GDouglas

Yes, the fiber optic is actually routed through Jocopotec before it routes to Ajijic, the backbone comes from Gualadajara-to-Jocopotec. That sounds like they installed fiber along Highway 80 then Highway 15, because they probably had cheaper running rights for their mega reel of fiber backbone... That's why TotalPlay arrived a bit sooner towards the west than towards the east. Telmex has been playing catch-up to TotalPlay and iLox also expanded coverage, so some Casa addresses have 3 fiber optic ISPs competing against each other now! So check all 3 of them, fiber is very common in 2023 now in most Lakeside locations, though some "Remote" locations (e.g. farms or isolated homes, or very far up mountain) may not have it far from the carterra. But even most of the mansions high up on the mountain seems to now be reached by TotalPlay. TotalPlay is generally preferred, followed by Telmex, followed by iLox, in my experience. You may even try to get 2 connections installed at the same time - one being used as a backup. You can keep the monthly bill low on one of them ($20/mo equivalent) and spend more on the other. Knowing local Internet reliability is poor on non-fiber, paying 2 ISPs also causes them to race against each other to outdo each other. Also the fact that copper thieves and rise in copper value, means fiber is now cheaper than copper, so new deploys are now fiber -- when new towns are built today, it's already fiber from the outset, as fiber per meter is now much cheaper than copper per meter this decade. In other words, new telephone lines being installed in new towns next to already-fiber towns, are going straight to fiber now. Even Telmex knocked on my door to upgrade my DSL connection to fiber, long after my 500/500 symmetric TotalPlay. I haven't bitten yet as it is only backup, and it's just a sub-400 peso connection as a backup, and I had modified my on-property telephone wire to upgrade DSL from 5/2 to 50/10 (direct wire to modem, bypassing house wiring), and simultaneously removed a pigeon poop perch above my front courtyard (yay). But if I do upgrade, then I'd have dual-FTTH! One big side effect of disposable price of cheap fiber, the new FTTH competition boom is the massive messes they're making on the shared telephone poles, but tolerate that for a decade (or two), it gets cleaned up eventually once all the old copper lines are removed and some ugly messes are replaced with neater fiber bundle upgrades. It's like 1880's telegraph wire messes all over again. Damn fine price to pay for cheap reliable fiber Internet. BTW, while you can get entry level fiber for less than 400 pesos per month (a steal compared to DSL), both Totalplay and Telmex now offers gigabit speed plans. If you go that fast, then Telmex is slightly cheaper at $1499 pesos per month, which is cheaper than some of the North American gigabit options (especially Comcast pricing), you should consider also bundle-in the Disney+ and streaming plans as the Mexican pricing is relatively cheap. There's been good price-cutting at the fastest speeds so my TotalPlay 500/500 is a bit cheaper than it was thanks to the competition. Speed/plan changes are just a WhatsApp chat away for me.

Only seeing this now… Visit the Telmex office in Ajijic during business hours, they can help with some incorrect signup info by signing up together with you, and noticing a mismatch in the signup for mitelmex.

I use my Netflix Canada account autobilled on a Canada VISA card. Netflix accounts autobilled on Apple App Store also works in Mexico too. Works perfectly fine in superlative 4K DOLBY VISION HDR ATMOS ULTRA HD on my TotalPlay 200/200 Mbps fiber optic connection. Goes straight to 4K in just 500 milliseconds (0.5 seconds) after pressing the PLAY button. No slow uprezzing or buffering junk. For now, I don't use a VPN though, I get enough of what I need at the moment. But if you use a VPN, choose a fast VPN -- something blazingly fast such as ExpressVPN or HotspotShield. Don't go for the cheap VPNs that will buffer 240p or 480p instead of instant zero delay 4K.

I just noticed Jalisco made some advisories about Dengue mosquitoes not long ago: https://ssj.jalisco.gob.mx/prensa/noticia/10313 Also some of the Ajijic/Chapala health people have been knocking on doors on advising about Dengue (and treatments, such as those dissolvable bags that you put in your cistern to kill the dengue-infected mosquito larvae). We haven't been knocked on but we might not have been around at the time. I only post this because I seem to occasionally get a minor rash that looks exactly like https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/179471#gallery-open -- something like 10 bumps or so. And they say 75% of dengue patients don't even get a fever -- and sometimes only a few bumps, like around the arms, legs or ankles. Does anyone know of a dermatologist that can diagnose my itchier-than-usual mosquito bumps? I don't have an accompanying fever, but they are annoyingly itchier than usual for mosquito bumps. I'm not even sure if it is dengue or not, but the bites feel redder and itcher than usual. I'm definitely no emergency case, but I want to be safe than sorry.

