Thanks for the recommendation!  Marco not only painted our roof but he exposed the underlying cracks and plastered them rather than just painting over them.  He also applied fiberglass (?) membranes where the water flows into the downspouts and over leaky dome areas in order to fix leaks that were getting into the house.  He did a great job plastering other areas too and put covers over some outlets on the roof that had been exposed since the original construction.  The roof wasn't just as good as new when he was done--it was much better than when it was new!

My wife and I went to Casa TreeSkel (at  Carretera poniente 998, Ajijic, Mexico, phone # 33 3488 4136, on the lakeside a little west of the recycling center) recently and had a selection of tapas along with a cheeseboard and a bottle of wine.  The service and quality of the food were both topnotch and there were no mosquitos this time of the year.  We've added it to our list of favorite restaurants.

There is an interesting history of how the fossil fuel industries have delayed action on climate change over the years at How decades of disinformation about fossil fuels halted U.S. climate policy : NPR 

At Fossil Fuels - Our World in Data there is a chart giving per capita fossil fuel emissions of the larger countries (I added Mexico to the list.):

United States   - 63,836 kWh
Australia         - 54,286 kWh
Germany         - 31,225 kWh
Europe          - 28,721 kWh
China           - 25,344 kWh
United Kingdom  - 22,509 kWh
South Africa    - 21,063 kWh
France          - 19,372 kWh
Mexico          - 17,094 kWh
India           -  6,319 kWh

Of course, some of these countries have a higher overall impact due to their larger populations but overpopulation is another topic altogether.

Yes, I read that.  It seems to me the fraudulent mileage claims ought to lead at least to a class action lawsuit--not to mention the secret coverup department whose job was to cancel service appointments.

I always thought his actions were a little strange and agree about his going over to the dark side.  On a positive note, that led to some good Tesla price reductions and even the lower priced models, such as the one I'm getting, seem to be very nice cars.   I hope his actions don't destroy the company.  

I don't remember where I saw it, but someone made the comment that some of the range estimates seem to assume you are driving downhill 75% of the time. 

Yes, there are probably going to be some difficulties with respect to recharging on the road and eventual resale.  The range is supposed to be 534km.  I've been looking at the Tesla supercharging station map and it looks like I could easily drive to San Miguel de Allende and make a short detour to a supercharging station on the way back.  There are some destination chargers associated with some pricey hotels but I won't be using those.   

A 220v home charger is supposed to charge at a rate of up to 44 miles (71 km) per hour depending on the available amperage.   When a charge is needed while travelling, a Tesla supercharger is supposed to charge at a rate of 200 miles (322 km) per hour.  The Tesla software is even supposed to be able to warn you when the charge is getting low and guide you to a local charging station when the need arises.

It will be a challenge figuring out the controls but, for awhile, I'll stick with the basics of opening the door, choosing among park, drive and reverse, opening and closing the trunk and frunk(?), using the navigation system, and adjusting the rear view mirrors.  There's a lot of other stuff I probably won't even bother with and even these basic items require some study.

Helping to reduce greehouse gas emissions has to start with each of us one way or another.  I have solar panels that will power the car--otherwise it wouldn't make  a whole lot of sense.  Net payment to CFE will still be about $50 pesos every 2 months.   (I'm not try to impress anyone except myself by doing what I think is right.)

Yes, there is no Tesla dealer markup.  That's what I was trying to convey.  The car will be shipped to a Guadalajara location which is probably mostly a service center (not yet a delivery to your house option) where I will pick it up.

There is no haggling with a saleman and no salsesman commission or dealer markup.

Yes, of course, you're right.

I wasn't very clear.  I should have said something like "Once you convert the MSRP to pesos and add the VAT, the non-Tesla prices seem to have an extra dealer markup in addition that is sometimes greater than the VAT.  The dealer markup is consistent with the non-Tesla dealer markup practices in the US, for example".

I'm ordering a Tesla because the local dealers, unless my arithmetic is way off, charge well above the MSRP even after factoring in VAT.  This is the same as the US business model for all (or most?) car dealers other than Tesla.  I don't particularly like Elon Musk but I like his business model and I appreciate the fact that he has done a lot to stimulate sales of vehicles worldwide that are more environmentally friendly.

I agree.  Go Solar and his associates are excellent.

" 87,000 armed IRS agents"

"This claim misrepresents a 2021 U.S. Treasury Department report estimating that around $80 billion in funding would allow the IRS to incrementally hire nearly 87,000 employees by the year 2031. Most of those hires would be replacements for workers retiring from existing positions, including not only IRS enforcement agents, but also customer service and technology specialists. According to the Treasury Department, audit rates for those earning less than $400,000 in actual income will not rise. 

...only “special agents” who investigate criminal violations of the tax code are authorized to carry firearms."

I don't like paying taxes either but I am in favor of the truth.

