You think you are tired of hearing about my electric problems? Well think I feel about living with them. I know this is Mexico and you have to learn to go with the flow or you get swallowed by the tide. But my patience has limits.
It isn't every morning, just about once or twice a week I awake to no electricity. This has been going on for about six weeks. At first I ran down to Jose and had him call the electric company. It was the same each time. "If" they send someone out, by the time they got here, the electricity was back on. Every time they say there is "no problemo". You see most people in Mexico don't get up as early as I do, so no electricity until 8:30 or 9:00 isn't a problem.
A few days ago I awoke again to no electricity. It is still dark when I get up and no way to make my coffee which I needed desperately. I ran downstairs to Jose. He just laughed. You see the Mexicans are a very "happy go lucky" group of people. Everything is funny and they laugh all the time. I was not amused! Jose told me that the electricity goes off between 3:00 and 4:00am. How would "he" know when "my" electricity goes off? Well it is because he uses my electricity. He came to me one day and told me that he was having trouble getting electricity in his name. Exactly why, I do not know. He speaks perfect English but for some reason was unable to explain to me what his problem was. I was assured it would only be for a few weeks (it has been over a month). So he ran a very long extension cord out my kitchen window and down the light well to his place.
Once more he called and it was the same. They fill out a report and give him the number of the report. My electric bill is now covered with such numbers. As usual the electricity came back on some time after dawn I told Jose to ask for a new meter. He was informed that since the meter was not broken, I could not get a new one. That is when I came up with the "brilliant idea" to take a sledge hammer to the meter. They want a broken meter, they are going to get one! I realized there were some flaws to this idea. If I was caught I could be fined, or worse taken to jail. At the very least I would have to pay for a new meter. So I decided to ask Jose to do it for me. Well, he does speak better Spanish; he is a "smooth talker", and he could do it at 5:00am when no one was around and he is using my electricity. He said he would take a rock to it the following day.
Then, I thought again and decided to call my own electrician first and told Jose to hold off for a few days. I had no idea what an electrician could do, but maybe I could get some better answers. The very day the electrician was to show up. it happened again. I knew the number to call and my Spanish is getting better so I decided it was time they heard from an Angry American (Americano enojado). It is the same here as in the States when you call any company. You get a recording that asks to to push a number for what ever problem you think you have. I could not understand all they said, so I just kept pushing numbers until I got a live person.
As far as I know I am the only one in the building with this problem, but since none of my neighbors are up before 8:30 or 9:00, we are not sure (no one in Mexico has a clock, so there is nothing to stop running)
The stair lights are still on. Thank God, for I am sure I would have broken my neck falling down the stone and concrete steps. Since it was too dark in my apartment to read the numbers on my bill, I had to stand in the hall. Of course I was screaming. I must admit this gave me a little bit of satisfaction for I knew my neighbors were still asleep and felt it was pay back for all their late night parties that keep me up.
The first person did speak some English but when he asked if I had filled out a report, I began to scream at him I have the numbers of 6 reports that have been filled out. He hung up (at least we were some how disconnected) I called back using the same technique to get a live person. This one spoke no English which caused me to scream even louder. No matter how many time I told her (in Spanish) that I could not understand her, she continued in Spanish. I gave up and hung up and called again. This time I did get someone who spoke some English. I don't know if it was my poor Spanish, or her lack of understanding English, but when I read off the number on my bill. She said, " Oh, you live in Guadalajara!" I was already angry and frustrated, but remembering the man who hung up on me, I tried not to totally lose it.
We finally got the correct information and she gave me the number of yet another report. I told her that this did no good. She must have understood my frustration and promised me that someone would be there today and would call me. No one did call, but to my amazement but when i was coming back from my coffee house on my way to Spanish, there was an electric truck. One of the men did speak English. I didn't go so far as to tell him that if it wasn't fixed, I would break the meter with a rock (well, Jose would). But I did insist that something was wrong with my meter. He finally agreed and gave me a new meter. The electrician arrived shortly afterward and told me that the meter they took out was a newer, but flawed meter and the old larger one they put in was much better. They think that there is some sort of electric surge early in the morning and the new meters are set to shut down, to prevent overloading. We will see.
I did have a few electric problems (out side of no electricity in the morning). First I could not get the light over the stove to work. Some superglue fixed that. The light in the hall that kept going on and off wasn't screwed in tight enough. There was nothing he could do about replacing my bathroom light because the hole behind it is square and too large for the fixture I bought. It never ends here. Do I still love living here? Yes, I do! Where else could I get so much fodder for my blog???
