Posts
Hi to all,
We hope everyone is well wherever you are and we send our Compliments of the Season.
We have decided on a slightly different format to our blogs in that we start with our personal and local news and follow with comments about the world situation, which we have to say is daily getting worse in many respects, and which is actually far worse than most people are aware. However, there are glimmers of hope ahead.
We have been asked by a very few to not send anything remotely political, so in an effort to placate these souls, we are splitting the blog as above. You do not have to read beyond the personal section should you wish not to do so. The last blog was August 28th. - 107 days ago, so this one is well overdue.
We have had a few finishing jobs concerning our extensions/renovations to complete, and a few of these are still in process, but it's just a matter of time and perseverance. There have been myriad messages on Whatsapp (our number is +57 310 3069697) and email to our various contractors - all laboriously translated into Spanish by yours truly and Google Translate and that in itself has been very time consuming. However, we accept that we live in a Spanish speaking country and it is really up to us to speak the local language. Although, having said that, it is better to have an accurate translation when things technical are being discussed to avoid the obvious problems that can ensue with misunderstandings.
On that subject, we still do not speak Spanish anywhere near as well as we would like, but we are blessed in having Google Translate which we commonly use when paying accounts at a Bancolombia agency that we use or when going to Sura Comfama, which is for arranging doctor's appointments or prescription enquiries. But for everyday shopping, or visits to a service station to re-fuel the car, our Spanish is adequate. Similarly, ordering in restaurants and reading Spanish language menus. Some restaurants, as a result of the Covid claptrap, used that as an excuse to do away with paper menus on the spurious excuse that they were a potential transmitter of disease, but that has been scientifically disproved long ago. Anyway, some restaurants have adopted QR codes that you access on your phone, but we haven't been successful yet in making such access, being the Dinosaurs that we undoubtedly are, so unless the waitress is helpful with their phone, or they can reluctantly provide a paper menu, we just walk out. But that has almost never happened after some laborious back and forth! Maybe in time they might get the message.......?
On that note, service as we understand it, is almost always conspicuously absent in Colombia. Never, if your glass is empty in a restaurant, are you asked whether you would like some more, so their ability to on-sell or just provide service without being asked is always in question. It's not that they are unhelpful; it's just that it doesn't seem to occur to them. This is a very common comment that we have heard from a number of expats. However, this is in no way meant to denigrate the general friendliness and willingness to help when asked that we encounter all the time.
We experienced a situation recently when we expressed interest in buying a charcoal cooker which we thought may be a good investment in view of the parlous state of energy in the world. Although here in Colombia which is an oil, coal and natural gas producer, that doesn't seem to be an immediate problem. And energy costs are LOW compared to just about anywhere else. For example, our latest monthly energy bill was for a total of 548,816 Colombian Pesos. This equates to NZD178 at current exchange rates and includes water supply, waste water, gas and electricity. We use gas for cooking (cooktop and oven) and heating and hot water.
Anyway, back to our situation - we saw this cooker (smallest of 4 sizes - the largest of which would cook a meal for 15!). All the others came with weather-proof covers so they could be stored outside just like a BBQ. We were looking at spending upwards of 1 million Pesos (NZD 260) but we just got a blanket refusal when we asked for a cover for the smallest model. This was a problem for us because we just don't have room under cover to store it. So, no sale and they just don't seem to care!! Otherwise it is an excellent product made locally in stainless steel and is cylindrical with the charcoal fire contained at the bottom and racks at various heights above the fire according to what you are cooking. Very solid and well-made. Similar principle to the Maori Hangi. But, as with everything here, one needs to persevere in order to get what one needs! It will be here; we just need to find it!
Jean's son, Perry, and partner Tracie and the 2 nietos, Carter and Nash, came here a couple of weeks ago for a week and it was great to see them here. Perry was still working so he was constrained somewhat with on-line meetings, etc. and Tracie was home-schooling the boys every morning. However, Perry and Tracie went for early morning walks around Retiro and all around the village, so they got a very good appreciation of the town, which is delightful, being a very traditional Colombian town, without being touristy, as Guatape is.
There is a school just across a small river from here and the nietos played some Soccer (Futball) with some local kids. Their Spanish isn't too bad either, having been largely brought up by their Mexican nanny, Rosa, when they were little. Futball here is a national obsession - as Rugby is in NZ and from what we have seen, there is much talent which develops in an atmosphere of extreme competition.
