Next north coast Meetup

TINKER - IT WILL NEVER BE GOODBYE - I, AND LIKELY MY WIFE, WILL BE OVER TO SEE YOU FINALLY AGAIN AND TO SEE/MEET AS MANY OTHER FOLKS AS POSSIBLE. WITH OUR CHURCH WEDDING ON 25 AUG, WE MAY MAKE THE TIME PART OF OUR HONEYMOON AND STAY IN SOSUA FOR TWO OR THREE NIGHTS.....AND YOU CAN BET I CART YOU AROUND EACH DAY SO AS TO LEARN AS MUCH ABOUT THE AREA AS YOU WISH TO PROVIDE......CHEERS....

I have Whatsapp & talk & listen to the people on the other end.  But, how do I listen to forum posts & how do they hear me?

THAT IS WHERE I HOPE THOSE IN THE KNOW MAY FIND OUT HOW OR IF SUCH THINGS CAN BE DONE...

You cant.  It wont work via Whatsapp.  John sent me a link to some software we can get installed on your computer that converts the typed message to audio and vice versa.

I will find someone to go install it on his computer for us.

I will be more than happy to chip in to help cover any cost if any.....

Thank you honey. It's actually free and apparently pretty good!!!

No cost. I was able to find a free download from a nonprofit organization.

There are not enough words to express my gratitude & thanks for all that you all are trying to do for me. Hard for me to wait to see if it all works  for me.  Another bad blow for my future. For the past few months I've had a young woman come 3 times a week to clean, some cooking, but most of all,  learn  the things I do & need in daily life. From where I take my laundry, banking, the check cashing guy, to how I like my rum & cokes. To replace everything back in the same exact place etc. 24 years old, no kids, lives at home. English class at night & takes classes at the universty. NOT a street girl. Smart, great sense of humor. We became friends. She knows that my handicap will cause more work on her part as my vision disappears.  BOOM!! Immigration grabbed her & deported her to Haiti. Didn't have sufficient papers. She is currently in Santiago unable to get to Sosua. She is also a devout Catholic.  I miss her & really need her. I paid  her  cash & a bit more than the normal pay.  I'm going to have to ind someone quickly if I can't get her here. She has a passport, but it is a Haitian one.  It is a platonic friendship, a good one. Any suggestions,ideas or thoughts?   I  need help.   I hate being the supplicant !

tinker I will be happy to help financialy,i  assume planner is the point person with the knowledge and the experience how to assist you with legal matters.best wishes pugypugy !

Crap!!  Chantsy and I found out first-hand how important she is to you.  That is a devastating blow for Tinker.  To finally have the perfect person in place, at the perfect time, and she did a great job, only to be snatched away when things are getting bad.  I feel for you Tinker, and wish you the best of luck, as that's all I can do from Canada at the moment.  I hope she finds her way back to you.

NO QUICK FIX BUT I WILL CHECK ON SOMEONE WHO IS COMING HOME TO DR FROM CANADA FOR OUR WEDDING.

Oh wow honey, that is brutal.  There is almost nothing we can do to help this young lady sadly.

We need some recommendations in the area of someone trustworthy, with English and maybe some computer skills! Yikes this won't be easy!

Found out more about her problems.  Not as bad as it could have been. Passport & visa expired. Not as much $$ as I feared. Don't have it, but hopefully a finders fee will wend its' way to me. Looking & talking to those with connections who may help ease the way to solving our problem.  I had an offer of financial assistance. Problem is,  how long it would take me to pay it back. I AIN"T BEGGING FOR NOTHING!!!! Not too long ago, a couple of hundred $$ was just walking around money, alas, those days have left long ago.  I will post updates as we continue to kick this shit out of our lives.     Finally met the "Hidden Angels" guy today. Much more on that to come.

OKAY - TIME FOR ME TO ASK SOME QUESTIONS AS I HAVE LOST PARTS OF THIS THREAD. WHERE ARE WE MEETING UP? WHAT TIME? I RECALL SOMETHING ABOUT SOME GOING TO THE BEACH FOR A WHILE. ARE ANY FOLKS OVERNIGHTING AND IF SO WHERE. I KNOW SOSUA BY THE SEA BUT NOT FAMILIAR WITH MUCH ELSE AND WITH SCOTTISH BLOOD, YES I'M ALWAYS INTERESTED IN CHEAP - BUT COMFY! THE DATE ON MY CALENDAR IS 15 SEPT - IS THAT STILL GOOD (SORRY BUT I'VE BEEN BUSY WITH OTHER THINGS FOR THE PAST WHILE...

