North America

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Displeased

The cheque I’m waiting for, which should have been mailed on the 3rd at the latest but did not get to the post until the 6th at who knows what time, is still not here. It’s a substantial cheque and I really don’t want to leave without it being in the bank. So I am stuck here until Tuesday at least since this is a long weekend (Thanksgiving).

I have no food to speak of and the kitchen is packed and spotless. So now, I have to make a run to Willow Bunch to get non-perishables (fridge is off) for the weekend, unpack, and plan to reclean the kitchen on Monday.

For November onward, the cheques will be sent to my mother in QC for depositing, but I thought that I could wait here for the October one to arrive. What a mistake that was! 🙁 The delay is such a snowball in that even when the cheque does get it, the bulk of it will be frozen for up to two weeks. I can still take off, but my budget for the first bit of my trip will be much tighter than it would have needed to be.

I’m glad that I accepted as much work as I did for this past week, otherwise I would be quite angry today!

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Town Run

One cheque I’ve been expecting was here today, but not the one I was hoping for. The one I got was for 198USD from Amazon (thank you again to everyone who uses my affiliate link!). I wanted to buy 200USD, so I thought I could just get the 198US straight up. Nope! I had to convert the cheque to CAD and then back to USD. I lost 15CAD in the exchanges. Based on my banking history, I was advised that I should open up a USD account. I’ll investigate that next year.

I then went to the SaskTel dealer to unlock my cell phone and was told that I needed to call the toll free number to do that. I informed the clerk that the toll free number had told me to do it in person and was haughtily told, “Yes, I can do it for you, but you still have to pay the $50.” Nowhere in the exchange we had previous to that did I even mention the $50 unlock fee, much less that I had any issue with it (for things like that, choose to just accept rather than fight). So now the phone is supposed to be unlocked, or at least it will be once I go through some steps to reset it.

I was also told that I can call SaskTel on Friday, or whenever I’m ready to leave, and they will suspend my account for three months. My monthly fee is $70 plus tax and I was resigned to paying that for eight months, so I’m glad to save the three months!

I had some bottles and cans to return and got $11.40 from that. Lunch at the buffet in town is $11.45 with the tip, so I took that as a sign to go have lunch even though I hadn’t planned on it! As I’ve been posting on Facebook, I’ve been keeping myself rather creatively fed as I work through my stores, but I’m really due for a ‘proper’ meal. So lunch was rather appreciated, especially since they had baked ham as a special item (no extra charge) and it was cooked and seasoned exactly the way I like it. Yum!

I also stopped at Peavey Mart to buy a good quality tarp to cover the front part of Miranda’s roof. I haven’t had a leak in several rainy days, so I’m thinking the caulking I put up there finally cured, but I don’t want to take a chance with the snow melt in the spring. I have no idea yet how I’m going to secure the tarp, but I’ll figure something out. 🙂 While at Peavey, I also bought a better, weatherproof, lock for my breaker box. The one I’ve been using is incredibly stiff and no amount of lubricant is helping.

Gas was ‘only’ $1.23 today, so I filled up, not being certain of how soon after the border I’ll hit a gas station. I hoped to find a map book or at least a map of Montana at the gas station, but there was nothing. I’ll pick something up in Billings because I like to have the paper as a backup. I’m also going to buy a new GPS. I’ve been using an app on my phone that isn’t bad, but it’s just not as user friendly as a dedicated GPS. I also need to have some work done on the truck (oil change and possibly the brakes), so I might end up in Billings for a few days.

I should be done with my work by tomorrow night and then I can spend Friday morning getting the property closed up. So I’m guessing I’ll be on the road by early afternoon Friday, as long as the cheque is here by then. I’m going to ask about when it was sent if it’s not here tomorrow.

Driving my truck into town today, I couldn’t help but be eager to take her out for a long stretch. My Moya’s happiest on the long hauls. We’re a good match. 🙂

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Delaying Departure

I had thought to leave tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday morning at the latest, but it looks like departure is now going to be sometime Friday. Work has been a little iffy the last several weeks because of holidays and a new contract starting. I got what I wanted for the last week of September, but didn’t get anything for the first few days of October from my main client (I did have piddly assignments from less regular clients). This week, I was offered a tad more than what I asked for.

If I was truly on the cusp of being ready to go tomorrow, I’d go and plan to stop and work over the weekend. Instead, I’m just going to hang out and get the work done before I leave. This way, I won’t lose any of the income to hotel accommodations. This week’s assignment will just about, if not fully, cover my first month’s rent, so it makes sense to keep as much of it in my pocket as I can!

I’ll then be able to take four or five days to get myself to a warmer climate before stopping. All that I’m eating into is my time in the States and none of these delays will affect my time in Mexico, so I really don’t mind. I’ll better be able to enjoy what time I do spend in the States knowing that my slowly diminishing bank account will be replenished generously at the beginning of November! 🙂

I got all the clothes loaded today except for one bag of necessities to get me through the next week. Getting the suitcases out of the RV has really made it seem like I’ve made a huge amount of progress in my packing!

Tomorrow, I am going ahead as planned with delivering things to my neighbours’ for safekeeping, including my RV batteries, and I’ll start the process of winterizing my water system. The RM (rural municipality) has been told that they can shut the water off as of the 10th (Friday), so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to have hot showers until I leave. 🙂

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A Little Cultural Research

I’ve done a lot of research about Mexico over the years, confident in my belief that I’d eventually live there, if only as a snowbird. But now that it’s really real, I’m having a burst of panic thinking that I really need to know things I take for granted in Canada and the US, like tipping and how the currency works, never mind all the cultural etiquette!

My only experience traveling in a country that doesn’t use dollars was a month-long trip to Scotland in 1998. I remember my first night in Edinburgh (third night in Scotland) like it was yesterday. A fellow backpacker, Michael, and I decided to go have dinner together. I ordered penne in a rosé sauce and was shocked to find meat in it (I was a vegetarian back then). But even more clearly than that I remember paying the bill and Michael asking me three times if I really mean to tip what I was tipping. It was only later that night that I realised I’d given a nearly 30% tip on a mediocre meal with poor service! I had a good laugh at myself about it.

This is how I’m going to approach my first trip into Mexico proper (I’m not counting the two trips I’ve taken to border towns). I am going to make mistakes. I will likely get scammed more than once. It’s just part of the experience and I will do my best to keep my sense of humour!

Living in another country that does not use dollars and whose primary language is not French or English has been a major dream of mine. I can’t believe it’s about to come true!

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Mexican Apartment!

Whew! I just cold called a lady in Mexico and between her English and my Spanish, we made sense of what I wanted and worked out a deal of sorts for a two-bedroom apartment on Isla Piedra (Stone Island) near Mazatlan.

I’ll be paying 5,500 pesos per month, which is about 450CAD. I have seen pictures, but don’t have permission to share them, so you’ll have to wait till I get there. 🙂

Reader Contessa is the one who told me about the apartment. THANK YOU. I am super happy — the place is fairly new, right near the beach, in a non-gringo community, HUGE, and the price is right. We haven’t sorted out internet, but I will have a mobile plan to tide me over.

I’m expected around November 5th. I promised to touch base with her at the end of October when I have a better idea of what date I’m arriving, and then when I’m in MX so she can meet me and show me where the place is.

Wow, this is really starting to feel real!