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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/29/2021 in all areas

  1. This is dead serious. There is nothing better on pancakes than real Canadian or Vermont maple syrup. Nothing. We probably should move this to the food section though.
    4 points
  2. I've received several emails requesting info on how to set up fongo and textnow. I'll post something more detailed here in the next few days. For now: do not cancel your existing landline or cell phone service if you want to keep the phone number! You need to port the number before cancelling the existing service, or else you will lose it.
    3 points
  3. I made a donation of 1700 pesos in my brother's name to Lakeside Friends Of The Animals A.C. I encourage animal/pet lovers to do the same, in some amount. Not only did Mike donate to them on a regular basis, he also adapted two cats from this shelter, Winston and Spunky. Winston unfortunately ran away, maybe found a forever home he liked. Mike then found Patches. Both Patches and Spunky are alive and well and living their best life at Mike's partner's house. Lakeside Friends Of The Animals A.C. is located at Av. Hidalgo #212, Riberas del Pilar, Chapala, Jal. 45900. Phone#: (376) 765 55 44. Web: www.lfa-chapala.com. Facebook: lakesidefriendsoftheanimals
    2 points
  4. How to keep your existing Canadian or US landline or cell phone number and keep using it in Mexico and beyond. Before you do anything: Do not cancel your existing service yet! You need to port your phone number first, or else lose it. Porting a number should automatically void the service you are porting from, but be sure to call them to verify. In our case it was automatic, and nothing else was required. You will need one, or both (we use both) of these apps: Fongo and TextNow. We use android phones and tablets, and I cannot help you with apple devices. I imageine the process is similar. Both fongo and textnow work as phone-replacement apps, offering unlimited domestic calls and texts. The difference between the two is: Fongo is for Canadian customers. Textnow is for Canadian and US customers. Both offer a free phone number to get you started immediately. Both offer port-in (transfer of existing phone numbers from other providers, including landlines). Fongo makes the process very easy, Textnow is (now) more cumbersome than ever before (but still possible / who knows how long?) Both services support themselves by displaying small ads on the screen (these can be removed for a small fee). Textnow is more aggressive in prompting users to upgrade to paid services. We prefer fongo, which has a nicer, cleaner app (ads are very discreet and hardly noticeable.) TextNow app seems more cluttered, and ads are more visible and frequent. Again, you can pay a one-time fee to remove them, although we didn't because we hardly use textnow anyway. If we used textnow more, and relied on it more, we would probably pay for the ad-free version. You may or may not need to use a quality vpn service to sign up for fongo and textnow service if you initiate the process from Mexico, or elsewhere in the world. Do not use free vpns as these are easily blocked. Try what we use, and set a server location according to your needs (you may need to do this before downloading / setting up an account with fongo and textnow). Here's a vpn you can use for free for 30 days: https://surfshark.club/friend/qXpbZntj Lets start with fongo. Begin by downloading and installing the free app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fongo.dellvoice Once installed you will be offered a free Canadian phone number. Pick an area code and a number from several options (keep looking if you don't like the first batch). Set up the account. You must provide a 911 address. This is a regulatory requirement. You do not need to show any ID, just fill out the form. The whole thing takes few minutes. That's it. Your're good to go. You can now call any phone number, including 1-800 numbers, and 911. I suggesting trying out the service before proceeding to port. It took us about a month to decide to port and we are glad we did. We ported a second number, and convinced family members and friends to use fongo, and far as i know they all like it. This may be a good place to mention that we do not work for fongo or textnow, and receive no kickbacks from them. If you decide no to port in but want to keep the free number anyway: The free numbers on fongo and textnow must be used at least once a month or they will be recycled, and assigned to other customers. Ported numbers will be yours to keep. Tested and liked fongo? Follow the instructions to port a number (from a landline or cellphone): https://www.fongo.com/blog/how-to-transfer-your-existing-phone-number-to-fongo/ What to expect: Porting process takes anywhere from 2 to 9 days (it was closer to 9 for us). There is a regulatory one-time fee of CAD $25. Once it's done you will receive a notification. Follow the simple instructions. You will now have your ported number as the account number on fongo, and you own it. Meaning you can port it out of fongo if you ever want to (perhaps back to a cell phone provider), and it won't be recycled if you do not use the service. You can call any Canadian number for free (I believe some Nunavut locations are unreachable still) using a wifi connection or a cellular data plan. You can receive calls from anywhere, as you would on any phone. You can call 1-800 numbers, receive verification codes, short-codes, and and any phone number in the world. Check worldwide calling rates: https://account.fongo.com/calling/long-distance/ To text on fongo: you can text any fongo-to-fongo number for free, but to text cell