Greece has Voted! All Is Well.

The solution has been accomplished. All is well. The Europeans, who are very
sophisticated and intelligent, have figured out one more time how to kick the can a little further down the road. The Greeks, who established democracy and columns and other great things, voted and established a "way forward" in the solution of their problems with indebtedness.

Greeks at work in Athens.

     Less than twenty four hours have passed, and the Greeks have notified their backers in the European Union that it will be impossible for Athens to comply with the austerity requirements stipulated by the last (final) agreement.   It pertains to the fact that the tax collector says there will be a 40,000,000,000 euro shortfall in the collections of the required taxes that would allow for running the Greek government and addressing the Greek debt.

     There is also considerable resistance on the part of taxi drivers and hairdressers in Greece to accede to the demand that they not retire on full pension at the age of 50 because they are working in "hazardous occupations".   The newly-elected "conservative" leader of the parliament, and the man who will be prime minister of this fine country is already notifying his brethren in Europe that the Greek people will probably need another two or three hundred billion euros to tide things over.    This for a country of fewer than 12,000,000 people.

     Our stock markets and financial industry waited around and talked about this election just past with great anticipation....with a sense of hope of resolution.    These are the smart people....the Bernackes and the Gietners....the IMF....the World Bank....so all should be well.  But, of course, it was not to be.   Before the first businesses opened in Madrid, there were signs that the the Spanish bond situation was nearing free-fall.   The Spanish are miffed and distressed because it appears the European Community will give the Greeks the money to buy the can that they have to kick, and build them the road to kick the can down.   The Spanish think that will take away from their share of the the dole, and cut down on the size of the can they get to kick.    Only the Lord knows what kind of can the Italians will want, and no one can fathom what the rebuild of the ancient Roman Empire stone road will cost to rebuild.

Spaniards at work in Seville

It would only be right to rebuild those roads so that the Italians could have a road befitting the grandeur of their nation down which to kick the can.  
     Somehow, all this brings the proto-marxist Dickens to mind.  He prided himself by making fun of the rich and the well-placed while beatifying the poor because of the moral superiority of their poverty.   "A Christmas Carol" is as good example as any.   But, were El Gringo Viejo to write the sequel, it would include the Angel of Death taking the American Republic on a tour of these European countries who have practised income redistribution, two-years of maternity leave, free medical care, 24 hour work-weeks, perpetual deficit spending, and the moral decay that is produced by being a perpetual ward of the state.

     The violation of the first....basic....primary....most simple notion that neither a nation nor an individual can long spend more than what comes into the treasury....comes to mind.   Violate that rule....especially for a long, long time and everything must necessarily fall down.   The pyramids around the world, for instance, are not built on a point and then expanded in width as they increase in elevation.    Obviously, the pyramids around the world are set upon a broader base and built to a point of some kind or another.   It has something to do with something called "natural law".

Romans at work in Rome

None of this makes the Italians, the Spaniards, or the Greeks bad people.   Heck, everyone liked Zorba, no?  My son was treated very well in Spain....arrogant Spain...and felt the pride in his veins of being part of those people through his ancestry.   But he could note that there seemed to be an understanding that greatness was, and dullness is.  Fad is fashion.   Aspiration is comatose.   Soon, the can will be much too heavy to kick, the foot much too small, and the road strictly up-hill.    It is rather much like the scene presented by watching a two-year old girl trying to kick an elephant up Pike's Peak. 
      We are being told by Barak that if we would only tax the rich for once, then we could have the Brave New World that is found in the Eurozone.    But, as good as it sounds, the Brave New World almost always results in some kind of downtown Detroit.....or in the scenes of the hopelessly incompetent Katrinazombies in central New Orleans.
     The Eurozombies are now certain that they have found a Little Red Hen who has the obligation to plant the seed, raise the crop, harvest the grain, grind the wheat, sift the flour, make the dough, chop the wood for the iron stove, bake the bread, serve the bread, butter, and jelly and the wash the dishes.    They can just use the Krauts...."and while you are up anyway, bring us some beer....Heineken's!

