Lawmaking and Religion
The current set of politicians (from all parties, but mostly Republicans) are scaring the living shit out of me. At first I was just amused at the ramblings of the tea baggers and others. It was kinda cute that Sarah Palin thought she could see Russia from her house, but now it seems that some are thinking Rick Santorum has a real chance of being nominated by the Republicans to run for President.
There is a Republican in Indiana that thinks that Girl Scouts sell cookies, lesbian sex, abortion and communism. The Republican controlled Senate in Oklahoma wants to give the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents” to a Zygote (fertilized egg); while, at the same time, withholding the right of marriage to gays.
Virginia has a Republican sponsored bill before it that would require doctors to perform a medically unnecessary transvaginal ultrasound on individuals seeking an abortion even for nonsurgical, noninvasive, pharmaceutical abortions. The woman doesn’t have to look at the image, but they would have to undergo the procedure regardless.
What happened to the Republicans that wanted "the government" out of our lives? How is the government taking control of a women’s body going to shrink the size of government? How is preventing loving gays from marrying adding jobs to the workplace?
Now my rant – Religion should GET THE HELL OUT OF LEGISLATION! The legal system needs to be secular, not religion based. Laws need to be just and fair for all! The USA is made up of many religions, ethnic backgrounds and more than one sexual orientation. Religious zealots should not be allowed to control someone else’s life in any fashion. They should be free to worship and behave in a manner stricter than the laws, but should never be allowed to tell me how to behave beyond secular, rational guidelines.
If a pair of consenting adults wants to get married, then let them. If your church doesn’t want to officiate over their marriage, then don’t. But don’t outlaw it in total. And don’t even think of starting the argument that this will lead to bestiality – that doesn’t involve two consenting adults. And who decided that a bunch of old men (Catholic Bishops, the Pope, the Ayatollah, Focus on the Family and Rabbinical Councils) should decide what women can and can’t do with their own bodies.
I cannot think of a better closing statement to this discussion then that of President Obama in a 2006 speech delivered at the Call to Renewal conference, then Senator Obama offered these thoughts on the relationship between politics and religion:
Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values.It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.
2012 Carnival – Children’s Parade
For the first time we went to the Children’s Parade, the opening parade of Carnival. It starts at 4 p.m. on Thursday and travels from the Zocolo to Santa Lucia Parque. If you’ve not seen it, put it on your calendar for next year – it’s just the cutest thing! Click the thumbnail to see a larger version of the picture.
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Everything Apple
I have an ancient iPod Nano. I refuse to get a new one because there is still room on this one for more music – I’m very picky about what music I put on it. Nope, no full albums for me; I cherry pick the songs that I really like. Problem is the battery no longer holds a charge. So begins my odyssey to find someone to replace the battery in my bazillion year old iPod.
As with almost all of my techie forays I began at the Tech Mall or Centro Plaza de la Technologia. It’s the strip mall on the southwest corner of Calle 59 and Calle 56 in Centro. Unfortunately the only information I got from the folks at "The Mall" was that there is an Apple store in Plaza Altabrisa or as the expats call it "The Altabrisa Mall."
So off me and my friend Tom go to the Altabrisa Mall where we find the Apple store. It’s conveniently, for us, located right next to Starbucks. After a brief discussion with a couple of the clerks, we discover that the mission of this store is to sell stuff and, maybe, handle a little warranty work. So where do I get my iPod repaired? They suggested I try Avante Soluciones near Mega Balcones.
Avante Soluciones is the only authorized service center for Apple in the Yucatan. They handle warranty issues and maintenance of current Apple products. It appears that they are also equipped to help with Apple software issues and even sales of new products. My friend Debi had her iPad2 repaired under warranty there. They are located at the corner of Calle 18 and 23 in Chuburna de Hidalgo. They are open from 9-2 and 3:30 to 7, Monday through Friday. But they don’t fix old Apple stuff! Continuing my quest, I ask where I can get my iPod repaired. They suggested that I contact Israel Villajuana.
