We also have local cable. Prior to Star Choice we had always been very professionally looked after by Ajijic Electronics S.A. de C.V. Ajijic Electronics is located at Las Flores #2-A in Ajijic and the telephone # is 766-1117 and 766-3371. The emails are: satelites2002@prodigy.net.mx or ajijicelectronics@yahoo.com

The partners Michael Merryman and Mario Jiminez and they have been servicing lakeside for 18 years.

They offer sales and service of components and complete satellite, TV Systems and Interphones. Their office hours are from 9:00 am to 2:00 p ad 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm Monday to Friday. Also now at lakeside Ajijic Electronics offer Shaw Direct Internet via Satellite, Dish Network, Vonage Internet Phone Service, Terraneo and bticino Interphone Systems.

We have been happily dealing with Mike and Mario right up until the time we got Star Choice and needed them once again today.

Our Star Choice Remote, for some reason, was stuck on Pay Per View and the guide would show nothing else even though you could access the different channels when you tried to go to the guide (a fabulous feature of Star Choice by the way) it went right to PPV and would show nothing else.

Now, in our house, we have become dependent on the remote guide and when it was not working we were not happy. Our first instinct was to unplug and re plug in the system which did not work. Then we tried thumbing through the guide to see if we could find a solution and then I suggested we go to “options” and see what was offered up.

We did manage to change the remote from All PPV to All Programs twice but then the guide went immediately back to All PPV. My husband then suggested we call Star Choice who boast they provide a 24/7 service to users. We called on Skype and were told we were looking at a 45 minute wait. An hour later my husband came to bed with no answer to our call and no solution to our faulty remote.

Naturally, I knew the fixing of the remote would fall into my hands this morning. I played with the remote for a few minutes, rebooted and then put another Skype call into Star Choice and was again advised I was looking at a 45-50 minute wait. I went about my morning chores and then decided to call my old friends at Ajijic Electronics. First I messaged Michael Merryman on Facebook which is how I do most of my communicating now and then I called the office and got Mario.

I asked him if he could help me and sure enough he knew exactly what to do. We had been on the right track last night going to “options” on the remote and trying to change it from All PPV to All Programs but where we had made our error was in not “saving” our new selection. I did as Mario advised and it was fixed in a heartbeat.

I then hung up the phone and was thankful that our almost two hours on hold cost nothing due to using our Skype account.

The moral of the story is, once again, the folks at Ajijic Electronics solved our problem quickly and efficiently proving that there is, indeed, no place like home.

We recommend confidently Ajijic Electronics to friends and clients for all television and phone needs. They will look after you as they have looked after us for so many years.

I would like to tell you about is Infinitum which is available from Telmex.

They have three packages to choose from depending on the speed you require and your budget.

The first package is Paquete Conectes which is 1 mb for $389.00 pesos including taxes per month. This package includes 100 local calls without a time limited and 100 minutes LADA National is $1.00 per minute plus taxes. US, Canada, South American are also $1.00 per minute plus taxes. This package includes all digital service and the rental of your telephone line. Also included is wifi Infinitum, Infinitum Mail, Segura Navigation and Internet pc tools protects your computer.

The second package is Paquete Acerques which is 2 mb for $599.00 pesos including taxes per month. This package includes 200 local calls without a time limit. The minutes for LADA National are limitless. 100 minutes to the US is $1.00 plus taxes for each additional minute. Calls to every other part of the world are $1.00 per minute plus taxes. This package also includes all digital service and the rental of your telephone line. The same Infinitum benefits as package # 1 plus Infinitum Apps., a 24 hour teacher and technical plus assistance.

The third package is Todo Mexico and USA Sinlimites which is 4 mb for $999.00 pesos including taxes per month. This package offers you unlimited local calls, unlimited minutes LADA National and unlimited minutes to the US. It is $1.00 plus taxes per minute to any other part of the world. This package also includes all digital services and your telephone line. This package has the same Infinitum benefits as package # 2.

