April 2024

April Overview –

Towards the end of our super-hot summer last year, we noticed our bedroom AC unit was struggling to cool our room at night.  We would set it for 23C (73F) but it would barely cool the room, leaving the temperature during the night around 28-30C (82-86F) and then finally dropping to maybe 26-27C (78-80F) in the morning.  We tried adjusting the temperature, the fan speed, the direction of air output, but nothing helped.  We ended up bringing in two large floor fans to at least help with some air movement in our room at night.  We knew we needed to replace this unit with an updated, more efficient model, so in February, while Home Depot was having a pre-season sale, we picked a new LG “Dualcool” Mini Split Inverter 12,000 BTU AC unit – Sale price:  $1,058CAD / $775USD.  Lorne contacted Alba Services (the company that was finally was able to fix our dishwasher problem last year) and arranged for them to install our new AC unit April 3.  We were excited as they estimated it to be a one-day job, so it would be over and done with before we knew it.

As it turned out, this AC installation became a bigger job than everyone expected, as the new model required a larger pipe for the coolant than the model we already had in there.  

We had moved our bed and most things out of our room to give them enough space to work, but after making this hole, we realized it was going to take a lot of cleaning after the installation was complete just to be able to use our room again.

Once they finished drilling the channel inside, they needed to continue it up the outside of our unit all the way to the roof, to be able to connect to the part of the AC that is installed on the roof.  However, with our unit being on the third floor, they could not find any ladder long enough to use for the outside part.  The only option at this point was for them to come back the next day with scaffolding. 

This meant Lorne and I had to sleep in the guest room, since our room was still “under construction”.  We have had various visitors here who have slept in our guest room, but it was the first time we had ever slept in there, and we quickly realized we need a better bed in this room!  The bed is comfortable for a solo person to sleep in, but it was way too small for two people.  In Mexico this size of bed is referred to as a “matrimonial”, which is like a “full” or “double” bed in Canada/USA.  Whatever you call it, it’s just too small.  In Richmond, we had a queen bed, which we were very comfortable in, but in this bed, we kept bumping into each other while we slept.  So now we are waiting for a mattress sale so we will be ready for future visitors, or if Lorne and I ever need to sleep in there again for whatever reason.

The next day the scaffolding arrived, and they built a tower from the ground up to the roof.  It was another day of jackhammer noises and dust and debris everywhere.  And… it was another night of Lorne and I trying not to fall out of the bed in the guest room. 

They finished the installation of the new AC unit April 5 about noon, which included re-painting the bedroom wall where they had to drill the channel.  In addition, they did a totally fantastic job of cleaning up all the dust and debris, but of course, I still wanted to make sure our room was really clean for us to use it.  So, after work, Lorne and I thoroughly cleaned the bedroom and our ensuite bathroom from top to bottom.  It felt amazing to sleep in our own bed again, in a super clean room that night. 

We spent that weekend packing up the guest room since no one is scheduled to visit for a while now, and I hate leaving everything out just for it to get dusty. 

The big solar eclipse for 2024 arrived on April 8 and everyone was so excited to see it. 

Lucky for us, it occurred during Lorne’s lunch break, so we were able to be outside and enjoy our lunch while we watched everything get dimmer and then brighter again.  Lorne set up his fancy camera on his tripod and set it to take a photo every 2 seconds, then he was able to time lapse them into a very cool one-minute video showing the darkness coming and then going again.  You can see his video in our Snippets (link at bottom).

At the end of April Lorne scheduled April 29/30 off work, as May 1 is a holiday here in Mexico, so including the weekend, it gave him a nice five-day mini vacation.  We made it a “staycation” and did some fun things around town.  More to come on this in our May blog.

Our temperatures here in Cabo are for sure getting warmer.  Our average daytime high for April was 29C (84F), and the nighttime low was 17C (62F).  From Apr 14-25, we had daytime highs well over 30C (86F).  We were so happy the new bedroom AC was installed and ready to go as we really needed it for a few of those nights (and also so happy that it works much better than our old unit).  We are still in the windy-dusty season, but now that it’s getting hotter the wind and the dust will soon be settling down.

