Bike only for the time being.

Yesterday, Marcela arranged for our Urbanisation Swimming Pool Cleaner, to meet up with us, and go to see our Pool, the idea being, he would set it all up for us, and give Marcela lessons in maintenance. So late morning we set off, and went shopping to buy cleaning materials etc. for the house, we then had lunch, and met up with Henri in the car park, where he left his bike, and came with us.

Whilst Marcela was having her instruction, I put everything in the house, and locked it up tight, so no one could get in. Henri, certainly seems to know his stuff, both when it comes to the pool, and gardening, the one idea, I didn\’t like, but Marcela did, was his suggestion to replace the barbed wire at the top of the fence, with coiled razor wire, to my mind I would wake up each morning wondering which prison I was in, fortunately later in the day we had another meeting with Jhon, our building contractor, and he agreed with me, saying that it would also alienate the neighbours.

Initially it was agreed that Henri would spend the week-end cleaning the pool, but the more I thought about it, this was stupid, we won\’t be moving in for a while, and the Builders will be creating more dust than usual, so it makes sense to wait until we are ready to move in.

Last night we had a meeting with Jhon, he went through his quote, which included much of the work I had planned doing myself, such as preserving and varnishing all the wooden ceilings upstairs, and painting the interior of the house throughout, however due to the price he has come up with, I am happy to let him get on with it, there is still more than enough left for me to do, so he is now onboard, and hopefully starting on Monday.

This morning the car had to be in Hyundai for 10.30am, so Marcela set off first in the car, and I then followed a few minutes later, on the Bike to collect her. I was under the impression, it was going in to be worked on today, however on my arrival, Marcela was waiting to show me where to park up, I had already received my instructions to stay outside, so we would not be charged Gringo prices, it was cracking the flags, and I could feel the sweat running down me, in every direction, as there was no shade.

When Marcela eventually re-emerged, she informed me that today, the Garage would be deciding what work needed doing, tomorrow they would give us a quote for the work, and they would actually start the work on Monday, so it looks as if we will be without a car for nearly a week, it\’s a good job, we\’ve got two wheels.

Leaving the Garage, we then made our way to Suzuki, to collect, my new indicator arm, it was lovely to feel the wind, and I started to cool down. Once there, we picked up the arm, and  asked about a key blank, as I only had one key, 24,000 COP, by Colombian standards that was daylight robbery, and that wasn\’t even cut… no thanks.

We moved on from there to a district in Medellin, that is a bit suspect at the best of times, but is teaming with Bike and Accessory shops, I was looking for a disc lock/alarm combination, I had one in Spain, and it was excellent, I have the automatic disabler fitted, that makes the bike stop if I ever have a gun put to my head, and the bike taken (once two blocks away from my fob, which is kept separate from the keys, the motor cuts out), however I also wanted some form of audible alarm, for when it is parked up. Unfortunately I came up a blank, I have seen them online, so I will order one.

On the way home we stopped off in Bello at a key cutting shop, and got a spare bike key cut for 10,000 COP, it works better than the one I was already using, so I have swapped them over, and two fingers to Suzuki!

Back home, Marcela had to help me peel off my motorcycle gear, it might only be denim, but the kevlar and armour inside, certainly don\’t help keep you cool. I then dragged myself into the shower, and felt a lot better for it.

Marcela then shot off by Bus to town, met up with her Sister, and headed into the City, it is Sebastian\’s sixth birthday next week, and we still haven\’t got around to buying his present.