phones (any cellphones outside fongo) you need to buy an unlimited texting package. I believe we pay about $1/month for texting Canadian numbers, or you can buy the worldwide texting package, which goes for about $2/month unlimited. Wherever you are in the world your calls to Canada are considered domestic, and you will not be charged roaming or long distance rates. Remember: You will need a data connection to use the service: wifi, or a cellular data plan (we use amigo sin limites from telcel). Now, for textnow. Textnow is similar to fongo. Sadly, Textnow has made some unfortunate changes since we ported in 2015. Initially the process of porting was as easy as fongo's. There was a small set up cost back then, but I cannot remember what for / how much. That said we never paid a penny since, and continue to use the service without any hiccups. These days you have to go through some additional steps and set up costs. Set up procedures are similar to fongo (see above): Download app, sign up for a free phone number (US or Canadian), and test the features before porting: Unlimited calling and texting to and from any Canadian and US phones (and certain Mexican numbers too), including 1-800 numbers. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.enflick.android.TextNow When you decide to port an existing number, you will have to: 1 - Sign up for the $10/month ad-free textnow premium plan (they no longer allow porting into free accounts), plus $4.99 activation fee (a sim card that you now need to pop into a cell phone, which is a one-time operation to register your device / account, and you can ditch it after). 2 - Apply to port your existing landline or cellphone number. 3 - After porting is done: downgrade textnow service to the $6/year lock-in phone number plan, or to ad-free lite plan @ $3/month. Meaning your initial investment will be about $15 plus porting fee, if any (I cannot remember paying anything at all), and $6/year thereafter (or the $3/month ad-free fee). Please see the website for current rates. 4 - Done. Similarly to fongo, you can use textnow anywhere in the world to call / receive calls as if you were in the US or Canada, including 1-800 numbers (meaning: no roaming and no long distance fees, except to call out international destinations) using wifi or cellular networks (such as the telcel amigo sin limite plan). International textnow calling rates vary: https://www.textnow.com/international-calling There is a live online chat support for fongo and textnow on their websites if you need further guidance. A personal note: seeing as textnow is making the porting process more complicated, I would suggest porting sooner rather than later, before they make it more difficult, or remove the option altogether. I think this about covers it. Enjoy.
    2 points
  5. Although this topic may have little to do with Ajijic, Chapala Etc., I loved it. It's posts like this that makes the Chapala Forum so interesting. đŸ€Ł 😂 🧐
    2 points
  6. ...lots of Canadians living or wintering at Lake Chapala. If you're not Canadian or are otherwise not interested in the plight of Maple Syrup in CanuckLand you have my permission to just skip the remaining Posts. 😎
    2 points
  7. Everyone needs a hobby. 😉
    2 points
  8. From the FB page of Chapala Gobierno. Not sure if it includes spraying. Gobierno de Chapala 012itt1g625h4si97ahcd · CAMPAÑA DE DESCACHARRIZACIÓN đŸȘŁđŸ›ąïž Para evitar la propagaciĂłn y contagio del dengue, zika y chinkungunya. đŸš«đŸŠŸ ÂĄEstaremos recorriendo diferentes puntos de nuestro municipio! đŸš«đŸŠŸđŸš«đŸŠŸđŸš«đŸŠŸ #ElTrabajoTodoLoAlcanza DISCOVERY CAMPAIGN đŸȘŁđŸ›ąïž To prevent the spread and infection of dengue, zika and chinkungunya. đŸš« 🩟 We will be touring different points of our municipality! đŸš«đŸŠŸđŸš«đŸŠŸđŸš«đŸŠŸ #ElTrabajoTodoLoAlcanza
    1 point
  9. You may want to ask about your specific bank on reddit textnow forum, but be sure to say you will have a ported number (not a free number). Here's something I found on reddit regarding textnow 2FA from banking (see the attached pic)
    1 point
  10. The warmer lowland areas have mosquitos after the rainy season and a more effective treatment is done when the heavy rains stop so the lying water can be treated then and not needed again after another heavy rain or two. The program is Federal government funded, state government administrated, municipal government advertized and coordinated and doesn't cost the local government a penny. Your IVA and SAT taxes pay for it.
    1 point
  11. Sometimes this forum is better than having Google. MakeItSo has proven that point for us lately! Thanks.
    1 point
  12. They are both voip services, and if you opt to sign up for the free numbers only they won't work with certain 2FA. However, ported numbers and paid subscription elevate your service to a new level that works for verification purposes. I can verify that our ported fongo numbers work with our banks and all other 2FA services we ever used; we do not use textnow for banking (so I cannot tell whether banks accept it), but I can confirm our ported textnow number works with 2FA services that we use it with. We do not use and never did use a textnow sim card, it was not a requirement when we signed up (and probably did not exist then at all), and we still do not need it. From what I hear a sim card is now only required to activate the service, and / or to use cellular networks when you're in the US (if you buy the network package). Otherwise it is not necessary to use textnow sim card, as mentioned somewhere in the support pages, and on various customer forums. As I said, textnow makes it now quite complicated to port, but it is possible still. Pls use the online support chat if in doubt.
