July 1 Jayne

Jayne on July 1

July 3 pictures

The square where the wedding will be

July 3

The view that well have from the balcony of where the reception will be.

Jayne and Craig on his birthday

Going to the Tailor

Jayne and I went to my lawyer’s office as we had to go to the police department. Now, in order to get a resident visa you have to get a police report from where you live that you don’t have a criminal record. When I got my visa only a few months ago, this was not necessary. When we got there, my lawyer said that we didn’t have to go as we could figure out the days remaining ourselves. This is what I thought all along.

Maria said that Jayne has another 90 days to live here, but in order to get the extension you still have to be in the country, you can’t get it when you come back in. (Doesn’t make sense!)
After we left the office and we went to get something to eat, I thought, Jayne doesn’t have 90 days left. She already used up many days that will only leave 34 days. If everything starts all over again with the new year, that leaves 59 days (31 days in January and 90 days when her current visa expires July 11, that leaves 59 days left).

Maria said that we will have to apply on the last day that her current visa expires. Now this is the date that we would be leaving for our trip to Aruba. Jayne thought that it would be better to book another flight as we would have to take our luggage to the immigration office in the morning then rush off to the airport.

In the evening I wrote to her via email if she could clarify this.


Since we had a couple of hours to kill before we could see the tailor, we went to a bookstore to look around. Then we went to the internet café. After that we walked and had another cup of coffee.


I got my shoes shined by a guy who has a chair on Plaza Grande. The cost is only 50 cents for a good shine but I paid him 25 cents more. They really do a good job.


I got a call from Matt asking how we were getting to Quito tomorrow and I told him that we have a guy coming for us. This is the guy who drove us Tuesday and has a regular car (new one). He offered to have his driver come in his (Matt’s) car to take us to the hotel and take us back Sunday. He said this’ll be his gift to us. I took him up on his offer.


However, when I got home I sent him an email to call the driver to say that ‘we had our trip cancelled.’ This will sound better and we will want to use him to take us to the airport when we do leave.


His driver will pick us up at 1.00pm. Matt’s has a nice SUV, white exterior and tan leather interior. This will be very nice to ride in.


At the tailor, Jayne tried on the dress but they still had to make the jacket for it. My vest was ready. So, I paid them for everything. Now we have to come back again tomorrow afternoon.

July 2

part 2

When Opportunity Knocks

We got a taxi to go home yesterday and the guy has a car that is not a taxi but looks like a normal car. I wasn’t going to get as I heard about not doing so in such cars. However, this had a taxi sign under its visor and it had a meter. So we got in.


The driver was good and the gray colored car that he has is new and more expensive than average. The price he charged was $2 less than normal. I thought about this on the way home and decided to have him pick us up to take us to the hotel on Friday. He gave me a card and his cell phone number and I gave him my cell phone number.


Going to our hotel in a nice car is better than a regular taxi and I don’t have to walk to the taxi stand to get one. We plan to have him pick us up at 1.30pm on Friday and have him take us back on Sunday.



When opportunity knocks you have to act quickly.


We went to the bank so I could draw out more money – to be sure I have enough for the wedding day.



I called Grace who works at the wedding store that her parents own. I asked her if she could order and pick up a cake and to have a bouquet made for Jayne. She said she’d be glad to do it.
When she called back the first time she said that the cake would cost $120, with the plate and decorations. I said that was too much, and we don’t need a plate with it. Then she made another call and said she knows someone who makes wedding cakes and that it will be $80 which includes decorations and includes the bouquet. I told her that would be fine.

July 2

Other Thoughts

(This has not been proofread due lack of time.)

On July 2, I have to go to the bank to have the money to pay for my balance for the restaurant and to pay for the musicians on the wedding day.

On July 3, we have to meet with my lawyer to go to the police station to see how many days are left on Jayne’s visa. We already know, but this is to start the process of her getting her resident visa.

Then on to the tailors as Jayne’s dress should be ready and my vest. The cost to have a tailor made dress is $70, and for the vest $20. From there, to look for a wedding cake.
Then to see the women who will be putting decorations on the table and also to ask her to pick up the wedding cake.

