The Year I Wish Wasn't

2009. As it turns out, I could have easily skipped it and gone straight from 2008 to 2010. All things considered, it was not a good year for me.

There were a few good things along the way. Our yearly visit from old friends who continue to vacation here every year. Certainly our month long stay in Huatulco was the major highlight of the year.

But the list of bad things is far longer. And some of the things that happened border on devastating. This was the year I lost my Mother. Quickly followed by the loss of a good friend, who did not die but decided not to be a friend anymore instead. Then the health problems that I am still coping with. And probably will for the rest of the time I have left on this Earth.

So, not unexpectedly, the last few days of 2009 did not hold any better luck for me.

I have facetiously said many times that there is no crime on Isla Mujeres. Don't believe me. Crime is rampant here and will continue to be a problem so long as the police continue to look the other way and ignore it. Yes, the police have started a new program of neighborhood watch police officers. They are assigned a certain community and patrol it to supposedly offer assistance and be a liason to the police force. The program is called "Tu Amigo La Policia", but don't believe it. There is no such thing as "your friend the police".

Take the night of December 21 for instance. That was the date of the most recent burglary to my property. I have a bodega, storage room, in the front of my house. It is secured with a lockable aluminum door.

In this picture you can see the new light I had installed that burns 24/7 now. You can also see the rust stains from the razor sharp barriers I have mounted around the top of my house. But look closely. See the panels where the door handle is located? Sometime during the night somebody pried off two of those panels and got inside.



Make no mistake about it. This door is very visible from the street. Even when only lit by the nearby street light. It took a very bold person to pry off those panels, go inside and steal every power tool I owned. This is the view from immediately in front of the door to the street.




I called my amigo the police officer for our block. Surprise, surprise. The cell phone number that he has listed on his business card is out of service! No way to contact him. So I called the central police office. Not only did they say they have never heard of this police officer, but they point blank told me that they would not be sending somebody over to look at the damage and take a report! Back to that old philosophy of no crime on Isla Mujeres I guess.

But that wasn't the only end of a pissy year surprise for me. Nope. When the renters checked out yesterday, they casually informed me that the refrigerator never got cold and they thought it may be broken. Sure enough, my repair guy came right over and sadly announced that after six years of working perfectly, the salt had finally gotten it.

Since we have guests checking in today, a quick trip to Cancun to buy a refrigerator was in order. Just what I needed. I do have to thank my friend, Zina, though. I ran into her at the store and we shared a taxi back to the ferry. Not just any taxi though, the one that she normally hires to cart her around. Made life a lot easier for a little while.

So, here's hoping that all of you have a great celebration this evening and that 2010 is a much better and happier year for all of us!

Thank You All

Time to say my annual THANK YOU to all of you people out there who once again helped to make the charity, Project Warm Hands, a success.



Because of your generosity, many children in Xico, Veracruz, will once again have warm heads, hands and hearts. And really, what more do you need? Well, maybe a little toy for Christmas would be nice too!

I would be remiss if my first thank you did not go out to John and Anita Calypso. Without their generous gift of time, money and co-ordination skills, none of this Project would have ever come into focus. They have practically dedicated their lives to getting to know their beloved adopted country and its' people....especially the folks in the Xico and Ursulo Galvan areas of Veracruz.

Aided by their good friend, Vicente Garcia, they have identified the neediest of families and made sure your generous giving was put into the right hands. I bow to and applaud these people.

I understand it, but I wish people would stop giving Anonymous donations. I refuse to give you all an anonymous thank you! But here is big internet hug for all of you. I hope its' big enough for you all to share!

Then we come to Jennifer Kelly. Remember when she schlepped down this giant bag of yarn for me? Many hats were made from this stuff. It has also found its' way into various scarves and, more recently, baby items. (Yes, a good friend of mine is in the motherly way!)






Also taking a giant step up with the generosity bat was Kelly Weibel Hansel. She is my friend who makes that fantastic jewelry and has the Etsy site. She is donating 25% of all sales of jewelry, all sales people!, made by Christmas Day. I hope you guys did a lot of shopping there. The kids can use the money!

