#898 – The Expat Files: Music, Medicine, and Moving to 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 out to play and now as 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 All right. Let's have a little listener feedback now. It's one comes from Mike. He says Johnny. Hello Hope you're doing well your recent podcast episodes were excellent Hmm does that mean the other ones were crap? Maybe or could be in Mike's opinion the others just kind of sucked

[00:50] You know someday I want some listener to send me a list of my worst episodes. Okay? Anyway in Mike's opinion. Anyway, my last few episodes did not suck including the one He says focusing on the modern music and how most of it is so inferior to the classics of all genres Which unlike rap and reggaeton actually require real musical skills Then Mike says the listener who wrote that lengthy email to you Really nailed it and 50 years from now I doubt if any of the modern rap crap will be remembered But there are probably still be people really appreciating Led Zeppelin rush and much of the other great rock and roll Mike me here. Isn't it funny? Just the other day I was talking to one of my friends an expat insider seminar attendee who ended up living permanently in Latin America

[01:38] Real bright and interesting guy, but kind of a curmudgeon He's kind of a perpetual critic and you know what he said to me Why'd you spend so much time talking about that ragathon crap? nobody cares about that and then Captain Mango phoned me up and said yeah, man that guy who wrote that thing he was spot-on and Captain Mango would know he's had a few Latina girlfriends and they're totally addicted to ragathon crap and Captain Mango rock and roll So there's always a clash of minds there and Captain Mango's mind Well, he's got a rather good one and the mind of the average Latina. Well, it's not get nasty here now As for me, I've had many Latina girlfriends too and you might not believe this but I can be diplomatic sometimes Hey, you have to be when surrounded by that music for mental midgets called ragathon

[02:23] The key is for me Anyway, I had to learn to tune it out and really who doesn't like to watch Latinas dance And when ragathon music is on you might absolutely hate the groove, but man the positive secondary effects are tremendous So for me anyway, and I think for lots of gringos and expats being diplomatic about it really pays off Hey, I'm not saying you actually have to lie and say you like that crap That would be a kind of blasphemy contrary to everything We know and love about real music played by people who actually have talent that just means for me when they crank up the ragathon I know it's a cultural thing in a small price to pay for those previously mentioned secondary effects that always seem to follow thereafter But I have my limits and they end at watching ragathon videos. I cannot stomach those things

[03:11] I cannot watch those blinged out guys with yards of tattoos in their ass crack pants Prancing around their hummers and Ferraris with those spastic repetitive hand movements bikini clad bombshells falling all over them And really without having the tremendous luck of being in the right place at the right time and having a hit record Every last one of them would be a crack pipe street thug gangbanger criminal with a five by five room in an orange Jumpsuit reserved for him at the state pen, but I digress. Where were we? Oh, yeah, Mike's email Then he says I was also fascinated by the information on stem cell therapy including the positive results obtained from your listeners on many Of their ailments you mentioned you had some details for your listeners I'd really appreciate it. If you could please email me that stem cell information and you take care man

[04:02] Alright, and that was for Mike, you know, I got a dumpster full of emails after I did that stem cell podcast Wow did that strike a nerve with you guys, you know If your doc tells you you need a shoulder knee or elbow replacement You don't want to go in there with a saw and put in a titanium shaft and a plastic ball and a hunk of plastic That's so medieval. There's got to be a better way. There is no going back from that and besides that You know, those are foreign substances So your body is always in reactive mode trying to fight those things off like a low-grade infection And it is technically a low-grade infection because from then on you'll have a slightly elevated white blood cell count Compared to your normal baseline before you had it installed and forever after you're gonna have to be on medication

[04:50] And that sucks. I mean, come on, wouldn't you rather drop some dough and try a really non-invasive treatment method basically with stem cells We're talking about a couple of injections in an IV drip for about an hour Hey, you never know everyone's a completely individual case But some of the results if not most of the results are spectacular and for those of you who might say oh But my insurance won't cover that but they'll cover a hip replacement man. Are you nuts? You're gonna let them crack you open and saw you into pieces because the insurance will pay for it Yeah, I know. I know a trip to Latin America to a stem cell clinics gonna set you back the price of a good used car But when you boil it down, you got two important things in your life your health and your loved ones, right?

