Quick Personal Update after Crazy Week from Hell

Hey, O-Fans, just a quick update on the personal front, especially aimed at current clients who may have noticed I was a bit off the grid last week, and not reachable. It was a very unusual week.

Bienvenidos a Lima

First, as you may know, I live in Lima Peru. We originally moved to a location that was “quaint,” but decidedly risky. It was close to what they call “favelas” in Brazil, which are colorful mountainside communities that are notorious for mob rule and criminality, unfortunately. Even the police don’t go into them. But we were far enough away where that didn’t cause any direct threat.

And the whole thing offered amazing opportunities for photography, as you can see.

In more recent years, due to a flood of immigration from Venezuela as well as more Peruvians moving to our area — simply because downtown Lima can’t fit any more people, — the overpopulation of our specific exurb grew at least 300% over the last four years. It’s now unsustainable. Trying to simply commute into Lima proper takes an hour or more to go a few miles, due to poor urban planning and eroding road conditions. Petty theft (people riding by on motorcycles stealing whatever you might have hanging on you) has grown dramatically, and kidnappings are up. In my neighborhood alone, we’ve had mafia-style bombings of folks who wouldn’t pay protection, and gangs of thugs running into local restaurants stealing everyone’s electronics en masse. Police are mostly absent, and if they do show up, largely hamstrung by bureaucratic restrictions or lack of budget. All of this is due because too many people are trying to live in too small a space.

So we finally moved closer to the ocean, something I promised I’d never do because the last thing I want is to be around a lot of smug expats who can’t speak Spanish and act entitled all day long. I like living in Peru to be around Peruvians, and wasn’t interested in moving to a foreign country to replicate the US experience. But the realities of safety and commuting simply opened no other options for us.

Now we’re in a gorgeous top-floor apartment overlooking the ocean (more or less), with the sea air coming in all day long, and with safer walkaround access to local markets, etc. Yes, I’ve caved in, but the risks of crime have been reduced dramatically (although not altogether.) I intend fully to avoid expats, whom I generally loathe.

Last week we finally moved most of our things, which was a considerable level of effort given how much else we had going on, as you’ll see.

Earthquake… Already?

Another reason I have hesitated to live in a high-rise is the risk of earthquakes that Lima lives under. I once refused to move to Los Angeles for that very reason, and now I’m living in a place that has more quakes than I think LA could even imagine.

Sure enough, too, on our third day or so in the new place, a magnitude 5.4 hit — fortunately a bit further north and not a direct hit — and our building shook like mad. We made our way down 18 flights of stairs to get to a safe spot, although I’m not entirely sure it’s safer to be standing outside, underneath a set of high-rise buildings, than it is to be in one. It’s all a coin toss.

But at least the view from my new home office is nice so I’ll have something beautiful to look at while I crash to the ground, I guess.

Turning a Blind Eye

Then, I was working at my computer when suddenly I went blind in one eye for about 10 minutes. I gray curtain fell over my right eye, out of nowhere.

My primary care doctor — Dr. Google Search — suggested this could be retinal detachment (unlikely, that is usually a black curtain, not gray) or a symptom of a pending stroke. I immediately ran to the ER and they were entirely unconcerned. In short, they wanted me to have the stroke first, then call them.

I then went to my retinologist, and he did a thorough exam but found nothing. A few days later another doctor said it could be cholesterol blocking my carotid, but I have low cholesterol and normal blood pressure, but the doctor said this can be “silent” and not be predicted by blood tests or blood pressure. So, they did an ultrasound of my carotid artery, and (again) found nothing.

So all we can do is chalk this up to stress, and too much time staring at a computer screen. I’d like a more solid diagnosis, but we’ve come up blank.

Surgery

Oh yeah, and I had to have back surgery while all this was going on. Nothing too severe, a condition similar to bursitis (but not bursitis) and a procedure that takes all of about 25 minutes to perform.

(And, yes, during the earthquake, I had to go down the 15 lights of stairs while under intense pain. Argh.)

But while the medical care in Lima is good (don’t ask about the rest of the country), and we have private insurance to cover it, the bureaucratic preparations for a simple procedure are maddening. First, an MRI, which took two in-person visits to arrange. Next, a visit to the doctor to get the surgery ordered. Then another visit to get blood and EKG tests to approve the anesthesia. Then, another in-person visit to the anesthesiologist to get the actual approval. In all, five commutes from the original house, each being about 90 minutes each way, despite the hospital only being about 10 miles away.

Finally, I had my surgery (yesterday) and immediately got into a car accident.

Car Accident, Yeah

Ironically, the traffic in our old area was much, much worse than where the hospital is, but man plans, and the Lord wiggles his finger to have a laugh, or however that saying goes.

Yesterday, driving back from surgery, a taxi driver smashed into our rear end. Nobody was hurt, it was just a fender bender, thankfully. We were stopped at a red light, but the taxista had other ideas and, of course, he didn’t have insurance, so we’re paying for the damage.

Anyone outside of Latin America wouldn’t understand how car accidents play out here. The police came and essentially told us to negotiate with the guy, on the spot, to get about $26 out of him. We have to replace the entire rear bumper, and our insurance will cover some of it, but when these things happen, you just take it on the chin. They don’t arrest the other guy, they don’t ticket him, and he drives away scott-free to go smash into someone else, five minutes later.

And the driver knew this, so he gave zero shits. Taxi and bus drivers essentially have more power than the police in Lima, because they are the main way that most people get around. They can’t enforce laws on them, because when try to, the drivers shut the entire city down through “paros,” or city-side strikes. Politicians immediately cave, and go back to ignoring violations or scrapping new laws to control them.

But, despite that, I have better access to top-shelf ceviche than any of you, so there’s that.

Family Stuff

During all of this, we had to prepare for a baptism and first birthday party for one of the nieces, drive my mother-in-law to various doctor appointments, and get a garage door repair organized for the old house.

So, yes, my clients suffered this week, as did my usual LinkedIn posting, blogging here, and reporting activities. I’m actually surprised I got as much done as I did.

Hopefully, next week will resume back to normal, and we’ll get some much-needed calm in our new place. It’s certainly quieter. Attendees of my online classes usually got a treat, and could hear guys outside my window screaming to collect old batteries and mattresses, or selling avocados, a problem which now goes away. Now the only thing you’re likely to hear is seagulls, which is nice.

So, to my clients and others, sorry for last week. But I’m back on the job and will be working like a madman to get back up to speed.

[All photos within this article were created by me and are (c) Oxebridge. Don’t steal them.]