We have been complaining about the weather forecasts and current conditions reports we read on the Internet and television for some time. This subject usually draws a lot of interest here.
We love to get comments and feedback from our readers. We encourage the reading of comments. They often are more entertaining than our musings. Many comments are illuminating; occasionally offered by experts.
On our last weather topic entry (as mentioned there have been several over the years), we received a comment from “br” of The Weather Channel. A bit of sleuthing turned up that “br” is a PHD weather scientist. Actually Principal Weather Scientist and Vice-President of The Weather Channel inAtlanta, Georgia and around the world.
The Problem
“br” explained some things about the Yahoo weather report which is my usual weather information source. Yahoo weather data is provided by The Weather Channel people – weather.com.
“br” comments in part:
“Hi John – earlier comments are correct .. you are seeing the observations for GEN. HERIBERTO JARA, Veracruz [the airport in Veracruz City].. only official surface observations are considered for the current conditions on these web sites .. there is no [official] obs within 60 miles of Xico .. unfortunately, it is difficult to provide current conditions that are relevant to your exact location in areas of the world where observations are sparse..
So your choices are the Veracruz point currently in place.. Puebla (elevation is 2166 meters) or [Poza] Rica (elevation at 62 meters) .. Xico is at 1440 meters..”
“br” confirmed Jonna’s comment stating that she understood “they” collect weather data from the nearest airport, “…probably only big airports.” On a personal note Jonna a respected reader and member of the Viva Veracruz Forum provides a wealth of information and contributes many erudite comments. So the big guns were commenting-in to help us all understand – cool!
“br” stated:
“Yahoo weather says “Nearest weather station is Xico, Mexico” in their heading .. this is a real fine point, but the nearest weather station is the airport near Veracruz .. there is a “forecast” point for Xico .. that is, we prepare a forecast explicitly for Xico .. but there is no official observation station in Xico that we know of …”
We now can assume there is no weather being reported out of Xico or even Xalapa (a city of more than 500,000 people) and 15 miles to the northeast.
“br” also made the following comment:
“So let us know if you think either Puebla or [Poza] Rica are more representative of what you experience in Xico, we would be happy to change this mapping or relationship when you pull up the weather information ..”
Yikes – the idea that I can alter the process of The Weather Channel is mind boggling! You have to love the power to the people provided by the Internet.
OK feet touching ground again let’s consider how we might get more accurate weather predictions and condition reports.
The Solution
It can be said that weather conditions 60 miles away coming from a city on the Gulf of Mexico at an extreme altitude differential will very often have little to no bearing on the actual current or future weather conditions of Xico – Coatepec – Xalapa.
Gathering data from Pueblo or Poza Rica will not make reporting more accurate.
I wonder why in this day and age of the Internet and the opportunity for real or near-real time communication that huge powerful operations like The Weather Channel cannot incorporate information provided by numerous satellite informers or in what I believe are weather science terms “first order reporting stations.”
“br” – this Blog and approximately 300 others from around the globe are incorporated in the news report of Global Post News. You will find bloggers added to news agencies in all corners of the reporting process. Likely thousands of blogs are used daily to enhance the news information process throughout the world.
In Global Posts words, “…With the recent launch of GlobalPost, high-quality bloggers are being given positions of prominence for the first time on a major news media website, starting with promotion on the home page. Hundreds of top-notch bloggers from 41 countries around the world also appear on the region pages….GlobalPost, where [John Wilpers] the Global Blog Coordinator on a consulting basis, recognized that there is a lot of terrific content being created around the world by excellent writers who are experts in their field or who are simply well-informed or passionate about a subject or country. That on-the-ground, grassroots-level reporting adds to the professional work of our correspondents in each country, giving GlobalPost readers a complete picture of life, events, trends, and peculiarities in each of dozens of countries worldwide.”
It would seem that a similar type network of on-the-ground, grassroot-level weather reporters could provide more localized data to The Weather Channel enhancing the accuracy of the reports on both current conditions and weather forecasting.
“br” I suggest you contact John Wilpers to help coordinate the gathering of ideas for a process like that of many news agencies. If you decide to go in that direction – count me in .
