Strong Girls

 

Old E-Mails - Guatemalan Buses

 In reading  old emails with Mike (and lots of other people) and either deleting or saving them, I sometimes run across an interesting one.  This was so typical of our communication then - lack of grammar and spelling, going off on our own tangents - but so much fun.  Interesting that in 2009 Mike didn't know about Google Search.  He was late to the party on things like that, along with social media, but no one had more fun with it.  

This was in 2009, and he was encouraging me to write something on the blog about Dina passing an important test, and unfortunately I don't have the name or the details of it saved.  It was a big deal, and he was so proud of her.

While he was talking about it, he mentioned the transportation problems he ran into in Guatemala.  The highlighted blog is also interesting.  A good writer echoing a lot of what Mike said about the combis.

=====The highlight of my several guatemalan trips was riding from koramsa back downtown with dina...on a guatemalan city bus.  an old worn out blue bird bus from the usa.  packed to the gills with people, and driven by an absolute animal.  so rude to the passengers, including old decrepit ladies.  an animal.  the upside was that one way fare anywhere in the city was 1Q (quetal), about thirteen cents.  dina still mentions how much that bus ride impressed me.

i would like to go back to guat and to mexico one more time.  

is real good when you are on expense account usually.  

once in a while some really long hours, but usually not.

Becky Windham <beckwin@gmail.com>	Sep 6, 2009, 1:40 PM
to mike

I will.  I have a couple of pictures and things but just no time to get them organized.  

Can I use your bus story when I get around to it?

mike windham <windham.mike@gmail.com>	Sep 6, 2009, 2:04 PM
to me

Yes. They are animals. Worse than the combi drivers in Cuahtla,
Morelos, Mexico.

Combis are VW vans that run certain routes. They are independent of
one another, but operate with a loose, informal organization that sets
and enforces rules. Rather like the guilds of medieval Europe, I
should think.

I rode in a combi once. You could go from one end of town (probably 15
miles) to the other for 2 1/2 pesos; around 21 cents.  The interior
was gutted except for the driver's seat. The people lucky enough to
get on first have small wooden boxes to sit on, which line the
interior perimeter. The others sit on the floor and pull their knees
up under their chins. The drivers take complete command of the roads
with the recklessness of their driving.

When Burlington first built the plant, it was about 18 miles out in
the country near the ancient village of Yecapixtla, where Hernando
Cortez had founded a convent in the very early 1500's.

Burlington's approach in this $65 million undertaking was that of
enlightenment and providing benefits to the hourly workers. This
included direct deposit, a doctor on the premises, a furnished hot
meal prepared for each shift, and...mass transportation. They bought a
series of nice, air conditioned modern buses and established routes to
provide transportation to and from work for all shifts.

This lasted about a week.

Two bus loads of workers were stopped by a combi roadblock halfway to
the plant, the people and the drivers unloaded and both modern buses
were burned to a crisp.

The employees rode  on into work in the combis that had a few minutes
earlier burned their earlier free transportation.

One week later  Burlington announced the termination of their free
transportation benefit.

Becky Windham <beckwin@gmail.com>	Sep 6, 2009, 2:06 PM
to mike

I wish I had a picture of your sitting with your knees under your chin.

...

[Message clip

Becky Windham <beckwin@gmail.com>	Sep 6, 2009, 2:12 PM
to mike

Skip the first entry and go to the combi one.  

This guy is funny.  I may have to steal some of his stuff too.  

http://nateinmorelia.blogspot.com/  

You may enjoy this whole blog - obviously old but probably interesting.

mike windham <windham.mike@gmail.com>	Sep 6, 2009, 2:47 PM
to me

How did you know about this person?

Becky Windham <beckwin@gmail.com>	Sep 6, 2009, 2:50 PM
to mike

Google search.  Mexican combi or something like that.  Not my friend.

...

[Message clipped]  View entire message

mike windham <windham.mike@gmail.com>	Sep 6, 2009, 3:12 PM
to me

Oh.

