Author: Contessa Jewall

……..well actually triple negative update!!!

The offers on our home tumbled one after the another last evening. We never even got to see them on paper. Needless to say we were and still are in shock.

Then this morning we received a phone call from our partners at the compound on the Isla. Genie had been checking on getting weeds removed and the site freshened up as we usually do. I can’t even say long story short because there is no story. Simply a no longer renting the site out. No notice. What  😡 How can you do that to us 😥

Colin’s phone started to ping with messages from our wonderful Mexican neighbor ( the one who just had the baby boy before we left in June ) , Humberto, with suggestions that things were not right with our site. Then the handyman, Jesus, sent Colin a note saying that there was no electricity now and that they were doing renovations on the property and it was no longer for RV rental. So while still trying to understand why we received no offers on the house yesterday we now suddenly ( with no notice ) have no place to park our home on wheels on the Isla. Isla de la Piedra where we have wintered since the fall of 2009.

We were and still are speechless.

Colin and I have been working all day  (other than his first session with the new therapist). Stress is not good for a stroke and I am so sad to say that Colin has been rendered speechless a few times today. He literally could not talk. I am in tears relating this to you.

We saw a photo where part of Genie & Joe’s patio has been removed. However it appears from the following architectural rendering that our palapas will be not be there for much longer.

So with that, the third hit to our solar plexus today, we are shattered.

It only took a few hours this morning to pick up the pieces and now the search is on to first and most importantly to find us a new home on the Isla for the winter. Yes we know the most obvious choice but it won’t  be water front. Dreaming of being on the ocean after leaving the Isla in June is what has kept us going this past months. I feel so badly for us both, but especially for Colin as he needs the inspiration.

Then we realized that we have to save our close to 40 -50 plants.  We need to move them somewhere. And pretty much right away before they are destroyed. Oh and then why not save our imported from the US, 50 AMP plugs and other things. Then what to do with our custom expensive palapa and the wind break that Colin created. We called Alex our palapa builder and told him to take what he could save and use it elsewhere. It was no good to us.

What I am going to really miss is my ‘special seating area’ that Colin created for me to watch the sunset. I still have not written the post about it all. But within days of his completing the project he had his stroke. Now our unique area will never be used by us but hopefully by others.

It appears that we will be going to the Isla tomorrow afternoon, after physio. Maybe check out a few locations for the RV and say adios to the compound. I want my sign back 🙁

 

 

Long awaited updates still coming but first a few very current updates.

“Narda is affecting Sinaloa with a flow of humidity that increases the temperature. This is in addition to the blocking of precipitation in Mazatlan and some municipalities in the southern part of the state. We continue to wait for weather conditions to change or for a strong storm to move in to dissipate the blocking.”  As translated from Spanish.

No wonder my laundry did not dry yesterday 😯 Definitely hot stuff.

Meanwhile we are doing some sweating right now as well – even in the coolness of our air conditioned RV.  Our house has been seen twice by two sets of potential buyers since last Thursday. We have been told to expect an offer, well that would be an offer from each interested party. On day two of waiting for a proper offer on paper. Nothing yet.

Last Friday Colin met a new to us therapist for an assessment. She did a few tests and was surprised to see how strong his right hand was as the grip tester showed it be almost the same as his left hand. Sofia agrees that Colin needs to strengthen the muscles in his right leg in order to be able to walk properly. He will be meeting her tomorrow for his first therapy session with her. She also expressed how strong his heart was. It was a positive meeting. Colin plans to see both rehab facilities as well as continue with exercises here at home.

The meeting was at 5PM and it was dark by 6:10 PM when we left. Strange how it gets dark so much sooner. Yeah, that means it almost time to move to the Isla for the winter. Only 36 sleeps until we are scheduled to return. But that might be delayed now by adding this new therapy. All to be decided in the weeks to come. Most important is having Colin’s physical ability to move properly be improved. So if we have to stay here longer than we will.

It is taking longer and longer for Didi to pick us up. Finally after a thirty minute wait we headed back tot the Cerritos area. Centro was dry but we caught glimpses of puddles on the road.  Suddenly it began to rain and the further north we drove the evidence of a heavy storm appeared.

Got home to a huge mess of mud, water and screaming dogs. Lots of lightning and thunder. It was quite the night. The weather is certainly different here in the summer months.

Still no offers nor even one offer on the table in writing. And so we wait. We refuse to commit to a verbal offer. Legal only please. Guess I’ll go do some laundry and use my dryer again.

After multiple attempts to sort out our debit card problem with the bank, the bank ( well one person ) is actually coming to our home after work today to try and help us get back on track. They certainly work long hours. Octavio starts at 8AM and leaves at 6PM.

 

I have about two posts almost completed but as usual life gets in the way. In a nutshell, we have had 3 vet visits in about 10 days and one was today. All is well or so this new to us vet thinks.

We had a showing of our Kelowna house last Thursday and got an offer of about $150,000.00 less than our selling price 😥  Then that same evening we got word of another showing yesterday, Sunday the 14th. Well those folks are coming back to check out our house yet again tomorrow, the 16th at 10:30AM PST……so fingers and toes crossed and I won’t say no to prayers nor positive energy sent our way.

Yes we had some weeds cut and thanks to a very special gentleman named Carl. More on the weeds and Carl in the very next post. Sadly the mosquitoes are still with us.

We have a working RV awning.

We have all three RV air conditioners working. I almost passed out at the repair price but then we worked out that it was 1/5 of the cost we would have incurred in the USA.

50% of our banking issues have been resolved but I am really struggling with the iPhone app that I need to use. You guessed it, all in Spanish.

Our days are so full that I can’t get it all done. Today I received an email re propane delivery to our house in Canada. Do you recall that my credit card was compromised and that is the card I was using for that company. So it goes on and on.

So wonderful to hear from folks we met on our very first trip to this area in Mexico, Sandra and Frank. Like way back in ??? 2004 and they found us online. I have not had a moment to get back to them – hola dear friends, I totally remember you. Tlaquepaque RV Park. I will reach out soon.  And Carl…..love you  and thank you and you are getting a special post.

I will catch you up as soon as I can find some extra time……..

