From Plomosa Road March 19th 2010

March 12th 2010 -

I was away from Mica Mine Road – destination, Algodones, Mexico, to get

a spare pair of glasses. On the way, I stopped at Gila Bend Shell where fuel was $.30 cheaper than in Ajo. Good sailing to Algodones Road west of Yuma where sits the new Quechan Casino Resort (N32 44.371 W114 43.395). This is operated by the local Indian band and has a huge parking area with room for RVs. In the afternoon, I still had time to drive (truck only, having parked the trailer at the casino) to the border, park along the road, and walk into Algodones.

Once there, I checked with two Optical stores where my glasses (frames, progressive, transitional lenses and a hard coating (not poly-carbonate) would have cost either $139 (Algodones Optical) or $149 (Ja Bal Optical). One could get a pair of cheap bi-focals for as little as $59. In the end, I chose Algodones Optical because the young fellow there (Uvaldo) spoke perfect English – in case I got into trouble with my rudimentary Spanglish. I also checked in at one of the many pharmacies to discover that eye drops ($45 at home) were $30 and Diclofenac, an analgesic that I occasionally use for hipache, was only $1.75 (50 X 100 mg tablets), compared with a lot more at home.

The line up to exit Mexico and return to the USA was just over an hour, relatively short according to people in the know with whom I chatted. Since my last visit years ago, the sidewalk authorities had installed a sunshade overhead and some benches along the side to minimize the number of returning “Norteamericanos” who faint in their tracks under the hot sun. In addition, one can shuffle one’s packages along the bench as one inches along to the two or three US Border Agents remaining after budget cuts,

Meanwhile, back at the casino, one is expected check in and obtain a “Player Card” (free) from the Player Card desk, then goes next door to the Security desk to get a camping pass for two days. If one uses the card to spend money at the casino (gaming), then they will renew one’s camping approval for a further two day period. The cards are “Smart” cards and keep track of everything (money wise) that takes place in the casino. Included with the initial acquisition of a Player’s Card was a $10 credit, so even though I rarely gamble, I thought that I would try a slot machine in order to qualify as a “user” and thus be able to extend my stay in the parking lot if necessary. The first problem was that I couldn’t figure out how to insert the card in a machine to take advantage of my free benefit, so I got a friendly casino employee to show me how. To impress her, and spend the obligatory $1 minimum to get things started, I inserted $10, thus giving me a total $20 credit. Almost immediately, the machine let out a yell (bells and whistles), showed three bars in a row and rewarded me with another $10. Feeling flush, I cashed out and moved on to other machines to see if I could get them to work as profitably. The whole casino is a network because anywhere I inserted my card, machines recognized me by name, knew my playing credit status and were quite helpful with instructions as to how exactly one could lose money as expeditiously as possible.

As one who doesn’t really like gambling, smoke or noise, my primary motive for stopping at casinos, other than the attraction of large, free parking (read camping) lots, would have to be the excellent buffets. All three meals were offered with a $2 discount, once one obtained a Player Card, so I pigged out. All in all, my casino experience was fine and I would go again just for the food if ever I need another pair of glasses.
Friday, March 12th, was glasses day, so I went early to Algodones, and then had to wait because the Shop did not have the correct frame that I wanted. A courier was dispatched to another outlet and came back with a pair that, while not perfect, will do the trick. During my 2½ hour wait for processing, I walked the town, noticing a lot of seemingly unemployed young men loitering. I also encountered a man who alleged to have been jumped by some locals who then stomped on his camera and laughed at him. As it happens, I did have my camera but restricted any shooting to panoramas and views of those who seemed either small or infirm. Back at the border, the wait was only about 50 minutes and the only item of interest was that one lady with a Canadian passport was escorted back into Mexico, ostensibly, according to wait-line scuttlebutt, because she had bought more than a three month supply of medications.
March 13th. I was away from the casino by about 8.30. The staff at the registration desk evidently missed the Customer Service manual chapter on helpfulness because, when I inquired about the wi-fi signal that I had detected on my computer, the woman stated that she “was not a computer person” and that any wi-fi benefit would only be for hotel guests anyway. The drive north through Quartzsite and up to Plomosa Road (MM 10.5) was about 2 hours, so it was still quite early when I pulled in. I chose a site ar which I had stayed two years ago, not far from the Mudderbach Mine/Mount Ibex trail system. There were only two other units in sight along the access trail of about a mile’s length, including one which, I am sure, is that same guy who kept driving by at a high rate of speed and covering me with dust the last time that I was here. I have a week to plot my revenge before I begin the trek north. Projects while here include inquiring about bicycle gear repairs and truck servicing in Parker (about ½ hour away). The library in Bouse is only ten minutes down the road for wi-fi access.

