Moving day was January 5. First of all, my mover had moved. Apparently. Who knows where. I hired another mover for about three times as much. Then I checked with the real estate agent to make sure I could still move on the scheduled date. Oh, yes, we’re all ready for January 5, she says. Later:
- When will we sign papers?
-
January 5.
- I’m moving January 5. We have to sign papers before that, so the movers won’t have to wait.
- January 4.
Meanwhile, I ran some errands, and I went over a topé (speed bump) too fast and bottomed out my car. I thought, Uh-oh. Sure enough, my car overheated and I stopped and called a mechanic. This was a mechanic I didn’t know because I couldn’t find the number of my regular mechanic. Good thing because he found not only a warped head gasket, but also a broken fan, water pump, worn breaks, and that my old mechanic had never changed the oil filter.
Surprisingly, a friend of the mechanic offered to buy the car. I readily agreed. But then—the paperwork was copied—not the original, as was required—so the price went down. I reluctantly agreed. And then—the paperwork was found to be fake, so the price went down again. I unenthusiastically agreed. So that was that. No car.
Turns out, the mechanic also moves people—for much less than the movers I had found. Great, but I didn’t have a car. No problem. He’d take me back to my old house and then pick me up with the last-minute stuff later. Great.
I confirmed with the real estate agent again.
- Uh, well, I don’t have a car right now.
Later:
- I’ll pick you up.
Later:
- Uh, what time?
- 3:30.
We signed the papers and I moved. Yay! The next day I call a taxi. But the call doesn’t go through, nor the next one, nor any of them. Oh, I forgot to pay the phone bill. I walk to the taxi stand. I don’t know it’s been torn down, and some taxi drivers were so chagrined they quit. I decide to stop at a friend’s house on the way. Good idea. I have trouble walking long distances. She calls a taxi for me and updates me on her life, which is much worse than mine. She was recently diagnosed with MS.
I pay the phone bill, and on the way I find a car and put a deposit on it. Serendipity is back until I try to transfer the money from the US to Mexico electronically. Nothing works, so I write a check. Now I will definitely miss my commitment to pay for the car. A friend advises me to keep saying mañana as that’s the common practice here in Mexico. All is good until I go to withdraw the money from the bank. In my excitement, I forget how to do math. I dropped a zero. I arrive at the car place without enough money to buy the car. Now the bank is closed for the day. No more synergy. Now I get real life.
On Monday, I get the money and the car. Great. I drive it for a couple of days before I realize I have no insurance. I take care of that. Great. Now I can get rid of the crazies. Then my electricity keeps going out, and my dogs keep escaping from their yard. After about three times, the maintenance man tells me (I think) not to have so many devices on at one time. And to unplug my space heater when I’m not using it. So far, that’s working. And I get a handyman to cover the gate with chicken wire. So far, that’s working, too. Now I can stop being crazy. Or can I?
