And We Wonder Why Things Are The Way They Are

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

We made it back home safely.  The Monterrey airport was packed with fans arriving to see the World Cup.  Via television interviews and news reports, they are very happy to see Mexico for the first time.  The Japanese players are getting the red carpet treatment.  I went to HEB yesterday to pick up a few things, and as I left the parking lot, I saw traffic heading south.  There was a line of more than 25 police vehicles with lights and sirens.  They were escorting the team in buses to the Rayados camp for practice sessions.  Quite the show.  

I have been hearing how food prices are increasing and I may have posted some charts over the last year.  When I started to write this post I thought that I should look up the charts for the last few years or whatever was available on the internet.

Meat, proteins, and dairy: Vegetable oil, canned tuna, beef, pork, chicken, eggs, milk, and canned sardines. 

Fruits and vegetables: White onion, jalapeño pepper, tomato, lime/lemon, apple, orange, potato, and banana. 

Grains, seeds, and others: Rice, standard sugar, dried beans, corn flour, sliced ​​bread, pasta, and corn tortillas.

One item not on the list that is always controversial is eggs.  Looking back through reports, a flat (30 pieces) still hovers around 78 pesos.  I have seen it as low as 55 pesos, but that would require a drive to downtown Monterrey, pay for parking, and then fight the crowds.  Juan's SIL goes every week but she also purchases fruit and supplies for her daughter's waffle smoothie shop.   She started from her house and has had her store for two years.  Growing fast and now she does events. 

Things are the way they are because people are always looking for the easy route to get things done.  While we were in San Antonio, the storms in Monterrey took down the grid.  In some places, it has been two weeks and people in the metro area still do not have electricity.  In our case, we could see via the cameras at home that the power was out.  We contacted a neighbor who confirmed it was the street, not just our house.  We attempted to place a report but we couldn't dial from the U.S.   

Two days later, the power was back on, but I knew we had lost everything in our refrigerator.  Once home, we asked the worker what had happened and how they got the power back on.  One of our neighbors is the owner/CEO of a plastics company.  He had a party that day and sent his worker to the CFE office in our town to pay them 1500 pesos to come immediately to remedy the situation.  And they did!  Corruption is so embedded in the culture and taught to children who carry it through life.  Why wait?  Why worry?  Why fight the bureaucracy?

We are also battling the biometric registration of cell phones.  For those of you who are not aware, if you don't have a monthly paid plan and you are not registered biometrically, you will lose your service.  Paid plans that are older and were not registered, meeting all the requirements, will also be suspended.  It's been a year, and the deadline is in the next four days.  Now, they have extended it by using the last digit of your cell number.

Your specific deadline depends on the last digit of your telephone number: 

• Ending in 0: August 15
• Ending in 1: August 31
• Ending in 2: September 15
• Ending in 3: September 30
• Ending in 4: October 15
• Ending in 5: October 31
• Ending in 6: November 15
• Ending in 7: November 30
• Ending in 8: December 15
• Ending in 9: December 31

Some people have filed a class action lawsuit, individual stays of protection, and many say they will just wait and see.  There are 160 million cellphones most of which are pay as you go.  I can't imagine this will take place but we will still have service at home and can use Whatsapp.  

Stayed tuned for more on this.  We are also nearing the deadline for the extradition of the Sinaloan governor and his gang of nine.  Now according to the NYT, AMLo is next on the list as Mayo Zambada has squealed.