Friday August 23, 2013

Friday August 23, 2013  update #551

I was awake early enough and got to work on my chores.   This little secretarial chair I use is not conducive to a back injury recovery so basically I aggravated my condition today.

Bella was off to her charity crochet and knit group this morning.

The drugs were barely sufficient for me to get ready and go to yet another Coopera meeting at the Prefect’s office.  Surprise, surprise, they had lots of press there so they actually started only 10 minutes late with Jose Montesinos giving a long monologue  the whole time.   There were only 4 of us Expats there and the only possible interpreter, Elisa, was stuck in the bunch of locals so 2 of us made our exit within 15 minutes to allow some ladies to have a seat.

We did find out today that our protest was successful.   Nobody from our group volunteered to be duped into being a delegate for the SEPS deception team.  This means they now have to allow at least 30 elected delegates, but this is contingent on the court case on Monday.  With any luck, we will be able show all the illegalities in their process and force them to refund all our money.   We are crossing our fingers.

As I was walking out, one of our lawyers, Dr. Quito was giving an interview in the hallway so I stopped for a moment.   It was then that I met the father of our Coopera Branch Manager Juan.   Senor Palacios has been at many of our meetings and it seems that we are all in agreement as to the skullduggery that has occurred.   I sent a text message to Elisa to try to supply me with a summary of the meeting.

On my way to the bus stop I saw some kids enjoying the fountain in the San Blas Square.   Kids and water… what can you say….

I tried to get some business card stock at the small Papeleria Monsalves on Guapondelig and was shocked that they had no prepared paper stock at all, no business cards, no invitations, etc.   Next door I purchased a keychain fob (like Bella has) which stores money to pay for the bus rides.  My transit card is still good but I am always self-conscious about pulling out my wallet every time I get on a bus.   I will keep the card for visitors to use.

I then decided to check at Coral for the business card stock and they did have some, so I bought 2 packets.

That was today’s excitement.  Cheers, Al   

Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Wednesday-Thursday August 21-22, 2013

Wednesday-Thursday August 21-22, 2013  update #550

Wednesday, we protested again near the Coliseo Jefferson Perez and found out more bad news.   The liquidator SEPS is saying his mandate was to pay off the small investors 100% then leave the decimated scraps to the large investors.  

I won’t get into all the illegal actions they have taken, but they were having 4 separate Assemblies to divide and conquer, 2 with Creditors on Wednesday, and 2 with Depositors on Thursday.  Each Assembly was to elect a delegate to help oversee the finalization of the liquidation so SEPS can wash their hands of the corrupt mess.   In the beginning, the head honcho of SEPS was going to only provide screen presentations and not be around for the inevitable flak he was going to receive.  We did our best to get our message to the Creditors that we must refuse to participate in this action or we will just inherit the blame, the lawsuits, the closure of the stores and restaurants, and be the scapegoats for the firing of the present employees.  Mr Aguilar will soon find out that acting like Pontius Pilate will not absolve him of his wrondoings.  Out of over 800 creditors, approximately 55 actually went in and participated in the sessions.  Presumably 2 delegates have been elected.

I spent the whole day there, helping block the 2 assemblies in a peaceful fashion.  The afternoon session was moved to a more secure location for the police to protect the SEPS employees behind a wire fence.  I cannot blame them because emotions ran very high during the mornings’ confrontations.  That was why I asked Bella not to join us because I feared things could easily escalate to violence.  The police were bolstering their forces all morning.   The head SEPS honcho showed his face for the afternoon session, behind the wall of police.

After 4pm I gave up and caught a bus to Millenium Mall.   On the way there we saw a pedestrian that may have been hit by a bus, lying in an intersection with a huge pool of blood below his skull.   It was truly a grisly scene.  

At the Sports Planet Cafe we enjoyed a lovely supper with Bella, Jim and Cindy.    Bella was coming from her usual Bridge Club.  We then cabbed over to the cavernous apartment that Jim and Cindy are renting near mall Del Rio.   That place could house a small army.

By the time we arrived home I could barely move and I went straight to bed as soon as I could.   That is why there was no blog last night.

Thursday morning I just slept in but then struggled to the bathroom to get some pain-killers for my aching back.   Bella sent me a translation from The SEPS website where they are attempting to whitewash their actions.  I sent text messages to my fellow Depositors that I would not be in any shape to join them today unfortunately.  The plan is to ignore any calls for Delegates from our group.  We have an open court action into the illegality of the SEPS actions and they are being called on the carpet on Monday, hallelujah!!  We just have to delay any more crooked BS from these people until we can challenge them in court.   Finally we are hopeful of some success.

