A Dish on the Roof

The Claro cable company may be forgiven for thinking me the most idiotic Norteamericana ever. First, I showed up to order cable at the Diriamba office, which sent me to the Jinotepe office. It seems the Diriamba office handles phone service and accepts payment for cable, but Jinotepe, just a few kilometers down the highway holds the supreme command. I ordered and paid for new service, and when the crew showed up to install the dish, they were slightly put off by my having no television at the moment. Uh, who knew? I thought they would run a cable into my sala and I would hook it up. Wrong.

So, I borrowed a television from Stefan. And today, the cable crew returned and installed the dish on the roof, and ran the cable into the house. When they tried to establish a relationship between the TV and the dish, the TV kept turning on and off.  I had to promise to take the TV to a tech repair shop and have it fixed and then they would return and finish the job. I felt like an ass. And very disappointed. With such limited internet, I am roaming my house swatting flies, and walking through the garden picking tiny caterpillars off the chili plants, and reading H.G. Wells’ incredibly tedious “Utopia.” I admit I was looking forward to having TV after nearly a year of none. Even Miami news looked good to me.

Notice the big orangish-red dish atop my roof?

Today, Byron mowed the lawn. We do not have a lawn mower. You may never complain again of the need to cut the grass unless you are willing to do it with a machete! My 65-year-old back ached in sympathy as he moved, crablike, across the yard. Then he raked it all up and left on his bicycle. Oh, to be young again.

I was telling my friend Tom that this time in Nicaragua is the first in twenty years that I have not lost sleep because of money worries. After my brilliant abbreviated career in broadcasting, I had little trouble finding work as a writer, but I never made good money again. Raising a child alone and stretching entry-level wages to cover expenses is not conducive to sound sleep. Here, my modest pension and Social Security are ample to meet my needs. Except this month, when I had an enormous vet bill and a gi-gunda electric bill. No complaints, mind you. My empleados have been paid and I have a freezer full of food. And a SS payment next week. Imagine! Flat broke and happy.