The "A" Factor

**Doremite** · 08-09-2007, 03:04 PM

Check logic and your watch at the door.

**covert** · 08-09-2007, 05:54 PM

sooo...it's siesta time in portrerillos and everything is closed except the YPF. we can see the mountains of vallecitos in the distance. it's a bluebird day with no precip due for 48hrs. road is bone dry. the YPF sells quillmes so we stock up and hop into the chevy corsa all jazzed on the prospect of new peaks...sin cadenas.

peaks of vallecitos are even more impressive up close, three 5000+ meters and one 6000m if you believe the argentine military. accomodations are sweet. really, i'm serious. hot water without shock therapy and a toilet that looks and acts like a normal toilet. door to the refugio doesn't work so well but let's not get carried away right?

overnight wind event shakes the refugio profoundly. morning dawns gray-bird but with only light winds so we tour 1500m up to the base of cerro rincon to look at the bottom half of a couloir. top half is socked in. weather deteriorating. poor ski over thin carton-ish covered snowpack with a light dusting of rockfall back to the refugio where we plan on hitting the road asap before the weather rolls in.

last nights wind event has closed the road. even though the previous day there had been little to no apparent snow available for transport the road is now buried 3-4' deep and 20-100' wide in several spots with knife hard windslab. wx is deteriorating and i'm having visions of a buried chevy corsa sin cadenas and being stuck in vallecitos for a week waiting for the road to melt out.

we're told that MAYBE the maquina is coming this afternoon to work on the road. it's 15:00 so that could mean anytime in the next seven hours. the fixer announces that he's going to have a siesta and see if things have sorted themselves out by the time he wakes.

the maquina arrives accompanied by a crew of 4 humans equipped with their D1's and a shovel party ensues to assist the maquina, an antiquated grader with one chain. though pleased at this unexpected apparent progress i am now having visions of the grader stuck in the snow drift that has trapped us.

the fixer awakes and during his siesta "things have sorted themselves out." maquina and humans clear the road, maté is passed, stupid gringos in their chevy corsa escape, sin cadenas. with more beer from the YPF we proceed triumphantly back to MDZ in search of greater folly.

is this A factor or G factor? perhaps i should drink less maté...

**FrankZappa** · 08-09-2007, 06:12 PM

That's a pretty cool log covert but can you help me with a few translations? (me no speaky the language)

YPF
quillmes
refugio (house?)
wx
sin cadenas
maquina
D1's
maté (I thought beer but you mention beer elsewhere)
MDZ

Thanks. Keep it coming.

**PNWbrit** · 08-09-2007, 06:21 PM

Originally Posted by FrankZappa

YPF - quickiemart
quillmes - Argentine beer - comes in yellow or Brown
refugio (house?) - hut/cabin
wx - weather
sin cadenas - without chains
maquina - plough?
D1's - ?
maté (I thought beer but you mention beer elsewhere) - hot tea like drink
MDZ - town of Mendoza

..............

**enlosandes** · 08-09-2007, 08:00 PM

Covert, well written. Way to fight the good fight. That zone of the Cordon del Plata is extremely impressive, no?

**covert** · 08-10-2007, 03:44 PM

YPF (eee-pay-eff-eh) is the local gas station
quillmes is the local shwag beer
refugio is like an argentine b&b crossed with a euro style hut
wx = weather
sin cadenas = no chains
maquina apparently referred to the antiquated grader
D1 is a shovel
maté is yerba maté, the national drink. many argentinos survive on a diet of exclusively maté and cookies. it makes the chicks hot.
MDZ is Mendoza

experienced additional A factor en route back to LL but i try to only post the most impresive examples. be warned though, just because there are two atms in the mendoza bus station does not mean there are any pesos in them. good idea to plan ahead if you intend to catch a 1am bus. just an idea...perhaps if people were able to access and spend their money when they wanted to the economy would turn the corner. stay tuned...

Originally Posted by FrankZappa

That's a pretty cool log covert but can you help me with a few translations? (me no speaky the language)

YPF
quillmes
refugio (house?)
wx
sin cadenas
maquina
D1's
maté (I thought beer but you mention beer elsewhere)
MDZ

Thanks. Keep it coming.

**Split-It** · 08-10-2007, 04:02 PM

Little known fact: Up from Potrerillos lies Manantiales, a small pueblito that is home to Cervezeria Jerome. They serve up some kick ass micro-brew if you can find it.

