The Times They Are A´Changing

God, when we arrived in Ajijic in 2001 it was one sorry hick town. A dump of no consequence except for the fine climate. A stewpot without meat or carrots.

We just arrived from Chiapas and it´s nice to be back despite all the bickering among the old fart extranjeros polluting this lakeside with their vulgar reminiscences of life in Dubuque.

Do we like it better here with recently arrived big box stores but less congeniality? Why not. F*ck congeniality without frozen microwave ready pizza. We have to get White Castle to send us those frozen "sliders" and life here will be perfect.

Welcome back to your other home again, Dawg. At least you can visit Mexico whenever you care to, and with the Arco Norte to make the drive much quicker and easier. I hope you had a nice visit. Kind of a different world, isn't it?

I bet it's great to be back in civilization. Once again you can buy potatoes without dirt on them, or just pluck them off the trees. Microwave pizza just makes living seem worthwhile and you can stock-up to the gills at your big Walmart store just up the road. Paradise.

Our new Walmart Plaza just opened up a mere 5 minute walk from us. This is the third Wamart here in Morelia, not counting at least a dozen or more of their subsidiary stores scattered around town, but this is the only one close to us here in our once-forgotten corner of town. For us it really is a nice thing to have, and soon they will be opening the cinema and many smaller stores in the new plaza which is set-up like an open mall so I can smoke as I walk around window shopping.

This new store just opened last Tuesday and is already changing our shopping routine. We still have one of the largest tianguis in town operating here on Wednesdays and Sundays about three blocks away where you can find just about everything under the sun, but there are always some supermarket items that are necessary to purchase elsewhere. Like at Walmart I can get the large 24-roll pack of papel higienico rather than buying one roll at a time at the corner tienda.

The tianguis has a number of quesadilla and pozole stands where we can sit on folding chairs and dine with our neighbors for $20 pesos on a platter full of greasy tacos, but now we have the option at the Walmart Plaza to sit at the Café Europa for a $30 peso cup of over-roasted coffee and perhaps a slice of chocolate cake if we don't mind spending $100 pesos or more for Tere and myself.

Yep, big changes in Mexico as more folks are joining the middle-class and are discovering the joys of credit purchases and life in debt to have a bunch of things they didn't know they needed but the TV ads showed them how necessary they are to have in today's world. All the new autopistas really are kind of nice to have though, and there are a lot of new cars being sold to help take advantage of long-distance travel.

Great times ahead for all!

Peter:

Yes, indeed, I remember the days when we had to drive to Guadalajara from Ajijic for the pleasures of Big Box shopping and, until last year, in San Cristóbal we had to drive down the Kamikaze Death Wish highway from San Cristóbal to Tuxtla Gutierrez to find such seemingly pedestrian items as dish washer detergent. Now, with our new Sam´s Club (pronounced "Cloobzam" by locals) and that new Bodega Aurrera, we no longer have to risk life and limb to get that fancy packet of 24 toilet paper rolls and that Cascade.

As you know, we just drove back from Chiapas to Chapala arriving Sunday and I have some news on the drive whiich I will post elsewhere so those of you inclined to visit beautiful Chiapas from Jalisco or MIchoacan or other points north-northwest of Mexico City may want to read up when I post once I have the energy which will be today sometime.

Oh bite me mutt. You´been here all of 8-9 years and think you have seen some changes. What a mutt brain you can be.

Welcome to this forum Manuel dexterity, er, Solovino, er, Bennie Garcia, er, Sr. Arce. Damn if all your controversial personas are confusing a simple Alabama country boy.

Tell me, Manuel, after you have restored the ambiance to that beach front town damaged by that recent hurricane where you have a beach house, may we expect you in Chiapas to help reforest steep mountainous areas denuded over the past half century by rapacious capitalists? You seem a civic minded fellow.

Anyway, Dawg is glad to see you posting here.

Mutt

manuel dexterity wrote:

Oh bite me mutt. You´been here all of 8-9 years and think you have seen some changes. What a mutt brain you can be.

Jeebus, look who's here. My favorite sparring partner on any forum anywhere.

Cheers,

Raq

Solo (?) is it really you? Layin' off that helium I hope. That was not a good look on you dude, not at all. ;-)

raqueteer wrote:

manuel dexterity wrote:

Oh bite me mutt. You´been here all of 8-9 years and think you have seen some changes. What a mutt brain you can be.

