Since the start of my career in IT, I have excelled at what I do. I'm very fortunate in that I really understand all the little technical details, and can also explain things well in everyday terms to people that don't have a lot of experience with computers. From the start I have always quickly become the person that both my customers and my bosses know they can hand a problem to and trust that it will be resolved without any further worry on their part. This gave me great opportunities to advance my career. I often was given responsibilities or projects that would ordinarily be outside the scope for my position. This meant that when questions of advancement arose, I already had experience and a working relationship with the people in whatever group I would be moving to. In short, I guess you could say I was really on the fast-track to success.

For the previous two days, we experienced a singular wind that furiously assaulted the house like an angry banshee, wailing through our imperfectly sealed windows and mischievously tossing small belongings around the house. The wind speed was higher and the duration was much longer than any tropical storm or near miss with a hurricane we have experienced. Occasionally, the wind would manage to wriggle free the suggestion of a latch on one of our windows and fling it wide, causing complete, swirling chaos in the house.

Shortly after we moved here, I decided to get a maid. Wait, that's not true. I decided to get a maid before we ever moved here. It was one of the many benefits of moving to Mexico. I am a wretched house keeper. Everyone who knows me will tell you so. Shortly after we moved here, I hired a maid. And boy, was I delighted.

I have talked with several recent expatriates who are surprised at the daily cost of living in Mazatlan. It is not expensive by any standard to live here, but it is also not cheap. It's easy to be fooled into thinking Mexico is cheap, especially with the proliferation of travel books out there like "Mexico for $18 a Day". It is possible to live here for $18 a day, but you are probably not going to like it.

I have a cousin who lived in Mexico for a scant $500US a month. He lived in a hut on a remote beach with a few meager possessions: a hammock, a blanket, a pot, a pan, a few plates, cups, and forks, a change of clothes, and that's about it. He didn't even have walls. He fished for his meals. Honestly, most of his budget was beer money. While that may be a great, carefree adventure for a 20-year-old, it's not the way most of us want to live.

Getting fresh fish in this town is easy. Especially if you avoid the large grocery stores. There are numerous pescaderias and vendors that will sell you the daily catch. Even better, just stroll down to Fisherman's Beach when the boats come in (which they do three times a day), check out the catch, point, and start bargaining. You don't even have to know Spanish. But for us, it's even easier. We have a Fish Fairy.