Spring flowers, the National Work Stoppage Protest May 1, and the car crash

I've been wanting a new orchid for a while now because spring means new growth and plants and I always try to celebrate spring with some new babies. Some people buy clothes, I buy orchids. But because of the hurricane the growers have not been able to supply the stores for a while.  So seeing as the Mayaguez Mall had it's bi-annual Orchid Festival. I decided to go last week and see what I could find. Well to call it a 'Festival' is reaching and stretching the truth till it breaks!

It's been getting worse and worse every year anyway, but this one was really bad. Two tables each with one or two mature flowering plants as the 'sample' and a bunch of little baby plantlings thrown bare rooted in a box for sale. I mean really now!

They simply would not sell any of the larger plants! So who wants to buy a plantling that you know was forced to grow on the mature plants with hormones and other chemicals, and that when you get it home you have to start nurturing it to bring it up to speed and it might not even make it?  Not me! Never going there again, big waste of time.

So I guess its back to the good ole Home Depot and Walmart that have so far sold pretty healthy orchids.

So I went yesterday but the pickings were small. The plant nurseries were hit hard by the hurricane and they haven't recuperated yet. But my daughter spotted about five Vandas hanging. Exactly what I had my heart set on, a Vanda! But oh my! The condition they were in! Sad, sad, sad! I scoped out the best looking one (or the least worse) it had no flowers and a few sunburn spots, so I thought if they give me a discount I'll buy it, if not no go.

I found the the garden guy and he was hesitant, but I pointed out that "my goodness look at them, they were in a sorry condition and with no flowers, how would I know if I already had the color, or it might even die, (it's not gonna die, I know it's not gonna die, but he didn't xD) and if it was the same colors as the one that had two wilted flowers on it, which he said it was, then I don't have that color, but I told him I did xD  blah,blah,blah,blah,blah!  So I  just wore him down with my logic and debating skills x*D so he went to plead my case to the manager. He came back and did accede to take $10 off the price, which is good, so I bought it. AT LAST A VANDA! Goldarnit!

Anyway I wanted Hibiscus plants but they are nowhere to be found! So I then I bought some small herb pots, white and purple Basil, Marjoram, Culantro. I wanted badly some Oregano plants but there were none. They are shade plants and very delicate, notoriously difficult to grow,   I'll just have to keep going till they bring them.

And my daughters old car, she gave the mechanic the wrong year and after ordering and waiting, they found out the mistake! My daughter can be ditzy sometimes, it runs in the family...Finally this week supposedly the part will arrive and we'll see...

AND A CREEP HIT MY DAUGHTERS NEW CAR IN THE BACK!!!  She was stopped for a light on her way to work and the idiot hit her!  So he tells the cops he guesses that he just 'got distracted'! I mean...isn't there a penalty for driving and crashing because you're "distracted" ??? At a friggin light? Yeezuz send the fire!

It wasn't much, thank God, it looks like a scratch actually, but my son says those cars have a foam and honeycomb something or other inside the bumper that might have broken, and those bumpers just bounce out again, but meanwhile it's broken inside, anyway she had a mechanic look at it and make an estimate and all that.

There will be a National Work Stoppage/Protest tomorrow May 1st in protest of the austerity measures, and pension cuts and all the rest.  So everybody's saying tomorrow there will be no gas, no light, no nothing! The universities did close, and Plaza will be closed, also the court system and many businesses, in anticipation of any situations.

Ain't got no time for this...really!

The Beautiful Eileen and the handsome Hecky

  

In his girlfriends fathers yacht

 

There are no new autos in Puerto Rico!!! and lunch today...

So, my daughter, my son (pseudo mechanic and official car checker) and myself spent the day at the dealers yesterday looking for a car for her to buy. She likes the Hyundai brand very much because they give a 10 year guarantee, she wanted to look at the Santa Fe or Tucson models.

We went to the dealers all the way from Mayaguez to Arecibo and all they had were one or two Tucsons, white or black per dealer, and two Santa Fe's white and grey, so the pickings were def scarce, plus the price fluctuation between dealers for the same cars was outrageous! So we tried a couple other brands and same thing, it was like a car desert!

