We are here

We are at Hacienda Contreras safe and sound. Lots to tell about but we had Starchoice problems and I spent 2+ hours with tech support and am too exhausted to report. All is fine now and I am going to lay down More tomorrow.

Moving Day

Norma is better/cured so we are moving on to Hacienda Contreras today to join our Mexican friends. The young Canadian couple with the little girl are going to follow along with us. It will be a fun Christmas. Stay tuned.

We think she had a small kidney stone that must have passed. I tried to get her to pee through the vegetable strainer but she refused.

Oh BTW, the world has not ended yet and it is already the 22nd in Australia. Any problem there mates?

On To The Rediculist

Does anyone find anything ambiguous or unclear about this sign?

It is posted prominently at every entry point into Mexico.  It means if you take guns or ammunition into Mexico you will go to jail. Just like it says in plain English.

Two people recently were not clear on it’s meaning and both went  directly to jail without passing “Go”.

The first, an American, was driving near the International Bridge crossing in El Paso, TX with “no intention of going into Mexico”. This was a good thing because he just happened to be carrying 268,000 rounds of NATO grade ammunition in a trailer. Just an everyday thing for him I guess. You never know when you are going to need it. As he approached the turnoff to the Mexican border, as his story goes, he was “cut off” by a pickup truck and “forced” into the turnoff lane and onto the International Bridge. While watching his GPS for a place to turn around he totally missed seeing the above sign and inadvertently drove into Mexico where he was stopped, searched and thrown into jail for illegally importing 268,000 rounds of NATO grade ammunition. That is his totally believable story and he is sticking to it.

If he had not been caught he just might have inadvertently bumped into a cartel buyer who might have traded the ammunition for some US greenbacks. But of course that was never his intention.

In the other case, a returned US Marine and a friend decided to drive an old Winnebago from their Florida homes through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and finally into Costa Rica where they were going to hunt with his grandfathers short barrelled shotgun that they were carrying in the motorhome. His totally believable story is that they stopped on the US side of the border and asked a “US officer” if they could take the gun into Mexico. As his story continues, this officer (standing within spitting distance of the above sign) told him he could as long as it was registered. This obliging US officer then gave him a paper to be filled out later which he said would register the gun in Mexico and collected a fee. They then drove across the border where he was searched and thrown in jail for illegally importing a firearm, just like the sign said they would do.

They were actually lucky they were stopped in Mexico because each of the next four countries they say they were planning to take their gun into also have pesky laws concerning importing forearms and the pizza delivery to their jails is even slower.

The ex marine is from a well to do, well connected Florida family where his mother is the editor of a Florida architectural magazine. They also have the ears of both FL Senators who are saying that he is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and was confused and perhaps misled by a US Customs official. Unsurprisingly, they are demanding his immediate release. Equally unsurprisingly, US Customs is denying any of the above interaction with a US ”officer” ever took place.

There are a thousand tales in The Naked City”.

Friday

You May Be A Gun Owner If:

You are a Republican
You are male
You are white
You live in the south or midwest
You live in a rural setting
You have less than a college education
You are 45 - 65
You have a family income of $50 - $100 thousand
You have no children under 18
You are a Protestant or Evangelical Christian
You are a military veteran

-Nate Silver interpreting several polls

Observations: Not too many surprises here. The military service thing maybe, I thought they would have had enough of guns after seeing the mayhem they can cause... The rural setting thing seems a little odd. Kind of takes away from the "I have a gun for protection" thing as inner cities are more dangerous. No children under 18 was a bit of a surprise. Safety conscious maybe? I don't quite understand that one. If people think they need a gun for protection would they not think they need one even more if they have kids at home?

This survey was for guns of any description, not necessarily assault weapons. I wonder how that poll would differ?

Market Day

Tuesday is Market Day. We wandered around and bought a few veggies for dinner. I bought a leather belt for $100 pesos ($8). Yes, they do make them in my size. Norma is not feeling that well (backache, maybe kidney infection) so we stopped at OXXO on the way home to stock up on bottled water to flush her out. Other than that it was another perfect day, not too hot, not too cold!

The Cast Of The Voice

My Blogging friend Kelsi posted this on her Blog, The Youngest Snowbird. It bears repeating.

December 21st Will Come And Go

December 21 will not be the end of the world in spite of the Hollywood hype and the belief of an estimated 10% of the world's population. It is merely the end of the 13th  B'ak'tun or the latest 5125 year long cycle of the Mayan Long Count Calendar. 

The Mayan people are welcoming the New Era as the last one was not too kind to the Maya. They were subjected to the Spanish invasion and forced conversion to Christianity. As a result of these two plagues their numbers were reduced from 20 million when the Spanish arrived to less than 1 million when they were finally sent packing. The Maya population has since recovered to about 7 million. Better times must be ahead!

 Or, maybe the world WILL end! I will let you know on the 22nd. We will have a front row seat!

Bushmaster

Just days after the school killings it was announced that Cerberus Capital, the company that owns the "Freedom Group", which manufactures the Bushmaster rifle, is selling off their gun manufacturing division. It is interesting to note that one of the major shareholders of Cerberus Capital is the California State Teachers Pension Fund! Perhaps the teachers could use a course in Ethical Investing.

The Bakery

There is a small bakery just down the road from the RV park here in Villa Corona. It is a family operation and makes delicious bread and pastries. We went on Friday to buy a few things and asked about bread. Traditional loaves of bread are not that popular in Mexico. People seem to prefer the smaller buns. Bread loaves are hard to find. We explained what we wanted, drawing a picture on the flour covered work table and told him we wanted three loaves. He said, "Monday morning".

We were at the shop just before nine this morning and were told to come back at 11:15. I think he was waiting to see if we were really serious as he did not want to be stuck with something he would have a hard time selling. We came back at 11:15 and were told 12:00. At 12:00 we were told "twenty minutes more" and at 12:20, he took the bread out, tapped the tops, slid them back and said, "four more minutes". He was apologetic but we just laughed and said, "No problema", we wanted it "perfecto".

Here is the unmarked entry to the shop down the lane way:

And the shop. Still no markings or signs, just a doorway with wonderful smells:

Inside the shop:

And the final result! $70 pesos ($5.40)