Cities Profit From Shortening Yellow Lights

What a cheap shot to produce revenue. It’s analogous to requiring cops to have a quota for tickets written during their shift.

“Short yellow light times at intersections have been shown to increase the number of traffic violations and accidents. Conversely, increasing the yellow light duration can dramatically reduce red-light violations at an intersection. Some local governments have ignored the safety benefit of increasing the yellow light time and decided to install red-light cameras, shorten the yellow light duration, and collect the profits instead. The cities: * Chattanooga, Tennessee * Dallas, Texas * Springfield, Missouri * Lubbock, Texas * Nashville, Tennessee * Union City, California.” - Source

On a side note, I’m happy to see the Mexican police force here has changed from 24 hour to 12 hour shifts. It’s much better for these very underpaid guys and their families.

The ‘We Follow the Bible’ Challenge - DARE THEM TO BET!

The ‘We Follow the Bible’ Challenge they won’t take! - About 3 days ago, I woke up to someone banging on my door about 10AM. Since I stay up working most of the night and my friends all know this, this banging better be something important. Opened the door to two older gringas.

Usually when expats come to my house I know them or they want to know about rentals in the area or they need some kind of help. I had seen these two around but knew nothing about them. Opened my iron screen door and invited them in but they just smiled, chatted a bit and handed me Jehovah Witness flyers.

A long talk explaining that I’d studied MANY religions AND CULTS and found nothing that made sense or could be proven to my satisfaction. They go into their spiel with the preface of ‘we follow the bible’…I told them I seriously doubt either of them know much about the bible and would bet them each $100 CASH that they or their associates do NOT TRULY FOLLOW the bible as it requires. That it was a horrible book serving as a guide for sociopathic behavior, etc..

Of course they said well, we don’t follow everything as some of it is outdated, never mind what it says in Revelations warning it is not a cafeteria religion where you can pick and choose what you wish to believe, but that its all or nothing!

Check out this Comment.

I went into some details which they had never read or heard about, but could easily lookup in any one of the ‘versions’ of bibles I had, IF they DARED and of course they didn’t accept my bet, being simple brainwashed robots only capable of citing rote responses given to them as ‘answers.’

Nice enough ladies but please don’t go around proselytizing and bothering people who have no interest in such idiocy.

A nearly banned video called the Zeitgeist you should check out.

Close call…

I could easily blame this on Mexico, but I won’t because I know there are bad people in every country who have no problems in hurting or even killing others just for money. Maybe they do it for drugs or just wanting money, who knows. But such behavior is alien to me and not in my normal sphere of activities, acquaintances or friends.

In Mexico, the cantinas can be fun so when the weather is warm, I sometimes stop in to drink micheladas (beer cocktails) or just regular local beer. Since the past 3 months have been chilly at night, I usually try to make it home before the sun goes down so haven’t done any ‘bar-hopping’ of late.

This past week, I stopped in a cantina in a small town. There were perhaps 10 people there and I knew about 5 of them and the bartender (cantinero). Lots of joking around and the bar closed at 1AM so I invited 3 of my friends and 2 new guys I didn’t know back to my house to drink beer. Not an unheard of thing, but not all that unusual and I’d done it before with no problems.

However, this night, we listened to a friends Vicente Fernandez hits CD, talked, joked and drank beer. But the two new guys, who I found were from California and only here a couple of months to visit family, were more than curious about checking out my house. I had to tell one of these brothers to sit down and mind his business. Maybe 30 minutes passed and we went back to the small town so everyone could go home.

2 of my friends went home but one wasn’t ready to go just yet. It was still 30 minutes before a favorite cantina in another town closed so it wound up that 1 of my friends and these two brothers drove over to drink beer til the cantina closed. There were perhaps 25 people in that bar and I knew about 10 of them plus the bartender.

They closed at 2AM so as we walked to my truck, my friend Carlos pulled me aside and said I should be careful as he heard the two brothers whispering plans to rob and maybe kill me. Carlos insisted on riding in the passenger seat rather than the older brother.

I drove us over the to small town and the younger brother picked up an unopened beer can and threatened to hit me in the head with it if I didn’t give him 200 pesos ($20)..I told him to eff off and he jumped out of the back of my truck and tried to open my locked door, then threw the beer can at the glass while yelling, te mato (I will kill you).

I peeled out with the older brother still in the back and Carlos in my passenger seat, then let the brother out maybe 4 blocks away and he tried to apologize for his brother. Told him I was going to the cops to report this. I let Carlos out and drove straight home with the plan to return to the police station the next day.

