We did some admin work this morning, investigating and organising Mexican auto insurance, an essential for anyone planning to drive in the country. Had a stroke of luck that meant we were able to get a deal for $90 instead of the $130 everyone else was offering. With that finished, on Peter’s suggestion (Dan’s Dad), we got onto researching what was involved in taking a pet into the country and out of it. After thinking we were screwed because we were planning on leaving in a few days, we found out we might be alright. Dan called the local vet and they explained that they could help. We considered not taking Cleo for a minute, but it just wouldn’t be the same without her.
In the time we had before the vet and tire place appointments, I continued work on the electrics while Dan carried on with the table. In the short time we had, I managed to route the wires through to the interior but not much else. When the time came, we grabbed Cleo, tucked the wires away and drove to the vet. Our timing was impeccable, getting one of the last appointments available on the Saturday. The practice was pretty empty and the girls behind the desk fussed over Cleo and how cute she was. After waiting a while, we were seen by the vet’s technician who talked through the requirements for travel to Mexico with us. She weighed Cleo and went off to get the vet. While we waited, we also weight ourselves on the huge scale and I was surprised it told me I was only 50kg, bullshit!
When we met the vet, both Dan and I wanted to retract our ears into our head. We were in a 3 x 3 m room and she was shouting at us. She obviously didn’t have an inside voice. After talking to her we discovered she could give us everything we needed to get Cleo over the border and back for not too much money. The vet had a poke around and decided Cleo was in perfect health so she went off to fill out the paperwork. We probably sat in the room for a good 45 minutes until we had everything we needed. All paid up, we were on to the next thing.
We went back home for a quick lunch of chicken Caesar salad then went off to the tire shop. We were about ten minutes late but that was no issue. The guys took the keys and we were off to wander the shops in the mall nearby. It was so offensively hot just walking around that we tried to stay inside the shops as much as possible. We started at the go kart place which, according to Dan’s memory, was all about octane but in the time since he’d visited last, everything had gone electric. We hung around watching the dozen or so karts on the track, me convinced that they were being limited in speed and Dan that they were just going slow. After watching a while, we figured out they were just really slow. We’d have been pissed if we paid for an experience like that.
Next, was Hobby Lobby, which we walked in to and out of thanks to the weird plasticy smell at the door. When we noticed the Goodwill, we both got excited, that being our kind of shop, but we didn’t find anything of interest there. In the guitar shop, we banged on everything we could, both disappointed we couldn’t just pick up a guitar and play it like a pro. After scoring a free cookie, we decided we must have killed enough time to go back to the tire place.
Sure enough, the car was ready and we skipped the line to pick up the keys. Dan lost points as a tour guide when we drove out and I saw a retro car show happening across the road. That would have been a much better use of our time than wandering the shops!
Back home, we weren’t in the mood for work just yet. Instead, we went straight for the pool. Despite being in pretty much the full sun, it was refreshingly cold. Dan took to the water in style, jumping from the roof of the house. Something he’d done many times before, but it was probably the first time anyone had captured it. What a splash.
We hung out in the pool drinking beer for a good hour until I decided I wanted to make some headway on the wiring before retiring for the night. I routed the power and ground cables from the engine bay through to the cabin. We’d bought 20 feet of 4AWG cable in the form of jumper leads and so had plenty of length to get through to behind the driver’s seat where Dan put the spare battery. After mounting a fuse to the firewall and connecting it, I was horrified and mightily impressed to see how easy his interior engine access tunnel came out. It was as simple as loosening off four clips and the thing pulled out. No trim removal, nothing! Two years newer than mine and manufactured by Ford instead of GM, Dan’s van was a cut above mine. This meant I could easily route the cables underneath the tunnel, no hole drilling needing. From there, I went under the driver’s seat and behind it to the battery with a switch in between. Perfect.
By the time I was near done, Dan had finished building the legs for his table to go behind the driver’s seat so I helped him with the install. He was pissed when he discovered he’d cut the table top too small so that it didn’t sit against the sidewall the way he wanted it to. Our compromise was to use a piece of wood he’d salvaged from the dump to make the tabletop. We cut it to size, attached it to the legs then during leg installation, we both got pissed off when we had trouble lining up holes with the timber and the floor so decided to give it away.
As we’d been working, I met Emmi, Dan’s five year old niece, when she came home with Debbie and Dan’s sister in law Alex. They’d been at Ikea all day and were just stopping in a while before heading back there to return some of the things they didn’t need. Emmi is a beautiful blonde little girl, she ran up to Uncle Daniel as soon as the car had come to a stop and was perfectly polite when Dan introduced me, but quickly ran away again after seeing a new face. I hoped she’d warm up to me.
Was packed up the tools and went inside. Tonight, Peter had made a big batch of chilli and was finishing off fish tacos. Alex was back with Emmi and her 15 month old Eva who was sitting happily in her child’s seat. We stood around in the kitchen chatting away, eating yummy fish tacos and drinking beer. Four our second course, we had some of the chilli with a pair of tortillas. It was spicy, but bloody goog grub.
We said goodbye to the kids and retreated to Dan’s room for an early night. We were both shattered from another day running around and a bit downhearted thanks to the trouble we’d had with the table install.