MexConnect.com Forums: General: General Forum: Introduce yourself -- Part 1: Page 3

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davesteffes

May 18, 2006, 12:24 PM

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Hi, I'm 56 and planning on retiring in 2010. I live in Albuquerque and my wife and I are hoping to move to the Xalapa area when we retire. We're drawn to the area because of the weather ( I miss rain after 11 years in the desert), and the cultural aspects of the city. I also like the idea of being close to the only nuclear power facility in Mexico. I've been working as a Health Physicist for 35 years in the nuclear field and would enjoy being around people with a shared interest. I presently work for the National Nuclear Security Administration managing the radiation protection program for Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, Livermore California, Tonapah Nevada, and Kauai Hawaii. I also lead the team that responds to any radiological emergencies in the surrounding 4 states, so since 9/11 I've been busy training police and fire departments.

I started in the Navy in 1968 as the only way to get out of Detroit, Michigan and go to college since my dad didn't believe in chipping in when there was a perfectly good way to earn your tuition by joining up. I served in Vietnam on the USS Enterprise, and went to college on the GI Bill. I did my undergraduate at U of Oregon and finished at Oregon State U, then did my graduate work at U of Washington. I've worked in a lot of places around the country and have been here in Albuquerque longer than anywhere in my life. My wife is from Montpelier, Idaho near the Wyoming, Utah border, and works as a Technical Editor for an environmental firm. We've been married 30 years this August.

We raise Morgan horses and volunteer with the Bernilillo County Sheriff's Department in search and rescue. We also love dogs and have an english mastiff, great dane, bouvier des flandres, tibetan mastiff and a pit bull. Altogether 800 pounds of dog. Although I've enjoyed Mexconnect for about a year now, I haven't really posted much. I find the person I tend to most consistently agree with is SFMcCaws, which makes me an open minded conservative I guess.

zoeq1000

May 18, 2006, 2:16 PM

Post #52 of 92 (8193 views)

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That was a very nice introduction. Someone told me that I write short answers. Funny, I'm pretty talkative in person unless I'm around my 23 year old daughter who can out-talk anyone I know.

I was born in Newark, Ohio, where my Sicilian grandfather met my Italian grandmother from a small country town outside of Rome. They had about 17 children, but only 11 lived. We then had six children and a very hectic family life. My Dad was a contractor and drank a lot with the boys. In winter, there wasn't much money to go around but my mom was resourceful if on the brink most of the time.

I edited my high school newspaper and went to Ohio State in Columbus to be a journalist. I changed majors several times and studied Chinese as well. I got together with a guy I had met before at a church meeting. After a brief romance, we got married in Indianapolis because you didn't have to wait three days like in Ohio after applying for a marriage cert. We helped each other grow up. And after a stint in the Army at Ft Knox, KY where he practiced podiatry and I got my degree in psychology, we moved to Ventura, Ca.

In Ventura, I spent most of my time helping my husband build his podiatry practice and took singing lessons in the meantime and performed in some operas and local theatre. After 7 years, I tired of playing mom to his little boy. To his surprise, I left (no children) and moved to LA. where I met my husband, Dave, 6 months later, also having come off of a divorce.

Dave is an aerospace engineer except that he nearly got a degree in English literature. We have a very talented daughter, the one who talks a lot. She's also a ballerina, painter and actor. Maybe you saw the Kellogg's "Apple Jacks" commercials that ran every hour daily for a year about 13 years ago. She did two of those and was recognized from coast to coast. She's still an actor, though not quite so famous, and teaches Pilates exercise for a living. She still weighs about 80 lbs thanks to her Dad's lean build.

I wanted to lose weight (for the 18th time) and got involved with a body typing system where different shapes eat different foods and lost my weight. I then wrote a program from the books this doctor had written so that others could counsel this system. I taught many seminars throughout the US.

When my daughter was 14, we signed on for chef's training in a technical school in LA. She had been home-schooled since 3rd grade because of lessons and auditions. So when I went to chef's training, she wanted to as well. We went through a sort of bootcamp where my 80 lb daughter washed pots half her size. We got through it and then actually learned some cooking. We changed schools and studied for a total of a year and were responsible for college lunches for several months. So we both got past the "this is hard work" phase to where we now love cooking no matter how much work it is.