 

I have been planning to do an update post for about five days now. But things are happening so fast that I simply can’t keep up.

Worst thing ever is for me to be sitting at my desk top all day long – well I have been. No choice! Too many issues to deal with from good to bad to very bad and so many very very sad and even one ugly! For the most part I am trying to wear my compression stockings. Consequences is surgery as the blood is not easily returning to my heart. So taking the pills and doing the best to wear the stockings. Definitely no time for the two times per day elevation requirements.

Why you ask?

Well it’s too dang hot in the RV!  Why you ask?

Because the front air conditioning unit is kaput! The other two have been serviced so why not this one? Except this is pretty serious. I had been feeling less cool air and had begun smelling an electrical smell on Friday. Erik came this past Saturday and said it was likely a freon leak and he would have to remove the A/C and bring it in for repairs. Good news is that it can be repaired. In the US or Canada they would put in a new A/C unit.

Erik was greatly challenged as the unit was glued to the roof and it was doubtful it could be removed. He persisted and won the battle.

Sadly by removing the unit the other two units died. Turns out they’re all tethered together. Erik had to figure out how to hard wire the system So we now have limited air that is tied to a breaker but we have no control of temp or fan level.  No idea how long it will take for the repair. First they have to find the leak and weld it and then test it and then test it again and then add freon and test it again.

So we were without any air for about four or five hours. It was well over 112F inside when I last looked. So we went out outside seeking some relief from the heat but the mosquitos were feasting by the hundreds. Dengue is very real and very serious this summer. We were driven back inside. It finally cooled down by 11PM.

Next he tried again for the second time to reinstall the new motor for the main awning I had brought in from the USA but no go!  Back and forth and back and forth. Missing a part  ( their fault for not including it ) but oh maybe it can be done another way per the people in Florida who built the motor. Then Erik got sick for a few days. He  came yet again to try but to no avail.

Final attempt was to try to change out the base plate of the old motor to the new motor – as the bolts did not match up. Success at last. Great job. I can’t reach the switch to extend the awning when we need shade. It is located as high as up as it can be over the stair well. I need a stick to push it with as I am too short but it works with time and patience and much persistence.

Sadly today I had to extract quite a bit of spear grass from Ciela’s mouth.  No wonder she has not been eating. Some were stuck an inch into her jaw between her teeth ( upper and lower teeth ). So now the tall soft weeds have become spear grass. And of course thistles. Erik had to keep stopping to clean his socks. Poor Ciela – I will have to call the vet tomorrow as I fear there is more that I can’t see and it is irritating her mouth.  Meanwhile Carlie is still sick from eating the toxic weeds last Sunday. What did our poor innocent girls do to deserve this? They should be running along a clean fresh ocean beach.

We are not moving to the condo as Colin is not strong enough to deal with the actual move ( neither am I )  never mind living there and us having to get the girls out to do their business. Stroke and stress do not work together. My job is to keep him stress free which is extremely difficult right now as I keep running into problem after problem trying to get help reprovisioning certain items that are needed after being away for almost a year. Yes of course we will become fully reliant on products found here in Mexico but now is not the time for this. I have little to no time to do the research.

A few people have offered to help and that has helped immensely. Sadly one good friend from Alberta has had to cancel his trip to Mazatlan due to his father in law having had a very recent heart attack. That family has been faced with so much grief in the past few years – I wish them nothing but love, peace and healing thoughts. And another very dear and special amiga whom we met our first winter in Mexico over 23/24 years ago in Guasave at Mr Moro’s is facing double breast removal surgery due to stage 2 cancer in the much too soon days ahead. These people wanted to help us and just today both told me they could not. Miss K, you know that your surgery will go well and will be totally successful and we will see each other again here in Mexico. I have been weeping all day for my special friends.

So I still have to find new people to bring some things back from Canada.  I am so clever as I leave the things from the USA to be brought to the Isla by our American friends. But I need a few good and trustworthy Canadians to carry down the made only in Canada things. Yes some might be silly to you, but to Colin it means a lot and he certainly needs inspiration. Even something as simple as Halloween candy or Costco Lindcor chocolate and a few other items. Of course I will pay for these and if you want to pack a second suitcase I will pay the air freight. Hey! That way you get half of an extra suitcase to pack into.

So many updates, can’t really remember them all. My new eyeglasses are fitting into my life easily. I had to stop using my readers for the computer as when I put the progressives back on they’re not clear. So the progressives are not perfect on the computer but are getting better. I actually am wearing them all day most days. Colin says that when on the computer my chin is way up in the air so I might need to have the reader part moved up higher into my lenses. But that is a small thing at the moment.

Overall this RV is wonderful and considering how it has not been used so much we are very fortunate. Not much left to get updated. We hope to get many more years in it.

Colin has some updates of his own. Within the RV he is not using the cane and his walking is better. At the clinic they are pushing his leg movement and walking. He uses the cane outside because of the unsteady terrain here but often gets out the door and then calls for his cane because he forgot it. The other day he mentioned that his eye site has improved. Because of the stroke it had deteriorated a bit.

Even better he has finally picked up his guitar and started with a few chords. And just yesterday began working on Besame Mucho! Who knows perhaps he might even be able to sing now 😎

So many small changes and then we had a plan for big change but it got too complicated.  Mostly because that big change began so very many small changes and so on and so on. Now spending energy to backtrack out of that big change that created so many issues.  More on that later in the post.

We were beyond surprised to see a 40′ Class from Alberta come in three nights ago. They were towing a Jeep and had three very large dogs, perhaps 2 labs and a Shepard. Certainly a handful for the wife to deal with. They parked and disappeared inside with the blinds closed. They left early the next morning but about 15 minutes later he was knocking at our door. He was relived that I spoke English – perhaps the Montana and BC plates might have been a help had he noticed before standing there typing up his request on Google translate in Spanish. He was asking how to get out of the park as the gate was locked. I explained that it was a fake lock and he could  get out. He refused to believe me and I refused to walk up there in my nightie and of course Colin could not. Not too friendly but I discovered that they were from Edmonton and on their way to Playa Carmen – not Playa del Carmen as it is called. I asked about the roads which he said are horrific, nothing new. He did add that they got shook down twice and had to pay bribes. Then as he left that morning he went to dump and the line was blocked and he had a huge crappy mess to deal with. I did report the mess to the “Useless” and he ignored me. Plus they had to pay a steep 800 MXN/$59.90CAD/42.88USD to spend the nite among the tall grass and weeds listening to the hum of mosquitoes. I guess he had reasons not to be friendly with me.

