Buenos noches!!
A pleasant sopresa? The
race was delayed and at 815pm, as I sit for 30 minutes before closing the show
con Max, the race is about to begin!! A full evening…if I don’t fall asleep!!
Ja ja ja
Ok…no fotos today. Yeah
yeah…I hear ya. But…but there is a great story to be told, and if you keep
reading, I am pretty sure you will enjoy it.
Our day? Full for everyone
and I think we are all feeling it. Me? I should have applied some sun
screen…doph. More on that later.
530am the lil’hombre was
stirring and that meant it was time for the Whisperer to get involved and after
a quick chat y rock, it was chest nap time.
And the best reason that I
had to call Tony and move our cita from 10am to 11am? Yup…Max slept in!! Well,
if you can call 730am sleeping in!!
So a later rising, a later
first nap and thus I had to call Tony. The Mexican way? No problem Marco..and
I honestly feel he was surprised that I even bothered to call.
We had our morning walk
and even had some speed cruising on a banco...bench, in the zocalo. They have
recently painted the benches and we found one that hadn’t been bombarded by the
1000’s of parrots that make the zocalo their part time home.
Before heading home…pit
stop at Papaloapan for our rib eyes and the molida res for burritos and only a
few feet from our gates, I see 2 senoritas working on some quesillo, so we
stopped and bout 250 gramos as well.
Burritos con quesillo are
better then with manchego, but still doesn’t beat good ol’cheddar!!
As we were ready to
siesta, time to get madre up and you should see how excited the lil’guy is when
after our nap, I tell him we should find madre. And if she walks in while we
are waking up…he bolts over to her!!
We made a quick change of
plans and loaded the familia into the camioneta, so I could drop the two of
them off at the playa…where later on they told me they had a super día!! They
had lots of fun and met some peeps too.
Me? Tarde (late) for 11am,
but I grabbed some colas for Tony y his padre and arrived at their taller
(workshop/garage) by 1115am or so.
Ok…the good story? It
starts about now…and I think it truly reflects how life is in a small town like
Huatulco. When it was all said and done, some 4.5 hours later, my life was
richer for the experience.
So, at 1115am, I pull into
this “taller” (tah-lair) and Tony is working on a taxi and tells me to pull in
next to him and it won’t be long.
So I get out, say hola to
his padre and a taxista and an otro hombre. We chat it up for a while and even
though I have met Tony’s padre a few times, he is always full of questions.
How long are we planning on living here?
Where do we live? Plans for while we are here? Etc.
The otro hombres are all
polite and like to hear the stories and get good chuckles when I pronounce
something wrong, or need them to reword their questions so I can understand
them.
Something in common? They
all like the turbocharged, 6 cylinder Nissan Frontier.
Some 20 minutes pass and
Tony tells me we are headed to his amigo, an expert in air con. Ok…throw his
papa the cola and off we go.
Small town so we are there
in 5 minutes and I discover we have gone to a tienda that sells household air
conditioners. I had actually been there once before, when I needed to buy a
remote for the air con in G10.
We find out this hombre is
not in and won’t be back for an hour. So I am thinking I will drop Tony off at
his taller, I will hit el gimnasio and then go back and grab Tony in an hour.
But things change quickly
and instead, with Tony driving, we head into centro and look at a salon that we
can rent for Max’s primero cumpleaños. Nice place, $1500 pesos…might be muy
caro for what we need.
So off we go and Tony
stops by the zocalo and parks in taxi parking spot. Out we go so Tony can chat
up an hombre in a Mustang and I go across the street to say hola to the gang at
Gabriels.
They have come out and looking
at Tony talking to this hombre, think we have hit his car with the camioneta.
Huh?
And as they are talking,
who wanders over to ask why this camioneta is parked in a taxi zone? Hello to a
blanco/tamarindo!! Tony shrugs him off and we get away without a mordida. If it
had been me…hello to a fine…mordida.
Off to the taller and for
the next 30 minutes, we just hang out and chat it up. New found facts? They
have a perro named Lassie…it is a half breed pit bull and they all howled when
I told them the other half looked like a Chihuahua…and the Chihuahua was the
padre!!
Tony owns a taxi and it’s
license, and rents it out for $200 pesos a day. His padre owns two, all from
sitio Bufadero. His padre also just bought a 2010 Nissan pick up…diesel…muy
raro here in Huatulco.
Didn't know this...they change the oil every 15 days...as they drive 5000 km in that short time. Yikes.
Didn't know this...they change the oil every 15 days...as they drive 5000 km in that short time. Yikes.
An hour had passed and we
had not heard back from the air con guy, and no one seemed concerned…it is the
Mexican way.
But padre tells Tony to
look at the electrical side of the air con and we can leave the gas side to the
otro hombre.
So up goes the hood and
Tony looks at a connection under the glove box, as well as the fuse in the
engine compartment. Not sure what he was doing, but we were getting positive
signals from his meter, but we did not get the a/c compressor to click on.
Doph.
Tony is thinking it might
be the compressor and I am thinking it might be time to buy a new camioneta!!