I find that very impressive that you know to do this.

Fresh New Day

 I tried to be kind to myself last night and do a little self-care and serious pep-talking.  I got a shower and went to bed early and slept great.

When I woke up and sat on the side of my bed this morning, feeling optimistic and just good, I had this feeling of waiting, like I was fairly certain something was going to come along to punch me in the stomach and deflate my sense of well-being.

But so far, nothing.  Since I have Mah-Jong at 10:30, I thought I would take Ryan's car down to Jiffy Lube and get the oil changed since the oil change message is appearing, and there is a faint smell when I crank it.  

I had mentioned it to Ryan last week, and he said he would take it in, or either I could do it if I wanted to.  I volunteered, and now I get to rib him a little bit.

But first I took a walk around the apartment complex and rattled food and chatted about mundane things to Layla.  I hear I'm not supposed to call her name because of predators - or something.  I don't quite get that, but all I had to offer her was that Bowie missed her and that there was free food and blankets and a laser pointer for her at home.  

I had worn my jacket because it looked gray and wet, but it was warm enough for me to take it off halfway through my walk.  No sign of the kitty cat though.  We have 24 hours before the rescue team brings in the BIG TRAP.  

My drive down to Snoqualmie was very pretty, and I took some pictures, none of them much good, because I'm alone and have to just hold up the camera and hope for the best.

The leaves are past their prime, and I wish I had gotten out to enjoy them more last week.  They are prettier in person than in pictures, and fall is still my favorite season here, as short as it is.

So, my Jiffy Lube visit.  I don't go to these places enough to be comfortable, so it was not something I look forward to.  I'm always afraid I'm going to drive into that hole and get stuck.  The few times I've been here - or maybe just once - I was impressed at the young guys and how sweet they were.  Today, it was two young ladies who guided me in and checked the oil.  They came back with questions about how long it had been since I changed the oil and all that stuff.  I had to explain how this car is just the extra car in the family for whoever needs one at the moment, and I really didn't know anything about it.  She said, "This oil looks brand new."

One of them poked her head into the car and read the sticker - which I should have read but assumed Ryan KNEW - and the date was 6-28-20.  Just four months ago with no one really driving the car except me a few times.  We had a good laugh, and I managed to leave without buying anything.  I had a nice chat with one of the girls and told her that I wished I had learned all the car stuff when I was young but always had someone else to take care of it for me.  She said she had an auto mechanic grandfather who vowed no women in his family would ever be a damsel in distress and taught her all she knows.  I bet Ryan will teach the girls a lot about cars when they get old enough.  Emily is like me and just waits for someone else to take care of things.

I'm back home with my first cup of coffee and waiting for the others to join me in Mah-Jong.  I won a game Tuesday.  I've probably mentioned it already, but I don't always win.  Those ladies are good.  My friend Debbie who moved to Kansas is playing today, so it will be good to hear her voice.  I need to run and get in a practice game before they sign on.

I'm still optimistic about this day.

Going well so far.  I won 2 out of 4 games of Mah-Jong.  

Very Bad Week

 Not every single little thing is bad but enough that I haven't enjoyed much of anything.

I did see this when I made a lap around my building looking for Layla before going to bed.

I had two people here today with a dog being trained to find cats.  He didn't find ours, but he did try.  Someone is coming over with a bigger trap Friday.  I appreciate so much concern and so much information, but I really think if Layla is alive, she will come back to her area eventually.  Good news is that they didn't find anything bad in the greenbelt area.

After walking and standing for close to four hours, I was totally exhausted (since I woke up at 6:30) and hungry (no breakfast or lunch) and just heartsick about losing that sweet kitty.  I just took off my shoes and crawled into bed and slept a long time.  I do feel like I can face the world tomorrow, at least long enough to play Mah-Jong again.  I won 1 out of 3 games Tuesday.  It's nice to hear voices as we play, even though sometimes I can't tell who is talking.

