How's your day?

[Martyn 303]

On May 28, 2018 at 1:45 PM, nonnaB said:

Terrific thunder storm last night. We've now got water in the pool.....rain water. Considering its 8x4 m theres at least 3" of water in the bottom. More delays the builders should have put all the tubes etc in place then connect to the "pozzo" (which holds the filter etc) . Doubt came into my husbands mind about the space between the steps of the pool and the space before the wall. It wasn't sufficient and would have interfered with getting out of the pool. 7cm higher than steps. He phoned the company to come and take a look, they agreed but also said to me " well you wanted a big pool" so I replied " yes we wanted an 8x4 pool including the steps coming into the pool not extending, making the pool 11x4," We kept saying it was larger than 8x4 we thought maybe it was because it was built with blocks of polystyrene, and it was white,  it seemed much bigger than the above ground pool we had that too being 8x4

It wasn't until the thing was constructed that it occurred to us that the size of the pozzo should have gone into the small place. ( surely they should have known the correct measurements when they started) 

However they agreed and now they have to dig again for the pozzo to go to a new site which takes a bit off where we wanted to put bbq and seating . Storms are forecast all week so hope it stays fine at least in the mornings so that at least they can do something.

Pools are a pain in the ar**. When my kids were younger we had them and even though we had a maintenance contract, each year something would go wrong that would cost money, not allow us to use the pool for a while or require me spending all my Sunday afternoons messing with it. Or all 3. Then to top it off, as the kids got older they would go and hang out at the community pools because it was more fun (just like going to Bulwell Lido). 

I now live in what they call here a zero lot gated community. The front yard is filled with trees, grass and plants and maintained by the community. My back yard will just fit my grill and outdoor table and chairs with some shade trees. I can maintain it while waiting for the meat to cook - perfect.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

I don't think any country compares to Mexico, it's a highly dangerous place, I did say Google for the latest news.

I can assure you all most cities in the US are extremely safe, just do not go into the black areas where black gangs are rife, on the whole cities here are very safe, country areas 100 safe.

I thought I was doing a favour by informing how dangerous a place Mexico is for tourism.

Cancun was considered a convention capitol of the world were companies could hold conventions in relative safety, but even the state and federal governments are losing the battle there, and conventions are down, costing the resort many millions lost.

 

As for DJT, he's the best President this countries had in many, many years, he's kept nearly every campaign promise he's made, show me any politician you can pin that badge on, I can only think of one, Harold Wilson in 74.

[loppylugs 8,429]

Sign of the times.  That's all I'll say.  Getting crazy everywhere and not just since the current president was elected.  That's as political as I'm gonna get.  Some places in our cities were like war zones before he ever came along.

 

Weather's getting crazier too.  We had a rotten thunderstorm last night.  I only got three or four hours sleep.  Sun is out this morning but more forecast for today.  One day hot and humid, the next almost chilly.  Plants in my garden looking burned in spite of the rain.  Yellowstone doing strange things.  Volcanoes around the ring of fire blowing off.  Half the country in a drought.  We have three times the month's average for rain.  Folks getting swept away in their cars in North Carolina.  Beam me up Lord!

 

I'll shake me lugs and go hide under the bed.  

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Just for the record, my information does not come from the fake media, I haven't watched TV in over seven years, nor read a newspaper for over 20 years.

I get mine from researching, you can find up to date news on the chaos from Mexico's own English speaking sites, and many other sources that are reliable, none of which seems to appear on sites posted on Yahoo news, and I doubt the BBC reports it. I used to watch the internet version of the BBC when they could report instead of making fairy tales up for news.

[Martyn 303]

20 minutes ago, DJ360 said:

 

 

Well thanks for the encouragement  Ayeup.

 

Of course that view isn't in any way coloured by your loony president's view of every country that isn't the 'Good 'Ole US of A' ?  I mean that fruitloop was trying to justify Gun ownership in the US, by making a big deal out of knife crime in London.   Mad as a box of frogs that bloke. 

