We are having a cold spell. The high temp today according to our themometer was 21 C. The last couple of days, we have been having a lot more wind than we have been accustomed to and there has been more clouds. That is what holds the temperatures down. At 7 a.m., the temperature was about 16 C; that is not very cold. Monday night when we went to the Viva la Musica! concert, I wore long pants for the first time since we arrived here in May. It wasn’t cold, but cool enough that I felt that I could ‘dress up’ and not be too hot. By the way , the concert (a brass quintet) was really enjoyable. The guys really hammed it up, while still playing good music. They go much further than the Canadian Brass in their slapstick.
We have decided to go ahead building the gazebo in the patio. We had been thinking about combining it with solar panels. However, the latter are very expensive and since we got the new refrigerator, our consumption has dropped way down below the DAC rates. We had gotten the consumption down to just under 8 kwh/day which is just barely under the 250 kwh/month that is the limit to avoid the DAC. However, with the new frig, our rate seems to be just about 6 kwh/day. That would be about 180 kwh/month--well under. Thus, it is not economic to do the solar cells at this time.
We called Jose, the contractor recommended by Gary and Cathy. We had talked to him in July and got an estimate. However, we did not have the money then. He came over very quickly Monday when I called. I think that he had probably given up any expectation that we would call. He came back today with a revised estimate (we want to make it slightly smaller in order not to cut off the sun shining in the windows in the winter months). We gave the go ahead and some materials were delivered this afternoon; he plans to bring at least one worker tomorrow by noon to start. Barb also saw a wrought iron and glass top table with 3 chairs at a used furniture place. We bought it as he gave us a special price of 2300 pesos (about $230) because there are only 3 chairs. The table is bigger and much more substantial than the plastic one with umbrella that was here when we came. Thus, things are moving along. Jose said maybe 2 weeks to finish, but with the fast start, maybe even sooner.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Time change
We have had a couple of days of cloudy and cooler weather. However, it was sunny today, although the temperature only got up to about 26 C. Early this morning, Mexico turned the clocks back to Central Standard Time. I was confused and thought that that would put us only 1 hour behind Atlantic time in Halifax. However, it works the other way. Right now we are 3 hours later than Halifax and 2 hours later than Toronto and other places in the Eastern time zone. It will be that way until Canada and the US go back to standard time in about 3 weeks or so. It was strange to have it get dark at 6:30 p.m. I guess that we will have to eat before that time if we want to eat outside on the patio for dinner.
We are having a relatively quiet period, getting back into our routine. Open Circle this morning and then brunch at the Secret Garden Restaurant. We do have the final Viva la Musica! concert of the season Monday night. However, next Saturday, November 1st, there will be the invasion of Brunch Clubers from Halifax. Jack and Kate return until next April and 4 women are coming to stay for a month. We are very much looking forward to seeing everyone. Jack and Kate, of course, were the ones who invited us down last February and introduced us to Ajijic and Mexico. Thus, they know about things down here. However, for the 4 ladies, this will be new and we are interested to see how they react and respond to Mexico. So far, everyone who has visited seems to have enjoyed it here, although no one has so far followed our example.
We are having a relatively quiet period, getting back into our routine. Open Circle this morning and then brunch at the Secret Garden Restaurant. We do have the final Viva la Musica! concert of the season Monday night. However, next Saturday, November 1st, there will be the invasion of Brunch Clubers from Halifax. Jack and Kate return until next April and 4 women are coming to stay for a month. We are very much looking forward to seeing everyone. Jack and Kate, of course, were the ones who invited us down last February and introduced us to Ajijic and Mexico. Thus, they know about things down here. However, for the 4 ladies, this will be new and we are interested to see how they react and respond to Mexico. So far, everyone who has visited seems to have enjoyed it here, although no one has so far followed our example.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Barb can drive the car!
Well, we have just learned that we were misinformed about Barb’s right to drive down here! The restriction on driving foreign plated cars applies only to Mexican citizens; they are not allowed to drive foreign plated cars unless the owner or another foreigner is in the car or they are relatives of the owner. I’m not sure how well the ban on Mexicans is enforced because I see many Mexicans driving foreign plated cars. In any case, in addition to family, any foreigner with a valid visa in Mexico (i.e., Barb) can drive the car, even though it is in my name. Also, Barb is listed on the insurance as a qualified driver so we are covered there; insurance companies are very restrictive about who they will cover in the event of an accident. This will make a big difference for Barb; she has been chaffing at not being able to drive. We’ll still the change the ownership of the car to both names in December, but in the meantime, she can drive.
