so me and a buddy head down to mex. He wants to see the sights and see what mexico is like, so what could be better than a TJ trip.  We have some great food then He keeps asking me about this wild strip clubs...

so we check out a couple, drinking dos X all the way.

we go into one and find a very hot girl dancing, i was drunk but i soon realized the girl was missing a hand and it was taped up.  WTF ???  I promptly left and headed to divas which had a bunch of hotties with all limbs.

fun but weird.

I woulda at least asked her what happened

Quoted: I woulda at least asked her what happened

nah it really freaked me out, i just wanted out.

Quoted: Quoted: I woulda at least asked her what happened nah it really freaked me out, i just wanted out.

yeah true... but me being me, if I was even a little buzzed, Ida said something about it... me being the ass I am

No banana show?  Your missing out!

I won't ever go back to Mexico. Ever.

Quoted: Did you hit the Donkey Show?

my friend was hammered and some guy was like, hey donkey show amigos, my friend was like  "i wonder what the fuck  that is?"   my reply: trust me you dont want to know

kinda  a eye opener for my tourist friend.

We had a field office in TJ.  In 1988, a man burst through the door with a machine gun, liberated everyone of their watches and jewelry, and escaped.

There is a club down there called Guadalajara Grill.  If you go in there wearing a tie, four men will approach you - one will hold you down, one will pull the tie out, another has a HUGE pair of scissors with which he cuts off your tie - and the fourth pours tequila down your throat - all at the same time.  They pin your tie up on a wall behind the bar.  We had a bean counter visit one time, convinced him to wear his tie when we went in, and they got him.  It is funny watching a bean counter who probably never had a drink in his life squirm not knowing what in the heck was going on.

We took a consultant chick into town, and she literally bought a quarter pound of silver necklaces.  She haggled those poor storekeepers down from 40 dollars to 15 dollars for each one.

The only part I didn't like was coming back across the border.  We always had a driver, and the wait was very long.  We got pulled into secondary once.  The person over the office was an alcoholic, and tried to bring cheap bottles of tequila back across.  I think at the time the limit was two, and they made him poor some top grade tequila out on the pavement.

if your down there Divas was the nicest I have found so far, girls are top notch and the place is clean and fairly safe feeling.

    I never found the famous donkey show, or fabled donkey show.  Is Chuddy's House of Beers still there?

I saw that one handed lady down in Acapulco in October. She was giving massages on the beach. She was  holding out her good hand and would just say "money", "money".

Quoted: We had a field office in TJ.  In 1988, a man burst through the door with a machine gun, liberated everyone of their watches and jewelry, and escaped. There is a club down there called Guadalajara Grill.  If you go in there wearing a tie, four men will approach you - one will hold you down, one will pull the tie out, another has a HUGE pair of scissors with which he cuts off your tie - and the fourth pours tequila down your throat - all at the same time.  They pin your tie up on a wall behind the bar.  We had a bean counter visit one time, convinced him to wear his tie when we went in, and they got him.  It is funny watching a bean counter who probably never had a drink in his life squirm not knowing what in the heck was going on. We took a consultant chick into town, and she literally bought a quarter pound of silver necklaces.  She haggled those poor storekeepers down from 40 dollars to 15 dollars for each one. The only part I didn't like was coming back across the border.  We always had a driver, and the wait was very long.  We got pulled into secondary once.  The person over the office was an alcoholic, and tried to bring cheap bottles of tequila back across.  I think at the time the limit was two, and they made him poor some top grade tequila out on the pavement.

wow TJ would be a fucking blast with a driver, i do better on foot though plus you just walk right through customs, no waiting in traffic.

Quoted: I won't ever go back to Mexico. Ever.

+1

Seen one 3rd world shithole, you've seen them all.

Quoted: I think at the time the limit was two, and they made him poor some top grade tequila out on the pavement.

Just pay the duty on the excess, why pour it out?

TJ does have a distinctive aroma, doesn't it - a mixture of open sewers and diesel fuel.  There are nicer places in Mexico to visit.  I stayed in a rented house in Puerta Vallarta last March, and it was very, very nice.  From the balcony you could see the bay, and there were flowers everywhere.

Quoted: Quoted: I think at the time the limit was two, and they made him poor some top grade tequila out on the pavement. Just pay the duty on the excess, why pour it out?

He was a stubborn and stupid individual.

Quoted: I won't ever go back to Mexico. Ever.

Drank the water, huh.

Quoted: Quoted: I won't ever go back to Mexico. Ever. Drank the water, huh.