 

 

And apart from possibly the drug thing.. this is not also true of the US?  I wouldn't want to be black in man parts of the US and according to my sources the number of murders in the US is more than 5 times that in the UK.

 

Clearly Mexico has its problems, but I've not heard of too many problems for  UK tourists.  I think if the thousands who visit Cancun an its environs annually from the UK were getting murdered and kidnapped wholesale.. I'd have heard.  And I have read this:

 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico/safety-and-security

 

From what I hear, The US isn't exactly a safe place either as its citizens seem to love shooting each other. 

 

To be blunt.. nowhere is safe.  Foreign tourists have been murdered on the streets of London and every other city on the planet. 

 

Col

 

 

 

Last Spring we went to Tulum and later in the year to Cabo and stayed in all inclusive resorts. My daughter in law and her mates are going to Cancun for a hen party tomorrow. For us, Mexico and the Caribbean is a bit like you guys going to Spain - no problem unless you look for it.

You will have a great time, the beer is decent, the food, the beach and sea are great. Don’t drink the water, drink beer out of the bottle and don’t have ice in your drinks outside the hotel.

[catfan 14,793]

Don’t drink the water, drink beer, Now that's what I like to hear.

[Martyn 303]

28 minutes ago, Ayupmeducks said:

I don't think any country compares to Mexico, it's a highly dangerous place, I did say Google for the latest news.

I can assure you all most cities in the US are extremely safe, just do not go into the black areas where black gangs are rife, on the whole cities here are very safe, country areas 100 safe.

I thought I was doing a favour by informing how dangerous a place Mexico is for tourism.

Cancun was considered a convention capitol of the world were companies could hold conventions in relative safety, but even the state and federal governments are losing the battle there, and conventions are down, costing the resort many millions lost.

 

As for DJT, he's the best President this countries had in many, many years, he's kept nearly every campaign promise he's made, show me any politician you can pin that badge on, I can only think of one, Harold Wilson in 74.

I’m banned from talking about DJT but you are absolutely correct except for Harold Wilson and Mexican resorts 

[DJ360 6,738]

32 minutes ago, catfan said:

Many UK cities unsafe too, not gun related but knife crime is at epidemic levels.

 

It is certainly at unprecedented levels, but is mostly affecting young blacks in major cities.  It's a very sad situation, but it doesn't usually affect the more general population.

 

According to my sources. 'Intentional Homicides' are running at slightly less the 1 per 100,000 population in the UK, 6 per 100,000 in the US, and 16 per 100,000 in Mexico.  The World average appears to be around 7 per 100,000. There are many much more dangerous places.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Even the UK government has warnings out and is telling you like I did, RESEARCH, before going....

 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico/safety-and-security

[Martyn 303]

50 minutes ago, catfan said:

Many UK cities unsafe too, not gun related but knife crime is at epidemic levels.

Did you see some of the stuff radfordred posted yesterday?

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

It's the same in US cities DJ, cities like Chicago, Baltimore, New Orleans, New York and Detroit, black gangs and South American Gangs, get lost and enter their turf and expect to become a gun related statistic, remove those gangs and we have one of the lowest murder rates in the world.

[Martyn 303]

1 hour ago, DJ360 said:

 

 

Well thanks for the encouragement  Ayeup.

 

Of course that view isn't in any way coloured by your loony president's view of every country that isn't the 'Good 'Ole US of A' ?  I mean that fruitloop was trying to justify Gun ownership in the US, by making a big deal out of knife crime in London.   Mad as a box of frogs that bloke. 

 

 

And apart from possibly the drug thing.. this is not also true of the US?  I wouldn't want to be black in man parts of the US and according to my sources the number of murders in the US is more than 5 times that in the UK.

