• Rashes = dying down. Finally.  I went to doctor on Friday, and been taking meds, applying Sarna, and continued with the already implemented oatmeal baths and ice packs.  Less itching, thank God.
• Meds = making me drowsy.  Been having caffeine to offset it.  Had catnaps at home too.
• Babystore = I'm back at it.  I love seeing the new babies!  Although, my feet/legs doth protest too much already. 
• Work = boring.  Partner's in Egypt, so it's dead here.  Attorneys and staff alike.  Seriously.
• Diet = doing vegetarian/peskatarian during the week, and weekends, I'm allowed to eat some meat.  Luckily, I don't like much of it anyway.
• Car = still a piece of shit.  Don't want to deal with it right now.  So I won't.
• MUNI = bane of my existence today.  Ruined my morning to say the least. 
• My housing = Received $1,300 bill from mold specialists.  Now I need to get contractors to come in and fix the damage, and heating specialists to install a decent ventillation system.
• Mateo = busy with umpiring, softball, and work.  He'll be traveling to Reno in June for a new store opening up there.
• Consuela = busy with studying with her last semester for her BA.  Her graduation is only two weeks away and counting!
• Mother's Day = Called my mother, and we chatted for about half an hour in the morning.  My sister and I sent her a card last week, so...that was about it.  No, we did not send a 'gift', because she will call to complain (in the bad way) when we spend our money on it. 
• My cats = rollercoaster.  This weekend, part of the time they were fine in co-existing together.  Other times, Rogue jumped on Jubes and attacked her, growling and intidimating her.  I forgot to mention, Jubes BIT ME!  I got in between the food and her... she has this tendency to eat anything and everything placed in front of her (that is catfood anyway)...so I picked her up, and she bit my left arm.  I look like I was bitten by a vampire...and it's slightly puffy and very firm.  But I washed it and poured hydrogen perioxide on it.  It should be okay...
• Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner.  If you've read Good in Bed, you'll know Cannie Shapiro from it in this new 'sequel' too.  It took me all week to read it, and generally only during my oatmeal bathtime.  So Certain Girls was very good (for me, it was better than Good in Bed, as this sequel had more depth to it), but In Her Shoes, is still my favorite and I totally relate to it.  Yes, I've seen the movie, and I own it, and while I think the movie has plot holes (which are filled in by the book), I thought the actresses in it did a great job of portraying the characters from the book. 

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Getting back to work.  I actually have had a lot of data entry since I've been back, as there has not been much else going on in the office in the partner's absence.  I think she left around the same time I did for my trip...Good timing.

Talk to ya later! 

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

First Day (4/26; Sat)

Well, we arrived at SFO around 8 a.m., and started drinking and had pizza at Firewood Café.  Around 9:30 a.m., we boarded our Alaska Airlines flight, and headed to Mexico. 

Massive fake cheesing...due to sleepiness and alcohol.

We arrived on time, but…we didn’t have a plan for getting to the hotel/resort.  We ended up taking the shuttle, to the bus stop.  Then taking the local bus to ‘around’ our hotel.  It was fun, except for the part involving dragging all of our belongings around on our backs uphill and in the dry heat.  I was irritated with Mateo for the lack of planning on this…but once we got to the hotel, and in the cooling hotel room, it was all fine. 

We settled into the hotel, and went to dinner at Sunset Grill which was on the roof of the hotel…it was good food, but typical hotel atmosphere/quality food.  Afterwards, we hung out by the pool..their infinity pool with a swim up bar.  Their mango daiquiris are to die-for…great sweet and sour mix (I swear it’s the limes), and fresh mango puree, and chunks of real mango on top of my cocktail.  And they had lots of two-for-one specials…sigh…

Day 2

We walked the strip…and did our touristy window shopping this day.  We also had a  mission—water and sunblock!  I fell in love with a new flavor Gatorade—Mandarina.  We grabbed food, and I tried my first batch of chilaquiles…which was really good and flavorful.