Forgot to say that on July 1 we visited my friend, Matt. I said that the manager said that a person can have a three course dinner from anything in the menu and the cost will be $35 person. Then we decided to allow the people to have only a couple of choices. However on the choices it only said fish, so I asked Matt if he could call up to see if we can have salmon. Why have a cheaper fish, and one that might not be as good?

Matt made the call and talked to the manager. He said it was ok. Also he asked what time the people can come to set up for the wedding and he said at 2.30pm. That is great! It’s also good that Matt did this for us.

I also dropped off the shirt that was tailor made for him and the cuff links. We’ll have the same shirt and cuff links. Jayne picked out quality material so the shirt doesn’t look like a school shirt. The shirts were also made so the buttons will be covered up.

Matt really like everything and said that to buy it in the store would cost $100. My cost was only $21 for the material and tailor work.

Thinking Back

If I had thought back about our second meeting with Giovanna, I should have got an indication of how she runs her business. And I should have cancelled doing business with her.

When she first told us that one musician cost $250 for one hour, I told her it was high. She said that is the going rate and that I could check around to see. I should have taken her advice to see and if I did, I would have found out that the price was a couple of times higher. Naturally, she didn’t want me to check around but by saying so, it would make her look honest.

I just recognized that the price was too high and then asked her how much it would be for a DJ. But the price of a musician, still photographer and video photographer should have made me do some investigation. If I did, it would have told me two things:

1 – That she was being quoted high prices but didn’t have the business sense to check around, and
2 – That she does know the real prices (which is probably the answer) and doubles or triples the price.

In either case, I would have known not to deal with her at an early stage in the wedding planning.

For example, on July 1st my lawyer told me about her wedding – which was just last year. She said that it cost her $130/hour for two violinists to play. That would compare to $65/hr per person from what she paid to $250/hr per person from what Giovanna said.

This is the psychology of dealing with a friend whom you also deal with on a business. First, there are friends who treat you right on a personal level and also on a business level. Then you have someone who is a friend but just know how to run a business – not that they are necessarily cheating you but they just don’t know what the current prices are, for example.
Finally, you have someone who will try to make more money from you.

When you do deal with a friend and also deal on a business level, you must not think that everything you are told is correct. You’ve got to separate the friend sitting in front of you from the business. Therefore, it’s best to look at that person as a stranger and ask questions, do some checking around and don’t take their word for it.

Sometimes when you do this, depending on the character of your friend, you might lose that person as a friend or that friend would understand if you go somewhere else for business.

Though I lost $200 dealing with Giovanna (and about 6 hours of time), it could have been more. I lost the $200 as the deposit was not refundable. I could have gone through and bought everything she said. I would have paid $250 for one musician for one hour, then $140 for a DJ for three hours. Then a photographer for $240 (that took bad pictures from the samples we saw). Then there would have been $400 for the video camera man (and who knows what kind of pictures that would have been). Then $200 for a limo or a horse and carriage ride. The unknown factor would have been what kind of waiter service we would have gotten? How would the food be? How much noise would there be from either the people in her restaurant (since she expected to have a lot of people)?

I could have spent. That would have been (if I bought the ‘whole package’) over $1,200 and not having the quality wedding Jayne and I should be getting.

But as it stood even if we continued to deal with her, I would have lost that much as I did get other musicians and photographers and not used the limo/carriage service, but we feel that the quality would not have been there either. Mainly because we would not have had our own waiters nor enough of them.

What Jayne and I got for my $200 lost?

We got a better location – the most beautiful square in Quito

A beautiful restaurant

First three hours of the restaurant to ourselves (as it’s not opened until 7pm to the public)

Better service (I’m sure)

Better foodFree non-alcoholic drinks

No bottling fees for the champagne that we are bringing

A wedding shop that makes beautiful table decorations at a reasonable cost (which Giovanna showed us)

A worker at the wedding shop who will deliver and set up the tables at no charge

Not outside noise to worry about

The restaurant being closer to our hotel

More beautiful pictures because of its location.

Tips

Always check prices even if you are dealing with a friendAsk other friends what their suggestion is and especially those who had a wedding there.