The town square in front of the cathedral has been undergoing an extensive re-development for around 10 months now and is nearing completion. The amount of building development and associated works, such as road building here needs to be seen to be believed. No sign of Covid (mask wearing) or recession - the place so far is economically buoyant - no retail vacancies on streets or in malls.
Jean had organised one morning for horse-riding which we had never done here, but it had caught her imagination as she is a horse-woman from way back! The horses (6) and guide had been organised through a local couple that we had previously met and so we duly arrived at the meeting place - the local cemetery! Yours truly hoped that was not an omen. We trekked along a river valley up above the town and crossed the Rio Pantanillo 3 times during the trek, sometimes with the cold water half-way up the horses' flanks. Some trails very muddy and narrow and steep, both up and down. But fortunately the horses seemed very sure-footed and negotiated the trails and river crossings without losing their riders. Jean was in her element riding up and down the column chivvying the slower horses. For yours truly, the slower the better, since it was at least 60 years since the old guy had been on a horse that we had at Paroa Bay in the Bay of Islands!
Carter said that in the not too distant future he would like to come back to Retiro to learn how to ride los caballos properly. We are sure that Abuela Jean could give him some useful pointers in that direction!
Anyway, it was an experience and very satisfying to have had, and survive more or less in one piece! After dismounting (which yours truly had to be helped with, since he seemed to have become welded in the saddle!), we made our way to La Liebre (the Hare), which is our favourite breakfast restaurant with our NZ orchid breeder friend, Andy, on Sunday mornings. We had several Cervezas (beer) and an excellent lunch which assuaged our general hunger and thirst - then made our shaky way to the car which was in a near-by carpark. Just as well we didn't have to walk all the way home!
We also organised a lunch one day and our lawyer, Astrid, and our friend, Monica, came also. We had ordered food from an Arab food restaurant along the road and everyone brought food as well. It was good for Perry to have met Astrid and we had a very enjoyable time.
Then on their day of departure, Andy came to breakfast and it was another pleasant occasion with expertly cooked scrambled eggs and crispy bacon cooked by yours truly. The politics flew thick and fast! Andy had lived for many years in various parts of the US, including Florida, so lots to talk about.
On that day we had organised a station wagon and driver to take them to the airport, but he didn't turn up and so we were getting concerned. Our Cuban neighbour, Jose, who had also been present at the aforementioned breakfast, however came to the rescue with his Volvo and delivered them all to the airport. He has a young 7 yr old daughter, Celeste, and the boys met her at various times and had an impromptu game of Futball in the road outside our house.
On the subject of the car - it is certainly true that when one buys an old classic (like us!), it probably takes about a year to finally iron out all the issues - like us!! The main thing with the old Merc. has been with overheating. It has 3 cooling fans - one belt driven from the engine which needed a new clutch, and 2 electric fans in front of the radiator. The clutch was replaced some time ago, but the electric fans have been becoming more erratic and we think the issue is simply the relay which controls them according to engine temperature. We have an excellent mechanic who owns his business in Medellin, but it is a bit of business going down there all the time. It is an experience going down the Las Palmas hill in a tow truck with the best part of 2 tons of Merc. sitting right behind the cab! But the tow truck driver was very competent and he didn't drop the car on the road. We had a hilarious conversation as we descended the hill. All in broken Spanish and with the occasional help from Google Translate. The difficulty was hitting the right buttons on the phone with all the jarring movement of the truck! But we explained how we had sailed our yacht 8,000 miles from NZ to Thailand and how big the boat was - only 12 metres - and how it was just us two loco old people who had set sail. People here find it hard to comprehend how anyone could do such a thing, mainly because here we are some distance from the sea and of course well above sea level. Such is the diversity of life. Most Colombians are intrigued as to why we choose to live in Colombia when we come from such a beautiful country as NZ. We simply say that we gained the wanderlust over the 10 years that we lived on the boat and that Colombia is equally as beautiful a country as NZ - different in many respects of course, but nevertheless entirely true. If you shut your eyes for a second up here you could easily imagine that you were still in NZ. A lot of the country is so similar. But establishing a new life in a foreign country with a foreign language and buying property, etc. is not for the faint-hearted and certainly not all beer and skittles! However, having said that, we feel blessed to be living in such a pleasant country town as Retiro. There is no way we could afford such a similar lifestyle in NZ.