When I got home, I pushed the seat up to bring in items I’d bought and when I put the seat back, I saw one of my big french bread knives lying in the seat. Meaning, the older brother had stolen this and sat on it. Now things came together. That was why he asked me to drive him and his brother to Jocotepec which is about a 40 minute drive. He was hoping I’d let the other guys off and he and his brother would be alone with me, perfect for an attack.

Fortunately, my friend Carlos, who is a muscular farmer afraid of nothing, was my security, though in truth I would never have put myself in a position of being alone with these two psychopathic brothers anyway, but still, its nice to have friends who back you up.

I find it bizarre and totally sub-normal to remotely think, in the event of some attack, that the identity of the culprits would not be very easy to ascertain since not only were friends with me but at least 25 people saw us all together. At any rate, I’m still a bit stunned by the very idea that anyone would think to try something like that, but I explained it all the police and they said they’d check these two out. It would be very easy to rob and/or kill someone, then go back to the US with no chance of ever being caught.

As Bill Maher says…new rule…don’t bring anyone home you don’t know, EVEN if friends you do know come along.

A couple of other odd things…a 21 year old friend who is married with a 6 month old son was on his bike at a local 7/11 type store about 7PM. He had just got on the bike, ready to ride the mile or so to his house when a man in his early 50s grabbed his hand and pulled him, saying he was from Guadalajara. My friend asked him what was up and the guy put his hand up and grabbed my friends throat. He pushed the guys hand away and turned to ride off on the bike.

The older man then cold-cocked him on the left side of his head with a balled up fist. My friend was totally pissed now since the man wouldn’t stop or leave him alone, so he jumped off the bicycle and turned to face him.

Sizing up the situation, the man was standing in front of a banqueta (curb) which was a perfect setup to lose balance, so my friend gave the guy a push and he tumbled backward, tried to recover but tripped on the curb to land on his back. My friend kicked him once in the face and once in the stomach. He calmly got on his bike and rode home.

Another friend had a demanda (police complaint) filed against him claiming he’d stolen 5,000 pesos ($500). The report relied on two old women who wore thick glasses. They claim to have seen my friend enter the house about 2PM on a Thursday and come out with the money. Hard to believe as my friend works 6 days a week from 7AM to 7PM so was in another town with his boss, amigos and many witnesses. But here, Napoleonic rule is in place, meaning you are guilty until proven innocent. The hassle is he had to get witnesses to go dispute the demanda which of course was cancelled. I asked if he was going to file a demanda against the family for falsely accusing him and he said no.

Mexico notes…

Some weirdness here lately or at least it was news to me. The police used to come by my house as much as twice a day, either honk the horn in the daytime or flash their lights at night. I’d go out and chat with them. They are SO BORED since they work 24 hour shifts and several of them live in Guadalajara and are assigned here. I feel sorry for them as they are not only low paid but have often rough jobs so sometimes I buy them lunch or give them cokes and chips for snacks.

After letting three of them borrow movies, some SVCDs, other DVDs, which they didn’t return, now they don’t stop by (I think out of guilt) but maybe twice a week and of course none of my movies have been returned. It’s one of the weird things about mexican culture…the word for loan/borrow is presta and for gift is regalo….but here presta MEANS regalo and your chances of getting something back that you loan are super slim to none. I can’t count the number of items that I’ve had to go after or never got back.

Something I just have to mention. I’m in my 7th year here and have noted how many more cars and how many more ‘things’ mexicans have than they did before. Bear in mind the minimum wage here is less than $6 and most people make from $10 to $15 a DAY. Though I know a few who make $20-$30 a day, most are very poorly paid.  A mexican friend worked at an electronics factory in Guadalajara and made $7 a day, but he is a talented baker so now has a new job making $20 a day.

I setup a bank account with an international bank and they included a ‘free’ Visa card. I charged about $100 on it to build some credit here and noticed they charged 30% interest! So I paid it off really quick.

In a recent issue of the Guadalajara Reporter, an english weekly newspaper, there is an article entitled, “Economic growth breaks forecasts as credit card woes break dreams” (February 23-29, 2008 page 12).

Yep, many people are going crazy with all this easy credit (at super high unregulated interest rates)  and ending up with ruined credit, debt and repossession. I have noted how so many people are buying cellphones, all kinds of new electronics, new or even used vehicles, motorcycles, clothes, toys and anything else they can ‘buy’ with plastic.

