Month: May 2026

With the new car battery, I am going to experience some well earned freedom.

Something I’ve not experienced before; going places when I want, where I want, if I want. I want to go to Costco, Home Depot, Liverpool, (our huge mall), Soriana, Zapamundi, (our smaller mall), all of the places Ivan and I would go together, but now I’m going to find my way to each of these places on my own. Prayers are always welcome.

I do have an app that we use down here called Waze, which is like Google Maps, and is a life saver for me. When we first moved here, and started using it, I asked it for directions to a particular place, (I don’t remember where), it told us to go to this particular street, turn right, go to this next particular street, turn left, and before we knew it, we were in a street that was just wide enough for the car to fit through. We were on our side of town, but on streets we didn’t know. It was a bit scary but Ivan got us out of there, and we didn’t use Waze again for a while after that.

When next we picked it up, we were much more familiar with our area, and were more confident in its ability to take us where we needed to go without incident. Plus, Ivan had an innate sense of direction, and memory for them as well. Once he drove a certain route from A to B, he remembered it without fail. Me, on the other hand, have a completely different perspective on the routes we took as I was either in the back seat, when we had friends in the car, or in the front passenger seat. Neither seat gives the same memories as when in the drivers seat, and being responsible for the route.

It’s an adventure that I am greatly looking forward to, and will share what I can with you when I survive, and get home. I’m excited to get started on this new chapter. It opens up a whole different way of living.

Plus, I’m so hungry for baked potatoes, and the only place that sells Russet potatoes is Costco. That will be my first, or second destination. That, and Home Depot. I want to get started painting the apartment. More on that later.

Until next we meet, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

Post script: though she’s not a post script. A very happy birthday to my daughter. It’s a milestone for sure. Many more preciosa. 💕

We tried to move the BMW.

Nope. Didn’t happen. When I went down to the garage to do like the video showed to do for the car I have, I opened the little plastic cover under the cup holder, just as it said, and

it was empty. And I do mean empty. What the heck? Where is the little thing I’m supposed to be able to put the tool into, turn it, and the car moves into neutral? It’s not there. It was never there. So, where is it?

Our newest concierge, Beto, came down to help me, and we were able to open the rear door enough for him to get between the car door, and the car frame. We got the cover off of the battery, and gosh, it looks so complicated. I told him to leave everything as it is so we don’t have to do it all again when the new battery comes, along with the guy who’s going to install it.

Until then, I’m going to see if Jesús will come over and try to jump start it. It was 3 years ago that we tried it, but it’s an automatic “no” if I don’t ask him.

Next time I hope to have better news. Until then, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.

Well, I will have one soon.

It’s going to be ordered, and delivered in the next week, or so. Our BMW has been sitting dead in its garage space for 3 years now, and I’m going to get it going again ASAP.

It’s my favorite of the 2 cars we bought when we were going to move here. In fact, we bought it outside of Chicago, and Ivan pulled it behind the huge U-Haul we used to move our stuff down here. I’ll try to find a photo of that for you. It cost us almost nothing as we traded one of our new Toyota’s that we had just bought, but couldn’t bring down here, for it with a minimal amount of money as the difference. It was about $1000 USD.

We only drove it to, and from, Los Altos as it is an amazingly comfortable ride, so it doesn’t have much mileage on it. It’s a 2011 x5 35i Drive, 6 cylinders, and it’s a joy to drive. At least that’s what I remember. We bought a 2009 Mercedes 280C sport from one of Ivan’s cousins shortly after moving here, and drove that in town. The BMW is a hog. It didn’t look nearly so big in our driveway in Iowa, but was huge when we got it down here, and had to drive it into a garage. Yikes. 😳

So, along with the battery, I have to put some gasoline in it, have the fluid levels checked, have it inspected, get insurance on it, and get it washed. I can’t do any of that until I get it far enough away from the garage wall to open the rear door because that is where the battery lives, in what would be the trunk.

Fear not. I’ve watched, and saved a few YT videos on what I need to have in order to move the vehicle with a dead battery. In fact, Ivan bought the handle thingy that we need before he died, and now I know how to use it. In fact, I’m going to go down to the garage in the morning to do the very thing; move the car away from the wall so it will be ready for it’s new battery next week.

Until I get all of that done, stay happy, and healthy in the Lord.