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