The advice is accurate. I can confirm local shops can easily do common copying tasks from a working drive pulled from a dead computer. It's something I have done myself on occasion. An addition precaution tip though: The biggest risk is accidental damage -- via transportation of the bare hard drive, make sure you protect it from static electricity and from being bumped around If you have any antistatic bags, put the drive inside such a bag. And then put the bag in something padded for shock absorption. If you don't have any antistatic bags, then double-bag it in ziploc in a pinch -- it will be better than keeping it in plain open air. Ziploc inside ziploc, if no antistatic bag available. Touch something metal before touching the disk drive -- to clear your body of static electricity. Normally for most users if it is a laptop drive -- then I would recommend keeping the disk drive inside the dead laptop and transport the laptop (since even a dead laptop protects the drive from static electricity and some G-shock). But if it is already removed, take additional precautions to protect the drive during transportation to whomever helps get the files off for you.

I never said anything about "how can we say we miss you" Perhaps that was your attempt to move the goalposts, virgo lady... I merely simply said a very true fact, which I will rephrase more clearly: "There exist people who like my posts, while there exist people who don't like my posts." That is different from interpreting it as "how can we say we miss you". Fixed that for you. Here's a safe zone for you where I've disabled notifications, if you would like to post a disagreement with me there with your total glee: (90% full of photo, very few words)

Haha. I'm still in the industry, albiet part time -- I do remote work on my preferred hours. I'm retired from office cubicles but I work remotely on hours I set, as I still do so. Mainly to do things like save extra investments and stocks, fund extra vacations, possible summer property in Canada, help some local Mexican friends finish school (ongoing), etc. Being covered for the base of my life, it just merely simply mean I no longer have to live paycheck to paycheck anymore.

That part I might hire a local trade (the same ones that is doing other stuff we don't want to do)... For considering this portion as a DIY project -- I've also watched a few youtube videos such as this. one. That is certainly easy and much simpler than some electricals and in-walls I've done in Canada, but I will have to wait until we've purchased a vaccuum cleaner for all the cement dust. 😆 Just that I've never needed to do this in Canada, since Canadian houses generally aren't made of concrete...

Though contemporary green roofs is an idea, we prefer a permeable deck at this time because of planned shade and also solar panels above the patio (thread). Via another channel, I've just been informed of bamboo deck options, either as bamboo stalks (tiki / raft look) or bamboo-fiber 2x4's (traditional look), both of which are available. I'll accept tips of local suppliers on these too. (Commentary: Although our concrete roof appears to be strongly built enough to support a full size 3rd story or a green roof -- we are doing some common local greenery along one edge -- like flower boxes / edge gardens / small palmy trees for the opposite edge of the roof that is not covered by the solar panels.)

Is this an adoption in progress? Or a widowed dog / or a dog that was just abandoned? If so, one of the local dog rescues has a Flight Angels programme. Basically your dog will be sent with a volunteer who's also bringing other dogs to meet their adopters waiting at the Canadian airport. Perhaps contact them and see if they would be willing to help you for a fee, if you're able to wait for their next trip? They serve Toronto. Background: We learned this because our household is in the progress of seeking to adopt 2 dogs in the next couple months, and we learned about the Flight Angels programme. (Even though I wasn't planning to use the program, I was informed of it). Our goal is to adopt an older dog and a younger/puppy. Also, we are the godfathers to a local friend's very adorable dog who we dogsit often and walks up the mountain often.

