Tom's Blog

New Kid In Town

2011-12-17T16:07:00.001-06:00

I've been living in Merida now for five years and I've been drinking wine in Merida now for five years.

Until recently the best access to wine that I knew about was either Costco, Sam's, or Covi. Yes, there were some smaller neighborhood stores but they don't carry much of a selection.

Merida is an infant in the wine scene. Don't get me wrong, there are wine drinkers here and some with discerning tastes but for the most part they drank red or white. Ok, what others are there besides roses? None, without getting technical! But there was little concern to the varietal (type of grape) that the red or white wine was made from.
Over time the wine culture here has changed and is still changing and I hope it continues.......forever!
I see three main things that have made these changes come about. One, the influx of people moving here to live from the northern parts of the country. They bring with them a better level of knowledge and a more discerning palate. Two, more and more gringos moving here also with a broader base of knowledge and desires for wines they want to have access to. Three, the locals growing knowledge of wines and with that the desire to try other varietals.
I think this is great for numerous reasons with the two biggies being a much wider variety and lower costs.

Things are changing here and not only in regards to wine but many other things associated like food items and restaurants. Go Merida Go!!!!

For a couple of years I have heard about and then came to know people that would drive to Cancun and/or Playa del Carmen to access a liquor store called La Europea. Seems that they are a big chain in MX and they have a variety of wines, liquors, deli items, oils and nuts that puts all other similar stores to shame.

Well guess what? Yep we have one! It just recently opened at City Center.

You may remember my last post about going there but it being closed. It did have a bit of a rough start and even though it is open now it isn't functioning at full capacity.

There is still some construction going on.............

and there is construction dust every where and there are prices missing..........

but it is a work in progress and it will be a great addition when it is finished!

These next two pictures are of the yet to be finished deli area. From the looks of it it'll be quite large. Who doesn't like a big deli!

It really gives me the feel of the large liquor stores in the states.

They have all sorts of gift baskets and gift sets for sale too!

Plus they have oils, and nuts and all sorts of stuff!

So go, browse, snoop, check it out! Who knows what you might find!

I can't wait to see it when it's running on all cylinders. They do have wines I've never seen here before and they have some of the old reliable ones too. However, I was impressed by them not being inundated with the wines you see very where else. Ye they have some bu not shelf after shelf of things like Concha y Toro. Ok, don't anyone get their knickers in a twist! I like some of C yT's wines but I don't need to see them dominating the aisles and shelves.

Give something new a chance.

Last, the prices were disappointing overall. I thought when a big chain store came in that the competition would get a kick in the pants. Not so much. Of course I had to go on the same-o same-o and they seemed to be priced the same as other places.

But, the variety was better than anywhere else in the city so I guess I'll be learning about some new wines! I love it!

Now I have been led to believe that there are case discounts but I failed to ask when I was there. But you'll be going in to see the place I'm sure, so you can ask when you get there. FYI: Roberto's name has been dropped as the go to guy for his knowledge and recommendations.

Regardless, it's worth the trip just to see the place. Kinda' gives you the feeling that Merida is growing up!

PS: I might mention that Cavit Italian Pinot Noir at 150p per bottle is a good wine at a decent price!

No wine-ing!

2011-12-12T00:09:00.107-06:00

Friends have said that I should write about wines and associated things like costs, availability and restaurants that have wine here in Merida

I have hesitated as I have had no formal training in these areas. However I like to drink good wine and I like to eat good food and I’m pretty darn good at both. These are skills that I have been honing for a very long time and I like to do both at a reasonable cost.

I've also been reluctant but not that I don't have anything to say about these things but I was worried that I'd become famous. Worried that people would start saying things like...."well Tom says", you know, like they do with "Robert", you know, that Parker dude from Wine Advocate! Yea, right!

Ok if you don't know him or publications like Wine Spectator but like wine then I guess I've got at least four or five folks that might read what I talk about. So with encouragement like that I'll continue! Can you tell I'm easy!

First and foremost I am not a wine snob. My lovely wife will not agree with that statement but then, when has she ever really known me in the thirty nine years we have been together! Now I openly admit I have certain likes and dislikes when it comes to wines and restaurants but I certainly do not think that those things would ever place the moniker of "snob" on me. Regardless you'll get to know them over time and you can be the judge. I'm sure you have some too!

So I'll give this a go!I'm sure I'll improve as time goes on and I'll remember to take not only more but better pictures to accompany my revues.

Many of us have been anticipating the opening of the “La Europea” liquor store at City Center here in Merida. Yes, It is a chain of sorts, found all over MX. For whatever reason and as with most things Merida it took a long time to get it here.

I had heard that it was supposed to have opened about a week earlier but another friend reported that it didn’t. TIM! Then it was supposed to open the beginning of this week, it didn’t. TIM! So now another friend reported that a mutual friend bought two cases of wine there a couple of days ago so it was open.

So my amigo John and I loaded our wallets and headed out to see the new store on Thursday the 8th. We were to meet our friend Reg there at 2PM and we were all going to experience La Europea together.

Upon arrival we knew something was wrong because there were more people walking away from the store with empty arms than there were people going in.

We passed Laureen and Shawn, other friends, coming towards us and they asked “going to La Europea, we said yes, and they said it’s not open!” We discussed briefly the things heard about when it was supposed to have opened, etc, etc.

So John and I continued on and saw Reg talking to a few people. Reg informed us that the door guard said that they didn’t have all their papers in order so they couldn’t open. Reg has also talked to the owner and he said that he, the owner, was sure that if they were not open by 5PM that day that they would be open for sure by 10 AM the next morning Yea! Right!

Regardless we did some window shopping and did managed to get an abundant amount of nose smears on the glass. It is a fairly large store and certainly larger than any other liquor store in Merida.

Oh, and you might be curious about the other friend buying the two cases of wine……well, let me just say that it is always good to know somebody!

Ok, La Europea was a bust but how can it be totally bad if there is but another oasis of wine and food set before us. Yep, in City Center is the “winebar”.

The winebar is a restaurant, wine bar and deli. The sandwich board on the left had their lunch special listed and that's what we thought we'd get. 160p for the lunch special that included two glasses of wine! Que Bueno! More on that later!

Upon walking in the place had a nice feel, very modern. There was a tall rack of wine on your right….

......that separates the entry way from the front dining area.

On the left as you walk in are the main counter and a small chilled cabinet with cheese and meats. I guess it is what gives the place the designation as a deli. Ok, a small deli!

They have another wine rack just past the bar on the left side as you walk back to the rear dining area. All the wines are available by the bottle for carry out and also off the menu.

Both the front and back dining areas have a lot of glass so they are well lit with ambient light as long as it is sunny. At this time of day, 2:30, the rear area was very bright and since it was that way the floor was very well lit. I was surprised at the lack of cleanliness of the floor. Now don’t get me wrong, there were not hunks of pasta or meat stuck to the floor but you could tell that it hadn’t been swept since at least dinner the night before. And yes, I know that I wasn’t eating off the floor.

The waiter was right there as soon as we sat and we asked for a wine list. He left and immediately returned with the list.

I always like to look at the wine list at every restaurant I go in no matter if I am ordering wine or not. It tells me what wines they have and what the costs are. I can usually find a few that I know what my cost is and then I can tell what kind of mark up the restaurant has; My experience here in Merida is that almost all restaurants are pretty outrageous on their mark ups for wine!

Anyway, as we looked at the list we started asking a few questions about the lunch special. You could choose four out of the five salads on the menu. You had a choice of either a pasta or an arrachera dish. With either dish you got papas cambray or fritas, a small bowl of guac and a garnish of lettuce and tomato plus two glasses of wine.

We then asked about the wine and the waiter told us we could have either blanco o tinto. We asked about the wines as to what varietal they were, where they were from, etc. He told us they were from Chile and pointed them out to us on the wine list. I’m sorry but I can’t remember the winery but you’ll soon see why it didn’t matter.

All three of us also ordered the arrachera special and the vino tinto which was a malbec. The waiter had problems with all of our Spanish but after repeating things a few times he understood.

As the ordering was going on Reg looks at the only other table with people and said to me, “Tom, look at their wine glasses. I looked and there was a lot of condensation on the glasses. So much so that it was rising above the wine level on the sides of the glass. This meant that the wine was very cold.

Ok, one of my biggest dislikes is cold red wine. I don’t care for cold red wine. It’s just not right. The chill closes down the flavors of the wine. It doesn’t allow you to enjoy all that the vintner intended you to enjoy when he/she made the wine. I feel the same way about most white wines as well. However living in Merida I have learned in the hot months to enjoy a few whites chilled but never, ever a red!

Ok, so we engage the waiter in checking to see if we can get our wine poured out of a bottle that hasn’t been chilled. He leaves and comes back with the right answer, “yes.

The three glasses of wine arrived and we swirled and sniffed and sipped. We all thought it was a bit closed but we figured that with the bottle just being opened that it was fine for a lunch special wine. I commented that I got a small amount of a salty taste which is somewhat typical of Mexican wines but not usually Chilean reds. We all commented that the color was more of a garnet than a bright ruby or red which can mean an older wine so we got curious and asked to see the bottle.

The waiter brought the bottle and we gazed upon a non vintage Mexican wine, not a wine from Chile. It was not a malbec either but a cabernet sauvignon/malbec blend.

We gave a brief thought to asking the waiter about it but we figured it wasn’t worth the time or effort we’d need to put into it so we just drank the wine we had and continued to talk.

John and I got ceasar salads and as usual for here they were not true ceasar salads. They were dressed with bottled dressing. Reg got a deli salad and he said it was good. Next we got our second glasses of wine which were brought in new glasses and the old glasses were taken away. Then the meals came and the presentation was nice. The arrachera was very good as were the potatoes. The guac was decent.

We all were a bit surprised at the use of a wooden board with trim as the plate. But hey, TIM!

I also take issue, yes another dislike of mine,with the state of the "wine" glasses that a restaurant or "wine" bar serves their "wine" in!

Since "wine" is one of their main themes then the glasses should at the very least sparkle. They should never have water spots on them especially if the dining area has large glass windows with a ton of bright light! If they want to mark up their wines to the extent they do they certainly can afford to have clean glasses in which to serve their wines. After all, part of the wine experience is presentation!

Another one of my issues with glasses are chips. Yes, my second glass of "wine" had a chip in it. I'm sorry but this should never be in an upscale restaurant. Again especially in a "wine" bar! I mean they stepped up and brought us new glasses of wine when we ordered our second glasses and they certainly didn't need to do that since it was the same wine. They could have just brought the bottle and refilled our glasses and I expected that to happen at lunch.

I hate to repeat myself but if "wine" is one of, if not, the main theme that a restaurant is hanging its hat on then they should not serve their "wine" in glasses with water spots or chips! Ever! Well, during a full blown hurricane would be acceptable!

Now if this glass "thang" puts me into the "snob" catagory on your "snob" meter then so be it. Call it the way you see it. I have fairly broad shoulders and I can handle it! LOL! But I will remind you that I didn't have lunch at a "wine" bar economica!

Overall the experience was ok and I would go back to see if they were possibly just having an off day.

On the wine cost comparison side of things at the "winebar" I saw a wine that I’m very familiar with on the rack and on the wine list at the “winebar". Yellow Tail Shiraz from Australia was my house shiraz in the states because it was consistently good and inexpensive costing around seven dollars a bottle. I see it here in Costco, Walmart, and other places frequently at 110p a bottle +/-. I consider it a fairly good deal here!

The “winebar” sells it from their rack for 340p a bottle. If you order it off the wine list with a meal then it is 460p a bottle. That is outrageous even at 14p to one dollar exchange rate. That makes it $24.00 US off the rack and just under $39.00 US off the wine list. Or comparing pesos to pesos that’s three times as much off the rack and four times as much off the wine list that you can buy it for.

Don’t get me wrong, I know there is expense in having to do all the things necessary that goes with serving a bottle of wine but there never has been and never will be a justifiable position for an over 400% mark up!

Until next time

Pick me, squeeze me, make me wine!

I read emails, I really do and I admit it!

2011-10-23T13:49:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy emails especially since moving to Mexico. I seriously look forward to receiving them from my friends. I think it's a great way to communicate with people in general!

An email carries with it many meanings for me that I do not and will not ever take for granted. Like it means someone was thinking of me, that someone thought I was important enough for them to chisel out a piece of time from their life, to sit down and communicate with me. Sort of like when we used to sit down with pen and paper to write a letter to a friend but without the pen, the paper, the envelope, the stamp, the licking and mailing. Gee, that's probably why emails caught on so well!

Over the past couple of years I have become more aware that my friends do not read emails. Well, maybe it would be more accurate to say that they probably read them but fail to respond to all items of inquiry within. Admittedly I do send some pretty long emails from time to time. A close friend in Durango CO crowned me "Mr. Wordy" after many communications in which my advice was asked for and I responded profusely! LOL!

Emails are a wonderful way to communicate setting aside the need to be very specific and then some times things are not received as they were sent. You can't show your body language or facial expressions within an email and that sometimes makes a world of difference in what you are trying to get across. But I'm getting off the subject here and that part of emails is fodder for someone else to blog about, my gig here today is about thoroughness.

Regardless even when I greatly reduce the amount of words it seems that, for the most part, the first half of the email is responded to and the rest is left by the wayside. Or, selected parts are responded to and the not the rest. Now I seriously doubt that it is intentional and may just simply have something to do with age or possibly a gray matter infection. But whatever it is it just really annoys the hell out of me! I mean if a person contacts you via email with the need to have answers to something or to set a date for an appointment with you then you should respond in kind and in a timely manner. This is especially true when a person contacts you for your assistance on something and asks what day in the coming week you would be available. You respond saying that you are available between 8 AM and 5 PM on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and tell the requester to pick which ever day and time suits them best. You then receive an email that states, "That's great, thanks, I'll see you at 10 AM sharp on Friday! WTF? Or you send an email needing a request for something happening in two weeks and during the two week period you get two other emails from the person that you were doing the inquiry to and nothing is ever said about your request? Say what? And my last example is the multiple inquiry email and the response comes in answering the first, second and last item and the others are not responded to. Come on folks, work with me here would you pretty please!!!!!!

Here's the way I see it, all of us are important and time will always be precious. But in the realm of emails everyone's time is equal. When someone takes the time to compose an email, especially one in which information is needed, then you should take the time to read it thoroughly and respond! Once an email is opened you are committed imho!

I don't know about you but as you can tell from my post, I'm gonna' get pissy when you dis' my email! Trust me when I say that I realize that the subject matter may not be as important to you as it is to me but we must respect each others time for whatever effort we are putting forth.

So please try better to read and respond to emails with a bit more thoroughness please. I'll appreciate it and I'm willing to bet others will too! Oh and always keep in mind how fortunate we are to be doing this minus the pen, the paper, the envelope, the stamp, the licking and the mailing.

Hey everyone....darts! Get the point?

