Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Qué Pobres, Wednesday 2/5/14 (#23): Grated Expectations

Alt titles:
- Managed Expectations
- What to Expect When You're Not Expecting

MA announces his intention to have an appraiser evaluate the property - land and buildings. Just in case it turns out the Menchacas owe more than 300K pesos. (Imagine if the bank decided to increase the balance on your decades-old mortgage.) There is much grumbling.

Nepo is walking on air. He's slept late and has breakfast ready when Diego gets up, much to Diego's delight. They haven't breakfasted together in years, apparently. This seems like a good time for a serious father/son talk, but Guendy arrives. Nepo gives her and Diego his good news about Lupe.

Guendy teleports to the Mechacas' and loudly announces the noviazgo of Lupe and Nepo to the whole family, because that's totally her news to give, right? The whole family congratulates Lupe (or do I see Chuy hesitate for just a moment first?). MA hangs back. Guendy notices and insists that he give his cousin a hug and kiss. MA obliges with an awkward hug.

Lupe asks the family not to mention this to Emiliano yet. Guendy makes a kissy face at MA.

In a silent-bleep-laden scene, Ahole suffers a brief equipment malfunction when he attempts an ultra-quickie with Min before work. She takes advantage of this pause in his fervor to ask him for a bank account and a higher limit on her credit card for "household expenses." Ahole ignores her chatter, gets his concentration back, bangs her real fast, and goes to the office.

Ahole brags to Vilma about his honeymoon. She spitefully puts way too much sugar in his coffee. Again she voices her doubts about Adolfo. He's using the RP company to launder his money. It's very risky. Vilma doesn't like it. They could go to jail. Ahole replies that his own money is safe in the Caymans and in Switzerland; it's the RP money that's at risk. They're making a big profit, so what's the problem? "Yes sir, you know best," Vilma replies.

Ahole vows never to set foot in a prison. He neglects to make such a promise on Vilma's behalf.

MA is on the phone with Saul when the call gets cut off. The RPs' phone plan has expired. MA suggests selling the dog or some of the family treasures if they insist on having working phones. Leo asks his mother to reconsider Sharky's offer to have dinner with her. AS is offended. MA says he'll have to hock or sell AS's father's collection of antique watches. AS protests, but doesn't offer an alternative.

In the kitchen, Carmelita taunts Lupe about her timing. Nepo's been after Lupe for years, but she doesn't cave until "that mmmmmm." (Carmelita traces a funny silhouette in the air with her spatula, which is supposed to represent MA somehow.) Lupe insists that the timing has no significance. Anyway, she's not in love. Not in love with MA, she adds hastily.

Lupe confronts MA as he heads out the door with his maternal grandfather's watches. She's upset about the appraisal and reminds him that she can turn him in. MA asks her not to. It'd be bad karma to send him to prison.

Vilma is verbally harassing Melina, the secretary, again, calling her brainless, when Minerva shows up. They have a very catty showdown about Minerva's access to Ahole during business hours. Mini wins, of course. She walks in on Ahole while he's on the phone with Adolfo. Min overhears MA's name and asks Ahole about it. He insists that she must have misheard him. He was talking about a restaurant in San Angel. Yeah, that's the ticket. Min isn't convinced, but that's not why she came. She came to remind him of her request for a bank account, higher credit limit... and some money for Mom to remodel her condo. Ahole grandly says sure. I'll sign this check, Mom can fill in the amount she needs, and she can pay me back in monthly installments. Mini tries to persuade him to give the money as a gift - since Mom will be helping out with the baby. "We'll see about that," Ahole replies noncommittally.

MA goes to the pawnshop. (The sign does indeed say Ladino, so it's not just a nickname. Reader/recapper JPCruzer says they've been calling him not "Gonzalo" but "Don Salo," which makes sense to me.) Sharky offers 5000 "pesotes" ("big bucks") to hock the whole collection. MA says just one watch is worth 10,000 dollars. Sharky mumbles some stuff about federal bank rates, natural disasters, and the war in Syria to justify the low offer, but grandly bumps it up to 7000 pesos. Plus 20 more for the box. (Are we to believe this is the only pawnshop in town and this is where he can get the best price? Puh-lease. I bet Saul could get more for these things in a swankier area.)

Chuy wants to invest with a friend to put together a wrestling exhibition/convention. This will cost money up front, but just think of all the money he would make. Lupita is very skeptical that this will raise enough to pay off their debt of 300K pesos (or more).

