Thursday, February 3, 2022
Beach Day? The plan was to meet at Jeff and Teri’s house at 10:30 am. After helping Jeff unload his van to make room for us, a cooler of drinks, umbrellas, beach chairs, etc., we would drive up to a secluded beach just north of Punta Mita. A group of Jeff and Teri’s buddies were going to meet us. This would be a new beach for us, so we were psyched.
When we reached Jeff and Teri’s at 10:20 am, Jeff already had the van unloaded. The sky was uncharacteristically overcast. Jeff and Teri’s friends started calling and bailing out. In the end, the excursion was called off. Dratz!
Instead, we all went to the Mega Store, another giant grocery and department store. We wanted to stock up on some more water since we had a ride.
On the way to the Mega Store, Teri took us to an ATM that charges only 23 pesos to use. I used our checking account debit card to take out 7,000 pesos for the dentist. I got an exchange rate of 19.25 pesos to the dollar. This is quite a bit less than the official 20.54 today. I also have to fiqure in the 2.3% fee that my debit card takes. I have one more trick up my sleeve to get a better rate. I’ll explore that later.
While not as nice as La Comer, but larger than Chedraui, Mega had some different brands of items that are worth checking out. We found some mouth wash and some sparkling water plus some good salsa.
On the way back to drop us off at our house, we stopped at El Coyul Licoreria (liquor) store, which is just a garage full of beer, wine, and booze. It is the cheapest place in town. I picked up a case of Pacificos. Then we stopped off at a tiny store that sells fresh homemade tortillas.
When we were dropped off, Teri invited us over for a Mexican supper. A neighbor gave her the recipe for chicken tinga over tortillas and Teri had made a batch of it. We accepted - can’t turn down a new Mexican dish sensation.
I could also play with my amp and see if I could get it to sound better. Mexico is notorious for having “dirty” electricity. This is known to affect sensitive electronic equipment. I brought down a Furman power conditioner that cleans up dirty electricity. I wanted to take the Furman over to Jeff’s and try the amp using that.
We spent a lazy couple of hours at home waiting for supper. We tried out the homemade tortillas. The stove has a built-in tortilla platform to toast tortillas. After toasting, we slathered on some butter, refried beans, and about 20 different sauces and salsas. What a great snack.
The evening was a total success. The chicken tinga was to die for, as I knew it would be. The amp, plugged into the Furman, sound infinitely smoother, the drinks were delicious, and the company was fun.
It was a lazy day, but a good one.
Friday, February 4, 2022
DENTAL DAY. The day was pretty much devoted to the dentist, and mostly for Wanda. Two years ago, she had several implants and crowns put in, however, we had to leave before the permanents could be installed. For two years she had temporaries. Amazingly, these temps were of such high quality that they weathered the two years in excellent shape.
Today, she had the temps removed and molds made for the permanent teeth. The temps were remade and on February 14 she will finally be united with her new permanent bionic teeth.
One interesting thing happened today. I remembered reading a travel blog that revealed a little-known secret about using an ATM in Mexico (or any foreign country). I had forgotten about that tip when I previously used the ATM the other day to convert dollars to pesos. Using our checking account debit card, I took dollars out of our checking account, converted them to pesos, and the ATM spit out a wad of pesos.
During the process, I was asked if I’d accept the exchange rate of 19.25 pesos to the dollar. The official rate was 20.54 that day. Like almost everyone, I accepted. After my debit card took another 2.3% fee, my effective rate sunk to well below 19.
Here is the trick that the travel blog was promoting - if you decline the rate offered, you get the full official rate. YES! Can you believe it? It is all a scam and few people are aware of it. Tomorrow, I will test it out.
And tomorrow, we go to Sayulita. It is time to strike out and do a little Dave and Wanda exploring.
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