Mine blasting question

[Mel?mana]

Would someone be kind enough to explainto me WHY the mines are permitted to blast away at night, as they've been doing for two hours - and it's 11 p.m. The city resounds like Sarajevo under siege, and the total lack of respect for citizens once again, bewilders me. Has no one thought, that on a Thursday night, parents still have to awaken at 5;30 to get their kids to school - children who've been terrified in their sleep by the dreadful noise? I live near Dos Ríos and the noise echoes everywhere.Having lived in Mexico many years, I still fail to understand why the government allows Canadian mining companies to violate all natural laws. And I'm ashamed to be a Canadian right now. Thanks for any info.

[mr bill]

GOOD NEWS! Tomorrow our kids' school and perhaps most others in town/in Mexico have a Suspencion de Labores in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe. http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/mexi...-guadalupe

It's 11:25pm as I write this in laPresa and I can hear some distant boombahs which are far less annoying than the two yippies on the far side of the cañada here.

[colleen]

Well, the people near the end of Pastita have been honoring that virgin since 4:35 this morning. I just gave up and got up. Nothing about these customs is charming, or religious. I find it amazing that NOBODY complains, they just ignore it. But then, I know that nobody is going to do anything. This is a colonial, historical city and of course this is a legendary religious practice. I guess that children here learn how to sleep thru this sort of thing or the all-nighter party. I have been to parties where small children are sleeping in their parents' arms and there is very loud music. Lucky for my husband that he is nearly deaf and he's been sleeping just fine. I stocked up on groceries yesterday and have no intention of leaving home. Who knows what they'll be doing tomorrow?

[jesm]

A year or so ago I raised this issue with two mining engineers here, a Canadian and a Scot. They assured me that their blasting, almost daily, was all done well underground and would not be heard and was definately not the noise we were hearing in the early morning hours. They pointed to fiestas and drinkers.

[Lisa Andrews]

Are you sure you aren't just hearing the church cannons that are constantly going off?
I work at El Cubo mine and I can assure you we fire 3 times a day at designated times (around 230pm, 1030pm and 630am). It is very rare to fire outside of these times as you need different permissions.
I sit in the office at the top of the mine and most days don't even hear the blasts, if you ever do it is a low grumble where the floor sort of vibrates a little, not a loud bang like the cannons from the churches.
I think you just learn to get used to the cannons, they are going on whenever anyone thinks there might be a holiday coming up, esp Sunday morning at or before 6am, i think that is their favourite for all of who aren't in Church yet!!

[doncoulter]

Noise? What noise? I find it helpful to keep an eye on the calendar. Last night at bedtime, aware that the Día de la Vírgen de Guadalupe was fast approaching, I put in my earplugs. I never heard a thing. This morning at about 7:00, when I took them out, the cohetes were still blasting away.

My recommendation: Either get used to the noise or take countermeasures. Complaining doesn't help and may be resented.

Don

[Mel?mana]

Having lived in Mexico 16 years, I kow the sound of blasting as opposed to fireworks. Cathy Snelling, who loves next to a mine, puts up with the blasts constantly. I checked with supervisors, and sorry folks: the mine owners take advantage of the holiday blasting to carry on their own, If you don't know the difference, well....you soon will! Thanks for all the input - I'm on a rampage against mining companies. Fireworks I can take.

[Lisa Andrews]

Why are they blasting so much then? A blast is only 30secs, do they have that many areas? Maybe i should be working there cos our is always over within 30mins total...
Nowhere in South/central American (and Mexico) respects time for sleeping, I have seen concrete works at midnight in the middle of a residential area and many crazy and loud things at all times of the night, just part of the culture... I guess that they don't value sleep like some people, earplugs are a great invention!

[KathrynW]

It's not mines. It's the churches. Last year I lived so close to a church on Terremoto that the flash from the rockets showed through the bedroom windows. During the day they had 2 bands in the street playing different stuff next to each other with 6 ft hit speakers. When I had to walk in front of a speaker, it gave me heart palpitations. During this same festival, I hiked up the mountain above La Presa to take a nap. Be prepared for the same amount of noise starting Christmas Eve. Baby Jesus likes noise, too. No Silent Night in MX.
White noise machines are your friend, and sometimes you need earplugs, too. Now I live next to a party rental center, but it's still not as noisy as some churches.