Isela is very upset about Ahole's "loan." She has no money to pay him back with. Min says she'll give her a cut of the money Ahole gives her to pay back the loan - so really Ahole will be paying for it. (It's kind of, sort of, a form of money laundering!)

Isela declares: not only had they better go to the doctor for a pregnancy test - they'd better see about fertility treatments to speed things up.

Nepo brings flowers to Lupita. She's not happy that he told Guendy about them, and then Guendy broadcast it to the world. Nepo wants to go with Lupita to pick up Emiliano at school. The boy should get used to seeing them together. Lupe hesitates; she hasn't told him about "us" yet. Nepo really wants to be a dad to Emil.

At school, Emil's friend is asking about Emil's father. Luckily, Lupe is there to pick him up. Emil bolts without answering his friend. He is taken aback to see Nepo. Nepo offers to buy him a balloon; Emil says no. He's hungry and wants to go home. Nepo says they'll go out for tacos.

MA gets four very basic, no-frills cell phones for himself and his family. No camera, no Internet. His mother and siblings complain about the lack of features and limited range/minutes. He says the phones are mostly for keeping in touch in emergencies; if they want more, they can pay for it themselves.

Isela does all the talking at the doctor's office. The Dr says yes, they can look into fertility treatments if necessary, but let's do the tests first. Isela is in a big hurry; you'd think she was the patient. She'd take the tests herself if she could. Mini kind of flirts with the doctor.

Wow, that's one fast lab. The test results are in. It's not good news. Mini isn't pregnant, and all the fertility treatments in the world won't help. She has an undeveloped uterus! She's sterile! Isela: "No puede serrrrr!"

Next time: Lupe tells Emiliano about her and Nepo.

Labels:


Comments:
Hello there. Admittedly, I've not really posted here since "Una Familia Con Suerte." However, I have to say that this is a show I really enjoy watching and that it is a wonderful way to end the evening.
I have to say that one of the things that makes this show what it is deals with the communication between the characters. The Spanish slang among the common folks and higher-up speak of the rich folks is priceless. I think that some folks miss some of what the captions are saying, so from time to time, I'll try and fill in some of the things regarding thelanguag.

Finally, let's answer the question of Salomon. They actually call him Don Salo (short for Salomon)...not Gonzalo.

My hat's off to the folks who recap. Nice job.

 

Julie:

I can't wait to get your take on this epi and what a bombshell for Mini to find out, never mind her over grasping Mama. Now what are they going to do?

Emi so isn't happy with Nepo is he? He likes him, but not with his Mama.

I did hear Leo call Don Salomon, Gonzalo. I don't have captions. It was funny when MA went to him to pawn all that fancy gold and Don S only would give him so much less than it was worth and what did he get with the pesos. Cell phones, que????? He would have been better off saving it up, but then again, Leo would have some how gotten his grimy fingers on it and that would have been that.


 

I really like that MA put his family on "Pay Or It's Gone" cell phones! Shall we lay odds on who runs out of minutes first?
 

Wah! It sucks always being a day behind! Maybe I'll catch up today.

Even with my comprehension issues I love this show.

Again, recappers...thanks for your dedication!
 

JP! Nice to see you again. Don Salo makes sense, but it's only the RPs who we hear saying it. Would they be so familiar with him already? But then again, Leo isn't respectful enough of people to stand on formality.

As for Mini's bad news, how is she going to pull this off?
 

Thanks, JP! "Don Salo" makes a lot of sense.

The recap will be up soon.
 

Done!

I didn't get a chance to write up my notes for last Wednesday yet, so I'll explain now that Melina is the secretary Vilma yelled at last week for leaving Ahole's office unlocked. Melina sassed her back last week and apparently still isn't exactly walking on eggshells with Vilma. It's possible that Vilma is delusional about the amount of power she wields in that office.

Oh, and don't call her "Wilma." She hates that!
 

Julie, thanks for the great recap.

Funny how MA always alludes to the property appraising for more , (not a spoiler) but what if the property appraises for less and the Ruiz-Palacios have even less time or no time left at the Menchacas?

Poor Minerva! Maybe she can get a divorce from her Chiqui and some money before the truth hits the fan about her inability to have a child.

Loved : Nepo being "feliz como un lombriz" happy as an earthworm; Minerva's exchange with Vilma guarding her boss's office door; MA getting pay as ypu go cell phones and only phones for his family; AS ordering breakfast in her dreams and waking up to reality.

