Tuesday, January 6th, did not start well. I needed to get cash from my bank, HSBC. Usually I use online banking to transfer funds from my Calgary account to my Ajijic account and then go to the local HSBC branch to make a withdrawal. But I could not find my HSBC security device. I looked and looked but could not find it. Almost immediately I began to feel anxious. I am very careful with the device and it never leaves my den. Its disappearance was doubly strange. I kept it in the same place as our passports and resisdente temporal cards. Last year Pat's residency card disappeared and has never turned up. And now this, very strange, quite similar to last year's incident. I was worried about the challenge of getting a new device thinking it would probably need to come by courier from Calgary. But in a reply to my email, my account representative informed me that there was now a smart phone app available. That was reassuring.
However, on the same day my smart phone died. The battery had been deteriorating and the phone was difficult to keep charged. But now it would not boot up at all so the time to replace it had arrived. It was seven years old and was my first smart phone. I had already decided that my next one would have a larger screen.
I went to the branch and was able to get some of the cash I needed at the ATM. Later in the day, Pat and I headed to the airport to await the arrival of our friend, Irene Seniuk. This would be her third trip to Lakeside.
The next day I bought a new smart phone. On Wednesday morning Pat and Irene went to the weekly street market and then out for lunch. I needed peace and quite so that I could concentrate on the task at hand. The process to activate the HSBC security app was not easy but the representative from HSBC Support was patient and helpful. Loading other apps went smoothly.
The highlights of Irene's visit are captured in a photo album, 2020 - Irene Seniuk's Visit.