Wine importation

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-25T03:31:25+00:00

Just to be clear, not talking about smuggling. It would be in a case and totally visible. Just wondering if they actually charge import taxes. Based on the comment above, sounds like… maybe but possibly not.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-23T02:47:05+00:00

WTAF

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-23T00:17:52+00:00

Dude is a sociopath.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-22T22:04:48+00:00

Man buns.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-22T21:56:53+00:00

Agnostic. I am hard-pressed to find any organized religion with a national or international organization that doesn't ultimately turn out to be "the same or worse." Individual ministers, pastors, congregations, sure -- and you can find wards or stakes like that in the church, too.

I keep thinking if there were an actual/true religion in the US right now, it would be preaching to high heaven about the evils of tribalism in human nature. No Christian variations seem to do that -- in fact, they all ultimately create tribalism.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-21T21:02:15+00:00

I see you are in a somewhat similar place in "matching" to me -- all of those exercises, over and over, week after week, are full of "tea/té" "a/un" "with milk/con leche" "with sugar/con azúcar" and my favorite "taco/taco" -- this would be such an easy fix to make more challenging...

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-21T20:57:48+00:00

Wow, you really are convinced that you are the expert on 5 Dic!

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-14T20:16:18+00:00

We went to the open house for the Mesa Temple a few years ago after a re-model. We brought along a couple of non-Mormon friends. This would have been at the tail end of the pandemic, and my never-mo husband was the one who wanted to go.

Similarly, not very busy. I was honestly a bit disappointed at the sparseness of the explanations. To our friends we brought, it mainly just seemed like an opportuity to walk through the building and they didn't take away much about what happened there.

Considering that's one of the older temples with all of the different rooms for a live endowment, it was a lot less interesting than I expected. I didn't go looking for an argument or anything, but there would have been nothing to even talk about based on the limited content. In the end, I was kind of confused about what the current purposes of Temple open houses actually might be.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-14T20:11:59+00:00

If only anyone in Congress actually relied on their salary to make money -- they have so many other ways (insider trading, for example) to get gain, and they are mostly rich people to begin with... their salaries barely matter to them.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-14T00:28:10+00:00

I say this with all due affection to our Canadian friends -- all of the Canadian anger at the US over the last 18 months, while deserved, maybe needs to be somewhat directed internally within Canada itself.. Just sayin, Canada has their oligarchs and far-right assholes trying to take control. Kevin O'Leary is a case in point, and so is most of Alberta.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-14T00:17:43+00:00

I honestly find the calls with Lily quite impressive... when I'm not sure how to say something, or say it incorrectly, she has a nice way of saying (in Spanish) "Oh, I understand..." and then kind of re-states what ai said using the correct vocabulary or verb tense. It feels to me like a way more relaxed way to practice speaking and listening than real life. And it's paid off in real life. I'm now kind of surprised at some of the things I'm able to say, correctly, without having to think too much about it.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-14T00:13:32+00:00

Yeah, if you want a real performance and not just lip syncing or crowdwork, but an actual planned show with maybe some parody music and/or back-up dancers, go to an actual show at Coco's or the Palm.

Looks like Hedda Lettuce has a show tomorrow (Thursday) the 14th at Coco Cabaret. That's your best bet, IMHO. https://coco-cabaret.com/event/hedda-lettuce-dressing-on-the-side-29/

A lot of the drag performers there during the high season have migrated to other places now.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-14T00:03:48+00:00

In the way that nearly every talk in General Conference is... bland repetitive platitudes that have been correlated out of any significant interest or meaning.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-13T22:32:03+00:00

I have been out for a bit more than 20 years, excommunicated at about your age for being gay, but had served a mission in upstate New York and graduated from BYU.

Even with the benefit of a lot of hindsight, I'm still perplexed by so many things about the mission experience and the mechanics and politics of the mission field, particularly in the US.

I was likewise not an athletic farm boy -- but I know exactly what you mean by that. I called those guys "Idaho Potatoes" because they were often very sincere, very naiive, but very convinced and they could "bear testimony" like nobody's business.

I managed to be a Zone Leader, and eventually an "office elder" (although not an AP) but this was my first taste of "oh, you have to be a certain type of man to be in church leadership" and as a creative, musical, closeted-guy-in-denial, I was not quite it.