July 1

Seeing The Corrupt Judge


Today is my birthday (the secret 58 years old). Jayne gave me a gift in the morning of a leather carrying bag to put my video and still camera in. It looks like something that vendors would wear. But having this is better than a camera bag as it doesn’t attract thieves.

The first thing we did was to go to the British Embassy so Jayne could get her paper that allows her to remarry. Then we had a late breakfast at Friday´s that´s in a mall across the street from the embassy. From there we went to my lawyer´s office (she´ll also be a guest at the wedding).
We had to see the Judge that will be marrying us. We showed the paperwork, which includes a copy of IDs from our wedding witnesses. He said everything is in order.

This Judge wanted a bribe (that´s how things work in Ecuador). We were to have to pay another $60 from what he told us the last time we saw him. Now he said we don´t owe him anything. However, he said that he doesn´t work on Saturday usually and that he would like money for his time. Jayne said that we would have money in an envelope for him.

The judge also said that he would like money for transportation and that the next wedding will be at such-and-such place, and asked me to pay for his transportation.

Well, I know the situation. First, his office is only three blocks where the wedding will be. I know he won´t be taking a taxi. And as for me paying for him to go to the next wedding – he´s a a lot of nerve – I told him that is the cost of the other wedding party. That´s not my problem. This is a way that he can get extra money.

I don´t mind paying for his time, though it´s a bribe, but I rather pay it than not be able to get married. So, i´ll pay for his time but not for a taxi when he´s close by and certainly not paying for another wedding party´s taxi.

My lawyer, Maria del Carmen said that what they did to her wedding was that the Judge had a photographer that she had to pay for that. That´s how they get around the law.

I guess he thought that we were stupid and that i´d pay for someone else´s taxi!

Later, the three of us went to have something to drink and talk over about Jayne getting resident´s papers like I did. It looks like we´ll have to start the process this Thursday. After we check with the police and tell us how many days she has left in the country, then we can see about our honeymoon plans.

We already check with a travel agent and the only thing that she has that would be out of the country, nearby and would be a nice honeymoon place, and would be after the date of the wedding but before her current visa entry expires (which is July 15) is one to Arbua. We hope that we can get this flight. This will be for one week, however we are going to check to see how much it will cost to extend it a few days (one week goes by so quickly).

I´m writing this in an internet café in the city. After we leave here we plan to go to a nice restaurant to celebrate my birthday.

Today, I also took some picture in the beautiful square where our wedding will be – just in case it will be raining at the time of the wedding. It seems that it always rains at the same time this time of year. I´ll post a couple of the pictures when I have the time. You can copy them to your computer if you wish.

I also plan to send a CD of pictures and video after the honeymoon is over.

Tuesday June 30

New and Better Location

Today we met Giovanna and I told her the news that we are canceling using her services. I said that she could not control if there is a municipality band playing outside and that she could not control if there are a lot of people in her restaurant (who are not wedding guests) making a lot of noise. This would disrupt the wedding. We don’t want our music clashing with the outside noise. To this, Giovanna didn’t say anything. So, I think that she was prepared for this. Since she didn’t offer any resistance, I didn’t have to add all the other things that she did that we didn’t like.
Before I told her this, I asked for the name and phone number of the Judge so we can contact him regarding the change of venue.

We had made a $200 deposit about 2 weeks ago, and she said that this was not returnable. We said, ‘We thought so.’ Then she added that the florist already order the flowers. Jayne said no one has flowers in their shop a week before the wedding as they would be wilted by the time we get them. She also said, ‘She might have ordered flowers but she didn’t pay for them.’
We didn’t invite her to the wedding at the new location.

From there, we went to Matt’s office to tell him the news. He offered to help us find a place that that will host a wedding. He knows several nice restaurants to have it in. We went to one where he had his wedding 6 years ago. The owner is a friend of him. The owner is a German who is married to an Ecuadorian.

When we went to the restaurant, Jayne and I thought that this was the perfect place. It’s located on Plaza Grande, which is the nicest square in all of Quito and it’s right next to the Presidential Palace. The restaurant is called Mia Culpa (which means ‘my fault’). It’s on the second floor of a building that was built in the 17th Century and where the Arch Bishop of Quito lived 300 years ago!