Saturday 10 April 2010 – 8:00 A.M. Central Daylight Savings Time: The sun is shining, a few light clouds and the temperature outside is 64 F (17.8 C). Stay Tuned for more news and weather!
We received a one paragraph email from a gringo we know here in Xico; we will call this person one of the Smiths.
Smith wrote that s/he just started receiving collection calls for the first time (yesterday). Smith had read about our bogus collection calls on this Blog. Also we have discussed our frustration with these numerous nuisance calls with both the Smiths socially on several occasions.
Because the language of the one paragraph is in part a bit off color, I will explain rather than print it here verbatim.
First Smith wrote with great ironic literary technique that s/he could appreciate from my Blog entry and the subsequent responses how aggravating unwanted persistent phone calls can be. The Smiths first collection call was early enough in the morning to get one of them out of bed. The second call came from a different person within the same collection agency some four hours later.
The agency was looking for a certain Mexicano we will call Ms. Lopez; a name well known to us relating to our collection call nightmare. Smith explained that they seemed determined to find her. Smith was told that someone gave the collection agency their number; further that it was reported as Ms. Lopez’s new number.
In the paragraph Smith wrote that their number is not new. In fact the number “is as old as the hills”. We knew this having known this couple prior to their moving into their rental casa that included an existing telephone line and number. A rental we had actually hunted down for the Smiths before they arrived in Mexico.
Now totally bothered by the second call, Smith asked the collection agent what Ms. Lopez’s old number was.
S/he went on to suggest that we might imagine how surprised and unbelieving s/he was when the collection agency person gave them our new number; and how Smith just knew we would not do such a thing as give them their number (more irony).
Being a good sleuth Smith went on to state that s/he looked up Ms. Lopez in the phone book. There was Ms. Lopez’s number in the Xico section of the phone book; it was of course our new number “…with the same odor”. Here I was a bit confused as to the point as of course we all knew Ms. Lopez had our telephone number prior to us – no revelation there. But that fact in Smith’s mind seemed to sew up any loose ends about who the perpetrators might be.
Obviously the Smith’s are incensed assuming that we gave the collection agency their phone number.
The truth is different.
Our first take was how totally bizarre! You can count the number of gringo families living in Xico on one hand. How could this terrible situation get transferred to the Smiths? What’s more how could the Smiths assume we had done such a thing? Believe me when I tell you this is so far from our characters – however apparently not to the Smiths.
I left the email and thoughts of the situation until the end of the day. I went back and re-read Smith’s bitter little diatribe. Then it quickly dawned on me.
You read about our trouble getting phone service back in early January. During that tedious process we had given the Smith’s phone number to Telmex as a contact point here in Xico. In fact as I recall, Telmex had actually called the Smith’s regarding our service twice – once for a reference and once when they were trying to contact us about the service.
Obviously some not so bright individual at Telmex had mistakenly given the Smith’s number as a reference relating to Ms. Lopez. Of course this move would be totally libelous in the United States. Can you imagine AT&T mistakenly giving out a referral telephone number to a collection agency? It would be like winning the lottery – the financial liability would be enormous for such an action.
We made some accusations and suggestions about Telmex service last January. Our problems were mostly assuaged by some quick responses from them, in an effort to stop the bad press as much as anything. This error in judgment however goes even beyond that.
It should be noted that we have been told by the collection agents on a number of occasions including during some Sunday calls that the collection person calling was a representative of Santander Bank. Here we might assume that Telmex may very well be in cahoots with a bank to assist in their collection process by providing private information.
I intend to get in contact with Telmex to hear what they have to say about all this.
The reality is there are no other possibilities. Telmex provided the Smith’s telephone number to the bank’s collection representatives.
A reasonably intelligent Telmex person should have figured out that this collection related to the previous owner of the number – Ms. Lopez – not to the Calypso’s or any referral numbers relating to them. Of course there is no way a referral number given by us could be connected to the previous owner of our phone number.
But then the Smiths couldn’t figure it out and they were our friends. They could only assume that for some inane reason we would give their phone number to a collection agency that has been driving us nuts for the last three months. How they reasoned this out is beyond me. It is easier to understand the insipid Telmex personnel doing such a stupid thing.
We are currently still receiving 3-10 collection calls a day. We are trying Carlos’ suggestion of leaving them holding on line.We haven’t heard from the Smiths; and probably won’t. Updates will follow.
