Spam and jellyfish

Now that's got your attention! Yesterday we took the bus up to San Jacinto to meet with Dave, the new landlord for lunch. We arrived early and walked to the house from the bus stop, it is about one block. He was busy in the bank, so we just wandered the beach, and he met us soon after. We talked of the planned upgrades, what he could do before we moved in, and what would have to happen after. We prioritized the list, and think it'll be ok that it's a work in progress. Most places we've lived in have been, that's what home ownership on the cheap is about. So, after our pow wow, we headed down the Malecon for lunch, he was on his motorcycle, but the walk took us about 6minutes, we past plenty of restaurants, but he wanted to take us to his favorite. We all got the al muerzo, with shrimp in our soup, and fried fish entree. The fish was really fried, not the lightly pan fried we have been enjoying so much at Yolita's, so we didn't like it as well, but as always it was plenty of food, $3 and the view and company was pleasurable.

We planned our next meeting, an invite to another expat having a Bon fire/beach party next weeknd, we will stay the night in the house, so we're not taking the bus late. Looking forward to meeting some (or all) the local expats, and some locals as well, and who doesn't like a Bon fire? We bid farewell, and walked the beach again, to gather some treasures.

The biggest sand dollar we've ever seen! But we also saw some not so good things washed up on shore.

These are blue bottle jellyfish, we almost touched one, but then I remembered a blog post from my research days, and how they packed a punch, and to steer clear. When we got home, we looked them up, and sure enough they are nasty! Portuguese man o' war, not to be tangled with, here's what Wikipedia says;

The stinging, venom-filled nematocysts in the tentacles of the Portuguese man o' war can paralyze small fish and other prey. Detached tentacles and dead specimens (including those that wash up on shore) can sting just as painfully as the live organism in the water and may remain potent for hours or even days after the death of the organism or the detachment of the tentacle.

Stings usually cause severe pain to humans, leaving whip-like, red welts on the skin that normally last two or three days after the initial sting, though the pain should subside after about an hour. However, the venom can travel to the lymph nodes and may cause, depending on the amount of venom, a more intense pain. A sting may lead to an allergic reaction. There can also be serious effects,  including fever, shock, and interference with heart and lung function. Stings may also cause death, although this is extremely rare. Medical attention may be necessary, especially if pain persists or is intense, the reaction is extreme, the rash worsens, a feeling of overall illness develops, a red streak develops between swollen lymph nodes and the sting, or either area becomes red, warm, and tender.

Treatment of stings

Stings from a Portuguese man o' war may result in a severe dermatitis. The Portuguese man o' war is often confused with jellyfish, which may lead to improper treatment of stings, as the venom differs from that of true jellyfish. Treatment for a Portuguese man o' war sting includes:

• avoiding further contact with the Portuguese man o' war and carefully removing remnants of the organism from the skin (taking care not to touch them directly with fingers or any other part of the skin to avoid secondary stinging)
• apply salt water to the affected area (not fresh water, which tends to make the affected area worse)
• follow up with the application of hot water (45 °C/113 °F) to the affected area from 15 to 20 minutes  which eases the pain of a sting by denaturing the toxins.
• if eyes have been affected, irrigate with copious amounts of room-temperature tap water for at least 15 minutes, and if vision blurs or the eyes continue to tear, hurt, swell, or show light sensitivity after irrigating, or there is any concern, seek medical attention as soon as possible

Vinegar is not recommended for treating stings. Vinegar dousing increases toxin delivery and worsens symptoms of stings from the nematocysts of this species. Vinegar has also been confirmed to provoke hemorrhaging when used on the less severe stings of nematocysts of smaller species.

So there you have it, the blog I read originally said they are seen around the full moon, but Wikipedia didn't say anything about that, I guess we'll just have to peruse the beach before we jump in.

Now the spam part. We were told our container was arriving on the June 25th, and we would hear from the port, to arrange for pick up. The 25th came and went and we had heard nothing, so on the 1st I contacted our shipper in NJ and asked if he could find something out. Later that day we got a copy of our "bill of lading" ( no that's not a typo) it had the ports telephone number on it, and I was advised to call them for questions on time frame. I forwarded that document to Fernando, and asked if he wouldn't call them and find out when it was to arrive, how long before customs would get to it, and then find us a trucking company to bring it to us. He said he would. Well yesterday when we got back from San Jacinto there was an urgent email from the shipper in NJ, saying that the port has had our container since the 25th, and can't get a hold of us. We only gave our magic jack telephone #, but because that's a US #, they won't call. They also said they've had no response to emails...what?!