The room, furniture and decorations are really beautiful. Plus it has five windows that look out to Plaza Grande. We asked if they were available for July 5th, and the manager said yes. And the time was fine, too. In fact, we were told that they are not opened until 7pm, but they will have their employees come in early. Thus, we will have this place to ourselves for three of the four hours that we’ll be there!

Inquired about the price and for a three course meal it’ll cost $35/person and that includes one glass of wine, free coffee, tea and juice. The extra wine will cost $25/bottle. This is a top restaurant and we are sure that the food will be good.

We will be giving the guests a choice of appetizers, chicken, steak, fish, and a choice of three different kinds of desert.

To have the band there and our wedding decorations set up is no problem. Since the decorations include three bottles of champagne that are decorated, the manager said that they’ll be no charge. Usually there is a corking fee. So, this is nice of him to do that.

You can leave it to the Germans for looking at the details.

From there, Mathieu had to leave for business. Jayne and I went to a cheap but nice restaurant right under the one where the wedding will be to get something to eat. The funny thing is that we have been there many times while we were in town and little did we know that our wedding reception will be right above it.

Later, sitting out in the plaza I got a call from Mathieu saying that his wife called the Judge and said that the change of location will be no problem. However the Judge said that he needed a paper from my embassy saying that I was not married. I told him that he already saw the paper and said that all was ok. The last time I was there I was told that this is all that I need. He told me I better see the Judge. But Jayne and I couldn’t understand this as the Judge said when we last saw him that Jayne needs her paper from the British Embassy saying that she can marry.
We went to the tailors to pick up the shirts that were made. Jayne also asked if they could make a little cloth purse and they said they could and would make it from the remaining material from the dress.

The dress and my vest will be ready July 3.

We went to the wedding store later to talk to the girl who works there. She wasn’t in so I called her and told her that the wedding location will be different (giving her the address) and if she could deliver the decorations. I told her not to give it to Giovanna. She said that she’d be glad to do it. She speaks good English and was living in the U.S. and she seems quite capable of working.
There’s a saying that all things work toward the good. And we see that it has. Things came together quickly today and for the better.

I lost $200 but we’ll still save a little money figuring in the cost of the other restaurant. Not only is it still a little cheaper but we’ll get so much more for our money. The food will be better, the restaurant and location is the best and we have confidence that all will be good. With Giovanna she didn’t instill any confidence or value for the money.

When we got home I called my lawyer and friend (who’ll be coming to the wedding) and told her what the Judge said to Mathieu. I asked her if she could call him and she did. She got back to me right away to say that it was Jayne’s paper he was waiting on and not mine. So he must have made a mistake. So this is good. That means I don’t have to go to my embassy.

I also told Maria of the change of location. Then I called some other people to let them know. There was only three other families I had to call to let everyone know, as Mathieu was told when I saw him today.

I talked to Tarquin about our meeting and he said that he found someone to take pictures. Her name is Rachael and she already worked at his place in Cotopaxi and is now working at his hostel in Quito. I’m to meet her at his hostel in Quito at 5.00pm Friday to show her how to work the cameras.

That was very nice of him to arrange this.

I also asked if he could put us down for dinner at his place Friday night and he said we can tell Rachael that, as she is running the kitchen.

June 29

Jayne and I have a lot of work to do this coming week. It all depends on what our wedding planner has to say. Anyhow, make sure you bookmark this site ( http://www.jayneandcraigswedding.blogspot.com/ ).

One of my friend’s offered to pay for a wedding photographer and to give us a couple of days at his hostel in Cotopaxi for a wedding gift. That’s nice of him and his wife (Tarquin and Katherine). He offered to help take some pictures, too.

Here is a picture of Tarquin and Katherine place when I was there in October (see above). I know the pic is small but I don't have one of the main building.

In the future I’ll include some pictures when Jayne and I go there later in July.

Where are we going for our honeymoon?

We are looking at Aruba for a week. Wow!

June 26-27

Flowers for Jayne when she arrived in December, 2007.

Thursday June 26
Jayne and I went to Quito today.

