The Magic of Design: Parking Lot Madness

Plaza where our store is located on March 30, 2012

Today was the last legal day to pay the fees for license plates in Cozumel. I feel the government is very generous as they allow us a three month leeway to get our license fees paid. They are due in January, but the police do not begin to fine motorists until after the end of March. I think this year is the worst ever, even though the fees ranged less than $20 usd for the mopeds and less than $30 usd for the cars. 

Our store sign is located above the staircase with doors covered with people

The entrance to our store became a mob scene late in the day and the police even came by. Not anything of a violent nature or anything. Just people speaking loudly and playing music, a lot of trash being thrown around and people loitering everywhere. Who would want to wait for this? We paid our fees  on 4 vehicles in January. It appeared to be more individuals than businesses these last 3 days.


I swear every year we will close next year for these couple of days.

My Life: Bogie Dogie After Surgery

Moises and Bogie Dogie

We have two shar-peis, Alejandra and Bogart. Recently Bogie has been renamed Bogie Dogie as our new maid thought his name was Dogie instead of Bogie, so I thought I would use that name here. Both dogs are eight years old. Alex has had entropion surgery a few times in the past, but this was the first time for Bogart. Dr. Julio of Centro Medico Veterinario Cozumel did the surgery on both dogs' eyes. They also had inner ear cleaning, teeth cleaning, baths and nails trimmed.


This is Bogart after surgery kissing my husband, Moises. Dr. Julio did a great job. Both dogs are doing well. Thanks, Dr. Julio!


More information on entropion and entropion surgery is explained here. 

Carnaval All Done

Francisco & Gabriel

So the dust has settled, the streets are being cleaned and Carnaval Cozumel is officially over. It was another year of three days of parades, fireworks and everybody out in the street enjoying themselves. We closed the store for two days as our accounting guy, Gabriel (above) was part of the festivities and danced the day and night away. He came back to work not hung over for the first year but taking Tylenol for his achy knees and feet from dancing so much.


I was home sick with a cold the whole time. This was my view from bed while home sick with one of our dogs. 

Bogart (now Bogie Dogie)

This is our dog, Bogart, who now has a new name .... Bogie Dogie. We call him Bogie but our new maid thought I was saying Dogie, so that is what she called him. My husband, Moises, decided that his new name should be Bogie Dogie.

Cozumel main square photo by Chuck Williams

Last but not least, a wonderful photo taken by Chuck Williams of downtown Cozumel during the Carnaval festivities. So wonderful some people thought it was a postcard. I think it is super special. Thanks, Chuck!

Carnaval in Cozumel

Crowning of the Cozumel Carnaval new King and Queen will take place February 15th, but already the town is gearing up. Deanna Campbell of Two D's Diving and Tour Adventures took a slew of great photos along what is known as the malecon of Cozumel ... the main beach street downtown. Here are some of my favorites.

Festivities will run through Feb 22nd. For a full schedule, please click here.

And if you would like more information on Two D's Diving and Tour Adventures, feel free to contact them. There was a great article written up about them on Dive News Network's Cozumel, MX: A Holiday on Holiday.

Cozumel: A Day in the Life

Parking lot in Cozumel with great paint colors outside

I have lived in Cozumel for over 11 years. I love Cozumel. It is not only a great cruise ship port; it is a place with a large ex-pat community, friendly locals, clear crystal waters and great diving. It is a laid back place where flip flops and jeans are our formal wear. Barefoot is our casual wear.

Saturday, I snapped a few photos as I went about my daily routine. The parking lot in the photo above is across the street from where I usually park. It is next to one of my favorite island dogs, who is always happy to give a greeting.

Local dog and very friendly

Favorite parking lot attendant

The parking lot where I park each day also serves as a carpentry shop and the storage of the Nando hot dog carts. Nando's hot dogs are island famous and delicious .... you can have an especial with mayo, mustard, onion, bacon and cheese wrapped around the dog. But the Nando's locations, like all the hot dog places, are only open at night. We eat our main meal during the afternoon and a lighter meal at night.

