I must say that I am very comfortable with my choice of homes for the year here in It’s a three bedroom, two bath house gated with two other homes (real neighbors). It even has an electric fence around the walled-perimeter (that may be over-kill as this is a very upscale hood). No, I do not feel like I’m in a prison, as I leave at will!
The modern penthouse apartment and the smack-dab in the centro de la ciudad apartment had their appeal, but this was the most effortless route to the aeropuerto, where I support my client building the Lear 85.
I’ve got a 3-day weekend ahead to provision the house, explore the path to the essentials (bank and food mostly), and get back into a workout routine with my new buddy, who happens to live about two blocks from me.
Do I miss my home in El Dorado Hills? Of course, especially with the pool all warm and wet. But I will be back there to transition out, and will be visiting my real home in Piney Point as well.
Meanwhile, I am perfectly content with this new adventure! There are many new freindships to develop, and perhaps a new love?
A block away from the DoubleTree Hotel I witnessed Mexican Democracy in Action
We opted for Italian tonight and perhaps should have ordered the pizza. The Risotto Frutti di Mare was certainly tasty and filling, but it is unwise to have high expectations for Italian Cuisine in Mexico. Yet our gut feel is that the pizza is really good, and we shall return.
On the short drive to the hotel we passed a park-like venue that was clearly gearing up for a rally. Elections are coming soon in Mexico. It was sunny and warm and my friend volunteered to help another friend move a bed for an upcoming visit of relatives.
I thought it was far to early to sit in my hotel room watching CNN International. So I grabbed my Canon S100 and walked down to the venue.
Things were just warming up as the sun was setting. Isabel Aguilar seems a true candidate for the people. But there were about as many people lined up at the food vendor as there were showing their support for Isabel. So it was clearly a family social event.
Oddly this city of a million people is reminiscent of Italy (and Spain a bit as well). I left the rally before it peaked and will never know if Isabel was actually the featured speaker, but I bet she was. I will likely follow the election to see how she does.
Clearly, with so much popular support, she is my kind of woman.
My fellow new arrival and I viewed five apartments today thanks to a very helpful young host that works for the agency that I now work for. One was the equivalent of a penthouse suite and I would have snapped it up except for a rather long commute.
There was also a charming apartment in the historic center a half block from Plaza de Independencia, the oldest and most dynamic area of the city. The apartment had a cheerful decor including this painting of Homer Simpson, which was done by a rather famous artist.
Yet the drive from the center of the city to the main highway would prove to be too challenging on a daily basis.
Both my new friend Cesar and I opted for a hilly region of the city that is far closer to the airport, where the Lear 85 site is located.
He arrived from Los Angeles and this is his first contracting assignment. For me, well it is just another home away from home, and a rather nice one at that.
We’ll make some final decisions tomorrow.
We finished the day at a fellow contractors house for a BBQ and a few beers. It looks to be a great team we have here and we will certainly need it!
I never learn – I got lazy with my time off and let too much to do the day before my departure. It took a 5:00 a.m. wake-up to get to a 12 noon flight. But I did manage to get the essentials complete.
The first leg of the flight went without a hitch until we landed in Houston. There were no empty gates!
My connecting flight to Querétaro was boarding as I sat on the tarmac trying to remain calm. And it was in Terminal B, as I finally deplaned a mile away in Terminal C.
I made it with 10 minutes to spare thanks to the tram arriving the moment that I got to it. I figured for sure my luggage would not make it, but to my delight I saw my bags within minutes of my passport being stamped off.
A new coworker, whom I had yet to meet, was on the same flight as me, and a driver picked us up and took us to the Doubletree Hotel. We chatted on the ride and he, thankfully, speaks Spanish. Our contact met us at the hotel, gave us our mobile phones and the routine for the next two days.
We checked in, relaxed a bit, and then my new friend called his buddy to give us a quick late night tour as we picked up a few provisions. Now it is time to relax.
Tomorrow we get our rental cars and our asssociate takes us house hunting. The real work begins on Monday!
Summer arrived in Sacramento in Spring – view looking from my west deck in the heat!
Don’t you love it when you leave a job or assignment full well intending to work your butt off until the last day, and then a paranoid management let’s you go early because they think that you are just going to screw around. Yes – four glorious days off before leaving for Mexico!
I do not care – I am home and outside on my deck in the sun al natural! My liberated (freelance) work begins tomorrow, after coffee of course. Counting four days to arrival Santiago de Querétaro.
How many of you took the time to see the supermoon rise tonight? Shame on you!
My day started at 7:00 a.m. with a 33 mile ride with my buddy on the American River Trail. It nearly killed me! But a good Mexican lunch after the ride aided in my recovery.
I am one week away from leaving for Mexico. I don’t want to go (yes I do). I will maintain my house here in El Dorado Hills simply in spite, as I want to return a few weekends a month to enjoy the pool.
I missed the last super moon. This one caught me by surprise. It is now later and I am out by the pool enjoying the light of this super moon. I will miss this place.
A crowd gathered in the patio area of Shoki before noon on a Saturday in Sacramento
A personal best – at least in this decade – thanks to a young friend who guided me through thirty miles on the American River Bike Trail. It was 86 degrees!
What could be better to recover from that than some authentic ramen noodles at Shoki’s and one cold beer. Nothing!
Needless to say on Sunday I rested. Next week forty miles!
