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pappysmarket

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Posts posted by pappysmarket

  1. Insuring a 70 year old person against health costs would be similar to writing a policy on the Titanic...after it struck the iceberg. Most companies are not that stupid. IMSS like all national health insurance schemes relies on getting premiums from a large portion of the population that is young and healthy to pay the claims of those who need care. The problem is most young, healthy people don't want to pay a premium for something they are unlikely to need. So the government then must either compel participation or use general tax revenue to make up the shortfall. Or in the case of the US, just print more phony money and increase prices. This is the classic cause of inflation, too many dollars chasing too few goods or services.

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  2. ...and make sure your electric meter still has the working parts. CFE cuts off service by physically removing your meter. Found out the hard way in 2002 when we never received a bill. Guy with shirt and tie came to the door and apologized profusely and then removed the meter. Back then you rarely got a bill but the locals knew it was their responsibility to walk to the paint store and ask how much your bill was. You then paid the lady and she gave you a receipt. That's how you learn stuff in Mexico. Oh, our Maestro, Luis, just hooked two wires into the old meter and with a piece of PVC put them up on the power lines so we had power until we could go to Chapala and arrange reconnection. No power for a half hour was all we suffered...thanks to Luis.

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  3. On 2/17/2024 at 4:42 PM, Jreboll said:

    Here in the Rio Grande Valley most towns have 80+% Hispanics. I’ve never seen an employee that doesn’t know English.  I’ve been to Laredo, lived in Houston and San Antonio and have never seen an employee that didn’t know English.

    most Spanish spoken in Texas is 2nd or 3rd generation Spanish. Spanish passed on and not learned in a formal setting. You can distinguish a native Mexican from a Mexican American.

    For sure, some of the uh, not so nice, "expressions" I learned in Mexico are not known here. If I want to let one of the locals know I know a little Spanish I ask them if they know the expression Saludca. "Saludca???" "Yeah, Salud Cabxxn". 3 second pause and huge laughter. That one hasn't made it to The Valley yet.

  4. On 2/17/2024 at 4:07 PM, Kiko said:

    Rvgringo told me that the humidity in the valley was causing him issues with his heart so the move to the Tucson area.  He was an interesting guy with a life full of accomplishments but yet humble and down to earth.  DEP

    Wow, did he ever have stories to tell. Quit his good job with Eastman-Kodak and sailed the Pacific with his family for several years. Truly a humble man. Yes, people here do complain about the humidity and surely it must be higher than in Tucson but after 10 years living in PV we assure the locals "You ain't seen nothin". Lol

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  5. 20 hours ago, Kiko said:

    I don't see many expats moving from lakeside to Brownsville because then they would have to learn Spanish. 🤣

    True Dat!  Actually, here in the Rio Grande Valley a large proportion of the residents speak both Spanish and English. The first language is almost always Spanish but their English is usually better than your Spanish so you end up speaking English. Frustrating after living in Mexico where your Spanish is better than their English so you get to practice your Spanish. Some, obviously, don't speak any English and then knowing Spanish is a big advantage, especially over the Winter Texans that are baffled over Hola. Spanish is surely the predominant language you hear people speaking in almost any store you go into. We live in Alamo which is closer to McAllen than Brownsville. Our subdivision is Alamo Country Club, which has 524 homes around a 9 hole golf course. Consistently voted best 55+ community in the Valley. There are about 80% stick built homes and the rest MH but no more mobiles are allowed even if your home would burn down. We are in a MH of about 1300 sq. ft. which would sell for about 115 K if we put it for sale. Many people here walk across the bridge to Progreso for dental work and generic prescriptions along with hair care, pedicures, etc. We all have golf carts to get around the subdivision and our HOA fee is $190/Mo. which includes golf, pool, etc. and best of all 24 hour security at the gate. In almost 5 years here I have never heard of any crime whatsoever. Alamo is starting to grow just as the whole Valley itself is. COL is definitely lower than the Houston area with food probably about the same but housing still lower. Our property tax is just under $900/Yr. with the Homestead exemption. Those who remember RV Gringo on this board may know they lived here for a while before returning to Yuma where he passed. Our Medicare Advantage plan prevents us from seeking medical care in Mexico and thus we needed to get back to the US but we only made it about 10 miles inside the border. We love being in  Hidalgo County which is 87% Hispanic. If anyone else finds a need to get inside the US for any reason I would suggest Googling this area. Traffic is nothing like Guadalajara or even Lakeside for that matter. 

