The Gringo Report Nov. 15 2015

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Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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As dawn breaks on another day in paradise, the sky es azul, the water es azul and my mood es azul.

It is clear that I am stupid and I suffer because of that fact and because I failed to heed the advice offered by so many on this forum. I am an eternal optimist. Preferring to see the good in all people before acknowledging the obvious that is staring me in the face. As a result of my flagrant disregard of the seasoned advice freely offered on DR1, I suffer. I suffer for reasons beyond DR1 but the theme is consistent. I am stupid.

Had some work done 8 days ago by a local contractor. He promised the world. He took his deposit and actually showed up on time (more or less) two days later to drop off two workers to do the work. They labored away doing the half a$$ed job that the cynics would say to expect here in the DR. They did not have the right tools and mine are bobbing somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic ocean so I could not easily come to their assistance. They damaged the material for part of the installation but installed it anyways only to be told by me that it would have to be changed. They of course knew this before I said anything because they would not accept damaged material installed in their casa but I guess they are paid by the hour so they merrily carried on like I was blind as well as stupid.

My stupidity knows no bounds. I had to leave while the work was in progress. Why is not important, but I did. When I was on my way home, because my wife failed to turn on her cell, I could not contact her to see if the workers were still there. So not wanting to go home and then have to leave again to pay the outstanding balance, I decided to pursue efficiency over common sense. I met the contractor at his place of business and paid him the agreed upon balance before I had inspected the work. Right about now, most of you have fallen off your chairs and I truly hope that you have not hurt yourself.

To save further embarrassment and to keep this post within a reasonable length, just let me conclude this parable on this note: I am now being schooled in the true meaning of ma?ana to a Dominican business person. Today is the 7th ma?ana and I have bet the bank that it will also be the last ma?ana for this job. To those of you who just fell off your chair for the 2nd time, my apologies. I hope you did hurt yourself this time either.

Cast your eyes 3500 KM north. Before discarding the only shred of common sense I possessed and moving to Paradise, mi esposa and I decided not to sell our house back home but rather rent it out, just in case you know. We opted to rent to a family member. Because family won't deliberately screw family don't you know. We had a serious heart to heart with said family member before we left. We told them that the rent would be less than fair market value. We told them that we would leave them all of our really nice stainless steel kitchen appliances and our absolutely wonderful front loading washer/dryer, assorted good furniture and a bunch of other quality stuff that we did not wish to pay to move south. We did this because we are nice people and they are family. Family wouldn't screw family right?

The tenants paid their first and last month in cash before we left. We told them they could move in the day after we left so the property was not empty for the month of Sept. and their next rent payment would be due on the 1st of Nov. For those of you still lying on the floor, don't get up, you may hurt yourself when you fall again. Of course family will screw family that is 3500 KM away. The rent wasn't paid. Not only that, after the first promise to pay it on a certain date that came and went with no further communication or explanation, the tenant is now extremely ****ed off that a lawyer has contacted them with the ultimatum of "pay up or get out". I mean the nerve of a landlord that expects the rent to be paid on time and in full right? Imagine a family member not agreeing to afford you endless consideration when your very first promised payment date is missed without so much as an explanation or an apology. The nerve of a family member who has the audacity to point out that maybe it would be only fair to let the other party know why money owed was not paid when promised and when it would be paid. I am stupid.

To further compound my current life of folly, I'm going to the Finish Line in Sosua this afternoon to kill even more brain cells, as I am clearly not using them for anything else. So I sit here this morning watching the dogs frolic, the butterflies fluttering to and fro, waiting for my Ma?ana man to show up. He will of course, because people don't screw people, just like family doesn't screw family.

Perhaps some day DR1 will offer a place for the common folk to post pertinent but off topic messages, maybe not. I think, the Gringo Report might just be something worth continuing if an appropriate home for such musings can be found that doesn't raise the ire of the DR1 overlords. Maybe off-topic is that place, but it would be a shame if those those newer to these hallowed halls cannot benefit from the rambling and prophetic musings of another stupid Gringo in Paradise.

Where is my phone, time to call the Ma?ana man to try and determine which ma?ana he meant when I spoke to him yesterday...
 
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drSix

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Oct 13, 2013
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Man, I've been told it only gets better the longer you are here 'cause ya learn to live with it. I dunno, I think this country is ageing me prematurely!

Get a rental agency for your house. They charge me $150 a month for my house back home, and I never worry about anything. They just put the money in my account. Even a lease signed for 2016 already!

I brought most of my tools with me, and have a good handy man if ya ever need.

Just pour some rum and chive on... Until the lease is up anyways!
 

charlise

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Nov 1, 2012
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Remember my numero uno Rule from another post ??? TRUST NO ONE... This rule does wonder for everything in my life...

