2020 Update

Yes it has been a long time since I’ve posted, but life here in a small town in Mexico isn’t so different any time of the year. I’ve lived here nine years now and the seasons, months, days and years just blend together. Other than an occasional health problem that has nothing to do with Mexico not much exciting happens in my life. I used to move quite often in my previous life now I’ve put down roots as they say and I don’t want to move. My routine is set; I go to town to meet with other gringos for breakfast and to discuss what ever topic comes up, feed the local restaurant cat and a friend’s dog. It is a quiet life and I love it that way.

Here I am waiting for my breakfast this morning with dear friends

I have good connection with Wifi, telephone and TV so I do know what is going on in the states. I get to watch the local news out of LA which always sounds terrible, to me. I watch the traffic report in the morning and I’m so glad I don’t have to deal with that sort of thing anymore. My mail service is great, maybe too good as I’ve been buying stuff on Amazon a little to frequently in my opinion. I tell myself it is better than traveling to the US to shop for stuff with the Covid Virus raging on there. At my age getting sick with this virus would not be a good thing.

I just had my house painted pink I thought the faded yellow was too boring. Pink makes me feel happy.

Above photo is me in Pink Hair I got bored with my look so I tried something different. I’m not worried it will fade with time and I’ll try something else.

See, I told you it would fade. I see where time has taken its toll. At least I’m still here to complain about it. In reality I’ve nothing to complain about my life is safe, calm, enjoyable I have friends to share time with and enough of everything that I’m comfortable. I’m even able to share a little with those that have less than me. I have a lady that come in twice a month to do the heavy cleaning and her son clean up my garden. Tough life eh?

Here I am with a dear friend having lunch at a local restaurant, for me it was fish tacos, I love them!

In short life is good here in my part of Mexico! San Felipe Baja CA this is now my home!

Some New photos

I still have my back problems but I’m dealing with it the best I can and try not to let it stop me from enjoying my life. Life for me here in Mexico, my beloved Mexico, is better than I expected I have friends a social life and my house and garden that keeps me busy. I’m well informed of the political and economic situation in the “Old Country” and discuss the current affairs with friends here in Mexico.

I was enjoying an adult beverage this evening in my garden when I got a message that friends were meeting at a new Chinese restaurant in town so off I went to enjoy their company and try out the food there. The food was good and lots of it, I had to bring some home which I will use for lunch later. Tomorrow I’ll meet a friend at another restaurant for breakfast just to change things up a bit. (grin)

Where I was enjoying the evening in my garden with an adult beverage

 

Breakfast with friends at Chumpos Rest. San Felipe MX

New Garden door

New bed set more to come

I’ve been remiss in keeping up with my blog so I’ll make a few posts to bring things up to date.

Last winter was a stinker I was sick with one damn thing or another for weeks on end. I had infections and back problems as well as feeling very, very tired. Once I had to go to the emergency room in El Centro CA I felt so bad. That night was a nightmare, thank goodness I had a friend checking on me there she took charge and got me the care I needed and kept a close eye on me during my recovery. I went back to my GP and had a discussion about my health issues. My GP recommended that I see my Cardiologist which I did and they took my problems seriously and scheduled lots of tests and x-rays then we had a consult to cover the results. The result was I was taken off of several medications and slowly I have been improving I’m not so tired and slow as I was; I seem to have more energy not that I’m doing had springs or anything but better.

I still have a very painful back problem and I’ve seen a pain clinic and didn’t care for them so I stopped seeing them. I now have decided to seek the advice of a surgeon and I’m about to hear what he has to say about my messed up back maybe he can do something to mitigate the pain. We’ll see.

I have had some very good friends here who have taken care of me at one time or another, I don’t know how I will ever be able to repay them for the care.

I’ll post again in a few days to update again.

Julia

 

Disaster

A few days ago my computer had a massive fail. I had clicked on updates thinking it was no big deal and I was wrong. My computer had a total meltdown. I thought I was safe in that I had it backed up with another hard drive. Sadly that drive was defective and I only got a little bit of information back when my computer was rebuilt. My computer had to have a new hard drive installed and had to be reformatted. Luckily, I had the original operating disks. Sadly I have lost all my photos except those I posted on my blogs. I’m still processing this event. I also have the photos in the media files for this blog which is a help, I guess. Life goes on.

OH, Joy! I found a lot of my photos have been saved by Google so I haven’t lost everything! YEA!

