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It was a semi-emergency....looking for blood clots. Had leg pain. My Ajijic doctor called Chopo for next available appointment from his office while I was there for exam. Chopo agreed to see me within an hour (before the radiologist went for siesta). No time for the bus/taxi dance. Plus when I'm not feeling well it's worth it to me to pay for the convenience. YMMV.

Just to recap, if/when this is actually implemented there seem to be several ways to deal with it - 1. Understand what is actually required and who it applies to, figure out how to comply with the law, do the paperwork, absorb the modest increase in cost, and smile. 2. Get rid of your domestic help. Lose/lose for everyone. 3. Hire a service to provide workers on a contract basis. Not for me but already a solution for many. 4. Find someone to help or do the paperwork for you. There are lots of "facilitators" who are already set up to do these types of things and many others. I would assume there will be more if there is a need. 5. Decide if you are trying to solve a problem or prove a point. If you are trying to solve a problem pick one of the alternatives listed above or look for other similar solutions. If you are trying to prove a point, go for it. I find that stomping my feet and holding my breath is very effective. 6. Have a nice lunch and a couple of margaritas, come home to a clean house, and say a little prayer for how fortunate we are to have a life where this is the biggest problem we have to deal with.

Hey folks, we now have a CHOICE of hospitals here. You can exercise that choice and go elsewhere. In my opinion, this hospital is long overdue and I applaud the doctors who conceived and built it. This is a very good thing.

From http://www.soniadiaz.mx/, a trusted resource- A Mexican Registered Car In Canada A Canadian who still is considered a resident of Canada (regardless of their Mexican status) can not drive their Mexican manufactured and plated car in Canada. In addition, vehicles including buses manufactured for sale in countries other than Canada and the United States, do not comply with the requirements of the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Act, CANNOT be altered to comply and thus CANNOT be imported into Canada. When a vehicle or bus is sold in a foreign market other than the United States, it's assembled to specific standards for that market. This creates an automatic exclusion for importation into Canada because these standards at the time of assembly are not Canadian or U.S. compliant, and there are no provisions in the law that allows for these vehicles to be modified to meet our standards. Even if the vehicle was manufactured in the U.S. you have 30 days to import it into Canada and transfer the plates, etc. to your province. Information Centre/Centre d'information, Transport(s) Canada, Motor Vehicle Safety/Sécurité des véhicules automobiles 1-800-333-0371 or (613) 998-8616m Email: MVS-SA@tc.gc.ca

But....Borrowing your hitch would require drilling and mounting it on someone else's truck. That is unlikely to happen. Maybe it is time for you to buy another truck to haul your trailer.

They won't be happy to work for less once they find out what the usual rate locally is. Just because they're poor doesn't mean they're stupid.