One of the reasons the Menchacas need plastic on living room furniture: to protect it from big kids like MA who walk all over it.

Another good one!

Jarifa

 

Julie:

Thanks so much for this splendid recap and for your double duty this week.

I concede the Don Salo for Gonzolo. It may be the way they say it. It does sound the same.

So Mini right now is in trouble. What will she do about this? I wonder what Isela will come up with? This should be interesting.

I too can't wait to find out what the appraiser says about the property. It looks like bidness has picked up at the Fonda. Will that affect the appraisal?

You weren't wrong Julie about Don Chuy hesitating. I don't think he's been on board with Nepo and Lupe either.

I really like Carmelita. She's very funny and she sees a lot that Lupe doesn't see.

Leo was witching about being able to call Spain and talk to Macarena. Leo ought to get a job along with AS and Frida. I can see AS doing party planning as Julie mentioned before. Leo could be her assistant, lol. Frida now what could she do? Make a vegan menu? MA could be a waiter, he's good at that, for the time being. Hmmmm.......

Vilma does think she has a lot of power at The Editorial. She is a lawyer, so if this fraud is discovered she could lose her law license and much more. Funny how Ahole is using the RP money for this fraud. So how is he going to blame MA for this, since MA is gone? Adolfo sure has his work cut out for him. Will they set up a bogus account in Italy, thinking that MA and familia are there? Can't wait to see how this works out.
 

I think Ahole isn't expecting to get caught, so he won't have anything to explain. That's not very realistic, but I expect he'll incriminate Vilma if anything goes wrong.

I wonder if Leo earn money giving music lessons? Assuming he knows how to play with more than one finger?

Jarifa, I wondered about the appraisal coming in lower, too. It doesn't seem likely, but I can't think of any other way to derail MA's plan... unless some new disaster comes up.

I really wish I'd had more time to work on this recap. A lot of hopes were dashed/shredded last night, and I wanted to do a whole theme about it, but now we can only weep for what will never be.

I'm dying to know where this undeveloped-uterus revelation is going. Will Mini fake a pregnancy, or will she tell Ajole the truth? Will they try to use a surrogate? Would an adoption (of anyone, not necessarily Emiliano) satisfy the clause?
 

Oh, forgot to mention - MA also mentioned that one of the benefits of their new phones was that the police wouldn't be able to trace them. LOL. The police had weeks to trace their old phones, but they never did!
 

Ahole would be the type to get rid of Mini, as in Next! as Carlos likes to say. He just wants that bebe so he can get what he wants. Funny how Ahole knows a money launderer. I'd like to see some of his back story. I wonder if Gramps A knew how truly bad Ahole is.

Don't worry about the theme Julie : ) I like to do them too, but it's hard on a week night to write one.
 

Thank you for the recap Julie. You folks doing double duty, we appreciate what it's costing you to keep us informed.

I just checked eBay. MA could've sold those four iPhones for about $400 each, and bought TracFones plus a few hundered minutes for about $100 each. Each RP would get back a phone plus $300, and MA would still have those valuable watches. There I go thinking again.
 

A new slogan for this blog! "We think, so the TN characters don't have to!"
 

Julie - excellent line about how we do the thinking for the characters — that is so true and we also call doctors for them during emergencies. LOL

I couldn't believe MA walking over the Menchacas furniture. I guess that was supposed to be funny but it wasn't to me it was crass and rude. MA like the rest of his snotty family still feels superior to the hard working Menchacas.

Every day I ask myself what kid of fools are the RP's. They don't have any friends left that they can text or call and seriously do they think there are internet connections at the Menchacas who don't even seem to have phones. Maybe having to work to earn money to support their talking habits might make them get off their privileged butts and do an honest days work. At this point all they are is leeches.

Min and Mom really have a problem now. There is no way they will tell Ahole but they could tell him that the reason Min can't get pregnant is HIS fault. Since none of them know about Emiliano the onus to find a solution i.e. adopting, surrogacy or child theft will fall on his shoulders.

Don Chuy isn't thrilled with the Nepo Lupe relationship. He likes the guy well enough but not for his nina. Then again he might not approve of any man for her after the way Ahole treated her.
 

Julie- The recap was perfect. No need for embellishment.

Decie Girl- I also seethed when MA walked all over the Menchaca furniture. WTF?! That was so rude, and I can't believe Lupe let it go. I would have fully supported her hitting him.

I wonder what it will take for the RPs to get off their butts and go to work to earn their keep?