We went to Matt’s office to pick up the copies of the ID. He had them with his secretary but he didn’t have the second ID that I had asked for. So, I had to take what we had to Giovanna’s place.

I also dropped off my computer at Matt’s office.

We stopped in to see Giovanna and shortly thereafter the Judge arrived. Jayne told him that the embassy said that the cost to marry outside of his office is $60, but he had previously said that the extra $60 is for him. Jayne said that she’ll tell the embassy that so they can update their files. Well he got nervous and said don’t do that. He said this is because the wedding is on the weekend and they just get paid Monday through Friday. So, he just took $60 and said that the other $60 can be paid on the wedding day. He did not give us a receipt though we asked for it.
Giovanna said that this is the corruption in Ecuador. Jayne later said to ask for a receipt from him when I do pay him and to have it video tape – with the recording of what he said and translated.

Giovanna asked Melva if she could help us when we buy rings as she said that many sell jewelry that is not the grade that it’s marked plus they might charge more because we are foreigners. So we met Melva and we went to some jewelry shops.

The price of 18 kt. Gold varied from $30 to $50/gram. We found one store that had the rings that we wanted and their price was $35/gram.

Melva is a good worker. After she went home, I went on the internet while Jayne looked for a handbag to buy for the wedding. She didn’t find what she liked.

When we got home I got a call from Matt. He told me that the computer man is there and that he found nothing wrong with my computer. I told him that’s strange and Jayne and I saw the problem here. I told him to have the guy restart it again. This he did and said that everything is ok. I then told him to check for viruses. Now I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what happened.

Matt said that he’s had no problem with his computer man. Well now he should see something is wrong. I’ll tell Matt that when the guy put in new RAM memory that was wrong and I paid for that for nothing. A two year old computer that just has a browser open and Word program open doesn’t need more memory. If there is something that indicates that it does that means there is some virus operating using the memory. By the way, I didn’t get an indication that my memory is low.

In the evening, Jayne and I discuss what Giovanna said when I asked her how many waiters/waitresses we’ll have and she said two. Only two for 22 people! She said that she’ll use the two waiters who’ll be working at the restaurant. I said at the time that what about if customers come and she said not to worry as they don’t have any customers at that time.
Thinking about this at home, I said to Jayne if she remembered when we walked past the restaurant today. The time was about 4.30pm and there were two tables with people sitting outside. So, we don’t know how many if any were inside. Now, this is Thursday a day that is not as busy as Saturday when we would be having our wedding. And it was at the time we would be having dinner. So, we can be sure that people will be there.

We decided to go and see Giovanna Friday to tell her that we want out own waiters and to have three of them. I also said to Jayne that I bet that Giovanna figures she could make extra money by using the people who are working on the time clock of the restaurant. You can be sure they are not on my bill, though I’m paying for it. Whenever people have wedding planners the cost of the meals also includes the waiters/waitresses. So I don’t what her to charge more for this and if she does, I’ll say this isn’t fair but I’d rather have our own waiters than have people waiting a long time to get served.

I’ll tell Giovanna that is there really are no customers to worry about, I’ll say fine, so I would like her to close the restaurant down for the night and have a sign outside saying ‘Private Party’. This will call her bluff. I’ll say that since I’m paying for the wedding service, that includes waiters, too. So I want my own waiters.

Friday June 27
The first place we stopped was at Matt’s office to pick up the IDs. I saw my computer there running. So it looked ok at his office. I decided to come back later in the day so I won’t have to carry the computer around. Next we stopped at the restaurant where the wedding will be as Jayne wanted to see how the service is. We just ordered coffee.

The service was fine.

Then we stopped at Giovanna’s other restaurant (her mother owns everything). I started to tell her about the waiters and she said that since there will be another party at their big restaurant (the one we had the meeting in), we’ll have our own waiters. This is good and I hope it’s true.
We wanted to pay only half up front the rest on the wedding day. Giovanna said that wasn’t possible because of the ‘law’ here. Jayne and I thought that was bull! First, she knows us and second how will the government know. We said that when you go to a restaurant you always pay after the service unless it’s in a fast food restaurant. We also told her that we are friends and that she knows where we live. But she stuck to this.

