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Find better workmen. It's a pain to go through the mediocre ones, I know. When you do find them, pay them well, conform to their cultural norms, and explain your expectations/cultural norms to them. Good people want to give good service. Once you are satisfied with a worker, ask them for recommendations for other trades, and even to bring them to consult with you. Our carpenter (now retired) introduced us to our ironworker, who introduced us to our painter. They all communicate by phone, text and What's App, none speak much English, and none are cheap. We have had these workers from 3-8 years, and will continue to use them. We have what I consider cordial and appropriate employer/employee relationships. It took a lot of time and a bit of wasted $$ to get to this point, but it can be done. No call backs or waiting around unless it has been prearranged. It takes work on both sides to develop this kind of relationships.

I've simply not rehired those who don't show consideration. Also, I no longer wait for tradespeople to show up. I tell them to call when they are 10 to 15 minutes away, so if I'm out, I can come home. If they arrive without calling, after not showing up at the arranged time and I'm not there, then they miss out on the work.

This topic is locked because of Milo's negative comments Mod 5

Whatever Fred, but he owes RV a sincere apology. I would have used "pri*k" but figured it would get removed.

Calling him a "sick Puppy" is insulting to sick puppies the world over.....actually an ignorant uninformed fool would be better.

Lakeside7, you are absolutely correct. All tradesmen lakeside are rude and inconsiderate. Well, there used to be good ones making a good living here who showed consideration for the immigrants they serviced but they left family, friends, culture, and a really good living to go NOB where they are, of course, welcomed and treated with dignity and respect. I do not understand how anyone reading your OP could fail to understand the logic and reasonableness of what you say.

Sandrita, if you have a Mexican address registered with Social Security you will receive a letter in the mail at said address once a year. It basically asks if there have been any changes in the past year that might affect payment. You fill it out and mail it back ASAP in the envelope they provide. Some people pay a small fortune to have it couriered, some use iShop, HandiMail or Sol y Luna, but you can also send it via Correos. This annual task DOES NOT involve other people! Please consider the fact that you might be having some cognitive issues that might benefit from a trip to your doctor. I am sure others have become concerned lately, too. Something is amiss judging by your questions and the problems you seem to be encountering in your daily life.

Oh My Goodness ! And here I thought it was really quite simple. A matter of common sense, good manners, a grasp of communication skills, and an understanding of the culture where you live.

I sincerely hope the moderator permanently removes you for that comment. Your constant baiting of members of this forum and rude, insulting comments have earned you a ticket out of here.

It appears that my sarcasm font was not working. Though I am surprised that someone from New Jersey failed to recognize it. I thought all us east coasters were fluent in sarcasm. I am sorry I upset you.

Tradesmen phoning you LOL. and getting an angry rude foreigner´s remarks WILL be avoided possibly. We use tradesmen all the time with the many rental properties we have and this summer our house to repaint the roof and replace the solar hot water system. My wife and I know what "educado" is. We are friendly and polite with everyone no matter what. We say good morning and how are you and your familly etc. in person or on the phone. It is considered very rude to phone someone and start bitching first. This is why you use WhatsApp to connect. Your message Will be read! We always are polite when writing a message. Example: Good afternoon Arturo. I hope you are doing OK and know you and your crew are always very busy. We will wait for you until 3 o' clock today and tommorow is not good for us. I hope to hear when is good for you to come and do the job for us, Thank you. Alan. This works every time and we never are out of communication with anyone when using WhatsApp in Mexico. Old fashioned calling on cell phones was obsolite years ago here in San Luis Potosí. Only family and close friends use them to call or call to get information from a service desk etc.. You just don't know how!

You're a sick puppy!

All has been turned over to his authorized representative.

