The Vilisar Times

STILL IN CHIHUAHUA; NEWS FROM THE RANCHO: HOTELS IN THE CITY
Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Still in Chihuahua

What started out to be only a one-day quick trip from Rancho el Nogal, commencing last Thursday morning before dawn, has now been extended day-by-day to almost exactly a week. Bob, the ranchero, had some business to do with Xavier, the cattle dealer, and he urgently also wanted to have the front end repaired on his 4WD Toyota pickup truck. He achieved most of his first mission. But the repair place could not procure the parts required and took another day to put the steering system back together using the old parts. Finally Bob got tired of hanging around and took a bus from Chihuahua to Cuauhtémoc last night about dark. He has a place to stay there and another vehicle. Cindy left the ranch yesterday about mid-afternoon to meet Bob – in Cuauhtémoc, I guess.

News from the Rancho

While he was away, the new people at the ranch got the huge front-end loader cum grader operating and started to grade the road following the summer rains. That road, as I have often pointed out in this blog, is really, really, really badly washed out. It is part of the reason for example for the pickup truck to be in for repairs to its steering.

Unfortunately, although the 50,000-pound machine on four huge rubber tires (instead of caterpillar tracks) skidded off the road and would likely have rolled over completely except for the fortuitous placing of a tree beside the road, apparently the big Michigan dozer is leaning on the tree whilst also blocking most of the gravel road. Cindy could get by it with a small pickup but not with the big Ford diesel truck useful for towing the cattle trailer. Bob has a few cattle already in Yepachic but he had also wanted to have another bunch brought out from Rancho el Nogal so they could be sold in Chihuahua. These cattle will now be driven out by cowboys on Saturday. Sure hope I am back by then!

The good news in all of this is that no one was hurt when the dozer slid off the road.

Never let anybody tell you that it is boring on a cattle ranch in the boonies. While all this dozer business was going on, the bull got out and had to be rounded up. Cindy thinks he is dangerous and he is going to be put down today. Unfortunately, having no doubt been fortuitously forwarned, he took flight and was nowhere to be found this morning. And I was looking forward to steak!

Hotels in the City

I have had some translation work the last couple of days so have been dashing from one internet café to another or back to the San Juan Hotel to find a computer that works. I had one pretty cheap place (about Pesos 10 per hour = ca. US$ 1 per hour) and the equipment was good (never assume this with internet cafés). But they closed over lunch from 1330 until 1700! Somebody should get an internet café set up here that is open around the clock, has good equipment and wi-fi connection, provides decent coffee, and is clean and comfortable. Westin Hotel had a good “Business Centre” but it’s way out on the periphery.

A word about the San Juan Hotel. I am sure that this was once a quaint little hotel. AT the moment it is basically a flophouse. You can get a room with a shower, two beds and cable TV for Pesos 130, which is pretty cheap. But it is pretty grungy! This is the third hotel I have stayed at in Chihuahua. The Teachers Hostel was the best and reasonably priced. The Hotel Jardin Central, across from the San Juan, is all right and reasonably priced if you tell them you don’t want their renovated rooms. However, the unrenovated rooms are pretty grungy too. Has nobody in Mexico ever heard of masking tape when you paint? It seems they just roll the paint on, dripping and rolling over the tiles or the wooden door frames, slopping paint on the floor. What a mess. And so easy to avoid. I am going to send for my old neighbour in Frankfurt, Frau Guder, who used to “advise” me about my own home improvement efforts. She would shake and shape things up here in a jiffy! Every moderately price hotel I have seen looks like the paint job was an expression of passive aggression!

At least it fits in with the bathrooms. At the Teachers Hostel they had recently retiled the whole bathroom, quite expensively too, it appears. However, the shower door could not open completely because the sink was badly place. At the San Juan they don’t go in for luxuries like glass shower doors; they have a shower curtain that does not fit. The two hotels are alike however in that the shower head is so place so high and inconveniently that, when the water is running, it blasts right into your face or even over your head so you have to stretch a bit to get wet. At the San Juan, when it hits you in the eyes, you are forced to look down to see the open drain and the filthy,