Nando's hot dog storage carts during the day

Girasoles Restaurant 

Giraoles Restaurant is around the corner and also owned by the same family as the large parking lot where I usually park my car. It is a great place to have breakfast or lunch. I especially like the club sandwich served with fries. It is located between 10 and 5 on Calle 3 South.

Sol beer truck

A beer delivery was going on while I walked around taking photos. It was close to one of my favorite benches in Cozumel! Sit down and rest a spell. That is what Cozumel is all about.

Mosaic bench outside Deep Blue dive shop

Deep Blue Dive Shop

Deep Blue Dive Shop is  located at the corner of Rosado Salas and 10. It is a highly recommended dive shop in Cozumel. If you would like to know more about them, click here

A Desk: Like a Life

Desk with two computers

Tonight I cleaned my office. I have resigned myself to the fact that I believe I need two desktop computers together on my desk.  A few months back, when I first set up my new computer, I put the two computers, a printer and two telephones all on my desk. The old black computer with Windows Vista had the big tower that no longer comes with newer computers. I shoved it in the back of the left side of the desk. The new white computer, that is slim line and has a lovely monitor with the computer built-in, has Windows 7. I pushed it in the front and the keyboard for the black computer sat in front of the printer on the far right side of the desk. The two phones, one a local line and the other for US calls, I shoved between. The lamp ended up sort of in the middle. As I moved things around, I didn’t disconnect them so the wires traipsed all over my desk and were in the way. My goal was to take off all the data and give my old computer away as a gift to relatives whose computer had died. But a multitude of problems came up with this. My Smart Draw program that had expired for updates was on that computer. The mail service I love was on that computer and no longer available.

Every day I would think about when I would give the computer away and have more room on my desk. I operated like that for two months, planning the day when the computer would leave. A few weeks ago, I finally realized that I didn’t want to give the old computer up.  I mean, I need it for the movies that I download and burn. It has all my old data on it that I won’t need to wade through and decide if I want to keep files or not, and it has my windows mail. I had gotten my website guy to put Outlook on my new laptop, but honestly, I don’t really like it and it was going to cost me almost $200 usd once the trial period ended.  I had already given a different gift to the relatives that I was going to give the computer to, so the only thing left was to figure out how these 2 computers and I could coexist in my crowded office.

So tonight, I bravely went where I’ve never gone before. I separated the two computers. I put my new one on the right side, which is where I like to work anyway. I put the old black computer on the left. The lamp stayed in the middle. I took the filing cabinet that I had delivered to my house last week and moved it from near the entry door to the right side of my desk, and placed my printer on there.

Printer on new file cabinet

Now I no longer have to search for the phones. I no longer need to move the old black computer every time I want to load paper in my printer. And to top it off, when I get around to it, I will even be able to get the filing off my bed and in to the new filing cabinet.  Added bonus!

I tell you all this as I realized tonight my desk is kind of like my life. I believe I need way more than I do to survive, and sometimes I make my life pretty miserable and complicated - holding on to things I don’t really need. Other times, I make a rational decision that what I have, I want to keep and just have to figure out a way to make that happen. I have to untangle the cords, replug, adjust and move things around. All the right stuff was already in my life. I just needed to find out where to put it.

My life is surrounded by a sense of calm and accomplishment tonight.  My desk is clean and in order. Everything is where it needs to be for right now. Today is good! 

Cozumel: A Favorite Port of Royal Caribbean

Mayor Aurelio Joaquin Gonzalez with Michael Ronan of RCCL

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines names Cozumel one of their favorite destinations. There was an article on Royal Caribbean's blog that outlined why they love our island so much. I will repost a bit of it here.


"Royal Caribbean's Vice President of Latin American Relations, Michael Ronan, met with Cozumel, Mexico's Mayor Aurelio Joaquin Gonzalez, where Royal Caribbean continues to be impressed by Cozumel's incomparable natural beauty, high safety standards and hospitality offered by the island as well as having one of the best worldwide port infrastructure, which facilitates the operation of mega ships."


For the rest of the blog post, please click here. We already knew Cozumel was a gem. Glad they do too!