Ocho dias utiles…
This week I have gone to the Municipal Palace various times, each time they have told me to come back tomorrow. I don’t feel too upset with this progress because the workers at the office have now assured me that the Licencia de Uso de Suelo is going to be approved, that there is nothing missing, it is just taking more time than they anticipated. What I was told today is that the new boss has instated a new policy that she needs to read every piece of paper that comes across her desk, so it is just taking longer than it was supposed to.
When I got to the Municipal Palace this morning, the line in front of “Desarollo Urbano” was out the door, down the hall, and down the stairs, which really surprised me because I arrived really early to avoid a line. I asked somebody if this was the line for the urban development department and he assured me that it was. I hadn’t ever seen a line like this before, but I figured maybe friday was just a bad day for city hall. I was told to come back today, so I was going to follow directions, that is an important part of any “tramite” that is done here: Follow directions.
After a few minutes of staring off into space I looked more carefully at the line and realized that some faces were very familiar to me, they seemed to be the people that worked behind the counter of Desarollo Urbano. I quickly asked the man that I had asked before if he worked there, he replied that he did. I guess I really arrived too early.
The woman who normally helps me at the counter arrived shortly after and made a joke about me being there early every time, then told me that the boss who had the key was running late and we had to wait. This gave me a nice opportunity to chat with the ladies from behind the desk and ask all sorts of questions about the job and how things worked. In my time here in Playa Del Carmen I have really gotten a chance to learn about getting more flies with honey than with vinegar, a smile and a kind greeting works so much better for me than the normal curt gringo attitude that I was accustomed to back in the states.
After the Palacio I went to Lomas Mariposas to take care of some administrative tasks and was there just in time to hear the pump making funny noises. I know the sound of the pump sucking water, so I checked the cistern and it was mostly empty. I looked to see if the water was running in from the city, it was, it seems that we had just used a lot of water in the last couple of days. I have noticed a trend in Playa during July that sometimes the water runs a little slowly, sometimes not at all. It was about 11am so I figured it would be safe to leave the pump off for a while and give the cistern a chance to fill up. The cistern was back at an operational level at 5pm, so the tenants have water tonight.
I am looking for a solution to this problem, I have heard that I can drill a well and have it metered, so I don’t have to rely on city water, but I need to look into how much this costs. Note the “and have it metered” part, when Lomas Mariposas was first turned over to me the contractor had installed a well on the empty lot next door and did not have a CAPA(Water Company) meter installed on it, the city found out about the well and took exception to it, costing the developer of the building a hefty fine.
This afternoon was spent getting a load of furniture for PlayaResale, a local importer is changing his focus from furniture and he liquidated his entire inventory to us. We now have a full warehouse and I am worried about where we are going to put any new stuff that comes in, but I guess it will all work out. I have to fix the webpage so that it shows all the new stuff, but I guess that will happen next week.
We still have a few things left to do at PlayaResale but we will be open at regular hours starting Monday, July 28. I am excited and I think it will do well. My business partner and I keep coming up with new ideas for the business, something is bound to work out well.
Some friends of mine are starting a Playa Del Carmen food blog, called PlayaEats and have invited me to be a contributing writer. I think that this will be a fun project too, because it will give me the chance to try new and exciting restaurants with and excuse. I’m a journalist!
This sunday is the big bullfight at the Expo Riviera Maya 2008, I am hoping to get to go to that. Monday morning at 7:30 there is a beach cleanup at Coco Beach, I have been feeling like a little bit of volunteer work might do me good, so I am going to try to make it to that as well.