Another little project

It seems I can’t leave anything alone I have to have a project. I don’t do the manual labor anymore I just come up with the idea and hire out the work. This time it is an extension of the patio to make the surface more comfortable to walk on and place furniture. Here are a few photos of the beginning of the project.

I think it will improve the use of the patio and make walking from the car to the house easier!

Photos

I finally got the photos to load seems there was an issue with the local WIFI servers. So here is the family visiting my house at Punta Banda. The had a good vacation which they needed and some new memories.

 

The family; Tom, Helen, Jacob going for a ride on the beach

Tom’s Ride

Father and Son having fun on the beach

Jacob and Kay Julia

Julia receiving her Mexican Citizenship it took a lot of effort lots of Spanish classes and the hard work of a good lawyer to get all done. Now I’m a Mexican

What’s been happening

Since the last post, I’ve been very preoccupied first with a family visit to my home in Punta Banda which is just south of Ensenada Baja Mexico. Then with health issues and my ongoing projects here in San Felipe about 120 miles south of Mexicali Baja Mexico.

First the visit with the family, I was on pins and needles as this was important to me that they have a good visit and learn to understand a little bit about why I live and love Mexico. Imagined all sorts of problems occurring like delays in their flight to San Diego and my missing their flight because I got lost in traffic or car trouble. Or, maybe some incident happening that would destroy their visit and their impression of Mexico. You see, I’m a champion worrier and prepare for the worst. As it was everything went smoothly with meeting the family; my son his wife and my grandson at the airport. We had made plans to stay at a motel in San Diego the first night because their flight arrived a bit later in the evening and I don’t like to drive at night.

The following day we drove to the border. Crossing any border these days can be a problem if you are not prepared. I’m always prepared and made sure the dear family was prepared also. It turned out to be a none event crossing into Mexico. We drove along the Pacific Coast and the sun was out showing us lovely beaches and surf; a lovely trip.

The drive is a little over two hours so when we got to my house I could tell they were tired of the ride. As soon as they saw the beach from the house they were delighted and ready for vacation mode. The family enjoyed the beach, horseback riding on it and flying a kite trying to use a kayak in the surf and just walking along the water’s edge collecting shells and other little bits that washed ashore. We dined out frequently and got to meet some of the people I know and seeing how friendly people are Americans and Mexicans. They got to ask a lot of questions about Mexico and my life in here. I was in teacher mode and loved it.

Too soon the vacation was over and we had to cross the border again this time back into the US from Mexico. Crossing through Tiajuana Mexico is arduous the wait times can be long for two hours or more. We endured a two-hour wait till we got to the Officer checking us in which we were passed through quite easily. Soon enough we were at the Airport saying our goodbyes and hugs all around. It was a nice interesting experience seeing Mexico through my family’s eyes.

I am having trouble uploading photos so that will come later in another post!

My little adventure

This is a little story about my trip to the US.

I’m lucky that I live close enough to the border with the US that I can use my medical insurance and Medicare, while I still have it. I had an appointment with my US Doctor about some x-rays on my hip and a follow up on another problem. I also needed to go to my Broker’s Office, the closest one was in San Diego. I needed some tax documents to finish my US taxes and I had upset the Security Folks at Charles Schwab because I didn’t know the answers to the security questions they asked to reset my password. Seems they gather information from databases from all over the US. I can tell you these databases are not complete nor are they accurate. I was forced to go to the nearest Charles Schwab office to get my 1099 which was in San Diego CA! So here is the story about that trip!

 

I’m in San Diego at the Howard Johnson’s Motel just off the I-8, exit 5. How I got here is a long story. The trip to and through the border was uneventful. I got to the Doctor’s office on time then the waiting started. I waited an hour to be taken in and given the usual blood pressure temp pulse weight thing Then I waited for another half an hour more. I was wondering if I was being put on hold on purpose when the Doctor showed up. I was informed that I have Osteoarthritis in both hips and that it is not in its worst stage but at some point maybe five years from now I’ll have to have a hip replaced. The pain and weakness going down my leg is another story and she recommends that I have another MRI. Basically, she said there is nothing they can do for the Arthritis other than pain medication. The MRI may show a nerve being blocked or about to be blocked causing pain in my leg and weakness. We also discussed my another problem and she prescribed a medication and warned me it was expensive. I went to Walmart and checked the price and was floored, it has a copay of $300 dollars! And, I have really good insurance! I declined the prescription, my problem isn’t that bad, yet.

