tips for living here

6/8/04 - Satellite TV from DISH network is now available legally and at fair cost by Michael Wein.

Through the efforts of Mel Berry (a dealer in satellite systems in Houston), individuals living in San Miguel may have access to satellite television from the USA in a variety of ways. Those who already possess Direct TV dishes will be able to continue to use their current Direct TV dishes even though they change to the DISH network. And those who are new to satellite tv as well as those who have purchased Direct TV programming previously may acquire new DISH receivers in a rebate program wherein the receivers are acquired for no cost. Anyone may then purchase any number of programming packages at the same cost as anyone living in the USA.

Antennas (the "dish" itself) can now be purchased (although they are not necessary if you already have a Direct TV dish) locally from Daniel Guerra Ybarra (at 154-6331). The receivers are purchased from the Houston dealer and cost $99us and you will get a credit of $10us a month for 15 months (yes, you do make a little profit on that) against your subscription costs. The receivers can be delivered to you in San Miguel at nominal cost using the services of a courier. If installation is necessary, Daniel will install them for you. The DISH network programming is quite varied and you can purchase programming (depending on how much and what kind of programming you want) for anywhere between $29us and $83us a month. Much more information and answers to many questions that I have personally asked are on the web-pages of the Houston dealer. Just click on http://www.dbstvforum.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi? to see their entire web-site, or just click on "San Miguel de Allende -- Mexico" to see information applicable solely to us in San Miguel. The comparison between local Cablevision and DISH network as an alternative to Cablevision highly favors DISH from both a price point of view as well as a quality and quantity point of view. You can read more about the DISH network itself at http://www.dishnetwork.com As to their performance in delivery and service, I will update this as soon as I receive my equipment around June 22nd.

6/3/04 Rules (probably also known as "regulations") of the Mexican Nation by Jesus Cabral

Rules in Mexico are published in the "diario oficial de la federacion". The official copy is better done in downtown DF. Alternatively it shouldn't be a problem to find the website of the official paper and then print the related article for your own use or to show to government officials when they seem to interpret it their own (and different) way.

March 5, 2004 - A long listing of many, many things to do in San Miguel - by Michael Wein

Someone wrote stating: "My sister-in-law is having a terrible time after 4 years here. She is not an artist, has no artistic ability, and feels that (other than volunteering) there is nothing to do here. In her case I tend to agree. Any ideas for her? Classes are out, walking is her passion but after 4 years she's seen SMA!

You've got to be kidding. I've been here over 10 yars now and I am still finding new things to do; things that I want to do and things that bring satisfactory challenges to me. As a coincidence, I bought my house from a couple wherein the husband said the same thing about San Miguel. His loss; my gain.

As a relatively short and certainly incomplete list, I suggest your sister-in-law try any of the following.

And, if the above doesn't sufficiently occupy her mind and/or body, I found that I could start (that means more work, of course) any sort of affinity group that I wanted but found non-existent before I started it. For example, over the years, I've personally started a comedy improvisation group, a investing-using-computers group, a toastmasters group, a discussions group, and now this online newspaper, among others, and as for doing things by myself, I have started to sculpt (like your sister I thought I had no artistic ability), a library unlike any other in town (no, its not porn - those DO exist in town), writing for my own pleasure, Haiku poetry, and taking up a new competitive sport. And, of course, there are even more things to do that I hope to get into in the future.

Nothing to do???? There would be nothing to do anywhere on this earth under those circumstances.

March 4, 2004 - for your own benefit, register your living here in SMA - by Michael Wein