So I called Israel. His cell number is 1 51 77 98 and his e-mail address is mochix@gmail.com After struggling through a few sentences of Spanish explaining my problem, I discover that Israel speaks flawless English. His company is ComuniMac and, yes, he can replace the battery in my iPod. ComuniMac is located on Calle 30 between 33 y 35 in Colonia Emiliano Zapata Norte. As a reference driving north on the prolongation at Calle 35 you will see the restaurant "La Recova" on the right. Take a right turn here and right again at the next street. His business is on the left. Israel’s business hours are from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. I found it hard to get there between those hours, so I asked if he made house calls. For a very small fee he said that he would pickup and deliver the finished iPod to me.
I now have my iPod, with its new battery, in hand and it works like a dream. You can’t tell that he opened the iPod and, of course, he even returned the old battery. His work is perfect. So if you need work done on an Apple product that is out of warranty, Israel is your guy.
There is someone in Mérida that can fix anything/everything, you just have to follow the breadcrumbs to the end of the trail.
Printer Cartridges (Cartucho de Tinta)
When we first moved to Mérida we were warned that printer cartridges were extremely expensive. With so many other things to do, we promptly forgot the warning until the color cartridge on our HP Deskjet 970Cse went dry.
Needing a cartridge badly I went Office Depot to get one right away. I was shocked when the clerk quoted 1,200 pesos for the cartridge! Checking HP’s web site the HP 78XL Tricolor Ink Cartridge, HP quoted $61.00, but HP refused to ship it to México. So grumbling profusely, I purchased the grossly overpriced cartridge.
So the next time the color cartridge started running low, I went shopping. I started my search at my favorite tech place – Centro Plaza de la Technologia. It’s the strip mall on the southwest corner of Calle 59 and Calle 56. I just love that place!
In cubicle 43-45 is a tienda that sells HP original and factory refurbished printer cartridges (They sell cartridges for other printer too). I asked for the HP 78XL color and the clerk gave me two options.
First, she had genuine HP cartridges and, get this, for only 520 pesos! At this point I was ready to buy. But wait she said; she also had factory refurbished cartridges for only 120 pesos! At this price I was getting a little wary.
She told me no problem. They have a guarantee on the refurbished cartridges. If it didn’t work or I was unhappy with it, bring the cartridge, box and receipt back within 8 days and I could (1) get another refurbished cartridge or (2) apply the purchase price against an HP original cartridge. What did I have to lose? So, I accepted the offer and took a refurbished cartridge home. The company that supplies the refurbed cartridges is Tec•Laser.
The Tec•Laser refurbished cartridge works perfectly – not a glitch. So we are talking about the difference between 1,200 pesos at Office Depot and 120 pesos at the Tech Mall. I bet you can guess where I’ll be buying my printer supplies from now on.
Also, an aside, there is a tienda named Roy inside the Tech Mall that sells flash drives. They are excellent quality and the least expensive that I’ve found in Mérida.
License Plates in the Yucatan
Once we had nationalized our car, we needed to get Yucataco license plates (placas). To get placas for a newly nationalized car you need to go to SSP building across the street from the old prison and Parque de Paz.
The SSP offices open at 8 a.m. but they only issue entry numbers to the first 40 people in line. So if you want to get in and get served you need to be there a little early. We arrived at 7 a.m. and were rewarded with number 23 when the doors opened at 8.
Once you have a number you begin the process of showing papers and waiting, showing papers to some else and waiting. The entire process is a series of queues.
When our number was called we presented the clerk with the original and a copy of the car title, my Telmex bill, FM2, original invoice and the Pedimento (the Bill of Lading issued by Aduana for importation). That’s when we found out that we really needed a total of 4 copies of the Pedimento. So a quick run to the closest copy tienda for more copies. Some wise entrepreneurs have positioned copy tiendas to the side and back of SSP. This leads me to believe that we are not the first to have arrived with insufficient copies.
After much vigorous stamping and stapling we were sent to the next queue to wait for our names to be called. This area is for SSP to inspect the vehicle to ensure that the vehicle is the same one that Aduana approved. First they checked the paperwork – yes the same paperwork that the previous clerk checked, stamped and stapled. Lo and behold this clerk discovered that we had not copied the back of the title. The back of the title which had nothing on it. So off to the convenient copy tienda to copy the backside of the title. Once completed the clerk was happy and we were told to wait for an available inspector.
