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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
   
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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"The Federal Highway From Vizcaino B.C.S. to Bahia Tortugas B.C.S. Is A Disgrace To The Republic"
So began my letter to Manuel González Cosío, Secretaria de SCT.
"La carretera federal de Vizcaíno a Bahía Tortugas es una vergüenza para la República"...
... is far and away too potent an opening salutation to be used lightly. Saying something like this to one of the top administration figures en
México, sets off alarm bells, raises hackles, and generally causes faces to flush. Every single word that follows such a denúnciacíon must be
absolutely perfect or the communication is tossed into the round file, with no small amount of prejudice thought toward the sender.
So I spent hours crafting what I thought to be "The Perfect Letter" using every last drop of my experience in México to aid me in my quest to get that
damned road fixed.
It is of zero worth to scream, curse, threaten or cajole someone of power in this country**. It is similarly of little benefit to beg, whimper or
whine *unless* this tactic is hand forged with amendments, addendum's, and adornments, which usually must be Muy Méxicano to acheive maximum effect.
** Unless of course you wield greater power or influence than they
So, following mi denuncia, I described my journey in detail from Vizcaino to the "entronque" (intersection) of the nearly perfectly maintained spur
highway to Asuncion.
I described in elaborate detail, hitting bache mas bache (pothole after pothole) at 20 kilometers an hour, one third the speed limit. My muffler broke
loose. My rear view mirror fell off the windshield. MY trunk popped open, and so on. Stop after stop had to be made in order to try and get my car and
my life back in order.
Then at the top of one cuesta (hill, grade) I encountered a ganado (steer) blocking the travel lane. Avoiding the steer was impossible as a two meter
"profundo de arena" Deep sand had blocked the other lane of traffic exactly like the two hundred other sand dunes had blocked a huge distance of the
highway. I did not hit the steer. Instead I plowed into the dune. I got my crutches (boy this is good because it is true) and exited to find my car
buried in sand. What I didn't elaborate on was just how quickly the 4WD Mitsubishi Montero showed up behind me, and how quickly a snatchum strap was
produced and how in less than a minute's time I was yanked backwards to freedom.
But I continued with the letter. I finally arrived near the entronque only to bang into yet another unavoidable bache so hard 'I bit my tongue'. Now
this the part where knowledge of Mexico is indispensable. Several presidents ago, one was boasting to his wife how 'his SCT' made such a wonderful
stretch of la carratera under his administration: The limousine ran over something bad, the first lady bit her tongue so bad that she was rushed to a
hospital. The dressing-down el presidente gave la secretaria de SCT became legend. The road was immediately torn down, all of it, and reconstructed.
The 'tongue biting episode' is still muy sensitivo in SCT headquarters.
Yeah I did bite my tongue but it was my lip that bled. Mostly. So I embellished how I stopped yet again to clean up the blood and that's when I
noticed the huge billboard alongside the highway.
"The SCT Spending Millions Of Pesos On Highway Improvements. Your Government Building A Better Life For You".
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I emailed the Word document to Gilberto, my amigo a Tapatio from Guadalajara. He is a UNAM holder of a doctorate in Latin American studies and has
offered many times to clean up syntax errors in letters I deem important.
His Reply "David I changed little but some verb conjugations and sentence structures. But do not add to this letter. It is very powerfully written and
is of good length".
The letter was sent via MexPost to Mexico City almost three weeks ago. Was this an exercise in futility?
¿Te haces muchas ilusiones?; tendrás muchos desengaños.
Making many dreams and having many disappointments
Vamos A Ver
I'm going to see
The result or lack of will be obvious. I mentioned this letter in a post several days ago. Lately I thought better of it as it was rather vague as to
what I did. I believe GypsyJan an Asuncion resident commented on it.
NOTHING VENTURED NOTHING GAINED.
I know nothing of this highway's history or its politics. I haven't a clue as to how long it has been left to decay with no maintenance.
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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Bajaboy
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Posts: 4375
Registered: 10-9-2003
Location: Bahia Asuncion, BCS, Mexico
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When I first traveled the highway in 1997, it only went to the bombero plant and then it was horrible. In fact, it was worse than the old El Arco
road. Today it's much better by far and in my opinion not worth complaining about. I'm more concerned with the water situation in BA than the road.
Zac
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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
   
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Thanks Zac! Give you two guesses as to whom has to take a Navy bath mañana with purified water. I guess my clunker rides worse than yours. What seems
to be the issue with el agua? Remember, I am the greenest of horns around here. :-)
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
   
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Had to come and go through El Arco in 1964. Never lived there and had to commute on la brécha. Stick my nose in one too many knotholes and I can
assure you there will be a woodpecker waiting at one of them.
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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Bajaboy
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Posts: 4375
Registered: 10-9-2003
Location: Bahia Asuncion, BCS, Mexico
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My uneducated guess about the water is that there is little to go around....and the infrastructure is in disrepair. I think it's only going to get
worse. We plan on buying/installing another tinaco and plan accordingly.
My take on the road is it's better than it's ever been....reminds me to slow down and enjoy the drive.
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
   