And how do they hope to pay for this when they barely survive on $10-$20 a day?  Most of course have families but many adults live with their families to save money until they have enough to get married and move out on their own.

Plus the culture includes a host of fiestas, building a house for each kid, the 15 year old girl coming of age celebration and a host of other costs that make extra money very difficult to come by. So now they have all this free credit and many are going nuts to their inevitable ruination. I’ve seen this ‘plastic prosperity growth’ over the past few years and wonder when the bomb will drop on them.

In addition, Mexico is so economically intertwined with the US that the economy is hurting badly here as well. The word for volkswagon is ‘Bocho’, the word for a mexican who is native born but lived in the states and RETURNED to mexico, is a POCHO.  I see many pochos these days. Easy to spot by their dress, jewelry and attitude but broke as everyone else.

The immigration crackdown as well as depressed construction is causing many illegal mexicans in the states to decide its better to sell everything and come back to Mexico, rather than be deported and lose it all. One newspaper article here said many were coming to visit for Christmas but not going back for fear they would be sent back to Mexico and not on their own terms.

Anyway, the other day a couple of mexican friends stopped by and we drank soda, chatted and watched a movie. They told me some people noticed an old man sitting in the plaza. He was a known drunk who often passed out on one of the benches and slept so most people just walked by and didn’t pay any attention.

So about a 3-4 weeks ago, someone noticed the old man had been sitting there for about 8 hours so one guy walked over and called to the old man who didn’t answer. He touched the mans arm and he was stone cold. The doctor said his liver exploded from too much liquor and the man’s corpse, remained there for 8 hours, dead as a doornail and unnoticed.

A couple of weeks before this I was waiting for burritas at Marco’s and Estelle’s tacqueria, so we were chatting. I don’t recall how we got on the subject but Estelle said a man who lived about half a block from the plaza was found dead in his house a year ago when neighbors noticed a smell and hadn’t seen him. The guy was about 45, well known, didn’t drink or do drugs and had no enemies but lived alone.

She said when the police entered the house, they found the man lying on his back on the floor with a knife cut from his stomach to his chest, all his intestines pulled out and strewn across the floor and both of his eyes were removed from his head. They never found the eyes and the police suspect it was satanists??? They always warn me not to open my door at night and worry that someone might do something to me.

I think they are paranoid as my neighbors all watch out for me and I watch out for them. They often ask me to watch their house when they go out of town or on vacation and we have a very quiet U type of street with little traffic from people who don’t live on this street. Plus I know a lot of local people, police and people from other pueblos who stop by at random, even a few gringos drop by to visit if we’ve not seen each other in awhile. So to date, I’ve not had any reason to become paranoid or fearful.

It struck me as odd, this fear because one night about 10:30PM I accidentally locked myself out of my house so rode my motorcycle over to Rene the locksmith. I saw lights in the windows and heard his TV but no one would answer the door. I noted they turned off the TV and turned out the lights so I left thinking I had the wrong house, but no it was right so I came back and the lights and TV were on again.

THIS TIME, I called por favor Rene, Jerry necesito ayuda…and the door opened. He told me if I hadn’t called his name and he didn’t recognize me, he would NEVER have opened the door to a stranger at night. He said it could be a dangerous thing.

Peculiar, he must know something I don’t but we rode on my motorcycle over to my house where he picked the locks to let me in and only charged me 50 pesos. Good guy. I have a custom made iron screen door as well as my house steel door so that I can open the inside door and let air blow through the house. Several neighbors asked where I bought the door and they now have them on their doors at $100 custom made, painted and installed, what a deal!

A few months ago, I had mentioned here about an old gringo named Grady who died last year after a lengthy hospital stay. To my surprise, this week I received an email from a guy saying he had noticed my comment and that he had a cousin named Grady who live at Lake Chapala. Yep, same guy. He said the family wasn’t aware Grady had died so they were curious as to the disposition of his body and estate. I gave him all the info I could and will let them take it from there.

Didn’t mean for these comments to be so death centered…jajaja…just happened to be something of interest locally that I wanted to write about.

I hate cold so don’t like to stay out at night when it’s cold. The cantinas can be fun but not with swinging half doors that let cold air blow through, meaning I stay home until it warms up again. Seems like it is warming up again and I can’t wait since I’m a night guy all my life and days are for sleeping or working.

A real popular small cafe called Jose’s is very popular with the gringos. The food is pretty good and at a decent price, plus Jose and his wife Isabel get to know everyone. But lately I’ve been burned out eating there so tried the Cucumber cafe across the way.

