Hola amigos!! What a great day…the best one in a few…phew!!
Bexico had a great sleep and is feeling a bitt (hee x3) better…the sopa from her favorite sopa restaurante sure helped!!
She has been busy in her oficina today and due to her gripe (flu…but she really has a cold), she did not engage in her daily prenatal exercise routine. But she did some laps in the alberca…trooper!!
No real update on her work…she keeps plugging away, waiting to hear back from clients regarding approvals etc. She does have a second project for one client, even though the first one has not been completed (waiting…again). And she also received another invitation to interview (send in some work)…another possible contract!! Felicidades!!
My day consisted of el gimnasio and then Nissan took up the rest of my day.
Here was the weather we experienced for most of the day.
It was a nice day, some good viento and no lluvia!!
El gimnasio was great…the place was empty and I had a great workout. Rosa should be back lunes and I am sure she has lots of stories to tell me.
As for Nissan? Long story… and yes I will tell you all about it…but first, the fotos.
For you regular followers, this needs no explanation does it?
But around the corner, look at these bache (potholes).
And look how low this bus dips as it drives through one.
Here is Daniel, and in the background is one of many turismo buses in town.
The familias of these hombres operate comedors in this small mercado.
Their role is to run out with la carta (menu) when they see a bus pull up, and try to convince the peeps to eat at their restaurante.
Abuela le gusta mucho helado.
Grandmother likes ice cream a lot.
Carpintero waiting to unload?
Papel de hygenico.
Here is a sequence of fotos that will make many parents wince. I had one finger on the shutter button, and was ready to become Life Guard Bubba if need be.
Remember the aquaduct/canal that runs through the city? It helps take the rain water that pours down the montañas and usher it out to the oceano.
Nine months of the year they are bone dry and then come rainy season, all of a sudden they can become very full with raging water.
So I see these 3 niñas walking in the canal, but not in the water. If they had stayed out of the canal, they would have been able to cross the canal via a bridge, 100 feet away.
So the niña in the pink playera (shirt) almost made it to the other side, but for some reason turned around and headed back. The two other niñas had kept on walking when the one in the blue dress noticed her friend was struggling to get out, and ran back to help her.
I guess the niña in the pink is the team leader, as next thing I know, she is back in the agua and coaxing the other two niñas across.
In Canada we teach kids to look both ways before crossing the street, and to not talk to strangers. Here? How to cross the canal? I stuck around long enough to ensure they got across safely. Crazy kids!! Ja ja ja
I did not know what this sign means.
And still don’t!! Hoyo means “holes”.
Ayer, this was a llanteria, a tire repair shop.
Today the awning is gone and they have packed up.
And last but not least.
These are the shelves that we saw a hombre selling ayer. Looks like Spiderman and Snow White?
Ok…sit back for the Nissan story. Maybe go to the baño first?
It starts with me chatting up Raphael, mi mecanico amigo. He tells me they do not have an engine code scanner at his “garage”, which is really someone’s driveway and the “bays” are really the road. Anyway…I explain to him what Nissan has been telling me. He has no advice for me. Huh? He said that unless he had the truck himself, he had no answers. Fair I guess. He laughed when I told him I would have needed a grua (tow truck) to get it to him and he told me all I needed was an amigo with a car…and some strong rope. Welcome to Mexico!!
I left him and went back to the tienda de refacciones that I was at ayer. The part # for the bomba de gasoline that I was given by my guys in Burnaby, is a different number then they use here, so no go. The hombres advice? Bring in the old one and I am sure we can find one that is close. Ja ja ja
I was to meet back at Nissan at 5pm, so I had my swim with mi novia and then took the taxi…otra $20 pesos.
When I got to Nissan, Tony had the camioneta up on the hoist and was about to remove the gas tank. Huh? I thought he was conducting an inspection and running the engine code scanner? More on that in a second.
I guess they have no insurance worries here, because I am under the hoisted truck, looking at the parts and talking gas tanks with Tony. I do step away when they bring out the yellow nylon rope and tie the tank to the hoist so it won’t fall once the bolts are removed!! Ja ja ja
Once the tank is out, we see the problem. On top of the tank is the top of the “sending unit” and one of the plastic tubes has cracked off, leaving access for some of the torrential rain we have been experiencing, to get into the tank.