Don Chuy, Emiliano, and Carmelita all like Nepo, but I think they sense that Lupe isn’t as into him as he is into her, and that’s their hesitation. They want to see her in love and happy, not just settle. Gwendy and Nepo would make a nice couple, but they just don’t seem to see each other that way (yet). Love how Gwendy throws MA off balance.

 

Thanks so much for this excellent recap, Julie. Well done and very much appreciated.

My heart goes out to Minerva. Shades of Florencia in AdP. She was very creative in coping with that little detail. I was very sad for Flo and have the same sympathy for Minnie.

Decie Girl,

I share your disgust over MA's complete lack of respect for things Menchaca. Also I hope that little Da Vinci wasn't paying attention when he suggested selling the dog.

Carlos
 

Shall we list out some of the nonsensical things the RPs are doing (or not doing):

-MA didn’t pack clothes to go on the run; hasn’t tried to purchase clothing; or even asked for clothing from Saul.
-MA keeps refusing to borrow money from his one and only friend, Saul, or allow Saul to give his family, or at least his grandma, shelter.
-The RPs keep insulting their hosts.
-The RPs don’t lift a finger to help out around their hosts’ house.
-The RPs have a storage shed full of stuff they could sell, and stuff they could sleep on comfortably, and they don’t.
-When the RPs do finally decide to sell a few things, they don’t look for a pawn broker who will give them a better price.
-MA doesn’t make a better deal for new phones using their super expensive old phones. (I do approve of the pay as you go plan.)
-The RPs don’t use the money the Menchacas owe them on the house to negotiate better room and board accommodations and a longer-term housing agreement.
-None of the non-fugitive RPs have thought about getting a job.

 

Julie,
your line
Ahole ignores her chatter, gets his concentration back, bangs her real fast, and goes to the office.

almost made me choke on my 'sort of kind of cuban sandwich i am trying to eat on way to a 1pm mtg.

Decie, I agree with you about Don Chuy not so thrilled about Lupe/Nepo having to do with her earlier experiences... the father would tend to get even more restrictive as to her chosen 'dates'/relationships... even if Nepo would be help with their current finances...

The whole scene of Mini overhearing A-hole mentioning his cousin might come back later on BIG TIME!!! after all, the fraud is easy to prove, but who INSTEAD OF MA did commit it might not be so easy... but if witnesses heard him say he framed MA intentionally would be the nail on the coffin of his termination.
(this very same plotline was used in Cafe, the original of Destilando, where the wife heard a phone con of another cousin (also implicated) with 'A-hole' say he could not believe what A-hole (Ivan in Cafe) was doing to his own cousin... etc.


more later, have to run to mtg.
 

I was also appalled by the furniture-walking, and I don't even understand why he did it. There was a perfectly good floor right at his feet!

Decie, if Min and Mom were to tell Ajole that he's the one who's infertile, it wouldn't take him more than a couple of hours to find out otherwise (seeing how fast these medical labs are). And if she does tell him the truth, it's not necessarily the end of their marriage. I think they would both enjoy bonding over a false pregnancy scheme. (They still have to get a baby somewhere, of course, but that never seems to be a problem in TelenovelaLand.)

I honestly thought that being without a phone would motivate the RPs to find jobs. Obviously I was wrong. Or maybe we just need to wait a few days for their credits to run out. :-)

Marta, I haven't had a Cuban sandwich in forever. I am jealous, but I'm glad you didn't choke. :-)

I think all the Menchacas were really shocked to hear about Lupe and Nepo. Aside from the fact that she's been holding him off for years, there's also the little detail that they never went out on a date. In fact, she wasn't even the one to make the announcement. AND she didn't want to tell Emiliano yet!

Chuy, Carmelita, et al are all right to be suspicious; but so far, only Carmelita has really confronted Lupe about it. I hope Carmelita wins a great prize (a rich guapazo, or something) before all this is over.
 

I'm finding it hard to believe that MA actually was successful in business on his own in London. He doesn't seem to have any business sense. He never seems to be looking for the best deal or figuring out how to solve problems. His only idea is to have the property appraised, and that is just obnoxious, because its current value, while probably higher because of inflation, is irrelevant! The price is based on the deal the Menchacas made with Abuelo way back when! But biting the hand that feeds you is SO Ruizpalacios.

Lupita is also being cruel. Nepo has always been nice to her. Now she's using him and getting his hopes up while she's fully aware she isn't that into him. Mean.