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  6. 44 minutes ago, Kiko said:

    Here is a sobering thought, China's population has more than 20,000,000 who qualify for Mensa. Compare that to the US with 6,000,000 Americans.  I guarantee you that the Chinese Mensa members are not living in grandma's basement playing video games.

    The Chinese want to be the leader of the world, and they have chosen to do this with their intellectual power rather than with their military.  They are smart enough to know that there is nothing to gain if the world is destroyed.  I'll put my money on the underdog in this dogfight.  As long as the US remains stuck in chaos with their destructive internal politics, China is moving forward with a comprehensive energy plan.  If they succeed, then we can expect that they will be the leading power of the world. Time will tell.

    I spent some time with a couple of Chinese Elec engineers in Peru about 8 years ago and our climate change conversation was most illuminating.  They viewed this as a great challenge and without doubt humankind will solve this problem.  That is the attitude that needs to be keep on your radar not an attitude of helplessness, gloom and doom.

    For those who have never been to Beijing, here is a snapshot in next post.

     

    I have a Brother-in Law who is a past president of the Pittsburgh Mensa organization. If he is a typical representation of people with that high of an IQ I would have to respectfully disagree with Kiko. If you want to discuss theoretical issues he is the best. Practical issues...no.

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  7. Wi-fi only with a hub that connects to your router either via ethernet or now just by wi-fi. We have two such phones. One is a Clear Choice phone connected by ethernet that has the closed captions screen that my wife prefers to use.  The other one is an Ooma that connects via wi-fi that still has the same number we have had in Houston since we moved from there to Mexico. We ported it a couple of times from previous wi-fi setups that we had in Ajijic and PV. Works pretty good with the usual hiccups that cell phone service has, namely the caller moving from tower to tower as they drive along.

     

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  8. Many restaurants in PV did not take foreign credit cards when we last lived there in 2018. According to one owner I spoke with, the problem is with tourists contesting a charge once they return home. The bank puts a hold and it is extremely difficult to fight the allegation, especially from out of the country. I have had a couple of contested charges for items we sold on eBay. The tracking clearly showed they were delivered but the customer said no. One was resolved in our favor and the other one in the customer's favor but eBay stepped in and took the hit instead of us. The owner said it usually involved large groups and lots of alcohol with one person paying the entire bill. Once they sober up, they are horrified at how much they spent and take a stab at getting the bank to help them out. 

  9. 15 hours ago, ibarra said:

    I use a neck cushion as a cushion in wheelchair and to sleep on plane (if that is even possible).  You wear it instead of carrying it or trying to put it in carry on luggage. Can go around your neck, your arm or hook on purse if you carry one when you aren't sitting on it.  I use one that I purchased at Walmart, sturdy and decent material.  Here is a photo of one that is sold on Amazon to use as a reference.

    71PkDSbjcJL.__AC_SX300_SY300_QL70_FMwebp_.jpg.da31ac42ed8e07e8f54778c416c6f254.jpg

    It's also great to be able to sleep in a recliner. I recently had two separate hernia surgeries and the doctor suggested sleeping in a recliner the first couple of days and this neck pillow made it very comfortable. Without it you constantly wake up as your head droops, lol.

  10. 17 hours ago, Natasha said:

    I would.... but no room.  Carry-on will barely manage for days away.

     

    Me too.... but ONLY direct-flight option left between GDL and PV.

    Shame that Almar closed up. They had great direct service to PVR with nice propjets and were always on time and somehow managed to serve a drink to everyone during what was a less than 30 minute wheels up to wheels down flight.

  11. 15 hours ago, ajijicbound said:

    Ajijic stopped doing these years ago. It was very difficult on the families doing the live scenes at Christmas.

    There were more than a few couples who tried having a new baby just in time to be chosen for the Creche. I remember several very chilly nights and feeling sorry for the enactors.

  12. 3 hours ago, Usvetsinmexico said:

    Glad we got our perm residents 2 years ago. And raises in min wage gets you large cost in creases.  Was watching a video of a woman who went to 5 bros in cali and she showed a receipt for 2 burger meals...$60 lol. A guy responded with his own video taco bell for 2 people $30! Yeah these types of min wage increases sure don't cause inflation.

    But it tends to keep the riff raff outta Mexico...always a positive development.