German at play

     But,   Entschuldigen Sie bitte, Heiniken ist Danen.   We don't care!  We want it and we want it now.  So the Germans and a few other deputy hens in Finland or Sweden, labouring under their own socialist hobbles, are expected to pitch in to support the southern countries and their politicians so that the Mediterraneans can continue to live in the style to which they have become accustomed.
     This money will never be paid back.   It is impossible.   Mexico and Canada have a greater gross national product than Italy, Spain, and Greece combined.   Both countries have taken steps in recent years to reduce deficits and to cut back on the idea of cradle to grave intervention by their central governments.   The productive cannot pay for themselves and for the unproductive for any extended length of time.   This is especially true when the unproductive become a larger and larger percentage of the population.  Consider that among adult men who are Muslim in London, they have from one to four wives on the dole....in 60 percent of the cases.   Dickens will have so many  Tiny Tims to write about in his next re-incarnation.

Just a few grumpy observations.   Thanks for the time and the attention.
El Gringo Viejo

Around the Quinta and the Area...a few bits of news

    The issues surrounding the Quinta....our little mud hut situated up against the front of the Sierra Madre Oriental....continue to be quite mundane.   Repairs, cleaning, refreshing, and feeding the beasts take up a lot of time, especially for someone as lazy as the Gringo Viejo.   A little new news is that the HEB-Plus Grocery Store that had been scheduled for opening on the 1st of June of this year, actually opened on the 1st of June.   This created a lot of confusion in Cd. Victoria, because folks were getting ready, perhaps, to do a bit of "back to school" shopping at the ribbon cutting.    That is not actually true, because private works especially and even government projects frequently finish at or around the scheducled time.
      The opening was, however, not without the normal monster-flood of traffic and congestion.   HEB stores are very popular.    Another thing that is nice about the ones in Mexico.....Nobody pays with food stamps....all cash, credit card, and debit card.   Imagine.

     Most OROGs are not Texans, we have following in places that are still not part of the Imperium Texanus.   The HEB chain of grocery stores was founded by Herbert E. Butt in the San Antonio - Corpus Christi - McAllen area.   It wasn't all that long ago, back in the middle of the previous century.   During the past 20 years, HEB stores have held on to their Mayberry RFD places and improved them, while penetrating the up-scale market with phenomenal success.   Part of the expansion included going into Mexico where they would face stiff competition with a rapidly improving "supermercado" situation, primarily presented by the Soriana chain, and of course, WalMart.   Other local and neighbourhood type operators have also stepped up in terms of quality and presentation, so the business picture is challenging.
      My store is the Gran-D (grande) which is quite pleasant, clean, and very professional.   There are three of these locally branded stores in Victoria.   The Soriana is only about a mile on into the centre of town, and there is a huge WalMart out to the west end of the in-town area.   All-in-all, Cd. Victoria is well-equipped to sell good grub and grocery product to a smallish, but fairly well-to-do universe of customers.

      Of further interest is that El Gringo Viejo is constantly asked about security issues in Mexico and most people are comfortable with the idea that he is insane for even looking on a 180 degree vector, much less driving back and forth between the Texas - Mexico frontier, and much lesser yet having a sizable lot and mud hut situated in the middle of nowhere in Mexico.   El Gringo Viejo points out that sometimes it is not a good idea to visit Fort Hood, Texas when a Muslim nutter decides to do the bidding of Allah and slaughters twenty or thirty people.   He also points out that, if one remains outside of the the drug-trafficking industry, the actuarials for hanging around in Mexico are something like living in a small town in Texas....in terms of mortality rates.   Not Detroit, or reasonable facsimili, but like Lamapasas....or reasonable facsimile, for instance.
     The twenty or thirty HEB-Plus stores later, especially those recently openned in Monterrey, Victoria, and Reynosa speak to the issue.   They say...El Gringo Viejo wins the issue.    I will only add that it is prudent to be prudent.   Actuarials are actuarials, and prudence is prudence.

