viernes, el 4 de mayo de 2012

No disrespect, but maybe someone should take ME to a meeting!! It is sooo hot, I am guzzling the Coca Light…yup, my addiction…doph.

915pm and I missed Squire’s Satellite Debris as Max needed some tending. We chatted up what the difference is between Mile Isla (1000 Island) and Big Mac sauce and then he fell asleep.

The lil’Dali Lama had a great day…mostly spent with madre. We had our morning walk and it was the funnest part of my day. Por que? Porque we were walking near a foto shop and there were 20 or so school girls who when they saw Max, started talking about how cute and beautiful he was.

These girls were 12 or 13 years old and we stopped and introduced Max and did the usual “he is 6 months old and weighs a ton” rutina and then I said the the group “listo”…ready?

I then proceeded to take off Max’s lentes de sol and when the group saw his ojos, there was a collective sigh of 20 niñas. Hilarious.

Then after our pit stop in the parque, Max had decided he was done wearing the sun glasses. As we left the parque, 10 of the girls come up and are saying “hola Max” and touching his feet. The lil’heart breaker took it all in stride.

Home and swapped off as he was hot and needed to eat.

Then I had a 2 hour meeting with Roman. A good meeting and again it was all about ensuring we are on the same page. No point paying Sergio to work on some plans if he is not 100% claro on what we are looking for.

So we reviewed some fotos I had sent, a list of quality issues in our current condo that we do NOT want to see at Mojon, and then we chatted up further the paperwork process for the enviro study, the FZ as well as actual title of the property.

A good meeting and I was quite energized when it was all done. We should have our fist draft of plans in just over a week. Stay tuned.

Quite energized…until I saw that it was 35 plus grados, no viento, a ton of humido…and I was dressed to go to the gym!! Not hating…just stating VERY clearly that it is HOT!!

So off to the gym where I did some weights and then called it a day. Too hot for cardio…time for the alberca!!

The pool was all ours again and we had some good fun. It was a 4 dunk day and on domingo we will bring the camera down to the pool and take some fotos. Fotos of him closing his eyes and mouth as he leaves the deck, AND of his new pool towel…so fun!!

Left the familia and poked my nose in at Elektra to look at motos, and then off to Che where it was SOOO busy and they were so understaffed. Good part though? The bagger did a great job and earned his $5 pesos. Some of the joven there have no idea how to bag groceries. I guess that is what you should expect from unpaid and untrained joven. Doph.

HERE is a moto I looked at. Looks just like the Yamaha, but half the price at $1400 CDN, impuestos included. It gets 30km/litro…good to have for going back and forth to Mojon. Stay tuned.

  

Home, groceries, time with Max and then the rutina started. Madre fed him his solids and then we ate our la cena..and said adios to the last of the cheddar cheese!! Bex says she is going to go to Che and see if they will order some in for us and the rest of the Canucks.

Max had a great bath and we even broke out a few new numbered cards to review. Then off to zzzz.

I did manage to have a FT with mi hermano…crazy trying to arrange a time for that to happen, but we had success.

And you are all caught up.

Mañana? Pavo dinner with Randy and Karen and not sure what else is on tap. My gym is closed so Jhanhet can celebrate Labour Day and I was thinking I might go to the rico gym, or take the day off, spend it with Max and give Bex some free time. No sé…stay tuned.

Fotos? Sham foto viernes. Doph.

This hombre was selling flowers. He did not want his foto taken...I waited. I liked how all the colors matched the polka dots and drapes.

And here is the lil'hombre post meal.

Buen fin de semana and don’t forget the race is on domingo at 1pm TO time.

Marco, Bexico y Max

jueves, el 3 de mayo de 2012

Buenos noches y Feliz Día de Santa Cruz.

Teaser foto...naptime con Pudge.

815pm and the rutina is under way, but la cena has been delayed so we could go out for a late walk and check out a fiesta. More on that later.

A great day…again. I took the second shift, which allows me to get the extra zzz, but it means our walk is later and it was HOT out!! Will be rethinking that plan for the next month or so.

But we still had a fun walk and said hola to lots of peeps. In the parque, a Mexican couple sat next to us and were enamoured with Max as I took him out of the sling and let him catch his bearings.

Headed back to the condo and off to the alberca because Max needed a cool down. Hilarious action of the day? I leaned Max over the pool and on his own accord, he turned his head to the side and dunked it in the water. He did this to both sides and after dunking into the cool water, he made a brrrr sound. So funny.

Swapped off the lil’character and I headed out to el gimnasio.

UPDATE

9pm, la cena is done, Max is zzzz and we are about to lavar los platos. A balmy 32,6 grados with 55% humido…oh around 43,0 grados todo. Yikes. But a cool 27,0 in Max’s room!!

Back to the day.

Después de el gimnasio, a walk through centro and hola’d Daniel y Vicky. Costumbre differences? I told them about the cubitos of food Bex has made for Max.

Ice cube trays with pureed pear, apple, peas etc. Instead of making a meal every day, batch them and thaw one cubito. Makes sense to me.

