I've owned several older Mercedes Benz diesel cars over the years and once, long ago, some underprivileged sole broke off the hood emblem, and I let that be an excuse to feel bad. Ever since then, the first thing I do with a recent acquisition is take the hood emblem off and put it in the glove compartment for the next owners pleasure. That goes back to the sin of tempting a thief.
I had a birthday last year that I celebrated by putting the hood emblem back on my current old Benz. (It was still in place when I left last fall).

In anticipation of getting this Tricyclo I bought a Ding-Dong type bicycle bell at Freewheel Cycle in Minneapolis last summer and brought it down with me but have been wary of installing it because it might be 'tempting' to a thief and darned easy to remove. I think I'll just take a chance and install it as a New Year's gesture today.

-Living and working in Mexico-
Some of you have asked about my expenses while wintering in Mexico and others asked about working here. Since I have more experience with my expenses I'll start there. I went to Puerto Vallarta in Jan and Feb of '01 and stayed in PDC (Playa Del Carmen) and Cozumel last Winter and this one. So far I've always paid under $500 for round trip airfare. Interestingly Sun Country doesn't discount for round trip tickets. They just write two one-ways together. That means that you are not penalized for an extended stay somewhere. This year I flew into Cancun and rode the bus to PDC. After a 6 week stay I took the ferry here to the Island of Cozumel for the rest of the winter and will fly out from Cozumel, non-stop, to Minneapolis. Only once have I paid more than 100 Pesos per night for a room,  and that was this year (1000 pesos for 1 week [1000÷11÷7=$13/nite]). I'm now paying 3200 Pesos per month (3200÷30÷11=$9.70) for a nice room with fridge and weekly cleaning service. I provide my own towels, TP and soap. Groceries are a little cheaper here than Minneapolis and I can eat well at a number of restaurants for under $4 per sitting. The internet costs 10 pesos per hour and I've found some places that will sell a half hour for 5 (~50¢). I went to the movies last night and saw Nicholas Cage in 'National Treasure' for 40 pesos (Spanish sub-titles), and I think the movie is still current Stateside. 'The Incredibles' is showing now too but it's dubbed in Spanish rather than subtitled because the littler kids can't read yet.  I bought that tricycle for ~$200 and you an find a great bike for under $100. Anything you buy new in PDC you an easily sell used there because of the booming economy. Forbs listed PDC as the fasted growing community in Latin America. Things are hopping in PDC !!

Work (Spit, spit, P'tuie)
One of Mexico's better income producing exports is it's people. They are willing to take extraordinary risks and pay a year's savings to get into the US so they can work illegally and send money back to their families. The Catholic Church has done much to instill pride in family unity and guilt driven sharing.  The Mexican government makes it tougher for aliens to work here illegally then we do at home. There aren't many skills you can bring here that are unique. If a gringo does find work here it isn't going to pay much. To work here an alien must have an 'FM3' card which is vouched for by their employer. The national language here is not English, it's Spanish. If you don't speak at least second year HS Spanish it's going to be tough finding work. They will put up with a 10 word vocabulary and a lot of gesturing from a tourist but not an employee. There are some really tempting, quick and easy, money making enterprises down here but they often involve some ethical issues or the real possibility of a total immersion cram course in spanish in the local jail or prison. For me it's best to saved like hell at home and kick back here. The living is cheap and easy. If you have access to some dough outside Mexico, land speculation in PDC is hot right now. The titling of land for gringos here is solid if somewhat round-about.
 

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