No Phone, No Van, No Problem

There was just another earthquake at 11:38 a.m. here in Mexico, 5.5, or so I read on Facebook a moment ago.  We were...guess where?  Yes, back at the police station, and at 11:38 a.m. I think I was examining how the stock folds back on the machine gun a nearby policeman.  My ever-observant wife mentioned that security was a lot tighter, and that one of the glass panes in a door was broken.  And I'm the guy that practiced participant observation in school.  She's the master at it, though.  Whenever we are with a large group of people she does not know (like a hockey game, or a police station) she ends up figuring out how people are related, who likes who, what is out of place, etc...

I am starting to get concerned that getting through the paperwork with this van might take a long time.  We have the van parked by our house, we just can't drive it until all the paperwork and inspections are done.  We've been back to the police station twice now, and have not progressed at all.  The inefficiency and lack of organization is staggering.  We are bumping right up into one of our busiest times of the year, with lots of visitors.  We need that vehicle.

Oh, did I mention we don't have a phone line either.  Since yesterday evening.  The neighbors, apparently, don't either, and misery does love company, if for no other reason than knowing that it's something that affects more people than you, and will probably get fixed faster.  I mentioned to the neighbor lady, Susan, that I'm sure the phone company will give us a discount.  "Good joke, ha ha ha" she responded.

We had a great time with our neighbors yesterday evening doing games with the kids and breaking a piñata.  Then four boys (our two and two of their friends) had a sleep-over on our living room floor, playing 4-person XBOX.  How did I ever make it through childhood without video games???