      At the Quinta, our growies have been putting on quite a show.    For the first time in my adult life, I am finally proud of my land this year.   One morning, a bit less than a week ago, El Gringo Viejo walked out in that first pre-dawn light and was greeted with a remarkable roaring buzz.   It seemed at first to be coming from an old ear problem that almost always winds up being a 36 hours dizzy spell.    So, grumpiness set in, but.....no dizziness.  A few seconds later, a huge horse fly shot past the field of view, quite close.   Then...with lightning like mental ability....it began to dawn on me that there was no dizziness, the horse fly was actually a bee, and that there were lots and lots of bees.   Looking up, one could readily see that the ebony trees had finished a full-tree blossoming during the night and that there were literally hundreds upon thousands of honey bees (somewhat Africanised) having a flash-mob party in the Ebony Saloon.  In any regard, the buzzing sound was the loudest ever heard by this set of ears.  Both of our "upper" ebonies were totally covered by blossoms and bees.
     The bees have always been very tolerant of El Gringo Viejo.   Wasps, not so much.   But, around the Quinta, almost all of the stinging beasts, especially the bees and a certain type of small hornet have been very passive with my presence.   It has been possible to work inside of flowering plants, pruning or tying them up or whatever, and not be bothered by them.   This time as well, although the bees were being very aggressive towards the birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and moths, they exhibited aggression towards El Gringo Viejo.  It should be pointed out that in recent weeks the return of the American hives has taken place.   That is something that has been taking place for several score years, but that stopped about three years ago, and now is beginning again.   Several thousand have appeared in the various meadows, forest areas, and citrus orchards.   Many are owned by companies like Duncan Hines and Pillsbury.
     Then, we had the return of Bob White quail, and quite a number of them.    Also, a "pijuey" (pi - whey, named for their call) came down while I was filling the large water tray.   He seemed nonplussed by my interference with his bath and watering.   Pijueys are called ani's in English....they look like a black combination of a parakeet and a parrot in a way.   There is a smooth billed sub-specie and a groove billed sub-specie, both found in our area (Sometimes I think they are just an individual variant).

     Our flamboyan trees (Royal Poincianas) have really begun to set up for a real show, but they will not be in full bloom until August, it appears.   That is late, but nowhere near out of order.   The avocado tree at the the south end of the "long, west-facing corridor" surprised us a bit because it seems to have a setting finally of about 225 avocados, about half-way on their journey to the guacamole factory in our kitchen.    It was nip and tuck last week when a couple of thunderstorms produced strong winds, perhaps as much as 60 mph, for a brief period on two different days, but there was no ill effect upon the avocados or much of anything else.   Another pleasant thing was that there were no power failures with the storms, winds, or heavy on-call power production/delivery during this very hot and stormy time.

     As far as cooling, we did use the air conditioner one night.  But the rest of the time it was pleasant at night, with the temperature heading down into the 58 to 62 degree area for the early morning hours.   We  have learnt to use the fans during the day by pointing them out, thereby exhausting the house, while keeping everything except for the aperture being used for the fan, closed, and the curtains drawn closed.   This keeps the house around 80 degrees inside, while the temperature outside is hovering right at 100 degrees F.   Visitors are astounded, sometimes, to learn that we are not running air conditioning.   Because the practise of exhausting the house with the small fans, there is a concurrent effect of reducing the humidity inside the house, as well as removing atmospheric particulate that might normally be found.  Frankly, sometimes, during the daily "wipe-down" of furnishings and fixtures, the dust rags and even dampish paper towels show no dust or settling on the surfaces.   Cats even seem not to shed as much.   These are things that we have learnt over the years which have enhanced further the advantage of having an adobe home.

     This note:    During the nighttime hours, we run the fans pointing into the house so as to conduct the "cold" air from outside to inside.   This reduces the interior temperature into the low to mid 70s normally, which is very pleasant for a place not far from the Tropic of Cancer. 
The main reason for most of this monologue is to demonstrate that we really can avoid monster electricity bills....ours being something in the neighbourhood of 60 dollars every two months.   Remember though, we have a medium sized refrigerator, a television, a radio, a water pump, a few fans, and a few lights and a couple of electric clocks....all of which are used judiciously, (very judiciously).

     The animals continue to be problems and pleasant company.   The cats somehow manage to always be both predictable and unpredictable, as cats must be.   They are clean, quiet, and like to "check into things", which is good for the house.   The dogs are stinky, beset with ticks right after the rain, and lazy although they remain alert at night.   All of them like to eat.   Bibi, the Labrador, has made good friends with the Rhodesian Lion Hounds, a mother, daughter, and two sons who live at the next-door Hacienda de La Vega.   There is a pleasant, almost childish back and forth between them all whenever El Gringo Viejo goes over to exchange visits or deliver messages.   When our neighbour comes over, his dogs actually do not cause much if any damage in spite of their huge size and clumsiness.   Bibi, and his other friend Payaso (clown, because of his colouration), delight in going down to the river.   Bibi in particular needs only hear the word "river" or "Rio", and he is at the gate, with his tail wagging to the breaking point.   His favourite thing is to run full-speed and jump into the river with his version of a belly flop.   He also has taken to standing over the sprinkler and "flossing" his teeth with the pressure streams and generally getting thoroughly drenched.

