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CHILLIN

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Everything posted by CHILLIN

  1. My overseers, when working on historic, irreplaceable, buildings, or grave memorials, do not like me using chemicals. I do know that using steam over other methods I have to come back every three years, rather than every year. That is impressive, and always got me lots of work. The steam also destroys bedbugs and their eggs - never had to deal with that one though. The steam is also good in really cleaning kitchens and bathrooms, not just grease, but all those little channels on handles and taps which pickup muck over the years, and seem impossible to clean. The steam not only cleans them - it sterilizes them. With a custom made attachment (which I have never made), you can clean your sink and bathroom drains, blasting steam through them, killing any smell which may have developed. These small steamers originated in Italy, when a restaurant owner found that the steam from his expresso machine easily removed lipstick stains from glasses. Hey, I am starting to sound like a vacuum cleaner salesman! edit: here is a mercadolibre link. I had no idea how popular these units have become. They should be used in hospitals, clinics, dentists and carehomes, as the primary cleaning method. This is the case in Japan, where "vapor cleaning" has become very successful. Less disease spreading, less employee sick time, saves money on toxic chemicals. http://listado.mercadolibre.com.mx/limpiador-a-vapor#D[A:limpiador-a-vapor]
  2. As a former Restoration Mason and resident of Puerto Vallarta, I have dealt with mould, moss and mildew many times. I would suggest an energy efficient dehumidifier. I checked briefly, they have really dropped in price. https://www.amazon.com/Ivation-Thermo-Electric-Intelligent-Dehumidifier-Humidistat/dp/B00KO0S0U8 To kill any mold or mildew, the best thing is dry steam, it cooks them right down into the roots. Bleach does not. This is not an elaborate setup. For your purposes, you just need a dry steam machine like you see advertised on late night T.V. I know they sell them on Mercadolibre.com.mx, just find the Spanish word. You will be amazed all the other things you can do with this machine and no chemicals or detergents. Of course, you can try to identify the source, but there is nobody here with that type of equipment. It is most likely, like in 99% of the homes constructed here, the use of river sand or yellow sand in the concrete, mortar, and weak bricks makes the walls like a sponge. The water can travel through any time it likes. Do check out the obvious though, such as a tree which has grown too large, and is shading the house. The only danger, other than black mould/aspergillis, is a underground water or drain pipe has broken. This could cause subsidence, which is when a void is created and walls/foundations will begin to crack. I guess you could get a plumber in the pressurize the water system, and see if the pressure drops over a period of time. Then the problem of finding the leak, digging up a replacing the pipe - a plumber's pot of gold!
  3. Sorry Crazy dog - no lights. Apparently UFO's need to have lights. I'm still going with Feynman - one of the most brilliant minds ever produced from the U.S.A. and a legendary educator, still revered and studied today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLaRXYai19A
  4. Sorry dude. Laser hoaxes. Geeks at play. Clearly man made. Google, then get over it.
  5. Why in the world would a flying machine from across the Galaxy even need navigation lights! The only new angle I have read recently is Stephen Hawking's warnings that we should be very careful trying to contact intelligent lifeforms, there is no guarantee at all that they have friendly intentions. http://www.space.com/34184-stephen-hawking-afraid-alien-civilizations.html
  6. I don't know - I had some blue ice cream which tasted like bananas.
  7. I too have a love for the exotics. Many are what they claim - but cannot fit into "our" (their) food distribution chains, they go rotten/unripe too quickly, or show too many bruises. Beefsteak tomatoes and fresh picked sweet corn are easy examples. If only grown from roots/cuttings the proper way would a tissue culture tube (no soil) and phytosanitary paperwork. You would probably also require a special import permit, free, but takes a couple of weeks to get. Then there is a whole other problem of a courier/carrier. It is controversial as to whether the carriers x-ray packages (killing living tissue and seeds) or not. Estafeta definitely does, possibly multiple times, and clearly states so on their website. I have only had good results with seeds, ordering from Europe and Australia via international mail. This, of course, rules out tissue cultures - takes too long. Other report good results with seeds by mail from China Hmm - chocolate pudding tree - Black Sapote tree is available here. Only truly tastes like chocolate pudding when you add a small bit of vanilla ice cream, but still a healthy treat. Also black bananas are incredible, they are plantains which are allowed to ripen until the skins are black, perfect when a bit of mold starts to form on the skin. Incredible concentrated banana taste, without to much sweetness. The inside secret to a dessert "Bananas Foster", famous world wide, originating in New Orleans, but never the same as Island style - bananas flamed with liqueurs. We should get together dicho, a lot to share. Would like to get some sort of garden club together, but too dammed lazy.
