Executive Summary
We are (basically) well. Things can't get much worse. Merry Christmas.
The long version
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Dear Friends, We did not write a Christmas letter this year. We were just too depressed to bring ourselves to doing it. It is now mid April, our mood is much better, things are looking up, and we are finally ready to sit down and face (what is now) last year. I really don't like to complain, but I also don't want to give you, our friends, the impression that life for us is just a bowl of cherries. Also, I want Nadine and I to be able to look back and remember the bad times along with the good, especially after we wake up from the dead ;-). As most of you know by reading our previous letters, for the last few years our lives have more or less revolved around the damage caused by our "sister by choice," Nancy Chaffin. It has been about two years since we took our case against her to the police, and about a year since we met with the Washoe County District Attorney. When they say the wheels of justice turn slowly, they really mean glacially. Nothing was happening, so we wrote a letter to the DA to try to get things moving. About a month later we received a settlement offer which we decided to accept. Finally a few day ago I wrote this letter to Nancy and her family. I feel like that finally closes the chapter.
On a brighter note, there were some good things that happened last
year. In May of 2009, Juan Antonio and I were judges for the
International Science Fair, that happened to take place in Reno that
year. It was a great experience. I realized just how much
mathematics I had forgotten, and just how smart kids can be. We are
both going to do it again this year, in San Jose. While Juan was
visiting, I took him on a tour of Lake Tahoe. We actually wound up
visiting the condo Nadine and I used to own in Incline Village, and
met the current tenants. It was great seeing our old place again, and
it hadn't changed very much. it also turned out that the current
occupants were Dan Fylstra and his wife. I had met Dan, and his
partner Peter Jennings back in the 70's when they were just bringing
out a program called VisiCalc, which would later revolutionize the
entire computer industry. Talk about a small world.
In September of 2009, Nadine and I came to the realization that our
current lifestyle was not sustainable over the long term. Thanks to
our Nancy debaucle and the Great Recession, we had to change
something. We decided to consolidate. We tried to live in Mazatlan
over the summer of 2009, but were pretty miserable in the heat and
humidity. We also realized that we just couldn't afford two houses
anymore. We took a trip to Ajijic, near Lake Chapala, and thought
this could be a place that we can live year round.
Even though we thought we had overcome our real estate addiction, we
were helpless when faced with the house we found on Via Alta in
Chapala. We walked into the living room, took one look at the garden
and view of the lake, and were hooked. We moved in in October, after
a whirlwind of packing, selling, giving, and moving. We were moving
from a combined living space of 1000 square meters into 250 square
meters, so a lot of stuff had to go. We kindof snuck out of
Mazatlan in the middle of the night (figuratively) since few of our
gringo friends were around in early October when we made the move. We
apologize to our friends for leaving so abruptly, but we were really
just too depressed about everything to contemplate going through a big
"goodbye" party.
Okay, now for the good news. We really love it here. Even though the
house is smaller than we are used to, the patio is larger, we have a
wonderful back yard, and our view of lake and the mountains behind it
is priceless. The days are warm in the 20' and 30's, and the nights
are cool, in the low teens. The dogs love running around in the back
yard, and even the cats now enjoy their lives more and spend a lot of
time in the back yard hunting grasshoppers. I am writing this right
now on my little eee pc while sitting on the sofa on the patio and
watching Sparticus, our hummingbird, dip his beak into the hummingbird
feeder we put up. We named him Sparticus because he defends that
feeder like a gladiator. Woe is any other hummingbird that dares to
feast uninvited. Our internet speed here is even better than in
Mazatlan, as I now have both DSL and a wireless link, which I can load
balance and get twice the upload and download speed. There are more
goods and services available locally here, and Guadalajara, Mexico's
second largest city, is only 40 minutes away. There are two Costcos
in Guadalajara, as well as just about anything you could want in a
major city. Our house here runs mostly on solar energy. We generate
over a kilowatt in the afternoon, and all of our hot water is heated
by the sun. The restaurants here are so good that we have
unfortunately put on weight, and as in Mazatlan, the movie theater is
never crowded, and is actually cheaper than Mazatlan. (20 pesos for a
matinee.) We wake up every morning with the birds singing and the sun
shining. We are glad we stuck to our strategy .... get lucky.
2010 is looking to be a good year. We'll keep you posted.
Quote of the day:
We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made.
M. Acklam
We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made.
M. Acklam
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