#1186 – The Expat Files: Hurricanes, Insurance, and Living 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 expat 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 all right today I'm traveling far in the field, so I'm using a portable microphone probably doesn't sound too good But that's what you're gonna get hey better than rapper rag-a-thon. Hey all right today We'll start with a very topical email very current stuff too since hurricanes are whipping through the Caribbean end as

[00:50] Well as parts of the Central American mainland, so should you be worried should you be afraid? Especially since the lamestream media says the storms are getting worse according to them human-caused climate change is exacerbating them All those government climate change experts are sure the latest round of big hurricanes are human caused right The thing is if you look at all the real solid weather data you can see that since 1970 and I'm looking at the charts right now There's been no significant increase in hurricane power. We can measure their power There are all kinds of charts and graphs to demonstrate it the thing is in the last 20 or 30 years We've got global satellite coverage now, and we can chart a hurricane's power exactly from the moment it starts

[01:36] We never had that kind of detailed reporting before Same thing with those crazy shooting incidents. They pop up on your screen with bloody selfies instantly Whereas before the internet it took a couple of days for that information to filter out and before iPhones Nobody was Johnny on the spot with an instant in your face camera shot But I digress about those hurricanes even the government's NOAA National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration admits quote. There's no strong evidence of increasing trends in major hurricanes That's not to say there won't be evidence in the future, but there isn't now but that doesn't stop mainstream media from whipping up public frenzy By the way, it's my opinion if you live in a hurricane belt like for example, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi

[02:25] Florida even Texas you should pay for your own hurricane damage if you're hit After all you knew the risks you elected to live there You took the risk you cover it yourself, or you buy hurricane insurance for that eventuality private hurricane insurance in my opinion There should be no government sponsored hurricane insurance Why because if you live in a hurricane belt and get hit and the government insurance pays? That means people in states that never had a hurricane in history Wisconsin, Michigan, Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, Nevada You're asking them through their tax dollars to pay for your lack of preparation or stupidity, and there's nothing fair about that Why should three-quarters of the country that have never been hit by hurricane?

[03:12] Pay to help rebuild some wooden structures of your choosing that got damaged or blown away It's on you not some poor schmuck in Minnesota Meanwhile Latin American and Caribbean countries require their structures be made of concrete with the ability to withstand 150 mile an hour winds or greater Then there's Puerto Rico where a lot of people build things that aren't hurricane proof because they know the US government will come in and clean up That's you in Minnesota paying for that again worse yet We all know more than half that dough ends up in bureaucrats pockets of course It's always cheaper to build things out of wood beams and drywall Why not when you know that US relief workers will pile in now as for me? I've been in the middle of three hurricanes myself, and I've always stayed or lived in concrete block structures in One case part of the roof got torn off

[04:00] But the insurance private insurance fixed it in the other two cases there were three branches everywhere But no damage to the structure itself It's the people who have wooden stick build structures that get the most damage even get wiped out sometimes And if you think concrete block structures are too ugly and boxy You should see some of the concrete and block buildings here in Latin America. They're fabulous Some are fantastically aesthetically and architecturally pleasing too, but you know they cost more than wooden structures But not by a lot maybe 20 to 25 percent more and here's the funny thing I know lots of gringles and expats who've got a plan B They've moved to Latin America from hurricane susceptible states in the US like Florida And when you talk to them about hurricanes They've all been through it when I get in a conversation with one of those guys about hurricanes. It never fails

[04:49] I'll hear someone who says or even bragged about how they have or had a beachfront home And they'll brag about some hurricane damage and how the Fed paid up to rebuild it for them That rubs me the wrong way. How about you? So then how do you think people from Illinois or Minnesota feel about that? Chippin in their taxpayer dollars to fix a guy's beachfront home in Florida When most average Americans could never afford a beachfront home It's like those idiot wealthy people in California who build their houses on cliffs and on stilts or in a known path of forest fires It's actually pretty sickening those guys have real money to be able to do that Meanwhile the average taxpayer who's kicking in for your catastrophic idiocy Doesn't get a say in it at all. You really have to tip your hat to the scumbag lawmakers

[05:38] Those millionaire political thieves like Pelosi or Maxine Waterhead for example after all They're the ones with their faces deep in the government trough who can afford to build houses on stilts Put them on cliffs and get that million dollar view. In fact, most if not all politicians They've had their snouts so deep and so long in the public trough They've even taken a few bites out of the trough itself They need a new bigger deeper and wider one. So they'll just print more money or raise your taxes So anyway living in Latin America. Do you have to worry about hurricanes? Yeah in certain parts of Latin America and when they come you'll just want to batten down the hatches It'll last a day or two and there will be some yard cleanup But things grow back so fast in most cases in a month's time You won't even know one came through that is unless you've got wooden or stick-built houses or buildings on your property

