Family Pictures

When I was in Montreal this summer, we had a chance to get our family pictures done by our favorite photographer Monique Simone who does Montreal Wedding Photography. She did our pictures a few years ago. Here are my favorite ones:

I will put up a link to our pictures once I get it. Monique will even make a book with all the pictures in it. A perfect gift!

Online Billing Solution

I am addicted to Freshbooks. I've been searching for an online billing solution for my IT business for years, and I stumbled onto Freshbooks.

Try it for free here. It's free for up to 5 clients.

This is how I use it. I'm at a client, I do some work, sell some gear and I log on to Freshbooks. I make sure the client is created, I make my bill, send it by email to the customer, print it on the spot, accept the check, apply payment, send an automated email back to the customer that the bill has been paid. Done. I leave with a check in hand, my billing done.

It will track expenses and make reports for taxes (GST, QST). You can add your own logo, choose the colors...it's great!

Try it today! Customers love it.

https://compuquest.freshbooks.com/signup/

Making sense of the world

I recently finished reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins.

This book was hard to put down! Controversy follows John Perkins which you can research in Wikipedia but I have to admit that it does ring true, and makes sense.

Enjoy.

Windows XP - RIP

Just got advised by Dell, that XP will no longer be available on Dells...kind of. July 18th was the last day to buy a Dell with an OEM license of XP.

On June 30th, Microsoft will officially kill XP. Oh sure, they make it sound better with the acronym EOL (End of Life), but really, Bill is taking XP behind the Microsoft Campus and will Tarantino XP.

What about those who don't want to go to Vista? You can buy a Vista Business/Ultimate downgrade option, in which you pay for Vista, but Dell will ship with XP pre-installed.

So...Bill...XP escaped!

iPhone & Zune in Canada

After all this time, the iPhone will finally come to Canada via Rogers. Story here.



The Zune, which is now in it's second generation is also available in Canada. This product seemed to have been pushed out the door of Microsoft pretty early, and with many missgivings. This latest version is much better and a nice competitor to the iPod.

Ads on websites

I have a few websites. I have my corporate website CompuQuest, website about Moving to Mexico, a fun site called Names 4 Bands, one of my Podcasts Outside The Artist's Studio and the other Cuddle Podcast.

Apart from my corporate site, I don't generate any money from these sites. They are mostly just for fun, or informational. I donate my time to these projects and I have come to know a lot about web marketing in the process.

I used to find ads annoying and thought that clicking on a banner was a sin. If you are on a dubious site, I don't recommend clicking on a banner... During the course of any day, I do gets lots of valuable information from the web. Now that I have so many site, and wish to generate a little bit of cash for my effort, I have changed my opinion of ads. If I find something useful on a site, I now out of courtesy click on an ad. I now feel good about myself, that by doing this little gesture, I have contributed to that person's efforts.

I'm not asking you to start going to all my sites and clicking on ads! That would actually be cheating. But the next time you find a useful tidbit of information on a page...click an ad and help a fellow web developer.

The Mexican Experience

The other night, we decided to go to the Bucerias Mexico town square to find a red cowboy hat for Breanna, as she had to dress up for an International Expo at Colegio Bucerias. Of course, we met many tourists while eating a fresh Churro (a Mexican version of the Beaver Tail but costs only $0.30) and spoke to a few of the local shop owners. All the while, my dad was standing on the corner watching a bunch of Mariachis playing just outside a house. They had a big table on the street and guests...looked like a party. Next time I look back, my dad is sitting down with the locals right in front of the show. A few people came and talked to him. Now I'm thinking they are saying: "Hey gringo, this is a private party!" Turns out, my dad was standing on the corner and the Grandfather got his son to invite my dad to sit down since he looked interested in the music. A few introduced themselves, and next thing you know, it was announced that the next song was going to be dedicated and picked by my dad. My dad was not sure what to pick so they dedicated the song Pancho Villa to him, because of course my dad looks like a Mexican Revolutionary! He was offered but declined drinks and to have supper with the family. We all left the town square, but he returned there with my mom to catch the last few songs of the night. This is the culture of the Mexicans. I had a similar experience here on our street. Ryan went to take care of the puppies down the street, at the founders of P.E.A.C.E. (Protection, Education, Animals, Culture and Environment) and when I went down to check up on him, I passed a little pickup with some of the friends of the organization. They were taking a much needed day off. Wendy was off with Molly horseback ridding. I was invited by the boys to try a cracker with a spoonfull of a mix of shrimp, green chili and cucumber. Wow...that tasted yummy...but a little hot. So they offered me a Cerveza (Pacifico). I ended up spending a good part of the afternoon hanging around, having a few Cervezas, shrimp, and talking. The neighbor showed us this weird fruit which I am pretty sure is the Durian, and I was able to taste it. It smells pretty overpowering, but it tastes like a mixture of banana, mango and melon. There is this weird liquid that is very sticky, so preparing the fruit is not very pleasant...but I froze it and use it in smoothies. So, we have a lot to learn about hospitality from complete strangers.