While RoseMary and Larry were here, we had to two big rains, one with a big thunderstorm. We had thought that we were just about finished. Maybe now. The weather is just about perfect. It gets up into the high 20’s in the daytime, but down to 15-18 at night. The days are getting a bit shorter now, but not nearly so dramatically as you experience in the northern climes. Also, we go back to standard time on Sunday. Mexico did not alter its timing when the US (Canada followed) changed the dates to later in November last year. This change will make it better for doing my run in the morning as it has been a bit dark when I run between 7:30 and 8 a.m.
Barb has now moved her fountain more into the middle of the back stone wall as we have cut down some of the Virginia creeper (it is all going to go in the next couple of days). She is thinking of getting bougainvillea to replace it. It does extremely well here and unlike Virginia creeper, it has flowers.
The circus has come to town! Almost directly above us in Upper La Floresta above the Carretera is a water park called Tobolandia. The circus has pitched its tents there. Every day for the last week, trucks carrying or pulling wagons with animals go around the local towns with loud speakers urging people to see the circus. We have seen a tiger, a llama, a baby lion and 2 camels being hauled around. We haven’t gone and don’t really know what kind of show they put on. I think that circuses have pretty well disappeared from Canada and the US.
While RoseMary and Larry were here, we had to two big rains, one with a big thunderstorm. We had thought that we were just about finished. Maybe now. The weather is just about perfect. It gets up into the high 20’s in the daytime, but down to 15-18 at night. The days are getting a bit shorter now, but not nearly so dramatically as you experience in the northern climes. Also, we go back to standard time on Sunday. Mexico did not alter its timing when the US (Canada followed) changed the dates to later in November last year. This change will make it better for doing my run in the morning as it has been a bit dark when I run between 7:30 and 8 a.m.
Barb has now moved her fountain more into the middle of the back stone wall as we have cut down some of the Virginia creeper (it is all going to go in the next couple of days). She is thinking of getting bougainvillea to replace it. It does extremely well here and unlike Virginia creeper, it has flowers.
The circus has come to town! Almost directly above us in Upper La Floresta above the Carretera is a water park called Tobolandia. The circus has pitched its tents there. Every day for the last week, trucks carrying or pulling wagons with animals go around the local towns with loud speakers urging people to see the circus. We have seen a tiger, a llama, a baby lion and 2 camels being hauled around. We haven’t gone and don’t really know what kind of show they put on. I think that circuses have pretty well disappeared from Canada and the US.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
RoseMary & Larry
It has been a long time since I entered a post. RoseMary and Larry left this morning; we have had a busy time. Mostly, we wanted to show them the sights and places around here that we show everyone--Chapala, Jocotepec, San Juan Cosala, etc. In fact, on Wednesday, Oct. 15th, we took them to San Juan Cosalá and then to Rueben’s Grill for their 42nd wedding anniversary. It seems that they had a good time. They are planning to go on a big tour to Hawaii, with a cruise back to Vancouver next year; because to that, they say it will be two years before they come back, but really do want to come back. They are even talking about renting a place and staying 2 or 3 months!
On Sunday, October 12th, just after their arrival, I had gotten tickets for all of us to Ballet Tango. I think that they are Mexican dancers, but were doing a whole range of tango dances from early 20th C to very modern. The dancers were very good. The dance troupe is going to give another concert late in November although I’m not sure whether it will be only tango again. We’ll certainly try to go to that as well. They performed at the Auditorio, which is just a few blocks from us; I hadn’t realized the location, even though we have passed in innumerable times, because the sign is partially faded. Then, on the 13th, we went to the Canadian Club’s Thanksgiving Day dinner at the Nuevo Pasada Hotel. It was a very traditional and delicious dinner--turkey with stuffing, cranberries, and sweet potato. The dessert was pumkin pie.
Another piece of exciting news is that we now have our FM3s--the permanent tourist visa; they are about the size and shape of passports. Early in September when we had enough money, we had gone to a small company in Chapala that does all the paperwork. It is a rigamarole because documents have to be translated into Spanish. We finally got a call in the afternoon to go the next morning to Chapala by 8 a.m (not much warning). There was a young man who drove us (another couple, plus a Canadian, 5 altogether at the same time) to Guadalajara. It went like clockwork. The fellow had all the documents and took each of us in turn to the window to sign the final papers and affix our thumb prints. We were back in Chapala in 3 hours. Somehow, we had gotten the idea that it would cost about 3,000 dollars for the two of us. However, it came out to just under 8000 pesos (800 dollars). We were getting a bit worried because Barb’s FMT (the 6 months visa) would have ended in the first week of November.