  More stories from the Quinta later.  Thanks for your time and interest.
El Gringo Viejo

      

Mexican Presidential Election Update and Analysis

A bit of prologue is in order.   The reporting in the United States has been dismally poor concerning the topic of the elections in Mexico.   Reporting in the United States about almost everything is in a fairly dismal condition.   This bit of information is given as an update to our previous analysis about the issue, along with a bit of self-critique.

     To begin, our assessment has been pretty much dead on.   The biggest surprise is that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) has managed to lag behind, then surge, and now slide back, showing a peculiar "wave action" among the electorate for and against this somewhat deranged, narcissistic Trotskyite.  It always sounds good to say that the poor people need help and that there should be more "income redistribution", but after the sun comes up the next day, and everyone comes back to their senses, most people really, really know that "income redistribution" is not a workable socio-political solution for anything.

     We were also somewhat surprised at the viciousness of the intellectual left in Mexico and internationally against the National Action Party's (PAN) candidate, Josefina Vasquez Mota.   Joining in the piling on has been the old Dinosaur capitalists of the old official party, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI);  these would be people associated closely with the  Televisa entertainment group, and people of the type, resources, and connections of someone like Carlos Slim.    Intense, prolonged, and concentrated efforts have been made to denigrate the woman at every turn.

     The candidacy of the old official party's nominee, Ernesto Pen~a Nieto, the ex-governor of the State of Mexico, has wobbled and stumbled.   It has been propped up by glossy, pablum television ads, and marked by pointless, rambling speeches built of platitudes.  It has been suddenly and severely damaged by relentless news stories about massive corruption having been committed by PRI governors in Coahuila and Tamaulipas States, including collusion with cartels, with some connection being laid at Pen~a Nieto's feet.   He and the now disgraced previous governor (and his  chief subordinates) of Coahuila were closely allied in recent years during internal PRI politicking.

Lopez-Obrador (left), Quadri, Pena Nieto, and Vasquez Mota

 

     The PAN candidate has had a few contretemps, especially in the earlier part of the campaign, but has hit her stride in recent days.   In spite of what is written in FOX News - Latino, she was overwhelmingly seen as having won the debates that were held in Guadalajara a few nights ago.    This was a unanimous decision of the entire press and among polling groups.  Newspapers such as La Reforma, Excelsior, ABC,. Milenio, and even the television commentators pointed out that she had "taken it to them", leaving the "boys" standing sheepishly as she lashed out at their preposterous statements and records as well as some of their associates.

     The fourth-ranking candidate, perhaps appropriately named Quadri, did not make much head-way in the last debate when he resorted to asking his opponents for help about what some of the points of his platform had been.    Shades of Governor Perry.   Quadri is a likeable sort, not the fire-brand radical one might expect as the head of a confederation of leftist parties.   He will not receive more than four percent of the vote, in all probability, and many of those will be in the vein of votes casted for "none of the above".

Latest rankings:

                                              Pen~a Nieto                                 36 - 39%

                                              Vasquez Mota                             31 - 33%

                                              Lopez Obrador                            27 - 29%

                                              Quadri                                            3 -    4%

     

     We have been surprised that the normally very reliable Mitofsky poll has stubbornly insisted upon showing Pen~a Nieto with up to 45%, and is considered an outlier.    Other historically reliable polling groups have been agreeing with the assessment that the most fervent voters....those most likely to vote...are the Vasquez Mota supporters, and this portends a close outcome, unless some of the less dedicated Lopez Obrador voters change sides again and go to Vasquez Mota.    All agree that Pen~a Mota has steadily lost backing during the past three weeks especially, and that his voters are the least ardent.    So, we may be treated to a perfect storm on the 1st of July, next.

Thanks for your time and attention.  More later.
El Gringo Viejo

From the Left Coast

     The son-in-law of El Gringo Viejo sent some pictures from a couple of spots folks hear about but do not have a lot of chance to see.    One is from a really magnificent ocean-side golf course near the Monterey area, and another is from a stretch of the famous Pacific Coast Highway.

The fog lends to the scene more than it takes.

 Just an amazing piece of geography

A respite from the "important" topics, politics, and so forth.   All very enjoyable.

El Gringo Viejo    

The Curse of the Perfect Gift

     Not long ago, the comadre of El Gringo Viejo (the mother-in-law of his daughter) made up a gift for the Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre with her own hands.   It was in a format inspired by the classical patchwork quilt, with overtones of French design and finery of appointments.  It is truly a remarkable piece.    Very large, perfectly squared, with built in pole loop for hanging, and impeccable stitching and assembly....all designed to humiliate the Gringo Viejo who is incapable of accomplishing anything done by hand.