This is an option you might explore... There is a gentleman who lives locally, his name is Alex Peterson who brings packages sent to him at a Laredo address and brings them to lakeside about once a month. I have found his fees very reasonable. this is his e- mail address: rapidpackman at gmail.com .. substitute the 'at' with a @ .. That would be the second leg of getting your books and telescope here. . Check out sending it from your location to Alex at his Laredo, Texas address via GreyHound bus - they do ship packages in the US . They have a very good on-line system to figure out the cost of sending the package(s) .. you would would need to have a guess for the dimensions of the package... and they will insure each package ,up to $1,000 USD.. I do not believe they are 'cheap' , maybe easonable compared to airline luggae - I don't know .. but it might be an option for you .. This way you can figure out if you want to use this method, air lines luggage costs , or ?? PS .. if you can not get your small telescope sent down, contact me.. I have a small Tasco 20X-60X50mm zoom telescope that you can have, that belonged to my husband.

I agree with Chapalance and Pappy. Either bite the economic bullet or give up the books and telescope. There is no cheaper way I know of than paying for extra baggage. If you have a friend or relative with storage space you may leave stuff with them and figure out something later. Some of us end up regretting things we left behind. Others regret money spent on bringing down things that ended up not being important in their new lives. We make our best guess with what we know at the time. Best of luck.

Let me see if I can clear up all the inaccurate info posted for this subject. Primary and of greatest importance DO NOT GET THE NUMBERS FROM THE US EMBASSY IN MEXICO OR THE CONSULATE WEBSITE IN GUADALAJARA. Lakeside is a unique situation. Usually the Friday before the second Wednesday visit the numbers are posted at the American Legion, Lake Chapala Society and on this web board under customs and immigration under title of US Consulate fees for that month. The fees for peso checks may change from month to month (Sox Fan, that is why I take the month’s figures down after they have completed that month’s visit). Until two months ago only Banamex cashier checks were accepted. The decision to accept peso or dollar cashier checks at lakeside was made to actually make it easier, especially if you have a local Mexican bank that is on the list to get a check. Instead of writing a whole book, let me just say that the past two months non account holders have successfully been able to get checks from Intercam, Banamex and Bancomer for a fee. My email address is posted in the latest Sox Fan posting. If you want the fees, when available via email, then email me and request same. I’ll not be monitoring this posting, so email if you have a question or want to be on next month’s distribution list.

Phd dissertation?

Fond memories of Laguna Net and your very professional service.

We had solar installed about 8 years ago and have been very happy with it (love those low bills!). While our bills have usually been at or near the minimum with the configuration we have, we've been planning to install a few a/c splits and that will up our usage...time to add another inverter and solar panels. I contacted Opiere and set up an appointment with Nyah Walters. Wow! He was knowledgeable, professional, and actually fun to deal with. We pretty much knew what we wanted before we even met up, but it was nice to not feel pressured. Long story short, the crew came--every bit as professional as you could hope for--the setup was installed and we're very happy campers. Our property was left immaculately clean afterwards. If you're considering having solar, I very highly recommend Opiere. www.opiere.com ventasa@opiere.com 331 400 2646 (FWIW, no, we don't get anything for giving them a plug. It's just nice to be able to give positive reviews for companies that truly deserve them.)

I continue to be puzzled by the thoughtless,rude,inconsiderate tradesmen who think nothing of making a telephone call to say they will be late and or a no show If we living in the jungle in Chiapas perhaps it would be excusable. But living in Gringoland where we are paying over the odds for most services etc and a significant number of tradesmen are getting above average wages for services performed, why are the basic good manners not followed Now excuse me as I get out my ear plugs as the "old timers" tell me "it's part of the culture" ..like tossing your trash on the highway etc etc..BS!!! With the current strong ecconmy at Lakeside a good service/tradesman can make a good living...ah but ,maybe the considerate ones have flown the nest to north of the boarder

You let me know when that happens. I'll be waiting.

