life in October

Oct. 24There was a pretty good rocker last night, it shook the apartment for quite a while as I crouched vigilantly in the middle of the room. Having gone through several shakes, I’m able to guess the magnitude fairly well and I pegged this one around a 6, by far the largest aftershock to the 7.6 six weeks ago. All this one did was knock over an empty beer bottle, and didn’t interrupt any of the utilities, so I could check Facebook for official reports on location, depth and magnitude. Initial reports indicated it was nearby. Well, October here is a little slow, interrupted by moments of terror. Organico is closed for the month, giving me a chance to step back, take a couple of deep breaths and prepare for the new season. I will also be moving into a new cabina that I hope will be a little more comfortable. I hope my cat Leo handles the transition well. My other cat Isis went MIA back in May when I took a trip back to the states. There are a couple of kittens that are hanging out in front of the store, and I need to get them to the vet and have them fixed while I have the time. That’s about all I have to report on the pussy-front, sorry to disappoint. On another subject, I got my residency card renewed for another two years, and it was much easier than I had feared. On a downside, some new anti-money laundering regulations, adopted under pressure from the U.S., is screwing with my ability to move money among my different accounts. That may be somewhat problematic as I need to spend heavily in November to get my shelves restocked. I’m under some serious pressure to move my smoker away from the store, which is a setback. Since July I have been doing my bbq in front of the store, which has some real advantages. However, I have space next to my cabina to park it, with few neighbors to potentially complain about smoke. So I think I’ll try to do my smoking there. I might enjoy hanging out there a few days a week rather than spending all my time at the store. Sonia is doing a great job at the front of the store and Andrea is making great food in back. Some talented people are bringing in their products, including excellent Pad Thai, baked products and deserts and snacks. One woman makes world class foccacia and I am eager to build a great bbq sandwich with it. I’m actually looking forward to watching the first game of the World Series tonight, I can stream it on my laptop. Watching tv sports by myself is kind of a last resort, but I’ve got plenty of extra time to kill now. I’m even writing a blog entry, that’s how much idle time I have this month.