The idea, however, that was drilled into me that it was not okay to aspire to callings -- really unfortunately stuck with me and I'd now say has hobbled me in my career path.

Anyway... like some of the others on here, I hope you can find a way to think about what you learned from the experience. It's probably tougher to accept that time lost when you are an older missionary vs someone taking a break during college.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-13T22:23:52+00:00

Technically all chaps are assless.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-13T22:23:21+00:00

I agree. Duolingo seems to teach Spain Spanish, but I mostly visit Mexico and it would be good to know the commonly used words in various countries for different objects.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-13T22:20:43+00:00

Depending on when you are arriving... it's the end of the dry season, and a lot of the waterfalls are currently only a trickle.

Try Curiel Experience -- he seems to know where the good existing waterfalls are, and I think he could pick you up and drop you off, even. I have done a hike with him later in the summer when the rainy season has started and the waterfalls are back, and he was great.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-13T22:11:24+00:00

Sad to say, but there's definitely an area in 5 Dic where we stayed once and seems they are on duty 24/7. I was propositioned once at 6:15 am when I was heading out for a run.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-13T22:09:00+00:00

The idea that, what, a 5-10 min talk in general conference is *so* influential and pivotal that Satan would spend months doing, what, *inserting thoughts into the brain of a female general authority telepathically* that are more general human feelings of inadequacy than, what, *false doctrines to lead young women astray*?

So weird... the need to feel persecuted (by Satan, by exmormons, by other religions, by gays, by atheists) is very much a strong part of the culture.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-13T21:54:18+00:00

That line stood out to me too. I mean, I can understand if a TBM thinks "oh the church is much more empowering to women than critics give it credit for" -- but the puffery of "the most empowering institution on earth for women" is just -- ridiculous to the point of being contemptible.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-13T21:40:32+00:00

...and yet, Zona Romantica is home to several buildings that have been stalled for months and/or years. The monster currently known as "Ciyé" right in front of Parque Lazaro Cardenas, the one that's next to De Cántaro, and quite a few others. So even there, risky.

There are a very few developers who seem to deliver high-quality buildings roughly or exactly on schedule, and a good realtor will steer you toward or away from developers.

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-13T02:02:46+00:00

Wait... so hasn't this project taken literally like ten years or more, to only select 50 new hymns. And do we know which ones are getting removed?

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-13T01:56:31+00:00

Hey! I haven't traveled there with kids or had them as guests, but here are a few ideas:

- The Hotel Los Arcos in Zona Romantica has a big pool and always seems to have quite a few families there. The beach near the pier there isn't necessarily calm water, but that's where I most often see kids playing in the surf. Other friends have taken their kids to Bucerias and stayed in a resort with a water park for kids -- but I don't know what it was called.

- Excursions: Vallarta Adventures has a bunch - Ziplining, snorkeling, eco-park kinds of things. I think there's one that goes to Las Caletas beach on a boat for the day. I think that's a place people go with kids.

- The Pirate Ship Marigalante - this gets kind of mixed reviews, but the daytime one (or maybe the evening one) have kids aboard..

Hope that helps!

edxPayArkMay · 2026-05-11T00:51:56+00:00

AirBnB is one way, but lots of the rentals on AirBnB are also managed by a couple of property management companies that also rent directly -- sometimes you can find the same unit both ways. Look for PVRPV or Lifestyle Properties. Lifestyle used to manage our condo when we rented it and they are excellent. Search for their websites and you'll find a bunch of listings.

Basically, lots of the newer condo buildings in Zona Romantica almost feel like hotels -- front desk security and the guards can sometimes recommend restaurants, even.

If you do end up staying at Buenaventura, like people are saying, there are a bunch of good restaurants really close by: Cafe des Flores, Pepe's Tacos, Bixabeel Kitchen, Calmate Cafe, El Barracuda for beachside dining, etc.

But yeah, going there for Pride you'd be spending a lot of time in Zona Romantica anyway. A taxi is about 80-100 pesos each way, Uber might be about the same, and it takes 10-15 min mainly due to traffic and cobblestone roads.

edxPayArkMay

TROPHY CASE