#909 – The Expat Files: Johnny Mueller on Mic Upgrades, Venezuela, and EMF Meters

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 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 now for something a little different you remember maybe two or three months ago I said look I'm trying out a new microphone. Let me know how it sounds Well, I gave that one the good Yankee try and I got lots of feedback from people What's emails saying?

[00:45] Well, they heard some pops and clicks and sound like it was a tunnel and some said there were whispering winds and all that So I decided to do a big upgrade to a Sennheiser mic. They're the best seemingly the best They're used in professional recording studios all over the world In fact, I had a really nice Sennheiser when I was in groups playing on stage The thing cost me something like 400 bucks That's a lot for a mic because you can get you know a standard sure mic That's kind of the industry standard for rock and roll and on stage and stuff the most well-known model of all being the sure 58 something like a hundred bucks So to move up to a Sennheiser German Mike kind of the upscale industry standard Well, not too many people do that when they're recording mobile or at home. That's for sure sounds great But just too much though, but I thought what the hell since I'm on show

[01:32] 909 yep 909 I figured maybe it's time for an upgrade plus I asked for people's opinions and I didn't like my new mic So why did I change in the first place? Well, my other mic was a Bluetooth mic and you know, that's got a lot of EMF radiation We'll get to that later So then you might be thinking if I've already got an expensive Sennheiser that I used in my rock bands Why not use it for the radio slash podcast show? Well, because that's a big old hefty thing that screws on to a mic stand and lately in the past few months Anyway, I've been on the road recording this from hotel rooms, Airbnbs and apartments and sometimes even on the beach So I'm not gonna lug that big old thing weighs something like five pounds with me everywhere I go. Instead. I just took delivery of this Sennheiser headset specifically made for radio and podcast and it ain't cheap

[02:19] But why not and I got it Thanks, of course to Amazon and you know I really don't like Amazon the fact that they're in bed with the NSA and the fact that that Jeff Bezos guy Seems to be a lifetime member of the I really need to get punched in the face club like Mark Sucketerred I don't know what it is about certain people some have that Absolutely glowing beautiful welcoming face You just want to hang with the guy or gal and then there's Jeff Bezos and Mark Sucketer and George Soros for that matter And by the way practically every Latin American president I mean look at Ral Castro Eva Morales Daniel Ortega every single president Mexico's ever had all of them They've just got that kind of face that begs for a fist sandwich. I don't know. Maybe it's just me Maybe I need the ass whooping who knows but I'll tell you for as wise ass as I can be

[03:07] I've not actually gotten to a single fight since high school And yes I lost that one the guy was older bigger and well a lot dumber because I'm in Latin America having the time of my life and He's in jail a life or two one day. Perhaps I'll tell you how that went down. It's a good story All right. Anyway, I'm trying out this new mic today So let me know if it's up to your standards if it meets your approval, but don't be too picky just yet I'm still dickering with the controls on it I'll tell you this the earphone part of the headset is really high quality I know that because when I do the playback I can tell but you never know about your own voice Not when it goes out in a podcast or on the air and someone else is listening to it in a car in big city Traffic with the sirens wailing and all that and I know there's nothing worse than listening to a program

[03:53] When someone calls in on a remote line and it sounds like he's speaking through a tin can anyway Let me know enough said about that So lately, you know, what's really been bugging me the fact that I've been reading all these blogs and getting all this information from first world News sources saying pretty much that the u.s imperialism machine is responsible for bringing down Venezuela and causing all the grief strife and turmoil now, of course There is no doubt that the u.s. Is bent on regime change all over the world You've got the cia and the nsa's dirty little hands in virtually every foreign nation Yeah, right we can screw with their political system, but they better not screw with ours Our kind of corruption is okay, but theirs is not and of course, we know they're in venezuela, too They've been there infiltrating and stirring up trouble since before the shabbos days. You've heard the stories

[04:41] They've tried to topple him too. There was nearly a coup something like 10 years ago. Remember that cia was responsible It didn't work out. But the fact is and i'm telling you this is absolutely true The u.s doesn't have to go in there and stir up anything Venezuela is crumbling fast and all on its own. It does not need any help All it took was to corrupt socialist chavez and maduro regimes But of course the u.s government has to stick their fingers in everything and give it a push Though I hate all the first world media and their socialist apologists saying it's the u.s. That's toppling. Venezuela That's simply bs. I prefer to get the real news about venezuela from Venezuelans and i'm not talking about venezuelans living in the us or europe who came over a long time ago I'm talking about the venezuelans i'm seeing everywhere in latin america

