CFE really sucks

CFE (la Comisión) is just getting worse and worse ... and with this latest adventure we find they did not do the initial install to my pole correctly.  Then there were/are the "smart meters" that eliminate meter readers (people) and force the home owner to read it once a month and then pay only at a CFE Office which is 40 minutes away in our case.

I can only assume they now ignore requests to cut trees that are impinging on your or community power lines. They used to be quite good showing up within weeks and never over a month. I used to call on the average of twice a year.  This year I first requested help 4 months ago and 2 times since and still nothing. 

I finally decided to pay and a neighbor that has a chain saw said he would but knew the lot owner (tree owner) and would talk to her first.  Turns out that talking to the owner first is not a good idea in this case because my chain saw neighbor didn't want to touch "her mango tree". That left me with the option of me doing it or the crazy machete neighbor who does a lot of things while people are not looking.

All was going well until we came across a large branch with a very large termite nest. Very heavy, above my lines and hard to control. It only brushed the lines as it came down but that's when we realized they had not tied the ground wire to the pole but only connected 3 wire together. The ground cable is an uncovered heavy cable that gives strength to your connections if it's done right.   The bottom foto shows it pretty well with the secured ground and the loops are 2 legs of the 120 volts.

The machete guy only wanted 100 pesos and I gave him 200. I spent one night without power (no fan and no TV), the real electrician wanted 200 pesos and is also a plumber (I like him). And sorry lot owning lady who visits once a year, does not clean the lot or trim trees and wants her few mangoes .... my power lines come first. If it were up to me I'd cut the whole thing down.

No more CFE tree trimmers

From my roof - power line upper right

From the street - not pretty but not near my lines

Proper way to attach CFE power to my pole

Pool and Free Mango time

It's that time of year that the neighbor kids want to cool off in the pool and people drop off mangoes because they have too many of them. Just had the one below with some unsweetened yogurt.  Yummm ... very good

Jania and Nahima -- got crowded later

Small but very sweet

Enchiladas - a welcome surprise

Yesterday my neighbor made these for me and her daughter brought them over in the late afternoon. Actually she was making dinner for when her husband came home so made some extras. A lot of work to boil the chicken and pull it into thin strips. Only had time to eat two before we picked up Euriel at school so will reheat today. I'm sure they won't be as good as last night.

I awoke this morning to ...

.... this sweet old neighbor cleaning the front of my house. He lives around the corner and is always a pleasure to meet. Always lots of smiles, jokes and general jabber. He doesn't hear very well and didn't know I was there until I walked up to him. His progress below shows where he took a break but he was soon back and finished it all. Just another pleasure of living in Mexico. I'll try to give him 100 pesos tonight or tomorrow if he'll accept it. We'll see

My Christmas tree

My Christmas tree ... a gift from a neighbor. We went shopping for the stuff to make them but I had no idea what she would come up with. I gave her the box from my water heater so she has enough to make a few. She calls it a "pino" or pine.

Arbol de Navidad

My neighbors cooking

About 5PM when people drift over to my stoop (sidewalk) because of the shade my house gives and setting up tables across the street for the nightly pozole ... another neighbor heads out on her nightly elote sales route. You can get elote (corn) on a stick or in a cup. Extras she offers are salt, limon, crema and a powdered chili. I prefer it in the cup and had to grab one tonight. She makes it very much like they do on the Cuernavaca Plaza where 6 or 8 stands set up every night.

Last night a neighbor brought over two of his wife's tortas de papas. I thought tortas were just the bread rolls but maybe they are anything to be filled? Basically they are a patty of mashed potatoes mixed with cheese, cilantro and whatever you want. Dipped in egg batter and flower and fried in oil. I looked on the Internet and didn't see any in sauce ... but they can be just about any size or shape.

Elote in a cup - con todo

Torta de papa - yes I ate one first

Street School

My Neighbor Kids