i have to agree with you. although loud firecrackers scare my dogs i have found a wonderful new all natural drops for miedo for animals as well as many more drops of for different things animals may have. there are drops you can put in their water that are good for them that just keep them relatively stable throughout the day. i love Mexico and i am lucky that i live in lower chula vista where i am not downtown ajijic during festivals etc. unless i want to go enjoy the festivities and noise. i am always confused why people move to a foreign country nlbut immediately want to change the country to clone the own country. Then go back to your own country. i think it is impotant to rent first in a country prior to buying to decide if where you are living is just to loud or to dirty or has to much crime etc for you so you can make a good choice if you decide to buy. Now i came here and the new San Antonio Plaza had not been built yet. the last festival went on for 12 or 13 days and music went till 4 am. but usually on weekends there is music i can here and i love it as i can dance on my terraza and it spices up my life. the music is not overbearing and is usually over by 10-11 pm. i agree as we age we need our sleep. at the health food place near the gas company and pool supply place sells 10mg sublingual melatonin by puitans pride. if i go to the states i buy the same sublingual pill at sprouts only made by natrol approx cost is 10-11 us dollars for 60 pills. take 1 pill and you are out for the whole night. some people might want to try a 1/2 pill to start. it is wonderful for your brain. so think wisely before you ret or buy. mexico is charming and they love there fiestas and i love the fact they do. rather than trying to change everything Mexico and their culture loves we should think about what positive things we can change in ourselves to help our situation

Check with Alfredo Cabrera in Chapala, he is a Mirage and Trane dealer / installs / services 33 1292 3394 Ninos Heroes 56, Chapala

By the time you pay to ship the items to Alex, and then pay his fees and any duty that is imposed, it's cheaper in time, money and aggravation to just pay the luggage fees.

Search "air conditioning service guy" Two guys were offered in the thread, but I haven't used either one yet...

And now for some comic relief... I just recently bought a new computer and wanted an SSD. I thought it stood for Stainless Steel Drive.... DUH! My brain was scrambled with all the choices internally. I didn't get the SSD... maybe later when the computer slows down and prices for them come down.

And I am going to raise you, 45 day dry aged. It really is this easy, but if I make another one, I will ask the butcher to cut off the bones at that fat line, they tie them back on the roast with butcher twine, then aging. Beautiful, beefy ribs, and the roast cut into thin steaks.

the SSA will never come to your house or email you. Be careful, you may be about to be taken advantage of. Never just trust, always investigate.

An extra piece of luggage might still be the cheapest method. Our experience was that there was nothing about our move that came at a "reasonable cost". It's been an expensive move from day one. Of course, reasonable is relative and we're at the low end of the income spectrum, so take that into consideration.

I miss time-saving pre-prepped ingredients when making a meal. An upscale salad bar at large grocery store with a gazillion fresh ingredients that are already chopped, sliced and diced. Purchase in small quantities, just enough for a specific recipe and eliminate storage or waste issues.

I'm way late to this conversation, but ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? No, they don't call, they don't text, they don't show up. It's all part of that wonderful Mexican culture I keep hearing so much about.

There are now federal, state and local laws.

You've been given the answers on where to find what you want. Some legwork required, but hey, we did our best.

Federal noise law: http://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle_popup.php?codigo=5324105

Priceless.

yes whatsapp is the way to go now.. I rarely call anymore, I just communicate with whatsapp..

I have not been able to figure out why folks like it. May (very well) be me but I thought the food and service was (barely) meh.

I am totally in agreement with you mudgirl. If a tradesperson doesn't call to inform me that they are going to either 1) be late or 2) reschedule in a timely manner, then they NEVER get my business again. There are many considerate tradespeople out there but, if I'm going to do business with someone, then I state my requirements for timing UP FRONT. I'm rarely disappointed but it does happen. My money, my time, my choice.