I miss the girls but got these two pictures.  The teacher's little girl gets to go to school with them, and they adore her.  I'm glad they're having so much fun.  Lots of sweet little girls.

Hopefully, I'll have something interesting or cheerful to write about soon.  Debby, Emily, and Elise have their hands full talking me off the ledge lately.  

More Food Experiments

 It's pretty well known that I don't love to cook.  I tolerate it, but it doesn't give me any satisfaction, so I'm looking to my new air fryer as a stimulus for doing more of it.

I might not like to cook, but I like to play with my food.  I did an experiment a little while ago about baking eggs (shell on) in a muffin tin in the oven.  I think they turned out just okay.  Nothing special.  Nothing to make me give up my boiling in water method.

I just happened to see an article in my news feed this morning about using the air fryer to make hard-boiled eggs.  Since I do eat a good many eggs - maybe 4 times a week for breakfast alone - I decided it wouldn't hurt to try it.  

It sounded simple.  Pull out the basket, put your eggs in, select time and temperature and turn it on.  And forget about them.

I pulled out my eggs - two white and two brown - and put them in the basket.  You can put in as many as eight, but they're not supposed to fit too tightly together.  I could probably get eight in mine.

My first - and, I guess, only - problem was that when I tried to set the fryer to 260 degrees, it only went down to 300. I'm not sure if I've overlooked something or not, but mine is not a top of the line appliance.  You'd think it would go below 300 though.

The whole time they were cooking, I kept listening for an explosion or a bad smell or something, but it was fairly quiet.  There was a smell about halfway though but not a bad one.

Sitting in ice water after coming out of the fryer.

Wow, what a pretty picture!  Too bad it's not mine.

This is mine.  Minus the yolks.

And those yolks were lovely - round (mostly), yellow, and pefect.

I knew immediately why they weren't peeling evenly, and that's because of my impatience.  I think if I had cracked them and let them sit longer in the ice water, they all would have peeled as well as the last one.

My plate doesn't photograph as well, but it doesn't mean they weren't delicious.  I saved two for later.

Again, I can't see any reason for doing it this way.  It's not like in a pandemic emergency, I'll have access to an air fryer and not boiling water.  It's fun to try things though.

I bought a package of chicken thighs to cook for tonight.  I can't say I've ever cooked thighs alone, but chicken breast tenders turned out okay, so I wanted something different and found a recipe that looks promising.  

Layla is still missing.  The trap is set, and I went down every few hours last night to check on it but saw no signs of any animal having been there.  Water is in bowl.  Food is in bowl.  Trap door is ready.  Missing Cat signs are up.  

On one visit, I let Bowie go halfway down the stairs with me.  He is mourning her, and he sat there crying softly.  I figured if she were anywhere around and could hear that, she would certainly come.  But she didn't, and I have not too much hope right now.  

Bowie is just pitiful.  He will go to the door and sit and cry.  It makes me think that maybe she did get out without my knowing it.  Or maybe that's just where he thinks she will come back.  He doesn't sit on the balcony and cry.  He depended on her like a mother.  He doesn't like human touch that much but will tolerate it once we get started brushing or petting him, but he and Layla were friends almost from the start and groomed each other and played like two maniacs up and down the halls.

I've had the laser out more than usual, and he does love that.  He never wants to stop, and will watch my hands even after I put it down.  He's come so far with his socializing, so I want to make sure to keep him happy.  

I have Mah-Jong in about 30 minutes, and then I'm going to pick up my books at the library.  They're mostly books for the girls, but I have a few mixed in there.  I enjoyed Lonesome Dove a LOT over the past week(s), but I need something more light-hearted to listen to for a while.  

I need to come home and make a batch of pumpkin muffins for the girls for their Halloween bag - along with chocolate, which Graysen reminded me that she is able to eat, even with her expanders.  It will be a different Halloween, for sure.  I think they are all going to a party with their school mates and their family and not do trick-or-treating.  

Even with losing hope of finding Layla, I'm propping myself up a little this morning and trying to overcome some of my worry and hopelessness.