I had not had a need for this because we were renting, but since we purchased recently because of our large number of friends here... we're in the process of lots of minor renos, some by trades and some by our hand. For example, we want to be able to hold parties on our rooftop. We chopped down a very old 8 foot C-Band satellite dish left behind by the old homeowner, plus other clutter, and just freed up a massive rooftop deck. Solar will be the awning/gazebo cover, but the floor is concrete and uneven (has a drainage channel). 1. Sources of rooftop decking? I'm only familiar with wood decking of the 2x6 or 2x4 kind (or similar) in Canada. Here, to solve the uneven concrete rooftop floor with built-in drainage channels -- I'm thinking of installing a permeable floor, like deck-style floor. That way the drainage channels still work but the floor becomes flat. But wood isn't good for a hot Chapala rooftop, so I'm wondering what people do about covering uneven rooftops with planks -- perhaps a special kind of wood formulation designed for these climates, or plastic planks, or plastic tiles 2. Shops for electrical wiring? (15 amp indoors type), power outlets / GFCI / power switches, etc. There's a couple of easy jobs I want to do, like adding an outlet where none exist. What are the favorite shops of Chapala/Ajijic I should be browsing through? I'd love to know some local favorites now that I have a sudden need for these for the first time. I've long done DIY electricity upgrades back in Canada, and while I can hire local labour, I'm perfectly happy installing a couple my way (so wiring is hidden the way I like it, etc.) Some will be surface-mount outlets in a workshop building at the back of the backyard. 3. Trades (or DIY) for embedding a new outlet into concrete? For the outlets that needs to be embedded in concrete, I may hire a trade, but I'm also interested if there's a Ryobi or DeWalt cordless tool capable of cutting a cube-shape hole in a wall for installing an outlet (from wiring coming in from opposite side). Already have a drill and masonry bits. Thoughts & recommendations?

Thank you! Tip is noted. It is true that I will not be adjusting the size of my posts in those situations where a big post is (in my own mind) warranted. Some of mine are small, and others of mine are big. My typing speed leads to big posts that served me well in other industries, and it's not a habit I plan to change...

NO - I will be staying around... While I realize some people hate long messages and some people like long messages, here is a perspective: People in real life like me because I post big, and I bring big cheer to many lives in the real world, including through the time-saving manuals I write in real life. There are many existing people here afraid to disagree with you (because they don't want to alert you with a Reaction, so only people who agree with you are reacting to you). Also, because of my old field of work, I have always posted big -- I earned more because of my ability to output lots of English at 140 words per minute. With due respect, I am not reducing the size of my posts here. I might use Grammarly to reduce fluff words, but it will only reduce the size of my posts by a few %. If you think I am a troll, follow the old adage, "don't feed the troll", and also, "use the ignore list feature" on these forums. With due respect, you can just use these tools. You can yes-people amongst yourselves, but I also have my fans too -- some of whom is silenced by the likes of you. This forum has no 140-charater or 280-character limitation like the kindergarten bird app (aka "Twitter"). It is already well known that the owner of the web boards can't really easily quickly ban neither you nor me because all of us are customers of the sponsor, Caldwell Banker, and that Caldwell Banker would lose business (and the real estate commissions) if they started banning many members. However, these forums nicely provided a feature that allows you to mute members onto an ignore list. Reactions Only Amplify Participation Because Of Alerts In addition, any reactions or request to shorten my posts will simply amplify my participation in these forums, as an equivalent of a Striesand Effect↗️ because your replies and reactions alerts notifies my smartwatch on my wrist as all my emails/texts show up on my watch. I might ignore your post or your reaction, but since I'll be back on the site, I might end up participating more often in other threads because your reaction alert brought me back here. It's just Notifications 101, so if you personally think I am a troll (not everyone does, but you might), the old Internet adage is "don't feed the troll" if you think I am a troll from your perspective. So it's useless to react to my posts if you don't like me, or my content, or my length of my posts. Unless you secretly enjoy seeing me keep posting, despite publicly saying you don't want me to post long replies. Since I am self employed, and we have a zero-mortgage zero-rent house now, I have plenty of time to kill. Since I type 140 words per minute, I have no desire to shorten my posts. Therefore, I humbly and politely suggest that @mudgirl and @virgo lady put me on their Ignore List. (To be fair, I use Twitter too, under other accounts including some community accounts back in Canada, for things like promoting a park community events and gaming/computer club events.) </🎤> WINNER! Thanks Trophy awarded 🏆 Thank youi. (Aside: The Golf Cart thread is now toxic waste contaminated by a puppet that probably has the IP address of a VPN still accessible to Russia instead of Telmex/Totalplay. That thread should probably be closed in the name of security and peace, or thread moved to the moderator's preferred pandora box forum next to the other "famous" threads. At least it's confined to one ignorable thread and I will focus on other existing/new threads..) To help other readers of this thread learn how to block me, allow me to help. (I used to write instruction manuals as one of my many careers, and was paid six figures USD & CAD for it!) Instructions: How To Block GDouglas For Computer/Tablet: Click your username at the upper-right corner. For Smartphone: Tap menu ☰ icon and then tap "Account" Select "Ignored Users" Enter "GDouglas" and then tap the Enter key. All my posts will disappear from your eyes* *Note: Even though my posts and my reactions to your posts will be muted for you, they will still be visible to others. Accessibility Shortcut Link: If you are using an accessibility device that doesn't work with above instructions, open this link to go directly to the "Add Ignored User" page.