But enough nostalgic philosophising - back to the car. Up here there is simply no-one with the necessary knowledge to successfully trouble-shoot the problems with a 30 year old car, especially one with no computers! If you can't plug it in, they are lost! Anyway, the other day the car developed a serious "miss" which meant we had to get a tow wagon down to Medellin - for the second time! A few months ago we had thought we had found a reasonable garage (taller) in Llanogrande and at that time asked them to change the spark plugs as we had no information as to when they had been replaced in the past. However, during the course of the "miss" fixing, it was discovered that the "new" plugs were in fact not new at all - and we had paid for them back then. But it's not worth going back to complain because the business has changed hands. At the time of writing the car is still in Medellin getting the electrics sorted - and the relay for the fans! It has taken 3 visits to Medellin so far to persuade our guy that this is likely the problem because like most Colombians, he has his own ideas and they really don't listen. Jean had consulted a W124 owners' group on Facebook and that was a recurring piece of advice, that relay failure is a common problem - and easily fixed. We also had this issue to some extent with aspects of the building alterations. Hopefully in the next couple of days we will get the car back and all will be well, including the relay! We've done a lot of preventative maintenance as well (brake hoses for instance!) and usually the attitude is - "they're ok - why replace before they break?" However, we don't want a brake malfunction on the Las Palmas hill between here and Medellin which drops 2,000 feet in less than 20 kms!! But to be fair, our "dueno del garage" is completely understanding and doesn't question such things.
We have been becoming expert at catching the El Retiro bus - either going down to collect the car, or in reverse after dropping the old girl off! The other passengers on the bus are unfailingly helpful when making one's way to a seat, especially when they espy decrepit old Gringos like us! And the bus will stop anywhere you want to get on or off. It's usually a very comfortable ride. We now use the San Diego stop which is only a 10-15 minute walk from the taller (workshop) and along the way there are a number of local eateries which offer such irresistible delicacies as Papas Rellenas, which are potato crusts filled with prime ground beef, mashed potato and carrots. And excellent coffee tinto - small Americanos. And SO many tallers for cars and motorcycles - all full and conducting repairs ad nauseam. Even overflowing out onto the footpaths and streets - right under the no parking signs! It's a totally eclectic scene alive with activity. And not a mask in sight - even on the bus!!
And now to the more sober matters we want to discuss. We break them down by country -
NEW ZEALAND - this is not the first time that we have felt appalled at being citizens of Godszone, but it is by far the worst. We reproduce below in full a transcript of "Baby Will's" forcible blood transfusion against the express wishes of his parents. This story has gone viral all over the internet and the following is taken verbatim from the Patriotic Times, Reno, Nevada. There are almost daily many other identical posts, including videos, which are very hard to watch, of the NZ Police actively restraining the parents in the hospital from preventing their baby's forcible abduction. NZ's reputation is in the gutter.
"NZ COURT KIDNAPS "BABY WILL" FROM PARENTS OVER UNVACCINATED BLOOD FIGHT.
A NZ court has taken custody of a baby who needs a life-saving heart surgery, after the medical establishment in that country argued that the parents are "conspiracy theorists". The parents made a request to provide "Baby Will" with a blood transfusion from an unvaccinated person. They had dozens of unvaccinated volunteers who were willing to donate blood for Baby Will's surgery.
In ruling against them, the court took custody of the baby from the parents, so that the health establishment in that country can now inject Baby Will with the blood of a vaccinated person against the will of the parents. The parents' argument was perfectly logical and reasonable, based on the fact that they had willing blood donors lined up to contribute plasma samples for the baby. The parents' lawyers argued the following before the court:
The blood of a Covid vaccinated person is certain to have spike proteins present in it. The only question is what the concentration of spike proteins will be. The doctor who was supposed to perform Baby Will's heart surgery admitted to having no expertise when it comes to the Phizer/Moderna mRNA shots. But instead of listening to the parents or doing any research, their doctor labelled the parents as "conspiracy theorists" because of their concern for Baby Will's health.
Keep in mind that the parents WANT Baby Will to have this surgery. Their concern is with the safety of the blood supply when so many people have submitted to these shots.
Baby Will's mother had these concerns because another baby at the same hospital is in serious distress and coughing up blood clots after receiving a transfusion during surgery. Here we have actual evidence that points to potential harm from a contaminated blood supply.
The parents' lawyers argued that the mRNA shots are not safe. This is true based on mountains of evidence. It is also true that spike proteins can be shed from a vaccinated mother's breastmilk to her baby during nursing. This has been conclusively, scientifically proven in multiple studies now. What we don't know is whether the spike protein remains in donated blood samples, and whether the spike proteins can thereby be transferred to an unvaccinated person through a transfusion.
