Ok, I am only sorry about the bad pun. But sometimes one's patience is tried, even when everything seems to be perfect. This refrigerator crap may just be the death of me.
We were pretty much convinced our only option was to have a unit shipped to the US, and then to go and get it and shlep it down here in our luggage. We have done that before, with our watermaker, and believe me, it was a nightmare on many levels, hauling incredibly luggage around from the hotel to the border to the hotel to the bus to the ferry and then to the marina, explaining over and over again to customs and transportation officials what we were hauling and why we were hauling it, and so on and so on, often in Spanish. So we did not want to have to do that again, and when we got new solar panels and our new windlass we contacted a shipping agent and had them shipped. This was convenient, but the cost was astornomical. And this shipping is going to be worse, because we are in a more remote area. And although these are replacement parts, and therefore not supposed to be subject to Mexican import taxes, it never works out that way EXCEPT through a shipping agent. The solar panels and the windlass were very expensive, and the tariffs would have been high, so the agent's expenses worked out to a slight savings. It would NOT have worked out with the watermaker, and we wanted to go to the US anyway, so the hassle and discomfort was worth saving the money.
This is not the case here, and the cost-benefit analysis showed it to be way too high to use the agent option or to go up there and drag it back ourselves. We are not planning a trip anyway, and the airfare is much higher from here in Huatulco than it was from Mazatlan. The frig unit is not as expensive as the other things were, so the agent's fee would be prohibitive. Our paperwork regarding the fact it is indeed a replacement unit is not as clear as it was for the other stuff, so we would have to pay full taariffs. We finally found someone in Mazatlan who sells these units, and he agreed to sell us one, ship it, and be available on line and by phone to help Mike with the install. He has a good reputation, so we were stoked by this good news. Then we discovered he does not take credit cards. OK, not a tragedy. His suggestion was that we deposit a check in his bank account (there are branches of his bank here, and this is not that unusual for a business practice in Mexico). So that sounded ok, and in the hot sticky weather we dragged ourselves (OK I dragged myself, Mike is always fine no matter how hot it is) to the bank and happily wrote out our check, only to discover that we can only write checks in dollars, and his account will only accept pesos. So back home we go, dripping sweat all the way. (Is there anyone on the face of the planet who is not by this time aware that I have issues with hot weather? Yet I choose to live in the tropics? What sort of cognitive dissidence [or is it dissonence? I can't remember] is this?) We toyed with the idea of going to an ATM every day for seven days, getting out the max, and then depositing cash in the account after aquiring the entire amount, but who wants to walk around with that much cash on them? Not acceptable. Then I thought maybe we could contact our bank and do a wire transfer. No problem, they say, just come on in and we will do that, the amount I wanted was too high to be done via telephone. I informed them I could not come to the bank (credit union, really) because I was out of the country. No problem - put it in writing, sign the request three separate times, be sure to note that I am aware there is a $25.00 fee, and all will be well. They said to scan the request and send it to them in an email as an attachment. Good! Problem solved! Except - their email would not accept our attachment as it was not in one of the three formats they would accept. And of course there was no way we could figure out (and Mike is good with this sort of thing on the computer because he used to have to do it at work)how to convert our attachment to one of the formats they would accept. And of course we worked on it for hours. THEN, when I called to find out if they could accept it by fax, we were informed we were missing a vital piece of information and they could not tell us how to get it, except to contact the bank here in Mexico where the transfer was going. The bank told me I had to call Mexico City. So I did. By this time it is late afternoon on a Friday, and the only person (apparently) who handles this stuff was not available. So we called our bank again, only to discover that we had the correct information all along, and had been steered wrong when we were told the cryptic numbers we had were not sufficient. So back we go into the hot sticky weather, this time I am determined to keep a cheerful continence. Which I did quite well, especially since we stopped for a cold beer in the process. The bright side was that is cost only 8 pesos (less than a dollar) to send the international fax from one of those public places that also serve as internet cafes. Now the only thing is to hope and pray the fax got to the right person at our bank in the International Wire Transfer Department, and that person is not out sick or on vacation, and that the transfer goes through in a timely fashion. All of this and we still have to deal with installation and hope that the refirgerator guy down here in Huatulco, Senor Emilio, can do the parts that Mike lacks the equipment to do. I am completely worn out mentally from this whole process. I don't have the most even temperament under the best of circumstances (ask anyone who knows me well) and this sort of thing does nothing to help me maintain a nice, sunny, Pollyanna-ish attitude - and attitude I aspire to obtain and maintain. I do not handle frustration well at all.
So now we wait. Of course we won't even be able to get any confirmation as to whether the request was recieved, let alone if it was sufficient, until Monday. I am planning to put the whole thing out of my mind until then. SERENITY NOW!!!!!! (Apologies to George Constanza's father.)
But all is not merely frustration here. We had our friends from Sundancer over last night for chili and bolillos ( nice crusty fresh baked rolls) and we had a great time. Everyone had seconds on my chili, which is nice because without a frig, we are in no shape to maintain leftovers very well and it was all gone. I always judge my cooking abilities on whether or not there are leftovers. If my dish that I bring to a potluck is not completely gone at the end of the evening, I feel like a failure. So that means I was successful last night. The nonfunctioning frig does act well as an icebox, so we do get to have cold beer and keep a few things around.
Anyway - that is enough complaining from me. Til next time!
"To think is easy. To act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult of all." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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