Some sort of a half life?

When we went to Quepos in October, we crossed a small bridge.
Five days later, the bridge collapsed.

When we came back from Grenada last week, we crossed a large bridge.
Five days later, the bridge blew up.

Now I'm scared.

(In fact, when I searched "bridge" on my blog to find the October post, I discovered that bridges, their structural integrity and their lack in spots where you would really kind of expect to find one, have been a not-so-infrequent topic around here.)

The final dozen (okay, baker's dozen)

Whew

Aaaaaand, 12 hours of travel. We left the hotel at 10:15 this morning, walked maybe 15 minutes to the bus stop, waited another 15 or so, and got the bus. Hour and a half to the border, an hour of waiting while everyone on the bus was processed out of Nicaragua, then three hours (mostly standing in line, much of that in the direct sun) being processed into Costa Rica, then about another week and a half on the bus.

Eight of us live in the Heredia area, so we got a (van) cab all together that got us home in good time and for a good price. Walked in here right about at 10:15 this evening.

The kitty survived, didn't wreak havoc, and now has some special canned food and clean litter. I scooped, unpacked and straightened our bed while Bob took Dan & Jan home, and now it's time for a snack, then bed, then work, then picking up the girls at 3:00 tomorrow and then cleaning up because Dad gets in about this time tomorrow night.

Good thing it's almost the weekend.

The view from the bell tower

Don´t worry, there´s not supposed to be any audio. My camera doesn´t roll that way.

And here´s the same thing on the west side of the tower:

Grenada, Nicaragua

See you Thursday

Or, you know, maybe tomorrow.

We're off for our visa-renewing-slash-romantic-getaway-for-14 to Grenada this morning.

I suspect there'll be Internet cafes in town, given that there's WiFi at the hotel, but I haven't actually looked into it.

The bird and turtle are farmed out, the cat is mega-fed (and may be looked in on), and we're heading out in half an hour for a 5-minute bus ride, followed by a 20-minute bus ride, followed by a quick taxi to the 7-hour bus. Yup, we've got cards and Jan's bringing the light reading.

Squared away

Well, the girls are up the hill till after the Nicaragua trip, we have our bus tickets, my passport is not expired (there was a brief scare caused by an out-of-date photocopy), and the hotel likes to get paid in person, so I don't have to figure out how to get them my credit card number beforehand (I can call the US for free, but the next country over is more complicated). The only thing left to do for the trip is pack for it and coordinate getting to the pick-up point.

I spoke to the phone company this afternoon and they confirmed that whatever tech is sent over to install the DSL will have modems in the truck - you can rent the modem from the phone company for a dollar a month, but after we'd applied, I realized they hadn't asked if we wanted to do that, so I worried that the guy might show up and not be able to do anything. I still hope they don't come while we're out of the country, but there's not much we can do about that. If they haven't come before we go, I can call the phone company when we get back to see if they have a "not home" note on the work order, and if so we can set up a new time.

I finished the quilting I was doing for my friend in time for her to add the binding and bring it back in to work this morning; it looks great and she's pleased, and the proceeds will be almost exactly what the Nicaragua tickets cost, so that works out well.

And I moved a new family into the neighborhood so my Sims can make new friends. All's right with the world.

Daily highlights

Bob was at work and I wanted to finish the quilting I was doing last night, so I talked Robin through making dinner - pasta with sauce from a packet, and some boiled corn. That went over very well, and needless to say, I've Created A Monster. She immediately wanted us to commit to having pasta for dinner the following night.

So today I let her mix up the pancake batter for lunch and she had a bit of a lesson in Roundness and Gravity and the Combined Effects Thereof. And the kitty had a snack.

This afternoon the girls and I drove into San Jose to pick up the bus tickets for our trip to Nicaragua next week. The actual ticket buying went very well, although it turned out they don't take debit cards, so we did have to walk a few blocks through not the greatest part of downtown, over to an ATM. This in turn afforded us a several-block conversation about alcohol and drugs and why people might try them initially, and what it can lead to in their lives.

Then there was a car accident outside when we were back at the counter buying the tickets. Everyone in the bus station except the guy behind the counter ran en masse to the door and out it, to spectate. I started after them, since my car was parked just out of sight, but they all got to the door and started ogling to the north, and happily we were parked to the south, so I returned to my transaction.

Random aside: If kitty comes to me with the big-ass spiders she kills, does that mean she's accepted me as one of her own? I'm guessing since I trade her for a treat (that she not consume it outright), she's prolly not going to be stopping any time soon.

