double indemnity

The echos of vices past clung to the hotel bedspread.  It did not matter to him.  Old vices were as close to him as last night's baked beans.

Tourists to Puerto Vallarta claim to find magic.  Instead, he settled for sterile commercialism.  Spreading his new identification card and decoder on the bed.  Ready for an adventure that held as little resemblance to the sad bedspread as had his charmed life during the past three months.

Cut!  What is it with the film noir narrator, Steve?  How about filling us in on what you are talking about.

Fair enough.  Let me start at the point where some of this may make sense.

You already know that the good folks at Immigration called me on Friday to tell me my permanent resident card had arrived -- and I needed to be at the office on Monday morning to pick it up.  (ye, of little faith)

Darrel and I had planned to be on our way north by 7 AM.  Instead, we belted ourselves into the Escape and headed south to Manzanillo where we were second in line at the Immigration office. 

In a few short minutes, I had my new card.  For some reason, the photograph makes me look as if I am a former Black Hand assassin in a witness protection program.

No matter.  I now have a visa that will not require annual renewals.  Well, until the law changes again.  But, for now, I feel liberated.  And that is good enough for me.

The smart thing to have done would have been to head north through Guadalajara.  But we had to return to Melaque.  And that is the second part of the story.

Last week I tried to get the email address of my bank manager to assist me in transferring my payment for the new SUV to the dealer.  Getting the address was like pulling teeth -- something I hope not to learn much more about.  And when I tried the address, it would not work.

So, back to the bank I went.  The very helpful staff member told me I could do all of that from my online account on my own.  But I needed an internet key.

That is it at the top.  It is a rather simple logarithmic code generator.  Not much more sophisticated than a Little Orphan Annie decoder ring.

Rather than bore you with more details, let me summarize.  I spent three days talking to two bank employees for a total of three hours.  After all of that, I still could not get into my account to set a new password.

Darrel and I drove back to Melaque from Manzanillo solely to get my account operating.  After waiting for two and a half hours, we were told that certain combinations cannot be used for passwords -- even though the web site does not say that.

I thought we were done. But I needed two more passwords to get to the page where I could set up a transfer account.

The bottom line is that my decoder is cool, but I still have no idea whether I will be able to effect the transfer before I return to Mexico.

But Darrel and I had both had enough.  We ate lunch and drove to Puerto Vallarta.  Stopping at the Comfort Inn near the airport where I always stay.  Note to self -- always buy the internet reservation deal and save nearly 50% over the at-desk reservation price.

I am writing this late on Monday evening.  You will get to read it early Tuesday when we will be back in the truck.

Now I will rejoin my little film noir fantasy and pull the time-grimed bedspread around me.  We intend to be up and on our way to Mazatlan -- or beyond -- early in the morning.

See you on the road.