[05:36] And well, if no one loves you that's your fault But your health man, you got options and you really are nuts if you let your insurance company select your options for you All right, so let's move on now comes this rather odd but interesting email from mr. Star Nope, not Ringo. Wish it was he says Johnny. I'm living down here in Latin America now In fact in Antigua Guatemala, you've built homes support structures and the like Both of my questions involve propane gas cans for firing up stoves and ovens Seems the people down here have a lot of superstitions, but I want to get your take on this All right me John here. Let me give you a little background on propane use here in Latin America You know, they've got no piped gas lines in Latin America So when people make reference to the gas company, they're talking about propane gas that comes in tanks

[06:25] And it's true using propane gas is the most efficient way to cook here in Latin America People use propane for gas whole house water heaters, too Because they're so much less expensive to operate than the electric ones though I don't recommend either for heating water anymore these days for a grand You can get an all-in-one solar water heater on your rooftop And then basically you'll have hot water in your house for life or at least 20 years Depending how well you take care of your unit because you know Those things do require at least a little bit of maintenance here and there and yes I've had them and I love them though You'd be surprised how even seemingly smart gringos are pretty clueless about those things For example good friend of mine who's renting a rather nice townhouse has a solar water heater collector on the roof

[07:12] And it's been working fine And then he calls me and says I think that things on its way out It's just not putting out like it used to and so I said to him Have you been up on the roof to look at it said no But the maintenance guy goes up there once in a while and cleans out the gutters and such I said I'll tell you what you sent him up there with a really soft kitchen broom and tell him to sweep off the long glass tubes because those things are composed of you know a number of glass tubes that Run vertically to a 40 or 80 gallon storage tank and those tubes are the solar collectors And you have to keep them clean I told him have the guy dust them off and hose them down because 90% of the time when those things aren't putting out anymore It's because there's a cake layer of dust dirt and pollen that collect there over time and sure enough I got a call a couple days later the things putting out like gangbusters now so again here in Latin America

[08:01] It's all about the maintenance. It's something that we first-world people take for granted Whereas Latin Americans don't even seem to have it in their vocabulary In fact, I don't think I've ever met a Latin American who's gone in for an oil change in his car Unless he bought a new car who's guaranteed and they've got very long guarantees these days Includes free oil changes for the upcoming six months or a year. That's pretty common now Of course like everywhere cars are breaking down all the time in Latin America I mean, they've got you know Volkswagen sized potholes and such so suspensions shocks springs tires And rims are constantly being replaced and worked on and of course all those big good year firestone Walmart and Costco shops where they sell you tires and batteries and such will when you've got your car in for something or other Suggest an oil change and some people in the spur of the moment do it because it's convenient and the mechanic sold them on the idea

[08:52] But do note that oil changes are not routinely performed And you know as an engineer at least in a past life to me It's an amazing feat that cars run a hundred two hundred even three hundred thousand miles considering the total Indifference to basic maintenance like oil changes. It's a real testament to Japanese, German, US and Korean technology Oh and by the way There's a tip when you're buying a used car here in Latin America Check the oil pull the dipstick and see if it looks like sludge or it's nice and clear Because the truth is if it looks like sludge no matter what kind of spiel the owners given you You know the drill grandma only using it to go to church on Sunday. Yeah, right. That's probably not true But if it is and they don't change the oil that engine surely has a prematurely shortened life I mean really if you're going to sell a car wouldn't changing the oil even putting the cheapest oil in there

[09:40] Seem to be the wise thing to do just in case the prospective owner wanted to look at the dipstick Duh, oh and here's another tip if you're buying a used car get on your back and look under the car Inspect the oil pan metal and bracing around the engine area and then Check out how banged up and scuffed up the metal bracing and supports are around the engine area That'll give you a great idea How many times is the car bottomed out in a gigantic pothole? And or how careful or careless he's been while riding over those gigantic tumelows those dangerous cement speed bumps You see everywhere too many dings scratches and scrapes Don't buy that car And secondly when you're under there have a look if there's any oil oozing from any of the metal joints gaskets or bolts The undercarriage should be nice and dry and clean and lastly have a look at the oil filter

[10:30] Which most of the times you can only see by being on your back looking at the undercarriage of the car If that thing doesn't look a lot newer than the rest of the car or relatively new and clean That also was a great indication that the guy probably never changed the oil and you don't want to buy that car Unless of course you're buying a new or light new car Then maybe the oil hasn't been changed because it's not necessary if it's got five or ten thousand miles on it Maybe not but I digress as usual. Where were we? Oh, yeah talking about propane tanks So the truth is you're probably going to use gas propane tanks all the time. I do So periodically you're going to have to pick up some tanks or delivery service will come in and drop them off And of course, you're always going to get screwed out of the weight For example, if you buy a hundred pound tank, there won't be a hundred pounds of propane in that tank

