Death Records Now

Before I write, I know I am going to be faced with a lot of prejudice and anger. First and foremost, know that I deeply regret this stupid decision, and it was my first time (I was careless because I knew it was wrong and still did it, but at the same time I just was so fed up for living in near poverty for so long).

I stole $80 of merchandise at JC Penney. They were on sale, so when I was caught, they marked it as the actual retail price which was $165. I slid the items into my purse and thought I was home free despite I was terrified. My boyfriend was with me and thought that I would make it out okay. We were caught by the door by the LP Agent who said, "You must come with me" and dragged us quite painfully to the detainment room.

There they questioned us if we did it, took our things, our identification, phone numbers, everything except our social security. Eventually we admitted our wrongs and returned everything, but because of our ages (24 and 23) they decided to prosecute under California Penal Code 490. We were not read our Miranda Rights. We signed some papers. One of them was the list of items that were stolen and we were going to pay for them, second was the ban of the premises for 6 months, and we are uncertain what the third paper was (if we did, we cannot remember as we were frozen in fear). We were arrested on the spot and taken to the police station despite we were cooperative and agreed to to the ban, apologized, returned the items in tact and unharmed, and agreed to their civil demand. The Police also did not read us our Miranda rights, and we were not interviewed. We had our photos and fingerprints taken and once we were cited, we were released. We were given a court date. We are unable to sleep and are frightened to death. We have never done anything like this before, and while many people said that admitting to the wrong doing was bad, we thought we were doing the right thing by admitting the guilt. We are literally riddled with grief with the fact this will damage our future careers because of a small, but frustrated, mistake.

Anymore facts include: The theft was in California, we were not interviewed or recorded by the Police, we were not kept in jail for more than an hour for them to book us, and insofar we’ve cooperated and showed great remorse for our actions. But we don’t know what to do now. We are told to consult a lawyer, but we have hardly any money to afford one (in fact, the theft was on the basis we hardly have money). We are going to seek a Public Defender, but we are unsure of how this will all cost.

If no priors, probably no jail time, a fine, and a short stint with probation (possibly informal).

As for your rights not being read: If you research miranda questions, either here or somewhere else, you’ll find that your rights only need to be read to you if you are in custody AND the police wish to interview you. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. Everything else is television B.S.

As for all the paperwork at the store: That’s fairly common. They can pursue you civilly as well as prosecute you criminally. You can be charged with trespassing if you return to the store (and usually any other J.C Penny).

I know this might be kind of strange or pathetic to some people, but I’m scared to death of flying on airplanes. I have to at least three times a year for family trips, but I just get more and more scared every time. I know that it’s the safest form of transportation and everything, but I still can’t get over the idea of a crash and dying. Also, my mom has to go away on buisness a lot and evertime she’s gone I freak out and make her call me right before and right after and I check her flight online… that may sound really weird but I’m so frightened I’m going to lose someone to that. Do you guys have any ideas or tips that will make flying less scary for me? I’m going on a plane to hawaii for spring break in a month. I’m going on Hawaiian airlines and they have a perfect safety record… but I"m just so nervous. Any tips or advice to help me?

As crazy as it sounds, one thing to do is put yourself in that position. For example, if you’re afraid of a roller coaster, how do you break the fear? Avoiding it? No, repetition. Believe it or not, your mind can train itself to not be afraid. Mind over matter. If you want to have help with your repetition in breaking your fear, take some relaxing prescribed medication, listen to music, eat your favorite handy snack. And just relax. Take deep breaths. Look out the window every once in a while, and know that soon you will be at your destination having a good time. And eventually, flying will be like nature.

ive been reading articles and this entire thing is rediculous. people are making a huge deal of this "deadly" and "new" disease. Ive googled and looked at articles and people are saying this is so much worse than the bird flu people are already actually dying. I dont think thats the case. To me, Swine flu is a joke. 159 people have died in mexico? yeah sure but if this flu gives you a fever and its hot down there, with no money for doctors and live in packed areas with roads of dirt, then yeah, theyll probly die from the fever and the added heat since the body needs to be a certain temperature in order to survive. The media is playing a big role in this to make everyone perceive that its a big deal. What is it, one death in the united states? oh everyones worried now! it was a baby, and if you were smart, youd know they dont have the best immune systems. From the articles and blogs ive read, people are freaking out about it, and its rediculous because the only thing they know about is whats shown on the news. Heres a fact, around 6000 people alone in the U.S die from a "regular" flu. So whats the big deal with swine flu huh? there is none. The media makes it bigger than it is, people only care when its on the news. Same thing with shark attacks a few years ago. People were making a huge deal about there being so many shark attacks, well turns out it was the lowest recording of shark attacks in a year ever. So everyone stop thinking this is some serious and special influenza. its nothing special. You should still try to be sanitary, cuz no one likes a flu.
ok no vaccines no cure, theres no cure for a regular flu either, go ahead get a flu shot, doesnt mean you arent going to get it.

