Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa: Sunday-Tuesday August 6-8 , 2017 Burgers

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Sunday-Tuesday August 6-8 , 2017

Sunday was another recharge day, after Cristina sent me on a mini-shopping trip to by Buzzer. The pigeons will be happy for the new supply of snacks for them. They actually sit outside and coo until she comes out at their feeding times...

I tried working on photos but found I was spending an hour on each photo which is a little much more than normal. I guess I wasn't in the creative mood that I thought I was.

Monday morning I was at my surgeon's office before 7am with my x-rays and MRI in hand only to find out that he was in surgery and won't come to his office until next week. Apparently the other neurosurgeon is on holidays so he is pulling double-duty.

Then I am busy putting out fires one-by-one for different things. My buddy Gustavo has been sick and it seems that many people are having hardships, some because of the persistent cool weather. I may be in this latter group.

It makes me sad that I can't continue my sponsorship for little Angel through Hearts Of Gold. I have sponsored him whole-hog for 2 years but conditions now are getting way too tight. We hardly go out any more as a result and if the IESS increases happens as threatened, we are really going to feel the pinch. This is not a fun time in Ecuador.

We are having to bow out of Camera Club trips, Herederos trips, and other happenings because they are just too much money for us poor folks.

We don't have money to donate to/too much any more but we do try to donate our time and expertise.

We finally called a plumber to check out our old washing machine. I told him that I wouldn't bother if it was too expensive to fix and the other option was for him to take it away and fix it and sell it himself. He said the parts would be about $85 and labour about $50 but he offered to take it away for $50, less the $5 service call so we accepted that. He will pick it up tomorrow.

Tuesday morning I ran over on Buzzer to visit my Spanish teacher, Teo, to discuss some projects he has on the go. Now I have to return tomorrow morning again.

I was then a little early for my next appointment and I was famished. So I headed to Remigio Crespo to find someplace open at 10:45am and it was slim pickins... BUT, I happened upon the best burger I have had in Cuenca in a very long time. This is just off of Remigio and the long block east of SRI. I ordered the double combo with cheese for $4.50 and it came out looking just like the picture in the window, and tasted way better.. The photos will make you hungry and they are open until 10pm. I will have to get the Herederos to stop there soon. And, they have some of the neatest old movie posters and photos of stars and starlets on the walls. I had to take a few shots of those of course and then had to work on those later.

I had agreed to help Dot, the sweetest soft touch in Ecuador, to get a vehicle over for a car wash because she does not have a valid Ecuadorian driver's licence. She is helping another expat who has left the country to sell his 2006 Honda CRV Automatic, loaded, 71,000 miles, asking $18,000, very negotiable. This little unit really purred like a kitten. I stopped at the Serrano lot at Unidad Nacional and Gran Colombia and asked them to give her a price. They will call her. Then Alejandro pointed us to a nearby car wash that was open.

I got home, worked on photos until I had to accompany Cristina to see a gynecologist at the clinic near San Blas. While we were there, a band in dark suits was waiting for something, obviously no planned crowds, judging by the empty lot. Then a mini-chopper with camera came into view and they played for the camera. The chopper moved in and around from every angle so this was obviously to be used for promotion videos. The guys were all sporting fresh (50% horrible) haircuts too. I have no idea what the one guy is trying to do with what looks like a pecker on his head, yuck..

Anyway, enough fashion criticism...

It sure looks like San Blas church is really getting a proper facelift, grinding everything down to original concrete and rebuilding from there. Many churches get neglected for way too long and then only get token paint to cover up serious faults. It is refreshing to see proper work done.

Then Cristina just had to stop and get some stuff to grind to feed the birds and pigeons in the area. Mothe Goose is convinced that all the wild and abandoned animals look to her for survival. She doesn't realize that she probably does more harm than good by disrupting normal food foraging, but I couldn't possibly tell her that.

All photos are taken with the new Lumix ZS60.

I hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day’s excitement.

Cheers, Al

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