We keep complaining about the bugs and the thigh high stuff full of burrs that we have to walk through. We were told that they had a project to do and then in a few days they would weed whack our site. That was three weeks ago. I called a week ago and asked again and was told it would be a few weeks before they got to us. That they had started clearing the sites closest to the pool and would make their way down the road toward us but it would be a few weeks!  So I started calling around trying to find someone to clear our weeds. It makes no difference that we are now paying 14,000 MXN per month to “useless”. When they get to they get to us! I asked about spraying for mosquitoes, ” no we don’t do that”.  “But we have bug reppelent placed in a few trees here and there that get refilled every now and then”. I asked if they could please move one of those to a tree near us. “Not possible” was the answer.

So I called around and found someone to spray but first needed to clear the tall grasses/weeds. Erik had no suggestions except perhaps one guy he gave our number to, but he did not call. Then we decided to bribe the nightwatchman. He is here from sometime between 5 and 6 PM and leaves about 10 to 12 hours later give or take.  FYI Felipe has no access to the office – he has to sit outside all night long even in the rain.  We discovered this when “useless” said he would have 2 garafons of water delivered to us. “Useless” had forgotten to leave the water jugs outside for Felipe to deliver us – never mind that Useless has a vehicle and can drive them to us.  Felipe I discovered did not even have a cellphone. So what good would he be to us in an emergency. I called Useless and said I had no water. “Oh” he said and hung on me. He actually did drive back here ( he was here all of 2 hours that day ) and delivered the water but would not life one into the RV for me.

So back to bribing Felipe. He is the one doing the clearing of the grasses. He seemed to understand our dilemma and the mosquitoes attacking us. So for the past two night sin a row he comes here and tries his best to clear our site. However he is only here a maximum of 75 – 90 minutes before it gets dark out. Last night Colin stood at the window and shone our power flashlight out so that Felipe could work in the dark.

 

So a few weeks ago I had decided that enough was enough and looked for a condo rental. We found a nice one directly on the beach for a super wonderful price and it was nicely decorated but it was a few miles north of the Riu Hotel and the road was badly potholed. It was too far to try to drive to and then back here on a daily basis ( twice per day ) to pick a a Didi/Uber to get to the rehab clinic for Colin. Never mind me going for groceries. No busses go that far nor likely Didi cars. If we have trouble getting them here I can’t imagine getting them even further north.

Meanwhile my eye glasses were ready this past Thursday and I was out of money. So I got my new Zeiss lenses in my old trial frames that I love. Overall I can see but not perfectly. They said it would take two weeks of wearing them to get used to them despite my having worn progressives for many years. Something to do with new lenses in my eyes that are  stable but that I have to keep moving my head re close up, computer, reading etc. to find the perfect spot. I am impatient and have been going back to my readers for the most part while on the computer. Except when I do that for a few hours and then use my progressives it is blurry.  I really am trying but when I need to be online urgently then I have to use the readers. I do hope that with time I will see better and perhaps even try and drive again.

I finally found other condos which despite my saying we had 2 small dogs were rejected but the owner. Lots of condos for rent and there is a go between us the renter and the owner which is how they make their money. Lots of wasted time on both our parts. So I finally found one and we went to see it and loved it. However we can’t manage to pay for two full months but they agreed to six weeks.  Next step was a discussion with ‘useless’. Wow for this request he had to speak with his father back in Chicago. We wanted to leave the RV here in storage for two full months ( August 29 to October 29  when we would leave here and return to the Isla ). We would spend a total of 16 nites here in the RV during these two months. We wanted to stay plugged in to 30 amps and to run one A/C re the heat and humidity but we would not be here going in and out, so the A/C would remain on low and not be going on and off.

The best ‘useless’ and his Dad can do is 8,000MXN per month! Yes we understand that they are running a business but surely not running three A/C’s during the heat of the day would help keep the cost down.

And then we got the contract from condo owner which requires a lawyer to navigate and she wants the RV registered as damage deposit!. This was last night and we were blown away.

Then this morning Carlie had a major pain event. Remember when she had these almost daily just over a year ago. And we changed out her gut enzymes over a period of so many months. She has not had an episode for a year. She loves raw veggies but she rarely gets them because it can trigger a painful gut event. What makes it even more difficult is that we have to not let Ciela have veggies. No matter how quiet we are or how we try and distract Carlie she knows we gave something to her sister. So they both got some pieces of romaine lettuce last night – Carlie less than Ciela.

When they were let out this morning to do their business Carlie must have gotten into the fresh ‘tasty’ weeds. I got up a bit later than Colin and let them out again. This time Carlie could barely make it up the ramp. She came in and stopped with her tail between her legs and began to pant and to tremble. Both the panting and trembling became worse. Similar symptoms to her past gut issues only much much worse. I gave her 50mg of Gabapentin but after an hour she was obviously in major distress and appeared to be trying to claw herself out of her body. Colin was trying to hold her while I called vet after vet. Thanks to Cheryl who must have sent me dozens of vet phone numbers I found someone but he had trouble understanding me. Long story short Erik called the vet for us and did some translating. The vet was in ER surgery and was supposed to call us before he came. Next thing we knew he was here. She had fallen asleep about 45 minutes earlier. Meanwhile I had been Googling weeds and dogs eating weeds.