[06:27] Same thing with earthquakes. It's the wooden structures that take the biggest hit Fact is I've been through many many earthquakes to a couple of seven pointers and man Especially if you're in the higher floors of a building it can shake rattle and roll and scare the hell out of you But still the only damage that ever happened to the concrete buildings I've been in or lived in were a few hairline cracks in a couple of the walls By the way I was using the word or phrase a couple of this and a couple of that and a British guy corrected me He said why is it you Americans can think a couple is more than two like three or four? He said think of the word couple like married couple. That means two, right? Well, he thought he had me on that and I said not quite According to the Woksters in polyamorous a married couple could be well anything you want it to be could be even one

[07:13] According to the Woksters a person could be a man or woman or somebody in between and be married to himself That means you could be living in sin with yourself He had to agree it was sad but true. All right Let's get back to modern concrete buildings here in Latin America because you know concrete buildings are held together with steel rebar It's a complete latticework within the walls of block and concrete like a chain mail mesh Holding the whole works together. So even if you have a couple of cracks in your walls not to worry There's steel bars criss-crossing within that structure about every foot or so And by the way, that's why when you go to these UNESCO World Heritage sites and check out the old historic buildings The original structures the pieces or parts that are left are always terribly damaged often falling apart

[08:03] And if a structure is complete, it's always under repair You can always tell the original parts from the restored parts by the collar and wear and tear and where they're not restored You'll see collapsed wings doorways Big pieces of roof and ceiling gone and piles of rubble on the ground because you see rebar and cast iron Reinforced latticework were not used structurally till very recently In fact, the very first cast iron or steel rebar reinforcement and concrete buildings came in 1850 and every UNESCO World Heritage site around the world whether it be the pyramids or the first colonies in the new world Were built way before 1850. That's why most of them are tumbling down By the way, that's how they restore and repair those things They drill holes in the existing pieces that are left cement new rebar rods in those holes and attach to repair to rebuild part of the structure

[08:53] That's why so many of these older historic buildings have different colored concrete though restoration teams do a great job The older existing stuff that's left is always a lot dirtier and scruffier If you've ever visited those sites, you'd see those buildings are under constant repair Seems like they never take the scaffolding down. Anyway, that's a huge tip If you're buying or building a place go ahead use wood that beautiful rainforest hardwood For doors and trim and details and accents around the house But don't use wood as a structural element in your house And by all means don't use drywall try not to use it anywhere The thing is around 30 something years ago when I first got down here Nobody used drywall you couldn't even find it and I personally thought once it did get down here with that lag time thing

[09:39] And all it just wouldn't catch on not in a big way Anyway, because it's a wick for water And if there's one thing Latin American contractors and builders don't know how to handle is water Now you think they would after 500 years of putting up with a very heavy rainy season six months of the year But no, they seem to be pretty much brain dead in that respect I don't get it the proof of that is the fact that I don't think I've been in a single Latin American building That's over 10 years old that doesn't have a leak or two or ten and that includes restaurants hotels even very high-end restaurants and hotels That's why I always tell gringles and expats if you're gonna buy a place not talking about building here But you're gonna buy an existing place always buy it during the rainy season and do make sure you actually Visit the place during a heavy downpour that won't be hard to arrange since during the rainy season

[10:29] it rains almost every day for an hour or two the thing is you see in that dry season which is six months of the year a guy who's selling an existing place will generally paint the areas where there's some water spots and The new buyer will never know if and how much the place leaks until the rainy season rolls around again Though some sellers don't even care about that They leave the water spots for all to see details details who says Latin America You know now, of course if you're visiting the Caribbean or even Central or South America You'll see lots of thatched roofs, especially in the tourist areas. That is roofs thatched with palm leaves Of course, they give a nice festive and tropical look to a building But trust me Those are the first things to go to get wiped out during a hurricane The thing is you see lots of thatched roofs on bars and restaurants and hotels in tourist districts

[11:18] You expect to see that stuff in a tropics It sets the festive mood and all that and they're cheap too, but lots of maintenance By the way, that's where the English surname Thatcher came from like Margaret Thatcher That means somewhere along the line in the family way back when somebody's great-great-great-great grandfather was a roofer a Thatcher Oh and by the way hurricanes and earthquakes aren't the only reason to avoid thatched roofs Bugs and critters just love those things same thing with ivy and any kind of creeping vegetation on your house Now, of course, you realize Latin America has got a lot more creepy crawlers and disgusting bugs than what you have up in The States they're bigger and heartier and don't have a die-off like you have up north where there's a frost So the last thing you want to do is give them a nice comfy home right alongside your windows or above your king-size bed