[05:28] I mean there's millions of them that have left in the last couple years Why do you think that is and what do you think they have to say about the usa and its involvement in venezuela? Nothing, they absolutely never mention it and believe me when i run into a venezuelan and I do almost every single day now Especially when i'm in a big city, you remember my spanish is halfway decent and I ask him Why are you here? What brought you to the point that you abandon your own country and decide to live in uncertainty in another country where you're kind of In a limbo immigration status. You don't have permission to work legally and in most cases The locals are kind of upset that you're there because they think you're taking their jobs, etc, etc So when I ask them that they're very willing to tell me their stories And sure they list the usual suspects the currencies crash the economy sucks. There's no jobs

[06:17] There's not much on the shelves. Everything's terribly expensive, etc, etc But I want to hear their own personal stories and they do tell me and it's all about corruption and the failure of socialism That's it. And I know if you're listening to right wing or conservative broadcasts up in the states You hear that over and over too like a broken record But you never hear the personal stories like I do for example, just a couple days ago I ran into a young venezuelan girl working at a hair salon Yep, I have just enough hair in my head to pop into places like that once in a while The fact is there are thousands of venezuelans working in places like hair salons off the books Existing mostly on tips, but hey you gotta eat So she's dealing with it and she's even able to send about a hundred bucks a month home to venezuela

[07:03] And she says a hundred dollars in u.s. Money can feed a family of four for a month So I said what's your story and her story was pretty typical of a lot of stories i've been hearing First you'll find if you bother to ask it's not the average venezuelan who picks up and leaves It's usually the more intelligent educated ones who figured out an escape plan and how to survive once they've skedaddled Because you know the average slug in venezuela just like the average slug in the states is not a chance taker in their Spare time they're going to sit on the sofa slug down beer diet coke and pizza glued to sports soaps and the retardations So the fact is the millions of venezuelans who've skipped the country so far represent a big creative and entrepreneurial Brain drain for the country because in reality the only ones that are left in venezuela are people working for the malignant government naturally

[07:54] young children single mothers Old men and women, you know grandmas and grandpas that have lived so many years in their country no matter what happens to it They'll hang on and some professionals like doctors lawyers accountants, etc Who are clever and have found ways around the system with most of the rest of the people who haven't left yet Just every day working class slugs Oh, and there's a good percentage of venezuelans back at home who are college and university students, too They'd gladly leave if they had the means that is the money to get the paperwork and the proper documents to get out Because right now in fact, I was just told it takes six months of a regular average venezuelan salary Just to get a passport So most of venezuelans that haven't left don't have passports or at least a current passport and without a passport

[08:42] Even if you snuck in let's say columbia brazil or guiana one of the three neighboring countries with a land border You won't even be able to buy a cheap flip phone without a passport So anyway, the point is in the last few years, there's been a big brain and creativity drain out of venezuela You'll soon find that out if you have a conversation with a venezuelan you meet in passing You'll see they're educated creative and industrious people that have been treated like crap and worse By the socialist governments of chavez and maduro for example, the venezuelan hairdresser I was telling you about she told me that around 10 years ago when she was 16 years old Living in caracas, venezuela She opened up a small clothing store in a retail mall and by the time she was 21 She had four stores going in that mall then she moved on up to a nice high-end mall

[09:32] Man at 16. Most of my friends had a hard time opening a can of tuna Anyway, she said things were going great and she was going to open a fifth store then about three years ago Madero nationalized the shopping centers She could have stayed she said but the government came in and fixed all the prices and with inflation at triple digits Suddenly she said the clothes in the store were selling for less than what she'd bought them for originally And she had to keep the prices fixed or suffer a huge fine Go to jail or even lose your store completely So suddenly she said the investment she had in the store was worth nothing She put them up for sale But there were no takers because the value of the property was going down by the month And it got to the point where every piece of merchandise she sold was worth less than what she paid for it

[10:18] Worse yet, she said when the government nationalized the place They posted a sign on the door of every business saying If you as a consumer saw that any of the merchandise in the store was being sold for more than the official sticker price You were to report that store to the office of economic development And they gave a toll-free tattletale number and the government wage and price division would come in Do a raid with the price fixing nazis investigate shut down the place, etc, etc So the government fixed the prices and for a while She said no one paid attention and when someone brought a garment up to the cash register and said for example 90 boulevards And you said well, it's 120 They'd pay it because everyone had been somewhat used to big time inflation where prices changed weekly even daily And that went on she said for months and months until the government cracked down and created economic hit squats

