As we approach the year's end, perhaps we can look forward to the next year instead of reflecting on the past.
2014 highlights did include a Panama Canal cruise followed by some time at Disneyland in May, An Eastern Caribbean cruise followed by a week at Walt Disney World in August, A quick Western Caribbean cruise in November and then a trip to Anaheim for friends' Disney Wedding later in November.
Our Eastern Caribbean cruise also included a trek to the Mexican Consulate in Orlando to apply for our Residente Permanente visa as we were out of Mexico on the magic date for the changeover here in San Miguel. (A past blog entry dealt with that in detail.) We now will not need to visit the INM offices on a yearly basis (until the government discovers that they don't have the same revenue flow and does something about it).
2014 was also the year that we said goodbye (temporarily, we hope) to our good friend Victor as he moved to Puerto Vallarta. He had proved so helpful in dealing with landlords, the Mexican DMV, and on many other occasions besides being great fun! Michael helped Victor move house, transform a former private hospital into a B and B, and Victor graciously house sat and looked after our Wheatens while we gallivanted off on our travels. Now the poor dogs are thrust back at our earlier solution: Wendy's Pet B'n'B out in the campo. Not quite the same as staying 'at home' for them, but they like it there, too! Lots of room to run and a comfy house in which to spend the nights. We'll have to renegotiate our lease this coming Spring at our current house with our landlords (who speak only Spanish) without his good services. Wish us luck!
And without Victor and his visiting family to amuse, we had to branch out for the recent Christmas holidays and found that we could manage a new group of acquaintances. That's a good thing, too!
Looking forward to 2015, as promised, we have three weeks in Cabo this year. We'd decided to make it two weeks until the family asked us to extend an additional week. Happy to oblige. We now need to whittle down the forty-two dinner recipes to a more manageable list.
And instead of flying home from Cabo for a week before heading out to New Orleans, we'll be flying direct! Time to seriously work on the packing list (already done!). We've never been to New Orleans, but a great friend - who goes yearly - asked that we put it on our schedule this next year to celebrate her fifth year of cancer remission. Everyone to whom we speak tells us how much we'll like it - so I guess we've just been missing out on a good thing! I understand that there are a group of neon colored wigs for us all to wear while viewing the parades....
Then it's home for a bit before we head out to another bucket list contender - a set of three Baltic cruises that begin in Orlando (after a week at Walt Disney World again; we've always managed to combine cruising with the Parks) for a 15-day transAtlantic, followed by a week of cruising to the northern European capitals along the Baltic Sea, and then a week doing the Norwegian fjords. We'd been thinking of trying an eastbound transatlantic (we'd flown to Spain the last time and cruised westbound) and a 15-day cruise with only three port stops (New York City, Newfoundland, and Iceland) tempted us with all those sea days. Then there was the week doing the fjords and we just filled in the week between those two cruises with the northern capitals cruise. That's going to do us for cruising in 2015!
Our TA (travel agent) managed to find a cabin for us that was available for all three cruises so there won't be any packing/unpacking until we finish the cruises at the end of the month. Then we have the excitement of flying home from Copenhagen with a very brief stopover in Chicago. Hope O'Hare is in better shape than the last time I had to sleep on the floor of the terminal when our flight was delayed....
Then no more travel until 2016. It may get a little boring, but we'll need to save up our pennies for further adventures!
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Friday, December 12, 2014
...Or Not!
Between the last post and this one the weather did improve a bit - and we've been in Southern California for a wedding at Disneyland (do I hear an echo of a horse-drawn Cinderella-style carriage?).
However, it's been grim since we returned a couple of days ago. (More on that trip later.) The nature of our homes here (concrete and brick with no central heat) depends largely upon sunlight to warm them. If the sun is out (i.e., it's warm-to-hot), the exterior of the house heats up and radiates warmth into the house through the night.
When the sun doesn't shine (cloudy skies, rain, et cetera) there's nothing to warm the walls and there is no heat to radiate inside the house during the evening/night hours. A few days of this and our houses are cold through and through.
Don't suggest adding central heat. We rent - and even if we didn't - few houses are configured to add heat. There's no room for duct work, for one thing. Nor room for furnaces unless you've a newer house that was designed for a heat plant.
