#1389 – The Expat Files: Bitcoin, Stray Dogs, and Life in Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now as I wonder Hello there all you ex-pad wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the ex-pad files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started Let's start out with this email a real blast from the past This is from mr. L. He says Johnny. I was at one of your expanded cider seminars in 2017 I remember exactly what happened during this seminar

[00:45] We were talking about how to move money from the United States down to Latin America More specifically how to move precious metals like silver gold and platinum Especially if you have some pretty hefty physically heavy quantities of it I remember you said some Latin countries let you ship there but they'll tax the hell out of you once it arrives in the adwana or customs and That you really didn't want a chance taking more than $10,000 worth even if the face value like on a gold coin was $50 because if you physically take it Let's say through the airport They might assign the real value the market value not the $50 stamped on the coin in any event You're always at risk that they could confiscate it if they got mean for any reason at all

[01:33] So you and some other speakers at the seminar suggested that you take your gold silver platinum Whatever change it to dollars then buy Bitcoin with those dollars in the US Come on down to Latin America with your Bitcoin wallet in hand or just your key phrase in your head and Re-buy your gold and silver with that Bitcoin now I remember at the time in 2017 most of us heard of Bitcoin But only a couple of us had it and you talked quite a bit about it at the seminar And of course the famous Bitcoin Dan gave a presentation. I believe it was about an hour I admit I didn't understand much of Bitcoin Dan's presentation at all. But man, the guy's a genius There are very few times in your life. You get to hitch your wagon to a certified genius

[02:22] So even after the first or second day, I decided to buy some Bitcoin. I had my computer with me. I Remember sitting at the lounge at our first hotel. There was a very good Wi-Fi signal there So me and four other seminar attendees that makes five in total We all decided to buy some Bitcoin the price at that time around 900 bucks now as anyone who's into Bitcoin Knows, it's quite a learning experience to get a wallet get started get comfortable with it, etc Luckily two out of the five guys in our group had already set up wallets and we're ready to go I remember one of the guys had his wife with him and she wasn't so sure he should make that initial investment 900 bucks for a Bitcoin. I believe in the end they did it But one of the other guys had to call his wife back home and get permission

[03:10] She put the hammer down and said let's talk about it when you get back home for now She said don't just don't you know what that means if you do you're in the doghouse, right? I understand some weeks later when she finally agreed to it Bitcoin was at 1200 bucks and that was the end of that that extra $300 spread put cold water on the deal To her and 900 bucks on something that could be a fluke was bad enough, but 1200. No way Anyway, Johnny. I just wanted to tell you at that day I bought two and a half Bitcoin all told I dropped around $2,500 today. I just wanted to drop you a line saying thanks a million Both to you and of course Bitcoin Dan what prompted me to write you now, and this is the first time I've written

[03:56] I listened to the show all the time, but I've never written before is because this morning Bitcoin hit $85,000 so my initial $2,500 investment is now worth 212 thousand dollars That's an eight thousand four hundred percent return on my investment And when I think about that return in regards to traditional investments like in the stock market bonds t-bills CDs The whole thing's really just unbelievable because all my life I've been told in regards to investments if you could get a seven percent return on your money year over year You were doing just fine So by the rule of sevens which I heard you talk about some years back Johnny if you have an investment Let's say a CD paying seven percent after seven years. You'll double your money

[04:44] In other words your return on investment after seven years is a hundred percent That's supposed to be a good thing a decent investment not bad not great But we should be happy with that you get it after seven years if you get a hundred percent return on whatever investment You made you're doing pretty good millions of investors would be very happy with that so when I think about that Eight thousand four hundred percent return I got on that Bitcoin about seven years ago Versus the rest of the investors in the real world who will take a hundred percent return over seven years I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world and the dumbest guy at the same time because I didn't buy more I mean back then in 2017 at your seminar I did buy more a year or so later some at five thousand some at ten thousand So my actual bag is five point something Bitcoin and man Johnny wouldn't you know it?

