Miramar’s Blue Shingles to Brighten Up Baja

This is so exciting. Of course I wish some could come to some of the poor families I know in El Sauzal, which is close to Ensenada but the poor and needy are all over here in Baja.

I know many people in the US are afraid to come down here because of reports of bad things happening, but as long as a person stays out of bad areas and is not involved in drugs or bad companions, one is safe. I have been coming down since 1962 and now have casas and now a little ranch, and it is safer than LA, and as safe as Santa Barbara.

Yes, we have the poor here, hard working and honest. Many live in very substandard casas. We have made it a point to never come down emptyhanded. Usable discards are often necessary items here. We have brought wheel chairs, refrigerators, stoves, cabinets, tools,plywood, nails, furniture, clothing and toys that would have ended up in a dump in the US.

Although I am not involved in this project, I am deeply grateful to Rick Caruso for coordinating this transfer of materials to those who need it here in Baja. As he stated, it is a win-win situation for everyone, including our environment.

We ask our friends to bring a few bags of discards when they visit. The poor are always nearby. If you come down for a visit and do not have a contact, just drop off a bag at a church, any church.

And, good news for surfers: the river has been reopened to the ocean and the surf is great once again at San Miguel point at Kilometer 99. and if you want to drop off a bag to me, ask for bajamama or Natch at the gate. If you say Santa Barbara, the gate tenders will know where we are.

How much extra carbon was emitted trucking these tiles to Mexico as opposed to the landfill?

Feeling cynical much, Kratatoa? Goods of all sorts get trucked all over creation every dang day...why belittle this generous gesture with a crack like that?

Save the planet -- truck your garbage to Mexico!

C'mon Akimbo, don't be hard on Kratatoa--maybe he grows his own veggies and takes a bike to work, that is, if he works.

Maybe Kratatoa has a leaky roof and is just jealous that some poor people will benefit from the well thought out plan of generosity, instead of him.

Santa Barbarans are well liked here in Baja and other parts of Mexico. The students from Westmont come yearly with a program to build houses near Ensenada, and our Aeromedicos fly into clinics which they have established.
The recent hurricane, Jimena, in Baja was devastating in some areas, though not largely reported as, fortunately, no deaths. Some members and friends of our Aeromedicos just happened to be there when it struck and were very helpful in the cleanup and getting supplies and equiptment flown into the area.

I love reading of good people doing good things for others.

Missed that save the planet-truck your garbage to Mexico by that Kratatoa.

Believe me, Kratatoa, Mexico does not need garbage like you here. I urge all "Ugly Americans" to not come here.

Actually, Mexico is very good at recycling. and edibles are not wasted as in US. Why? Because they cannot afford to waste.

More in the US should be like Rick Caruso and look for the environmental and rational charitable solution to the leftover shingles on his property.

I rescued 13 GOOD wheelchairs from a dumpster in SB and brought them to doctors and an old age home in Ensenada. Why were they in a dumpster? Well, the State had replaced them with new, and the administrator did not want to take the time to donate them. We are a throw away nation--and that has got to stop!

You probably could have bought shingles in Mexico for less than the cost of trucking them down there, and provided some business to a local Mexican firm in the meantime.

But no, let's pat ourselves on the back for giving the brown folk the gift of our garbage. Maybe they'll put on sombreros and dance for us while we bask in our own smug elitism.

This is awesome and the memory of the blue roof Mira Mar will live on benefiting others with protection from the elements. This sounds like something the great company that is Caruso would do! Montecito give him a break and let him create another south coasst jewel, you'll love what they do!

Kratatoa, Do you not get that these shingles are not "garbage"? Just because they are no longer useful to their owner, they are not suddenly transformed into waste. Perhaps the cost of shipping them equals the cost of new in Mexico (though I doubt it), but how does that solve the problems of moving the tiles off the Miramar site or keeping them out of the landfill? But I guess you don't have a problem with filling landfills, judging from your penchant for turning perfectly good materials into garbage.
And trucking? You have a bone to pick with trucking? Short of train transport, nothing uses fossil fuels more efficiently to move enormous quantities of necessary goods from site of origin to site of consumption. Baja California is not very far away; would you grump equally if the tiles were shipped to San Francisco?
Egad, at first I thought you were joking or trolling, but it appears you actually resent charity to Mexico. A lot. Smug elitism? Brown people? Dude, you're gross.

Kratatoa...contact your therapist, she's waiting for your call.

I'll bet the tiles contain asbestos, and can't legally be reused here, so Caruso shipped off his toxic waste to the poor folk, and got a hearty round of applause from the ignorant do-gooders.

It is only about 240 miles to Tijuana and a bit farther to Tecate. Building materials, surprisingly, are just as, and sometimes more expensive than in the states. Tools , musical equiptment and electronics are also higher. Food is very expensive in Mexico and there are no food stamps. So there are no Mexicans sitting under palm trees with their sombreros.

There are many fine organizations here, Lions, Kiwanis, and others who work in conjunction with the US affliates who do great work here. The youth are almost all going for higher education, and it is not free. It is a struggle that the parents work very hard to provide for the upcoming generations.

There are classes of people here, but the upper classes, at least here in Baja, do not hold themselves above the workers. I see respect at all levels. Even the poor are very generous to those even less fortunate. But they do not tolerate bums or people who always have their hand out with a sob story.There are no healthy looking men sitting with signs along the road as in SB.

English is also taught now at the grade school level. Many are shy to speak, but can read and write and understand conversations. I empathize with this, as I am the same in the Spanish language. I read, write and understand, but often get tongue tied in conversation.

We do not need the Kratatoas here who think if they shout their venom more loudly they will be understood. In any language, it is hard to understand a bigot.

Once again, thank you to Rick Caruso for thinking of a workable solution that can benefit others.

Boy, Kratatoa, I missed your latest while I was writing the above. Your venom is more toxic than anything that goes on a roof.

What do you have against "do-gooders"? Ignorance does not usually do good, as is exemplified in your crude comments.

Enjoy your lung cancer, amigos!

If my memory serves me correctly, the blue roofs were not "tiles", but composition shingles. (just suggesting maybe the LA press release be weighed with reality before the indie presses fire up)

The picture looks like it is composition shingles., and that seems to me what were on the cottages. I think only the Shah had the blue tile roof in Santa Barbara.

And while you're all bitching at each other about some meaningless tiles, the Miramar remains a tremendous eyesore and embarrassment to the community.

Meaningless?!? Your therapist is waiting for your call, you Ugly American racist.