2011-03-25T22:17:00.000-06:00

A while back my friend John asked if anyone was interested in playing darts. There were many of us that thought it was a good idea and were interested in playing. So he checked into the possibilities and came up with Hennesseys as a place with a dart board. So with Hennesseys being a great place and with a board and cerveza and food, well, look no further! John did a great job! Yea John!

In getting ready to go today I had to find my darts. I hadn't shot them let alone seen them since arriving her in Merida five years ago. I used to play darts a lot back in the states because it was something that came naturally to me and it was fun. It took me about an hour to finally find them and it was just in time to go.

We met today at three o'clock. There were seven of us and we were stoked and ready to have fun shooting darts. However, Hennessey's darts had been overly used by their patrons and were not in a serviceable condition. I was so pleased that I had brought mine with me as it saved the day.

We talked about how we were going to play and what game we were going to play.

So we put two teams together and started playing,

and drinking......well you have to because that's what you do when you shoot darts!

and we ate, and laughed...........

we decided to play 301, it's a game where both teams start with 301 points and the points accumulated from each throw is subtracted until one team gets to zero....and you must get to zero exactly.

there are more details to the game and scoring but we were there to have fun, maybe we'll get more detailed later but for now we're just going to have fun. Who knows, maybe we'll get to the point that we'll have a league or something if we can get enough players.

Nancy was pretty darn consistent with getting great points when she threw.

So we continued to shoot, drink, and eat and drink, shoot and eat, and well, you get the picture!

So if this seems like something you'd like to try we'll be doing it again the last Friday in April at 3PM. So come join us and we'll laugh, and drink, and eat, and shoot darts, and laugh, and...............!

Sarro no more, acid, acid baby!

2011-03-16T17:30:00.001-06:00

My pool was gorgious when it was finished almost five years ago. The brillant sky blue little tiles made the water look so amazing and I was so taken with it. Looking out from the terrazzo towards the emerald green garden area the awesome blue color of the pool water just set things off. I was happy and the all was right with the pool gods.

This was my first pool so I had a learning curve on pool maintenance and all that stuff. I can only surmise that over the years I allowed the ph to get wacked out from time to time because after a while this kind of brownish/gray/green build up started.

Oh, I may not have brushed the pool walls and floor as often as I should have either. Anyway this build up was very stubborn and I learned that it was called sarro and it was a by product of the heavy mineral deposits in the underground water here in the Yucatan.

It actually started showing up at the water line on the pool walls. At first it would come off with the pool brush and then I had to drain the water a wee bit and use some muratic acid and the brush and then it escalated to using a screwdriver and scraping as hard as I could. While this was going on the floor was getting a build up especially along the floor at the base of the walls.

Things got worse so I thought that I'd throw on the scuba gear and see what I could do to remove the build up. With a special hand filed and edged scraper I went down and commenced to scrape. Over a few days I burned up four tanks of air and accomplished getting the steps scraped. Total hours probably about three and a half. I did not get much enjoyment out of scraping each little one inch square tile one at a time but the results were great. However it wasn't something that I wanted to continue with.
For a while I tried various things on the tiles at the water line including using what I was told was pretty strong acid with little or no results.
Then as luck would have it I was over at our friend's Jim and Marianne's house and they had just had their tiles at the water line cleaned. Jim said it was pretty fast and easy and Javier always did a great job. I was introduced to Javier and I asked if he could clean the sarro off of the tiles in my pool. He said yes, gave me his phone number and I said that I'd call.
I knew that I'd have to drain my pool and that kept me from calling for many months. Sometime in the past I had been told that there was a possibility that when a tiled pool is drained and when the tiles dry out they might start coming loose. I was fearful of that happening but the sarro had finally gotten so bad that I got to the point that I was willing to risk it.
So I made the call, well, as usual when I need to call someone that speaks Spanish Debi has to do the talking.
Javier came by on Friday and looked at the pool which was still filled with water (40,000 liters) and said he would come back on Monday and clean the pool. Cost:400pesos.
He said that I needed to go to Barroso and get twenty liters of industrial acid. Since I get most of my pool supplies from Hidromechanico I asked if I could get it there. He said no that it had to come from Barroso.
I asked when he would arrive on Monday and he said he would arrive at 11 and work for about two hours and then go eat and then return and finish around 2.
Oh, and the pool needed to be empty. I kind of figured that but it was nice of him to remind me.
I said ok and the deal was made.

This is the 20 liter container of acid I got from Barroso. 225pesos

I opened the drain valve and emptied the pool starting late Sunday night into early Monday morning. It took about three and a half hours to drain.

When I awoke the pool was empty and you could really see how bad the sarro was.

It was hard to believe that I had cleaned these steps previously and they had gotten so bad in less than a year.

You can see the build up of the sarro is heavier on the pool floor especially close to the walls.

This photo really gives a great overall picture of how bad the sarro is/was! Of course the pool looked much better when it was filled with water which in turn allowed me to procrastinate longer than I should have!

I figured that I'd get up Monday morning and go get the acid and hopefully get Tate to the Vet for a nail trim. I called the vet at 9 and he wasn't available so I made an appoinment for the next morning at 10. Around 9:30 I was ready to go get the acid and Iwas heading towards the door and the doorbell rang. Debi and I went to the door and there was Javier and two guys. We looked at him, we looked at each other and then back at him and Debi asked "are you here to clean the pool?" He said "yes", Debi said "but your early", he said "yes".

Hmmmmm, a new phenominom....early! We're really more adapt at the late arrival but not this. We were kind of stunned and you could see a puzzled type look starting to come onto his face.

Debi says to him "Tom hasn't gotten the acid yet, he was just leaving to go get it." Javier says "ok" and then asks "if I am going to the Barroso on calle 51 by 76 that is about ten minutes away?" I say "yes" and he says "ok he'll be right back!"

I scurry off to Barroso and am back at the house by 10:15. I carry the acid back to the pool while thinking that it will be great to have the cleaning done even sooner than projected and I'll be able to get the water back in the pool faster! Yea!!!!

Shortly after I get back Debi leaves to run some errands. I decide to do some painting around the house....you know a little touch up here and there. The regular homeowner maintenance stuff. I get my painting supplies out and I start painting figuring that Javier and his guys will arrive soon. 11 AM comes and goes. 12 noon passes, no pool guys. 1 o'clock comes and goes. A little after 1 Debi comes home and asks "how's it going?" I said "it's not, they haven't come back yet." Debi says "you're kidding?" She gets her phone out and calls Javier. She asks "what's happening", he responds by asking "do you have the acid?" She says "of course, we've had it since 10:15." He says "ok, I'll be there soon." Ok, now were talkin' about the normal reality I'm used to! LOL!

Javier and his guys show up around 2:30.

As we all stand there looking into the pool Javier comments on the amount of sarro that is in the pool. He says "I may need to get more acid, probably 5 to 10 more liters, but not to do it now as he wants to see how the cleaning goes."

They got ready by first finishing up their cokes and punching a hole in each plastic cap. They would be used for distributing the acid to the walls of the pool. They took off their chanclas, rolled up their pants legs, filled up their five gallon bucket with water, got out their short bristled broom that looked like it had been through at least a thousand other pool cleanings and it had not one straight bristle left in it. The cubeta de acido was tipped to fill an old plastic one liter yogurt container that they used to fill their coke bottles and the cleaning commenced.

They worked on the steps and the walls first and they periodically hosed off where they had applied the acid.

I expected to see metal bristled brushed and scrapers to assist in the sarro removal. But yet again I was wrong. They allowed the acid to do all the work and when I asked about the use of a heavy duty brush or metal bristled brush they showed me that neither would be of help.

They used their broom to move the acid around on the walls and floor after the initial impact of the acid had done its thing.

The amount of bubbling and off gasing from the interaction between the acid and the sarro was overwhelming. The acid bubbled streams of blues and greens and the vapor steam rolled into the air. Javier's guys were prepared for this and as the vapors became overwhelming they puller the necks of their t-shirts up over their noses.

The bucket of water was used to stand in to remove the acid from their feet, ankles, calves, wash off their coke bottles and their hands periodically.

At about the three quarter completed point Javier asked me to go back to Barosso to get ten more liters of acid. 142pesos. I certainly had to agree as the sarro was being very uncooperative.

The extra acid was just the ticket and as the sun was going down the sarro was gone.

The drain was closed and the pozo pump was turned on and the filling commenced.

I missed getting a picture of Tech and Ceniza running up and down the steps and into the water as the pool was starting to be filled. But you can see I did capture Debi in the pool.

The fill took a little under six hours and when we awoke in the morning my pool was gorgious and the brillant sky blue little tiles made the water look so amazing and I was so taken with it. Looking out from the terrazzo towards the emerald green garden area the awesome blue color of the pool water just set things off. I was happy and the all was right with the pool gods once again!

Our cat named Matt

2010-05-15T13:11:00.007-05:00

"If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat." - Mark Twain

Our lives with Matt started on a warm Colorado spring day back in 1992.

We had been hearing the meows on and off coming from the overgrown field behind our neighbors house. With the number of alley cats that were in the hood we first didn't think to much of it as we went about our normal routines.

However the meows became more pronounced and after a few days of hide and seek we found the culprit. At first we couldn't understand what we were looking at as the cat in the field was partially bald and had large weird mounds and/or balls of matted fur on the none bald parts of his body. We feared that the cat was diseased and in extremely poor health.

After a few more days and the lure of food we managed to get a good look at the cat and we could see that the bald areas were created by large mats of fur that formed and were pulling the fur from various parts of his body. He was skinny and very skittish and would only come to the food after we had backed away.

As many people do we decided to help this cat get back on its feet.

From then on Debi would go out to the lot each day to feed the cat. Often she'd sit for an hour or so and just talk to him. He started looking forward to her visits and slowly but surely he came closer as Debi gained his trust. We surmised that his mistreatment had to of been bad and we had no idea how long he had been wandering the area, where he came from or when he might have been dumped.

It took over three months before the cat would allow Debi to touch it.

Upon being able to touch him we found that the mats were massive, thick, and very tight against the skin. It seemed that any handling of him was appreciated but somewhat painful due to the mats. After more time had passed and trust was being achieved we attempted to cut some of the mats away but he resisted our attempts. So we went to the vet and got kitty valium and accomplished the deed without any complications. Well, there were a few nicks to his skin but as I said the mats were very tight against his skin.

After the mats were removed and he had a few days to get used to not being restricted by the mats we took him to the vet. There was a bit of stress with the cat carrier and the car ride but thank goodness it was less than a mile.

We found out from the vet that he was a Maine coon cat and overall his health was fair. The vet determined that he was between seven and ten years of age. We decided that we'd go with the seven year old estimate as everyone including cats want to be younger! LOL! While there he received the normal host of shots for parasites and vitamins to help jump start his recovery. His teeth were in terrible condition and all but his canines and two others were pulled due to infections and abscesses. Of course the teeth were pulled at a later appointment.

As the weeks and months passed he worked his way into our hearts and our home. We decide to name him Matt because of all the fur mats that we had had to remove.

We decided that his birthday would be January 1st. Everyone needs a day to celebrate their birth and why not at the birth of each year.

Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose. - Garrison Keillor

He was mostly an outside cat but certainly was welcome inside. He would come inside quite often but never stayed too long. Of course as time passed that changed as well.

He learned to use the swinging doggie door very quickly and without our assistance. We were surprised the first time we found him sitting in the middle of the living room floor and we hadn't let him in.

On numerous occasions we would hear cats fighting and we'd go out to see if it was Matt. There were very few times that he was ever involved in a cat fight, at least that we knew about. Mostly when we would go out to check we would find the fight but Matt would be sitting off to one side just watching. Also on numerous occasions we'd see the other cats from the hood come up to him and they would check each other out but not fight. It was one of those things that always made us go hmmmmmmmm and a question that never got answered. We had to assume that he was just a good diplomat or possibly he had proved himself enough times so he was sort of like 'Fonzie'! LOL!

The years passed and Matt provided us with companionship and lots of kitty love. He was a lap lover and his favorite place was with you on the chair or couch with his front paws and head on your lap.

As Matt aged our Colorado winters found him sleeping on the heating pad on our couch. He and Debi both despised the cold weather.

Towards the end of 2004 he started loosing his hearing but it never slowed him down. We could always get his attention by stomping on the floor of our wood frame house. He would feel the vibration and come to see what was up. This behavior was more often than not rewarded by either a brushing or a treat.

When we moved to Mexico in 2006 he was totally deaf. Of course, after the move, we could no longer stomp on the floor and get his attention! LOL! We're sure that he felt that we moved just for him as his arthritis had been getting worse and heat was the best thing for him. Almost immediately he found that the patio provided immense heat and it became his favorite place to be. As the next few years passed the heat of Mexico became even more welcome. There were times that we could hardly pick him up off the patio and hold him because he was so hot. He loved the patio.

We're sure that our move to MX prolonged his existence and allowed for him to have a better life. We can only hope that it will do the same for us!

Aging for Matt brought with it more severe arthritis in his old joints especially in his hips. His eyes developed cataracts and he developed what we refered to as "kitty alzheimers".

As the cataracts grew bigger his eye sight got worse and he started walking into things. First door frames and chair legs but it slowly got worse. His balance was off and with the advanced arthritis he couldn't scratch without falling over. His personal hygiene fell off as well. However, he never forgot where the litter box or his food dish was located! Oh, and he never confused them! LOL!

Our combined quality of life together slipped to a point where we, with the opposable thumbs, had to make the decision to end our relationship. Never a good time, never the best part of the relationship and rarely is there as much love and heart wrenching that goes on in ones life as when this decision must be made. Nevertheless the decision was made.

To our beloved Matt, we hope that your kitty toys never stop smelling like catnip, that your food bowl is always full, and that a lap is always there to lay your head upon! You deserve no less.

Matt Kuhn
Born: January 1, 1985
Died: May 15, 2010

No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove his fur from your couch. - Leo Dworken

How to get soap in your mouth!

2010-04-13T14:57:00.000-05:00

Growing up we all had childhood friends some of whom are still friends today. One of my best friends was Gary, he and his family lived a few houses away. We played together and shared all our toys. We were always around to help each other celebrate the biggies, especially the birthdays.

Gary's family had a few rough edges and I learned most of my "bad" words at his house. It was wonderful! I also learned to enjoy potato chip and ketchup sandwiches!

On Gary's twelfth birthday he received a most magnificent electric train set. He was ecstatic and couldn't wait to get it set up so he could play with it. I was envious but knew I'd be able to be the engineer at some point down the road just like when I had gotten my new bike and he got to ride it after I rode the newness off.

I stopped by his house for two reasons. One he said that I could play with the train and his mom had made our favorite cake. She made the best cakes!