No-one knows the answer to that question for two key reasons:
No-one is testing the blood supply for the presence of spike proteins, and no studies have been done showing us the answer one way or another. I'd be thrilled if the studies show that a person cannot get infected with spike proteins through a blood transfusion. That would be great news for humanity in the wake of this medical catastrophe. But the honest truth is that no-one knows.
Finally, the parents' attorneys argued that the New Zealand Blood Supply and Baby Will's doctors should be looking for proof of safety instead of looking for proof of harm. This was a smart argument, because many hospitals are covering up cases in which babies are dying as a result of the spike protein in blood transfusions.
Steve Kirsch brings up a baby in Spokane, Washington State, who received surgery at Sacred Heart Hospital. "Baby Alex" had his surgery and then began coughing up blood clots earlier this year. The doctors laughed at Baby Alex's parents and told them that vaccinated blood is "super safe" when they expressed concerns that the transfusion could have caused the baby's clotting problems. The doctors backpedalled when Baby Alex died. Then they scrubbed the records, so there's no official proof about the case that you can find anywhere, except on "conspiracy" websites - and the Mom's Facebook page.
Finding proof of harm is extremely difficult in this environment, so the lawyers argued that New Zealand health authorities should be looking for proof of safety. And there's no proof of safety!
Even though the parents had blood donors lined up and ready to give samples for the baby, and the parents want the surgery, the court ruled against them. The government now has Baby Will in its custody and plans to do the surgery using vaccinated blood "for the child's well-being". Never mind that kidnapping a baby from its parents under colour of law is never good for any child. We should all be praying for a good outcome for Baby Will's surgery, now that a court has taken him away from the parents and is going to force the operation on him against the reasonable conditions the parents asked for."
For us, this says it all about NZ's fixation with cold-hearted, narcissistic authority, and is just an extension of the disastrous management of the whole Covid so-called pandemic. We wouldn't put it past the NZ health crooks to actually covertly ensure that Baby Will gets unvaccinated blood to ensure that there is a good outcome. It would be a very bad look if the baby died!
We see that there is to be a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the NZ Government's handling of the Covid pandemic! That should throw up some interesting conclusions - unless the results are rigged!
** Undoubtedly all the foregoing could be hard reading for anyone vaccinated and for that we apologise. However, a diligent search of the internet can suggest some effective blood cleansing methods, and although we have no specific knowledge of any of these, we believe that there are some that would be well worth pursuing. We can only wish you well in these endeavours.
To put all this in perspective, at the moment NZ's "active case" number, according to Worldometres.com, is 38,926 in a population of 4,898,203 (0.795%), Colombia's number is 35,947 in a population of 51,512,762 (0.0698%), Australia's is 299,936 in a population of 26,068,792 (1.151%) and the USA's number is 1,645,720 in a population of 334,805,269 (0.492%). So, based on populations, NZ's number of active cases is therefore 11.4 times higher than Colombia's, 0.4 times LOWER than Australia and 1.6 times higher than that of the USA. This graphically illustrates the sheer mismanagement and total incompetence and outright coercion that has characterised NZ's handling of Covid. It is typical of a Socialist attitude to everything; heavy-handed and ignorant authoritarianism. Australia seems even worse.
If you have the stomach for it, have a look at the Epoch Times' many articles about vaccine injuries. Most of them make the blood run cold and they are all backed by many scientific studies.
This combined with the sheer evil racism and democracy destroying intent of 3 Waters (now 5 Waters) means that the Ardern Marxists have to go before they can do any more damage.
The Hamilton West by-election result was a ray of light, but we feel very dubious about National's commitment to overturning all the Socialist excesses of the past few years. There have to be more obvious signs of "FIGHT". It's all very well to talk of "keeping the powder dry", but if they do that, it will be too late for the next election, and it's totally possible that a Labour/Green/Maori coalition will prevail. That would mean the end of NZ. BE WARNED.
UNITED STATES - the November Midterms were a great disappointment to all who value the US Constitution and the freedom of the 246 year old Republic of the United States of America. The GOP took the House by a very slim majority, but lost the Senate. Blame has been cast in all directions, but it comes down to the RINOS (Republicans in Name Only) not supporting a genuine Conservative agenda and the failure of the GOP to develop the street-fighting techniques necessary to defeat the criminal and cheating Dems - in particular to handle the new election system being constantly pushed by the Dems - that of "Election Month" instead of Election Day.