Jeebus, look who's here. My favorite sparring partner on any forum anywhere. 0
Cheers,
Raq
Solo (?) is it really you? Layin' off that helium I hope. That was not a good look on you dude, not at all. ;-)

We both welcome him here under any name raqueteer. I hope this means he will continue to contribute here under any name he chooses.

MuttDawgBubba

Funny how different places lead to different perspectives, eh? In the US, if they open a new Walmart in your neighborhood, you move out. Here, it is considered an improvement. ¡Que chistoso!

Jim

When they put a supermarket in your corner of town that is an improvement. When it is a major shopping plaza with cinema and all within walking distance it raises your property values. It's no accident I bought that new casita when I did.

Our new center is called Walmart Macro Plaza Estadio Morelos. There is supposed to be a "long park" with picnic areas that connects the plaza with the stadium about 1 km away. The Central Camionera Morelia is on my side of the road across from the stadium an easy walk from home. Bus stations are another example like that, but bus travel here is not Greyhound either.

I didn't move to the city to live out in the country but it has taken awhile to get the goodies. That's the problem with newer colonias but I didn't have to wait too long for it to mature, a little over 6 years now since I first broke ground to build here and 5 years this month since I moved in.

Hound Dog wrote:

raqueteer wrote:

manuel dexterity wrote:

Oh bite me mutt. You´been here all of 8-9 years and think you have seen some changes. What a mutt brain you can be.

Jeebus, look who's here. My favorite sparring partner on any forum anywhere. 0
Cheers,
Raq
Solo (?) is it really you? Layin' off that helium I hope. That was not a good look on you dude, not at all. ;-)

We both welcome him here under any name raqueteer. I hope this means he will continue to contribute here under any name he chooses.

MuttDawgBubba

Indeed we do, and just as soon as we receive more information from the coast, I will be posting it here so people in Michoacan and other parts of the country who are interested may also be able to contribute something to help the over 500 families who have had their lives decimated by the hurricane.

Hurricanes come and hurricanes go. Ask Rueben Askew, the ex-governor of Florida said, "We in Florida call that urban renewal". As our friend Solovino knows, in the steep, formerly impenitrable forests of the lost treasure of Chiapas, the opportunists who destroyed the old growth mixed hardwood/pine forests stole the national treasury for a song and their desecration of the treasured land continues unabated . I am willing and anxious to discuss this. Anyone game?

Who is it among us that thinks hardship among the few penalized by that recent hurricane even approaches the long-term destruction of the environment these coastal dwellers caused on the affected beaches rendured unto mud by the irresponsible actions of campers on nature´s edge?
Define the villan here, folks.

I'm not sure who the villian is here, but I am sure who the asshole is.

Hound Dog wrote:

Hurricanes come and hurricanes go. Ask Rueben Askew, the ex-governor of Florida said, "We in Florida call that urban renewal". As our friend Solovino knows, in the steep, formerly impenitrable forests of the lost treasure of Chiapas, the opportunists who destroyed the old growth mixed hardwood/pine forests stole the national treasury for a song and their desecration of the treasured land continues unabated . I am willing and anxious to discuss this. Anyone game?

Who is it among us that thinks hardship among the few penalized by that recent hurricane even approaches the long-term destruction of the environment these coastal dwellers caused on the affected beaches rendured unto mud by the irresponsible actions of campers on nature´s edge?
Define the villan here, folks.

Sure, I'll have a shot at it.

Bankers are the villain.
Who gave the corporate gangsters the money to chop down those trees? Banksters.
Who gave developers the money to develop coastal areas so that workers would have to live there? Banksters, that's who.
Speaking of Florida, who financed the original selling of swampland to unsuspecting victims? Banksters. Who continued this into this century by way of the fractional banking system then leveraged the loans by way of derivatives and sold them all over the world bankrupting innocent retirees in the process? Who did that, you got it, Banksters.

On to today and the poor workers at a coastal resort area financed by banksters, who have probably never even had a loan, and probably never will. Did they cut down those trees? NO. We know who did.