Retirement

The Disenchanted Phase

While the “Honeymoon” Phase is filled with new and exciting adventures, it unfortunately does not last long, and the end comes with the realization for many that they may have lost as much as they have gained in their new life. 

Retirees grow tired of their vacation-like life and begin to miss the sense of purpose they had with their careers or previous lifestyle.  A loss of identity is the biggest issue many people struggle with in retirement.  If you are no longer “insert your profession here”, then who are you?  Over time, people start to realize everything isn’t quite perfect.

Instead of embracing their golden years, retirees usually find themselves missing their working years or are often fixated over retirement being the final phase of their life.

During this phase of retirement, there are feelings of unmet expectations, disappointment, boredom, uselessness, and loneliness, especially if they have friends and family still working.  Many people feel burnt out trying to fill their days with hobbies and projects that may end up leaving them feeling unfulfilled. People adapt to their new daily routine, but often lose focus on the things they were looking forward to in their retirement. 

For me, even though I mostly missed out on the Honeymoon Phase of retirement, I unfortunately couldn’t skip the Disenchanted Phase.

I had more than enough to keep me busy on a daily basis, and I found much fulfillment in managing our new life in a new country.  Boredom wasn’t a factor as Lorne still had to remind me that I was retired, and it was okay to take a break or a day off now and then. 

The biggest struggle I had during this time was loss of identity, but not of who I am, it was more of who I was.  I had just finished working for a company that I had spent 20 years at, a company I gave a lot of myself to, a company where I was told many times over the years “what would we ever do without you”.  Imagine my surprise to find out this company did not hire anyone to replace me.  It wasn’t a matter of me being irreplaceable because everyone is replaceable in business, but instead of hiring a new me, my job was divided up and the parts they felt were still applicable were assigned to others. 

I was the last remaining employee of the original company, a company that had been acquired by two or three (maybe 4?) other companies over the 20 years I worked there.  I had a lot of history and information to pass on to those that needed to know it, but apparently no one needed to know it. 

About six months after moving to Mexico and after we had settled into our nice little routine, the fact that they never replaced me at work finally hit me.  I felt redundant.  I kept wondering what was the point of it all then, all that I gave up, all the overtime, all the stress.  Had I even been necessary.  It took months for me to come to terms with this and it ended up taking a big chunk of my self-esteem with it.

Another struggle I had during this time was dealing with the fact I was no longer contributing to our household income.  We went from being a two-income family to Lorne being the sole provider for us.  Even though we have both always considered “my” money and “his” money to be “our” money, it was still very weird for me to spend money when I wasn’t earning any.  I constantly asked him if it was okay if I bought this or ordered that, and he would look at me with that weird look he gets when he thinks I’m acting crazy.  But after living here a year, my Canada Pension kicked in and even though it’s only about 1/6^th of what I was making while working, I feel at least I am contributing something.

This phase of retirement is tough, but it is important to remember that disenchantment is one of the most common stages of retirement.  While it is a challenging time, it does pass for most people.   

In our upcoming blog posts, I will continue to share my experience of how the five stages of retirement applied to me.  Next up:  The Reorientation Phase.  Stay tuned!

April in Review

Children’s Day
Día del Niño is an annual celebration throughout Mexico to honour children, their importance to society, and their well-being.  It has been celebrated in Mexico since 1925 and in 1954 the Mexican government declared April 30 to be the official day for these festivities.  Since then, April 30 has been joyously celebrated as Children’s Day in Mexico, with various activities and events organized for children in schools, communities, and families.

When Children’s Day falls on a weekday, there are no classes in schools.  Instead, schools organize special events and treats for the children to take part in – games, music, creative activities such as art workshops, storytelling, face painting and of course, pinatas.

As this celebration is in spring, children wear many bright colours to celebrate both Children’s Day and the coming of spring.  Children in Mexico look forward to this day with great anticipation, as it is one of the most memorable and happiest days of the year for them.

ps…  Don’t forget to check out the latest Snippets!