My experience with Telmex line in Ajijic and Chapala has very different reliabilities. In Ajijic, after a big haggle, I was able to get Telmex upgraded from a noisy 5Mbps-ish DSL into a very reliable 40-to-60Mbps DSL connection. It almost never goes out now. I visited the Telmex office literally 4 times to essentialy egg them on. I think they were getting tired of this computer tech (me) and found it cheaper to just fix the line with a fresh wire. 🙂 (The next renters of the place -- friends of ours -- are thankful. They say they haven't noticed it going out during the times they used it, except during power blackout) Here in Chapala, I've got a very spotty 30/5 Mbps Telmex connection that goes out several times a day, despite being between 1-2 block from the Malecon. But I got Totalplay fiber-to-the-home installed and chose the symmetric 100/100 plan. I've got the ability to switch it 10 minutes to gigabit, or a symmetric 500/500 connection, just by chatting Totalplay via WhatsApp for a live speed change (and bill change). Our new house came with a landline with Telmex DSL activated. But now that we've switched to TotalPlay while still paying for the Telmex bill as a backup, I'll probably be in @dixongeposition of not noticing my landline going out, since I might use it only once a month (or less). The "computer technician way" in Lakeside is to always have a backup -- two Internet connections. If Totalplay stays reliable, I might ever not failover to Telmex, and thus, I'll never notice my Telmex backup going out. My other techie friends in the area seems to do this -- but then again these are my friends in the age of 30s, 40s and early 50s, rather than full-time retirees -- I noticed this "have-an-idling-backup" technique is not as common amongst retirees. It's a super-cheap $25 Internet "insurance policy" to just keep paying the good 'ol unused Telmex bill. It's easy to not notice your backup going out, if you're not using the backup. I might get a "dual-WAN" router (one WiFi router that's connected to two internet services at the same time) so that I have automatic failover. The Dual-WAN automatic failover arrangement requires 3 routers (a TotalPlay router with WiFi intentionally turned off and a Telmex router with WiFi intentionally turned off) connected to a 3rd router you purchase separately (Amazon/MercadoLibre/local store). That 3rd router becomes the "main" WiFi router for the house. Someone I know is doing dual-WAN with TotalPlay and Telmex simultaneously on one WiFi name (SSID) and it works great for them. Less hair pulling if one of the two disconnects!

Good question! As long as I'm getting 21%-22% efficiency panels, and the price-per-watt is reasonable, I'm OK with any panel size of a good durable panel. I've heard good things about Panasonic a few years ago, but most manufacturers now make >20% efficient panels. [Still debating what to do with the two-meter situation, which is a showstopper that delays things by a couple months probably]

Thank you for this advice about having to merge two meters. Now I have to break the news to the spouse…

I’ll always counterbalance screed with screed. Whether the content is deemed “screed” or not varies by interpretation of the reader. It’s common sense. Period. Full stop. No more need to pile a ReplyAll into this thread. Our mutual realtor Calwell runs this forum, so moderate it. I also used them for our house too, as many of you did. Golf carts can start afresh in a new thread with no baggage. @moderator-2, please close this thread. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ <EDIT Addendum> (EDIT - To @RickS / @mudgirl / @virgo lady who added confused or sad reactions -- I'm not referring to this thread. There's lots of instances of screed by other unnamed people in other threads in this area of the forum, including a thread (that I have zero replies in). Including one thread that got recently closed by moderator-2. To respect the privacy of those people I won't name names here, but I will compensate anyway. No reply needed. Also, I've been online since the Compuserve days thirty years ago, and people used to post longer screeds then. I'm not going to change. A reply will just elict more screeds from me. Today's adults just post small messages like kids txting on phones. It's sadder to me. Please view this from my perspective -- That's how you can make my posts disappear. No more need to read my screed! It's a free world. My posts don't even have to be visible to you. (P.S. I don't have anyone in my ignored list) The Internet was different 30 years ago. Everybody replied long messages to each other in those more than a decade before Facebook/Twitter. I also ran a FidoNet BBS in my late teens, so I am familiar with long screeds posted on BBS boards in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Not going to shorten my posts to today's kid-size-texters, sorry. It's sadder to me and has hurt world peace because we don't bother to understand each other anymore like we tried in the tail end of the cold war. Even some websites such as fcc.gov has some of my "screed" because I worked on some industry standardizations. I'm wordy and PROUD of it! Just add me to "Ignored Users" if you do not like reading my long threads (e.g. "My TotalPlay optical fiber Internet installed in Ajijic!"). Easy peasy to just make my posts disappear. Your friends and neighbours will still see my posts, but at least you don't have to see mine. No reply needed or it just continues my screed (big replies) -- otherwise it just becomes a continuation of screed or novels or oratory or lectures etc (or whatever terminology you prefer). Let's just let this thread die in piece now, if moderator-2 doesn't want to close this thread.

