I am extremely tolerant of the noise from the mechanic shop next door because I know the owner would drop everything to help me if I had a problem with my truck — he’s done it before.

So after a solid year of having a noisy muffler and saying I was going to get the AC looked at, those items finally came to the top of my priority list. I’m driving a lot more now than I used to because I have a friend who needs lifts to pick up things and I have more gas money and free time to go exploring. It’d be great to take a Sunday drive to neighbourhood villages. Plus, having learned that my dog likes truck rides, I want the option to take her with me for the day or even just to a more walkable neighbourhood.

So I cornered my mechanic yesterday and he said to leave him my keys and that he’d have a look at my truck today. He got permission to do up to 3,000 pesos of work.

This afternoon, I heard him take off with the truck and Bonita ran out, then ran in, looking very concerned, LOL! A few hours later, the muffler issue was dealt with for a mere 350 pesos!!!

The AC doesn’t have quite a happy ending, but it is a happy ending. He said I need a whole new cooling system for around 4,000-5,000 pesos. That’s just not worth it when spring of 2021 is already looming and I’ll have to get my truck out of Mexico. He cleaned the whole cooling system, plugged a small leak, and added gas. So I do have AC now, but it could last me a day or the rest of my truck’s life — there’s no guarantee. But I bet that with the maintenance he’s done, just topping off the gas periodically will get me to 2021. All appendages crossed! So that was another 500 pesos.

So 850 pesos (57CAD/44USD) later, I now have a truck I’m once again excited to drive. It’s been a bit of a chore the last year because she’s been so noisy. And now, even though she’s looking quite battered, I won’t be afraid to show up at the DMV to apply for my driver’s license and do the road test with her. So, yup, that’s the next project — getting my Yucatán driver’s license!

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This morning was coffee club. I actually managed to set my schedule so that I could sleep in and then pretty much go straight there, then not be rushed (although I would have to work eventually). I forgot over the weekend to message the coffeeshop to ask them to prepare beans for me. So when I got there, I asked if they had any, but didn’t have high hopes. The manager said that he was planning to roast beans this afternoon so he could prepare my order and deliver it. Since poor planning on my part is not someone else’s problem, I told him I’d be back this evening as they close in the early afternoon and then reopen from six to eleven.

The wonderful Vietnamese restaurant Pho MX has opened a Centro location that is easily accessible by bus. I’ve been meaning to go for ages. So I decided I’d take a bus there, then walk to the coffeeshop to get my beans. I could then shoot straight over to the Paseo de Montejo and enjoy a leisurely stroll in almost coolness, go to HSBC, find an ice cream, and then take the bus home from in front of the Hyatt, like so:

Dinner at the Centro Pho Mx was just as good as at the northern location. I always have a lemon and ginger iced tea with beef pho at the restaurant as that’s not something that delivers well (I get another excellent dish as my standard delivery order!). I met some nice guys who arrived about the same time as my food and we had a pleasant chat. One of them has been building a house for three years and counting!

It was dark by the time I came out of the restaurant and I meandered down to the coffeeshop. Along the way, I passed a cat who called out to me with a plaintive meow I couldn’t ignore. I turned around and it had gone from lying down to sitting up. “Meow?” it said again. I carefully approached it, crouched down, and gently gave it a scritch behind the ears. That’s what it wanted and it purred as it settled down for some pets. It was all I could do not to bring Bonita home a sibling!

After saying goodbye to my new feline friend, I walked the remaining blocks without interruption. My order was waiting, but the manager couldn’t remember if I had wanted whole beans (en grano) or ground (molido). He had the former prepared in a sealed package, which was exactly what I wanted. I grind my beans every morning to get the freshest coffee possible.

I then took Calle 43 all the way to Paseo de Montejo, which was so vibrant. The evenings are finally cooling down and people are out and about. I made my stops for the bank and ice cream, poked around Walmart a bit, got some amusement watching people cross the street at the Perez Ponce/Paseo intersection (probably the worst pedestrian intersection in the city — and most amusing), and then finally got on a bus home as it was getting on eight and Ms. B needed her supper!

It’s been a bit of a lazy Tuesday (despite spending a few hours on a tough job in the afternoon!) but I’ve been going at it hard since last Sunday so I earned it. Back to the grindstone the next couple days as I have very hard (but lucrative) jobs in the queue.

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