So on this particular day we started acting out the passenger train scenario. Loading, unloading, and all that fun stuff. Well Gary decided to be the conductor and started announcing the stops etc. So all of a sudden he stops the train and says, "All you sons of bitches who want off, get off now cause this is the last stop. And all you sons a bitches who are getting on, get your asses in the train cause we're leaving!" He started giggling and it was contagious!

Of course this outburst brought his mom in from the kitchen and she said, "You don't use that kind of language in this house. Now I want you to go to your room for two hours. When you come out you can call Tom and he can come over and you can play together again but I want you to use nice language."

Gary went to his room and I split and went back to my house and watched some tv and played catch with the garage door.

A while later my mom comes out on the back porch and says that Gary called and I should come over. Oh boy, maybe I'll get to run the train.

I get there and we resume playing with the train after having a piece of cake. The train went round and round and all of a sudden Gary stops the train and says "Attention passengers!" I could hear his mom stop what she was doing in the kitchen. Gary says, "All passengers who are disembarking the train please remember to take all your belongings with you. We thank you for riding with us today and hope your trip was a pleasant one. We hope that you will ride with us again soon."
"For those of you just boarding we ask you to stow all of your hand luggage under your seat. Please remember that there is no smoking except in the club car. We hope you will have a pleasant and relaxing journey with us today!"

He then exclaims, "All aboard!" He hesitates a moment and then says, "For those of you who are pissed off about the two hour delay, please see the bitch in the kitchen"?

I bolted for the door, jumped on my bike and headed for home! I figured he'd call in about a week!

Computers, wives, and accurate subtleties!

2010-02-09T16:58:00.000-06:00

As most of, if not all of you know Debi is the computer guru in the house. I can function but when things get out of hand I need to call her in.

Of course as I have gotten older I have also gotten stupider! (yes it's a word that reflects on me very accurately especiall when it comes to computers) So Debi is called in on the same things over and over again. It's great for me as I don't remember having the problem before but she does remember and gets irritated with me for not remembering how to fix various issues as they come up.

Recently I was having trouble with the computer so I bellowed out that I needed her help. As in most cases she's in the middle of reading a book and she must stop and come into the office to listen to me droan on about an issue I'm having. It usually goes like this:

I say "blah, blah, blah, I don't know what to do."

She says "I just showed you how to do this day before yesterday."

I say, "sorry, but I don't remember."

She says "get out of the chair as I can't do it standing here!"

She sits down and clicks some keys along with a few mouse clicks and looks at me and says "there, it's ready to go."

I say, "why does it do this to me all the time?"

She says, "well, it never does it to me!"

I say, "I wonder why that is?"

She looks at me and says "it's almost always the same issue!"

I say, "well what is that and if it's always the same thing then why can't you teach me to avoid it!"

She says "because I've tried before and it's just you!"

I say, "ok, I'll really remember this time so please tell me again what the problem is."

She says "well, it is now and has always been an ID ten T error."

I said "what?"

She says "it's an ID ten error!"

I say "ok, what is that and how do I fix it?"

She says "since it's the same thing each time I think it would be more helpful if you would look it up yourself on Google." "I think it may help you to remember what it takes to correct it."

She got up, I sat down.

She says "go to Google search and key in ID ten T error."

So I keyed in ID10T error...............and as I looked at the keyed in letters and number a smile started to form on my face until my grin was ear to ear.

I stood up, turned around, looked into a pair of devilish eyes, kissed Debi on the cheek and went out and got in the pool!

Cena, puros, y vino!

2010-01-31T23:46:00.001-06:00

I meant to blog about the Mercer Cigar sponsored dinner at the Hyatt back in October after attending and having a great time. Actually I was hoping that there would have been another one by now. Heck, it would be ok with me if there'd be one once a month or at least quarterly. (Hey, Andrew, are you listening?)

For those of you that don't like a good cigar once in a while or an upscale place here in Merida to get one this post will not be of any interest.

Here's a little background on Mercer Cigars:

Andrew and his lovely wife Elisa own Mercer Cigars here in Merida. Andrew's mom, Faye, and step dad, Vic, are some of our best friends. Going to Faye and Vic's is without a doubt one of the greatest pleasures anyone can have here in Merida. It is always a pleasure and they are super at making you feel at home and boy howdy the viddles are scrumptious!
They are all great people and it's my pleasure knowing them and being able to call them my friends.

Andrew came here with the idea of starting up an upscale cigar bar and made it happen and he did it in aces!

Mercers was a pretty plush place to go. A very large walk in humidor and a selection of Cuban cigars second to none in the State of Yucatan. There are also cigars from other countries as well but the specialty there is Cuban cigars. Excellent liquor menu especially if you like to sip rum and single malts! Big screen tv with all the sporting events and the respectable amount of leather sofas and chairs to allow for a comfortable visit. Not to mention a fine air handling unit as well.

So now if that isn't or should I say wasn't enough the entire place is undergoing a complete remodel to make it bigger and better. As I like to say, "if some is good, mo' is better!"

Part of the reason for the remodel of Mercer Cigars has to do with becoming a "Certified Habanos Dealer". The "Habanos" Certification is very prestigious and highly coveted by those that have achieved the level of success and service necessary to obtain it.

Ok, this may seem like a commercial but it isn't, and no I'm not getting a free cigar or anything! It's just when you come across something really good in Merida you have to share, right? Right!

Anyway I want to tell you about the first Mercers sponsored dinner and cigar event at the Hyatt. Mercers has various events throughout the year and Andrew decided that since he was bringing in a world famous Cuban cigar roller from the prestigious Partagas Company that he might as well make a special event out of it. Andrew combined a demonstration by the roller using tobacco leaves from Cuba. Each participant could watch the cigars being rolled right there and each participant received one of the cigars. In addition was a fantastic meal with appetizer, filete mignon, and dessert. Moving right along I'll tell you about the fantastic duo that performed while we ate. They are from the Merida area and they were just another added ingredient to make the night perfect! Last, and yes there is more, Andrew got together with the folks from Covi and the vino it did flow! We were greated with a glass of wine as we arrived and with each course a different wine was served. The wine pairings were superb! With the last wine being a port style malbec served as the cigars were being handed out. I and the guys I was with moved over to the cushy terrace seating and settled in for conversation, a great vino and an ultrafine cigar! Oh, and the setting was out under the stars on the Hyatt's third floor pool terrace.

This is Andrew making his opening remarks and welcomed us to the first Mercer dinner and cigar event.

After a few more introductions including Richard, the manager of the Hyatt, Andrew, introduced the torcedor and the fun began.

The torcedor was there for us to watch and watch I did.

This guy was smooth and efficient and rolled perfect

cigars! It was really a treat to see this guy do his thing!

Every one had a good seat to see him!

We had a great time and the music was superb!

Vic, Doug, and I had a most excellent time!

And like I said earlier in this post I certainly hope I get to attend another one, soon! (Andrew, are you listening yet? LOL!)

Into the looking glass.....what do you see!

2010-01-17T08:25:00.002-06:00

I, as do many other people my age, tend to not see our actual reflection in the looking glass. Possibly because we don't look that hard or maybe because we just don't care to see it.

For the most part everyone has a point or age in their life when they stopped aging. Of course not literally but in their mind. Everyone has an age that when asked how old they feel they can tell you.

When asked how old I feel I'll tell you that I feel like my mid twenties. Now upon closer examination you'd find that the only thing left that in any way resembles me in my mid twenties would be the color of my eyes and my appendectomy scar. Beyond those two items (or would that be three items counting that I have two eyes?) everything else has sunken, sagged, twisted or left the building.

Of course with all this said there are very few of us that feel or see ourselves in true clarity when it comes to how old we look. We are always younger and a wee bit better looking than what we really are. In addition most all of us are guilty of looking at others our age and thinking that we surely do not look that old!

With all that said allow me to share a brief story with you on this subject.............................

After a few minutes of sitting in the waiting room for my first appointment with my new doctor I lost interest in the People Magazine and I stood up and started looking at the art and plaques on the walls. The office housed four doctors and their diplomas and other notable achievements were framed and hung proudly on the walls. I took a small amount of additional interest in the diploma that belonged to my new doctor. The diploma, of course, had her full name and upon reading it I flashed back to my high school class of some 40 years earlier and I remembered this tall, slender, gorgious, black haired beauty that I had always had a crush on. Of course being the shy country boy that I was then I never left my feelings be known. Regardless, could this possibly be her? A bit of anticipation wafted thru my heart.

However upon seeing her I quickly abandoned my thinking and the anticipation swiftly took flight!

There was no doubt in my mind that this gray haired, fairly rounded woman with an aged lined face was way to old to have been in my class!

We did the doctor patient conversation and she examined my knee. No, no drugs needed for pain.....yes, the knee compression wrap is great, etc.

At the conclusion I decided to ask if she had ever attended Gettysburg High School. She said why yes, I did, I'm a Warrior!

I asked her what year she graduated? She said in 1967, why do you ask?

You were in my class, I answered!

At that point she looked at me closely and then that not so pretty, fat, wrinkled face, old, decrepit, worn out piece of crap asked me "What did you teach?"

Denny, Alan, Silver Oak and me!

2010-01-13T15:01:00.004-06:00

Yea, it's been a long time since I posted, I know!
Why? I'm not exactly sure but between getting more lazy (is that possible?) combined with waiting for something significant to come along I just haven't.

However, as fate would have it significant events happened to me just last night. Significant for you, no, but for me most definitely. What were these significant events? The end to "Boston Legal" and drinking my last bottle of 1997 Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

Unlike many of my friends here in Merida I have not yet connected to a dish service or other means of getting current programming from the US of A. I am connected to the local cable company here, CableMas, but the level of programming I have is a year behind for the majority of the shows. Thus I cannot really talk current happenings about any recent events in any shows that frequent my TV screen. Heck, somethimes I start talking about a show I've seen only to find out that the show is no longer on the air. Humph!
Regardless after the first year I got used to being behind, and in some cases without, in my viewing pleasures.

Ok, moving on, last night I decided it was time to watch the last show of "Boston Legal". I have put this off ever since I received the last season DVD set a few months ago. I had heard that it came to an end but I didn't want to believe it and in a way if I didn't see the last show it was still on the air. I guess that's about the only advantage of being behind a year in my TV watching. LOL!

Knowing that the series was over was sad and I was very fortunate that no one informed me of how the last show ended.

For those that may not know, the end of "The Practice" was the beginning of "Boston Legal". I never watched "The Practice" while it was on but for some reason I started watching it as it went off the air and that's where I met Alan Shore. There was just something about the character, Alan Shore, that James Spader was portraying that made me watch. It was a twisted ending to "The Practice" and it was different enough for me to get interested. That's how I started watching "Boston Legal" from its inception.

For me Boston Legal rates right up there with Mash, Northern Exposure, and Ally McBeal! I like the off center shows that actually have value in a unique way. Saying that I was and am a true fan of those shows would be very accurate. Shortly after getting started "Boston Legal" elevated itself to my most favorite TV show ever. Why? Maybe because I'm older now and I even more than ever appreciated the issues that they dealt with and for sure the friendship between Denny and Alan. I understood their friendship and appreciated that friendship!

So I bought a ribeye to grill, made my comfort mashed taters, a bit of salad supplied by my sweetie and with as much mental ceremony as possible I removed the last bottle of Silver Oak from the wine cooler, removed the foil and popped the cork. This bottle, the last one of six, made our original drive to Merida back in 06.
After a bit of breathing, the bottle not me....well I was breathing but, well, you know, I poured a glass and gathered all the aforementioned food items and set up my eating area in their proper positions and I settled down in front of the screen. I loaded the DVD player and sat silently for a few seconds before hitting the play button.

When all was said and done the series was over, the bottle was empty, and Denny and Alan will be friends forever!

I can always replay the series but I'll never have another bottle of 97 Silver Oak and I doubt that I'll ever have a friendship like the one I had the chance to watch once a week for five seasons!

Now I can only hope that another program comes along that will fullfill the program void in my TV viewing pleasure. And yes, even if it is a year late!

The friend, the wine, the good life!

2008-12-25T19:04:00.016-06:00

Life is good! Friends are great! A good bottle of wine thrown into the mix just seems to help cement it all together. Sometimes when we least expect it all these things come together and we have one of those really great times in our lives. They don't need to be life changing! Just one of those "make you feel good" times!

A friend of ours, Gary, from Colorado, Denver to be exact, came down for a visit and to hang out here in Merida for a bunch of months. He plans to travel around and see some of Mexico and surrounding countries via his bicycle and local transportation as needed. He's rented an apartment and we have been inviting him to attend some gatherings with us. Hopefully making a few new friends and gaining information as he goes. This time of year there are many gatherings to attend so we've been pretty busy.

Ok, enough of that. The other day, a Thursday, he offered to take us out to lunch as a kindness for our undying, selfless, big hearted, well, aaaaaa, that's a load! So ok, he's a nice guy and just wanted to take us out. We chose one of our favorite restaurants, Campay, which is a sushi restaurant and on Thursdays their rolls are half price! (If you go be aware that their rolls come made with creme cheese so if you don't want the creme cheese in your roll, yuck, you must order your rolls "sin queso"!)

We had a great meal and when we left we needed to stop by Wally world and pick up a few things and asked if he wanted to come along. Well one thing led to another and we invited him over for dinner that night abnd he accepted. So we bought fish and a few other things and he bought steaks. See, I told you he was a nice guy! We finally got home, talked for a while, and started meal prep.

Now I need to inject here that Gary was, is and hopefully will always be a fellow enophile and we have probably tasted more wines at his house in Denver than any other place next to our own home. My knowledge and appreciation of wine was greatly enhanced at his house. Great times and wonderful wines were tasted, consumed, and talked about on many many days and evenings. Oh, and he's a really great cook too! So good wine, good food and great people made for fond memories that will stay with me forever!

Now for those that have read the blog I posted about my wine cellar, etc you'll appreciate the fact that I offered up the wines I brought with me to him to go with our meal. (Well, except for the wine I am saving for my 60th celebration in 09.) We talked and chose two Las Rocas 01 Garnacha from Spain. We felt that out of all the wines I had that these were two would be most likely reaching their peak or may have gone over the edge. So I popped the corks and poured some and the nose was a bit off and we both looked at each other with the unspoken "uh oh" in the air. Of course we knew that we had to give it a little time before we tasted it.

This wine was not an expensive wine when it was released but it was rated (if memory serves me correctly) at 92 or 93 points out of 100 by WineSpectator. Getting inexpensive wines with high ratings didn't happen every day. Also I feel I need to add that a high score does not guarantee you zip. It always comes back to "do you like it?" So there's only one way to know if you like it so I went to the store and bought a bottle. I opened it with dinner that night and it was wonderful especially for right at $10.00 a bottle. The next day I bought a case. Many times people that collect wine and have a wine cellar are believed to only collect expensive wines. That is far from the truth and I always loved finding and experiencing great wines at inexpensive prices. It had always been like a challenge to me and I loved the "hunt"! I even had given thought at one point to opening a wine store with all wines being under $15.00 a bottle.

