chchchchanges

So yesterday Jamie and I were in Cancun doing a stock-up trip and I realized how much I enjoy the Mexican version of fast food.   We had made our first stop at Apple, where we finally picked up his computer.  We had taken it in around Xmas time, just before the 3-year warranty had run out, so everything was supposed to be covered by the warranty.  Except, he found that Mexico DF rejected the warranty claim and in researching the issue, he found that pretty much all the Internets had the same problem with Apple.  So we asked Apple CUN to replace the part with an old part they had in stock – not a new one and they said they would have it ready by the end of the day.  We were heading home after picking Mimi up at the airport so I asked them to send it to us in PaaMul.  No problem, except it apparently was.  Weeks went by and after more promises that they would send it to us, we headed up to CUN to pick it up and make a  Home Depot and Costco run.  Of COURSE, it wasn’t ready.  When Jamie heard that he got pretty angry, so I stepped in and chatted with the receptionist.  I keep reminding him, the answer is ALWAYS going to be a “no” first.  No matter what, it will be no.  You just have to wait out the YES.  The poor receptionist actually told me he was making her anxious and it wasn’t hard to chat with her just to listen to her lovely Argentine accent.  So, eventually, it was decided that the technician would replace the part then and there and he did and then he wanted $660.  I reminded him that the computer HAD been under warranty when we brought it in; he said he cleaned it up and that resulted in the extra charge.  I asked him if he could give us a discount, all the while remaining smiling and sweet and we decided on $550 ($42USD).

Then, I decided, for reasons purely of pride, to find Home Depot from where we were instead of going back to the 2 streets we know.  We spent at least an hour driving around Cancun looking for a street we might recognize and finally asked a taxi at a light who was amazed we would be looking for Costco in the area we were in.  We were WAY far away.  Cancun is the only town I have NEVER been able to orient myself in (yes, I did end that sentence with a preposition).  I ALWAYS get lost.  Next time I’m going to draw myself a map from Google and see if that helps.  The streets all curve around and meander and diagonal here and there and I can NEVER get my sense of direction there.  Den of snakes indeed!

So, we’re out in the Middle of Nowhere and we are STARVING, but this is Mexico, so fast food abounds.  We had choices of fresh fruit, horchata de nuez or chicken or ribs.  And this is just from people walking the streets.  We finally decided on a chicken, beans, rice, salsa, tortillas and ribs.  I pulled over, we signaled the guy BBQ’ing and he brought us our order.  Wish I’d taken a picture, but this is so NORMAL I never thought to do so.

The boy’s room is coming along beautifully.  The palapa is FULL of polvo, but it was full of polvo just from all the construction next door, so it really was the perfect time to do construction.  The room is going to measure about 5.2 x 3.1 meters and will be huge.  The ceiling over the dining room and kitchen was lowered (well, not a ceiling but just palapa posts) and the room went up little by little and we now have just the acabado (finishing) mixta and electrical and windows and door.  The boys are getting so excited.  I’m not sure when we’ll start work on Merida – it seems cruel to put this room together for them and then immediately leave for Merida, AND the abanil next door hails from the Merida area and we’re talking about having him do the construction on our house there, so we might be waiting on him anyway.  But first we need to talk to an architect.

Pike is close to testing for his yellow belt but poor Jesse’s knees won’t allow him to do any Judo at all and I’ve been looking for something for him to involve himself in.  He is so isolated and alone now without Judo, and I constantly worry that we’re doing him a disservice living here.  Jamie started riding (bike) again and I’m really proud of him.  Getting back up on that horse was really difficult for him.  I’m still plugging along at running but keep all that chatter over at blogspot. And that’s all the news that’s fit to print.