Here in Mexico compared to the U.S. people and organizations are more free to do wrong as much as they are more free to do right. More freedom here in Mexico is a two edged sword as you can see from this story. Freedom does not come without costs. You can imagine how far we might get accusing Telmex of supplying that phone number. We shall see. Stay Tuned!
“We’re both around 50 years old, and for the past few years have been imagining a move to a Latin American country when the time seems right. That time still looks to be a few years off, but we have been using our vacations the past 3-4 years to explore areas that we think might be a good fit.”
The obvious is these folks are on the young side of retirement. I have to question searching for a retirement place 4-5 years or more out; certainly this is difficult if not misleading. The fabric of a place can change quite radically within that time frame. In other words what looked great five years ago might not be so great depending on many factors.
Case in point in 2001 we moved to Colorado after doing much due diligence. Within three years of the move many of the factors that had drawn us to the area had changed – in some cases radically. It should be noted that 911 changed the entire fabric of life in the United States during that period and continuing.
In Jeff’s words, again from his introduction to the Forum:
“My wife Vivian and I live in Seattle, where I am an engineer and she has a ballet school.”
From our perspective that part of their background is a good fit for our area. However in short order of meeting Jeff and Vivian it was obvious they are operating on big city energy and ambition. The slower pace of retirement in general and retiring to Mexico specifically is certainly going to require change.
I have stated it before. Learning to unwind from the pace of the working world is no small task – it kills some and drives others to some form of madness.
My take on this is intelligent people seldom get bored – they will find something to do. We believe our area affords many opportunities for the transition from being so busy that you seldom have time to think, to having what seems to be on first glance gobs of time with little on your plate. Believe me when I write, when you truly turn the corner to retirement you will wonder how you were able to fit living life in when you were part of the working world.
More from their intro:
“While haphazardly researching cities in Mexico in late-2008, I stumbled across Xalapa. Neither of us had any previous knowledge of the area, but it seemed like everything we read only further piqued our curiosity. So, last March we decided to take ten days and check it out. Long story short, Vivian and I both had a great time – we loved the area, its people and its culture.”
After spending a couple of hours with Jeff and Vivian we got to thinking about the mission of this Blog, the Forum and as to their interest in meeting us. They are intelligent and thoughtful people of this there is no doubt.
Jeff writes of the Viva Veracruz Forum:
“I have found many of the topics both interesting and enlightening.”
A sensible and erudite young fellow indeed!
Our local amigos BJ and Charles joined us for the meeting with Vivian and Jeff. Like the previous nights get together I had thought that exposure to more than just the rather eclectic Calypso’s would be a good thing. However in both cases the multiple conversations were perhaps distracting and to less advantage towards Vivian and Jeff’s purpose? I suppose we will have to default to their judgment on that.
Obviously hooking-up with a group of retired people living in a foreign land that are likely to be smitten by the opportunity to speak with their own kind – in their native language – this situation could elicit a certain chaotic dynamic.
The point of exposing the virtues of your place on the planet often comes up. Is it truly wise to be telling people how great your area is? Will hoards of people invade your space and indeed change its fabric? Will Xalapa become another San Miguel Allende? Probably not.
But, there are a lot of valid reasons to be here – you have but to read the musings in this Blog to gather some details.
Because Jeff and Vivian are charming, erudite and most certainly an asset to wherever, the tables almost were turned. We found ourselves wanting to sell them on the place rather than reluctantly dispensing information like a living Lonely Planet Book.
The Calypsos went from reluctant providers of information to timeshare salespersons. Had we become carrot danglers for our area – oh no!
Coming down off the high of meeting Jeff and Vivian we realize it is a two edged sword touting the virtues of our south of the border life style. In truth not we or anyone for that matter will stop the hoards from heading to the great places to be. The places that breath life on this earth will be discovered – maybe even without our help? To learn more – Stay Tuned!
Canadians and Americans typically have a very one dimensional perspective of Mexico. The truth is quite different.
Our experience here in Puerto Escondido is quite different from our home in Xico, Veracruz.
Next to the difference in attire (shorts worn here year round), the most remarkable difference perhaps is the lack of shrines and churches.