    1 point
  13. STI for excellent engineering and after sale support. We are on our 5th year and it has paid for itself.
    1 point
  14. Ron Magen and Solar Technology is the way to go. Thanks for reminding me...time to get ours checked.
    1 point
  15. Nyah at Opiere Solar. My electric bill is always 50 pesos for 2 month billing cycle.
    1 point
  16. Where did you get that quote...was it from the Chapala gobierno?? It sounds more like 'gringo' advice re: closing windows. If you pay attention you will see that locals OPEN their windows when the spray trucks go by. You can see MXN advice here from another MXN government spraying campaign. https://www.tamaulipas.gob.mx/en/salud/2021/08/conmemora-tamaulipas-dia-internacional-contra-el-dengue-con-acciones-de-prevencion/ "He asked to let the health personnel (brigadistas), duly accredited, enter the homes since they are trained to guide, apply abate in containers used to store water and eliminate the breeding sites of the Aedes Aegypti. In the same way, open doors and windows when the spray trucks pass by."
    1 point
  17. 1 point
  18. Yes, fongo and textnow work with Canadian and US 1800 numbers, I have to call these several times a week for various reasons. You dial as if you were in the US or Canada: 1-800-xxx-xxxx
    1 point
  19. I saw them moving kitchen equipment ( stoves etc ) into the new location yesterday
.despite all kinds of problems they managed to make their present location a success
they obviously think outside the box so it wouldn’t surprise me to see them open early December. I too love these new style restaurants springing up all over town 
I long ago grew tired of the many pseudo salmon and steak restaurants
wishing them lots of luck .
    1 point
  20. I have never heard of Telcel pre-pay nor post-pay that does not have data.
    1 point
  21. Yep, whatsapp doesn't count against your telcel data. But, far as I know, it only works when both parties use whatsapp, whereas fongo or textnow are used as any phone - they are used to call and receive calls from landlines and cell phone numbers.
    1 point
  22. They remain hopeful...as do I! BAJA NORTE is at BAJA NORTE. ÂĄNos mudamos! Hoy nos despedimos este increĂ­ble spoty estamos nostĂĄlgicos (aunque el nuevo spot estĂĄ ) Hoy es nuestro Ășltimo dĂ­a aquĂ­, te esperamos de 12 a 8 pm. Y pronto te avisaremos quĂ© dĂ­a de diciembre abriremos en nuestra nueva locaciĂłn: Carr. Oriente #30 Ajijic, Jalisco. (Frente al Oxxo de Ajijic) ————— We are moving! Today we say goodbye to this incredible spotand we are nostalgic (although the new spot is ) Today is our last day here, we see you from 12 to 8 pm. And soon we will let you know what day of December we will open in our new location: Carr. Oriente # 30 Ajijic, Jalisco. (In front of the Oxxo de Ajijic)
    1 point
  23. ASSOCIATED PRESS AGUILILLA, Mexico – The Mexican government is rapidly running out of tools to control the expansion of the feared Jalisco cartel on the front lines of Mexico’s narco war in the western state of Michoacan, and the stalled ground effort is being supplemented by an increasingly sophisticated aerial conflict. Jalisco, Mexico’s most militarily powerful drug gang, has begun organizing townspeople to act as human shields against army troops, which now just try to keep rival cartels apart. 'If they try to come in here again, we’ll put 2,000 people out here to stop them,' said Habacuc Solorzano, a 39-year-old farmer who leads the civilian movement associated with the cartel. His statement, like most of what comes out of the Jalisco side, is not mere boasting: He already had about 500 local residents marching last week – then wading across a river – to confront an army squad blocking a dirt road leading out of Jalisco territory. Residents of Aguililla are fed up with the army’s strategy of simply separating the Jalisco and the Michoacan-based Viagras gang. The army policy effectively allows the Viagras – best known for kidnapping and extorting money – to set up roadblocks and checkpoints that have choked off all commerce with Aguililla. Limes and cattle heading out, or supplies heading in, must pay a war tax to the Viagras. 'We’d rather be killed by you than killed by those criminals!' one demonstrator shouted at soldiers during a tense, hourlong confrontation between demonstrators and a squad of a dozen troops who took cover behind a barricade of car tires. Many of the demonstrators carried rocks and powerful slingshots, but did not use them. The residents want the army to either fight both cartels, or at least let the two gangs battle. 'Let the two cartels fight it out and kill each other,' another demonstrator shouted. 'Jalisco is going to beat everybody!' That view is widespread. 'What we need is for one cartel to take control, stop the fighting and impose some semblance of calm,' said a local priest. 