Look, folks, I don't want to just delete my post and cause mass confusion, but I believe I mistakenly thought this was a TelMex modem, when in fact it is a TelCEL WiFi en Casa" modem. So any thoughts of using it... fuggedaboudit. I'm so sorry: I did three modem setups that day, and I have obviously swapped the details in my records. I can no longer say that this particular modem is the one that has the better WiFi.

I've never downloaded a Windows 10 Update since i got my present laptop, 2 years ago. Hasn't seemed to make an iota of difference aside from my computer not running at the speed of molasses, as it did with the last laptop when I was downloading all of them. Of course I have virus protections on, and all seems to work just fine.

I am sure that many others understand, as I do. But, you choose not to, and we will not try to change your opinion, as it seems firmly established. Oh well.....,

I am pretty sure that you would have to actually have the residence visa card already issued. Beyond that: You could keep, and drive, your 'toad' Honda, with Canadian plates, for the four years that your spouse had a Residente Temporal visa. Then, toward the end of the 4 years, it would be wise for her to exit, and re-enter as a tourist, in order to keep both the RV and car eligible to be in Mexico, if they are in her name; as they would have to be. While she was RT, she could apply to SP, but would have to coast for a short time while a tourist, then re-apply for RT on the next visit north. It is the only way I see to meet most of your needs....sort of. Other than that, you would have to give up both vehicles, become residents in a more proper way, and live under a roof & drive a car purchased in Mexico.

Kyle, to be fair your OP was a bit snarly, practically begging for a response in kind. I don't eat there (or anywhere in Ajijic) often but enjoy the food when I do. Yes, there is traffic noise but it does not hinder conversation even with my very hard of hearing friend. The prices are certainly not at the highest end of Ajijic and are not unfair for what you get. All of us have restaurants we don’t go to for a variety of reasons but (usually) do not angrily attack the owner for being in the wrong location for us.

Planting trees is a good idea as long as the right type of trees are planted at the right place.

Your choice,others don't agree and it seems his business is just fine. Talk louder,don't whisper.

Then I suggest you avoid mirrors.