In the Xalapa area and Xico in particular you will encounter a capilla (small chapel) or iglesia (church) on virtually every street – here in Puerto I have yet to see either.
This isn’t to suggest a lack of religiosity here. Locals flock a few hours north of Puerto Escondido to Santa Catarina Juquila; and often crawl on hands and knees the last two kilometers to the iglesia. Here there is the Sanctuary of Juquila where a famous statue of the Virgin Mary is prayed to petitioning for one’s needs or desires.
The one-foot (30 cm) tall statue survived a fire in 1633 that destroyed the entire village where it was located at the time. At the beginning of the 18th century, the statue was moved to Santa Catarina Juquila where the sanctuary was built for it. Thousands of the faithful visit this statue from across the state of Oaxaca, other parts of Mexico and beyond its borders. Read more here.
We have no Ocean for a vista in Xico, but we do have Pico de Orizaba and other mountain ranges. Here in Puerto we do not see tree lined roads interspersed with coffee plants and banana trees. Mexico isn’t all cacti and sandy beaches.
Most of the Escondido citizenry speak some English; all most all can convert numbers from Spanish to English – this is after all a tourist community. In the Xalapa area seldom will you encounter a person able to even speak a few words in English. Here you will have to be more cautious about discussing your bargaining process in front of vendors – if you are discussing offering less they have probably heard it before and understand.
One Mexican couple at the hotel we are staying has kind of taken us under their wing. Manuel and Elisa had lived here in Puerto for about 20 years, but now live in Tabasco, Chiapas. Yesterday we went shopping in town for hammock hardware (more on this soon) and to shop at the Mercado. Anita was after some cilantro.
We arrived at a booth selling cilantro. The 2 peso bunch of the green leafy vegetable gathered by a woman vendor appeared limp and more yellow than green – unappealing. Anita decided to pass on the purchase.
Later we arrived back at the same cilantro vendor for Elisa. The seller complained to Elisa that Anita would not buy her cilantro. Some feather smoothing was performed by Elisa.
Elisa explained to Anita that often times these people will refuse to sell anything to you after one of their products has been besmirched. Some will be easily offended. Competition is stiff on the streets of Mexico. Many sell the same things sold at the tienda next-door.
We have been on a learning curve and hunt for a hammock (a story in itself). Elisa advised us that whatever price is given to us it will be 200 pesos higher than what would be quoted to a Mexican. Here you have but to utter the words, “Gringo Precio” to illicit a smile from a Mexican vendor. Sure enough when we got down to the serious bargaining for a hammock the end price was 200 pesos less.
The most prominent street vendor items are hammocks, bags, necklaces, colorful mobiles, litho painted parchments, blankets and serapes, and cigars.
Along with a more cosmopolitan flavor on the surface people are not as friendly and open as they are in Xico. Every store and in every doorway you don’t see a Virgin of Guadalupe poster, statue or shrine dedicated to the First Lady of Mexico.
Last night we had dinner at Danny’s Terrace over at the Adoquín. The coconut shrimp was delicious. The restaurant was packed with gringos of all flavors: Europeans, Canadians, and Americans filled the terrace. The wait people all spoke a little English.
After we ate we walked along the Adoquín (AH-DOH-KEEN) which is dedicated to vendors selling to tourists. Three years ago when we were here you had to walk in the street as the sidewalks were full of vendors selling in front of the more established store fronts.
The store front owners organized. Now the sidewalks are clear. A block over a side street has been assigned to the non-renting vendors. And I saw this symbol sign – a first for me:
There is a preponderance of Canadians that have found Puerto Escondido – and they are apparently not afraid to make the loooong trip here (and back). Here is a dedicated Blog to a visit here by a group of four Canadians. Now their link is on Global Post (from such simple beginnings
Danny’s Terrace at Hotel Rincón de Pacífico is a hit pick with the locals and us. A must visit when in Puerto Escondido. Try the Coconut Shrimp. Come back to read about El Jardin at the end of Zicatela Strip. It is one of the best restaurants in Puerto. Stay Tuned!
When we were considering Mexico as a place to live Mexconnect, an Internet E’Zine was a source of information. That and “The People’s Guide to Mexico” were pretty much it other than the rather milk toast Frommers and Triple A travel guide books.