I was a ballet mom. Waited hours, even worked my business as nutritionist/weight loss counselor around it. We saw many performances and, at 19, my daughter had had enough as had her knees. She got certified to teach Pilates and went back into acting. I became and English teacher of (mostly) illegal immigrants in LA. There were many Mexicans in the area where I taught. I started with 8 and ended up with 120 which was split into two classes. It was a lot of fun and the reason I talked my husband into visiting central Mexico.

After my husband retired from aerospace, he's 13 years older, we were bored. Our trip to Mexico turned into semi-retirement. We bought a house and, though we don't have to go to work anymore, we work on our house full-time. I recently got a housekeeper and have been able to read and post more on Mexconnect. We've worked on the house for over a year now and despite many trials and tribulations, we are nearly completely finished. So, it doesn't feel much like retirement. We've got things to do that we are interested in. We look forward to meeting new people and hearing a lot more music and doing more dancing in the streets.

sfmacaws

May 18, 2006, 4:51 PM

Post #53 of 92 (8163 views)

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I like 'open-minded conservatives' Dave, good phrase. I like to make my mind up on issues based on the issue, not the party line. It's difficult sometimes to not have an easily identified label that tells everyone what you think but it makes more sense to me and it better fits the way I think.

I was born and schooled in Santa Barbara, CA, WWII saved me from being raised in Louisiana where my father is from. I have always been grateful to the Japanese for that.

I moved to SF at 17 and bounced between SF and LA for many years after that. I was kind of a professional student for a long time and then I stopped pretending to go to school. I almost managed to graduate with a degree in Political Science but life got too interesting in my last quarter at Berkeley and I wandered off. At the time I said that I lived my life along highway 101, it seemed that I spent a lot of time moving between SF and LA and I5 hadn't been built.

I've been gay all my life although at one point in the 60's I convinced myself that I shouldn't be so exclusive, it wasn't 'organic' and I had a few relationships with men. One of those resulted in a son, I thought it would be easy having a kid that I would just take him along with me like another backpack. I did that for several years although it wasn't as easy as I had thought it would be.

Growing up in SoCal and being hooked on surfing I had spent a lot of time in Mexico, mainly the Baja but also as far down the Pacific coast as Mazatlan. I spoke spanglish with a heavy pocho quotient and felt comfortable in Mexico. In the 70's I decided to take my backpack son and move to Mexico DF so we took off in my green volkswagen and drove south. I ended up living in the DF for a year, working at an ad agency and surviving but getting my life and my health screwed up. My son lived with a friend's mother in Veracruz and I would take the bus over there every weekend. It was tiring and money was really short and it was difficult but I loved the adventure and the feeling that I could make it more or less on my own. Then I got really, really sick and needed major surgery and almost died. Long story but my life was saved by a British doctor at ABC, my parents were called, my dad came and my son and I were flown back to LA. It was not a high point in my life.

Once I could walk again, I left for SF. I ended up back in Santa Barbara one more time several years later and swore if I ever got out again I would never return. Growing up in a place that others consider paradise has its downsides as it is really difficult to leave. Santa Barbara felt like a glue strip to me then, life was so simple there and money was not an issue but freedom was.

When I returned to SF I started working as a bartender at a gay bar and ended up managing several bars and restaurants for the owner. I worked for her for almost 15 years, bought a house in Marin County, stayed with the same woman all that time and we raised the backpack to be a really spectacular, smart, loving man. I'm very proud of him.

In my late 30's my best friend was in the SFPD and she started bugging me to get a "real" job with benefits and retirement. The woman I worked for agreed with her and told me she wouldn't live forever and I should think about my future. So, I got talked into applying for the SF Sheriff's Dept and was hired and went off to the police academy at 40 years old. I studied for every promotion and went through 3 ranks to Lieutenant in 7 years. I liked that job and didn't take any more promotional tests. I retired at 55 but had a couple of years of accrued time and officially retired 2 years later.

