Two Forty Five - omg Oct 2011

Inspired by watching the CNN documentary

"The Last Heart Attack"

last Monday night,

I set out early the next morning for the lab

in order to find out the level of risk

I was living with. . .or the amount of denial

I was in.

The results were back by 3:

Total Cholesterol:   245

HDL:   72

LDL:   145

Triglycerides:  140

And that's WITH a cholesterol-lowering medicine.

You can look up the guidelines -

suffice to say I flunked the test!

I come from a family that could live on lettuce

and still measure cholesterol in their arteries

with a spatula.

So!  I came home and packed up all

the meat and dairy in my fridge

and gave it to a neighbor.

. . .thick cut butcher bacon, pollo asado,

frozen chicken breasts, doz eggs, box of butter. . .

 Then I threw out the remaining cows milk.

The next day I bought Rice Dream - Rice Milk

Beverage - for my GF Corn Chex, fresh fruits and dried nuts,

several different grains, spinach, asparagus, more

herbs and spices, three kinds of potatoes,  two kinds of

mushrooms, artichokes, two kinds of lettuce, a loaf of

 still-warm GF bread, and made a feast for dinner

I will still eat occasional seafood,

eggs in my GF baked foods, and a little olive oil.

In about six months I will retest and we shall see

how I've been doing.

I'll let you know!

If the numbers are not going down sufficiently

I will become a vegan.

If Bill Clinton can do it, so can I.

SO, UMMMM, WHAT'S YOUR

CHOLESTEROL???

Don't let this happen to you!

So, what IS you cholesterol?

Do you know?

Find out!

Fantastic News! Tenacatita! Oct 2011

Sometimes the right thing does happen,

the following is quoted from today's

Guadalajara Reporter:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14 2011 08:47 MICHAEL FORBES

A district judge who rubber-stamped the eviction of restaurant and businesses owners on Tenacatita beach last year was not qualified to issue the order, the Jalisco Supreme Court has ruled.  The September 21 decision gives hope to dozens of families living in nearby El Rebalsito, who may soon be able to return to the beachfront land where they have worked for more than three decades.

The three Novena Sala (Ninth Salon) magistrates ruled that Guadalajara real estate firm Rodenas Inmobiliaria must now make reparations for all damages occurred when state police – acting on the order of the 2nd district court judge in Autlan – forcibly took over the zone in the early morning of August 4, 2010.  The eviction resulted from Rodenas’ decades-old dispute over land ownership rights with the local Resbalse de Apazulco ejido.

The Tenacatita beach is one of Jalisco’s most unspoiled stretches of sand. A real estate developer keen to build a luxury tourist development there is battling locals over ownership rights to the beachfront land.

Over many years, restaurant and hotel infrastructure has been built in the area to cater to locals and tourists.  The business owners even paid the annual fees giving them the privilege of using parts of the federally-owned beach for commercial purposes.

The zone was eventually titled to individual ejido members in 2006 under a federal land regularization program. Some lots had already been sold to foreigners and registered in the name of a Mexican citizen (prestanombre). But once the lots were titled, the foreigners were able to own the land through a fideicomiso (bank trust).

Rodenas director José María Andrés Villalobos – who says he purchased the land from the wife of a former Jalisco governor in 1991 – claims these titles have no validity and that the ejiditarios have been squatting his property for decades.  In previous interviews Villalobos has indicated that he wants to build a luxury tourist development beside the undeveloped beach, one of the prettiest in the state.

A key element of last month’s Jalisco Supreme Court decision was that the Autlan judge was not authorized by law to issue the eviction order that resulted from a previous Mexican Supreme Court ruling determining Rodenas to be the legal owners of the disputed beachfront land.

“He’s not a federal judge and he exceeded his responsibilities,” explained Everardo Rojas Contreras, El Rebalse de Apazulco ejido’s legal representative, at a press conference this week.

In addition, said Rojas, instead of taking possession of the 42 hectares in dispute, Rodenas has assumed control of more than 140 hectares.

As expected, Rodenas filed its own appeal (amparo) three days after its unfavorable September 21 ruling. But Rojas is confident this maneuver will come to nothing and expects magistrates to make their review of the case at the end of October and issue a “final decision” sometime in early December.

“Rodenas will have to open access to the beach immediately and repair the damages that they caused,” Rojas said. “We are in no hurry. It’s been a year since the eviction and we have total confidence in the justice system.”

Only when residents are allowed back into the zone can the full amount of damages be ascertained, Rojas said.

According to several sources, since securing the zone Rodenas personnel have demolished much, but not all, of the existing infrastructure in the Tenacatita beachfront area.  This includes the palapa seafood restaurants that served tourists and locals for more than 40 years, as well hotels and everything in them, such as beds, refrigerators, freezers and televisions.

