Well,I’m a California man, my instrument in hand
I’m electrified
On a fast flying trip, dirty laundry in my grip
Mostly drip dry
We got the seventeen jewels that dictate the rules
And the time to fly.....
Six Man Band
I know a lot of you may think of me as a romantic. I’ll admit to that in a lot of areas but I just can’t let this mañana thing go. You know I retired
to Baja Sur to a very small, quiet fishing village more than a decade ago. You also know I fished down here a lot for 30 years before that. So I think
it is safe to say I’ve seen both sides of the clock; the U.S. clock and the Latin American clock.
I’ve had plenty of time to observe what can happen if you fall into The Mañana Myth, let yourself go, let time in the tropics pull you into a trap.
For all of you contemplating retirement in Mexico or points south, let this be a warning.
First, there is only one clock. Whatever time you’re in, there you are. Whatever time warp heaven you thought awaited down here, forget it – just the
same old clock you heard ticking in your head in San Berdo or Oxnard or Tucson. There is no giant sign at the border saying NOW YOU CAN SLOW DOWN,
MAÑANA TIME ON THIS SIDE.
There are hundreds of things down here that will teach you the scalding lesson if you don’t listen to me and heed my warning now – the four big ones
are storms, your house, your boat and cars, your body.
Back in the states you were surrounded by people and businesses who were begging to do things for you so you could stay busy making money for
retirement. Down here Pep Boys is a Mexican with a rusty old wrench, sitting under a big guaymuchil tree. The nearest shutter installer is 1,000 miles
from your house. The big red skin cancer on the bridge of your nose is telling you it needs a trip to Scripps and three or more dash lights coming on
all at once on the new Tahoe might make you take stock of your surroundings and the deadly serious business of time.
Learn from my mistakes. In the states I was a pretty good manager of time; punctual, alert to the future and what I had to do to prepare for it. Not
long after I got down here I started down the slippery slope. I was tricked, rolled, taken in by the tomorrow thing and it’s still happening today.
Some examples:
Here it is, a month into hurricane season and I have yet to do anything about sealing the back roof of my house. It’s peaked concrete but it’s very
old – it is packed with old rusty rebar which is poking its ugly head down through my bathroom ceiling. I’ve waited two years without touching it,
hoping for the best and now I’ll be racing the clock with no more than three short months to buy a roller and some sealer before the first wet storm
comes near.
I still find myself lolly-gagging and skylarking (can’t really ever remember gagging a lolly and there are no skylarks flying around Baja Sur but you
get the idea) when I should be moving on some other chores. Some things haunt me; my boat is a constant visual reminder of my sloth. I can see it from
my computer desk. I have now watched it change from blue to pale blue, to white and now the eggshell of fiberglass when there’s no more paint on it.
Now I’m right up against it where I have to sit down one of these days or weeks and establish some kind of timetable for working on the boat (and
motor).
Also from the same window I can see the laundry hanging from the line just beyond the boat. I forgot about it if you want the truth and now I’m
wondering if it got dirty again, over and over, when the wind blew the dust up day after day? Maybe I won’t have to wash them again – maybe just beat
the dust out like you would a rug or something.
I have several prescriptions from my doc in San Jose. One is for blood/urine tests, one for meds, one for an Xray. They are right there, right there
on the fridge door where I can’t miss them. Now I’m wondering if those things expire. It may not matter now because my doc is a very old guy and if I
finally get around to doing that stuff, go back to see him, he may not remember me, he might have died.
Last year, or was it two years ago, the muffler fell off my old Trooper. Enrique spot welded it back onto a little piece of pipe we found behind his
shop (like a collar). He said that would hold it til I could get it to the real muffler guy in San Jose. Well, the sound and the smell have not really
been that bad but I have to turn the tapedeck or radio up pretty loud so there’s another thing I have to punch the clock on.
It’s always something down here and you have got to keep some kind of a realistic schedule.noproblemo2 - 6-29-2010 at 05:52 PM
Realistic schedule, hmmmmmmm, get up sometime in the AM, eat breakfast, maybe do a few chores or shopping or gardening, lunch, then siesta, then oops,
was I gonna do something else??? Oh well, it's five o'clock somewhere !!!bajamedic - 6-29-2010 at 06:19 PM
I can't wait to have the same laid back view...O wait, I am doing that here and now. JHchippy - 6-29-2010 at 06:26 PM
Osprey you are always a pleasure to read.
noproblemo2 please change your handle. I can't handle it.noproblemo2 - 6-29-2010 at 07:36 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by chippy
Osprey you are always a pleasure to read.
noproblemo2 please change your handle. I can't handle it.
Seems to me that this is one persons writing and one is either to accept his/hers views only, if one is going to post something on a message board
then one should expect differing opinions. Same as any published author would have an Editor for critiques. If one sees something they do not wish to
read then simply don't read it. Such as what I am writing now..
Experience Real Time
Gypsy Jan - 6-29-2010 at 08:05 PM
The second-in-command dog gently places his very cold wet nose on my exposed neck on me in bed.
It is OHH-Dark-Cold-30; but the crew is hungry. The first-in-command dog is snug in his warm bunk, confident in the belief that second-in-command
will get the day started.
I rouse, I grumble, I say, "Too early, too dark, too cold."
I am ignored; there are only the sounds of joyous barks and yips as I stir.
