the past month.

Larry and Regina

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa13?authkey=Gv1sRgCNXj4s_f94T23AE&feat=directlink

Casa Update 19

Friends,

It has been a beautiful two weeks. Temperatures have been in the mid 80's cooling down into the mid 60's at night. Humidity has been hovering between 13-30 percent. RV John finally got the right part and our refrigerator is back up and cooling. We watched the workers continue on the wall, went into town a few times and spent an afternoon at the pool. One afternoon while we were reading on the back porch, a little lizard wandered up. The same kind that we had back in Benicia. He was watching the flies landing on the tile and every once in a while he would take off after one. Cautious little one. We had an idea and I swatted a few flies and we placed them around for him to eat. He eventually attacked two of them and then scampered off. Another night at dusk, we were visited by 2 coyotes. A very skinny one and a plump (pregnant?) one. We were still, they were cautious. The skinny one got within 40 feet of the back wall. They hung around for that seemed to be ten minutes and then left. Well, I got to pull the dumb thing with the generator this time. We were getting ready to eat dinner Saturday night when the thing quit again. Went outside and again, oil was everywhere. This time the dip stick was loose. Guess that I didn't get it inserted all of the way after checking the oil that morning. Didn't think that it could look any worse after sitting next to the cement mixer and sand pile. Wrong, will include a picture of it. They didn't finish the wall on Saturday either. I did not know that they were going to add an additional 4 inch concrete cap to the wall and columns. Unless they do some more creative construction they will surely finish this next week. We had another adventure with lizards Sunday afternoon. We found two of them having a feast on the dead flies on the front porch. The workers called them chameleons. I would call them a grey desert lizards. Their bodies were about 6-8 inches and same for the tails. These two feared no humans. After they had just about devoured all of the files, I thought that it was time for them to leave. I yelled, stomped and finally charged them. All to no avail. Finally I had to sweep them along to the gate. Once they got to the hot sand, they beat a path for the desert and disappeared under the cement mixer. Have a feeling that they will be back. This past week has been very quiet. Regina and I came down with an intestinal thing. We think that we brought it on ourselves. Something went bad in one of the coolers while we were waiting for the refrigerator to get fixed. That slowed us down till about Wednesday. The cement guys packed up and left on Tuesday. Guess that they are waiting for the concrete to dry as no one has been back since. Paint, gates and the cleanup, that is all that is left. We had Kaaren and George up for dinner on Friday. We attempted to play a game of Wineopoly but it just got too late. Saturday brought us to two last events. This morning was the last "Swap Meet" till late September. We stocked up on veggies. Looks like when they run out, we will have to trek into town. The vegetable lady is always at the swap meet and has a stand in town that is open only on Tuesdays. Fresh produce has always been a problem at the local Mercados. Always hit and miss. Saturday afternoon was the Annual "Club de Pesca" Chile cook-off. We had a great time. I personally tasted well over a dozen different recipes. The two that I liked most were "Oso Chile" and Beach-N-Chile". Hey, I didn't pick the names. But they were good! Best thing was that it was Free! I bought 100 Pesos worth of drink and food tickets and we spent a very relaxing afternoon at the beach drinking tecates, eating chile and hot dogs while the local rock band "Blue Agave" played all of our favorite oldies. That was the last event of the season. Things will start slowing down here now. The snowbirds have been leaving in droves over the past 2 weeks. They will be replaced by the Mexicalies till June. Then San Felipe will once again become a quiet little fishing village, except for the 4,000 or so Ex-Pats that will brave the hot summer that is. Well, that is it for a while. The punch list is back up into the low teens and Lupe promised to be here Tuesday to get started. I think that was a couple of Tuesdays ago. I will send out another update when the wall and punch list are finally finished.

Larry and Regina


p.s. For up to date San Felipe information please browse to: http://www.sanfelipe.com.mx/. The best is under the news tab. Select "Kat's Corner."