I got sick the first time I went, after eating fruit that had been washed in their water.  Those green pills work wonders.  Never got sick since, after numerous stays in various parts.

Quoted: Quoted: I won't ever go back to Mexico. Ever. Drank the water, huh.

No, our car was stolen, my grampa was arrested and I was asked to leave--all in the same trip.

you're lucky she was a she and not a he....

try the hotdogs wrapped with bacon with everything on 'em...but only eat 'em when you're drunk


oh... and be nice to the cops.. they have english training.... be careful if you try to bribe 'em....

I pointed my gun at a guy while getting change at a mexican car wash. YeeeeHaaaw!
The jails aint purdy down there.

oh yeah forgot, don't drink the tap water... drink bottled water or cokes or something... try the FATNA drinks...

you'll find the BEST taco are those carts with the flies all over them..... you know the ones where they chopping away.... if there are no flies then don't eat there....

juss messin.... but really those little carts are the best....

Quoted:     I never found the famous donkey show, or fabled donkey show.  Is Chuddy's House of Beers still there?

Kept asking for donkey show, and the vendors point to the donkeys for photo shoots on the corner

Quoted: Quoted:     I never found the famous donkey show, or fabled donkey show.  Is Chuddy's House of Beers still there? Kept asking for donkey show, and the vendors point to the donkeys for photo shoots on the corner

Maybe they thought YOU wanted to be IN the donkey show.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted:     I never found the famous donkey show, or fabled donkey show.  Is Chuddy's House of Beers still there? Kept asking for donkey show, and the vendors point to the donkeys for photo shoots on the corner Maybe they thought YOU wanted to be IN the donkey show.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I won't ever go back to Mexico. Ever. Drank the water, huh. No, our car was stolen, my grampa was arrested and I was asked to leave--all in the same trip.

i would never try MY car down to TJ

    I fled San Diego when I was discharged from the Navy in '96, so that was my last trip to TJ.  I had forgotten about the bacon-wrapped hot dogs, and I STILL haven't found the donkey show.  One of the guys on our ship got drunk and wrecked his Jeep in TJ in '92, it flipped and he messed up a few shrubs on the side of the road.  They put him in jail with a broken leg, fined him about 300 bucks for each shrub, and our medics had to go fix up his leg in jail.  I don't know what happened to him, he never came back to the ship, he may be selling blankets at the border for all I know.

Quoted: oh yeah forgot, don't drink the tap water... drink bottled water or cokes or something... try the FATNA drinks... you'll find the BEST taco are those carts with the flies all over them..... you know the ones where they chopping away.... if there are no flies then don't eat there.... juss messin.... but really those little carts are the best....

We had a facility in the small town of Camargo, six hours south of Chihuahua, in Estado de Chihuahua.  Around 10am every morning, a man would come by with a push cart and sell sliced coconuts (with red pepper powder), sandia (watermelon) and cokes for 25 cents.  I looked forward to his visits.

The office staff of Mexican nationality were the hardest workers I have ever seen.  They'd come in at 9 or 10, work until 2pm, come back around 4, and work until 10pm, six days a week.  The only thing I didn't like was that dinner time was around 9 or 10 at night, and boy, I'd be REAL hungry way before then.  We' d go to some local places and drink Corona's or Negros (sp?) and have range-fed stake - boy was it tough to eat.  We had a house, and when the VIP's weren't in town, I got to stay there.  The closet was full of American food (peanut butter, chicken soup, Presidential Brandy, etc).  I tended to eat the local food.  When the VIP's were in town, I had to stay in a dump hotel called Los Nogales (Pecan Trees).  I had a lot of interesting experiences down there.   We were down there once during the elections, the PRI party was in charge (Salinas de Gotari and his brother were corrupt), and the locals didn't like our presence, and we were once escorted by the Federales back from a meeting.  They were all armed with M-16's.  The house had a security guard, and a fence with broken glass embeded in the concrete on the top.  One morning, we found the security guard shot dead in the front of the house, and after that visit, I literally kissed the tarmac when I landed in San Antonio, thanking God that we have the Constitution to protect us citizens in this country.  We had some fool who thought he was a ladies man (he went by the name Joe Smith) who tried to pick up ladies in the bars, and one night we found him in an alley - he'd had the shit beaten out of him by the local men who resented him imposing on their territory.  I tried to maintain a low profile the whole time, and never got in any trouble.

Quoted: I've been to Laredo several times and Matamoros once.  Typical border towns; lots of litter, cheap wares, etc.  Last spring I took a cruise to Cozumel and was just amazed at the difference.  It was clean, friendly, not pushy; the people were warm and welcoming rather than trying to shove stuff in your face to buy or try to take you to a pharmacy; the traffic wasn't miserable and it didn't smell bad.  Quite a difference from a border town.

