Morning Cat Thoughts

Wish I knew what cat thoughts were going through Olive's head while she looked at the you tube videos. The second video is of a mama cat nursing her kittens.  (It looks like she is smiling. Okay, I am projecting that onto her, out of sheer boredom on my own part.) Olive loves to sit next to me while I am on the I pad in the mornings. So when I am bored I will put on videos of cats for her. She seems to like them. 

As you can tell from this post, nothing is going on in my life at the moment except showing videos to my cat. I have been stuck in my apartment for too many days. First I was sick. Then it started raining. Then my washing machine broke and I waited six days for the repair man to show up. I STUPIDLY believed him when he said he would be here. Then he wouldn't even call to cancel or answer his phone or show up. I just sat here watching the disaster unfolding in Texas and feeling guilty for being angry about my own minor problem.  So what if I was stuck here, waiting and waiting and it was raining outside? 

At least I wasn't flooded out. At least I still have a home....  Finally my landlord sent over another repair man and he did a great job of fixing what the first repair man had broken six days earlier.  He knew the first repair man who came here and broke my machine. From a minor problem it became a totally unfunctioning machine. He said the man was working in Guadalajara. So why didn't he just say that instead of making appointments he had no intention of keeping?

I will never understand other people, and especially people from a culture different than my own. I have heard that some Mexicans will give you the wrong directions just because they don't want to disappoint you. And maybe this repair man was continuing to lie to me about his plans to come and fix his mistake just to keep me from getting disappointed or upset. 

The opposite happened. I was ready to move out of here by the end of the sixth day. But who can complain when there is a major disaster and people are losing their homes?  Sometimes I feel so small and insignificant and helpless. How can I help people in Texas when I can't even help myself to get my stupid washing machine fixed?   Even though it is still raining here, I am going to force myself to go out. I can see why solitary confinement is such a horrible punishment. Being alone with one's own thoughts can drive a person crazy, especially while waiting for someone to show up who never does. Makes me think of the play, Waiting for Godot...... but I am dry. I have a house that is dry. I also have a working washing machine again. I don't have to move. And I even have a cat that watches videos. I am lucky to have all of this. But my heart is heavy for all the people in that disaster in Texas.  

For anyone reading this who is living in Ajijic and looking for a great washing machine repair man, here is his name and phone number.  Felipe at 314 118 1209. I won't mention the other man's name because of libel laws here. But if I could, I would have a lot of other words for him besides just his name.  

Morning Thoughts

I have a cold and have been stuck in my apartment for several days now. Bored. Nothing much to do except go through all my clothes and take out things for the consignment store. Boring. It looks like it will be a few more days of being stuck in here. There is only so much cooking and cleaning I can do without going crazy. But I don't need to go out in public and infect others with this cold. 

I am watching people prepare for the hurricane going into Texas. I should be thankful for not being in that path. I guess I will keep on cleaning and sorting through my things. I do have a good book to read. It may be a few days before I get back on this blog because I have nothing to write about now. 

Another post about the garbage situation in Ajijic

As I was walking into town the other day, I came across this garbage can. I took a picture of it because it was so unusual for me to see. The new rules that I read a few weeks ago in the local newspaper were that garbage could no longer be put on the street corners. That we would be fined if caught doing that. Everyone was supposed to have a real garbage can in front of his or her house and put the garbage in that and it would get picked up.

What Actually happened is that a garbage can, not much larger than the one in the picture above, was put on our street corner. Now I KNEW that wouldn't last long. For one thing, it was completely covered with garbage bags about ten times over because it was too small for everything. And within just a few days the can was missing. Someone must have taken it for his or her own use. So now the garbage is still piling up on our street corner. But it is being picked up more often. Not as messy as it was before these new rules. I rarely see any garbage cans on the streets. Sometimes I see big plastic bags filled with garbage in front of houses, but rarely do I see an actual can.... So I thought this one deserved to be photographed. I don't know how this situation will finally be resolved. 

The Monday Market in San Antonio

Chico had to stay in the car. Dogs are no longer allowed in the market. It is held at the Sunrise restaurant in San Antonio.

Many of these people also sell at the Tuesday market. 

This is just a partial sample of the sellers at the market. If you get tired you can rest, or have a foot massage.

Monday morning in the Ajijic Plaza

It was much quieter on Monday than it was on Sunday. 

My friend Carolina was having a late breakfast with two male friends and I joined in just for a talk.

The man above was trying to sell the blankets.

Carolina had waited a long time to finally get another cup of coffee. That is why she wasn't smiling in the photo. I forgot to get a picture of the man on the other side of her. Too bad. Later on Carolina said that both the men were single. That is a rarity here. And they were charming men too.

What do you know. I found a picture of the man on the other side of her. How did she get so lucky? Oh yes, they are all in the choir at the Catholic Church. 

Chico enjoyed the attention of the little boy. 

I wanted to get the father's face. This was taken before he brought his son to pet Chico. He asked if it was okay. Sure was okay with Chico. 

Carolina invited me to go to the Monday market in San Antonio with her. 

As we walked to her car I had to get a shot of this sad looking dog. The butcher shop hadn't opened yet and he was waiting for a bone.

Monday morning walk to The Plaza with Chico

I took a walk with Chico to drop clothes off at Mia's consignment store. I took some photos along the way and down to the Ajijic Plaza.

Grocery store on the carretera.

My breakfast. Fresh squeezed orange juice and homemade oatmeal cookies.

Breakfast stand on the carretera.

House between the stores on the carretera near Colon.

This is on Colon.

Colon. It rained this morning.

The other side of Colon. 

Sunday walk down Colon to the Cocinart restaurant for lunch

Shop along the way.

I had an appointment to review this restaurant at noon but the owner wasn't there. It is very busy, especially on Sundays. They didn't need my review anyway and didn't have time for it . But I wish they had told me that so I wouldn't have made a special long walk to do it. 

I had a bowl of mushroom soup while waiting for the owner to show up. And then I walked home.

I took this picture as I left the restaurant.

Lots of tourists are in town on weekends.