How Hot Is It?

Yesterday, the high was 90.3F or 32.4ºC but with the humidity, the heat index was more like 123.6ºF or 50.6ºC. It's almost too hot to type! :) And it felt hotter today. We might get hit with the remnants of Hurricane Stan. Even though the name sounds ineffectual, his leftovers have the potential to pack a wallop as he rolls through Mexico and affect us in some way. Locally, heavy rainfall causing life-threatening flash floods and mud slides may be possible during the next day or two from Acapulco northwestward to PV, especially in mountainous areas. Even as I type (10PM Thursday night), the rain has finally started.

I finally have a good cable signal! Things went awry about a week ago when my rather crappy television reception disappeared totally leaving nothing for me to watch but a fuzzy white screen. At first I just thought the cable was out (again). The internet goes down and the electricity goes out often down here. After about a week with no Law & Order, I decided to follow the cable from my TV to the roof. Once there, I discovered a pile of wire shavings and my cable lying on the ground. In its place, another coaxial cable was plugged into my spot. Funny thing -- that particular cable ran across the street and into the house/store on the corner! My neighbour and I removed the offending cable, replaced mine and secured it with electrical tape.

Today again, no cable. I wasn't home but my girlfriend was here, using my computer and watching my TV. Or at least she was trying to watch my TV and couldn't. Back up to the roof they went, only to discover that the cable thieves had removed the whole junction box and now no one has cable! Did I mention my neighbour is a smart guy? He gets DSL internet service through a cable company here and we share the cost by using a wireless router. One of the women at work gave me a whack of cable and a splitter so he used that to hack into the internet line and VOILA! I have a clean, clear picture on my TV now. So I guess the lesson is, don't pay extra for cable service if you've already got DSL via cable. The TV signal is imbedded in the line! (And please don't report us to the Mexican authorities!)

As many of you know, last Sunday was my birthday and I'm proud to say that I did absolutely nothing on my birthday except lie around in bed for most of the day. It's not like I had a choice. And before you think I was enjoying some type of steamy tryst with a red hot latin lover, I was hungover to a point close to death. LOL Foolishly, I agreed to let two of my co-workers (both young, handsome men but on the other team, if you know what I mean) buy me "a drink" for my birthday at our favourite martini bar. Several martinis and one mysterious frothy drink later, I found myself on centre stage at Paco Paco, an infamous gay bar here in Vallarta.

I paid 50 pesos to enter and received a free beer. I bought them each a beer and barely remember the rest of the evening! I watched them shoot a game of pool and when they decided to head upstairs to watch the strippers, I left down the winding staircase to street level. Once there, I realized I was in no shape to walk home, even if it was only six blocks. I also knew enough not to get into a car with a strange man so that ruled out taking a taxi. I headed back to the martini bar and found my favourite Canadian bartender closing up. He agreed to walk me to my door. Anyway, I missed a passle of phone calls in the morning from my family and friends because I couldn't make it from the bed to the dresser. What can I say? I'm an old woman ... haha!

My friend Linda sent me a lovely ecard with the following message: "Seems to me you've made it a life's mission not to be ordinary. And guess what? You've succeeded ...". Thanks Linda. That means a lot to me! And thanks to everyone else for their calls, emails and messages online. I've made some decisions about my life, as is my wont to do every year on my birthday. I don't believe in New Year's resolutions unless it is MY new year. Anyway, I am working out a few details but I hope to be able to share the news with you sometime before the end of the month so hang tight OK? Just don't get tight ... unless you really want to feel bad the next morning. :)