So back to this happening........we sat the bottles and glasses to the side and we all leisurely worked on the meal to get it ready! Heck, that was fun in itself. We hadn't been together for over three years so we were talking and reminiscing while we prepped the meal. So the menu was simple, grilled steaks and fish along with some great sauteed veges! Something to be said for simple!

After about an hour and a half we tasted the wine and it was wonderful. Bacchus blessed us and we were thankful! We then reminisced about when the wine was released, how after it was released it became harder to find because of the rating, etc, and it was fun. Something I don't get to do any more down here in Merida.

So the fish and steaks were grilled while we sipped the wine and talked. The meal was served and our glasses refilled and Debi, Gary and I spent a lovely evening together. Simple and spontaneous......I like it! Ain't life grand!

Here's looking forward to the next friend, the next good bottle of wine, and another slice of the good life!

Happy New Year! Prospero Ano Nuevo!

Fishing/Friendship/Fun

2008-07-13T02:08:00.023-05:00

Hola! This blog is way over due but as is said...."better late than never".

As I journey through my new life here in Merida I meet new people and some are ok, some are nice, a few are not so nice, but then some are exceptional. This blog is about an exceptional person by the name of Eduardo Perez and going on a fishing trip with him.

Eduardo was recommended to Debi and me as a very good mechanic and that is how we met. It seemed from the beginning there was more to our meeting than just the initial mechanic/client thing.

The first time I walked into his shop I was greeted by a lovely young woman whom shortly later was introduced as his youngest daughter. On my second visit I met his most wonderful and also lovely wife Berta. We all seemed to hit it off on all cylinders right from the beginning.

Since that first encounter we have developed a good friendship and have visited each other at our homes and shared in the delight of good food, good wine and good people.

The subject of fishing came up as it seems to do when two guys start talking about things they like to do, etc. Fishing and doing it together crosses over all language and race barriers and can bond guys together.

Eduardo asked me many questions and as the conversation continued he got more interested in finding out that I was not leary of the water and I liked to fish. This subject came up several times and then he asked if I would like to go out on his boat. He explained that the boat was not large, it wasn't fancy, and that it was a simple Mexican way of fishing without poles, with hand lines and it was mostly about just getting out on the magnificent ocean and communing with good old "Ma Nature". He asked several times if I'd be ok with everything as he wanted me to have a good time and not be disappointed. I did and I wasn't!

Eduardo had hoped for us to go out in April but due to various delays and what have you we didn't get out until June 15th. Eduardo wanted the day to be special for me....sort of like a gift to me, at least that's the way it felt. He didn't allow me to help pay for gas, or bait or anything. Just come along as his guest and enjoy the day.

The day came and he was supposed to pick me up at 4:45 AM. Now you may remember reading in one of my previous blogs and/or in one of Debi's where we have mentioned how it is very usual to be late getting to an event, etc. Fishing is one of the exceptions to that. Eduardo pulled up out front at 4:39 and I was ready.

Our first stop was at Eduardo's shop to change vehicles and pick up a few items. We needed to take the Bronco because it had the hitch that was needed to put the boat in the water.

The next stop was to get ice at OXXO.

And then we needed gas!

The nice thing about getting up early is how Ma' Nature likes to reward you!

Eduardo said that he was taking the back way to Chuburna Puerto. It was an interesting drive. The roads were narrow and we came across an accident where a person on a bicycle was hit by a vehicle. As in most cases on small roads the vehicle didn't stop and unfortunately the person riding the bike was dead. (No pictures of that)

Regardless the view was wonderful and we were getting closer to wetting a line!

The first thing we did after arriving at the Puerto was to back the truck up to the boat.

Hook up the boat to the hitch and transfer supplies

Then Eduardo and Emilio unloaded the two outboard motors and attached them to the boat. Eduardo had converted a 7 hp gas motor to an electric motor and he brought it along to see how it worked. Eduardo is real handy with making things that come in handy. Once at his house he showed us a generator he made that will supply enough power to his house to sustain the necessities if a hurricane hits the city.

Of course the next thing is to get da' boat in the water.

Last minute checks are made and then we sit in anticipation of starting the motor so we can power out into the Gulf. The motor starts as expected and we power thru the Puerto. We pass by many boats moored and anchored just waiting to do what we are doing.

Eduardo is very happy to be out on the water and he is looking forward to a wonderful day of fishing!

We turn right out thru the Puerto into the channel that connects the Puerto and the Gulf.

As we head out Edurado and Emilio each put a line in the water just in case a few robalo might be biting.

Now there is nothing to do but get to a spot, throw out the anchor and wet some lines. I was in the middle of the boat with Eduardo at the stern and Emilio at the bow. They started catching fish right away and I wasn't even getting a nibble. They had each caught over 20 fish each by the time I started pulling a few in. Regardless it was fun!

The fish weren't big but there were plenty of them. Edurado and Emilio each had two lines and I had one. Eduardo asked me if I wanted another line but I declined.

The bait we used was squid and it worked well. It was just cut up and available to bait your hook with. Each line had two hooks and the hooks would get cleaned off regularly. Those fish were smart little devils!

Every now and then Eduardo would start the motor and we'd go to a different spot to try our luck and overall our luck was very good!

Eduardo is a very happy man when he is out on the water. He and I shared some of our philosophies about fishing and the ocean and they were very similar.

As we moved from spot to spot Emilio would fillet the fish and we were accumulating many fillets. Eduardo had promised that I'd get to try some of the freshest ceviche I had ever had. I knew that these fillets were destined to be the main ingredient.

Eduardo and Emilio are a fishing team. They seem to be able to almost know what the other is thinking or wanting to do. It was fun to watch them and how well they got things done.

Of course with all the fish pieces and parts being thrown in to the water it brought around a few hungry winged friends. Not camera shy at all and willing to get close in order to get a tasty morsal.

We finished the day by anchoring in the shallows right outside the channel. Emilio finished making the ceviche and Eduardo and I went swimming. Emilio joined us after he completed the preparation of the upcoming feast!

Upon getting back in the boat we partook of the rewards of our toil for the day and boy oh boy was it good! Many thanks to Emilio for preparing the ceviche.

It was a fantastic day and one that will be listed as one of the very best days I've had since coming to Mexico. Eduardo thanked me for trusting him enough to go out on his boat with him. His thanks were warmly received by me as well as his wonderful hospitality and willingness to share this very personal outing with me.

I can only hope that I have other experiences that will allow me to touch on the basic essence of Mexico as much as this one did. I know that no matter what I do I'll never be able to truly know what it is like to be Mexican but I really feel that I got close this time....real close!

Thanks Eduardo!

Life is good....now pass the ceviche!

Sal, Sal, Sal!

2008-04-19T12:21:00.000-05:00

"Sal" is Espanol for salt! The Yucatan produces about two thirds of all the salt consumed in Mexico. The Rio Lagarto area at the North East area of the state of Yucatan is where they produce it. Rio Lagarto is a large area and is best known for it’s bio reserve. A facility called “Las Coloradas” is the largest production center in the Yucatan. If you’d like to see more on this facility please click on this link http://www.isysa.com.mx/facility.htm

You are probably asking yourselves why am I talking about salt? Well, when we remodeled the casa we were advised to install a water softener system. It helps to keep the calcium deposits from building up on the fixtures, the tile and the interior of pipes. The system uses sal for the processing of the water. We use about twenty-five kilos (55 lbs) per week at about 43 pesos per twenty-five kilo bag or for my peso challenged friends $4.00US per bag.

I actually started out purchasing fifty kilo bags (110 lbs) but the old back started to protest and reminded me that all the body parts were supposed to be retired! LOL!

Each Monday I dump one bag into the plastic tub that holds the salt for the softener system. Every two months, give or take a couple weeks, I drive over to the Salinera warehouse and purchase ten bags.

This is me driving down Avenida Itzaes on my way to the warehouse.

Yes, my knee was on the steerring wheel! LOL!

This picture is the entrance to the warehouse area. It's called "Centro De Abastos" and it's a commercial area where many items such as fruit, flowers, vegetables, etc come into the city and then are sold and delivered from the area.

After entering the warehouse area there are rows of buildings with loading docks and serious activity going on. Since this is a wholesale area the activity is fierce in the mornings and slowly calms down as the day wears on.

All the produce, flowers, fruits, etc are trucked in from other parts of the Yucatan and surrounding states.

It's just fun to sit and watch all the goings on!

It's a great place to explore but you need to stay out of the way so on to the salinera warehouse.

Here's the Taurus backed up to the dock ready to be loaded. The salt that I purchase is like rock salt.

The interior of the warehouse.

I have never asked how many different types or sizes of salt they have.

These are a couple of guys from the warehouse and they are preparing the mid day meal. I was invited to stay but since the preparations were just getting under way I didn't have the time to spare. Maybe next time!

This handsome man ("guapo" in espanol) is Ricardo who is the boss ("hefe" in espanol).

I feel fortunate meeting Ricardo as he is one of the nicest people I have met since moving here to Merida. He speaks pretty good ingles and he practices his ingles on me. I can only hope that one day my spanish will be as good as his ingles.

He is kind in allowing me to practice my limited spanish with him.

Well, after visiting and getting caught up he has one of his employees load up the salt and I'm ready to head back to the house and unload. Good to go for another two months.

Thanks Ricardo! Muchimos gracias!

Stuff and Memories

2008-04-17T13:19:00.015-05:00

I am often astonished by what spurs me to think about certain things on any given day. Music certainly steers the mind in specific directions. Aromas can take us to places we have visited and gastronomic events in our lives. In addition there is the “STUFF” that sits, hangs, and lays around the house year after year. Though often taken for granted as it sits, hangs, and lays around the house it does bring up memories and give us pause to ponder.

Stuff that sparks memories is the basis for this blog.

Our ayudo, Marta, didn’t show up last week which was a bit disappointing but not a catastrophe by any means. We managed to clean the house without her help. Yes, we still remember how! LOL! However, this week when the time for her to be here came and went we both figured that she wasn’t coming again. Or worse, she quit. Yes, it happens, domestic help quitting w/o notice. Unheard of you say? Quitting w/o notice?????? What about a reference, and, and……...not! At $15.US a day none of that stuff is relevant but getting more money is! She showed up a bit late as happens frequently. She has three children and they certainly come first, long before the cleaning of our humble abode.

Anyway before she arrived at the casa, we figured that we’d be cleaning again so Debi and I both started in. I am not vertically challenged so there had been a few tall/higher/upper areas that had caught my attention lately. Why? I have no idea as I seldom see much of anything and that fact can be attested to by Debi. No matter, I got a bucket and rags and the vacuum and started in. No the cleaning isn’t the important part but thank you for thinking I’m a good husband and very helpful around the house. I appreciate the thought but I think the jury is still out on that one! Debi is the judge and jury on that subject as well! LOL! Regardless, the important thing that was happening is that I was picking up the “stuff’ that sits or hangs around. Doing this gave me cause to pause and reflect. Ok, I know what you’re thinking, “that was the end of the cleaning for Tom”! However my friends you are sooooo wrong as I actually finished cleaning everything I had planned on cleaning. And at the same time I got this idea for a blog. Wow, I was rolling, multi tasking and all that! LOL! It was a good day!

Now for the disclaimer…..this blog posting is not intended to prioritize, list in order of who or what we like best, nor does it cover all our friends. I will say that the "stuff" mentioned has been out or hung, or exposed since the day we got them and have never been packed away except for transportation requirements.

We have been fortunate in meeting the people we have as we mosey down the various roads in our lives. We have most excellent friends, outstanding memories, and many people who have played a part in our make up! So to you all, mentioned or not, we love ya!

I am not going to go into a long history of all the "stuff" but I will give a brief ditty on them. Some ditties may be longer than others and may fall out of the “brief ditty” category and for that I apologize! NOT!

The oldest and one of the most cherished items came from our oldest friends Pam and Gary. (Not old in age but in length of time in harness as friends.) Pam was maid of honor and Gary was the best man at our wedding. My nickname for Pam was “legs” as she had a pair of gams that were just too perfect for words. Atta’ girl Pammy! We were caretakers on a 31acre farm right outside the city of Alexandria, VA. We lived in an old two story farm house. The only interior plumbing was the kitchen sink, there was a two holer 50 yards out the back door, and the only heat was a kerosene heater in the kitchen that we put in. It was our hippie haven where all our friends would hang out. Our marriage ceremony was held on the side yard of the house. We decided to move to Colorado and this box was made by them and given to us just prior to leaving. There has always been a place for it. For a long time it was out stash box and we now use it to hold incense.

Their gift was more apropos than we could have ever imagined. Little did we know that the compass points on the lid of the box were a mere glimpse of the travels to come in our lives.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Also while we lived in Virginia I met another Gary who became my best friend. He has a most lovely wife, Kathryn and he comes from a super family. Debi and I have basically been adopted by his family and we have spent some of the most wonderful days of our lives with them. After our move to Colorado our get togethers were less frequent but nonetheless great! Gary introduced me to Port wine, 1985 Whidbeys to be exact and we have been fellow Port sippers ever since! Ok, maybe we gulp from time to time! LOL! He also got me into a few other bad habits and I love them all!

Wine in general brings to mind many other friends and everytime I pop a cork I think of Randy and Gary. What good times and what great wines we had.

Upon arriving in Colorado the first door we knocked on was answered by Greg! Greg was with Tonya and we all became friends and are now very good friends. We hope to see them down here this year! In the beginning things were a bit rough and thru hard work and keeping to the path we all seemed to have gotten to a place where the struggles are a bit easier and life is good! This photo was taken by them on one of their journeys into Italy. It was one of their favorite pictures and they brought us wine all the way back over the pond. So what’s not to like about that! LOL! How things have changed over the years and how fortunate we are to have them as friends.

Also shortly after arriving in Colorado we meet Jeff and Amber who were friends of Greg and Tonya. We became great friends and we stood up for them at their wedding as best man and bridesmaid. We had so many good times and the memories that we have of them are genuine treasures! KNOTS! They were/are both into fiber arts and that is how they made their living. The three pieces shown were made for me by Jeff. The first two were kind of experimental as he/they were always changing and moving in new directions with their art.

The coil basket below was a standard for Jeff and he was very successful at crafting and selling them. There has not been a day that has passed that I have not looked into or touched this basket as it is my “stuff” basket. I put my glasses there every night and so many other things that I use daily. You can see it's far from empty!

Around the same time we met Rod. He is truly a gem and one of the most genuinely peaceful and good people we have had the fortune to ever meet. He is a wonderful artist and we have many of his wonderful paintings. These are just three of them. Rod’s best work is himself, at least how he shares himself, and being around him is tranquil and loving.

