Due to the fact that my "never breaks" MacBook Pro is broken and there are no Apple stores in La Paz to fix it, I decided to buy a cheapie notebook. The main reason for this purchase was to be able to check weather, email and still be able to blog. I could have found other ways to get weather and used internet cafes for email, but since I am the number one fan of Si Bon´s blog I knew I had to get a new computer soon. A couple of days ago I went to WalMart and for $3,990 pesos I purchased an HP Mini notebook. During the purchase I inquired wether the computer would be able to be translated into English and the salesman assured me that I could purchase a windows upgrade online and it would be "no problema". In the mean time all my web sites would be in english. Ha Ha nice thought, but the minute I opened the computer I knew thing were going to be different. The keys are all in different places, to add the @ sign you have to hold down the alt gr key and then hit the Q key the " sign is now located at the number 2 key and I still don´t know how to get the back slash. I then decided to turn on the computer and start figuring it all out, HA another nice thought. First thing that happens is the HP registration and configuration pop up...en español, my first thought was "this sucks" my next thought was "oh shit" and the thought after that I can´t put on this family oriented blog. I immediately threw everything into the box and headed up to the Marina Palmira office. The girls in the office have always been super helpful and it was the only place I could think of to turn. As always they took care of me with a pleasant smile, even calling their IT dude at one point to come down and help. So as you can tell I´m now up and running (sort of) and striving to figure out my mexican computer. I do now know that instalar means install, acceso means access and power off is apagado. I can also now write a ñ and while writing this blog I figured out where the / is.
Right now we´re still in La Paz waiting out another norther. The same high pressure system that is providing my family and friends in San Diego with 80 degree temps is funneling wind down the Colorado River valley and into the Sea of Cortez. Today and tomorrow the sea has projected winds of 30-35 knots and we have decided that spending a few extra days in La Paz won´t be all that bad.