Stay Limber

Good morning, gentlemen!

I am writing this from a hotel balcony in San Miguel de Allende while a neighborhood cat naps nearby, mariachi music is still echoing in my head from last night, and about a dozen hummingbirds are darting around a flowering tree outside my window.

This is not exactly how I planned this week.

I got home from Las Vegas at approximately 2:30 in the morning. Technically Monday morning, although at that point days become theoretical. I slept a little, unpacked Vegas, repacked for Mexico, squeezed in some online meetings, and got Wednesday’s newsletter assembled because apparently I enjoy pretending time is optional.

Then Tuesday morning at 6:00 a.m., I boarded a plane to Mexico.

I arrived at the house around 2:30 in the afternoon and immediately noticed something was… off.

No Ring cameras.

No Wi-Fi.

No electricity.

At first, I shrugged it off. If you’ve spent time in Mexico, a power outage here and there isn’t exactly headline news. I assumed it would pop back on.

Then it didn’t.

Turns out the previous owner never paid the electric bill before selling the house, and somehow the account situation never got resolved. The power company shut down the entire property.

No problem, I thought. I’m a modern man. I’ll jump online and pay.

The internet disagreed.

So I spent my first night at home with no electricity.

Honestly? Not terrible. I own enough candles to accidentally recreate a Victorian séance. The bigger challenge came the next morning when I realized my coffee maker and I were no longer in a committed relationship. Emergency coffee was DoorDashed immediately.

Fueled and moderately civilized, I drove to the electric company.

After about thirty minutes in line, I learned that the power wasn’t simply disconnected. It had been shut off permanently and needed to be transferred into my name.

Again—not a crisis.

Then came the shopping list.

To restore power, I needed:
• the deed to my house
• two additional utility bills
• my passport
• photos of my electrical box
• photos of my meter
• and photos of my neighbor’s meter

I have questions.

But okay.

I gathered everything, returned to the office, stood in line for two and a half hours… and never got seen.

At some point I decided comfort was worth more than principle.

So I checked into a lovely hotel one block away.

If everything had gone according to plan, I wouldn’t have been sitting under the stars listening to live mariachi. I wouldn’t have met Balcony Cat. I wouldn’t have watched hummingbirds put on an air show over my morning coffee. I wouldn’t have slowed down long enough to notice where I actually was.

Life has a strange way of handing you inconveniences disguised as detours.

Sometimes the answer isn’t to push harder.

Sometimes the answer is to adjust, buy the coffee, get the hotel room, and try again tomorrow.

As I write this Thursday morning, I’m about to hop in the shower and head back to the electric company. Hopefully today is the day.

But if not?

Well… apparently I know a pretty good hotel.

Life throws hurdles at you.

Stay limber enough to jump them.