I’m Back!

Decided to take the month of July off. Kind of ironic…taking a month off when I have been retired for several years. Anyway, https://buceriaslifeintheslowlane.com spent a month on the shelf. July was busy.

On July 17, 2017, Kelly and I boarded a flight in Toronto, one way to Puerto Vallarta. Our adventure was underway.

We celebrated our fourth anniversary here on July 17th with friends. A great evening!

On July 21st, 2017, we got the keys to the home we had purchased. Of course, another celebration! This time with the gang at Culi’s…as usual, a great dinner!

Banderas Bay Skyquake

Anyone experienced a skyquake? Quite frankly, I hadn’t the foggiest idea that there was such a phenomenon. We were lying in bed watching TV when there was such a blast of thunder that our house literally shook. Apparently caused by multiple lightning strikes at the same time. In any event, it sure got our attention.

Just realized that we have said goodbye to July and here it is August. Wait a minute, my birthday is the first Thursday in August. Just have to carry the celebration on for a little while longer. Definitely was dragging my butt on Friday. As anyone knows who lives here, we are in the middle of rainy season. Heat, humidity and rain, in no particular order. Friday evening our house was struck by lightning. Sure cleared my somewhat fuzzy brain. It was literally a blinding flash of lightning at the same time as an explosion of thunder. Now we have no power, and it is Friday evening. We called our go-to guy Marcos Villarreal at 8 pm. He was at our house with his electrician buddy at 8:22. They managed to get us some 110 V power to part of our house. They said they would return the next day, Saturday, at 10 am. At 10:05, they were at the door. The determination was made that the damage was such that CFE, the hydro folks would have to fix it.

Check out this short video of a recent heavy rain in our garage...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/bQaFGi7XZctohjQY8

Here we are no power, no water, Saturday morning. The dilemma was growing exponentially. We have enough Spanish to get by, but nowhere close to carrying on a conversation on the phone with CFE. We called on our next door neighbour Guillaume who coincidentally operates the Delices de France bakery. He took over, called CFE on their emergency number 071. He explained the situation, received an incident report number, and sure enough a hydro truck showed up at our door in about two hours. They rewired the incoming lines, and we had power restored.

Enough excitement for my birthday week. Wrong! Apparently there was some damage to our alarm system and it decided to randomly go off during an intense storm Saturday evening. Shut that system down and contacted the alarm company Monday morning. They sent a technician Monday afternoon who repaired the alarm system.

The point I wish to make is we had a series of problems that were resolved promptly, efficiently, and courteously. It is easy to criticize, and goodness knows we hear enough of it through social media. Our experience was harrowing for sure, but the outcome made us feel pretty happy to be here in Bucerias. The town we love!