Mardi gras

They really make a big deal of the pre-Lent period. For 3 Sundays, there was a parade around Ajijic. In the parade were a number of people on horseback. Also, there were a number of young men dressed in women’s clothes, well padded to look very bosomy and often with masks. Most carried sacks containing confetti or flour; they would throw the latter at spectators lining the street. However, the targets are usually children or young people. The parade would make its way to the bull ring which is on the boundary with La Floresta. There were usually some events at the bull ring, sometimes bull riding (no bull fights here). These events were increased during the last 3 days before Lent began, especially on Shrove Tuesday, the day of Mardi Gras. That night we could hear loud music going almost until midnight.

Today was both exciting and frustrating. Last summer we got a small desk that held the printer, the router and VoIP box; I could put my laptop there also, but it had little space for working or for storage. Barb had no desk and sat on the sofa with her computer. A few weeks ago, she stopped at a furniture store which makes furniture to order. She asked about a desk. They would make a pine one to her specifications for 2600 pesos; formerly that was about $260, but with the decline of the peso, it is closer to $217. That included a bottom drawer that served as a file cabinet with rails to hold file hangers and a pull out shelf for the laptop. They also would stain it to match the china cabinet. Barb ended up ordering 2 matching desks (each 48 inches wide) that would just fit in the dining room on either side of the china cabinet; as you can see, they arrived today. The only difference is that my desk has the file drawer for legal size and hers is letter size. Thus, for less than $440, we now have 2 very nice desks with good storage for files, etc. This was the good side.

However, we had to move the hardware for printer, etc. including the modem/router and VoIP decoder for the internet phone. Getting the latter to work last May was a real trial. After a couple of very frustrating weeks, suddenly, for no reason that I could figure, it started to work and has done well ever since. I tried to disconnect as few wires as possible and return them to exactly the same connections. However, while everything else is working, the internet phone is not! I have been fiddling with it all afternoon and evening, but with no success. I don’t why it started to work last year and thus no idea what I need to do now.