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3rd Año Nuevo since Ontario

Friday, December 31st, 2010

How time flies when one travels, lots of water under the bridge, lots of changes + I have changed myself.

Just perused my old blogs, can hardly believe my first blog post was April 26, 2008 & that as of 1/2 hr ago there were 47,798 hits on it, guess some must find it interesting.

My goals & beliefs haven’t changed from those first postings however some less than stellar experiences with the federal/provincial governments have left an extremely bitter taste in my mouth, making me utterly detest Canada & everything it has come to stand for!

My first New Years on the road was 2009 in Havana, the 50th anniversary of the revolution, pretty cool being in Havana at the Hotel Nacional on that historic occasion. had also pretty much narrowed my search for a retirement location down to Antigua Guatemala.

A year & many miles later I saw 2010 arrive in the fabulous Bangkok, where I never even dreamed at the time, that I would be returning in a couple months time to take a TEFL course & grow to love the city.

Now the eve of 2011 finds me in my house at Playa San Diego, El Salvador (property way overpriced in Antigua), revisiting the memories of the past 3 years & the life changes it has brought on.

I saw the Taj Mahal, Mount Everest from Tibet, Kipling’s Burma from the deck of a slow boat out of Mandalay. Took a balloon ride over the Australian outback, rode a camel in Mongolia & an elephant in Nepal. Traveled the north from Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia, Siberia, Alaska, the Yukon & the south Tasmania to Christchurch. Stood on the equator in Borneo & came within a cat’s whisker of getting married in Bali. Drove US Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, taking a side trip to Roswell.

Met, in person some fine people that I had talked to on internet forums & others on the road especially in Thailand.

No regrets at all!

Tomorrow it’s back to reality with a border run to Guatemala, hopefully to get another 60 day permit for the bus. Then find some teaching work & start saving for the next trip!

ps when relocating, try to find an ex-pat community with some Americans, Canadians are too caught up in themselves

Un Prospero Año Nuevo a todo

All is well in Paradise!!

Friday, December 10th, 2010

Hard to believe I have been here for 6 weeks, only seems like a few days ago that I arrived but am getting to know the places to go for the best deals around town & slowly getting things accomplished.

Found my caretakers forte, cement work. That’s a thing where he makes sure it’s done perfectly, none of the it’s good enough where concrete is involved. Pool repairs are done + skimmer & the piping for filter installed, shall let it sit a couple days then paint it the first of the week.

Been checking the weather lately, sure nice to have sun & 90’s when Canada’s getting dosed with caca blanca. Also noticed that the high temps here are almost exactly the same as Bangkok but the night time lows are normally about 10o cooler, on the coast, I guess.

Doctor ordered some blood tests done, just to see how things were progressing with mother, results came back fine. Ontario docs had her on thyroid meds but the tests showed they were unnecessary, so 1 more pill dropped.

When the medical team dropped her off, with the dogs breakfast of a dozen different meds + a bunch of insulin, they also gave the advice that she must eat right “lots of meat & taters”!

Now 5 weeks later, following a sensible, balanced diet (not lots of meat & taters) blood sugar levels (checked twice daily) are averaging 1/3 to 1/2 less than they were, the dozen meds have been reduced to one pill for blood sugar, one blood pressure + some vitamins in the morning. The sedatives she was prescribed, I was told to through in the garbage, which means she can get a tad cantankerous at times LOL!

Makes one wonder what in heck goes on in Ontario!!!!

Had my mail forwarded down & there was a bill for meds not covered by OHIP that totalled just over $500 for 3 months.

Picked up a months worth of meds at the doctors the first of the week, that included the thyroid meds that no longer need, cost $41. House calls dropped to $10, cost of nurse coming to house to take blood samples + lab fees $36.

Really makes one wonder what the hell is going on in Ontario!!!!!

Bought a trike, mounted a seat from the W/C bus on it so mother can get out ‘n about & down to  the playa.

Have an appointment with a vehicle importer, on Monday, to see about getting rid of the bus (have to before Jan 2) & picking up a van, or perhaps a truck, something more practical for getting around La Libertad anyway. Should be an interesting experience! Then see the lawyer about a residency permit for mother, have to do a border run every 90 days myself for now but have a plan on the back burner.

Once the holiday season has run it’s course will have to get serious about finding some teaching work, have a lead on that to. Then as an employed property owner all that remains is to find a novia to share it with.