Then Giovanna said that there is a legal contract that has to be filled out. Well, she never said anything about this before. So we asked for it and she said that it has to be filled out with the details of the wedding. We said we want to have this translated (as the contract will be in Spanish). She wondered why, and Jayne said no contract is valid unless its understood by the other party. Giovanna said that she’ll email a copy to us.

Such nonsense here in Ecuador!

Then I had a color copy of the IDs made that Matt gave to me.

Then we looked for a pocketbook that Jayne needs. We didn’t find any. I told her that we can look in other stores on Amozonus Ave, near where we’ll have something to eat (we hadn’t eaten today yet). After eating at the Magic Bean we looked for pocketbooks. Jayne found one but not exactly what she wanted, but she’ll use this if another can’t be found. The cost for this leather pocketbook was $10.25. From there we went to El Jardin, which is a big mall in Quito. I looked around for a video camera and bought one. It’s a Sony DVD-D305. this cost $675 with the 10 % discount. That’s nice I got a discount. I also had to buy a flash memory which cost about $79 (minus 10%) and some mini-DVDs that the film is recorded on.

Now I have something to record the wedding on.

Back to Matt’s office to pick up my computer. He offered to have his driver take us from the hotel to the reception – that was nice of him. So we took him up on his offer. I offered to pay but I don’t think he’ll take the money.

Matt asked if the musicians know about the change of date. This is something that Jayne and I never thought about! Matt said that he did call the other day and said something about July 5, but suggested we go and see him right away to make use. Then I thought about the change of time too, to make sure he knows about that.

Then we went to find the shop but saw that it was closed (it was after 5pm). I called Matt to ask him to see him Saturday morning, which he said he will.

We went by the hotel we’ll be staying and, so we stopped in to pay for the two nights we’ll be there. The cost including tax was $238.00.

Afterwards we went to Papaya Net to get something to eat. We had omelets and an Ecuadorian soup called Locra. This is a potato soup made with cheese and avocado. The soup was delicious.
From there we took a taxi home.

Note: I didn't do any editing work, so I don't want to hear about misspellings, etc.

June 20-25

I know that Jayne won't like this picture, but it's a good one of her mother (Lil)! Taken at the hotel in Cyprus.

Note:
Since you know that I had problems with my computer, plus Jayne and I were very busy, I just now had time to post this on the interent. So, here are a bunch of days on one post. Later I'll be posting closer to a daily bases.

I'll also get more pictures up so this wouldn't be so boring for you to read.
Cheers, Chao, etc.

Friday June 20
I went to the internet café and was told in an email that I got that my computer is ready. Am I glad! That means that everything was recovered. It’ll cost me $60. I don’t plan to use it on my internet at home as it might happen again. I’ll have to look for another internet provider. I’ll have to wait until Monday to pick it up.

Saturday June 21
Jayne asked me if I have vest with my suit and I said no. we didn’t think about a vest until today. Having a suit is one thing but a vest is more formal. With the time being so late, it’s too late to have a suit made. Living in a country with small people they don’t have my size on the rack. Even if the store it good where you can buy pants of any size, the chances of the jacket part fitting is small.

So, the only thing that we can do is hope that the fabric store has a color that matches and in a good quality.

Monday June 23
We went to Quito to buy material for a vest that I need for my suit and to pick up my computer at Matt’s office. The first stop was at Matt’s office. My computer was already plugged in but I checked it anyhow. It looked ok and was thankful for it. I was told that the worker bought added memory so my RAM is now 1GB. He left the old one with me. The total cost was $70.

The vest will make it look more formal. We could not find an exact match so we got the closest color but I did get it in the best material – from England at a cost of $58/meter. I also bought lining for it.

Then we went to the tailor to drop it off. I was told that it would be $20 to make it.
I was at the internet café while Jayne went shoe shopping. At this time I got a call from our wedding planner and was told that we have to bring in our paperwork to show the judge tomorrow. I told her that we don’t have everything as Jayne is waiting for the British Embassy to give her one more paper which will be on July 1. I was told to bring in what we have and that to be at her restaurant tomorrow at 10am. She also told me that the judge will have to give the ceremony at 4pm sharp as he has another place to go to.