Winner - and agreed.

This board is famously full of “we know at least 5 forum members here that need to tone down, too”. Even if we don’t agree who should tone down. The nature of forums. My increased post-rate on this topic matter is due to some ongoing posts over the last month by another forum member whose name I won’t mention. I will always counterbalance. Hopefully things will settle on all sides. More important world matters at hand. In principle, I prefer to go back to maintaining my useful threads such as this this My Experience with Faster TotalPlay Internet in Ajijic thread I created a year ago. Great useful stuff!

While the virus has no role in this particular thread... Putin can go **** himself. I have the handwritten journal that my grandpa wrote from 1936-1940, chronicling the era and their sudden unexpected escape, which has a rivetting story.So, golly, I can relate to the "Save Us From Putin" part. It is very wordy at over 100 pages long, but the short one-paragraph story is -- My grandpa escaped from Czechslovakia in summer 1939 on the last train as the tanks started rolling in -- when my dad was only 6 years old. They abandoned their house, had to sneak out with their car headlights covered in tissue paper (to dim them to be less noticed driving in the middle of night to the train station), abandoned their car, and boarded the train out. Just like the Ukranians on that crowded train platform. A steamship later, they landed in Montreal, scrounged up savings for an old Model T at an auction, and limped it to Ontario to eventually to becoming farmhands in rural Ontario to slowly claw way back to the middle-class life they lost overseas -- with only a brief interruption when grandpa signed up to fight in the Canadian Army in the early 1940s. Straight back to Europe that he fled. Managed to survive came back, and eventually managed to buy their own farm, and was able to save up enough to send Dad to university. Deep respect. (After Dad got university education as a geologist, he eventually became a diplomat at the Canada Embassy in Washington DC. Worked on the 1983 Acid Rain accords.)

Now now, there's no need. I'm on the same team as you all are.