I agree Ahole may be on board with a fake-pregnancy plan. Heck, they could pretend she got knocked up right away, make their baby a month "premature", and collect their prize sooner. Seems right up his alley.

Thanks so much, Julie. You're a superstar! I don't know how you're managing these late-night recaps, but they're awesome!
 

Yes Julie, it would be easy for Alejo to get a fertility test for himself. Just like it would be easy for MA to borrow a blanket and a clean shirt from Saul. Or to sell their iPhones on eBay for big bucks. But as we know, TN's never let common sense interfere with plotlines.
 

Sure it would be easy for Ahole to get a fertility test but I don't think he would. He fancies himself some swashbuckling Don Juan and he would never admit or even want to check to see if he was shooting blanks.

I think a fake pregnancy wouldn't work because they have to have a boy. No collecting on the chance it might be a boy and even a faked ultrasound wouldn't work because there could be birth complications. It will be interesting to see how Min and Mom deal with it.

Another vote for wondering how MA ever succeeded in business. You would think that someone who went off on his own set up a business and made a lot of money would be much more of a go-getter than he seems. If this is the way he acted around his grandfather no wonder the old man thought he was useless.
 

How would faking a pregnancy not work? They would still have to come up with a kid - but that makes it 100% sure it would be a boy, because that's what they'd buy. (Unlike a real pregnancy, where the gender is a crapshoot.)

Then again, maybe Ahole is too cheap to pay for a baby. I did think, a while back, that he might try to make one with Vilma, send her out of town on "special assignment" till the baby is born, then take the baby and try to pass it off as Mini's; but I can't imagine that Vilma would agree to that.

One thing's for sure: however Min plans to deal with this, it's going to be a disaster.

MA's success in business? I don't find it so unbelievable that he did well... when he was in London. There, he was away from his high-maintenance family. Now he's expending (wasting) all of his energy and brainpower babysitting them and running interference with the Menchacas and being distracted by Lupe. He must be one of those people who can deal with only one thing at a time.

(Say... if he can't sit on a plastic-covered chair without sliding off, how did he manage to walk on a plastic-covered sofa without breaking his neck?)
 

Julie:

I so agree with you about MA. His babysitting duties are taking all of his time. He is the peacemaker and has taken that full time position with a little jaunt to the office to try to find something to prove his innocence. Too bad didn't opt for internet service. He could have used that to try to find some evidence. He should have done that at the office but didn't get the chance. I know he took discs from there and I wonder if Saul has checked those yet?

There is a better plan than Trac phone called Boost Mobile you get unlimited, truly unlimited, internet, camera, talk and text for $40.00 a month, flat fee, for a Smart Phone. MA would have been better off getting that.
 

OT: Madelaine, do you use Boost Mobile? I've been wanting to switch phone service but I don't know what to change to. There are so many options! Boost is one of the companies I am considering.
 

Honestly, with the phones, I think MA was just trying to get it over with.

The fact that he specifically asked for something with no camera (which I didn't know they even still made) seemed almost passive-aggressive, like he was more interested in torturing his family than in getting the best value.
 

What do you want to bet that comes back to bite him, when he or another family member is in a situation where they could snap a photo to use as evidence that would help them...except that they no longer have camera phones.


 

Julia:

Yes, Mr. Mads and my daughter both have Boost Mobile. My daughter has one of those Smart Phones, that does everything. She is the Queen of the Apps, if there is an app for that, she's on it. It is only $40.00 a month, no overages, no contract, no paying for extra minutes. It is a truly unlimited service and one of the best on the market right now.
 

Julia, I am sure you're right... no doubt MA will be the one who ends up paying most dearly for his non-smart shopping.

Also, I think the cell phone store lady said the new phones aren't compatible with their old SIM cards, meaning that they've all lost their phone/address books. I think it was AS in particular who said a while back that she didn't know any phone numbers. Ah well... who can she call, anyway? (Besides the drugstore, to ask if they have Prince Albert in a can.) She's lost all of her friends!

Mads, Boost Mobile should give you a referral bonus. I am going to look into them, myself.
 

Julie, this was a great recap. Thanks for keeping us current in the battle of the haves and have nots.
I'm amused at each day's growing grime on MA's jacket. Hard to be a smooth operator when you look like a bum. I also laugh whenever Isela uses the plural--"we" have to do this, etc. I'm sure she would be a surrogate if she could.
Each character contributes their individual touch to the ensemble. It just leaves me smiling.
Hugs and gratitude to you recappers!

 

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