Carol ... my dear wife and I are afoot daily.... some days for several miles ... like 5-7 ..... miles that is ...... yikes! We usually start the day with a taxi ride to the meeting for field service .... but after that, it's all uphill .... then downhill ..... then across the hills ......and then back and forth...... up and down .... I'm sure you kind of get the picture, but until you have done it for a week or two, it's hard to get a real flavor for what we are talking about....(right Hughes?) Let me give you an idea, after 2 months of doing this walking routine, I lost 4 inches from my BEEEELLY .... no gym, no diet ... just one foot after the other ..... (in fact we eat what we like, and as much as we like,..... not that were hogs or anything like that) Additionally, I weigh now, what I weighed, 20 years ago ....well more or less..... (Yeah I know what some of you are thinking ... "you were a porker back then too"!
Well to get back to the purpose of this blog or perhaps better said the "Theme" of this rambling . ..... Running the Gauntlet ..... Daily! ....... Here out, for the sake of simplicity ..... "RTG"
As has been mentioned on this blog in the past ..... "Safety" is a word in the Spanish language (seguridad)... but in most Latin American countries ... well, how can I say this with tact, and in a dignified way, so as not to offend? ...... I CAN'T ! ..... I DOES NOT EXIST... well,.... it doesn't, what can I say? (You'll see what I'm talking about, in the photos and videos in this blog) ...... Yes I was tactful, and truthful! ..... So there! ..... Everyday there are hundreds of things waiting for you to just slip up, just for a moment ... not paying attention and WHAMO! .... you get it ... in the head ... almost in the EYE... in the ankle .... shoulder .... you name it, your always exposed to DANGER ..... Then there is the not so dangerous, but none the less, "No Fun" stuff, like, dog waste that is usually on the sidewalks (sometimes human .... niiiiiice .... NO not really .... nice that is, .... yes it too, is on the sidewalk) that you have to constantly be on the watch for .... Brent and Kassi have the same problem in Nicaragua .... they refer to them as land mines. "Ten cuidado hay minas" (Caution there are mines) NO photos on that one... don't imagine any are needed, to make the point.
For example here at the apartment we have these stairs that go from the building .... directly into the driveway ..... people, when they drive down the driveway, on the way out of the complex, seem to think they are doing 0-60 MPH tests.... which is fine, except for the fact, that people are coming out of the building directly onto the speedway .... there are no handrails to catch yourself if you fall ..... as you fall, you fall, directly onto the speedway as the car completes the speed test. ..... Yes, you start the day, each day, ...... "RTG". Now this is an example of what never happens ..... Someone actually going slow down the track as "someone" descends from the building.... So this we can say is a bad example of a good example of what happens. Got that?
While ... "IN TOWN" OR .... "THE CITY" ......We saw several OSHA violations!!!!! ..... Carol says if OSHA were here everyone would be working for them, as there are so many OSHA violations, that they would need to have everyone employed caring for the problems ahhh violations ...... Of course then there would be no problems as there would be no businesses to have violations .... that's crazy talk there! We have a new family from Australia the Birketts .... Peter B and wife, own a scaffolding company, when he saw some of the tom foolery, that they call scaffolding he said something like that would result in HUGE fines back in the LDU. (Land Down Under) See video for the wonderful world of scaffolding here in Cuenca Ecuador.
Meet the Birketts
Speaking of the Birketts .... when they where moving into the house they rented .... they had the "installers" come in to "Install" the washer .... here they don't know what a ground wire is .... well not really, but they don't have outlets for them .... unless you want to install an outlet, with the spot for the ground on the plug ..... problem is, there is no ground wire to connect to the outlet, so you have gone in circles and gotten no further (sounds like Ecuador) ... spent time to change the outlet and then you can plug it in, .... but you still don't have a grounded plug... solution? ...... Cut off the ground part of the plug, then there is no need to change out the outlet.... Problem is says the "manual", that negates the warranty .... let alone the safety issues .... Sometimes "RTG" is actually living the gauntlet as is the case in this ramble. Fran Birkett "la esposa" the wife, said she was afraid to use it at first (the washer).... of course we calmed her fears, letting her know that, as of yet we had heard of no one, that had been shocked by an ungrounded plug. Don Harding said "get used to it" .... "there are no ground wires here" ..... "Safety First" (my words) here in Ecuador.