While waiting for an inspector we entertained ourselves by watching the drivers in the parking lot. A section of the parking lot behind the building is set aside for taking the driving test. For those of you that have not yet gotten a Yucatan driver’s license, the driving test consists of parallel parking your vehicle between orange cones. Well today a newbie bus driver was taking his driver’s test. For twenty to twenty-five minutes this gentlemen had the bus (yes, a full-size bus) in every conceivable angle to the curb except parallel – at one point a complete 90 degrees to the curb. Eventually he got it close parallel with no wheels up on the curb and everyone called it good.
Eventually we were called to bring the car to the inspection area. We then found out that the inspector call 15 vehicles at a time and must finish all 15 before calling an more. We were assigned slot 14, so we just barely made the cut for this round. We pulled into slot 14 and waited for the inspector.
After a few minutes one gentleman came out and took two photos of the vehicle, one side, one back. Then another came by; he first verified the VIN and then asked the number of cylinders. He then pulled up the floor mat on the passenger side and put it back. He told us to park the car and go inside to wait.
Our name was called and we went to the counter to find out that there was yet another small problem. Because this was a one-time event and we didn’t want language to be a problem we took Yesenia Lope along to help with the entire process. Well, this clerk, the fourth or fifth since we arrived thought that her color photo copy of her identification was too dark. Yet again, off to the handy copy tienda for a lighter copy of her id. More staples and stamps and were asked to take a seat.
Our name was called, all of the paperwork was in order. Told to go to the caja and wait for our name to be called so that we could pay the Tenencia (the annual tax on vehicles).
When called we went to caja 11 while she calculated the total fee. While waiting I was reading the many signs all around saying that you could pay your charges with a credit card. So to preserve our cash, I pulled out a trusty credit card. The clerk quoted the fee and I presented the card. At which point everything came to a screeching halt. If I wanted to use the credit card, she would have to get a supervisor’s approval. She looked around desperately for a supervisor, but there was none is sight. Not wanting to delay this already lengthy process any longer, I quickly withdrew the credit card and presented cash. She stamped the paperwork and directed us to get in the line at the end of the hallway.
After a short wait, a clerk double-checked all names, addresses, and vehicle information on the paperwork. Then he asked us to do the same. I signed documents in the proper places and were given a brand new set of Yucatan license plates. In addition to the placas, we were given a decal with the same license number on it. We asked one of the police in the parking lot where to post the decal. He told us it supposed be at the top of the passenger side of the windshield. After looking at all of the sticker placements in Merida, we decided to do what a Mexicano friend told us to do – keep it in the glove compartment.
Total time at SSP – 6 1/2 hours! Now we understand why people here pay others to stand in the SSP line for them. We will be paying someone next time.
Nationalizing a Vehicle in México
We were just cruising along waiting for our car to reach 10 years of age so that we could nationalize it, when the Méxican federal government changed the rules effective July 1, 2011. Now a vehicle must be 8 years old (we believe that they are also doing 9 years now for transition) instead of the 10 that we all knew and loved.
The first action you need to take to nationalize your vehicle is to determine if it is a NAFTA vehicle. México will only nationalize a vehicle manufactured or assembled in Canada, United States or México. To determine this you need to "look up" your VIN number. I went to one of the free web sites and typed in the VIN. According to our VIN number our vehicle was manufactured in Canada. Interesting, our vehicle was manufactured in Canada, purchased in the US and it will now be titled in México – quite an international ride.
Now it’s time to get a broker involved. We enlisted the aid of Girl Friday (Yesenia Lope) to help from this point on. We decided that because this was a one-time event that we really didn’t want to screw up, having someone that spoke the language would be of great benefit. This turned out to be a brilliant decision; we do that occasionally, because no one at Aduana or the Broker with which we had contact spoke any English at all.
The first item that the broker/Aduana wanted was a copy of our valid vehicle permit. We had entered the country three years ago and got our permit just prior to leaving Colorado for Mérida. Well, that won’t work to nationalize a vehicle. To do the deed you must have a current permit.