[11:07] That would raid your place if you didn't hold to the prices the government said you had to charge So obviously when it got to the point she was losing money with every item she sold. She just closed up and left All right, let's bring this discussion full circle when I mentioned earlier I'm sick and tired of reading first world blogs and media blatherings of how the us Specifically nsa cia and any number of alphabet agencies are responsible for instigating the downfall of venezuela Sure They wanted to bring down the chavez and maduro governments because they weren't playing along with us policy Now that's all true in the us covertly and clumsily tried to push that along But let me ask you this regarding that little story I just related to you where the government appropriates shopping malls makes everyone fix all their prices, etc, etc

[11:57] Tell me just what part did the nsa or the cia play in that? How about zero nada nothing? In fact, it was a pure 100% socialist move right out of the marks and english playbook What i'm saying is next time you hear about how the us is subverting venezuela And I know they've got their dirty little fingers in the protests on the streets As well as pushing financial and other international trade sanctions and such but again, let me ask you What part does the us play in nationalizing businesses and taking away people's livelihoods? Come on. Someone tell me. How about some of you? Chavez lovers like oliver stone danny glover or sean pan who's also got one of those eminently punchable kissers How about that fine specimen of a man michael more?

[12:44] Hmm, isn't it nice to know that the united states has become a place where entertainers and professional athletes are mistaken for people of importance and intelligence Then there's burnt bernie and occasional cortex. What can I say? And you know when gringos and expats get together here in latin america We don't have much sympathy for what you're going through up there You've seen the signs the writing on the wall. You've been warned over and over again in the end You know you get the government you deserve and the ass wipes you voted for but you know It's just too bad. So few americans speak spanish So when you run into a venezuelan You just can't start up a conversation and ask them why they left But lucky for you or maybe not so lucky for you I'm that nosy guy out there who does the asking and every time i'm able to squeeze a story like that out of a displaced

[13:33] Venezuelan I double down on my disdain for hollywood and the first world media Oh, and by the way just this week another venezuelan told me there is an insult going around that's full of irony These days he said if you call someone a chavista, which in short means hugo chavis lover It's like calling someone an idiot a slap in the face insult So the word chavista is not thrown around lightly in venezuela anymore Used to be 10 or so years ago when chavis is around a chavista was a positive word denoting a person who wants change A progressive lover of hugo chavis that was before the country went down the tubes But now this guy said you call someone a chavista You better get ready to defend yourself because the fists are gonna fly Hmm who'd have thunk so if you're in venezuelan, you look at big city graffiti and there's lots of it now

[14:23] You'll see that word chavista everywhere, but it ain't no compliment Though to a foreigner to the uninitiated observer you think well, they're just calling for a return of chavis, right? Wrong today In fact, it's a way of giving the finger to the long dead hugo chavis and his policies that have ruined the country In fact, it's strange too that these days you don't see graffiti that craps on americans either Used to be and I remember saying this myself graffiti saying american Imperialismo yankee go home etc etc. You just don't see that stuff anymore Not like you did in the chavez days now It seems every single venezuelan you talk to wants to live in the states Yeah, surprise surprise because in hugo's day that would be blasphemy even treason and it's a funny thing

[15:08] You know the us media as much as they say the us is responsible for the economic destruction in venezuela The people on the streets aren't buying it at all Sure They see the us government as a bunch of lying bastards But they know that about their own government, too Despite all that most would love to live in the states because they've all got a friend or relative living in milwaukee or cleveland Who's doing all right often more than all right because as mentioned venezuelans are much more educated than your average latino However, because they're smart They also see the us turning in the direction of socialism They see that the polls coming out of the us say that most young people and college students in the us see Socialism as cool fashionable in the wave of the future and they just can't believe young americans would be so stupid

[15:54] Oh, man, am I glad i'm living far enough away from the first world to sit back and watch it implode from a nice safe distance Hmm, where have I heard that before which begs the question? How's your plan be coming? All right, let's dive into a few emails now. This one's from susan. She says saludos johnny I've fallen a few weeks behind on listening to your shows for various reasons And i'm way behind on making comments and requests for things you've offered on your shows So i've been saving up my notes until I could get around to emailing you you've offered up so much good stuff I hardly know where to start So here's a list of what i'm interested in if it's not too much trouble for you. Number one What's the best portable emf meter you recommend? All right me johnny here You know what she's talking about emf meters emf is electromagnetic field

