Bullet Bike

I am posting the below picture in response to a specific request. Can you tell that the tape job was done in haste, and in protest to the motorist who left us with the hanging chad of a side view mirror? Is there really a way to tape up something so ridiculous to make it look nice? I don't think so.

When we decided to order another mirror, we ordered a black-encased mirror instead of the silver-encased mirror. Besides the fact the silver one is more than twice as much, Candace and I unfortunately realized that if losing a mirror only took us a week after getting the car, who's to say it won't happen again in the next two and half years? [SHAKING MY HEAD IN A SAD REALIZATION OF THE TRUTH OF THAT STATEMENT] I could also tell you about the other minor scratch our car endured this morning (my fault), but I'll save myself the grief. It suffices to say that Candace's excellent advice to me is now, "If you're not sure you can make it, don't try." Why didn't I think of that?

Before I forget, this was the exchange I overheard this morning as Candace fixed Claire's hair for church:

CANDACE: Claire, what do you want in your hair?

CLAIRE: A barrette. (I had to look up how to spell it? Did you know?)

CANDACE: You don't want to get lice, do you?

CLAIRE: No.

CANDACE: How about a pony tail or pig tails?

CLAIRE: OK.

Not that it matters, but she ended up in pigtails. Can you guess what has been going around the schools around here? Guess it's not that uncommon. So far, we've avoided it (or do we say "them"?).

So we're getting all geared up for Thanksgiving around here, and how did we spend our weekend?

We thought it would be colder than it was, but with the sun out, our pool was fantastic. Claire loved it, Dave loved it, Sam loved it, Caroline loved it, and Candace loved it. Looks like we just found a great way to spend the Argentine school summer break (from the first week of December until February).

Another fun thing that Candace has really enjoyed is having our maid cook. She is from Peru and loves to cook. As she has turned out to be a pretty good cook, we have loved eating her food. If Candace was in charge of the blog, she could (and would) go on and on about how much she enjoys our maid. Does it sound like I'm rubbing it in a little? If so, good, cause it's awesome!!

What's not awesome here is the traffic. I know I have mentioned it in previous posts and I really don't plan to bring it up every week, but rather when there is something significant about the traffic to report. To begin, I looked up a few quotes on the traffic here in Buenos Aires to set the stage:

--From Wikipedia: "If you are truly adventurous (and have a bit of a death-wish), cars are available to rent in Buenos Aires."

--From an Argentine Travel site: "Traffic in Buenos Aires is chaotic, and sometimes is helps to assume that drivers have the mentality that the driver has right-of-way, even though in reality the rule is the contrary."

--From some random guy's travelogue: "Traffic is Buenos Aires is something of a nightmare. Stop signs and stoplights are to be considered as suggestions, as are speed limits and lane dividers."

--From the State Dept. website: "SAFETY AND SECURITY: Pedestrians and drivers should exercise caution, as drivers frequently ignore traffic laws and vehicles often travel at excessive speeds. The rate and toll of traffic accidents has been a topic of much local media attention."

So based on all of that information, what did I decide to do? I started riding my bike to work. It's 13 kilometers (or 8.1 miles to you and me) from my house to work. Let me state that a different way: It's 13 harrowing kilometers (or 8.1 harrowing miles to you and me). There is a group of folks that ride their bikes down a main traffic artery from the suburbs where we live to the office. Truth is, when I leave, there are a lot less cars on the road and it's quite enjoyable. You have to be alert. You have to believe all the stuff those quotes say. I would like to get to the point where I'm doing it everyday, but it takes some logistical planning with having clothes at work, inclement weather, etc. As this was the first week, it's way better than I thought it would be and I'm looking forward to doing it more often than driving.

While that is harrowing for me... let me just tell you about what is harrowing for Candace. She has little tolerance for bugs, and we have bugs in our house. Mostly, they are just friendly cockroaches that mind their own business and sometimes we find dead ones. Well, one decided to play a trick on Candace and hide on top of her dresser underneath a stack of papers. When Candace moved the papers, Candace FREAKED OUT. There is no other way to describe her reaction and be truthful about it. Hyperventilation, screaming, etc, etc. I was in the next room, heard the response, and with my spidey senses (no bug humor, please) knew that she came across a bug. I attribute that to 10 years of marriage. 10 years of her telling me over the phone about encounters with potato bugs in our house. 10 years of coming home from work and finding plastic cups on the floor (Candace's way to trap a bug in a determined location so I can come home and finish the job). In the grand scheme of things, however, the plastic cup often delivers a slow-painful, oxygen-deprived, or just plain drying out, death, whereas my technique is just a straight forward brute force crushing.

Did I mention that our friends here are COUSes (Cockroaches Of Unusual Size)? Having served my mission here, I'm used to the little guys, but Candace has, um, not quite embraced our motel lifestyle. She (Candace, not the cockroach) has survived to live another day. I love my wife. Always makes me smile.