In those days you had to pay to be a member of Mexconnect – now with so many other Mexico information Internet options they have stopped the membership fees and taken to advertising – a good idea I think.
I occasionally go back to those roots and see what is up on Mexconnect. Yesterday, to my surprise right there on the front page there were lead-ins to two articles on Veracruz! Believe me when I report that formerly Veracruz was not on Mexconnect’s radar – now two articles.
And what’s more startling is one of those articles actually mentions this site as a good source of information – be still my heart! We have evolved from looking for information to a source of that in a mere five years – cool.
But what I really want to talk about is the article, “Expat living in Mexico: Xalapa vs. Ajijic.” Of course anything written about our area by ‘mainstream’ tourists/expats information includes how ignored the State of Veracruz is, and these days it is said that we are in fact a hidden jewel of sorts. I agree.
Comparing Xalapa to Ajijic or should I write doing battle with which is a good place to beam yourself to mostly bothers me.
On the Vivaveracruz Forum when someone downplays Ajijic and San Miguel as being gringo strongholds, writing how these places are not ‘real’ Mexico etc., I remind those writers that no one place suits everyone; and further that it is not necessarily a bad thing wanting to be with your own kind. But the controversy persists. Here on the Blog I write about The Good Life – with little direct defense against the likes of Ajijic.
While my readership meets or exceeds (thank you Global Post) that of Mexconnect these days (based on their readership statistics where they sell advertising) you will find on this Blog that I take on the deeper and controversial issues without fear or commercial trepidation. Although my own nephew, just the other day, suggested that perhaps my writing had become tamer? Perish the thought!
We twisted in the wind in the early days about exposing the value of being here – we’re here, now close the door.
Over time I have come to realize that throngs of foreigners moving here really isn’t a major worry as truth be known our little slice of paradise is not everyone’s taza of tequila. It seems almost as many people that have come here have left – some running.
Maybe we 200 or 300 expats in the area really do want to be alone? Attempts at expat social gatherings seem to have mostly failed. Makes me recall one of my favorite pieces of poetic justice written by Elinor Wylie:
Avoid the polluted herd,
Shun the reeking flock;
Live like that stoic bird
The eagle on the rock
Great that – somthing I wish I had written first, but then Elinor passed on way too soon and 18 years before I was born. Her words in the poem, “The Eagle and the Mole“ reflect my feelings on the need for seclusion.
We had a punch list of what we wanted in a new location low those many years ago, about ten now. Being away from people of the United States wasn’t on any of our lists – the three of us each had his own. After a career in the entertainment industry you might imagine how one could develop a need for seclusion.
If in the eagle’s track
Your sinews cannot leap,
Avoid the lathered pack,
Turn from the steaming sheep.
The Mexconnect author writes, “A far more magical place is Xico, a few miles south of Coatepec. It has the feel of a pueblo, not a suburb. Its further distance from Xalapa has staved-off development.” This is arguable, but certainly holds true for its quantity of expats – there are but few.
You have but to mill around past entries of this Blog to understand why we are here. Mexico and most certainly its State of Veracruz are not for everyone looking to escape Canada and the United States.
Xalapa (Coatepec & Xico) versus Ajijic (San Miguel de Allende, Cuernavaca, Chapala and Puerto Vallarta). A silly debate really.
There was little in the article’s summation that explained the writer’s decision on the debate. The article goes on to say, “These self-anointed Jalapeños seem more independent than expats who settle elsewhere in Mexico.” Perhaps?
Different strokes for different folks will always be a fact. I find no need to defend or espouse the reasons why we are here. I will defend the rights of others to be someplace else in any debate on ‘what is the best place to live’.
In the mean time stick around to learn more about this side of paradise. It is going to be near 80 today and still warmer tomorrow. We welcome the sun and you with open arms. Stay Tuned!
Our last entry asked Carlos Slim if he could hear me now after describing some difficult circumstances relating to our getting a phone line and dsl Internet installed. Well I am here to testify someone from Telmex was listening. I have to bring flowers and candy to get as much attention from my Guapa Senora.
Slim has been quoted as being unfazed by criticism: “When you live for others’ opinions, you are dead. I don’t want to live thinking about how I’ll be remembered.”