Cactus Mike

I didn't try the "secret formula" so I have no idea if it would work.  I doubt anything would work.  As far as I know, the problem is due to building walls that don't include a moisture barrier between the bottom of the wall and the foundation and, once it's built wrong, it's too late to correct it. 

Interesting about being able to pay cash.  I'll give that a try again if I can the right button to click on.  

The purchases I've been trying to make are for same day groceries. 

The problems I've been having with the BBVA were that newest generation cards don't have pre-assigned security codes but, instead, require that you generate them by means of the BBVA app at the time of purchase.  However, Walmart submits it to the bank, but the bank never seems to accept it.  I also couldn't use the dynamic security codes with the debit card to use with paypal for the same reason that the security code generated and stored will no longer be valid at the time of use.

I was able to use cash in the past, but that option disappeared from the Walmart list of payment options.  The last time I tried to use the cash option before it disappeared, the web site's error message indicated that option was not available to me.  Maybe I'm on some sort of Walmart blacklist??? 

I finally found a combination that works though (at least so far).  I set up a Mexican paypal account for my wife and used the Actinver debit card as its associated bank card and that worked.

Has anyone successfully used a debit or credit card to make an online purchase at Walmart?  I've tried a US credit card, a BBVA credit card, a BBVA debit card, and an Actinver debit card and they were all "accepted" at first only to be rejected later and the order cancelled.  Of course, no reason was ever offered nor was there any notification that the order was later cancelled.  

Has anyone successfully used a debit or credit card to make an online purchase at Walmart?  I've tried a US credit card, a BBVA credit card, a BBVA debit card, and an Actinver debit card and they were all "accepted" at first only to be rejected later and the order cancelled.  Of course, no reason was ever offered nor was there any notification that the order was later cancelled.  

I googled "IARC glyphosate" and found something that might clarify the reason for the different findings.  In the IARC report, the studies they reviewed were from "17 experts from 11 countries" written by "independent experts, free from vested interests".   In contrast, the EPA reviewed a database of "studies submitted to support registration of glyphosate (working for the glyphosate industry perhaps rather than independent?) and studies EPA identified in (cherry-picked from?) the open literature.

If it's so harmless, that begs the question of why the EPA set "a tolerance or limit on how much pesticide residue can legally remain on food and feed".

In any case, widespread use of it poisons bees, other pollinators, Monarch butterflies, and other insect species--some helpful and some harmful--which will lead to further degradation of the environment.  

I have a DSR600 receiver and a Shaw satellite dish I'm not using and either or both are free for the taking.  (Whoever might want the satellite dish would have to arrange and pay to have it removed--otherwise, free.)

On 5/1/2021 at 1:05 PM, Bokko said:

We had an extensive paint and salitre job done this last winter.  He was excellent.  Punctual, good english, middle of the road in pricing, and explains what he is doing.  He says he has a secret formula for stopping the salitre from returning.  He explained it to me but I would let him explain it himself if you are interested.  His name is Chuy Lopez  333-137-1056.  He has also done a number of other repairs around the house and has always proven to know what he is doing.  If he doesn't know he will tell you, something that I appreciate.

I'd like to second Bokko's comment about Chuy.  He and his sons did a thoroughly professional job painting the house.  They were neat, efficient, and easy to talk to and made sure everything looked as good as new (or better) when they were done.  They fixed roof leaks as needed too.

What's today's bad news?  All I saw was good news.  Please point me to the bad news because it seems to me the vaccine is very good after all.

15 hours ago, CHILLIN said:

We haven't had a problem. If I find a nest, I am going to try two experiments.The first is to fire up the vapor steam cleaner and fog their tunnel with live steam, 249F, cook the nest. The next is to find formic acid, which is what ants use to "bite", but is also critical to mark their food trails. This one leads directly into a bucket of water, with slippery plastic sides.

This is an approach similar to one that I've thought about before.  In our garden with various food items for the leaf cutter ants there are flat paths that converge on a fountain which has a steep drop down into the water.  Once, I was cleaning the fountain and found several hundred dead leaf cutter ants in it.  Unfortunately, I could never figure out what had attracted them to the fountain. 

I looked up formic acid suppliers and learned that in concentrated form it is very dangerous in terms of flammability and toxicity.   I don't think it would work anyway based on the article on this topic I found at the URL:  The Importance of Pheromones as Trail Markers for Leaf Cutter Ants – Tropical Ecology 2016 (wordpress.com)

Some (all?) leaf cutter ants are attracted to sugar water which was a surprise to me and now I'm thinking of making a trail of sugar syrup droplets leading into the fountain to see if that would attract them.  Also, I was thinking of trying a trail of leaf chunks with and without sugar syrup drops on top to see how that might work.

I haven't received my stimulus check so I checked on the IRS website as suggested above.  I requested a check and, lo and behold, they will be mailing it today.  Quite a coincidence! 

I wonder if they would have sent it if I hadn't asked for it.  Of course, I still haven't received it...

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