Another Repair

When we arrived, we discovered that the screen on the front door, as well as the big slider in the front room, had some tears along the edges. We went uptown and bought new screening and tools so Sr B could replace the old screens. He started on the big slider.

First things first...remove the handle so he could remove the old screen. Uh oh! The handle is riveted on, not screwed on. Without the proper tool, he was hooped.

So he got in touch with the screen guy that another resident here has used and recommended. Mario came yesterday afternoon to give us a quote and said his guys would be here today at 10am. Ten thirty is close enough...lol.

Before.

After.

The upper and lower screens were replaced, 3 "hip check" bars added, a new clip and a new latch put on (we have no idea what happened to the old latch. It was gone when we arrived). The screen on the slider was sagging, like someone had leaned into it, and this has caused the tears along the edge. The guys were able to tighten it up instead of having to replace the screen.  It took the 2 guys about an hour and a half. Our cost? 400 pesos.

Sr B forgot to tell Mario that we already had screening. If they'd used it, our cost likely would have been a bit lower.

I only have one minor complaint, and this was our fault for not saying anything at the time. Those hip check bars? Yours truly is short. When I use my hip to stop the door, it hits about 2 inches below the lowest bar. Oh well. The door has stood up to 3.5 years use, so I'm sure it'll be fine. I *could* get them to add another bar or two, but then it'll look like a prison door. I figure by the time we need to replace the screens again, it'll be time for a new door and then I can get the bars placed where I need them.

Go Us!

When we were uptown yesterday morning, we met up with another couple from the complex and told them about our washing machine being on the fritz and that we were trying to find someone to repair it. The husband told us about a place he had seen on C 35 that had washers on the sidewalk. He hadn't used them so he couldn't vouch for the quality of their service. We decided to give them a try so off we went in search of them.

They were exactly where he said they were. C 35 between 78 and 80. We stepped inside and the adventure began. Nobody there spoke any English. But, " Mi lavadora. Agua caliente, si. Agua fria, no," was understood. In extremely broken Spanish, I was able to ask if they could come to the condo to take a look at it. Yes, they could. At 3:00 that afternoon. Please write our name and address on this paper.

Then the boss asks me, "Que marque?" (I think that's the right spelling. I can't find it in my dictionary) It took me a couple of minutes to figure out what marque meant. Finally the light bulb went on. I told Sr B that the boss had asked what brand/make it was and let Sr B tell him. Through reading many blogs, I've learned that Mexican men prefer to deal with men instead of women so I try to involve Sr B as much as possible.

I had forgotten to tell them that we lived on the back side of the complex so, a little before 3, we go out to the landing to watch for them in case they drive around back, as most service people do when they're trying to figure out how to get in. At 3:45, we give up and go inside. At 4:15, the groundskeeper comes to our door with two guys. Ah, only an hour later than they had said. According to life in Mexico, they were right on time...lol.

They fixed the problem and did a little bit of maintenance on some other areas, as well. About 45 minutes of their time cost us 250 pesos. We'll definitely use them again and suggest them to others.

I was so proud of us for getting this done, completely in Spanish. Go us!

Of Beaches and Bugs

Yesterday morning, the guy came to paint the repairs. He even touched up some smudges that had happened through normal wear and tear. There were a few brown smudges on the pale yellow wall from when we'd had the closet made and put into the closet space. He painted over those and the room looks so much nicer. I snagged a bit of paint from him for doing touch ups later.

Adriana, the lady who was coming to look at the blinds, had said she would be at the condo by 3pm or earlier. We left her an email saying if we weren't home she could get a key from L & M.

The area we're in is called the Flamingo Coast so we took the girls for a drive to go see them. Unfortunately, there weren't many out so we didn't get good pics. We found out, later, that there are tours so we might do that on Sunday.

We arrived at the condo just as Adriana was leaving. The blinds work now. They still stick a little bit but at least we can open them now.

Señor B and I spent the rest of the afternoon down at the pool visiting with L & M. Then we went up to their place and had a bite to eat, as well as a few drinks.

