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gpk

Aug 10, 2005, 2:21 PM

Post #1 of 11 (5785 views)

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Progress or "Gringo-ization"

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New transit laws in Irapuato which are expected to be passed and go into effect within 2 months (according to the local newspaper):

No driving without a seatbelt
No driving while talking on a cel phone
No throwing trash from a car
Helmets required to drive a motorcycle
Businesses no longer allowed to "save" the parking spaces in front of their business with buckets, crates, etc.
No blocking of a street (e.g. with a mountain of sand, etc.) to perform work on a property without a permit

Anyone giving odds on passage?

Anyone giving odds on enforcement in case of passage?

Ms_Powell

Aug 11, 2005, 8:05 AM

Post #2 of 11 (5721 views)

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Re: [gpk] Progress or "Gringo-ization"

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Hey there, GPK!

Boy, I think those proposals are just super! Except for the motorcycle helmet business. I used to own a Harley in Florida, and there is nothing worse than encasing your head in fiberglass on a sweltering day! If you get killed, it is your own business.

But those other proposals will just improve life for almost everybody, except for those dumbbells who cannot seem to drive without yammering their heads off into a phone while running stop signs. Well, just let them wait till they get home!! That is what I say.

Yes, it is progress, and it is Gringo-ization. What Gringos do is not automatically a bad thing, as I read on these forums sometimes.

And those proposals may even get passed.

Enforced! Ha! That is a scream.

But if they do, man oh man, Juanita and I will sell these two trojes in a New York minute, jump in the old Willys and, with luck and the charm of the Goddess, that baby will limp to Irupuato. (Been having transmission problems) Can we stay with you until we find a place to live? ¡Por favor!

Buttercup always cleans up her own mess.
------------------

"He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals." -- Benjamin Franklin.

Miguel Palomares

Aug 11, 2005, 3:37 PM

Post #3 of 11 (5680 views)

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Re: [gpk] Progress or "Gringo-ization"

Is this for real? It sounds like the City Council from Berkeley, CA, has up and moved to Irapuato.

These are excellent proposals, however. I pray they pass. Perhaps it will start a trend.

I am, however, quite pessimistic. In order for this giant step forward to take place, two things would be required:

1. Effective law enforcement. (I giggle.)
2. Locals would have to start giving a hoot about people outside their immediate circle of family and friends. (I chortle louder.)

If these two requirements actually materialized, I fear the social fabric of Mexico Lindo would come unraveled. The culture would crack. The government would fall, leaving a vacumn into which communists would seize control. This would require the U.S. to take firm action, cutting divisions from Iraq and bringing them to Mexico to restore peace and Capitalism.

At that point, perhaps we could actually ban cell phones in cars and tossing trash and blocking public streets with mounds of gravel, etc., etc.

I say go for it!

I wonder why this stunning development in Irapuato (and it is), if only at the proposal stage, has not inspired more reaction here on the forum. Strange.

Just me and that blonde above. Is she for real?
From Tzurumutaro, Michoacan, "The Village of the Darned."
_______________________________________

The nuts and bolts of moving to Mexico:
http://michaeldickson.blogspot.com/
The dark side of living in Mexico:
http://mexicopeeks.blogspot.com/
Scintillating life in a Mexican pueblo:
http://tzurumutaro.blogspot.com/
http://tzurumutaro2.blogspot.com/

(This post was edited by palomares on Aug 11, 2005, 4:11 PM)

gpk

Aug 11, 2005, 3:57 PM

Post #4 of 11 (5678 views)

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Re: [palomares] Progress or "Gringo-ization"

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I can't explain how this came about, I am only reporting what it said in the local newspaper, "a.m." I can't imagine enforcement of these laws would be any stronger than the ones already in place covering stop lights, speeding, etc., but who knows. What was funny to me was that all of my Mexican friends have laughed at me and my gringo attitudes about laws-for-the-protection-of-the public-peace-and welfare for years--and now I feel I am not alone after all. It seems it is beyond the mere proposal stage and is simply awaiting some final government stamp of approval--I am not really sure how our local government "works". The article indicated the rules are expected to be in effect within 60 days.