And if you need a shoulder to cry on, let me know and we'll have a drink. I'll teach you how to become a little bit more untrusty... lol... Take care.
 

drSix

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Oct 13, 2013
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TRUST NO ONE... This rule does wonder for everything in my life...

.

That is by far the simplest and most difficult advice to adhere to. I've been wamboozeled soo many times, and every time I look back and say "damnit, how did I not see that coming"!
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
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One question: the rent was due on the first of November and you sent a lawyer (to your family) before the 15th?!
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
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Yes, stupid is doing the same thing over and over again. Let no good deed go unpunished. Dominicans screw each other over, just like in every country. You perhaps have some Gringo naivety, but these people are expert con-men/people.
Childhood acquaintance of my wife's moved back to town after 30 years of living in the Capital with her two grown sons and almost grown daughter. She begged that my wife give her daughter a job. The girl is only 17 . My wife told her she was too young, and off to the Labour office they went so it could be explained. As these people were in desperate need my wife took a chance and hire the girl. Two months ago the girl was getting a ride to work with a teacher and they were hit by a truck. Broken lower left leg and a few cuts and bruised for the girl, and lots of cuts and bruises for the teacher. Month off for the teacher and his medical insurance paid at the clinic. Off to the public hospital for her. Well to do father ( lawyer) shows up, pays for her first prescription and crutches and off never to be seen again.
My wife continues to pay her. Last week she gets a visit from the other brother saying he went to the labour and they said my wife has to pay all the medical bills ...etc. Thursday we went for a visit to discuss the situation. The poor girl was clearly embarrassed because she remembered the discussion with my wife at the labour office and the discussion afterward.
The people are in desperation mode- no job for the mother, only the little money coming in from us and another relative providing the roof over their heads. Needless to say my wife is stuck paying this girls medical expenses- however now she'll see the doctor we send her too, we'll pay for her to have medical insurance and send her to physio.
Situations like this leave you feel like being the good Samaritan is not all that it's cracked up to be.
 

HUG

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Feb 3, 2009
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It is very difficult to adjust to wanting to like and therefor trust someone, yet know you need to adapt the mentality of like everyone yet trust absolutely no one. It is unnatural.
But like said above in time you adjust and life becomes easier, but yes, social circles shallower. In not being obliged to trust anyone, and everyone feeling the same then it is easier to like everyone, as there is little, if nothing at risk.
In normal social circles you can end up hurt by friends, but under DR social circles you never get hurt, as you don't have anything on the line. The only thing that can hurt you under your new social rules is your own stupidity. And believe me, everyone has blamed stupidity, eventually stupidity gets frozen out, along with your emotions and expectations.:cool:

It will become natural to like and not trust people, not a good thing, but it is about damage limitation and self preservation.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
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the idea is never ever do favours or give money. do not worry if people tell you that no one else can help them but you. they managed before your arrival to this country, they will manage when you are gone and they can damn well manage without your help now.
 

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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the idea is never ever do favours or give money. do not worry if people tell you that no one else can help them but you. they managed before your arrival to this country, they will manage when you are gone and they can damn well manage without your help now.

great advice. just last week, i met this woman while i was having a beverage at a caseta. i told her to pull up a chair, and bought her a beer. we exchanged numbers, and that was it. Sunday afternoon, while i am watching some football, the phone rings. she wants to know if i can help her with some money to go see her daughter in Santiago.

i tell her to pretend she had never met me, and see how things turn out.
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
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the idea is never ever do favours or give money. do not worry if people tell you that no one else can help them but you. they managed before your arrival to this country, they will manage when you are gone and they can damn well manage without your help now.

And the best part is they will respect u all the more for it !!!!!! Somebody said twisted ???
 

HUG

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Feb 3, 2009
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great advice. just last week, i met this woman while i was having a beverage at a caseta. i told her to pull up a chair, and bought her a beer. we exchanged numbers, and that was it. Sunday afternoon, while i am watching some football, the phone rings. she wants to know if i can help her with some money to go see her daughter in Santiago.

i tell her to pretend she had never met me, and see how things turn out.

If you told this to anyone who does not know the DR and its people then they would probably think you were either missing info or manipulating the reality, but knowing the place and its people we all know that this is as was, and the funny thing is we don't even think twice about the nerve of it. I dunno, is it a good thing to become hardened to such shallow morals.................
 

HUG

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Feb 3, 2009
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And the best part is they will respect u all the more for it !!!!!! Somebody said twisted ???

I believe there is a massive lack of respect or even understanding of what respect is in DR. Everyone is out to get one over, being shut down doesn't mean they respect you, probably just hate you:cry: I dunno, respect is scarce though.
 