It seems that many of the weeds around here are poisonous to dogs – especially fresh cut weeds. Felipe was cutting until 7PM last night.  So Carlie had no food/kibble in her gut before she started eating weeds ( we assume this as we did not see it ) and perhaps her gut was already sore from the romaine from dinner the night before. No way to know what exactly happened other than it was obviously over the top painful for Carlie and the Gabapentin did not help. Likely I should have given her a stronger dose but I had no idea at that point. So the vet came and she was almost normal and she ate and drank water. He checked her vitals. He wanted to do bloodwork and we said no re the stress and he wanted to sell us vitamins. I said no ( we have excellent dog food )  and Colin said okay and we paid the vet 1000MXN but it was worth it to have him come here. But I think had he called first as I had asked him to I would have stopped him from coming. But we are ever so thankful that Carlie appears to be nearing her full normal.

So here I sit, Sunday late afternoon writing this.  I needed to do laundry and tried to hang Colin’s shirts and I got eaten alive by mosquitoes. However in the area of the RV where the weeds have been cut there are very few bugs. Progress. Meanwhile for the first time I used the dryer to dry the rest of our clothes. Screw trying to save on the electricity as we are at a fixed high price. But I really did enjoy hanging my laundry out to dry – but not getting eaten alive.

Poor Ciela has no idea what all the commotion is about and Carlie is resting quite a bit. Colin is worn out and napping. I haven’t have time to eat today nor shower but the laundry is drying and I am actually finally writing a blog post. Does wine count as food?

As to renting the Mazatlan condo for six weeks, what to do? We have no idea what the future will bring. Likely we will have to sell the RV next year. We can’t buy a place until we sell the house in Kelowna. And no, as many ask, and for a large number of reasons, we will not rent it out.  But we can find a place to rent next summer here in Mazatlan. Too soon to plan as we don’t know Colin’s future. It is a five thousand dollar decision for only a six week break in a condo. One problem is packing and moving but we have a few people who will help. The biggest problem is taking the girls out to do their business. For their entire lives we have only had to open a door ( house or RV ) for them to go out and do their thing. They go to the door and we open it – if it is not already open. Their entire lives they have gone out at will. Now we will be restricting them to 4 -6 times per day  ( is that even enough ? ) to go out. But one of us has to take them out and that involves taking an elevator down 14 stories and walking across a busy street to a narrow green area between traffic lanes to do their business or do a very long walk out to the beach to where they can do their thing. Most of you know that I have not walked them in at least two years and I don’t think I can handle them on my own. Colin can now do one at a time on leash but he is not stable enough to do both on a leash. Plus how far can he walk before he tires?

So that is where we are at, right this very minute!  But oh how we hate it here….it is hell on earth as I have said before. However we have managed 2 months here with two more to go….

To be honest ( and as you know I am always truthful ),  I had no idea that this is what this blog was going to be about.

Yesterday, Tuesday, August 19th, Colin left as he does every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 9:30AM for his hour long physiotherapy session at the clinic. Following that he had his every 4 -6 week meeting with Dr. Patino, whom we call the stroke doctor. That was Didi #1. About an hour later, I left and took Didi #2 to meet Colin at the doctors office next to the clinic.

We had a good 45 minute relaxing appointment. It always starts with the doctor asking Colin how he feels and if he has any questions. Then I have questions ( usually about medications and decreasing some )and finally we review Coli’s recent blood work and discuss a plan for the future. At this meeting we realized just how much direction the good doctor is taking in shaping Colin’s daily sessions and always suggesting other exercises to do at home. Colin has had different physiotherapists from time to time and sometimes within a particular week, a different therapist everyday. Dr. Patino sets objectives for each week and leaves it up to the individual professional therapists to reach that objective and they each have their own set or type of exercise to use.  Colin is not bored and enjoys the variety of exercises and the various approaches to reach the goal.

Each appointment with the stroke doctor cost us 1000MXN / $73.90CAD / $53.30USD. The best rate for physio sessions is to pay in cash ( not debit ) and to buy 12 sessions at a time. If you do that you get the 13th session for free. So 13 sessions for 3900MXN cash works out to 300MXN / $22.15CAD / $15.98USD each. We did not know this and spent 4800 MXN for the first 12 sessions using a debit card which made each session 400MXN or $29.56CAD.  So far we have purchased 3 sets of 12/13 physio appointments which will take us to September 5th inclusive. So very roughly it is costing per day,  $7.11 CAD for a physio session plus approximately $4.50 CAD for transport from the RV and back to the RV – a whopping $11.60CAD/ $8.35USD! That is a total of $452.40CAD from July 2 to September 5th.

Monies very well spent. Colin is improving albeit slowly. According to the doctor Colin will need 2 to 3 months more of therapy.  So another 26 sessions will take us to October 21st, I think. We discussed with the doctor some extra ways to improve certain aspects of Colin’s finger dexterity. Of course this relates to future guitar playing. Colin’s bloodwork is excellent. We continue to be in touch with Doctor O who was Colin’s doctor in the hospital and continues to follow Colins’ care and does not hesitant to add suggestions. Dr. Patino warned Colin that the next few weeks will be very tiring as he is moving to floor exercises and to getting up from the floor without using ones hands.

From there Colin took Didi #3 back here to the RV while I took Didi #4 to see a new ophthalmologist. About 3 -5 weeks before Colins stroke we went to see Dr. Jorge Garcia de la Rosa, whom we refer to as our family doctor, for some recommendations of specialists re eyes, veins and dermatology.

I was happy with Dra Diana and her eye examination. However her laboratory could not get my prescription transferred to proper progressive lens that I could actually see out of. The entire process took a long while because of the stroke and my being unable to leave Colin alone. She actually  had four pairs of eyeglasses made for me and each time it was worse. They actually refused to try a different lab. I gave up and did get a refund for the cost of the lenses but not for her fee.  However when I asked for the final prescription on paper I got there different ones!!! Our new dematologist, Dra Maria suggested that I see her personal eye doctor. So I saw him via Didi #4.

So had the usual eye exam but with a few more modern differences from the first eye doctor. I refused to have him numb my eyes so he could do a more detailed investigation into my eyes. That miffed him and he said the session is over and told me that I had attitude! I just had surgery a year ago and I know that state of my eyes. Plus I was on my own in an area of the city I was not familiar with so no gracias. I had no idea how much it might affect my vision. I asked why his prescription was different from each of the three from the previous eye doctor. He simply said ” potato – potatoe” !  All the same. He smirked when I mentioned that they all had different numbers. Turns out that he no longer does eye glass for his patients as it’s too much trouble. So I asked if this would allow me to see? His answer “for today”! I did ask for a referral of a place to go and one of them was Galeria Optica. I did not recognize the others and I had have two other referrals to this same place.