No definite date yet, however, it will be in October.  I think...  For sure it will be in Sosua,  as I can't see to travel. I have a place in mind, large, comfortable & good cooking.

OCT IS CERTAINLY BETTER FOR ME - WILL OVER THE FINANCIAL EFFECTS OF TGE CHURCH WEDDING AND WILL BE ABLE TO BUDGET A WEEKEND  STAY - LOOKING FORWARD TO SHARING A DRINK (OR THREE - HAHAHA) AND MEETING OTHERS AS WELL. CHEERS

Most of you by now  are aware of my impending blindness. As such it will mean a good portion of my time each day will be denied me AND I'm pissed off about it.   It is a lot of fun for me. I appreciate the thread: Support the Tinker. It had it's share of responses. But & it is a big but, that even to me, it is yesterdays news. Good people have stepped forward to provide assistance. I thank them with all my heart.  I preferred as I  previously stated, a topic I would call, Going Blind in Sosua.  I would write about the problems & challenges  that I would encounter as the vision faded away. I wanted to share the solutions to everyday things, Not with sadness, but with some humor mixed with the taste & smell of reality. And hopefully with the sounds of a blues harmonica emanating from the  heart of darkness.   Yeah, guilty, I ripped off Joseph Conrad. ...... so sue me.........

A thread was created for you to use and to write whatever you wanted. To share your story and experiences.

So, use it!!!  Does it really matter what it is called? You keep talking about writing while you can, as Nike says  Just Do It!

It might be therapeutic!

I will use the thread, but feel as if I'm Begging for something. Usually when people are asked to support something or someone like the REd Cross etc, it means a donation.   For American patriots, NIKE is not a good symbol.. Nike is not an American company obviously. Planner I take your thoughts with thanks in my heart always.  Just do it is fine, just not with a  SWOOSH today.

You are not begging!  No one is thinking this but you honey.  Go write, we are all waiting.

I second that, I wait with baited breath. Not sure if you remember, we meet at second line back in Feb, or March. I will seek you out when I come back early next year. Can I bring you anything from Canada?
You have more stories to tell and a wit/humour (note the Canadian spelling) second to none. Please write.
Tell us of your life, your (mis)adventures, your philosophy. What every pleases you, we will enjoy.

In answer to yesterdays talk about sex in Sosua, How naive to assume that the millions invested in new hotels, apartment buildings & condos is just to provide rooms for sex craved mongers rooms to romp in!. The street girls are much less notable than in years past.  Many new structures, some several years old, remain empty, devoid of patrons of any sort. Even with failing eyesight, I walk the streets daily & see closed doors to many places. Possibly the town has become a huge laundrymat?  To sum up, go beat your drum elsewhere where it may do some good.   By the way, the new bldgs. are up-scale, not barrio construction.

Look  no one suggested it was ONLY FOR that.  We will disagree on this forever.  For the record Naive is not a word used to describe me! And I will beat my drum wherever I choose Tinker and I will do it respectfully! 

Closed doors are maybe the result of people NOT wanting to be around this type of environment?  Change will happen and not quickly. That is reality here. The reputation was well deserved.  Is it changing - I absolutely agree it is. Is it changed enough that I am interested in spending time there?  No, not yet. 

I will go and enjoy the beach at Sosua Bay, I will go to the restaurants etc during the day. I do not visit at night! Period. 

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

I kow that you are ot naive, it was for the others.  The doors are closed because they have no business, Fancy places closed. Who build if not with the expectation of a vast increase in tourism to come? I am not privy to their intentions. It is normal i the islands for lovely women to be approached. I do it myself, though it is becoming more difficult to ascertain the measure of their beauty.  Let's butt butts instead of heads on the dance floor for instance.    Hugs mi amor siempre.

So you are waxing eloquent about losing the ability to partake of Sosua's biggest tourist attraction? Really?? Come on. Surely you have real wisdom to share? 😇😂😉

Too bad you can't read. I didn't say I screwed them, I have always enjoyed the sight of a well turned leg, Nicely curved butt. The smiling eyes & flirtatious smile. I miss the joys of giggiling, the subtle seduction  possible with "good" women, not the street girls.  My lady is just that, a lady.  The street whores have gone inside for the most part here. My sadness is not the lack of sex, but the lack of "Watching the girls go by."  That old song says it all.   As to being eloquent, hogwash, I leave that to the "Bard".    Biggest attraction is the beach & proximity to the beautiful hills & mountains.  I must add. also the possibility of meetin someone who looks so good in a ball cap.  Eloquent my ass.  Tongue in cheek is more accurate I believe.