Man, they had this Pescado Chipotle for 55 pesos ($5.50) with salad and rice. DAMN, it was excellent and so tasty that I tipped the cook 20 pesos and the waitress 10 pesos. Chipotle is like a slightly spicy cheese that is just a touch hot. It was the best fish dish I’ve had here. Have been back two other times and am working my way through their menu to find what I like best. Great prices and very tasty food so far.

There is a kind of hidden restaurant in San Antonio called Letitia’s where they sell a tempura shrimp platter for $10 (100 pesos) that includes a mango sauce to dip the shrimp. It is excellent, the mix of salt and sugar plus anything tempura, count me in. I like to cook tempura carnitas (fried pork) at home.

Another great place to eat here sells BBQ and fish and chips. The owner is from England and they have about 9 flavors of BBQ, my favorite is ORANGE BBQ…man, its the best I’ve ever had. On cable the other night, one of the food travel shows went to South Carolina and the host sampled their native BBQ which was sweet mustard. I want to try that as it looked great.

This place has been ‘discovered’ by tourists, mostly retirees and snowbirds, who are turning it into a living hell. Prices are going up, houses are RIDICULOUS, traffic and parking is horrible and the ‘newbies’ are rude and can’t drive plus they insult the mexicans without any sense of remorse.

I’ve heard so many of them say horrible things thinking the mexicans don’t understand them, well, I’ve got news for them, many mexicans, even here in central Mexico, do know enough english (if not outright proficient at it) to understand every word. It is SO EMBARRASSING that I have apologized to them for the behavior of these people.

How RUDE! And they come here touting how they hate how things are done, and what they plan to do to CHANGE these over 500 year old towns and their cultures. WTF?

Who the hell do they think they are? If you aren’t here to at least try to get along and assimilate to some degrees, STAY IN THE USA or wherever you come from. I get so pissed off when they don’t even TRY to learn any spanish saying ‘these people’ need to learn english so they won’t be inconvenienced.

The thing to keep in mind, is we are GUESTS in this country and should respect and support their culture even if it doesn’t jibe with what we believe or how we do things.

One day, I was in one of my favorite cantinas (Gavilan) run by a great guy named Alvaro. It was maybe 5PM and there were two crotchety, very loud mouthed griping old gringos, complaining about everything here.

I got tired of hearing their loud bitching even though I was at my own table fully 12 feet away from them at the bar, so I got up and played some mexican music on the jukebox. There were only about 5 people in the bar, so one of the old gringos stood up and shouted, “who played that crap?” and I said I did, don’t you like it?

He yelled at me no, saying he didn’t want to listen to that crap and was leaving. I told him he was in Mexico and should try to get along and learn something about the place.

He said he didn’t HAVE to learn crap and was leaving. I told him good riddance and keep on going til you are back in the states as he wasn’t wanted here. Alvaro grinned at me and I hope I never see the old bastards again.

It’s like people in the states bitching about foreigners who don’t learn english. I happen to agree that you should learn the local dialect, at least TRY. So I live here and try to learn spanish, though my spanish is mostly malas palabras (bad words) but I know enough others that I can communicate with most everyone.

I did take a class for 3 months to learn proper spanish but the maestra (lady teacher) died of a heart attack and I never went back. Plus many words they use aren’t in the books. Real spanish is a very dynamic language where one word can have dozens or more meanings, depending on context.

The only way to really know spanish is to hang out with mexicans and learn from them. Sure, a formal course will get you the basics but to really speak and understand the language, immersion is the way to go in my opinion. I know so many gringos who live behind locked gates with security guards and in gated communities. Their only contact with mexicans is through housekeepers, gardeners, cooks, etc…and the rest of their time is spent with other gringos. I tell them they MISS SO MUCH by not dealing and interfacing with mexicans.

If all they want are to live in gringo compounds, why not stay in the states or whatever country they come from? What is the POINT of moving to Mexico if you don’t plan to enjoy, learn from and participate with the locals?

There used to be a lot of old gringos who would hang out in the plazas and usually flirt with then senoritas. Some of them are near pedophiles who embarrass the rest by going after very young girls.

In chatting with mexicans in the plaza they call them ‘pajaros muertos’ which means ‘dead birds’ indicating these old guys couldn’t get an erection if their life depended on it or unless they are on viagra, yet IN THEIR MINDS they think they are ladykillers.

