Elizabeth Basulto

Ely is a wonderful helper. I don't know what I would have done without her all these years. She always came to my rescue whenever I had problems. If you need someone to help you, give her a call or e mail her: 045 331 321540 or e mail her at basulto80ely@gmail.com  She does not speak English but we have always managed to understand each other.

Dr. Manuel Jimenez del Toro, Plastic Surgeon

I got the stitches taken out of my forehead today. It still needs to heal more but this is what it looks like for now. I highly recommend Dr. Manuel Jimenez del Toro. Here is his information and a photo of him. 

Dr. Manuel Jimenez del Toro 

Cirugía Plástica y Reconstructiva

Tarascos  3514

Fracc, Monraz

Guadalajara

He Also goes into the Maskaras clinic on Monday mornings from nine am to ten thirty am. 

E mail JIMENEZPLASTIC@GMAIL.COM

Phone 38 13 0700

Emergency Phone 333 106 5980 

Me with the bump in photo below and without it in the one after that.

Thank you Doctor Manuel Jimenez del Toro

The Container Restaurant

This was my first time at the Container restaurants. There are several different ones, all sharing space. Next time I will get a hamburger with onion rings. That seems to be the favorite meal and it is spectacularly huge and delicious looking. Carolina brought along her loving dog, Pepper. She liked it too. Especially mine which was the BBQ Ribs. 

Bugambilia Plaza in Ajijic

This is the new sushi restaurant upstairs in the Bugambilia Plaza in Ajijic.

My friend Carolina is standing at the counter. We later went to see a tear jerker movie. And then out to eat again. Nice day.

Morning Thoughts

Last night there was a big party across the street from me. The Pit Bull next door got freaked out at all the noise and tried twice to break through the barrier my landlord, Pepe, had put up. The first time the dog broke through,  Pepe took my broom and hit the poor dog in the face until he gave up and went back to his place. All he had gotten through was his head. Such a strange dog. He is built like a tank. He looks vicious. But he is afraid of everything and cries like a small puppy. For a year I thought they had a puppy over there crying instead of that muscular Pit Bull.

After Pepe swatted the Pit Bull down,  Pepe and his wife put two huge cement blocks over the hole. I hope they don't fall down on my head or my animals. Later on in the evening, the Pit Bull got scared again and jumped through another part of our black plastic barrier, getting his head stuck up there. His body must have been dangling on the other side because he was crying like he was in a lot of pain. Fortunately, the neighbor was arriving in the back of a pick up truck and came over, saw the situation and went back home and pulled his dog back to his side. This is the eleventh time that dog has done this and Pepe and I keep piling up the barrier. (It is quite a wall now. Trump would be proud.) I don't think my neighbor does anything from his side to keep his dog there.

On a different note, my friend who lives in downtown Ajijic, said that they closed off one block of her street, had a live band and lots of food. It was a birthday party for a Mexican woman who turned 106 years old. 

I have seen many very old Mexicans here. Maybe people live longer because it is less stressful than in other places. I spent about ten days dealing with banks in the United States as I tried to send my son and daughter-in-law some money for a down payment on a house. It was one blunder after another and it felt like hours on hold as the bank tried to fix problems they had created. I am thankful that Carlos Slim, the owner of the telephone company here, allows us to call the United States for free. But I can't call any 800 numbers on it. I have to use skype for those. I think I used up all my skype time this past week or so. 

I hope that is all done now. They close tomorrow morning, at the same time that I get the stitches out of my forehead at the doctor's office. If I had to choose between doing house buying paperwork and having stitches taken out of me, I would choose the physical pain. I am glad the choice was made for me. But all this stress also made me realize that I don't want to go to the United States this summer. I just can't handle it anymore. Maybe if I never go back there, I will be one of those over a hundred year old women having a birthday party in the street of Ajijic. That is, if the Pit Bull doesn't push me over the edge. 

Remember this photo? It was from the eighth time he tried to get over. I love the expression on his face. He is so happy that he managed to break through the plastic. But then he was stuck. He couldn't get his big body to go the rest of the way. Every time he gets scared, he tries to get over here. I don't know why because when he gets on this side, he becomes stuck on the roof of my washing area and can't get down. Or like last night, he got slapped in the face by my landlord with a broom. But the dog never learns. He gets freaked out and by instinct, jumps up to the barrier until he finally gets through. Makes me think of that AA slogan, Don't keep doing the same thing and expecting different results.....   Of course the dog doesn't think, he just reacts. How many of us do that?  I know I often do. Change is difficult. The older I get, the harder it is for me to change. 

I am sure there will be more to come on the Pit Bull saga. 