[12:07] Though there are some especially fresh green gringos and expats who buy beach houses They don't even give a thought to the problems you can have with a thatched roof Mostly because many if not all the other houses in the area have them I know a lot of gringos and expats who've got two homes a house in the city and a house at the beach As for that beach house often nothing fancy and was kind of done on the cheap Since normally they only get used once or twice a month for a weekend or two Sort of like living in the big city in Illinois, Michigan or Minnesota and having a weekend cabin up north They're usually basic nothing fancy By the way, that's what often happens when you have a house in the city and a beach house I've been through that routine myself and I know lots of gringos and expats in that very same spot Personally unless you really love water sports or love living by the beach. I advise against it

[12:56] I always say you're much better off living close to a town or a city where you have access to everything Within a half an hour's drive anyway, you know a big variety of hospitals doctors Costco Walmart a Mailbox place to pick up the stuff you ordered online Amazon, etc Now, of course, I'm a slight hypocrite about that because I hate big box stores and Amazon and everything They represent but I still use them. It's a case of convenience trumping ideology. Hey, nobody's perfect. So shoot me Again, my advice for gringos and expats is just to have one house in the city or the burbs Then if you like going to the beach once in a while Maybe once every month or two go to a beach hotel or rent an Airbnb Then you'll never be in the position So many gringos and expats are in where they think they have to go there because they own the place and they better make

[13:45] Use of it often it becomes boring and just another obligation Anyway, like I said, lots of gringos and expats have a city house and an inexpensive beach house Most often with a thatched roof too. Actually years ago when I lived in Costa Rica I had that very same setup a city house and a cabana in Manuel Antonio Beach It did have a thatched roof. Luckily when I had the place no hurricane came through But definitely if it had there would have been some damage now The place itself was made of concrete block nice and strong and sturdy There have been no damage there except with a damaged roof The water just pours in and you can generally kiss all your furniture and appliances Goodbye point is spend the extra grand or two and get a concrete roof and you won't have any problems at all Though if you really love the thatched roof look you can have one put right on top the concrete roof

[14:34] And it will look beautiful in a rustic tropical kind of way And if hurricane rips off a chunk of it, no worries. You've got a concrete roof right under it So there'll be no water damage, but you will have more critter problems as mentioned The thing is in my little thatched roof beach house in Costa Rica I don't know how many families of geckos and iguanas lived in that thing But there were plenty by day the big iguanas would lounge on the roof and by night The geckos would make their usual clicking sounds and if you could handle that all night and go to sleep You're a better man woman. He she it whatever wokester pronoun works than me. Oh And by the way in that thatched roof to Cabana seems like there was a gecko living behind every single picture Mirror and light you'd be sitting in the living room or laying in bed at night and see him occasionally dart back and forth

[15:23] Now personally, I have no fear of those things. They don't bite people and just eat insects So I guess they're good for the place But I never met a female yet who appreciated those things so close by and in your face Just know if you have a thatched roof you'll have creatures They will find a way to get in your house and set up shop behind your mirrors and light fixtures The good news is though. At least you won't have many flies Mosquitoes or spiders speaking of mosquitoes and other pesky insects I found that they're pretty selective in who they like who they go after For example, I could be sitting at an outdoor restaurant and the bugs won't be bothering me at all Then someone will pipe up. I'm getting nailed by mosquitoes. Anyone have any bug spray? The thing is I'm lucky in that respect. It never seems to happen to me They don't like my blood type or something. Of course, if I'm actually trudging through the weeds or the jungle

[16:13] They'll bother me a bit, but not like lots of other people. I know Anyway, that's another thing you have to worry about if you have a beach house mosquitoes and bugs are always worse at the lower elevations That's another reason I like the Altiplano so much There are very few mosquitoes except if you're located near a river or a body of water or a swamp or standing water You have to be on the alert for stagnant standing water. Those are ideal breeding places for mosquitoes So make sure if you have a yard your cleaning lady or gardener doesn't let water collect around your place Now that seems to be a big problem with people living in the body. Oh, you know the lower scruffier neighborhoods You know, I could get canceled for this, but I don't care. It seems a bad habit That yard garbage in low-end neighborhoods is ubiquitous

