Blockade

Good for them ?????

Yes, lets make all the border crosser's lives miserable and maybe we can get our electric bills lowered ?
Right !?

I'd turn off the power !!

There is no stopping some people from protesting for more "something for nothing"...if the government paid them to use electricity (more then they already are) they would protest they were not being paid enough...


Edit: not meant to be a political statement only a statment of fact...

[Edited on 7-8-2008 by Al G]

Cut em off!

Try reading the whole thing Lencho

Didn't the venerable JR coin that phrase?

Ken

Well, just an FYI. It's hot out here in the desert this time of the year. 110 deg F -120 deg F most days. Most of the year my electrical bill is less than $40 a month. During the summer months it can top $500+(Which is more than I pay for rent).

I know that is how its going to be when the A/C is on most of the time during the late afternoon and at night when I sleep... but once it goes off it only takes about 10 minutes for our place to turn into an oven. The only time during the summer it is not running is from about 5am to 1 pm.

Our place is 1/2 covered by a big shade tree, I've put enough mylar bubble wrap in the windows to attract any low flying UFO's, and never run lights. But it's next to impossible to keep the electrical bill low this time of the year.

For me, it's a problem I can deal with. But, for many poor hard working or elderly people (that often walk, bus, ride bikes to work in 120 heat) it is almost impossible to deal with the cost of their electrical bills during the summer. Sure.. just shut it off... let the 90 year old lady and the two week old baby swelter in 120+ degree heat.

I find it funny how people want to blame the Mexicans for complaining about high energy costs; but, then turn around an moan about paying for gas for their bloated $40,000 SUV's

I agree completely. I didn't build the place I'm in now or I would have done it much differently. Most people around here don't build their own places...so they don't have much choice in the matter. Nowdays the developers down here are just churning out inefficient cookie cutter boxes with no access to public transit. (Which is way overpriced here in Mexicali). They are in it to make a buck, thats all. It's not their fault, the consumer could go buy something thats not being built instead.

I've walked a few miles in a several different pairs of shoes...sometimes barefoot. In case some of your are unaware, most people here don't have the access to money, employment, or resources that we do up north.

The guy that does the maintenance here at my apartment complex lost his vision in an accident several years ago while working as a truck mechanic. Now he sees just well enough to ride his bike several miles from his house, carrying supplies to wash cars, and sweep up leafs before he goes to his job at Burger King. He works very hard, and makes very little money.

Most of people here "have jobs" and don't steal electricity. They are hard working and honest people. They didn't have money from "mommy and daddy" and/or access to college, (my girlfriend has a degree and still makes very little money here).

Next time your sitting on your bum in Mexico drinking a c-cktail on the beach, some of you really should open your eyes and see all the locals busting a** all around you just trying to survive.

Quote:

Originally posted by Mango Next time your sitting on your bum in Mexico drinking a c-cktail on the beach, some of you really should open your eyes and see all the locals busting a** all around you just trying to survive.

Thanks for the tip. We have bars on all our windows here and this will be our last summer in this apartment/Mexicali. So I'll just bite the bullet for now.

I do have a big fan and have been thinking of rigging up some sort of homemade swamp cooler; I'm back to work up north pretty soon for work and our electrical bill drops when I not around running the A/C during the day.

Why not a portable swamp cooler for slightly over $100?