Today, Señor B wasn't feeling too well after his partying last night. Poor guy. He didn't have very much to drink but the older he's getting, the less he's able to hold his liquor.

We had promised to take the girls to the tourist beach today but he wasn't feeling up to it so we girls walked over. It took us about 35 minutes. We decided to have some lunch once we got there. Then YD wrote "México 10" in the sand and got BF to take some pics of her. BF didn't want her pic taken. She was cold and had herself wrapped up tightly in her towel.

A norte (cool winds from the north) blew in yesterday and, though the sun was shining today, the wind made it cool. The girls decided it was too cold to hang out at the beach. So we walked over to the pharmacy to get some cream for the bug bites I got last night and then walked home.

I wore my sandals which are very comfortable but they're not designed for walking as much as we did. I have a blister on the pad of my foot near my big toe. We're planning on going in to Mérida tomorrow to do some shopping. I hope my blister doesn't give me problems. I'll be smarter and wear my sneakers, this time.

About those bug bites I got last night. omg! I don't know what kind of critter is playing such havoc on my legs. This morning they were swollen and warm to the touch. The one on my thigh is bad enough but the one on my calf is horrendous. It's so swollen the skin is taut and feels like it wants to split. The redness and swelling covers my entire calf and wraps about halfway around my leg. I can barely bend my leg tighter than 90 degrees. Oddly enough, it's only itchy at the perimeter of the swelling. L gave me some Chlortripolon and some cream that worked well for M. If it doesn't start looking better in a couple days, I might go see a doc.

Cenotes

Well, our luck seems to have run out regarding the repair people. One guy was supposed to be here at 9am to do some painting. Never showed. No email. The guy to fix the cupboards was supposed to be here at 10. We waited until almost 11:30 and decided to carry on with our day. L & M, our neighbours who look after our place when we're gone, said they'd let them in if they came. So we left a note on the door for them to see L & M when they arrived.

When we got home, we noted that the guy who was supposed to do the painting hadn't come. It seems that some of the cupboards have been secured but the countertop in the bathroom is still loose so I think we'll have to contact the builder again.

We went out to a cenote this afternoon. Cenotes are these marvelous underground caverns with natural pools. México has hundreds of them. We chose to go to the San Ignacio cenote. We didn't want to drive a long way and this one is about an hour from Progreso. We found the turn off to San Ignacio easily enough. Drove through a small town. Eventually, we could see that the street was going to turn into a gravel road, the kind that has grass growing between the ruts. When we got past all the houses and trees, and just before hitting the gravel road, a magnificent church came into view. It was stunning. Guess what was written on it? That's right. San Ignacio. We weren't at the cenote, at all. We took a wrong turn. Again. We haven't figured out if the town is called San Ignacio or if the sign was intended to point the way to the church.

So back to the highway we went. We found the cenote fairly easily once we got to the right town...lol. It's in Chochola. Chochola is a picturesque little town that, despite having paved roads, didn't look as though it saw a lot of vehicular traffic. We saw lots of people on peddle bikes and those 3 wheeled bikes with seating on front. But we saw very few cars or trucks. The streets were in very good condition so my guess is that many people work elsewhere, making it appear as though there were few vehicles.

We were surprised that the cenote was right in town. We expected it to be out in the country. If it wasn't for the signs, you'd never know it was there. The place looks like any house and yard with nothing to distinguish it as being anything but another place of residence. Inside is a yard with a restaurant, playground, bathrooms and a petting stable. There were goats and sheep grazing right out in the open.

Some cenotes have to be entered by climbing down a ladder but this one had stairs. Very steep stairs. And narrow. I had to go down sideways. They had installed a very sturdy handrail which I made good use of. Señor B was able to manage it without his crutches. The cenote is much smaller than the photos online suggested. There were about 12 of us down there and it was a bit crowded. One of the guys there told us that there is another area that can only be accessed by wearing scuba gear. He said it was massive. We'll have to take his word for it. It was also very hot down there. The temp today was 33C. As we climbed back up the stairs, we all commented on how much cooler the air felt up top. Wonder how hot it was at the bottom.

