Update 36

Friends,

Well, I have procrastinated too long again. Time seems to be flying by and I just realized that I need to update the Blog.

Best news is that we now have a schedule with the “new” generator. We have Security turning it on and off for us. Heck, they are open 24/7 and we are not. They come by after midnight and turn it off and then come out around 5 AM and turn it back on. We then run all day. It is really nice. We are able to use our electric refrigerator again. We even make fresh brewed coffee every morning now. I can turn on the server and backup system and all of our computers are getting backed up again. I can now feel comfortable working on other’s computers in my office. We even have the DVR programmed up for all of our favorite TV shows.

As for the new generator, saying it is new is an understatement. Different might be a better term. You have to remember that in Mexico, nothing is new. Everything is used. I’m starting to get used to that. That is not to say that the Mexicans only buy used items. There are a lot of new cars and trucks here. It is just that the preponderance of items here are used. Our generator is not the exception. It was once used (probably in the US) to power those flood lights that you see during nighttime highway construction. Thankfully they removed the boom and lights. It is a real quality unit made by Terex and has been running smoothly so far. It really does purr like a kitten.

We had a new experience on our late October trip to Mexicali for shopping. I got a ticket! We had just cleared the military checkpoint and were getting up to speed trying to catch a Construct-o-rama truck and pass him before the curves. The Federali (Federal police in the black cars, AKA the PFP) was hiding in an arroyo with a radar gun in his hand and I didn’t see him. He pointed at me to stop and I knew we had had it. He showed me the display on the radar gun and it read 115. So, I got a ticket for going 115 in an 80 zone. These numbers are in km/h not miles. I have a picture of the ticket in the pictures section. Well, he asks for license and registration and says “5 minutes.” Fifteen minutes later he hands me the ticket to sign (all three copies). He then says that I had to pay the ticket at any Banamex within the next three weeks or they would “send the ticket to my country.” Nice guy. Very polite but his English was limited. Getting the ticket was easy, paying it turned out to be the problem. Got the ticket on a Friday so we planned on going to the bank on the following Monday. We go to the Banamex bank and they take one look at the ticked and they say “no, no you have to pay this at Bancomer.” So, we head to the other bank and get in line. I finally get the attention of one of the new account people and ask her if I can pay this ticket here. She takes the ticket and consults with the teller and tells me “You do not have a reference number; you have to go to the police station and get one.” Well, the Federali’s have an office just out of town. On our way out of town we stop. I go inside and meet the only person there, the secretary who speaks no English. After a lot of sign language, she hands me a piece of paper with a 1-800 number on it and wants me to call it. At this point I am in no mood for an hour on the phone trying to find someone who speaks English. Plan B is to take the ticket to one of the Activities staff and have him call for me. So, I find David at the pool and ask him to make the call. He studies the ticket as if he had never seen one before. He finally suggests that I take the ticket to his Dad as “he is really good at fixing tickets.” So I’m off to the building where Aldo works. I explain it all to him and he just shrugs and calls the 1-800 number and fifteen minutes later I have all of the information to take to the bank. I have my fifteen digit registration number, the account number at Bancomer where it is to be deposited and finally the amount of the fine. I had been sweating the amount as from what I could read on the ticket, the fine was to be ten days pay. Well the fine came to $274 Pesos. I took the money and all of the paperwork back to the bank and before you knew it (less that 30 minutes) I had my fine paid. Looks like I have a process for the next time this happens. It probably will as everyone is speeding on Highway 5 between San Felipe and Mexicali.

As I think I said last year, Halloween is really big down here. Not only for the Mexicans, who do a much better job of it than we do, but also for us Americans. Costume parties abound. This year we accepted an invite to a party on the Ranch skipping the big Gala at the Latin Garden. We went to the makeup party for the Latin Garden event and then snuck out and went to the other party. I have included all of the pictures here. We had a great time with Ken roasting at least twelve Tri-tips on the grill. The costumes were better than last year.

The Shrimp Festival was held the weekend of November 7th. It was much smaller than last year (Betsy, Don and Giovanna were here last year) but fun just the same. I have a few pictures of that here. Lighting was a problem so not all of the pictures came out perfect.

We spent Thanksgiving in Escondido CA with some of Regina’s relatives. We had two condos (I would call them full fledged townhouses) at Lawrence Welk Village. We had a great time for the week and I am withholding those pictures to protect the guilty. On the last day we headed up to Hemet to see Dennis and Peggy’s new house. They just moved to Hemet from Hayward to (probably) retire. It was beautiful to say the least. We had a NorCal dinner and promised not to count the empty wine bottles. Here are some pictures of the trip up.

The trip home was uneventful except at the border they had the new entry procedures in place. They have completely redone the border crossing and have really gone hi-tech. They have all new personnel who do not ask for mordidas. It will take a little longer to cross the border but Mexico will be collecting the duties instead of the customs employees. I will be updating driving directions based on how to cross the border and the new detours caused by all of the construction on Highway 5.

I realized a couple of weeks ago that I have not posted any pictures of the finished house. I didn’t really think of it until now as we have been posting pictures for so long with pieces of the house in them. Regina took a bunch of pictures for our Thanksgiving trip and I have uploaded them here. Hope you enjoy the finished product as we do.

Well, I’m going to close here and will try to update the blog just after Christmas. We will be spending Christmas here with Leslie. She will be arriving on the 15th and staying until the 28th. The guest room is awaiting visitors so don’t be strangers.

Larry and Regina