Tinker you better be nice please.  You are edging on that line again.  That was uncalled for, it would have been very easy to read into your comments a number of things.

AND that part of this thread will now be closed off.  Get back to the thread topic or I close it.

The next meet up should be well attended as more of the winter folks will be arriving. The weather will be cooler. I am lookung forward to meeting new people & spending time with old friends. Thanks for the patience given to this old Geezer.

When will the next meet up be

Not at you or anyone else but I am really pissed off. I want to write on the support tinker, but am stymied at every attempt. I type in support the tinker & up pops a myriad of useless shit options that none of which are right.  My time is running out and are forced to place ademdens to other threads. I am not a maven with the internet. I don't know how to access what is purported to be my thread.  It was enough to lose 1,200 or more posts in the past & now may lose another 900 + I have enough things to deal with, without the ability to post the last few that are left to me. I'm told to go ahead & post on the thread, fine, but where the hell is it. I never liked saying goodbye, however sure am close to it.  An angry Gypsy is a thing to avoid. I should stop now before I create escheserie.  Bless those with good hearts & may damnation befall those bereft of feeling.

Tinker this is not rocket science. I opened a thread for you that you have accessed many many times and posted on. It is not a thread just assigned to you but that is its purpose!

Post here or on this thread or that thread,  your stories. But at least limit yourself to staying on topic in the other threads.

Ok!???

Whoever thought that a trip to the laundry would be an adventure akin to an African Safari?  Not thousands of miles away, but just a 5 minute walk.  A trial of patience & frustration, fraught with pot holes, sleeping policemen, gullies of gutters, unending changes in elevation on the newly paved streets & the varying curb heights. Avoiding the charging roaring mad men on motos.   That is just getting there,  then, the return trip navigating the obstacles in reverse order.  The excitement & rigors of the trip causes such dryness I end up parched,  which requires a stop in my nearest bar.  Of course one beer doesn't suffice to slake that thirst. This then,  adds to dangers of reaching home. ( just a little ).   This journey  must be traveled once again the next day to retrieve my  clean, folded & buttoned clothes.  Peal garlic with your eyes closed & then mince it.   NOW,  the next Meet -Up........  October,20, a Saturday, at the Cheers Bar/Restaurant.  Pedro Clisante, Sosua.   3PM to.......?  Happy Hour prices, snacks & lite menu available. More info to come.   I will be posting more on the subject of, "Going Blind In Sosua"

I can  imagine the frustration of navigating the roads and sidewalks here!!! I am challenged some days walking here I can  just imagine how difficult it can be for you!!!!

Going back to the states next week but Marie and I will be back for the 20th. Look forward to seeing everyone!

Thanks & have a safe trip. Wouldn't be the same without you!

Sweet!  We arrive on the 16th, assuming everything goes according to plan.  Enough time to get some things squared away, and then attend our first expat meet up.  Can't wait to meet some new friends, and one "old" one.  Wink wink!

Screw the plans, get your butts here on time!

Difficult hell! It is the memory of what it was that is so frustrating.  If I were feeble OK, accept it, however, that ain't the case. All else works just fine.  Maybe if I had Alzheimers it would not be so bad, then I would forget that I'm almost totally blind!!!

I KEEP LOSING TRACK OF THINGS. SO FOLKS ARE MEETING UP ON OCT 2OTH AND THE LOCATION IS THE CHEERS BAR.  DO WE HAVE A GENERAL TIME ESTABLISHED? I KNOW WHERE THE FINISH LINE IS BUT NOT SURE WHERE CHEERS IS EXCEPT HAVE THE STREET SO WILL LIKELY HAVE TO CRUISE AROUND UNTIL WE LOCATE UNLESS BETTER LOCATION DESCRIPTION CAN BE PROVIDED.  ALSO, ANY INFO ON CLEAN INEXPENSIVE ONE NIGHT ACCOMODATIONS APPRECIATED.  REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING TINKER AGAINNALONG WITH SOME OF YOU FOLKS. ANTICIPATE BEING THERE AROUND 1 OR 2 AFTER SIDE TRIP TO BONAO FOR WIFES AUDIOLOGIST APPOINTMENT IN THE MORNING.....CHEERS