**kickflip** · 08-10-2007, 05:38 PM

Purple P and Smelly D! jajajajaja

**enlosandes** · 08-11-2007, 08:17 AM

Got a fresh off the press A Factor story for ya. When we signed up for direct TV (satellite TV), they would only give us a discount if we paid with an Argentine credit card. I offered to pay in cash and they said credit card is better (totally goes against all other Argie companies), so I asked if I could pay the whole year in cash in one payment. After several back and forth conversaitons between the technician/representative named Angel and the head office in Buenos Aires, they agreed. So, I paid the 1223 pesos for two decoders (our house and the guest house). Yesterday I get a bill for a month's service. I called Direct TV, they had no record of me ever paying. The guy says to fax him my paperwork (they also have a copy since he was reading it to me) and a letter explaining the situation. I then called Angel who I paid. He mumbled something and his cell phone conveniently cut out. I then decided to call Direct TV (ongoing lesson here is to call and/or ask until you get the answer you want) again. This time, a really nice guy that spoke excellent English (better than my Spanish) helped me. He took the Angel's number and said he would call me back. He called me back later to say that Angel admitted to recieving the money and is now paying my bill each month, so disregard it when it arrives. So, two hours of mystery solving unraveled this one. Angel took my money, and each month, pays it for me. So Angel really is an Angel I guess, although I gotta think the company could come up with a more efficient way of handling this, then their technicians being bill payers.

**sftc** · 08-11-2007, 12:42 PM

Did Angel at least say thank you for the 1 year no-interest loan?

**enlosandes** · 08-11-2007, 12:49 PM

OK, so I am outside painting the fence and Angel drives up in his beat up old truck (he must have seen this post). After exchanging saludos, he invites be into the truck to talk business. He has some pieces of paper and reciepts, and goes over the spreadsheet telling me how he has paid what and what my balance is. He then aks me if I want him to pay the whole balance to Direct TV and then they can debit my monthly bill from the balance. Wow, what I great idea, we shook hands, and he said he would call Buenos Aires and take care of it.

**801 jav** · 08-11-2007, 03:45 PM

He's probably no Chip Douglas... but Angel sounds like an alright cable guy.

**covert** · 08-11-2007, 06:24 PM

Originally Posted by Split-It

Little known fact: Up from Potrerillos lies Manantiales, a small pueblito that is home to Cervezeria Jerome. They serve up some kick ass micro-brew if you can find it.

is manantiales up the road towards las vegas or valle del sol or is it farther along ruta 7 from portrerillos?

**thalweg** · 08-11-2007, 06:25 PM

We found a slick brochure for bike rentals near Salta; upon arriving off the bus, we found two bikes without gears, and with flat tires. After pumping up the tires, tightening the seat pivot, and fixing the brakes, we were good to go. We rode out about 10 km into the hills when I see one of my pedals is cross threaded and starting to work loose. Sure enough, after turning around it pops out on the first bump. We start back, and eventually make it, through a combination of gimpy one-footed pedaling, hitchhiking, and walking.

At the rental place we relax for 20 minutes while other customers are helped. I then offer to pay for the bike that worked, and imply that the pedal-less bike isn't worth the money. The A-factor arrives when the rental guy asks me, did the pedal failure occur on the outward or return journey? Bewildered, we just leave politely.

Almost better is the U-factor... I went through four mopeds in one day... still more fun than renting from a major chain though.

**enlosandes** · 08-16-2007, 10:15 PM

OK, here's one. Go into a locutoria (phone/fax/sometimes internet place) to send a fax. Wait for the lady to finish her personal conversation on the phone to use the line to fax. Give the lady my papaer and the number. She tries to send it but says it won't go thru because my paper is either crinkled or too thick, not sure. She suggests making a photo copy and trying with her paper. She makes a copy and then tears the copy in half where my text ends. Then calls again and apparently doesn't go thru. Suggests a third time making a copy and not tearing it. I tell her thanks, but it isn 't that important (I have a scanner at home). She charges me for two calls, and one copy. I wasn't gonna argue over the 2.44 pesos, instead I just laughed and figured the maggots would get a chuckle out of it. Another day in Argentina. New phrase of the week, ¡Vale la pena! Worth the effort.

**enlosandes** · 08-17-2007, 07:14 PM

Back to back A factor days here. I called our internet provider (Speedy) to see if I could bump up the speed from 512K to 1MB. They said sure, call back in three days for a password. I guess they can't just turn it up. I called and the system was down, call back tomorrow. I just called and the password they gave me didn't work. I called them back, they gave me some other temporary password for 72 hours, and guess what, my speed went down. Now they are closed for the night. Speedy is definetly an A Factor company.

**FrankZappa** · 08-17-2007, 07:37 PM

ELA-
Where's this years SA photo thread?

**enlosandes** · 08-17-2007, 07:46 PM

Zappa, not sure what you mean? BTW, your daughter was hot in the day.

**FrankZappa** · 08-17-2007, 08:00 PM

The scrapbook pictures, man! You know, the part about a thousand words?
example from last year

as for the daughter, we were all hot at one time or another.

**smitchell333** · 08-17-2007, 10:18 PM

Originally Posted by FrankZappa

The scrapbook pictures, man! You know, the part about a thousand words?
example from last year

**enlosandes** · 08-18-2007, 07:54 AM

Oh, those pix. Well, we relocated to Bariloche (couldn't spend another season waiting on the Marte and the correspondig shit show) so the big mountains pictures are much fewer and far between. Here is one from yesterday.

