The construction out front is just roaring along. They are putting up the concrete 'T' beams on the condo roof for the funny shaped cinder blocks that form the ceiling/floor.


The curbs in the street are poured and 6' steel mat laid. Lots of whistling and yelling from the street crew at their plodding help while the condo gang just rolls along, everyone knowing what comes next.


Once they get the ceiling blocks down they start running green plastic electrical conduit all over, joining the ceiling fixtures to wall switches and outlets. They cut and chip out gaps in the floor for the white plumbing pipes. Once all the plastic pipe is in position they roll out 6" steel mat to reinforce the one piece floor that will be poured from a cement pumping outfit.


This is a wider look at the view out my window as I type. Watching all this construction going on is as entertaining as TV.


They poured the sidewalk on our side of the street and then embossed a stone pattern into the cement as it set up using these interlocking molds. The crew have been doing this for months and everyone knows what to do. There is still lots of yelling and whistling because of the drama of having to get it right, right now because errors in concrete lasts forever, but wet cement doesn't. 


Wanna make some money at tourist town art fairs?  Give up the face painting for Croc painting.
(thanks Dell)


If you've been following these winter visits over the years you may remember this '56 Ford Victoria. It's just verrrrry nice. I'd lost track of it and thought it might have been sold off island but it turned up a couple days ago. Our family bought a plain-Jane four door sedan new, same year. Lovely car.


I hope this sign wasn't hit by someone on a scooter.


My favorite car, color, and sentiments.


I just noticed this next picture is red, white and green. How appropriate. On to the point. The municipal potable water supply is drinkable, however. . . . . . . Once the water leaves the plant it is vulnerable to contamination and here is just one example. The water pressure fluctuates between low and none. Most 2+ story dwellings have 1000 gallon cisterns on the roof that are filled with pumps drawing on the municipal water pipe. Some users in one story units just draw from the pipe. When a hose is inadvertently left in a bucket or swimming pool and a neighbor's pump comes on it can draw water back up the hose and contaminate the main supply line. Also the roof mounted cisterns can be contaminated by wildlife or mold, etc. Always drink bottled water in Mexico.


Pure drinking water is available in 5 gal jugs for about 20 pesos ($2). There are a variety of ways to dispense the water including a tipping basket, traditional office type water cooler, hand pump and my favorite, the simple siphon, pictured below.



I've been accessing the Internet from a variety of locations. For instance, early on I found the AA clubhouse had a neighbor with an open WiFi network. They have since moved the modem to another part of their house and the signal has become quite weak. I finally broke down this week and bought a 100' Ethernet cable with end plugs installed and strung it from my room to the hotel owners DSL modem on the ground floor here at Blanquita's.

I'm not afraid of heights, but I do pay pretty close attention when working above the first floor (I'm on 3rd). I used the overhangs to route the cable. I wanted to follow that orange cable down.

You see the green corroded copper wires exposed in the tan wire? I discovered they were live when I brushed my hand past them. It made the hair on my arm stand up. I was very careful getting that plastic tie-wrap buckled up, one handed while I clutched a window frame with the other. (One hand for the boat, mate)
Here is my final hookup and the wire is fast.


I rode around today looking for the barber I used last year and located the shop during 'Siesta'. Maybe tomorrow. During the search I found this hand made truck.


And a block away was this great green gate.


As I sit in my shorts next to the open window, typing away in a moderate sweat, I wonder how things are going back home in Minneapolis. Now that I've got ready access to the Cloud I can easily check the weather there:

Oh my! -5ºf for a High . . . . . FOR THE HIGH ?!!
OK, lets talk about the weather. The clear nights mean that what little heat there is in the ground and buildings has a clear shot to radiate straight out to deep space. That's what makes -5ºf so easy to reach. Cloud cover is like a blanket for the earth. If you aren't too familiar with severe winter cold and can't relate to -5ºf let me show you the thermometer in the Ice Cream freezer at the Chedraui super market. It reads +6ºf.

Personally I like my ice cream at about -10ºf.  I have been known to drive home from the grocery store during a Minneapolis cold snap with my ice cream in a bag hanging from the outside door mirror.
=)
P.S.- Saturday morning it was -14ºf/75% humidity in Mpls, I'm sure it will warm up to the -5ºf they promised.

Last month when I likened those wooden bar stools to old bottle caps I forgot about the not-so-old 'Long Neck' beers (they kiss back) and even this local mineral water:


Let's close this week with the Sun setting behind a jewelry store's dome on the corner of the main downtown plaza.
(It got a little grainy trying to pull some detail out of the shadows, sorry)


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