Given its influence on Mexican commerce, economy and culture, I will be the first to note that maybe the drug cartels should have their own drug cartel media.

As everyone who has been to Lakeside knows, the Carretera is the only artery to thread through all the many small villages that surround Lake Chapala, and, as a result, is often choked with traffic, traffic signal breakdowns, cement trucks driven by former stunt drivers, and, currently, roadside excavations resembling World War I trenches.

It’s that time of year when the world falls in love, over-indulges and then has to resolve in the New Year to go on diets. And, of course, jolly St. Nick represents our children’s role model for giving – and, based on his pants size, consuming.

Every year around this time I start to feel really bad.  “Joy to the World!” And I’ll have my meds handy.

Fifty years ago, “plastics” was a keynote to anyone wishing to invest in what was supposed to become the technology of the modern world, giving us everything we touch in a day.

Traveling the roads of Mexico can sometimes be intimidating for those not used to such a trial, partly because Mexican traffic signs and road connections are quite different from those north of the border.