**covert** · 08-23-2007, 04:25 PM

tidbits from the circus....

has anyone mentioned that the gas station in las lenas was closed for the first 6-8 weeks of the season? "bienvenidos a las lenas...oh, you're out of gas....well, there's a station in malargue an hour back the way you came. have this 16oz water bottle full of diesel. that will be 500 pesos please." apparently someone forgot to renew the contract with YPF. slight oversight.

there was a 4-5 day stretch this season when the only functioning ATM in lenas was not functioning. i was eagerly awaiting the festivities which were sure to ensue but unfortunately someone decided it was a good idea to fix the atm. must have run out of mate.

camping near cerro las lenas the fuel canister i brought runs dry after melting 8 liters of water. hmmm, gas con suerte. fortunately we had just finished dinner and had enough water to sucessfully get turned around by a mixed alpine project in the canaletta we were ascending the next day. more water could only have meant more trouble.

so i'm in "home depot" in mendoza which claims to have the "soluciones por todos mi proyectos." well my project was to fix my fucking piece of shit garmont endorphins. the rivet that holds the cuff onto the shell exploded so i rolled for two weeks with a piece of webbing holding my cuff in place on one side. all i need is a nut, bolt and some washers. surely the solution to this proyecto must lie in this massive altar of home improvement.

i'm in an aisle ~100m long of nothing but fasteners. i spent approximately 1 hour in this aisle searching first for a proper sized bolt, then for a nut that would fit that bolt, then for some washers that would complete the package. apparently i had stumbled across some mendocino experiment in chaos theory. never found a proper sized bolt so i went smaller and wrapped zonas tape around it. all the nut bins were filled with a potporri of bits of metal, some of which actually seemed to resemble proper nuts. proper nuts...tee hee. well, after a lengthy search that made my head feel like i was playing a game of concentration on acid i managed to locate a nut that fit my bolt. oh happy day. the washers were a bit easier, that only took 20 minutes and in a fit of rightoeus indignation i decided to steal them. surely theft would improve my situation.

so i go to the cash register to pay. being the savvy gringo that i am i anticpate the question and reach into my pocket for exact change. i dump my change and four washers onto the counter in front of the cashier. oops. so i give her my best cutesy clueless gringo smile, no small trick, and she smiles back. i pick up the washers one by one and replace them in my pocket. i proceed on my merry way, smoke a cigarette and the fixer and i fuck off to return the rental car. did i mention that when we rented the car i had forgotten my drivers license? why would i need that? factored myself, there is no escape. the fixer earned his keep that day.

5 days later the other rivet on my garmonts explodes. good thing i bought extra bits and by that point was well versed in jerry-rigging a fix. here's a big whassup to garmont

so far on this trip american airlines lost my day pack with my shell, fleece, hat, glove liners, skin wax and various other bits. it's gone but i'm sure they will shower me with jewels in recompense. the sidewall on my DPSs cracked. both boots broke. i put a 20cm tear down the center of one of my skins. i've lost my extra pole so i'm on borrowed time there. i have consumed ~3 liters of jim beam and 2 liters of the famous grouse, ~20 packs of marlboros, camels, lucky strikes or whatever happens to be around, imbibed roughly 5 kilos of mate, hundreds of quillmes, andes, etc. had my share of chunk and then some. i have not yet been on a fernet bender but i eagerly anticipate things improving dramatically once i rectify this oversight. i swear i'm getting better at this shit. hucking cliffs blind is for rookies. nos vemos boludos.

**enlosandes** · 08-23-2007, 06:57 PM

Covert, once again, excellent writing. I love your attitude, it is what it takes to make it here in Argentina. In a few I will share today's A factor story from this part of this wonderful country.

**enlosandes** · 08-23-2007, 07:13 PM

OK, so we are working on our security clearance to own property here (another story for another day) and we need to get our finger prints for the application. So, we walk to the police station today with our ID's and the paper I downloaded for the prints. We walk into the police station and explain to the policeman what we need. He mumbles, goes in back, asks his partner something and tell us we need to go to another station. He asked why we choose this station and we explain we were told to go to the closest station from our house which is the Llao Llao station. He asked if we got the paper from Argentina (downloaded off the internet), I say yes. He then makes a phone call and says OK, he can do it. He then pulls out his kit, consisting of ink, a flat rubber stamp thing, and a five finger holder contraption. He folds the paper and begins his printing. After he is done, there is a huge amount of black ink on our fingers. He takes us back to the kitchen of the police station, and shows us the sink, gives us some liquid soap and we being to scrub. He then says, "necisitan mate" and pours his used mate out of the gourd and into our hands, and I kid you not, it miraculously cleans the ink right up. That is my A factor story for today. Carry on.