Consumer confidence is down and so is their spending – can you blame people. Here are a couple of ideas that might improve their confidence.
Truthful business practices – much of the reason people are hesitant to invest and spend is due to the ongoing deceitful practices that business engages in. Truth in lending is a joke. Investing without reading the small print can cost you your entire nest egg or worse. In other words if you want our business quit trying to lie and cheat us.
When computers tied to the World Wide Web first came on the scene I thought how great is this – we will be able to share and access gobs of information and we will be able to communicate for less with government and manufacturers and retailers. Customer service will improve by leaps and bounds. In fact just the opposite has happened.
When people started finding inexpensive avenues (read computers/email) to complain or inquire, business and government shut the door – stopped providing email addresses and quickly avoided easy access.
Red tape increased by many magnitudes – but all in favor of government, industry and retailers to take advantage of the consumer. Have you connected to a cell phone service or attempted to get a driver’s license lately? Have you applied for a credit card or a bank loan? Have you tried getting a passport or visa? None of the myriad questions and forms is pleasant or kind.
Hours of most services have been shortened, access by email doesn’t exist and virtually all database programs are designed to gather data, yet they provide little convenience to the consumer. We went to a bank we had been doing business with for more than 15 years (through four name changes). When we attempted to roll some funds in CD’s we were asked for our address, phone number and many other questions that certainly had to be running through their computer system(s). Why in this day and age should we have to re-input our information over and over?
We had a problem with Godaddy renewing our domain name. The complexity of their pages to get to the “shopping cart” is quite simply not to be believed. We had been offered by email a ‘code’ to insert for a 20% discount, the option to enter the code never appeared and our order. It was processed to completion without the discount. This amounted to a $4.00 error. Here most people would give up. I mean how much trouble will you go to for a $4.00 discount – not much, right?
But this became a principal for me. Being retired and having the time is the downfall of many of these incompetent to dishonest vendors. I felt like I had a responsibility to my fellow working men and women to complain in hopes that this will also be corrected for those with less time.
I contacted them by email (the accounting department actually has an email address – a small miracle). I wrote my complaint succinctly, providing all the details – almost immediately I received an automated email saying they have received my email and will respond within 24 hours. OK.
Within a few hours an email from GoDaddy asked for a lot of secure personal information that I preferred not to supply via unsecured email. More important is they already had all this information. Godaddy certainly knew I couldn’t have been a fraud as I had the invoice number, my customer number (that wasn’t on the invoice) and I was writing them from my email address that they had on file. I also supplied the code for the discount which I had received in other email. They had four distinct and separate bits of information that verified that I was in fact the customer. The point being I wasn’t some spamming robber trying to steal $4.00 from them – I was who I wrote I was.
I wrote back explaining all this in writing. I explained I would not send credit card information as well as other private details for this situation as they knew darn well I was who I said I was. I pointed all the facts I just laid out to you. But no they insisted on having the secure information while apologizing for the inconvenience.
I suggested 6 words to alleviate the pain they were causing were insufficient and that I didn’t believe they were sorry. I further suggested that this process was made difficult to discourage people from getting their four bucks.
I wrote a few lines accusing them of all kinds of unscrupulous things, suggesting they were not acting in good faith or my best interest – me the customer – oh dear! I explained that I had already promised my first born (who is now 18) to others! Totally frustrated I wrote back now providing ALL the redundant, secure information via this unsecured email; albeit under written protest.
A while later they wrote back that the number code I supplied did not alter my shopping cart total. But, it said I would get 20% off with the code; even after I thoroughly read the small print!
I gave up. Sorry to those of you out there whose cause I was championing.
Government, industry, retailers, If you want us back, then get some programmers who can pickup information from one database file to another, quit trying to cheat us and give us all the money you have stolen from us in the last ten years – then we can talk. I feel better now – Stay Tuned!
It is rather sad that these days you must be careful about appearing wealthy; Rolex watches and diamond rings are better worn at home than on the streets. Yesterday I spotted a beautiful new black BMW in Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico – stood out like a tall foreigner in a crowd of Mexicans.
