Entries
Front Porch Ramblins
Spring arrives this weekend and my hibernation must end. It's time for this old California bear to yawn, scratch and blog. For some reason I can't grow corn out here in eastern Tijuana. Chilis, cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes even strawberries all …
Tijuana Dreaming
""The willow bends as the oak breaks..." I put down my notes and rubbed my eyes. Seventy-two hours have passed since my surgery and I've definitely got cabin fever. I will spend a week recovering here in North Park before …
El Blvd de los Muertos (The Blvd of the Dead)
"The guy down the street saw her last night," shouted Eric as he walked through the front door. "See ma, I told you she was real. The guy down the street saw her last night!" Trini and I were watching …
"Smugglersville"
Four months of battling pain, work comp paperwork, pain, work comp doctors, pain, and lawyers who thrive in work comp purgatory, has left me too exhausted to do what pleases me most. Working on my Palatial Wooden Shack or roaming …
Seeking Cochise Spirt-Zona Daze
I was not a bit surprised when the first car bomb went off the other day in northern Mexico. It was inevitable. So goes the escalation of violence. It is merely the next step on the road to all out …
Red buses vs White buses (A tale of two political parties)
Tijuana is still giddy from the July forth elections.At least the PRI backers sure are. "Happy days are here again!" sing their suppporters. I wouldn't say as much about the PAN people. They lost all five major mayoral spots in …
Falling Bread(PAN)
(Author's note; The following story was meant to be posted before the recent elections but was delayed by the trouble I had posting the 'Angry Guy' story. Although it's dated,it is the companion piece to Red buses vs White buses …
Angry Guy Talks Border Bombs
I cross the San Ysidro border several times a week and have been doing so for a few years now. Normally, when I'm standing in line I don't speak to anyone unless it's to cuss them out for cutting in …
A conversation at the SY garita.
I cross the San Ysidro border several times a week and have been doing so for a few years now. Normally, when I'm standing in line I don't speak to anyone unless it's to cuss them out for cutting in …
Tijuana/San Diego buses #6(Glad to be Wrong)
On the far edge of eastern Tijuana, the little white bus idled roughly, as I waited sleepily to board. Just a mere block from my Palatial Wooden Shack, my exhausting six hour commute to and from work, was just beginning. …
Destination: The French Gourmet
It recently dawned on me that I've spent most of my blogging time writing about my work commute, or life in my Palatial Wooden Shack on the outskirts of eastern Tijuana. As much as I harp on my six hour …
"Drug smuggler meets stripper-A true love story"
(Author's note; Carlos and Maria are not their true names but they are as real as the words they told me.) The lives of this young couple did not mix until they reached Tijuana. Prior to that, Carlos had grown …
Tijuana's new Home Depot
I haven't celebrated Thanksgiving since a trio of 'commie pinko profs' permanently ruined me in college and made a much better man out of me in the process. For me it's just another day off to spend on house and …
Chocolate cars in Tijuana
The majority of my neighbors own automobiles but many of them are chocolates(our family vehicle included). A chocolate is an unregistered automobile. They are not at all uncommon on the streets of Tijuana. Many of the poorer families down here …
Faith and fire in El Fin Del Mundo
The longer I live in Mexico, the more I learn about it's complexities. I often compare them to that of my native land(USA). There are similarities and contrasts, positives and negatives. In this humble, dishwasher's opinion, the American culture and …
Tijuana/San Diego buses #5
What would you do if you were standing in the aisle of a crowded MTS bus, it's a sweltering 90 plus day, the air conditioning is broken, and only half the windows are down because the other half are stuck …
It's Called a What?
Is a peanut butter and jelly quesadilla really a quesadilla if it doesn't have queso(cheese)? I guess technically that would be no. But then what should I call one of my favorite snacks? A quesadilla, as I was taught, is …
Unemployed Dishwasher, Rambles On...
The Old Man is probably sixty or sixty-five but he could easily pass for seventy. Living all his life under the climate that bares down on the west coast region of Central Mexico where he was born, has left his …
La Crisis-Recession or Depression?
(Author's note: I try to post a story weekly, from Tijuana or once in awhile my Uncle's home office in North Park. Most of my blogging is done out of an internet cafe on the east side of Tijuana. For …
A Mule for the Road
Somebody once told me that common sense is worth a fortune. Unfortunately, I am a cheapskate so that's probably why I don't have any. I think I'll buy a mule. Not a handsome mule. I wouldn't want his features to …