Yeah, nothing says "I am an idiot who does not have critical thinking skills" better than walking around in a surgical mask in fear of a flu virus.

ALL flu virus’s kill some people.
39000 each year in the U.S. alone.
This particular strain has shown far less severe effects than the standard annual flu strains that we deal with every year.

When you see the brain dead, indoctrinated buffoons worry about this it is not hard to see how we got saddled with our current president.

A typical day in the life of an American expat living in Mexico will include trying to find drinking water. You might be surprised by this but everyone knows that you cannot “drink the water in Mexico”. This refers to the fact that you cannot drink the tap water in Mexico. Probably every American adult already knows that you cannot drink the tap water. But does the typical American adult know just how one obtains drinking water in Mexico?

In a word: bottles!

The day in and day out routine in Mexico to obtain the liquid of life, that which is absolutely essential for survival, is that you must have bottled water. To meet this need, two companies where I live, Guanajuato, have sprung into being. To say that they are in competition with one another for customers, competition as Americans would define competition, would be a misnomer. That is to say, I think so.

The way this works is that the drinking-water employees walk through the streets of Guanajuato screaming all the livelong day, “Agua…agua…agua”. They punctuate the end of their musical-like screeching with the name of their company so you, the customer, will know whether you should run naked from the shower, sopping wet, to the nearest window to scream back, “A-G-U-A!”

So, picture this, if you will:

You are in the shower. You have just covered your body with a thick, foamy layer of soap. You are so white you look like a polar bear walking on its hind legs. In addition, you look like a polar bear walking on its hind legs that is also blind. This is because you have just lathered your hair with shampoo and you cannot see for fear of the searing, burning pain that will certainly ensue should you open your eyes even for God.

You are down to your last three ounces of bottled water and are in the shower when you hear the plaintiff screech coming from the alley,

“Agua…agua…agua Purificada!!” (Purficada is the name of one of the two companies.)

You go tearing out of the shower looking very frightening. You do this because you know that if you do not get to the nearest window and begin what sounds like a mating call between two torridly-in-love beasts, then you will lose out on getting water.

The result of any hesitation on your part will most likely result in not getting water-period!

Now let me extrapolate on this, with your permission.

The bottled-water guys never come two days in a row. The Apocalypse could be in mid-Apocalyptic frenzy and these guys will never, for love or money, come two days in a row to give you water during the Mother of all Wars. What I am saying is that they could come on a Monday, and if you do not load up on bottles of water then, you could be looking forward to dehydration as the mode of your imminent death.

Not only that, they may not even return to your neighborhood for weeks on end. For reasons known only to the employees of these two water companies, they simply do not engage in any sort of regular or predictable route. No one in this country, from “sea to shining sea” (from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean) knows why!

Here are some suggestions as to why they do not come-ever-to your house more than two days in a row.

They:

1. Forget about you completely and figure that you moved or died.
2. Have some sort of passive-aggressive fit, “How dare them not scream back at me when I went to all this trouble to sing the agua love song to them from the alley…I will show them! Grrrr!”
3. Do not keep records mentally or on paper when someone last ordered water.
4. Make the assumption that you are getting your water some other way.

I do not know.

But, the point is, unless you have a car, and have the strength of Hercules, you cannot pop down to the store and get some water. These bottles are enormously heavy.

So, the next option is: USE THE TELEPHONE.

At the writing of these words, I have called five times and sent two emails to the company, “Agua Purficada”. Three and a half days later, they still haven’t shown up.

With each phone call, I have encountered someone who sounds sympathetic and like they actually care about the urgency that I feel because my life is ebbing away from lack of water. They promise that they will send someone who will be at my door in an hour. I am sitting here in mid-evening almost four days later with no water.

If you are going to live in this country, you will have to get used to this happening all the time, in all aspects of life here. There is nothing you can do about it. The bottled water company will bring you water when and if they think you need some water. That is the only thing I can tell you that makes any sense.

The horrible thing is that if you were Mexican, this would not happen to you. I realize what I am implying here but it is the sad truth. And mind you, I can speak the language. It is not a language barrier issue. I can communicate clearly, in Spanish, that I need water, where I live, and can’t you hurry I am dying here!

I immediately called my Mexican friends in town. They told me that they get water within minutes of making ONE phone call. Count it-ONE! I have made five calls and sent emails and I have nothing to show for it. One Mexican friend even asked me to repeat to her what I said to the water people. She said that should have done it, but alas, it did not.

Doug’s Mexican Living survival tip for getting your water is this:

Even if you are fully supplied with water, and hear the water guy coming, buy another bottle or two. Always have three full bottles in reserve! Always!

Douglas Bower
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/mexican-living-survival-tip-1-water-86085.html