 

Clearly Mexico has its problems, but I've not heard of too many problems for  UK tourists.  I think if the thousands who visit Cancun an its environs annually from the UK were getting murdered and kidnapped wholesale.. I'd have heard.  And I have read this:

 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico/safety-and-security

 

From what I hear, The US isn't exactly a safe place either as its citizens seem to love shooting each other. 

 

To be blunt.. nowhere is safe.  Foreign tourists have been murdered on the streets of London and every other city on the planet. 

 

Col

 

 

 

One more thing - suggest you take a bunch of $1 bills. Tip little but often and they will really look after you 

 

 

 

 

[DJ360 6,738]

5 minutes ago, Ayupmeducks said:

Even the UK government has warnings out and is telling you like I did, RESEARCH, before going....

 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico/safety-and-security

 

 

Ayup, I'm not stupid. nor do I have a death wish.  I am going on an all inclusive hotel based trip to Cancun.  I will not be using public transport, driving into the hinterlands, drinking Tequila with the local crooks in downtown anywhere, etc. I will not be patrolling the US/Mexican border, engaging in protest or political discussion with the locals, hunting crocodiles, swimming with sharks, scoring cocaine etc.  The most adventurous I'm likely to get is a possible trip to a historical site.. organised by the tour operator.

 

It'll be fine.

[DJ360 6,738]

9 minutes ago, Ayupmeducks said:

It's the same in US cities DJ, cities like Chicago, Baltimore, New Orleans, New York and Detroit, black gangs and South American Gangs, get lost and enter their turf and expect to become a gun related statistic, remove those gangs and we have one of the lowest murder rates in the world.

 

It would be even lower if you removed the guns from the hands of schoolkids.

[DJ360 6,738]

I'm saying one thing about Trump because I too don't want a political argument and in any case you can't change anyone's mind on a forum.  So here's my one thing.  He has just upset half the World by slapping trade tariff's on steel and aluminium imports.  This is technically illegal under international trading law.  He's upset Canada, the UK and the EU.  He seems incapable of grasping ( among many other things) that trade is a two way thing. When you start a trade war.. nobody wins.  The man is a clown.

[catfan 14,793]

This happened 200 yards from where I live, what a tragic waste of a young life.

 

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/teenager-lyrico-steede-died-after-1631345

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

You are aware it's illegal for a 17 year old to be in possession of both firearms and bombs and explosives, aren't you? Yes, in the last shooting, he'd manufactured home made explosives, made several pipe bombs and a few pressure cooker bombs, planted them around the school and area, luckily he'd been stopped before he had a chance to set them off, or the death toll would have been much higher. We need to find out why kids want to kill each other, is it psychotropic drugs,  is it any drugs?? Is it being desensitized to violence with violent video games, or violent "C" rap "music.??

 

[Martyn 303]

8 minutes ago, Ayupmeducks said:

It's the same in US cities DJ, cities like Chicago, Baltimore, New Orleans, New York and Detroit, black gangs and South American Gangs, get lost and enter their turf and expect to become a gun related statistic, remove those gangs and we have one of the lowest murder rates in the world.

Memphis is ranked as one of the worst places for murder and crime in general - hence living in a gated community. But we also have Shelby Farms which is the largest urban park in the USA (bigger that Central Park), community gardens that would put the Arboretum at its very best to shame and many community events that are heavily policed - I walk or cycle around these places (my wife runs on her own every day). There are just certain places you do not go! 

[katyjay 5,091]

We went to Puerto Vallarta last year, and eldest son and girlfriend have been to Playa del Carmen 3 years running, and love it. It's not the tourists the gun-toters are looking f or, but other drug gangs. We felt perfectly safe everywhere we went, but we were not near any big city having said that. I am not put off going back to Mexico again. 

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

I had to go to Memphis to renew my G/C and couple of years back, I was pretty nervous while there!

We did have a meal there just around the corner from the Immigration office and had many blacks there, even staff who were pretty polite and friendly, I was expecting problems when we walked into the place, but had been recommended by the Immigration security as a good place to eat.

