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

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?

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!

 

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

"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!

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!

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!

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!)