Pitter, I am sorry to hear that and hope that your wife will understand you.
Reading your post is like looking into another world. Isn't this extremely difficult for you from time to time?
In a word yes. It really is Gabrial Garcia Marquez' "Macondo", a world of magical realism. Just the other day there was a small out cry in the news because some of the most dangerous prisoners in the Yumbo jail just up the road from Cali were being used as bus drivers to transport other prisoners between jails. It really gets pretty nutty sometimes.
Dear Diary
If it isn't the ducks...
Driving in Cali is always stressful but manageable if you're aggressive but the one thing we gringos don't learn in high school Drivers Ed is motos! (scooters and dirt bikes) In Cali they whiz around motorists like flies obeying no traffic laws whatever and just plain unpredictable. Today we were driving down la quinta looking for a place to turn around and as I started to turn to the left a guy on a moto bounced off the driver side door and went down. It was about 12:30pm. We got out of the car as he was getting up and from what I could see his injuries weren't serious. We offered to take him to the nearest clinica so our SOAT (seguros obligatorios) would pay what ever injury he had. It turned out he had a scrape on his hand and another on his leg, neither was bleeding. Clinica Inbanaco was only a few blocks away so he followed us there but with difficulty because his brakes were gone. After sending him into the emergency room the first thing the clinic did was call the Guardia De Transito so that an officer would come and make a report. Bad move. It turns out that had we brought him to a hospital instead of a clinica the subsequent hassle would have been avoided. Why? I don't know, something to do with living in Macondo I guess. Anyway along with this car, I bought the best insurance I could find but the emergency number was nowhere to be found in the glove box so we had to call the regular office and of course their god damned lunch hour runs till two pm. At last an hour and a half later still waiting for the Guardia at the clinica I reached our insurance company on the public pay phone and a gal proceeded to give me instructions but the monedas kept running out cutting off my calls. We also needed monedes to feed the parking meter and nobody wants to make change in Colombia so between that and the phone I was starting to feel a little well, mal geniado. To my great surprise and relief my S.O.S. to the insurance company had registered despite the broken off calls and a lawyer showed up around three pm. She proceeded to make a deal with my victim whereby I'd pay him a hundred thousand pesos for damage to his moto and his inconvenience and he'd release me of all future responsibility. (Very important! Had he declined to accept and decided to take the issue to the fiscalia I wouldn't be allowed to leave the country with my wife on Tuesday as planed.) We still had to wait for the guardia so the abogada could present him with the facts and we'd all be on our way. He showed up about four pm. and guess whatÂ…ANY accident involving a scraped elbow means the vehicles involved go to the impound lot where after paying lots of fees and after standing in lots of lines they can be recovered in two to four weeks. The lawyer really tried her best to talk him out of it then offered a bribe but no dice, the car had to go to the impound lot. So following the trip to the lot we all trooped off to a notary to get my victim's release notarized and give him his compensation. Finally around six we arrived home in a taxi.
All in all I have to say I was damned lucky that the muchacho we hit was the rare good sort and didn't try to take advantage as ninety-what? percent of the locals here abouts would have done. Lessons learned: look in the rear view mirrors a lot, spend the big bucks on your insurance policy and don't drive in Cali with out a cel phone.
Every time I feel out of place in this foreign land we call Texas, I need only read about Pitter's adventures in Colombia to get a little perspective. Wow!
I got sick last weekend and fell way behind on packing. I have to be out of the apartment in two days, and I am maybe halfway packed. More an annoyance than anything else at this point. If I didn't have to work tomorrow, this would be much easier.
It will all get done. It'll be okay. I think right now I am going to choose sleep over packing, and worry about it tomorrow afternoon...
Ah, the joys of procrastination.
Two days is plenty. Sleep.
Pitter, what trials and tribulations... I enjoy reading about it in a slack-jawed, horrified way, but to live it... yoiks.
marycat ~ don't forget ~ you have an open invitation for Florida. Anything I can do to help, please let me know.
Marycat so the move is on? Well best of luck!
D.D.
I was soo pissed off this afternoon. Yes, by my husband. I was so angry, I went to do the laundry and I didn't come back to the house for an hour...the laundry is on-site and 3 minutes away from my door walking SLOWLY... Now it seems to be all better. He apologized (kinda) but it's still there. Can't say about tomorrow morning though. Dang. tttyl...