I think more than one chess move ahead, bud... (see below). Being in my mid-to-late fourties, I'm a relative youngster of a snowbird which means I will see multiple yo-yo rebound effects of infrastructure. Change often has lagbehind effects. A great example is China that had lots of bicycles in 1970s then they bulldozed that to build freeways all over and removed cycle infrastructure. And car boomed. Then the equilibrium overshot, and now the Chinese are building Amsterdam cycle infrastructure in parts of Beijing and Sgenhanghi crazy fast like kudzu. You see a lot of new Amsterdam-style bike infrastructure in some China cities that didn't exist 5 years ago. Yes, the ill effects to be acknowledged, and yes, non-democratic -- but it's like a tape playing back America infrastructure boom at about 5x-10x speed. And you saw the bikeshare boom and piles of discarded bike (they manufactured too many) though now it's rebounded to a more healthy equilibrium than yesteryear's 11-day freeway gridlock talked about all over the news back then years ago. Literally, they're racing 100 years of progress in a mere 20 years literally. More bike infra. The speed they've run their devleopment and mistakes is incredible (ghost cities et al) but led to a lot of wins for their society (huge freeway system, huge highspeed train system, good subway networks in major cities, etc). Not that we should copycat them, Mexico's pace is far slower, but they do still yo-yo around an equilibrium. But they're following a similar path, though vehicle-miles-driven-per-capita will have more lagbehind effect (it will stabilize in 10-20 years from now, then decline per capita like it already started in America/Canada). [Edit] Even in newer graphs that stretches out to 2020, it's falling again. It's stabilized to an equilibrium. Car count is not really going down, but USA population is going up. That's why this graph is happening. Freeways are no longer getting wider, being landlocked by houses on both sides. So, pressure pain point causes this graph. More people buying urban condos, or simply reducing 2 cars to 1 car because they got Uber app (yay) or whatever. Or bikes. You get the idea. But Mexico has not peaked yet -- it will be probably 10-20 years into the future. Still feasibly something I watch with popcorn playing out within my lifetime, who knows? No, traffic will not decrease, but because of the population boom, carcount will stagnate on a non-widened Ciclopisto (throttled by traffic inconvenience) while users of Ciclopisto will boom in 5,10,20 years from now. Roll the dice on whatever the hell numbers you prefer, but you get the general idea of long term view. My current prediction is that the government will continue to refuse to widen the Carterra, so the multigenerational pressure pain points will bear out from my age 47 to my age 80s, a long enough lifespan to potentially se a lot of things play out in society. We might still yet own a car -- (I own one in Canada). We do have a two car garage (with room for a 3rd car if needed) -- but it is not an aspiration of mine to keep owning. Wild infrastructure swings do not happen in Mexico though. Mexico has its own pace (that lagbehinds North America) and while automobiles will intensify, this may not be true 100 years from now, there might be half as many autos, even if the area has not "copenhagenized" in a matter of speaking (to borrow the word that cycle lobbies use). Some things do skip a few society development stages (like how Africa skipped landlines and went straight to everybody-owns-mobilephones). Watching civilization develops and yo-yos back and forth (overshooting such as automobilizing too much and then decades later, bouncing back to a more equilibrium). The equlibrium swings wildly over the decades. An example is international agreements may phase out ICE cars (whether or not we like those agreements). The electric vehicles tend to be more expensive than ICE cars (at least initially), so fewer people will share vehicles per household, so that's a countervailing effect (might not affect this area of Mexico until about 20-30 years later, given how slow cars wear out in this area). The interacting factors will lead to a new equilibrium that may be fewer cars per capita, and more bicycles. It won't be Copenhagen probably, but it would compensate for the lack of ability to widen the Carterra to 4 lanes, when painpoints of continuous congestion creates spillover effects of more use of Ciclopisto -- that happened to some corridors of certain North America cities. Car use unchanged but bike use increased in some jurisdictions. There I expect no different for Mexico -- I agree we'll see more cars and worse traffic per capita in the near term -- I agree. It may or may not stay that way in fifty years from now. But the slow long-term population growth of the Lakeside will probably ensure traffic stays bad (even if per-capita car ownership gyrates a bit and then bounces back down). In a unbaised NPOV view -- for a long time, people like me won't make any dent, but eventually the equilibrium is reached, and then people like me starts a new equilibrium when the painpoint of driving exceeds the painpoint of cycling, etc. Whatever infra jurisdiction "A" or "B" choses to build, will forever shift around the equilibrium point like a punching bag. Although some of us gringoes try to influence the direction, it's important to respect the will of the Mexicans. Granted, salaries are going up at a faster % rate than America/Canadian salaries (starting from a super-low base), so car ownership undoubtedly will boom to a new equilibrium. Ironically -- funnily enough -- most mexican streetdogs seem to apparently respect the Cyclopisto more than most humans -- I've seen dogs look both ways before crossing roads and Cyclopisto. True, there's some double plus ungood dogs out there. I didn't say "all dogs"... 😃 On a more serious note -- the dog rescue are trying to pick them up but the shelter is full. Some shelters often pick up one street dog immediately after somebody else adopts a dog in the shelter. (See more on this shelter adoption page) It's rather interesting how some of the dogs here in Mexico actually learned street smarts that most North American dogs don't have. For some reason most don't like walking on the hot Ciclopisto surface, which scorches their paws -- most like to walk flush sidewalk along buildings, or in shaded corridors. So most stray dog-crossing events on Ciclopisto is perpendicular to my bike path (i.e. to get to the other side). While this is certainly an area of legitimate discussion in other threads, there are numerous other more important weak links in the chain of dangers on Ciclopisto. While meritworthy discussion, I think I need to fork this off to a new general-purpose transportation infrastructure thread... Alice in Wonderland, we've somehow fallen into a deep rabbit hole in this thread. 🙂