I got hooked on scuba diving in the 90's and started flying around wherever there was warm water and pretty fish. On one of these trips I found Akumal in Quintana Roo and loved it. I started spending 10 days there 4 or 5 times a year and finally bought a condo there around 1999. The plan was to retire and live there year round.

I've been with my current partner Mimi for 15 years this September. We bought an RV when I stopped working and took off to see the continent. We found we loved traveling and living in the RV and sold the house in Marin 2 years ago. We also found that we love traveling around Mexico and Central America more than we like sitting in a condo in QRoo so although we still own it we are not there more than a couple months a year. It is our only residence however, the only place we have "stuff" and that we stay in. It doesn't feel like our home though, our RV is where we live and home is where we park it.

For the last 5 years we have spent the winters SOB, usually ending up in QRoo for a couple of months but spending the other 4 months driving around Mexico, Belize and this year, Guatemala. We have over 80k miles on the RV we bought new when I retired, I figure that more than half of that has been in Mexico. There is still a long list of places I want to go in Mexico and then there are all the countries south of it. I hate the idea of settling down in a house without wheels and staying in one place all the time. As long as our health is good and we are enjoying it Mimi and I want to keep traveling. When we decide to come off the road we will probably sell the condo in Akumal and buy a bit of land and house somewhere in Mexico. I hope that is a long ways in the future.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

flyingcrane

May 18, 2006, 6:49 PM

Post #54 of 92 (8137 views)

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I have really enjoyed this thread, this is my first post on MC. I have learned a lot here. Okay, here goes. I am 59 next week. I first heard all about the Lakeside area in the AARP article several years ago and have been dreaming of retiring in Mexico ever since. Last year the 2 children I raised as a single parent finally took off on their own. I sold the house south of Boston and moved into town. It really broke my heart that I didn't just take off SOB as I had planned. Now I will be visiting for the first time this July, staying at the Casa de los tres Leones. I consider this to be an exploratory trip and plan to learn as much as possible about the realities of living in Mexico. I would love to buy some inexpensive fixer upper but have listened to the pros and cons and may consider renting. (also the market may be getting out of my comfort range). I have a background in arts/photography and have directed galleries. The last gallery specialized in antique Chinese furniture and contemporary Chinese painting. I left that field and have worked as a personal assistant and now an executive assistant at a Synagogue in Belmont MA. I plan to take early retirement in 3 years and move permanently to Mexico. I look forward to meeting new people and having a great adventure. I hate NE weather, the winters are dark and cold and the summers are hot a humid, especially Aug. I was raised in Montana where my grandparents had built a farm on land they had homesteaded. I do love the West coast but it has changed a lot since I grew up there. I enjoy gardening, traveling, cooking, reading and look forward to the day when I can do that most of the time. Thanks Rolly for this.
Marie
P.S. Who is Bubba? Is that Rolly?
Marie

Rolly

Aug 13, 2006, 6:54 PM

Post #55 of 92 (8021 views)

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I'm bumping this thread back up in hopes our new members will join in.

Rolly Pirate

hkiersey

Aug 14, 2006, 12:00 AM

Post #56 of 92 (7982 views)

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Hi. My name is Heather I am 35. I have 3 children 14, 3, and 2 months. We currently live in Portland Oregon. Which I've noticed several people who have either lived here or are from here. My husband is from Michoacan and we are selling our house and moving to Mexico. Not on the market yet but we have the sign. We have a small piece of property outside of Morelia, outside of Albaro de Obregon, which is right next to the Morelia airport. Anyway, when I say small I mean really small it is like 50' x 50'.

About me I was a secretary for about 17 years(I started when I was 16) my most recent job was as an Executive Assistant working for the City of Portland at Portland Development Commission which I left 2 years ago. I was making fairly good money but decided that my family was more important and my boss was a chaotic workaholic and expected me to be one too.