[16:58] In fact, I don't think I've ever driven through a low-end barrio where the yards weren't just full of junk a lot of it That collects water plastic and metal trays buckets fast food containers and lids just your basic junk and they wonder why certain Latino low-end neighborhoods have the occasional outbreak of dengue Meanwhile, you almost never hear about that in middle upper middle class and wealthy neighborhoods Owen dengue fever. You probably heard about it He's transmitted by mosquitoes and that's almost never found in higher elevations Not too many mosquitoes up there because there's not a lot of standing water The outbreaks almost always occur in beach towns or at the coast So then do gringos and expats occasionally get it? Well, I don't know of any but I know of some backpackers passing through that have had it

[17:45] That's of course because they stay at those five and ten dollar a night hostels They have no screens on their windows and those places are often in low rent areas in barrios Where there's lots of junk in people's yards and therefore lots of freestanding stagnant water And though i've never met a gringo or expat who's had dengue fever or admitted they'd had it I once had a latina girlfriend who lived in a port town who had it twice In fact once the lead player in one of my bands was a wealthy latino guy, you know an entitled child of the rich So how did I figure that out? Well when he told his dad when he was 12 years old He wanted to start playing the guitar his dad bought him a thousand dollar fender stratocaster. That's not normal It only happens with rich kids since probably only one out of ten People who start to play the guitar actually continue on with it that beginner guitar ends up in the closet nine out of ten times

[18:33] That's why even in the states when a kid says to his mom or dad I want to start the guitar and he's 12 years old They'll buy him a fender squire or a chinese stratocaster clone for a hundred bucks. It's what you call hedging your bets Anyway this entitled rich kid who ended up being a really good guitar player Nice guy too only if I had a company i'd never hire him not for real work. Anyway As far as dengue fever He told me none of his buddies his family his parents friends or the kids at his helicopter schools ever got it But their cleaning ladies and maintenance guys had someone in the family who had it Basically, he said if you have a car or can afford to take a taxi, you'll probably never get dengue It's public transportation and chicken bus riders that are at risk. I guess that says it all Oh and one last thing about hurricanes you long-term listeners probably heard me say this maybe two or three years ago

[19:23] I met a guy from the states a guy from new jersey. He had a plan b came down married a latina A 40 something guy who was a surveyor for a big construction company up in the states He and his wife were into the beach life. They're like surfing and water sports, etc So anyway, he bought a house on the coast here in latin america He told me he checked out lots of very beautiful beach houses for sale The problem was he said the vast majority probably 70 to 80 percent of them were built That is the ground floor was less than 50 feet from the high tide mark He's the one that told me you should never buy a house whose first floor is below the 50 foot high tide watermark The reasoning he said is because in modern history There's never been a tsunami that's been over 50 foot high And even if you average out the highest waves in hurricanes for the past 50 years the average is 50 feet or less

[20:14] The thing is when you hear on the news and let's time it's fake news You know that that hurricane has produced a wave a hundred feet high What they're not telling you is hurricane waves are unlike tsunami waves, which are miles long Hurricanes create large local waves over a very small area, but those big large hundred foot local waves Almost never make it all the way to the shore They end up crashing or breaking dissipating well before they reach land And though in some of the giant hurricanes the waves can be super tall These extreme waves only have a period that is the time between the crest of one wave and the next Of about 10 seconds In other words, they dissipate in 10 seconds or less whereas tsunamis on the other hand Can they have a period of more than an hour? So if one of those things rolls in you'll be stuck in deep water for an hour or more

[21:03] So bottom line remember that building advice don't build or buy anything. That's below the 50 foot high watermark in your area By the way, I just looked up the wave heights for hurricane fiona that just whipped through florida It was a very destructive category four Highest recorded wave height 30 feet. I rest my case All right now for a little expat gringo on the tourist trail news You know you're on the tourist trail when you see ads and local regs and on the internet announcing the opening of an english-speaking Alcoholics anonymous center. I noticed that one just opened and guess where quenca equador nice place to visit But I wouldn't want to live there No, not the aa center. I'm talking about quenca Yep, the fact is lots and lots of expats can really drink

[21:50] Some of them I think were not real big drinkers before they came down But once they came down and found they had little to do no hobbies They reverted back to that frat boy mentality started hanging around in the gringo expat bars In fact, i've met more than a few gringos and expats who I know for a fact down a bottle of tequila a day Or on certain days and some who down a case of beer a day Now i'm not much of a drinker myself a little wine sometime. That's about it The thing is when expat guys especially get together. It's almost inevitable that they start drinking Hey, nothing wrong with that if you can handle it Just don't drive and though some expat guys and not many girls by the way That's mostly guys do they're drinking and get plastered on weekends. What's that called in the states living for the weekend?

