Residential chores

10-23 Wednesday
Sunshine, cold air, puffy clouds moving across the blue sky. Richard had stopped on his way home yesterday at the office of Telefonica Sur to confirm that our internet service is rated by speed, not data delivery. Good to know.

First task today: phone Priceline’s Customer Service. They’d responded to R’s detailed email of complaint with a request that he phone. He tried via Skype, but could not use the Skype touchpad to punch in his Priceline Trip # … so he called from his Chilean cell phone. Very frustrating, poor connection, lots of time waiting on hold. He finally got the Priceline human to understand that email is what works for communicating from here. We are holding Priceline responsible for the fact that R had to buy a full price ticket to get to Chile on Oct 1, when United Air refused to let him board, claiming that one leg of his Priceline-booked trip had been cancelled by the airline.

Onward, into the sunshine. Second task was to report to the PDI (Policia De Investigaciones) and let them know R’s new address. A brisk walk up over the hill beyond the Jumbo market, beyond the Deutsche Schule, to the neighborhood house used by the PDI. Posters in the reception area state the rights of the victim and the rights of the accused in both Spanish and English. The officer who took Richard’s information typed it all into a computer with his two index fingers, and that was that. Richard is a “Permanent Resident” now, and has 30 days from making any change in his address to let the PDI know where he’s living.

Next, we wanted to buy a second set of sheets for our bed, so as to have some laundry time between changes. We walked down the hill to El Mall, anchored by the two 5-story towers of Ripley’s and Falabella’s department stores. We’d already searched, one day last week, so we knew that Falabella had the right stuff; and now that we knew the metric measurement of our bed (200 x 200 cm … a super king!), we bought the ones that would fit. Not a lot of choices in your super king.

I spotted a lavanderia on San Martin a few blocks from the Mall; we left the sheets there for laundering. If we’d been able to find a BICE Bank, we could have finished our list with complete success. We did learn that there IS one in Puerto Montt, but it’s in the Sector Alto, up on the second bench above the waterfront. We’ll make our way up there tomorrow. R’s Kindle broke when he accidentally leaned against his backpack at the wrong moment. To get a new one shipped by Amazon’s Chilean office in Santiago, he has to make the payment to Amazon thru BICE Bank. We’ll find out how well the shipment service works.

After a tasty lunch at the Patagonia Café downtown, we hiked back up to our building … a good half mile or so, with a decent challenge in elevation gain. I have to stop at the top of the first slope, where the path levels out and I can gaze across the brush at the “Bikram Yoga of Chile” building. Then I have to stop again just above the deli and fresh vegetables market, where a patch of wild fennel is getting taller every day. Short rests – don’t want to get soft.

We both went out for individual walks again later in the afternoon: R headed to Angelmo to pick up the last laundry from Rodrigo. I walked back downtown to get the new sheets from the other laundry. We’re getting plenty of exercise!

I’ve been reading the Sunday newspaper, dictionary in hand. The crafts and produce markets of Angelmo are threatened with a lengthy shut down because of problems with the electricity. The city claims to have spent a lot of money already trying to improve the situation, but more must be done, and maybe the company that did the electrical overhaul last year is to blame for faulty work. This is my interpretation of the text.
When I ride the bus thru Angelmo, I see the main street lined with shops that are like the booths at a country fair: open-fronted, packed with products on display, roofed with sheets of tin or shingled panels, dirt floors. Puddles the size of ponds cover the road after a downpour; dogs roam freely, wood stoves smoke. Conditions might be too primitive for electricity to function well for any length of time. This is my interpretation of the situation.

In another story, CORFO, an arm of the Chilean government’s Economic Development Plan focused on helping people who have good ideas for a growing business enterprise, has a lot of money to deal out. Check out the CORFO web site for many stories of entrepreneurs who have benefited from this government support.

