#1007 – The Expat Files: Water, Masks, Travel, and More

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 out to play and now I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat 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 me tell you about something strange that happened the other day I opened the refrigerator and I saw a two-gallon plastic jug of bottled water I'm talking about store-bought bottled water not the kind I make with my own under counter water purification system

[00:47] So I'm thinking how'd that get there? I never would buy that stuff That's why I put so much time and effort into working out my own purification system So I'd never have to drink that iffy water in plastic bottles that everyone else drinks So I said to my cleaning lady she comes in twice a week and I know it's got to be hers She admitted it was hers and I said why? When you've got an unlimited supply of extremely pure water right on tap from this little gooseneck faucet So then I pointed at it. I said I don't care if you fill up gallons of that stuff and bring it home We've got a pretty much unlimited supply of extra pure water I said, why do you think I installed that thing and she looked at me pause for a minute? Kind of got a little nervous rung her hands slightly embarrassed. She said Don Johnny

[01:36] I'm sorry Los siento, but I just don't like the way your water tastes Then it was my turn to make a face and get silent. I was stumped Took me a couple of seconds to realize she didn't like my water because it had absolutely no taste at all and her water The store-bought bottle of water always has a tinge of chlorine or some kind of taste or odor to it Usually smelling more of plastic than a chlorine. I mean look it has to it's been sitting in a plastic bottle for days weeks Even months in fact that my expat insider seminars I like to show a couple of photos of how they store and transport that water here in the tropics that I suppose It's the same up by you except the Sun is infinitely more intense down here So when the water company trucks come rambling by early in the morning dropping off pallets and stuff at grocery stores, etc

[02:24] It almost always ends up sitting out in the back of the place in direct sunlight on a loading ramp for hours If not days at a time, you see that stuff everywhere here in Latin America. Just take a ride through any big city It's a very common sight and of course all of us know the sunlight Deteriorates plastic in a hurry just check out any piece of plastic even a kid's toy left out in the front yard for a couple Not to mention look what the Sun does to the plastic parts of a car and think of how hot the seat and the dashboard in your car gets when they're left in the Sun to and Microscopically, we know that water in a plastic bottle starts to accumulate molecules of plastic the longer you leave it in the Sun And of course, we drink that stuff. That's what it's for. That's why right now every cell in your body has some

[03:10] Plastic monomer in it. I know it sounds disgusting. But trust me look it up. You'll find it's a hundred percent true Now over the years, I've had a chance to talk to a lot of Latino old-timers. They told me that around 1990 is when they made this switchover used to be all the five gallon containers of plastic You see right now were five gallon containers made out of glass and man Did the people rejoice when that happened? Why because glass breaks and it's very heavy Though the secondary effect that no one ever thought about was that now everyone's water was contaminated With more and more plastic now, I've had some people ask me gringos and expats because Latinos aren't concerned with this They say Johnny look you're gonna wash your dishes and the normal water coming out of the tap

[03:55] Which is somewhat contaminated no matter where you are up in the states down here Latin America doesn't make any difference And then your dishes are gonna sit on the counter drying off and when the water is all evaporated It's gonna be a residue. There has to be a microscopic residue of whatever was in that water So then people will say then Johnny you'll put your pure water in that glass Aren't you just gonna redissolve that micro contaminant film and drink that stuff anyway? Hey, I thought of that a long time ago And that's the beauty of having an under-the-counter Pure water system because you got it on demand and it's always flowing as long as you open the valve By the way If you want a photo of my actual system and the goose neck faucet that I use Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com So anyway in regards to the fact that when dishes dry they leave behind some contaminants

[04:43] Well, I know that now you could wash all your dishes in purified water for that matter You could go so far as to take a shower in purified water, too But that is in no way an efficient use of that water So how I deal with that problem is that after I wash my dishes I rinse them quickly with some pure water because you know if you set up an under counter three canister filter system Like I have you'll have not necessarily an unlimited supply of ultra pure water But you'll have plenty of it more than enough to rinse your dishes with and as for showering with ultra pure water Well, that's a good idea, but there's not enough flow or pressure to do that Oh one more thing if you're hearing a lot of noise in the background and they're doing some construction in the place next door So if you hear some banging some voices some hammering tough nothing I can do about it