Good news from BBB
The California economy really sucks, especially in the San Jose area. I received good news from my son today. After being off of work for quite a while following knee surgery, he got a very good job with excellent salary and benefits.
He will be a site superintendant for a large construction company that does about 60 million per year. His home is about 20 miles from San Jose, so it works out really well for him.
http://www.bothman.com/
BBB
Wow! when it finally rained, it really rained
We had nearly 2-1/2 inches of rain in 24 hours over the weekend, a lots for Albuquerque's high desert.
My back yard flooded clear up to half of my concrete patio next to my house. But the water is absorbed by the dirt in a few hours, so no damage. The plants loved it. My dog, Maddy, had to wear high wader boots to go outside to pee.
The rain meant that my paving project was delayed for another week.
BBB
Dear Diary,
I'm back at the old homestead, conducting my job search with this as my base.
Living out of boxes and suitcases.
Heading into New York and Boston in the coming days. Hoping to land a great job ASAP.
I am qualified to do a lot of things, so it shouldn't be hard to find something. The RIGHT job is going to be more of a challenge...
Hugs to all in a2k-land.
Hugs back! And good luck.
Go for it marycat!!
But "New York" just reminds me:
D.D.
Yesterday I got my long awaited (and dreaded) letter from Columbia University. When I took it out of the mailbox I got weak in the knees. I sat around at my desk for approximately two hours before I finally opened it. I suspected it was a rejection because the envelope was thin--and it was a rejection.
Well, since Columbia was the only college I wanted to go to, any other options don't really make any difference. Stanford would have been the same as Podunk U. (that's a bit of a hyperbole; maybe if Stanford wanted to give me a full ride or pretty close to it I'd go.) So I shall be spending the next two years of my life at least at my local UNLV. I'll apply for a transfer next year to Columbia, but chances are slim since they take less than 100 transfers a year.
On the bright side I wasn't looking forward to leaving my family and friends, and with my academic track record my education at UNLV is already guaranteed to be free and then some: I'll basically be paid to go to college, which is nice.
Go for the bright side, Exception - there's a reason out there! My youngest son felt like you about Oxford, but is so enjoying life at London U instead... flexibility is all! Unquenchable gaiety of spirit you have already which makes up for a lot.
Welcome....I love it when new names appear...and old ones reestablish a connection...it is always exciting to me to share in the lives of others.
Dear Diary,
Yesterday was my last working day before our Florida vacation. Today is a holiday and I used it to clean our appartment. And now I am waiting for Stefan to come back from work. He has to work the whole Easter weekend including Monday. And on Tuesday we will head off for Cocoa Beach.
Our neighbour will take care of the cats. She said that she usually comes over at least three times a day to check. That's nice to know!
And tomorrow my friend Nicole will visit. I haven't seen her for three months. She is spending the weekend at her parents' house and is bringing the little Spanish cat. Not to our house, though, because Estrella has feline leukose.
Sunday will be family day at my sister's house and on Monday my parents will arrive from Hungary. Very good timing! I will only see them for a couple of hours. But my poor sister...
That's it for today! Have to take care of the laundry now!
Urs53, what a lovely prospect after the cold dark winter! I hope you have great fun on that vacation. I'm sure you'll make Easter bright for your parents even if they don't do the same for you!
Dear Diary,
New York was a lot of fun. Dropped off a lot of resumes. Emailed a bunch to Boston, too.
Back at the homestead for Easter. Jane colored the Easter eggs without me, which is highly annoying. I was looking forward to the coloring of the Easter eggs. I love best all of the pagan rituals that we've coopted as part of our Catholic holiday traditions.
So tomorrow is Easter. A time of renewal, rebirth, and somewhat incongruously, the celebration of the greatest suffering imaginable. It will be a small Easter, with only myself, my parents, Jane, and Grandad. Of course, it will be the first Easter I've actually made it to in about ten years...
I've been charged with a lemon cake and a bread. I know what recipe I intend to use for the cake, but I have not yet decided upon a bread. Do I go Greek, German, Italian, American...? The centerpiece will be a ham this year. Usually it is lamb, but we had lamb a few days ago, so this year we are going with ham.
Decisions, decisions...
