Wednesday Apr 25/12 update
Well I took the bull by the horns again and went to Etapa
this morning. On the way I noticed this
Museum for Ceramics so I poked my head in and saw this beautiful courtyard
ceramic artwork so I had to take a shot of it.
Then I continued on to Etapa and started off with a different lady than
AnnaIsabel who marched me over to a head service consultant named Pablo Camacho
Aguilera. I was struck by how modern
their offices were as I had to wait a few moments while they brought over a
well dressed man and woman who spoke fabulous English. His name was David and he explained that he
had lived in Ottawa
for many years, recognizing me as a Canadian right away(usually the Tilley hat
is a giveaway).
They went over my copy of the email I sent Saturday, in
Spanish and English. Michael indicated
that I had not told them that my signal was dropping consistently, but I showed
him my English version which said “This week the problem was again the signal
that is inconsistent and keeps quitting on us.”
However the Google translator, which is usually pretty decent, came up
with “Esta
semana, el problema fue de nuevo la señal de que no es coherente y mantiene en nosotros dejar de fumar” and
the last part, loosely translated, says we are quitting smoking…. We had a good laugh over that.
David
explained that even though I have purchased the 1Mbps plan that we cannot
expect speeds like that during peak usage hours as I share my signal with eight
others (that part I did not know). I
said I expected slower speeds during those peak hours, that is a given, but I
do expect a firm, usable, reliable signal.
I
now have the phone numbers for both Pablo and David in case of future
problems. They say the configuration of
the modem needs to be changed and that Pablo will come over between 3 and
4. I drew him a map and gave him my cel
number too. Maybe we will resolve these
issues once and for all.
Segundo
came by last night as we were trying to watch the movie Chaos (good
movie). He was supposed to come over the
night before and stood us up for the third time so Bella was trying to ignore
him. He phoned several times and she
didn’t answer so he just drove to our door.
He is a nice guy and all, but Ecuadorians are notoriously unsympathetic
to other people’s time or space. They
just barge in front of others and expect everyone to drop everything for
them. It is an accepted part of their
culture, don’t ask me why…
Segundo
promised Bella a cooked chicken on Saturday (he only owes us about eight of
them for past services) so we tried to invite Brian and Shelley (who had
included us for New Year’s dinner) over that night. They responded that they have a funeral that
day so they had to decline. We also owe
Julio and Paola but Bella was concerned about feeding their fussy kids our
North American version of a meal. She thought
on it and let me call them but it was too late.
Their daughter has some competition in Guayaquil on Saturday, so they are driving up
Friday night and returning Sunday. Paola
indicated they would like to get together with us midweek or next weekend, and
maybe go to Paute with them again. So
now Bella will look at inviting Bettye and Chris, and Greg and Leona, to help
us eat this huge chicken. I am informed
it is my job to go get the chicken after 5 on Saturday so I’ll probably dust
off the bike for that purpose.
I
get to see so many sights out of the bedroom window as the people stroll by the
paths and as the construction workers upgrade houses across the way. It is truly refreshing to watch a little
pride in the appearance of their homes beginning to take shape. Two doors down the family is installing
ceramic tile on the outside of their home so it will be very pretty when
completed. We get rain, but not snow or
freezing temperatures, so the construction materials and techniques are very
different. Across the way one corner
house is getting a new roof, and of course, on the other corner we have a new
home starting from the ground up. I took
a photo and was laughing about the rebar for the columns being crooked, until a
few moments ago when they had added the supports. Now we might have a straight column!.
Today
I saw what looked like a kindergarten class going down the path, following the
teacher, grabbing each others shirttails, and doing a “sound off” with the
teacher, like marines on a run. I should
have taken a video instead!
Well
David from Etapa phoned that Pablo was on his way and he arrived about
3:45. He checked the modem, upload and
download speed, and confirmed my contention that the problem is somewhere on
the telephone line they use to provide our signal. He will have David call me later.
The boys were enjoying the sun on the terrace so I had them
reluctantly pose for me. The texture of
the one shot of both boys looks much better when greatly enlarged.
Enjoy the pics.
That was today’s excitement. Hugs to all.
 |
| 120425 Our budding Marines "sounding off" |
 |
| 120425 Neighbour's ceramic wall |
 |
| 120425 Etapa's modern office |
 |
| 120425 New roof installation across the road |
 |
| 120425 Ceramic museum courtyard |
 |
| 120425 Why I thought buildings were crroked |
 |
| 120425 How they straighten the columns |
 |
| 120425 Texture looks better when much bigger |
 |
| 120425 Pancho looks BORED.... |
 |
| 120425 Peso looks annoyed |