[05:33] So anyway, the fact is my cleaning lady does not like my water and I don't like hers So we're even and in that uncomfortable little moment when we had that discussion I had no real desire to train her up on it. That would be pointless. What good would it do? She wouldn't listen. Anyway, you know the old saying you only fight the battles You know, you can win and in her case, I think she has a fourth grade education Poe folks have poe habits She thinks anything you buy at the store has got to be pure and I guess the same thing goes with people using bottled water up In the States, they believe it's pure that they're getting a great filtered product. That's okay. Let them think that oh But get this occasionally you get the die-hard gringo who's gone native Who'll drink just about anything you put in front of them as long as it's free who says Johnny look at all the people

[06:20] Who don't buy bottled water down here? They know you're not supposed to drink from the tap, but they do it anyway You don't see him doubling over up chucking walking off the job or going to the emergency room And you know what? They're absolutely right I've been involved in many construction projects in all the construction workers drink from the tap Then again, the doctors down here will tell you 60 to 80 percent of people have intestinal parasites, too And still, you know the life expectancy here in Latin America is about the same as it is up in the States And it's obvious to that old people down here are way more active than older people up in the States And they're healthier far into old age, too. In other words when they finally kick the bucket They're not obese and on 18 different medications You don't see it near hip replacements or heart stents either

[07:05] In other words when Latin Americans check out they check out with all original parts Alright, so we're into Three quarters of a year now or more with this cold video and stuff and expat Eddie just checked in now Expat Eddie's one of those guys who refuses to wear a mask unless he's absolutely forced into it because you know down here in Latin America like up in the States. There are all kinds of mandatory mask rules now Stop me now if I've told this story before. Hey, I'm bound to repeat myself sometimes I mean, I've done a thousand plus shows now How am I supposed to remember if I've repeated something? So stop me if you heard this one Expat Eddie and his girlfriend went to a Jeep dealership in El Salvador and on the door They had the usual sign saying you must wear a mask and use copious amounts of that snot like hand goop

[07:51] Dem's the rules. So said the sign but Eddie and his girlfriend walked in without masks. Well, that's not completely true They actually had masks dangling from one ear So as they walked over to the display of cars a guy walked over he had his mask on and said Excuse me, you have to wear a mask. He said it in Spanish nicely and Eddie replied nicely in Spanish So then you don't mind losing a $50,000 sale Just because I won't wear a 10-cent mask I bet your boss should be really happy about that. Why don't you go tell him? Well, the guy walked back into his little glass cubicle and there's four other guys sitting there all wearing masks He came back out to talk to Eddie without a mask on and when Eddie looked back at the main cubicle

[08:36] Where the other sellers were sitting around kibitzing surprise surprise Those guys were no longer wearing masks either and one guy the youngest guy was given Eddie the thumbs up Yep, those humans they're unpredictable except when it comes to money Speaking of masks. Here's an email coming from deputy dog DAWG. Yep dog Yeah, I remember that cartoon. Don't you that very bad Hannah Barbera cartoon Hannah Barbera? Yeah, same guys that did the Flintstones man with a no-talent artists or what? Anyways, that's our dear Johnny about masks. I'm a retired biochemist living in Panama in bokeh You know, we're all the retired gringos hang. It's like Panama's version of a Florida old age home

[09:23] Only nicer cheaper and infinitely less backstabbing and gossip. Well, that's nice to know then he says Johnny Did you know there's been over? 170 randomized control studies proving that masks provide no protection from respiratory viruses Riddle me this if masks provided complete protection that scientists would need to wear biohazard suits covering the rest of their bodies The mask would be enough. In fact, if you check out the studies, you'll find wearing masks all day increases the number of bacteria in your mouth leading to dental problems strep bacterial infections and Viral infections more dangerous than COVID plus as a biochemist I know that masks are one use only and after they get the least bit moist and that takes about 10 minutes

[10:09] They become their own focus of infection. Then I ask you Johnny and your listeners How many people do you know throw their mask away after 10 minutes or even one use? Are you kidding that would mean using five six or even more masks a day per person and that would add up to a fortune Especially with people who still have to report into a job again speaking as a biochemist using an ear loop mask Impedes respiration for extended periods raising CO2 concentration in your blood which takes hours to rectify For just minutes of wearing the stupid mask. This is not a lowering of oxygen problem As most masks know it all imbeciles point to thing is your blood oxygen may be fine after wearing a mask But co2 tends to climb to toxic levels the longer you use a mask