Funny, it only feels like 1492

This is the 1500th post on this here blog, how about that.

So, as I was saying last night, Bob needs to leave the country to reset his visa before the regulations change, and as it turns out, some friends of ours happened to be planning a trip to Nicaragua at just about the right time. Couple that with Christmas money for just about the right amount, and we get to go here the week after next.

I'm just as glad to have company the first time we do this little excursion (which we'll need to do - or Bob will - either every three or every six months from now on, depending on how exactly the regulations change). The fact that we get to go with good friends (and some others we don't know yet), and stay at what looks like a really nice hotel, with tours and everything...well, I can make my peace with that too :)

I've been to Nicaragua many times, but I haven't been back for years, and I've never been there as a tourist. This looks like an entirely different side of the country than I used to see 15 and 20 years ago, traveling with students and talking to people about politics and the war.

This is what happens when I have to post at lunch hour instead of loitering on the Internet until I actually have something to say...

On the to-do list for today:
-- Now with 100% more late-afternoon progress reports!

1. Trim the parrot's claws so she doesn't get tangled up in her food dish again.
   -- No, becase #2 freaked her out enough for one day.
   
2. Sandpaper her perches so the claws will stay trimmed.
   -- Just the first one, which freaked her out enough for one day.
   
3. Install the fourth and final light fixture (in the girls room, since they come back tomorrow). -- Well, there´s always tomorrow.
   
4. Find places for the stuff I've put on their beds while organizing the rest of the house all week.
   -- Uh, some. Enough to make a difference.
   
5. Drop off utility receipts to former landlady.
   -- Oooh! Oooh! I did this one!
   
6. Find out how much it will cost to fix the car's now considerable oil leak. (*sigh*)
   -- Yup. A whole lot, but not as much as I´d feared. It´s now on the list for next paycheck. Or the next.
   
7. Get seat assignments for Mom, Dad, Lisa & Scott's return flight (what, don't you have people in Costa Rica handle your Mexico/US travel plans?)
   -- Tried, couldn´t, was informed that Dad can do it from the hotel. Hoping they don´t come home with as, uh, interesting a travel story as Mom & Lisa & I did a couple years ago.
   
8. WATCH DR. WHO THE END OF TIME, yaaaaaaaaaaaaay and thanks Bruce!!
   -- On deck for...pretty much as soon as possible, with chili to go with it!

The trials and travails of travel and technology (Or an equally catchy title; it's late.)

So Dad arrived safe, sound, on time, and without his luggage yesterday. His first flight was so late they had to hold the second one for him - and they did, but the bags didn't make the cut.

Continental did very well; we got a tracking number for the bags, which came in on their first flight this morning, and were delivered to our door this afternoon (thanks to the help of my neighbor, who I put on cell phone duty while I had to be A) Out of range and B) At the bank.

One of the things Dad was commissioned to bring was a computer that a friend of Bob's has given to us. It seems to be missing a couple of cords here and there, but they'll be easy to pick up tomorrow.

I asked at work about used monitors (since we knew from the outset it wouldn't come with one), and was told about a guy who sells used computer stuff on Craigslist (yup, there's a Costa Rica section on there).

We checked and found that listing, and alongside it was an even better one; someone is selling a monitor, a computer chair (which we were also going to need) and some other things in the next town over from us. They'd only posted the listing last night, and when I called this afternoon they still had everything, so we're going over in the morning and I expect to come home with a flat screen monitor and what looks like a pretty good chair for less than it would have cost to get a new (but poor quality) desk chair and a used (and iffy) CRT monitor.

Maybe they learned it on The Google

I left the house at 6:30 instead of 8:00 this morning, in order to take three buses in to work, arriving at the usual time of 8:35.

I only had to wake up about half an hour earlier than usual, and now that I've done it once I think I can do the whole thing about half an hour later tomorrow, since my workday officially starts at 9:00, even though I usually get in earlier than that.

Not so bad, overall. They said my car should be ready on Friday. Possibly Thursday.

So, most buses here have those vertical bar things with light sensors or whatever, to count the passengers and thereby keep the drivers honest about how many fares they've collected. Of course, this makes the drivers grouchy because people who take buses every single day and should totally know better, still stop between the bars while waiting their turn to pay the fare, thus presumably messing up the count.

So, of course, most buses also have signs that say Don't Stop Between the Bars.