So Didi #5 took me there. A lovely place with many many types of frames for sale. For certain I will be getting my new frames from that location.  However I love my current frames and want to keep wearing them. Lovely friendly people in the store. Sadly the optician told me that at the moment there is a shortage of progressive lenses and they are waiting for a shipment and that it could be several months, they really did not know. He could se that I was devastated with that information. I asked him for his recommendations for the best places in Mazatlan to get progressives and the best people. He was very kind and told me it was only a three ( very long ) blocks to walk. With the heat and my compression stockings there was no way I could do that at this time of year.

Shortly after I hopped into Didi #6. I kept calling Colin with updates and he could not believe my day. I ended up at the Gran Plaza – entrance to the cinemas. There was no master map of the mall at that entrance. I asked the security guard near by in Spanish. He hemmed and hawed and wavered and finally pointed down a corridor to the slight left and to go all the way and then turn left and then turn right. Once I got there I saw a mall map and sure enough I was in the totally opposite direction that I should have gone in. So right back to where I started and then I took the slight right corridor and just a few stores up I found my destination – Optica Mirada.

Very long story short I met with the owner of the store who has been in business for 44 years. His grandfather, his father, himself and his wife and their two children are all in the business. Relief!! So he measured using a machine I have only previously seen in Canada, not once but twice. And also marked the actual lenses of my glasses with the black dot of my pupil location. He did this four times. I was impressed. I am getting Zeiss lenses and it will take 10 days. I mentioned that eye doctor #1 made the lenses in two days max. He said that was cheap Chinese lenses. Proper progressives take at least 7 – 10 days, just like back in Canada. The new high end progressives will cost me 1390MXN / $102.75CAD more than the first pair that kept getting made over and over. I am so looking forward to being able to see again.

After a ten minute wait and my increasing the suggested fare by 12 more pesos I climbed into Didi #7. I was so relieved to be going home at long last. Such a very long 7 Didi day.

I reflected on the day. The visit with Dr. Patino means another 2 months of living here at Las Jaibas but a greater chance for rehabilitation for Colin. Right now this RV park is full of tall weeds and grasses and thousands upon thousands of mosquitoes. Colin would likely interject millions of those biting nasty critters. Each time we open the RV door hundreds fly in. Yes we have a special mosquito light and a plug in thingy but they don’t really help. The poor girls are getting bitten on their smooth heads and body parts.  So sad to watch them licking and biting their legs. I am the one who has over the years been eaten alive as they say an of course still am. Colin not so much, but now perhaps because of his medications, he is a mosquito magnet and each bite is torture as it constantly itches. After a few intense scratch episodes he has learned that because of his blood thinners he can’t scratch that itch. So now when he goes out he wears long pants, long sleeves and a hoodie but of course the heat irritates him as well. And those buggers still bite him.

We have discussed renting for a few months in a fully furnished condo nearby on the beach. But then the logistics of packing and moving and carrying things – well just thinking about it all is exhausting. The worst of course is the girls. They would have to be taken outside several times per day on a leash and walked to do their business.  Of course they would expect beach walks.  Right now they don’t know where we are or that the ocean is fairly close by. Who could handle two pulling dogs on a leash, wanting their freedom to run? Neither of us! Not to mention just going in and out of an elevator several times per day. Right now all we do is open the door and off they run, sometimes for 10 minutes but often less because of the heat. They just come back to the door waiting for us to let them in. It is not the best solution but based on low, to no energy levels, it is what we are dealing and living with. But oh how I dream of watching the ocean every day as we all used to.

So in our minds we will be moving somewhere between October 21st and the 29th when our rent is up here. Our four month exile is almost halfway up. But to be honest this is perhaps one of the most difficult things that I have ever had to do.

The storm is wild and loud and scary and the girls need TLC.  Our power keeps shutting off so I am publishing this without checking for errors…

 

I have been trying to write a post for a week now but the hours over the day seem to blend together. I get caught up by about noonish and suddenly it’s dark outside and almost 8PM. Time to make dinner. No time to write a blog post. To be honest I have reduced my inbox from over 860 to 696 right this minute. Ever so slowly I am finding replacements for foods we ate back home and would freeze and bring here in the RV for the months that we lived here during over winter. That took time but it is important to me and I still have a long ways to go. But it’s the little things. Such as walking outside in the 45C/113F ( plus humidity ) day to hang a load of laundry. First I have to lug my heavy laundry basket through thigh high weeds to my clothes line and then stand in the sun ( of course I am wearing sunscreen and a wide brim hat ) to hang the load. By the time I get back inside, my hair is damp and my dress which is sticking to my back is wet in so many places. Then I have to sit and pull the thistles from my stockings – wearing compression stockings in this heat must be deserving of some sort of medal. Of course each time the girls come in they need to be de thistled as does Colin. We all have to go thru those weeds.

On the good news front, the awning motor and remote are built and have been shipped to an address in Phoenix where they will be picked up and driven here to Mazatlan, around the 27th or so. The window blinds which were to fly out of Mexico City today may have been delayed because of a huge rain storm as the airport was shut down. They are on a very tight timeline to get sent by UPS to the blind repair shop and then back to Phoenix on the 21st. Hopefully that will work out.

My eyeglasses were being sent to a different lab to get the new lenses made. I have heard nothing. I am hoping that tomorrow will be the day as starting Wednesday we are expecting rain for the rest for the week.

Someone made a comment about how I was wearing a sweater inside in a photo on my last blog. When you live in air conditioning 24/7 with never a moment with it off, one does get chilly! And then someone else made a comment about how it was not good to be living in A/C all that time. Sadly, we have no choice! Of course we never planned to spend the summer here. Again in that some post, a comment was made about Erik being on the roof of the RV wearing long sleeves. He does that to keep from being sunburnt. So many of the workers wear long sleeves. I can’t imagine how they do that, but they must simply adapt. Actually a few times in the past two weeks I got into a Didi and there was no air conditioning. only twice was it because the A/C was broken. The first time I suffered quite a bit because of the heat. The second time I simply got out and the driver understood. However a few other times the driver turned on the AC at my request. One said that some people prefer not to use the A/C!  We all have the choice.