[10:55] I could cite the workplace OSHA rags, but they're too long But they do have massive fines for workplace violations one of them being reusing of masks Oh and Johnny, I know you and your listeners can handle this I will not take the vaccine and have a couple of friends who'll back me up One's name is Smith and one's Wesson and if they aren't around at the time There's another couple of boys named Remington and colt got those two guys in my back pocket And if you've got nothing against foreigners, there's always mr. Sig and mr. Sauer over and out deputy dog Alright, thanks for that deputy dog el kabong to you then comes this email from Carlos He says dear Johnny as an ophthalmologist trained in the States and working in Costa Rica I work constantly at a distance of about 25 centimeters from the face of my patients

[11:45] That's about 10 inches from their mouth eyes and nose So naturally I have a great interest in the subject of masks now if the virus has an average size of 60 to 160 nanometers and the gaps between the fibers of N95 mask never smaller than 300 nanometers That means from two to five Covid-19 virus particles can march shoulder to shoulder through any one of those pores Making masks an inefficient defense against the virus However, if you could somehow generate an electrostatic field between the mask fabric and the virus surface the particles would be trapped However, that would entail that each mass has something like a small watch battery in it that along with a fine wire

[12:30] Mesh in the mask would drive up the cost to at least ten bucks apiece in quantity Then he says I wonder why the market has not to this point Anyway produce such a mask because they sure would be in great demand. The problem is there are no sound scientific guidelines for masks With wearing of a mask and social distancing for that matter being more psychological than anything Same thing with temperature checks. The question is do they work? It's not about what works or not. It's what the herd demands Psychologically if you don't fit the psychology you'll be marginalized and called out as a contagion spreader Even though the science is in your favor one more thing about the virus. It doesn't travel through the air dry It's always bound in water molecules and masks are very good at accumulating humidity

[13:16] And that's why OSHA guidelines say masks should be changed after they become humid and never reused By the way, did you know that the physics of particle motion which dictate that the most at-risk profession is not doctors or nurses or Caregivers, it's garbage men After all, they're the ones that have to deal with the millions of humid virus laden masks that are haphazardly Disposed of in the garbage every day. So statistically garbage men should be getting covid at an unprecedented rate The question being is anyone studying that? Mmm garbage men bass ureros Think about it. All right sticking with the health care theme comes this email from expat insider seminar repeat offender Jan She says dear Johnny. Here is some information which I hope you will share with your listeners and

[14:06] Although this information is geared to disabled and older people. I think everyone should benefit from this To find out the covid restrictions for each country check out the CDC Center for Disease Control and Prevention website Then she lists the link here But I checked it out and they're pretty much way too generic and it seems like almost every country you check It's a cookie-cutter approach and they repeat the same message now as for me I found the very best site to check out the latest and greatest Covid it rags when traveling to different countries. Is that website? I told you about before developed by MIT You just plug in the country you want to travel to the dates or range of date It'll not only find you the very best deals and airfares It'll give you the total breakdown of the covid it requirements at the airport and while traveling through that country

[14:55] Here's the website. It's called great escape all one word dot co not dot com but dot co great escape Co personally, I've never ever found a better site that combines it all But I know most Americans anyway will go to the CDC website, you know Center for Disease Control Even if the info is old or just bullshit Why because that's what US government regs are based on now as for the rest of Jen's email She has some really good information here it's general information for people traveling with meds or people who've got some kind of disability or if you just carry a lot of Vitamins and supplements like I do through borders because you just might have to answer some questions Alright, let's go through the list. Number one She says have all medication and prescriptions filled before you leave

[15:43] Bring more than enough to cover you for the entire trip. Just in case you get delayed or get quarantined Now remember you're not going to get quarantined unless you test positive while you're in another country Now think of this for a second Suppose you're in a foreign country and you're ready to leave for home The regs just might say you need another covidia test To get back home or go through the airport and in fact, I know a few gringos and expats who did test positive While attempting to travel back home and in every case They were just told to go back to their hotel or wherever they were staying and sit there for 10 days Take another test and when they tested negative they were free to go But the fact is that since down here anyway, there are no covidiet police Except in airports because you know, every country has covidiet rules at airports