'Everything indicates that group is the Jalisco cartel.' Above all, what residents want is for the Viagras’ checkpoints to be cleared and the road opened again. Because they must occasionally pass through those roadblocks, none of the residents wanted to give their names for fear of reprisals. But one explained it this way to the army squad: 'The only road into Aguililla is blocked and controlled by a cartel that is only 500 yards away from you, and you (the army) are not doing anything to protect our right to travel freely,' he said. 'You don’t know how hard it is to be paying a war tax that is being used to kill us.' That is actually a fairly accurate description of government policy: preserving the status quo, and making each cartel stay in its own territory. But Jalisco won’t accept the government as arbiter of drug cartel territorial divisions; the local Jalisco cartel leader said the army is only trying to protect the weaker of the two gangs, the Viagras, for reasons of corruption. Jalisco is everywhere in Aguililla, from pickups and homemade armored cars bearing the cartel’s initials to the small trampolines the gang installed for children in every village. Some residents said they are strongly pressured to participate in the protests, fearing their water or electricity might be cut off if they don’t. Others are just tired of paying the Viagras’ war taxes and being cut off from the outside world. One female protester described how her father died in early 2020 because the Viagras wouldn’t allow them past to get to a hospital. Dozens of cartel gunmen openly wear bulletproof vests emblazoned with the group’s Spanish initials, 'CJNG' – Jalisco New Generation Cartel – on the back, and on the front, 'FEM' – 'Mencho’s Special Forces,' a reference to the nickname of the cartel’s leader, Nemesio Oseguera. Jalisco is the one cartel in Mexico that doesn’t hide what it is, and doesn’t play to the politics of press relations or restraint. 'We’re narcos,' said the local Jalisco leader, who did not give his name. 'Everybody should mind his own business.' His beef with the Viagras and other local gangs he’s fighting is that 'they want everything for themselves.' To handle the increasing firepower in the conflict, the Mexican government has resorted to playing a powerful card to outgun the Jalisco cartel: Blackhawk helicopter gunships equipped with rotating-barrel electric machine guns that can fire 6,000 rounds per minute. It is a weapon that almost defines 'indiscriminate blanket fire' and is banned in most countries in civil conflicts. It is the kind of weapon President AndrĂ©s Manuel LĂłpez Obrador said he no longer wants. But for the moment, such massive firepower is the only thing holding Jalisco back
    1 point
  24. 1 point
  25. My systems (solar electric and solar hot water) were done by STI Solar Technology, top quality at great pricing and superb support. Many mentions over the years on this board. I believe they have installed the systems for the Cruz Roja and the Chapala Country Club and many others. Contact: ron(at) solartechnology.com.mx
    1 point
  26. Ditto on Dr. Daniel Briseno and San Antonio Hospital. He was completely thorough and gave me copy of his pictures before I left the treatment room. Then I was taken to recovery room and left to fully awake. The staff at the hospital were fine and the charges were told to me even before I went there. They took biopsies and charged extra for that, which was reasonably priced. A week later I contacted Dr. Briseno and he provided biopsy results, which fortunately were fine. Based on my experience, I totally recommend Dr. Daniel Briseno as well as San Antonio Hospital. I would go to Guadalajara as a last resort !!
    1 point
  27. We ported 2 Canadian numbers, and 1 US number 5 or 6 years ago. The Canadian numbers we ported to Fongo, and the US ported to TextNow. These are apps you install on a smartphone or a tablet, and they work as phones (calling, texting, receiving, etc). No matter where you are, what provider you use, these number will be with you and ring on your device, and allow you to call out and text. In fact we cancelled our canadian rogers cell phone, and use telcel exclusively wherever we go, with Fongo and Textnow apps installed. Works great. Just to add: fongo numbers work for ID verification, including banking, short texting, social media, etc, as you would expect from a cell phone. We hardly use textnow, but assume it works the same. You will have to confirm your e911 location when you port.
    1 point
  28. I have been here for 22 years and looked for years for a way to do just that. It can't be done. My solution is to keep a cell on T-mobile in the USA that is prepaid (cheapest plan I could find) and cost less than $100 a year. I have had a Mexico ATT phone. for years I had them in a dual sim phone. Either sim would make or receive a call. Recently I have moved the US sim to a new older phone that just stays powered off in a drawer in my desk until I need to receive a code. There were a few companies that would receive a text and forward it quickly to your computer but somehow the banks would figure that out and not use that number.
    1 point
  29. So what pray does this subject have to do with Chapala??
    0 points
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