I am with my second husband (we've been together over 7 years) and he is a wonderful, hard working, peaceful, patient man, who is 6 years younger than I am. His profession is a Carpenter Framer. We've decided to move to Mexico for many reasons but one of them is that he has given me everything that I have ever wanted so I want to move to mexico for him.... So our children can KNOW their grand parents. And so that he can be near them while they are still around. Also ...so he doesn't have to work so hard (For awhile) and also that I am basically an orphan so not much is holding me here. Except my 14 year old son who will now live with his father and come visit me in Mexico.

Anyway, we wil be taking the proceeds from our home and either taking some time off or buying a house maybe in Puerto Vallarta or maybe Morelia and just picking up our existance down there. We plan to have sort of a small house or if possible a trailer on his small piece of property (to visit) so if anyone can tell me if or how to find out if you can buy travel trailers in Mexico I would really appreciate it. I've already found lots and lots of useful information on the technology thread and really think this website is filled with lots of valuable information.

Thank you.
Heather
"You are where you should be, doing what you should be doing, otherwise you'd be somewhere else, doing something else."

Bloviator

Aug 14, 2006, 6:46 AM

Post #57 of 92 (7948 views)

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Thanks. I've been wondering what has happened. Incidentally, last night I was reading through some of your Rollybrook site. I is really enjoyable. I had read it some time ago, but had not seen it recently. Like good wine, it is worth savoring.

I originally sent this to Rolly as a PM, but decided that I wanted to call attention to his Rollybrook stuff for those who might not be familiar with it.

Hope Rolly doesn't mind.

db52

Aug 14, 2006, 7:14 AM

Post #58 of 92 (7933 views)

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In the unlikely event that anyone's interested, My name is Don, I live in Michigan and am retired maintenance (skilled trades) from Ford Motors as of this past July 1.

I am 54 and speak Spanish well enough to get along by myself. My ex-wife is from Honduras, so I tell folks I had to learn Spanish "for self-defense."

The truth of it is that many years ago I worked as a game operator for a travelling carnival and went with this outfit to Puerto Rico and Panama a couple of times. This is where I began to learn Spanish phrases like, "winners get their choice of any large prize" "pick out your lucky color--the more colors you pick, the better chance you have of winning!--twenty-five cents a color--go ahead, spend ALL your money, it's only once a year!" "Throw the ball!" etc.

Also, in the times when I was not working, I picked up more useful Spanish phrases, like "this toilet has no seat!" and "Can't I just go ahead and pay the traffic fine here and now to save us both some trouble?"

Anyway, I am pleased to report that Mexican acquaintances have praised my Spanish abilities ("better than a kindergartner!").

I am hoping to travel around a bit by bus this winter. I'd like to probably fly in to Guad. or PV or wherever I can get the best fare and would then spend most of Jan thru March living out of a suitcase in cheap hotels in Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, etc. (I can pay all my Michigan utility bills and whatnot on-line.)

My 20-year-old son is still living with me and going to college, so I am not going to be selling my house and moving south, or anything drastic like that. I'd like to spend the winter where it is warmer, though, and would like to become more familiar with Mexico. I'm hoping, within the next few years, to buy a small 22-25 foot RV.

Daisy

Aug 14, 2006, 11:38 AM

Post #59 of 92 (7862 views)

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Rolly, thanks so much for bumping this up. I've been reading a lot of back threads but hadn't come across this one. Reading about everyone's lives is like meeting characters from a book--except more interesting than fiction.

I'm Betty (58), married to Bob (also 58) for 33 years. We have 3 grown, married children and one adorable baby granddaughter. We live in Frankfort, KY in a house we built about 7 years ago, on a ridge with about 11 wooded acres overlooking a beautiful, rolling valley. This is our 13th home together in 33 years (not counting temporary housing). We picked this spot because it's about halfway between Lexington, where Bob works for Lexmark, and Louisville, where I worked. I'm an English prof. for Jefferson Community College, based in Louisville, but I now teach on the new Shelbyville campus just 13 miles away from home. (For five years I commuted from Lex. to Lou., a round trip of about 150 miles a day--grueling). We weren't looking to retire for another 4-5 years, but Bob may be facing a forced retirement from Lexmark next year after his 59th birthday--not a great age to be looking for employment. Having retired from the navy in 1992, Bob is fortunate to already have his navy pension coming in. When we looked at the hard realities, we realized that most of Bob's current income goes to support the mortgage on this beautiful house and property and two fairly new cars. And we asked ourselves, why? And why not an early, or at least semi-retirement? (Well, part of the answer there is that Bob, after working his whole adult life, can't imagine not working. He hasn't gotten into the mindset of "early retirement"; he still views it as "unemployment." But I'm working on that concept. I'd love to hear from some of you about how you dealt with that issue.)