It’s very funny and I so often hear mexicans making joking comments in spanish, knowing most of the gringos won’t have a clue what is being said. They often are taken aback when I use those terms when chatting with them and they tell me they APPRECIATE that I at least TRY to learn their language and customs when so many don’t care enough or respect the local culture to even try. It is sad but so true.

For some color, I have included the cartoon of my friend Mexico Jerry which he uses for his sales of Mexican knives and other collectibles. He has some interesting things and I particularly like the obsidian sacrificial knives. I have two of them mounted and hanging on the wall in my living room. Nos vemos (seeya)!

Apologies

Sorry for the delay in updating. I try to do it every 2-3 days or so but came down with some kind of stomach bug this past weekend that really put me down.

I want to blame food poisoning but I think it is my fondness for carnitas (fried pork) which, though tasty, of course are very greasy.

Since my gallbladder was taken out years ago, I can’t process too much fat and grease so have to watch what I eat.

The Chia ‘Cheat Sheet’ And Ten Raw Chia Recipes

One of my biggest New Years’ Resolutions was to lose weight, to get back to a 38 or ideally a 36. So I chose a high protein meat diet as reported on here at; Source.

My friend Paul in Dallas sent me a fascinating report about the uses of CHIA seeds which include dieting. The owner of a produce store in the local mercado has ordered me a kilo of this to try out. She said it will be here this next week so I’ve been documenting what I eat since the 1st of January and will post anything unusual. It’s hard to not drink at least a few beers a week but I’m trying.

“Chia seed is an ancient superfood that is currently experiencing a glorious renaissance. It is a member of the sage family (Salvia Hispanica). The little black and white seeds were once a staple of the Incan, Mayan and Aztec cultures, along with the Native Americans of the southwest.

“Chia” is actually the Mayan word for strength. The seeds were used by these ancient cultures as mega-energy food, especially for their running messengers, who would carry a small pouch of it with them. Chia has been called ‘Indian Running Food’ and gives an incredibly ’sustaining’ surge of energy… In Mexico they say that one tablespoon of chia seeds can sustain a person for 24 hours. Chia also happens to taste great, looks cute (like tiny dinosaur eggs) and is ready to eat really quickly, besides which it has an off-the-scale nutritional profile.

Why would you want to eat Chia?

Chia seeds are said to have:

*2 times the protein of any other seed or grain,

*5 times the calcium of milk, plus boron which is a trace mineral that helps transfer calcium into your bones,

*2 times the amount of potassium as bananas,

*3 times the reported antioxidant strength of blueberries

*3 times more iron than spinach

*copious amounts of omega-3 and omega-6, which are essential fatty acids

They are a complete source of protein, providing all the essential amino acids in an easily digestible form. They are also a fabulous source of soluble fibre. Like flax, chia is highly hydrophilic: the seeds absorb water and create a mucilaginous gel. They can hold 9-12 times their weight in water and they absorb it very rapidly - in under 10 minutes.

One advantage of chia is that because it has such a high antioxidant content, the seeds stay stable for much longer, whereas flax, for example, may turn rancid. Chia seeds can easily be stored dry for 4-5 years without deterioration in flavour, odour or nutritional value. You can substitute chia in any recipe that calls for flax.

The taste of chia is very mild and pleasant. That means you can easily combine it with other foods without changing the taste dramatically. People add chia to their sauces, bread batters, puddings, smoothies and more. The flavour is retained, plus a lot more nutrition is added.

The “Dieter’s Dream Food”

Chia has been called a dieter’s dream food because when added to foods, it bulks them up, displacing calories and fat without diluting the flavour. Thus, someone can eat a typical serving, yet only consume about half the calories they might have eaten, because the food has been bulked up with chia. PLUS, the eater gets a bellyful of nutrient-rich superfood goodness, which hydrates and sustains them - it’s magic.

What are some other benefits of eating Chia?

* Provides energy

* Boosts strength

* Bolsters endurance

* Levels blood sugar

* Induces weight loss

* Aids intestinal regularity

Chia slows the impact of sugars on the system, if eaten together. Chia gel creates a physical barrier between carbohydrates and the digestive enzymes that break them down, which slows the conversion of carbs into sugar. That means the energy from the food is released steadily, resulting in more endurance. This is clearly of great benefit to diabetics in particular. It also means that I can combine chia with super-sweet tastes like apple juice and not get super-spiked.

Due to the exceptional water-absorption quality of chia, it can help you prolong hydration and retain electrolytes, especially during exertion.

