(** Note: this story was written in January, 2026 **)

As you likely know, my dear mother passed last month (August 14th) and we buried her in Los Angeles on August 25th. September was tough. I had made some decisions in late August, into early September about my future. Some of these decisions had been in the works for a few months now.

As you may recall in previous stories, I was absolutely determined to move to Spain this year. And that, sadly didn’t happen. I made that decision along with my sister and mother back in January. When I visited Los Angeles, soon after returning from a 5- week trip to Spain. I had made that trip to have a good look at different cities in Andalucia. It was an amazing trip. The trip of a lifetime really. And I’m so lucky to have had that time. But things “at home” (my parents in Los Angeles) had been worsening the last couple of years. My father has been in assisted living and then a nursing home now for a combined (almost) 3 years. Mother started falling ill of a heart condition in mid-2024. Things started worsening in February 2025 and she was in a hospital, rehabilitation center and finally a private elder care home until her passing in August.

The financial situation with my parents is not a good one. They have very little savings and have been living off their social security checks the last many years. I have always helped my parents financially. For many years now. And I was happy to be able to do so. But being retired now the last few years, I am on a limited income. Regardless of that, I cannot turn my back on my parents and the financial assistance they required has gone up the last two years.

So, I decided a few months back, to look for a job here in Mexico. Something to simply help me pay some expenses (ie: rent) would be helpful. I just need to replace some funds in my retirement account. I started applying for jobs online several months ago. I actually applied for over 75 positions. It has been difficult. I think my age has a lot to do with it and my experience, or lack of it. I didn’t want a job in human resources, especially in Mexico where I’m not familiar with their labor laws. So, I focused on call center positions and especially those that required excellent English skills. Nonetheless, it’s been quite difficult.

I never thought I would return to work… again! Sure, when I first retired and moved to Dallas, Texas I worked full-time in a call center. I did that for a year until just after COVID hit. I enjoyed working at something that was completely different than my career. It paid more than minimum wage and I had medical benefits. I enjoyed it and made some friends while I was there. I also worked part-time as a restaurant hostess and enjoyed that as well. These jobs were fun and the nominal salary helped.

But this is different. I am older and although some might say “wiser”, looking for a job sure doesn’t make me feel that way. But here we are, September, 2025. I finally found a call center job not too far from my apartment. It was with a company that sold “glamping” vacations just outside of Puerto Vallarta. I had an in person interview that went well, then a language skills interview on the telephone. I was hired shortly after and started on September 8th. At this time, I decided to “resign” from my volunteer position at Petco with the cat adoptions. Like leaving the kid’s shelter, this one also hurt. But I had no choice.

In Mexico, not only are the wages super low, the work week is 6 days. This job paid minimum wage plus commission. The job I was offered was making reservations at this glamping location outside of the city. I was also told that we would be working somewhat part-time and therefore not eligible for benefits. Additionally, we were told that we would only be working Monday through Friday, 4pm – 9pm. Well, as I quickly learned, things are very different in Mexico. Firstly, even though I am a Mexican citizen, I had to go down to the local IRS-like office. I had to apply for a RFC number (like a social security number) in order to be able to work. I did that pretty quickly, fortunately.

The job did not turn out to be what we were told. Not at all. It was disappointing. We had to take cold calls, using leads purchased from another tour company. We made calls into the USA trying to sell glamping vacations to people that were not expecting our calls nor interested in what we were selling. We got a lot of voicemail messages and hang-ups. Although it was a nice office in a nice area with nearby street parking, they were not ready for us. Every day the rules changed, as did the expectations. We did end up working Saturdays. I spent three full weeks there, and they expected us to really hard sell anyone that happened to answer our calls. What we were asking for was a lot of money for a three night weekend stay. I never made one reservation. It was an impossible sale. Not to mention that lack of people skills from the supervisor. It definitely wasn’t for me.

Adjusting to working again hasn’t been easy. The evening shift wasn’t bad actually. I could still get my errands done in the morning, and I was taking my water aerobics classes three times a week at 8:00am. So that was good. Regardless, working again, even though this is only part-time, was a bit stressful and took some getting used to. Learning new things, especially new technology has been a real challenge. But I’m getting through it, one day at a time.

Most of September was focused on working. As I mentioned earlier, after three weeks, I ended up resigning. I had a great interview for another job, this time for an American company that was opening a call center in Puerto Vallarta. The good news was that it was not far from my home. I took a couple of weeks off between the two jobs. But more on that in my next story.