So, why Mexico? We don't have a lot of experience with Mexico. Besides day trips to border towns and nearby forays (Nogales, Tijuana, Rosarito Beach), we just spent a wonderful family vacation in el bajio (Guanajuato, Dolores Hidalgo, Las Trancas, SMA) in late May/June and loved every minute of it. We didn't feel like strangers to Mexico. We have a number of Mexican friends here in KY, and Bob and I both volunteer for Centro Latino, an agency in Shelbyville that works to ease the transition for our large population of Hispanic immigrants. We already knew very well the warmth, friendliness, and generosity of the Mexican people. I grew up in Tampa, FL and studied Spanish (Cubano version) in school, then joined the Peace Corps in Ecuador after college. My Spanish is rusty but my friends help by correcting my grammar mistakes immediately! My aging brain amazes me with what it dredges up grammatically complex from the distant past, but it confounds me when I can't remember the most obvious and familiar palabras. Bob is learning Spanish gradually, though he oftens gives it a French twist since that's his only other language.

We've traveled a lot and actively seek out varied cultural experiences. Besides my Ecuador time (before Bob), we traveled all over the US and Asia while he was in the navy, volunteering for two tours of duty--one in Japan and one in the Philippines. While there we also visited a number of other Asian countries. He also has traveled extensively in Asia and Europe for Lexmark. I haven't been back to Asia since 1982, but I have been able to go with him on some of his European jaunts. Hooray for frequent flyer miles! A few years ago, some good friends encouraged us to try home exchanging like they were doing. We've been very surprised that people in other countries want to come and stay in a home in KY! We've had 6 exchanges in as many years: three in England (London, Yorkshire, East Anglia), Holland, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, our home exchange organizations don't have many opportunities in Mexico.

Possible plans: I'd like Bob to retire, or at least work at something from home, while I keep my job for a few more years. I have a great deal of flexible time, including the long summer break. Moreover, our college is encouraging us baby boomers to teach more online courses, possibly teaching one semester on campus and another from wherever we choose online. That's a very attractive option. We could keep a small place here, possibly a condo, and live the rest of the year in Mexico--not necessarily the same place in Mexico all the time. We have a visit to Lakeside planned for the whole week of Thanksgiving. It seems like a logical place to start or a good base from which to explore other areas. We loved Guanajuato and want to go back for a longer stay. We'd also like to check out Patzcuaro. Our children are spread out from LA to Louisville to DC, so we aren't exactly leaving them behind. And as former navy brats, they're ready to pick up and travel anywhere, anytime.

I want to thank all of you for being so generous with your experiences and information. I've been soaking it all up this summer like a thirsty sponge. Bob calls it my obsession. I've also had Amazon busy sending me every book I could find about living in Mexico--the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful. I'm looking forward to hearing about lots more.

Betty

PS I think I accidentally sent a PM to somebody. Sorry about that. Just clicked prematurely somewhere.

nfabq

Aug 14, 2006, 5:31 PM

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Well, Rolly, after procrastinating past the first edition of this thread, I guess now's my chance. My name's Doug I live in Los Angeles and hope to retire to move SOB next year. I was born close to here some 61 years ago, then around 1950, my parents packed up and moved us to San Cristobal Zapotitlán, Jalisco, a town even now still too small to appear on most maps. It's on the south shore of Lake Chapala directly across from San Juan Cosalá. They bought 2 hectareas, built a house and a chicken ranch, all on Turista visas. Did OK, too, selling fryers and eggs, till 1958-1959 when the lake rose to record levels, covering half our land. Unfortunately, it was the half that housed the chickens. About the same time their old truck finally breathed it's last, and the Mexican whose name the ranch was in got hepatitis and died. It was obviously time to turn in our 10 year old turista visas and return to CA

I attended school in San Cristobal till 6th grade then went to boarding school in Guadalajara till we had to move. Mexico has always remained embedded in my soul like a huisache thorn.