For the most part we are eating very well. Part of that credit goes to Sunshine Catering from which I get two meals cooked and delivered per week. This past Saturday she delivered tuna pot pies which I had asked her to make for us. Colin and I have been eating tuna pot pies twice per month since possibly 2002. When we moved from Vancouver we started bringing them in from the fish store in Ladner to our home in Kelowna. That is how much we enjoy them. So needless to say we wondered what we would do here in Mazatlan. Happy to say we had the very best tuna pies ever and that fresh veggies were used as much as possible except for corn and peas. I forgot to take a photo!  Other than for Colin’s birthday, we have not been out to a restaurant since early April so I feel justified in doing some ordering from this catering company. We also had a lovely sweet & sour shrimp meal with rice and broccoli. Time for me to get back to full time cooking. I just need a bit more energy and a few extra hours in the day. Ever so slowly I am finding replacements for foods we ate back home and would freeze and bring here in the RV for the months that we lived here during over winter.

Certain over the counter medications, especially for my arthritis, are only from Canada. Colin is contemplating giving up peanut butter  ( a main source of protein for him ) as what is found here is dreadful and full of sugar. However there is a family on Isla de la Piedra that actually grows peanuts and makes peanut butter. They don’t do it year round and what he did get was enjoyable. I don’t care for peanut butter – unless in Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The girls need their special kibble which I can’t get here, only in the USA or in Canada. Always something to sort out.

Lots of little things have been happening. We had a lovely electrical storm. Then one night the girls saw a tlacuache. Here is a link to a blog post I wrote about them on December 28, 2010, when they paid us a visit on the Isla….link to old article. And in February, 2014, Colin actually captured one. You can read about that here. Hard to believe that I started the blog back in May of 2010. My first Que Pasa.

Then there was the very bad storm in Mazatlan last week as you can see by these photos. There were so very many more photos and videos. I have learned that Mazatlan has no drainage system.

I finally broke down and took Didi to Sam’s Club where I signed up a one year membership. Overall I was not impressed with the prices. However I did get some quality orange juice for a better price and a particular Chilean Saubaino blanc for about 20 MXn less per bottle. Probiotics were a good price but the muffins were no better than Soriana. So much chocolate! They do have cashews which I will try once we finish what I brought from Cnadnanda. Oh and toilet paper. Would someone please tell me what they think is the best TP is Mexico?

On the way back to mi casa, my Didi car, was hit – well sideswiped by a bus! I was on the phone to Colin and suddenly went from one side of the vehicle to the other.  It happened so quickly. Was told that another car was coming to collect me. Meanwhile it was getting very hot inside. No other car came. I asked him to turn up the A/C – otherwise my compression stockings were coming off very quickly. About five minutes later he hoped in and drove me home. What? It took me a few hours to realize that no one even asked if I was okay, had I been hurt, etc. Fortunately I had not. Strange that I never thought about it at the time.

A very quick word on our home in Kelowna. The real estate market is almost dead. Even if we drop the price $200,000.00 no one will be buying or so we have been told. Having said that we are at our bottom limit, well even lower that our planned bottom limit. So based on that we are not going to buy a condo here in Mazatlan. We may rent sometime down the road. Our current plan is to continue living in our lovely RV and to move back to Isla de la Piedra sometime in October, once all damage from hurricanes have passed. Our future is also based on Colin’s continued recovery. Time will tell.

 

UPDATES….

~ Actually published three days later than written due to no time to add photos and edit….

~ As of today, August 13th, posting date, my inbox is down to 474.

~ the two window blinds did make it to the USA.  BUT the overnight shipping to the blind repair facility was $97.00USD!! Even worse is that they are on vacation until Monday the 18th!! No one told us. Somedays, I just wonder what is the point of it all?

~ I went to pick up my eyeglasses yesterday and they were even worse than the three previous attempts. Turns out that they used the same lab for the 4th time!!! I not so not silently demanded a refund, which I did receive. So now I need to find time to discover a new location to start all over again.

 

 

 

 

Still working on sorting out our internet data. For the most part we are doing very well.  I still have 50% left lf my monthly plan and two weeks to go. I will admit to using our iPhones as a hotspot from time to time which helps. Our monthly bill for our Telcel unlimited phone calls and 3.5 GB’s of data comes to 200 MXN / $14.50 CAD per month each. We have never ever used that monthly 3.56 GB’s so I thought why not? Well I found out why not! Because suddenly when you need your phone to make a call you have no data to look up the phone number or the direction you want to go or to call Didi 😥

Silly me!  Very long story short I met a fellow Canadian from Vernon online and she lives close to us here in Cerritos. She had contacted me about information I had posted about making a move from Intercam to Scotiabank. I gave her some suggestions. About ten days ago she invited me to join her to a Friday evening “Solo Damas Dinner Group” that she had found online. She picked me up and off we went. Only to find that we were at the wrong restaurant. We were supposed to be at the one in Centro not the Marina. That is how I discovered that my phone was useless. Fortunately there was an Oxxo next door and I soon got that sorted out. I am now very careful about using my iPhone as a hotspot. However I also discovered that evening that my phone uses power very quickly if I am using Didi ( same as Uber but much cheaper ). I assume that that is because it is tracking our route in real times as we drive.

We arrived 45 minutes late and managed to meet a few people seated near us and it was enjoyable enough but a very long table of people is not a favorite thing. But I am game to try it once more time, always on a Friday.

Because of Colin’s stroke we had to delay our appointment with the dermatologist. She was very thorough and seemed to know her thing. She is from Uruguay  – I think or maybe Honduras. Colin did not start his treatment until early July and all I can say is that it was extremely painful but necessary.  I had the usual things burnt off with liquid nitrogen and then started a new creme she suggested…not doing it now…face is too sensitive. We see her on Wednesday re follow up.

