I am living a country-western song. If El Profesor lives until May, both he and my truck will head down Mexico way. Should he predecease my departure, I will rely on the services of Alaska Airlines to fly to Melaque. (The "predecease" is a special gift to all of you lawyers out there.)
Because the ignition is broken on my time machine, I am going to have to guess what is going to happen in three months. Two days ago, he was declining fast enough I thought I cuild buy my airplabe tickets this week. Today, I should be planning a full year of romps on the beach.
So, granting that fate can be cruel, let's take the optimistic option. Jiggs is coming to Mexico.
Jonna has already given me some very helpful hints on bringing the dog south. She has three dogs and a cat. That counts as being an expert in my book.
When Jiggs's hips starts bothering him, he needs a special Cortisone cocktail injection. I was under the impression that it would be diffivcult to find the Cortisone in Mexico. Jonna tells me otherwise: buy Cortisone in a pharmacy and do my own canine injections. Big dogs are easy to inject. Jiggs is no exception. And I can buy thyroid medicine for him right off the shelf.
Several bloggers have talked about the difficulty of buying reliable dog food. THeir solution is to cook up dinner for their companions. Like most golden retrievers, Jiggs has a tendncy to get skin rashes -- especially in the heat. But a lot of the rashes are diet-induced. I may tote a couple bags of his food to Melaque and start transitioining hiom to my cooking. I already know that he loves peppers.
I will get a rabies certificate for him before I leave. Most people say that they are never asked. But I am the guy who the British customs agents repeatedly confuse with an IRA sympasthizer. If something bad can happen at the botrder, it will most likely happen to me. I even have trouble at the Canadian border.
Then there is the truck. It will be eight years old this year. I own it outright -- a small SUV. There are a few mechanical issues that I need to address. But I will take it south only if I need to use it as a dog carrier.
American-licensed vehicles seem to be a magnet for problems in Mexico. Tie that fact to the expsense of having to maintain insurance in Oregon to keep my registration legal, and the convenience of having a vehicle available comes at a very high expense.
If I take the truck south, I need to take care of the following issues:
Because the ignition is broken on my time machine, I am going to have to guess what is going to happen in three months. Two days ago, he was declining fast enough I thought I cuild buy my airplabe tickets this week. Today, I should be planning a full year of romps on the beach.
So, granting that fate can be cruel, let's take the optimistic option. Jiggs is coming to Mexico.
Jonna has already given me some very helpful hints on bringing the dog south. She has three dogs and a cat. That counts as being an expert in my book.
When Jiggs's hips starts bothering him, he needs a special Cortisone cocktail injection. I was under the impression that it would be diffivcult to find the Cortisone in Mexico. Jonna tells me otherwise: buy Cortisone in a pharmacy and do my own canine injections. Big dogs are easy to inject. Jiggs is no exception. And I can buy thyroid medicine for him right off the shelf.
Several bloggers have talked about the difficulty of buying reliable dog food. THeir solution is to cook up dinner for their companions. Like most golden retrievers, Jiggs has a tendncy to get skin rashes -- especially in the heat. But a lot of the rashes are diet-induced. I may tote a couple bags of his food to Melaque and start transitioining hiom to my cooking. I already know that he loves peppers.
I will get a rabies certificate for him before I leave. Most people say that they are never asked. But I am the guy who the British customs agents repeatedly confuse with an IRA sympasthizer. If something bad can happen at the botrder, it will most likely happen to me. I even have trouble at the Canadian border.
Then there is the truck. It will be eight years old this year. I own it outright -- a small SUV. There are a few mechanical issues that I need to address. But I will take it south only if I need to use it as a dog carrier.
American-licensed vehicles seem to be a magnet for problems in Mexico. Tie that fact to the expsense of having to maintain insurance in Oregon to keep my registration legal, and the convenience of having a vehicle available comes at a very high expense.
If I take the truck south, I need to take care of the following issues:
- Schedule full checkup
- Change oil
- Repair brakes
- Purchase new tires
- Purchase extra supplies/parts
- Purchase Mexican automobile insurance policy
If I do not take the truck south, I can always rely on public transportation or rent a car for my longer out-of-the-way trips. As soon as I can (after getting my FM3), I will look into purchasing a vehicle in Mexico.
All I need now is a big belt buckle and a range hat. The dog and truck -- I already have.
