Mexican World Review

I came upon a kitty sunning on the driveway.

— Hola kitty
— yawn stretch
— Kitty, do you have a minute
— Yeah sure
— Good morning
— Um. Good morning. Did you need something? Can we just get to the point?
— It’s awfully cold in my apartment.
— Eastern exposure. You need sun in the morning. Find a place with eastern exposure. You’re welcome.
— Oh, wow. That was fast.
— Meow.
— You speak in riddles.
— No I don’t. Just look at me. Do as I do. You need a patch of sun to squirm in, and little else.
— Am I in the right city?
— Yes. But you should have taken unit #3. Eastern exposure. But it’s ok. You didn’t sign a lease. You’re week to week. Just get a place with morning sun.

croar is the infinitive form of the verb for what a frog says in spanish.

espalda means back (the body part). Dedos are fingers.

I don’t think people in the 50s really rocked around the clock. I think they just rocked until 2 in the morning and then said they rocked around the clock. Now everyone feels bad about themselves because they don’t rock until broad daylight. But it was always an impossible standard based on a lie.

today is the second day I’ve woken up here. it was 54 F when I woke today, vs 48 yesterday. i could feel the difference. the cold might be the biggest challenge in Ensenada, and perhaps is the reason the town is not more crowded? the daily highs are very comfortable 12 months per year, but 5 months per year, the low is around 46-50 F, and without central heat, one feels it. I sleep in a wool shirt, wool long underwear, and ALL the blankets.

and I’m skinny. I lost 10 lbs during the last 6 months of home reno. Martha, my host, who I last saw in July, noticed the difference, and commented. people always say “you have to eat.” I do eat! hopefully now that I’m not doing manual labor 7 days/week I can get some fat back on my body in time for next winter.

I set out to find an underwear source, and succeeded. that gives me a few more days before I have to choose a lavanderia.

I also found an excellent source of cash to pay my weekly rent here. an ATM proposed a fee of 9.50 USD for my withdrawal, so I tried another machine on the other side of the block, and the fee was 1.40 USD. all Mexican ATMs offer to do the currency conversion for you, but if you accept, you get a bad exchange rate, and if you decline that offer, your own bank does the exchange at the optimal rate. and since my bank reimburses me 10 USD/month for ATM fees, the cost to withdraw cash is exactly the same as in the USA. 100% efficient.

Processed foods cost the same here as in USA, but unprocessed foods are cheaper. Particularly at the current exchange rate.

small lime, 6 cents
small onion, 15 cents
avocado, 50 cents (on sale)
large bag of corn chips, 5 dollars

I apologize for talking about money. I should be talking about the acoustics. It sounds open here, and existence-y. It sounds like there isn’t a lid on the town.

jaguars have double the bite strength of tigers. gorillas have about 8x the bite strength of humans. jaguars can bite through turtle shells. jaguars can hold their breath underwater longer than dolphins. why doesn”t anyone care when I tell them this. it’s hard to impress people with animal facts these days. people are like meh if I want animal facts I’ll just go on the internet, I don’t need you for animal facts.

I’m dissatisfied with crocodile bite strength estimates as it obviously would vary depending on what part of the lever arm you measure.

I’m in Ensenada. I’m sitting by a space heater and drinking coffee. It is winter here, and you feel it indoors especially, particularly in the night/morning. It’s like camping, if you had a fire you could turn on with a switch.