[16:42] In other words, it's a meter to measure the strength of the magnetic fields around you Like for example coming from smart meters cell phones, wi-fi, etc And you know the more intense it is the more it damages living things In fact, it's been proven in many scientific studies to damage chromosomes now as far as emf meters you can get them on amazon That's probably the cheapest way to go but you're not going to get one. That's really accurate or useful under a hundred bucks But thankfully I found one and i'm using one. That's really good for around 120 bucks But believe me it covers everything problem is you see you can go on amazon and get one for 20 bucks or 30 or 50 bucks But it's all about the frequency range that they detect The cheaper ones only detect up to maybe one to three gigahertz at the maximum and cell towers are putting out

[17:28] At two gigahertz and up same with smart meters wi-fi signals and the new 5g which is really bad for you So i'll give you my recommendation of a meter that's actually made in seattle, washington So when you go on amazon, you can see a really nice little video of the guy explaining All those signals to you and what you got to look for and what the maximum Permitted levels should be that you can live with and he also explains us government rated safe limits are not safe at all Then he explains what the safe levels really should be So my pick for the best all-around and cheapest emf meter and I have one of these is the advanced gq emf-390 So if you just go to amazon and put in emf- 390 it should come up by the way in the near future I'm going to take this little meter and break it down for you on the show

[18:15] In other words, i'll explain it all in plain english. I used to be an engineer in a past life. So I can do that Now if you want to know the full title and description of this emf meter So you don't have to remember all this it's called the advanced gq emf-390 multi-field electromagnetic radiation three and one emf elf rf meter comma cell tower smart meter hidden wi-fi signal detector with rf frequencies up to 10 gigahertz with data logger and 2.5 gigahertz rf spectrum analyzer built in I know I know it's a mouthful and it's way more than a person really needs at home But it's the fact that it reads emf signals up to 10 gigahertz That's the important part because you see the cheaper meters won't reach that high

[19:03] So you'll never be able to get those hidden wi-fi signals or those dirty smart meter and 5g readings But don't worry about that in an upcoming show i'll explain how it works and what the limits I think you should not exceed Now the thing is when you're walking around the house checking all your wi-fi routers out and stuff If you're sitting normally in your house, for example as an area, that's a real hot spot You just move some of your devices around that'll change things dramatically. Anyway, i'll give you a better overview on that an upcoming show So hang on. All right back to sue's email She says johnny, please send me the packet of info regarding stem cell treatments your link for solar ac units including the portable ones Your portable water filter plans including the sawyer mini water filters and then she asks Does the sawyer mini water filter remove fluoride?

[19:51] No, sue. It doesn't you have to get a special filter canister for that and I know berkey makes one It's over a hundred bucks though I don't know how long the filter lasts before you have to replace it because you see I don't care about Fluoride because i'm in latin america where no country floridates the water by the way What I absolutely love about that sawyer water filter is that it lasts a lifetime. It's guaranteed for a million gallons Now some people say a hundred thousand gallons. If you go on a website, it says a million now you have to wonder How is that possible? Well go on the website and they have a nice little video there So you can see the mechanism inside and why it works that way now the thing is like any filter It'll end up getting clogged with particles sooner or later But you see when you buy that filter now it comes with a little plastic barrel type syringe

[20:40] Without the needle so when your filter starts getting clogged and you'll know that because the flow slows down Then you just fill up the syringe with water screw it on to the filter outlet Hit the plunger that'll blow out the particles from the other end then you're good to go again for how many gallons thereafter Well, who knows it all depends on when the flow starts slowing down again It could be 10 a hundred a thousand gallons depends on how dirty your supply water is at the input All I know is i've been carrying my little sawyer portable water filter everywhere I go for the past i'd say five years and i've only had to back flush it that way one time Oh and remember if you're buying your sawyer filter off amazon or you're getting it directly from the company You won't see that little attachment that i've added on to it to get rid of the bad taste in the organics

[21:27] Because you know some water has a bad taste and sawyer filters won't take that out They just take out the bacteria viruses cysts, etc So i've rigged up a little add-on charcoal filter 20 accessory That you just unscrew and load up with granulated charcoal Then even if your water smells like rotten eggs, it'll remove all that plus nasty dissolved organics That'd be pesticides and herbicides, etc And it'll last for the next 50 to 100 gallons that you're filtering So how do you know when to change the charcoal? Well, if your water doesn't stink you'll never know but I change it about every 50 to 100 gallons You just unscrew the thing dump the charcoal out and put a new batch in by the way When you plug that thing into a faucet, it's got a little rubber cowl. It slips right on My suggestion is to turn the water on really slow so it dribbles