So, yeah if that hurricane had demolished 500 and some peckerwood bankers' homes over there on the coast, I'd let 'em starve. Hell I'd even go over there myself and bulldoze every bit of mud available on top of those houses, so they'd never again see the light of day. And if I were an insurance executive ( bad example they're almost as bad as banksters),and if I had my retirement destroyed by some sleaze ball bankster, then I'd personally deny their claims and charge them enough damages to pay for reparations to the entire coastline that they destroyed.

Sadly hurricanes don't hit land where they should. So, this time folks it's time to put your money where your mouth is.

A quote from Frank Zappa.

Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.

I rest my case.

manuel dexterity wrote:

I'm not sure who the villian is here, but I am sure who the asshole is.

So, tell me, Manuel, since you seem to have figured this out; who is the asshole? The opportunist who built a life on a beginning that involved the desecration of Chiapas forest lands and denuding of fragile steep hillsides that endangered countless villagers or the moron who dedicated his banking career to enforcing ineffectual statutes ostensibly meant to prevent corruption in the banking system but, upon reflection, to have been proven to have been without merit.

You tell me.

By the way, raqueteer, I wasn´t ignoring your wickedly clever screed which was both entertaining and fun to read. I´ve simply run out of steam until tomorrow morning so see you then.

Hound Dog wrote:

manuel dexterity wrote:

I'm not sure who the villian is here, but I am sure who the asshole is.

So, tell me, Manuel, since you seem to have figured this out; who is the asshole? The opportunist who built a life on a beginning that involved the desecration of Chiapas forest lands and denuding of fragile steep hillsides that endangered countless villagers or the moron who dedicated his banking career to enforcing ineffectual statutes ostensibly meant to prevent corruption in the banking system but, upon reflection, to have been proven to have been without merit.

You tell me.

Hands down, you're the asshole. Every time you park your fat ass on a wood chair at a wood table and stuff your face full of beef, tell me who desecrated the forest. Every time you boast about the wonderful roads you drive on whiile exploring the natural wonders of Chiapas, lecture me on deforestation. Every time you fill your gas tank, tell me all about it.

Meanwhile, the poorest of the poor, through absolutely no fault of their own, are in dire straits on the coast of Jalisco. I'm not talking tourist resort or beach home owners here. I'm talking of people that barely survive. The ones that help put cheap fruit and vegetables on other people's plates.

Now guess again. Who's the asshole?

manuel dexterity wrote:

Hound Dog wrote:

manuel dexterity wrote:

I'm not sure who the villian is here, but I am sure who the asshole is.

So, tell me, Manuel, since you seem to have figured this out; who is the asshole? The opportunist who built a life on a beginning that involved the desecration of Chiapas forest lands and denuding of fragile steep hillsides that endangered countless villagers or the moron who dedicated his banking career to enforcing ineffectual statutes ostensibly meant to prevent corruption in the banking system but, upon reflection, to have been proven to have been without merit.

You tell me.

Hands down, you're the asshole. Every time you park your fat ass on a wood chair at a wood table and stuff your face full of beef, tell me who desecrated the forest. Every time you boast about the wonderful roads you drive on whiile exploring the natural wonders of Chiapas, lecture me on deforestation. Every time you fill your gas tank, tell me all about it.

Meanwhile, the poorest of the poor, through absolutely no fault of their own, are in dire straits on the coast of Jalisco. I'm not talking tourist resort or beach home owners here. I'm talking of people that barely survive. The ones that help put cheap fruit and vegetables on other people's plates.

Now guess again. Who's the asshole?

Don´t bullshit me, asshole. I´m not one of your ignorant gringo constituents who doesn´t know the difference between the recently devastated Jalisco Coast by Mother Nature where you just happen to own a property and the Chiapas Coast indigenous lands which still have not recovered from Hurricane Paul of six years ago. I am fully aware, as none of these assholes around here are, of the decades of devastation brought about by the denuding of Chiapas´ indigenous lands by your hacksaws so never get self-righteous with me. As villages of the desparately poor slide dowm formerly secure precipes in Southern Mexixo , because you clear cut for pecuniary gain, thank your own hypocrisy - not mine.

My heart may bleed for the villagers of Jalisco but where is your heart for the poor of Pacific Chiapas? Do you give a flying f*ck for the villagers residing under the mountainous clear cut forests you destroyed in Chiapas in your youth? I think not.

You had me fooled briefly a while back. I had started thinking you might hold above average intelligence.