C'mon, check out mah cans!!

We went to Cabo Wabo and had some drinks…I hated it.  lol And then we grabbed some drinks at Giggling Marlin as well.  We ended at a bar called Sangria’s, where we chatted with the bartender, which was a great time, and we learned where to drive to with our one-day car rental for later in the week.  Of course, we headed back to the hotel with more pool time and plenty of sun.

Dinner was at Baja Cantina…which was terrible service, and it was part of the hotel!  We were disappointed, and failed to leave a nice tip.  Their tres leches cake was a disappointment—it was like a cheap sheet white cake…d’oh!  We headed down to Medano Beach after dinner, and the water was so cold, but it was so clear, even in the dark! 

Day 3

I found shrimp ceviche!  I had that and a daiquiri for my breakfast/lunch.  Mateo had his beef fajitas, and dos Coronas con limones.  Yeah, we both have our vices.  We hung around the hotel until it was time to get picked up for our excursion—ATV in the desert and at the beach.  Mateo had more fun than me…as he was driving and I was just along for the ride.  The dips and jumps bruised my chin and chest (slammed into Mateo’s back each time), and my butt was definitely sore from sitting on the non-seat behind him. 

Lookin' awesome in the gear...like banditos...

My poor baby though, he had goggles that did not filter out all of the dirt/sand from the trip, so he spent the evening with red, watery eyes.  He insisted, so we went to dinner at Mango Deck with his teary eyes.  Mango Deck has daiquiris the size of my fist…almost my head! 

Day 4

Mateo woke up and his eyes were much better.  I felt so bad for him.  We grabbed lunch/dinner [after the first day, we ended up having breakfast/lunch at 10 a.m., and then a snack around 2, and dinner around 7 p.m., as it was way too hot to eat that much] , and he grabbed his usual fare of tortilla soup, and I got the shrimp fajitas… 

Afterwards, we went to the strip, walked down to the Marina, and headed out for parasailing.  To make a long story short, the company told Mateo one thing on the phone, and in person, the procedures were different, and Mateo was truly afraid of getting seasick on the ride.  He was up in the air for about 8 minutes, and I was up there for about 6 minutes, and we ended up on the stupid boat ride for more than the anticipated/promised 30 minutes… it was nearly two hours by the time we were picked up by the water taxi. 

Mateo coming in                      
                                 

 
Moi, heading up and out

We decided to not go out for dinner that evening, and instead order room service from Attitude Bar (which is the restaurant associated with the pool bar service), and it was a good time.    

Day 5

What did we do?  Nothing.  We did nada.  I woke up around 4 a.m. and stayed up to watch TV until I could fall back to sleep. 

View at 5 a.m. (from our room)

And later on Mateo woke me up, and we headed out to breakfast/lunch at Mango Deck.  Then we headed back to the pool, where I soaked up lots of sun, and Mateo read his books. 

See....they are the size of my fists...and almost my head!

Later on, we headed out to grab dinner at Giggling Marlin.  The food was to be expected—totally tourist-y and icky.  They had good drinks though, and plenty of entertainment.  Let’s just say Mateo had to catch a sombrero on his head, and somewhere near the end, he gave me a lap dance, much to my embarrassment.  lol

Day 6

We grabbed some food, and then picked up Benadryl for my heat rashes (yes, I am apparently not equipped for the hot dry sun/heat in Mexico.  No, no sunburn, and plenty of 45 and 60 SPF sunblock but just heat rashes!)  Afterwards, we went to pick up the convertible Jeep Wrangler one-day rental…


Cheesing, while M is stopped at a light in the Jeep

And we headed off to Todo Santos, La Paz, San Antonio and ended up in Cabo San Jose, which is next to Cabo San Lucas.  Somewhere in there, I made Mateo stop at Waldo’s, which is the Mexican equivalent of a dollar-store, and I purchased a bunch of drinks and some junk food.  In San Antonio, we stopped at a nice lookout spot. There we saw a kitty, out there in the desert heat, and she was starving, and we felt so bad.  We left some Ruffles chips and left her some water.  I still feel bad about her…

 Dollar store! 