I took some photos but I'm not able to post them from the laptop. At the blogger's conference, I learned a better and safer way to post pics instead of using Picasa. But it requires an email address and the laptop isn't associated with one so pics will have to wait until we get back home. Sorry.

We stayed there for about an hour and then went to Mérida for a bite to eat. Macdonald's. Ugh. We only chose it because it was 4pm and we were too hungry to do a sit down meal. The girl who took our order didn't speak any English. Or if she did, she chose not to use it. But we still got what we had ordered so it was all good.

We spent the rest of the evening just relaxing. It's almost 11pm and the temp in Mérida is 24C with a humidex of 35C. It's usually a bit cooler here in Progreso but it's still a beautiful night. There's a slight breeze but it's a warm one. Paradise!

Another Day in Paradise

Today we had a guy come and install a satellite dish for us. His name is Edel Sosa and I think he's from Mérida. We got his name from the Yolisto forum. Members there spoke highly of him so we thought we'd give him a try. We just need to get hold of the satellite company in Canada to get it set up with them and we're good to go.

We also had the builder of the condos come by to look at some repairs that need to be done. We have a one year warranty on the condo that expires the end of November so we wanted these things taken care of before we leave the 29th. The AC in the girls room still leaks. This was a problem when were down in Jan and it was supposedly fixed. We'd had a repair done in Jan and it was supposed to have been painted but it wasn't, so that needs doing. The bathroom vanity is pulling away from the wall, as well as the kitchen cupboards, so the cupboard guy is scheduled to come Sat.

Those who have lived in México know how slowly things move here. Just because someone says they're coming tomorrow morning doesn't necessarily mean they will. It could be later in the day or it could be in a day or two or not at all. Today is Méxican Revolution Day, a major holiday in México, so we weren't holding our breaths that these guys would show up. We were delighted that not only did they show, but they showed up when they said they would.

Of course, we did tell them that we had plans for the afternoon and that if they didn't arrive by a certain time, we'd have to re-schedule. I have no idea if it made any difference. When we were down in Jan we felt like our time was being held hostage by all the different people who had to come by for various things. Often, they wouldn't show up when they said they would and we'd spend the day waiting around for nothing. This time, we're taking control and not putting our plans on hold for someone who may not even show up.

So, this afternoon, we went to Chelem, a small town about 15 minutes from Progreso. There was a one day market going on that we wanted to go to. We were expecting it to be indigenous people but it was mostly expats selling their crafts. Not saying there's anything wrong with that. It just wasn't what we were expecting. I bought a bag made from oilcloth and lined with fabric. The bags are made by a group of local women and the money goes back to their community. You can read about them here
http://joannavandergrachtderosado.wordpress.com/?s=elena  and here http://theresainmerida.blogspot.com/search/label/Santa%20Elena

When we got back to Progreso, we stopped for a few groceries. Señor B and the girls made me wait out in the car. Today is my birthday and they wanted to get something for me. When we got home, I was given strict instructions to keep my nose out of the fridge. So every time I wanted a coke, someone had to get it for me. Didn't seem like such a bad deal to me...lol.

It was hot again, so we hung out at the pool for an hour or so.

We went to Flamingoes for supper. I had the Yucatecan chicken. It was much tastier than yesterday's. Señor B had a fish dish. The girls both had grilled chicken. We all enjoyed our meal, even YD. She liked hers so much that she brought the extra home. Four meals, my drink, Señor B's beer and two lemonades came to 408 pesos or a little less than $40. This would easily be $100 at home.

We came home and they pulled out a cake and stuck some candles in it. Eight, I think. I blew out all but one. Good grief. I'm getting too old to blow out 8 measly candles...lol. For a store bought cake, it was surprisingly good. Chocolate layer cake with a light (not heavy) chocolate icing that wasn't all greasy like Sobey's icing.

We watched a movie after supper and that was our day.