The TelMex experience. I requested a phone line on November 22, 2007. It was installed last week (around the 6th of March 2008). So, the first time I went, I signed up, got my order paper and was told that within a week or two, I would have my phone line and Internet. Of course...friends told me more like 8 weeks, unless you find a TelMex guy in your neighborhood and flash a 100 pesos in front of his windshield. But...I don't like encouraging bribery to get something done. A few weeks later...I returned and they could not find me in the computer! Did they spell my name wrong? A few days later, I returned and progress...I had an order number! This was sometime in January. February goes by...no news. March comes around...and it was time to make another visit to TelMex. They type my order number and (drum roll please!)...my order has been cancelled. Apparently someone went to my place and no one was there (the owners are here 24/7) so they cancelled the order. Nice. Thanks for telling me. This happenned to my neighbor also...so don't believe everything they tell you. They asked me if I still wanted it...h*ll yeah! This time...I got a number...a phone number to go with my order! Progess. Two days later...they installed my phone line. The installer told me to call TelMex to order the Internet, which I did. After being passed around till I got someone who spoke English, I was told that I had to wait till I got my first phone bill before ordering the high speed...so at least 30 days. Never believe what they say. I went back to TelMex, got my modem and was told that it would be active in 48 hours. 48 hours VS 30 days. What did I learn? With TelMex, you have to ask for something at least 3 times and if you speak to 3 different people...you will get three different answers.

But, today I went to lunch with Wendy on the beach and had the Ultimate Biffer (it's a burger) with the best french fries in Bucerias (Biff's Beach Restaurant and Surf Shop) and a cerveza looking at the waves. Kind of puts all this TelMex stuff in perspective.

So when you get frustrated, or disapointed with something in Mexico...go to the beach, have some comfort food and beer...and it all goes away!

This week we also went for our FM3 form...which will allow us to keep the truck in the country for more than 6 months...so I'm 1/2 mexican!

January in Mexico

Last time we left off...we were shopping for furniture, and we were still wet behind the ears (not sweat!).

It is now mid January and Ryan lost his first tooth today. We were able to find some more furniture, so our place isn't so bare anymore. Believe it or not, we went to IQEA in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and it was the size of a large room with about 10 Ikea pieces. Sure enough...you can read Ikea right on the boxes. We got this Expedit which sells for $250 in Canada, but $330 here...so not too big a rip-off. Can you believe it that I come all the way down here, and buy Ikea, which by the way is Swedish for "crap". We found a nice lime green hide-a-bed at Sam's Club that looks modern enough for the living room...so we have room for 2 visitors now. We also got bar height table and chairs off a truck in the street. Gotta love Mexico for guys driving around with stuff to sell.

We also got our washer/dryer from Home Depot in PV. It's still very new, and the staff are all over the place (as in disorganized) and nowhere to be found at the same time. On one visit, they billed me about $6 for a nut. It took about 45 minutes for me to get a refund!

For a country where things are very relaxed, I do find one thing ironic. They are never in a hurry...except when they get into a car...and now they are in a rush to go somewhere!

I ordered my High Speed Internet with TelMex. Now TelMex is kind of a monopoly, so you can just imagine...add 1 part of "we don't care...you can't get it anywhere else", 2 parts "come back tomorrow", with a cup of "for sure they will install your line tomorrow!" I ordered Nov. 22th...and we are now January 16th! They at first told me it was going to be about a week. But...it's Mexico and you can't really get mad, you just wait, have a Cerveza and eventually it will get done.

Part of the challenge of living here is accepting Mexico for its faults. You just can't get angry when these types of things happen...you just smile. Here we are in these little towns that just grow at an incredible rate and you can't expect the people to have "big city" smarts or know-how.

When you are tempted to blow your top...stop...go to the beach...have a nice lunch and a Cerveza and everything is forgotten. We really enjoy Karen's Place for breakfast or lunch when you just want to get away. Listen to the waves crash on the shore and eat some good food. For the best tacos hands down is a little place in La Cruz called Tacos on the Street. Not sure the exact address, but it's in my GPS. It's pretty much of a given that every Sunday night we are there. We have tried elsewhere...but none compare! Of course The Shamrock Irish Pub is a great place for a burger (about $7) and a Pint, especially during happy hour. They even have a kids menu! They also have free Wi-Fi...so technically, I could work from there! We found a good little Pizza place with a wood burning oven the next town closer to PV. Some of these little places don't have liquor licenses, so you can bring your own beer, which makes it even cheaper!

They just built a Mega in our town, which is kind of like a department store that is half for groceries. The Mexican Loblaws! Now, we don't have to venture into Puerto Vallarta for supplies.

The kids are in a Mexican private school which is half Spanish, half English. It is called Colegio Bucerias. I am very impressed by how nice they are there. The prices are very fair. More than I was expecting to pay, but it's important that the kids have good schooling, so well worth it and reasonable.

We love our little town. It's just big enough to allow us many new things to explore, but not as busy as PV. Of course, being close to PV, we pretty much have it all.

I was back in Montreal for the end of the year...and that was depressing! Cold...damp...dark...I missed the sun. Although it was great to see the friends, roll around in the snow and jump back into the hot tub on New Year's, and do a few favorite restaurants...I was actually happy to be back! Wow.

So I will sign off for now...and report back soon.