The Wanderings of busman7

Ok so everyone has heard of eBay the internet place to buy & sell. Most praise it to the heavens. I for just can’t figure out why?

Anyway I have a vintage Checker Taxi, that I have been using as my daily driver for the past 3 summers while I was in Canada,  for sale. Last prior to leaving for my new home in El Salvador I listed it on Kijiji, all was fine until time came to renew the listing, after 3 months without a bite. Now Kijiji has a big fit & refuses to renew the listing as I am not in Canada, car is but makes no difference to the morons who haven’t been able to sell it in 3 months. So tell them what they can do with their useless site.

Check out eBay which appears on the surface to be on the up & up with no complaints. Decide to sell by auction with a reserve bid + a buy now price, according to Hoyle, in 7 days the car either would have been sold at my reserve or not, with a possibility that someone would want it enough to pay the buy now price.

At the end of the 1st day there appears to be a buyer at my buy now price. However I then receive an email from the buyer with a song & dance about how he can’t pay his agent & he would appreciate it if I would trot right down to my local Western Union & send his agent $1550 US which he would add to my payment.

Next I receive an email from PayPal which says that as soon as I have the conformation # from Western Union they will release my funds.

At this point the bells & whistles saying scam are going off, so I email the supposed buyer asking who is going to pay Western Union’s usurious fees? When no response is received (not surprisingly), sirens were added to the bells & whistles screaming FRAUD!!!

Went through the process on eBay to cancel the sale, 6 days later they got back to me saying they guessed the buyer was not legitimate however my eBay still lists the car as sold but not paid for & when I try to delete my account they claim I owe them $120+ for the sale.

As I didn’t fall off the turnip truck just yesterday, I didn’t fall for the scam! However there is no way anyone will ever convince me that eBay/PayPal are not fully aware of this OLD scam  & as they are NOT doing anything to stop it, they are most likely complicit in it. After all if it walks like a duck & talks like a duck, it most likely IS a duck!!!

For the love of the Great Turtle I just can’t figure out what’s with all the people who sing the praises of eBay telling me how I have to be wary & watch what I do on their site.

Heck eBay/PayPal have just proven themselves to be involved in FRAUD & are THEIVES!

Personally I refuse to deal with such SCUMBAGS!!! 🙁

Checker will be sold, in a couple weeks, at a REAL SALE with a real live auctioneer, who just happens to be a friend. 🙂

Kijiji, eBay/PayPal can stick it where the sun doesn’t shine!!

So after a total of 78 hrs riding buses (that’s strictly traveling hrs, not including waiting around bus terminals) I arrived back in Peterborough ON to yucky cold 50oF, drizzly May weather (93 back home in El Salvador).

Was the trip a success? A big si, yes, oui to that. The CA + Mexican buses were a pleasure to ride, while the “Hound” was a sad experience (as expected).

However Mexico City turned out to be well worth the short visit & is placed on the return list, needs a minimum of 4 days to do it justice.

San Antonio exceeded all expectations, not only was the Alamo impressive but the city offers much to do with more history to experience. Reminds me of Brisbane, Australia, a town where one can have an enjoyable time for the price of a hop on/off bus ticket just sight seeing & chilling or spend a ton of money, if that’s your thing.

Memphis turned out to be pretty cool with Beale St, the home of the Blues (so they claim) to explore. Actually found the best hamburger ever at the Hard Rock Cafe on Beale St. Of course no visit would be complete without a visit to Graceland to check out the home of the “King”

It’s been an interesting few months, first driving the “Mother Road” US Route 66, stumbling across Tombstone, home of Boot hill & the OK Coral.

Finding “Paradise” in El Salvador & opening a B&B there!

Then seeing the Alamo & Graceland on the flipside. Not to forget my visit to Alaska in the summer.

Just a matter of selling the Checker & Scout then I will be finished with Canada & the US so I can concentrate on SE Asia + Central & South America.

An example how capitalism has gone awry in America/Canada.

Once upon a time there was an international bus line giving good service to both countries however the “car culture” combined with good economic times led to financial problems for the once proud Grey Dog.

Somehow, known only to the bankers, the financially unstable Canadian bus company, Laidlaw was able to takeover control of the nearly bankrupt Greyhound, then go into chapter 11 protection.

Then following some really sketchy bookkeeping, Laidlaw emerged from Chapter 11 & sold the whole kitten & caboodle to Britain’s First Choice Group, who specialize in the bulk movement of Sheeple, concentrating on the bottom line & to hell with the customers & their employees!

I am a former bus company, 25+ yrs, owner/operator that has just completed a bus trip from Guatemala City to Peterborough Canada + has ridden on buses long distance buses in over 20 countries in the world.