On Friday, we all went in to Tlaquepaque (I just discovered that officially it too has a saint’s name tacked on the front--San Pedro, although it seems that hardly anyone uses it); we wanted RoseMary and Larry to see urban Mexico after seeing the older, not much changed towns of the Lake Chapala area. While there, we ate at another great restaurant; we seem to end up at a different one each time we go! When we were there a couple of weeks ago with Dawn and Gordon, Barbara saw a water fountain that she has been yearning for ever since. She headed there and insisted that I go in to look at it again. There was no holding her back this time, and we bought it. The woman in the store said that they could deliver it on Saturday, which they did. It was soon set up (it’s made of fiberglas, but made to look older and weathered) and working. It is against the back wall. in a spot where there was little of the Virginia creeper vine. However, it is not centered as Barb would like and I expect that it won’t be too long before it is moved. It is not very heavy once the water is emptied out. However, where she wants to put it, there is a large, old vine going up the wall. It would have to be cut down. However, all the Virginia creepers along the wall are looking very sick and Barb thinks that they are dying. As a result, they may have to come down anyway. In any case, she can now go out and sit in the courtyard and listen to her fountain.
On Sunday, October 12th, just after their arrival, I had gotten tickets for all of us to Ballet Tango. I think that they are Mexican dancers, but were doing a whole range of tango dances from early 20th C to very modern. The dancers were very good. The dance troupe is going to give another concert late in November although I’m not sure whether it will be only tango again. We’ll certainly try to go to that as well. They performed at the Auditorio, which is just a few blocks from us; I hadn’t realized the location, even though we have passed in innumerable times, because the sign is partially faded. Then, on the 13th, we went to the Canadian Club’s Thanksgiving Day dinner at the Nuevo Pasada Hotel. It was a very traditional and delicious dinner--turkey with stuffing, cranberries, and sweet potato. The dessert was pumkin pie.
Another piece of exciting news is that we now have our FM3s--the permanent tourist visa; they are about the size and shape of passports. Early in September when we had enough money, we had gone to a small company in Chapala that does all the paperwork. It is a rigamarole because documents have to be translated into Spanish. We finally got a call in the afternoon to go the next morning to Chapala by 8 a.m (not much warning). There was a young man who drove us (another couple, plus a Canadian, 5 altogether at the same time) to Guadalajara. It went like clockwork. The fellow had all the documents and took each of us in turn to the window to sign the final papers and affix our thumb prints. We were back in Chapala in 3 hours. Somehow, we had gotten the idea that it would cost about 3,000 dollars for the two of us. However, it came out to just under 8000 pesos (800 dollars). We were getting a bit worried because Barb’s FMT (the 6 months visa) would have ended in the first week of November.
On Friday, we all went in to Tlaquepaque (I just discovered that officially it too has a saint’s name tacked on the front--San Pedro, although it seems that hardly anyone uses it); we wanted RoseMary and Larry to see urban Mexico after seeing the older, not much changed towns of the Lake Chapala area. While there, we ate at another great restaurant; we seem to end up at a different one each time we go! When we were there a couple of weeks ago with Dawn and Gordon, Barbara saw a water fountain that she has been yearning for ever since. She headed there and insisted that I go in to look at it again. There was no holding her back this time, and we bought it. The woman in the store said that they could deliver it on Saturday, which they did. It was soon set up (it’s made of fiberglas, but made to look older and weathered) and working. It is against the back wall. in a spot where there was little of the Virginia creeper vine. However, it is not centered as Barb would like and I expect that it won’t be too long before it is moved. It is not very heavy once the water is emptied out. However, where she wants to put it, there is a large, old vine going up the wall. It would have to be cut down. However, all the Virginia creepers along the wall are looking very sick and Barb thinks that they are dying. As a result, they may have to come down anyway. In any case, she can now go out and sit in the courtyard and listen to her fountain.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Election day
Yesterday (Tuesday) late in the afternoon close to closing time for the Canadian consulate in Guadalajara, we got a call. They said that our voting packages had come in. I was surprised because they said that they were only going to send the applications on Monday; however, I think that they must have faxed the applications; courier would be slower than that. The information said that the ballots had to reach Ottawa before October 14th. However, on the phone, they said that we had to get in and complete the ballots before noon today. We left right after breakfast as I wanted to be back in order to go to my Spanish conversation class at 11:30. Of course, we knew how to get there having just gone there last Friday. It took about 50 minutes driving as there was some fairly heavy traffic going in to the city.
