Sometimes I think it is all just a soap opera but without the dramatic scenes. I'm probably depressed but I'm staying up too late on the computer and sleeping too late in the day. It's tough to get the few things done that need doing, I really just want to fire up the LD and get out of here.

It appears that moving the calendar for the condo to someone local could be made uncomfortable for them. I have no desire to cause problems for people who are my friends but this turn just makes me more angry and more stubborn. So, for now, we will hold the calendar ourselves and see how it goes. As far as I am concerned, the chances of it going back where it was got a lot slimmer with this development. I'd have to see some actual competence and even, gasp!, some remorse or an apology before that happens. Since none of those things are likely, it's not happening. Threats, even implied ones, just get my back up.

Mimi broke a tooth a few weeks ago and we finally did get into Playa to the dentist. He cleaned it up and put a temp on it and she is getting a root canal on Saturday and I guess a crown on Monday. We are planning to leave here on Tuesday.

I've been sorting through some pictures and found this one of a new soda down here. It was shown to me proudly by a small roadside store owner in Chiapas, he wanted to make sure I saw the US flag on it. If you read the Mexican papers or listen to the upper classes you get the impression that there is a huge anti-American feeling in Mexico. Actually, it's an anti-US government feeling and in that, they join the rest of the world. Personally though, there isn't any animosity towards US citizens or US culture. Quite the opposite in fact. Still, it's unusual to see the stars and stripes on a pop can. I was kind of amazed and clearly, the little store owner was too or he wouldn't have been so eager to point it out to me. I bought one, it's ok orange soda made in Puebla, Mexico.

Since I'm on politics, President Bush arrived near here yesterday in Air Force One. He flew into Cancun as did the Prime Minister of Canada and they both met Mexican Presidente Fox at the ruins in Chichen Itza. Great dramatic gesture on Fox's part, to have that dynamic backdrop for this last meeting between these 3 North American leaders. I happen to be a fan of Presidente Fox, I think he has brought a refreshing change to this country and, despite an impossible job of getting anything through the opposition controlled congress, he has had a positive impact on the country. I hope that the old guard doesn't come back into power in this next election, I think it would be a backward step. I also hope the far left candidate AMLO doesn't win, who knows though how strong his convictions will remain if he has all that power. Sanity might prevail. My guess is that most of his rhetoric is just talk, but as my friend Rodrigo says, the coin is still in the air.

It would certainly be a coup for Fox if he could get the US to enact some kind of reasonable policy for immigrant workers. It would be a coup for old W too, and he is needing some good news these days. It's clear we need the workers in the US, it's also clear that they will get there with or without our permission and it only makes sense to me for it to be legitimized and controlled. If you remove the honest laborers from the mix by giving them a legal path to the jobs, then you can come down hard on the drug and people smugglers. Why criminalize those who just want to work? Also, having a legal worker program implies that there will be limits and a specified return to their country of origin. This would be good for the US and Mexico. There are too many towns in Mexico that survive on the money sent home from workers in the US. When it is so dangerous and so expensive to cross the border, the fathers and husbands don't return often. They generally start second families in the US and the cycles of poverty and absent fathers continues, it is the women who suffer the most. The communities suffer as well though and it would be much better if these workers returned to their towns regularly, got involved in the local community as more than a sender of checks and also, got involved in the mainstream of Mexican politics. If they came home with the money instead of sending it, they would be more likely to start businesses and invest in things that bring added jobs and prosperity to the town. Currently, if anything the money goes to build a house or open a small store that the wife can run. None of that adds jobs or a future to the town.

Climbing off my soapbox now and going to bed.