September, 2004:

Seems like we’ve been attacked by a new wave of gremlins. A nastier, more aggressive Mexican breed. I’ve heard myths and legends, but never thought them to be true.

Since we’ve gotten to Isla, we’ve found a bad oil leak on our diesel, which we still need to locate. And just yesterday, our newly installed AC/DC fridge kit shorted out while I was trying to set up a circulator fan in the fridge cabinet to help it cool better. I’m going back and forth with the vendor trying to get the parts I need to get the thing working again. This is starting to hurt.

So, before we can head out of here toward Guatemala, we now have three tasks to complete:

1. Get our engine driven fridge compressor rebuilt and installed, that should be fairly easy and painless.

2. Find and repair our diesel’s oil leak.

3. Get our AC/DC fridge working again, which will be a logistical pain in the ass, considering that we will more than likely need to have stuff shipped here from the US.

Other than that, things are fine. Mahi and I are working on our scuba certification. I was certified years ago, but have not scuba’d in well over 13 years, so I figured it would be wise to go through the class again. Mahi has never scuba’d and she is confronting all kinds of fears and anxieties in doing so. I think she’ll be ok.

Ivan did appear to be threatening to us here, but now it looks like he’s heading northward past Jamaica, across Cuba, and then ultimately to Florida. This makes me cringe, because as we all know Florida has been repeatedly slammed over the past month by TWO major hurricanes, and is still reeling. I’d hate to think that our friends and family will be going through more abuse at Ivan’s hand. I’m hoping that Ivan stays in the Gulf and passes Florida entirely, which is a possibility. We just have to wait and see.

I know I’ve promised to get some more pics up and will do so soon.

Seems like we’ve been attacked by a new wave of gremlins. A nastier, more aggressive Mexican breed. I’ve heard myths and legends, but never thought them to be true.

Since we’ve gotten to Isla, we’ve found a bad oil leak on our diesel, which we still need to locate. And just yesterday, our newly installed AC/DC fridge kit shorted out while I was trying to set up a circulator fan in the fridge cabinet to help it cool better. I’m going back and forth with the vendor trying to get the parts I need to get the thing working again. This is starting to hurt.

So, before we can head out of here toward Guatemala, we now have three tasks to complete:

1. Get our engine driven fridge compressor rebuilt and installed, that should be fairly easy and painless.

2. Find and repair our diesel’s oil leak.

3. Get our AC/DC fridge working again, which will be a logistical pain in the ass, considering that we will more than likely need to have stuff shipped here from the US.

Other than that, things are fine. Mahi and I are working on our scuba certification. I was certified years ago, but have not scuba’d in well over 13 years, so I figured it would be wise to go through the class again. Mahi has never scuba’d and she is confronting all kinds of fears and anxieties in doing so. I think she’ll be ok.

Ivan did appear to be threatening to us here, but now it looks like he’s heading northward past Jamaica, across Cuba, and then ultimately to Florida. This makes me cringe, because as we all know Florida has been repeatedly slammed over the past month by TWO major hurricanes, and is still reeling. I’d hate to think that our friends and family will be going through more abuse at Ivan’s hand. I’m hoping that Ivan stays in the Gulf and passes Florida entirely, which is a possibility. We just have to wait and see.

I know I’ve promised to get some more pics up and will do so soon.

These storms are really starting to exhaust me…

I barely got out of Miami yesterday with Frances closing in. Luckily, she slowed down to a crawl, and Miami airport decided to stay open as long as possible. I called Mexicana airlines to check on the status of my flight. While my actual flight was cancelled, they scheduled a special flight to Cancun and combined about 3 other flights into it. They told me I had to be there by 8:45 AM to be guaranteed a spot. So I ended up driving out of Daytona at 3AM Friday morning. It was a very surreal drive, because my car was the only one on I95 Southbound. I was blazing along at 90+, with nary a cop in sight. It was like a scene out of Mad Max.

Anyhoo, it’s great to be back in Mexico. I was sorry to leave my friends and family behind to deal with Frances, but there was really nowhere for me to go without being in the way at this point. Knowing that Pop’s ok and in good hands (the doc’s going to keep him at the hospital until the storm passes), and with all the necessary logistical tasks done for him, there was really no reason to stay. I am hoping that they don’t get hit too hard by the storm. Frances promises to be a doozy. The fact that she’s barely moving along her course doesn’t make things any easier.

To boot, we now have to watch tropical storm Ivan, which is brewing in the south Atlantic as we speak. All forecasts have Ivan coming into the Caribbean. I’m not worried right now, but we have to watch what he does.

To all of our friends and family in Florida, hang on, we are thinking of you.

These storms are really starting to exhaust me…

I barely got out of Miami yesterday with Frances closing in. Luckily, she slowed down to a crawl, and Miami airport decided to stay open as long as possible. I called Mexicana airlines to check on the status of my flight. While my actual flight was cancelled, they scheduled a special flight to Cancun and combined about 3 other flights into it. They told me I had to be there by 8:45 AM to be guaranteed a spot. So I ended up driving out of Daytona at 3AM Friday morning. It was a very surreal drive, because my car was the only one on I95 Southbound. I was blazing along at 90+, with nary a cop in sight. It was like a scene out of Mad Max.

Anyhoo, it’s great to be back in Mexico. I was sorry to leave my friends and family behind to deal with Frances, but there was really nowhere for me to go without being in the way at this point. Knowing that Pop’s ok and in good hands (the doc’s going to keep him at the hospital until the storm passes), and with all the necessary logistical tasks done for him, there was really no reason to stay. I am hoping that they don’t get hit too hard by the storm. Frances promises to be a doozy. The fact that she’s barely moving along her course doesn’t make things any easier.

To boot, we now have to watch tropical storm Ivan, which is brewing in the south Atlantic as we speak. All forecasts have Ivan coming into the Caribbean. I’m not worried right now, but we have to watch what he does.

To all of our friends and family in Florida, hang on, we are thinking of you.

Frances is closing in fast on us here in Daytona, and yet I’m stuck here for another day (I was supposed to fly out from Miami today). Turns out Pop had to go back to the hospital yesterday because of an irregular heartbeat and fluid in the lungs. It looks like he’s going to be ok, but they’re not giving me any details as to when he can go back to the rehab center. And, now my timing is quite messed up, because I’m going eye to eye with Frances now. I put in a res for tomorrow’s flight (Thursday) back to Cancun, hopefully I’ll be able to make it out of here before they start scuttling flights. I just want to make sure that everything’s ok with Pop before I head out.

We’ll see what happens.

Meanwhile, Mahi, the catz, and Andiamo are doing fine in Isla Mujeres, safe from Frances. I hope to rejoin them asap.

Frances is closing in fast on us here in Daytona, and yet I’m stuck here for another day (I was supposed to fly out from Miami today). Turns out Pop had to go back to the hospital yesterday because of an irregular heartbeat and fluid in the lungs. It looks like he’s going to be ok, but they’re not giving me any details as to when he can go back to the rehab center. And, now my timing is quite messed up, because I’m going eye to eye with Frances now. I put in a res for tomorrow’s flight (Thursday) back to Cancun, hopefully I’ll be able to make it out of here before they start scuttling flights. I just want to make sure that everything’s ok with Pop before I head out.

We’ll see what happens.

Meanwhile, Mahi, the catz, and Andiamo are doing fine in Isla Mujeres, safe from Frances. I hope to rejoin them asap.