Our home has a small balcony on the second floor where the water heater is housed and I suppose it could suffice (the water heater requires gas), but the heated air would have to be fed into the sala on the second floor and you could hope that it would make it's way down to the ground floor. Adding duct work to the ground floor would make the house look like something out of a sci-fi picture!
So we make do with free-standing LP heaters. Venting? I think not! We just have to be careful and turn them off before retiring for the night so we'll wake up in the morning. Or else leave a window open, but that sort of eliminates the use of a heater, eh?
But we're home from Disneyland (where the wedding took place), the dogs are healthy and happy to see us (and we're cooking a special stew of barley, carrots, sweet potatoes, and chicken in broth to augment their kibble), and we don't leave town until mid-January! So what if it's a bit chilly? That's why we have a growing closet of warmer clothes! Wish I could type while wearing gloves....
However, it's been grim since we returned a couple of days ago. (More on that trip later.) The nature of our homes here (concrete and brick with no central heat) depends largely upon sunlight to warm them. If the sun is out (i.e., it's warm-to-hot), the exterior of the house heats up and radiates warmth into the house through the night.
When the sun doesn't shine (cloudy skies, rain, et cetera) there's nothing to warm the walls and there is no heat to radiate inside the house during the evening/night hours. A few days of this and our houses are cold through and through.
Don't suggest adding central heat. We rent - and even if we didn't - few houses are configured to add heat. There's no room for duct work, for one thing. Nor room for furnaces unless you've a newer house that was designed for a heat plant.
Our home has a small balcony on the second floor where the water heater is housed and I suppose it could suffice (the water heater requires gas), but the heated air would have to be fed into the sala on the second floor and you could hope that it would make it's way down to the ground floor. Adding duct work to the ground floor would make the house look like something out of a sci-fi picture!
So we make do with free-standing LP heaters. Venting? I think not! We just have to be careful and turn them off before retiring for the night so we'll wake up in the morning. Or else leave a window open, but that sort of eliminates the use of a heater, eh?
But we're home from Disneyland (where the wedding took place), the dogs are healthy and happy to see us (and we're cooking a special stew of barley, carrots, sweet potatoes, and chicken in broth to augment their kibble), and we don't leave town until mid-January! So what if it's a bit chilly? That's why we have a growing closet of warmer clothes! Wish I could type while wearing gloves....
Monday, November 24, 2014
Gray Skies Are Going To Clear Up...
A few days ago I was watching the workmen construct a house a block away from our second floor bedroom doorway. Although it was overcast and foggy, there they were, working away. The next day they were again at their task in the cold weather - 45F degrees is cold for San Miguel, even in the winter. The fog was just lifting from around the spiffy homes on the rise to the west.
True to the usual here, by one o'clock each day the overcast had cleared, the sun was out, and it was rather warm (some may say 'hot'). They followed the usual weather pattern; just a bit colder at the beginning of the day.
Friday night it poured down. I'm told that there was some terrific thunder and lightning (slept through that), but while watching the television in the middle of the night I witnessed a spate of rain that became quite heavy at times - and then moved on.
As expected, our street suffered. We live on a modest hill that runs past our house, so rainstorms wash the hillside down to the bottom of the hill, where the street meets up with the road from Celaya. Unfortunately, the Celaya road is on a higher elevation. So the city had graciously installed a large drain where our street must change elevation in order to join the Celaya highway. However, because everything gets washed down the street to the drain, it sometimes clogs up. And it's been doing this for years....
Enter the city's road department which installs a supplemental drain that diverts the overflow through piping at the lower level which comes out a ways down the Celaya road and dumps the excess water there. Of course that work eliminates the sidewalk up to the highway level, so they built a stepped rampway. This is an improvement to the dirt path that has existed - for years - since the original sidewalk disappeared.
Now, there are problems with the location of the discharge of that pipe (it's in the parking area of our local gym and members drive around and through it), but their answer to that (some concrete over the discharge pipe and some vertical pipes to prevent cars from driving directly over it) are miscalculated. It wasn't long (the first day) until a vehicle drove over the concrete panels and destroyed them. And after this big rain, the part of the dirt parking lot that was dug up (by shovel and pickax) so they could run the piping was a muddy mess. At least the dirt previous to their work had been hard-packed.