Also available is a Cellular Package which is 100 minutes for only $100.00 per month or $119.48 including taxes.

I decided to go to Telmex today to check out my options armed with what my current contract offered I terms of speed and cost. You will need a photo ID and a telephone line with Telmex. The entire negotiation took less than 20 minutes (including the short wait after taking a number for your turn). I walked out with my new modem/router and easy installation picture instructions. I will see how easy when I try to do it and, if all the green lights come on, I will be connected on Tuesday.

Everything was conducted in English and no money changed hands as your new internet service is added to your telephone bill. My current phone bill is approximately $600.00 per month (I have a cell phone user in the house) and I was spending an additional $399.00 per month for internet. My savings per month are $400.00. I also have Skype so we are made in the shade as it were and a far cry from our original dial up service which echoed all through the house.

Surprisingly enough as we watched the Dow Jones Index plummet 512 points yesterday we still find the economies in both Canada and Mexico are growing and even flourishing in many parts.

Real Estate is booming in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada and we are lucky enough to be busy here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala even though it not the “busy season”.

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. It would seem then that perhaps looking south of the border during these times of financial unrest could make a lot of sense for a better life and easier retirement.

I would suggest going north of the border but I am partial to our almost perfect weather in Ajijic, Lake Chalapa which is 75 degrees and sunny 99 percent of the year. Having lived in Toronto, Canada for many years I cannot say the same thing about the Canadian weather.

For those on fixed incomes it would make sense to have your limited income go as far as possible and the cost of living here is much less than it is in the US or Canada.

One of the many reasons Mexico’s economy is thriving is because many now skilled workers are returning home from the US as the jobs are scarcer or non- existent. This influx is stimulating the economy as the infrastructure continues to improve.

We see it ourselves. Things are very different here than when we moved to Ajijic, Lake Chapala over 17 years ago. We now have world class technology available at competitive prices which makes doing business anywhere in the world possible.

Products and services are now available to us that in the past were unheard of and things continue to get better every year.

Some people like to view Mexico as a third world country but we have always seen it as a developing nation and I think if you do your due diligence online you will find out that Mexico could be the place of the future for growth and stability.

Retirement can be stepping into the great unknown but now with everything Mexico has to offer in terms of economic growth, excellent affordable healthcare and realistic real estate opportunities this might be the place for you. It is certainly has been for us and for that we are very grateful for every wonderful day we spend in our paradise in the sun.

Ask questions and find it if Mexico has everything you need and want in a retirement opportunity.

Our favorite expression is “Most people come for the weather but stay for the people”.

This was not accomplished easily, however, and, as promised, here is the second and, hopefully, last installment of my trials and tribulations with our Internet Server.

I have been calling regularly on a daily basis to our server always getting a different person, always asked for different information and always given a different excuse as to why I had no wireless service in our house. The last excuse being they did not have any “rooters” and did not know when they would have one available.

Yesterday I managed to get through to a person who will remain nameless but who assured me they were going to swap for a “rooter” with another client and I would have it yesterday afternoon.

When this “swapped rooter” did not materialize, as you can imagine, I was less than amused. When I called this morning I got the old story that there were no “rooters” available. I counted to ten and jumped in my car and drove directly to our Internet Servers offices and demanded to speak to the person who had promised me a “rooter” yesterday.

Miraculously, he was able to find one for me and then the fun began. They told me I had to pay for it. This after two weeks of no service. I was a tad miffed and was unable to articulate my displeasure in English let alone Spanish.

After an hour it was ascertained that the faulty “rooter” was mine and not theirs so if I wanted them to supply a “rooter” I had to pay for installation and a monthly rental for the remainder of the contract as we did with the modem. As our son is now in Thailand I had no idea that the router they took away, with promises of a new one the next day was, indeed, mine and clearly they did not know this either.

This, of course, begs the question “Why had they not told me this apparently vital piece of information earlier in the piece say two weeks ago?” It is not as if I had not been in constant communication with them and they had ample opportunity to share this with me rather than just choosing to put me off on a daily basis with idle promises.

