Tomorrow’s the day that I start saying, “My last –day.” I have one Friday night left before I head home, so the one-week countdown is on! I can’t believe the winter is basically over. And unlike a lot of other winters, I don’t have that feeling of dread that it just slipped through my fingers. It’s not just the fact that I know I’m coming back that makes departure something I’m looking forward to rather than dreading, but the fact that I lived so much in my months here.
I had a huge amount of work to do for today and set my finish time for 6:45 so I could go get hot dogs and not have to work again after. That meant pretty much working through the day with only short breaks.
Around 4:00, I went for a quick walk to check on the truck and found it on blocks with all four wheels off. I kicked myself for forgetting my camera, so I made a note to bring it with me when I went out for dinner.
Somehow, I managed to finish work a whole 15 minutes ahead of schedule! It’ll be more of the same till Wednesday, but being done for tonight was an amazing feeling, like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.
I took off, with the plan being to hit the truck for pictures first, but something told me to check the hot dog stand and it was closed. What?! I want a sit down dinner at Miguel’s my last night here, so that means no more hot dogs till next fall. I’m sure my body is happy about that. 🙂
Most Friday nights, I have exact change for the hot dog lady, but tonight I left with a 50. So, being famished and rather set on meal I didn’t cook myself, I decided to get a hamburger and fries instead.
That restaurant is just past the workshop, where there were signs of life.
She looks rather forlorn, doesn’t she?
Hey, there’s a wheel back on. Or maybe it was on when I came by at 4:00?
At the restaurant, I placed a to-go order and said I would be back in about 10 minutes. No sense waiting around, might as well go for a walk!
The little place I discovered that knows how to make French fries!
I love how brightly coloured everything is in Mexico.
I knew from the last time I ordered a burger that a quick loop by the panga and elementary school would be just about the right amount of time.
The elementary school.
There was a school related shindig going on at the playground near the school, with lots of music and people enjoying elote (sweet corn on the cob with mayo and chile powder), ceviche, fried tacos, and more.
It was overcast and drizzly all day, but finally starting to clear up and the air felt so fresh and sweet. There were lots of people out and about. Everyone is so friendly and the folks I see most often know they can chat with me, so I got asked about where I was headed on the way out and what I was having for supper on the way in when I had my bag of food. There’s an intellectually challenged man who plays a guitar on a balcony right in front of the restaurant and he always grunts to get my attention as I walk past him, plays me a few notes, blows me a kiss, and then waves. I always applaud and wave back. It’s our little routine.
There are lovely trees in bloom this week:
What a pretty tree!
I love those pink flowers.
My burger was being wrapped up as I arrived. My $10 in change was given as such, ten 1-peso coins!
The mechanic was at the shop when I walked by and he told me to come look at some parts he pulled. He was very apologetic in that he really needs to recommend a completely new brake job, rotors, pads, calipers, etc., so the price really is going to be $4,000. He had hoped to surprise me with a lower bill. I assured him that I’m fine with the price and to do what needs to be done. I reiterated that I’ve had major break work done on a Ford and can recognize that he’s not lying to me.
He says he should be done tomorrow (!) and that he’s expecting me late Sunday morning with the balance of the money. So I’ll head out super early Sunday, get a pastry and coffee at Panamá’s for a treat, and be back in time to get some, I mean, lots of work done.
He also gave me a heads up that there is a lot of rust in the undercarriage and that I should look into have it washed and undercoated soon as I get out off the coast. I’ll have to look into how much that will cost.
I got in and my supper was thankfully still hot.
Yum!
For some reason, they omitted the cheese and jalapeños tonight! I added my own cheese and was shocked to discover that I rather missed the peppers! But don’t get me wrong, it was still an awesome sandwich and I have to confess I wasn’t too disappointed about the hot dogs. 🙂 I also finished off my bottle of sweet relish!
The $2000 advance payment probably all went for parts so it is his paycheque he is waiting for.
That undercoating would sure be a lot cheaper in Mexico.
He said that he gets commonly used parts, like those for a Ranger, on credit. Some of the deposit is going to the shop where he is getting the rotors tweaked to straighten them out.
I told him yesterday that the soonest I could get to the bank is Sunday and he told me Monday would be fine, but Sunday is great. So I’m not stressing too hard about it since he isn’t. 🙂
I’m sure it would be cheaper to do the undercoating here, but I’m not going into non-coastal Mexico. I’m actually planning to research if this could be a DIY job.
Look at this site, it may have what you need. After being at the beach we had a ton of rust and John had to get under the RV and spray cans of rust converter everywhere. Now I have I found this site and plan to order from them.
http://www.theruststore.com/Rust-Converters-C10.aspx
This stuff is very affordable. I’m thinking it could work on the body of my truck, too!
Reading some of the content of Caroline’s link it looks like it could be a DIY job. A dirty, messy, cramped DIY job but doable. I wonder what kind of coverage that product gets? Some ramps, old clothes, wire brushes, rags, paint brushes and a willingness to get yourself very dirty and Bob’s your uncle!
I actually used a similar product on a very small job (a rusted cross-member in the ceiling of the old motorhome. It has the consistency of thin oil and goes on easily once you brush off the loose rust.
The quart covers just over 100 sq ft and the gallon over 500 square ft. I’m pretty sure I could do my entire under carriage AND all my body rust with a quart. That would be one heck of a summer project, dealing with my rust, and then I could farm out just the final paint job. Things to ponder. 🙂
I have to agree, you have done a lot of living in the time you have been in Mexcio.
Did you speak to Danny in Spanish or English, just curious cuz he always only speaks English to us? FYI he just had his one guy ( the first fellow you met, sometimes called Pancho or Francisco ) undercoat one of the Class A’s in our RV park.
Keep enjoying every last moment on the Isla.
It’s been a blast!
Mostly Spanish with Danny, but he used English for the undercoating thing to make sure he was really clear.
I didn’t ask if he knows anyone could can do the undercoating because I can’t afford it right now anyway.
I intend to do so! I’ll probably be in Culiacán this time in a week!