Morning Thoughts--Top 30 Mexico blogs

This morning I received an e mail from the founder of a site about blogs in Mexico. Abuja Agarwal is the founder and the site is as follows: https://blog.feedspot.com/mexico-blogshttps:blog-feedspot.com/mexico-blogs

This site lists what they think are the top thirty blogs about Mexico. They put my blog on the list and asked me to mention it on my blog. 

If you are looking for more blogs to read on Mexico, you might want to check out this site.

I thank them for mentioning my blog on it. 

San Antonio, MX Rental

A real estate agent called me today about two rentals in San Antonio. I decided not to move so I passed them up. But if anyone is interested in living in that area, you might want to call her. PLEASE DO NOT contact ME about them because I know nothing about them. I am just passing along her name and phone number. One house is 400 dollars a month, unfurnished. One is 700, furnished. I know nothing else about them. Her name is Felicia and her number is 331 307 4977. .

Morning thoughts-- minor surgery

I am writing about this surgery for people out there who may be interested in health care here. I have written about other experiences I have had with the system here. This was a minor surgery. Here is a before photo and an after photo. It was to have a bump removed on my forehead.

In this photo it looks like it is on the left side of my forehead. It is actually on the right side but photos reverse things. You can see how large it has grown. I had it taken off twice in the past few years and it has always grown back. A private plastic surgeon through one of the local clinics did it both times. So I decided to try a different plastic surgeon at a different doctor's office. Many of the local doctors offices have specialists who come in once a week to see patients.

 I saw the new specialist.  She said that she couldn't do the surgery in the office. That I would have to go to Guadalajara to a regular surgery room to have it done. That it may grow so much that it would burrow into my brain. What? Burrow into my brain????

I was really scared. But she said it was okay to wait a few months to do it, not to wait years. I walked out of there---stunned. Since I had recently spent over two months trying to get reapproved for IMSS health care here, I thought this would be a good opportunity to use their services. After all, that is what I paid for and so I called a helper to take me to the clinic. I can't go to the clinic without an interpreter.

 He said it would cost me 800 pesos just for his services for one visit. In order to use the IMSS clinic a person has to show up there at six thirty in the morning and get a number, then again at eight thirty in the morning, and wait around to be called. And from my last experiences with IMSS when I tried to see a knee specialist, after six months of trying, and paying the helper to go many times to see if I got an appointment scheduled with a specialist, nothing happened except a lot of expense and trouble until I finally gave up. Maybe that is their treatment plan, stall until you finally heal naturally. 

So I called the first plastic surgeon who took it off two times already. He agreed to do it again. It was only a few days later that he did the surgery for very little money in the local doctor's office, all the while chuckling at what the other plastic surgeon had said to me about it possibly going into my brain.  

 Now I have to wait one week and not exercise or be out in the sun. Then he will take out the stitches. No worries about it being cancer. It is just fat. How could fat cells burrow through the skull?   It comes back again if just one tiny piece of fat cell is left inside the area. He took a very long time to get them all out, including finding a few hiding in my muscle. Hopefully, he got them all this time. I am sitting around my house for a few days, reading and relaxing. I also got a haircut since that first photo was taken.  

Again I say that IMSS is not something to be used except for MAJOR medical emergencies. They make it so difficult to use that It just isn't worth all the trouble. 

Lunch at the Real de Chapala Hotel with my friend Carolina

I hadn't been to the Real de Chapala for a few years. The location and view are great. Draw your own conclusions about the food from the photos. 

My friend Carolina.

Morning Thoughts

I had a busy day yesterday. I went swimming in the morning, had lunch with my friends Pablo and David and in the evening I went out to La Nueva Posada with my friend Carolina. I have become such a recluse that I rarely go out with friends. It was fun. I would like to be more social but it is difficult without a car. And to go out in this hot weather. 

Here are a few photos of the day, the spa, Pablo and David, and Carolina. After a day like this, I say a little prayer of thanks for my life here in Ajijic. I love Mexico. I hope I never have to return to live in the United States.

Haircut day

Chico and I both got haircuts today.   Short for the hot weather. Just my luck and the rains will come early and it will get cold. 

San Antonio again

I took the bus to visit my friend in San Antonio again and this time at the restaurant I ordered a Chili Rellano. Each one comes out looking like a work of art. And it was delicious. I took Chico on the bus inside my gym bag with his head sticking out. He loved it. He looked all around while we were on the bus. Unfortunately we came back right when the kids were getting out of school. One in the afternoon and the bus was packed. I got a seat in the back and really was concerned about how Chico would handle all the children, some trying to pet him. But he was great. Just sat in that bag on my lap looking so happy to be out with me. Here are more photos of San Antonio and the first one is of my Chili Rellano.