We moved here in February of 2017. We left Ethernet speeds of 140 Mbps in the US for at best 2 Mbps here. Frustration mounted. I use a VPN for all sensitive internet interactions so that slowed it down a bit more. Often, I played Solitaire on my phone while waiting for things to download and, especially, for things to upload at 0.2 Mbps. I read about ILOX on the Chapala Web Board sometime in early 2018 or late 2017. We are very much early adopters. We researched the company on line to find that it was the highest rated telecommunications company in the country. Now, my husband and I understand Mexico. Mexico does not have a mind set at all for customer service. Not one bit! We know and accept this as the way it is. My mantra is, “Soy jubilada. Tengo mucho tiempo. No tengo prisa.” We take a breath and then we wait. It is worth it to be able to live here. So, we never got anywhere with ILOX on what they needed for us to do for the infrastructure in our small colonos. We had voted to proceed with above ground conduit along the perimeter walls as being expeditious and far cheaper. But, again, we never could get anyone to give us the information. If we had had this information when we first tried to get it, then the conduits would have been installed months sooner. But we finally got smart and lucky. We saw ILOX running the cable in our area and we had a bilingual friend talk to them. Soon we were all friends and we had a reliable contact. In February 2019 my husband and his Mexican friends did our installation which included conduit into the homes. Our original estimate of about $4000 USD was based on Home Depot (MX) prices. But our friend, Vicente, found great prices in Guadalajara. My husband donated his time, the workers were paid, and our total was about $2200 USD. In some areas the conduit on the walls is painted, in other places it is covered with cement. It went through two carports as well. As they finished the work, the guys from ILOX installation told us we would get the cable (not the modems) the next week. Well, of course it was about three weeks later that we got the cable in mid-February. The modems came in April. We were the first in our colonos and I had impressive speeds on April 4th. Now, the speeds that they promote are speeds delivered to the modem. They are NOT Wi-Fi speeds, but Ethernet speeds. My Ethernet in the US was 140 Mbps and Wi-Fi was about 80 Mbps. That is the norm. But it seems that many on the Web Board do not understand this. I also know that every internet company provides cheap modem/routers, even north of the border. I had already brought back an ASUS router that I used with the ancient Telmex modem. And with both Telmex and ILOX, these modems do not allow setting to bridge mode. But it worked with Telmex and it works with ILOX. But for the first few days of ILOX only, our casita downstairs had fine Wi-Fi. And, just like with Telmex, the Wi-Fi did not reach the farthest point in the house – my toilet. So that is not a good place to check email. It is a bit better with ASUS. The best place to put a modem/router is where you are going to use it! This also is not well understood by people down here. We have an office/den/TV room and that is where all the hardware is. I ran Ethernet to my PC and to the Fire TV. Speeds are generally 80’s to 90’s Mbps. When I put the VPN on the router it slowed it down to the 30’s so I went back to using the VPN on the devices instead where it can be turned on or off. We use Express VPN which is required to watch Amazon Prime videos and it also works to get US Netflix which we do not have. VPN speeds on my PC are generally 30-45 Mbps and are similar on the Fire TV. I use fast.com for the speed tests as suggested by Tom Kessler on the Web Board. I use a Cat 7 Ethernet cable but a Cat 5 (at Steren and Walmart) probably would have worked fine. Both the ILOX and the ASUS Wi-Fi work fine in the casita. I happened to have a 100-foot Ethernet cable, so my husband ran it to the casita. Now our friends down there can take advantage of Ethernet speeds on their laptops. My husband’s ancient computer on Wi-Fi (no VPN) gets speeds of about 45 Mbps. And that is about average for iPhones and my very old iPad. I keep the VPN turned on when using the iPad and videos play just fine. Something to remember, people, our devices and computers impact on our perception of “speed.” Yep, Kodi was buffering even with this unfettered speed. So, I looked up how to clear the cache and it is better. My computer is from 2014 so it needs for me to sit down and work on the congestion. But it is still MUCH, MUCH faster than before. No more Solitaire! And for you other Kodi users, Kodi needs to be maintained and updated regularly. Just do a search for monthly lists of working addons and proceed accordingly. I have learned a lot about Kodi and computers just so I can watch the English Premiere League replays. (You have to watch them right away and the online community highly recommends using a VPN.) We also still watch games and movies in SD (standard definition) as there is less buffering and our older eyes can’t tell the difference anyway.

THANK YOU Chapalence!!

Why pay $800? I went with a friend to LaboratorioTolsa in Guadalajara yesterday. We took the Chapala Directo from the station in Chapala for $29 each way with our (free) Inapam cards. Taxi fare for the 8-10 minute ride from the bus station in Guad to Tolsa was $40 each way. that's $196 for both of us for a cool, comfortable ride in a super nice bus and nice cabs. We never had to walk more than 50 ft.

'say a little prayer for how fortunate we are to have a life where this (and others that I and other protesters complain about) is the biggest problem we have to deal with.'

Was in Bancomer yesterday as my debit card had expired. The customer service rep in the office at the back speaks perfect English - lived in California till he was 15. Was a delight to work with. He checked what my minimum balance needed to be and printed a document that shows it is on average 7999.00 pesos. Not sure why so high - maybe because we have checking and a Bancomer Visa. He told me must have activity in the account once every three years.

Local movers cannot move people out of the area due to certain regulations that prohibit it. Getting caught would mean the loss of their truck. (repeating what a local mover once wrote). Try moving companies like Chapala Moving or Strom White.

Opticas Ussual Calle Degollado 333, Chapala Centro, 45900 Chapala, Jal. 33 1432 1125 Phone: 044 33 1432 1125

Which village? Ajijic, Chapala, SAT, SJC, Joco?????

I like the new(ish) optical shop on Hidalgo just a few paces west of the plaza. The optician is skilled & they have a large selection of frames. They also use the best brand of sunlight darkening lenses. As to price I can’t remember but they were a couple of thousand pesos less than my previous ones from Dr xxxxx who got both the prescription and fitting wrong. He also used the poorest quality darkening lenses which were both slow to change and didn’t darken enough.

I only know what the very nice Telmex tech told me who was speaking with a person from the department putting in new Fiber in the area. No fast speeds without new modems and eventually paying for cable to the house. I was told at the office I was getting 30 MBPS but when I called to report I was only getting 15 MBPS they were very insistent it was impossible for me to get the offered Fiber speeds with my current wiring and modem. I ask for them to send me a new modem and he said there was a wait for them. I was just so happy I got someone who spent so much time trying to get answers for me so I will except them as the truth.