And yet Monday morning following my Sunday Blog entry I received comment from Jaime Duran working at Telmex in México City. Per his request I sent an email and by late afternoon I had an email from Telmex’s Head of Unit Quality in Customer Service in Mexico City. She asked me several questions which I stumbled through replying in Spanish via email. She emailed back:
“Mr. Calypso,
We thank [you for your] attention, your Spanish is very good….”
Thank you Google Translate.
Tuesday, our friend and neighbor in Xico SKYPE’d us in Ursulo Galvan to let us know Telmex was on the phone wanting to meet with us at our casa in Xico. We had given our friends phone number as a contact point when we were visiting the Telmex office in Xalapa.
We set up a meeting for 11 Am Wednesday at our casa there in town. A snazzy Telemex service truck pulled up in front at around 11 am. Two very serious, well dressed in Telmex uniform, employees came to check our line and connection quality in our casa.
After some checking they changed out the micro filter that the telephone and modem plug into (the dongle). They also changed our line down the road from a secondary feed to a primary in order to assure a clean signal.
It was pointed out that our two newly purchased Emerson telephones were noisy and should be returned to where we bought them in the U.S. – not sure about that since they sell essentially the same phone “Telefono Trim Class” in their Xalapa office.
Two Telemex Professionals in Our Living Room
The two men answered my Internet speed questions and seemed to be checking our connection carefully. Later someone called to ask about connection quality and still later one of the two fellows came again to check on things. He said they were calling and there was no answer. We explained we were out. And that we didn’t realize there was a need for us to be here. We had been distributing Three Kings gifts to some ninos in the Hood as today January 6th is THE day for gifts to the Mexican children.
The serviceman called and was called back and all was good. We had been showered with attention. In all instances the Telmex people we encountered have been professional and polite.
All this checking of lines and equipment was a surprise as our complaint centered on the details of the process of acquiring a telephone line and a WIFI modem in hand.
The questions that had been emailed were in fact all related to that process. I am in hopes we will hear more about that. But, we certainly got Telmex’s attention. We now know they are listening – or at least reading this Blog Did you know Carlos Slim is dating Queen Noor the Queen Mother of Jordan? I think they make a nice couple. Stay Tuned!
The end of the first decade of the new millennium, half of which the Calypsos spent in Mexico, represents new beginnings rather than so many endings. Living on the edge of the pool we see United States republic-ism as just another form of fascism. It has become a place where style and greed are everything, seemingly unaware after all that content of work counts, too.
The U.S. culture ever increasingly enamored by simple minded stereotypes and special effects left behind, while we are fully invested in life in Mexico crusading for environmental consciousness, seriousness of mind for the future of our planet and the ongoing quest of defining moral and spiritual complexities.
At the dawn of a new decade we find ourselves like a Renaissance man in an era that favors specialization and that we must never lose our sense of wonder – or of outrage. We continue to strive to make life good reading. Get ready for another year of Blogging.
Mexico is a great laboratory for the learning and exercise of patience. I have never been a particularly patient man. I am learning, but it is pretty apparent that I won’t complete the course before I die.
Here on my Blog I know I can open up to you – not necessarily without recriminations, but with some western understanding in any case. Excessive frankness or directness is considered rude behavior in Mexico. Even important meetings and conversation must be preceded by small talk. But I am going to get right to the point here.
Not one but three instances of stretching my patience occurred in the past few days.
It took three plumbers and the landlord several days to sort out a problem with our brand new water heater. I am a handy guy. I saw the problem and knew how to fix it; however in this case the water heater was new and so it had some sort of Mexican guarantee (we will go into that another time). When I tried to explain the problem each macho plumber insisted on ignoring my interventions. I reluctantly backed off watching them go about their work all wrong; using huge pipe wrenches to crank down on brass fittings and assessing parts to be bad that were ahead or behind of the problem – grrr. I had to let this Laurel and Hardy maintenance process play out and suffer the lack of a warm shower for days.
Ten days ago we dropped off a metal rack to be painted at an auto body shop just down the street. At drop off we were told it would be ready the next day. Anita gently reminds me I said, “No hurry”. But there I said that to let them know I was more interested in a good job than a fast one – take two days or even three if need be to do the job right; but ten days and no end in sight is starting to mess with me.