[05:33] I'm the hero in my house Sometimes though I wonder about those other two guys you know a little group of five that never did buy Bitcoin Or maybe they did at much higher prices, but not at the seminar when it was only 900 bucks I wonder how that one gentleman's wife at home who put the brakes on the deal How she feels about the fact that she killed her family's greatest investment by far I wonder if he and her still getting arguments about it. I Wonder if they're still together, and if they are is he still taking financial advice from her? In any event I want to once again thank you and Bitcoin Dan for putting a hell of a lot of excitement into my life and If you're wondering where I'm at of my plan B I'm scheduled to get the hell out of dodge sometime early next year and you and Bitcoin Dan made that possible

[06:23] We'll be seeing you in a couple of months Johnny signed mr. L. Well. Thanks for that mr. L You know I get emails like yours every once in a while. I also get emails that say Johnny How come I didn't buy just one when so many people around me were doing it? so I hear it at both ends of it guys who pulled the trigger and guys who didn't and Unfortunately a lot of the guys who failed to pull the trigger early on did so or failed to do so Because their wives or better haves talked him out of it poo-pooed the idea and you know when I hear stories like that mr. Oh, I wonder to are they still together now that bitcoins 80 something thousand bucks Talk about the harshest kind of I told you so oh And you know after talking about Bitcoin on this show for what ten years now

[07:12] I think I first brought it up when I was around 300 bucks Anyway, I remember maybe about seven years ago around the same time One of the young ladies that came to my seminar was back and forth about buying Bitcoin There were some days. She was absolutely ready to buy some and then the next day no She'd say I have some extra money, and I'm gonna put it into gold not Bitcoin then the next day She say no, I think I'll put it in Bitcoin again. This was probably when it was around a thousand bucks Maybe less I remember she called me a number of times and wrote me a bunch of emails saying I don't know about this Bitcoin stuff Can you give me some assurances and I said no I can't give you any Assurances except I do know it's gonna go to the moon. I just know that it will I went through all the reasoning all the smartest guys

[07:57] I know and I know lots of them much smarter than me. We're diving in head first So you could say I hooked my wagon to the smartest guys in the room as well I just saw firsthand how many of my brilliant friends backing it a hundred percent I read the Bitcoin white paper at least I tried to read it didn't understand it all But I got the idea and the math behind it, so I remember seven eight years ago Whatever this young lady on the fence about buying Bitcoin trying to get me To give her assurances that it wasn't a scam that it was really gonna blow up In a good way, and I could do that but give no time frame on it All I could say is all the smartest people I know are into it meanwhile at that time Wall Street the banks big governments small governments They all hated it did everything in their power to try to destroy it you remember that don't you?

[08:46] Look at how big governments the World Bank the IMF how they tried to shit on Buchally from El Salvador when he put the country on the Bitcoin standard Yeah, right. He bought most of his Bitcoin. I believe at around 20,000 bucks and now it's 80 Wow, what a fool, huh? He's what in four years now had more than a 400% return on his money or on the country's money Anyway, I have had probably hundreds of conversations with people about Bitcoin from folks on the fence wanting my assurances Well you guys and gals listen to this show know my opinion on it And I'd have to say many many more people didn't buy Than did even though I said over and over again way back when Bitcoin was 300 bucks

[09:34] I must have told hundreds of people look drop a thousand bucks and get some Bitcoin sure It's a speculation, but if you lose a grand, it's not gonna wipe you out. You're not gonna lose sleepover I'd say things like look how many times have you blown a thousand bucks on something you thought wasn't worth it at all Something stupid like a sting or a Taylor Swift concert Did it ruin your life? Meanwhile, I still get the occasional. Thank you text or email from people who now have that so-called You money and man if that's not one of the greatest feelings in the world. I don't know what is Then again There are sad stories of people who bought Bitcoin and got sucked into those meme coins and switching back and forth between shit coins Whether the flavor of the month or the shit coin of the week It turns out if you started your crypto journey with Bitcoin switching to other coins was not such a very good idea

[10:25] Well as it turns out after about 15 years of cryptocurrency existence The original crypto number one being Bitcoin did exactly what it was supposed to do and the other shit coins Well, not so much and nowadays with thousands of shit coins and meme coins and tokens My opinion is if you don't stick with the top two or three coins, it's a minefield Anyway, there's not a single Bitcoin person I know who doesn't wish that he would have just bought his Bitcoin and stashed it away The dirty truth is most all original Bitcoiners wish they never ever had dabbled in shit coins Most original Bitcoiners. I know would be worth a ton more money They'd be multi multi millionaires if they just would have held on to their Bitcoin Stash it away and never switched back and forth to shit coins and not moved it around

