261008 - I received the following five hints re your cell phone and thought you may be interested in them. This came from the US so there may be some limitations.
FIVE
THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW YOUR CELL PHONE COULD DO:
There are a few things that can be done in
times
of emergencies.
Your mobile
phone can actually be a
life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check
out the things that
you can do with it:
FIRST:
*Emergency*
The Emergency Number worldwide for
Mobile is 112. If you find
yourself out
of the coverage area of your
mobile network and there is an emergency, dial
112 and the mobile will
search any existing
network to establish the
emergency number for you,
and interestingly this number 112 can be dialled
even if the keypad
is locked. Try it out.
SECOND:
*Have you locked your keys in the car?*
Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come
in handy someday.
Good reason to own a cell
phone: If you lock your keys in the car and the
spare keys are at home,
call someone at home on their cell phone from your
cell phone. Hold your cell
phone about a foot from your car door and have
the person at your home
press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile
phone on their end.
Your
car will unlock. Saves
someone from having to drive
your keys to you.
Distance
is no object. You could be hundreds of miles
away, and if you can reach
someone who has the other 'remote' for your car,
you can unlock the doors
(or the trunk).
*Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it
unlocked our car over
a cell phone!
THIRD:
*Low Battery *
Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate,
press the keys *3370#.
Your cell will restart with
this reserve and the instrument will show a 50%
increase in battery. This
reserve will get charged when you charge your cell
next time.
FOURTH:
*How to Disable a STOLEN Mobile Phone?*
To check your Mobile phone's serial
number,
key in the following digits on
your phone: * # 0 6
#. A
15-digit code will appear on the screen.
This
number is unique to your
handset. Write
it down and keep it somewhere safe.
When your phone get
stolen, you can phone your service provider
and give them this code.
They will then be able to block your handset so
even if the thief changes
the SIM card, your phone will be totally
useless.
You probably won't get your
phone back, but at least you know that
whoever stole it,
can't use/sell it either.
If everybody does this,
there
would be no point in people
stealing mobile phones.
And Finally....
FIFTH
*Free Directory Service for Cells *
Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or
more for 411
information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do
not carry a
telephone directory in our
vehicle, which makes this situation even more of
a problem.
When
you need to use the 411 information option, simply
dial:(800) FREE 411,
or (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all.
Program this into your cell phone now.
270808 - Iberdrola is at it again - misreading electricity meters. I just received a bill for over 5000KWH (994€) over my usage. Take care with these bills as they seem to be getting worse - this is the second time this has happened this year, last time it was April. One way of determining if you are getting a big hit is to sign up for their Electronic Invoice - I suppose this is the incentive as there is no other incentive. Your activation code should be on the bottom of your last invoice - probably August 2008. This may give you at least a sporting chance at addressing any problems by having your banker stop payment so you can follow-up. Note that my experience indicates that the Iberdrola Customer Care (Service) people do not like complaints, or comments if you like to describe them that way, so follow up several times if necessary. They do not provide complaint forms at their office nor will they tell you the address of their ombudsman - a real monopoly mentality. The Customer 'Care' number is +34 901 202020 and ask for an English speaking person if your Spanish is shaky. Be prepared for them to hang up on you. If everything goes pear shaped go to their site and look for the contacts button. Then send an email to all the departments. One of them will finally respond - if only to tell you that they sent your 'request' to another department. If you wish to write their address is Iberdrola, Avd. Los Pinos 7, 30009, Murcia. Don't hold your breath.
PS - Don't forget that we have had another price increase this year to make up for the way we have been treated.
051008 - There seems to be a lot of mis-information being spread around re Certificates of Non-Residence, frozen accounts and bad banking practices. The following is a direct copy of the notice posted by Cajamar on July 31, 2008 and I have been assured that it is the same for all banks:
"All foreign customers who are not residents of Spain are advised that in order to open a bank account with Cajamar (any bank), and in addition to your passport, you will need a certificate of non-residence in Spain, issued within two months prior to the date of the opening of the account. The non-resident certificate is valid for two years from the date of issue.
Said certificate may be obtained by any Spanish Immigration Bureau, embassy, or consular office, upon the presentation of a passport and the appropriate visas.
In addition, the banks notify customers who already have an account and whose certificate is about to expire that, provided your account has a sufficient balance Cajamar (the bank) will apply for the renewal of said certificate for you and charge the corresponding official fee (6,70 euros) to your account, together with a 25 euro commission, effective within two months from the date of publication of this notification.
The account will be frozen if after three months from the date of the expiry of the certificate renewal has not been applied for due to lack of funds in the account of if, in case it has been applied for, the relevant authority has not forwarded the certificate. Until the new certificate is provided, the freeze will remain in effect."
Obtaining the certificate in Cartagena:
You will need two copies of:
Your Passport, NIE Certificate, a letter from the bank stating that you need the certificate, a letter from the bank providing your account information, a form from the bank applying for the certificate.
You will also need Form 790 obtainable from the police station on Plaza Espana.
I hope this helps clarify the situation. If you have any suggestions, updates, etc., please send them along to: jjjf@BahiadePortman.com
It is a time for vigilance. The government, police, local newspapers, urbanisations (to a certain extent), etc., are all calling for people to be more vigilant of situations that could facilitate crime. Levels of attention vary, so as to not offend some people who have always been lax about their security, all aspects of security must be attended to including. Close internal security gates, behind those who don't care and are used to having doorpersons close them for them or purposely leaving them open for their local 'friends', ensure garage and other public access gates are closed before moving on, etc. Double locking your front door only protects the door. We're all in this together, although it seems that some of us are in it more than others.
It is important to recognise when things happen during the year. The following is a summary of important dates for the Puerto Vallarta Community for 2008-9:
April 1, 2008 - beginning of the 2008 budget year whose budget is not voted on until the AGM on May 16, 2008
April 15, 2008 - Payment of the first instalment of community assessments for 2008-9. Monies from this instalment are used by the previous committee without community guidance.
May 16th, 2008 - AGM, held on the last day of school thus minimising the effect of teachers and parents attending the AGM, including the election of officers, passing of committee determined decisions and the budget and administrator's pay increase - this year mostly by presidential proxy.
June 1, 2008 - new committee members take office, accepting whatever has been spent between April 1 and May 30, 2008 without remark, the spend effects unpublished at the 2008 AGM.
June 13, 2008 - dissemination of the unsigned, undated and unofficial English version of the 2008 AGM minutes.
July 9, 2008 - dissemination of the signed, undated and official Spanish version of the 2008 AGM minutes.
August 23, 2008 - Bulletin board cleared, all references to previous AGMs removed.
October 15, 2008 - second instalment of community fees for 2008 including presidential proxy supported increase.
2009 AGM - Supposedly May 15, 2009 and probably the last day of school again pre-empting parents and teachers from attending. No date/venue announced in unofficial or official version of the minutes.