henrylaxen

Yes, here is the contact info: Eliberto Velazquez de Anda - Legal & Immigration Services phone (cellHim): +52 (331) 327-5506 phone (cellHer): +52 (331) 444-1214 phone (work): +52 (376) 766-4240 phone (work): +52 (376) 766-4249 phone (cellHim): +52 (331) 020-4848 address (work): Constitucion 13-B Ajijic, Jalisco 45920 Mexico mail: eli4162@yahoo.com.mx spouse: Susana Rodriguez His wife Susana is the one who does most of the leg work.

Buenos días, paisano , deberíamos ponernos nuestras mejores togas y escuchar a Cesar en el Foro?

Last Thursday (Nov 1st) I went to Guadalajara for my citizenship exam. It was the end of a long process, that involved a trip to Mexico city, numerous rewrites of my entrances and exits because the trips logged by INS did not match my passport, and the final stumbling block was that I had lost my permanente card back in 2014, so even though I've been a permanente since they first came out, the date on the back of my card was Feb. 2014, and unless the chief let me slide, I hadn't been here for the requisite five years. Fortunately he did let me slide after I produced a photocopy of my 2012 FM2. Now on the the exam. Since I'm over sixty (though I look 45) (hah) I did not have to take the dreaded history exam. I could have never passed it either. I had to take the language exam, which consists of reading about 4 paragraphs of Spanish text, answering 5 questions about it, and then writing 3 sentences about a picture chosen at random from as set of about fifty pictures. The total time for this test is ten minutes, and you must get 5 out of 6 answers correct. Question 6 is the 3 sentences. Now I can communicate pretty well in Spanish, as long as you don't care about the gender of the noun, the tense of the verb, or whether the adjectives agree with the noun in terms of gender and quantity. Pretty much typical gringo Spanish, I'd say. They made me read the "story" out loud, which was bad for me because when I'm reading aloud I concentrate on pronouncing the words (more or less) correctly and not on the meaning of what I am reading. After reading it out loud, I quickly reread the story to myself. There were a lot of words I didn't know. It was about some area in Mexico that has a river with a dam and a bunch of endangered animals, and was turned into a nature preserve. After reading it again, I still couldn't answer the questions, so I matched the words in the question with the text in the story. I understood what the question was asking, but had to refer to the text to figure out the right answer. This was somewhat non-trivial, and there were always several dependent clauses referring to the gist of the question, so you had to understand the question in order to pick the right clause. I really took my time on this part, so that by the time I got to the picture I only had about a minute and thirty seconds left. The picture turned out to be the easy part, thanks to the magic of three and four word sentences. I came up with: 1. Hay muchas luces. 2. La gente juegan futbol. 3. La mujer toma vino. They weren't happy with sentence one, so I added arriba to the end and then they were satisfied. Everyone at the office was kind, encouraging, and helpful, but the exam was a lot harder than I expected it to be. So my advice is, read it out load as fast as possible. Don't try to understand it but try to remember where in the text the "main ideas" occur. Then go immediately to the questions, and look for the corresponding text in the story. Now figure out what the question is asking, and search the text for the answer to that question. One of the 4 multiple choices answers will match pretty closely the answer provided by the story. Don't worry about the picture. If you can use Hay and conjugate ser in the present tense, you can always come up with something. After passing the test, I was told that in only three to six months I can expect to receive my citizenship papers, provided they don't change the rules between now and then. Viva Mexico! Henry Laxen

I'll bet this approach would work.

Dear Earlyretirement, Do you mean like the Trump properties? We lived in Mazatlan when some friends of our were sold the fourth floor of a three story property. Be very careful before putting donw real money on a property that doesn't exist yet. My 2c. Best wishes, N&H

You can get a "real time" look at the office by going to: http://ladron.mx/ and seeing if there are people moving around in the waiting room. Best wishes, Henry Laxen

After reading all this, I'm wondering if there is someone in the area who could provide an "insurance approved" appraisal of items in the house? I would happily pay for such a service if it exists. Anybody know?

Our frac has a very large master plan map of the development, maybe 36x48 inches (ARCH E). Does anyone know of a service in the area that can scan the document for us so we can put it online. We would like better resolution than taking a photo with a camera. All pointers will be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Best wishes, Henry Laxen

I'm considering buying a new Nissan Leaf electric car and installing some extra solar panels so that I can drive for free. I'm wondering if anyone else in the Ajijic/Chapala area owns a Leaf and what their experiences have been. Please leave your salient comments below. Thanks.

We have a "home grown" system that works pretty well. If you want to come over and check it out, just let us know and we'll send you a map.

Here is the number I have for him. +52 (33) 1486 7173 Besr wishes, Henry Laxen

I just tried transferwise and it was very easy and their website is slick and fast. The only thing I didn't like is that they (transferwise) asks you for your banks username and password, which means in theory they could empty out your account if the wanted to. I will reset my password after this transaction, because I'm the paranoid type.

If you want to transfer a large chunk, I can recommend ofx, formally forex. https://us.ofx.com/ What I like most about their service is the security. When you sign up you need to provide a (Mexican) notarized copy of your passport, as well as proof of your address and phone number. Then every time you make a transfer online, you will receive a call from them (usually within 10 minutes) confirming the request. These measures pretty much stop identity theft in its tracks. Also their exchange rate is good, and the transfers are fast. A good service for the paranoid among us. Best wishes, Henry Laxen

Dear Group, While I was out for my walk today I sadly encountered the body of a recently killed dog lying in the gutter on the side of the road. It is just across the street from the Centro Oftalmologo pictured below. Does anyone have any idea whom to call to pickup and dispose of the corpse? If so, please post the info here so the next time I search I will find it. Thanks in advance. Best wishes, Henry Laxen

Hi Amanda, I've added you to my tennis list which is available at: http://nadineloveshenry.com/chapala/tennis/players.html On that page is a link to a printable version as well, in case you are old school. Welcome to the neighborhood. Best wishes, Nadine and Henry