So life goes on. I'm sure the gym is not happy with their work or placement of the discharge area, but if it was placed further down the road it would interfere with the parking for delivery trucks to our supermarket. I suppose folks will eventually get used to it....
True to the usual here, by one o'clock each day the overcast had cleared, the sun was out, and it was rather warm (some may say 'hot'). They followed the usual weather pattern; just a bit colder at the beginning of the day.
Friday night it poured down. I'm told that there was some terrific thunder and lightning (slept through that), but while watching the television in the middle of the night I witnessed a spate of rain that became quite heavy at times - and then moved on.
As expected, our street suffered. We live on a modest hill that runs past our house, so rainstorms wash the hillside down to the bottom of the hill, where the street meets up with the road from Celaya. Unfortunately, the Celaya road is on a higher elevation. So the city had graciously installed a large drain where our street must change elevation in order to join the Celaya highway. However, because everything gets washed down the street to the drain, it sometimes clogs up. And it's been doing this for years....
Enter the city's road department which installs a supplemental drain that diverts the overflow through piping at the lower level which comes out a ways down the Celaya road and dumps the excess water there. Of course that work eliminates the sidewalk up to the highway level, so they built a stepped rampway. This is an improvement to the dirt path that has existed - for years - since the original sidewalk disappeared.
Now, there are problems with the location of the discharge of that pipe (it's in the parking area of our local gym and members drive around and through it), but their answer to that (some concrete over the discharge pipe and some vertical pipes to prevent cars from driving directly over it) are miscalculated. It wasn't long (the first day) until a vehicle drove over the concrete panels and destroyed them. And after this big rain, the part of the dirt parking lot that was dug up (by shovel and pickax) so they could run the piping was a muddy mess. At least the dirt previous to their work had been hard-packed.
So life goes on. I'm sure the gym is not happy with their work or placement of the discharge area, but if it was placed further down the road it would interfere with the parking for delivery trucks to our supermarket. I suppose folks will eventually get used to it....
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Holidays
Just like life NOB (north of the border), Mexico has recently decreed that holidays that occur on weekdays should be observed on Mondays - to provide 3-day weekends for revelers.
Accordingly, Revolution Day (Thursday) is being celebrated over this long weekend. Not that San Miguel is particularly associated with the Revolution, but it's a nice place to go on holidays, so we're flooded with traffic from DF (day-effay) or Mexico City's Distrito Federal with their driving habits from 'the Big City'.
Now, we're used to this - crowds, honking horns and all. But this time the main thoroughfare into Central is chock-a-block with cars as a result of the work being done laying new electrical conduits.
The work is only half done, so there are interruptions to the smooth flow of traffic. It was evident when we walked into town the last few days, and quite evident when we taxied or bussed back to our part of town.
Of course the improved electrical service doesn't extend to our part of town, so no new meters, electronic readings, et cetera.
In other news, our friend Victor is in town for a few days from Puerto Vallarta to close up the family condo in Vista Magna and turn it over to a corporate long-term renter who will furnish it themselves and offer it to customers of their hotel who are looking for something a bit more more. His mother, who owns the property, is also in town; we enjoyed lunch with them both at Hecho en Mexico yesterday.
Mom returned as far as Leon late yesterday in order to return to San Miguel with more family members tomorrow. And we'll have a late lunch (well, not late by their standards) at Tacos Don Felix Sunday afternoon. Good times!
Accordingly, Revolution Day (Thursday) is being celebrated over this long weekend. Not that San Miguel is particularly associated with the Revolution, but it's a nice place to go on holidays, so we're flooded with traffic from DF (day-effay) or Mexico City's Distrito Federal with their driving habits from 'the Big City'.
Now, we're used to this - crowds, honking horns and all. But this time the main thoroughfare into Central is chock-a-block with cars as a result of the work being done laying new electrical conduits.
