Doesn't it look like Mimi and Husband from Theresa's blog are on an arctic roof? In their shorts? heh!

In fact, we were all up on Theresa and Husband's roof catching the evening breezes and the sunset. They have their roof painted with an impermeable white coating to reflect heat and keep water out. It's a beautiful roof garden, really a wonderful place to hang out. No snow at all.

We spent all afternoon over there and really enjoyed it. Betsy, another friend from Merida Insider, came by and we all ooh'd and ahh'd over the new kitten. It's so sweet and so lucky to have fallen into their yard.

~In other news, the dentist attraction that I suffer from seems to have spread to my dog. Hombre's face blew up the other day and he's been on antibiotics for a few days. Today he went back and they discovered a big abcess above his molar so he had a tooth pulled. We took Chica too and had her teeth cleaned. He has another cavity on his other molar and they say it will get infected at some point too. Doggy dentistry is still of the pull it variety, although they said they would ask at the vet school to see if it is possible to fill the other cavity. Great, me and the dog can spend the rest of our lives hanging out at a dentist. His excuse is that he was a homeless street dog living on garbage for his first 9 months, I have no excuse.

Mérida Sunset

We felt like we spent a lot of money at the vet for this but when we broke it down, it looks better. Two dogs knocked out and teeth cleaned, one dog's tooth pulled, both dogs spent the night, several months of frontline for 3 dogs, 40lbs of French dog food, 10 lbs of French cat food, nails clipped really close on both dogs while they were knocked out... about $200us.

I've decided to give up the bones and raw food for now, I just can't keep up. We are living part time in a small RV, part time in a condo and whatever I need to do something or to cook something is always in the other place. I don't have room to store more than a couple days of food so we are always driving off to the store for meat and bones. I can't buy in bulk for the same reason. I just give up. I still believe in it and I will decide again when we are in the house with more storage and prep options. So, we are buying the high end French dog food hoping that it is not as polluted as the US food. It is probably just that I can't read the label as well, anyway food in French always sounds better.

~One of the results of the narco killings here, besides all kinds of increased police presence and road blocks, is that the state quickly passed a law against heavily tinted windows in cars that prevent the cops from seeing inside. I think most people didn't take it very seriously at first but now, they are believers. The cops are pulling people over right and left, handcuffing them while they check their car and then issuing tickets with a $1000 peso fine ($100us)!! This has definitely gotten a lot of people's attention. As we were driving down Av Itzaes, which has a lot of car window tinting places, they were all packed with cars getting the tint removed.

See all the crumpled up stuff on the ground by the cars? That's old tinting that's been scraped off. Dark tinted windows are everywhere in Mexico, I don't think there has ever been an enforced law against it as there is in California. I can't say whether they will continue to enforce this law but they are doing it now. We were at a friend's house today and 2 of their neighbors have been stopped and issued the ticket. In addition to paying it, I think they have to prove they had the tint removed. Booming business for the polarizados and if enforcement stops then they get paid to put it back on again! Actually, it looked like all of the cars were getting a lighter tint installed. Tinting is a good thing here in the heat, it's not just because it is hip or that they are narcos. Regular people have all their windows tinted dark as well to preserve the dash and to keep the interior cooler. Change is in the air, not just big things but these small things too.