Mexican ingenuity never ceases to amaze me.
Several bloggers have made similar observations. But I witnessed two examples on Wednesday and Thursday.
The woman who owns the house where I will be staying has been putting a lot of effort into fighting the problems that come from owning a house on the beach. New paint. Rust removal. Salt removal.
She hired a young man named Juan to do the painting. But he has been helping her with other chores. On Wednesday, I witnessed one of those "other" chores.
She purchased two conch shells to mount on the gate to the beach. Juan looked at several options, and came up with an anti-theft method. He mounted rebar in the gate posts and then cemented the shells to the rebar.
But the most interesting aspect of the project was the manner of mounting. You can see the dedication of Juan and his assistant, Mauricio, in the photograph at the top of this post. OSHA would shut the operation down in an instant. But the job was also done in that same instant -- no harm, no foul.
On Wednesday night, we discovered we were without water. Thursday morning, Juan discovered the problem. The cistern was filled with roots from the neighbor's ficus tree.
Juan and Mauricio scrambled down a hole that I could not imagine Jiggs fitting through, and produced the following trophies:
Several bloggers have made similar observations. But I witnessed two examples on Wednesday and Thursday.
The woman who owns the house where I will be staying has been putting a lot of effort into fighting the problems that come from owning a house on the beach. New paint. Rust removal. Salt removal.
She hired a young man named Juan to do the painting. But he has been helping her with other chores. On Wednesday, I witnessed one of those "other" chores.
She purchased two conch shells to mount on the gate to the beach. Juan looked at several options, and came up with an anti-theft method. He mounted rebar in the gate posts and then cemented the shells to the rebar.
But the most interesting aspect of the project was the manner of mounting. You can see the dedication of Juan and his assistant, Mauricio, in the photograph at the top of this post. OSHA would shut the operation down in an instant. But the job was also done in that same instant -- no harm, no foul.
On Wednesday night, we discovered we were without water. Thursday morning, Juan discovered the problem. The cistern was filled with roots from the neighbor's ficus tree.
Juan and Mauricio scrambled down a hole that I could not imagine Jiggs fitting through, and produced the following trophies:
I wanted to get a better photograph of the ladder they used for the project, but this is the best photograph I have. It is made of thin scrap wood and screws. But a full-sized ladder would never have made it through the opening.
I truly love Mexico. In both instances, the solution was simple and elegant.
We have shells and water. And I have two tales to tell -- and I just did.
I truly love Mexico. In both instances, the solution was simple and elegant.
We have shells and water. And I have two tales to tell -- and I just did.