The work is only half done, so there are interruptions to the smooth flow of traffic. It was evident when we walked into town the last few days, and quite evident when we taxied or bussed back to our part of town.
Of course the improved electrical service doesn't extend to our part of town, so no new meters, electronic readings, et cetera.
In other news, our friend Victor is in town for a few days from Puerto Vallarta to close up the family condo in Vista Magna and turn it over to a corporate long-term renter who will furnish it themselves and offer it to customers of their hotel who are looking for something a bit more more. His mother, who owns the property, is also in town; we enjoyed lunch with them both at Hecho en Mexico yesterday.
Mom returned as far as Leon late yesterday in order to return to San Miguel with more family members tomorrow. And we'll have a late lunch (well, not late by their standards) at Tacos Don Felix Sunday afternoon. Good times!
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Contrasts
Talk about change - while I sit here at the computer peeling large chunks of skin from my sunburned body (a result of our trip a couple of weeks ago to Puerto Vallarta), it now raining for the third time in the last 24 hours! Once with extremely loud bangs, once with no thunder/lightning, and the latest time with only moderate t/l. What a difference.
Not that our PV trip was without precipitation, Although largely sunny and dry (not counting the humidity -- what ever made me think I'd want to live there?), the last night was a gusher. We were sitting outside at a restaurant on the malacón and rapidly moved inside after watching others dash here and there for shelter.
But three times in twenty-four hours? That's a new record for us, to be sure. (And there's still time for another cloudburst to roll in....)
In other news, we've decided to pull the plug on Club 33. With the remodeling of the Club and institution of a new, higher class of membership (Platinum - which seems to be populated with people who have too much money and very little sense), Club management has begun a push to eliminate Golds (the former top level of membership).
They have offered Golds the opportunity to upgrade to Platinum without paying a new initiation fee and pro-rating the dues. (Some Plats are upset with this; whatever.) And to help that along, they are rumored (the notices come out this month) to be raising the current Gold annual dues nearly double!
Since we haven't been able to visit the Club since fall of 2012, it would appear to be good money thrown after bad if we were to simply renew. And upgrading is out of the question altogether. Fourteen thousand dollars a year in annual dues (and rising) is not in the budget by a long sight. Our friends whom we have sent to the Club when they visit Los Angeles will miss out, but they're not paying for it!
My next post will probably be happier, now that the decision has been made. At least we'll be able to visit the club when we're at Disneyland for a wedding at the beginning of December (and still members)
And there's always the next cruise to talk about!
Not that our PV trip was without precipitation, Although largely sunny and dry (not counting the humidity -- what ever made me think I'd want to live there?), the last night was a gusher. We were sitting outside at a restaurant on the malacón and rapidly moved inside after watching others dash here and there for shelter.
But three times in twenty-four hours? That's a new record for us, to be sure. (And there's still time for another cloudburst to roll in....)
In other news, we've decided to pull the plug on Club 33. With the remodeling of the Club and institution of a new, higher class of membership (Platinum - which seems to be populated with people who have too much money and very little sense), Club management has begun a push to eliminate Golds (the former top level of membership).
They have offered Golds the opportunity to upgrade to Platinum without paying a new initiation fee and pro-rating the dues. (Some Plats are upset with this; whatever.) And to help that along, they are rumored (the notices come out this month) to be raising the current Gold annual dues nearly double!
Since we haven't been able to visit the Club since fall of 2012, it would appear to be good money thrown after bad if we were to simply renew. And upgrading is out of the question altogether. Fourteen thousand dollars a year in annual dues (and rising) is not in the budget by a long sight. Our friends whom we have sent to the Club when they visit Los Angeles will miss out, but they're not paying for it!
My next post will probably be happier, now that the decision has been made. At least we'll be able to visit the club when we're at Disneyland for a wedding at the beginning of December (and still members)
And there's always the next cruise to talk about!
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Nearly There -- or, is that Here?
When I filed for a renewal passport on September 9th, I was given an estimate of 3 - 4 weeks. And it seems to be true!
After filing the paperwork and paying the fee at our Consulate's office, I was sent to the DHL office in Centro to arrange (pay for) secure delivery. They gave me a Waybill number for my trouble.