Continuing on with meeting people there was Gene and we actually met on a Park & Rec sponsored rustic Thanksgiving Day event. You know, log cabins in the boonies, cooking the “bird” on a wood stove, etc, etc. It was a great time and he was the catalyst that got me started working for the City from which I retired. This picture was taken when he was on a trip in NY and decided to do some exploring. He wasn’t exactly sure where he was but got to take this picture of this mural that was on the surface of the sidewalk and gave us a copy. His story of the photo along with just being Gene makes us glad that we haven’t had to “Imagine” what our lives would be like if they weren’t touched by him.

Another good friend John along with Gene were my hacky sack buds and we’d hacky just about every where!

To our dog Jenney and to her favorite stuffed animal and the only one that lasted her entire life. I love you Jenney! (Ok, this one wasn't sitting out so I had to get it out!)

To Patt, my sister. I love you!
To my child hood! It was a very good time….thanks Mom and Dad!

To Dave and Elaina our good friends, fellow divers and lovers of Mexican food. Living vicariously thru David’s travels and adventures and seeing pictures and videos of those travels were amazing. The walking stick and the tribesmen are from Africa and are prized possessions.

Bob, our friend and ex-neighbor is one of those people that will try anything, won’t say “can’t” until he tries and is gifted in so many ways. We shared many good times and hopefully many more! Can you say "pork noodle bowl?"

To the Andersons and the great Christmas parties and a darn good daughter that knows how to keep a good tradition going!! Thanks Kris! You da’ bomb babe!

To Richard and Marie for their unending ability to share their most tranquil lives and this dragon from their garden.

So I guess I’m saying that even though we’re far apart and not always or often in touch you are with us and we feel your presence. We have never forgotten nor will we ever forget as you all have been and are part of our journey and will always be part of our lives.

Take care!

Doctors, doctors everywhere!

2008-03-16T10:43:00.004-06:00

I promised a while back I that I would do my best to keep you current on medical information, prices and the like. Here's the latest........................

Oh, just bite me!

We like going to the dentist every six months. It was time for the semi-annual check up so we called for an appointment on a Thursday and got in the next Thursday. Deb's appointment was for 11 AM and mine for noon. This is the same dentist that we went to about six months ago.

Debi received her check up and cleaning....all was good.

A few weeks prior to it being time for the semi-annual check up I had noticed that my right rear upper molar was rough and I figured that it got chipped or broke or something but I was having no discomfort. Needless to say I mentioned it to the dentist when I went in and he checked it and said that yes indeed something happened to the wall of the tooth and the filling had partially come out as well. He was surprised that I wasn't having any pain. I asked if it could be repaired? He said yes it could be repaired as the main part of the tooth was in good shape and he'd just have to re-do the filling and re-shape the back of the tooth. I then asked when could it be done and he said "now". Now? Really, no waiting? Cool! So he did the tooth first and then the cleaning and check up, etc. All was well!

Total cost for everything 1,500pesos ($142.85 US)

To see or not to see..........let me take a peek!

For what ever reason we had not been to see an eye doctor since our last eye exam in August of 06 in the Springs.

Since we've been her we have talked to numerous people about who they go to, what type of experience they have had, etc. We had been getting more serious about it over the last four months and we received some serious recommendations from our close friends Jim & Cheryl and Jane and John. They gave us a glowing report on a Dr. Chi. As a matter of fact Jane and John flat out stated that if it had not been for Dr. Chi Jane would have lost the vision in one of her eyes. Jane and John are world travelers and they know what they are talking about. Their experiences are totally amazing and it's great to get together with them and hear their stories. Oh yea, and Jane is a super cook too! So anyway, that put the lid on the searching.

So we called on a Friday and got in the next Thursday. Deb's appointment was for 7 PM and mine at 7:30 PM. Unusual for what we were used to in the States but not unusual for here. It seems that Dr. Chi has morning appointments and then mid to late morning he does surgeries and then resumes appointments around 4 PM. I can only imagine that he also has a respite of some kind worked in there as well. I sure would!

We go into his office and he greets us, speaks very good Ingles, and since Deb's appointment is first he starts with her. Does a background check, health, any eye problems, etc. He checks her glasses and the prescription in the lenses. We had brought the prescriptions written down for him but he likes to check them himself just to be sure. Takes her into the examining room and asks me to come along. As some of you know the family unit in Mexico is all important so it's not unusual to see four to six people accompanying a family member into a Dr's office. So I sat and watched and listened. Since I was there to hear Debi say what the letters on the vision test were he looked over his shoulder at me, smiled and said don't worry, I'll test you with numbers! LOL!

The equipment was state of the art and he had some things that our Dr in the Springs didn't have the last time we were there.

After Deb's exam was over he took us both back to his office and sat down and explained everything he found thru the testing. He used an eyeball model and explained everything even further so that she would understand the changes her eyes are going through, etc. Very interesting and informative. He told Deb that her prescription did change a little and he wrote it down in case she wanted to get new glases. He did not push for new glasses, lenses, etc. He told Deb that she could use the drug store glasses and be fine. However, he did caution that it was very important to get yearly exams.

Next was me and he went through all the same stuff. My history was a bit more complicated but that's cause I'm a guy....right? LOL! Which just means I was more stupid! LOL! While my check up is being done my beloved decided that a picture would be worth a thousand words. So not to spoil her good work here I am along with Dr Chi.

I too was told that the drug store glasses would work fine but that, of course, I couldn't get them with a bi-focal lens. That's what I'd like to get.

We were very pleased with our experience and feel that we have found our eye doctor her in Merida.

Total cost for everything 800pesos ($76.19US)

I will certainly update as needed but other than routine check ups, etc, I hope I don't have the need to report very much!

Take care!

Madera for the pergola!

2008-03-16T09:54:00.006-06:00

Hola mis amigos!
If you are reading both Debi’s and my blogs then you know about the pergola we had built in the jardin (garden). In case you aren’t aware of it here is a picture.

Overall the jardin is “ours” but Debi is the lead “our” in things regarding the jardin. We mutually agree on placement and all that but she has been the purchaser of the things that need planting. I am the planter for the most part especially when it comes to the bigger holes. I picked a few plants that I wanted as well but those were more that I liked them than what was best for the jardin layout, size, etc. and Debi worked them in. I’m a great hole digger! LOL!

We designed the pergola and we hired an albanil (mason) to build it. (It was completed the beginning of December.) We bought the materials, had them delivered and he did the rest. The base is 9 x 9 and it sits in the pathway that Debi has formed in the jardin. She plans on doing her yoga there and it’s a most wonderful place to just sit and contemplate stuff! Oh yes, and to watch birds, lizards, iguanas, gatitos (cats) and zorros (possums).

Anyway, on to the madera (wood) side of this subject. I was in charge of locating, securing and installing the madera. All well within my ability with the need of a little help on the last part. So a few weeks after the completion of the pergola proper itself it was suggested by “someone” that they would very much like to see it completed. With inspiration and enthusiasm I started finding and going to the Madera tiendas (stores) and pricing out the madera beams and cross members. Much to my surprise….wow, it was very expensive. So I kept trying to find more tiendas to check on prices and make comparisons. Two beams were needed and 20 cross members. The hunt lasted a few weeks and then it was put on the side burner as I was not willing to pay 800pesos per beam and 150pesos per cross member. I just couldn’t bring myself to believe that that was the best price.
At this point I’ll share the concern I had about the prices I was being quoted. Now this doesn’t happen everywhere or all the time but it does happen. What I refer to is what we gringos refer to as “the gringo factor”. All it means is that the price can sometimes go up a bit when a gringo is asking to purchase something. We are perceived to have more expendable cash and there are those here who would like to have some of it! It is a big thing in the heavy tourist areas as the terms “buyer beware” and “what the market will bear” should be emphasized. Well that’s what I thought was happening but I came to find out that it was not the case. Within reason all the madera tiendas were within a few pesos of each other. So anyway I stopped looking but knew it had to be done.

After a few more weeks “someone” says to me, “if you don’t go get the lumber for the pergola I’m going to go purchase it and have it delivered!” Well that was easy enough to understand and I knew I had been dragging my feet on the project…..lo siento! But hey, I’m retired, I’m in mananaville and all that! Yea, ok! So I went to the madera tienda of choice, and ordered the beams and cross members. Now due to the cost we decided to cut back on the number of cross members from 20 to 5. Deb decided that we can cut the sun and create shade by planting a vine called zapatos de reina. Very cool vine and it grows fast. Ok, they said that the madera would take a week to be cut out of the logs, etc. Oh, and they don’t deliver, no truck! I said ok, gave them a deposit and departed.

Well, it was plain as the nose on my face that within the next week I would need a truck and a manly hord of madera movers. So of course the first call is to Walter whom I mentioned in the last blog as the proud owner of a full size pick-up truck and everyone’s friend! (Yes, he’s a really great guy even without the truck!) Walter said yes so I had one body and the transport set up. Next call was to Geo as he likes adventures and he’s always up for helping out. He’s a super guy and I really appreciate knowing him and having him as a very close friend. The cast was set and all we had to do was wait. Time flies when you’re here and the big day arrived.
The morning of the day of the move was scheduled really well as I had a trigger point massage w/Britta, a semi-annual dentist appointment/cleaning and then I walked from the dentist’s office to Geo’s casa and then we walked to Walter’s. We motored over to the madera tienda. I paid the remainder on the ticket, Walter checked some prices and found that they were the best he had been able to find to date and ordered some madera he needed. The truck was backed in and the employees of the tienda loaded the beams and cross members. It wasn’t a large load but it was very heavy. The wood I got was puc té and it is a very hard wood and very durable. The employees attached a flag type item to the load hanging out the back of the truck and we questioned their flag but they said it was just fine.

You can be the judge! LOL!

We drove the short distance to the casa and I had the manly Madera movers pose for a picture.

Then the madera was unloaded and placed in the bodega with stacking blocks so that it will dry faster.

It has to sit for 3 weeks before it will be dry enough and ready to be installed on the pergola. The installation will certainly be fodder for another blog. You’ll get to meet a new person, Richard, as he told me he wanted to help with the madera installation when we first started talking about a pergola last year. So stay tuned and in a few weeks we’ll be ready!

The tree and the orchid

2008-03-09T16:56:00.012-06:00

Hello!
It's been a few months since my last post but sometimes life just gets in the way and blogging has to be put on the back burner. But I'm back with a new post about our garden and a new acquisition.
Our friends Jorge and Joanna are getting ready to remodel their casa and are giving plants away. Their remodel includes a pool and they have to clear space that some of which is occupied by plants and trees. Debi and I have been to their house several times and are somewhat familiar with the grounds. Since Debi and I have gotten into orchids we perked up when Jorge and Joanna said that they had to get rid of a flor de mayo (plumeria) tree that has many orchids on it.
They told us that they had a beautiful flor de mayo in their yard with orchids on it but hurricane Isadora wreaked havoc with all their trees and bushes when it unleashed it's fury on Merida. The flor de mayo was blown over and the main piece with the orchids was leaned up against their stone wall. They figured that the orchids would live on the large piece of the tree. Not only were they correct in regards to the orchids but the tree limb actually started rooting into the ground. It's just amazing how things can grow around here!
Here's two pictures of the tree in their yard.

In this picture you can see the bottom of the tree sitting on the ground and the bare limbs at the top. I realize that it isn't easy to make out but they have many plants with a lot of foliage.

In this picture you can see the top limbs of the tree. As you can see there are no leaves or flowers at this time. However right after we planted it a few flowers bloomed.

Ok, since it was a fairly large tree to be just picking up and moving around I needed to gather a manly hord of tree movers. So I got my "manly hord call list" out and started calling. First was Walter cause he had the truck and we all know how important the truck owner is. Everyone with a truck has many, many friends! LOL! Next was Geo who is small in stature but large in heart and he always loves an adventure. Next was Greenwood, the "big guy" and we all know how important a big guy is when you're moving a tree! So with implements of destruction and earth moving power we removed the tree and put it in the truck. The tree had not rooted in any major way so we just bent it back and forth and it came loose. It was very awkward to handle. Sorry that there isn't any moving the tree pictures as it did take all five of us to do it.

This pic will give you an idea of the size of the tree and the manly hord.

So here they are from left to right, Jorge, Greenwood, Walter, and Geo.

All friends and good guys!

Next was to transport it back to my house and get it into the back yard. The trip was completed without incident. Of course getting it into the back yard could only be done by bringing the tree through the house. You may ask why it had to come thru the house and the answer is that there is no other way unless you take it up and over the roof. There are no side yards for the most part in the centro area of town.

Now to make things faster I had pre-dug the hole in the garden before so all we'd have to do is get it thru the house, into the garden, and into the hole. Much to everyone's happiness the transfer went smoothly and easy.

This picture shows the tree in its new home and actually proves that I was involved.

FYI: The large palm in the forefront is a coconut palm.

Jo! Jo! Jo! (Ho! Ho! Ho! in spanish)

2007-12-21T11:48:00.000-06:00

Merry X-mas to you all and I hope that 2008 brings health and happiness to you casa!
The X-mas music is drifting thru the house, the Santa collection is set out and the 18 inch artificial tree is standing tall on the back of the cocina counter. I even managed to put up one string of fifty multicolored lights around the edge of the cocina counter.
We’ve been to a few parties and one traditional Mexican Posada that Deb has written about in her blog. It is truly a festive time of year and once again I must say that we are so fortunate to have such good friends willing to share their lives and the Holidays with us.
Last night our very good friends Lida and Diana stopped by with a X-mas cookie basket and a music cd. We seem to go in spurts in regards to seeing them. But the good thing is that when we do see them it is always fun and the time between visits just seem to fade away. They are extremely good people! Of course we presented a problem to them as we do not have up to date electronics and the cd was an MP3 cd and I’m not sure but I think we’re just a bit ahead of eight track! LOL! So we can’t play it so they are going to do another one that is compatible with our capabilities!
We have been invited to our good friends Geo and Bebe’s to partake in their annual X-mas eve ham. As I have spoken in my blog previously you can’t go wrong going to Geo and Bebe’s for anything! Guaranteed good time!
X-mas day we have been invited to Faye and Victor’s house, another “can’t go wrong with these good friends”. Faye just found a new seafood shop and has changed the feast menu to surf and turf! Yum! Yum! If you ever leave their house and are still hungry then you didn’t do something right. Excellent friendship and food!
Now I must tell you that there is something that I do miss and will always miss being in the warmer climates. Night falls and a light snow starts, the X-mas lights are twinkling and dancing with the snowflakes and reflecting off the streets. Putting on a coat and hat and taking a walk with the quiet crunch of the snow compacting under you feet as you walk while that very silent sound of snow falling fills your senses. There is nothing else that can compare to that feeling of well being as the cold starts to penetrate and you turn to walk home where your loved ones are and their warmth is waiting to embrace you. This I do miss!
Again Merry X-mas to you all and may the walk back to your house fill you with joy and happiness!