http://www.zocalo.com.mx/new_site/articulo/la-salud-no-tiene-colores-de-partidos-narro-robles Google Translation: 29, July, 2019 "México.- The former UNAM rector, José Narro Robles, called to take care of all the institutions, particularly those of the health sector, which throughout their history have been a factor of unity, not division and, never have they been oriented for political or ideological purposes. "Health has no party colors," he said when participating in the "Problems and Challenges of the Health Sector" Convention, organized by the Futuro 21 platform, where he also recommended: "Do not make doctors and interns leave. Don't wake up the cougar, don't wake him up. ” The former secretary of Health referred to the protests last May, in which resident doctors took to the streets because they were owed various benefits, and noted that an undergraduate intern, from the fifth year of the medical career that performs a day of 60 until 100 hours of work, he obtains a scholarship of 2,500 pesos and "now they want to lower them by half." There are also about eight thousand medical interns, who for a very modest scholarship grant an extraordinary service, where they get a whole "life" experience, but many of them return to their places of origin because they don't get a job. Given the federal government's remarks that the health system is worse than the educational system, Narro Robles said that it is not possible to disqualify what it has cost and a lot of work to build, because even with its ineficiencies and deficiencies, progress has been made and its problems can be solved. “Compare it with the epochs where neoliberalism had not arrived, which by the way, in the epochs of neoliberalism, we have never, ever, thought in terms of those political or ideological conditions. Health was always an element of unity, not a factor of division, "he said. “Health has never had a question to ask in the health workers' union regarding: 'What is the party to which you belong, sympathize or who you voted for?' Never. Yes we ask some very personal things, because they have to do with health, not in political terms, "he said. He added that no one can ignore the more than 24 thousand units of public health care, the almost one million health and social security workers, or the 320 thousand nurses and 215 thousand future doctors in the public sector. "And, how can you do it to believe that there is, on average, a million and a half Mexicans who go to public health services, every day, 365 days a year?" He noted that in the public system, four thousand 300 births and 16 thousand hospital admissions are registered daily, about 10 thousand surgeries, 100 thousand emergency care, hundreds of thousands of specialized and general medicine consultations, and scores of thousands of actions of preventive order For Narro Robles, it is necessary to learn to attend where the people who do not have coverage are, since there are 16 million Mexicans with multiple insurances, that is, they have two or more health services, and he pointed out that the great enemies of Health is poverty, ignorance and lifestyles in the country, which have triggered problems such as obesity. The exrector wondered “if instead of keeping what works, we are going to do bad service to society by eliminating our current system; instead of correcting what does not work we let the problems deepen; if we are going to let the ignorant, the ignorance, the insufficiency of life win us ". He commented that there would be 160 million Mexicans, and not 130 million, if there was not adequate family planning, and stressed that there is adequate epidemiological surveillance, reaction capacity and public health laboratories. Therefore, “you can not disdain and much less discard all that. There are weaknesses, yes; a fragmented system, unnecessary duplication, chronic budgetary insufficiency and poor distribution in the national territory of resources, "he acknowledged. However, he stressed that care should be taken, because if it is believed that it is necessary to train more doctors, “we will have them soon in the street protesting because there are no spaces. What is required is to open clinics and hospitals to hire doctors who are available. " AMLO claims Mexico has a shortage of Doctors. About 123,000 are needed. "However, he stressed that care should be taken, because if it is believed that it is necessary to train more doctors, “we will have them soon in the street protesting because there are no spaces. What is required is to open clinics and hospitals to hire doctors who are available. " https://m.aristeguinoticias.com/1307/mexico/lopez-obrador-revela-que-faltan-123-mil-medicos-en-mexico/ "López Obrador reveals that there are 123,000 doctors missing in Mexico by Drafting AN / SH July 13, 2019 2:33 pm According to the international standard in the country there should be 393,600 general practitioners, but there are only 270,600. He said that this is why the Institute of Health for Bienstar is being created and agreements will be made with universities to promote the training of more general practitioners and specialists." "The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said that a revealing fact of abandonment to the Health sector is that there are only 270,600 general practitioners in the country, when there should be 393,600, according to the international standard. "We are missing 123,000 doctors," said the federal president at the head of a Dialogue with the Community of the Rural Hospital of Villamar, where he stressed that while he is president there will be no increases in the prices of gasoline, "there has been and there will be ' petrol ''. After pointing out that the problem of health will be addressed, which is more serious than that of education, López Obrador explained the reason for the lack of doctors: “because they did not accept medical students in universities, that is why the lag”. Medical students in free state universities have to pass an entrance exam. Those in the top scores get placement in medical schools those under that score need to pay for private medical school. Many do. The budget is set by the federal government on how many seats there are available each year and the following 5 or 6 years of training. Mexico is full of self employed, under employed and unemployed doctors now . Not accepting medical students into universities as the reason there is a supossed shortage of doctors in Mexico?

