Friday March 15, 2013

Friday March 15/13  update #393

Pancho was keeping me awake so I got up before 5:30 and went out with the camera to see what the rising sun would offer.  I took many shots along the Yanuncay and kept a few for you to enjoy.  Every shot was taken on a manual setting, something we photographers sometimes do not always have the time to do, opting for an automatic setting.  Today’s cameras are so intelligent that we sometimes just get lazy and let the camera do all the work.

Shooting a time shot of 30 seconds smoothes out rough water and we also get much richer colour so I really love the deep blue that has come out on the pre-dawn shots of the river.

We had been asked to join Jim Mola and friends at Los Sabores De La Nonna on Avenida Solano for a “fiesta”, so we did.  This is a new restaurant, impossible to know about them unless someone tells you about them and gives you directions.  Basically they serve mostly shish-kebabs that are very tasty, although they do have things like lasagna on the menu, but apparently not tonight.  Folks were raving about the food previously so we were expecting great things, but… we got street meat shish-kebabs that we can get on any corner.   The company was great though and it was awesome to see many friends we hadn’t seen in a while.  Sorry about the quality of photos from there.  I was just using the small camera and didn’t bother with a lot of adjustments.

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

Thursday March 14, 2013

Thursday March 14/13 update #392

Bella was off to doll-making class again while I did the usual chores and uploads.   She is also close to setting up an afternoon bridge drop-in at the Cuenca Bridge Club which I hope she can pull off.  That will eliminate so much stress on her part and give her a much-needed outlet to play some competitive bridge without having to worry about who, or how many, will show up.

Then I was off for another meeting at Hearts Of Gold where we finalized a lot of the printing details for brochures and posters to promote HoG and the Silent Auction.  I got compliments on my admin work and the templates I have supplied for such things as Gift Certificates to ease the work of the volunteers.  We aim to please.

Our volunteers are an amazing group of bright people with no egos to soothe so it is working extremely well.  The ideas that are put forth are well thought out and helpful.  Most have begun their canvassing for items for the auction and some of the results are incredible.   It will be a fun event to attend for sure.

I have again sent out an email to all my contacts in Ecuador asking for their help in our HoG endeavors.  I am certainly hoping for a better response from this email than the complete dead silence received from the first one.

Sorry, no photos today.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    

Wednesday March 13, 2013

Wednesday March 13/13  update #391

Bella was off at 6am to spend the whole day at the Visa Office.   That is not a process for the impatient.  She barely made it home in time for supper at 6pm.  She has to complete about 3 more minor items and sit through at least another day there in the line-up.

I did my usual chores which always take until past lunchtime then I forced myself to get outside.  I climbed the hill to catch the #3 up to the San Sebastian area to grab a few shots.  I am still getting accustomed to the idiosyncrasies of the new camera, for instance which has kept the instruction to do a delayed shot from yesterday.  So I am not including the resulting shots of my shoes as I tried to figure it out.    

It is almost a given that there are threatening skies every time I visit this area, but it never rains…  Besides the gorgeous park and the white church, it is adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art which had a large exhibition of an artist with the last name of Roman who must be tormented.  I could only bring myself to show you samples of some of his tamer and recognizable work.  I saved going into the Auditorium last and almost had a heart attack when I saw that all the huge parchment wall hangings were missing!  I went to ask the fellow at the desk what happened to those and he said something about “Espana” so I can only assume they had only been on temporary loan to us from Spain.

I always get a corner shot of San Sebastian right next to the umbrella of the shoe-shine man.  He looked at my dirty runners and offered to shine them for 50c, so why not??

Further down the road I checked at a couple of video shops and was finally rewarded in finding a copy of “Love Actually”, “Amor en Realidad” in Spanish, one of our all-time favourite movies.  It is set in England, a few days before Christmas, as it follows 8 intertwined couples played by an incredible cast.   We can’t wait to watch it again.

I also found a set of headphones with a 6m cord for hooking up to the TV for only $20 and it is functional, but doesn’t have a great range of volume.

I tried to call Mom around 4pm but missed her, and was shocked when she called me back at 5:40.  That is pretty darn good for someone who will be 97 in a couple of months!  I am glad that I will be able to make it there for her Birthday.