[11:13] I mean so many guys I know bought Bitcoin then aetherium came out So they switched some Bitcoin to theory then to Tron and doge and Solana and tether and polka dot Well, guess what that switching back and forth to get better returns almost always ended up working against you Oh, and of course from the beginning there were lots of scams and ripoff artists It's sort of a guarantee if you've been in cryptocurrency from the start you've been ripped off or gouged somehow We've all had our knocks. It's part of paying your crypto dues Hopefully though you've hung on to some of it one of the saddest bitcoin stories I know though is a guy that came to my very first seminar guy from Italy very very smart guy software engineer type He was in really early. He bought a thousand bitcoin at around I think a dollar so he paid two grand for two thousand bitcoin

[12:01] Well, he sat back and watched it go up and up and up and when it hit 300 bucks, he sold it all He cashed in his bitcoin for six hundred thousand dollars. That's a fortune, right? 600 grand Yeah, but if he would have held on to it today, he'd be sitting on more than a hundred and sixty million dollars Yeah, you heard me right a hundred and sixty Million dollars. Yep. I know this guy and I know when he wakes up in the morning Here's a very hard time getting out of bed. Just imagine that everywhere you go everywhere you look Your computer your phone everywhere. There's a screen. They're flashing you today's bitcoin price. That's part of the financial news, right? Now imagine you're the guy who sold the one hundred and sixty million dollar winning lottery ticket for

[12:48] 600 grand, but maybe that would be okay with you. Could you live with that? Could you hell they'll shoot you dead on the street in chicago for a pair of tennis shoes worth what 50 bucks All right, moving on This one's from ted on a subject that's near and dear to my heart. He titles it latin american street dogs. Haha. Yeah Hi, johnny. I've listened to a lot of your podcasts, but i've heard you discuss domestic house dogs in latin america a lot but not too much stray or street dogs He says in most places a dog is man's best friend But street dogs can be a problem in that respect. Are they your best friends? Not likely He says in latin america. It seems that many ignore Street dog problems and like most ignored problems. It just gets worse and worse

[13:38] Dogs barking at night echoing through the streets Crap on the sidewalks kids getting attacked on the way to school When I mentioned this stray dog problem to latinos, they just look at me like i'm talking to the clouds It's a completely irrelevant subject Though he says I have seen a few people and latin american municipalities Deal with the street dog problem in different ways This could get a little morbid, but i've heard you say you were on a dog cleanup crew before johnny So this might hit home, but that's another thing Anyway, he says in one town of about a hundred thousand people in nikorago Where I lived I would get a full view of all the street dogs in my neighborhood Seems every street corner had one or two or three limping around full of fleas mangy in horrible shape

[14:29] And then oddly enough over a couple of days and nights stayed all just vanish I suspect the municipality would discreetly poison them and clean them up before they made a mess Not really sure though. Who knows what happens to dogs when they vanish? There were no hashens in my neighborhood. So it was a mystery strangely enough though He says in about four to six months the dogs would all grow back They wouldn't exactly be the same ones Anyhow, it seemed like they all grew back and the streets and sidewalks were once again filled with poop landmines and errant dogs only to surprisingly enough vanish again overnight That's what would happen in that little town in nikorago. I lived in Now for a while I lived in a beach town in columbia

[15:16] Town of about a hundred thousand again The people would constantly poison the nuisance dogs and the dogs would then go seek water and die by the river So he says after every rain certain beaches would have five to twenty dead dog carcasses scattered around However, the beaches would get cleaned up in short order because the elites owned condos on those beach shores Stray dogs were not welcome neither alive or dead and bloated Now in certain other places in latin america where I lived people did nothing at all about the street dogs He says sidewalks full of crap Barking all night people just didn't seem to care or notice The other problem is you often see good-hearted stray gringos feeding dogs

[16:01] And they act like they're making the world a better place or something Of course, they don't care about the after effects more dogs more feces on the sidewalk Ted says in the us the dog situations might not be perfect, but they get dealt with In us rural areas. He says most households have a small caliber rifle and humanely dispatch problem dogs In the cities people would not go for this obviously So there's the humane society for that They'll collect problem dogs and keep them for seven days or so and discreetly Just off them all the while leaving people thinking those dogs went to a good home He says johnny. I don't know what would be a good solution in latin america any ideas Curious to hear your take on it. Thanks. Johnny. Keep talking. We're listening