Yep you need to be able to go back and also set up your health care docs before you leave. That is what we did. Our supplemental also reimburses for emergency medical care here, the burden is on you to collect all the required reports and receipts. Closest place with plenty of docs and hospitals is McAllen, TX.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/hospitals-warn-of-insolvency-due-to-cuts/ "Hospitals warn of insolvency due to cuts but AMLO insists there have been none Directors of 11 facilities claim 2.3 billion pesos has been withheld or cut Friday, May 24, 2019 Hospitals and national health institutes have warned that they are on the brink of insolvency due to federal budget cuts and the freezing of funds, threatening their ability to operate. At a meeting with members of the budget committee of the lower house of Congress yesterday, the directors of nine government health institutes and two public hospitals said that a total of 2.3 billion pesos (US $120.7 million) has either been cut or withheld from their budgets as a result of austerity measures. They demanded that the federal government release additional resources to ensure that they can continue to provide care to patients. The document entitled Position of National Health Institutes in the Face of Budget Cuts said that 50% of the budget allocated to the Federico Gómez hospital in Mexico City to subcontract medical services has been frozen. It also said that the hospital faced shortages of anesthetics and nitric oxide, undermining its capacity to schedule surgeries and threatening the adequate treatment of serious medical conditions in newborn babies. The document added that the hospital only has enough funds to pay cleaning staff until July and warned that nurses and lab technicians may have to be laid off. But President López Obrador today rejected the claims that 2.3 billion pesos has been withheld from the health sector.“There are no [fund] retention problems, [the accusations] are inventions . . . They may have a lack of information, that’s why we’re going to clear it up without any problem,” he said." https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/government-stopped-buying-medicine/ "Public hospitals and healthcare clinics continue to face medicine shortages, according to a pharmaceutical industry leader who also says the federal government hasn’t considered the logistics and costs of distributing the drugs it plans to purchase in 2020. Hospitals in at least 24 states reported shortages of medicines last month and the problem still “hasn’t been controlled,” said Rafael Gual Cosío, head of the National Chamber of the Pharmaceutical Industry (Canifarma). “It continues because the federal government stopped buying,” he said, explaining that the current administration has only purchased 20% of the medicines its predecessor committed to for 2019. “[The government] should have bought 50% of what was agreed to [by now] . . . but it’s not more than 20% on average. It stopped buying and that’s why there’s a shortage,” Gual added. Gual said that in 38 years working in the industry, he has never seen a medicine shortage as bad as what the nation is currently facing." https://www.am.com.mx/opinion/Cronica-d … -0002.html Google Translation: " OPINION Chronicle of announced deaths In my 41 years as a doctor I had never seen a crisis in the health sector of this magnitude, so much maleficent and incompetence announced as charities for supposedly fighting against corruption, which augurs in Mexicans a chronicle of announced deaths. By Dr. Éctor Jaime Ramírez Barba June 15 Javier Potes has just told a scene that describes full body just the phenomenon of what is already happening, which he called 'Schlinder's list in hospitals in Mexico'; using the voice of Jorge, a 34-year-old cardiologist who works at the National Institute of Cardiology, one of the thirteen high-level national institutes that depend on the Ministry of Health (as well, with lowercase letters) and as mentioned by this writer in columns past, they are on the verge of collapse due to the reduction of all kinds of resources. Jorge the cardiologist works on the evaluation of patients with heart problems and is one of those responsible for programming the procedures for the placement of "stents", which duly give years of quality of life to hundreds of patients. Jorge is not a technical doctor who sees folios; he attends to lives, families, dreams and hopes in each of them, so it is not surprising that he is looking for solutions beyond his responsibilities. Jorge told him, "I have Schindler's list," that's what the National Institute of Cardiology calls a list of more than 300 patients who could die if they are not treated within a year. Being on that list can save your life, not being is unthinkable. From that list some are already urgent, others - without knowing it - will play their luck hoping to arrive alive when there is the possibility of attending them in six or eight months or never. But the chances that they will be served today are few, there is no money at all ... the government's solution to reduce the costs of care is to let them die, regardless of whether we deprive them of ten or fifteen more years of life, something has to be done and we do not know what to do"." The new administration is responsible for all the turmoil not the previous administration which had medical systems budgeted correctly, built hundreds of new fully equiped clinics and state of the art hospitals and upgraded medical equipment needed for both the IMSS and Seguro Popular. They spent many billions of dollars on Mexicos socialized heath care systems in Mexico [ one of their crowning achievements ] and now it is being sabatoged by the current administration.

AMLO has been repeating it for years there is no Seguro Popular with about 59 million affiliates in Mexico. He also repeats he will " create " a universal health system to make the more than 60 million uninsured in Mexico so that they will be covered. So it appears that he is trying to take credit for " creating " the Seguro Popular or whatever name they give it.