To be fair, road flow is much slower on the cobblestones, so people move too slowly south of Ciclopisto to really make helmets a mandatory thing. But they should be mandatory on the Ciclopisto. Culturally I understand both the "Yes helmets" and "No helmets" crowds, whether you're riding a very stable bikeshare bike in slower-moving dedicated trails, or you're riding a motorcycle on 405 in Los Angeles. Been there, done that. Harleys are wonderful, but so is a bikeshare bike too. The leisurely pace on a trail. As a centrist myself, it is silly to wave the helmet card to me without sufficient multiple-country university educated context in city planning sciences. With the proper education, medical statistics, and carcounter/bikecounter data, below a specific average corridor travel speed -- like a crowded multiuse trail where cyclists can no longer ride fast -- more people are saved by improved health of the lower helmetless friction (the ease of hopping onto a bike with fewer restrictions) than are killed/incapitated by accidents from not having a helmet on. Because it's so convenient and so few rules to hop onto a bike. They nerfed their infrastructure so much that it's hard to break the law as a cyclist because the cycle infrastructure was designed to be hard to break the rules (like racing through a red light or stop sign), like the removal of most stop signs for bicyclists -- it's mainly traffic signals for cyclists. Practically everybody obeys the signals, because otherwise you get killed by cars, and then sometimes even strong concrete-filled metal bollards raise motorized from the asphalt to block the cars while the bicyclists zoom through in a green lights. Those free democratic people over there voted strongly for nerf infrastructure so that it's hard to break rules no matter whether you bike or drive in their downtowns. If no stop signs for cyclists to annoyingly accidentally "roll through" -- now law broken. If no cars can make it through a red light because of concrete bollards that rose from the street -- no law broken. Then everybody is safe there and fewer deaths, they nerfed their bike lanes so much that helmets are not needed for cyclists in that zone! The wonderful wind blowing through the hair, make me want to bicycle more often anyway, and that feeds in itself, more people voting to improve cycle infrastructure. Death rate falls more from exercise, than from death increase from lack of helmets. The math checks out for certain Euro nerf infrastructure like that. Big whoop, if I am cycling there, I don't want to wear a helmet, the law doesn't want me to anyway, bible-thumping the Gospel of Helmet is non-sequitur over there. I'm not likely to die cycling in that fully protected corridor, unlike a Canadian "mere painted lane". -- in some Europe jursdictions, fewer-per-1000 \%) cyclists die helmetless there than car drivers dying in accidents! -- Looking at the honest unfiltered statistics, it's quite impressive how some jurisdictions nerfed their infra so much. (Aside -- It's not like every square inch of the country is like that. The freeways are still beautiful there. Some of them better than half of American freeways (Especially when you head towards Germany' Autobahn) -- but they don't cut through downtowns like 1960s North America bulldozing that electorates of the era voted for. Even though freeways are important for commerce anyway (Trucking goods et al)... they just merely chose to move to different thresholds of how extensive road infrastructure became in urban cores) Sure, maybe we don't want it in our home city (the "don't take away my car lane" feeling I understand too), but I respect that other city that went ahead anyway. Or vice versa. I can respect the different choices the respective free electorates of various countries love. Even pedestrians respectfully stay out of the way, because of the culture. Sure, it's okay to not want the infrastructure in an American city, but big gumption kudos to the other cities that have voted their own way, and I respect their democratic freedom on how they made their city to be. In those slow corridors that are protected away from cars most just get scruffs when you fall off a bike. There's a line that exists where the helmet/nohelmet equilibrium exists, depending on which infrastructure you use. Sure, I will always ride a helmet when riding in an unprotected Canada/America bike lane, or riding a motorcycle on asphalt, but helmets should not be mandatory for bicyclists in pure bike infrastructure of a small European town. It's a complex grand compromise of the Rube Goldberg way the world works in different parts of world, and how their free electorate have voted their cities to become. Being world-educated on urbanity of all kinds changes perspectives a lot. You can tell that in my previous posts. Countries are educated very different ways about their transportation needs. I did a lot of business in Los Angeles area back in my day, plus attended extreme air sports events -- which brought me to that area. So I have my time on good 'ol America freedom. Yet I totally understand the amazing Amsterdam bike culture too, or the joys of Highway 66 to Las Vegas (done too), and the history of how the impressive 1939's GM Futurama Exhibit (not to be confused with the TV cartoon) at New York World Fair. It wowed the world on a theoretical American Autobahn system that didn't yet exist (carbon copy of 1955's plan, but pre-war). That 1930s world's fair exhibit by General Motors was essentially a very beautiful billion-dollar corporate advertisement, inflation adjusted, by GM to America public and governments -- that directly evolved into the Eisenhower Freeway System that led to the modern freeway systems of North America that is today. President Eisenhower was quoted as being directly inspired by this very exhibit in 1939. Transport culture is very different everywhere and shouldn't be colored by political affiliation. Every country comes from different perspectives of freedoms, often educated to their Joe Q Public in very different ways. America's freedom is amazing. Amsterdam's freedom is amazing. Effective if you could backtrace North America's freeway infrastructure to a single big bang, it was that very 1939 exhibit. Honestly, from this Canadian point of view, people fight too much over infrastructure changes with political polarization unnecessarily glued to each line-item. But people hate change, and in some countries, politics happily weaponize that on both ends of the spectrum. Ah well. At least, Jalisco managed put some impressive consistency on Ciclopisto versus other infrastructure. When I'm riding a beautiful Harley or Suzuki in Los Angeles -- helmet always. (I'll be honest -- often I prefer some more compact ride like Suzuki, but I can certainly respect a Harley. Blasphemy, I know.)

