I got up early this morning preparing to take Lexi the motorhome over to Hernandez Upholstery to get a new headliner installed and have the seams that had come undone on the couch resewn. First I swung by Big-O tires because I was having trouble getting my gauge to work on the extenders for the rear. The inside dually tire on the drivers side seems to be bleeding air. Seems like I was there forever getting the tire removed and checked for leaks. The kid was making me nervous jacking up the RV on the u-bolt rather than on the axle, but got out of there with no apparent damage. We determined it was the valve extender, so I just had it removed. Hernandez upholstery had told me to be there at 9:00 o’clock when they open, so I raced over there arriving at about 9:15 only to be told that Jonas hadn’t gotten there yet. He had decided to go home to Tijuana the night before and was still driving up.
I sat in the motorhome finishing up ‘No More Mondays’, a book about a couple that retired early and sailed around the world. 
It was kind of like a blog before computers became popular, a chronological log of their daily travels. Jonas turned up and we matched up the fabric and it looked pretty similar to what was in there before. My Spanish got a pretty good workout going over things with the guys. I ended up going with Hernandez because I’d seen the little shack across from the state campground since I was a kid and always wondered about it. When I first came in and ordered the fabric, it was just like Mexico. A dirt and concrete floor with heaps of old stuff piled everywhere and no English spoken other than the front office girl. I liked Jonas and we agreed to do the work. For the past month or so I’ve been trying to hunt him down and actually get the work done. One time he was in Cuba, the other time he was sick. Chuck followed me over a few times and ended just driving back by himself as I was sent home without the work being done. That’s why I just came by myself with the bike today.
Jonas said they’d get it done by 3:00 or 4:00 and I’d be on my merry way. Cool. I pulled my bike off the back of the RV and rode it over to the Ralph’s shopping center a mile or so away. I got some cash out to pay Jonas, then just kind of tooled around the center on the bike looking for a good option for food. I spotted a massage parlor and on the spur of the moment decided that that would be a good way to kill an hour or two. I went in and got both a body and foot massage. When I got done it was about 1:30 so I passed some more time lunching on some stir fry at Pick Up Stix.
Rode back over the Hernandez a little after two. The headlinder was out and all of the dashboard roof stuff and visors were spread around the cab. The couch was stitched up nicely.
Spoke to Jonas, no problemo, the work will be done by 4:00. I rode the bike across the street to the campground and rode around in the half empty park hanging on a bench and whiling away the the time playing with the camera. I headed back over about 3:30 figuring I’d take some pictures of the crew in action as they finished up. Everything was exactly as it was last time I passed through and Jonas and Joel were gone. The office girl, Lupe, said they went to make a delivery and would be back around 4:30. She was leaving and indicated that I should stick around and keep an eye on my vehicle.
So, I hung out in Lexi thinking I’d read a book on my Nook. No go, the reader was out of battery. Went online with my phone until it was nearly dead too. Jonas and Joel returned around 4:40 and set about completing the work promising to be done in an hour. I ordered a pizza and reorganized the closet where I keep all of the mechanical stuff. Jonas and Jesus also trimmed my shade cloth and installed grommets for me to hang them from the awning.
Joel finally got the headliner glued to the fiberglass roof piece and came in to put it in place. I helped for a while until my pizza showed up. Sat at the table munching pizza and watching Joel finish up. I was pretty relaxed the whole time. It was a classic south of the border project, just like getting something worked on in Costa Rica or Mexico. Don’t get set on a firm time table or you will drive yourself batty when it doesn’t go the way you think it should. At 7:00 they finally got everything wrapped up and we talked for a bit. They were excited about our trip. Was getting worried about tomorrow’s jury duty, so shook hands all around and I paid them up and headed for the house.
Heart on the Wing 