Lorena and I took a Thai cooking class to learn how to cook Pad Thai and Coconut shrimp on my last birthday in San Pedro. Honestly, Lorena did most of the cooking and learning while I kibitzed with the chef/instructor and the other students. It was a ton of fun and I am thinking we ought to look for some place to do this here in Virginia.
NOTE: It just dawned on me that this is the 21?? anniversary of when I started this blog. I am glad I kept going.
I am at an interesting stage of life. At other times and places than that in which I find myself, the aged are/were held in high regard–even reverence. In this day, age, and place it is only true under rare circumstances. The exception is at my work where where I am valued because of my specialty and the specificity of my skill set that allows me the luxury to continue working, God willing, into my 70’s. Once disappearance to much of society due to age is really something that does not bother me too much, but that it exists is undeniable. I seek out the old guys at McDonald’s drinking coffee in the corner on Saturday mornings. When looking for someone to help me find something at Home Depot, I look for the oldest guy I can find to give me a hand. In some ways, it is a blessing because the older folks really do want to engage. Maybe because much of society does not even see them.
I said all that to make the following point. When people find out how old I am and that I still work a full-time job, the most frequent response is to ask why I am not retired. When they find out I earned my PhD at age 67, they congratulate me, but follow up asking why I would do that. I do not view these as bad things, just societal norms. The thing is, I actually do want to retire, sooner rather than later, but I do not want to retire without some worthy thing to do or goal to achieve, worthy being the pertinent word–and I do not want that thing-to-do or that goal-to-achieve to be an easy thing. For what were we put on this earth? The hardest things are the most rewarding ones. I have not figured out yet what that next thing is. It might be a degree, it might be a volunteer project, and it might even be the starting of a business or something else, but I know that is what I want to do. Something hard where I have to learn new things.
Lorena was very skeptical about the idea of composting when she first heard about. It involved table scraps, egg shells, used coffee grounds, and all other kinds of nasty stuff. She slowly bought into the whole process after I browbeat her into trying it. I think her Monterrey “thriftiness” guided her thinking–all that STUFF that went into the compost pile could reduce her gardening costs by replacing some of the fertilizer and high grade soil she bought for her raised beds. Now, after putting the first batch of organic refuse into the compost bin, she can hardly wait until she has put in enough that soil conversion starts taking place and we can buy a couple boxes of earthworms to throw in there to help the process along. Incidentally, this is the biggest composting container we have ever had and you can see she is quite happy with it.
Tío Lauro put up a camera so Lorena can see and talk to Grandma Conchita whenever she wants. What actually happens is that Lorena pulls up the camera on her phone, yells at her Mom, and then her mom calls her on the phone because it is still just to inconvenient to do it all with the camera because there are too many buttons to press.
I have not written a blog status update for a long time. On April 5, it will be this blogs 21st birthday. It is hard to image I have been staying with it for such a long time. I do not really think I am writing about much that is very serious these days, but I hope to get back to that some day soon. Just as a marker, I have compiled a few statistics on my posting. My goal, these days, is to write at least twenty posts per month and I have not been doing too bad except for about four years when I was studying for my PhD. We are going through interesting times right now–Lorena and I are just trying to get our feet back under us, but I plan to at least keep writing “how is the weather” kinds of post for the next bit until I can catch my breath and get back to the next big thing. There is always a next big thing, especially if you count dying as the last one. God willing, that is some years off for me, but in the meantime, I am going to look for one or two more big projects to keep myself out from under Lorena’s feet. Here are the stats:
| 4259 | total posts |
| 199.7 | average posts per year |
| 241 | median posts per year |
Our business partner and Lorena’s brother, Tío Lynn, had a birthday a few days back. We are very grateful to work with him. It is a little surreal for a gringo embedded in American high tech business culture to watch how things operate in Mexico. And it is not just Mexico, it is working class Mexico. Lynn has a law degree and is a practicing lawyer, but he grew up in a middle class neighborhood that bordered on a very much lower class neighborhood. He is burdened by an incredible work ethic and a soft heart coupled with intimate knowledge of how things operate in those rough neighborhoods. He has to deal with people not showing up, paying late, prevaricating, pilfering, and a plethora of other challenges both in his legal work and the construction work he does for our company. I honestly do not know how he does it, especially because in many, if not most, cases he is the last line of defense. He avoids one disaster after another, but with great joy and, I have to admit, style. I really miss being able to discuss the state of the world with him after work every night. It seems like I am operating in the dark a lot more when he is not around.
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