Skype Me!

I started using this new VOIP-like service to call people for free using the internet. Actually, if you download this free software and then add me to your contact list, we can talk for free. You can also make calls internationally for less than 3 cents per minute. My wireless connection isn't that great (still only "low" as opposed to "very good") but I can still manage to carry on a conversation. Until my VOIP gateway gets here, this is working for me so check it out! (www.skype.com)

I've been getting emails from friends all over the U.S. and Canada, complaining about the weather. Toronto and PV shared the same kind of weather yesterday except that it rained in Toronto and it didn't rain here. Too bad too because we really need it to cool off and Toronto didn't need it given the plane crash that resulted from the inclement weather. What a miracle that no one was seriously hurt!

The power went off here tonight for about an hour and I think I had three cold showers during that time period. Actually, the water isn't really all that cold considering my water tank is on the roof and the sun beats down on it all day. It is pretty cool in the mornings but by the time I get home from work, the water is merely tepid. It usually starts to cool down around 2AM here. Right now (11PM), it is 29C.

In order to give you an idea of how hot it is, I will relate a story shared by my friend Laura tonight. She bought one of those portable air conditioning units for around $5500 pesos ($500US). It weighed 30 kilos and she carried it up the 86 stairs to her place, plugged it into the bedroom and sealed all the windows. Within an hour, the small water receptacle was full so she rigged up the hose to drain into a plastic container that previously held 40 lbs. of cat litter.

When she turned the unit on, the temperature read 35C in her bedroom. (Laura gets ALL the afternoon sun!). By the time the machine turned itself off, the temp was a balmy 29C and the 40 lb. cat litter container was full of water! Half way through the next night, at 2:30AM, Laura woke up drenched in sweat. The unit had stopped working and the hose venting the hot air outside was too hot to touch. So she rigged up a fan to blow on the unit to keep it cool! LOL

It would work for a little while, overheat and then shut itself off. She never could get the thing to work properly or for a whole night so she took it back. She told three people at the store that she really wanted it to work. They told her that it is too hot here to use this type of machine. So she got her money back and promptly went out to buy two more fans for $25US each.

BTW, there are no more fans to be found in Vallarta so if you want to make a small fortune, load up a truck and come on down! The hot weather is expected to continue into October ...