Manyaña, to the marina, maybe, after our chores are done. Richard has put the For Sale sign up in Abrazo’s rigging. He’s thinking about bidding on a job of rebuilding the masts for a boat called the Blimey Limey. Maybe I’ll get to socialize with Vanya and Mauricio, the Italians who have just returned to their boat after leaving her here in Puerto Montt for the winter while they were back on their island in the Adriatic Sea. Margaret and Chris from Australia are also getting ready to sail south to the Beagle Channel. Faraway John is looking for crew again; I can’t remember which way he means to sail. Lots of sailors varnishing and outfitting in preparation for their spring voyages, whichever way they’re going ... and I’m delighted to be an observer. Today’s internet brought the good news that Dennis and Barb on Landfall have come safely to harbor in New Zealand; they logged 10,000 miles since leaving Puerto Montt in March.

lluvia is rain

Tuesday, October 22

The Cable Guy, Julio, came over yesterday afternoon, so we now have internet in the apartment. Yay! But what does it mean, a 2 GB contract? We're already paranoid - If I read the news will I use up the whole amount in three days? Yikes!

It's a good day for contemplating such things - pouring rain and cold. Many mornings this last week have been grey and foggy, in connection with the tides flooding, according to El Capitan. When the tides start to ebb, and the ocean cold is no longer flowing on shore, the afternoons become sunny and warm. Not today!

Maybe I'll switch to reading the paper newspaper with my dictionary at hand, working out meaning of the verbos y palabras. And soon, I promise, I'll figure out how to load a photo or two to this site.

orienting

10-18 Friday, our second morning in the chicitito apartment we rented from Don Carlos Mesa of Sociedad Departamentos Del Sur Limitada. Fourth floor, southern exposure, on the quiet side of el edificio Los Almendros. I haven't learned to recognize any almond trees yet, but there must be some around.

We're up on the first of two benches above the beach. You know how Richard is about tsunamis. The city hospital is in the next block, ICAP, which we believe to be a university, has a campus across the street, and we pass by a lively Catholic elementary school on the short hike to the super mercado Jumbo.

Yesterday I marched down the hill to the Costanera with an almost empty back pack for my first solo trip on the city bus out to Club Nautico Reloncavi, the marina where Abrazo is moored. I have been traveling back and forth every day with Richard this past week, but today he headed out early. We're moving off the boat a back pack at a time. Maybe today my roller bag will be lightened enough that I can manage it on the bus.
Along my way, I met Paulina, the young woman who'd shown us an unfurnished apartment with a fine view of the water. She's a "realtor," with a story about her upcoming trip to Miami ... her Cuban husband ... something about having been married for three years ... or was it separated for four years? One or the other of them will get a green card to live in the U.S. ...
If only I could understand quicker, or hear faster, or somehow get my Ipad to give me the subtitles to this story, I could appreciate better all the flashing eyes , smiles, sighs and other emotional gestures with which Paulina adorned her story!
When we met on the street, however, I was able to let her know we'd decided to rent the furnished apartment, shown to us by the elegant Yvon. Paulina gave me a momentary frown; then "No problema," she smiled. "Cuidarse!" ... Which I took to mean a casual, "Take care of yourself" ... rather than the more ominous, "Beware!"

R and I both complain about how fast these Chilenos talk, how they slur the words and sling the slang. I remind myself my English is just as sloppy. I would never say: Did you get your groceries? Instead, I would say: Djagityer gross-rees?

Before finding the right bus, I walked as far as the Lavanderia in Angelmo. We'd stayed our first week in a summer house on Isla Tenglo, a ferry ride away from the marina. This house had the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. Part of the rent included getting the sheets cleaned when we were through with them, so we'd left those sheets at the laundry on Wednesday. Rodrigo gave me a sheepish look, when I arrived, a little after 11 in the morning this Thursday. He held up the five fingers of one hand. The sheets would not be ready till five. He's probably been distracted with futbol talk, as he is very excited, along with everyone in Puerto Montt, about Chile's victory over Ecuador, and their chance at beating Brasil to get to the World Cup. LAUNDRY no es importante in esta situacion!

Tonight, Friday night, the total eclipse of the moon is probably over by now at 8:30 pm. Judith told me about it early this afternoon while I was using the marina Internet. She flew in last week from Maine to crew with Faraway John, but I don't think it's going to work out. She tells me her version of the story while I struggle to read my email and do my online banking chores. Ten minutes after she leaves Club Nautico's computer, John himself comes up to use the Internet. He's searching for a new crew, and wants to tell HIS version of the difficulties.