First time Daniel has EVER heard of such a thing, but he understands why we would do that. Not many Mexicans would, due to madres not working and many Mexicans don’t have fridges and/or freezers.

Anyway…tell the story to Vicky and in a playful way, she was shocked and aghast!! She now understands why Bex does it, but still cannot wrap her head around it.

So I asked what her thoughts are about a moto with 5 peeps on it, 3 are niños and no one wears a casco, helmet. She is fine with it, because that is how things are here in Mexico.

Putting a niño in harms way...ok. Frozen food...not ok.

All about the different cultures and you are always learning something new.

No word on the fridge shelf…I found out Daniel did NOT open the 2 fotos I had sent him, thus he was waiting to see me to confirm which shelf I was looking for. Doph.

Headed home and very shortly had the hombre all geared up and we were off to the alberca. He had a great time and it was another triple dunk from the deck día!!

Upstairs for a cat nap and then we took him out for the quick stroll and ta da…you are all caught up.

Misc

Lil'backed up hombre, is no longer. Phew.

Who knew? Cheezies were a Canadian invention?

Just received the gas bill for the condo. Cheaper then the last one…$679 pesos or $53 Cdn for dos meses. Not bad.

Roman and Sergio had a pow wow at Mojon and I am now meeting with Roman mañana. They are going to work hard and smart in an attempt to give us what we need within the budget we supplied.

The next 3 steps are:

Architectural pre-project:

1.- Basic cost analysis and definition of what can be done with the initial budget.

2.- Presentation in basic floor hand drawings of the items reviewed.

3.- Proposals presentation to meet the budget target.

Architectural project: (Includes 1 printout to obtain environmental permits)

1.- Basic CAD architectural drawings.

2.- Basic CAD facades drawings.

3.- Inclusion of peripheral items in the design (ex. pool, water reservoir and water treatment plant and any other defined by you)

Final Project Plans & Costing: (Includes required printouts to obtain building permits)

1.- Detail CAD plans of:

Architectural

Facades

Foundation

Structural

Utilities (Water, Power, Hydraulic, Gas )

Facilities (Water Reservoir, Pool & WTP)

2.- Detail Construction Project Quote

3.- General Construction Timing

We will be paying step by step and at anytime we can decide we don’t like what we have seen or feel the costs are not competitive, and look elsewhere.

The same goes after the 3^rd step. We may like the project, but obviously will be getting multiple quotes/bids and may end up Sergio’s plans, but a different contractor.

Exciting times…stay tuned.

Fotos.

First batch are from ayer.

Tuesday was Labour Day, Wednesday was a busy day at the jail.

Different country, different costumbres.

I think this hombre was following me and here he is playing coy.

We saw this event on the day it happened. Looked like fun but we never seem to find out about these events until it is too late.

I was intrigued by the dos sillas (2 chairs) that are situated under the bell.

And from hoy.

Just because they are renovating, doesn't mean they don't have wash to dry.

They finally found a renter for the unit on the right.

After 3 failed businesses on the right, the business that was on the left, moved over. Obviously NOT superstitious!!

Boobies.

Naah, water tanks that sit on peeps roofs.

Cat nap?

Día de Santa Cruz, where construction sites are adorned with crosses and the workers are out having a few (ja ja ja) cervezas.

Day labourers. There was no way they I could have taken the foto from the front.

Big sale on fake snow?

Pit stop for the hombre de papaya.

A site never seen before.

The gates to the mercado closed during the day. Por que? Porque it is el 3 de mayo and the name of the mercado is 3 de mayo and they are celebrating not only Día de Santa Cruz, but the 25th aniversario of the existence of the mercado.

The street outside the mercado was closed, tents and 2 stages were set up.

A school band was playing at one end.

And the funky band was rehearsing for later.

After the pool time, we came back and saw the band playing. 

It was SO loud that we covered Max's ears and he still had a look of "yikes" on his face. So madre took him to the zocalo and I took a few fotos.

By 630pm, the cervezas were flowing freely and the dancing had started too.

I am sure the fiesta will be going on deep into the night.


In the zocalo, Max y madre were having some fun with bubbles.

This niña was tímida...shy.

Some Max fotos?

Busted!! What ya doing Max? Staring at your beautiful self in the mirror?

Padre, I thought I had something stuck in my teeth.

You are right padre...silly me...I have no teeth. Ja ja ja

Max "going bananas" in his Going Bananas in Victoria BC playera. A regalo from his abuelos.

Still going bananas.

Phew...back to normal.

Mañana? Che, maybe Fonatur and no sé what else we will do. Mojon is due before the rains come…soon!!

Last fotos.

Nope, it is not Max. Bex saw this on a Telmex booth...it is our amigo from Mojon...Tenoch.

I guess he has gone missing...doph. The flyer calls him either the crazy dog of Mojon, or the coconut dog of Mojon. Both are true as the dog has sooo much energy and is always seen with a coconut hanging from his boca.

Here is a foto of Tenoch and myself hard at work at the oficina.

Hope he is found soon. 

Have a great viernes!!

Marco, Bex y Max