  8. If you are at the "just thinking" stage, you might want to know that China has built up a large surplus of solar panels right now. The Solar City company, which Tesla wants to buy, is anticipating a big price drop for panels. Everybody is waiting. Just like home security systems though, the skill and experience of the electrician/installers is much more important than the price of the hardware.
  9. I am a little uncomfortable wading in here - But this has never stopped me in the past! I mentioned previously that health care, and education, Pemex and CFE are very political in Mexico. These were are movements here, started very left of centre, "for the people of Mexico". You will hear that phrase a lot, especially around election time and "El Grito!". The IMSS, as far as I can tell, was the one first out the gate, to provide workers health insurance for their families. All the above mentioned institutions quickly became heavily unionised and then abused by political cronyism. For example the head of teacher's union who is now in prison, bought two new Hummers for family members, and was found to own a $million plus home in the U.S.A. So much of this is now embedded in these institutions, which is a much kinder word than constipated. IMSS hospitals, particularly in Jalisco, have come under fire. My opinion is that the SP hospital are more "faith based", in their history and attitude. Look at the pictures and events at the Hospital Civil webpage, you will see a lot of white faces giving donations, attending gala balls, getting involved Are the SP hospitals "better" I don't have experience - and quite frankly, hope I never will. I felt the same way with Canada's medical system. The Mexican business people who are paying the IMSS deductions, would never go to an IMSS hospital. They are too afraid they might wake up in a bed next door to one of their workers. I know a young medical professional in Guadalajara has told me he pays over $10,000 U.S. per year for his private insurance. Of course, this is tax deductible. My working days are over, and just trying to make ends meet. This move by ENT, is the first time I have ever heard of any Mexican politician embracing senior ex-pats. Many seniors are not as wealthy as many Mexicans think, he has advocated for all of us, and 99% of senior expats can't even reward him with our vote. Think about it.
  10. I'm with you on this MC - I think the Manzanillo area is a hotbed of corruption though. As you know, when we moved to Mexico, you were allowed a vehicle, as long as you renewed your FM2, FM3, FMM every year. We made the decision which vehicle to bring (we had 3 and 2 ride on mowers- remember that lifestyle?). We chose the vintage diesel 4x4 and sold all the others. The decision was partly because diesel is considered a greener fuel than gasoline, and these old engines can burn filtered cooking oil and home heating oil. It can climb the toughest trails, can go through deep water and sand. We mostly use it locally, but are armagedon ready - minus the guns! To the point - it is environmentally destructive, to force us back to Canada to sell the vehicle when it has less than 50,000 miles, on a vehicle which was engineered to last 250,000 miles. The environmental cost of building a new car to use in Mexico is a huge stain and carbon footprint on the world's environment. I don't think we are too far away from calling bureaucrats out on stupid, bonehead decisions, especially on environment violations which should be deemed criminal acts. The environment is for the future generations of Mexico. If you want to get people visiting again, you have to keep everything green and clean. And less we forget, Spencer thought he could obtain an amparo on the administrative legislation - but nobody would step up to the plate with the greenbacks to fight it. Then it became general law, to late for would have been a quick street fight, but now a championship WWE effort.
  11. This is the iShop, where the old Mailboxes etc. used to be. Just down (walking distance) from Superlake toward Chapala.
  12. That's a pretty scary MSDS sheet on that chemical. http://www.runyoutech.com/pdf/thiourea-dioxide-msds.pdf I wouldn't want it on my airplane or in my country.
  13. Here is a useful water tip, passed on to us by a neighbor. Penafiel makes a bubbly soda water, in 2 litre size. They also sell a small, inexpensive "soda fountain" that screws on where the cap goes. I think it fits other brands of soda water, haven't tried that yet. So now you have an old fashioned "seltzer" bottle. Its healthy and fun to use, we try to use it instead of soda pop aka liquid candy. I have also found out that people make 2 litre bottle "covers" - knit or natural fiber. I'll bet that our Mexican sewing ladies could come up with something pretty quick, could sell the covers and soda siphons.
  14. Try Alex Peterson

