Travel Time in Costa Rica

We are preparing for our 16th anniversary. So it's time to take a little time away from the day to day and head to the beach to clear the cobwebs and just relax by the pool and Pacific ocean. We will stay in a nice hotel that is all inclusive so good food and plenty of tasty drinks will flow freely. The establishment also has a night club. But at our age we will be doing more people watching than cha cha cha's. Although don't rule us out for a dance or two. Depends on how many of those tasty drinks we have. The old legs seem to become rubber like much faster these days.

 

We will be going by bus and we'll leave the driving to the professionals. Driving here is a real challenge. Most drivers here have the same motto: drive aggressively and hope the other guy gets out of the way. Besides, watching the scenery pass by while munching on snacks and/or napping is the only way to start your get away properly. That way you arrive ready to check in, throw down the bags and hit one of the 2 restaurants for lunch. Jump in the pool and wade up to the in pool bar and get revved up to try that Harvey wall banger and other assorted liquid treats. 

 

Horseback riding along with zip lining is also on the to-do list for day two. I'm sure we'll get in some more pool time or just take a walk on the beach. But keep in mind this is get away time so relaxing will be foremost on our minds. Oh yeah. Celebrating the anniversary will fit in somewhere also.  

                                                           

 

 

 

                   Shopping the Mercado Municipal

There is no other shopping experience that can compare to the one that you will have in this Central Market Place. There is one in every city. The one here in Alajuela covers an entire block. The one in San Jose is 3 times larger. But they are essentially the same in many ways. Let me explain.    

First and foremost is the smell. Fish, meat, vegetables and certain body odors permeate the air from the moment you step into the open air environment. Your first thought is 'Can this be opened more'!

In addition to the things listed above you can find shoes, backpacks, women's bags, trinkets........... I think you get my drift. You can also have a sit down breakfast or lunch. That is if you seek typical Costa Rica food. Beans and rice with pork or beef and a natural refreshment. All for a low price. I for one think that with the smells you must endure the price could be lower.

In short the Mercado Central is a small Walmart wanna be. Gas masks are optional.

 

                   5.3 Earthquake. Just another day             

We had another earthquake Thursday Sept. 1. That's our third one in the last week. Thank God there was no major damage from any of them. The last one that caused real damage was on Sept. 5 2012. That was a scary one.

I was working in a call center in Rohrmoser just outside of San Jose. It hit in the morning just before my first break. I was on the second floor on the phone with a customer when the building started shaking ferociously. I hastily told the customer I had to call him back. Threw down my headset and jumped up as the drop ceiling tiles began falling. As we started toward the exit we were stopped!! by a member of management and told to wait!!. Fortunately the shaking stopped seconds later and then the arsehole said we could exit down the steps. *more on this later*.

We all gathered in the street shaken with several of the women crying and all of us relieved to be out of that potential deathtrap. After 20 minutes we were told that we could go home if we wanted or return to work. About a third left and the rest of us returned to our work stations. While the maintenance crew started their cleanup we returned to the phones to continue business as usual.     

*Now about the arsehole. I wrote an email to the HR dept. and explained in no uncertain terms that if ANYONE ever tried to stop me again under these conditions he/she just had a bad day as I would plow through them like the Tasmanian Devil! 

The two active volcanoes are a story for another day.

Now I shall return to just another day in paradise. Pura Vida  

            Big Ben Falls Silent but the politics don't

                                                      

In the mist of the threat from North Korea and the meltdown of the Democrats due to the November loss of their queen the big story across the pond is that one of, if not the biggest symbols of their country is now dormant. At least the noise that emanates from it. 

Blimey, the time, money and effort of analyzing this startling event is not just worth the politicians focus but it is also a much needed distraction from the aforementioned worldly follies. Don't get me wrong. I like a big bong bong as much as the next guy. Oh wait, I was talking about today's Big Ben not that smoking aid. Back to the subject at hand.

I really don't think that the world will miss 4 years (or more as the story eludes to) of Big Ben's 4 noisy outbursts. I do concede that possibly the fish and chips and Spotted Dick pudding just won't taste the same. Heck, maybe when BB starts belching again the Brits will rise up with torches and ropes to silence it because they have grown to like the post-BB taste.

Let's all hold our breath as this very serious matter is debated and pray that the leaders make the right decision. Does BB go silent for renovations? Or the workers go deaf the first day? Just hail one of the guards at Buckingham Palace and give him your vote. You can tell from their expression that they live for controversy.    
    

                            Protest in my home state

If there was a Stupidity Olympics, it might well look like what the world saw in Charlottesville, Virginia this weekend. Idiots came from all over to participate in the Games, with oversight (and we use that word in every possible sense) and rules administered by as striking a bunch of ideological nitwits as you could ever hope to assemble in one place.

It isn't easy to comment on exactly what happened because the incendiary events became perfect fodder for alleged journalists (and politicians) to say whatever the hell they wanted to whether it was factual or not. Hurricanes only wish they had this kind of spin.

According to the mainstream media, Donald Trump's enthusiastic embrace of Nazis and the KKK inevitably manifested in a White Power hate rally. And when lovable Leftists peacefully protested, a number of them were deliberately mowed down by the speeding car of a White racist causing one death and many serious injuries. So horrific was the racist violence that a police helicopter fell out of the sky just from watching the carnage, causing the tragic deaths of two officers - but upping the tally to "3 killed in violent confrontations" in reports throughout the entirely delighted media.