As for the centre, it was in and out, fastest I've been to, lady was polite who dealt with me.

BUT, the missus GPS did get us lost in a scary part of town.........LOL

I was glad to be going over that truss bridge back into Arkansas!!

 

[Martyn 303]

5 minutes ago, katyjay said:

We went to Puerto Vallarta last year, and eldest son and girlfriend have been to Playa del Carmen 3 years running, and love it. It's not the tourists the gun-toters are looking f or, but other drug gangs. We felt perfectly safe everywhere we went, but we were not near any big city having said that. I am not put off going back to Mexico again. 

Agree 100%

But my personal taste, I think Punta Cana, Dominican Republic is the best. Been there at least once a year for the last 10 years except for last year.

[Martyn 303]

4 minutes ago, Ayupmeducks said:

I had to go to Memphis to renew my G/C and couple of years back, I was pretty nervous while there!

We did have a meal there just around the corner from the Immigration office and had many blacks there, even staff who were pretty polite and friendly, I was expecting problems when we walked into the place, but had been recommended by the Immigration security as a good place to eat.

As for the centre, it was in and out, fastest I've been to, lady was polite who dealt with me.

BUT, the missus GPS did get us lost in a scary part of town.........LOL

I was glad to be going over that truss bridge back into Arkansas!!

 

I lived in Little Rock for about 6 years and it is more or less the same as Memphis only smaller. Pine Bluff is worse and West Memphis, just over that bridge is terrible. From what I hear St Louis is bad too!

Our guys will carry for safety when we have contracts downtown or those other areas. 

I became a citizen in Memphis, the ceremony was downtown but I probably took my test in that same office - small world. 

[benjamin1945 16,246]

33 minutes ago, DJ360 said:

 

 

Ayup, I'm not stupid. nor do I have a death wish.  I am going on an all inclusive hotel based trip to Cancun.  I will not be using public transport, driving into the hinterlands, drinking Tequila with the local crooks in downtown anywhere, etc. I will not be patrolling the US/Mexican border, engaging in protest or political discussion with the locals, hunting crocodiles, swimming with sharks, scoring cocaine etc.  The most adventurous I'm likely to get is a possible trip to a historical site.. organised by the tour operator.

 

It'll be fine.

 

Tut Col,       fancy going all that way and not interacting with the real locals.......you a Bestwood lad as well, only joking mate have a good time, two of my sons have travelled the world pretty much.......but they are both somewhat ''off the wall''     one was on his way to Louisiana a couple of years ago to meet a lady,,he was driving a flash hired car,,and somehow got off the beaten track,,he was took to be a Drug dealer,,and was persuaded to leave town at gun point,,he also had a bit of bother in Albania,,long story but again didnt make his intended destination,, 

                             I've not travelled much,,never done 'Long haul' ,

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

I live in a rural area of south central Missouri Martyn, all  very small towns around me with little to no crime. Closest "large" town is West Plains, next would be Thayer  about 2200 population. I'd say most crimes are drug crimes, meth labs and that sort of thing, burglary can be a death sentence, so exceptionally rare to hear of it, house breaking when the house is empty is pretty small too. It's boringly peaceful here.

I wouldn't have it any other way these days.  We did have a woman shoot her husband a few years back, he was cheating on her, so she shot him in the ass with a shotgun, must have been birdshot or he'd have no ass left.

We had some city slickers rob a Bank at Mammoth Spring not that long back, they took the left turn off Main Street without looking first chased by the Mammoth Spring Police Chief, they ended up as hood ornaments on a Semi heading south.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Martyn, just had a thought, when we were almost at the Immigration building, we stopped to ask directions,  it was in a building just down the road from Immigration, it was a Mexican welfare place, "can you direct me to the US Immigartion building please" The place went deadly quiet, I think all the Mexicans were about to make a dash for it thinking I was from ICE.....LOL