utilitus

Here in northern California, at each of two houses, there are recurring but manageable termite situations, one in the redwoods involving flying swarming termites and another burrowing variety in wine country, where the species builds earthen 'tubes' across hard surfaces to bridge between softer tunneling media such as soil or wood.  The woodland/airborne variety produce a distinctive, sharply faceted dropping that requires something like a jewelers' loop to see clearly, and twenty years ago I had the place tent fumigated, and AFAIK, they never returned, though they might be throughout the structure and only manifest through their distinctive droppings (at first), that and detached wings which are all over the property exteriors seasonally. 

There are something like 2000 species of termites, and a bit of research online concerning local conditions is probably prudent, and even interesting when you get to admire gem-cut drywood termite droppings.

'

Yes, currency is not only the largest but also the most complex market, like twenty Keynesian 'beauty contests' being run simultaneously, where one or another can motivate a large move for a day or two and then the subject suddenly and usually inexplicably changes...

- 'Emerging Market' currencies are often difficult/expensive to actively trade; but the MXN, because it floats and has long 'association' with the US, has been said to serve as a proxy for EM currencies generally, which prosper as the USD declines, as the world economy stabilizes.  Sure beats the Brazilian Real, which is getting slaughtered as the fascist darling president of international investors fails on every front.

- 4% interest paid (rollover or "carry") on USDMXN.

- There is some speculation that Mexico and maybe something like the maquiladoras might replace supply chains displaced from the PRC.  (S/SE Asia seems more likely, as Chinese firms themselves branch out, even into India.)

-  I attempt to keep a healthy MXN position at all times (for the carry and to pay for my planned house Lakeside), but I have recognized that you really have to day-trade the effing thing because capitalist mechanisms such as forex are all about what Marx called 'reproduction', i.e., capital begetting more capital, not necessarily for any human purpose or benefit.  Worldwide, central banks themselves are now reduced to issuing massive 'papal indulgences' to paper over the failure of such artificial late-capitalist financialization.

18 minutes ago, ea93105 said:

The downside is that they won't have any water during an electrical outage unless you also install a battery backup system.

Right - here in the redwoods up the hill from Mendocino any older house such as mine has or will have had a 24 foot tall water tower topped with a large redwood tank, water fed by a well and pumped up by a windmill.  We took down the tank, still have the parts, disassembled  like a huge barrel. 

I'm about to build a house with wonderful vistas Lakeside, and the only obstruction to a perfect view is a neighbors' roof tinaco sitting on a booster frame, as is so commonly found.  I absolutely respect his situation, but would gladly fund an alternative system that would lower the profile of this obstruction, yet maintain and hopefully improve his domestic water system, possibly including introducing some very basic solar electric components if necessary to add pressure.

There are 'low profile' tinacos available, but again system pressure is a function of height and pipe size.  Can anyone provide any quick comments or online pointers specific to this situation?  Thanks.

If an auxiliary USB wired keyboard is under consideration, go Bluetooth or similar and select a model with a built-in touch pad.  Models like the Logitech K400+ or its' successors are cheap, light and easy on the batteries.  Using similar but better models I control multiple HDTVs connected to networked laptops with HDMI ports running Windows 10 from across a room or around the house.  It's easy in English, though for all I know there might be a Spaniard in the works....

37 minutes ago, Go Solar said:

WTI at this moment, 

$21.61/bbl - That's for (NYMEX: CLM20), i.e., WTI for June delivery.  In a month, that price will probably be about the same as the current May contract that has imploded.

ICE Brent crude is currently trading at $26.  The NYMEX WTI figure around $10 is an artifact of the related futures contract which is about to settle when there is a requirement to take delivery and there is no storage capacity.  Petrol prices at the pump should reduce, but not to such absurd levels.  Commentators point out that low prices are the greatest motivation for american consumption, now obviously suppressed, and suggest that US refiners could be a good investment into the fall.

Just curious - what percentage of the sale price for a home is common as a 'professional' real estate commission Lakeside?  Thanks.

Over the last six weeks or so, the Peso has depreciated about 30% against the USD, following the pattern for some other petroleum producing emerging markets, many of whom, like Mexico, have also reduced interest paid on their currencies.