Tony then unbolts the sending unit, removing it from the tank, and the complete area where the unit was fastened, is rusty and in some areas, has actually rusted through, allowing more water in. Ugh.
The tank is emptied and out comes sludge, rust, water and some of Pemex’s finest.
So, the list of confirmed parts needed is a tank and a flotador…sending unit. We don’t know about the bomba de gasoline as maybe it was fine and the agua was the only issue. Oh yeah…I almost forgot. Doing a underside inspection of the camioneta, Tony points to the left rear shock that has snapped off. Ugh. Add two shocks to the list of parts needed.
Who knows what tope o bache caused that shock to snap? Ugh
The camioneta is 11 years old, has 200k km on it and was driven on the salty roads of Onterrible for 5 years, so I guess a rusted tank can be expected.
Off to the Nissan refacciones counter with Tony AND Carlos. I am not sure what Carlos does there, but he got involved and the more the merrier!!
Hold your horses!! If they could not figure out the part number for the bomba, how will they figure out these other parts? Ugh.
First I pass over the Cdn number for the bomba…and TA DA!! It works and we are able to order that part. But what about the other items? There was a long discussion and Tony convinces everyone that the flotador and tank are identical to the Xterra...and for some reason they can access those part numbers.
The parts total? $23,332 pesos….can you say muy caro…VERY expensive. That is $1995 Cdn…ouch. The biggest culprit is the tank at $14,649 pesos ($1236 Cdn), but the prices so close to what I would pay in Canada. Oh yeah, this is without labour.
Mi dos amigos nuevo see that I am concerned and start spitting out words in español. I recognize one word…reparación…repair. They grab the tank and the three of us squeeze into Tony’s Nissan and off we go. We drive through town, chatting it up, and end up at a small repair shop…an amigo of Tony’s.
I chat with Carlos, telling him that I know the hombre will charge more if he sees me, and Carlos laughs. I get the introductions to Pablo and after a few minutes of chatting, he confirms he can fix the tank mañana…for $500 pesos!!
We will see I says to myself…but if it does work, I am up $14,149 pesos and offer to buy the boys some chelas…cervezs. That got the excitement level up and I now have two new amigos and sábado at 2pm, I am meeting them at Nissan where we will head out for some frosties. Hello Senor Pucks!!
They were kind enough to stop off at Condo Pacifico, as Nissan needs a 50% deposit for the refacciones…and only takes cash!! Ja ja ja
So the tank should be ready mañana and the flotador will be here lunes. The two shocks are 2 weeks away.
I decided to order the bomba…just in case. It is 11 years old and has been sucking up agua and dirty gasoline…but more importantly, if Tony puts everything together on martes and then the original bomba does not work, I will have to wait another week while we order a new one.
So I pay the 50% and the last thing we need to talk about is labour. I don’t know that word, so I ask about horas de trabajo and Tony and Carlos hum and haw and come up with 15 horas todo (total). This includes the original inspection, tank removal and disassembly, cleaning the gas lines and injectors and then reinstalling everything once all the parts are collected. Hopefully it includes the installacion for the shocks as well.
So how much is 15 hours of labour worth? In Canada it is about $1500 Cdn ($100/hour), here it is $2200 pesos, $188 Cdn or $12.53 Cdn/hora.
This is the same for construcción. Our concrete and rebar will be almost if not exactly the same price as in Canada, but will save huge on labour, ending up with some sweet villas, built for $80-$100 square foot.
I confirm all the deets with Tony…I paid Carlos the $500 pesos for the tank repair and they will pcik it up. They do not need $$ for gas. The gas tank parts are due lunes and the shocks in dos semanas. And we hope to drive it away martes. And oh yeah…chelas on sábado!!
What an adventure. Ass-backwards, but an experience I will not forget…and I might have made two new amigos out of it. I also talked to Pablo from Nissan. He turns out to be their janitor and I gave him the gears about his mecanico amigo he sent over sábado pasado (last Saturday). No crisis…Pablo is a nice guy.
Despues de Nissan, off to Che and grabbed a taxi home….almost 730pm by the time I got home. Yikes.
Some pasta for dinner and of course one of Bexico’s ensaladas…and you are caught up.
Mañana…el gimnasio y el doctor.
Hasta mañana amigos.
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