I should disclaim that this area seems tame relative to all the reports of Mexican drug wars and kidnappings. It would really surprise me to hear of kidnappings in our area – on the east coast and to the south in Mexico. But the world has been put on notice about displaying too much opulence for fear of robbery, kidnapping or worse.
My Son Sitting in a Ferrari – Wishful Thinking
Today in the L.A. Times I read a story about how the residents of Zacatecas are fed up with the drug wars and kidnappings – they are demonstrating in the streets demanding the army take control and stop this frightening lawlessness. It should be noted Zacatecas is in central Mexico, to the north but not a border town. I should also mention the Times loves to report on the “drug wars in Mexico”.
The article included a personal story of the kidnapping of a retired Mexican professor who was also a money lender; well known in Zacatecas. It was reported that he was kidnapped, held for ransom; when his daughter and son delivered the money they were kidnapped and additional funds were demanded. Eventually all were released. A frightening story for sure.
What caught my eye was this: “State prosecutor Ambrosio Romero said he registered 30 cases last year and six in January but acknowledged that far more cases are not reported. The perpetrators obtain information on their victims by surfing the Internet and often contact families in the U.S. to wire the ransom money. In some cases, kidnappers showed up with a public notary so the victim could sign over deeds to his properties.”
Here I am thinking – yikes – are we Mexican Bloggers opening ourselves to kidnapping? So I thought I better write here that we have no money – there is a good possibility that kidnappers might have to pay our families to return us. I am pretty sure our relatives aren’t about to pay a red peso for our return.
While I don’t share the sentiment my fellow Blogger Don Miguelito when he writes he would move back to the States if he could afford to live there. He just bought a brand new 2009 Honda CR-V. “…white as a pure heart outside and black as coal inside. Yes, she reflects humanity.” Not sure whether it doesn’t also reflect wealth – I hope not. I like that hombre.
I have owned a few BMW’s in my day, but these days I can only admire them from afar. We drive a 12 year old truck and are usually seen cruising on our 150 cc blue scooter (ScootAzul). So please if you drug lords and kidnappers are surfing around here you best just catch another wave. The rest of you please Stay Tuned!
I hadn’t seen this before. In the front of our next-door neighbor’s house is a dead-end street. As I was passing by this morning I noticed another neighbor is drying a LOT of coffee right in the street. I was told there are four bolsas of green coffee spread out on the street as you see it here:
Let’s Do It In the Road – Coffee Drying. (ENLARGE Here)
One bolsa in this dried state is about 60 kilos or 132 lbs. From that bag to the roaster will yield 38 roasted kilos of coffee or 84 lbs. The street price for one bag of green beans runs between 1500-2000 pesos.
When I wrote recently that our Hood is a center for coffee – I should have mentioned the streets are ‘paved’ with coffee. It is an absolutely perfect weather day – in the low 70’s and sunny. Beans are sunbathing on rooftops, sidewalks and yes even the street. Happy Flag Day (MEXICO) Stay Tuned!
The odds are long. The chances of liking someone simply because you are from the same country of origin are slim. You are in a crowd of short people. There in amongst the throng is another tall person like you. Could this be a connection?
Many move to Mexico to only live amongst their own kind. They pack up and leave the United States to go live in a neighborhood, not a colonia, with a bunch of people from the States. I don’t suggest this is wrong as long as their enclaves don’t negatively change the fabric of the society as a whole.
Growing up in Chicago I remember there were entire neighborhoods of Polish or Italians or Chinese. People seemed to gravitate to their own kind, and dare I write, get along better living amongst their own kind.
In the United States being that it became a land of escape from one oppression or another, gradually it was collectively agreed upon to accept one another regardless of race, creed or color – or else. Those fundamental values took awhile to catch on; and they still have a long way to go. Never mind that those oppressed foreigners displaced the American and Mexican Indians to found that ‘free country’.
Associating with those of your own kind certainly doesn’t guarantee you will like one another. We live 700 miles or so below the border of our country of origin. There aren’t a lot of us here. As it happens we live right next door to gringos – we barely speak. It should be noted that the four of us, we two gringos and the two next door are the only ones of our kind in our colonia of 1500 people plus.