My life now follows a more severe and strict daily time schedule than I ever did back in that other world.wessongroup - 6-29-2010 at 08:17 PM
GJ, that one put a smile on my face... as I can relate to the happy animals in the morning ... as can a number of other nomads... gentle hearts..
thank you all...
[Edited on 6-30-2010 by wessongroup]Udo - 6-29-2010 at 08:41 PM
As always, OSPREY is my lead man!
Whatever retirement means to anyone anywhere in the world, OSPREY has it NAILED!
When the life in front of you means watching your fishing boat's paint fade...
you've got it made!
When you're watching your prescriptions expire while stuck on your frigerator...
you've got it made!
When the house needed repairs because of last year's hurricane, and it's still not done (I think that one of my goals would have been to build a 3
sided rock wall with no roof just outside one of your rooms so you can take showers with hurricane water)
you've got it made!
When you can't remember when you (or Lynda) put out the laundry to dry...
you've got it made!
And after all the time you've got for nothing, you still find time to entertain us Nomads...
You've got it made!
MY HERO!
[Edited on 6-30-2010 by Udo]
[Edited on 6-30-2010 by Udo]irenemm - 6-29-2010 at 11:02 PM
Mañana Is just another word for another day.
That is the real Mexico.
Osprey has it nailed right on the head.
It takes a few years to get the right attitude.
Then enjoy it. That is what has brought you here. The laid back way of life.
RIGHTSunman - 6-30-2010 at 07:40 AM
I yearn for problems like these. My time will come. Good stuff.MsTerieus - 6-30-2010 at 08:27 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Udo
As always, OSPREY is my lead man!
Whatever retirement means to anyone anywhere in the world, OSPREY has it NAILED!
When the life in front of you means watching your fishing boat's paint fade...
you've got it made!....
Hello, Nomads. I'm fairly new to the board (though I have been lurking for some time). I'm hoping to retire, early, in Baja. In the meantime, a few
comments:
1) I'm rather worried, because I haven't retired yet, but my life pretty-much conforms to Osprey's, in terms of getting personal matters taken care
of! (By the way, in California, prescriptions expire after 1 year. I know; I have been there.)
2) Osprey, I really enjoyed reading your post! Well written and entertaining, as well. Thanks! MitchMan - 6-30-2010 at 10:17 AM
My goal in life is to wake up at my house in Baja and have nothing that needs to be done by me, no appointments to keep, have no place to go, no other
obligations accept to pay utilities monthly, pay prop tax and fido fee once a year, and no one needing anything from me. I am almost there.
In the gringo culture, timely execution of all duties and responsibilities together with a staunch work ethic and productive accomplishment is
venerated. In fact, we think that if you do that, things like land and resources should belong to us who ostensibly use these resources to their
highest and best use.
The problem with many gringos is in getting caught up in the process of being dutiful and productive and foregetting the reason why they are doing it.
That reason is to enjoy a better life. Most people I know in USA are always in the paradigm and mode of execution of duty and fail to smell the
roses. Mexicans, on the other hand, are into ONLY smelling the roses and only execute minimal duty. That's why the vast majority of them get very
little done, never make appointments on time, don't return calls or emails, never act proactively, don't plan for the future, don't believe in
maintenance, don't research anything, don't finish anything, don't do what they say they will do when they say they will do it, and can get by on the
bare minimum of resources. This behavior is not limited to the peasant types, it is rampant among the professionals and government people at all
levels.
As I stated earlier in this post, my goal in life is to arrange my life so that I can be like the locals as described in the immediately preceding
paragraph, and, as I said, I am almost there.Osprey - 6-30-2010 at 11:02 AM
Mitchman, you are confusing me. You want to be like the locals (in the preceding paragraph). Unless I missed something you painted them as lazy,
worthless sluggards. By the "locals" I have to assume you mean your new Mexican neighbors wherever you are retiring to. So your goal is to be like the
people you admire the least. Wow! That will be a strange new beginning for you.
I live close to wonderfully sensitive, intelligent people who are smart enough to enjoy their lives without the clutter of silly material imperitives.
I really don't care how you intend to live but I don't want your post to bleed into mine. Be your own kind of sluggard. Be an American sluggard.MitchMan - 6-30-2010 at 01:34 PM
Osprey, I am calling a spade a spade. I described my opinion and understanding of gringo behavior and Mexican behavior by giving the details of my
observations about each.
I agree with your statement: "I live close to wonderfully sensitive, intelligent people who are smart enough to enjoy their lives without the clutter
of silly material imperitives". There is nothing contradictory nor inconsistent or even contrary in what your statement discloses and the statements
that I made.
I then went on to say that I am intending to be like them, and I mean it sincerely. And, I am almost there.
I think your confusion is due in great part to your becoming "judgemental" about it as you reflected your interpretation using derogatory terms such
as "lazy, worthless sluggards". That reveals to me that you think that people that behave the way I described them are, in fact, "lazy, worthless
sluggards". Well, I didn't say that, I merely described the behavior. Osprey, there is a difference. And, I am not confused at all. My eyes are
wide open. I know what I see and I know what I want and I know why I want it. No confusion. Your problem may be an inability to observe without
ending in character assassination.Osprey - 6-30-2010 at 02:00 PM
Yeah, that's it.
Professional sluggardry
Dave - 6-30-2010 at 02:03 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by MitchMan
my goal in life is to arrange my life so that I can be like the locals
That's cheating. Sluggardry requires total commitment. You can't just warm into it. Your only hope is to give away your pot. That way, you
won't be tempted to pee in it.