Apparently the new law also calls for immigrants to renew their permit annually. Aduana Progreso doesn’t issue vehicle permits so we had the choice of Matamoros or Chetumal to get a new permit. Not being total masochists, off we went for a day trip to Chetumal. We renewed our permit without a hitch; paying the $300 USD deposit that is now required. The deposit will be refunded if you either renew or cancel the permit before it expires. We used a credit card and Aduana calculated the pesos that would be refunded if we played by the rules. So new permit in hand, we returned to Mérida ready for the next step.
[Word of caution here - Some say that if you have the old permit you're grandfathered and that you don't need to renew each year - this may be true, maybe not, I can't say. But, I do know that once you get a new permit you're locked in to yearly renewals. They make a point of reminding you of this at the border. Aduana even circles the expiration date on the new permit as a reminder. If you don't renew on time you will forfeit the deposit! So once you make this step you are committed to nationalizing your car or renewing annually at a border city].
Working with the estimated cost of $27,500 mx, we e-mailed, scanned copies of the new permit, our US title, US registration, Bill of Sale, the ever required recent utility bill, and FM2 to Yesenia; who then took them to the broker in early September. In early October we got a quote from the Broker of $25,500 mx (about $1,900 US). This is the total cost, broker and Aduana. This had to be paid at Banamex (this is a totally separate story).
So, on October 3 we scanned and e-mail a copy of the Banamex receipt. They then asked for a photo of the weight tag on the driver’s door post. The picture was taken and e-mailed. Sure glad that we’re not using snail mail for this process.
In the middle of October we received two letters from the Broker; a Carta de Encomienda y Manifestacion de valor en Aduana and a Manifestacion de valor en Aduana y Declaracion de Propiedad. Both documents had the same information, just in different formats. They both quoted the Aduana value of our vehicle to be $5,152 USD. This is based upon an MSRP of $16,980 USD. I don’t pretend to understand the formula, but that value produced the number that had been quoted so we signed at the bottom.
The next and final step of this process was a trip to Progreso so that Aduana could visually inspect the vehicle and verify that the documents we signed was true. OK, so maybe they did a little more than that. The Broker, Agencia Aduanal Cervera S.A de C. V., took the vehicle to the inspection; a process that took three hours. First they X-rayed the entire vehicle. Then they ran the drug-sniffing dogs through it. Finally, Aduana workers physically looked in every nook, crevice and cranny, removing contents from the glove compartment, side pockets and center console. Fortunately, their searches proved to be very boring – they found absolutely nothing untoward.
The last step was Aduana giving us our Pedimento (Bill of Lading) and, very important here, a copy of the now removed permit. When you nationalize a vehicle you do not get a Méxican title, you simply attach the Pedimento to your original title. But, you need to get a copy of your permit that they removed. You need this to show the police at roadblocks since you no longer have a sticker, but are still displaying foreign plates. There is no time limit for getting your Méxican placas but, I understand, that SSP gets cranky if you take more than two weeks to do this.
Success! So we now have a Méxican vehicle. All-in-all it was not a terrible process. We were told that we should receive the refund of our $300 US deposit within 30 days.
Next step and next story – On to SSP for registration and placas
Blogger’s Conference in Merida
- Have questions about blogging?
- Want to share your blogging experiences?
- Want see what the people behind the blog really look like?
Join us for the 4th annual Latin American Blogger’s Conference. It is being held in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico on November 5th , 2011.
Everything you need to know, and a recap of the last conference, is at Conference Blog.
If you would like to register or ask a private question, just e-mail us at Conference Information.
I really hope to see you there.
DISH
There are many options for television here in Mérida. I know of Sky, Cablemas, regular rabbit ears on the television set and DISH. We chose DISH because it had the channels that we watched NOB; shows like NCIS, In Plain Sight, Burn Notice, etc. We don’t watch reality shows so we had no need for the major channels.
