BajaNomad

Pescadero - 2 norteamericanos die in hotel

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AKgringo - 8-12-2023 at 11:40 AM

About twelve years ago I did an inspection of the natural gas fired forced air furnace in my dad's home. I found a crack in the heat exchanger that would allow CO to blend with the forced air, so we replaced it with a new unit.

The old, loud, and inefficient unit had a double wall galvanized flue that got pretty hot! The heat exchanger on the new unit is so efficient that the exhaust gas is cooler than you would get from a typical hair dryer. The plastic flue runs horizontal and has never been much more than room temperature.

I suppose the new heat exchanger could crack and change things, but so far it has not been a problem.

surabi - 8-12-2023 at 12:06 PM

"The workman thought it was all BS...they were astounded at the fact that these P-nche gringos wanted something of proven effectiveness and quality."

That is a problem in Mexico, even when it doesn't concern something dangerous. There seems to be an ingrained attitude of saving money by cutting corners, or "making do", which I can understand when people don't have any extra money to spend, and which is a big factor in Mexican ingenuity, which is admirable in many cases.

But they haven't adjusted that attitude when working for gringoes, who would usually rather spend more money to do things right the first time, instead of saving money now, only to have to redo it later.

I've seen this when I had my house built here with things like using cheap primer on metalwork, so things rust quicky and have to be repainted in a short period of time. There's nothing wrong with trying to save money, but the workers should at least present a choice to the consumer- " I can use this primer, which costs XX, or this one, which costs twice as much, but will result in a more long-lasting job."

An elderly friend had some workers she'd had for years, who were also friends who really cared about her and tried to look after her. She needed her house repainted and had bought expensive Sherman Williams paint, as she wanted it to last a long time. She caught them watering down the paint, and when she said No! and why were they doing that, that it defeated the purpose of buying high quality paint, they said they were just trying to save her money.


[Edited on 8-12-2023 by surabi]

Tioloco - 8-12-2023 at 12:22 PM

Quote: Originally posted by surabi  
"The workman thought it was all BS...they were astounded at the fact that these P-nche gringos wanted something of proven effectiveness and quality."

That is a problem in Mexico, even when it doesn't concern something dangerous. There seems to be an ingrained attitude of saving money by cutting corners, or "making do", which I can understand when people don't have any extra money to spend, and which is a big factor in Mexican ingenuity, which is admirable in many cases.

But they haven't adjusted that attitude when working for gringoes, who would usually rather spend more money to do things right the first time, instead of saving money now, only to have to redo it later.

I've seen this when I had my house built here with things like using cheap primer on metalwork, so things rust quicky and have to be repainted in a short period of time. There's nothing wrong with trying to save money, but the workers should at least present a choice to the consumer- " I can use this primer, which costs XX, or this one, which costs twice as much, but will result in a more long-lasting job."

An elderly friend had some workers she'd had for years, who were also friends who really cared about her and tried to look after her. She needed her house repainted and had bought expensive Sherman Williams paint, as she wanted it to last a long time. She caught them watering down the paint, and when she said No! and why were they doing that, that it defeated the purpose of buying high quality paint, they said they were just trying to save her money.


[Edited on 8-12-2023 by surabi]


Surabi-

I noticed that you used the word “caught” to describe when your friend found these helpers trying to save her money.

What does that sound like to you?? Just curious.. ;)

surabi - 8-13-2023 at 10:44 AM

??? It doesn't "sound like" anything but what it says. That she saw them adding water to the paint.

Don Pisto - 8-13-2023 at 11:10 AM

Quote: Originally posted by monoloco  
Quote: Originally posted by Paco Facullo  
As a retired Plumbing contractor and avid traveler, I have inspected the plumbing in meny Countries. My conclusion is that it is installed to just "work" without any regard so safety.

When I visited Cuba, my reason for being there was professional research, so I started a website and interviewed workers on construction sites. I also examined and took photos of as much plumbing as I could. Needless to say, it just has to work..

Mexico is pretty much the same...
The problem in Mexico is that there is no licensing or standards for becoming an electrician or a plumber, and here in Baja Sur, there's a double whammy of no inspections. There is so much work here that typically what happens is that a kid will go to work for a plumber/electrician for a few months or a year, then he'll decide that he knows enough to become a plumbing contractor and hire his primo or sobrino, and start bidding jobs, then in a few months the sobrino will also become a contractor, rinse and repeat. It doesn't take long for this to lead to a whole bunch of plumbers/electricians who never learned the basic concepts of their trade, who leave a trail of shoddy and dangerous work in their wake.



god bless em they try! :lol:

mtgoat666 - 11-29-2023 at 06:44 PM

About 6 months have passed since the rancho pescadero hotel guests died…
Did they ever find the cause?
Did the hotel reopen yet?

Lee - 11-29-2023 at 07:18 PM

https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/newsletter/20...

pacificobob - 11-30-2023 at 08:30 AM

Hotel not open yet. However, an attached restaurant has opened. World class cuisine by an Italian chef. This top shelf chow is not in any way inexpensive but worth every centavo.

towntaco - 12-27-2023 at 07:28 AM

Quote: Originally posted by pauldavidmena  
Here's an update from the Todos Santos Newsfeed on Facebook:

"Many of you may have read the tragic news about the two Americans, Abby Lutz and John Heathco that lost their precious lives in a hotel room in Pescadero, BCS Mexico. What you may have not heard about are the two first responders that almost lost their lives as well, Fernando Valencia Sotelo and Grisel Valencia Sotelo. The brother and sister team were the attending to Abby and John when they quickly became overcome. They were able to exit the room just in time before Grisel collapsed to the ground. Fernando was able to get himself and Grisel back to their ambulance and administer oxygen to himself and to her. They were then rushed to the hospital by other team members. The hospital in La Paz did what they could but they do not have the proper treatment facilities. Today, since Grisel and Fernando were still feeling very ill and were very concerned about long-term effects, as a team we decided to take them to a private hospital in San Jose del Cabo."

OSHA training talks about gas leaks most often killing two additional people beyond the first people to be taken down as responders, whether rescue or not, rush in and then are overcome themselves. It's gnarly, sad and quite often avoidable.

Lee - 12-27-2023 at 08:50 AM

Bought this meter when the story broke. I travel with it now.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09YRGH72R/?_encoding=UTF8&am...

mtgoat666 - 12-27-2023 at 09:02 AM

I stayed in a Hyatt last month, and did not die. I was one of the lucky ones!

RFClark - 12-27-2023 at 02:06 PM

The local news indicates that they are in the process of or just have reopened that Hyatt. Locals have been complaining about generators running at night,

towntaco - 12-27-2023 at 02:50 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Lee  
Bought this meter when the story broke. I travel with it now.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09YRGH72R/?_encoding=UTF8&am...

I recommend similar to friends who have done diesel heater setups on their campers. Probably not a terrible idea to just have while traveling.

mtgoat666 - 12-27-2023 at 05:14 PM

Quote: Originally posted by RFClark  
The local news indicates that they are in the process of or just have reopened that Hyatt. Locals have been complaining about generators running at night,


Must be hard to sleep at that hyatt, eh? With the toxic fume history, i would be keeping the windows open while i sleep, but generators running all night and an open window are a recipe for insomnia…

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