WINTER HOME first report
We made the trip from Xico to Puerto Escondido in 12.5 hours. We lost about an hour due to major construction on highway 200. This is the main southern Mexico highway running from east to west.
This time while away we hired a gardener to visit 3 hours a week. It paid off. The yard was in much better shape and ended up costing about half of what it did to restore the yard and get rid of a bunch of vegetation trash.
The report on Hurricane Carlotta damage is we had minimal damage. We had more damage (read cleanup) from the fact the wind blew open the door of our just newly decorated upstairs bathroom. That opening provided a hotel room for about 4-5 bats. They are messy creatures. We put in a lot of work getting rid of palm fronds and bat guano.
Additional bad news was that our Internet provider has disappeared. The fellow that assured us he would be here when we got back now has one of our radios, cabling and a Linksys wifi unit. We managed to locate him in Salina Cruz where he says restitution is forth coming. We will not be holding our breath on that.
A great deal of friendly overtures were made which gained our trust. So far in Mexico this has not paid off. Typically that is the case no matter where you may be these days. It is good advice to simply not entrust anyone with your things. We could have gathered up our equipment before we left – better stated we should have done that.
We are back to square one on Internet access here in Puerto. We do know more about using radios – beyond that, it is start anew.
Early reports from the neighborhood include our next-door neighbors had their car stolen right out in front of their casa. A mere 30 feet or so from my office space. This occurred just after the Hurricane. There was no power in the neighborhood – no lights.
Clever of some thoughtless ladrones to add injury to people dealing with a distressful time. I suppose the attitude here is move while the opportunity presents itself. Our neighbors had lost most of their roof and were dealing with water damage in their bedroom etc. They do have a shiny new red roof now.
The current weather picture is lows in the high 70’s and 87-89 highs. Lots of sun and near perfect temperatures as usual. Of course we always seem to have a gentle sea breeze; after all, we live in Las Briesas.
We are sleeping downstairs while we finish cleaning upstairs. It will be a few more days of this – no small task even just cleaning after a direct hit hurricane.
Horror of horrors our La Pavoni espresso maker stopped working. The pump was humming but no action. I sprayed some WD-40 and then used a screw driver to turn the armature shaft a bit. That did it – We have already had our first cups of espresso.
Then the motor on our small water pump we use for the washing machine was in a similar state. I performed similar action and it is once again free and running. Obviously things at rest tend to build up a salty fixed state. We will need a plan for this. But the washing machine worked right off.
In spite of the few trials at the moment. It is good to be back in sunny Puerto Escondido. Cannot think of a better place to be right now. Stay Tuned!
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ivan