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa12?authkey=Gv1sRgCN6B-NWtsvapDg&feat=directlink

Casa Update 18

Friends,

Sorry for taking so long to get this together. Been 3 weeks in the making. The House Blessing went very well. We had all of the rooms blessed except the pantry and garage. We fit everyone in our double shower! That was 14 people. After the blessing we had a nice Mexican lunch. A great time was had by all. I've attached a few pictures from that. Bob, Debi, Jim, Leslie, Betsy and Giovanna stayed at our contractor's motel and Jeanne stayed with us. Weather was perfect. In all, we had 14 here including the locals. Betsy, Giovanna and Jeanne left on Sunday. Bob, Debi, Jim and Leslie left on Monday. It was 1/2 a day till the Phillips (our ex-Benicia neighbors from 2 doors down) arrived for the rest of the week. On Wednesday we tried to get to Mike's Ski Rancho. Took an hour to get to the dirt road leading to the rancho. Took another hour to get within 6 miles of the rancho. That was the point that I feared for the Explorer's survival and called a halt to the drive. The road was definitely a 4x4 road. Took another hour to get back to the paved road. Turns out to have been only 24 miles round trip on dirt. We will go back again, but this time in the truck. George and I played golf on Thursday. First time since the cervical fusion 3 1/2 years ago. Did as well as expected. The course is beautiful!!! Except for the sand traps. They placed them exactly where my drives and second shots reached. Have never played out of the sand that much ever. We capped the week with dinner at the El Nido and a short stay at Al's Back Street Cantina (no stickers yet Bob and Jim). We also learned that the Screaming Cholla is really Tequila (made from Agave planted in the distil-masters back yard and watered well). We bid George and Beverly farewell early Saturday morning. We had a great time that week. Now back to the deafening silence. I got back to fiddling with the propane refrigerator that was having a hard time keeping temperature. On Sunday I had to up to temperature setting to max just to keep the inside temperature at 40 degrees. Stopped by RV John's on Monday to seek help in getting it fixed. He didn't come to look at it till Tuesday. That blew our Tuesday re-stocking trip to El Centro. Meanwhile, our contractor finally started on the wall. It has always started the same way. At about 8:00 in the morning a very large truck will pull up and unload a lot of stuff. Then, about anywhere from an hour to 2 days later the workers will arrive. This time they showed up right after lunch. I had told Lupe that the cistern was closed to construction workers. So, after they laid their string everywhere, they started bucketing water out of the cistern to water the sand. What can you do. If I chase them off, they will not get paid. I called Sabina again and by the end of the day we had more water tanks in the front yard that you can imagine. Empty of course. The water truck did not arrive till sometime late on Tuesday. After RV Johns visit on Tuesday, he says that we might have a "blockage" in one of the refrigeration lines. We need to do a 12 hour max cycle followed by a 12 hour off cycle. Freezer is full. We again seek help from Kaaren for freezer space for a few days. We borrowed a few coolers from George to store the non-frozen stuff and prepared to cycle the frig and headed for El Centro. Got back late Wednesday to find a huge pile of sand next to the generator. Next to that was a huge pile of gravel. Mind you this was the generator that ran for 4 hours with the oil cap off. For Wednesday and Thursday we were cycling the refrigerator on and off while the workers sifted sand and gravel in the front yard and worked on the wall. We went to Val's Thursday Social and low and behold we meet a couple from Vallejo. He owns one of the largest propane refrigerator sales and service shops in Northern California. He volunteers to come by and look at the refrigerator. They come over on Friday for a visit and we get a free consult on the refrigerator. He says that the problem is either low gas pressure or butane has clogged the filter in the thermostat, Seems the Mexicans mix butane (20%) with their propane. Tells me that butane is an oily gas that can cause problems with filters. He suggests that we run the refrigerator on AC and see what happens (take propane out of the equation). If it cools correctly, then he is right, if it still has problems, RV John is right. We had a great time chatting with them while the workers continued with the wall. The workers got about 20 feet of wall up while we chatted on the back porch. After they left I called Puerto RV (John's business and found out he was in the states getting parts.) Told them what Allen said and that I was going to do the AC test that evening. That night we switched the refrigerator to AC and let it run while we ran the generator for the evening. When we were ready for bed, the refrigerator was the coldest I have seen. Score one for Allen. It is now Saturday and RV John has not called back. Workers finished early this morning after pouring the last of the footings and had left by 10:30. I finally got to take a good look at the generator. You don't want to know. It looks like it was just unearthed from some archeological dig somewhere. More on that later...... The rest of Saturday was uneventful. On Sunday we were invited to another Jenga tournament at Kaaren and Georges. This time we had 4 "stacks" going with 14 players. I went out in the first round and Regina in the second. Today RV John showed up with a part. At this point looks like that was not the problem. Will call him again tomorrow. The workers started in on the wall again and made very good progress. If I was in the US, I would say that they might finish this week.


Larry and Regina

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa11?authkey=Gv1sRgCNjdy5G63tybVA&feat=directlink