Suddenly we realized that in the past we would always see on the roads those huge car transporter trailers with brand new cars on the bottom and the top going to the dealers, well we haven't seen any since the hurricane!!! So I dunno, she's still renting a car to go to work. Does Amazon sell cars??? xD

They've told us that her Toyota Rav 4 can be fixed with some sort of alteration, and we're looking for someone to do it.

Anyway here's what I made for lunch today.  Rice with pigeon peas and salchichon Fiesta (hard sausage) steak with caramelized onions, lettuce and tomato, and for dessert store bought mini eclairs and pastries.

Bon apetit to mua!     

The cars DX, and the kid's SUIT finally arrived!... and UPDATE ! The mom approves!

Well my daughter had the car towed to the Toyota bright and early yesterday, and was told that sometimes it happens that when the car is taken for the oil and filter change, which she is religious about doing, that sometimes power steering fluid in stead of brake fluid is added if the fluid is low, by mistake because the bottles are almost identical. When she took it for the oil and filter change a month or so ago, they had told her that the brake fluid was low so she authorized them to add it. This will dissolve or gum up the valves and such, so there was a chance that it might be that. Well that would be a relatively inexpensive fix so it gave her some hope.  My daughter was willing to pay up to $1,000 in repairs, but anything over that is not in her budget at the moment. So they would call her later in the day with the diagnosis and cost.

As we were walking to the car to leave, in walked a young man that grew up and went to school with my sons in the fishing village where I lived, he often came to the house to play video games with my boys and the rest of the 'corillo' ( boys in the hood ;).  Hadn't seen him in a long time, and although I had knowledge of it, I had forgotten that he worked there, so we all chit chatted for a few, and he also told us the same thing about the possibility of mix up of fluids and that he would be on top of the car situation and call us later.

Later in the day he called with the diagnosis  and cost of parts, sorry but it wasn't the easy fix, it was the costly fix, actuator, booster, pump and a couple other things all for a total of $3,000 in new parts. So she told him she couldn't have it fixed just yet, and asked could she leave it there til Saturday when she would go and pay the diagnosis fee ($178) and have it towed back home. He indicated to her that sometimes the parts could be found in the junkers for much less, and would she like for him to call some contacts and see if they were available. So she said yes and thanked him. We'll see, it would be considerably less $ so we're hoping it wasn't just empty words and such...

The grandsons suit finally arrived at the post office, so we went to pick it up.  Let me say that it's pretty good quality for the price! I was expecting a different, far lighter and cheaper material and was pleasantly surprised! This is very presentable and perfect for our weather!

It arrived in a plastic bag along with 2 other bags in case of wanting to return it. It wasn't all wrinkled as some reviews stated theirs was, just a few wrinkles. The material is excellent as I said,  and according to their size chart and his measurements he was an XS, we ordered an XS and that's what we got.

So, the grand came by last night to try it on and, it fit exactly to a T.  It's a very elegant and perfect Dark Navy, it looks lighter in the pics but is actually quite dark. The pants were slightly tightish, but he likes tight pants.  The length was perfect, little to no hemming needed, the waist was perfect, fit just right, the vest was perfect and adjustable in back. The jacket he found to  be a little tight around the armholes, if he raised his arms he felt slight tightness, but the rest fit exactly to his body, which is the way he likes, (and why would he be walking around at his prom with his arms raised anyway right? xD)  Oh and the sleeves were a tad short he found, and yet with a little of the shirt cuff peeking out it looks okay.

He does not like anything baggy, none of his peers do, they all dress in tight fitting clothes, (too tight in my opinion) But anyway he's not sure about returning it and ordering a Small, which will be larger and perhaps have to be altered. He took it to his house so his mom could see it and give an opinion. My opinion is that while he may just use it this one time, and since he exercises, he may not be able to fit into it much longer, but then again if the XS fit him to a T, the Small may need tailoring 'cos it will be bigger according to the size chart. But, we shall see what he decides.

My daughters blue flip flop not his m'kay  xD

Without the vest

I'm not feeling those two slits in the jacket back, they're tacked down, so I dunno if they should be opened or what...

Blurry but an idea of the looks with one of his dads white shirts on

Another back view, he has big shoulders 'cos he works out a lot.

All in all, a great suit for the price!  What we may do is just order another one in the next size up from XS which is the Small, in a Black or Dark Grey which he also liked and see...