[11:15] It'll be something like 95 or 97. I've done the weight measurements In fact, I think i'm the only guy around who will weigh the tanks when the guy drops them off And I know the delivery guys are thinking what a crazy ass gringo. And when I tell him you're shy four pounds They give you the shrug because they're just the delivery guys And then I call the home office and they say oh, sorry about that We'll deliver another one and the other one will be short too It's just a way to nickel and dime people of death not just gringo say do it to everyone crazier yet propane companies have ads in newspapers and on the net and such saying the weight is 100 spot on fully knowing that no one's got a scale except maybe this crazy gringo By the way weighing a propane tank is very easy to do you can do it with a bathroom scale Do note the weight without propane is stamped on the tank, you know the empty weight

[12:04] So if you're using a 25 50 or 100 pounder, it should weigh that much more than the empty weight stamped on the tank Hey, i've gone round and round with these companies a number of times and complaining does no good Even so you should always be hooked up to propane because if ever there's any kind of emergency power down or who knows EMP electromagnetic pulse from the sun taking down the grid for days or weeks By the way, you know eventually that will happen We've just been lucky in the past 100 or so years We're overdue for a big strike and of course, you know, all the nuclear capable countries have a nuke that can cause the same thing There are strategic weapons that are built to take out power grids with an emp blast But you knew that already, right? Though if you're living in latin america, you never have to worry about an emp blast from a hostile country

[12:54] Because there's nothing strategic in latin america except the panama canal Another reason I wouldn't want to live in panama, but i'm really getting off the track here Anyway, the cool thing about being on propane gas is that you can get two 100 pound tanks of gas And if by some chance you're completely off the grid and have no electricity They should if you play your cards, right last you a year That means you'll have fire in your stove in your oven hot water gas clothes dryer Of course, you'll need a little backup electric power to run the motor in your dryer and the pump for your water But that's easily done. You don't need a gigantic solar power system for just occasionally turning on your water pump or your dryer motor Just a portable solar unit or a gas generator will do all right. Our emailer. Mr Star says that he's using propane tanks and yet

[13:40] He says there seems to be some particular local superstitions that go along with using them And this is what he says johnny i've had some advice from my landlady about shutting the valve off on the propane tanks When not using the range or the oven the theory being that it would somehow prevent accidental explosion However, I would think that just as in the us as long as your oven or range is off at the dials It would be as safe as it could be and then my second piece of advice came from my spanish teacher She told me to put a damp rag on the propane gas can every time I use the range of the oven To help keep it cold so it wouldn't get overheated from the oven or the range But that one I think I've proved for myself many times because even when the system is running and it's been running for quite a while

[14:26] The propane tank still feels cold all over. So johnny, if you don't mind, what's your take on that? All right, mr Star I can tell you this Seems like your spanish teacher and your landlady are not up on their laws of thermodynamics Who'd a thunk, huh? You know, one of those famous well-known laws says that if you've got a compressed gas in a tank You bleed some of it out just as if you're bleeding out propane to run a gas stove or oven The gas will come out much colder than the temperature of the ambient air around it or the tank It's just the reverse action of when you pump gas into a tank If you noticed if you're pumping air into a tire or if you've got an air compressor when it turns on You put your hand on the tank. The tank is warm And when you bleed the air out the air is cold Same thing with an aerosol can as you spray the stuff out if you put your hand there, you'll find it's cold

[15:14] So it really is wasted effort to put a cold rag on top of your propane tank Thinking it's going to stop the tank from overheating. It just won't and can't by the laws of thermodynamics However, since we're talking about latin america A lot of propane gas stove setups are done in a rube goldberg half-ass kind of way In fact in many of the setups there's a plastic hose going from the tank to the stove Now that can be dangerous because well plastic can cut burn or melt But not from the propane tank getting warm because it won't nor will the gas coming out But because your stove is producing fire Now the correct and more expensive way to hook up a propane tank to a stove is with a copper pipe But you won't see that in most latin american homes because copper is expensive and hard to come by

[16:01] Whereas a plastic tube is under a bus So mr Star, I think maybe that superstition arose because there are occasional kitchen fires due to the plastic hoses And the perpetuators of the rumors just don't realize the danger is not the tank or the gas But the plastic tube in the stove now I'm not saying you can't get away with using a plastic hose that's braided inside with nylon or steel Those are very strong And if you have it hooked up to a standard full-sized stove The connection is way at the bottom far away from the flame But the problem is in the vast majority of latino homes They use rather cheap and dirty stoves with gas connections That could be much nearer the cooking service and the heat And since most everyone's using plastic hoses, you can see the problem there Now i've said about that All right. Now we have another listener comment from mr montgomery. Just listen to your latest podcast

