Tuesday October 16, 2012

Tuesday October 16/12 update #256

I was up early as I had a few items on my agenda today.   First was a stop at Etapa to receive the latest communication from the Commercial manager regarding my request for a refund of the $40.80 charge to cancel their crappy service.   Naturally he just repeated that they fixed my service several times so there should have been no problem….  Duh….  So, again I reiterate to everyone, STAY AWAY FROM ETAPA.   If even one person signs up somewhere else I will cost them more than the lousy $40.80.  Consider that done.

From there I walked to the Windhorse Café Book/Movie Exchange and didn’t think I would find 8 movies to exchange for my batch but I actually found about a dozen so I had to make some choices.

During my walks today there were some pretty sights and dramatic skies to behold so the camera got a workout.   I even made a quick run-through of the CIDAP Museum.  We get a view of Parque De La Madre over the fence there and it appears things are moving along rapidly with the exception of the parkade.

There is a Tuesday 2 for 1 sale at Papa John’s Pizza so I went to see if I could get that promotion on their $4 personal size pizza…  No soap!  He said it started with the $12 medium sizes.   Bummer.

I stopped in the Fuji store for a second and saw that they can do a 12” x 20” photo on canvas for $20.70.  Such a deal!!

I got off the bus near the Monay Mall and walked down the hill because I was determined to scratch the last item off our renovation/construction list.  That is, namely, the ledge/shelf for the boys to sit on in the terrace window.  Bella has already woven them a nice 8” x 9’ rug to sit on, but when we installed the windows they needed to be set in much closer than expected so we were only left with a 4” ledge. 

So today I stopped in to see the woodworkers on the corner below the Mall.  I told them what I wanted but they couldn’t give me any ideas or straight answers so I went across the road to the metal workers.  There was a couple in the office yakking at the boss so I just wandered in the yard and got some ideas of options.  When the boss came free I showed him my ideas with the stock he had in the yard.  Then we jumped in his truck and he came over to view the ledge for himself and take some measurements.  I stressed the importance of it being non-rusting since it is exposed to the sun and rain.  We agreed on a 8” wide, 2cm high, and 9’ long stainless steel shelf , installed next Tuesday at 2pm, for $80.  Could you imagine what that would cost in Canada??  I had $45 left over from our construction budget so we are good to go.

I got home in time to make lunch just before Rosa came to do the housecleaning.   She was on time today.   Her work was interrupted by a broken hose on the vacuum so out came the snips, silicone sealant and finally duct tape….. 

I spent most of the afternoon going through all the channels on the Satellite TV.   I had received a cryptic email from our installer about some problem due to a migration of a satellite.  Maybe the problem was with folks who had to aim at a satellite to the west but, reception-wise, I was having no problem with my eastern satellite.   What I am having trouble with is that many of my favourite channels are now scrambled…. CNN, BBC, all the HBO, Max Prime, etc.   I have responded by email to Jorge Vidal for an explanation if possible.

I knew my bag of potatoes was getting on its last legs so I put on some rubber gloves and grabbed the peeler and went to work.  I never knew what a difference the rubber gloves would make.  Before I knew it I had peeled over 30 potatoes.  I boiled them up and made a lot of mashed potatoes, enough for 5 meals, and froze 4 servings.

As I was doing this the heavens opened and we are getting a very nice and welcome rain.

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com.  Hugs to all.