[16:50] Signed ted All right, ted. Thanks for that sounds like you really get around living in various latin american countries Good for you. And yes, I thoroughly agree that there is a dog problem here in latin america I also agree that the locals don't seem to be concerned about it at all Nor are they concerned with chicken buses blasting their horns terrible drivers and thieving politicians For that matter backyard roosters crawling at all hours of the day and night latinos in general are just more. Well Tolerant of everything. I find it's really hard to rile them up It seems one of the only things that really sets them off is jealousy, man They've got an extra gene for jealousy lots of crimes of passion down here We'll get to that in a future show real soon though as ted mentioned there are certain elite

[17:39] neighborhoods or gated guarded communities where you don't see stray dogs and if they're sitting out by the gate and they Happen to slip in they soon disappear I imagine the guards and the maintenance guys secretly take care of those problem dogs or maybe just shoe them out. I don't know One thing I have noticed though when you're walking around and you happen to see let's say two stray mangy dogs They almost never bother you They stay far far away except when they're used to hanging around restaurants and outdoor cafes I mean, there are groups of dogs who knows where they sleep at night, but during the day You'll see them hanging around restaurants and it seems some restaurant owners will put up with one or two of those scavengers As long as they don't bother the customers But then again, you've got those good-hearted gringos

[18:25] Tossing them scraps and bones. So in a way they're taught they're always somehow gonna get a meal Though here's what i've noticed seems if there's more than two dogs They'll be kind of antsy and high strung and on edge They're always a little schizo picking at each other one second and friendly the other, you know They've got that pecking order thing. They're always working on So three or more dogs look out because they can peck at you, too Funny thing too, you know backpackers gringle backpackers love to feed dogs. I don't get it Because you know you've often made a friend forever then and they'll follow you around everywhere I've personally seen many an idiot backpacker Who's inadvertently gathered up a pack of dogs behind him simply because he fed one or two and he just can't get rid of them

[19:11] In fact i've seen idiot backpackers pet cuddle and practically french kiss A mangy street dog who's got who knows how many fleas and parasites and diseases So really good-hearted gringo tourists, especially gringo backpackers are part of the problem But you know some latin americans especially educated cultured upscale latin americans don't put up with it They'll put up with gringos. Yes, but mangy dogs. No, they take action, but in a stealthy way For example, I personally know a latin american architect lived in a pretty nice neighborhood But it wasn't a gated guarded community nice houses interspersed with low-end houses and right next door there were two dogs that parked all night Well, here's what he did. He told me this personally. He went out and got some rat poison strict nine down here in latin america

[19:58] You can buy stuff like that in bulk for the rats, of course You know, there is a rat problem here in latin america, especially in the lower end neighborhoods the scruffy neighborhoods Of course, the garbage does get picked up regularly But it can accumulate in mounds for a day or two before they get to it after a day or two, it's ripe for rats and stray street dogs Anyway, according to the architect buddy of mine you can get rat poison almost anywhere in bulk in powder So he went out and he bought some mini hot dogs He took one of those wooden sticks he used for shish kebab Hollowed out the center of a few of those hot dogs and packed in a good dose of poison. That's what he told me He tossed a few over the fence for his next door neighbor dogs And he threw a few into the garbage pile out on the street

[20:47] He said that pile attracted rats and stray dogs now as happy as latinos are or seem to be Obviously they can be pushed to a limit They like most everyone have a line that can't be crossed and when it is they take action though Admittedly, it takes a hell of a lot to push a latino over the edge So ted when you talk about that incident in nicaragua where dogs seem to just disappear overnight sounds sort of organized to me Though it could be a lone wolf neighbor vigilante like my architect friend Just you know doing a sweep of the neighborhood for the benefit of everyone Though as a kind-hearted gringo you might be thinking why don't the neighbors just get together talk about it hire someone to round up the Dogs, etc, etc. Maybe haul them out 20 miles from nowhere and drop them off in the jungle

[21:35] Whatever they survived pretty well in the city. Why not out in the boonies now being that we're talking about latin america There's no sense hoping that people will get together round up dogs and pay to get them castrated That's not going to happen though. Again, believe it or not on the gringo tourist trail There are groups of do-gooder gringos that do engage veterinarians to do just that I've heard gringos talk about it. I've seen it advertised in gringo rags Go something like this. Come on down this sunday between the hours of 12 and 6 to doctor so-and-so's veterinary clinic Get your dog or cat neutered at no cost now. That's all good and well if it's your pet You always want to get your pet neutered if possible But it's absolutely no help for the street dogs Who's going to pick up a street dog and take him to a veterinary clinic to get castrated?