[16:29] Now these gringos and one gringo who tested positive went home But they didn't stay there after a couple of days when they were feeling better moseyed on out went to grocery stores Took walks did some sightseeing, etc Because in all cases they only felt flu like symptoms for a couple days Why because they were taking all the right things zinc vitamin c and d and hydroxy chloroquine That anti malaria medicine that's taking so much heat in the press these days Even though it's been proven effective and safe for the last what is it 80 years now? Anyway, the fact is everyone I know who's tested positive and had to go into quarantine They weren't stuck in any government hospital or facility They just were told to go home or to their hotel and sit it out until they tested negative But nobody I mean nobody ever checked on them and you know in my mind i'm thinking if you're taking the right stuff

[17:19] It'd be almost a blessing. Well, good luck Anyway to test positive have no symptoms or moderate flu like symptoms for a few days Then as nature takes its course in seven to ten days you'll test negative again and it's over with you got no worries And in the end, you know, I guess that's going to happen to everyone like the measles and the mumps Everyone in this world will eventually get dosed have or not have symptoms. Then it's back to business as usual, huh? Well, no, it won't be business as usual because as the old joke knows actually it's a new joke A guy goes into the doctor's office He says doc tell me when's this covidia thing going to be done when it's going to be over and the doc says don't ask Me i'm not a politician Yeah, right. They need the truth, but I digress as usual. Where were we? Oh, yeah jen's universal travel

[18:10] Suggestions for people on meds and people who are handicapped or compromised. Wait a minute. I guess you can't say handicapped anymore You got to say disabled, right? Well, you know as a pretty good golfer in a past life It would be kind of awkward for me to tell someone in my foursome that I had a two-stroke disability not a two-stroke handicap And what about horses at the track to the tipsters handicap or call them disabled? But then again, the world has gone crazy, hasn't it by the way in high school. I was a very good golfer I got offered a college scholarship I didn't take it though because I figured my future would be more assured if I took the engineering scholarship instead Should not to be a great decision because I knew I couldn't be a tiger woods Though I was pretty good. I knew my limits I would freeze up under pressure blew a lot of short putts that way

[18:57] But you know back then as a senior in high school when I passed on that golf thing My friends were disappointed thought I was nuts because you know when you're young dumb and foolish Boys are crazy about being sports stars It's only when you get a bit older you realize about one in a million Can make a living that way and the rest of the high school sports stars become mailman ups drivers teachers Live off their wives and girlfriends or live in mom's basement and dream of those high school glory days Yep, that's where a lot of people peek in high school. Hey, I got lucky. It could have been me, but I digress I can't sorry about that All right. Number two on jen's travel list Make sure your medication is in your carry-on baggage and not in your check baggage Airlines do lose stuff, you know each one of them has a huge lost and found department

[19:45] Just a chock full of unclaimed baggage that goes back years and years Number three have copies of all your prescriptions to take with you at all times Because you know if you get into an accident or get sick or end up at the hospital You'll need to tell medics which drugs you're on and if your spanish sucks You'll have a communication breakdown, but docs can read most all prescriptions because medicines have a latin root Number four make sure that the meds you are taking and bringing into the country are legal in the police you're going to For example a woman from the uk got arrested for bringing tramadol an opioid pain killer She didn't know it was illegal in egypt the country she was traveling to you can check the website of the embassy of the country You're visiting to find that stuff out by the way in a recent past show I mentioned i'd ordered some cbd oil directly from a company up in the states

[20:33] And I had them send it to my miami mailbox and it was forwarded to the latin country I'm in with the shipping charge something like two and a half bucks because it was under a pound But here's the kicker in most latin american countries cbd oil is not legal yet Nor is it in the country i'm hanging out in right now, but as predicted the stuff got through aok There were no cbd police waiting for me when I picked up the stuff at the courier pickup office Though in no way was I expecting trouble But it just goes to show that though many latin american countries have The same rules and regs that we have up in the states. They try to copy everything first world They're just extremely spotty at enforcement and even if they had the will to do something about it They don't have the personnel to do the follow through

[21:18] So in a way one of the reasons I ordered the cbd oil was to check the system Because you know a lot of gringos and expats including expat guanabes and wannabes up in the states who are sitting on the fence They've asked me that very question about cbd oil They're worried. They can't get it or we'll get into some kind of trouble if they try to so here's my Recommendation based on my own personal boots on the ground experience. I would never bring this stuff on an airplane Not in carrion or checked luggage But once you get down to your particular latin country and get settled in By all means order some of this stuff online and have it shipped to your miami box Oh, and the nice thing about that stuff is the box they ship it in is very generic and nondescripted Besides that what lettering is on the boxes in english And I found this by hook and crook when imported stuff gets checked by government slugs at the aduana