Same for Puerta Vallarta.  Vast difference from the border towns.  My friends paid for my flight and visit, and paid also for a female bartender at a local establishment to go along.  As soon as we got there, she asked our guide where the Doctor and the Pharmacia was - seems she had an affinity for vicodin.  Myself, I prefered to walk the town on foot.  You'd be surprised how many Starbucks-clones they had down there, each had 3 or 4 computers where you could browse the internet, but the service was fairly slow.  When I was in the Camargo office almost twenty years ago, we had IBM terminals connecting to the mainframe, and the best speed we could get was 300 baud rate, and it took 30 seconds to refresh a text screen.  Times have changed.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I won't ever go back to Mexico. Ever. Drank the water, huh. No, our car was stolen, my grampa was arrested and I was asked to leave--all in the same trip. i would never try MY car down to TJ

I would NEVER drive in Mexico.  After a wreck, often both parties are thrown in jail - and the Policia will assess you to determine how much you will need to bribe them to get set free.  We were told to dress down - never wear a suit, expensive watch, etc.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I won't ever go back to Mexico. Ever. Drank the water, huh. No, our car was stolen, my grampa was arrested and I was asked to leave--all in the same trip. i would never try MY car down to TJ

Rental, thank God!

I never been, dont plan on it.

Quoted:     I fled San Diego when I was discharged from the Navy in '96, so that was my last trip to TJ.  I had forgotten about the bacon-wrapped hot dogs, and I STILL haven't found the donkey show.  One of the guys on our ship got drunk and wrecked his Jeep in TJ in '92, it flipped and he messed up a few shrubs on the side of the road.  They put him in jail with a broken leg, fined him about 300 bucks for each shrub, and our medics had to go fix up his leg in jail.  I don't know what happened to him, he never came back to the ship, he may be selling blankets at the border for all I know.

I stayed in San Diego during my TJ assignments, right across from Coronado Island, in the Shelter Island Marina Inn.  I used to eat steaks and lobster at the Chart House, and every weekend, a naval ship of different nationalities would dock there, and I would visit.  I later started staying in the Embassy Suites, and used to walk to where the visiting Navy Ships would dock, or walk to Horton Plaza, which at the time was a clean place free of gang-bangers.

Can't be as bad as Nogales Mexico, total piece of shit. Traffic downtown is absolute hell.

Even the cabbie that I hired to drive us around Acapulco was afraid of the cops. He said ALL of them were Mafia. When they were behind us, he would find a place to pull over and let them pass. He told us to never drive, or rent a car there, because (as a white guy) you were a target. $$$

Quoted: Even the cabbie that I hired to drive us around was afraid of the cops. He said ALL of them were Mafia. When they were behind us, he would find a place to pull over and let them pass. He told us to never drive, or rent a car there, because (as a white guy) you were a target. $$$

He had it exactly right.  The biggest criminal organization (besides the local corrupt ones) is called "La Emme" (The M) which is short for "Mafia".  There are a lot of La Emme affiliated folks in Mexico and in Texas.  They are some VERY cold hearted killers.

Friendly people, terrible food.  I was so sick of real Mexican food after a week.

jkstexas
I don't doubt it for a second.

Quoted: Friendly people, terrible food.  I was so sick of real Mexican food after a week.

I loved it, except for the endless variation of the frijoles refritos theme.  Beans are beans, and I wasn't that fond of them.

Quoted: juss messin.... but really those little carts are the best....

Ever heard of Cystercosis?:

What it is

• It is an infection in humans by the larval stage of the pork tapeworm Taenia solium. The larvae spread and move in the muscles and brain. Moving larvae can be seen in the eye.
• Doctors say people ingest it by eating fruit and vegetables contaminated by pig feces. This happens in parts of Mexico where pigs are allowed to graze in fields where fruit and vegetables grow. This is not allowed in the United States.

Phoenix official killed in leap off speeding car

Phoenix's chief financial officer was the consummate professional, a strait-laced and quiet man who was a genius with numbers.

That's why the bizarre manner in which Kevin Keogh died Wednesday, apparently after climbing out the window and onto the top of his moving Mercedes-Benz on a crowded Scottsdale street, left many not only grieving but shaking their heads in disbelief.

Keogh's last moments were so completely uncharacteristic of his day-to-day persona that only an equally strange explanation seemed to bring some kind of sense to his death.

City officials say they believe their finance director was suffering from brain damage caused by a rare parasite that he picked up while traveling in Mexico a few years ago.