[22:21] You'll certainly get fleas and get bitten in the process, but you know how gringo expats are about their pet projects No pun intended. Well, maybe you know gringo expats have so much time on their hands. They air into those do-gooder things Even if doing good has negative secondary effects and that often happens Because we want to fix everything make it nice and first world, right? Meanwhile, the locals just think we're nuts. By the way one gringo. I know who really likes his guns Well, he lives in guatemala In a really nice gated guarded subdivision That's very big Lots of wooded areas houses spaced so far apart neighbors can't even see each other in some cases. Anyway When he first moved in all the lots were sold but not too many were built on yet

[23:08] Maybe one out of ten and wouldn't you know what there was a pack of stray dogs? Maybe seven or eight of them that would come around every once in a while and raid his garbage cans Now in his neighborhood there's a guard that lets you in and out you had to check in and check out and stuff And there were plenty of gardeners keeping the brush down and stuff Guys with machetes that would keep things tidy. No one really there to deal with those dogs And nobody really knew where they went at night. They just show up every once in a while during the day Raid garbage cans make a mess and go so he talked with a few of the machete boys and they said Nothing, you can do about it. You could poison them though. So he tried the poison trick I don't know exactly how he tried but he said it didn't work. They didn't bite. They wouldn't go for it So anyway after moving in and a couple of months of dogs raiding his garbage every couple of days

[23:57] He took his 22 rifle And put a homemade silencer on it, you know silencers are illegal, right? But did you know you could make one you just go on the internet You could find dozens and dozens of do-it-yourself silencers made from common everyday household materials It was the damnedest thing. He showed it to me. He made it out of a pvc pipe a two and a half inch diameter pipe Anyway, just big enough to hold the tennis ball actually three tennis ball Once the three tennis balls were in he capped up the ends of the tube with pvc end caps He drilled a hole just big enough to fit in the business end of his rifle A man if that thing didn't work as well as james bond's 007 walther ppk silencer

[24:42] I don't know what to tell you. Well, you might guess the ending here, but maybe not completely Turns out one day he waited on his roof with that gun. There was a full load of garbage in his cans He picked off one of the dogs in the pack the one who seemed to be the alpha he said And the rest scattered Guess what? He never saw him again But he had to be the cleanup on the dead dog crew Boy, am I an expert at that kind of work as ted mentioned in his email I had the pleasure of working for the chicago street department dead dog crew during one of my university summer breaks And you know, I don't mind talking about it when i'm with a bunch of hoity toity upper class not-nosed turds bragging about their range rovers volvuls and trips to my jammy I bring that up and it sort of livens up the conversation, you know

[25:29] When I say put her there pal and shake their hand and say while we're shaking You know with this right hand, I personally picked up over 2 000 dead dogs Well, you know, that's always a hell of a conversation starter But back to my buddy with the homemade silencer on his 22 rifle He said he only had to pick off that one dog the alpha never again Did he ever see another stray dog lurking around his garbage or anywhere around his property? Stray dogs may be dirty mangy and filled with parasites, but they ain't dumb Stray dogs will only really be a problem if you live in a low-end neighborhood You know kind of a rough ragged around the edges scabby neighborhood So it's all about the rent higher the rent the lower the probability of stray dogs

[26:15] So basically if you live in a gated guarded neighborhood, it's just not going to be a problem In decent parts of most latin american cities as well though. It is true I've seen mangy packs of dogs on public beaches not private beaches and not beaches in nice areas again It's all about whether it's a high or low rent area Which brings us to the slightly distasteful subject of roadkill You know, there are lots more critters living down here in latin america than there are up by you. I mean hell great weather no snow That means you're going to see a lot more roadkill Oddly enough though. I've never seen a roadkill crew never Nothing organized. Anyway, like the street departments up in the states Though i've seen plenty of fresh roadkill yesterday. I spotted two And why not? I am a trained professional, you know, but then again

[27:01] Maybe they don't need a dead dog crew because you know It's so hot and during the rainy season you get such a thorough flush A carcass even a big dog carcass lasts only a couple of days and it kind of just dries up and is gone with the wind At least that's the way it seems to me unless For some darker reason they end up in someone's stew pot Which is a definite possibility lots of people living on the edge down here Funny though, how i've never seen roadkill anywhere near a chinese restaurant You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america If you need some help with your own plan b we can schedule a one-on-one phone or skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week long expat insider seminar in central america

[27:51] Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan b. Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com No spamos