I had expected to see the usual ballot with the candidates in the riding listed with the places to put the X. Not so. These were really write-in ballots. There was just one slot and you had to write in the name of the candidate you wished to vote for. This was a problem because we had not looked up to see all the names of the candidates! This reduced the choices considerably! However, we can say that we went to some effort and expense to do our civic duty. There was not too much traffic on the way home and the entire trip was completed in just about 2 hours and I had plenty of time to get to my class.
Tomorrow, my sister RoseMary and her husband Larry arrive for 9 days. This will be the first time that they have travelled outside Canada and the US, although they did do an Alaskan cruise last year. However, unlike Sarah Palin, they do not claim to have seen or learned a lot about Russia as a result of being in Alaska.
I had expected to see the usual ballot with the candidates in the riding listed with the places to put the X. Not so. These were really write-in ballots. There was just one slot and you had to write in the name of the candidate you wished to vote for. This was a problem because we had not looked up to see all the names of the candidates! This reduced the choices considerably! However, we can say that we went to some effort and expense to do our civic duty. There was not too much traffic on the way home and the entire trip was completed in just about 2 hours and I had plenty of time to get to my class.
Tomorrow, my sister RoseMary and her husband Larry arrive for 9 days. This will be the first time that they have travelled outside Canada and the US, although they did do an Alaskan cruise last year. However, unlike Sarah Palin, they do not claim to have seen or learned a lot about Russia as a result of being in Alaska.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
A busy Friday
We had a very busy and interesting day, yesterday. It started early as Barb had an appointment with her GP at 8:30 a.m. She was thinking of getting the blood work that her doctors in Canada had ordered regularly; however, even in Mexico it would cost over $300. It boggles the mind to think how much it costs in Canada. Actually, as it turned out it was just as well she didn’t .
Anyway, at 12:30 we had an appointment with Jsun Mills; a coincidence that we have the same last name. He is a consultant on alternate energy sources--the sun. He was coming to see what we might do. We have been planning to do a gazebo in the courtyard and we finally have the money. However, we wanted to think about the possibility of solar panels for electricity. We were wondering if we could combine the 2, but we probably should think of 2 separate structures. We finally got a new refrigerator so that that should lower our consumption and we are now just under the level that would trigger the DAC. Anyway, Jsun had a little gizmo which shows where the sun and any shadows are all year round. Our backyard is very good for getting the maximum sun for solar panels. Also, he says that whether planned or not, our place is excellent as far as maximizing the passive solar heating in the winter months and minimizing the heat buildup in the summer. He has a designer and architect who he works with and will outline our situation to see if she has ideas on what we might do.
Then, we were going in to Guadalajara for 2 things. Barb had an appointment with a rheumatologist recommended by her Halifax rheumatologist at 6:30 p.m. We also wanted to submit our application for absentee voting in the election to the Canadian consulate in Guadalajara, which has hours 9 - 2, & 4 - 5. The consulate is sending all applications to Ottawa early next week, then the ballots will come back to the consulate. We go in and pick up the mail-in ballots, complete them and then the consulate will send them to Ottawa. I got out the maps and planned our route. It was actually not bad as the consulate is just south of the Cardenas freeway and the main street to the doctor’s office was close; we only had to go 2 - 3 kms north from there. Security in the building where the consulate is (Guadalajara World Trade Center) is very tight. It was a bit of a rigmarole to get in. While we were in the consulate waiting room, we started to chat with another woman, who turned out to be from Dartmouth. Not only that, but it turned out that she was Judit Rajhathy (I’m not sure that the spelling is correct). Both Barb and I had had brief acquaintance with her in Dartmouth! She wrote a book in the early 1990s about how to deal with allergies and sensitivities, especially among children. We had discovered in February that she had moved to Ajijic a few years ago and started a workout gym on the Carreterra. We had intended to contact her (Barb actually went to the gym, but she wasn’t there that day), but had not got around to it. Thus, we met her in Guadalajara where she was trying to get her renewal passport and was frustrated that it was taking so long; she in fact had had to change her plane reservations because the new passport was so slow in being sent. Anyway, we were trying to calculate the odds of meeting her there in those circumstances and decided that it was a very large number indeed.
We had lots of time to get to the doctor’s office. We did well navigating, Barb reading the map while I drove. We made one late turn, but back on track in just a few minutes. Going there and coming back, we had to go through several large traffic circles, which we had not done before. That is challenging, because the signs are not always very clear. However, we managed all of them successfully; that was very satisfying. We got to the doctor’s office with almost an hour and a half. Thus, we had time to go out for dinner, to an Italian pizza restaurant! Well, it was better than the McDonald’s, which was also nearby! Actually, the pizza was good.
