I was asked tonight by a Blog reader what had happened to my scribblings. It has been about two weeks since I have posted anything. I guess the Muse has deserted me, has gone somewhere else to enjoy the glorious days and spectacular sunsets. So I am preparing this without her help. It may be, perhaps, that I have become infected by the Cuyutlán blahs, a particularly virulent form of malaise with symptoms of extreme lassitude combined with manaña-ism and an endless search for the most comfortable perch for siesta. But at the urging of a frequent reader I have roused myself long enough to bring you up to date.
The most important milestone of the last two weeks, in fact, of the last two months, is that we finally signed the purchase papers on the lot next door. We made several trips to the lawyer's office, had many phone calls between us and the lawyer, between us and Fernando, us and Roy, who is acting with the Power of Attorney for the seller, and countless calls between Fernando and the lawyer and the lawyer and the bank in Guadalajara. The phone bill itself is almost more than the price of the lot. But finally, after overcoming totally unforeseen obstacles, we arrived at the lawyer's office on Wednesday at 10 AM ready to sign. The purchase document, called a feidecomissario includes the entire history of this piece of land; the original owners, to whom they sold it, the subsequent owners by name and nationality, the dates of both sale and secession and on and on for about 70 legal-sized pages, each one stamped and signed. We arrive, sit down, have about a 20 session of chitchat, and get down to business. The lawyer picks up this pile of papers and starts reading. I thought, "He's going to read the entire bloody document to us, all in Spanish, and it's going to take a couple of hours!" .In truth, he read about half of it in half an hour. We paid various fees and taxes (even though we paid LESS for it than did the previous owner. Go figure.) signed, shook hands and left. We started this process on about December 7th.l Two and a half months later it's (almost) ours. We still have to get all the papers to the bank, get the feidecomissarioregistered at some state office in Colima and pick up the final papers at the bank in Guadalajara when we go up for a few days next month. This whole process was like something out of Kafka or Dickens (viz. Bleak House), and I think we've made our last land speculation in Mexico! All of that so that nobody can build a big house next to us and cut off our view and our breezes.
NEWS IN BRIEF
The biblioteca is now open six days a week to the delight of eager readers. True, most of the patrons are the regular residents, with a few browsers here and there. But it's nice to have it open for business.
Jack's female cats go to the vet tomorrow to be spayed. Over the past months he has wound up with seven cats. Enough. The 4-month old kittens go tomorrow; the two dowagers go Monday. The two male kittens and their older brother will probably get off the hook!
The Mexican Train Domino group continues its killer schedule at the Marie Victoria Hotel every Wednesday night. From 5 PM to 8 PM, conversation is at a minimum as the click and snap of the tiles hints at the fierce competition around the tables. I won last week. And the week before. Milagro!
Andrew arrives in a week. All is in readiness for his stay.
Daughter Alexandra celebrated her birthday today. Happy Birthday dear Alex!
PS: Nelson, this one's for you!
No comments:
Post a Comment