We have had several delayed or missed meetings with our landlord. He is an otherwise very nice young fellow. In just his mid forties he has two restaurants, a number of rental properties and two sons that are college attending and college bound and more – a lot on his plate – but my plate empty or full must wait on his whimsical way of doing business. Yesterday we had a meeting at five o’clock. He was not there – so we bought a couple expensive drinks at his upscale restaurant and waited – and waited. Finally we were told he wasn’t going to make it. I paid for the drinks filling his coffers just a little more and leaving me empty.
The Western sense of time has been resisted by Mexicans since the beginning. The concept of planning is not natural in Mexican society. Mexicans see little reason to discipline themselves to a routine. If the Mexican has some money they spend it rather than save. If they are happy where they are, where they are supposed to be is of little consequence.
Here in Mexico the rules of time must be resisted. On a daily basis, punctuality seems unimportant since nothing enjoyable or important now is worth cutting short for the sake of an appointment. Arriving an hour late or more for a dinner party doesn’t merit an apology; quite the contrary, arriving on time is considered rude as the host will not be prepared.
From official business to the local plumber, appointments and commitments are made with little expectation that they will be honored, and little offense is taken when they are ignored – unless you are me.
The mañana affectation is not a symptom of chronic inefficiency or rudeness, but rather evidence of an entirely different philosophy of time. If the past is safely put away, the present can be improvised and the future will take care of itself.
Obviously I must come to grips with this reality before it gets the better of me. I will have to heat some water on the stove and take a few G.I. showers until the plumbers get that water heater sorted out; just leave things that are waiting for that shelf on the floor a while longer; and when luck is with me and the stars are in alignment I will talk with the landlord.
The disasters that have happened to Mexicans over the centuries are not major disappointments because they are considered unavoidable – Ni Modo (tough luck). I didn’t even get to the histrionics of trying to get new telephone service here in Mexico – that for another time. My small problems are simply Ni Modo – no worries mate – color me at peace with space and time. I am but a lab rat in the laboratory of life – Stay Tuned!
I really like writing a Blog. Some of you may know that this Blog is posted on GlobalPost (for the link to GlobalPost see upper right hand corner or the bottom of this page or on the logo below).
Steve over at ‘same life — new location‘ wrote an entry about reaching the 100,000 visits mark since April of 2008, an accomplishment for a relatively young Blogging upstart and deservedly so for a well written Blog.
Blowing my own horn this Blog has attracted over 300,000 visits in the last year; close to a third of a million visits. This is not taking into account any viewers that read this Blog on GlobalPost. I have no way of knowing as my Blog, text and photos, is captured and reproduced on their servers.
Please note: I am not suggesting I write a better Blog than my friend Steve. Blogs grow (or they die) and Steve’s hasn’t been at it nearly as long as this one. As he points out his is growing and rightly so.
There are four writers whose Blogs, mine included, appear in the Mexico section of GlobalPost News. I am humbled by the talented writers of the other three Blogs.
In GlobalPosts words: “Mexico News [on] GlobalPost is an authoritative new platform for Mexico news. Our correspondents travel throughout the country to unearth the facts about America’s southern neighbor. Gain ground-level perspectives on current Mexican news matters including the drug trade, tourism and the country’s complex relationship with the United States.”
I should mention that each entry they use of this Blog appears on their national news front page for a time as well.
I use to write a Blog daily. I wrote a while back that for this Blog I had written the equivalent of seven average sized books (about 77,000 words for an average book).
Last February this Blog started appearing on GlobalPost, at their inception. I began reducing my output as GlobalPost was looking for an entry or two a week rather than daily posts. I reduced my output primarily because my entries on Global Post were losing continuity since some posts were being missed due to their less frequent release of Blog entries.
For the writers whose Blogs appear on GlobalPost John Wilpers is the jefe (boss) at GlobalPost. His staff reached out to find this Blog and he has subsequently become my contact with GlobalPost.
If you write a Blog I strongly suggest you add his Blog to your reading list. John is a long time career newspaper man. He has great wisdom about how Blogs relate, effect and should be written to interface with the news media.In fact he provides good tips for creating an interesting Blog generally.