Others have joined in this year. Teresa Freeborn, Carl and Debbie Shortridge and JackieinPDX all sent their special brand of love in their own ways. All is appreciated.

Richard and Joanne Graingery gave the most from the furthest away. They are friends of mine from Canada and last year they brought down a slew of hats and gloves. Some were even matched sets! All were delightful. Thanks guys!

Some of my hat creations before sending them off.




Randal Croft, just like last year, got on board with us again this year. A trusty and giving guy. Thank you Randal.

And who can forget the Ladies of Tanglewood Manor?




Or Project Warm Hearts friend, Cheryl Krull, who lugged all of those hats, mittens and scarves down here to me. I smile the biggest smile possible whenever I look at this picture. One generation, one culture, doing for another. Thank you Cheryl for coming up with the idea, seeing it to fruition and giving us all of those loving results. Just splendid of you.

Finally, none of the many items brought to me to distribute to the kids nor the things I made, would have ever made it to the kids this year without the selfless caring of two very special people.....Kathy and Jaimie Smith. On a trip from there home near Playa del Carmen back to the USA, they carried all the love you had brought and hand delivered it to John and Anita in Xico. These people made a vast detour to their route and plan in order to make sure that the goods got to where they needed to be. I love you guys!

There are no party pictures......yet. John and Anita tell me that the big neighborhood party that you guys help make possible for the kids will be held in January. I'm sure John will not skimp on details or pictures when it happens. When it does, I'll be sending all of you over his way to take a first hand look.

It is with great sadness, more than I expected when I started this, that I have to announce that this was our final year for this charity. It is something that has not only brought great happiness to the children of Xico, but to me as well. Mexico, in her infinite wisdom, has chosen to put too many barriers in the path of the project succeeding again or being able to move forward. I won't go there today. I will just thank all of you again so sincerely and so deeply.


Until I started this Project in 2008, I really had no idea of how many readers I have and certainly no idea that they were such a bunch of loving, caring, concerned and dedicated people. You strengthen my love and belief in humanity daily. And I thank you for that.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the bottom of my heart to all of you.

LIghts On Display

Last week Bob drove me and a couple of our friends around the island to look at Christmas lights and decorations. Despite the depressed economy on this island, there were quite a few jolly little displays.

These are not up to my normal standard of picture taking, but I did want to share how festive people are trying to be. It was heartwarming.

Enjoy.

Doing Better All The Time

I guess it's about time for an update. Someone just reminded me that it has been a week since I last posted. I don't believe I have been gone that long from here before. So.....

The good news is that my health continues to improve. Of course, I have now turned into one of those old men that has to take like a bajillion different pills everyday. I even have to consult a list everyday to keep them straight. Geez. But my blood pressure has dropped to normal and seems to be staying there. My heart is no longer racing in my chest. In fact, it has dropped to 52 bpm. Which is now too low, if you ask me. I've always been a pulse taker, don't know why. But I know my normal should be around 72.

The side effects of all this medication is keeping me down. I am sleeping 9 hours every night and then I constantly nap during the day. I am always fatigued, breathless and just plain worn out tired. Still, I force myself to get out a bit but it takes a lot out of me.

Yesterday I returned to my cardiologist and everything had much improved. In fact, he said the results, compared to last time, were "wonderful". That made me feel good. We have now adjusted the dosages a bit to see if I can't get a little energy and stamina going. I remember having mono as a teenager and this seems a bit like that....no energy. Sometimes it is even hard to open a door.

Since we were in Cancun anyway, we stopped off at CostCo to pick up a few things. A Christmas ham among them. It was raining cats and dogs over there. I mean pouring. There is no taxi stand at CostCo so we had to go out to the street to try to hail a cab. There were a million people lined up along the road and no cabs. It was horrible. It took 45 minutes in the rain before one pulled up in front of us. He was certainly taking advantage of the law of supply and demand because he quoted me a price of 150 pesos to take us to the ferry! It is normally a 35 peso ride. I told him he was crazy and stepped back to the curb.

We were finally able to get a hold of our regular cab driver, Luis, and he rushed to our aid. He is such a nice guy. I owe Sue a big debt of gratitude for introducing me to him.

