Which Way is Costa Rica?

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This is the image. My happy home, which it is, with a beautiful, landscaped garden, where I now have only gravel. But soon, maybe, depending…

I won’t even show you the reality. Reality may well suck up my landscape money. It came in the form of a notice from my utility company. They informed me that electricity prices would increase, which I knew. I thought maybe 5%, tops 10%. But no. For the next seven months my electric bill will go up 50%. Then will it go back down? Not from what I’ve seen so far. My money seems especially attractive to them.

I had been looking at solar panels anyway. Honestly, it was throwing the dice to see whether I would live long enough to see them pay for themselves. It could be time to run the numbers again.

Or, maybe just move to a warm climate. Granada is nice, as is Barcelona. Maybe Malta or Sicily? Or, I hear intriguing things about Costa Rica.

I’d hate to start over again. I have friends here, ones I didn’t know before I moved to France. My French has improved to the point that it is only half bad. Maybe I’ll just pay up. Ugh.

18 thoughts on “Which Way is Costa Rica?”

    1. Right now I’m in the “venting” stage. Just the logistics of moving are enough to keep me here for quite a while. But get down here! I’ve been to Switzerland twice since I’ve been here. Brittany is a schlep, but I signed up for a two-week French intensive on Belle-Ile, of all places, for late November. Can you imagine the weather at that time of year? I expect to need insulated and waterproof everything, including pyjamas.

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  2. Spain now has the most expensive utilities in Europe 😊 By the time we left internet, telephone and.insurance were significantly more expensive than France.
    I’m pretty sure they can’t legally raise your bill by that amount. There’s a general rise but we’re talking about something under 3%.

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    1. See? They’re after me! The email explained that there would be an increase and they didn’t want me to be hit with a big bill at the end of my contract year, etc. So, not strictly an increase. More of a proactive measure. That may never go away.

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      1. What’s always attracted me to the French system is that it’s designed in a way where one can fight back and win. It can be tiresome but sometimes it’s worth it. Also, unlikely as it may seem, many of these rates are negotiable. After we complained our internet speed was consistently lower than promised by Orange, they made the offer that we pay 42 a month instead of 50.

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        1. True. I did get into a dispute with EDF. They made a mistake when they installed the Linky and basically, after much carry-on, they did give up. But what a pain. EDF wanted thousands to which they were not entitled, so calling my lawyer was definitely the way to go. But at 8 euros a month — at least you got that — how long will it take before you are fairly compensated for your time?

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  3. It got my goat all those years ago to pay a subsidy for ‘green’ energy….not to speak of all the other taxes lumped onto my electricity bill as, for example, contributing to the cost of EDF workers’ holiday camps – for which read chateaux for the union bosses….let alone the section of the water bill to pay for a sewage system which did not exist.
    I loved our last house in France, but between climate change and grasping government making tax planning impossible our life was not going to improve, so we upped sticks.

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    1. I don’t look at the details on those bills — too depressing. But for the life of me I can’t figure out why the basic bill is so high. And 50% on top of that…. On the plus side, I am on the sewage system.

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  4. Have you discussed a potential move with Jacques? It’s all about the dog doncha know. After all the time and effort you’ve expended on your lovely house I always hoped you’d have enough peaceful time to enjoy it. Oh well, there’s always Temecula…hahaha.

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    1. By the way. WordPress has again dropped you from my feed. That’s why I am so late commenting. I was wondering where you were, came to look at your site and find you’ve been posting all along. Hmmmph.

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      1. Yeah, no kidding. Some of the sites have lost their “like” button, often the only thing I have to say about batwings on dogs. Well, stick around, one way or another. It’s always good to hear from you.

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        1. It ticked me off because I lost my shot at mocking your paltry garden production this year. I was ready to crow about my contrasting successes but now it’s too late; it would be piling on. Although I should mention I have a second crop of cucumbers and – gasp – tomatoes in the ground right now. Counting on global warming for them to make it to harvest before a frost. I like to live dangerously.

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          1. Cucumbers. That’s right. I sent cucumber seeds off with Julien and he just kept them. No cukes for me. I’m helping to feed three families from my garden. If you’re just feeding yourselves, you must be pickling and freezing like crazy. Now you’re going for a second crop? Overkill, but so what?

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          2. Unlike you we don’t have a lot of garden space so our main measure of success is productivity per plant. We had a banner year in that respect and the freezer compartment of my beer frig is packed with sauces and frozen veggies. For some reason our pepper crop was poor this year. I attribute that to the plant locations and will try again next year to improve.

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  5. Yes, you need to say when you and family will escape the confines of Cucamonga, or wherever you are, for the wilds of back-of-beyond France. Two adorable little white dogs might be asking too much — that flight is not something I would ask of Jacques — but we can Photoshop Max in.

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