Herman, Please look at the Rules and Regulations at the beginning of this Forum. Because we are sponsored by a Real Estate Company, we are not allowed to make recommendations about Real Estate offices or services on this forum. However, you are allowed to receive PMs on this forum from others suggesting agencies. Sorry about that The evil Mod5

Don't get you hopes up too high. I spoke with an English speaking Telmex tech and he got on the phone with the department who lays and upgrades cable. He translated to me that they are laying the lines everywhere first but not changing the lines out to the homes for quite some time. They do not have the new modems needed for changing the service out (your DSL modem will not work.) Plus, they do not have a price scheduled for charging customers from the house to the line yet. I knew they would not do it for free as their competitors have an installation fee. So yes, there will be a slight bump up, but as long as the line carrying the data packages from their fiber to your home is DSL and your modem is too, 15 is probably as high as it is going to get for some time. Right now they have got me at a steady 14 mbps and I pay for the 15 mbps package. It is good enough for me and quite frankly, Telmex has given me less outages in the last two years than Comcast did in a month.

I have a 575 Epson printer with fillable wells. It's great, had a very similar 500 series in the US, very much the same but no fillable wells.. I prefer the new one with fillable wells, "Ecotank". In answer to your question, I just ordered the 575 refill bottles for the 500 series. I bought them on Amazon.com.mx, same price as mercadolibre.mx and WalMart. I am looking at the bottles (in boxes) now. They all say this (in Spanish, but I will translate to English in bold. Para (FOR): L110, 120, 200, 210, 220, 300, 310, 350, 355, 365, 375, 380, 395, 455, 475,, 495, 555, 565, 575, 606, 655, 656, 1300, 1455. ALL numbers are proceeded by letter L. Per Computerguy, L is the model number. The boxes in which the ink is stored are labeled "T664" or "664". Here's the thing: if it is an Epson printer with a refillable Ecotank, the inks are all the same.

Another vote for banco Azteca. Easy on line banking, no long waiting lines and a lot easier to speak to a bank representative too (manager, assistant manager) I used to be with Bancomer. What a hassle it has become: every other day they throw you out of their on line banking system, reps. give unreliable info, the endless lines (waiting), etc .... No more.

We aren't in the U.S. or Canada. Start thinking in pesos. What are the comps locally for a Hospital stay overnight? Only one I can think of is Ajijic Hospital. What do they charge? That is your comp so far until the new Hospital on the Libramiento opens. Comparing prices to GDL doesn't do anyone any good if you don't want to go there, or can't. Comparing prices to other Cities in MX doesn't do anyone any good, we live here, not there. My opinion...

If you want a consult go to your own doctor; why waste the hospitals time. Like going to the ER when you have a sore throat. I've paid anywhere from $500 (GP) to $1000 (specialist) lakeside and GDL. If it means I don't have to spend an hour + each way driving to GDL for surgery or to see a specialist, I don't care what it costs. Same as when your shopping, if you REALLY want or need to have something specific, you don't look at the price you just suck it up and buy it. FYI 1.5 yrs ago San Javier charged $3400 for a standard room - small & farthest from the nursing station.

I hope this is the case. I live in Riberas and just want to go with whatever is the better service of the 3 installing fiber (Ilox, Izzi and Telmex). Competition is good.

Thanks for the clarification, Bobby. Sometimes, people need it spelled out.🙃 BTW, how about posting your new hours and days open? I was planning on having dinner there today, but you are now closed on Sundays. I understand how, when you love to do something, total retirement just doesn't satisfy. Wishing you the best of health and hoping you can carry on for a long time.🖖

Very, very helpful and without the negatives. Thank you so much! Fred Habacht

All excellent ideas! I do not have an air conditioner and have maintained the inside temp of my house at around 73 F. inside when it's 90 F. outside. The thermal drapes work well but the two biggest impacts I introduced were 1 ) outside shade sails or awnings on the outside of the window to stop the sun from even hitting the windows and 2) creating a whole house venting unit from a small (9 foot square) interior courtyard. The hot air just naturally seeks the highest spot and dissipates. The glass slopes down to the south and up to the north with the small venting windows at the top of the north side. Now, the glass is covered with shade cloth and the windows are open. In the winter, I take the shade cloth off and close the venting windows. The sun provides passive solar heat gain and helps to heat the house whereas, right now, the same structure is helping to cool my house. So far, so good.

Here, a gift for all the painters out there. https://emptyeasel.com/2009/09/01/light-latitude-why-colors-change-according-to-your-location/

A "comp" is the term used for "complimentary" ticket or voucher. Is that the meaning here?