January 16, 2005
Zihuatanejo, Guerrero Coast, Mexico (17o 38' N 101o 33' W)
There's a daily VHF radio net in the Bahia where anyone can get on and ask for assistance from their fellow cruisers. I'm sure that it doesn't surprise anyone who knows me that I'm often one of the guys on the giving end of assistance. Recently I had the chance to do some serious helping on a computer repair. Some new acquaintances, Steve and Kay on Kavenga, called out for help with their notebook computer recently. Dave on Megabyte was the first to say that he'd take a look at it and I happened to be on Megabyte when Steve brought said computer over. It was pretty clear that there was a problem with the hard drive. Of course I have a spare hard drive and told Steve that I'd have no problem putting it in his computer except for one thing. I didn't want to be the guy who had to figure out how to dismantle the notebook to find where the hard drive is located. I've done this several times with my old notebook - even replaced the keyboard after spilling coffee on it one day - but my computer's never really been the same since I first 'operated' on it. He went to work, with the help of another less squeamish cruiser, and in the end was successful in locating the hard drive under the keyboard. We removed the drive from his computer and installed it in mine and sure enough my computer didn't even detect his drive. Bad drive. We installed my backup drive in his computer, and installed Windows 2000 after many false starts, and low and behold a working notebook computer again. Unfortunately he didn't have a backup for the old hard drive (I've really got to do that myself one of these days!) so it was like starting from scratch. At least he's got a working platform again and there's a slight possibility that his data can be recovered when they get back to the USofA.
We've finally run out of meat from the US and now we have to buy it here. That may not seem like a big deal but as I've said before the meat markets here are something you have to see to believe. If they were rated like movies, the butcher shop at your local Safeway would be rated G (_maybe_ PG). The carnicerias here in Mexico on the other hand would have to be rated XXX! As the 'Peoples Guild to Mexico' says "about the only part of the butchering process not performed in front of your eyes is the actual killing." For now I think we'll stick to the PG-13 version at the SuperMercado. Also we plan on eating a lot of hot dogs.
One thing we've found that we're not too shy to try: street side rotisserie chickens. Right up the street from the central mercado is a guy with his rotisserie set up next to the sidewalk. $50 pesos (about USD $4.50) gets you a roasted chicken and salsa verde. A quick trip to the tortillaria for a half kilo of tortillas (about 35 cents US) and you've got a meal! Of course the chicken isn't what you're used to eating in the US. The fat and skin are a darker shade of yellow and the flavor is a bit stronger, but they are very tasty.
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