I had sent a complaining email to NetTalk about the crappy connections we have been having of late.  The people on the other end can’t hear us half of the time and I was getting fed up.  Yet my conversation with Mom was clear as a bell.   I wonder if that is because she initiated the call??   Hmmmm.

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

Tuesday March 12, 2013

Tuesday March 12/13  update #390

Bella was off to doll class today while I did multiple uploads of photos.

Then we had another meeting of Hearts Of Gold again for planning the Silent Auction and Sale.  I delivered the Galapagos collage and had to take a group photo of the volunteers.    One of the volunteers reminds me so much of Jim Farrelly at my old office, it is scary.

The meeting centered on proofing and suggesting improvements to the literature we will be needing for requesting donations and for promoting the Foundation. 

Tarek has done such a wonderful job on the prototypes that I hope he isn’t upset at the multitude of changes that were suggested.  Many of the suggestions were for more concise and bilingual work.  We can all get carried away with our verbiage, but six separate paragraphs trying to say what we do in six different ways was a bit overboard.   Our Mission says it succinctly enough.

Now I have to get to work and start doing the Bid Sheets for the many items that have been donated.   I will have to get it straight in my head how I will want to number the items so the bigger ticket items are spread around, and we also want to colour-code them so we can close off items in stages, saving the bigger items for the end.   I also have to re-do the Gift Certificate templates, etc so I have to put on my designing hat so everything will be ready for another meeting on Thursday.

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

Monday March 11, 2013

Monday March 11/13  update #389

My first chore of the day was to get a haircut.  Bella had found a real reasonable hairdresser just a few blocks away that gave haircuts for $1.50.  Luckily she was open today and I arrived just as she was finishing another client.  This lady is fast, like the $15 haircuts at home that take 10 minutes, and she is as good as Bella said she was.   But she doesn’t do manicures or pedicures….

Bella was doing her Monday grocery chores as I tried to catch a catnap because Pancho kept me awake all night.

I had an appointment to renew our house insurance which is decidedly different than in Canada.  I went in to see Cristina Alvarado at Seguralmeida on Roberto Crespo.  We did a quick review and decided to leave everything as is for another year.  Insurance is VERY different here than in Canada or the US.   They feel there is a larger burglary risk here so their rates are really quite high.  I keep pushing them to allow more discounts like they do in North America as an incentive to keep their good clients.  The homes are concrete or solid brick so fire isn’t much of an issue, but they easily allow earthquake or flood insurance, again very different.  I know we are underinsured, but at least we are insured for disaster and are probably the only insured home for many blocks, as Ecuadorians basically self-insure.

I was waiting for the #16 to return home and was surprised when it came from behind me so I was waving away, at the bus stop, and the buggar just drove on by.    Luckily the next one was only about 5 minutes behind him.   Welcome to Ecuador.

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

Sunday March 10, 2013

Sunday March 10/13  update #388

I tried to sleep in, but to no avail.  There was a procession of those folks in the purple gowns again today and they are quite noisy.  Bella told me that this was the culmination of a religious retreat or something.  Anyway it is quite a spectacle as they pass by our home.

I wanted to add my seal to the collage for the Hearts Of Gold and I was determined to try a collage of my own.    I gathered several Cuenca Kids photos and went into PrintShop to try to find a ready-made collage format but they were really restricted so I forged ahead and manually made one myself.   After several hours I finally had things lined up so I printed an A4 version on glossy paper.   Then I applied my seal and ran it through the laminator 4 times.   Now I have a nice placemat, lol.  It really needs to be printed much larger to be effective so I am not sure what I will do now.   At least the hard work is done.

Bella was off to play bridge at Joe’s and then we are meeting at Mark and Karen’s for a feast of Black Angus beef.   They had ordered some of this great beef from a local man and were super pleased with the product so we got to sample some of it.

It might not be Alberta beef but it was a close second!  Mark made some mashed potatoes with sour cream, chives and bacon, just like a baked potato and I filled my face.  Lemon squares for dessert topped off the evening.

We got to enjoy the African motif they have in their apartment, mostly from their time spent teaching in Egypt.   We were also rolling in the aisles recounting many pet stories from our past

Our 55ish cab driver asked if it was OK to stop to pick up his wife on the way so she could enjoy the ride.  We just laughed and said OK.  She was waiting on the street in a coat and scarf, with one curler in her bangs.   Only in Ecuador you say??

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