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  13. 17 hours ago, Usvetsinmexico said:

    Ok I don't have any expensive ones.  The few I have are super cheap. Also i use very low dose so most in have to cut in half so ever cheaper. Wish they VA would figure out our medical cover would bet super cheap here and its much easier to live off VA disability and ssdi down here. But they never think about what's best for vets just the govt workers at the VA.

    What everyone fails to take into account is what plagues everything nowadays: fraud. From shoplifting to outright CC fraud we all pay more for things due to dishonesty. Sure, VA healthcare and Medicare would seemingly be much cheaper if we could receive and be reimbursed for care in Mexico. It's difficult enough to investigate and then prosecute fraud in the US with laws that protect privacy and then the reluctance in many areas of the US to not prosecute property crime. Imagine Medicare or the VA trying to investigate and prosecute fraud against Uncle Sam in Mexico. Yeah, sounds like a joke, eh? Remember, Willie Sutton said he robbed banks because that's where the money is. Uncle Sam is the biggest bank. Many moons ago I worked for a major insurance company in San Diego. On occasion they asked me, unofficially, to take a ride to Tijuana and investigate a certain doctor who was claiming to treat cancer with a remedy called Laetrile. Being a good little employee I did as asked and got some good info for them. One Saturday morning I opened my copy of the San Diego Union newspaper to see my name on the front page. The story said I was being investigated for being the "front" for stolen cars being shipped to Tijuana. That ended my sub rosa work over the border. The dishonest people would have a field day with healthcare payments from the US. It's the reason we had to leave Mexico since our world wide health insurance through BP where my wife is retired from gave us a 9 month warning that our premium would increase from $325/mo. for both of us to $1450 if we did not move back to the US. That was a no brainer as we could not afford hat kind of increase. That was in 2018 and so far that $325 has not increased so it was not an idle threat just to mask a general increase that they had planned. An unofficial chat with the company that administers that plan, Aetna, confirmed fraud was the reason for the huge increase. We all pay one way or the other for fraud.

    • Thanks 2
  14. 9 hours ago, LarryA said:

    I used Etafeta's Houston location for years with 98% satifaction.  As mentioned above, they will receive and forward immediately, or hold multiple packages to combine (if desired).

    My last contact info for Houston, info may not be current:

    Houston Office contact:
    Mariana Tejeda
    713 777 6206 (direct)
    1 866 518 6600  (General)
    Mariana.tejeda@estafetausa.com

    www.estafeta.com

    After introducing yourself, you may send boxes to:
    Estafeta Usa
    Marianna Tejeda / (your name)
    5802 bob bullock loop unit c1
    Laredo Tx 78041

    You can also skip the Houston office (packages received in Houston are prepared and then travel on to/through a Laredo office) and send directly to the Laredo location, where you may find different pricing.  If you know in advance the dimentions, weight and purchase price you can call either/both locations for an estimate.

     

    Estafeta Laredo
    5802 Bob Bullock Loop # C1
    Laredo, TX, 78041-8813
    956 717 3435

    And, if you're shopping eBay, there's a variation called estafetamembers (eBay items only).  You set up and account on line, receive a "box" number unique to you, and then send your eBay purchases there.  eBay purchases cannot be combined.  You'll receive an email from estafetamembers when they receive a package for you. If there's no purchase/price/invoice info inside you'll be required to send them a copy.  There are a few steps involved (via email) to finally get your package on it's way here, but for smaller and lower priced items it may be the least-cost option.

    www.estafetamembers.com

     

    Yes, Mariana is the very nice lady we dealt with. Mexican/American who inherited a home in Mexico and she goes there to work on the rehab from time to time and understands the "ways of Mexico". A primary reason we used her was because we had a mail forwarding service in Houston, US Global Mail, that all of our packages were delivered to. They held anything until we were ready for an Estafeta shipment. They then consolidated and sent to Mariana who sent it on the next free truck to Laredo, which was, at that time, once a week. How they avoid any import duty is one of those "Don't ask" questions. We frequently had merchandise easily in excess of the free allotment, prescriptions and lots of things Amazon would not ship to Mexico included and never paid a dime in import tax. Crossing via land seemed to make a big difference. 

    Edit to say that based on Mostlylost's post that Estafeta has broadened their service to now enable you to ship directly to laredo via an address they will give you. Wonder if they will hold and consolidate or do they just ship each package as received?

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