Barb really liked the rheumatologist; it turns out that he did some of his training in Canada in New Brunswick! However, some of his comments were sobering. He wants to make significant changes to her medications, but is going to talk to her Halifax rheumatologist first. When we were coming home to Ajijic, we were surprised at the traffic; it was well after 8 and after dark. With the afternoon closing of many businesses, many people are not going home until later than we expect in Canada and the US. It was just about 9 p.m. before we got home and were very happy to drive into our own yard and ‘nuestro casa’. However, we noted that we had managed to get around Guadalajara without either of us getting short-tempered; we are obviously getting more confident and even comfortable in getting around Guadalajara. That is good because we have to go in to get blood work done in about 4 weeks and then back to see the rheumatologist in about 6 weeks.
Anyway, at 12:30 we had an appointment with Jsun Mills; a coincidence that we have the same last name. He is a consultant on alternate energy sources--the sun. He was coming to see what we might do. We have been planning to do a gazebo in the courtyard and we finally have the money. However, we wanted to think about the possibility of solar panels for electricity. We were wondering if we could combine the 2, but we probably should think of 2 separate structures. We finally got a new refrigerator so that that should lower our consumption and we are now just under the level that would trigger the DAC. Anyway, Jsun had a little gizmo which shows where the sun and any shadows are all year round. Our backyard is very good for getting the maximum sun for solar panels. Also, he says that whether planned or not, our place is excellent as far as maximizing the passive solar heating in the winter months and minimizing the heat buildup in the summer. He has a designer and architect who he works with and will outline our situation to see if she has ideas on what we might do.
Then, we were going in to Guadalajara for 2 things. Barb had an appointment with a rheumatologist recommended by her Halifax rheumatologist at 6:30 p.m. We also wanted to submit our application for absentee voting in the election to the Canadian consulate in Guadalajara, which has hours 9 - 2, & 4 - 5. The consulate is sending all applications to Ottawa early next week, then the ballots will come back to the consulate. We go in and pick up the mail-in ballots, complete them and then the consulate will send them to Ottawa. I got out the maps and planned our route. It was actually not bad as the consulate is just south of the Cardenas freeway and the main street to the doctor’s office was close; we only had to go 2 - 3 kms north from there. Security in the building where the consulate is (Guadalajara World Trade Center) is very tight. It was a bit of a rigmarole to get in. While we were in the consulate waiting room, we started to chat with another woman, who turned out to be from Dartmouth. Not only that, but it turned out that she was Judit Rajhathy (I’m not sure that the spelling is correct). Both Barb and I had had brief acquaintance with her in Dartmouth! She wrote a book in the early 1990s about how to deal with allergies and sensitivities, especially among children. We had discovered in February that she had moved to Ajijic a few years ago and started a workout gym on the Carreterra. We had intended to contact her (Barb actually went to the gym, but she wasn’t there that day), but had not got around to it. Thus, we met her in Guadalajara where she was trying to get her renewal passport and was frustrated that it was taking so long; she in fact had had to change her plane reservations because the new passport was so slow in being sent. Anyway, we were trying to calculate the odds of meeting her there in those circumstances and decided that it was a very large number indeed.
We had lots of time to get to the doctor’s office. We did well navigating, Barb reading the map while I drove. We made one late turn, but back on track in just a few minutes. Going there and coming back, we had to go through several large traffic circles, which we had not done before. That is challenging, because the signs are not always very clear. However, we managed all of them successfully; that was very satisfying. We got to the doctor’s office with almost an hour and a half. Thus, we had time to go out for dinner, to an Italian pizza restaurant! Well, it was better than the McDonald’s, which was also nearby! Actually, the pizza was good.
Barb really liked the rheumatologist; it turns out that he did some of his training in Canada in New Brunswick! However, some of his comments were sobering. He wants to make significant changes to her medications, but is going to talk to her Halifax rheumatologist first. When we were coming home to Ajijic, we were surprised at the traffic; it was well after 8 and after dark. With the afternoon closing of many businesses, many people are not going home until later than we expect in Canada and the US. It was just about 9 p.m. before we got home and were very happy to drive into our own yard and ‘nuestro casa’. However, we noted that we had managed to get around Guadalajara without either of us getting short-tempered; we are obviously getting more confident and even comfortable in getting around Guadalajara. That is good because we have to go in to get blood work done in about 4 weeks and then back to see the rheumatologist in about 6 weeks.
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