[16:50] He says in an attempt to make a long story short I stumbled on your podcast when I came to the realization that I do need a plan b Absolutely, love your podcast and have listened to something like a hundred episodes in the archives Although I don't expect to make the permanent move to latin america just yet until my youngest child graduates in a few years I want to get the ball rolling on my plan b now Coincidentally at 43 years old i've been told by my orthopedic doctor that a hip replacement is inevitable Disclaimer here as a youngster. I was an athlete and primarily into football I was a soldier too and have been active as an adult competing in endurance events After hiking the entire length of the grand canyon this past spring with hip discomfort I decided to take up golf and attempt to find a hobby that was a little less stressful on the body

[17:39] Ironically, it's been the gulf that's really exacerbated the pain in my hip So wanting to figure out the cost I got x-rays and an mri Orthopedic docs said the arthritis is so far gone. A hip replacement is my only option at 43 Needless to say i'm not excited about them chopping off the top of my femur bone and sticking in a titanium spiking ball Then after listening to your recent show I went back and listened to the show where mel gibson was on joe rogan's show That you referenced yourself talking about how both he and his father had stem cells down south of the border After reading and seeing all that I plan to begin immediately studying my stem cell options within latin america Please send me the packet of stem cell information you discussed on your show. I really appreciate it

[18:30] Appreciate your knowledge your humor your good work. I look forward to each new show Thanks for everything. Mr. Montgomery. Well appreciate that mr. M Thanks for the kudos, but i'm not completely unselfish about my methods here turns out most of the information I give you guys I have a pretty good interest in myself. For example when I first came down here to latin america about 30 years ago now I was quite a young guy, but I had high blood pressure Arthritis in my left knee and carpal tunnel in my right wrist And now 30 years later mostly due to diet exercise and living in the altiplano My blood pressure came down below what you might call normal. I'm at my high school weight I don't have carpal tunnel and my left knee has no remnants of arthritis And if it does I can't tell but I also know as we get older

[19:17] We start wearing down and my mother's got a hip and knee replacement and I don't want to go through that I mean look up in the states they do a couple of hundred Thousand hip and knee replacements every year and no one can tell me that's normal So you can see why the orthopods up in the first world do not like the idea of stem cells Nor do the hospital teams who also stand again tremendously With that kind of patient flow coming in for operations, but you knew that already, right? So mr. Montgomery is a relatively young guy and he's thinking seriously about that plan b good for him And lucky for him He now knows about the stem cell options And all that cutting edge stuff is only available here in latin america and certain other parts of the world Remember up in the states

[20:03] They only allow bone marrow stem cell use the more effective treatments using umbilical and placental stem cells Are considered experimental up in the states and it'll take five ten Maybe 15 years to come on line up by you and it will no one can stop progress Anyway, so this show the expat files living in latin america is all about getting that plan b together And you long time listeners know the fastest and easiest way to get a two to five year Head start on that plan b is to come down to my expat insider seminar Oh, and I mentioned that two to five year head start not because I thought of it It's because so many attendees have told me that later on You know, it's really common for people who come down to live in latin america Even if they're gonna live part-time to waste a lot of time and money and spin their wheels

[20:48] In fact, i'd say the first five years I was down in latin america And I didn't know a lick of spanish in that first five years. Believe me I was taken to the cleaners a few times for at least 10 grand And narrowly missed really getting gouged and usually by gringos not latins Yep, lots of gringos who've been in gringoized areas a long time are scammers Scouting for fresh green gringos with rose colored glasses who don't know spanish And of course scam central is costa rica And you know over the years I can't tell you how many dozens if not hundreds of sad stories i've heard from gringos who've been scammed So in the end coming down to my expat insider seminar will cost you some dough But you'll walk away with so much great information and you'll be able to save yourself a ton of money

[21:33] Probably five to ten times what you paid for the seminar just in latin american scam avoidance techniques Plus you'll hook up with a great network of people Which is exactly what you need when you first come down and exactly what I didn't have when I can you know lawyers mvs dentists hospitals clinics housing insurance plans real estate the works Talk about fast tracking your way to a plan b So my next one starts friday january 10th in the evening and goes through thursday january 16th And right now we're doing some website redesign. So by the time this show comes out on sunday october 20th You should be able to go to my website the expat files Com and that's where you'll get all the information and sign-up details So go to the expat files comm all one word and check it out