Speaking of gratitude, the first thing we did upon hitting soil in Cancun was to meet up with Kathy and Jaimie Smith from PauMau. She muled my new computer down and I was finally able to hook up with her and get it. It is still in the box and will stay there until after the holidays. I just don't have the brain cells to deal with hooking up a new computer right now.

So there you have it. All the news that's fit to print! I do have a couple of posts planned for tomorrow and Thursday. Check back in for those. Especially Christmas Day.

On The Plaza Del Pueblo

I noticed a new sign the other day. It was directing people to Plaza del Pueblo. (plaza of the town) I wonder if they are renaming the zocolo/town square?

At any rate, somebody asked about the Nativity scene downtown. Here it is. Of course, the baby Jesus has not yet been born so they are just staring at empty space right now.




Without looking it up, can anybody tell me the three animals ridden by the Wise Men?

Coming Up Fast

Note: links at bottom of post


Yikes! I can't believe that Christmas is coming up so fast! It is so easy to lose track of it living down here. After all, nothing about the weather gives you any clue! And it's not like I haven't had other things on my mind lately!




We have always been the type of people (compulsive? prepared? Type A? just plain anal retentive about Christmas?) who plan for Christmas giving all year long. We are not usually caught up short weeks, or days, before Christmas gets here, wondering what on Earth are we going to get for Aunt Ruth or Cousin Mike. (I made those people up. I would never buy anything for them anyway!)




This year is just a tad bit different. We don't have tons of shopping to do, thankfully. But there are still a few odds and ends that we want to put under the tree for some select friends. I'm doing a fairly good job of not stressing about it.




And if you're still left wondering what more you may need to purchase, how about giving one of the great necklaces or bracelets that my good friend Kelly makes? I featured her work awhile back and it is some gorgeous stuff. She has now learned how to drill into sea glass and her collection of jewelry containing this unique piece of art is awesome. If nothing else, give her a click and go take a look. Oh heck, buy something too!


And just one more quick reminder. Since I am sure you do not want a bunch of kids in the freezing cold mountains of Mexico to look as deflated as this Snowman.




Get thee to Calypso's blog and hit that PayPal button and make a donation to Project Warm Hearts. These kids deserve a great Christmas and only we are going to make it happen.

Have a great weekend everybody!

* * * For some reason, my linking abilities seem to be failing me. Here are the links you need:

Kelly's jewelry: www.naturesspirit.etsy.com

Calypso for the Kids: http://vivaveracruz.ranchocalypso.com/blog

Quickie Update

I had my appointment with the opthamologist today. Good news. Got a clean bill of health.

Worrying though is that she did not think I had a retinanopathy attack. She says that there is no pain associated with them.

So I am left with the question, What was it that happened to me Sunday night then? I don't like the answer that I am coming up with.

Finishing The Tale

Within five minutes of the first symptoms appearing, they either vanished or greatly diminished. The Internet told us that that occured when a person had experienced a mini-stroke, a warning or precursor of more and greater fun to come later. The Internet can be very useful or send you down a totally wrong path. In my case, it turned out to be the latter.

Due to the seriousness of the situation, and the fact that my doctor told me to just wait at the hospital and he would get there as soon as he could, we decided to call Abraham at work. Neither one of us knew how to explain to the unfriendly staff at the hospital why we were there. Abraham's boss (who is also a friend of ours) let him leave to meet us at the hospital to interpret for us until the doctor got there. It is only a few blocks from his work to the hospital.

A digression about Abraham. He's the dude we met in Huatulco with his lovely girlfriend who has since had to return to Texas for work. They moved to Isla shortly after we returned here from our trip in August. Abraham has turned into a good friend and rents one of the extra rooms upstairs from us. He is a Godsend. Especially now when we need help around the place so badly. Within 5 weeks of starting his job at Bamboo Restaurant on Hidalgo, he has already been promoted to head waiter. He is a very responsible and competent young man. If you are on the island, stop into Bamboo for dinner and ask for him as your waiter. Tell him you are a friend of mine and I bet you'll get a free drink! (girls, he is very easy on the eyes too!)