I'm reminded of my high school yearbook, when the junior class made predictions for the seniors' careers. Knowing that I thought I wanted to become a doctor of medicine, they predicted that I would be the Dear Abby of Johns Hopkins Medical School. I think they got the Dear Abby part correcto.

Missed the lunar eclipse, but sunset violets and deep pinks are just now fading beyond the silhouetted hill outside my living room window. One chain of street lights curves up the hill, with sporadic lights on the crest, below the cell towers. Puerto Montt seems a much quieter city than Santiago or Concepcion.

Tomorrow, I'd like to just stay home for the day ... a break from packing baggage ... Tho maybe a walk downtown to contract for internet in the apartment will work out.

May your own plans bloom into reality as you wish ...

Leaving the Nest Anxiety

Last day of summer 2013:
So much to do! so little time to do it in! We're leaving this nest on Oct 1 .. less than 10 days from now.

We planted our garlic bed this morning (100 cloves), after scouting the B'ham Farmer's Market to find a good hardneck variety. I'd purchased the softnecks from The Garden Spot out on Alabama yesterday. We have beautiful garlic, from this year's crop, in the basement storage area; but our crop was afflicted with rust shortly before harvest, so I thought it better to buy new seed. Is that paranoid? Or perfectionist? Maybe.

Richard has packed his "hockey bag" with 48 pounds of stuff. He suggests he could fill any space I have left over in my bag.
No, I don't think so, Mister.
Please don't count on my having any space left over.
I have promised to do a trial packing by Tuesday this next week ... a week before we fly. Maybe I could fill any space HE has left over?

On this beautiful, sunny-warm Saturday we drove out to Hovander Park, after lunch, for the Whatcom Skills Share Faire. Richard wanted to check in with Mark R., a sailboat cruiser he'd connected with in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico a few years back. Mark was billed as offering information about Everyday Knots. We found him at a table with his home-grown hazelnuts and his home-made shell and fossil jewelry on display. Delicious free samples of his hazelnuts made us think we should be doing something with those volunteer hazelnuts in the back yard. Hazelnuts are the same as filberts, Mark tells us. Growers in the US have come to consensus about using the name hazelnut instead of the French filbert.

There was a guy starting fires using friction, numerous displays about carding, spinning & weaving various animal fibers, a stage on which the storytellers and musicians maintained performances, and a man demonstrating the "dry pressure cooker" for vacuum-sealing jars of raisins, grains or beans as part of your Emergency Preparedness Program. We chatted with the Whatcom County Solar Guy, Jeffrey Utter of Home and Energy Solutions, and told him all about our new solar installation. He has a lot of experience with non-corporate solar and with Off-the Grid battery backup systems. So we might be talking more with him in the future.

For now, it was great to get back to the nest and check the solar power monitor to see that our little garage-top system had generated some 7 kilowatts today!
Richard's fixing dinner now, as I write. Pork chops from the grocery store, turnip grees & tomato sauce from our garden, and sweet corn from the Farmer's Mkt.
I weeded the front rhody bed and covered the space with beauty bark this afternoon after we got home. Only one of a dozen little garden projects to complete in the next week. Still have to tweak and organize my log-ins tonight - what a challenge. I want to have a nice short easy que-card to remind me of usernames and log-ins I have to have ... without creating a concentrated block of vital info that some thief might capture.

Weather should be awful, wet, windy, and nasty tomorrow, so maybe we'll drive down to Mt Vernon to take in the matinee performance of Pan, the Musical. I read in Cascadia that Wendy's part has been updated to show a strong female, with Pan helping her to find her true self. Hmmm. And the Lost Boys are billed as steam punk. Should be fun. You Tube offers this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8I0KKzOZo8
I like the line: "if you still your mind, you will learn to fly ... "


My new mantra: Estoy tranquilla. No es un problema, Todo sera bien. Ah! Muy bueno!