Wednesday 21 st October 2020..... the usual!!

More of the same today I shall be happy to go to the

knee doctor tomorrow  and hear what he has to say.....

The dogs enjoying the yard!!

This is lovely for all you Mums and daughters out there!!

A couple of funnies..

This is taken from my blog eight years ago I shall not forget that day!!

As I approached Tijuana I followed the border signs for San Diego and my day WENT DOWN HILL FROM HERE!!!!!!!

I should have learned my lesson from previous visits to large border crossings it is really hard to find the office where I need to return my car permit and visa permit and this was no different.  The traffic was horrific and I stopped and asked a policeman where the office was and followed his directions and obviously he had no idea I finished up going into an insurance office and spoke to a nice lady who spoke perfect English….she told me I was a long way away and it would be best for me to hire a taxis and follow him…I have done this before and it works great so I hailed a cab and he told me he would charge me 150 pesos to follow him I told him I would give him 100pesos and he agreed and it was about a ten minute drive and he had to ask directions twice but I eventually found the office and it was easy to return my car permit and also my tourist visa it is really important to return these two documents.

I asked for directions to the border and followed what I was told and this is where it went from bad to impossible……the man had directed me to the wrong lane instead of putting me in the normal 3 lanes he had put me into the special lanes for Nexus and Sentri card holders..I knew I was in trouble it was a one way street and no way for me to turn off or turn around and I had no choice but to continue with the flow of traffic…..I am a nexus card holder but did not bring my card and I was now in the Sentri lane…..as I got to the booth I had my passport ready and a very sorry look on my face… I was waved to the booth and the “Gentleman” officer who was of non Caucasian origin asked me what the hell I was doing in this lane….I explained to him that I was very sorry but I had been looking for 2 hours for the office to return my permits and was directed here by those officials I also told him I knew I was in trouble but there was no way I could turn around and again I was very sorry…….He then started to berate me and asked where I had been and I told him the winter in Mexico so he said well not a cheap vacation because I am going to impound your car and a fine of 5000 dollars for abuse of the lane……..I tried to explain but he just would not listen and he was getting red in the face and I knew just to shut up.

He told me to pull into an inspection area and he would be there when he felt like it.  From my years as a Police officer I know better that to antagonize official people and this guy obviously had it in for me.  He came over about 15 minutes later and proceeded to take my car and possessions apart and place them on a table…..he took everything out of my car and I mean every single thing…brought the dog over and went underneath the car and the hood…all the time I sat in the car quietly.  I then had to put everything back.

Next he came to me and told me the penalty for doing what I did was a fine of 5000 dollars and to impound my car and he waited for my reaction………I took my time and I said “I understand I am very sorry to have committed the offence unintentionally”.  He smiled at me took my Passport, driving license and credit card……..Now I was resigned to being in big trouble and I was kept waiting for another 30 minutes…my only thoughts were WOW I miss my home town of San Miguel and the lovely Mexican people…..I understand I had committed an offence and ignorance is no excuse but this guy was being an ass(sorry for my language).

I was still sitting in the car hot and calm when a nice lady Officer came up to me with my documents in her hand her first words were to me…How are you doing?  I told her I had in fact had much better days and I was sorry I had committed an offence….she smiled at me and said have you ever done anything like this before and I said no she said well I will just have to check I will be right back.

She did come right back with my documents and a form for me to sign….the form said I had committed the offence and this was my first offence and this was my only warning.  She smiled at me again and said put your hand out of the window please…so I did and she slapped my wrist and said have a great day you are free to go!!!  I like to think the famous PEARSON charm worked again!

Stay safe and healthy!!

Yashi Kochi!!