June 25, 2008

The noise is gone. I went back to Brown, Jamie’s mechanic, who found the source of the leak. Now that he had filled the transmission case with oil, he could see where the leak was. He replaced the part free and the drops under the car disappeared. It still looked damp. I don’t have a big enough wrench for the inspection nut on the transmission, and can’t figure out how I would fill it if I had to.

Jose and I finished the fence, the new gate was completed, and I was ready to buy a new dog. I felt I needed something more of a guard dog. I went online to AM Costa Rica, and saw an ad for an English Mastiff, one of the dogs I like. The price seemed reasonable, and I consulted my animal guru Jamie, and was assured it had no particular problems, and that she liked the breed, too. She gave me a list of questions to ask the seller, and I asked her to call instead. I guess Kathy and her got along well on the phone, because two hours later, as soon as she got off the phone from Kathy, she called me back. All seemed well, the only hangup being that Kathy and her dogs were in Limon. Limon is on the other side of the country. It gets rain every day, and in the rainy season there are many problems with flooded rivers and landslides. Plus, I have to drive through San Jose to get there, and that’s usually worse for driving than landslides and floods.
Jamie is involved in a low cost neutering clinic that travels the neighbourhoods around Puntarenas. Roxanna, the Tica wife of my Polish-born multinational neighbour, Irek, wanted to get her female dog spayed after having her first litter. They own the pulperia in downtown Cocorocas, and Irek is always willing to drive me anywhere when my car is down, so, since he is in Canada right now, I drove Roxanna into El Roble for the clinic. We got there at 9. Eight would have been better. There was a long line, and they told us the dog would be ready at 2. We went to Jamie’s to visit, and, not having my number, Kathy had phoned Jamie. She had another offer on the male puppy, and wanted to know if I had made a decision. We talked a little more about it, and I phoned her back to say yes. I had heard we were having one of our little summers, and the rain was supposed to ease for a few days. I thought about renting a car, but figured I could always repair mine for less than the rental if it did break down, and it might not!
The plan was to leave about 4:30 a.m., but I ended up hitting the road at 6 Sunday morning. I was hoping to arrive early enough to turn around and come back the same day. It was Sunday, and there should be fewer trucks, and less traffic in San Jose, so I thought that even with a 6:00 departure I would still have that option. It was a beautiful drive. There were very few trucks, very little traffic in San Jose, and I only had to ask directions twice. The other side of the mountain is gorgeous. You leave the central valley and work your way down into the flatlands and jungle that stretch inland for maybe 100 km, or more. The vegetation changes completely, and it’s like driving in a different country.
I made good time, and phoned Kathy from the highway at 10:55, with a hot stick. She came to meet me, and led me to her house. I understand that the whole Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is one big, beautiful, beach. Kathy lives right on that beach, about a kilometer from one of the huge container docks in Limon. She has a cottage style house that is slightly smaller than her dog pens, and a small casita for guests, where I was invited to stay if I liked. She has three adult Mastiffs, and they are impressive. The net says if a tiger is a cat, then a Mastiff is a dog. The two females came right over to greet me. They are friendly if you are let on the property by the owner. The male was a little aloof, but once he came over he hung around nuzzling for attention the whole time I was outside. She also had three puppies, now two.
Hot stick? The decision to stay over night had been made. It was Sunday, and my gear shift lever was hot. I wanted a mechanic to at least check the oil level in the transmission before I headed home. Kathy knew a good mechanic, and phoned to make an appointment for first thing in the morning. Bailey actually worked on Madonna’s yacht once, and got to meet her when she paid him personally. I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of him before. So, we went to a restaurant for lunch, and the beer store for beer, and back to Kathy’s to get familiar with my new pup.
We got along great. He attached to me easily, slept with me in the casita that night, and Walter, Kathy’s Nicaraguan, long time worker, cleaned up all the messes in the morning. Kathy is a card player. We spent a couple of hours in the afternoon playing cards with Walter before he went home from work. We visited a while longer, and the pup and I retired to watch some tv and get some much- needed (for me, anyway) sleep.
In the morning, we went into Bailey’s, in central Limon. We left the car there, and went in Kathy’s to a nice hotel right on the beach in Limon for breakfast. Kathy had stayed there for a month when she first bought her house, 12 years ago, and had to have it renovated. She has continued to frequent the restaurant, and after breakfast, I could see why. After breakfast she called Bailey, and he told us to buy 2 l. of transmission oil. He tells me the leak is in the rear main seal. This is a major repair which requires separating the transmission from the engine, but he assured me it would get me home.
I had read about Limon, and knew it was different. But wow, is it different. It’s like you didn’t see the boat ride, but ended up on a Caribbean island. The buildings are brightly colored, as are the clothes. Everything is flat. It’s all built on a continental plate which gave it a meter and a half more elevation in 1991 with a plate shift that caused a 7.2 earthquake. Most of the people in Limon are Caribbean, too. Many of them were brought here to build the railway to San Jose. They were forbidden to travel west until 1948, at the same time the army was abolished, and women were given the vote. If I understand it right, there was an election, and one of the Figuere’s lost. But he believed in his cause, and led his army against the other guy’s. The provinces had been fighting for years, and it was, I guess, a common occurence. He won the war, took over the presidency, brought in the above changes, directed money to a public health care system and free education, then went to the loser of the war, winner of the election, and told him he could be president as long as he didn’t change things back. It’s a pretty good story, and I believe there is a large element of truth to it, although I didn’t get it from a history book.
We went back to Kathy’s to get the puppy, and my list of instructions for care, and special food, and headed home. He cried for quite a while, and puked once, but by the time I hit San Jose, he had found a comfortable sleeping position, and had settled down. I only had to ask directions once in San Jose, and that was at a light from a taxi driver, so I’m getting better. It was a slower trip home, and it rained steady for most of the trip, but not so hard as to make it difficult to drive. I got home around 7 pm, and Peaches was very happy to see me, but changed her expression quickly when she saw the pup. We’re heading into our third day now, and Peaches is showing signs of adjusting quickly. I was at Jamie’s yesterday, to see the mechanic again, and she got between Jamie’s Rottweiller and the pup to protect him. I was surprised! By the way, the pup has a name. I have decided to call him Beast, in hopes it will bring out the desire in him to eat intruders.
I got everything I could get done yesterday, done. This morning I am giving Brown my car for another day and a half. Maybe I can get this problem fixed, finally. This still has to be related to the first mechanic, Silviani, who put the new motor in, with the new rear main seal. A car can sometimes die without ever needing a rear main seal, and this one was installed six months ago. Oh well, Silviani and I aren’t talking anymore anyway.