Well, I'm not exactly taking a road to Puerto Vallarta but I am taking a trip. I decided to get away from the cold weather that so rudely arrived last Sunday and grab some sun and sand for a week. Besides, I have two weeks of vacation to use up before the end of April, my next course starts at the college in early February and my gal pal Colleen is heading back to Colorado so ...
Anyway, if I can get online, I might revive the old blog with a couple of trip reports but only if something really funny happens while I'm there. Frankly, I'm kind of happy the way I left things with the old blog. It seems to end on a sweet note and I am loathe to screw around with that. And I'm still getting hits on it so check it out the next time you feel like doing some travelling from your desk:
PV BLOG
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Saturday, January 13, 2007
No Fun In Acapulco
With the murder of Adam Deprisio, a 19-year-old Canadian on vacation in Acapulco a week ago, there have been a lot of things flying around on the internet and into my inbox. One was a copy of a letter from Adam's aunt, Lucy DeFlippis-Pannozzi, which she has written to her Member of Parliament, setting out the events that happened and stating "Mexico is unsafe for Canadians". She is also asking him to "make others aware of the dangers in traveling to Mexico" and "have the Mexican government take ownership and made accountable of the fact that their civil workers (mainly the police and hospital) failed".
The other was an open letter by Nancy Leoni, someone who vacationed in Acapulco last year and had a similar incident happen to one of her travelling companions. Fortunately for her friend, he survived the beating. In her letter, she says: "We are the ones that support that country, tourism. Without our financial support that country (those dastards {sic} of Mexicans') would not be able to eat" and "We all need to stick together as a nation and teach a lesson to these ungrateful animals."
I am ashamed to call this woman a fellow Canadian.
I have an equal chance of being shot downtown Toronto while shopping. But, to be fair, the results will be different. Hospitals here don't require you to prove your ability to pay before you receive treatment. And the police actually caught the assholes who shot 15-year-old Jane Creba on December 26, 2005. Hopefully, our justice system will deal with them in due course.
The fact is, the government in Mexico, at all levels, is corrupt.You only have to follow world events to know this. Remember the last Mexican federal election? Remember the demonstrations all over the country, especially in Oaxaca? Acapulco is well known by Mexicans as being a dangerous place. That's why I don't go there anymore. And foreigners do not have any rights in Mexico.
This reminds of the time I was at a grocery store in Puerto Vallarta, in line behind a couple of American tourist who were buying Budweiser beer and didn't want the cashier to give them their change in "that money" (pesos). When the ex-pat in line behind me commented, in Spanish, that "someone should have told them they were entering a different country when they got off the plane", we both smiled those knowing smiles of experienced travellers.
Mexico is not Canada. It's a different country with different rules. When you're in their country, you live by their rules. It's as simple as that. And condeming an entire country because of the murderous actions of a few "dastards" is racism in its purest form. I like to think that Canadians, as a whole, are a little bit more open-minded than that.
The other was an open letter by Nancy Leoni, someone who vacationed in Acapulco last year and had a similar incident happen to one of her travelling companions. Fortunately for her friend, he survived the beating. In her letter, she says: "We are the ones that support that country, tourism. Without our financial support that country (those dastards {sic} of Mexicans') would not be able to eat" and "We all need to stick together as a nation and teach a lesson to these ungrateful animals."
I am ashamed to call this woman a fellow Canadian.
I have an equal chance of being shot downtown Toronto while shopping. But, to be fair, the results will be different. Hospitals here don't require you to prove your ability to pay before you receive treatment. And the police actually caught the assholes who shot 15-year-old Jane Creba on December 26, 2005. Hopefully, our justice system will deal with them in due course.
The fact is, the government in Mexico, at all levels, is corrupt.You only have to follow world events to know this. Remember the last Mexican federal election? Remember the demonstrations all over the country, especially in Oaxaca? Acapulco is well known by Mexicans as being a dangerous place. That's why I don't go there anymore. And foreigners do not have any rights in Mexico.
This reminds of the time I was at a grocery store in Puerto Vallarta, in line behind a couple of American tourist who were buying Budweiser beer and didn't want the cashier to give them their change in "that money" (pesos). When the ex-pat in line behind me commented, in Spanish, that "someone should have told them they were entering a different country when they got off the plane", we both smiled those knowing smiles of experienced travellers.
Mexico is not Canada. It's a different country with different rules. When you're in their country, you live by their rules. It's as simple as that. And condeming an entire country because of the murderous actions of a few "dastards" is racism in its purest form. I like to think that Canadians, as a whole, are a little bit more open-minded than that.
Circumvention
I discovered something interesting today. You know how when you call the credit card company, the phone company or the cable company, you have to punch in all kinds of numbers in order to speak to a live person? Inevitably, they also ask you to enter your 16 digit account number and then, when you finally get to speak to somone, they ask you for you account information all over AGAIN!
I find this very frustrating and time consuming.
Today I tried something different. I needed to call to cancel my American Express card. No one wants to take it any more so I've decided to stop using it and I want it off my credit report. After dialing the 1-800 number, I didn't do anything. I didn't choose English or French. I didn't punch in my card number. I just waited. In less than a minute, I was speaking with a live person!
It was great! Try it the next time you have to make one of these calls and cut your wait time IN HALF.
I find this very frustrating and time consuming.
Today I tried something different. I needed to call to cancel my American Express card. No one wants to take it any more so I've decided to stop using it and I want it off my credit report. After dialing the 1-800 number, I didn't do anything. I didn't choose English or French. I didn't punch in my card number. I just waited. In less than a minute, I was speaking with a live person!
It was great! Try it the next time you have to make one of these calls and cut your wait time IN HALF.
Monday, January 01, 2007
They're Over!
The holidays are finally over. We can all get back to normal life, however we live it, tomorrow. The break was good for having time off work and seeing friends, getting out to enjoy a new movie and sleeping in the mornings. I've had two Mondays off in a row so I'm certainly not complaining about that! However, of the 7 days in total (including weekends) that I was off, my gym was closed for 5 of them which means I'll have to really get serious about training in the next few weeks. I feel like I've gained 20 lbs. although I'm sure it is closer to 5 lbs. All I know is nothing fits anymore!!!
Still no snow here in the Big Smoke. It actually poured rain here last night for New Year's Eve. We participated in a fabulous evening at Imperia in Yorkville. I had a friend visiting from out-of-town and we did it up right! Xmas was a bit more casual but still fun. I have a few photos posted at Webshots if you want to take a look. I've heard from Afghanistan and all is well there. My buddy is due home at the beginning of March and he has a lot to look forward to as he told me yesterday that he is engaged! It's a fitting end to a fabulous year. I wonder what 2007 will bring our way?
Still no snow here in the Big Smoke. It actually poured rain here last night for New Year's Eve. We participated in a fabulous evening at Imperia in Yorkville. I had a friend visiting from out-of-town and we did it up right! Xmas was a bit more casual but still fun. I have a few photos posted at Webshots if you want to take a look. I've heard from Afghanistan and all is well there. My buddy is due home at the beginning of March and he has a lot to look forward to as he told me yesterday that he is engaged! It's a fitting end to a fabulous year. I wonder what 2007 will bring our way?
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