[22:13] Out of the filter that way it gets the most time to be in contact with the charcoal granules That's again to remove the bad taste if any and absorb organic chemicals if there are any present So let it dribble really slowly about the thickness of a toothpick and even at that rate You should be able to fill up a gallon of water in five to ten minutes I mean who cares a gallon of water every five to ten minutes. No problem However, you can turn up the water pressure and get a nice fast flow and fill up a gallon of water in 30 seconds But then you'll be defeating the purpose of having the charcoal because you want the water to pass through that very slowly You get the picture. Oh and one more thing. It's very important to note when you buy your granulated charcoal You can get that from amazon too or in a fish supply store. They use it for aquariums Always buy granulated charcoal made from coconut hulls. It's got to be from coconut hulls

[23:02] Don't buy the stuff that's made from coal or what they call bituminous rock carbon though They look absolutely the same The granulated carbon that's made from coal has been processed and adulterated and has been treated with other unknown industrial chemicals Whereas charcoal made from coconut hulls is absolutely organic untouched and unprocessed It'll even say on the package. It's food grade But it's got to be carbon made from coconut hulls By the way, if you have an under the counter water purification system Like I have too where you buy the nine inch filters that slip into the canisters Your last stage will always be a carbon block filter. And what do you think that's made out of coconut hulls? You'll see it right on the label when you buy it All right Then sue says in her email, please send me a link to chris's air bnb on lake added land

[23:47] That was a while ago. I know but please send it also Do you have a history of the conquistadores on ebook for kindle and audiobook or any other interesting audiobooks? All right, sue me johnny here. What a question. I must have a hundred really great audiobooks But you know, those audiobooks are very big files Sometimes up to a gigabyte and it's a pain in the ass sending them over the internet ebooks No problem, but the audiobooks a big problem Oh and as far as the history of the conquistadores I had a terrific one gave it away a long time ago, and I don't have it on ebook form Anyway, what i'm thinking about doing is this taking all my audiobooks putting them on a big flash drive So that when I run into some of you gringo expat listeners I made travels or at my seminars I could just pass it on to you and you can download it right there into your computer

[24:33] A smart device, but as far as sending individual audiobook files online, it takes a long time It's a pain in the ass All right Then sue says I regularly take advantage of audiobooks available from my state's digital library And she says I figured out a hack how to sequester them so that they don't take them back at the end of the loan period That's cool But she says they don't always have what i'm looking for Well, you know what sue you can solve that problem by getting online with a lot of different audio public libraries For example, i've got a membership to the chicago public library and the cleveland public library courtesy of cap mango So what one might not have the other usually does and man i'll tell you the chicago public library is very very complete Because it's chicago and it's a huge city So thanks to if you went online and you signed up at a big public library like new york chicago atlanta l.a

[25:22] You'll get everything you want. Oh, by the way When you go online to get your so-called virtual library card, you'll have to give them an address in that locality So, how do you do that? Well, just do a search for a restaurant in that area I've done it it works and for example if they're checking your ip address You know some companies do that when you order stuff like amazon They know exactly where you are You can run it through a vpn and pick the ip address you want and be right within that locale and bypass any kind of Disqualification problems you might run into there. Oops. I see we're getting towards the end of the show So i'll finish up sue's email requests and such next show by the way when she wrote me this email I wrote back saying sue i'm never going to be able to type an answer out to you I'll get carpal tunnel. So being that you're an expat insider seminar alumni and

[26:10] Repeat offender i'll gladly answer all your questions because you know, she's got an in with me. She's a friend She's been to a couple seminars, but instead of getting carpal tunnel i'll get it out to everyone on the show After all it is an email of general interest to practically everyone who's looking for a plan b Speaking of getting the hell out of judge, you know If you want a two to five year head start on that plan b Just come down to my expat insider seminar next one starts january 10th Coming up in about a month and a half and remember i've still got the early bird discounts in effect till december 1st So you've only got a couple of days to save 500 bucks off the regular price. Oh, and don't forget You could save 750 off the single price if you hook up with a roommate Normally i've got a few people looking for that option So if you're looking for a roommate send me an email the expat files at gmail.com

[26:59] For all the seminar info and sign up details Just go to www.theexpatfiles.com and click on the seminar link or go to www.theexpatfiles.com Seminar oh and one last thing when you sign up you get a one hour phone consultation with me before the seminar where we can talk about Anything and everything having to do with the seminar or anything else like stem cells health care insurance residency Cryptocurrencies gold bank accounts or even hanging with the shamans and doing ayahuasca Just don't get me started on rap for reggaeton 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

[27:44] 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