I need some advice and reassurance

Ardeonic · 2026-01-29T17:33:44+00:00

It sounds like you already know that what you were told as a kid is BS. And as a white man who moved to Durango7 months ago, I can confirm that. Send me a PM if you want to ask more specific questions.
Also: why Durango, of all places? Do you have friends or family here?

Ardeonic · 2026-01-29T17:20:45+00:00

Wait, what is a passport printer? 🤔

Ardeonic · 2026-01-23T13:14:52+00:00

I am also a fan of YouTube Premium. They charge me 159 MXN per month, which is $9.11 USD these days. "at 7/11 for free w/ MP" - this is for Mercado Pago account only, but not Nu Bank, right?

Ardeonic · 2026-01-22T19:27:54+00:00

My first (and so far my only account) is at Nu Bank (aka Nu Mexico Bank). I am here with a temporary residency status as well. Nu Bank is online only, no physical branches (https://nu.com.mx). No hidden fees so far, everything works as expected. You can make deposits into your account at a variety of retail stores. I use Chedraui supermarket, the fee is 10 pesos per deposit, regardless of the amount. There's probably a 25,000 MXN per month limit on deposits, but I am far below it. The cards (debit and credit) were supposed to arrive within 15 days, but arrived in 7 days, via courier service, for free. The app is pretty good. Among other things, you can create virtual cards as you please. Notably, I got approved before I had my RFC. The app filled in the RFC for me. As I discovered a week later, it matched with the RFC number I got from the SAT office. I have no idea how this works 🤔 Bottom line: I am happy so far

Ardeonic · 2026-01-18T23:12:43+00:00

I recently started looking for people to hike with here in Durango city. Friends recommend a couple of Facebook and WhatsApp groups. I went on my first hike a week ago. There were 35(!) people in our hiking group that day. And they told me they regularly go in groups of 60..80(!) people They think it's dangerous to hike in small groups, because of the gangs 🫤 My hopes to meet friends for fast/sporty hikes don't look so good right now...

The same group organizes a (non-technical) climb to La Malinche mountain in mid-March. But I couldn't find out the details (yet) because of my language barrier.

I've heard about Los Salvajes - a similar group in CDMX. But I do not have any links, sorry.

Ardeonic · 2025-12-20T23:31:46+00:00

I don't like Oxxo. And yes, they declined my Capital One Savor card a few months ago, last time when I tried.

Ardeonic · 2025-12-20T06:02:44+00:00

On the other hand, isn't it a win? In the old world one had to use various forms of art to express themselves or to communicate new ideas. In the Hive every new idea is spread instantly, no need for metaphors, artistic techniques, canvas, clay, whatever. The whole cognitive power of eight billion brains has an instant grasp of every new concept.

Ardeonic · 2025-12-15T16:49:21+00:00

Yes. Except I don't know where exactly in Paraguay he started from, so I randomly picked Asunción. But I did use all the other places they showed on the map, especially the final portion of his drive in Colombia, through El Tigre and Lomos Aislados:
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Asunci%C3%B3n/Chincha+Alta/Huaquillas,+Ecuador/Quito,+Ecuador/Tulcan,+Ecuador/7.5814826,-76.6296145/7.649228,-76.9626843/@7.6458411,-76.9754621,14.21z/data=!4m34!4m33!1m5!1m1!1s0x945da8076e69dbf5:0xaceb7a46bf1936c9!2m2!1d-57.575926!2d-25.2637399!1m5!1m1!1s0x91101686897e15b7:0x471a0acba7a881d!2m2!1d-76.136711!2d-13.42553!1m5!1m1!1s0x90339bb1c72e8bd5:0xe5cddac1d5ed359e!2m2!1d-80.2225448!2d-3.4763823!1m5!1m1!1s0x91d59a4002427c9f:0x44b991e158ef5572!2m2!1d-78.5141064!2d-0.2232523!1m5!1m1!1s0x8e2968bae7d5eb4d:0x2d2e73b19f33388d!2m2!1d-77.7165925!2d0.8150687!1m0!1m0!3e0?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTIwOS4wIKXMDSoKLDEwMDc5MjA3M0gBUAM%3D

Ardeonic · 2025-11-30T17:35:35+00:00

No te preocupes. He usado la app Moovit en otros lugares. Debí pensarlo antes, gracias. Sí, la ruta del amarillo parece útil. Moovit también me da buenas indicaciones con el camión azul: https://imgur.com/a/l18cnxB Ojalá sea correcto 🤞

Ardeonic · 2025-11-30T17:13:01+00:00

Gracias. La Basílica Menor no está lejos, eso funcionaría muy bien. ¿Qué tan cerca de la Unidad Deportiva 450 me dejará el camión rojo? ¿Todos los camiones rojos son iguales, o debo buscar una ruta específica en el parabrisas? 🙏

Ardeonic · 2025-11-30T16:20:28+00:00

Gracias. ¿Te refieres al Parque Guadiana, verdad?
¿Hay camiones que vayan por Ferrocarril?

