On October 27, 2003 I achieved the refreshing goal of changing from an American wage-slave to a smiling resident of Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Yes, life is very good here in paradise. See my friends James and Anna's website http://playadelcarmeninfo.com/ for all the details about Playa. We all have a favorite hangout - here's one of mine these days: http://www.babesnoodlesandbar.com/

Back in February 2003, before pulling the plug, I bought some property in Pueblo SacBe http://www.pueblosacbe.com/. This is the jungle village where I live now, just a short drive north of town. I have a very active role in the village and the project. On most weekdays I am in town where I share office space with my friend and gracious host Ted Rhodes, the developer of the SacBe project. Just for the convenience, I have been renting the "ugly white house that doesn't look like it really belongs in a jungle village" because the price is right. And now I know a few more things about desirable qualities in a tropical jungle house. Many of these qualities exist in the small house I am building as my temporary home on one of Ted's lots: http://leftblank.com/mx/guadalupe/

So you may be wondering "what about the property you bought?". Well, the plan began as my vision as well as that of my partner Jim Ann. When she joined me here in January, she arrived with an attitude that was very "challenging" for me. After six months, with little evidence of simple friendship left between us, she is living in town, and we are settling our differences regarding the ownership of the properties. So her grandiose landscaping and architecture plans are on the back burner. And I am getting myself sorted out, looking at options, and getting my goals in order. I will let you know how things look after the dust settles.

However, I did recently walk into a property situation I could not refuse. Please take a look at this offering of some property I now own and let me know if it has the same appeal to you that it did to me: http://leftblank.com/yumkaax/

Here are some things I especially like here: The abundant tropical birds and plants in the village. The little dog Balam, who is now mine only on the weekends: http://leftblank.com/mx/balam/. My Spanish language lessons. Sunning, swimming, and snorkeling at the beaches, caverns, and lagoons. Bike riding.

And finally, an update on the business situation. I am getting close to being a Mexican corporation, so I can make deals and pay taxes as Playa Systems http://playasystems.com/. The first area of focus is solar energy systems. I am installing a demo system in my new village house this month, and will start actively selling systems when all the ingredients are complete. I am also still doing well with small scale website design and hosting at http://leftblank.com/.

So there is the quick and dirty story of life as I know it. How about you? Let me know how you're doing, and when you plan to come down for a session of margaritas on the beach!