I decided to check my spam folder, and sure enough there were two emails, one from back on the 25th, and another the other day. Gmail had put them in spam, because they were in Spanish, a language I "don't usually" get emails in. Thanks! So now I feel rushed, the port gives a person 15 free days storage ( I was under the assumption it was 30) now I'm down to 7! Luckily this isn't a holiday weekend here, so Fernando should be able to get his phonecalls answered. 

I translated part of the email and it sounded like we needed to go to Guayaquil in order for the container to be released, sure wish we had more time, thanks again Gmail! But, Guayaquil is only 130 miles away, we could do it in a day (if Fernando will drive) the bus would be much longer. It just may all work out, let's all keep our fingers crossed that there are no more speed bumps...I know, be flexible.

Hope everyone in the States has a Happy and safe 4th. The adventure continues...

Container's here!

Yippee! It's really happening!

Isn't it cute? Our little 20' container

Filling it up, and it'll be taken to the port, where it will get loaded on a steamship.

The adventure continues!!

The movers did WHAT?!

This blog is intended for informational purposes only. The situations posted here are real, names have not been changed to protect the innocent. This post may contain strong language, and may not be suitable for sensitive audiences.

We had a local moving team scheduled for Tuesday, they were to arrive, dismantle furniture, wrap furniture and get our boxes staged, so that when the container arrived, everything went in smoothly. When they arrived, we were still packing boxes, there seemed to be an explosion of odds and ends on the only flat surface ( the coffee table we are not taking) but we had 2 hours before the container arrived. Mike did a walk thru with the guys, showed them what was going, and they started taking table and chairs out, we got back to packing boxes. I'm doing this from the wheelchair, mind you. Fast forward about 10 minutes, I get a call from the container port in Charlotte, they aren't allowed to load the container on the truck because the driver doesn't have a release...phonecalls are made, messages are left, we keep packing.

Fast forward another 10 minutes, the moving teams boss shows up, and pulls them off the job! Says they will come back when the container arrives, and they leave...and they leave my furniture unwrapped in the YARD!!! We keep packing, we keep waiting for the movers to come back,  we're almost done, just gotta take shelves off the wall. Fast forward 3 hours and the phone rings, it's our shipping guy, the one who puts all the pieces in place, he starts out with, " in all my years, this has never happened...blah blah blah." The movers QUIT! 

The shipper had gotten the voicemail from the container yard, called, and got the release. The truck had the container loaded, and was DRIVING to us, that's when the movers called the shipper and said we weren't ready, the place was a mess, the job too big and they were going to bow out. WHAT??!! So, the shipper had to call the truck driver and have him turn around, back to the container yard. So now, not only have we packed everything, but Mike had to move the stuff the movers moved into the garage!! We have to wait for the shipper to find a new moving team, one out of Chatlotte that he's used before, and coordinate another container and truck...all this for tomorrow??!!?? Still don't have a final answer on when that's happening. MUST be before the 28th, that's when we meet with Ecuadorean Consulate with Health certificate for dogs ( in Atlanta 5 hrs away) And remember, we fly out on the 29th.

We had planned to take a mini vacation, down the coast, have hotels booked in Savannah, GA for Sunday and Monday, but if I have to cancel that, well...what ya gonna do?! We have to physically be here to see the container loaded, have to sign off for customs that nothing undocumented was put in the container. Blah blah blah

 We were waiting til the end to pack the tv, movers said they had boxes and padding to help. We left out some blankets, so at least we have had blankets (since the sheets off the bed were packed) and Mike hooked the tv back up, but WHAT A MESS! All we have is the overhead lights, because of course all the lamps are packed, it's kinda like camping. I'm remembering to be "flexible" all over again.

But, even thru this hiccup, we continue to move forward. Today we have power washers come and gutter cleaners, and we go to Raleigh (1 hr away) to the USDA certified vet to have him sign off on the Health Certificates. Then we get those translated into spanish, have that notarized, so we can take it to our appt in Atlanta on the 28th. It had been suggested that I fax a copy to the Consulate so I know they'll accept it before we leave the area, but I don't think I have time. The Consulate is not horribly quick at responding, translation will take overnight, and if I don't hear from them Friday afternoon, then Monday is a holiday, we can't just wait around. In this instance, I'v gotta trust that between my due diligence and the vets, we will be good.

Im certainly glad that Mike had the where-with-all to schedule the container early, I originally had it for the 24th, but he insisted that it would be better to sleep on the couch, and have it gone early, than have a hiccup, at the last minute. What a good team. He really needs a vacation, bless his heart! With my broken ankle, he's REALLY doing double duty!

Here's to hoping the next post will be from the road, container loaded, and hiccups over. We'll keep you posted, the adventure continues!