OSHA beware

I hope you all enjoyed the post I made in my head this afternoon while we were going errands in town; wasn’t it witty and funny? I know *I* laughed til I cried.

Wednesdays are our going to market days as those are the days that fruits and veggies are marked down, pretty much all over the country. If you live in Mexico and your super doesn’t do this on Wednesday, I’d love to here which one and where. On our way in I saw a sight that gave me pause. I’m pretty tolerant of the gross safety issues you see on a daily basis, but this one was a doozy. A flatbed of blok (cement blocks; the normal 20cm wide size) was stacked pretty high – higher than the cab of the flatbed. It wasn’t tied down in any way that I could see, but this is pretty much SOP. That which gave me pause was the two workers seated on top of the stack of block, riding down the highway at a good 80km/h. They must have had a GREAT view, but a quick stop would have put them flying about 10km down the highway.

I am serious about sticking to the budget this month and we loaded up on watermellon ($1.95/kilo (about .10USD/lb) and bananas. I keep looking at our banana trees in the back yard but they probably won’t flower until next year. IF it ever rains again. I swear this past winter seemed incredibly wet, but not that we got only a small shower in the past 30 days it feels like a drought. I know that these are the REAL dry season, but it seems like it will never rain again.

This norte is hanging on tenaciously. Ellen and I are covered with sleeping bags and the A/C is wondering if it will ever run again. The humidity is so low we’re getting chapped lips and the dryness combined with lack of rain means we’ve got about 10cm of dirt covering all outside surfaces.

We are slowly getting the palapa in order; I began painting the back outside wall after caulking the door and Jamie has finally stained the (indoor; strange how I feel I need to make that designation) bathroom door. I’ve given up on the flowering plants I bought at Home Depot and am going to concentrate on a palm instead. Jamie and I both ADORE this particular type of palm; I’m sure it has a name, but we just really like the look. Our neighbors (with all the kids) have one in their side yard and I got seeds off it quite a while ago. I planted them, hoping they’d eventually take root and sprout or do whatever they do, but Jamie thought the containers were just dirt and used it all for some other project. The other day in the Costco parking lot, we saw “our” palm again in a Granddaddy version and decided we REALLY REALLY like it, so I need a new plan to grow us a plant.

We’re hoping to head for Merida next week and since the campground will likely charge us close to $500MN a night, we might stay in a downtown hotel. Jamie would LOVE that, but I’m cringing at the thought of the expense.