By best to everyone!
Tom

Belated Thanksgiving Day 07 Report

2007-12-17T14:30:00.000-06:00

What would Thanksgiving be without friends? A question to date I am happy to report that I cannot answer. I hope never to be able to answer that question! I am a very fortunate fellow!
Debi and I were invited to our friends Geo and Bebe’s house along with some other friends. Geo and Bebe definitely fit the label, “Hostesses with the mostess”.
Always a good time to be had when you go there. They supplied the main dish and all the pre-dinner snacks and drinks. Everyone brought an assigned dish so we were sure to have the whole meal deal!

This is Geo at his bar on the terrazo at his casa. He is a superb bartender and you feel right at home everytime you belly up to the bar!

Geo and Bebe's terrazo is very nice and we all gathered in that area chatting and catching up. And of course enjoying some of the mixoligists master pieces prior to the feast!

Then it was time to get ready to eat and decide where to sit. There was also this fair maiden pouring vino for those so inclined. She's a cutie!

Next step is to load up your plate so get in line and load up the goodies! Yum! Yum!

Always after the meal you sit and talk some more. Of course you can't move so why fight it! LOL!

We hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving with your friends as well!

Our thanks to Jack and Beth Knepp for supplying the pictures.

Dengue and me!

2007-12-17T14:23:00.001-06:00

You hear about people getting it but after almost two years I was not even giving it any thought. I knew that people say that it can be very debilitating and recovery can take weeks. I just hadn’t figured that I would ever get it. Surprise! What is life without a few surprises.

It was fortunate that my session with Mr. Dengue was two days behind Deb’s. Not that we couldn’t have gotten friends to take her to the hospital but I think it’s good to have one family member on the up and up to make decisions.

The speed in which it took over Debi was amazing. It supposedly takes an average of three to five days, once you are bit, for you to show symptoms. Only three hours passed from the onset of symptoms until Debi was in the ER! It was scary especially with her becoming delirious so fast due to the fever.

My symptoms started differently and less violently. I started getting eye socket discomfort, headache, and some joint pain. It progressed from there but I never felt the need to seek medical attention. Of course knowing what Debi had and then getting the same symptoms did much for the diagnosis and ease of mind.

The worst part for me was definitely the joint pain and the eye socket pain. The fever made things interesting with complete body flushes that made me feel as if I were a volcano and may explode. I did my best to counteract that by getting into the pool. Debi did not want to get in the pool as it was too chilly for her. I didn’t care because I knew that a temp of 103 had to be brought down.

Friends checked on us, ran to the grocery store and brought food. We did not lack in support in any way. We are very fortunate people to have such good friends.

Debi is at 99% now and I’m close behind her. My feeling is that of a car going down the road, I shift easily, seem to have decent power but I just can’t get into 4th gear. Our appetites are almost at normal. I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it is not to have that metallic taste in my mouth, another aspect of dengue.

Well, they say there are four types of dengue and once you have one type you can never get it again. That’s the good news! The not so good news is that if you get dengue again it is guaranteed to be worse. Not what I like to hear!

If you’d like to know more here is a site to go to. http://www.dhpe.org/infect/dengue.html

Wine vs Whine!

2007-11-27T11:28:00.000-06:00

Wine, wine, wine, whine, whine, whine!

This post is especially for those of you that have shared in the updates that were sent before the blog was started. I am fulfilling a promise made to you well over a year ago about my background with wine and the selling of my wine collection. I had said that when the time came I would give you the whole story. The time has arrived.

When you first asked what I ended up doing with my wine you may remember that I whitewashed the whole subject with the statement that my wine collection was sold and would be replaced by a pool I would have here in Mexico. It is in fact what I did, and I stand by the decision. It is a wound that will never totally heal and it is one of those things in life that comes under that heading of “Ya’ gotta do, what ya’ gotta do”! Debi and I have been enjoying the pool very much! I can’t imagine being here without a pool especially in the summer months! However, a fair trade it was not - but a needed mental exchange at the time it certainly was.

Since I am going to tell this story allow me to take you back to the beginning. I caution you that this story is about a passion of mine so it will not be short and sweet, anything but! After all, it is all about me! LOL!

I’d like to let you know that wine is alive! It has a very complex existence from the time the grapes start growing thru and until you drink it. Its environment and each step in its life changes it for good or bad so it is forever in a constant state of change. All the vintners and wineries in the world have my complete admiration for their efforts, dedication, and creativity! They have helped to make the world civilized!

I was raised in a non alcohol drinking home with one exception which was one case of Rolling Rock pony bottles bought every Christmas by my Dad. He would have a couple and my Mom would have one and as company stopped by they got the rest. My sister and I would get a sip from time to time. I started enjoying wine when I was in my early twenties. Albeit Boone’s Farm, Riunite, Yago Sangria, and Lancer’s complimented by a couple of tokes. Regardless and as it is with many things you must start somewhere.

The two major events that had a profound affect on my future in wine happened in 1995. Those events were Wine Spectator magazine and a local liquor/wine store going out of business.

Early in the year I had purchased a subscription to Wine Spectator magazine. I had previously bought a few issues off the newsstand and really enjoyed reading everything in the magazine. I was amazed and enthralled that this enormous wine world existed. I also had purchased a few books on wine at one of the book stores. My knowledge was rapidly growing and the trips to the liquor/wine store were more frequent and the cart was always loaded as I approached the check out register. Not big expensive wines but wines that I could use to develop a taste for different varietals and slowly understand them more. Some were consumed and some were poured down the drain. I was learning what I liked and what I didn’t. Then one day I found that the liquor/wine store was going out of business. As the sale started the prices were discounted nominally. It was your typical sale and as the sale progressed the prices were reduced more and more. The wines started thinning out and as in most sales the only ones remaining were upper tier wines that were pricey. Be it good or bad they weren’t moving that well. For those of you that know me I smelled a deal to be had and I moved in. (Similar to the twenty-one chain saws I once bought!) The wines were still pricey for me but with the recent knowledge I had gained from WS magazine and the books I read combined with an unsinkable attitude I dove in. Without going into great detail I ended up with some fabulous wines at great prices, many of which were first growth French Bordeaux wines and big California cabernets! I then had the opportunity to drink wines that I would never have had the opportunity to had it not been for these events. I was overwhelmed; I was taken away by aromas, flavors and never was I the same again. I began to realize how complex but yet simple wines were. It was a great opportunity for me. However, it was a double edged sword in that I then knew what more expensive wines tasted like. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the more you pay the better the wine will be because I am not. But it did allow me to peek over the fence and see how the others live! There are some wines that cost a bit more that will reward you many times over. Having said that let me also say that there is no doubt that ‘knowledge is power’ and knowing what wines you like and the vintners that do it the way you like it best will trump money every time!

Throughout my wine adventure I developed a passion for finding wines that were $10. or less and that were outstanding wines and capable of holding up against the more expensive wines that were being touted on the wine scene. After a few years I had to change “The Hunt” to bottles that were $15. or less. I had even given thought to opening a wine store that only sold wines that were $15. or less. I never did it but that idea has been put into reality in many cities across the US.

Some of the wines I purchased at the sale were consumed and the others were sold and became the seed money that got me started. After that I continued learning and gaining understanding of where to buy and where to sell, etc.
I started making inroads with numerous liquor stores and being invited to wine-tastings put on by the distributors. My education progressed at a wonderful rate and I was very happy with my advancement.

While buying, trading, and selling I was making many wine friends locally and on the net. The ins and outs of various wines and what was going to be hot and what was not was the constant banter. It is certainly like playing the stock market. You listen for the hype and sift thru it all and hope to buy when it’s released or before it gets popular and then sell when everyone wants it. (My wife has said of me on numerous occasions in regards to wine that “The Hunt” for me is the thing I like the most.)
I need to say that I was not trying to make a living doing this. My soul purpose besides “The Hunt” was to lower my cost per bottle. It was fun, exciting and I loved it.

These actions necessitated a place to hold wines as I started dealing more and more and my collection was growing. If you are going to start collecting and thus cellaring wines you must have a proper area in which to keep them. I built a room with wooden wine racks in my cellar that held two hundred bottles. That was great but I found out quickly that if you have space something comes over you and you’ll do your very best to fill that space! So the cellar was only good for about a year. Once I got tired of moving cases of wine to get to the racks of wine I decided I needed to expand so I bought a commercial wine unit that held another two hundred and fifty bottles. After emptying the boxes of wine that had been stored in the cellar wine room I found that I had only filled half the new unit. About six months later I don’t know what happened but I woke up one morning and it was full! So boxes of wine started getting stacked back down in the cellar.

As time rolls by my network has expanded and I have contacts from NJ to Fl to Ca. I had become a known wine person and trader on a couple of wine internet sites. Again, the words that come to mind are “The time of my life”! It was a blast! My passion in wine had exploded beyond where I thought it would. The wines I had the chance to taste and collect would make any wine lover smile! (Please note that I did not, have not and will not use the word connoisseur as I am not. I am a wine lover that knows what he likes, that’s it plain and simple!).

My next purchase was another commercial unit that held four hundred and fifty more bottles. At this point the cellar was for whites, the smaller commercial unit was for my personal wines that I was collecting, and the big commercial unit was for the coming and going wines.

By this time I had made some super friends - they remain very close personal friends to date. Randy will forever have me in his debt for soooo many wine reasons but also for just being a friend. He would invite me to the store he managed for tastings and we’d taste and talk and share and it was wonderful. I purchased many if not most of my wines thru him. We often commented “there were so many wines and so little time”! He certainly helped me along the way! Going out to lunch was great as well! One of the best all round experiences was going to Gary’s house for food and wine-tastings. All the invitees would bring something interesting to eat and at most every gathering Gary, who is an excellent chef, would handle the main dish(s). What was interesting is that it was agreed that we’d each have to bring a bottle or two of wine that we would all blind taste. The wines would be bagged and numbered and no one knew which wines were which except one person. We’d talk about the wines and write down what flavors and smells we thought we got and what type of wine it was, etc. This was not a contest nor was it to show who knew the most but just for fun. After tasting each bottle we’d expose it and then we would talk about it some more. It was amazing how we perceive a wine when we can’t see the label! It was a great time! I don’t believe that I ever guessed correctly out of all the times we did the tastings! LOL! But I also never had such a good time with my fellow enophiles. Those are times in my life that I’ll cherish forever.

By 2003 the big wine cooler ended up being the one I used for my collection.

One of my loves was and is Port wine. I fell in love with Port wine from my first taste. It didn’t hurt a bit that my most wonderful friend Gary (different from the previous Gary) introduced me to Port and I was hooked. In the end, my collection had in excess of 110 bottles of Port starting from 1970. My collection was heaviest with cabernet sauvignon. Out of all the different varietals this one is the best in my mind. I have been taken aback by more cabs than any other wines I have ever tasted. The complexity of this varietal is unbelievable! Some people feel that they are too big and bold and when pairing with a meal and they can overwhelm. I learned quickly that if you are showcasing a particular wine then the wine should be the center of the meal and the meal should not be in competition but nicely accompany the wine. The opposite rings true if you are showcasing a meal, the wine should definitely be in the background but again be a nice accompaniment. I however have come to like, love, desire one particular wine vs food fight. As a carnivore I cherish, no, no let me change that to covet a great steak and the same goes for a big badass cabernet. My idea of a perfect meal is having a flavor power struggle going on in my mouth between a steak and a cab! I have yet to be disappointed in staging one of these fights. But never doubt that both the steak and the wine must be up to the task! When it’s right ecstasy is the only word for it!

This finally brings us to the selling of my wines and the cooling units. By this time my collection had grown to just over 900 bottles. As we made plans to move and once we were 100% sure I sold as much as I could on the net and to the people I had been dealing with over the years. Remaking contacts and saying good-bye was a mixed bag emotionally. But of course being dealers they were only interested in the wines that would sell or that they liked personally. There were no mercy purchases. After that flurry of sales I still needed to sell more than 500 bottles. During this time I was trying to decide which ones I would bring with me and how many. I had a hard time with this decision as these wines were like my kids. Some of which I had had since the beginning of my wine life. After heart wrenching decisions I decided that I would take the chance and bring 52 bottles with me into Mexico. Quite a risk since between Debi and I we could only bring 6 liters, which was eight bottles. And needless to say all but a few were my most cherished bottles and not replaceable. The risk paid off as all 52 made it thru! The majority of the remaining bottles were sold to a couple that also took the bigger cooling unit. The rest was sold to an individual along with the smaller cooling unit. These were heart-wrenching negotiations that cut deep. Almost all of these wines were sold at my cost or below my cost. It was a hard pill to swallow but we were leaving and it had to be done.

As the last bottle was carried out the door I think I felt empty, possibly similar to a parent whose children have left the nest. I’ll never know that feeling but staring at the imprints in the floor left by the cooling units made me sad. The years of friendships, collecting, hunting and dealing along with the labels of the bottles I so much wanted to keep and that I thought I would sometime get to drink rushed by in my mind! I was frozen in time and space! Then as I stood there I thought I heard something. Did I? I did! I know I did! I slowly started hearing something far off in the distance and it was drawing me out of that melancholy place I was in………..something magical, something familiar………….magic,…..……..it started getting clearer, it was magic………….”Magic marker, where’s the magic marker, we need to label this box!”

Cheers!

Casa Kuhn Utility Report

2007-11-23T13:46:00.000-06:00

Quiet in the casa! Lights, power, water and we have action on the utility scene!
Utilities, well I said that I would report back once we had the information needed to determine the total monthly utility costs.
As a basis to work from let me tell you about our usages. The costs listed below are a good representation for the summer billing period. These costs are for summer rates. We do not leave lights on very often in rooms that are not in use however we do have two lights on timers that do their thing every day and the front two wall lights are on a photo cell. The pool filter runs twice a day for two hours each. When I need to vacuum the pool the system then runs as well and that is on average every three days. The water softener system runs every other day. There is a submersible water pump in the cistern out front that is used to pressurize our water system so it runs as needed. We have a submersible pump in the back pozo (well) that we turn on when we water the garden and that varies depending on the wet or dry season. This pump is also used to fill the pool as needed. The three ac’s are also used as needed with the master bedroom being the most used. The guest bedroom only when we have visitors and then periodically just to be sure it’s running properly. The office when needed during the real hot season and periodically just to be sure it’s running properly. None have ever run 24/7. There are two refrigerators and a small wine cooler unit that also run daily. Other than that the computer is on from the time we get up until we go out or to bed. So armed with that info here we go!
Electricity for Sept 10 thru Nov 9 came in at 1,508.00 pesos, our most expensive bill to date. At present the peso dollar relationship is 10.7 pesos to one green back. So our electric bill is $140.93 US for two months….or $70.47 per month.
Water holds fairly steady but I will quote our highest bill to date. The highest bill was 153.20 pesos and that amount covers two months. So dividing it by 10.7 we have a US figure of $14.31 or $7.16 per month. Again I’ll point out that the water usage in regards to the pool comes from the pozo (well) and the only expense for that is the electricity to pump it.
Propane gas is the hardest to be able to get an exact reading on. We have a large propane tank of the roof that they come and fill upon request. Averaging the last two fills our usage comes to $.81US per day. Or $24.30 per month.
Last comes the salt for the softener. On average I put in 25 kilos of salt each week. Each bag is 43 pesos or $4. US per bag which puts the monthly cost at $16.00.
So doing the big calculation our utilities run us a total of $118.00 per month.