It isn’t logical to expect to like someone because your country of origin is the same. But we of the same origin can communicate. We inherently will have many of the same principals and ideals. We would guess these common qualities would lead to friendships, certainly better odds than potential friendships with the many short brown people with whom we live and whose lives are so very different.
When another tall person spots us here often they boldly come up and say, “Where are you from?”
“We live in Ursulo Galvan, a colonia between Coatepec and Xico.”
“Yes, but where are you from?”
“We are from here.”
“But, I mean you are not Mexicans. You speak English. You are tall” (They probably only think that last part).
These strangers are excited by having spotted a couple that may be their own kind. Chances are we are not going to particularly like one another simply because of our possible same country of origin. But odds are perhaps better than with all these short brown people?
Some foreigners are here in our area because they don’t want to be amongst their own kind. Here in Mexico we certainly have a lot more Mexican friends than Americans, Canadians or Europeans. But then if we are equal opportunity friends than this would be expected; there are more Mexicans here than any of those others.
Yesterday we met a gringa for lunch. We agreed to meet to share our stories as to why we are living in a foreign land having all come from the United States. We even lived in several of the same States – a connection.
This kind of criteria as an opening to new friendships is against all odds I think. But then perhaps we will agree the United States is not a good place to live. Or we are all Democrats. Or we are Christian believers. Or we are not. You know the drill.
It seems Anita and I are more accepting of people that are very different than us, more so than our own kind. We are more likely to like Mexican people than our own kind. Maybe in part because we already know we are different and there is certain safety in that? We will still be looking for likeminded people – it just seems natural doing that.
This Blog and the associated Forum have been places to connect with people foreign to Mexico considering or already living in Mexico. Since that essentially was the purpose of both those sources then success – that worked!
We made a new friend yesterday. I don’t think it mattered a lot that we came from the same country. I think we liked her after spending time together because she seemed to be a kind, honest, thoughtful and gracious human being.
It is nice having friends from a number of countries of origin. Did I mention we had a great vegetarian lunch (our prospective friend had been warned about our dietary peculiarities)? We didn’t even flinch when she remarked how great the rotisserie spun chicken is she has found in Xico. We will meet again. Dancing to the same beat drummer, or not, can pay off. And the beat goes on…Stay Tuned!
The peso continues to weaken against the dollar hitting a new record low Thursday and it looks like it will hit another record by the close of today.
For us spending dollars by way of converting to pesos is to our advantage – at least short term. Of course in recent times interest on money in the States has all but disappeared – so we are winning while our local Mexican friends are losing and then we are losing on our stash in the States – most of this does not feel good.
I never imagined that saving money would be so worthless – we have been living on interest for years now – perhaps it is time to exercise that social security option available to me since last October.
There is little advantage to getting old. We know more, but probably too late to do anything about it. We have many friends here that are in the throes of careers and raising children. We certainly don’t envy what they are going through these days. It might be tougher than it has ever been in my life time (more than 60 years).
There are a lot of injustices here in Mexico that seem to have been ironed out in the States. I recently heard of a woman that worked in a government office for thirty years. She is getting ready to retire. She has put her job up for sale at 100,000$ pesos. Smacks of the X Governor of Illinois mentality – sell your job to the highest bidder. Apparently here in Mexico it is not against any laws or even ethical practice. We are hearing if you don’t have any connections it can be very hard to get ahead in Mexico.
Here in the Hood recently our friend started a papelería (a stationery store). The Mexican government has a small business assistance program. A person can apply for a loan or some material assistance. Our friend is no shrinking violet; she sought out this support system and applied.
A year later they contacted her asking what they could do to help. She was surprised and excited. She requested financial assistance to provide paper supplies for school age children and a copier to help meet the needs in the Hood. They called back a few days later. Rather than offering funds or even something related to the papelería business they offered her piglets; not very apropos to the business.
