MOVING, THE FINAL CHAPTER

At one point, I felt that it might be my own final chapter.  I was living proof of Murphy's Law (anything that could go wrong, will go wrong).  Let's start with the fan.  It was obvious that the "super" was not going to put it up.  The "good" electrician was on vacation (I think most of Mexico is on a permanent vacation), so I got a young kid to do it.  Right away I knew it was over his head.  The installation required two lines (one for the fan and one for the light).  We set off for the Fretteria (hardware store) where he bought 100 feet of lamp cord.  The wiring in the building appears to be good copper wire, but this was not going to be.  He could not manage to "fish" the wire through to the wall switch.  I was never sure exactly what the problem was, but after two days he was able to "gerryrig" a wire off another wall switch.  I did not like the way it looked, so I chiseled out part of the concrete wall myself to hide part of the wire.  Then he insisted that he needed a metal bar to hang the light from the ceiling.  I did not like the idea of a "hanging fan", but what can you do.  We went off the the iron works factory where he picked up a rusted, crooked piece of iron and proceeded to hammer into a straight line.  The fan now works, which was a God sent for the air conditioning does not.

While he was there working  under the sweltering conditions of that apartment I told him of the problem of the air conditioner.  He spoke to the "super" and discovered that neither he nor the manager knew how or where to buy freon gas (unbelievable, but true).  He knew an air conditoning man and arranged with his friend to have it delivered the next day.  Of course he was late arriving and by then the office was closed and no one (not even the super) has a key to the roof (Unbelievable, but true,again),  He came back the following morning, put the freon gas in and then discovered that there is a "major electric problem" with the air conditioning.  Each day, I am told it will be fixed "manana".

My favorite bar tender had offered to help me move and he had a friend with a pickup truck.  We set it up for Saturday.  But his friend decided to take his girl friend to  the river instead, so we had no luck.  Filipe (my favorite bar tender) said he would carry the pots (one by one) the two blocks to my new apartment.  He is a big strong guy, but I just did not see that as an option.  We talked to the other bar tender who did have a truck and he agreed to move me on Sunday.   He never showed up and never called, but I later heard that his brother had taken the truck and he did not know where he was.  So, he said he would be there on Monday night (for sure) when Filipe got off work.  He did not show up and no one had his telephone number.  He was robbed a few weeks ago in Monterrey while visiting his girl friend and new baby and they took his cell phone.  Either he never go another phone, or he has a different number.  Filipe again offered to carry the pots, but he as sick with the flu and was running a fever.  I sent him home.

The guy who runs the tour buses in front of my building said he had a truck and would move me at 6:00 that night.  When he did not get there by 7:00,  I panicked.  If I had not been stood up the previous three nights, maybe it would not have bothered me so much.  He arrived with a little skinny guy, but they both put the pots on their shoulders and started down the stairs.  Since I had borrowed a dolly from my friend, I wanted to show them how much easier it would be if they used the dolly.  So I put on of the smaller plants on the dolly and of course it fell off and cascaded down the stairs, breaking the plant and scattering dirt everywhere.  The rest went smoothly and my ten plants are now happy on my new deck.

Since I still have no furniture in my new apartment, I am spending my last two nights here with my friend (so I can finish cleaning my old apartment).  Because I will not be here on November 1st, I must give the manager another months rent.  This means that I have paid 4 months rent on an apartment I have never slept in while paying for my old apartment (which is paid through Nov. 15th).   I have spent about $1000 US on the new apartment for which I do not even have a signed lease for.  I think I told you in the beginning that I wound up in Mexico instead of the South of France because I made some very bad financial decisions.  Obviously, I have learned nothing.  Sadly age does not necessarily make one brighter.   Hopefully when I return in a month, the air conditioner will be working and I will have a bed to sleep on (the reason they wanted 3 months advance rent was to order the furniture) Anyway I am sending you a few photos to give you a taste of what the new apartment will look like.  I will be back in one month.

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