Without a doubt, that taking into consideration the resources available in these (supposedly first world countries), First Choice’s operation of Greyhound in the US/Canada, is the WORST in the world, followed closely only by Greyhound Australia!

A couple examples, the driver in Nuevo Laredo Mexico, was incapable of speaking English until physically crossing the border into the US, the bus was disgustingly filthy & cosmetically in disrepair. This gave a really bad first impression, especially after a couple days riding the excellent Mexican buses. However as usual first impressions tend to be spot-on.

We were called to the boarding gate in Dallas 1/2 hr prior to the scheduled departure time even though the personnel were fully aware of a breakdown that was to postpone our departure for over 1/2 hr. Consequently we were left standing in line nearly 1 1/2 hrs, no choice as all buses are first come first on & there was more people than seats. This was in the city listed as headquarters, so completely unacceptable.

In 7 departures only the first one in Nuevo Laredo left at the scheduled time or arrived on time.  All passengers were forced to exit the bus at least twice during the night so sleep was out of the question + there were no curtains on the windows.

Missed my connection in Detroit as the bus was 1 1/2 hours late, for no apparent reason. When I asked to complain to management, I was directed to a nice gentleman, a long time & disgruntled employee, who confirmed all my previous views of First Choice + added a couple I wasn’t aware of, including the fact he had heard the complaint section of the greyhound website, merely ended up somewhere in cyber space, with no human ever setting eyes on it.

In conclusion all I can say is, if at a bus terminal you see people standing around wearing puke colored neon green vests, RUN, don’t walk but Run far, far away!!

Also if your child rides a First Student school bus driven by a person in the same puke neon green vest, be afraid very, very afraid!!

Of course you don’t mind giving your hard earned money to a faceless conglomerate that holds you in utter contempt, then by all means, support the British Dog!

Almost forgot to add that bus terminals, like train stations have historically been located downtown so one could just get off & walk to their destination, or at least catch the city bus. However I noticed that the touted new Greyhound terminals are located out in the middle of nowhere, necessitating an expensive taxi ride to get to & away from them. Thus causing more hardship to their customers, who tend to be more in the lower income range. Heads of the company once again showing their contempt & don’t give a damn attitude towards their customers. Hey land is cheaper in the sticks than downtown, making taxes cheaper!

Dare to be different.

Drive a Checker!

Unfortunately I have to find a good home for my faithful Checker.

Now listed on eBay motors auction.

One more week driving then Bye, bye Checker 🙁

Been on the road now for 10 days, 2 more & the Grey Dog’ll drop me off, in Peterborough, where I started my 5 country road trip from back in September.

The shuttle to Antigua stopped at the Royal De Cameron in Sonsante, so got a look at it & talked a bit with the couple who stayed there. It’s geared to the Latin tourist trade than the North American one. Most of the guests are from Central/South America with a mainly Spanish speaking staff.

Spent a couple nights & a day in Antigua but it just didn’t feel the same, prices had gone up & people seemed to have their hand out for tips every time you turned around, got old pretty fast & pretty much quit tipping because of it. Central Park is still the same though as is El Portal. Going to have to find a new place to stay though as Posada La Merced has put their prices up a tad too much & just aren’t worth the money they want.

Got the Tica bus in Guate to Tapachula & the supposed 5 hr trip became 8, partly due to construction & partly due to the police checking for something. Found it kind of a nice little town with good cheap, 250 Peso rooms right across the street from the bus station. This came as a happy surprise as none were listed on the net, other than the $70 + Holiday Inn & a couple others in that class, even on BNA!

Next afternoon got the ADO Platimo class bus, 19 hrs & $130 to Mexico Norte station where on the advise (not necessarily good) of another passenger went to a hotel near the airport. There was a demonstration against violence of a million people planned for Sunday so the advise, while erring on the cautious side, was likely prudent. Did however mange a couple hr tour on the Sunday which showed that one needs at least 4 days to explore the city.

Next day came a 9 hr $100 trip on ETN’s Tourista class (same as ADO) to Monterrey where I got an Omnibus to Nueva Laredo, had my Spanish been better, note that a basic understanding of Spanish is really necessary for bus travel, or the website been more up-to-date I would have known that I could have taken the Omnibus straight from Monterrey to San Antonio. This would have saved taking the junky Americanos/Greyhound for that segment.

A couple or three more hours, which included an hour at the border where “Border Security Services” fancy new name for Homeland Stupidity, had a fortune tied up in 5 trucks for X-raying buses but of course they only used ONE of the 5 but that’s for another posting.

Spent a couple great days in San Antonio, which offers much more than the Alamo, then it was off to Dallas, a just over 5 hr trip on Americanos for a switch to a Grey Dog for Memphis, another 6 hrs + an hour “standing in line” at the terminal. More on the worlds worst bus line in another post, was going to reserve judgment on that until the end of the trip but not necessary to wait now!

