It was not a good return to work this morning. My brand new headphones were malfunctioning (sound only coming out of one ear) and a key piece of software I use to transcribe was disabled. I could work with my earbuds, but not without the software. So I spent a bit of time finding a potential replacement before going to town. With the current CAD/MXN exchange rate being as good as it is, I wanted to make a large withdrawal. Since there is a Scotiabank right next to Office Depot, where I bought the headphones, it made sense to go all the way out to Rafael Buelna in the hopes of getting a refund or replacement on my headphones. My receipt said they will do refunds within 60 days as long as you have the original packing and receipt, so I figured I had at least a fighting chance.

I saw a rather unique lancha when I got to Maz. It had a bathroom!

Since I didn’t have much time today to go clear across town and back, I had a first — taking a pulmonía both ways on my own! This was my best ride ever. The driver only charged me $60 and took me on a super convoluted traffic-avoiding route by the outskirts of Juárez and down Insurgentes. When we got to the corner of Insurgents and Carretera Internacional, the driver asked if I was lost. Nope, I told him, the other Scotiabank is about 3KM to our left. He was suitably impressed and asked why I didn’t go to that one. Then, we ended up chatting the rest of the drive to the bank (Insurgentes becoming Marina, and then we turned left on Rafael Buelna). The red in this is roughly the route we took to get to Marina (we did a lot more turns), and the grey and orange are the most direct route. It’s probably not that much more mileage, but it’s a whole other Maz.

I was able to make the withdrawal I wanted to make by splitting it up into increments of $6,000. I then went in and had my $500 bills turned into $100s, $50s, and $20s, plus a bit of change. The counting machines make this job very easy and quick, but the lady still manually recounted everything, the first time I’ve had a teller do that.

Then, I went next door to Sole Mare to grab a bite to eat. I won’t be having lunch there again; the food is too much like the average fare you get at any chain restaurant up north. My “piña colada” iced tea was an interesting red colour, but tasted good. The sandwich was pretty lackluster though, just a very thin slice of processed turkey with lots of black olives (yes, I eat such things now and they’re the reason I picked that sandwich!), romaine, tomato, onion, avocado, and melted gouda on a bland bun. I asked for no mushrooms and the cook subbed chiles curtidos for them. Rather funny, but I’m always happy not to be treated like a Gringo when it comes to spicy stuff now. 🙂

Office Depot was hopping when I got there. They were having some sort of sale or promotion and it was a mad house. I always feel like I don’t speak a lick of Spanish when I go there because they make no effort at meeting me halfway speech speed-wise and today was no exception. It took ages for me to get to the head of the line of the customer service desk and then I was ignored for a bit until they were ready to deal with me. The clerk called the manager and she sneered at me and said that there is no refund on electronics past seven days! It’s not on the receipt, but it is on the wall behind the customer service desk. And then, she told me to leave/not make a fuss because they were busy. I found my Spanish again and told her that was fine and that I’ll never shop there again. That I’m leaving Maz next month for good is neither here nor there. I’d find another place to buy my office goods since I’ve always disliked shopping there.

Next stop was Soriana and they didn’t have much on my list. Between that and this being my third time in a row where I had a hard time finding a taxi upon exiting, I wouldn’t be shopping at that store anymore also. Knowing the buses the way I do now, I’d do the Insurgentes Soriana instead. At least when I did find a taxi, he only charged me $60. It’s normally $70 home from Soriana. I did well on my rides today! This driver took the more direct route that I would have taken last year when driving, Marina to Carretera Internacional becoming Ejército Mexicano becoming Juan Carrasco, then left on Gutiérrez-Najera, then the jog to the embarcadero. There was so much traffic and the drive took ages!

The lancha was packed like a sardine, with me being the last to board and grateful that I barely had anything and what I did have that was bulky was flexible (paper goods)! I didn’t need a taxi on this side.

When I got in, I promptly put the rent together and went to see if my landlady was home. She was a bit startled by the huge pile of bills I gave her and I explained that I have a hard time spending $500s, so I have them changed at the bank now. She was very grateful for that. I tend to give her a mix of bills most months, but usually pay in mostly $200s and $500s. So a stack of 55 $100s was rather impressive!

I came back home and decided to see if Sony could help me with my headphones issue. Sony Mexico claimed that my headphones were only supposed to be sold in Canada (!) and so they couldn’t help me. Sony Canada said that since I bought them in Mexico, they can’t help me. So I’m out about 30CAD and I have to start the process of finding a new set all over again. Croft gave me a tip for a Mexican brand that has a storefront on Zaragoza, so I’ll pop over there tomorrow or Thursday and see what they have. Office Depot and Sony both lost a customer today. And I learned that while Mexico may have many of the same stores as the Canada and the U.S., it obviously does not have the same consumer protections at those stores. I’m going to have to research this before I start making any expensive purchases in Mexico, including appliances.