I was drafted into US Army in the Viet Nam era, spent two years in Texas. No picnic but at least no one was shooting at me. I've worked as a welder, a banker, a chef and apprentice chef (dishwasher). Married once, no children, now single.

See y'all in Guadalajara in 2007, God willing.
Doogie,
Tapatío de corazón

blue

Aug 18, 2006, 2:17 PM

Post #75 of 92 (7207 views)

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Other lurkers here as well (or almost). Here goes!! My husband, John, is 58 and I’ll be there in Sept. Whoever said a Sagittarius and Virgo wouldn’t work LOL.
Spontaneity, for us, is a way of life and keeps us “young”. (We got engaged within 2 hours of meeting, phoned the kids at 11:00 PM to break the news and we have just celebrated our 17th anniversary!)

We are a fun loving, and optimistic couple. We look forward to meeting people of all ages, and to cultivate relationships with many different types of personalities, as we have always done. John is a Ukrainian Gypsy, so can make the best porgies, cabbage rolls, dill buns and borscht – along with all the other hip enlarging dishes. I’m more into gourmet foods, and ethnic dishes, and I love to bake. We both enjoy preparing Japanese, Chinese (anything Asian), Greek, and East Indian dinners. John made himself a tortilla press last year and does the whole gamut from scratch, so we’ll soon be into Mexican in a big way. We really enjoy entertaining, good conversation, and of course, we must have our wine (also made from our own fruit –J makes great sake from rice and raisins).
Our other hobbies include: Photography, sewing, woodworking, carving, sculpting, charcoal and oils, and of course…our friends…the computers

Our 2 children (from my previous marriage) are married (37 and 35), and along with their husbands, have chosen to give us 3 beautiful grandchildren - all live in Western Canada. We now have two “hair kids” at home (Chihuahuas), and will have our third when we get to our new home (American Bulldog).

Hailing from Kelowna, BC, John got transferred to Vancouver for 7½ years, then to Halifax, NS, where we’ve been for almost 8.
We’ve been planning our retirement for the last fifteen years, I was going to work until I was 60 (accounting), then - “the big move”, but a tandem-cab Silverado truck decided it liked the rear-end of my Olds station wagon sitting there so prettily at a stop sign. This “crush” was just over two years ago – my station wagon died (completely totaled and “branded” – may she rest in peace), but I was lucky enough to come out of it “disabled” – hence, our move is coming sooner than expected. I can still get around, but find walking difficult (8–10 houses rt’n trip about max). Positive aspect?..now I’ll have a good excuse to sit and sip on a cold one with some of you while my hubby does the marketing, LOL.

Mexico far exceeds Barbados, as a final location for us. We’ve only been down about 6 times, but the people won our hearts with each visit. We would venture out of the “tourist” areas and meet/visit with a few locals, thus cementing our resolve to retire there. We knew enough Spanish to get by, but have to brush up and learn to actually speak the language. I've been taking computer lessons for 5 months now, but I'm afraid I've still got a LONG ways to go, even though I finished the course! LOL...can hardly wait to have someone to practice on.

Plans once we get there? Buy a home, fix it up (will have lost 3 yrs of my income by then, so we’ll buy down from our original plan), and start enjoying some of our many hobbies. Will sell our vehicle before the move and hope to pick up something over 10 years old, that will get us from A to B – not into status – just reliability.

Thank you for giving us this opportunity to introduce ourselves. We read many of the posts on a regular basis, and find them very informative, and others quite amusing. This is likely a new "hobby"Amber, John, Paco & Rosa
What we see depends mainly on what we look for. (John Lubbock)

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