SIDEWALKS .... here, is where time helps you, avoid any
real damage ... to your body that is.... In the "States" yes the USA most sidewalks are in excellent shape .... I can say that, in comparison to
here, there are very few, if any, bad ones that exist! ... problem here is, that they are narrow, then wide, then narrow, then don't exist, then ...... (those areas where they are nicely contoured for your car to drive up into the driveway, from the street, and for those afoot, to have a nice gradual smooth drop off as they walk, in the US, I speak) ... here there is no smooth contour and gradual lowering they just ........ drop off! ... So while you are looking out for the dog stuff, so as not to step in it, and the glass, that is broken on the sidewalk, so as not to tread in it, and the missing man hole covers, so don't you step off into oblivion, you have to keep your eye open to the "driveway drop off" (I wish I could say or write that, with the voice that is deep and echoing) .... while working with Fran Birkett one morning a few weeks ago in the ministry out of the corner of my eye I see her falling away from beside me ... she fell victim to the "driveway drop off" she didn't go down as I caught her by the arm and steadied her .... but poor thing, ... I heard a few days later she took a header .... I'm wise to those nasty things but it took me about 4 months to get there ...... "RTG" daily! I'm sure one will sneak up on me one day when i have one of my regular lapses in concentration .... and I'll go down just hopefully not into traffic.... and not into a pile of dog stuff either!
CROSSING the street .... Oh you can do it, (but we don't recommend it) but don't plan on the driver stopping for you even though your in the crosswalk .... they just try to maneuver around you .... after all even though you have "the right", don't insist on it, or you will be a hood ornament.... and even though there are laws to protect, "your rights" there are no Police officers that insist that you are shown your rights ..... translated? No tickets for those crummy drivers! Look twice before you cross? NO! look twice then keep looking while your crossing! "RTG" daily.
SEATBELTS .... yes they have the "LAW" here, that you are to use them, but no one does .... when you get into the taxis you reach for them, but they are no where to be found..... cut off, tucked under the seat, broken .... of course the drivers have theirs, not that they wear them, except when a Policia pulls up, and then they reach over and pull it over there shoulder, to fake out the officer ;-0 and then, when the coast is clear, they remove it. Sometimes it's "Driving the Gauntlet" ..... Speaking of which.......
TAXI RIDES .... this is crazy ... here, they allllll think they are Nascar drivers Vroom Vroom ...... Ooooh maybe that's an exaggeration ..... Nooooo, .... no it's not .... it's all out on the gas peddle, then, slam on the brakes.... power into the curves and race to the next stop light, I guess they drive like that, so they can replace those brakes, sooner then they need to .... In the US, you would have to pay big bucks to have the Nascar experience, but here, .... it's only two bucks.... this is the great oxymoron, this is the land of never being on time ... but what we don't understand, is why, as they drive, like there is no tomorrow, ...... based on the way they drive, they should be always early, .... One day last week, we get a driver on our way to the meeting for service, the driver, (young, hes got the cool glasses, and the hat, and is gettin down wit the drivin) yeah he has an attitude .... when we get in the car, we say hi to him but no response ... not a good sign...He's too cool to say hi ..... so we take off and I mean TAKE OFF! ... only to race to the stoplight, and you got it slam on the brakes .... we are third in line from the light, so when the light turns green, the horn honks for number one in line to get going .... problem is, there's on coming traffic, (no where to go chico) but that doesn't stop chico impatient from laying on the horn ... finally traffic starts to move and there is one car in front of us ... so he starts the horn thing AGAIN... now Mr. and Mrs. Heilig are getting impatient as well, but not with traffic, rather the driver.... he keeps on the horn, and finally the driver in front, looks back at him as he makes his way through the light, out chico decides he's passing Mr Slow Poke and "Mr Slow Poke" (which he wasn't) is not happy that our chico is being such a jerk... so of course he speeds up, and now, there is on coming traffic ..... ON COMING! " "Traffico" I shout out! At this point the Mrs..... Heilig that is, says in a loud, powerful voice, in perfect Spanish "YOU ARE A TERRIBLE DRIVER"!!!!! .... At which I say "you let us off here and NOW at the corner" ..... In not so perfect Spanish.... (But he understands perfectly) he pulls over, and doesn't say a word, doesn't ask for partial fare nothing (he knows he went toooooo far with the gringos).... Doors slam shut, and he races off to his next fare. Good riddens you maniac, knucklehead! "LTG" Livin the gauntlet, ...... Daily!
It's all good! ;-)
