Aircraft Age Newest and Oldest By Airline - Mexico vs U.S.

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U.S. Airlines

• American — 10.3 years
• Alaska — 7.7 years
• Allegiant — 18.7 years
• Delta — 16.8 years
• Frontier — 5.7 years
• JetBlue — 9.5 years
• Hawaiian — 10.5 years
• Spirit — 5.2 years
• Southwest — 10.6 years
• United — 14.5 years

Mexican Airlines

• Viva Aerobus, 5.4 years
• Aeromar, 5.8 years
• Interjet, 6.9 years
• Aeroméxico, 8.1 years
• TAR 18.7 years (farely new regional carrier)

Sunday Musings and Pictures

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

That's me off in the distance enjoying our new palapa.  The ceiling fan comes in handy.  It's only 11:30 but it's already getting hot and almost time to move inside.  40C today!

I went to Saltillo on Friday and worked at a school that used the Natural Approach.  It was a small farm and has very open and green areas.  It was a real pleasure working with non-traditional teachers.  They have a great team there and the school has good reviews.  It is a complete swing in the other direction and that causes parents to pull their kids out in the 5th or 6th grade.   English is the problem as the owners didn't think grammar or a structural English environment was that important.  They want to hire me as a consultant.  

Took this great shot that morning as I was leaving Monterrey and heading onto the autopista.  I really enjoy this drive.    

I don't think I posted pics of my last night in Quito where I stayed at a quinta outside the city but close to the airport.  They rent cabins during the week and offer the place for weddings and quinceñeras on weekends.  Believe it or not, this is only $55 U.S. per night.

And Croft, this picture is for Norma.  I know she has beautiful flower beds but our rose bush produced this beauty last week.

Recently purchased to line the sidewalk to the pool.  They were planted yesterday.

Rv.Net Mexico Forum Is MisInformation

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Over the last several months, a few old hang on members of the Rving In Mexico and Central South America forum have been posting some false information regarding Mexico.

They are doing quite a bit of damage to the image of Mexico and rving in the country.  This affects any newbies who would like to rv in Mexico and use the forum as a place to glean information.

Please do not guide prospective rvers or those who would like to live in Mexico to Rv.Net. 

I find it very hard not to post there as it is an injustice to Mexico, its people and those of us who love rving in Mexico. 

Two recent posts involve the use of ULSD in the country and the recent hacking of the transfer system (SPEI) which the Bank of Mexico (Fed) uses to for inter and intra bank transfers.   Very false information which would make anyone who wanted to visit Mexico shy away for fear their cards would be hacked at an ATM or Mexican bank.

Very unfortunate. 

Very Rare?

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

I happened to be at the bank today and asked them if they had any commemorative coins on hand.  She said she had a handful of 100 pesos coins from the 100/200 anniversary celebration of both the Mexican Revolution as well as Mexican Independence.  The coin above commemorates the Independence and is marked with the escudo or shield of the state of Guanajuato where Independence actually took place in the town of Dolores Hidalgo.  There are 20, 50 and 100 pesos coins in circulation but not common in use.  Imagine the weight of a 100 peso coin?

A good friend is going through chemo for breast cancer.  She has done extremely well.  Her hair has returned, she's in good health and is now under chemo maintenance.  I asked her for this picture as it represents universal or free health care in Mexico.  She belongs to IMSS just as I do and says she couldn't be happier.  She says the hospital, number 25, is top drawer and the nurses and staff the best ever.  She says it's important that people understand that the local sniffle and sneeze clinics are overrun and abused by the IMSS members but should not judge the hospitals that provide specialized care for cancer treatment, dialysis, chronic heart disease and bypass surgery.  That's her arm at the bottom of the picture.  

Today, Kevin posted on the cost of lettuce in Canada.  I believe it was over $3 for a head.  I posted that HEB has it for $.45.  However, we picked up a few items at a local supermarket, Comercial Treviño just a few hours ago for less than $.30.   Truly amazing.  As Kevin said, "how do people survive in Canada".  Minimum wage in Canada isn't much higher than in the U.S. and we think groceries in the U.S. are outrageous.  While we were in Canada on our trip in 2014, we shopped the 50% off baskets for produce and meat, mostly chicken.  It wasn't easy.

Thinking About A Project

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com 

Several things have been going on recently and I guess I need to get off my behind and start blogging on a regular basis.

Conference in Merida

My very comfortable room at the Holiday Inn.  The food service stank.

For one thing, I recovered from my Ecuador trip and looking forward to getting paid.   It was only two days later that I went to Merida for an overnight and spoke at a conference on Social and Emotional Learning.  I had a good crowd for a smaller city and most them are university text material users.  I didn't hang around until the end.  I booked an early return as I figured I don't get paid for just hanging around.  I doubt people were to thrilled with that but I arrived in Monterrey at 6:30 p.m.  Flights to Merida are twice a day as far as nonstops.   Until the new Mexico City (Texcoco) airport goes online I will try and avoid stops there.   If our Socialist candidate wins, he vows to end the new airport construction.  It shows you what a fool he is, after all that investment and only two years to go, he would scrap it all.  It will be the largest airport in all of Latin America bringing jobs, money, tourism, and business.

I still have four more trips to take before June 6th, including Saltillo and Puebla and then it will be time for summer vacation.  We have another holiday next Tuesday the 15th of May celebrating Teachers Day.  The 1st of May was Labor Day and we had the day off but no four-day weekend.  Same with this next one but we have decided to make it one.  The trailer will go somewhere.  I'm still a bit skittish after the breakdown we had during Spring Break.  That was a real bummer.

Insert:  Sorry No Fat Pic!

One of my projects is to lose 10 lbs.  This is my 60th year and I haven't been this big in years.  What happened?  A vegan diet is what happened.   I need to eat, I like eating and yes I like comfort foods which include carbs.  You know, pasta, freshly baked bread, etc.   Well, I packed on the pounds the first four months of this year.   Before I die, I will be thin.  It's not my body type I've been told over the years but I really don't give a S!"%!   I still go to the gym every day and do 40 minutes of intense cardio and 50 minutes of weights.  The daily 10 km walks didn't help much because it made me really hungry.  I guess I need to live in a forest and forage for my food!

Second project.  I receive a feed on my Facebook page of called Market.  Market allows you to offer things for sale including rentals.   I am surprised by all the inexpensive rentals that are available in Monterrey.  They are not the most luxurious areas by any means but do provide good and comfortable housing albeit with some lower income areas.  Some of you may remember Lee and the house she had in Mazatlan.  This is the level of home I am referring too called casas de interes social.  They are homes built for lower middle to lower class incomes provided by government-backed home loans.  Some of these homes sell for as little as $10,000 after a $5000 subsidy from the government.  I'm doing research now and the idea is to share with those who may be on a very limited income of $1000 or less a month a way to be comfortable by living in Mexico.

BTW, I checked my social security account in the U.S. and it went up another $100 a month when I'm 62 so that is around the corner.  I finished all the paperwork for my SS here in Mexico and can now make contributions.  I will have a meeting with the consultant who will advise me just how much I can contribute on a monthly basis to beef up my account.   Mexican SS allows up to a 50,000 peso a month benefit and gives you your last four years before retirement to make contributions.  More on that later.