As all electoral law is handled by individual states, it is necessary for the GOP to do all they can to elect GOP Governors and State Legislatures. Only then will the rampant and entrenched electoral corruption that cost President Trump the 2020 election be sufficiently controlled.
The same electoral shenanigans that happened in 2020 in Maricopa County, Arizona which comprises most of the City of Phoenix, have happened again. But this time there is a very determined GOP candidate for Governor, Kari Lake, who is suing every entity she can find to expose the attempted disgraceful criminal theft of the 2022 Midterm election. She MUST succeed and the criminals responsible for the charade must be prosecuted. The margin is very narrow, so she has a very good chance. All power to her.
On top of all this, we are having the unedifying spectacle of Dr. Fauci being forced to testify before Congress and telling a pack if lies about US agencies funding Gain of Function Research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, in spite of that "research" having been totally forbidden by the Obama Administration! Fauci is completely evil, having been almost totally responsible for the Chinese Virus along with the Chinese.
Next year when the GOP controls Congress from Jan. 3rd., Fauci will be subpoenaed again and very likely prosecuted for crimes against humanity. And he won't be the only one.
UNITED KINGDOM - it is with a sense of bemusement that we have witnessed the musical chairs of PM and other senior Tory Party members. And in all of that, we had the immense sadness of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. She was our Head of State for 70 years and she was the glue that held the Commonwealth together during a period of great turmoil with previous members of the British Empire all gaining independence. If it wasn't for her, the Commonwealth would not now exist. May we say that Jean wishes to recuse herself from these comments concerning the Royal Family!
We see the Tories totally betraying the trust that the electorate placed in them in 2019 when Nigel Farage of the then Brexit Party literally handed Boris Johnson an 80 seat majority in the Commons on a plate by agreeing not to stand in marginal, or any seats where the Tories had a good chance of winning. Now that trust has gone out the window and the Tories are looking at the greatest loss in their history when Farage's Reform Party sweeps the stage. Reform is already at 9% in the polls and the Tory support is crumbling. Reform is the only party that one can trust to complete the exit from the bankrupt European Union. Sunak et al are all secret Remoaners and would like to take the UK back into the EU. In the meantime, the Tories are well on the way to destroying Britain with their lunatic permissive immigration negligence - we hesitate to dignify this by calling it policy. This is similar to much of what is happening on the southern border of the United States.
Which brings us to our final point -
King Charles III, Rishi Sunak, PM of the UK, Trudeau, PM of Canada, Albanese, PM of Australia, Biden, President of the USA, and Ardern, PM of NZ and most European leaders (except those of Sweden and Italy) are all in the World Economic Forum led by that evil bastard, Klaus Schwab, whose favorite protege is Ardern of NZ. This is a cartel of evilness which wishes to establish poverty and population reduction on the world. Just witness the forced sale of 3,000 Dutch farms because the owners could not meet the strictures of lowering fertiliser use and the threats to fine NZ farmers if they do not reduce "emissions" from farm animals. Not to mention the unaffordability of fossil fuels directly caused by the Biden Administration's war against US fossil fuel production. Can you see the web of connection aimed at the destruction of western economies by the traitors named above - and many others for sure? Destruction of food production is a major method of achieving these goals.
Aided in all of this is a cartel of 2 billionaires, Michael Bloomfield who is the propagandist for this evil bunch, and Larry Fink, the CEO of Blackrock which is an investment manager with 10 TRILLION US dollars under management. He is the money man for the cartel. These people wish to destroy everything which we hold dear and which we have known all our lives.
We cannot predict what will happen, but after a cruel winter in northern Europe, people will rise up with unknown consequences. We also think that the divide in the US is now so deep that it will never be healed, and that after all the corruption perpetrated in the Midterm elections, the most likely scenario is Secession of the GOP states from the Dem states. No-one talks about this, but it seems to us to be inevitable.
There is a great financial recession coming in 2023, the consequences of which are unpredictable, except to say that they will be very far-reaching. And finally we read that Russia will no longer accept US dollars for their oil; they will only be accepting gold. That will have very negative consequences for the US dollar as the world's reserve currency. This USD hegemony is coming to an end and just what effect this will have on the currencies of NZ and Colombia is anyone's guess. 2023 is going to be a rough ride.
With that we wish everyone a very Happy Christmas - may earlier family rifts caused by the Covid evilness be overcome - and a New Year in which everyone can survive as well as possible.
With all best wishes,
Jim and Jean in El Retiro, Colombia xoxoxoxoxo
7