Ron Anjero

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Aug 8, 2013
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Hey C-G while we are only 6 month visitors here who normally just lock up and leave Canadian winters. We did a favour for close friends and rented our house last winter. We arrived back to being locked out and once inside faced with a series of post-it notes stating not to use the sink washer as there was "water" on the basement floor. No word from our friends but after some wall opening I discovered that the drain line from the kitchen and washer had separated in the wall. It must have been leaking for some time as the insulation, studs and wooden floor was rotted and moldy. Lesson learned - this year the house is locked up and insured. You are not alone !!!!
 

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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Only if you allow it or place yourself in that situation.........Which most do.

the trick is to learn fast, and never to believe that you have met the girl that is different. you aren't that lucky that this girl of lofty morals and principles has been floating around for 20 something years, unattached, and you just happen to be the guy who gets her.

i have probably told this one before, but here goes nothing; in the mid 1990s, i had this acquaintance who had a stall in the flea market at Aqueduct racetrack. she was hooked up with some guys from Little Italy, and they knocked over a jewelry truck, and she ended up with 2000 women's Bulova watches. she gave me 8 samples, and told me to see if i could find some jeweler in the DR who would buy them off her for pennies on the dollar. she stipulated that i should never return to the States with them, because they were numbered, and crap could go south in customs. i ended up giving all 8 to a bunch of girls who worked at a dive called Plaza Caribe. i went back to the US, and when i returned to the DR not ONE of the girls had a watch. EVERY one told me it had been stolen.

that is when i got my clue.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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I'm sorry you're going through this CG - we've all been there. Even though Mr. AE is Dominican, he also has been similarly victimized - guess he's lived in the USA too long.

I'd bet many DR1ers could tell similar stories, but they are ashamed to admit they were taken for a ride.
 

drSix

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Oct 13, 2013
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but they are ashamed to admit they were taken for a ride.

Search for my one about the fake mechanic in Puerto Plata! I'll never live that one down...

I'm currently in the process of being wamboozeled!, I think!?! One of the people working for me, who has been very good to me, says his house is falling apart and needs $250 to fix it. He says the wall is falling down and he needs cement and block to repair it. I offered him the 1/2 bag of cement in the garage, didn't want that. I also said I'd go to his house with him, take a look, bring my tools, see if I can help, maybe even buy a couple bags of cement while I am there.

Nope, he needs the cash 'cause he is going to hire someone to do it.
 

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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Search for my one about the fake mechanic in Puerto Plata! I'll never live that one down...

I'm currently in the process of being wamboozeled!, I think!?! One of the people working for me, who has been very good to me, says his house is falling apart and needs $250 to fix it. He says the wall is falling down and he needs cement and block to repair it. I offered him the 1/2 bag of cement in the garage, didn't want that. I also said I'd go to his house with him, take a look, bring my tools, see if I can help, maybe even buy a couple bags of cement while I am there.

Nope, he needs the cash 'cause he is going to hire someone to do it.

you are a smart cookie. these folks are not hard to figure out. i was strolling on the malecon one early afternoon, and two girls came up to me and said that they were hungry, and asked me if i could spot them some money to buy some food. we were not too far from La Sirena, so i told them that i would pay for something to eat in La Sirena. one of them said that that would not work, because they both had the "gripe", and did not have much of an appetite at that moment.

hey, i did not say they were on the short list for the Nobel Prize...
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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The Ma?ana Game

I procrastinated as long as I could. I was sufficiently buzzed from the coffee y baileys. It was after 10 am and would only get hotter in the sun and there was no way the pool was going to clean itself. There is something oddly disconcerting yet meditative about cleaning a pool you are too drunk to swim in...

Oh yes, the ma?ana game. As I worked my way around the pool sucking up all that crap that blows in and sinks whenever the wind blows, I was practicing the conversation in my best spanglish that I was going to have with the ma?ana man when I finished walking in circles. It was going to go something like this:

My friend. I have treated you with the utmost respect and trust. I paid you for your work in full even though it was not completed at the time. I took your word at face value when you assured me that I would be completely satisfied when you were done. We are now at the stage in our relationship when I need to know when you plan on being done? I have heard you say ma?ana for almost a 7 days now. You always have a good reason for ma?ana, you are truly an accomplished player of this game. Maybe you have failed to notice that after you say ma?ana 6 times in a row, you can't use that phrase anymore and should have used "la pr?xima semana" from the outset....

I did not have a chance to have this conversation. Just as I was about to wind up the sucking pool thingy and hose, along comes ma?ana man with his entourage and the job is finished. Not exactly clean and neat as a work site should be left, but I am considering this a win and being thankful that I didn't have to employ the services of my armed and loco taxi driver/enforcer.

I wonder is said loco taxi driver is interested in a trip up north to play in the snow...
 
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