5C's Que Pasa

Welcome to the first day of the summer season.  Today the Sun is the furthest North from Earth.  Here in Kelowna we are expecting a high of 30C with full sun, tomorrow also.  Humidity is 39% so not too dry or too wet, in fact the perfect day.  Mazatlan has the same temperature but a humidity of  76% which gives it a very different feel than here.  Colin is out in the BMW, top down of course, on the way to a photo shoot.  He gets to drive around in a golf cart at a golf course for a few hours and take photos of the greens.  Tough job, eh!  Meanwhile the girls and I might do some deadheading of the lilacs and then cruise around the resort in our golf cart!  You just have to get out and enjoy the first day of summer.  What will you do today?

On June 11, 2011 the Mexican Government signed into law some very important changes which will affect those of us who travel into Mexico via vehicle.  I’m sure it will also affect those who live in Mexico and have US or Canadian plated vehicles.  This involves cars and trucks, RV’s are not affected.   Your 10 year permit is still valid.

As before cars and trucks will need to apply for a permit at the Banjercito office.  Before the permit is issued:

~your vehicle will be checked to see if it is stolen

~your vehicle will also be checked to be sure that it has no problem of any kind ( this is suppose to take only 5 minutes ????)

~you will pay the permit fee, similar to last years’ price

~you now have to pay a deposit that will be reimbursed when you leave Mexico.

The deposit can be paid by either VI or MC ( AX not accepted).  When you return your vehicle permit at the end of your visit, the deposit will be reimbursed to your credit card the next day.  If you pay by cash when you enter Mexico, your deposit will be reimbursed in dollars at the Banjercito office when you turn in your vehicle permit.

The vehicle permit will be issued for the same amount of time that your Mexican tourist card, FMT is good for, usually 180 days.  Of course if you have an FM3 etc, the time will be different as per your Visa.

The deposit cost is as follows:

~a vehicle which is 2007 or newer is $400.00USD

~a vehicle which is 2006 to 2001 is $300.00USD

~ a vehicle which is 2000 and under is $200.00USD

Please be sure to pass this important information on to all your friends who drive to Mexico, whether an RVer or not.  Personally we will pay by US cash as by using a VISA credit card you often lose in the bank exchange rate.

Tags: insurance, Mexico, US/Mexico border

When was the last time that you checked your dryer vent & shaft  for a lint blockage?  On the news a few weeks ago we saw the results of a devastating fire caused by lint build up in a home clothes dryer.  That reminded us that we had only once in the past eight years had our dryer vent checked.  We use to do it on a regular basis when we lived in Vancouver.  In fact when we lived in a townhouse complex for a few years the dryer vent clean out was an annual part of the maintenance.  So we called in a professional and for $75.00 we now know that we have a clear vent shaft.  Not only that but the fellow assured us that our dryer had been hooked up properly.  Most of the dryers he sees have been improperly set up and are a fire hazard.  Our system is so air tight that there was no lint behind the washer & dryer.

He disconnected the dryer from the shaft and inserted a bristle brush all the way to the roof vent all the while suctioning the pipe.

Because we are in Mexico half the year and we only use our dryer part of the year we will maintain it every second year.  Well worth $35.00 per year for peace of mind and safety.  On further investigation I discovered that the Province of B.C. has actually put out a safety alert……….

A dryer and the attached vent system requires regular cleaning and maintenance, just like your furnace or other fuel burning equipment. Lack of regular cleaning and maintenance of dryers and their attached venting systems, has been identified as causing fires.

Although lack of service can result in a fire hazard, improper dryer venting also poses a carbon monoxide risk on gas supplied dryers. The dryer vent system removes in addition to moisture, the gas by-products from your appliance to the outdoors.

When a dryer/venting system is clogged with lint, air flow is restricted, your dryer then has to work harder which leads to overheating. As the dryer ducts remove lint and moisture from clothes, not all of the lint is captured by the screen or makes it to the outdoors; this builds up on the sides of the vent system and eventually dries to a hard material. This material attracts more lint, where it eventually creates a restriction that leads to overheating, potentially resulting in a fire.

So I ask you once more, when was the last time you had your dryer vent checked for blockage?

Poor Carmeh.  She woke us up shortly after 6AM with a constant scratching.  We told her to go back to sleep.  She kept twisting and scratching…

Fat little face...

Something bit her, you can see a small bump over her rapidly swelling left eye. We think it must have been a spider that was here in the house. Unlike Mexico we don’t have to rule out scorpions & tarantulas. First I gave her a Claritin ( the human kind ) but soon saw that she was rapidly swelling and becoming more and more itchy so rather than give her 5mg Prednisone I chose to give her 1/2 of a 0.5mg tab of Dexamethasone which started to kick in within 20 minutes.  I sat with her for a few hours and now she is back to normal.  Not the way I like to start my Saturday.

Assignment:  take photo of tiny cottage and create an image that will help sell said cottage.

Here is where the cottage was built. It is being moved about on a forklift for Colin to shoot photos. This is step one, he has no idea yet what he will do with this.

Scouting the background for the final image.

Colin tends to put his all into everything he does.

Off go the new shoes and into the lake he goes!

After at least 7 hours of photoshop where a good deal of cut & paste was done, the cottage was flipped, the porch was elongated, the mountain in behind was added, the assignment was completed. Magic!

Remember it all started with a photo at the factory!  All in a days work for Colin.  The client was extremely pleased.