Posts: 3752
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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Please take no offense at this
But, complaining about Baja roads is like complaining about the rain in Seattle (lived up there 23 long dreary years)
It will likely make you feel a tad better, but it won't help much with the problem.
Bad Baja roads and dreary Northwest days.....
sort of resonate, one with the other IMO
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
    
Posts: 8088
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Well, you certainly told them off. Potholes and sand dunes. I'm sure they'll snap to action.
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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
   
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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No Pay Taxes To Get Gray Dreary Days. Gray dreary days do not rip the struts off my car. I try very hard to enjoy everything but enjoying terror at
seeing a foot and a half pothole suddenly appear is beyond my ability.
I much prefer aljibes to monster tinacas. Easy to concrete-in the blocks in soft sand. You can build a really large aljibe and not have to lay in bed
at night and wonder if the new filled to the brim super monster size tinaca wants to come down and join you. Will fill fine with 5 psi pressure. This
is the biggie on the mainland, not enough lift to the top of the casa. An aljibe does require a pump and float regulation but 2,500 gallons of water
during a dry spell is sure nice.
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
   
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Like I Said "Vamos A Ver"
Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Well, you certainly told them off. Potholes and sand dunes. I'm sure they'll snap to action. |
When in Nevada I see people spending thousands at the slots and tables and then stand in line an hour to save six bucks to eat much lousier food than
at a real casino restaurant with cloth napkins and butter rather than "Table Maid". And they'll chain up in the winter for all this!
Vamos A Ver. I did all I could. Let's see if they "Snap To Action :-)" You know, you can never tell about these things. Really. Doing nothing at all
versus conversing with D.F. may yield slightly different results.
The only thing more dismal than being a pessimist is being a dead pessimist.
[Edited on 4-26-2012 by DavidE]
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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Iflyfish
Ultra Nomad
   
Posts: 3747
Registered: 10-17-2006
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Quote: | The only thing more dismal than being a pessimist is being a dead pessimist.
[Edited on 4-26-2012 by DavidE] |
Or a deported pessimist?!
Iflyfish
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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
   
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
Member Is Offline
Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Or an adult terrified of la chupacabra, el coco, chanecos or el mal ojo! :-)
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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mtgoat666
Select Nomad
     
Posts: 19918
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
Mood: Hot n spicy
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I don't think letters from gringo expats will change anything.
One wonders, didn't you know that moving to rural baja entailed living at the end of a long poor-quality road?????
I doubt that things will change soon... you should probably find a way to accept that the road will stay the way it is.
A couple things to chant as you drive the road:
"don't worry, be happy!"
"always look on the bright side of life"
drive slowly and enjoy the scenery!
and if you are in the mood, sing this:
Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you're chewing on life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best...
And...always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the light side of life...
If life seems jolly rotten
There's something you've forgotten
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you're feeling in the dumps
Don't be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing.
And...always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the light side of life...
For life is quite absurd
And death's the final word
You must always face the curtain with a bow.
Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin
Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow.
So always look on the bright side of death
Just before you draw your terminal breath
Life's a piece of chit
When you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.
You'll see it's all a show
Keep 'em laughing as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.
And always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the right side of life...
(Come on guys, cheer up!)
Always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the bright side of life...
(Worse things happen at sea, you know.)
Always look on the bright side of life...
(I mean - what have you got to lose?)
(You know, you come from nothing - you're going back to nothing.
What have you lost? Nothing!)
Always look on the right side of life...
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chuckie
Elite Nomad
    
Posts: 6082
Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
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Mood: Weary
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Sounds better than the road to my Ranch in NW Kansas...
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shari
Select Nomad
     
Posts: 13049
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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DAvid...the letter probably hasnt even arrived yet... but here is some history to the road and some mitotes to go along with it.
the story is that this road work is done in piece work and they began at the end...the villagers here couldnt believe it that after the big hoopla
when the governer came to hold the shovel at the start of our new highway...they started paving our main street instead of the bad bad bad road into
Asuncion. Nobody cared about a paved main street and all those fancy boulevards took away all our street parking...folks here like to park in front of
the store!....so that took like a year to do and now we need an army of workers to sweep it every day to keep the sand off it...wait till you see it
when it rains and all the sand from the other streets totally covers it and it takes weeks to clean it all off.
But now we kinda like how pretty all the flowers look.
Then they started paving the road in from the Tortugas turn off and that has taken another couple years but is finally done and gorgeous...although
still has cows and burros.
Next the machinery went to work on the turnoff to Turtle Bay which is a helluva long long road to pave.
The word is that when all that is paved, the machines will go back and fix that knarly part you speak of....patience grasshopper.
But yes, it enrages all who travel that road regularly...imagine how the Bimbo truck driver feels...he must go to his happy place driving that bugger.
They do fill the holes every few months and plow off the sand dunes too but one must just be resigned to driving slowly and carefully to Vizcaino on
that bad part.
Money is very tight especially around elections and these projects have been budgeted for many years and are part of a long process.
NOw the water is another story. In the name of progress and political posturing, the government brought a water pipeline to the coast several years
ago...before each village had a desalination plant that worked pretty darn well....so now the polititians are cutting the ribbon on a new water line
that will extended along the south coast to the villages of Pta.Prieta, San Hipolito, La Bocana and Abreojos. We have always had a slow down of water
in the summer and we all expect that but with this new water line, we can expect a REAL scarcity....residents here are not happy about sharing the
water.
I rent a house to the head engineer of the project and he explained that with this new pipe going south, the little water that did come our way from
the Vizcaino aquifir will now be severely compromised...the new pipe is larger and the holding pila is much larger than ours and place before our pila
in the line so in essence, most water will go south and we might get a Dibble coming into Asuncion in the old pipeline. We too have bought large
tinacos and built a big pila here...the cooperativas are very concerned as you can imagine..they need reliable water.
The other concern is with the huge compay Los Pinos who have moved into Vizcaino and is a huge water consumer...just how big is this aquifer anyway?
There are rumblings of bringing back desal plants to the villages which I think is the only solution to ensure a reliable water source.
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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
   