That’s real great! Now we have to notify everyone that it will not be at 4.30 but at 4.00 and to be sure to be there.

I told Jayne when she got back, of course, she didn’t like the news either. She did buy a pair of shoes, but she still has to buy a purse and I have to get a tie that will come close to the color of her dress.

Tuesday June 24
I plug in my computer this morning and found out that it still froze up – I couldn’t open any program or even turn it off. I had to turn it off by the button. When I started it again I couldn’t get it out of hibernation or click it off on the desktop, so I had to close it by pushing the button.
This is typical of Ecuador – you can’t get anything done right! I’ll have to take it back to Matt’s office. I’m sure this computer repair guy he uses for his web page will guarantee it, but that doesn’t mean that he can fix it. What he did already was wrong for my computer was not slow because it had little memory as it’s only 1 year 6 months old and it’s a HP and I bought it new. So it had plenty of memory to do all the programs out there now. In fact when I had the trouble a couple of times there was only out 2-3 programs opened and it never froze up when I had it at the internet café – only sometimes when I was at home. By indication, this guy doesn’t know what he was doing.

Anyhow, I’ll have to take it back to Matt’s office another day, as when this happened it was right before we left for the city. A good repairman should ask the client what went wrong and the details of it. This will give him a better idea of what to look for.

If the Ecuadorian used logic he would not have put the additional RAM inside it. Using logic he would see that the computer was only 2 years old, that it is a big model made by HP, see how much RAM it already has and would know that it is more than enough to handle program or several big programs out there. But what did he do? The easies thing and just stick in a RAM memory card!?

We got to Giovanna’s restaurant and she called the judge. He came over, though he would have liked us to go to his office, but because we don’t speak Spanish and Giovanna could leave the restaurant, he came there. He seemed like a nice guy.

We showed him all the papers and he said it looked good and in order, but told us that we need the other paper from the embassy (Jayne only). Since I have local ID he said that he needs a photocopy of the front and back and preferably in color. Since Jayne doesn’t have local ID. Actually, there are two different IDs that you get here and the judge wants copies of both and both sides. If you are an Ecuadorian, you just need one ID, which is called a ‘cedular’. For those without an ID, like Jayne, he wants a color copy of her passport and a copy of the entry stamp.
Then the judge said that the witnesses will have to have a copy of their IDs, too.

All of this has to be given Thursday morning when we meet.

Jayne and I told him that we understand the cost of $60 to come out to give the ceremony ($6 if it’s done in his office). He said that is the State’s fee and his fee is an additional $60. This is not was told by either Jayne or my embassy. So, I don’t know if he is trying to charge more or not. This Thursday we have to pay $120.

Jayne said later in the day that she will tell the embassy that and see if this is right or not and if it is right, that should update the info for the people who inquire. She also told me that she will want the judge to give us a receipt and a breakdown of his cost, too.
We were told that the judge will help us with filing the paperwork after the wedding. (We know that this will have to be done and if he helps that’ll be good. At least we’ll be getting something for our money.)

This morning I found that the neighbor threw more trash into our yard – including a baby diaper. These people act like niggers! It’s not children doing it but the adults. I had thrown a bad of trash back a few days ago. However, maybe it went past their patio and landed on the other side of their house, but still, adults should not be throwing trash into their neighbor’s yard. Heck, we wouldn’t even do that if there was a street next to our property. Europeans and Americans are brought up differently – at least they were!

When we got back from the city, Jayne gathered up the trash and threw the bag over the wall to the neighbor’s patio. Now, we’ll see if they learn not to litter!

Wednesday June 25
Jayne and I went to the mall nearby today. First I had to get more money out of the bank to pay for the coming expenses.

At a store we went to Jayne spotted a tie right away that matches up with the color dress she’ll be wearing on our wedding day. I wish that all shopping was that easy. Then we had breakfast.
We wanted to go on the internet at the mall but were told that they have no connection. I wanted to send an email to my friend to see if he’ll have the copies of his and his wife’s ID – we need this for the judge tomorrow.