[22:36] Otherwise known as I hate my day job Anyway down here in latin america most gringos and expats especially the over 50 crowd don't have a day job They're done with all that and some who occasionally drink are very disciplined about their drinking like for example captain mango He's got what he calls tequila tuesday. That means on tuesday nights. He needs to get out of jail free card Tell you the truth come wednesday morning. I have a hangover from just being in the room with him The rest of the week he's the guy you absolutely want to hang with oh and captain mango is a fantastic driver It was a long haul trucker for quite a while up in the states a fantastic driver too except on tuesday's That reminds me, you know, I probably never told this story before but during my first year of engineering school I had an italian girlfriend. I know I told you about the girlfriend before her dad was connected

[23:22] Anyway, she had an uncle who was head of the chrysler amc assembly plant in chicago Actually north chicago. He was superintendent. So he controlled everything and at that time amc chrysler was hiring Now they wouldn't hire a college kid because after a month when you got in the union If you took off for school leave, they'd have to take you back when you finished school or went on summer vacations Definitely, they wanted the lifers, right? However, I was easily able to bypass all that crap due to my girlfriend's uncle So I worked all that summer between my freshman and sophomore year in engineering school on the line at the chrysler plant great money Toughest job I ever had not the most disgusting one though. That was when I was on the dead dog crew That chrysler job was the most physically painful job I ever had

[24:07] Get this I had to tape up my fingers and strap a piece of foam rubber to my butt Because I had to lay down in every car bolt down the emergency brake and put on the rubber gas pedal and the rubber Break and clutch foot pad if there was a clutch then I had to staple in a piece of insulation behind the firewall A really nasty job i'd come home each night with bruises on top of bruises Though that's when I realized it was not a good idea To buy a car that was made that means fabricated or assembled on a friday afternoon You know, you can look at the tag the manufacturing tag on a car and it'll tell you exactly when the car was made You can look it up and find out that stuff You know anyway You've probably heard rumors that it's not a good idea to buy a car that was fabricated on a monday Because you know a lot of guys get drunk on the weekend tie one on and have a big hangover on monday

[24:54] Or just calling sick most people have heard that rumor But it's not quite true. The thing is you see on the line. There are guys called floaters So if you've got to go to the bathroom or whatever, they don't shut the line down You just call out floater and the floater guy would show up and do your job for you Then you could make a phone call go to the bathroom smoke crack, whatever You know actually back then. I don't think crack had made the scene yet Anyway, now friday at noon was lunch for the first shift and second shift had lunch at 9 p.m And here's why you don't want to buy a car that was made on a friday afternoon about 9 in the morning The supervisor would hand out checks and envelopes at noon You'd get a half an hour for lunch and at noon all the men and some of the tougher women would walk out Hit one of the shot and a beer buyers right outside the entrance gate hand their checks over to the bartender and he'd cash him Give you green bills. You didn't have to go to the bank

[25:41] You didn't have to waste your time with that step Oh, and if your check was for a certain amount of dollars in some sense, they'd keep the sense But didn't charge you to change your check But of course some people would drink down as many shots and beers as they could in that half hour That meant when lunch was over practically every guy and some of the tougher ladies Would roll into the plant half cocked or at least feeling pretty good And then they'd start assembling cars and jeeps again. You get the picture The fact is from what I could see these guys and gals didn't like their jobs much anyway I mean really what kind of satisfaction can you really have screwing down 300 bolts a day on a jeep? And after a few drinks, they cared even less Now, of course if you were working at a ferrari or lamborghini plant putting out one of a kind masterpieces That would be a different story because you know those things are handmade

[26:28] There's no line work where you've got only a few seconds to do your job on the cars that are whipping past And that line work man, it'll wear your body down though. There was a way out once you have seniority Let's say a year or two you can bid on a bench job Because on little benches all around you were people doing specific jobs that were not on the clock Not on the line like drilling certain holes in a template assembling windshield wiper motors or alternators You can even bid to be a floater At least it wasn't monotonous You were doing all different kinds of jobs all day long because everyone had to hit the bathroom once and what oh and back in The day there were no cameras back then on fridays, especially friday afternoon side smell the unmistakable presence of weed Which we all know slows you down a bit and affects your manual dexterity yet Another reason not to buy a car assembled on a friday afternoon. So then when you buy a car, what is the best assembly day?

[27:19] Well, it's friday morning You get the least mistakes least errors and screw-ups because it's payday and everyone's happy Smiling telling jokes a real congenial living for the weekend atmosphere just saying 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 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