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January 19, 2003.
There have been
times over the last six years when I really didn't have anything worthwhile to
write about (many times, according to those "regular" readers who love
to hate me.) This week is one of those times. A backlog of paperwork has prevented
me from going very far from my computer, and thus I have very little to write
about with regard to the goings-on in town. All I know is what I've read…
No one agrees with the look of the new "Arcos", everyone is complaining
about the telephones that were installed right next to the beautiful sculptures
on the Malecon, the buses are back in town so everyone's complaining about them
too, and about the illegal building going on along the beaches despite the 180-day
moratorium declared by the Federal Department of Natural Resources, and about
all the "grocery" stores opening up all over the places, selling beer,
etc. etc. etc. And we won't even touch the politics. On the
other hand, I'm sure you will enjoy the article on the Peruvian fraud ring in
this issue. What an amazing story that is. It took a little while to translate
too, another reason for my being so far behind… But that's enough excuses.
All my New Year's -and birthday- resolutions are falling by the wayside as I am
waiting for Seapal to cut off my water supply (I haven't had time to go pay my
bill…) and I've already been advised by one of those sexy-voiced tape recordings
that my cell phone has been disconnected (for the same reason). By the way, one
of the local papers was denouncing Seapal last week for being the biggest culprit
in wasting water, giving as example how its employees had opened a water hydrant
and left it open all weekend long… (See Javier's photo and his "comments"
on the matter.) To add insult to injury, I asked a friend
of mine who was going in the direction of Telecable's office if she would pay
my bill for me (she's really a good friend when you think of the fact that the
line-up to pay there winds around the block...) Before she left, I called to ask
them how much I should make the check out for if I was paying for the entire year
ahead of time. The young lady told me $2,700. pesos "más IVA"
(that means plus the 15% tax tacked on to everything here.) According to my little
calculator, that worked out to $2,700. + $405. = $3,105. pesos which would entitle
me to 12 months of cable TV, plus two months free next year. Fine. Except that
when she finally got to the wicket there, she was told that the IVA was included
in the $2,700. and they were very sorry but they couldn't accept the check and
no, they couldn't take it and give her the change, or a credit. So now I have
to start that one over too. They say that all work and no play makes what's-his-name
a dull boy. Well, let me tell you, I have been definitely dull lately! Nice
things? Yes, of course, there are always plenty of nice things to counteract the
not-so-nice ones. For my part, I finally got hooked up on one of those "instant
messenger" systems that I've been avoiding like the plague ever since they
appeared. But now I'm glad because I can hear my son's voice (even though I can't
answer him yet 'cause I haven't had time to go buy a microphone…) And as
I sit here writing this, I am enveloped in the scent of the bouquet of lilies
some of my friends brought me on the occasion of my recent / latest birthday.
I have never seen lilies of the size they grow here! Without any exaggeration,
they are seven inches across! White and beautiful and with a heady, heavenly perfume
that has spread throughout my house for over a week. Thank you, my friends! On
the subject of aging, one of my girlfriends from Vancouver sent me a few excerpts
of George Carlin's views on the matter. I had read them before, and I've been
lucky enough to see the man speak the lines in person, on stage, during one of
the concerts I attended a while back. Considering that it doesn't appear as if
the muses will be visiting me any time soon, please allow me to share some of
his words of wisdom with you, just in case you haven't received them in your own
e-mail. "Do you realize that the only time in our
lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years
old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. "How old
are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a
half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key. You get into your
teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few
ahead. "How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be
13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life…
you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . . YOU BECOME 21. . . YEARS!!!
But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk.
He TURNED, we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're just a sour-dumpling.
What's wrong? What's changed? You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING
40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH
50 . . . and your dreams are gone. But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think
you would! So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60. You've
built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you
HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT
lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s,
you start going backwards; "I was JUST 92." Then a strange thing happens.
If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!" My
friend's e-mail ended with the following advice (author unknown):
"HOW
TO STAY YOUNG:
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight
and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him/her.
2.
Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn
more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle.
"An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
4.
Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp
for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person
who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7.
Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music,
plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health:
If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what
you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall,
to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.
10.
Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity. And always
remember: life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments
that take our breath away."
