it might as well be spring

The weather is so gorgeous right now it's hard to remember that we've been in autumn for almost a month. Balmy is what it is.

Meanwhile, down at the beach folks are still cleaning up after a good dousing. Dago lost about half his beach and restaurant seating area.


The side fence and the seaside cooking and prep areas are gone, although the beach shower is still standing.


You can see it just at the tip of the umbrella. It used to be surrounded by the grill area. I'm sure he'll have it all put back together by the time we get there.

Looking southeast on the malecón on the seaside are great piles of what were once puestos. I don't think Fernando's place got ruined; at least, I haven't heard anything about that. Most of the rubble and sand have been swept away but there's obviously still a lot of work to be done.

My run-ins with the DMV and AT&T took several hours out of three days. I have to renew my driver's license before we leave for the beach since it expires in April and driving in Mexico without a license is probably not a good idea. Over the course of three days I managed to fill in the paperwork, present medical certificates (for eyes), take a driving test and pass it. Now I wait for the new (and apparently newly designed) license. As for AT&T, what I wanted to do was, it seemed to me, very simple: arrange to have my bills paid automatically. Oh, easy! Alas, not so. Several years ago, the woman who stayed in our house did that very thing and although she certainly no longer pays the bill, her name is on the account and there can be ONLY one name. An hour and a quarter at the store here, with three people working on it, did not solve the problem. The next day I tried getting it done by phone. The delightful and very competent Paula and I wrestled with the issue for another hour. We finally got rid of the other person's name on the account and, if Paula is to be believed, the account is now straightened out. It will either get paid monthly, or I will have a huge bill when I return, or the whole thing will be cut off. I must add, too, that Paula was actually in the USA; in Tucson. No linguistic gymnastics required.

By the way, when I was at the AT&T store I asked if they had any phones that plugged into the wall. They looked at me in amazement as if I were asking if they sold dinosaur kibble. I actually need one for the beach; the one I took down a few years ago is about shot. They suggested the drug store as a good place to find one.