posted by rjb,
1:54 pm

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		News From Ron and Kathy Bird__
For more pictures of Ron and Kathy Bird and the Vilisar, see these beautiful photos by Albert Pang Click here to e-mail Ron Click here to e-mail Kathy Archives January 2004 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 February 2007 March 2007 Vilisar Translation Expert German-English translation available; business and finance our specialty. SachverstÃ¤ndige Deutsch-Englische Ãbersetzung; GeschÃ¤ft und Finanz unser Spezialgebiet.	Wednesday, September 28, 2005 STILL IN CHIHUAHUA; NEWS FROM THE RANCHO: HOTELS IN THE CITY Wednesday, September 28, 2005 Still in Chihuahua What started out to be only a one-day quick trip from Rancho el Nogal, commencing last Thursday morning before dawn, has now been extended day-by-day to almost exactly a week. Bob, the ranchero, had some business to do with Xavier, the cattle dealer, and he urgently also wanted to have the front end repaired on his 4WD Toyota pickup truck. He achieved most of his first mission. But the repair place could not procure the parts required and took another day to put the steering system back together using the old parts. Finally Bob got tired of hanging around and took a bus from Chihuahua to Cuauhtémoc last night about dark. He has a place to stay there and another vehicle. Cindy left the ranch yesterday about mid-afternoon to meet Bob – in Cuauhtémoc, I guess. News from the Rancho While he was away, the new people at the ranch got the huge front-end loader cum grader operating and started to grade the road following the summer rains. That road, as I have often pointed out in this blog, is really, really, really badly washed out. It is part of the reason for example for the pickup truck to be in for repairs to its steering. Unfortunately, although the 50,000-pound machine on four huge rubber tires (instead of caterpillar tracks) skidded off the road and would likely have rolled over completely except for the fortuitous placing of a tree beside the road, apparently the big Michigan dozer is leaning on the tree whilst also blocking most of the gravel road. Cindy could get by it with a small pickup but not with the big Ford diesel truck useful for towing the cattle trailer. Bob has a few cattle already in Yepachic but he had also wanted to have another bunch brought out from Rancho el Nogal so they could be sold in Chihuahua. These cattle will now be driven out by cowboys on Saturday. Sure hope I am back by then! The good news in all of this is that no one was hurt when the dozer slid off the road. Never let anybody tell you that it is boring on a cattle ranch in the boonies. While all this dozer business was going on, the bull got out and had to be rounded up. Cindy thinks he is dangerous and he is going to be put down today. Unfortunately, having no doubt been fortuitously forwarned, he took flight and was nowhere to be found this morning. And I was looking forward to steak! Hotels in the City I have had some translation work the last couple of days so have been dashing from one internet café to another or back to the San Juan Hotel to find a computer that works. I had one pretty cheap place (about Pesos 10 per hour = ca. US$ 1 per hour) and the equipment was good (never assume this with internet cafés). But they closed over lunch from 1330 until 1700! Somebody should get an internet café set up here that is open around the clock, has good equipment and wi-fi connection, provides decent coffee, and is clean and comfortable. Westin Hotel had a good “Business Centre” but it’s way out on the periphery. A word about the San Juan Hotel. I am sure that this was once a quaint little hotel. AT the moment it is basically a flophouse. You can get a room with a shower, two beds and cable TV for Pesos 130, which is pretty cheap. But it is pretty grungy! This is the third hotel I have stayed at in Chihuahua. The Teachers Hostel was the best and reasonably priced. The Hotel Jardin Central, across from the San Juan, is all right and reasonably priced if you tell them you don’t want their renovated rooms. However, the unrenovated rooms are pretty grungy too. Has nobody in Mexico ever heard of masking tape when you paint? It seems they just roll the paint on, dripping and rolling over the tiles or the wooden door frames, slopping paint on the floor. What a mess. And so easy to avoid. I am going to send for my old neighbour in Frankfurt, Frau Guder, who used to “advise” me about my own home improvement efforts. She would shake and shape things up here in a jiffy! Every moderately price hotel I have seen looks like the paint job was an expression of passive aggression! At least it fits in with the bathrooms. At the Teachers Hostel they had recently retiled the whole bathroom, quite expensively too, it appears. However, the shower door could not open completely because the sink was badly place. At the San Juan they don’t go in for luxuries like glass shower doors; they have a shower curtain that does not fit. The two hotels are alike however in that the shower head is so place so high and inconveniently that, when the water is running, it blasts right into your face or even over your head so you have to stretch a bit to get wet. At the San Juan, when it hits you in the eyes, you are forced to look down to see the open drain and the filthy, posted by *rjb,* *1:54 pm* Comments: Post a Comment
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Wednesday, September 28, 2005