Early in the day is not the time to make plansbut rather to contemplate what's around youIt may sound odd, particularly to those still employed, but the freedom to do nothing when one retires brings a certain guilt, not to mention boredom. What should we do to justify our consumption of the earth's oxygen and sunlight …
Tag: retirement in Mexico
Stop spreading the news
In today's toxic political climate, not knowing what's going on may be the best way to retain your sanity.By all rights those of us who have retired in Mexico behind the Tortilla Curtain should be spared the political chatter and acrimony that permeates even conversations at strip bars back home.But even here, seven hundred miles south of the …
Dread of flying
On December 27 economist Alfred E. Kahn died. On that day, Stew and I also found ourselves trapped at Newark Airport--which had all but shut down because of a blizzard--cursing at airports, flying and particularly the dismal condition of airline passenger service. You can't blame Kahn for the weather, but I like to hold him …
Gladys the Good Karma Mutt
Nine months or so ago everything connected with the sale of our existing home, and construction of the new one, seemed a tangle of dead-ends. It was about that time that a black-and-brown mutt appeared in the parking lot of our condo complex. Her life was a much bigger mess than ours. A medium-size female, …
A Day's Hard Work
According to a newswire story just a few days ago, Mexico's unemployment rate had "spiked" to 5 percent in January 2009. That is still almost three percentage points lower than the latest national jobless figures for the United States. Indeed, in some specific U.S. markets like Oregon, unemployment approaches 10 percent. More incredibly, two years …
Off the ground
It looked and felt like an apparition. After almost three years of watching our house plans stumble over endless obstacles and delays--architects, legal problems, squabbling neighbors, plus the occasional waffling and changes of mind on our part--on February 10 we actually broke ground. We showed up at the land early in the morning and a …
It's Not Easy, or Inexpensive, Being Green
Building in the country will force us to revisit assumptions and calculations about how much we are willing to pay for a so-called green or sustainable home. Hey man, using photovoltaic cells or wind turbines to generate your own electricity sounds awesomely cool and progressive, doesn't it? Maybe so, but when you get an estimate …
El Rancho Santa Clara 