[22:07] All they're really interested in is imposing a tax as long as what you're receiving is nicely labeled in box They won't open it All they care about is what the value of it is on the receipt because if you recall most latin american countries will allow Items coming into the country that are valued under 200 bucks Tax-free and that regs been in existence maybe only a year to two years now But it's been an absolute god send to us gringos and expats who like to order stuff on amazon Yes, us gringos and expats can talk out of both sides of our mouths and be too faced When it comes to things like amazon because when you've got no other option and or the price is right We feed the monster. Hey, I admitted i'm too faced about amazon I can't stand them nor jeff bezos nor how they've dominated taken over and squeezed the entire economic sector

[22:56] But I still use them So I guess I like so many expats and gringos have a love hate relationship with them By the way, how many of you who hate amazon hold amazon stock? Hmm. All right point number five If you're traveling and have a medical issue and have some kind of equipment to transport with you Believe it or not airlines are required to transport your medical stuff for free However, you have to let them know generally two weeks in advance that you're bringing something along with you. That's medically or health related You just don't show up with your sleep apnea machine or autographed stephen hawking wheelchair And expect the airline to prioritize you and immediately handle it though You've got airlines such as alaska airlines who nicely explain their policies regarding transportation of medical equipment getting it on board

[23:44] The aircraft how it's dealt with at airports, etc, etc It's on their website then gen supplies me the link here for alaska heirs policies regarding that stuff It's a long link So if you want to send me an email the expat files at gmail.com and gen thanks for that list I'm sure it will come in handy for lots and lots of people In fact i'd say for every one of my now will be 18 expat insider seminars I've had at least one or two people with medical issues severe enough They had to bring with them some kind of medical equipment And of course being that 90 of the people that come to the seminar are americans and canadians It seems an inevitable fact that most everyone over 40 is on some kind of prescription medication Remember the old saying five at 50. Hey, i've got one of those in my family my brother

[24:31] Four years younger than me. He's on 18 different prescription meds and me the older brother not one Though you think it might be a coincidence. My brother is down to 18,000 more whoppers big macs and bags of cheetos than me Is that a factor you think oh and speaking of my upcoming january 2021 expat insider seminar I'll be kicking it off in about a month and a half now, you know, you can still sign up But the early bird discounts are over though. I will be bending that rule because of the following circumstances You see I have a female and a male seminar attendee looking for roommates That's same-sex roommates, of course, so i'm looking for a male and a female who want to save 750 bucks off the single price. So if you're a male or a female looking for a roommate

[25:16] I'll hold that early bird discount price for you So if that's the case send me an email right away the expat files at gmail.com Oh, and finally on the topic of opening up a brick and mortar business that we talked about in a previous show We have james who wrote johnny. I own a bookstore in connecticut I know a bit of spanish. So I was thinking maybe I could open up a bookstore in latin america I too am getting the hell out of dodge But i'll have to have something to do after a while And earn some kind of income too and I know everything and anything about running a bookstore What do you think sign james? Well james if you come down here and open a bookstore You're asking for a life of starvation If you think americans don't read books much and it's on the downtrend with latin america, it's even worse

[26:02] Though it's not because they don't like to read or don't want to read It's just that the books are twice or even three times as much as they are up in the states Again, it's a matter of volume and efficiencies In fact, I recently ordered a book in spanish a paperback edition a best seller that book the madness of crowds It's been translated into spanish and guess where they shipped it from The united kingdom england So the shipping was about as much as it cost to buy the book and that believe it or not was from amazon In the end the total cost for a paperback best seller plus shipping around 50 bucks totally ridiculous What's up with that? Why can't they print the book in mexico? Colombia they've all got the proper facilities But that's the story for all english best sellers that eventually come out in spanish. I just don't get it

[26:52] How is it possible they're printed in spanish and the states are in europe even though 99 of their market is in central and south america It just doesn't make sense. Well, it certainly adds extra costs and taxes So that to me is one of the main problems books are so much more expensive here And you know as far as ebooks and kindle in spanish People just don't seem to have caught on to ebooks here like they have up in the states The fact is you rarely see people with tablets down here Sure, some upscale kids have them for school, but you don't see many adults with them and try reading an e-book on a smartphone The screen's way too small. So there's no fun or pleasure in that 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

[27:41] 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 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 nos vemos