By the time we found a parking spot and made our way over to the hospital, Abraham was already outside and came rushing up to meet us. We hadn't told him much on the phone. We brought him up to speed and were standing there talking when I spied my doctor hurrying down the street. I was concerned because I had never seen him moving so fast. And he had on shoes. When he comes to the house, he arrives on his Harley, barefoot. He is a very progressive, outlaw type doctor, but knows his stuff and I trust him. We sent Abraham back to work with a promise to call later and went into the hospital and followed Dr to an examining room.

He examined me, including a lot of eye stuff and eye/hand coordination tests. We were both amazed to find out that my blood pressure had dropped to 125/80! Good news indeed. After he finished examining me, Dr sat back and said "You have not had a stroke." More good news! What had happened though was that I had had an attack of hypertensive retinopathy. Basically, this is a collapse of blood vessels in your eye caused when one experiences prolonged periods of high blood pressure. A side effect I guess. It can be serious and cause major vision problems, depending upon the severity.

I was told to make an appointment with an opthomologist as soon as possible. Which I will do. I was also given a shot of steroids to protect and coat my nerves from further damage. This was given in the butt. I am usually not a reactor to shots. They just don't bother me. Neither does have a needle stuck in my arm to give blood. But this one was probably the most painful shot I have ever gotten. I swear she just came running at me so she could get enough force to push that needle in all the way to the bone! Man, it hurt.

So, for now, I am fine. A bit of a cloudy, residue like headache and my left eye feels just a bit too large for the socket, but fine.

Thanks for listening. I appreciate it. I am left wishing, though, that I had that crystal ball to see what is next. Cuz I know there is going to be something else. It comes in threes, doesn't it.

I Wish I Had A Crystal Ball

I wasn't going to share much of what is going on with my life right now with you here on the blog. But my whole life is being so affected by the shit going on that I have to get some of it off my chest. I scared, worried and constantly wondering what is going to strike me next.

As you know, I was finally diagnosed with high blood pressure a little over a month ago. Despite going on medicine for it, it continued to give me problems with daily readings averaging 180/130. I was finally able to see a cardiologist at Galenia Hospital in Cancun last week. A fine facility with good doctors. The diagnosis there was arterial blockage to the heart. Probably another gift from Marlboro for 49 years of being a faithful customer.

He changed my medications and put me on three different pills, taken daily for the rest of my life. I have a color doppler electrocardiogram scheduled for early January. The Rx says "ecocardiogram" but I am assuming that is just the Spanish translation. He will be able to tell the extent of the blockage at that point and either 1)keep me on the same regime, 2) change up my medications or 3) recommend surgery to try to correct it. Needless to say, I would get another opinion if #3 is the plan. I also have one of those little pills I have to carry with me constantly should I experience sudden, intense chest pain.

Then came Sunday night. Saturday had been an awful day for me, heart rate continuing to run faster than a Formula One race car revving up. Blood pressure still too high. I spent most of the day in bed or on the computer. I am getting quite good at Match 3 games! Sunday dawned like a whole new day. I felt fine. I couldn't feel my heart beating in my chest and my blood pressure had dropped to 170/120. I was even able to iron 4 shirts before my energy gave out and I had to go back to being lazy. We even made plans to go downtown and visit with friends we haven't seen for weeks. No big outing, just a couple of hours maybe. Let people know I am fine. Plus there was some sort of lighting festival going on and I wanted to get pictures.

I had put a chicken on the rotisserie and Bob was making 7 grain wild rice. The house was full of the aroma of grilling chicken. Life seemed good at that moment. While waiting for things to cook, I was sitting at my laptop playing another mindless Match 3 game and Bob was busy matching jewels on Bejeweled, his current addiction. Then it hit.