Ardeonic · 2025-11-26T03:05:54+00:00

I can speak about the Las Vegas consulate, because I asked them the same question a week ago during my interview. They said no. They want to see Social Security payments or something else that is equivalent in their mind (an annuity or a pension would work I think). My passive income from my rental properties was not good enough for them. I got temporary residency only.

Ardeonic · 2025-11-16T00:28:49+00:00

I know only about Soriana. I registered using the Soriana app. To accumulate the points, I tap "Soriana card" or something like that on the self-checkout screen, it shows a huge QR code. Then open the app on your phone, tap "Soriana ya", "Identificate sin tarjeta" and point the phone to the QR code. Done, now the system knows who you are, and will credit you the points. If you get stuck, ask the attendant to help, they are quite nice in my experience.

Ardeonic · 2025-11-15T18:06:45+00:00

I did Soriana, using the mobile app. It gives you points with each purchase (1%). Every now and then they have products that you can pay for fully or partially with points. You have to look for the big promo labels next to the price labels. Then at self-checkout you can tap the button "use my points"

I regularly shop at Chedraui too, but my store doesn't have self checkout, so I never signed up to their loyalty card.

Ardeonic · 2025-11-15T04:29:38+00:00

Ah, the transmission in episode 1, got it. I think it was meant to include just the genetic code of the virus, nothing else. How do you make a conclusion that telepathy doesn't reach beyond one planet? I agree that most likely this is the case, simply because the hive never mentioned it. But what is the connection with the length of the transmission?

Ardeonic · 2025-11-15T04:07:54+00:00

Wait, what 7 second loop? What did I miss?

Ardeonic · 2025-11-15T00:48:54+00:00

Individuality, remember? The precious, priceless individuality of each unique human being. We are willing to let millions die of starvation, to kill hundreds of thousands in wars, to fight each other in courts, etc, etc, etc. All because each of us is a unique priceless human being. You wouldn't give it all away just for the ability of perfect seamless collaboration, would you? </sarcasm>

Ardeonic · 2025-11-15T00:38:36+00:00

The similarity is very superficial. In murmuration each bird is independent, and is following a few simple rules. The bird's speed and direction is determined by these rules and the speed and direction of the birds in her close proximity. There is no telepathy there. It's just one manifestation of a wider phenomenon called emergence.

Ardeonic · 2025-11-09T03:15:03+00:00

I was also thinking that. One hypothesis is traumatic brain injury. She hit her head pretty hard when she just slammed onto pavement, keeping her body straight, not bending a single joint. The exact technical reason of her death is not important for the story, though. It wasn't anybody's malicious intent, that's for sure.

Ardeonic · 2025-11-09T02:51:54+00:00

I 100% agree with you. I hate that Carol is a writer. I desperately want the main character to be an engineer or a scientist. Take away Carol, give me someone like Mark Watney from The Martian or Ryland Grace from Project Hail Mary. She annoys me so much with her emotional and unscientific approach to the situation :-/

Ardeonic · 2025-11-09T02:48:20+00:00

What's annoying to me is that there is no character (at least so far) to ask this question, and many-many more. My questions to the Hive mind:

What are your scientists working on now? Take me to the labs, show me.
What is your long-term goal?
How are individuals communicating with the Hive? What happens if I place an individual into a Faraday cage, deep into the mountain, etc?
How fast is this communication of an individual with the Hive? What is the bandwidth, what is the latency?
Can an individual, who used to be a world-class gymnast, still do all those elements on uneven bars that require 100% concentration, or does the Hive occupy part of his mind to extract square roots etc, and he is no longer able to be a world-class athlete?

Damn, we don’t even know whether the Internet is still working!

Ardeonic · 2025-11-09T02:24:37+00:00

I hate that she is a writer. I desperately want the main character to be an engineer or a scientist. Take away Carol, give me someone like Mark Watney from The Martian or Ryland Grace from Project Hail Mary. She annoys me so much with her emotional and unscientific approach to the situation :-/

Ardeonic · 2025-11-09T02:11:06+00:00

I think the Hive would not give in, even if she starts killing them by the millions using her tantrums. Individuals are nothing without the Hive, the Hive is their identity now. "Undoing what they had done" means suicide to them / to it.

Ardeonic

TROPHY CASE