We harvested approx. 650,000 round wood feet of fine caoba and cedro in a stretch of 146km of road bed 30 meters wide. Do the math, fart blossom. Something like 400 trees. You are looking at a very small avg yield per kilometer. There were also small amounts of other species but guess what butt breath? It didn't get dozed into a slash pile and burnt like the rest of the timber and brush.

And your beloved Tzeltal and Tzotzil followed that and other roads Pemex had built right into pristine and previously sparesly inhabited areas and contributed in their own singular way to the forest's destruction.

So don't preach to me, Wimpy, about damaging ecosystems when every time you visit a Burger King they double their normal daily sales volume.

Ahhh geez, and just when I was getting ready to excoriate bankers and their ilk. Y'all change the subject.

Who actually cut down the forests of Chiapas, multinational corporations, or did Solo personally go down there, intent on enriching himself for some needed timber, with his merry band of ax wielding tree murderers? ( prizewinning sentence run on there) So, is he a lumberjack and that's not O.K.? Because if it was multinational corporations funded by multinational bankers, then you've just nabbed the wrong guy for the alleged crime.

In this case if it was indeed multinationals, the banksters and corporate goons are still walking freely amongst us just waiting to leap out slack jawed and slavering at the potential opportunity to defraud the innocent.

Just imagine the devious schemes they must be hatching, even as we type. Let's loan those poor bastards some needed cash, then we'll launch a new mutual fund, let's call it "Save homeless Indigenous tribes", SH!T on the big board. While we're at it we'll set up a new tax exempt foundation and collect funds from people all over the world. That outta buy us some much needed cases of Veuve Cliquot, and hell we could even make it into a new religion. Everybody loves those. The Scientology Liberation Institute Mission of Emissaries. SLIME, what do you think? Kind of catchy dude. TAX FREE vacations to newly ruined coastal areas in Mexico etc. While we're there let's pick ourselves up some nice ocean view property on the cheap. A couple of off shore accounts to fiddle the cash received in donations and we're whistling Dixie. And those stupid $%&%$&$ at Enron thought they had it all figured out. Pfffft.

After that, we´ll leverage SH!t with a shovel, slice it up into tranches with some borrowed machetes,( a bit bloody, sorry about that old chaps). Then we´ll sell tranches of SH!T to some widows and orphans pension funds. Not within Mexico of course we have our standards. Then we'll mount a television campaign like Save the Whales, millions I'm telling you, and it's ALL OURS!!!!!!!!!

Ohhhhh, great idea guys, while we're down there, let's rent a hot air balloon with our corporate logo proudly emblazoned on it and have some blini with caviar, and of course the chilled Veuve Cliquot. OMG, what am I stupid? We gotta get those Veuve suckers in on this deal. Better prices next scam. FREE advertising, a couple of hot french chicks and we're laughing all the way to the bank.

A good anagram for slime is smile. Get it, you can smile while you're up to your neck in sh!t. Oh, this IS our most brilliant plan ever.

Ohhhhh, wait wait wait let's not forget those denuded forests and forestry after rape, and pillage, we'll just leave out the pillage part. New fund, FAN on the big board. Ratings agencies, Nooooo problem, they get to come on the trip and collect their share of the spoils.

Now, I ask all of you gentle readers, what is going to happen when SLIME makes SH!T hit the FAN????? Resulting in yet more slime, that just smells worse?

Comments? Legal disclaimers? Doublespeak, Orwellian style? Or maybe just some good old fashioned fine print.


Nanny software made me edit my post!!!!!

Godawlmighty, you two have made my day. Finally some fun discourse hereabouts. We are surrounded by idiots and you guys, thanks to your erudite and well expressed responses, have restored my faith in human interraction. Damn, that was fun.

Hound Dog wrote:

Godawlmighty, you two have made my day. Finally some fun discourse hereabouts. We are surrounded by idiots and you guys, thanks to your erudite and well expressed responses, have restored my faith in human interraction. Damn, that was fun.

Ohhhh no, and just when we were getting started. I hadn't even gotten close to nekkid shortselling. There ¡s just so much to say about our friends the banksters and brokesters. I also had a few choice comments about helium balloons.

Soooo, we're far from done. Party's just getting going

Tomorrow, disembowelment is on the agenda.

See all y'all mañana.