Housekeeping

Thanks to a tip from Russ, I realized that the comments on posts were no longer visable and neither could new comments be added. My lack of tech savy has led me to a full week of toiling and hair pulling! Things are better now, and comments are once again a part of Mortingame.org. Martin is free to complain again!

In other unrelated news:

• We do now have an empleada (housekeeper) who comes occasionally to tidy up our over -sized casa. Now that she’s helping, I’m not sure I can ever go back to doing it without her!
• We finally took our car in to have the “repair” re-repaired– turns out there are a few extra things that we’ll be getting fixed next week— we are apparently this mecanico’s bread and butter.
• We now have some potted plants on our back patio which has made the space much more welcoming and “alive”.
• I managed to increase the font size!
• I spend most of my free time these days either fixing our blog, or studying my Español, mostly the latter– progress is steady but slow, but a good challenge.
• We’re excited to be soon receiving our first visitors: Katherine’s parents. They’ll get here just a few days before the April 20th Paraguayan presidential elections! And in time for the coup! Just kidding about that last one.
• I’m working on a future post about the elections.
• I’m also working on a video montage of driving around Luque.

That’s what we’ve been up to. Hope this finds you all well as you prepare for a Northern hemisphere Spring!

I almost forgot! The poll about the Leopard: The famed Leopard motos are actually assembled here in Luque Paraguay! BUT, the parts are reportedly manufactured in Japan! Thanks for taking the poll.

Weylin

Posted in Tech, Update | No Comments »

Another Adventure

What an evening we had yesterday! An adventure for us, but just another day in Paraguay.
Yesterday afternoon we drove Ofelia into Asuncion for a doctor visit. As we were pulling out of the parking lot there was a loud noise and ‘clunk’ type of vibration from the front of the car and it began to seriously wobble. Explicatives were uttered and curses were issued at our Hyundai. Katherine asked what I thought it was and I confidently drew upon my extensive Car Talk auto knowledge and offered my assessment that we had a flat tire. She tried to question me but I wouldn’t hear it and urged her to pull into the nearest available spot. As Katherine gingerly pulled our limping stead into the Kia lot I formed images of myself dutifully changing our flat in the intense heat and humidity– valiantly rescuing my wife and daughter; then I wondered if our spare was good, or if we even had a spare!

I got out of the car to locate the problem tire, only to find all wheels properly inflated! ‘What the….?’ I wondered. I took a look under the car but saw no obvious hanging parts. I then directed Katherine to slowly pull forward. Two feet later the problem was revealed– the left wheel was perfectly straight while the right one had turned sharply on it’s own accord, independent of the other! All the Car Talk listening in the world wouldn’t fix this.

I remembered that our new friends here had recommended their mechanic just a week ago and had noted that he had a tow-truck. We called them, got his number, and then Katherine made arrangements for him to come get us. As we settled in for our wait, the dealership security started worrying about what we were doing, and we realized that this would likely take some time and Ofelia would soon need to eat- something we weren’t prepared for. After some hesitation we decided to send Katherine out on a baby formula store-run while I stayed with Ofelia and our junker. Katherine had to travel quite a distance to find a farmacia but eventually returned before anyone tried to have a conversation with me.

A while later, 20 minutes before the lot was to be locked up for the night, our mechanic arrived. We were feeling good, though we noted he had neglected to bring a tow-truck. As we went about introductions, the mechanic glanced at our car and noted that he knows Osmar, the slithering rat who sold us our problem prone car, and ripped us off in the process– not a confidence-inducing credential. We were stuck and at his mercy so we went with it. Mr. Mechanic produced some pliers and wire and went to work- using his cell phone as a light. It seems that our tie-rod end was missing it’s nut, and was now stripped as well; just the kind of thing that wire is good for fixing, right?

We were now glad that the mechanic was going to drive us in our car home, rather than us driving. But as we began down the road I thought that the car was doing very well and wondered if we would have been better off without this Osmar-knowing man driving our car. Well, it wasn’t long before I was glad a mechanic was drivng….

As we rounded a turn from one street to another, the car lurched and the tire squeeled– guess that wire wasn’t a complete fix! Then as we made another turn the car stopped. This time the guy had to redo the fix. This seemed like it could be a very long drive. We went along a bit further, the car occasionally lurching left or right from the free-willed tire. Then it stopped us again. This time we needed new wire. I watched as the mechanic asked a nearby guard if he had any wire, he said no with a look that said “Why the hell would you think I have wire?” But then he turned and walked with the mechanic to the fence and removed a random piece of wire– just what we needed! If only we had had some duct tape, chewing gum, and a length of rubber hose!

We made it safely home without further incident via the winding and vastly under-improved back streets of Asuncion. Our mechanic assured us that the car would be ready by Noon the next day. At 10am this morning our mechanic pulled up with our fixed car and the old part to prove it! What service! AND, it only cost us about $25! That included him coming to get us! We were relieved and began thinking that we had found ourselves a new favorite mechanic….

That was until we drove our car. Turns out the problem “fixed” wheel is still intent on going its own direction, always just a little off from where the other wants to go. That guy was cheap but I don’t want to get to know him as well as I would have to if we keep going to him. So, turns out we got home safely for $25 and we’ll have to spend a bit more to have our other mechanic take a whack at it. With our car, you can never have too many mechanics in your cell phone!

Just another day in Paraguay. We’re learning to take it all in stride and to have Paraguayan expectations. Things always take longer than expected, things always get more complicated, and everybody knows everybody.

Posted in Paraguay, Process | 1 Comment »