Mimi got her hair braided a couple weeks ago, this is what it looked like when she took the braids out. Big hair!

We found an estetica or hair salon, across from the dentist's office in Playa. I got the best haircut I've had in years and Mimi got her hair trimmed and braided. I was looking for a place to get my hair cut since some of you may remember that my last haircut down here was the mohawk from hell. I used to use the salon in the big grocery store, there's everything in the big groceries down here, but my last cut before we went north, the girl was busy describing her latest fight with her boyfriend to the other stylist and butchered my hair. So, I wasn't going back there.

This new place is a great find, less than $5 for my haircut and less than $15 for Mimi's braids. What she really liked about the braid job is that she put a lightning bolt on top.

I get asked a lot what someone who is not old, or is without funds to retire, could do to live down here. One of the more clever jobs that someone has created is our friend Redbeard. He's a procurer of legal things that ex-pats feel they can't live without. Most of his business is bringing cars down for people who don't want to drive the distance or who want a car with Mexican plates that they don't ever have to return to the border. But he will also bring you a really big screen tv, your grandmothers silver, a ride on lawn mower, anything you want that is legal and that you have shipped to his drop address in Texas, he will bring it down for you.

He's a great guy and Mimi calls him her brother because of the red hair/Irish thing. He has a small place here and he is in and out so much that you never know for sure where he is. I'm guessing he must make that drive from the US at least a dozen times a year, maybe more. It's not easy work but it keeps him in beer and tacos and he has a really good time. He also will drive people down or back to the US in their car with them along. He's got some memorable stories of those trips. He's a wealth of info on the best routes and the current road conditions. We bought our little Toyota trucklet from him, he brought it down and got it nationalized with all the plates and paperwork done already. It's a definite 'find a need and fill it' job.

We're off to Merida tomorrow for a week. Our friends Noel and Jackie are staying in our condo. We're busy hauling stuff to the RV and getting settled there. We'll have dinner with them tonight, hand off the keys and head to Merida in the morning.