I am very happy to once again have wireless internet in our house and I think we have learned a vital lesson here. If you need to get something done and your Spanish is less than perfect the best bet is to have a face to face discussion in hopes of resolving the issue.

When I left their offices with all the paperwork done and paid for I was told the technician would come to our house in a ratito (few minutes). This was at 11:00 a.m. and they did indeed arrive at 5:20 p.m. It took all of 30 seconds to install the new router and all is well.

I did ask for a two week credit for no service but as they saw it the fault was mine as it was my router that was the culprit so I don’t imagine any credit will be forthcoming.

My advice to you and what I hope you take away from this blog is if you experience a similar problem make sure you know who owns what equipment. Believe me it makes a difference.

The problem started on a Wednesday evening and I did not think too much of it at first as, here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, we do lose connection from tome to time for no apparent reason.

When on Thursday I still had no connection I began the normal regimen to try and connect. First I made sure my cable TV was working It was. Then I proceeded with unplugging the modem and routers and plugging them back in after a suitable waiting period for approx. 5 min. I then did the mandatory rebooting of the computer. Still nothing.

I then tried all online repair options. None of which worked.

As I said, it is not unusual to lose connection to the internet, however what was unusual was Skype was still working and Hotmail was working sporadically. I just could not connect to any web sites. This was a situation I had not encountered previously.

I contacted my son in Thailand (on Skype) who made one or two suggestions including resting the modem. So I made it a cup of tea and tucked it in for a nice nap. When this strategy failed I decided to call a tech from New World Technologies (766-4343) to come and, hopefully, fix the problem in the blink of an eye.

One of the many frustrating things was that the computer was telling me the connection was excellent and it was all systems go. This was not quite the case so I eagerly awaited the tech who did, in fact, come that same day. After a couple of hours and $250.00 pesos he told me it was not the computer – the problem lay squarely with the server. He called the server for me and they said they would come out promptly within 48 hours.

Needless to say, I was less than happy.

Surprisingly enough, 2 men from the server came out the next day which was the Friday. They poked around for a while and finally determined the culprit was the router. They said they would be back on Saturday with a new router. They weren’t.

Nor did they come Monday as everyone was happily celebrating the birthday of Benito Juarez. Tuesday I started, what became, a stream of calls to the server to try and ascertain the whereabouts of my new router.

Just as an aside the router is the device that provides all computers in the house with connectivity to the internet.

I can’t remember how many times I called over the next couple of days. I spoke to many people who all asked a series of different questions. I did have a Report # which did not seem to expedite the process in the slightest.

At one point on Tuesday the router was on a truck coming from Guadalajara. It never materialized, however. I was left on hold, hung up on and told I was calling the wrong number even though it was the number on my contract.

Finally, Thursday, we managed to get through to the right office to be told they did not have any routers and would not have any until next week.

As you can imagine, this unwelcome news met with great frustration.

I tied to get a router to rent or borrow but was told the router had to be provided by the server so it could be properly programmed.

I am hoping I will get this elusive new router early next week which will be approaching the two week without wireless mark.

I am going to ask for a two week credit on my account for this massive inconvenience not to mention the pain and suffering endured.

Stay tuned to see how that works out!

The post read “Let the hacking begin: If Facebook needs money instead of going to the banks why doesn’t Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way? Why not transform Facebook into a ‘social business’ the way the Nobel Price winner Muhammud Yonus described it?

The post received 1803 likes before it was removed.

We all use Facebook. Well maybe not all of us but certainly a great many of us.

Facebook is a wonderful way to stay in touch with friends and family that we are far away from here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala. Pictures and videos can be shared and you can let people know what you are doing and how you are.

There are many other uses for Facebook such as promoting businesses and products, keeping up on people’s birthdays and advertising your events.

Blogs can be shared and there are many other applications.