So it’s off to find Elvis this morn followed by another 26+ hrs on the British operated “sick” dog!!

Bit of a plan change, first stop Antigua Guatemala.

Netbook died so shall replace in San Antonio, update then.

Don’t you just love the internet! While firming up the tentative routing for my upcoming epic bus trip, had pretty much decided to go with crossing at Laredo. When trying to figure the best way to cross the border I stumbled across the fact that Greyhound picks up in Nuevo Laredo, this was cool.

Then a little further on it said that they do a transfer in San Antonio for most onward travel. Gee, San Antonio set the bells ringing, isn’t that the home of the Alamo? A quick Google search confirmed that, by gosh by golly, it surely is.

Many, many moons ago I spent endless hours in my fake buckskin, fringed jacket & trousers with my trusty cork firing rifle, hunting b’ar in Tennessee hills with Davey, Davey Crocket the King of the Wild Frontier! Followed him down to Texas & the Alamo where he made his last stand.

Now I am going to be at the home of the Alamo so shall make a stop to spend a day there & check it out.

The past 8-9 months have been pretty good ones for discovering America. Saw a lot of Alaska, completed my bucket list Route 66 then passed through Tombstone where I checked out Boot Hill & the OK Coral. Sent many hours fighting the bad guys with Wyatt, Doc & the boys, when I wasn’t helping Davey out. Got to see it & spend the night there.

Being in Tombstone was great but not something I would really go out of my way to see, same with the Alamo. Seems like just a coincidence that I get to see both, one on my way down to El Salvador while crossing at a safe border crossing & the other on the way back for the same reason. Especially as both of these crossings are out of the way points, from where I was coming from  & going to.

However there is no such thing as coincidence! Hmmmm

Itinerary’s looking like this (subject to change); May 2 http://www.ticabus.com San Salvador to Tapachula Mexico.

May 3/4 http://www.adogl.com.mx/en/index.htm Tapachula to Mexico Norte.

May 5/6 overnight http://www.etn.com.mx/english Mexico Norte to Monterey

May 6 early morning http://www.odm.com.mx Monterey to Nuevo Larado

May 6 midmorning 5 hr trip http://www.greyhound.com Nuevo Laredo to San Antonio

May 7 down day to checkout the Alamo

May 8/9 the hound to Peterborough, possibly an overnight in Memphis or Nashville or not???

With Las Brisas B&B basically set up, only a few odds & ends to look after. A bit more English training for my manager, some local advertising, then it’s wait & see what happens at Easter, one of the 3 major holidays of the year, in El Salvador.

As I need to work a bit until social security kicks in, TEFL in CA doesn’t pay enough to bother with + had planned more time in SE Asia, shall give Cambodia a try. From my research, with my being no spring chicken, with no ESL experience, teaching in Khumer land seems to be the most viable option. www.khmer440.com/chat_forum

Present plan is, sometime during the first week of May to catch the Tica bus in San Salvador (leaves at 06:00 so cab it to SS), ADO from the Guatemala/Mexico frontier to Mexico Norte, splurge on ETN to Monterey, NL Omnibus to Laredo followed by the Hound to Peterborough ON.

Shall break the trip up so it takes about 7 days so it will cost about the same as flying with AA which requires a plane change in Miami, a no no as I am boycotting US airports due to TSA’s Pervert searches. TACA, El Salvador’s airline has a weekly nonstop flight SAL-YYZ but is insanely expensive.

That leaves busman with the only logical option, living up to his name & bussing it!!

Likely spend a week or so in ON & QC tying up loose ends before catching an Aero Svit flight YYZ-KBP-BKK, cheapest flight going, except for one involving Air Crappy that would only save $30, rather give my money to the Ukraine, thank you very much.

A few days in Bangkok, then off to Phnom Penh for a job search.

That’s the plan. At this point in time. As always, subject to change!

noun   

A subdivision or neighborhood, often surrounded by a barrier, to which entry is restricted to residents and their guests

Guess I was born in the wrong the wrong century as there are 2 things I find extremely evil in this one, Gated Communities & Sleeper Buses!

My philosophy is this

‘nough said on the subject!!

Haven’t been able to post much in the last couple weeks as Claro, the only internet provider available here has been having connection problems. Today is the first time I have been able to upload any pics so will have to get busy on the B&B site.

We were fortunate that the Tsunami that devastated parts of Japan had spent itself by the time it reached the coast at Playa San Diego/La Libertad & caused no damage.

Finishing touches were put on Rancho Las Brisas (except for the mural by the gate) yesterday. Shall take a rest weekend & be ready for customers on Monday March 14, 2011.

BTW I just added some pics from Las Brisas on my new Picasa albums, nothing exciting, mainly of my reconstruction project.