At first she was aghast and intended to refuse the piglets. I suggested she take the piggies and sell them immediately. She thought this good advice and accepted the piglets. This turned out to be a pig in the poke. Her piglets did not show up. What did come in the way of government assistance to her small business was the box you see in the photos below. A little care package that includes advice printed on the box to not pay more than 6 pesos to the person who is delivering it.
It appears that all the piglets have found homes. Instead the government of Veracruz sent this small charitable box of staples. I assume our friend became part of a list: Citizens That Your Government has Helped Start a Small Business.
Of course receiving this small box of food stuff will insure that the tax man and every other governing body needing money in Mexico will also have the little papelería on their roster.
Recently I wrote about the taxman showing up here assessing the small tiendas in the Hood. Since few are literate, and less keep books, auditing these little markets and shops must be quite a science. “The Government says you must pay 350 pesos every 15 days.” This has no relations to the amount of business the store does – just a reminder of who you are working for. There is little exact science in the bush. But, there is always the government. Stay Tuned!
Babs’ car was broken in to in San Miguel de Allende . Not earth shattering news. Heads are rolling in other parts of Mexico. The border town news reads like reports from war zones. But Babs’ Eva Cassidy CD’s were stolen.
Eva Cassidy is not a household name. Her band members are pedestrian; the kind of whiskey faced musicians that get up at 2 in the afternoon after working in cocktail lounges until 3 AM, playing an occasional wedding or corporate event; the tens of thousands that are back up to the few that are called.
But, Eva transcended the lounge acts to gain some notoriety across the pond and north of the border. She had a wonderful ability to make popular songs her own.
It is said she wasn’t focused. Her musical taste covered a number of genres, typical of the cocktail lounge set. She had limited success trying to break-in to the business beyond the lounge or club. Perhaps a Quincy Jones, a Tommy Lipuma or a David Foster might have helped her cross into the music jet stream?
But before that possibility Eva died of cancer at the age of 33. From there her career sort of took off. Her volume of work was packaged and released posthumously with great success. Perhaps some of the lack of professionalism has been overlooked because of her very sad story?
Writing from San Miguel Bab’s wrote that she missed her Eva Cassidy CD’s. Bab’s is special in our Mexican Blogging community. Several of the guys kind of watch over her; she lives alone in San Miguel. Her folksy writing style and appealing southern charm have drawn readers – male and female.
When I read that Babs lost her Eva Cassidy CD’s I went and checked my list and found I had 12 albums worth of her music – suggesting anything she needed she should let me know. Others that keep track of Babs, Michael and Steve and Bob, chimed in with concern for the theft. Babs left her car unlocked. The theft could have just as easily happened in Houston, or Chicago or New York as San Miguel. I rather doubt she would be missing her book of CD’s in Xico, but suffice it to say it is never a good idea to leave your car open.
We don’t have a Washington’s Blue’s Alley jazz club or a 60’s Florida’s Coconut Grove music scene happening down here. We do have some aspiring musicians playing on buses. I haven’t ventured into any bars. I have heard music coming from on cocktail lounge in Coatepec . The bars here won’t be like Boston’s Cheers where everyone knows your name (oh sure).
A Bus Ride Concert
I guess I could add to the list of ‘Missing in Mexico’ a friendly neighborhood cocktail lounge with some live music. A small price to pay I think after all I do have some Eva Cassidy CD’s and a bottle of tequila. Stay Tuned!
Apparently Mexico has better lovers than fighters. We may have lost that loving feeling on the soccer field in Ohio, but we won the kiss off in Mexico City.
Carlos Martinez of Guinness World Records verified the record of 39,897 people who entered the gated kissing area of the city’s Zocalo main square on Valentine’s Day, besting Weston-super-Mare, an English town that set the previous kissing record in 2007.
Yes we have Pucker Power! Anita and I spent a quiet day up at Rancho del Cielo – and you could add our smooches to the other 39,897. As mentioned the other day in the Viva Veracruz Forum Mexico takes Valentines’ Day seriously.
Anita is legal again. We just can’t seem to get our Mexican VISA without some problem. This is Anita’s third year possessing an FM3 VISA. It is essentially a permission slip to live here in Mexico for one year.