Whole, water-soaked chia seeds are easily digested and absorbed. Their tiny dinosaur-egg-like shells break down quickly. They feel light in the body, yet energising. Their nutrients can be quickly assimilated into the body.

Chia seeds bulk up, then work like an incredible digestive broom, sweeping through your intestinal tract, helping to dislodge and eliminate old accumulated waste in the intestines. Many people find their stools also become more regular once they eat chia.” - Source

Mexico odds and ends

Item #1 - Thievery - This past week my house was robbed as reported earlier. The local police were useless so I contacted a cholo friend who owes me a favor. He said he would ask around. So he comes to my house the next day and says he knows the local ‘King of Thieves.’ This guy can break into anything and has a big warehouse full of stolen merchandise. He kind of oversees the local thief community and acts as a fence to buy and sell stolen merchandise.

My cholo friend called him and asked the guy if they had ‘received’ a digital camera with case and cables. The ‘king’ asked if this camera was in a special felt bag which I had custom made to protect the screen, yes, that was it and yes ‘they’ had it.

This ‘king’ asked how much I’d pay to get it back. I told my friend to tell the ‘king’ that I wouldn’t pay a damn thing, but I would contact my seriously badass cholo friends in Guadalajara and ask them to come out here and do some ass kicking, how’s that for a finders fee. My friend told this to the ‘king’ and asked him to return the camera as a personal favor. The king agreed…that was 3 days ago now and the guy has promised to bring it by but so far, nothing.

Item #2 - Assassins - While buying burritas at a local cafe, Estelle the owner told me about a year ago a Senor Vargas who lived about 5 houses from the plaza where the police station is, was found dead in his house, his stomach cut open, intestines pulled out and his eyes ripped out and not found in the house. The police never caught the guy. / When I first came here, I was told the cops have a rule of ‘no problemas’…if you caused too many problems they would kill you and dump your body on a country road to be found by whoever passes by. Two american wild teenagers came here to stay with friends, entered the local church, climbed the altar and put a lit cigarette in the mouth of the Virgin. They were found in the church hallway with their throats cut as a lesson for disrespecting the culture.

Item #3 - Weirdenss - The late chief of police got into an argument with his oldest and favorite son who was about 24. The son took off mad in his pickup and rolled it which killed him. The chief mourned and stayed very drunk for about two weeks, then put a pistol in his mouth and blew the top of his head off blaming himself for causing his son’s death. / A mexican man from Guadalajara was estranged from his wife and grieving so he checked into a local hotel and stayed drunk all the time and told them only enter his room when he asked for it for cleaning. He didn’t ask for several days, no one had seen him and the neighbors complained of a stench, they found him dead and bloated. / Only 3 weeks ago a painter from Guadalajara was on top of a two story building using a roller paintbrush to paint the building face. The roller brush had a metal extension handle and he happened to brush it against the electrical power wires, which in mexico HAVE NO INSULATION, so the current fried him where he lay. An american friend of mine heard a moaning and saw the man leaning over and jerking, some guys pulled him down, he went to a hospital in Guad and died. / An american named Grady died a few months ago, he loved to tell stories and stir up mischief. One day a ‘newbie’ american was complaining how boring it was here. Earlier Grady had seen a circus enter town and go down the main road where they setup camp so they could do their traditional parade. Grady told this bored guy it wasn’t boring here and you could see almost anything eventually. He said why I’ll bet you $10 that today you will see an elephant walking down the street. The man laughed and said I’ll take that bet. They sat there talking and drinking coffee about 15 minutes and here came the elephant. The guy had been setup and had to pay the $10. / A mexican lady had a late model small pickup truck parked on the street in front of her house. At night someone removed the tailgate of the truck. Knowing the ropes here, she drove into Guadalajara to the Calle de Ladrones (Street of Thieves) and went by various bazaars til she found her tailgate which had scratches and dents she had made in it. She told the owner it was hers and he asked how much she’d pay for it. She told him she’d pay nothing, it was hers and she was taking it. He told her not without paying and if you cause problems, NEXT TIME, we’ll steal your whole truck, so she bought a new tailgate elsewhere and wrote the old off as a loss…y mas, y mas cuentos (more and more stories).

