Internot internot where hast thou gone

Woke up yesterday morning with no access to the internet. I checked the modem and one light was red. I rebooted it, desperately hoping it would be back but no luck. The whole neighbourhood and beyond was out. It's ironic that with deteriorating internet speed recently that an outage follows. It came back sometime overnight and we are bridging as we always do most Saturdays.

We headed out to run some errands mid-morning. We stopped at Doña Licha for a bite then hit the market. We got pork chops at Santion's. The stuff we got was heavier than usual so we cabbed home.

We hung around the internot-free house for the balance of the day. About 4:40 we headed down to Tata with Lynn and Ranae to meet Wanda and John. They were arriving just as we were to meet some friends. We did not sit together but had some hugs and hellos. Roger and Bert were already there. About an hour later we chose an eatery called Brazeros and headed off there.

We had been there once before with Wanda and John and the place did look familiar. There was a massive change we noticed in the taco section of the offerings ... they used to be priced per three tacos but now one pays what shows on the menu for one alone. We did not remember what the price was for the trio, but we are sure the cost ahs doubled if not tripled. The food was great then we bid our bye-byes to Roger and Bert then walked home. We check the internot and its not working, watched a few episodes on Magnum P.I. on DVD.

The inevitable noise for the sound check at the pier has started. With Guitarfest starting at 6pm tonight, we are hoping they can get the sound right this year. There was no sound booth last time and the techie adjusting the mix was backstage with a tablet. Oh my! The bass was so booming one could feel it in the chest. A venue that size needs a sound booth in the audience BUT the price comparison to the right and wrong way to do it is HUGE. We also hope the perennial MC is here this year so we do not have to waste so much time with the amateurs. It's as if the standin MCs were there to entertain us rather than the musicians. Bad idea ... we will head out about 4:45pm for the 6pm start. We will set at the aisle somewhere ½ way back to avoid the throbbing bass if it has not been fixed since last year. The performers last year were furious with the mix as it did not do them justice.

We had a call with Jan and John today who live in Chapala. They have been renting there since 2020 and are ex-owners at Casa Seba in Zihua which is how Dominique knows them. They gave us a lot of info and we feel like we already have one step up with info that we did not have before we chatted. One of the decisions we made is changing the time we will test drive Chapala for accommodation. Originally we were thinking of going there from Zihua for a week some time this fall. Based on advice/comment from them we ware now thinking of doing Ottawa ⟹ Guadalajara some time around October 23, stay a week in Chapala, then come to Zihua. Lots to think of. We have a chat with Andy Smith on Monday morning, a local real estate agent we trust and must be well connected in many locations all over Mexico.

We headed down to GuitarFest arriving about 5:10. The place was steadily filling up. We sat about ⅔ of the way back on the aisle. There was a ice breeze as we arrived and it kept up throughout most of the show. It started on time and Dominique was pleased that the perennial MC was back this year. He lives in California and his passport was expired last year so the show went on without him. By the time the show started the place was close to full.

José Luis Cobo started things off as he always does. The sound was much better than we remember from last year, except we did leave before we listened to an act that had an electric bass. This bass caused 50% of the issues with sound last year, the other half being the atrocious mix between the instruments being used and the vocals. The energy level of the performers coupled with the genre of the performers we saw as weak compared to last year. This was Dominique's 19th GuitarFest, having missed only one of the 20 so far.

The verdict is in, as mentioned in the previous paragraph. Coupled with the low energy on stage was the never-ending chatter from some musicians before they played or in between numbers. The worst was a guy who needed to replace a broken B-string. After he fumbled with the task he realized it could not be done fast enough based on his allotted time. The MC loaned him a guitar then he spent a few minutes tuning it. He might have been on stage a total of 20 minutes of which he did 7 or 8 minutes worth of performing and the rest of the time telling us how wonderful he thinks he is. The theme of the night unfortunately was chatter rather than performing for many of the artists we saw.

With that said, it was time well spent. We left after about three hours and walked home. We miss Omar Torrez and Eric McFadden at the show this year. The energy those two can contribute to a show is intoxicating. We hope their not being here is a sign of the increasing success of their careers. 

Unlike most M*A*S*H episodes we watch, the one we watched before craching was not focused on Hawkeye and Honeycutt harassing Frank. This one was the reverse of many episodes ... it was the other way around ... Honeycutt and Hawkeye bothered Frank instead. It reminds me of one of my Dad's lines ... what is the difference between Communism and Capitalism? The comeback is ...  in Communism man exploits and in Capitalism it's the other way around.

Dominique is off to church for 9am then we have breakfast at Maderas with Maryanna who is leaving this Wednesday. We are thrilled to have a last têtê-à-têtê with her before her departure. Dominique has known her for a bazillion years.