And although their website has always shown 'We don't have a record of this number,' it finally reflected a shipment to San Miguel yesterday. Repeated visits to the website has shown its progress from Ecatepec (a large suburb of Mexico City) through leaving Mexico City's hub at half-past midnight early this morning. Not sure if it will stop off in Celaya on its way to SMA, but the Consulate's estimate if proving correct.
Once I have the document in my hands, we'll be ready for our next trip to Orlando and a week-long cruise November 1st! That and 25 pesos will get me a small cappuccino and two rollies at the Mega coffee bar next door!
ADDED - And I do have the new passport in hand! Followed its track through Celaya and on to SMA, then zipped downtown (okay, walked downtown), stood in line, and picked it up! I think the clerk was surprised that I was there so soon after it was delivered.
In other news, our cruise line (Disney, of course) has posted shore excursions for one of our B2B2B cruises next May. Not sure why they chose the middle cruise (Northern European Capitals) to put up first, but that's what popped up on their website yesterday. We've picked out likely suspects, though we can't book them until the end of January. A lot more choices than the private tour company we were looking at (Swan Lake in St Petersburg - with or without a backstage visit, anyone?) and a bit more pricey, but still reasonable. More time at the attractions and options, and less time on a tour bus, it seems.
We're thinking a tour of Tallinn, Estonia with a concert of medieval music and lunch; a visit to Holy Blood Cathedral (with an interior visit, versus walking past it) and a canal boat trip through St Petersburg; a combination Land & Sea tour in Helsinki; and a tour of Stockholm including a visit to the Vasa, a warship which sunk in 1628 on its inaugural voyage which has since been reclaimed and is on display. We're still undecided about the Swan Lake performance in St Petersburg (the ship remains in port until nearly midnight to accommodate this, but it's so late!) and/or the visit to an Ice Bar in Stockholm. If the timing works out, a tour to the Ice Bar may win out....
Can't wait to see what they have in mind for the fjords and the Transatlantic crossing!
After filing the paperwork and paying the fee at our Consulate's office, I was sent to the DHL office in Centro to arrange (pay for) secure delivery. They gave me a Waybill number for my trouble.
And although their website has always shown 'We don't have a record of this number,' it finally reflected a shipment to San Miguel yesterday. Repeated visits to the website has shown its progress from Ecatepec (a large suburb of Mexico City) through leaving Mexico City's hub at half-past midnight early this morning. Not sure if it will stop off in Celaya on its way to SMA, but the Consulate's estimate if proving correct.
Once I have the document in my hands, we'll be ready for our next trip to Orlando and a week-long cruise November 1st! That and 25 pesos will get me a small cappuccino and two rollies at the Mega coffee bar next door!
ADDED - And I do have the new passport in hand! Followed its track through Celaya and on to SMA, then zipped downtown (okay, walked downtown), stood in line, and picked it up! I think the clerk was surprised that I was there so soon after it was delivered.
In other news, our cruise line (Disney, of course) has posted shore excursions for one of our B2B2B cruises next May. Not sure why they chose the middle cruise (Northern European Capitals) to put up first, but that's what popped up on their website yesterday. We've picked out likely suspects, though we can't book them until the end of January. A lot more choices than the private tour company we were looking at (Swan Lake in St Petersburg - with or without a backstage visit, anyone?) and a bit more pricey, but still reasonable. More time at the attractions and options, and less time on a tour bus, it seems.
We're thinking a tour of Tallinn, Estonia with a concert of medieval music and lunch; a visit to Holy Blood Cathedral (with an interior visit, versus walking past it) and a canal boat trip through St Petersburg; a combination Land & Sea tour in Helsinki; and a tour of Stockholm including a visit to the Vasa, a warship which sunk in 1628 on its inaugural voyage which has since been reclaimed and is on display. We're still undecided about the Swan Lake performance in St Petersburg (the ship remains in port until nearly midnight to accommodate this, but it's so late!) and/or the visit to an Ice Bar in Stockholm. If the timing works out, a tour to the Ice Bar may win out....
Can't wait to see what they have in mind for the fjords and the Transatlantic crossing!