That brings me to a complaint. I don’t complain often (those of you that have been reading along dummy up!). My entries have not found comfort on GlobalPost. My entry from last Monday appears in today’s Sunday GlobalPost. The one written prior to this entry was released Thursday night. The entry you are reading now will appear next on the GlobalPost site missing the prior post completely (and it was a good one I thought).
I commented on Señor Wilper’s Blog mentioning that we have discussed the issue of when GlobalPost releases Blog entries, however to date I have not been supplied with a schedule or a rhyme or reason for how they post entries. It is obvious GlobalPost is a world news magazine. It is not daily world news. All still I would like the entries of my Blog to appear with continuity on Global Post, and I am willing to release my entries to accommodate their schedule.
I am hoping that my feelings will reach someone at GlobalPost who can help their Bloggers become a better part of their news service. I should add in closing that they are a terrific source of grounded information; less propaganda and more thought provoking news than most news sources. I am proud to be part of them. If you haven’t seen it click from my link. Also consider their Passport option (not to be confused with the often written about passport issues as relating to Mexico
So GlobalPost – are you listening? Sorry your readers missed my last entry. They will just have to go to my Blog to find it (look for GOTO SITE link). For the rest of you I will be back on the Mexico track next entry. I promise – so Stay Tuned!
We haven’t rented a place since – well since I was my son’s age (about 44 years ago). Moving however has been a common occurrence, and I hate it. That is what we are doing now – moving stuff to our newly rented townhouse in Xico, Veracruz, Mexico.
We hope to be settled in before Carlos and BJ show up – around the time of the Day of the Dead Celebration.
The landlords agreed to have the entire house grounded (see previous entry). The electrician, a reasonably competent and very affable fellow is now into his fourth day of perhaps seven total days. I have been helping out where I can and of course overseeing the work.
What’s that old joke: shop rate is $50.00 or $70.00 if you help (you can tell it is an old joke, no way can you get those shop rates any longer in the U.S.).
In our new Hood we have lots of visitors trying to be the first one on the block to sell us handmade tortillas, maid services, water, cheese, or gardening services. While all this is going on we are going back and forth bringing stuff, packing, unpacking – you know the moving drill.
On the first morning that we slept there I was on the balcony drinking coffee as a beautiful day was starting up. There directly south was Mount Orizaba. Not as good of look as from our Rancho del Cielo, but a fine view. The sun felt good as it has been raining a lot.
We don’t have an Internet connection yet. I haven’t decided on whether to setup yet another Hughes Satellite dish or connect to a cable service; still checking the quality of the options.
We can make food, but have not moved the refrigerator yet. We are waiting for the electrician to get finished. We’re eating out a lot – both to learn about the new neighborhood and because we are too tired to think about cooking right now.
Because we are 2.7 miles between locations the trip there and back is less painful than some of our long moving trails of the past, like 1300 miles from Ashland, Oregon to Prescott, Arizona – so I shouldn’t complain – but of course I do – I figure I have earned the right – or so I think.
I had to do some modifications on the gas lines to get the water heater working – but that happened and we can take showers now – so don’t be afraid to visit us in Xico – bring sleeping bags and an air mattress.
From the department of rambling: the weather has been wonderful.
We scooted into Coatepec for pesos and grub. Last night we watched Columbia beat Mexico . The Aztecs simply cannot get anywhere near the net – what’s up with that?
A real surprise was when we connected up the new VISIO HD television to an on the roof antenna. While scanning for channels the two major channels (11 and 13 here locally) appeared with digital HD sister channels! All I can say is WOW! The beauty, well one of many, of digital free air channels is the reception – crystal clear (bad news for some of those heavily made up novella actors).
While we may be in the depths of an emerging country – what a pleasant surprise to see those two HD channels come up on the scan. I had planned on going back to the Hood (Ursulo Galvan) to watch the pathetic futbol game from the Cotton Bowl; but I had to stay and watch on the HD channel. I was able to see Mexicos poor showing in spectacular 1081 HD – try it – you’ll love it!
Last: have you seen those signs for the physically challenged (handicap parking) that include parking for pregnant women – how cool is that! I have yet to see one in the more progressive U.S.
Did you know Carlos Slim is dating Queen Noor the Queen Mother of Jordan? I think they make a nice couple. Stay Tuned!