Anyway on with the story. Last Tuesday DISH was working great until the afternoon storm. After the storm, we couldn’t acquire the satellite signal. We finally called for repair Thursday morning and they said that they would be out the next day, but would call to confirm first. Sure enough, the next day (Friday) they called and we told them that we had an appointment at noon to make sure that they arrived before then. You already know where this is going. Come noon – no technician; we fudged a little and didn’t’ have to leave until 1. Come 1 – still no technician.
We left, all the while strategizing on our next move with DISH. When we returned, by whim, we checked to see if we could acquire a signal. Lo and behold, there was the picture restored just a pretty as you please. Needless to say we were pleasantly surprised. Apparently the technician arrived late, but went onto our roof and corrected the problem without us being home. Thank you Mr. Technician!
Later that afternoon the DISH service center called to make sure that the problem had been corrected and to verify that we were happy with the repair. At this point we cannot say enough nice things about DISH and their repair service.
Mexican Pop Music
México is musically diverse. Each region has its own son (meaning sound and not to be confused with the ellos conjugation of ser), which are distinctive to those that are listening. Here in Mérida we hear mariachi, trova, marimba, and traditional Mayan music as we walk the streets listening to the various venues. What you may not know is that México also has many popular artists. Following are a few that you may have heard.
First and foremost in this discussion is Raúl Alejandro Escajadillo Peña (born September 29, 1969 in Mérida, Yucatán, México), better known as Aleks Syntek, is a Méxican singer, songwriter and producer. The Aleks obviously came from Alejandro and the Syntek came from the fact that he started out playing an electronic keyboard. On August 30, 2009, he released a new single titled "Loca" also used as the main-theme for the telenovela Los Exitosos Perez and the first single from his latest album. "Loca" reflects an interesting reimaging of Robert Palmer’s "Addicted to Love" music video.
Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (born August 26, 1971 in Cuidad de México), is known simply as Thalía. She is a Méxican singer and actress. She has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and has sung songs in Spanish, English, French, Portuguese and Tagalog. As well as singing in those languages she speaks Spanish, English, and French. Thalía achieved worldwide success in music with her 1997 album Amor a la Mexicana which is her best-selling album to date. Thalía’s first studio album to be released globally was En éxtasis and the album included her first international hit, Piel morena. And my favorite of hers is Estoy Enamorada.
Julieta Venegas Percevault (born November 24, 1970 in Long Beach, California, USA) is a Mexican singer, instrumentalist, and songwriter, who performs Spanish-language rock and pop music. Julieta grew up in Tijuana and began studying music at the age of eight. She went on to join several bands, including Tijuana No!, before starting a career on her own. In addition to singing and writing her own songs, she plays instruments including acoustic guitar, accordion, and keyboard. She has won five Latin Grammys and one Grammy. One of my favorite songs of hers is "El Presente."
Rodrigo y Gabriela , also known as "El Rodri y La Gabi", are a Mexican musical duo (both from Cuidad de México) who specialize in playing fast, rhythmic acoustic guitars. The duo’s members are Rodrigo Sanchez, lead guitar, and Gabriela Quintero rhythm guitar.
They are ex-thrash metal band mates from the Band Terra Acida. They became itinerant musicians, first in Ixtapa where they wrote most of their first album. They then gained a reputation by playing in the pubs and bars of Dublin, Ireland. Their first album was released only in Ireland, but we managed to get a copy shipped to us in the states.
We had the pleasure of seeing them twice, once in Boulder and again in Denver. The live sound is the same as the recordings; there is no over dubbing or any electronic aids. What you hear is what they do. This is the video from Rodrigo y Gabriela’s single "Hanuman" from their new record 11:11.
Jesse & Joy are a Latin Grammy Award–winning Mexican pop duo formed in 2005 by siblings Jesse (born December 31, 1982 as Jesse Eduardo Huerta) and Joy (born June 20, 1986 as Tirzah Joy Huerta). They are from Cuidad de México. Their parents are from D.F. and USA (Mexican father and US mother). Jesse plays the piano, the guitar, and does the chorus of the songs and Joy plays the guitar and is the lead voice. We noticed them when we saw their music video of Chocolate while dining at La Esquina restaurante at, appropriately, the corner of Calle 35 and el Paseo. Here’s the YouTube link to their song "Chocolate."