It rained cats and dogs last night so the mold spores are very high, and I'm feeling it already with the wheeze, meds time! 

UPDATE! We got in touch with his mom and she thought it was a perfect fit as is. So he's taking it to the laundry to have it pressed,  so now I'm worried that the material will dissolve with any applied heat! x*D

 

Latah...

Marvin

Always something...:( The car and the Chinese graduation suit...

So...I'm worried!

My daughters car broke down! We had to have it towed home last Sunday from Mayaguez! It konked out in a really scary lonely place which we happened to be passing by, and it was raining and my sons were in San Juan, so we called my grandson and he came and tried to start it in the rain and basically kept us company till the tow truck came! We've been working on that situation all week, but  it was Holy Thursday and Holy Friday, everything's closed, today too so, she's been going to work with co-workers...

Anyway right then and there, because my daughter is doing her masters now and sometimes gets out late, while we didn't like the idea of her buying a brand new car, that's a stone around ones neck, and she has so many other things she's paying, BUT she needs to be safe! We both need to have the mental and physical security of a new car that (even though new cars break down too) she can depend on!

We thought it was a caliper, so on Monday my son came down from San Juan and went with my daughter to buy one and a local mechanic installed it, but the problem continued and worsened, brakes caught fire xD.  So he said it's prolly the anti-lock brake system and he doesn't fix those. She then called Pep Boys and explained, and they said that YES they did fix that, so she had it towed by the same tower, a wonderful kind older gentleman, to Pep Boys. Hours later when my son called  (because they didn't even have the courtesy to call her back), they said that it seemed to be the anti-lock system and that NO they did not fix that, and she would have to take it to a Toyota dealership, Bastards! So she had to have it towed back home again. She made an appointment for Thursday, which was the soonest they could see it, to have the car towed again to the dealership, which would make four (4) tows, we feel like the tow guy is family already xD!

So everybody's telling her they charge an arm and a leg at the dealership, so yesterday we made the rounds of local electro-mechanics (2), but problem is on this island there are plenty of what we lovingly call 'mecanicos adivinadores', guesser mechanics :), they know what it is, yes indeed they know exactly what it is!, they tear the car apart and then oops, they suddenly don't know what it is! much less where to get the parts!

Personally I think at the Toyota dealership,  whatever they charge, they can get the parts and it's guaranteed.  It seems to be a modem or computer of sorts, I dunno, and according to everyone costs a couple thousand $$$, if it is that, because it might be something more simple, who knows, God willing, please God...but she's at their mercy... but if it is that modem, she doesn't have the money at this time, so she said she'll pay for the diagnosis and have the car towed (fifth time) back home again, and she will begin looking to buy a new one.

So, yesterday we got up bright and early, I called a couple car rentals, so she could rent a car, finally found one, the last one left, 'cause that's another thing around here the car renting is slim, so she can go to work and start making the rounds of the dealers to see about buying a car...

 Okay, so that's that, BUT also my grandson will graduate from high school this coming June. We will be giving him a couple bucks to help with the graduation expenses, but he had told us he didn't want to rent a tux, that he thought it would be better to buy a cheap suit that he could keep, so he insisted and we went to Amazon and saw a couple of cheap suits. The one he wanted was one from a company named, believe it or not MAGA Male, just like that, all capital letters lololol,  I know right, but it's Chinese, anyway they don't ship to here, so we went with the next best thing, a suit from another company called YFFUSHI , a Navy Blue three piece tux suit all of $75.00 plus shipping, and the reviews were actually pretty good. BUT the sizing! According to the chart, cause he's pretty slim and likes his clothes tight fitting, so according to their chart and his measurements it would be an XS (extra small). It will be here this week, and I'm like having nightmares about his suit. But I'm hopeful, ever hopeful that's my motto...;D

If it's too small, it will be a loss cause I think it's more expensive to send it back than to just keep it. But I will def ,def post pics, at least w'all can have a good laugh! Here's the link...

https://www.amazon.com/YFFUSHI-Piece-Button-Blazer-Trousers/dp/B071LLSDTG/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1522591074&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=yffushi%2Bmen%27s%2Bslim%2Bfit%2B3%2Bpiece%2Btux%2Bsuit%2Bone%2Bbutton%2Bblazer&th=1&psc=1

oh well... c'est la vi!