December 15, 2007
"Starry, starry night.
Paint your palette blue and grey,
Look out on a summer’s day…"
- Don McLean
Paint your palette blue and grey,
Look out on a summer’s day…"
- Don McLean
We’ve had a number of those clear, cool, crisp starry nights over the last week. You look up to a pitch black sky with so many stars that they make it look bright. I don’t know about you, but I can get a pain in the neck just standing there, staring at them… so, so beautiful!
And then we go to sleep, late, because of all the noise and hoopla and bells during this festive season, and we wake up the next morning to find that nothing has changed…
On Friday evening, I attended the full house at Café Bohemio for Sol’s annual Hanukah dinner. Always lots of fun, always lots of nice, new people to meet. I’m including some photos so that you’ll get an idea of what I mean. After all, where else will we find an 8-foot high inflatable menorah in Puerto Vallarta? Or have folks such as Barbra Streisand drop in…
I did a very stupid thing the following day, at the Pet Picnic. As it was a Saturday, and there are no classes that day, I parked in front of the school across the street from Daiquiri Dick’s …despite the No Parking sign. As Murphy’s Law would have it, I got a ticket.
Now that afternoon, I had planned to sneak away from my computer and take my very first trip to our new Home Depot, and then Galerías Liverpool on my return. On my way out there, while still in Vallarta proper, I realized - once again - that the traffic lights whose synchronization was promised to us two administrations ago … still hasn’t been implemented. It really doesn’t matter what speed you drive at, it just doesn’t work…
Getting back to my «voyage», after passing right by Home Depot, getting to the retorno (U-turn), doubling back and carefully looking for the unmarked turn-off to get to the store, I thought to myself, «How many people have had to do the same as me?» How silly. Why not put up a sign - before the exit - so that ordinary folk like me would know where to turn off to get to the Depot? How much would such a sign cost them? $10. Dollars, plus another $2. Dollars for the poor chap’s time to sink a pole? I have no answer.
Following my 4-hour visit to Home Depot (I could spend entire days in that kind of place, hardware stores, etc.), I headed for the Galerías, took the exit as marked, only to find out that they had set up those orange cones blocking the entrance. Kept going to the next opportunity to double back, and finally reached the entrance to the Galerías’ parking lot. It was full, so they directed me to their outdoor space. (I just read that the City is looking for the legal means to sue Galerías Vallarta for some $3 Million Dollars worth of public land which the Galerías used for that parking lot, supposedly illegally…)
When I returned to my car, I realized that my license plate was gone. Gone. As in not there. I figured someone had stolen it, though I couldn’t think why. When I finally got home at 10:30 p.m., I called the cops to make a report. After being shuffled from one department to another, I finally reached one that assured me a patrol car would come by. As I was waiting for it, I thought to myself, «Hmmm… maybe the policeman who gave me the ticket took my license plate. I know they do that…» When the patrol car arrived, I told them about my ticket. Sure enough, I was right. I would have to drive back out to Las Juntas, near the border with our neighboring state of Nayarit, to retrieve my license plate, and pay for my mistake. That’s what I did on Monday. $70 Pesos (less than $7 Dollars) and two hours later, I was back home with my beloved license plate. For someone who seldom leaves the south side of town, I put on a whole lot of mileage on my lil’ ole Tracker in two days!
I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your many kind words about our weekly Bingo games. You know who you are.
As we near the end of the year, I have a habit of going back into the archives of the Tribune to check on the «progress» realized by our consecutive municipal governments. Sometimes, depending on the space allotted to me, I submit those past headlines so that they may be published for all to enjoy (you may interpret that as you wish).
Here’s an example of what I found this time around, dating back to exactly four years ago:
"New Mayor Promises to Convert Downtown into Pedestrian Mall - In the presence of ex-governors, deputies and union leaders, all the members of the PRI and a governor who offered to help in the construction of a convention center and complete the construction of the throughway to Guadalajara through Mascota, the new City Council, led by new Mayor Gustavo González Villaseñor, took its oath of office. The new Mayor promised to turn the downtown area into a pedestrian mall, build parking garages and fire employees who do not behave properly in his administration."
"Continuity in Tourism - According to José Luis Líaz Borioli, Director of the municipal Department of Tourism, the four projects elaborated in the Department will be followed up: parking meters, traffic and road signs, rehabilitation of beaches and sprucing up the ‘Historical Center’ of town, with priority given to the latter. The beach item already has $5 Million Pesos allotted to it, but it has not been done due to bureaucratic delays…"
"Construction of Convention Center to Begin in March (2004) - This according to José Ludwig Estrada Virgen, Regional Director of the State Department of Tourism."
Need I say more?
Need I say more?
Once again, I thank all the readers of this column for their never-ending feedback (both positive and negative) and the "real" Vallartans for providing me with a continuous source of material. God bless you all. Take good care of yourselves and of each other, and do share your good fortune with the less fortunate. I truly believe that you will be repaid multifold. Hasta luego, que tengan una semana llena de alegría! pvmom04@yahoo.com
posted by Anna Reisman @ 11:09 AM
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