iguanamountain blog

EXPIRED ADVENTURES

I'm sitting on the aft deck of my boat. There is beautiful morning sunshine and a strong sea breeze blowing all the bugs away. Just got the emails that my upgrade order was received and all is well. And that means the Internet is also working!

WHEN A BLOG IS NOT A BLOG When your upgrade expires and you find out that a renewal cannot be paid with Paypal because you are in a foreign country and the internet server shows where you are located. Plus a lot of information goes on that credit card form that is passing through how many servers?

So I wrote out a nice check from my US bank account and mailed it from the downtown postoffice in Belize City. Regular mail. How long could it take? Couple hours in an airplane. When I was in Iran my mail took ten days, door to door. Well from May 27 to June 23 sort of counts out to twenty-eight days. Not quite first-class mail.

Found out later that a 'rushed letter' would cost $25BZ to the United States. But then, as with the rest of the world, people and governments are stretched to the limit. We can't be surprised when simple things we're so used to, do not function any longer. I might add that a gallon of gasoline costs $11. Fill your tank at that price and you begin to limit your trips.The bus to town costs $1.50.

As an American, I often have great difficulty getting cash. American checks require a twenty-three day hold-to-clear. There are money-changer guys that profit from the exchange rate they charge. And a few friends that are happy to have US dollars.

Of course the big guys like airlines have no problem with credit cards, but the little merchants that sell food and produce only have a pocket or box with some bills and change. Real cash is all that they can handle...and they often cannot change a large denomination bill. To live here, one has to function in their world.I'm working on it.

Somehow the warm, smiling faces make it worthwhile. Anyway, I'm happy to have my WDC site working again with all the books that are underway and this blog open again.
>>>iggy
           ** Image ID #1264233 Unavailable **