There has always been a privacy question and there are privacy setting options from which you can choose but the fact remains that the number one head honcho of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, had his Facebook Page hacked into so what protection do the rest of us have?

I can’t imagine a day without checking my “friends” on Facebook but I am very careful about any posts I make. I remember my mother saying “Don’t every put anything in writing that you would not wanted printed on the front page of the newspaper”.

The use of “newspaper” may be a little dated but the message stands the test of time.

I keep my posts very generic and if I want to send anything more personal I use the private message app.

There are many instances where people have posted something on Facebook that was injurious in some way and they have lost jobs or been expelled from school and various other consequences have been reported.

If we continue to use Facebook as it was intended as a social networking tool we all will continue to have a very good experience.

Tell your children not to post indiscriminately and follow my mother’s very sage advice.

Also make sure all pictures and videos are family friendly, as it were, so nothing can come back to bite them, so to speak.

My daughter originally set me up with a Facebook Page so that she could send me pictures and videos while she was working in London, England. I do enjoy all the photographs my nieces and nephews have posted on Facebook as they travel the world and now that our son and his girlfriend is in Thailand I can get a wonderful sense of where they are and how incredibly beautiful Phuket, Thailand really is.

Log in daily and enjoy building your social network but keep your private business private.

Many young people try to design their own websites but realize it may not be quite as easy as they originally thought and older people may not know where to start building a website to promote their particular business or service.

I want to tell you about our website designer who is now living and working in Phuket, Thailand. The company is called Phuket Website Design and is run by CC Design Studio.

This exciting young company specializes in the following services:

Ecommerce Design
Flash Websites
Website Development
Online Reputation Management
Logo and Print Design
Brochure and Business Cards
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Content Management Systems

FREE Domain
FREE Hosting for 1 year

Web site: Phuket Website Design

Email address: info@websitedesignpluket.com

Phones: 08 277-7949 or 08 277-7876

This company was conceived after a review of the existing web sites and it was soon discovered that the tourism levels are high in Thailand but there is a definite lack of specialized services in the industry.

It is necessary to generate more business through inspiring sites and creative online presence for your company.

As this is a young company you can now take advantage of their low rates while receiving the benefits of their vast knowledge, expertise and international experience. (Canada, US, Mexico and now Thailand)

CC Design Studio offers creative problem solving understanding that some sites work and other do not and you need a site that will get noticed and that is easily understood.

They highlight gorgeous graphics and excellent customer service. They will assist you in making the correct business decisions to get the results you are looking for through engaging user interfaces and the all important SEO which is what will get you on the first page of Google.

Visit their web site at: Phuket Website Designand click on “profiles” to see some samples of their existing work. I think you will be very glad you did.

Opening a new business or service or getting an existing one properly marketed is just as important and the business itself. Make sure you put this critical part of the equation in the right hands to maximize your online exposure.

TV and Satellite in Ajijic, Mexico

Star Choice now Shaw Direct is available here.  It is Canadian programming in English with the 3 major networks and Fox.  Various programming packages are available now including HBO Canada.

Sky is a Mexican company with channels in English and movies in English with Spanish subtitles.

MVS Communications has joined with the EchoStar Corporation to offer new low cost satellite TV in Mexico.

This service to be know as Dish Mexico will deliver a wide variety of audio and video channels in al all digital format via an EchoStar provided high powered direct broadcast satellite.

The basic package includes children’s programming from Disney, Jetix, Nick, Discovery Kids and cartoon network; general entertainment from Universal, Sony, Warner, 52MX, E! Entertainment TV and Scifi;  educational channel from Discovery, Animal  Planet, The History Channel and Infinite; sports from ESPN and ESPN2 and Fox Sports; music channels from MTV and Exa TV and movie channels from TNT, The Film Zone,. MC, Multipremier and Cine Latino.  In addition Dish offers movie packages with no commercial breaks.

The basic service includes 25 Spanish an English language channels for $139.00 pesos per month.