[22:19] And if for some reason the site's not up and flying yet Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com. All right now i'm gonna read an email from mr. Doug He's asking questions I get from lots of gringos and expats. So listen up. He says johnny I've heard you discuss the shipping method of consolidated air cargo from miami to various latin american cities and countries How does the issue of customs and duties work? Is it cumbersome like with fedex? What about items like cigars that might have quantity restrictions? Do these miami services take care of the customs and entry payment or are you the recipient? Responsible could you please give me the name of a couple of actual miami companies doing this? Oh and another thing Do you think it might be a dollar per kilo sending from miami to most of central america or south america or does it?

[23:08] Very widely between countries. All right, doug. Here's how it works Almost all latin countries now have miami freight forwarding services. In other words if for example, you're ordering from ebay or amazon You'll have your regular credit card billing address when you do the deal But your shipping address will be your name followed by the address of the miami mail forwarding service Followed by a code that your forwarding service will give you like x327 That's how they know it's going to get shipped to panama honduras. Guatemala, whatever country So figure amazon sends this stuff to miami takes two or three days And then it takes maybe five more days from the miami box to your latin country So normally anything you order from amazon ebay or anywhere

[23:53] Will end up at your doorstep or at least at the central location of your mail forwarding service within two weeks or less often Just a week and you'll be happy to know most of these freight forwarding surfaces have worked out a deal With the customs in atuana within the country where you don't have to pay any customs or duty On anything under three or two hundred dollars depending on the country So for example, if the amazon invoice says 136 bucks you will pay no duties or taxes at all However, if the invoice says 360 bucks, let's say yes, you will pay some taxes Oh, and if you come to my expat insider seminar, i'll tell you a workaround how you don't pay any taxes at all By the way If there are any taxes your freight forwarder will pay them and you'll pay upon receipt of your item

[24:41] And generally most freight forwarding service is charged by the pound from three to ten bucks a pound Depending on the service you're using I generally use those services for expensive stuff that doesn't weigh much And it seems they're all pretty secure and guaranteed too But for example, if you're going to send large heavy stuff Those normal freight forwarding services could cost you a ton because let's suppose you're going to order a compressor Or a drill or a table saw from amazon and it weighs 50 pounds Well, then your shipping charges could cost more than the item itself and it's not worth it Oh and don't forget you could find 98 percent of everything here in latin america even specialty items But normally it'll be much more expensive For example, if you want a particular model of a bow stereo You probably could find it here in latin america But it's going to be in a high rent mall and maybe a third to a half more than what you'd pay on amazon

[25:30] But you got to consider the shipping charges then now the services i've been talking about ship by air The ones that ship by sea are much less expensive though It takes sometimes three weeks or a month for them to get to you because they load them up in a container And the container lands and they sort it out. It takes a little time One of those for example is called trans cargo goes from miami to guadamala They don't charge by the pound but by the cubic foot man You can get a lot of stuff in a cubic foot now Suppose you wanted to ship tires or tiles or batteries or just a lot of clothes Well, those items can be heavy and large in volume So that's the kind of service you want to use one that ships by boat And some of these services believe it or not like trans cargo Will include the import taxes and duties in the price. In other words, they cover it and you just pay one cost

[26:17] For example, i'm looking at trans cargos price list right now and it says If you send three cubic feet or less, it's 35 a cubic foot complete taxes and duties included However, if you send four cubic feet or more it's only 14 a cubic foot now That's great. If you're sending a lot of clothes shoes furniture solar panels, etc Oh and it says on the list if you're sending furniture, it's 13 dollars a cubic foot So let's say for example, you've got a dining room set with six chairs It's an ugly heirloom from your great grandma So you don't want to sell it and read by when you get to latin america that works out to around 20 cubic feet That means you'd be paying about 260 bucks to send your dining room set in six chairs So depending on what it's worth to you, it could be a great deal One of the great reasons to use one of these services is because they handle the taxes and the adwana and any other government fees

[27:09] You just pay them and they do it all for you and you can either pick it up at their main office Or they'll deliver it to your door for a very small additional charge For example, if you order a bunch of stuff from amazon It might cost you just three to five bucks to have them deliver it right to your house Especially if the boxes are small enough for them to carry it on a motorcycle That believe it or not is how most things are delivered here in latin america by motorcycle 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

[27:57] No spamos