Of course this may change as we haven’t had a full winter season set of bills as yet. We have turned up the thermostat on the water heater because as it gets cooler a warmer shower is more comfortable. During the hot summer months very little hot water is used. So the water heater will be using more gas. The water and electric should stay steady. For those of you that may say well those ac’s use a lot of electricity so with their usage being diminished the electric bills should be lower. This is very true but we are not the only one’s that understand this. CFE is our electric company, the only one, and they do have a few intelligent people in the company! So, they raise the rates for electricity every winter season as they too like to have things stay steady! LOL!
I need to add that CFE has levels of consumption that they rate. They charge more per kilowatt hour as your usage increases.

This will be our first full winter season in the house. Yes, winter season is cooler here but not cold by Colorado standards. But as your blood thins due to the higher temperatures the cooler months do take on a more chilled feeling. Some houses have fireplaces and there are space heaters that are sold here. CFE loves those who buy electric space heaters! LOL! You may remember that one of the reasons that Debi wanted to leave Colorado was each year she would have more issues with the cold. She has slept with the sheet and comforter on already this month and she’s wondering if we may have to end up getting glass put in the kitchen and pantry doors and windows after all. Time will tell and Debi will tell me! LOL!

Here are the average temperatures for Merida:
The first set of temps are the year's average, then Jan thru Dec.
°F 80 74 75 80 82 85 84 83 83 82 80 77 75
°C 26 23 23 26 27 29 28 28 28 27 26 25 23

Please keep in mind that it does get cold here from time to time. The coldest temperature recorded here is argued between 39 and 41 °F. That’s real cold for here and we’ve been here when it was 51 °F and that is a bit nippy as well. Our low temps right now are in the high 60’s
°F.
Some of the locals are already sporting sweaters, knit hats, and gloves.

Healthcare, Second and First Hand

2007-11-21T12:17:00.000-06:00

Stories on healthcare here in Merida all still come in on the great to super end of the scale. Reasonable costs and scheduling is amazing. Just imagine calling a Dr’s office that you have never been to before on Monday and getting an appointment for a physical for Wednesday. Then at that appointment it is decided you should have a colonoscopy and it is scheduled for the following Monday morning! Or how about falling and breaking your arm in two places, going to the emergency room, finding out that due to advanced osteoperosis you can’t get a hard cast, you must come back and get x-rays every three days for three weeks along with soft cast changes, and finally go through therapy and in the end not have spent over $600.00 US! Yeah baby, that’s what I’m talkin’ about! As I have said before the medical expenses are what makes it financially reasonable to live here.

Yes, I know what you’re saying, sure Tom this is all hearsay, yadda, yadda, yadda! Ok, I’ll admit that you don’t know these people like I do so the basis of fact may be sketchy for you. HOWEVER, I can now give you a first hand review of my personal medical experience. For those of you that know me real well you’ll have already guessed that if I’m talking medical it involved my head. It seems that through my life my head has taken the brunt of most of my disasters. My first was at age twelve, 10 stitches in the chin resulting from running in the bathroom and falling and hitting the edge of the toilet, age sixteen 8 stitches resulting from a car accident (not my fault), age seventeen 10 stitches resulting from a car accident (not my fault), age twenty one 238 stitches resulting from a car accident (again, not my fault), age twenty eight 14 stitches resulting from not ducking below the pipes enough in a basement, age thirty-three 8 stitches resulting from not seeing a piece of tin sticking out of the side of a truck. Numerous other items that maybe should have had stitches or at least a check from a vet might have been wise but with all the experience with head wounds I, we handled it ourselves. Now I can add my most minor stitch experience at fifty-eight, 5 stitches resulting from not seeing and catching the bottom corner of the upper closet door in the master bathroom. OUCH!!!!

I had gotten in the closet to get the light bulbs out to change a bulb in the ceiling fixture. I didn’t close the door and then turned and got the bulb and then turned and headed out of the room and rip. Down on one knee and the blood was flowing just like head wounds do. Debi was there pronto and made me stay on the knee and she was sopping up the blood saying, “I don’t know, I’m not sure about this one, it’s not deep but it’s long and laying open. I think you may need a stitch or so”! Ok, so here’s how it went after that….the bleeding slowed way down with direct pressure. We got in the car and drove to Clinica Merida which took about 8 minutes. Parked in the parking garage and walked into the ER. The lady looked up and we didn’t say a word as she was up and ushering us into an exam room. At this point I need to say that I was cleaned up and not a bloody mess just a guy holding a cloth to his head. Within two minutes a DR was in the room talking to us in fairly good ingles. Cutting to the chase from the time we walked into the ER and until we walked out it took 58 minutes on the nose. The charge for the experience was 439 pesos. We are still currently at 10.7 pesos per US dollar so that puts it at $41.02 US. Oh yea, and 10 pesos for parking! Debi says that the work was top notch and the stitching is superb. The DR was young, friendly and had a great bedside manner. Ok, so as you know I’m an experienced head injury person and I’d rate the care/service at 9.5 on the ten scale. I’m stingy with 10’s!!!

Needless to say I was very pleased with my treatment but very upset with my inability to keep the incident from happening! Hey, but what do you want from a guy that has taken so many shots to the head! LOL!

Debi's Blog is up and running!

2007-11-21T08:58:00.000-06:00

Hear ye', hear ye'!!!!!! Debi's flying solo on the blog front. She has shed the chains of oppression imposed by me....hmmmmmmmm, yea, right! LOL! Like I can impose anything on that woman that she doesn't want! Chortle, chortle!!!!!!!!! Anyway she's got her first posts up and of course they're great! So stop by her blog and have a look see and say hi and post a comment if you'd like! Here's her address: http://debiinmerida.blogspot.com/

PS: As you can see I have a new header on my blog thanks to the help of our good friend Lida! The new header totally rocks as you can see but there needs to be a tweak or two and then it'll be perfect!!!!!!! Thanks Lida!!!!!

The short without the long of it!

2007-11-17T13:58:00.000-06:00

For Debi to blog or not to blog....that is the question!

I'll first address the query that my most lovely (do you see that picture of her, isn't she just a doll!!!!) esposa has posted. I think she should certainly have her own blog. Not that I don't want her posting on mine because that's cool by me! I invited her to use mine. Geez, if she hadn't set my blog up I wouldn't be able to belabor topics and bore you to death as I so eloquently do! So I say go for it babe, go for it!!!!!

Steak Report!!!!!!!!

Ok, on the steak front I feel that I have arrived at a solution to my carne dilemma. The CostCo visit and steak purchase that I spoke about in the last posting was a great success. The NY strip was superb as was the 97 BV Vineyards Georges de Latour cab that was popped open for the occasion. Next I'll try a thick cut of rib eye and see what that holds in store for me. That along with either a 97 Chateau St Jean Cinq Cepages cab or a 94 Silver Oak Napa should bring my carnivore self to within spitting distance of ecstasy! LOL!

Tis' the season!

Well the Christmas decorations are up in most of the stores. They don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here, hmmmmmmmmmmmm I wonder why! LOL! And Halloween is not as it is in the states. No trick or treaters but they do have decorations. They celebrate “Dia de los muertos” here, which means “the day of the dead”! It’s pretty neat! They emphasize departed friends and family and celebrate their lives. They make alters in the house or in the yard, they make the food that the person liked and the drinks they liked and they talk about them, eat and drink the food, etc. Kind of like an annual wake of sorts! There are also public celebrations and fireworks (oh yes, every celebration has fire works…ie noisiest place in the world! LOL!).
So any way, shortly after the end of September you start seeing the signs of Christmas. It’s the mother of all holidays here, the big kahuna and just in modern times has Santa entered the picture. Their celebration has always been and is still “the day of the three kings”. I’m not going to get into it as you can Google it and get all the info you want. I’m trying to enlighten you not be your maestro! LOL!

Short post!

Well, I have proven to myself and subsequently to you that I can deliver a relatively small post! Yea!!!!!! Now what the heck am I going to do with all this extra time? LOL!

Tom

Debi's Dilemma

2007-11-14T15:01:00.000-06:00

OK, so here's the deal - I want to post also; should I just post on Tom's blog, or should I create my own?

I know there is a way to do a Poll, I just can't figure it out, I'm sure as soon as I hit the 'Publish Now' button I will see it!

Debi

To register a vote or opinion you'll need to leave a comment - Thanks, Debi

Late fall update

2007-11-10T19:08:00.000-06:00

November 2007

As you may remember we moved in the house right before X-mas and it will soon be one year. The boys are well and happy! The pool was completed the beginning of June and that’s when the last worker walked out the door.
We now employ dos ayudos (helpers), Martha who helps with the housework, and Tiburcio who does the maintenance of the garden, and cleans the patios, they both work on Wednesdays.
We have started the process of getting a wall built out front and as soon as our architect has her baby the project will proceed. These and a few other things are what will be in this blog.

After the last worker walked out the door we were still social but we really locked down and enjoyed our privacy. We went out for food and to visit friends. Of course our friends knew that we just got released form “the workers” and since most everyone knows this type of release they just left us alone.
Lazy days of getting up whenever, wearing little or nothing around the house and the pool, and just the luxury of not needing to make construction decisions, etc was delightful. Since it was summer the pool was the main focus and we easily spent 3 to4 hours a day in it; An oasis from the heat while floating lazily in the sun tanning, reading, and sleeping. Yes, the siesta is alive and well! LOL!
Here is a most recent picture of the pool and jardin area and you can see that things do indeed grow quickly in the Yucatan.

After about two months of quietness and solitude we decided that it was time to start our social thang’ and we slowly started inviting friends and acquaintances over for little soirees, cocktail parties, and dinners. All the while constantly meeting new people and making new friends. I know that you probably get tired of hearing me say this but the diversity of these people, their ideas, their knowledge, their insight and the subjects that come up are amazing. If you want to have your ideas and beliefs challenged and shook up just get around these people. People from every walk of life, from many countries and with as many ideas and opinions as there are waves in the ocean. Fascinating is the word. One of the things I like the best about being here!
So we have opened the social gates and are now engaged in all that is social. It seems that whatever your interest(s) are you can find a venue for it/them. All things to all people…….I know it’s not, but it’s close! People and art are our things and we are pleased with what we have found! More importantly is what has found us!

“The noisiest place in the world” still rings true. The “sala de fiesta” right behind our property has slowly become part of our lives now. The loud music on most weekend nights has become just another part of our new life here! For the most part we have minimum other noises to deal with. It seems that more people than not have numerous noises to deal with. It usually comes at unexpected times but some are constant. The neighbor’s barking dog(s), the neighbor’s or neighborhood’s rooster(s) at 3 am until 6 am, much worse in our humble opinions than the scheduled noise of the sala! I have always been the one that had the problem with the noise. Debi falls asleep real easy and I envy that of her. It doesn’t bother me as much now and I can only hope that as more time passes I’ll just let it all go!

The new wall out front will dampen most of the street noises and quiet things down from the front. The wall has always been in the plan but after the remodel we had to replenish the coffers in order to pay for it. The wall will be 10 to 12 feet tall. It’ll have a garage door (porton) on each side and center entry doors. It will be very plain in appearance, nothing fancy as we want it to just be part of the “hood”! Our architects, Alvaro and Mercedes Cervera Sanchez are wonderful and they are expecting their third child. Mercy is at the drop point and has requested that we put the wall on hold for a bit and we agreed. We think that Alvaro and Mercy are definitely worth waiting for! So after all the kid stuff happens they’ll get back with us and we’ll proceed with the wall; Probably the beginning of December. That’s not a problem for us as the one thing we have had great success with is in the development of the “patience” thing! We’ll do pictures and stuff once it starts! Just to jog your memory here is what the front looks like now!

The boys, what can I say? They are great! Tate has settled in to a life style that his fellow gatitos in the states would envy. We call the spare bedroom Tate’s room as that is where he sleeps most of the time. He loves the jardin and will spend his entire day in it. There are many places for hunting, lounging it the sun or siesta’ing in the shade. Mat loves to be out as well and mostly stays close to the back of the house and likes to lounge on the rocks. Mat gets more wobbley as time passes and he is without a doubt totally deaf now. He had his 24th birthday this year! His appetite is as strong as ever and he still kicks up his heals from time to time. We are now trimming him most of the time to control his mats. It is unbelievable how easily they form. We are better at trimming than we used to be but we still do not have the professional touch. In a recent visit a friend commented that Mat looked like a roadie for KISS. We all had to agree! LOL! But the important thing is that they are both happy and enjoying their new home! Here are recent photos.

I am still on the lookout for a great steak here in the Yucatan. I did have a great steak and let me emphasis “A GREAT STEAK” in Ajijic (just out side Guadalahara on lake Chapala) when we visited our very good friends George and Janice in mid September. They just bought a summer home there this year. Ajijic is very Americanized in things that are American but those things are at a premium since it all has to be shipped in. But nevertheless the steak, visit and friendship was well worth the trip!
In my “find a good steak effort” I have gone to CostCo and had them cut me Angus New York strips at about 1 ¼” thick. Cost is no object when it comes to finding a great steak. LOL! Now I’ll fire up the grill and see what I got. Meat is plentiful here but the flavor seems to have been forgotten. They also do not have thick steaks as that isn’t their way. Thick is a gringo thang’! Meat is thinly cut thus easily cooked. I’ll keep you informed on my progress!

Well that’s it for this time. I plan on doing my best to post more often and in turn it may reduce the size of the posts….or not! LOL!

My most sincere wish that this post finds you well and happy
From the heart of Merida, Mexico this is Tom signing off!

Tatie the pool cat

2007-07-27T16:46:00.000-05:00

by Debi – July 27, 2007

I swear I think Tom can get this cat to do anything! It’s an amazing relationship!

Tate seems more dog-like than cat-like, I think it’s just a matter of treatment, training, and understanding.
Tate comes when called, and/or whistled for. He will sit and lay at Tom’s feet for long periods of time.

Never sleeps on Tom’s side of the bed disrupting his night of sleep.

He follows Tom around, and talks to him constantly.

I think getting Tate so comfortable at the edge of the pool speaks volumes, or gallons, about their relationship.

Now if we could just get Tate to chase the iguanas out of the back yard.

We Bought a Toaster

2007-07-22T08:44:00.000-05:00

We Bought a Toaster
posting by Debi, 7/22/07

We bought a toaster two weeks ago. OK? So what’s the big deal? Well the big deal is why did we buy the toaster?