By now the time has slipped by and I have to get on the road to San Diego. I got gas and headed to SD and got here about 4 pm. But the exits to my destination were closed! I tried getting to Charles Schwab but the traffic was at a standstill. I pulled in to Motel 6 and found the there had been a gas main break and the whole area had been under evacuation orders and no rooms were available for five miles. So back out into traffic again and it was crazy. I found Howard Johnson’s and they had a room and it was under the corporate group as Travel Lodge and I have their club card so I got a discount of about $17! I had dinner at the nearest restaurant they had the dryest meatloaf I’ve had in years! So now I’m waiting for tomorrow to see if the roads are open to Charles Schwab so I can get my tax info and get back to San Felipe.

This is the following day and all is well or so I think. Last night I couldn’t sleep if it wasn’t one thing it was another that bugged me from a light in the bathroom that stayed on to bright to some lady walking back and forth in high heels and another talking loudly till after 2am! I got about three maybe four hours sleep. In the morning I went for the so-called breakfast, and was informed it was against the rules to take food out of the breakfast area! When I checked in I was told to sign a page, a whole page of rules, but the page was not given to me so I’m supposed to know the rules with just one glance? I was glad to leave that place and find the Charles Schwab office which now that the emergency is over with was not that difficult and the ladies there were very nice. My 1099 is thirty-two pages long! I’ve seen budgets for a government office shorter than that! Once the 1099 was in hand I stopped at Denny’s for a real breakfast and as quickly as I could I got on the on the road and out of San Diego! All the traffic made me nervous and stressed I’m not used to Freeway traffic and not knowing the area I was getting a bit frustrated.

I’m home now in San Felipe where I belong nice and calm. My kitty was glad to see me. I sure am tired and a little hungry as I skipped lunch today. I think I will go to town and have dinner there and cool down my emotions from all the driving and stress.

Ups and downs

Like anyone, I’ve had my ups and downs lately. Health wise I have a recurring back problem for years and lately, it has been getting worse. It was time to see if it could be treated and made less painful so I made an appointment and was referred to have an MRI done. MRIs are not fun, for me, the noise and laying for so long a hard narrow bench not moving was torture. Now I’m waiting for the results if this test. We’ll see what is recommended to fix this problem.

I am having some work done on the Beach House. The bathroom with the tub is being redone. The tub had seen better days and was rusty and gross. I am concerned about the subfloor and walls of the bathroom as one never really knows what is going on in there. I hope nothing serious is amiss in those dark regions if there is it will have to be refurbished. I want all this done before my family arrives St. Patrick’s Day! If not oh well.

I did have the Mexican Saltillo floor tiles resealed and according to my rental agent, they look a lot better. I think one day I’ll have the floors updated with ceramic tile. The dishwasher is still not working if the parts don’t come in soon I may just go to plan B and replace the dishwasher. Still waiting for an estimate on the termite problem the first man was asking too much money for the job.

I bought some new lounge chairs for the beachside deck, they are a bright red so the should go with the red umbrella I bought. Having two houses is keeping me busy which is not a bad thing. I thought I would show some photos of the flowers on the front patio.

I have many projects

I have two projects at my house in San Felipe. One is getting the airstream trailer updated so guests can stay in it and the other is the garden wall between my neighbor to the south of me which it seems I am the project manager of that construction. Then there is the house in Punta Banda just south of Ensenada. I have several projects there. Project one is to repair and paint the deck on the beach side of the house. Project two is to replace the wood on the driveway gate and fix the wooden door to the front patio. Project three is repairing the front patio deck or removing it. Then there is the trash that has to be hauled away.  I almost forgot I also have to get the termite man back as something is eating the wood in the laundry/storage room.

When I was retiring I was so worried that I would have nothing to do with all the vacant time on my hands. It seemed like I was always at work or going to work or coming home from work that I had very few hobbies that I could enjoy. I owned a sailboat but didn’t get to use it much. Now I’m as busy as ever.

Last night just off the beach here at the house in Punta Banda there were at least two big fishing boats at work with their lights on. They worked all night and even this morning as the sun came up they were still at work fishing.

The wooden handrails look nice and sturdy too. I met another neighbor his name is Rick and he lives across the street with four dogs he has been here fourteen years. That is two neighbors I have met Dusty and Rick.

Now if the Glass man shows up with the window glass and the handyman shows up today will have done better than I expected I already have had the Gasman show up and put some LP Gas in the Gas tank I was down to 5%, not a good thing to run so low on gas.

Time for lunch so I’ll close now. Write will write more later.