In a past post I think that I had mentioned that I had my usual vein treatment for the first time here in Mazatlan mid April.  The doctor was very competent and a vascular surgeon. However I had a reaction to the different medication that was injected onto my veins and it was not pleasant. Colin has his stroke two weeks later and I never went back until two weeks ago. My veins were not healing and actually my legs looked worse than the day I had my treatment with doctor Edna.  She was concerned and the ultrasound showed that my veins are three times larger than they should be which explains all the problems with my legs. Of course this also affects the blood returning to my heart. So I am now on a powerful medication that is not sold in either the USA nor Canada. I read all the pros and cons and if it works, wonderful and if if doesn’t – well lets talk about that in three weeks after I see the doctor again. Meanwhile I have to elevate my legs at 45 degrees a few times per day for so long and also need to wear compression stockings. You can imagine how much hotter I feel now than before the stockings and even inside in the air conditioning. Oh and I am to do some walking and outdoor exercises, impossible. Sometimes after just a few hours I have to rip them off to give my legs a break. The compression is so strong and unbearable at times.

Silly me! I truly thought that we would be able to walk the short distance to the beach but the heat is just overwhelming. Each time I open the RV door to let the girls out or back in, I am hit by a blast of furnace like air.  Even they can’t last too long out there. However we think that we were doing very well coping with it all. I must say that living in air conditioning 24/7 is not something we want to do but have no choice in the matter. At the dinner I went to last Friday I was informed that the worst was yet to come. That this was still not so bad at all, one could still get out and walk at 6AM but soon it would be unbearable. Yeah, something to look forward to. Not!

I think about the Isla daily and we talk about living there. We are so ready to go back. For certain we are going back but to where as we need to have proper electricity. And what about in a year or two, what then?  Will we rent or buy a place in Mazatlan? Much as we love the Isla, our future will be in the city of Mazatlan. It has all we need and going back and forth to the Isla will become more difficult as we age. Plus at this point we honestly don’t know if Colin can actually manage to get on and off the lancha to cross the shipping channel. Certainly grocery shopping will be easier. I am amazed at the amount of activities that continue on a daily basis here in Mazatlan during the heat of the summer. This is just a small sampling of last Thursday and not everything is listed – just what this particular person posts.

I miss my flowers and plants but am happy to continue to enjoy what is here at Las Jaibas. I have seen two different large iguanas, the prehistoric monster looking ones. Lots of pretty butterflies and smaller colorful birds. The girls have switched from chasing cats to birds. So happy to see that for the most part they are content.

One special thing that happened is that I have discovered Sunshine Catering. At the moment she only cooks and does deliveries on Saturdays but during the busy season it is twice per week.  We have had three wonderful and very healthy dinners not to mention reasonably priced meals created by Koren. So nice to have that option right now. I have asked her to give me price for the two items that we always fill our freezer with when we leave Canada, tuna pot pies and spanakopita pies.

Erik created a special iron stand of sorts to use to lift the heavy awning to get the motor out. The new motor has been ordered and is being built. By the end of August we should be ready to deal with the extreme heat.

Years after everyone else we have finally started to watch ” The Crown “. Colin had taped the entire series long ago so no need for internet data. We watch an hour per evening. Hope to be on the Isla before we finish. I don’t know how accurate the show is, but I am learning so many things about the monarchy and world events.  Good stuff.

……I was sitting here at my computer and Colin was sitting across the table from me sitting at his computer. He dropped his computer mouse. He bent over and picked it up.  We were tired and ready to go to bed for the night. Darn, it dropped again and he picked it up. The third time, I thought he was being silly, but this time was different. As he bent to pick up the mouse he slowly fell out of his chair onto the floor. I saw it happen in slow motion. Was he playing a joke on me?

He looked up at me and said ” I think I am having a stroke “! And so I went into action. I refuse to relive the details, suffice to say it was beyond real, more like a dream. A doctor was called, someone who had a car was called and someone else who was a strong person. Colin would need to be carried outside of the RV, transported to the lancha and carried onto the boat and met on the Mazatlan side by the Red Cross ambulance. I functioned on auto pilot. I did not go that night but made certain that he had bilingual friends with him and money. I spent the next eight hours online researching strokes and everything related and making plans.

I made arrangements for friends to care for the girls, feed them and let them out and give them some love. I had no idea when I would return from the hospital. I was broken to see Colin laying there totally paralyzed on his right side. He had no idea that he even had appendages on the right side of his body. And so began the beginning of our new life. Fortunately he could communicate. It was a horrific time when he realized what had happened to his body. A struggle to overcome and to start to move forward.

So here we are just past the three month mark. Some say that is the defining moment in stroke recovery. But now it seems that the six month mark has become that defining moment and even up to two more years past that.

Colin’s recovery began 12 hours later at 10:30AM and I was there to push and push and push. I will always regret not understanding more Spanish. Certainly a priority in such a situation. Never a day goes by right now that I am not leaning new words. I have learnt how to use my iPhone and do copy/paste and so many other things. My eyes were red and burning and often tearing. I was using both iPhones and a laptop and doing my best tech wise but I was such a failure. It was almost impossible to communicate. I also became unable to walk properly and my feet so swollen that one day I walked barefoot all over the hospital. So many were offering to help. Our Mexican friends and family were there for us 100% – someone even had a friend come visit Colin to make sure he was doing alright.  Essentially we were alone. And I certainly needed my Canadian and American friends. They were there for me. I spent the 30 –  40 minute Didi ride to and for the hospital everyday texting. One night a lovely Mexican lady who picked me up at 9:30PM suddenly handed me her cell phone. Her daughter who spoke English was there to chat with me. The driver understood that I was upset because my husband was dying – yes that night they told me that they might have to do brain surgery the next day or day after. She sensed that I needed to be distracted and just chat. I will never forget that when we got to the Isla Embarcadero, how she shut off her car and came around to help me out of the car and then she just held me in her arms for ever so long. I really wish I could reach out to her again but she did know how much she meant to me.