    331-753-8151 or 333-577-7765

    1. red river valley

      red river valley

      gypsyken..........please forward email address or phone number, my driver just might be interested..........he has taken us many times North..........good driver, trust him completely. 

  15. So ten years not thinking about visas, wake up with a headache and sore eyes - that was quite the party my friends! "They" are talking now about requiring passports for domestic flights within the U.S.A. Also, toughening up I.R.S. laws to more easily confiscate passports. Feeding on fear and loathing, making it even more expensive to travel by air.
  16. I think you miss my point Natasha, living in Canada full time is considered to be, if I remember correctly, 183 days. You are then eligible for GIS benefits on an annual basis, and provincial health plan on an annual basis. They do not care where you go for the remaining 182 days. This is entirely legal. If people are prepared to commit insurance fraud and theft of services, that is a whole different matter. They are lucky to stay out jail, or they must spend the rest of their lives in Mexico, or wherever will have them ( I doubt that Canada would ask for extradition for something like this). The scary trend now is that private pension plans are quickly disappearing. Even most Universities, with their much vaunted tenure system, are rapidly doing away with pension
  17. They should be tested as positive for "mathematically challenged". The flu shots, lab work, doctor visit all under $100 here. To return to B.C., where I am from, it would cost many times more in travel and accomodation. They would then have to lie to a doctor (if they could find one) - "annual checkups" are not allowed in B.C., not officially anyways. Low income Canadians would be better off allowing the Federal goverment pay them a generous Gauranteed Income Supplement, on an annual basis, and they can still visit Mexico, and collect that income while in Mexico. Almost free medical and a nice annual government income for the "torture" of living in Canada for 6 months and a day. SWEET!
  18. I don't know where everyone is getting the idea that provincial health care plans are somehow being used in Mexico - they are not. All plans that I know explicitly warn you that the amount of coverage is limited to what they would pay in that Province. For example, the maximum amount for a hospital stay is $75 per night/day. This is not enough in Mexico and way, way off for the U.S.A. They recommend that you get travel insurance from a private insurer, which works about the same as private Mexican medical insurance - about $2,000 per year, per person. The problem is that if you are outside of the Province for more than six months (or two years every five years) then you are no longer a resident of the Province and would have to wait, and pay for, a 3 month period to get back on. The only potential abuse is that one of the pensions allows a minimum 10 year residence to receive that pension - as long as you collect that pension in Canada. If you want it outside of Canada, then it has to be the 20 years. The new Prime Minister Trudeau will be very cautious about having the Federal government snooping around people's medical records and travel habits. Afterall, it was his father who said "the State has no business in the bedrooms of it's people" in 1967 when they decriminalized homosexuality. The Federal government will not do anything about this because it is only the United States they are sharing information with, and any Canadian overstaying their six month limit there will be having a much bigger problem with I.C.E. than anything the Canadians can dish up.
  19. google "non slip floor treatment" - 3.8 million hits
  20. This part of their website describes installation and materials to a very professional level. There are many possible shortcuts - but...., you take your chances. This is floor which will last for 100 plus years - if properly installed and maintained. http://originalmissiontile.com/cement-tiles-installation-guidelines/ They ship from San Luis Potosi - which is a drivable distance.
  21. I think you mean these tiles http://originalmissiontile.com/ They are sure beautiful. It's a great look, pattern and colors on the floor, keep the walls and ceilings minimal. It gives a room an illusion of soaring height. Soaring I like. Read the product info for details as to proper installation. There are so many concrete sealers today, many are very high performance. You can also choose flat, semi gloss or gloss. Gloss is the hardest to obtain and maintain. Gloss is very slippery when wet - same as stone, marble and limestone (travertino). There is a non slip treatment which is used extensively in the U.S. and Canada on stone floors, tubs, tiles etc. - but I have never seen anybody offer it here. That is too bad because there are just way to many slips and falls in Mexico caused by slippery surfaces. edit: Before I forget, it says to clean the floor with neutral detergent, water and a "capful" of liquid wax. Neutral detergent is difficult to find now, since they discontinued "Ivory Detergent flakes". Luckily, it is available from large animal supply stores as a horse shampoo, containing Laurel Sulphate. It lifts the dirt but leaves the natural oils the horses need to keep their coats healthy, especially in the rain. It is non-alkaline so it does not burn the cement like normal soaps would.
  22. Maybe the OP means Radon gas? Haven't hear that one come up for years.
  23. Here's Richard Feynman on the subject. A brilliant scientist (one year after this video he shared the Nobel prize for Physics) but also a brilliant educator. But like all great minds, he also had a healthy sense of play, he learned to play the "frigideira", which is a Brazilian percussion instrument which looks like, and probably is, a frying pan. He joined a samba school/club where the men beat their sticks on percussion instruments, and the women swayed their hips and developed beautiful, and elaborate costumes. A lot more fun than a square dance club and a lot more more fun than staying up all night hoping to photograph imaginary spacecraft. Let us know if you start a Samba club -I'll be there! http://amiquote.tumblr.com/post/4463044318/richard-feynman-on-the-likelihood-of-flying
  24. O.K. - here, they are not showing up at Lake Chapala, or anywhere else. If there were "alien exploration aircraft" they would not need lights and would most certainly not make any noise. The nearest "earth like planets" are 450 light years away.
  25. You do know that one of the fun things you can do with drones, especially in a club, is to fly very tight formations - sort of like choreography. The drones are not like RC controlled craft, they are/can be programmed with very precise flight plans. Drones are a magnet for all types of technology right now - some of it is downright scary!
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