Then we did some food shopping. At the supermarket they have a travel agency where we stopped in to see what kind of trips they have. The woman spoke English, so that was good. She told us that it’s the high season now – which we knew. She said that Columbia is the cheapest place to go (yes, they do have tourist areas and foreigners do go there). I gave my phone number so she can give us a call when some special comes up.

I planed to go to the interne when we got home (internet café), but it started to rain.
It looks like that Jayne and I will have to wait from 1-2 months after our wedding to go on our honeymoon – but a honeymoon we’ll take! We would like to spend two weeks in some other country – preferably an island. Looking at the brochures were given it would be about $2,000 each – including the airfare – plus anything that we buy there. The total looks like it’ll be about $5,000. We were told that the prices in Columbia is all-inclusive – which means three meals a day.

Thursday June 19

I talked to Yiannis to see how he was doing.

I got a call from Richard. He told me that he just came back from Manta, which is town on the coast. He doesn’t know if he will still be here when the wedding comes, but will let me know. He’s invited to the wedding. He plans to fly to a couple of different countries on business but the delay is because his back hurts.

It had been raining off and on the past couple of days and today it came down hail and rain! As a result Jayne and I decided not to have a carriage drive to the wedding reception. We don’t want to get wet in an open carriage, plus they might not even be working. So, we’ll take a taxi.

The reason why we didn’t want to rent a limo is because the drive from reception is only 3 blocks and the cost of the limo is $200. So why pay for him to do very little work?!

Many people waste a lot of money for a wedding when it’s not needed. Spending more money when it’s not needed is a waste. A lot of money is spent on a wedding like the couple is rich then as soon as the honeymoon is over the couple struggles with making their first mortgage payment or can’t but some basic things they need.

Tip – make sure you bring your cell phone with you and make sure that the other people who you will be calling bring their phones. You might have to call the Best Man to say that you’ll be late or you might have to call the wedding planner to give some last minute info.

Tip – have a check list to make sure you bring all that is necessary – such as wedding rings, money and documents.

June 20

This is the first picture together. It was also the first day that we met (Christmas Day 2006 in Cyprus).

Jayne and I went to Quito to take care of more wedding plans. The first thing I did was to drop off my laptop to my friend who knows a computer repairman to look at my computer.

June 17 2008

Wedding Diary

Tuesday June 17, 2008


Today my computer crashed! (I’m typing this on my old laptop computer.) It all started yesterday when the phone company came unexpectedly here to fix my phone. I had been without one for a couple of weeks. Monday everything was fine, including the internet. Then Tuesday morning I got on the net and when I went to click on a link that I got in my email it all started. This link is from a big company that I know so I know it was from that email.


What happened was that it slowed my computer down to the point that I could not open or close other programs. This never happened when I took my computer to a wireless café. So, this must be because of my internet service. A virus would not act like this. In fact, a friend of mine who is a computer programmer stopped his service with this company because of things like this.


I hope my computer didn’t crash but I will have to take it to a computer repairman. Then we went to a store that sells material where Jayne bought the material for her dress that’ll be tailor made.


Then we went to the weddings shop to pick up the invitations. We saw that the date was wrong. Then we realize that it was after we dropped off the information that we found out from the British Embassy that the notice of the marriage has to be posted on their wall for 21 days before the wedding.


Now we’ll have to add a notice with the invitation that the date has been changed.
I had already wrote emails to most of the people who will be coming but the invitation will have to be sent, too.


Jayne and I got something to eat at a restaurant across from the street of the hotel that we will be staying at the night before and after the wedding. The room is very nice, but they just serve sandwiches and drinks. In other words, the room is much nicer than the food they serve. I’m glad we went there as we had plans to have dinner there while we stay at the hotel. Now, I see that it would be better to have it at the hotel


The hotel that we’ll be at has breakfast included but lunch and dinner is extra. I had already checked out the dinner price which is $19. The menu looked very nice but the price was high. So now well eat there anyway. After all, it is our wedding and we certainly don’t want to go out on the street where most of the ‘restaurants’ are poor.


From there we went to the tailor and dropped off the material. The cost of the material was $41 and to make the dress is $70. So, for $111 Jayne will have a very nice dress for our wedding.