 
Poor hot, starved kitty eating Ruffles

In San Jose, we played putt-putt at the Rusty Putter, and then had dinner.  Afterwards, we headed back to San Lucas, where our hotel was.  And we called it a night. 

The last hole...

Day 7

We returned the vehicle and then grabbed some food at the Marina.  I had a very, very delicious lobster omelette…drool.  Afterwards, we went to the beach, which we hadn’t gone to in broad daylight anyway… I ran along the shoreline, chased seagulls, and posed for Mateo.  Yeah, we were being silly tourists. 

Love this shot...see the background, and totally self-portrait!

Afterwards, we hung out around the pool, yet again, and took some goofy pics.  And these are a few of my favorites…
 
Peek-a-boo/hey ya/hey, man...I'm underwater!

And the day was not complete without a yummy dessert snack for me… guava snow ice…it was sweet, refreshing and slightly chewy (the seeds)…ahhhh.

We ended our final full day in Cabo, with dinner at The Office.  The food was awesome, and it was beach sand seating.  The service was nice.  We had a nice plate of grilled sea bass with chile rellano, which was a hearty portion and just delicious.  And the meal ended with flan, the first that I ever had that I liked too.  Then we had a little stroll along the shoreline…

Awwww, our last night at The Office.

Last Day (May 3; Sat)

We checked out at 9 a.m., and left our bags with the hotel storage.  We went to the Marina, and grabbed some food, and dodged the street vendors and timeshare harassment.  We went to a little tequila museum (which tried to sell us timeshare, of course). 

We headed back to the hotel, and waited by the poolside until it was time to take a shuttle to the airport.  I had to go back for another snow ice…and this time I tried ronpope.  Yeah, I had no idea what it was, so after I finished it, I made Mateo investigate with me…and we found out it was eggnog!  (I’m not an eggnog fan, but this one was awesomely creamy, slightly sweet, and just great for my tastebuds.)

Token of Cabo and my raspado ronpope

We arrived at the airport well ahead of schedule, and jumped on an earlier flight.  And my sister picked us up…

Adios, Mexico!

And so this is today for me….

• Laundry. 
• Taking meds for heat rash.
• Groggy from meds, so stayed in until it cleared.
• Errands. 
• Taking an Aveeno oatmeal bath later.
• Hanging out with K & A later tonight, with Mateo, to catch up.

• Two of the units have toxic mold, throughout the walls, near vents, etc.  Leaks from the roof, down to the units, and down into the laundry room, and a huge trail of mold along the way, inside the walls.
  
• My unit is still being investigated, as they have not been able to determine a leakage source nor any significant amounts of mold on the inner walls.
  
• There are total of 8 units in the building, and all have some damage in regards to the patio doors.  They are under warranty but not sure under what capacity. 
  
• All of these things need to be repaired/remedied, but the units with the toxic mold will definitely need litigation now.  My unit may only need a 'ventilation' fix and it will be good as new. 
   
• I'm not sure if I want to stay here at this place for the long haul now...just way too many complications. 
  

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  Edit at 11 p.m.:
  
• Well, I am fucked.  We all are.
• There needs to be testing for all 8 units now, to ensure that we fix everything properly.
• We've incurred about $20,000 in costs for experts right now, and no repairs yet.
• We've been advised to install a ventilation system for the whole building.
• We are going to have to deal with litigation now. 
• After discussing the finances with M (he's better with numbers), it would be best if I tried to recover the costs, which would be litigation.
• And we still have issues with the TIC agreement, as to how litigation is voted on, and how the costs are split/shared amongst us. 
• And there is one tenant who is just anti-litigation, and refusing to pay for certain costs.  Hence, we desperately need to consult a TIC attorney very soon.
• And I will have to stay elsewhere pretty soon.
• Fucking.Terrible.News.