Now, isn't that beautiful, and oh so true? That's
all for now. Maybe next week there will be more juicy blather, and then I'll be
able to share it with you. Take good care of each other Hasta luego.pvmomto3@hotmail.com
His
Opinion
By Jamie Coates
January 20, 2003 This
space is normally reserved for all things Internet and other computer-related
topics. Perhaps I should stick to that now but I can't help myself to write about
a very local but disturbing issue basic to Vallarta living. In a sentence, watch
out for the killer buses… you may be their next target. After
observing the remains of the brutal killing of a child who had his brains split
open after being run down by another mad bus driver attempting to beat the traffic
light at the intersection of Vallarta and Cardenas streets last Saturday afternoon,
one cannot help but feel pain, sadness, anger and frustration over its cause and
subsequent handling of this tragedy - and others like it. As
a foreigner, one is often reminded to keep opinions to oneself, don't meddle in
local or national Mexican politics, and if you don't like it here, leave, go home.
Well, as a long time resident, Vallarta is my home. And my love for this city,
and my desire to see it become a better place override the veiled threat to not
comment. To be sure, the actions that caused this tragedy and potential solutions
for it are steeped in politics, special interests and other influences. I don't
know enough about the politics to form an opinion or take a side. But I do know
when the respect for human life is so appallingly lacking. It
was disturbing for me and the few hundred other passers-by to see the dead 4-year-old
lying in the middle of the intersection along with his critically injured brother,
crying from a broken pelvis but who was being comforted in the arms of a caring
gringa while awaiting an ambulance. I'm still confused if it was one or two killed.
I swear, as some others did too, I counted four legs of two children, a boy and
a girl, about 3 and 4 years of age, wrapped in each other's arms at point of impact.
Most accounts claim only one death, and if so, then that body must have been rearranged
into an incredibly twisted shape to create the illusion of four legs. The
Vallarta and Cardenas intersection is at the center of much activity. It is surrounded
by a variety of businesses, it's close to the beach, there are many pedestrians
coming and going, it's a bus transfer point, and happens to be the only intersection
on that strip with a traffic light. And at 5 in the afternoon that Saturday, the
driver of the killing machine chose to speed up and run a red light, regardless
of potential pedestrians crossing, rather than be cautious and slow down on the
yellow light. As he drove his machine along Vallarta,
one can only imagine his mind ticking away. "Oh, there's that light ahead.
If I get to Madero before it turns yellow, I'll get through the Cardenas intersection
regardless. I just have to speed up a bit as my time cannot be wasted. Oh, the
light is yellow. Not quite there yet. Oh, it's gone red. Doesn't matter…
I'm almost there, besides I'm bigger than everyone else. I'll just ram through
my big empty bus. Oh, my God! There're children crossing. Thud. Thud. I must keep
going. Let me turn the corner here. Get out of the bus… and run!!" A
half hour following the accident, the police brought back the caught and handcuffed
bus driver to the scene to be viewed by actual witnesses. He was older than I
expected but as pathetic looking as you could imagine. Another sad part of this
story, and equally pathetic, is he's probably already behind the wheels of his
killing machine once again. But where is the anger for
a change? Why are people not demanding that the city rescue the buses from the
quagmire of the situation they're in? Why do they not wrestle control over the
bus companies and other interested parties so as to provide a safe, pedestrian-friendly
fleet of buses driven by educated, experienced and licensed drivers? Rather than
being paid by commission, which only motivates them to speed up and to recklessly
dart in and out of traffic so as to get to the next paying passenger first, why
are the bus drivers not paid a straight salary? Unfortunately,
the temporary agreement to keep most buses out of downtown is over. Once again,
hordes of near-empty, loud, polluting and often unlicensed buses roar through
the Centro (downtown) and over the bridge into the south side. Why doesn't the
city stop all commercial public buses from the crowded Centro streets and instead
provide free shuttle buses between the two downtown parks, Hildalgo and Cardenas,
from where the commercial fleets can use as pickup points? But
of more immediate need to the pedestrians and businesses surrounding the Cardenas/Vallarta
intersection is a method of slowing the buses and other traffic down. For the
past five years, there has been an average of one death-by-bus a year at these
"Killer Corners." How many more are required to effect change? Some
in the area are suggesting the installation of speed bumps along Vallarta street.
One to be installed immediately before the Madero intersection and another at
the Carranza intersection, in an attempt to force these mad drivers to slow down
and therefore be more respectful of the pedestrians that also use the road. That
would be a good start. But hurry, City Hall, before the next victim gets killed! Jamie
Coates is the owner of The Net House and he can be contacted by email at jamie@vallartacafes.com.
An archive of his columns can be found online at www.vallartacafes.com.
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