There is also our local cable provider which is Telecable. Telecable also offers internet and phone services.  A complete list of their channels, services and prices are available at their outlet just before Maskaras Clinic on the carretera.  Their phone # is 765-4550.

You will also see Direct TV sign up kiosks along the carretera.

A very knowledgeable person to talk to in Ajijic is Michael Merriman at Satellite Services of Ajijic at 766-1117. He would be a good source as to what would be the best choice for you in your particular area.

Twitter.com

It was not too long ago that all I could do was send and receive emails and do a letter. I very much wanted to learn more and I am happy to say I accomplished that goal.

Facebook.com is one of my favorite sites and I have reconnected with many friends and get in touch with them and family through shared pictures and updates. Everyday I log in to find out who is doing what to whom. It was a particularly useful site when my daughter was in London, England in 2007 and again earlier this year. She could send me pictures and videos which I loved.

Skype.com is another wonderful site which offers messaging much like aol.com or Windows Live Messenger but it also offers an extremely inexpensive long distance application which has saved me thousands of pesos every month. If you have a video cam on your computer you are able to see the person you are speaking with. I could open Skype first thing in the morning and leave it open all day and if my daughter needed me I could respond to her immediately as if we were in the same room.

My new favorite is twitter.com First you have to learn the language of twitter, such as tweets, twitters etc. I like to know the latest news and so I follow CNN Breaking News and it gives me all the news in point form so I don’t have to spend as much time watching CNN and waiting for what I what to know about being aired. Also you can follow your favorite TV shows and find out what is scheduled for any given day so you can make an informed decision as to whether or not to watch it. You can invite people to follow you or block anybody following that you do not wish to have on your list.

My husband and I love old movies and often we could not remember the name of some person in the movie. This would bug us until one of us did remember or until we could reach our daughter who always seemed to have the answer we were seeking. Now no more sleep is lost as you can google anything at google.com and get an immediate response to any question. In fact google is now a verb in the latest dictionaries.

I think what I love best is learning different ways to use the internet. Ajijic, Lake Chapala is largely a community of ex-pats of retirement age and there is not any better way to stay mentally alert than to use your mind everyday. Mental exercise is just as important as physical exercise is in maintaining a healthy mind and body. As my father used to say “you have to keep moving”. So log in and have fun.

The Internet in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

When we first arrived in Ajijic in 1994 to say that internet servers were spotty would be an understatement. Things, thankfully, have improved over the years and now we have several competent servers to choose from albeit consistent internet on a daily basis is still a hope for the future. Of course, the frequent power outages are also a challenge consisting of rebooting and reconnecting various electronic devices.

The first thing I do when I get up in the morning, after feeding my three dogs of course, is sit down with my coffee at my laptop and being my day.

When my daughter first went to London, England in 2007 she set me up on Facebook so that I would be able to receive pictures and videos from her. I have since found Facebook to be a very valuable tool for many other features and networking.

I also have Skype which is not only a very cheap long distance program which not only has dramatically reduced my phone bill from Telmex but also has a chat feature much like MSN or AOL. Another great feature is that you can transfer funds to anyone who also has Skype. (If you had any funds to transfer.)

So the first thing I do is open the chat window of Skype to see if my daughter is online.

This morning my husband asked me (at 5:00 a.m). if our daughter was online so I said I would turn on the computer to see. She was not but by the time I got back to bed he was happily sleeping again and me not so much. She did come on soon after and we caught up on all the news just as we would when she was at home.

Then I check all my bank accounts. We have funds in Canada, the US and here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala and I can move these funds around and pay bills with the click of a mouse in all 3 countries with online banking. This is a huge asset here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala as bill paying can be somewhat of a challenge although things have greatly improved in this area since 1994.

Then I check my business websites and deal with anything there that is required. This is followed by checking email and sending and receiving any messages which make life so much easier than playing the time consuming and exhausting game of phone tag.

After checking several other daily news websites I do a few crossword puzzles and leave my Skype chat window open so if our daughter needs me I am here. That makes us both feel good.