Mexico – Page 35 – My Thought Spot

On a cooling trend

100 degree days At least the low temperatures are getting lower. It has been down right cool the last couple of mornings. 73 degrees is a welcome change.

But, as you can see the high is not getting any lower. That changes today though. We had an early morning storm come in and it has rained off and on all morning. Looks like it will clear up this afternoon, but not enough to give us 100 degrees. We will probably only hit mid 90 today.

Of course the humidity is high, but with sub-90 degree weather up to this point, it feels very pleasant. Now we just have to decide what to do with this nice weather. Maybe I will try my hand at an evening run. I don’t normally have Monday evenings free, but I do this week.

It would be perfect golfing weather if the cost of golf was reasonable here. From what I have been able to find out, the local course cost $60 (USD) per round. That was before it was taken in by Jack Nicklaus and has been converted into a Nicklaus Signature Course. I think it probably costs a good bit more now.

Ever been scared senseless?

Thursday I got sent from the kitchen at the retreat where I spent the week to tell some of the men it was time to eat. I ran down to the abandoned buildings where they were and called them back to lunch. Since I had not been in the buildings, I got curious to check out one of them.

The camp where we were has been abandoned for 10 years and was just purchased this last May. There is a 4,000 square foot house on the property, but it is one of the structures that has not been brought back to life yet. It had a beautiful fireplace that just called me in to check it out. Since there was no glass and part of the walls are missing, it was pretty open to the world.

I walked in and noticed all the ceiling fans piled up in the room next to the fireplace. I also noticed that many of the walls were black towards the top like maybe there had been a fire in the house. Not that the walls were burnt. This is México where all the walls are made of blocks and concrete. So the house will not burn, but could show smoke damage.

I began to think why there might have been a fire in the house. Maybe vandals. Then I slipped into the bizarre and started thinking about Satan worshippers. I rounded the corner of the room and saw the front door for the first time. It was big and very nice. As I was looking at the door and thinking about Satan worshippers and possible human sacrifices, the door pushed open. Not like it was just wind, but like someone was walking through the door. I was in a position that I could not see what was on the other side. Then the door pulled closed like it would after someone walked through it and closed it, kinda strong and violent.

Now I have Satan worship, human sacrifices and ghosts going through my head. I knew it had to be harmless, so I walked toward the door to investigate. About the time I got to the door to see what was up, when one of the men stepped from around the side of the wall (which was missing) right beside me. I am sure I turned totally white. I know I was ready to run back through a wall while wetting myself.

Fortunately my mind processed what was going on faster than my body reacted.

Back from Monterrey

I just got back from the large city of Monterrey in northen México. I was there from Monday evening to Friday morning. I was not actually in the city all of the time, but between the towns of Allende and Cadereytes for most of the week.

I had a conference with other missionaries and pastors working with the Deaf. Most of the attenedees have been friends of mine for a while, and all of them I knew previously. Therefore it was a great time of getting together with friends and accomplish some planning and much needed encouragment for one another.

I got to run a couple of days while I was gone. I did not run this morning since I had to be headed to the airport by 5:00 am.

Monterrey is a place where T3rry could feel right at home. It reminds me a lot of Knoxville. Except the mountains around Monterrey are more along the lines of the Rockies as opposed to the Smokies. But the way the town twists and turns with very few straight roads and nothing is flat is what will make you think of Knoxville.

I will give you more stories from the week in the next few days.

“Give me a Coke!”

Today was our first day in our new church building. We finally signed the lease agreement three weeks after we first said we wanted to rent the building. That was taken care of Friday night and Saturday was spent all day in cleaning and preparing for today.

After the morning services we were eating lunch. A man walked in off the street right into the building to ask what we were doing. Well, obviously we were eating. This building is a colonial style house but has been an auto parts store for many years. So it would not be unusual for the neighbors to still see this as a public business. And, of course, we would welcome anyone into our church. So it was all fine up to that point.

I told the man that we had started a church for the Deaf and that we had services there on Sundays. He was welcome to join us. He declined saying that he goes to mass and did not want to come to our church. Then he proceeded to ask me to give him some Coke. We had a 2-liter bottle of Coke sitting on the table. And we were all sharing it, so it would not have been a big deal to give the man a Coke. But, what if someone walked into your house (he did not know until after he was in the building that it was not our house but a church) and demanded a Coke. Would you give him some?

I then asked him if he would come back and visit with us. He said, “Yes, I will come by every week to see you. Give me some Coke.” Well, if he is going to come back every week and ask me to give him some Coke, then I think I will pass on the opportunity. He then proceeded to ask one of the young men at the church to give him some Coke. I just had to laugh. Remember this is a Deaf church. He was properly ignored by the Deaf teen who was playing a game. He was not being rude, he just did not hear the fellow.

Got my watch…finally…kinda.

Some of you may remember that I lamented about my watch being in the shop for two and a half months. You probably also thought that I forgot to update this space on the outcome when I finally did get my watch. Well, I did not forget. I just got my watch back today, one week short of four months in the shop.

No excuse was given when I went to get my watch. None was needed. They said they could not get the part previously. I think it was a matter of them not trying very hard. How hard can it be to find a watch part? Even if you have to order the part from Japan and it has to come on a slow boat from China it should be here in less than 4 months. The last time I was in the shop to beg for my watch back, they said that if they could not get the part from México City that they would have it manufactured. I did not like the sound of that, but I would prefer that to not having my watch back.

So I finally got my watch back today. True to their word, they did not charge me for the repair even though initially I was to pay for the part. They had agreed part way through this drama that I would not pay.

Unfortunately, it is not working fully. I can’t change the day or date. Do I take it back to them? The problem was with the gear that adjusts the date. This tells me that whatever they did to fix the watch was a hack job.

I am currently in email contact with Citizen to see what kind of proof this “Authorized Repair Shop” needs to provide me.

Sigh