This morning was the morning of the car, or more precisely the Montero. I had decided that I wanted to find a Mechanic in Copacabana, I could use, I have been to Javier for the last three years, and for basic stuff he is great, but he works on the street, doesn\’t have his own premises, therefore is somewhat limited as to what he can do, watching him work on the Differential, I realised he is not quite as knowledgeable as I thought. If I could find a local Mechanic, it would be better for me, closer to home, no toll road to pay for, and I could take a taxi home whilst it was being worked on.
I arrived in Copacabana, and trawled the streets, but could not find one mechanic\’s workshop, there were plenty that worked on motorcycles but none on cars. In the end I gave up, but decided to go somewhere else, I have had a sneaky suspicion for some time, that my exhaust pipe was damaged, I had had it inspected, and had been told it was fine, but I wasn\’t happy.
I had seen an exhaust workshop on the motorway, but I wasn\’t sure if it just did commercial vehicles, so I gave it a visit, on arrival there was a car up on the ramp, which looked promising, so I went in, and asked what the price would be for a new exhaust, the man said they would do a inspection first, to see if a replacement was needed.
The car went up on the ramp, and they had a good look around, poking and shaking the pipe, at the end of which, he said, there was damage, but not enough to warrant replacement, they could weld it, there was no guarantee, but it should do the job… price, $30,000 COP (£7.50 / $10 US), their Welder spent about fifteen minutes welding, until they were happy there were no more holes. I paid up, thanked them very much for a great service, and left. What a difference, I don\’t know that it has resolved all my problems, but the car certainly sounds a lot smoother, and runs better as well.
Back home, I was met at the gate by my Neighbour, Jorge, I think he had been waiting for me, he was there to talk to me on behalf of the Mayordomo from Villa Connie, Nelson, apparently he was too scared to approach us himself, he is worried about not being able to control the noise level by visitors, some who come from really rough areas of Medellin, when there are thirty or forty of them drunk, he is not able to do anything on his own, he wont even turn the electric off, for fear of violence. I told Jorge that Marcela had been over this with the Administrator, they need to have a set of rules for the Finca, agreed to before the Renter pays up, this is what other establishments do now, and it works, if the people don\’t comply with the rules they have agreed to, they can be turfed out, with the help of the Police if necessary. Anyway, I told Jorge to get Nelson to contact us, when Marcela is here, so there is no misunderstanding, and we will discuss it with him. We rather engage with them, and be on amicable terms, than at war, the choice is theirs.
One benefit to come from this conversation, Jorge told me where to look in Copacabana for Mechanics!
An Englishman in Colombia 