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Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
ALL ABOUT BUSES
Yes, it has been a while and I know you have missed me. It was not just because I am lazy and running out of topics, but because I had a problem with my computer. One day I must do a post on "computer speak in Spanish" It is not easy. Most of my computer is in English, but when ever a problem (or a pop up) appears, it is in Spanish. I, of course have no clue. My computer guru came here this morning (luckily the electricity was on) to fix some of my problems. The problem with my blog was that Internet Explorer would no longer support the system, so he said he had to try a new server and switched me to Fire Fox. Do I understand what I just said? NO!!
Okay, back to buses. Yes I wrote about them last year, but I don't remember what I said so I am counting on you not remembering either. Plus, after over one year of living here, I think I now know all you need to know about buses. Notice I said "NEED TO KNOW" For there are always situations here that simply defy explanation. Of course living over a major bus stop has helped expand my knowledge as well.
First you must learn the colors. The blue and the green buses go North, the orange buses go South. But the buses go by different routes. There are also white buses that travel inland to various small towns and special destinations, like the Botanical Gardens, most of them are marked. For these buses you must buy a ticket sold at a few of the local tiendas (small corner grocery stores). In order to travel long distances by bus you must go to the main bus depot past the airport. There are roll up signs above the windshields that indicate the last stop. You need not pay much attention to them, because they don't tell you how they get there or where they stop (besides sometimes they forget to roll over the sign when they change directions). You have to read the hand written signs scribbled on the windshield for the stops. This can be a problem for someone with bad eye sight for by the time you can figure out what the sign says, the bus has passed by. You must hold up your arm and wave to get them to stop. Just because it is a regular bus stop where you are standing they won't stop unless they are dropping someone off. There is another reason it is hard to read the signs for Costco is spelled Cotsco. They pronounce it that way so they spell it that way. The North bound buses have a sort of card placed at the bottom of the windshield that says, "Centro" or "Tunel" I always try to get the "Tunel" bus for it avoids the heavy traffic from tourist in the center of town.
These are just the municipal buses, which number about 500. There are also tour buses, buses from the ocean liners, and special tour buses. Most of them are large air conditioned buses some with bath rooms. They bare absolutely no resemblance to the municipal buses. There is one little open air tour bus that sort of resembles a San Francisco trolley on rubber wheels (not sure who runs that, nor have I ever gotten on board).. Our mayor who has been on an amazing building spree now says they will move City Hall and all municipal and federal offices out of town. The idea is to reduce the number of buses running through the center of town. Who know?
Never be the last to board because the bus will take off as soon as you put one foot on the stairs. I have been known to shove old women and children out of the way. You should also have the correct change because you want to get to your seat as soon as possible. The buses take off at such speeds you can be thrown to the back of the bus. They also rarely close the doors, so you don't want to be anywhere near an open door once the bus takes off. I found that sitting in the middle is best for avoiding being bounced off your seat when they speed over the speed bumps. Why they bother with the speed bumps, I do not know and it isn't just one, but a series of four or five. I hold on for dear life even after I am seated.
Exactly why the buses travel at such speeds, racing against one another is unknown. I have been told that more people are killed in Mexico by buses than cars (let alone blown away by drug lords). Not that I have ever witnessed any of the above, but that is what I heard. All the municipal buses are in horrible condition. There are broken seats and windows, holes in the floor, and none have shock absorbers. Most of them also have failing brakes. You can hear the brakes scream in agony ever time he pushes on the brake peddle. Sometimes they break down totally. This happened to me one day coming back from Walmart. The bus just stopped in the middle of a major highway. After some chattering in Spanish, people started to get off the bus. I was pretty sure this was not a fire drill, so I got off too. I think that because of the confused look on my face someone told me not to worry for the driver was flagging down another bus and we could get on without paying an additional fare. AN ADDITIONAL FARE?? We were standing in the middle of a Mexican freeway. It was a horrifying experience
Why do I subject myself to this kind of torture? Well, they are cheap! You can go from one end of town to the other for 6.5 pesos (about 5 cents). A longer trip to say Mismaloya is 7 pesos. Cab fare from Costco or Walmart is 60 to 80 pesos. Let's face it I am cheap. This did not work out for me one day. I managed to get 8 bottles of cheap wine in my back pack. It was heavy but I was sure I could manage on the bus. To my dismay, I got one of the Indy 500 drivers. He raced down the streets trying to pass other buses so closely I was sure they would lock rear view mirrors. I don't know what he was late for, but I was not sure I would even arrive at all. Then we hit a large bump, my back pack jumped off the seat and onto the floor. I lost two bottles of wine (twice the price of a cab). Wine was swirling all over the floor as the bus careened through the tunnel at unbelievable speeds. I knew just how Princess Diana felt when she entered the tunnel under The Pont Alma in Paris. But, I didn't have far to go before I carried my dripping back pack off the bus, just glad to still be alive.