Updated 01/13/08 - King of Thieves returns Camera - My friend came by today with the camera and bag of cables. He said the king didn’t actually have the camera but he knew who did, so they drove around til they found the guy and he admitted to having it. The king told him give it to him, the guy said for $200, the king told him GIVE IT TO ME, its my camera. This king is very big and muscular, like a football player who dwarfed the thief, so the thief gave it up and my friend brought it to me. But the king did give him 20 pesos ($2) just as a courtesy I guess. I gave my friend 100 pesos for the gas expended in tracking this down and will give him a reward for bringing it back to me.

ripped off

Went to a nearby town here in Mexico for about 6 hours…came home, found my backdoor open (which I always lock), food missing from the fridge alerted me to something amiss. Investigation found my padlocked dresser drawer ripped open with a hammer and about $200 missing ($100 in american bills).

Called the local cops…they walked around, checked everything, made notes and told me I had to file a report at the municipio… After they left, noticed the leather case for my digital camera cables and power supply was gone, checked and so was my $500 digital camera (had a 1GB memory chip). Called them back, same thing, report at the municipio.

Spent an hour telling 5 people what happened with photos and documents, no action, said I had to wait for the city lawyer. I have a suspect who is a known thief and asked them to check his house before he gets rid of the evidence. So, pretty sure I won’t see this camera again..rats…only 5 months old. It held 1,000 photos and 30 minutes of video!

That is my main beef with Mexico, thieves everywhere (I estimate 70-80% based on my experiences) and every other statement is a lie from just about everyone, but the climate is very nice and its cheaper to live. Just have to stay onguard.

So I am installing more security in my house though 6 years here and never been robbed unless I invited someone in and they sneaked something out, OR loaned them something. Presta means loan, regalo means gift, but here, everything you let out of your hands is a gift. Took me 2 years to realize that, so I loan nothing.

When I first got here, many of the long time gringos here said never invite a local into your house or they will case the joint and see what they can get. That has proven to be spot on true! So now have to scrape up the bucks to buy another camera. My shameless troll - How about buying something (ebook, DVD, MP3) and help me get it faster?

A local mexican magazine called Paginas had an article about 4 years ago, called ‘Mexico - Pais de Ladrones’ which means Country of Thieves and it described how bad the problem is here where even mexicans ripoff other mexicans.

The other two things that bother me are mordidas (bribes) asked by crooked cops (they don’t mess with me since I call my lawyer and he comes to straighten it out, now they just don’t stop me…learning the ropes ya know) and people who have ‘gringo prices’ which are roughly 2-10 times higher than what the charge mexicans. Gringos here call it the ‘blue-eyed’ tax.

But I do happen to LIKE mordidas when I have clearly broken a law and would rather pay a cop 50 or 100 pesos to get out of the ticket as they make very little money. It’s the time more than anything as the ticket cost is usually 50-300 pesos. It’s when they stop me SOLELY to ask for a mordida when I did nothing wrong, thats when I call my lawyer and they let me go before I even press the keys on my cell.

I know a mexican vendor who sells woven basket, purses and such. One day I was in an outdoor cafe waiting for a sandwich. In front of my table were americans, one a lady about 55 years old, the other lady about 22 and two guys about 55 or so. I heard the older lady tell the younger to let HER do the bargaining as she ‘knew how to deal with these people’. I thought this could be good.

Not that I was evesdropping but the tables were close and everyone could hear her. Many extranjeros (foreigners) who come here don’t realize many mexicans can speak or understand english so they hear and comprehend the insults and snarky comments.

Anyway, my mexican basket seller asked them if they wanted to buy any of his items. The younger lady was taken with a rainbow colored purse woven out of chewing gum wrappers. The older lady asked how much, the basket seller said 25, the older woman said 15…they kept swapping offers until the price was 20.

The older woman asked, ‘dollars?’ and the basket seller looked at me with a sly smile and said si. The woman forked over $20US which is over 200 pesos for a purse that he normally sells to everyone for 20 pesos ($2US).

I nearly fell off my chair to keep from laughing. He saw me and took the money with a big grin. I pointed my index finger to my head and he nodded and put his finger to his lips telling me not to correct them. Any OTHER time I might have jumped in, but this woman had it coming so let her screw her friend out of $18 trying to show off her very shallow knowledge of Mexico. Ever since, my vendor friend and I laugh about it.

There are a lot of funny things that happen here, some delightful which far compensate for the minor problems. My word of advice to anyone coming here is trust no one and ask other ex-pats for advice before doing anything, but definitely enjoy it as much as you can. Remember, life isn’t about things or wealth, its about EXPERIENCES!

Tagged!

