At the risk of maligning the country in which I've chosen to live, I'm going to share a situation that I think exemplifies at least the automotive shopping experience in Costa Rica.
I was in a little Auto Repuestos (parts store for cars) today and happened to see something that I didn't even remember that I "need". The part in question is a fuse holder for high-capacity fuses called Maxi-fuses (*see below for background). So I asked the guy at the counter,
"Is that a holder for Maxi fuses?"
He calmly said, "Yes."
So I said, "Great! How much?"
Him: "2,000 colones" (just under $4, a fair price)
Me: "Wonderful. I'll take it." [pause] "Oh, and I'd like an 80 or 100amp fuse please."
Him: "We don't have that."
Me: "Oh, what size do you have?"
Him: "No, no Maxi fuses."

I'll stop sharing the painful discussion here. But let me clarify: they sell a fuse holder but they don't sell the fuses. What in tarnation is going on here?!?!

Even more upsetting is that this is a completely normal conversation at any place that sells parts. I haven't yet experienced a place that sells nuts without bolts, but just the other day I did buy a handful of bolts and nuts and washers, all zinc plated, but the only split-washers that they had were unplated. It wasn't an exotic thing to ask for either, just a regular old 5/16 inch split-ring washer, with zinc plating. No dice. Let's think this through: I want corrosion resistance on the bolt. And the nut. And the washers. Isn't it probable that I'm going to want corrosion resistance on the other washer? Arrgh!

The moral of the story? Focus on the pleasure of finding an uncommon part hanging on the wall instead of the absurdity of not selling a requisite companion part. Now I've just got to go find a store that sells Maxi fuses (they are probably out of holders).

* Now for the backstory: Regular ATO-style (with two blades) fuses stop at 30 amps. I don't know why. But at some point it was decided to make a jumbo-sized fuse that also has two blades and a colorful plastic top that go from around 15 amps up to at least 100 amps. Maybe higher. There is no engineering reason for this as the smaller ATO size fuses are certainly capable of carrying higher amperage. I think it is because they ran out of plastic colors to differentiate the fuse amperages, and didn't truck folks to actually read the little number printed on the fuse. Maxi fuses (the jumbo ones) are found in stock configuration on many American vehicles, possibly foreign vehicles as well. They are certainly available in every single auto-parts store in the USA. Heck, probably in most gas stations. I've got some laying around from a different project, but I've asked at two different parts stores for a Maxi fuse holder and they didn't even know what a Maxi fuse is (one store was an electrical specialist).

Labels: Costa Rica, landcruiser