The past 3 months have been quite the journey and Colin has never never stopped pushing himself. He exercises every moment that he can. We did have physio come to the Isla six days per week for one hour. We moved here to Mazatlan on June 29th. We saw the new stroke rehab specialist on July 2nd and he kept saying that Colin needs to take time off and let his body rest. Colin has fours hours of physio weekly at a clinic with a variety of equipment and one on one direction and likely does 3 -4 or more hours per day here in the RV.  He never stops. Sometimes I find new exercises for him and videos. Colin is very analytical and if a part of his body is not working he figures when needs to be done to get that part working. Even when he is just sitting his mind keeps working thru the various movements  and all these things combined have got him to where he is now.

Colin has come a very long way in the past three months. We have no idea what comes next but he does have three more months to work on getting his body to function properly. As well as the physical aspect, his mind is working overtime creating new pathways around the hole in his brain. Colin is trying to create new pathways to make his right hand and right foot and ankle to function 100%. Because he will only accept 100%.

Looking forward to next  three progressive months. We would like one settled on the Isla at the six month mark – October 28th.

Colin has been sleeping on a recliner since he came home from the hospital May 2 ( the doctor pushed him out of hospital as he did not want Colin to catch any of the ” bad stuff ” that was going around the hospital. I sleep in our bedroom and the girls at the beginning took turns, one with Colin and one with me.  The next night they switched. Now they both simply sleep with Colin. I of course continue to get up to check on him at least twice per hour.

We both feel like it has been 3 months since we left the Isla but in reality just four weeks ago today.  Still working on a getting a daily routine. The heat totally affects everything we do. Plus living on the Island is so much easier than life here in the big city of Mazatlan.

I have spent oodles of time sorting out getting data and we are making it work. Using my iPhone as a hotspot helps as well as something is ‘eating’ my data. Being worked on by an expert. Of course there have been blog problems and while they have not totally been sorted out I am doing this post which I have been delaying.

A visit to a dematalogist has had us both of a horrid face routine but it is a necessary evil. Most expensive medical service we have had to use.

We are restricted to getting around via Didi ( another form of Uber ). We are located way back ( not the final two rows ) at the Las Jaibas Trailer Park because that is where Erik was told to park us so he could have access to give us more electricity. And thank goodness for that. Because of the heat and the fact that our huge motorhome RV faces the sun from noon til sunset we are actually have to run three air containers from few hours midday. at one point #2 A/C needed too be repaired and then #3 A/C broke down. It is now fixed but running with only two air conditioners had us dealing with inside temperatures of 87F. Sadly air is a necessity here as much as we don’t like it. At least on the Isla we could open the windows and enjoy real air before shutting things up and using the A/C for the rest of the day.  Because we are at the back of the park I have to walk to the street to meet Didi and ask them to drive in to pick up Colin for his drive to physiotherapy. It wasn’t long before Colin figured that seeing as he was/is a two foot driver he could drive the Jeep to the front and catch his Didi there. However when I go out I have to do the long and slightly uphill walk. I am melted by the time I get to the road and them sometime I have to wait 8 minutes or so to get picked up. Lovely coming back to the RV as they will drive me to the RV door. And for a tip they help carry my groceries. Sadly the location here is far away from everything and not even Didi wants to come out this way to pick us up. Long waits. Worse coming back here from closer to Centro. I waited 40 minutes the other for Didi to pick me up after a medical appointment. I know many of you love it here and I think if it didn’t feel like 117 -120F most days it would be more pleasant.

No matter how much I want to ( Colin just can’t do it yet ) take the girls to the beach it is much much much too hot to walk them there – never mind thinking about walking back. Plus I would have to do the walk and checkout the beach and steps down to it first on my own.  Not sure the I could even walk to the beach here on my own.

It has taken me a long while to discover something I like about being here. That would be the plumeria trees. Lovely sweet smelling white flowers that surround the park and will keep blooming until fall. Colin loves the mangoes. Both the small and the large sized mangos grow freely here within the park. Once can eat as many mangoes as you like all day long.

We continue to have RV issues which is normal of any RV but in particular a new to us used RV.  We love this RV and hope to be able to live in it for at least one or two more years to come or many many more. The future is a huge unknown to us but no matter how much better Colin gets because of his daily therapies we will return to the Isla and continue living in the RV. We had hoped to be able to return to the US early fall but that is quite unlikely. Our plans did not include being stuck here for the summer and not being able to get some much needed provisions. I am hoping that some fellow RVers will be able to help us out by bringing a few things here for us this fall. If several brought just a bit it would make our lives much easier. Even those coming by plane can help. Because of the new tariffs and such, Amazon.MX now only carries so much. Plus most items are 4 -6 times the prices back in the USA or Canada. One lovely and very special couple who live here brought an extra suitcase of much needed dog food which was simply wonderful. The girls can keep eating. FYI we only buy the small 5 lb bags of kibble so not too heavy to carry.

Two of the electronic window blinds died and we have made arrangements for someone who is flying out next week with an empty suitcase to drop them at UPS in their hometown for us where they will be sent to Apex Shade in another state. Also the 300 pound Girard Awning motor passed away. Fortunately the motor is only about 16 lbs and not too large but first Erik has to figure out how to get the motor out as we need the information written on the motor before we can order a new one.  As the front RV cap is only a few inches away from the cap of the Girard awning he needs to lift that 300 lb awning to get the motor out.  Then of course we need both the repaired blinds and the new motor shipped here. Possibly driven here by folks returning end of August. I am in the midst of arranging that. Lots and lots of details and all very time consuming.

On July 18 we celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary. We simply stayed home and enjoyed a special meal from our dwindling food supply. Not sure how I am going to handle that. However I was able to find some frozen veggie burgers at a small Soriana store that came from South Africa of all places. We have had take out from the restaurant just outside the park and the other day I picked up shrimp tacos ( which were to die for and so inexpensive ) from another place near the farmacia.

July 22nd was Colin’s 75th birthday. It was time – time for us to actually go out together to a restaurant. The first time since the stroke. We went to Mr Lionso here in Cerritos. Very quiet and only one other table was occupied but it was a Tuesday. The food was delicious and plentiful. We indulged and had two huge appetizers and each our own main. Left overs for the next night and they even packed my 2 for 1 margarita to go. Maybe a few more few photos next post.

The end!