In the July 14-20, 2007 Guadaljara Reporter, there was an article titled, “Lakeside Thieves’ ingenious tagging system targets homes’. It said the Chapala police department had been circulating a flyer showing the signs to look for on your house if you have been ‘tagged’ for potential theft. The diagram shows 16 images that are chalked or otherwise written on your house so that other thieves will know who to hit.

Today as I was locking my door, I noticed odd chalk marks on the concrete support beam. I have no idea what they mean but will find out. Maybe now, after 6 years, it might be time to put in an alarm that perhaps calls the police though they come by here at least twice a day. I erased the marks and looked up the signs to see if I could make sense of them. No luck so will have to ask around.

There are two likely candidates who did the marking, one a known thief who I let use my computer for email and he stole a $600 camera with cables but I got it back from his mother who didn’t seem to think it important that her 20 year old son is a thief. The other is a guy who lives in another town and made a veiled threat a couple of weeks ago. So do I make it an offensive or defensive alarm system?

I’m thinking an alarm tied in to the telephone and using a voice module that reports a crime. When someone enters and the alarm is going off, a circuit will call the police department and the voice module will playback the address 3 times in spanish to report the breakin..

But I also like the idea of castigating a thief with high voltage or something that would knock them out or injure them to the point they must leave. This in addition to the call to the police. I will figure something out..

Update as of 12/06/07 - Police in two towns don’t have a clue what it means, but a mexican friend says the I is supposed to be a T over an upside down small v. Thus, the meaning is ‘temprano no esta’, no one home in the mornings. This because I generally work all night and sleep til noon without answering my door whch might give the impression I’m not there.

Mexico y ladrones

A year or so after I moved here, a local Mexican periodical called Paginas (pages) had a story called ‘Mexico, Pais de Ladrones’, ergo, Mexico Country of Thieves. By then I knew the editor and publisher of this paper and his entire family. He and his writers are very bold and publish articles, complaints and letters to the editor that no one else would touch, so I admire the guy.

I have been ripped off several times in my years here and try to learn from each but its a simple fact, trust no one. Only once in all my years in the states was I ripped off and that by someone who broke in my apartment knowing I worked all night.

One of the families I know here has a 20 year old son who has been in jail for stealing from houses and robbing two cars. I let him cut grass, pull weeds and clean my truck for the last couple of years. To date he hasn’t stolen anything. However, three weeks ago, I let him use my computer for emails though I was in the house and never more than 20 feet from him. This past Sunday I needed my $500 digital camera with 2GB memory and couldn’t find it in the drawer next to my computer.

Only this guy Chancharro (Pedro) had been near it so I knew who the culprit was. The local police stop by my house at least once every two days to chat. They work 24 hours on, 24 off, are paid poorly and get bored and tired with such long hours. So I give them cokes and snacks and we joke around a lot. So I told them and they were going to pick him up for theft.

I hadn’t yet talked with my lawyer so asked them to wait. Next day a friend came by and said this Chancharro had stolen his cellphone, so he went to the house and asked the mom about it. She said yes, there was a strange new cellphone in her son’s room and returned it to my friend. I told my lawyer this and he suggested I speak with the mother. So I printed up a photo of my camera and showed it to her and yes she had seen it. She said her son told her I ‘loaned’ him this expensive camera. I corrected that and she gave me a blank stare but did return the camera and the leather case with cables.

That was all I wanted but I told her about other things her son had done and again she gives me this same blank stare, after all, this is her baby boy (he’s 20) and he was not a ladrone despite the jail time. She then suggests it is three brothers who are thieves that I should watch out for. I suggested anytime she finds anything in her son’s room that she track the source with his reputation. She ignores this and just kept saying lo siento (I’m sorry) but she adds to this kids behavior.

So $130 down for two other things he also stole that alerted me to the camera theft, but I’m just glad I got my camera back and will take all pains to avoid this thief and warn anyone who asks me about him. Of course he is known to be a thief here but I’ll now add to his rep with my experiences.

It just astounds me how SOME Mexican mothers are so over protective for their kids where they let them do anything and lie their way out of it. I suggested to the senora that one day without corrective action, her son would wind up dead or crippled from such behavior. She didn’t seem to realize the law of cause and effect. So I’ll not be helping their family again.

Time for a michelada (beer cocktail popular in Jalisco state). Made with half a chavela (goblet) of clamato, ice, black pepper, chili, lime, worcestershire sauce and salt. Fill the half glass with beer and stir, very tasty.

Drink it halfway down, then add the rest of the beer from the bottle, stir and enjoy. Used to be 12 pesos ($1.20) 5 years ago, now they are up to 20 pesos.