I have given up writing about what this process entails because it is different for everyone and different every time we apply.
I will write that we were penalized for going into the office 3 days past the expiration date of the VISA. This when we had been told we had a 30 day before to 30 day after window to renew. Apparently someone decided 30 days before was sufficient time to renew. Of course we weren’t notified. I suppose we are expected to check in now and then to see if any of the rules change during the year.
We had to await a decision from Mexico City as to what the penalty would be for the three late days. We were assured that it was minor – no more than 100 pesos. In principal I was unhappy because we made two previous attempts before the 30 days were up – both attempts found the office closed to accommodate four day holidays. We decided better to wait until after February 2nd – the end of the ongoing Christmas holidays that begin in November.
We went into the Migration office on the third – three days after the VISA expired. We were advised there could be as much as a 10,000 peso penalty for being late. Upon hearing that I suggested we would just turn our FM3 in and get another tourist VISA; as we had done once before when we were in some other penalty situation. I continue to run free on a tourist VISA avoiding multiple visits to the Migration Office in Xalapa and saving about 1000 pesos.
When we flinched at the possible 10,000 peso fine we were told the penalty would be no more than 100 pesos in as much as it was a mere three days overdue. In the end we had to pay 254 pesos penalty – we were informed this is the minimum. When we asked why did the other official tell us it would be no more than 100 pesos? Who told you that, as we were pointing a finger at the official sitting across the room – nothing further was said?
We went to the bank to pay the fine, after which we would have to have three copies made to submit proof of payment in triplicate. There are no copy machines in the Migration office (or any other public office in Mexico that I know of). But there are a number of copy stores very near the Migration office building – I am guessing those establishment belong to family members of high ranking officials.
We decided while we were there we would exchange four $100.00 US bills for a bunch of pesos being that at that time the exchange rate on the high side was 14.73 pesos to a dollar – Mexico City – The Mexican peso fell Thursday to its lowest historical level to close at 14.73 per dollar.
The teller took the new crisp $100.00 bills and called a ‘roaming pit boss’ to come and have a look. They talked a bit. The teller said there was a problem with their computer and they weren’t able to actually ascertain the exchange rate at that time – but they were willing to give us 13.3 pesos for each of our U.S. dollars. And we thought those U.S. bankers were a clever lot rolling our CD’s into CD’s paying 75% less than the going rate. We passed on the exchange and those two bankers probably had to buy their own lunch.
Is it just me or does it seem like the courtesy and banking pleasures enjoyed in Bedford Falls when George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) was running the Savings and Loan don’t exist anymore? That film was made the year I was born – so good banking has existed in my lifetime – at least on film. The movie is ranked as the #1 Most Powerful Movie of All Time by the American Film Institute (2006).
But then I read, “In 1947, an FBI analyst submitted, without comment, an addition to a running memo on “Communist infiltration of the motion picture industry,” recording the opinion of an industry source who said that the film’s “obvious” attempt to discredit bankers “is a common trick used by Communists.” We wouldn’t want to discredit any bankers.
Returning to the Migration office after getting the three copies – we had to hurry back to the office as it is only open until 2 PM (talk about your banker’s hours) – we got there in time. Anita’s Visa book was returned to her updated.
Other than the penalty glitch by Tio Sam’s rule change – things went smoothly and relatively effortlessly. Riding into town on ScootAzul passing long lines of traffic and avoiding parking problems helped make things easy. She is good for another year or until the rules change whichever comes first. Stay Tuned!
The eyes are the portal to one’s soul, but the hands tell the story of how one has toiled in life. Senor Falumdo Lozada Ramirez is a carpenter with thick, gnarly hands, but a gentle soul. His eyes are soft and kind. Upon first meeting him you get the feeling life has not been easy for the man. We know each other for a few years now. He shakes my hand with two of his. I like him and I think he likes me.
The other day we were scooting past his shop which is at the beginning of San Marcos, a little pueblo just southeast of our Colonia. Senor Ramirez’s shop has no sign, most don’t. His wares are displayed street side.
