Took my first license exam last Thursday in Goodyear. Although I studied for months, it was much more difficult than I anticipated. This was mostly due to the resources I used to study, which maybe covered 50% of the content actually tested. I ended up doing really well on the exam, but throughout I wasn’t even sure if I was going to pass.
We are now going on two weeks since we arrived here in GDL for Yun’s emergency procedure. She was released initially the Sunday before last, but that only lasted a night as due to further complications, she had to return to the hospital the next morning where we’ve been ever since. It’s been a long and painful experience for her, but has turned for the better and the hope is that she will be released tomorrow.
I will fly back to HMO tomorrow as I need to return to Tucson for work-related responsibilities. So sadly, we will not have any time together to actually enjoy this city. The doctors want her to remain an additional 6 days to ensure a smooth transition to normalcy.
Here’s yesterday’s tour of our lodging that I sent to M&D:
It looks like we will be apart another week or two once again in the days to come. We are both quite looking forward to the return to our home and friends.
We have a nice place here in Zapopan here in Guadalajara that we’ve rented a couple times in the last month. It’s a great area and it would be nice to return when we’re 100%.
Since I’ve begun working with Chad, old photos have surfaced. Here’s a classic shot of Warren Buffet and me back in the day.
One of things I miss about Mexico is this:
I went for a walk today and found a bar where everything on the menu was 21 pesos. That is, everything was a $1 by today’s exchange rates. Every beer was $1. Every shot of tequila was $1. Every food item on the menu was $1. I very much enjoyed this place. So much so that I got lost for hours after I left and wandered for 5 miles before I finally made my way back to the hospital. It was far too much exercise.
Yun had her surgery a couple weeks ago in Guadalajara. It was a tense moment, because she was away in surgery nearly 10 hours (we were told it would be about 4 hours). It turned out to be really complicated. She has an excess of endometrial tissue causing all sort of havoc to her organs. As such, three surgeons spent an entire day doing all sort of reconstruction. It was no small miracle and we are so grateful for modern medical technology. She spent the last couple weeks recovering from a fairly traumatic situation and had done a great job.
Last week, a complication arose which was serious enough for us to catch the next flight from Hermosillo to Guadalajara. I was in Tucson and raced to meet Yun in Nogales. This was devastating news because it has been incredibly difficult for her. But there was no choice. So we caught the next flight.
Despite the misery of a fourth surgery, Yun did great and is trying to hard to be positive. She will get out of the hospital on the third day and then we will continue in GDL for another week or so. These are trying times.
On a positive note, the staff and surgeons here are without comparison. They are incredibly kind and we are so happy to be here. We get multiple visits from each of the three surgeons daily and they usually end up spending an hour plus in the room just answering questions and being social. It’s a really nice thing for them to do and Yun loves that they are so caring.
Tila is normally attached to Yun. She follows her around all day every day. So in her absence, I think Tila is a bit confused. Last night there was a rare moment where these two were semi-comfortable sitting next two each other.
Yun was able to meet with Ana and Lupita last night before her departure from HMO. I am sure it feels so strange to be back there.
Yun just sent this photo from the airport in HMO. She is on her way to GDL for what we hope is her final surgery. I wish I could be with her, but am thankful her parents were able to go.
I love our Element. The fact that it has Sonoran plates presents a bit of a problem. Normally it is not difficult for us to import it. US Customs let’s us do this for free. The problem is that we lost all of our titles in the move. So we need to get back to HMO and find out how we can get that reissued, OR find the box of super important documents that has somehow disappeared.
We still use it on occasion here (like when we buy furniture on craigslist). It still has Mexican insurance which applies in the US, but I really don’t want to have to explain that or justify why I am driving a foreign vehicle if I were to get pulled over. Even so, we still use it at times.
A few weeks ago the clutch began to go out. I called for a quote to the dealership: $1500 parts and labor. I called Matt and Dana’s mechanic that works out of his home and he wanted the same ($600 for an aftermarket clutch kit which I could buy myself for $98 and $900 in labor). Honda parts and labor always seem more expensive, but those prices are just stupidly absurd.
So I ordered a clutch kit for $98 and a new slave cylinder for $60 (the old one had a tiny leak). Yun then took it to Mexico and we paid $2000 pesos to have the clutch and slave work done. That’s like $80 US in labor. So the clutch replacement itself was under $200….versus $1500 in the US. That is one enormous benefit of living close to the border.
