Spring maintenance

We had planned on changing the color of the fachada of our house on our trip to Mérida in late April and had arranged for the painter to come early on in our visit. We had also asked our property manager to have the pool drained and the sarro (buildup of minerals) scrubbed away. The price for painting the facade was 1600.00MX, or about 112.00US. This is, literally, a tenth or less of what we would pay for the same amount of painting here at home. I figured the pool cleaning would not be much either, even though scrubbing a quite large concrete pool in the hot sun is work. I was not wrong. The cost was 1700.00MX ($119.00) and included in that price was some woodwork cleaning inside the house by the wife of the contractor.

I have been told that the mini-split A/C units should be cleaned and serviced at least once a year to keep them operating efficiently. We have seven units, one in each room. The cost 2450.00MX ($172.00 or about $25.00 per unit). In February, one of the units needed a part replaced ($2200.00MX or $154.00).
We've about decided that if other units breakdown, with the exception of the two bedrooms and the studio where our computers will be located, we will remove them and patch the walls. This is an expense that we will want to avoid once living on retirement income.

I suppose the point of this post is to just say that, even though the labor costs in Mérida are quite low (sometimes embarrassingly low), all these little maintenance costs add up. Pool pumps, filters, fountain pumps, water softener systems, water purifiers, tenacos -all require maintenance with some degree of regularity. In January, a tenant complained that the dishwasher wasn't working properly. It had to be removed, taken away and cleaned to remove all the mineral deposits (875.00MX or $61.00). Dishwashers are nice if you entertain frequently (we don't), so if after we move down and it fails, out it could possibly go -one less appliance to drain the costly electricity and break down. Besides, they don't sell automatic dish washing detergent in our local grocery store. Time to experience the Zen of hand washing our dishes.

With all expenses for the month, including management fees, weekly housecleaning, once a week pool maintenance, bi-weekly gardener to keep the small garden (literally) hacked down to manageable levels, salt, chlorine, gas, phone and internet, April was an expensive month -over $1200.00. Thankfully, every month is not that bad. Owning a home in another country, with the cost of airfare to Mérida now over $800.00, can be challenging. It's still  worth all the expense and I don't regret a thing, but I do want to hurry up and move.

Trouble in paradise...

Our blogger friend at Imagine Mérida just reported this. Yes, potential Mérida homeowners, things do go wrong in this delightful slice of heaven in Yucatán.  I just spoke with our property manager and he informed me that the studio air conditioner was not performing well enough for the current guest. I thought this was supposed to be the cooler time of year, when ceiling fans and open doors and windows are enough to stave off drenching sweat. I mean, I spent a week there in July and never once turned it on. I did, however,  spend an inordinate amount of time in the pool. Alan and I were both there in November and used no A/C.  Ruben informed me that the guest complained of dampness and I do know that it has been unusually wet this 'dry' season. The A/C's were all checked in the spring and were in good working order. I thought perhaps it could be a freon (or whatever gas they now use) leak. He tells me that the repairman took the unit to be repaired. Let's hope that it is repairable!

I haven't received the bill for this yet, but I can tell you that normally the costs of repair in Mérida are considerably less expensive than back at home. That is some consolation because the frequent breakdown of any electronic device in this heat and humidity can be frustrating.

Another consolation. The guest pays for any electricity over and above a set usage that is considered adequate. This is a policy that many rental casas use and one that we adopted after a particularly nasty electric charge by another guest.

The moral of this story? Go with the flow, expect the unexpected, and enjoy your slice of heaven.

photoArt by John Bradshaw

Feet Be Ready

Only 8 more days and we'll be arriving in Mérida around 9 PM and then a brief ride in a taxi will find us at home on Calle 47-A.  Alan hasn't been down since May and I was last there in hot July.  We are anxious to see how the house has fared during this intense rainy season. Is the tropical foliage green and lush? Have weeds overtaken the rock covered garden areas? Hopefully, the gardener, who comes about every two weeks, has done much of the work.  What about inside? Have there been any leaks and has the paint begun peeling? The previous owners had said that yearly touch-up painting is necessary. That means we still have until February.

Has the issue with CFE (the electric company) been resolved? A more thorough explanation will be forthcoming, but let's just say that a bill was mailed to our address, in the previous owner's name, for the period from September, 2010 through June, 2011 in the amount of 35,000 pesos (at today's rate 2,582 USD). We  bought the home in February, 2011, but did not change the account to our name because they were staying until the middle of April and there was no meter. They were being billed a flat monthly rate (or so they thought), so we left the account in their name until around May 1.  A new meter was finally installed either in June or early July. It seems that CFE decided to estimate their monthly usage ( most likely based on the fact that there are seven mini-split units in the house) and back-bill for all those months. We were instructed to pay the bill within 10 days, or what? I'm assuming it means that they will stop electric service. I placed a call to the previous owner and he is filing a complaint with CFE. His final statement indicated that the account was paid in full. I instructed our property manager to pay the May-June amount, which is our responsibility, and we will wait to see what happens. Oh yes, the reason they had no meter was because the original meter was faulty and they would lose electricity for 4-5 hours every day. It took CFE over 10 months to replace the meter. I was going to save this story for another time, when the issue has been resolved, but this is as much as I know right now. I'm keeping fingers crossed that we have electricity when we arrive on 1 November.

About the feet. For the past year I have endured a fairly severe plantar fasciitis. Essentially this means that the plantar tendon is inflamed and causes pain in the heel and arch of the foot. Standing on hard floors for long periods (as I often do at work) results in my feet feeling as though I have badly bruised them by jumping on hard rocks. I hobble to my car in the parking garage wondering if I will ever be able to walk again without pain. Sitting for long periods and sleeping also result in pain on arising, which dissipates after an hour or so. When I was in Mérida in July,  I was not able to do much walking. Just going from the house over to the Paseo Montejo or to Plaza Grande was very uncomfortable.

Long story short, I finally saw a podiatrist who started me on stretching exercises, arch supports, icing the feet nightly and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. I saw him today and told him I would be in Mexico for 10 days, so we decided that an injection of steroids into each heel would be in order (it didn't hurt as much as I anticipated). Here's hoping I will be able to walk as much as I like for our entire stay.