One of the ones I saw today seemed determined not only to keep people from stopping between the bars, but also to wow the masses with Sooper Amazing Technology-Fu, because the sign read, approximately, "This bus is equipped with bar sensors and counts passengers by means of GPS satellite tracking."

Ummm.

Technology: Ur doin it rong.

Stay classy, Spirit

We get subscriber emails from Spirit Airlines at work. It's one of those ultra low-cost airlines and its shtick is to sell you a membership through which you're eligible for their periodic $9 fares.

It's not particularly useful for the destinations I tend to travel to, but I know people who have gotten good fares on Spirit.

Anyway, I usually file them away as quick as they come in, but it's nice in theory to have access to the members' newsletter.

Today, though, I had a bit of a WTF moment on the way to getting the newsletter filed away. Seems they're rerunning a popular sale/ad campaign:


Charming.

(For anyone unfamiliar with the American Pie mentality, "MILF" is adolescent boy shorthand for attractive mothers of schoolmates. "Mothers I'd Like to F....")

Not ready

Leaving for the airport in about three hours. Turns out Steve can't come up and play with me in Newark, and Julie's too far away to try to visit, so everybody please wish flight CO1762 a slight delay - say half an hour or so, so I can maybe possibly catch it instead of waiting for the flight I'm actually scheduled on, nearly 10 hours later. Gotta say, getting home around 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon instead of 10:30 p.m. wouldn't bother me a-tall, even if I do have to go back to the airport for my luggage later on.

UPDATED(by Bob): Dateline Newark

"Please go in & update my post to add-thanks for all your help. Flight 1762 was delayed by almost exactly half an hour. Next time we'll focus on them letting me on." (Bob says: Luggage must travel with ticketholder, thanks to the Patriot Act II) 8:47am (EST)

"Am now familiarizing myself with mall Concourse C. Highlight to date: man with 2 dogs on long leash fails to notice baptism of pillar." 9:15am

"Have completed initial circuit of Concourse C; most noteworthy occurrence -- absolutely no one takes note when fire alarms sound for approximately ninety seconds." 9:54am

"Have thoroughly window shopped the kiosk of Obamaphenalia (got my eye on the 'Yes We Can' collage magnet, complete w/fist jab) & found a lost neck pillow." 10:36am

"Highlight of the ten o'clock hour: Carol Steinel sings 'Bad Karma' on my mp3 player. Yes, that's right. I've got Portly Dyke pontificating in my ear buds." 10:49am

"I began to question my own karma when I discovered that the neck pillow was not so much 'lost' as it was 'feral,"' having been returned to the wild after what must have been a traumatic encounter with a cigarette. It was disgorging tiny styrofoam balls by the score, despite a piece of provisional tape." (Question is, will she remember she has needle and thread?  And is the neck pillow worth saving?  Stay tuned -- or keep reading, as the case may be) 12:48pm

 

"Credits:   Today's airport blogging brought to you by the letters M and P, and the number 3 (thanks, Sandy), cargo pants with lots of pockets (thanks, Lisa), chocolate covered sesame seeds (thanks, Mom) and potato chips (thanks, Dad), a phone with text messaging (thanks, Bruce & Gerarda), and more than a little help from a friend (thanks, Bob).

 

Boarding in 30 minutes...everybody may now focus on me being able to open my garage doors when I get home. There was an...issue...the day I left." 4:20pm

Additional Addendum and Errata:  Please add good karma (thanks Carol) and redomesticated feral neck pillows (thanks Anonymous Gate 92 Traveler). 4:45pm

Any of y'all from Newark?

So, as promised yesterday, today I am excited about my trip.

When I bought the tickets months ago, I picked the least expensive itinerary which, as often happens, takes me way the heck out of my way. In this case, I'll be traveling from Central America to North Carolina by way of Newark. Yeah.

But, whatever. It cost less, and that's what counts with me.

It also has very long layovers. Like, almost five hours on the way up and nearly ten on the way home.

Now that I'll be traveling without the girls, I checked to see if maybe there are earlier flights scheduled that same day, that maybe they'd let me on if I get in early enough. But in both cases, the only other flight leaves just half an hour after I'm scheduled to arrive, so the chances of making it (and of there being space even if I did) are pretty slim.

So, I don't suppose any of you are going to be in the Newark area on December 18 or January 3, are you? And fancy hanging out at the airport?

Anyone? ... Anyone? ... Bueller?