In preparation for wanderjahr in 1976, my pharmacologist Dad put me on a proper course of anti-malarial Chloroquine in preparation for India and southeast Asia (and Bangkok was the worst, with maybe 20 species of mosquito, of course not all vectors for malaria).  He had contracted malaria during WWII in Spain, and knew it was no fiesta.  As I recall, the large pills referred to above had to be taken for some weeks in advance to bestow some limited resistance to the disease, the mode of action unknown to me.  This prophylactic treatment has probably evolved or been superseded by now... See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloroquine

At 1520h Lakeside, rate was around 23 pesos per u.s. dollar, an all-time low.  See:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-16/mexican-peso-slumps-to-record-low-as-fears-persist-after-fed-cut

Right, thus the  Peso is getting whacked doubly hard by the Euro.  At 7am, USDMXN is 20.35.   (In case it isn't obvious, the reason some folks write posts like this is to implicitly suggest anyone interested hightail it to their preferred cambio.   I'm in unfamiliar Centro CDMX and have to scare up an ATM for Mr. Schwab...)

 

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Posted 7 hours ago

  8 hours ago, Jreboll said:

Dollar index has been dropping the last couple of weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if the exchange rate turns around. 

Gonna be tough to push above 20 range, a tough resistance level.

 

tw,

Can I ask, as precise as you care to be, where in the RC you are located.  I ask because I'm interested in setting up an office toward the western side at the top of the frac, and I don't know where or how high up the hill ilox strung fiber.  Thanks.

Joco,

Thanks - it's great that some local institution has a good reputation, so far...  With telecom services (though not so much fiber), location can be crucial - if Las Fuentes had good net service a couple of years ago, I might have bought there.

17 minutes ago, DeborahM said:

I signed up last month, in Las Fuentes...so far so good! My internet speed is five times what it was with TelMex, for the same price. Currently they have a special promotion..pay in  advance, get twelve months for the price of nine

Wonderful! May I ask, what net speed is consistently achieved? 

Any idea where Unet's Joco office, if any, is hidden?  Thanks.

The USDMXN rate is about 19.14 (per Forex.com) at 5:20 am Lakeside, up about 3% in 3 days.  This is in the context of worldwide 'financial' hysteria surrounding the spreading virus. Gold, expressed in dollars, is 1684/troy oz, a new record in some currencies.  The mortality rate of the virus seems to be about 2%.

1 hour ago, Mainecoons said:

Drive up there 2-3 times per year with my Jalisco plates, never been stopped or harassed in any way.  Only in Texas and New Mexico, however.  

 

 

Just to note that in almost 50 adult years in northern California, I don't think I've seen more than two or three Mexican plates, and I've been looking.  Really, plates from the southern and midwest US are almost as rare... 

7 minutes ago, ddmacleod said:

Contemplating my options............

 

ddm, appreciation for your persistence in dealing with ilox, and sympathy for your frustration.  I myself have delayed building about a mile west of the RC because of uncertain internet service.  I will be down there in about a week and will try to thoroughly survey the situation.

May I ask, what internet provider do you rely on currently, and what speeds do you reliably get?  And how far west of the RC are you? 

In the unlikely event that I learn anything consequential over the next few weeks, I'll try to let you know...

Thanks  

Well, now three years after the introduction of this thread inquiring about the current cost of building Lakeside, what's the figure for "midlevel new construction" per sq meter?  Thanks.

Has any eyeglass provider (including Guadalajara) consistently done a good job with progressive lenses?  Thanks!

In the States, there is a sub-type of 5w-30 fully synthetic which is labeled as 'European' and AFAIK is REQUIRED for major German marques.

The neat trick is to maintain small pieds-a-terre in two or three convenient garden spots around the world.  My theory is that the reason rents were so low for so long in SMA was that everybody wanted a piece of the place, but to own 'quality' more than to use, or for income.  I hope to keep my acre of redwoods on the rugged Mendocino coast, because like other parts of northern California, it's world-class beautiful and property values are a fraction of the sort of similar SoCal spots like Laguna Beach.  Actually, one reason I made an impulse purchase  of a small lot at the top of the hill in SJC is that it reminded me of Laguna Beach in terms of weather and of the Berkeley hills because the profile of Mt. Garcia is indistinguishable from that of Mt. Tamalpais looking west across the San Francisco Bay.  I don't know, but this SJC lot purchased three years ago for the price of a good used car probably has already doubled in value, given the pace of development heading west.  These are platforms for living, in some sense, and good weather, Mexican culture and fine vistas are not primarily 'investments', just as the generally high education and creativity of northern California is a great luxury, even when set in even a small postcard, like a typically tiny Parisian apartment.  (There appear to be a lot of good deals on offer in Italy, even on Lake Como, though the weather there, on paper, doesn't seem ideal...)