Fate of the bananas

I never gave a final update on what happened with the bananas. In short, they were good, but could have been better.

We were out of town when they ripened; or as ripe as bananas get on the plant. They don’t actually ripen until you cut them off. We are not sure when they became mature since we left town for almost 4 weeks. But they were getting close when we left, and were overcooked by the time we got home.

I cut them off on a Sunday morning and started dividing them up to go to friends that day and the next. We hung about 30 up in our kitchen to ripen and then bagged up the rest. We had close to 170 that were usable. Some had burst on the plant from getting too mature.

One family that we had bagged bananas for did not want them, that gave us another 25 or so to eat on our own. We left them in their bag hung on a door. A couple of days later we found that the ones in the bag were ripening faster than those that were hanging. We had read you were supposed to put a bag around the bunch to ripen them, but I thought that was just to keep the bugs out. Turns out, that is part of the ripening process.

Good thing we had visitors. That week we ate all but 3 of the bananas that we kept. They never really turned completely yellow. I think they were just over mature to look quite right.

I told one of our friend’s daughters that the bananas would not turn yellow and that they should start eating them soon. She could not convince her dad that they were supposedly ready. He did not let them eat them for a few more days (in banana terms, that is an eternity). By the time they tried them they were already pretty mushy. They froze them for future use.

Running around

This last week I had a few interesting runs. I was out with a medical team in a smaller town. Fortunately, there were new maps put up on Google Earth for this town. Previously you could only see that there were lines on the ground that could be considered roads. Now there is a pretty good shot of Valladolid, Yucatán, México. There is one pretty opaque cloud to work through, but I guessed on the path of the road during those runs.

Monday
I got up at 3:15 to head to Valladolid and meet the medical team for breakfast. Needless to say, I did not run before leaving town. However, in the afternoon I had some time after playing with the team at a local cenote to take a short run. I wanted to get 8 miles in, but the 95 degree weather impeded that from happening. I would have pressed on, except where I wanted to run was pretty remote and I would not have any way to get water if I needed it.

I still ran 3.8 miles and had a good time by myself.

Tuesday
I had been talking to a few of the doctors who were in our group and I found two dentists who wanted to run with me. We met at 6:00 to try and get some mileage in before having to be cleaned up and leave for breakfast by 6:45. We did 2.31 miles, but we were really pushed for time. Only one dentist showed up.

Wednesday
We decided to head out a little earlier and hit the road at 5:45. That worked out well and we were able to run 3.76 miles.

Thursday
Another dentist was supposed to run with Mike and I, but he chickened out. I was starving when we left the hotel. I usually try to grab a snack the night before that I can eat before heading out in the morning. Since we had gotten home very late Wednesday night, the store was not open to grab a snack.

I was a bit concerned that I would not do too well in the run because of being so hungry. About 3 blocks down the road from our hotel we ran by a tortilla factory. I jumped in and asked the lady if I could have a sample of one. That was enough to knock down the hunger pangs and keep me going.

We ran 3.33 miles then.

This was the first time this year I have run more than 3 days in a row. I have been trying to be conscious of that so that I am not putting un-due stress on my bones and joints. I am still able to run enough each week to make my goals by taking 2 days off.

Sunday
I showed up about 30 minutes before the start of a 5K race. I was ready to register and think about running for a PR. When I got to the race, there were a few people who are at every race. Probably only about 12 people showed up. There was no one to do registration for the event. We decided it was canceled and I just ran 5K at an easy pace. I got home later to find that I had an email telling me the race had been canceled at the last minute without explanation.

Today
I was back to my normal running partner and routine. I ran 6.58 miles. I am perfectly on pace to finish the year at 1000 miles. Now that my traveling is over I will be able to get a bit ahead until mid-summer. All my extra banked miles will come in handy as we get back on the road and travel through the fall.

Naming the bunny

We went through various names, but think we have one that fits.

One of the popular names that got thrown out was Almond. The name fits because of the color of the bunny, but it just did not sound right as a name.

From there we degraded to Almond Joy. Then after he gets “fixed” we could call him Mounds.

We have settled on the name Peanut. My wife says the next pet we need to get is a duck. Then we would have Peanut Bunny and Quackers.

Waiting for a bunny

Today we have spent a typical day waiting on other people. This is not at all unusual but it is a rather frustrating part of life here in Mexico.

I got a good deal on a rabbit cage this weekend at a yard sale. We have casually talked about having a pet rabbit for quite some time. When the cage fell into our laps, we figured there was no better time than the present to get the bunny. I got a recommendation from a friend on a reliable vet who might be able to help us with acquiring a bunny for cheaper than a pet store wants to sell them.

I called the vet yesterday afternoon to see what he could track down. He called me back in an hour telling me he had found a rabbit that fit our criteria. We decided the price, for the type of rabbit, was the best we could get and we had the confidence of knowing that the vet was helping us pick out a good one.

The rabbit was to be at his clinic (30 minutes from our house) by 12:00 today. We waited until 12:30 to go get the bunny. When we arrived at 1:00 the vet was calling the bunny farmer to see when the rabbit would arrive. We were told 4:00. That meant a 30 minute drive home and then another hour long round trip drive to get the bunny at 4:00. Fortunately, some things work differently and better here (just some). Everyone delivers and makes house calls. The vet volunteered to bring the rabbit to us at 4:00, or as soon after 4:00 as he could.

At 6:30 I called the vet to find out if he was bringing the rabbit today. He still had not gotten it from the farmer. He has not even been able to get a hold of the farmer since we were at his shop at 1:00. The vet asked if we had plans to go out tonight. I told him I did not, but that I had already spent several hours waiting at home just so he could bring the bunny. I was not pleased.

He will bring the rabbit by later tonight if he gets it. Or maybe tomorrow. Or…

I have decided to call the vet in the morning and tell him to let the farmer know he can kiss his $35 goodbye if I don’t have the rabbit by 1:00. I cannot waste another day on this. I do have other things to do with my time that does not include sitting at home waiting for a rabbit.