If the new ruling stands, Rodenas will be liable for all missing and destroyed items, including boats, motors, electrical equipment, and even a horse, Rojas said.

Armed state police officers – many of them “auxiliaries” employed by a security firm also owned by Villalobos – have been guarding the land ever since the August 2010 eviction. They have allowed some tourists limited access to the beach, although by law all Mexican beaches must have open public access.

In addition, Rojas said the case raises important questions over a state’s limits on legislative procedure. For this reason, he said, he intends to start legal proceedings against Jalisco Governor Emilio Gonzalez and Police Chief Carlos Najera, whom he said have both supported Rodenas’ illegal case against the ejiditarios.

Speaking at the press conference, Rojas admitted that Rodenas owner Villalobos – a former head of the local Chamber of Commerce and president of Expo Guadalajara – is powerful and well connected but added that, “while he’s tough, I’m tougher.”

According to a 2006 profile in El Informador’s “Gente Bien” social supplement, Villalobos trained as a lawyer, and after a spell working in the Infonavit public housing department, ventured into the real estate sector.  He mentioned that his business was badly affected by the 1995 economic crisis, so he moved into the security service arena, specializing in tracing stolen vehicles by satellite.  His successful security company is now certified to act as Policia Auxiliar Estatal (State Auxiliary Police), whose primary clients are the Jalisco State Government.  In the profile, Villalobos talked of how “for the good of the country,” businessmen should strive to work “hand-in-hand” with the working-class.

Owwwww! Oct 2011

Is this not the cutest little

destruction derby you've ever seen!

He got me.

He got me good.

Sporting cold pack, ibuprofen, and antihistamines

and it's STILL throbbing.

He's been relocated.

Life in paradise.

Itchy Feet! Sept 2011

Time for new adventures.

 Nearly eight years here at Lake Chapala,

and I'm itchin' for new experiences.

New people to meet, new trails to explore,

new things to make me go hmmmmm. . .

Wanted!

Mexican Trailrunner seeks new trails.

Must be scenic, sunny,

and include indigenous peoples.

Must be in Mexico -

I dunno, German Trailrunner,

Singapore Trailrunner,

just doesn't have the right ring.

Ideas?

Open to any and all ideas. . .

Will there be sand between my toes,

mountain climbing boots, huaraches,

or a new pair of flip-flops

in my future?

Indie Publishing - Update 4 - DONE DEAL! 2 BOOKS PUBLISHED ON KINDLE! Sept 2011

WOOPEE!

Two books up, two more to go.

A wonderful cover artist crossed my path

and I commissioned him to do covers for 3 books.

Here they are:

Emergency Medical Spanish for Travelers

And:

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...

Didn't he do a good job?

His name is Bronson Dunbar

and here are his contacts:

Bronson Dunbar

Custom Eye-Catching Professional Graphics

Bronson was easy to work with,

fairly priced, and so creative and

willing to work with me throughout

the entire process that I kept waiting

for the other shoe to drop.

Know what I mean?

It never did.

Not only that, his dad is a formatter

and can help Indy/Self Pubbers

with their formatting for Kindle

and Smashwords.

Here is his link:

Colin Dunbar

Book Design Services

So, for one week,  from today Sept 14, 2011 to

next Wed Sept 21, 2100, both of my books are on sale

for the amazing price of. . .drum roll. . .

. . .ba dump bump. . . 

$.99!

 On the 21st, they will revert back

to their normal price of $2.99US

Both of these books are eBooks

and available for download on Amazon.

Click on links below the books for particulars

and to buy.

Buy now, pay less!

COMING UP!!!

My next book, in the final stages of rewrite,

is a memoir of my parents love story,

their move to Honolulu, Hawaii in 1936,

and their early life in Hawaii documented by

my mother's letters home to her family

from 1937 thru 1945.

Here is the cover:

Old Friends - Sept 2011

Had the pleasure of the company of good old friends

from the Bay Area for the last week!

What a joy to wake up in the morning and start

up where we left off the night before.

Finishing each others sentences and

and responding with deep and caring understanding.

The other part of having houseguests from the states

is I get to see my pueblo, and Mexico,

through THEIR eyes.

And good friends. . .will tell you like it is!

PORTION EDITED OUT BY MT

On the brighter side, I have hired a cover designer

to add the professional touch to my Kindle book covers,

my second book is being reformatted for upload,

and the third is in its final rewrite.

Soon all 3 will be available on Kindle

and I will be able to start my fourth book.

I'll keep you posted on the good stuff,

not so much on the bad.