We have the Twitter accounts of the Ecuadorian President, Vice-President, and Justice Minister so I sent several Tweets to all of them begging for their intervention.  The extortion and discrimination exhibited by SEPS is apparent to any sane person so we need to keep up the pressure.

That was today’s excitement.  Cheers, Al   

Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Tuesday August 20, 2013

Tuesday August 20, 2013  update #549

Bella started her Bridge lessons today and was very pleased that everyone showed up.

I had already been up and out the door before 8am to take the hour-long bus trip to San Joaquin for our latest demonstration where we were to gather by 9pm.

Of course, we never want to be late but Ecuador time runs the clocks in this country.  The brass doesn’t show up until 9:30 and then about 9:45am  four of them get invited into the SEPS office to palaver.  Some police come over to try to tell us that we can’t take pictures.  I didn’t have to say anything because the Ecuadorians jumped all over him saying “This is our building and we’ll take pictures if we want”.  Those cops went back to the gate with their tails between their legs…

We waited and waited and waited.   By 11:15 my legs and kidneys are telling me to skedaddle so I hurried home.   I expected the group would immediately put out a bulletin of the results but, here it is, 8:30pm and still no word…   And they expect us to create another confrontation at 10am tomorrow??  

This is getting so frustrating that I put together my meager angry thoughts over the past two days and just submitted them to the brass hats.   It will be interesting to hear the reactions.  I am not reinventing the wheel nor even saying much different than anyone else, I am just trying to put things in a cohesive order so we can get a proper course of action in play.

That was today’s excitement.  Cheers, Al   

Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Monday August 19, 2013

Monday August 19, 2013  update #548

Bella was looking after groceries today and resting before she begins another round of Bridge lessons.   

I, on the other hand, spent almost my whole day sorting out thoughts on the Coopera liquidation issue before attending yet another meeting at the Prefect's office.

Ecuador time,.... that time-honored tradition of showing up late for everything.....   They call the meeting for 4pm so it can begin at 4:45.   

Then we listened to a solid 1.5 hours of wrangling, all in Spanish, as the two lawyers, Quito and Heredia, try to woo the crowd to their points of view. Then we got less than one minute of English explanation before we all just got up and walked out.   Every Expat I spoke to was feeling exactly the same.  If that ever happened again, this group would lose them all.

I am not a happy camper this evening over that shabby treatment.  They requested our help and visibility, which we have been giving them in much higher proportions than the Ecuadorians, but we are seemingly invisible when they want any decisions.  Grrrrrrrrrr.

They want us to attend another demonstration early in the morning in San Joaquin, and I will go, just because I feel it is my duty.

That will determine whether I support them for other meetings Wednesday and Thursday where things could get real interesting...

No photos today.

That was today’s excitement.  Cheers, Al   

Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Sunday August 18, 2013

Sunday August 18, 2013  update #547

It was such a dull day today but I was determined to get out regardless.  Bella was heading out for Bridge anyway so I went a little earlier on the #16 to the Feria Libre/El Arenal Market area.  The bus wasn’t allowed past Clinica Santa Ana so it seemed like the bus driver was trying to make his own route past all the crazy detours.

I honestly had no urge to dig out my camera on such a dull day so I just went into the market and shopped for 3 hours.  I was trying to find a hooded, waterproof light spring/fall jacket but finding something suitable was almost impossible.  They had a few parka-style jackets but they were too heavy and too tight, and I sure didn’t want any zip-off hoods, they look so tacky.   So, I came home tired and empty-handed.

I have therefore worked on some more Pase Del Nino photos for you to enjoy.

That was today’s excitement.  Cheers, Al   

Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/

Saturday August 17, 2013

Saturday August 17, 2013  update #546

Good grief!   I did my chores and then I crashed again for another 2 hours so that was my whole day gone until we had to get ready to head over to Joe’s Secret Garden.

We did hear some sad news that our oldest sister, Jeanne Delanoy, is not well so we wish her a quick recovery from whatever is ailing her.  We heard later this evening that she is showing small signs of a rebound so we will keep her in our prayers for that to continue.

Our old friends Jim & Cindy Wilkins from Atlanta are back here for 3 weeks so we had a nice visit with them while enjoying Joe’s famous fried chicken.   I quietly circulated Joe’s birthday card for signature through the crowd of over 100 so we will have a nice surprise for Joe on his actual birthday on the 28^th.  

Joe and Joseph have expanded their cooking facilities out back to be able to handle more food so they can handle bigger crowds.   They have bought more tables and chairs to accommodate the folks inside and they seemed to handle the larger crowd very easily tonight.

That was today’s excitement.  Cheers, Al   

Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/