     The colour scheme also fits perfectly into the setting at the Quinta.   It also fits perfectly into the intentions of the two sister cats to defile anything that is luxuriant and simultaneously comfortable.  Since The Quilt was done-up in a very nice home that also has cats, the Queens of the Quinta sniffed out that they had "connections" in a far away place known as Central Texas.   They took that, of course, as an invitation to make good use of the neatly folded "cat mattress" at their earliest opportunity.    Shortly after becoming comfortable, they learned  a new set of marching orders concerning gifts coming out of Central Texas.    A shaking out, some Febreeze, a quick brushing with a slightly damp dishtowel solved any possible damage, and the quilt was taken to safer precincts.

     After a few days, we decided to hang the quilt, using its available rod-loop, in front of the bedroom window, so as to further prohibit the entry of cold during the very chilly nights that can occur in our area.   It worked perfectly, and accentuated the colonial-inspired windows that are silled and barred of hand hewn Mexican tropical oak from the nearby forests in the higher reaches of the Sierra Madre.   The colour of the oak takes on a very dark brown, like thick coffee,  and blends in with the screen framing that is of a slightly blonder pine from the same area.   The outside view would be a crinoline with a bit of lace-work, with the quilt showing through in perfect blend with the white walls, dark window construction, and framed outside on top with the off-red, split tile roof.   The inside view was equally balanced and presentable.   The room was further improved by a certain "quieting" that was pleasant.

     Everyone agreed that this was the perfect place to have the quilt.   They also agreed that the perfect place to put it was behind the beds in the main bedroom, hanging on the wall via its own personally selected and crafted pole of tenaza wood, processed by hand by Sergeant Major Alvaro, where it provided the same "quieting", and fit perfectly and squarely into the wall dimensions there.

      But wait!   There's more!   You see, in the guest room, The Quilt went perfectly as a bedspread on one of the super-single beds, and strangely matched with one of the ancient patchwork quilts that had been one of the first made by El Gringo Viejo's grandmother (the quilt is 100 years old now).   The guest room is very and truly rustic, with exposed adobe and an almost perfect image of a room built in the 1790s....built from the ground up by hand, remember.   One could almost hear the two quilts gossipping with each other about the things they had seen, comparing notes about where they had been,  and talking about me in front of my back.   Yes!  We could use the Quilt as a quilt!

      Then, in that same room, if we take down the denim curtains, leave the lace curtains that are hung directly on the large butterfly windows, and hang The Quilt on the decidedly low-tech curtain rod....lo and behold....it is obvious that it had been made specifically for that application and in this room.   The odd perfection of the colours and tones blending into each other with seeming intent was compelling.    Yes!  This is where we shall deploy The Quilt, because it had its pole loops, and it is....strangely....exactly the breadth of the window (which is made in the same style as the other bedroom's window) with about four inches left over on each side, a perfect cover.    It extends almost all the way to the floor, but is high enough off to not worry about attacks by an errant mop.

      Finally, another radical notion was to hang The Quilt along the "long, west-facing corridor" which is easily accomplished.   We have an arrangement of rope for hanging clothes to dry or to air,  or serapes during the summer to provide quiet and shade during the torrid afternoons for the entire 66 feet of the  length of the corridor.    El Gringo Viejo hung The Quilt out, where once again it fit perfectly into the dimensions, waving very gently between all the flowering things and the corridor proper.   The hummingbirds would come up to inspect any chance that the new arrival might have some source of nectar and then go about their way, un-concerned about the new presence.  The Quilt looked "right" hanging there as an accompaniment to the natural setting that makes up the Quinta's front area....full of flowers, bees, birds, butterflies, and growing things.

     So, there we are.   At this writing The Quilt has been placed on the wall behind the beds of the master bedroom.   We are content with that decision.  Because, you see, since each choice would be perfect, there is no wrong choice.    It actually speaks to the mastery of design, execution, and decor that is represented by our comadre.   The Quilt has a friend in the Quinta, no matter which room or placement we use.

Thanks to La Comadre.   And thank all OROGs for your attention.   We have more news and observations coming out.

El Gringo Viejo

Back in Town

Returned from the front lines to join the front lines here.   Some interesting material to come later tonight and tomorrow.

El Gringo Viejo