Tales from Paradise: When Paradise Includes Days of Repairs

I'm here in Mexico on the west coast in Paradise, and it is truly Paradise as I gaze out of my widow with Frigate birds gliding overhead on the air currents coming from the west. Today is a typical Sunday, quiet with many of the stores and businesses closed. The sky is a brilliant blue, the sun is shining brightly and it's warm and just right!

Sometimes in Paradise, things happen that act like a cold shower, or in my case this morning, one of the things that should have been cold, wasn't. When I got up and went downstairs to make my morning cup of espresso,the first thing is to go to the freezer and get my coffee! When I opened the freezer, water was everywhere! The things in the freezer was thawing, and there was water on the floor! In this climate, it's not good to have things thawing because bacteria grows pretty quickly! So I needed to think and that required my espresso.

As I drank my cuppa, I thought, hmm, the lights are on over the ice dispenser, the lights were on inside the fridge, so it's the condenser or the mechanical parts within. I looked at the outlet which has a localized trip in case of surges, and the light was red. Honestly I really I couldn't remember whether it was red before.

My first thought was, "it's burned out and I'll have to go to Manzanillo and get a new one". Well, the unexpected expense is a bit difficult right now, and then I looked at the 'List of Workers' the former owner left us. I found a refrigeration guy on the list, but it's Sunday and that day is definitely a day of rest for workers.

By now I'm thinking, FOOD THAWING! WARNING! So we have a little fridge in our pantry for wine and beer. There was room in it, so I moved the frozen foods into the freezer, and started putting as much as I could in the rest of the fridge. I put lots of other foods into my cooler I take with when I grocery shop, and put the frozen gel packs in.

I took a six-pack of Bohemia over to the neighbors and said enjoy, and borrowed a cooler from them. Then I called up my neighbor and good friend, a French-Canadian and asked for information on workers. Our French-Canadian friends have been coming down here for over 10 years during the winter months and they know everyone, so Diane said to me, "I'll call someone I know who might work today". We hung up and I waited for her to call back, but in the meantime I started roasting vegetables to keep them from going bad.

Success! Diane called back and the worker that she knew of, said he'd work on Sunday, only for an emergency like mine and could come between 4 and 6 pm! Here in Paradise, because people need to work, they have developed the ability to fix just about anything! When something is too old or broken and is thrown away, they will recycle it, repair it, and sell it! It's just great in that way, because it's like early 20th century, in America, where people learned to perform work and do repairs without schooling, but as apprentices. Here, for financial reasons, kids drop out of school and then work as an apprentice and help feed their families. So, I'm hoping that the Refrigeration guy can repair or reset our fridge!

Now, I have to go to the ATM and withdraw pesos to pay this man and so I will find out later whether it's a success. In the meantime, when I come back, I'll be cooking away so that food won't go bad!

I hope wherever you are, it's a day that has solutions, problems solved, good food to eat, a chance to relax and put your feet up, and Peace, Joy, and Prosperity.