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Okay, back to buses. Yes I wrote about them last year, but I don't remember what I said so I am counting on you not remembering either. Plus, after over one year of living here, I think I now know all you need to know about buses. Notice I said "NEED TO KNOW" For there are always situations here that simply defy explanation. Of course living over a major bus stop has helped expand my knowledge as well.
First you must learn the colors. The blue and the green buses go North, the orange buses go South. But the buses go by different routes. There are also white buses that travel inland to various small towns and special destinations, like the Botanical Gardens, most of them are marked. For these buses you must buy a ticket sold at a few of the local tiendas (small corner grocery stores). In order to travel long distances by bus you must go to the main bus depot past the airport. There are roll up signs above the windshields that indicate the last stop. You need not pay much attention to them, because they don't tell you how they get there or where they stop (besides sometimes they forget to roll over the sign when they change directions). You have to read the hand written signs scribbled on the windshield for the stops. This can be a problem for someone with bad eye sight for by the time you can figure out what the sign says, the bus has passed by. You must hold up your arm and wave to get them to stop. Just because it is a regular bus stop where you are standing they won't stop unless they are dropping someone off. There is another reason it is hard to read the signs for Costco is spelled Cotsco. They pronounce it that way so they spell it that way. The North bound buses have a sort of card placed at the bottom of the windshield that says, "Centro" or "Tunel" I always try to get the "Tunel" bus for it avoids the heavy traffic from tourist in the center of town.
These are just the municipal buses, which number about 500. There are also tour buses, buses from the ocean liners, and special tour buses. Most of them are large air conditioned buses some with bath rooms. They bare absolutely no resemblance to the municipal buses. There is one little open air tour bus that sort of resembles a San Francisco trolley on rubber wheels (not sure who runs that, nor have I ever gotten on board).. Our mayor who has been on an amazing building spree now says they will move City Hall and all municipal and federal offices out of town. The idea is to reduce the number of buses running through the center of town. Who know?
Never be the last to board because the bus will take off as soon as you put one foot on the stairs. I have been known to shove old women and children out of the way. You should also have the correct change because you want to get to your seat as soon as possible. The buses take off at such speeds you can be thrown to the back of the bus. They also rarely close the doors, so you don't want to be anywhere near an open door once the bus takes off. I found that sitting in the middle is best for avoiding being bounced off your seat when they speed over the speed bumps. Why they bother with the speed bumps, I do not know and it isn't just one, but a series of four or five. I hold on for dear life even after I am seated.
Exactly why the buses travel at such speeds, racing against one another is unknown. I have been told that more people are killed in Mexico by buses than cars (let alone blown away by drug lords). Not that I have ever witnessed any of the above, but that is what I heard. All the municipal buses are in horrible condition. There are broken seats and windows, holes in the floor, and none have shock absorbers. Most of them also have failing brakes. You can hear the brakes scream in agony ever time he pushes on the brake peddle. Sometimes they break down totally. This happened to me one day coming back from Walmart. The bus just stopped in the middle of a major highway. After some chattering in Spanish, people started to get off the bus. I was pretty sure this was not a fire drill, so I got off too. I think that because of the confused look on my face someone told me not to worry for the driver was flagging down another bus and we could get on without paying an additional fare. AN ADDITIONAL FARE?? We were standing in the middle of a Mexican freeway. It was a horrifying experience
Why do I subject myself to this kind of torture? Well, they are cheap! You can go from one end of town to the other for 6.5 pesos (about 5 cents). A longer trip to say Mismaloya is 7 pesos. Cab fare from Costco or Walmart is 60 to 80 pesos. Let's face it I am cheap. This did not work out for me one day. I managed to get 8 bottles of cheap wine in my back pack. It was heavy but I was sure I could manage on the bus. To my dismay, I got one of the Indy 500 drivers. He raced down the streets trying to pass other buses so closely I was sure they would lock rear view mirrors. I don't know what he was late for, but I was not sure I would even arrive at all. Then we hit a large bump, my back pack jumped off the seat and onto the floor. I lost two bottles of wine (twice the price of a cab). Wine was swirling all over the floor as the bus careened through the tunnel at unbelievable speeds. I knew just how Princess Diana felt when she entered the tunnel under The Pont Alma in Paris. But, I didn't have far to go before I carried my dripping back pack off the bus, just glad to still be alive.
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