Anita made noises above the drone of ScootAzul. All sounds are muffled by my helmet. I heard something to the effect, “Wow that is a big piece. ‘Must be being made for someone.”
It was a pleasant, warm, sunny afternoon. I pulled into a driveway connected to the roadway and circled back to the wood shop.
Senor Ramirez’s work is a step or two above the inexpensive handmade pine furniture that is carried on the backs of vendors in our Colonia. He has a router and an electric chop saw and he uses screws where so many use nails. He has hand chisels and both hand and electric planers. His work might be characterized as folk art.
I love to bargain. I think I am good at it. I am good at expressing my reasoning; this often gives me a leg up. And as I have gotten older I have learned a lot along the way about sizing up the adversary – I mean this in the kindness of ways.
The worst thing that can happen in a bargaining situation is to like your opponent. When a bargainer becomes someone I like I lose my edge. Now this isn’t to say I don’t like many of the people I bargain with. It is to say that if I begin to like the person at the time when I must persuade the person to reduce their price or increase their offer depending on which side of the sale I am on, then I may relent to friendship. Later I will mentally chastise myself for weakening.
Here in Mexico a gringo is usually prey for ‘gringo pricing’; one price for the locals and a higher one for the naïve gringo. All the more reason to bargain tough!
On closer inspection of the large pieces that had caught Anita’s eye, they were really not something that fit for us – too big for our small spaces. While Senor Ramirez’s work is several notches up from the street vendor products the big pieces lacked some finish detail that would make them more appealing to us.
No one was there. We waited around for quite awhile. Finally Anita suggested we move on. “We can return another time.” I wanted to wait a bit longer to say hello. Just then Senor Ramirez appeared in the workshop.
The three of us moved from his shop to his ‘showroom’. There sat a small whimsical chair. It was different from most of the other pieces – more of a craft piece, less utilitarian. When you sit in the solid bent wood chair it wraps around you in a comforting way. I wanted it. This wasn’t caprice; I had been admiring this particular chair for a couple of years.
Anita & Senor Ramirez in Front of his Shop (ENLARGE Here)
The bargaining had begun many months ago. When the peso was 10.3 for 1 dollar he was asking 850 pesos or $82.50 U.S. Not a lot of money. I have bought far more expensive chairs in my day. A $500.00 (1980’s dollars) chair sits in my office atop the casita in Ursulo Galvan. But this isn’t the 1980’s and our dollars are tighter now. I wasn’t prepared to spend that much money for a chair that was rather crude and yet enticing.
The time before this when Senor Ramirez and I had a round of bargaining for the chair he had reduced his price to 800 pesos – I think he hadn’t remembered the earlier 850 peso price – it wasn’t a conscious reduction – but a reduction it was. I wondered what his price would be today. “¿Cuánto es?” I asked.
$800 pesos he replied.
I had offered 500 pesos. I was willing to bump up my offer to 600. He beckoned me to sit in the chair; to feel how comfortable and solid it was. I assured him I knew it was comfortable and a good chair, but 800 pesos was just too much for us to spend.
Today Senor Ramirez has a cold – could this be a weakening point? During all these negotiations Anita translates – even though I was speaking Spanish – he looked to her for interpretation. I gave up trying to speak directly to him. “Offer him 600 pesos. I think he might take it today.”
Anita explained with a sweet smile that ‘he’ was going to keep coming in here and offering you 600 pesos, he thinks you will want to sell that chair one day and accept 600 pesos. There was more conversation between them. They talked of me as if I wasn’t there.
Then he sat quietly, pensively. He looked over at me as if I suddenly appeared on the scene. He said almost inaudibly, “Bien, lleva lo.”
Anita said, “For 600 pesos?” He nodded looking a bit resigned. At that moment the victory felt hollow. I liked the fellow too much and this wasn’t feeling good.
He and I were like a couple tough kids that fought only to come away respecting each other. I handed Senor Ramirez 600 pesos. A bargain had been struck. He shook my hand with both of his. We agreed we would come back with the truck for the chair.