Camila is a Mexican soft rock group which reached success in México and all over Latin America with the release of their debut album "Todo Cambió." The group consists of vocalist, composer and producer Mario Domm, vocalist Samuel Parra and guitarist Pablo Hurtado.
Mario Domm (born January 22, 1977 in Torreón, Coahuila) entered the Escuela Nacional de Música in Cuidad de México at age 17, where he studied singing, music theory, piano, harmony and counterpoint. In 2001, He signed a contract with Sony Music to release his first solo and only album Mexi-Funky-Music. Domm has also produced hits for Paulina Rubio and Thalía.
Samuel Parra better known as "Samo" (born in Veracruz), participated in 1995 in the successful Festival Valores Juveniles.
Pablo Hurtado (born in San Luis Potosi) began his career at age 5. He studied Music Production and Audio Engineering at the Academy of Music Fermatta. You have probably heard this tune, "
And many, many more . . . .
A Major Water Leak
A very rare occurrence in Mérida, our JAPAY (water) bill has been higher than our CFE (electric) bill for the past two billing periods. So we asked JAPAY to come to the house and determine if we had a leak. [JAPAY does this for a fee based upon the number of bathrooms you have in your house. So if you need the service just say you have one bathroom. Since you now have to prepay for this service there's not a cross-check on the amount of payment and how many bathrooms you really have. Some may say that this is cheating but, in reality, the actual water leaks seldom have anything to do with the number of bathrooms you have.] JAPAY found a leak from the main line to the street which we then had repaired.
More issues with leaks so JAPAY comes out for a second time to find yet another leak in the line from the street to the cistern. This leak is in the same run of copper tubing. After much discussion amongst themselves they inform us that we would be better off to replace the entire run. We thanked them for their service and sat down to determine what to do.
The problem with replacing the line is that it is in the wall for one-half of the run but in the baño (bathroom) in dives under the tile floor and continues under the courtyard pavers through the cocina (kitchen) and then under the concrete patio before reaching the cistern. Not wanting to tear up floors and new pavers, we had to find Plan B.
We called our favorite handy man Marcos Sosa. After reviewing the problem he suggested a couple of things. First, he said, they should follow the line of the existing copper where they could, that way there would be much less chiseling of rock to create a channel. Second, he said that we could just continue the line in the same wall through two more rooms to get to the back of the house, saving all the floors and pavers. We agreed with his ideas and hired him to get the job done.
On the first day of the job we were pleasantly surprised to see 5 obreros (workers) appear. There were two plomeros (plumbers), Saul y Samuel. Samuel also acted as the jefe (boss). A combo albañil (mason) y plomero named Carlos. Finally two apprentice albañils, Argeminis y Adolfo. Marcos acts as the contractor, but he also is the “shag man.” He makes the runs to gets any and all parts needed for the job. Oh, and this is probably important, Marcos owns all of the tools they use.
After a 10 minute planning session they got right to work. After one short day and two full days they were finished. The new line works like a charm, we actually have water pressure! As they removed the old copper pipe with its numerous holes, it was obvious we had been losing water in the walls every minute of the day.
Day 1
The obreros (left to right are: Saul, Samuel, Argeminis y Adolfo) started on the front porch just after the water meter. Then they went through the foyer, living room and master bedroom. By the end of day one they had the channel cleared and the old copper removed.
Day 2
Some of the obreros began installing the replacement pipe, while others continued to create channel through the living room and back bathroom. Working the back bathroom was a tight fit for Saul. The installed pipe was capped and pressure tested overnight. It passed with flying colors!
Day 3
They continued installing the new pipe by burying it under the grass finally connecting to an existing pipe which went to the cistern. At least in Mérida we didn’t have to worrying about burying below the frost line. In the other pictures, Argeminis patches the concreta in the master bedroom while Adolfo finishes the concreta in the living room.
The job was done quickly and professionally. If you need any such work, large or small, Marcos Sosa is a good bet. His e-mail address is: sosa_marcos@hotmail.com and his cell phone number is 999-184-3034. His English is quite good.