Out of nowhere, I suddenly felt like somebody had walked up to a campfire, grabbed a burning stick and shoved it squarely and deeply into my left eye. The pain was intense and I immediately had a burning headache on the whole left side of my head. My computer screen went all out of focus and I was so dizzy that I thought I was going to throw up. I think it was the understatement of the week when I turned to Bob and said, "I don't feel good." His reaction was to immediately jump up and grab an aspirin. For me, not him, although I'm sure he could have used one too at that point! (later, the doctor told him that that was exactly the right thing to do and a stroke of genius. I'm so lucky to have him as a caregiver)

I assured him that I was not having chest pain. I stood up, thinking I needed to go lie down or something. I could hardly see. It was like opening your eyes under water when everything had been stirred up by a storm. He had to take me by the arm and lead me. I could only walk to the left! No matter how I tried to put one foot in front of the other, I only went in circles to the left.

There is no 911 here. Only the shitty, understaffed with rude people who think they are God but have no idea, hospital downtown. And the Red Cross, which is a fine organization and deserves more respect and money. I sat on the edge of my bed with my fist pressed into my eye socket and Bob quickly got on the computer. He read me the symptoms, by way of asking me questions, and I had 3 out of 5 symptoms for Stroke. I called my doctor and he told me to get to the hospital and he would meet me there.

This is getting to be too long of a post so I will continue with the second part tomorrow. As you may have guessed, I am fine and still alive though!

Something Useful

UPDATE: While all of the information below is true about blocking your IP address, which can be useful, it appears that Hulu.com is on to this proxy business. They are denying access to anyone who logs on using a blocked IP address. Damn.


I guess I'm a thief. Well, some institutions would think so anyway. Why? Because I download stuff from the Internet. Stuff like music, movies and episodes of TV shows. I guess I really don't care about big business making even more money, but that's not what this post is about.

My friends from NOB (north of the border) have been telling me about this website called Hulu.com. It is a site for USA TV shows. You can stream episodes of some of your favorite shows. Or just excerps from them. So if you miss an episode, no problem. Just go to Hulu and catch up. Or maybe you don't have cable. No problem. Go to Hulu and watch the latest episode of your favorite program.

The problem for those of us living outside of the USA is that it is not available to us. The site checks your Internet address and if you are not coming from the USA, you are denied access. Talk about discrimination.

Well all of that changed for me recently and it can change for you too. I found a great, safe, website that allows you to access Hulu and any other website that records your IP address and blocks you because of it. It will also hide your address from prying eyes that may want to do you mischief.

So if you want to be able to stream USA TV shows and watch whatever you want, go to http://www.anchorfree.com/ and download the free software. I did it and am sure glad I did!

Now We Know

Didn't get great news at the cardiologist yesterday, but at least I have a better understanding now of what is going on. And what I should be doing. I'm not too thrilled about most of what he had to say, but I intend to pay attention.

I just don't feel like discussing my personal health anymore on the blog. I'll be back to posting my regular type of things as soon as I can. Wait for it!

So... What's Up?

You may have noticed two things about this blog lately. First, it has taken a bit of a pessimistic turn. Almost cranky about all things. Secondly, the lack of daily posts. There is a reason for both.

I'm starting on my fourth week now of being really, well, not well. I think it was manifesting itself in my writings and observations for awhile before I quite realized what was going on. At least I hope that is the reason that I was taking such a cranky view of everything around me. Sure, I can be snarky at times, but I never want to be perceived as just plain mean.

Things finally came to a head the night Hurricane IDA was supposed to hit us, but never did. I just say that because it is a way of me marking time since I had my first attack.

It started out as a coughing spell that lasted three hours and left me weak and my heart racing. I have since learned three things: I have a slightly enlarged heart, chronic bronchitis and high blood pressure.

I am working with my doctor and we are trying to get this all under control, but it is not unusual at all for my pulse to beat at 125 beats per minute. It feels sometimes like my heart is going to just beat right out of my chest. Especially lying in bed at night. That is the scariest time. Feeling my heart racing in my chest and wondering if I will cross the finish line before I wake up or not.

Tomorrow I venture over to Cancun to see a cardiologist. Hopefully he will have some good news. Or at least something different to try to lower this heart rate and bring my blood pressure back down to normal.

Meantime, I am tired, worried and exhausted. Thus the lack of posts. I just don't have the energy or resources to come up with a witty blog every day. And I am certainly not out and about taking pictures right now.

So please bear with me. I will return to regular programming as soon as I can.