I will bring him a gift when we go back. Stay Tuned!
I have been reading about and trying to promote wood cook stoves essentially designed for developing and third world countries. Now we may actually see some come to our area.
Many of the homes here in Ursulo Galvan and surrounding rural communities have been burning wood fired cook stoves for centuries. A friend of ours that lives on the other side of the Hood has a nice modern Maybe brand propane cook stove in her cocina (kitchen). But old habits and traditions die hard. They also cook their beans on an open wood fired stove in the backyard; this is common here.
For many of the poor the cocina (kitchen) has only a fire pit or a raised cement block fire pit that is wood fired. Kitchen walls and ceilings are stained with greasy black cooking smoke residue. Weather permitting many cook outside.
Everyday people can be seen walking through our streets with bundles of thin limbs, often green. I have given a ‘lift’ to many a little old lady hauling a bundle of wood up the streets into or within our colonia. I usually get out and help the small ladies into the big truck and load their wood in the back. I am often amazed at the heavy weight of the bundles. It is reported that there are a lot of older women injured from the heavy loads; hernias and back problems are common place.
A number of children throughout developing nations have been seriously injured from falling into an open fire or sticking a hand or complete arm in a fire stove. These open fires have created health problems brought on from the smoke, particularly lung and eye ailments, but also birth defects. Many adults and children have respiratory problems from years of wood fires burning in enclosed areas of their homes.
Propane has become often prohibitively expensive, even though some have newer propane stoves they can no longer afford the gas to operate them. Many of the poor resort to burning toxic trash, plastic soda bottles and bags to feed their fires.
Right next door and below us is a poor family living on the fouled river’s edge, often they burn plastic bottles with the resultant fumes drifting over our shared wall – ugh! They have a new baby living in the dirt floored shack. Not a bright future for a little guy living and breathing in such conditions.
There are Angels Amongst Us
On a vacation to Guatemala a few years ago Don O’Neal, a retired engineer 75 years young, was aghast at the terrible injuries he saw adults and especially children had received from their open cook fires. O’Neal returned to his home in Texas and developed the ONIL stove, a simple yet efficient two burner stove using strong, inexpensive ceramic lining and a steel or galvanized chimney. His design suited the needs of traditional Guatemalan cooking, and supplied some impressive results — it saves 70 percent of the wood usually used for cooking, emits only 1/20th of the carbon monoxide and protects families from burns and other maladies associated with open fires and smoke.
Many people in the Hood have expressed their desire to return to their wood stoves. They feel the food tastes better and the cost is less than the now expensive propane. At the same time we have been discussing reforestation projects and the problems of ravaged forests from a need to fire their cook stoves and heat stoves (usually one in the same). We have had discussions with some of the locals about these efficient designed stoves, and have been trying to get the parts to build an Onil.
Don’t Let the Smoke Get in Your Eyes
Exciting news
Then the other day a woman came to me to report that there may be an opportunity to receive 980 pesos to purchase the parts to build an efficient wood stove, and training to build would be available. I went to the computer to see if there was any government sponsored projects that might be associated with this rumor.
Like reforestation we now may have Olin stoves or some other efficient wood burning stove come to our area. This is good news. For a number of years we have been promoting our solar oven, but it has had little acceptance. Of course if you have been here reading this Blog or are a reader of the Viva Veracruz Forum you know we are enthusiastic promoters of compost toilets, compact fluorescent light bulbs, solar assisted energy etc. Many of these issues are hard to ‘sell’ to people living more primitive lifestyles. The wood burning stove is old technology presented in a new form. I have great hopes the stoves will be widely accepted.
Also we have been communicating with some people in Guatemala that are already using the stoves and learning some things about their success. They are sharing photos and information. Some have ideas on how to reduce costs and insure proper use from their experiences.
We are excited about the possibilities of this type of stove and programs that support the stoves in order to get them into lots of homes here in our community and beyond. After we get a few of them installed we will be checking out those carbon credits .
I hope to have photos and a firsthand report about the stoves here in the Hood very soon. Stay Tuned!
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