The Wanderings of busman7

Really getting a crash course in El Salvadorian ways in the new year & it’s still only January.

So far we have learned that they are really serious about the age of imported vehicles & a couple ways to legally get around them.

Also have learned, trial by fire, what the protocol for arranging a funeral is.

Presently I have a couple more irons in the fire to help round out the learning curve a bit.

Getting back to the bus saga, part of the deal was the church would find me a car worth the value of the bus. the major problem there is that due to the stroke I had as a result of having an Ontario doctor who got his licence out of a Cracker Jack box, I need an automatic transmission. Now here in El Salvador automatics were a major no-no until recently so they are as scarce as hen’s teeth.

Anyhoo after a couple months search they managed to locate a fairly decent Kia in my price range & apparently tentative approval to import the bus has been given. The car was supposedly been brought down for me to see on Thursday, finally made it last night, only 3 days late. Actually a pretty decent vehicle for the price so now am in possession of a vehicle worth the approximate value of the bus so I am happy, the church sees the “light” (pun lol) at the end of the tunnel concerning a bus so they’re happy. Have learned a lot about vehicle dealing down here so all in all, all’s cool on the bus front!!

With mothers passing I am left with an extra room + a tad shy on the dinero side until I can collect my full social security. The idea of going to Cambodia (not really impressed with the options here) to teach English crossed my mind. Then I thought hmmm, extra room, pool, why not run a Bed & Breakfast + teach a bit of English privately on the side?

A bit of research showed it to be a viable plan. Priced out what was needed & it came in on a reasonable budget.

Only problem was getting the property up to snuff & the grass greener. Now this boiled down to getting the caretaker to do the job he was getting paid for. Haven’t really been happy with him for a while, now when I get that way I give some subtle hints then tend to sit back & give the person enough rope to hang himself.

He finally tightened the noose this weekend, never watered the lawn all weekend & when confronted with several of his faults (with the help of an interpreter, who doesn’t like him either) it became evident that the pigheaded, lazy SOB wasn’t going to change his ways. He refused to do anything but water the grass so I said fine then the pay will be adjusted accordingly + he had to get rid of his chickens.

He quit, I didn’t can him he drug-up of his own accord!!!

Told him I would keep him on until the end of the month but he got a snit on & said he would be out manaña. Shall have to wait & see what transpires on that front.

All that has to be done now is get the i’s dotted & the t’s crossed on the vehicle deal. Hire a new caretaker, one already in mind, find someone to complete the renovations, lots around who would be glad of the work & install pool filter, not a problem.

Get moving on the B & B plans, finalise a curriculum for the English teaching & guess probably should get a 90 day extension on my visa, can get one extension, then it’s border runs every 90 days.

Leastwise the foreseeable future won’t be boring, as the learning curve continues.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 24th, 2011 at 09:07 and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.