We’ve been here a year and a half and never even considered the need for a toaster. Whenever Tom wanted toast we just laid the bread across a burner on the stove till it browned, easy enough. Or if I needed toasted rolls or loaves for something I went out to the grill.

So why now did we need a toaster? Bagels! We found bagels at Mega. Mega is a higher end super market. Well higher end than the Chedraui I generally shop at. Now don’t get me wrong, Chedraui is a fine store. It’s just that MY Chedraui is on Avenida Itzaes and is older, less well maintained, and less well stocked with little gringo delicacies than the North End Chedrauis.

OK, also we had friends arriving from the States and I was trying to be sure we had sufficient stuff for mornings. I knew we’d be out and about most days so was mainly concerned with getting started in the mornings. Fruit, yogurt, cereal, eggs, and now lovely bagels; multigrain, cinnamon raisin, onion, yummy, yummy, yummy.

UMMMMMM, I smell the bagel

It's a POOL!!!!!

2007-06-03T13:05:00.001-05:00

June 11, 2007 - Tom cleaning his finished pool!

June 2, 2007 - Tom in his nearly completed pool.

we still need to get plants for the pots next to the fountain

Happy Birthday to Tom!!

Here's the pool as we bought it

Photos on left are in February 2007,

the pool was usable, but was rough cement.

It took quite a while to get the tile installed

photos on right are June 2, 2007

In these photos you can see quite a bit of change to the garden as well.

5/26/2007 History of a Pool!

2007-05-26T09:47:00.000-05:00

Hi there! I hope that you are well and happy!

Let’s talk pools! In espanol es piscine. The dictionary says it's "a small body of still water". Ever since I was a kid I have always associated it with that lovely contained body of cool water that someone else had in their back yard. A splashing, cannon balling rampage that was soooooo much fun. The place I never wanted to leave when I was told that we had to go. In addition it was always associated with a gathering of friends, hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, smiles and laughs. So as we all did when we were kids with the things we really liked but couldn’t have then we say that “if I ever get the chance I’m gonna’ have on of those”! I have always liked the water and obviously the reason why I became a scuba diver. As Debi and I like to say, “if some is good, then mo’ is better”! So becoming one with the water seemd like a great idea and it was.
Fast forward 45 years and guess what! LOL! We’re moving to Mexico and there are lots-o-pools there! So having a pool became a want, a need, a must! To that end I set aside the proceeds from the sale of my wine collection. (That heart breaking subject will be fodder for another story at a later time!) So now loaded with pool money and looking for houses in Merida the pool was a driving force in regards to the size of the property. The pool didn’t have to be humongous but I did want to be able to dive in without having to pull up short before hitting the other end! Those of you that still remember me know that stretched out I take up about eight feet in length. So calculating that with the speed of the glide thru the water after the dive, multiplied by the force of the dive, divided by the density of the water, yadda, yadda, yadda. So after doing the detailed calcs (yeah, right) I arrived at “I’ll know it when I see it”! LOL!
We were fortunate in that the place we found already had a pool. Good fortune or misfortune……..the jury is still out! The pool existed at 14’ x 29’ with a max depth at 7.5’ and no filtration system. The pool was a priority but getting the house livable trumped the pool. As the work proceeded on the house it got to a point when the pool remodel could be started. The pool workers started by checking the level of the pool border/walkway. They found that the NE corner was lower that the other three. I thought that that was a good sign! They demolished the border/walkway to install the new piping for the filtration system and when they re-poured the border/walkway they made sure it was level. The existing steps were not what we wanted and they were demolished. The depth was deeper than I wanted so as the remodel was going on I had the workers toss the concrete/rock debris in the pool. It got rid of a lot of debris and we didn’t have to pay to have it hauled away. Double bonus! After the debris was said to be sufficient by the pool guys they poured a new floor and steps. So joyously I filled the pool, it leaked, it took five weeks to find the leak, it was repaired and I filled the pool again. Everything worked well and it was very nice. I enjoyed getting up, making coffee, taking my coffee and my water test kit and walking out to the pool and checking the chems. It was nice to have it while Joe and Suzanne were here even though the weather was a bit chilly at times for pooling! LOL!
Then as reported in the last posting the tile color deleima which took some time had to be dealt with. So now the tile is almost done. Salvador said that it would be done today Saturday the 26th. It will not be. But that’s ok. As you can see I have an alternate source of coolness and sometimes it's just too relaxing! But such is life while one must wait for his pool! LOL!
One thing that usually takes a while to comprehend is that the culture here in regards to time lines and disappointment. Time lines mean nothing! Nada! It’s best just to view or think of what someone tells you in regards to when something will be done or when they’ll show up as optimism. This is a very optimistic culture. They do not want to disappoint you so in most cases they will tell you what they think you’ll want to hear. Similar to stopping and asking for directions, which Debi refuses to do any more. If you ask someone how to get to a certain place and they don’t know they’ll give you directions. Yes, that’s right, rather than disappointing you by saying they don’t know they’ll send you on your way pleased in the knowledge that they helped you. Of course not all do this but the majority will. So when a worker leaves for the day and you ask when he’ll be coming the next day and he says 8 AM, it’s a guideline. It will usually mean that he’ll get there sometime in the morning. But of course he may not show up at all. Adjusting to that has been hard, especially for me. I get in to that “my time is valuable” thinking and it is important to me but me only. If the worker is coming the next day and we decide to go to the market and he shows up to work it’s fine, he doesn’t have a problem with it. He’ll either hang around or leave and come back later or just show up a day or two later. No one gets upset. Now I don’t know if this process is good with the corporate world here but I have only been exposed to the everyday construction, cleaning, and gardener type people. Oh and very few of them are without a cell phone but they never call you to let you know that they are going to be late, not coming, etc. So the “laid back” lifestyle is exactly that but carried further than one might think. This fact is the reason why most people will set out to try and accomplish only one thing on any given day. There are so many things that can affect what you want to get done that if you try to do more then you are probably setting your self up for disappointment. Now after you’ve been here a while and get a better lay of the land things get somewhat easier but more importantly understandable! LOL!
Kind of got off the subject of the pool but all things are relevant! So here is the most recent picture of the pool for your viewing pleasure!
Here also is the most recent picture of the orchid we have blooming right now. We have a total of ten orchids right now. We are learning more about them as we go but the climate here makes it pretty darn easy to keep them happy!

The rear of the house has gone thru a few changes and getting it painted will probably be one of the next things in the future to have done. But in the mean time I keep talking about the jardin so I guess I should show you a photo of it. Debi has been steadily working away and she is doing an amazing job with it. Except for the iguanas it would be perfection but there always has to be some one or something messing with the order of things! You'd think that they were here first or something and we are just planting things for them to snack on!

Well, we are looking forward to having the pool completed. Not only because it will be nice to cool off in it but it will mean that there are no more workers coming every morning! We have had someone showing up every morning except Sundays for way too long. It will be nice to have the mornings and the house to ourselves for a change. A worker in the house or outside the house creates restrictions and removes our ability to go some where together except on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. We'll be getting into what will be normal living here in Merida!

I hope that you find my ramblings and pics at least entertaining! I enjoy sharing what we are doing here.

Until next time take care and keep in touch!

Tom

5/11/2007 Update

2007-05-12T14:22:00.000-05:00

We have not done an update for a long time. So we figured that we would do our best to bring you all up to date in regards to where we are with our new life.

We are well and adjusting more and more every day. My Spanish education has not progressed very much due to the remodel. Yes that’s partly true but some of it is just laziness along with the fact that I always seem to get by. Of course as Debi told you I would, I use her as a crutch more often than not. Debi is doing extremely well with it but she doesn’t think so. Everyone is impressed with her abilities and they say she has a great accent. The accent that someone has makes a great deal of difference in how well the people can understand what you are saying.

The house is done as far as the contractor/architect are concerned. We are in great shape with the exception of the pool. A while back we might have told you that it had a leak and it took five weeks to find it. After that we filled it and used it for about a month. We had scheduled to have the pool walls and floor tiled and so it started only to find that there was a problem with the batch numbers for the tile. After a few tries at getting it right and having to tear out half of what was installed the people doing it decided that the tile would have to be sent back to the supplier and new tile with all the same run numbers would have to be used. So that took a little over three weeks and the tiling should resume this coming week. In the meantime we did purchase a temporary pool to tide us over till work is completed on the 'real' pool. The house has turned out very much to our liking and we are pleased. We using our newfound knowledge and some folks we came across along the way can handle the items left to be accomplished. Now that we have had the chance to learn the ways and lay of the land we feel that we’ll be able to get things done with out the architect/contractor folks! We are visitor friendly in case you’re inclined to mosey down South!
Debi has been transforming the back forty into a recognizable garden area. With what she started with it is truly a miracle. Now that things are shaping up the iguanas that were around before and dropping by have decided to make it their home and we are now the proud parents of about 20 iguanas. Of course the trouble with that fact is that they need to eat and they seem to like everything that we plant with the exception of a couple of plants. So we have another learning curve to go through! LOL! Of course we have been told that iguana is yet another food source that tastes like chicken!

Well, here is some info and a few costs in regards to the house for those of you that might be interested. We paid our property taxes about a month ago, $24.00. Milk is $1.00 per liter and there are 3.79 liters to a gallon. Trash service is three times a week and it costs $1.70 per month. Water and electric are billed every two months. A normal water bill runs about $15.00. FYI: They cannot turn off your water for lack of payment. We can’t tell you about electric yet because we’ve only gotten one bill so far so it’s not a fair representation. However, it was $100.00 for two months. Electricity is the most expensive utility here. We just renewed the insurance on our home for $587.00 for coverage of $150K. There is a 10% deductible on just about everything. Most people do not carry insurance since everything is made mostly of concrete. This area is not in an earthquake zone, they never had a tornado and the only thing that can burn for the most part is your furniture and clothing. Oh, and the garden during the dry season, LOL! Yes the house is insured for hurricanes. A fideicomiso is the document that allows non-Mexican citizens to have property within 50 miles of the shore. It is a 50 year lease that is yours in perpetuity and is renewable each year by paying a fee. That fee is what I look at being more in line with the taxes in the US and it was presently paid at $450.00. It does increase a little each year they say. We’ll keep you posted. After five years we can apply for Mexican citizenship and then we would have dual citizenships. Once you obtain Mexican citizenship then you no longer need to pay the fideicomiso fee. Health insurance is a lot different than the states. There is no coverage for dental or eye. Those items are strictly out of pocket. We both just went to the dentist for the first time. The check up, cleaning, and panoramic x-rays were $65.00 each. Fillings are $50.00 each. We have not been to an eye doctor but have been told that the check ups are relatively inexpensive but the cost of the frames and lenses is high. A friend had to pay $450.00 for his glasses and lenses and no, they were not designer frames nor an unusual prescription lens. So to our optometrist back in CO that said glasses would be a lot less her we say “bull”. We just paid $1,610.00 for our health ins coverage for a year. It covers just about everything but it is not an HMO or PPO etc. There is a $400.00 deductible on each occurrence and then above that there is a 10% co-insurance fee. We are covered when we travel to other countries in case of an accident. Once you are capable of being transported they will transport you back to MX so you can finish being treated here. We can come to the US to be treated for any major illness but there is a $50,000.00 cap and a10% co-pay. As we have stated before we have top rate hospitals and doctors here in Merida. We have seen the medical care here in action on a couple of our friends and it was exactly top notch! Gasoline is about $2.65 a gallon. Debi feels that food overall is less here than in CO. Finding the herbs and spices that she is used to cooking with is very hard and in many cases they do not exist in this country. Eating out certainly is less here than anywhere in the US. That’s not saying that you can’t go out and spend a bundle if you want to but in general it’s less. They are hard pressed for a great steak. It seems that the best US type meat is in CostCo….go figure. However the beef farmers in MX have already grasped the idea that their herds need to be feed grain for at least the last month or so of their lives in order to soften up the texture of the meat. People that we have met that have been her for decades say that years ago you could hardly chew the beef. It was more like rubber bands. So they have come in the right direction. As a matter of fact there are some of the local small markets that cater to gringos that seem to have grasped the idea and many are touting their meat. So who knows maybe there will be good steaks on the bar-be soon! Yum, yum! Electronics are still outrageous. Shoes in our sizes and then with arch support are almost non-existent. One thing for sure is that we are painfully aware of the lack of diversity in all things that the US has that MX does not and will not.

We have been meeting all sorts of different and interesting people from different countries with very varied backgrounds. The diversity is amazing! So far the people we have met all seem to lean a little to one side or the other. Of course so do we! LOL! But most are not to far off the scale, not real strange, just different and very adventurous. Yes there are few that have fallen off the edge of the universe and reality seems to be on a totally different plain but hey, they are everywhere aren’t they? Yes they are! LOL! If my memory serves me correct there is one leading the US right now! LOL! Sorry, couldn’t help myself! LOL!

Debi follows more news than I. She can read some Spanish so she gets the local paper once in a while. Big news items she tells me about sometimes but I’m like an ostrich, what I can’t see or hear can’t hurt me. We have cable TV but just the lower tier so we get four or five stations with ingles and for an extra $1.00 per month we get CNN. However, just about every time we turn it on there is some event going on like sports, or an expose on the fashion industry so we rarely turn it to that station. We get about three programs that we used to watch back in CO. However, our favorites are not on the lower tier. It may become something that we’ll investigate later but for now the remodel has taken most of our time and since that is almost over we hope to have travel take up a lot of our time. We hope to get a dive trip in soon!

Merida is still holding its reputation as one of the safest cities in MX. We walk most times and have never felt threatened or leery on any street or at any time of day or night.

I don’t mind driving here but many gringos can’t stand it. It’s a bit too aggressive for most. That along with there being no rules that are actively enforced. Road signs, speed limits, and such are treated as guidelines. What best suits your needs at the time is what you go by. Vehicles come in all shapes and sizes and can be a brand new Mercedes or a car made up of six or seven different vehicle parts. No air control or monitoring program! LOL! Lights of any kind on a vehicle are nice but not necessary. Total awareness when you’re on the roads is a must.

In regards to our houses back in CO we have just listed all three of them with a real estate agent and hope that someone buys all three. Yeah, right, like that will happen! LOL! One at a time will be just fine with us.

We have started growing many plants in pots and in the jardin. Orchids are a new thing for us and we like them. We have native orchids and they have much smaller blooms than the imported ones. We have purchased many cement and terracotta pots of numerous sizes. Once we get the greenery stuff done in the back it should look great.

Our health is good. Because we are very active and sometimes do too much in the jardin we get sore muscles and such but that is it for the bad stuff. I think that my vision is getting worse but I can still see what shelf the cerveca is on in the frig so I’m not ready to panic yet! LOL!

That’s a good overall summary of what is happening with us up to now.

Please take care of yourselves and we hope that good health and happiness ride with you wherever you go!

Tom & Debi

May 11, 2007