More Tico Time Featuring Potholes, Lightning, Earthquakes and Misunderstandings

 

Somebody else having a very bad day with the deep muddy pothole in front of Banco Nacional. We had to plod through it today too but we didn't lose our bumper.

So Sunday night, I'm walking in the kitchen, going to grab another delicious Clight limeade, right between the fridge and the stove when there was a tremendous BOOM!!!!! and flash. Simultaneous, no lag.  I jumped  a foot, we smelled burning plastic and discovered that the lightning had run in on the electric and fried our router. The only thing in the house besides my Himalayan pink salt lamp plugged directly into the wall and not a surge protector. The salt lamp wasn't touched, but the router was toast.

This was after two earthquakes earlier in the day. Heh. I thought they were rumbling trucks going by. Still having coming and going bouts of dizziness and stomach issues again. Back to the doctor, told yet again it's a virus and my Mast Cell is making this more complex. Meds changed again.

We had to shrug and say "Pura Vida!" knowing it wasn't likely we'd get a quick replacement on the router. ICE is slow as molasses with repairs. Three routers in three years. Called in Monday morning at the ICE outlet to say "Hey, yeah, our router melted during last night's horrific rainstorm. We have no internet or cable!" thinking it would be at least a week or two. Last time was three weeks.

Lunch at Witch's Rock Surf Camp and we hadn't even made it home when ICE called to say they'd be on their way in the morning. Quell surprise!

One of the big things I have learned living in Latin America. Never believe anyone that promises quick service. Nod and smile like you believe them, but hold zero expectations of it taking under a week or three. Be pleasantly surprised if it is quick. Easier than walking around pissed off that Ticos do not operate on United States time. It's a cultural thing. You cannot impose your own cultural ideas in other countries. It's a mugs game.

Morning comes. They don't. Just around lunch time here comes ICE with a new router. Installed. Things are going well even if we're having to conduct our conversation with the repairman entirely in Espanol. 

He asks me for the network name and password I want to use. I write it down for him. He looks at the network name, sounds it out and laughs. I have always used comedic ones. This one translates easy to Spanish. He puts in the router name, he puts in the password I've written down.... and we try to log on and nothing, zip, nix, neine Frankenstein de nada.

Our password is the tapestry of naughty words ditty Jim sings when playing video games. I look and Mr. Repairman has mixed one of the words up, from something like 'bark' to something like 'bork'. After trying to explain him he has our password misspelled I finally just gave up and accepted it. So it's misspelled. Nobody's perfect. Now it's just a little extra nonsensical. 

We're in the middle of the only month I really hate living here, October. Usually even during rainy season we have morning sunshine before getting an afternoon shower. But October can mean day after day of heavy rains most of the day and night. Except for today that's exactly what it has been like, hence the messed up car above, hence the fried router. I am less upset than I have been other Octobers since I'm dealing with this coming and going and coming virus.

I'm perfectly happy staying inside reading piles of books right now. The roads are very screwed up in this morning, the constant rain washing out the hasty dirt repairs and dirt roads. Saw this today near the Botella de Leche just down from the bank. I'll stay home.