Since my Telus “stick” does work with a strong “Evdo” signal (5 bars) at the present camp, I tried it to check e-mail, thinking that I could waste $3 on a megabyte of information. In doing this, I may have committed a fatal error by forgetting to disengage the Windows Updates and Virus Protection plans which download automatically in the background. I was horrified to see that my “Watcher” meter registered 70 megabytes ($213) in the 20 minutes that it took to check e-mail. Normally, such a large amount of data couldn’t download in such a short time. In a subsequent phone call to Telus, they agreed to give me a “once in a lifetime forgiveness dispensation”. I talked to a helpful lady at Customer Service who made the agreement, then transferred me to a not-so-helpful Tech Department guy who questioned her authority to do that “because Data was not her department”. He was, at least, able to confirm that her notes about the rebate were on record. Seems that Telus has a little “One-up-personship?” going on in the ranks.

This same man was very reluctant to give me any advice on how best to minimize chances of a repeat occurrence by manually shutting down relevant programs. Following these conversations, I tried to call Symantec (Norton Utilities) to make sure I had the correct procedure for shutting down any possible use of data downloads or uploads. After being kept on hold two days in a row for a total of 45 minutes, I gave up, deactivated all categories that I could find on the Settings page, disengaged the Windows Update feature and tried the stick again. This time, I managed to read several e-mails, check the weather and my bank statements for 1 megabyte – hopefully, this has solved the problem, though if anyone out there is aware of a more efficient manner in which to prevent this sort of accidental use of data in the future, please advise. The next day, Telus sent me a text message offering a new cell phone if I agreed to participate in a survey – which I did, and then texted back and forth for a while answering questions about how I felt their performance stacked up. How and when I get a new cell phone remains uncertain – guess I’ll have to wait until someone lets me know.

Regarding this issue, one has to remember always to shut down Windows Updates, Norton Live Updates etc when roaming in the US with the Stick and then reactivate them immediately after so that the protection is there when on Wi-Fi.

Dust Man - Several years ago, when I camped at the same site, there was someone further down the trail that kept driving by at a high rate of speed, thus sending clouds of dust my way under certain wind conditions. The same man is here again and even came to visit. Through the dust, he had noticed the Satellite TV dish mounted on the hitch of my trailer and wanted to check it out. As the story goes, he uses a mount that is close to the ground and which his dog uproots every time he chases a lizard that scuttles under said mount. In the end, he seemed reasonably pleasant, so I didn’t rehash the dust question with him on the grounds that time has passed and wounds have healed. If, however, he gets up to his old tricks, I now have him in my sights. I suppose simply tying up the dog would be an ineffective solution to his TV problem? I have noticed that “Dustman” drives in and out of his camp 2 or 3 times per day – where he goes, no one knows, though Bouse for coffee or breakfasts would be a reasonable guess! Once I get set up, it is often a week before the truck moves anywhere and then only on milk runs.

Being somewhat leery of using my potentially very expensive “stick” on the computer, I did drive into Bouse for e-mail at the library. I was looking for a folding table for the BBQ a la Camping World’s model, but no luck. Driving home, I decided to keep on going and have a last look at Quartzsite before heading north. The town is almost deserted with most vendors closed for the season. A few remained so I picked up the annual headlamp ($7.00), bike tubes at Herb’s, work gloves at a tool tent and other miscellaneous items, including video cables with which to attach the Analog/Digital TV converter that I bought in Ajo.

I have decided to forego skiing and visiting Lake Louise this April, in favour of going early to visit my mother before she flies to England at the beginning of May. This means that I shall miss carving a few turns with some of you, as has been my custom over the years, and will also have to pass up the opportunities for “rekindling acquaintanceships” presented by “the first ever” Lake Louise Reunion. My hope is to see some of you at the Shuswap during spring or summer months.

JW