I know Canadian cottage friends who built a 12-volt lead-acid assisted solar offgrid system in the late 1980s on an island 3 hours north of Toronto. (I only met them as house neighbours in the 2010s, but they had the offgrid cottage for more than 30 years at the time, as a better-than-camping getaway) It utilized lead acid battery storage. Since panels were so underpowered and expensive back then, the batteries were necessary to just build up enough charge to power useful 12 volt RV appliances. (The refrigerator compressor was propane powered). I helped them find 12-volt LED bulbs to replace 12-volt incandescent, and that extended the life of the ancient solar system, even though the panels were replaced once. Might be time to help them upgrade to LiFePo4 and electric fridge. It's amazing how much more power you can generate nowadays, and luxuriously leave a few modern LED lights on 24/7 if you were scared/ of the dark. The ROI on solar systems here is now only a few years. Also... you might want to know about the new 6 volt lithium batteries that works with lead-acid chargers: You should know that they finally released 6 volt LiFePo4 batteries that are compatible with lead-acid battery charging controllers. Drop-in replacement -- because those batteries have a BMS (Battery Management System) that safely converts lead-acid charging patterns into lithium charging patterns -- safe BMS charging electronics built directly below the battery terminals! (A BMS built into a lithium "car battery" is just essentially a small power brick built into a car-battery-sized beast, that acts as a sort of a safe charging adaptor, accepting incompatible electricity and turning it into lithium compatible charging). The heavier lithium iron phosphate (LiFePo4) batteries don't catch fire like the other lithium-manganese batteries (the lighter kind used in high capacity EVs). So if you're waiting 1 year, pay attention to those new lead acid drop-in compatible 6 volt lithium batteries. Battery tech is changing so fast at the moment. They may not have yet arrived to many Mexico suppliers yet, but is already manufactured elsewhere. In a year, you might have additional drop-in options; no need to replace the lead-acid charger!

It depends on what part -- Amsterdam had impressive bike infrastructure then -- but it wasn't as widespread. It's like National Capital Commision of Ottawa, Canada that went crazy with bike trails along the Rideau Canal in the 1960s-1970s when the ugly old canal-side railroads were removed, and was all turned into one giant linear park. So Ottawa was the early bike capital of Canada. But people who went downtown bars never saw those bike trails (until the bike lanes arrived 10-20 years ago) -- they weren't used for commuting to work. Bike infrastructure used to be concentrated along specific axises, rather than gridded all over the place. Basically the equivalent of Amsterdam's suburbs looked like these one time (It's not those places where servicemembers might go to a bar at night with) -- Few foreigners visits boring suburbs -- that's the areas poorly served by bike infrastructure. It would be more downtown, or some other area that was more likely well serviced by a few bike lanes. It's the same "tread the familiar path" behavior (drive the route, bike the route, I see the world differently depending on whether I'm driving the Carterra, or bicycling the Ciclopisto). We love driving our familiar routes, visiting familiar bars during shore leave or vacation or whatever, walking familiar routes. So we often miss quite a lot. Relevant on "slow" cultural change, here's a boring Amsterdam suburb far away from downtown, where vacationers/servicemembers rarely visit: