Shopping is NOT something I enjoy doing. In fact it is top of the list for things I absolutely hate. Christmas shopping is something I had to do since Jeff is working and I am the one who always does it. In the states I sold my photography at art fairs and traded with other artists (or bought really cool things) to give as gifts. This year it is hard since there is Sears, Walmart and Kmart and nothing uniquely "Puerto Rican" to give as gifts.
So I got the shopping done and everything mailed off after Thanksgiving but in my shopping journey found a couple goodies for us. A crock pot! Crock pots are great because you can chuck a whole chicken and chopped up veggies into the pot and it does it itself while you do other things. This is a name brand 4 quart crock pot for 19.99 - a deal!
Jeff built a solar dehydrator when we couldn't find one after looking for months at every store imaginable. When guineos are ready, all 250 are ready at the same time and the solar dehydrator can't dry that many. Also, this is Puerto Rico - when you see something you THINK you might need don't hesitate or it won't be there. There were eight of these at 39.99 (on sale reg. 59.99). So I got it. Run don't walk, I've never seen one here before! (Which seems strange given the excess of fruit everyone has).
This is a brand new Toyota Corolla - NOT a deal...there are no deals on cars here and very little negotiating. After driving the truck back and forth on Jeff's crappy commute he wanted a car with shocks and a smooth ride and good gas mileage. Here it is. A nice sparkly blue and the truck is reserved for sports stuff and my driving since I don't care.
So the most important things are: ABS brakes and automatic and is has shocks (at least for now). With a new car there is a 3 year warranty which is another big point. At this point it even seems like Puerto Rico might be a location where "extended warranties" may in certain cases make sense (I'm still thinking about it). So I don't want to get into the "shopper's nightmare" discussion about finding the car. I've ranted enough but have my rewards! Now if I could only find cherry tomato seeds and jicama seeds. Anyone know of a mail order company that will send seeds here in an envelope...good seeds? It is bizarre to me that in the land where everything grows there is a limited and apparently "seasonal" availability of seeds. Humph.
