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Wednesday December 11 , 2013
Yesterday we had a post-mortem gathering to discuss the Christmas
Gala. Mostly everything was positive and
most of the things within our control were handled well. The music, dance and Premium Bar were all
smash hits. The downside was the
disappointing main course served up by Villa San Carlos, when they knew that
this was their chance to shine, to erase the memory of the bad food at the
Happy Dogs fiasco. It is so
disappointing that they have failed everyone so miserably. They do buffets well, but not sit-down
dinners.
While I was there I got a call from Marco that there was a Coopera
meeting at 8pm with the reporter from El Tiempo again. I hung around downtown, had a good burger at
the Eucalyptus Café, bought 13 classic movies for $20, then contributed zero at
the meeting.
When we were leaving the meeting they informed us that we would be
meeting with an El Mercurio reporter a 9am so I was determined not to be a
wallflower this time. I prepared a
written statement in both English and Spanish and turned that in. It will be interesting what they consider worth printing after getting the stories from nine of us.
Then it was decided that we were going to jail……. Yes, we went to the “traffic” jail north of
downtown to visit lawyer #4, Dr Orellana, the constitutional expert, and city
councilor who is on the wrong side of the Mayor (and President Correa’s
political machine). He got nailed for
drinking and driving and the Mayor is getting his revenge. Yet, his jail cell was more like a cute
apartment with all the amenities.
Entering the jail, the sign says “no cel phones” yet our main contact
talked on his cel all the way through on entry, then the lawyer was using his
cel, iPad and laptop in his cell… This
was definitely not a Turkish prison.
We were not done yet as we went to the San Joaquin SEPS office to
try to confront Coopera’s liquidator, Diego Aguilar on behalf of a disabled
person that won the right to his money in court but who hasn’t been paid
yet. To our chagrin, Aguilar is working
elsewhere now. I wanted to see his face
again, after I threatened his smug ass with jail the last time we met….
I made it home and got a message from our Canadian realtor that
the first person to view our house is apparently interested in making an offer
but want a later possession.. Brace
yourselves.. I may be in Canada
until the end of March…
I was also home in time to meet with my neighbour Raoul and we had
a nice lunch and chatted, then he got a call from another friend. The friend wanted to go to a “Vehicle Fair”
to the east of the city and see if there would be any action on his Nissan
Van. They asked me to join them, so I
did. Being a former car salesman I
wanted to see what this “fair” was like.
Well it was a mountainside covered with about 200 vehicles for sale,
with owners, plus about 20 vendors, and maybe 3 buyers….. We poked around a bit and wished we could
import used cars here, because what they sell used vehicles for here is just
plain insane! I took a photo of a 1973
Datsun pickup in pretty darn good shape, but that probably retailed for $4,000
brand new, tops,… and these guys wanted $6,500 for it! Dream on, and have another toke fella!
Anyway, it has been an interesting day.
Hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's excitement, Cheers, Al
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| This year's Xmas card |
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| Our curly cats, Pancho & Peso |
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| Santo Domingo church |
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| Our mountains are soft here, digging is by hand. |
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| It was nice to see they had safety ropes |
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| Talking to the El Mercurio reporter, second from the left |
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| They have this lovely building on Las Americas |
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| Here we are deciding to go to jail |
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| This is a jail for traffic offenders |
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| I had no idea what to expect... |
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| This cell was more like a cute apartment |
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| The inmate is on the left, lawyer Dr. Orellana |
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| A peek into the bedroom |
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| Lots of eating, toilet & shower facilities |
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| Next we went to the old Coopera main offices in San Joaquin |
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| I went with Raoul and his buddy to a Vehicle Fair |
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| There were about 200 vehicles and owners on this mountainside |
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| But I saw maybe 3 buyers while we were there |
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| This old country home on stilts was nearby |
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| Rows and rows of cars, some very old by our standards |
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| They wanted $6,500 for this 1973 Datsun pickup!!! |
