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The Rolls Royce
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Jun 9, 2006 11:07 am
2740 Views
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The Rolls in my family is a 1955 Silver Dawn, It is black with a soft elegant brown leather interior. We do not use it too much but it runs well and has few problems. A Rolls is one of the great works of art particularly the old ones, at least I think so.
My swimming pool man Dante lives in Tucson an hour away. He hates coming to Nogales and charges me accordingly. There are two closer pool service companies that are closer but basically they are clueless. I found Dante when I bought the house here it has a large in ground pool twenty meters long. There is a diving board, These are rare nowadays due to the insurance costs. Still I like to dive in. I am not a stick my toe in kind of a guy. The pool has an attached Jacuzzi Spa, eight can comfortably fit in the Spa.It is alot of fun
having a pool particularly in this warm to hot climate. I use the Spa in the Winter but not the pool. A big pool is pricey to heat.
Dante does not come regularly, only when a problem arises. He added another blower to the Spa for me on his last visit as I like alot of bubbles.The time before that he came to do some maintenance and as I needed a new vacuum, I asked him to recommend one. Dante has six locations in Tucson and so he operates a retail outlet as well as his booming pool service business. He ran through the various makes and models of pool vacuums and at last came to the " Rolls Royce" of pool vacuums. The Mac Daddy. it was the most expensive of course but according to him made like a fine machine and well worth it. OK, so I bought this " Rolls Royce".
I used the " Rolls Royce" and sure enough it made the chore of vacuuming a one pass chore where others needed 2 or 3 passes. I was happy. It worked fine for the first ten times vacuuming. Then it broke. I called Dante not too happy but understanding that even a real Rolls Royce sometimes is not up to snuff. Rather than suggest he replace it I was surprised he asked for a description of the problem , this of course I provided. It seemed according to him that a connecting bolt has severed. I could not find the bolt or the hole. I took the head off of the " Rolls Royce" and sent it to him. I did not hear from him until I called a week later. My pool was filthy.
He said that yes it was the bolt and I asked him to reattach it and send it back promptly. He told me that I would have to pay for the postage. Now, I asked it this why you have not sent it back? Was this my fault the bolt severed? Was this a " Rolls Royce" without a guarantee? He did not budge from his position. Here is a supposed businessman who is successful in Tucson, who I have spent about
1500.00 USD with over 18 months, paid his bills without complaint and timely, holding me up for a 10 cent ( .1 USD) bolt and postage of about 5.00 USD. It really irked me that he did not even call me and say, " Hey Spencer, give me your credit card number". Well, I finally convinced him to just bill me and send it he said he would but that he could not do this until the following Saturday. It was a Monday. So I bit hard on my lip and said OK. Today the mail has come and it is the following Friday six days from the Saturday he was supposed to send my part. Perhaps the camel he sent it on has broken a leg?
Now, my lip has a tooth sized hole in it and I am still waiting. This is a true story and is yet another example of what is wrong with my country and the people in it. My advise to any enterprising Latins with a desire to move to a warm climate and start a business is this. Look at Tucson, think about a pool service company, let me know if you need backing. But remember this is a daisy chain and a typical, uniquely American story. The Rolls Royce? It is
made in England.
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I'm a Girl Watcher
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Jun 9, 2006 11:00 am
2621 Views
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Sure I have a PHD in Fine Art, I love to look at all kinds of art, a beautiful painting, I can look at for hours, the lines of a sculpture, it's patina, sometimes makes the back of my neck tingle. A carpet fragment can intrigue me, or a piece of architecture can leave my mouth agape. Sometimes it is a piece of furniture or a finely
crafted weapon, it all depends. I do find beauty in unusual places and not always when I plan to.
I can spend days in a museum, my friends like me to take them for an educational tour. This is fun but honestly, I think I prefer it on my own. I do not feel the need to share my tastes and why the perspective of a painting does not appeal to me. When one is instructing one has to look at the negatives. Negatives when I am alone, I can overlook, and see the positives. I have a home in Havana, Cuba for instance, Havana is a dilapidated city. It is one of the oldest cities in the Western Hemisphere. Havana had street lights and a museum 80 years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in the U.S. It is a place stuck in time. It has a huge concentration of 1950 American cars, more Cadillac's were bought in Havana than any other city in the world in 1959. 1959 Brought Fidel Castro and Che Guevara sweeping out of the mountains to unseat the puppet President of the U.S., Batista was his name. Havana is poor it used to be rich and very elegant, but 45 years of socialism is hard on an economy.Doctors make about 50.00 USD a MONTH.
The thing that is great about Havana is exploring the city. There are these huge pads and great old architecture. Yep, it needs paint and is falling apart but there is still some fantastic examples of old world craftsmanship. It can be a stained glass window or a colonial railing that is hand wrought, or a fresco, cupola, one of the abundant mesquite wood doors, or a fine example of the Deco style. Havana was
the birthplace of Deco, not Miami Beach. Las Vegas is patterned after the Tropicana night Club in Havana, the woman are incredible at the Tropicana. This is what I mean about finding the positive in anything. This is certainly true with women. Sorry, I was sidetracked, this was a piece about girl watching.
Any city I love for the culture and the pace of life. Particularly, I like the fact that people get dressed up in a city. Everyone walks alot, women walk, this gives their calves a special definition, perhaps from the high heels, for me it is as beautiful as any sculpture seeing this definition of the calf. Women in the city have nice manicures to, I like looking at ladies hands. Their haircuts are as varied as their dress. I like the shoes, their strut, the face,for me it is all great! In the middle of a cold Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, I love watching them. I can find a seat in a busy place or corner and my agape mouth catches flies just as it does in the museum. I can watch them in daylight or in the moonlight, I enjoy both. It is strange because I have decided I prefer to watch them clothed rather than at the beach partially clad in a swimsuit.
Just seeing how they move is a treat. I watch them in restaurants, at parties dancing, at the ballet, opera, symphony or theater. But really the street is my favorite place and either coming or going from work is my favorite time. Yes, I get caught looking, sometimes producing an ugly snarl. But it is a small price to pay for the privilege of my favorite entertainment.. Really I am not trying to " pick one up" I just like looking and admiring. Like in Havana or studying a painting, I find the best feature they have and focus on that. Let's face it women are God's gift to men, at least the heterosexual ones like me. I don't think I will ever tire of looking. When I am 85, I will be out there, doing the same thing gawking. Of course the married man should not gawk , just us bachelors.
I enjoy watching the gals in all shapes and sizes, young old it matters not to me. I really truly do like seeing a well kept lady of 75 bopping down the street, it puts a smile on my face. Women, I am not sure, like looking at each other. It is quite interesting to watch a seated woman watch another woman walk past her. They all have the same expression, it is amazing, this never changes, they look her up and down as she passes, from head to toe mind you. Their gaze does not linger, next the eyebrow raises slightly, the nose crinkles a bit,
the eyes roll, just a tad, and the head tilts back normally toward the right shoulder but not too much. If one listens closely we hear a sharp exhale. Now, if they happen to be with another woman, we see both of them so the exact same ritual, but just a hair more pronounced. I would not presume to guess what this means. Next time you are out, see if you don't notice this too. Just food for thought
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