More rain

Sitting in the studio on the third floor watching it rain. Nothing too tremendous today but lots of thunder! Always a favorite of mine since a kid in the mid-west. The number of times my mother came into our bedroom to find me propping my chin on the sill of an open window during an electrical storm...

Unlike yesterday when it rained on-and-off for most of the afternoon, the rain held off until we had returned from Celaya and deposited our friends at their home. I really like the rain: it freshens the air and makes one feel all cozy (assuming one is inside at the time). Yesterday’s rain poured down every time we left the trolley and headed into a home on the house tour. The lead realtor predicted the end of the rain every time we re-boarded the trolley and was wrong each and every time.

Our trip to Celaya was great: Wal-Mart, a pet supply store, Home Depot, and Costco. We knew that labor in Mexico is less expensive, but had heard that manufactured goods are not. How true! The replacement curtain rods (simple wooden poles) would have run $70+ per window. We may need to visit Home Depot’s lumber area and do the staining ourselves. ‘Replacement rods’ because it’s Mexico, where if you bought it, it’s yours to take with you when you leave your rented digs. Doesn’t matter whether it’s something that’s attached to the walls or not, as in California. So it’s not unusual to walk into a house/apartment and find no light fixtures, no towel rods, no bathroom mirrors, no curtains, no nuttin’! Just hope that, if we ever move, the things we’re adding will go with the new house. Or we just leave them behind for the next tenant.

After finishing our shopping at Costco we stopped at their food court and had hot dogs with condiments of the usual mustard, ketchup, and onions with the addition of mayonnaise and jalapeno peppers. Would you believe the customers even use ketchup and mayonnaise on their baked chicken wraps?!? Really.

Anyway, although it wasn’t Hebrew National franks (Mexico remembers the mad cow disease scare) they were quite tasty – nearly as good as the Polish sausages Costco sells in the states. And there was a constant line of folks who knew our friends stopping by our table and saying hello and being introduced to us. Our friends said once they met 5 different folks in Costco whom they knew. Only two stopped by our table today; we were introduced and chatted for a while to each. If we hang around our friends long enough, we’ll have met everyone who is anyone in SMA! (They were really nice people, too.)

Also, in explaining why we didn’t buy any food items at Costco [we have nothing but the small fridge and microwave that came with the house, some plastic plates and bowls, and plastic forks and spoons; hence we eat out a lot] they offered us the use of a toaster oven, Panini maker, and some Dijon (which I forgot to pick up). They are the same brands and models that are waiting to join us if the movers ever make it to SMA. We did buy a roasted chicken and some herb bread. Michael went to the local tienda after dinner and picked up some butter, I think, for the toast tomorrow morning.

On the moving front – it’s not moving. Received a photo today of the road between there and here – the road being engulfed with the river running next to it – with a promise that they would deliver things as soon as they could get through. Turns out that although some folks are able to cross at Laredo by car and make it to SMA, the bridge that commercial drivers must use is still somewhat out of commission and they must use the highway that’s under water. I’m really tired of being able to sit only in straight-backed chairs or on our inflatable mattress. Maybe we should go out for a drink tonight, too....