Gringal

Aug 12, 2005, 9:27 AM

Post #5 of 11 (5617 views)

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Re: [gpk] Progress or "Gringo-ization"

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They failed to mention putting one's entire extended family in the back of the open pickup truck.

Here in SMA, they recently installed some topes with a flat, striped section in the center - obviously for pedestrian crosswalks - on the busy street where the bus terminal is located. They put the local policia at these "crosswalks" to help pedestrians and motorists get the hang of the new order, and it's been interesting to watch the pedestrians running across the street ten feet from the crosswalks with the cops watching. Old habits die hard.

debartiste

May 14, 2006, 4:12 PM

Post #6 of 11 (5512 views)

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Wanted to get in touch

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Hi there,
Someone on this forum told me to find you and ask your advice.

I'm an advertising art director, laid off right now. (again)
I want so badly to be a full-time artist and I wonder if 'this is it". I think you're the right person. You're an artist?

I'm wondering what the monthly rental would be for a place that one would live in but would primarily be an art studio. (I see in my future, an art studio that I live in, vs a house with an art studio)...there's a big difference:-)

If you are the right person, I'll fill you in more. Someone said to search for your name.
Thanks in advance:-)
Debbie (in Chicago, painting in a high-rise kitchen!) argh.

Gringal

May 14, 2006, 4:54 PM

Post #7 of 11 (5497 views)

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Re: [debartiste] Wanted to get in touch

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Hi Deb - you didn't mention who the "you" was. Let's hope it wasn't Miss Powell, who disappeared into Capetown some time back. Assuming it was Palomares, you can find him on the blogs you'll see listed on his post. They will tell you much about life in the Patzcuaro area. In the Village of the Danged.

debartiste

May 14, 2006, 5:08 PM

Post #8 of 11 (5488 views)

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Re: [Gringal] Wanted to get in touch

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By "you", yes, I meant Palomares, following Caldwelld's advice:-)
It's been a long day, I replied to an old post by him and thought it was pvt. Oh well:-)

Still getting used to the forum.....
I'm sure I'll make many more mistakes, so stay tuned:-)

Deb

jerezano

May 14, 2006, 7:47 PM

Post #9 of 11 (5459 views)

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Re: [gpk] Progress or "Gringo-ization"

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Hello,

Of your 7 proposed laws the only one here in Zacatecas which would be new would be the one about not using a cel phone while driving.

The others have been state or municipal laws for years---and every day I leave my house with my car and try to find a parking space I find many spaces blocked by the merchants.

The entrance to my colonia has been blocked for three years by a pile of unused sand left over at a house under construction. The city repaired the street in front of my house and along the two block street, leaving piles of sand and bad paving blocks that we the homeowners had to dispose of when it became clear they weren't coming back to haul the rubbish away.

I keep dodging bottles and cans and other rubbish along any highway in the state.

Even the police do not use their seat belts nor do they enforce the law except on special crack-down days that are always published in advance.

And the one that really gets all of us including the locals the blaring boom boxes in the cars. Although this community is especially good on that and on complaint will actually impound the system. Unless a mordida is made in which the owner just drives away and turns the box back on after a block.

¡Buena Suerte! Dream on....

Adios. jerezano.

Bear

May 17, 2006, 3:02 AM

Post #10 of 11 (5363 views)

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Re: [debartiste] Wanted to get in touch

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Michael tends to be a fairly private person these days.
I truly don't think he considers himself to be an "artist" but I sent you a private message anyway.Bear

Bubba

May 22, 2006, 4:02 PM

Post #11 of 11 (5247 views)

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Re: [Gringal] Wanted to get in touch

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Michael´s conceit,AKA Ms. Powell, did not disappear into Capetown but into the disgusting Jo´Burg slums supporting oppression under corrupt white rule and now under corrupt black rule. If you and Michael don´t know the extradordinary differences between these places , don´t bring it up. I do not like this phony crap.