December 13-15 we made a quick bus trip to Mexico City, staying in a basic airbnb in the very historicTlatelolco area close to a friend’s apartment. The purpose of the trip was to attend the debut of a short documentary film made by a friend of Aimeé’s family that dealt with the impact of the death of Aimeé’s nephew on the “survivors”. Aimeé represented her family at the presentation and spoke very well of her experiences.
The following day we visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and walked a bit around Tlatelolco, enough to realize we should return to discover the history in more detail. Getting to CDMX by bus was easy but we struggled at first being neophites at navegating the city by public transit. It will be easier next time.
it’s the season for illumination fairs in the streets
Aimeé received her Canadian Passport on Nov 8. We travelled to Vancouver/Richmond on the 12th, flew to Guadalajara yesterday, and took several buses and taxis to get the the family home in Guanajuato late in the evening. It was a long journey.
Today we are moving slowly and recovering. Unpacking and setting up the basement suite is easy fortunately. Our day has included walking to our favourite stores for supplies, and restaurants to reestablish our routine
I was very disappointed with the results of the 2024 US elections. The American people will get what they deserve. Trying not to get sucked into Trump news.
We are visiting my sister in Vankleek Hill, ON. While away the garage cam captured a local bear on his early morning stroll. We had planned to fly to Mexico from here on October 1st but Aimeé’s Canadian citizenship ceremony was held last week and now we must wait for her to obtain a Canadian passport. So we return to Garden Bay on the 1st instead.
The custom screen door turned out well and was easy to make. Reroofing the shed took many weeks with working only in the mornings to avoid the sun and two trips to Home Depot in Vancouver to buy materials.
The heat wave is over and the drought has ended for another year in Garden Bay. We are flying to visit my family in Vankleek Hill on Septemer 25 and heading to Guanajuato on October 1. So there are just five weeks left to enjoy here.
We were headed to the cabin last week and my old motor was overheating, a common problem that has happened before. The local mechanic diagnosed that the water channels in the motor were blocked and provided an expensive repair quote. I opted to buy a new motor shown above and plan to try it out on the water today.
Boom! Sunny days arrived on July 1 and we in the middle of a dry heatwave. All the rain we had in June was great for the plants and while the roses have waned there are still plenty of blooms all over the garden.
Aimeé is working five days a week at John Henry’s Resort and I keep myself busy in the garden and my shed reno. I decided to reroof the shed this summer as I have the time and the low-slope portion has leaked for years.
The weather for the past two months has been cool and mixed. After cleaning up the garden, I kept myself busy with phase two of the COVID shed renovation. In this photo you can glimpse a window and door inside the greenhouse. Under the overhang roof I built shelves for large items that used to be stored inside the shed.
Besides the door and windows, the big improvement was covering the last outside wall and the inside surfaces with sheathing plywood. Not only does it look better, it provides convenient surfaces for hanging tools.
Things are not completely well organized but I am very satisfied with the result. It was a great opportunity to sort everything that was in the shed and discard the junk that will never get used.
The project was fun and it involved creative problem solving as I progressed. Above is an example; I framed this opening to facilitate the construction and cut panels to seal it up, but it is quite convenient and have decided to add a screen door for summer use. The opening is non-standard and thus a custom screen door is my next project.
We travelled to Garden Bay on February 22 and it was a very long day. We are both happy to be home, earlier than usual as Aimeé is anxious to renew her permanent resident card. As you can see from the weather forecast, it is still winter although signs of spring abound in the garden. As weather permits I will work on cleaning up the garden in preparation for the coming season.
We just returned from our beach break in Isla Mujeres Jan. 16-24. We had mixed weather with rain and wind, clouds and sun, and a fairly constant temperature of 27C. That suited us fine as Cancun can be unbearable hot with searing sunshine. The photo above shows both Playa Norte and Playa Centro, which are truly beautiful and excellent for swimming. Playa Norte is better as it doesn’t suffer from boat traffic and offers some shade most of the day.
I visited Isla Mujeres for a day in the early 80’s and don’t remember much, but I’m sure it has changed radically in 40 years. I would say a ruined paradise as the development attracts hoards of people, the prices are high, and the feel of the downtown core is very modern. The laid-back side of the island still exists but requires exploring to encounter. We stayed in a low-end Airbnb at the south end of el Centro, a great location with the necessary comforts.
We thoroughly enjoyed our trip, especially the natural beauty and excellent beaches.
About two years ago Aimeé was given an XBOX 360 system. I was dead set against the idea but turned out that she had always wanted to play video games. At first I was a reluctant observer but Aimeé persuaded me to try some games, nothing interesting until she started playing Assassin’s Creed II.
Up until this late stage of life I had avoided video games because I considered them time wasters. Back in the late 70’s I played some text-based adventure games and found them addictive, so for me the best life strategy was to ignore the whole industry.
According to recent data, the gaming industry is now making more money than the music and movie industries combined.
I was very impressed with Assassin’s Creed II: the graphics, the sound, the story, the game-play; and I played happily for hours, especially while Aimeé was in Mexico this summer. In October here in Guanajuato we bought the latest generation XBOX system and the Assassin’s Creed Ezio Collection, which comprises three games.
As of early December I had finished all three games as I have lots of free time in Mexico. Choosing the next game required research. I liked everything about Assassin’s Creed except for the violence, which is pervasive in video games. I decided on The Talos Principle and will have finished that game very soon.
I need a break from gaming as I feel the weight and guilt of playing so much, but finding the next game to play is on my to-do list. Not only am I a late adopter of video games, I was unaware of the demographic trend of video gaming for seniors and its benefits for healthy aging.