The damage impairs a person's social decision-making abilities.

The city was not aware of Keogh's illness until Wednesday, when Keogh's wife, Karlene, informed them that the parasite had affected his brain and other parts of his body.

The family said it believes the accident "is related to the impacts of this disease on his central nervous system," City Manager Frank Fairbanks said.

Scottsdale police had not determined late Thursday whether Keogh's death was accidental or intentional. But police said Keogh, 55, climbed out the driver's window of his Mercedes-Benz and stood atop the moving vehicle, arms outstretched.

Witnesses told police that Keogh then jumped from the roof, said Detective Sam Bailey, a Scottsdale police spokesman. Keogh rolled and hit a tree before landing on the asphalt on Camelback Road near 68th Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police estimate his vehicle was going about 50 mph along Camelback before it crashed into a car stopped at a street light at 68th Street. The driver was not hurt. It was likely Keogh put his vehicle on cruise control before climbing out.

The nature of the fatality was completely uncharacteristic of the subdued and often reserved Keogh, who spent most of his days putting together complex financial deals for Phoenix. He was responsible most recently for organizing the sale of bonds to pay for light rail and figuring out how to finance a $350 million city-funded hotel.

Keogh, who always appeared at City Hall in starched shirts and well-tailored pants, was without shoes and wearing torn jeans at the time of the accident, officials said. He never gave any indication at work that he might have been extremely ill.

"That's why I believe it (the explanation)," said Councilwoman Peggy Bilsten, who serves on the board of a non-profit foundation that Keogh and his wife recently founded. "Nothing else makes sense."

Dr. Christina Kwasnica, director of brain injury rehabilitation at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, said in rare cases the parasite responsible for an infection called cystercosis can cause "frontal lobe disinhibition," which can make people do crazy things.

When it comes to making a decision, "our frontal lobes tell us what's socially appropriate," she said. "The first idea that comes to mind, without the frontal lobe stopping it, we just act on it."

She said she has seen that with a few patients from Mexico. Treatment varies but is limited because frontal lobe damage cannot be repaired.

"You (doctors) can (prescribe) medications to slow down the mood swings so you don't act on bad ideas. Sometimes, we also do therapy sessions to develop compensation strategies," Kwasnica said.

On Wednesday, Keogh had taken a sick day to see the doctor and told Fairbanks earlier in the week that he felt "tired and worn out."

City officials also say they knew that Keogh had fallen very ill back in 2002, around the time he returned from a trip to Mexico. Those who worked for him said that during July and August of that year, he frequently left the city during office hours for doctors' appointments.

But according to Fairbanks and others, Keogh never disclosed the nature of his illness.

After his death, Karlene Keogh explained his troubles with the parasite to city officials, saying problems had flared up again. He was taking medications to control the problem, but there had been recent talk about adjusting it, Fairbanks said.

The condition is often treated with antidepressants, doctors said

The air at the city was decidedly somber Thursday, with some of Phoenix's toughest administrators and negotiators repeatedly breaking down in tears.

At a morning news conference, Bilsten and Mayor Phil Gordon remembered the finance director as a deeply caring man, who loved jazz, theater and the arts, and who worked to help the underprivileged.

The foundation that he and his wife jointly founded helps provide health insurance and training to working women and children in need.

Keogh was also respected in municipal and local government circles. He won numerous awards in the roughly 18 years he served as the city's chief financial officer, including being named "Best Finance Director" in the country by City and State magazine.

"This is a terrible accident," Gordon said. "He can't and won't be replaced."

Officials don't believe that his work at the city was compromised because the condition affects social behavior.

For the time being, Assistant Finance Director Jeff DeWitt will run the city's financial operations, officials said. No decision has been made about how to fill the position permanently.

Funeral services for Keogh, who had been with the city since 1976, are set for Monday. For now, employees can only grieve and wait for answers.

"That is so not Kevin. He was such a quiet, private conservative man," Fairbanks said.

"I just can't believe he would die in such a bizarre, strange fashion."



Reach the reporter at [email protected] or (602) 444-2474.

I avoided most of the food and water. Wasn't worth it.

i never use mex money seems like they all want US dollars.

I went to Mexico to help the poor.

Quoted: I went to Mexico to help the poor.

The poor strippers?  

I spent all of my US currency on hookers and blow!
ATMs only kicked out pesos

I'm currently in Nuevo Laredo.

Thank God I found a butcher shop near hear that grills as well as sells, and than God for beer!

Also, thank God my co-workers know where to go. This place is a DUMP!

THEY admit it!