Microtrials

INCIDENT 1: It just so happens that here in Guatemala employees are given ZERO authority at their job. So, when I ordered a bagel sandwich at a modern mall in Guatemala City and asked to have the yucky processed cheddar slice replaced with a piece of Swiss cheese, the sandwich artiste had to ask her supervisor (who was not the owner, so it didn't really matter anyhow). The supervisor took great pains to explain to me that the combo I ordered did not come with the Swiss cheese slice, but with the orange one. I'm surprised they were able to omit the cheese altogether in the end when I asked them to.

INCIDENT 2: The same evening, as I was exiting the parkade beneath the mall, I was bewildered to find that the parking cost was double what I anticipated. The parking agent, with tremendous consternation, expounded upon the fact that the evening rates were now in effect. There was no such information on the ticket they gave me. I guess I should have asked.

INCIDENT 3: The Aurora Internation Airport of Guatemala is still under construction. It is the self-proclaimed "most modern airport facility in Central America." The current frustration at the airport is where to put your vehicle. For pick up, you should drive into the drop-off area and park there, if not you can get stuck in a barrage of taxis. As the whole lot is a mess, I didn't think twice about driving in and pulling a U-turn and parking along some dividers facing a van. After locking the car, I was met with a security dude who asked me to look around at the mess of cars. I asked him if there was a problem. He told me to park properly. I asked him what difference it made. He said it didn't make any difference. And then he asked me to park properly, again.

INCIDENT 4: Our power went out last night at 8 pm. So did our neighbour's power. Our neighbour's power came back on at 10:30 PM. Ours did not. This morning, the power was still out, so I called the power company and gave them our visual address (no house numbers in this part of Tactic) and 2 1/2 hours later our fridge came back on. Sweet.

INCIDENT 5: Our landlady brought us our power bill last week. It had gotten wet, so she had to dry it, just barely saving it from incineration. This weakened the perferation so that during the handling, half the bill (the part the bank keeps) fell off before it landed in my hands. My usual bank wouldn't take it. They sent me to the bad bank. The bank that makes me wait a long time and disappoints me a lot (Banrural). So I had to go there this morning.

INCIDENT 6: Our immigration paperwork lady sent us some documents through a courier service from the capital to our home on Friday with ETA of Saturday. They still haven't arrived (it's Tuesday night). I called and after a bit of investigation, the courier place didn't attempt the delivery because a) they had an incorrect phone number for me and b) my address wasn't descriptive enough. Maybe I'll get the papers tomorrow.

INCIDENT 7: One of the only ways I can get new music is to buy it online through iTunes. Sadly, my internet connection stinks. I ordered 18 songs, paid for them and 5 days later only one of them has fully downloaded (after incessant prompting). My ISP says it's iTunes problem and iTunes says it's my ISP's problem. It's both their problem as iTunes quits downloading at any indication of a delay and my ISP is out for hours at a time. RRRG.

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INCIDENT 8: I'm trying to contribute to my RRSP before the end of the tax time comes on Feb 28. I've been trying since early February. To accomplish this, I email a pdf to my mom to fax to the agency. Unfortunately, their fax machine is always busy or unavailable. I've emailed it to someone else in Edmonton, but their computer crashed. I've called three people from the agency and no gains. We'll see what the state of this issue is on the eve of March.