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Beautifully constructed additions to this thread. Shari's is so chock full of information I am going to copy it and put it in my "History to Learn"
section of my word processing program.
mtgoat666's song is priceless, I intend to copy it to my USB and have it printed. I can practice solo with my awful croaking singing voice in inside
the privacy of my embarrassment resistant little car that has suffered so terribly on that road.
Even the really sour replies are going to find a use. They too shall be printed out. But to act as covers for my mixtures of harina, levadura, sugar
and water. Somewhere within those replies a miracle may lay. A starter catalyst so sour that it may make a whole new class of sourdough bread. Acidic
to the point where a bread eater will wince with sheer delight.
Meanwhile - let us keep an eye on the highway. The vegetation is sparse, the bird life infrequent as is oncoming traffic. Let's just keep an eye on
that road. That's all I am begging at this point.
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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rts551
Elite Nomad
    
Posts: 6700
Registered: 9-5-2003
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Isn't there some hard feelings between political parties. ie the delegado and the Presidente/Governor?
And I can't thank you for the water, yet, since the current pipeline work ends in San Hipolito
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Iflyfish
Ultra Nomad
   
Posts: 3747
Registered: 10-17-2006
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Even the really sour replies are going to find a use. They too shall be printed out. But to act as covers for my mixtures of harina, levadura, sugar
and water. Somewhere within those replies a miracle may lay. A starter catalyst so sour that it may make a whole new class of sourdough bread. Acidic
to the point where a bread eater will wince with sheer delight.
Love your attitude man! Make sourdough bread, priceless!
Sometimes ya got to make lemonade.
Mexico can be a befuddling, maddening, frustrating place to get anything done. It is also a place of serendipity and magic. I think we all at some
time hit a wall and have a blow out about something that does not work that seems like it should be so simple! So Simple!! But, alas it usually is not
so simple and we find that Rube Goldfarb, somebodies nephew, who won't look you in the eye is in charge and grinning at us and telling us to relax,
have a beer and it will be fixed tomorrow, oh, and bring back another paper that you don't have with you this time. One never knows who's nephew he is
and whether after you complain that you find that now nothing simple is ever again simple and you need yet another set of papers before it can be
done. Somehow though things eventually get done, or as done as they will ever be and we can ease back into our own manana mode as we watch another
magnificent sunset, sip our evening margarita and snarf down another earth shaking fish taco.
Viva Baja e viva Mexico! Viva DavidE as he tilts at this particular windmill. Viva too the potholes and sand dunes that are part of the lore of
Asuncion and spawned the T shirt with the logo "I survived the road to Asuncion". Most of us have one of those shirts and would gladly donate it as
fill for those sink holes! Viva too Shari for history and perspective and dare I say it, Hope?!
Iflyfish
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shari
Select Nomad
     
Posts: 13049
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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first off....a very very happy birthday wish for you Mr. Fish and hats off to your baja spirit.
rts551...i understand that the state funding ran out (they mumbled something about the money going into campaign funds)...and this money was to
purchase the pipe that will go out to La Bocana & Abreojos....so the project has been halted till after the elections.
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Mexitron
Ultra Nomad
   
Posts: 3397
Registered: 9-21-2003
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
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Mood: Happy!
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I remember when I used to drive from San Clemente to Borrego Springs I would often stop to use the restroom at the state park about halfway over the
mountains. There was a huge pothole on the road in and had become worse as time went on---it bugged me so much I finally fixed it myself (and I'm
sure paid off a karmic debt to the state for the use of their facilities...). 
So would it be possible to have the PTB drop a few piles of asphalt along the road and have everyone volunteer to fill the holes every so often? I'm
sure the budget would allow for that....
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mtgoat666
Select Nomad
     
Posts: 19918
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
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Mood: Hot n spicy
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Quote: | Originally posted by DavidE
mtgoat666's song is priceless, I intend to copy it to my USB and have it printed. I can practice solo with my awful croaking singing voice in inside
the privacy of my embarrassment resistant little car that has suffered so terribly on that road.
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it's from the musical "spamalot." you can probably buy it on itunes or get the CD.
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