Next thing I know, the
fuse he had taken out, is blown and it stinks. Doph…off to a parts tienda
called 12 de Agosto…no sé why it is called August 12. Maybe because 12 de
agosto is also Día de los Taxistas?
So Tony runs in to buy a
new fuse and when he comes out, he has this large and short hombre with him.
Hola to Victor, an amigo of Tony…and an hombre that knows electrical systems.
Small town!!
So this guy spends 10
minutes looking and prodding and he manages to get the compressor to activate!!
The problem is NOT an expensive compressor…but it is an electrical problem.
Working backwards, the
hombre, whose name is Victor, has traced the problem into the cab and somewhere
between the glove box and the actual on/off switch in the dash board.
We are parked on a side
street, in front of a parts tienda, we have bumped into Victor y hijo…who just
happen to know electrical systems…AND…they have time to look at the problem and
may be able to solve it. Viva Mexico!!
But to get to what they
feel is the root of the problem, off comes the dash board, all the parts around
the steering wheel and the glove box.
There are a dozen screws
on the floor, many plugs disconnected and 2 screw drivers being used.
Victor feels that the
issue is a build up on the circuit board, and this 120 kilo hombre is squeezed
into the passenger’s seat, trying to convince this unit out of the dash board.
And finally, out comes the
complete control unit for all the blower functions.
All four of us are hot and
so I offer to grab some chelas for us and no one disagrees.
So I boogie around the
corner to a Modelorama and who do I bump into? Un Ojo Bob is in there and he is
not finishing his first beer…if you know what I mean. Think I have difficulty
understanding him when he is selling his cocos frio, try after a few beers.
I do understand he wants
to buy me a beer for helping his hija with her ingles, but I tell him it will
have to be an otra día.
Grabbed 6 Paciificos and
the senora throws them into a bolsa and automatically throws in some ice. Viva
de Mexico!!
The beer was cooooold and
well received. But after looking at all the parts on the floor and being stored
on the roof of the truck, I made an executive call that I would hold back a
second beer until the truck was back together and I was not the owner of some
spare tornillos…screws!! Ja ja ja
So the unit is out and
Victor has taken it across the calle into a shop…not sure whose shop, but it
has all the tools including a soldering iron.
He does what he does and
tests the unit and then goes back to the shop.
Meanwhile, Raphael, mi
otro mecanico amigo, has ridden up on a bici and is grabbing some parts for his
taller. He comes over to chat and confirms that he too loves the truck and
wants to buy it if and when we sell it.
And ten minutes later, the
esposa of UOB (Un Ojo Bob) drives by to collect her husband, and she too honks
and waves. Small town but a very busy calle.
It took 90 minutes or so,
but the truck was put back together, the air con now works and the beers were
finished.
Final score? No parts
needed and I paid Victor and his hijo $200 pesos for their mano de obra…labour.
$16 Cdn and I am sure in Canada it would have been hundreds in labour and
probably a new circuit board, another few bills.
Tony has missed comida, so
I offer to buy him lunch…invito, and he agrees. We are going to go to Los
Portales, but decide to try a comedor economico that is by our condo.
We have not eaten there
before, but it is always busy and the senoritas that work there are always
friendly to Senor Max when we walk by.
So, two tlayudas are
ordered and wow were they huge!! And good eating too. Total bill for the 2 plus
bebidas? $90 pesos…$7 Cdn.
I asked Tony how much I
owed for his time and his answer? Nada…nothing. I pressed him a little and he
did not want any $$ and was happy with lunch and the cervezas and maybe some
chelas proximo sábado.
I drove him back to the
taller and no one was there. I put his tools on the bench, slipped him $100
pesos and as I was leaving he saw the $$ and shook his head. I told him he was
an amigo and we left it at that. He is a young guy, but a good guy with a good
head on his shoulders.
That is the end of the story
and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I saw a bunch of peeps I knew, I met some new
peeps, chatted up some peeps, AND the truck was fixed for $300 pesos.
The pace of how things
work here can be frustrating to outsiders, myself included. But if you stay
tranquilo, things do happen and get completed…just at their own pace.
So, 3.5 hours after
setting out, I headed home without my sábado work out at el gimnasio.
All good as when I got
home, madre y Max were finishing up la comida and then we all went out for a
walk. We pit stopped into the centro de commercial... mall, and scoped out some way
cool camo shoes for the lil’dude. He will be the most styling kid at this
diciembre wedding. With a tan to boot!! ja ja ja
Once home, Max and I headed for his 3rd
nap and after that…hola to some alberca time!!
Follow that by a late
dinner, the rutina and you are all caught up.
1025pm and happy to report
that Max has only stirred once!! Phew.
The race is on rain delay
and I am pooped…and sun burned due to not be prepared for the time in the sol.
Doph.
Mañana? We might be
watching the end of the race!! Need to find some huevos and the condo needs
some cleaning. Maybe a familia trip to the playa too!! Busy busy life here in
Huatulco!!
Have a great domingo!!
Marco, Bexico y Max
No comments:
Post a Comment