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Permanente At Last!
Yes, we're now in possession of our Residente Permanente cards! Yahoo!! Perhaps a third exclamation point is warranted - !
A friend's RP card was yellow; ours have a pale green background. Don't know that the colors have any meaning; perhaps they just changed stock? Michael's photo is fine; mine is a little washed out, but the cards are issued for an "indefinida" period and also allow us to work for pay - not that we will be doing so any time soon. After all, having the cards is the important part, not one's visage - though I wish mine was not quite as ghost-like!
Best part is that now we can travel outside the country and return without the danger of voiding all the credit for the years we've spent here as an FM3 & FM2 when we re-enter without a valid Residente card in hand. Took us four years to get there (through all the changes in immigration rules), but we're here! [If you've been following this blog, you'll know that our FM2s expired while we were out of the country and we needed to visit a Mexican Consulate while in Florida - which complicated things.]
We did pick up our cards on Thursday after we returned to San Miguel from Puerto Vallarta (last week), but we've been a mite busy since then so forgot to post! The cards (and our facilitator) were waiting for us in the garden of the Starbucks building (our facilitator's unofficial office).
This is a hard time for facilitators: After clients renewed their cards annually for so many years, we're suddenly all getting Permanentes and not requiring their services any longer - at least until the government realizes that it's not taking in the same amount of revenue and changes the rules once again.
You'll notice that our cards are for an 'indefinite' period, not 'forever' so I suppose they can require a periodic review (with a fee, of course) if they wish. Another advantage to the Permanente document is the permissible time out of Mexico. With a Temporal we were limited to 180 days in a five-year period; with the changeover to Temporal/Permanente that limitation went away.
Now to wait patiently for my passport renewal to arrive so we can travel to Orlando on November 1st. I was told by our Consulate's office that the passport should take about 3 to 4 weeks to be processed and delivered. The third week will be up next Tuesday, September 30th. Let's see if I get an email from DHL to come pick the document up! DHL does give you a website and tracking number with which you can monitor the arrival of your passport - all for the $200 peso fee! Yes, one must pay for the required delivery.... Can't have a passport falling into the wrong hands, now, can we?
A friend's RP card was yellow; ours have a pale green background. Don't know that the colors have any meaning; perhaps they just changed stock? Michael's photo is fine; mine is a little washed out, but the cards are issued for an "indefinida" period and also allow us to work for pay - not that we will be doing so any time soon. After all, having the cards is the important part, not one's visage - though I wish mine was not quite as ghost-like!
Best part is that now we can travel outside the country and return without the danger of voiding all the credit for the years we've spent here as an FM3 & FM2 when we re-enter without a valid Residente card in hand. Took us four years to get there (through all the changes in immigration rules), but we're here! [If you've been following this blog, you'll know that our FM2s expired while we were out of the country and we needed to visit a Mexican Consulate while in Florida - which complicated things.]
We did pick up our cards on Thursday after we returned to San Miguel from Puerto Vallarta (last week), but we've been a mite busy since then so forgot to post! The cards (and our facilitator) were waiting for us in the garden of the Starbucks building (our facilitator's unofficial office).
This is a hard time for facilitators: After clients renewed their cards annually for so many years, we're suddenly all getting Permanentes and not requiring their services any longer - at least until the government realizes that it's not taking in the same amount of revenue and changes the rules once again.
You'll notice that our cards are for an 'indefinite' period, not 'forever' so I suppose they can require a periodic review (with a fee, of course) if they wish. Another advantage to the Permanente document is the permissible time out of Mexico. With a Temporal we were limited to 180 days in a five-year period; with the changeover to Temporal/Permanente that limitation went away.
Now to wait patiently for my passport renewal to arrive so we can travel to Orlando on November 1st. I was told by our Consulate's office that the passport should take about 3 to 4 weeks to be processed and delivered. The third week will be up next Tuesday, September 30th. Let's see if I get an email from DHL to come pick the document up! DHL does give you a website and tracking number with which you can monitor the arrival of your passport - all for the $200 peso fee! Yes, one must pay for the required delivery.... Can't have a passport falling into the wrong hands, now, can we?
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