 But that's not exactly what happened. Although truthfully, we don't know exactly what happened (how could we?) but do know a lot of things are being underreported and misreported.

• The "Unite the Right" rally was planned ahead of time in coordination with the ACLU, a proper permit was obtained, and no matter how odious the nincompoop group's views might be, they had a First Amendment right to assemble peacefully and speak.

• Officials of Charlottesville (along with Virginia governor and longtime Clinton hack, Terry McAuliffe) presciently "predicted" violence before the event, perhaps because they were welcoming the imbecilic armies of Antifa and BLM with open arms - after which they illegally (according to an actual judge) tried to move the event before revoking the permit entirely. Unsurprisingly, and perhaps intentionally, chaos ensued.

• Antifa and BLM came looking for violence, then caused it - throwing stones and water bottles, pepper spraying alt-right types, and occasionally just beating people bloody (although in fairness, some in the "Unite the Right" crowd clearly came to rumble, too). Seemingly, the police did little to stop this and might (we emphasize might) have been instructed to step back to allow some politically useful carnage to take place.

• A 20-year old loser who might (we emphasize might) be a Nazi-sympathizer drove his car into a crowd at high speed. If it was his intent to injure people, then he is a terrorist - no more, no less - and should suffer the appropriate consequences. 

In other words, every aspect of this clash of the dunderheads was a fustercluck of the highest magnitude. Hateful cretins of many races, creeds and colors came to clash - influenced far more by the media's rhetoric than anything ever said by Donald Trump, and certainly not endorsed by the President in any way.

A couple of important points: the imbeciles who really are neo-Nazis and White supremacists are despicable, but there aren't that many of them. Happily, inbreeding shortens their life spans.

Similarly, the blockheads of Antifa and BLM are probably lacking in real numbers, although their influence gets magnified by favorable press coverage and the seemingly endless depth of George Soros's pocketbook.

Unfortunately, with the intent of forcing Donald Trump out of the White House, the mainstream media continues to turn up the heat and create the illusion that the majority of Americans have pledged allegiance to one pin headed side or the other. By doing so, they maneuver citizens (albeit hopeless ignoramuses) into gladiatorial combat, with actual bloodshed - no matter who caused it - seen as a victory.

And nothing that happened in Charlottesville is more sickening, or more frightening, than that.

***This is from Stiltons Place blog. Copied because I think it is dead on!!

                                    Boredom in Paradise

As an expat living once again in Costa Rica I first want to assure the reader that this is a beautiful country. That is unless you are on medical leave of absence! Then it is just as boring as if you were in your hometown. Allow me to explain.

I have visited many scenic and historical places since returning in 2010. And why not. When I lived here in the 90's I never had time since I was forced for business reasons to split my time between Honduras, El Salvador, the United States and here. The 60-70 hour work week left me too spent to do anything but sit by my pool sipping my favorite drink(s) and planning the next week agenda and challenges. 

However, I have been on medical leave of absence for 2 months waiting for a surgery called Carotid Endarterectomy. One of the major symptoms is dizziness. So much so that it is difficult to maintain your balance when you try to walk. That in itself puts the "ain't no way in hell" decision as the only way to go. So I am doomed to suffer cabin fever. Held hostage in our home here in Alajuela! 

I spend my days reading, surfing the web and watching TV. Although we have cable, 90% of the channels are in Spanish. A language I speak very poorly. So I am forced to watch reruns during the day or those talk shows that are mostly conducted by liberals who's views I very rarely have anything in common with. The game shows many times give away trips to paradise (Costa Rica). Just to rub it in my face of the places and things that are at my finger tips but unobtainable to me at this time of my BOREDOM!   

In closing let me again say that if you can keep your balance and want to visit a great country as a get away 'come on down'. Bring me a wheel chair. I'll keep a light on for you.

Pura Vida

                                                                                        

                                    Murder in the Rag Business

I was a plant manager at a men's knit shirt manufacturer. The year was 1984. It was early summer at about 6:30 am and I was in my office preparing the agenda for the day. 

Suddenly one of the service girls rushed into my office and told me I needed to get to the back parking lot right away. From her demeanor and shocked look I knew this was serious. I jumped up and hustled to the employee entrance to the back lot. As I cleared the steps up to the parking lot I saw from my peripheral vision a white car parked properly but a pickup truck was pulled up at it at a strange angle. Then I saw one of my employees laying face up near her car and could see she had a bleeding wound in her head. About 4 feet away a guy was laying face down in a pool of blood at his waist area. As I rushed to the employee another one there shouted that he had shot her! My mind kicked into overdrive and immediately I noticed no gun was visible. I called out for someone to call 911 and very cautiously approached the two bodies. No gun in sight and the guy is laying face down. Will he jump up or roll over and start shooting again? 

As I walked to the employee, her name was Glenda, I keep a keen eye on the mystery shooter. I squatted down and could she that she was barely breathing but noticed that he was breathing hard. About this time I heard sirens coming in fast and told everyone to stand back and away from the lot entrance. EMT, police and ambulance vehicles started in one after the other and all toward the crime scene. I motioned for the employees to go inside. I noticed one of the EMT guys rolling the guy over and the gun was still in his hand. One of the cops rushed over and took it away. 

Glenda was airlifted to the Trauma Center in Fayetteville were she died later that day. The guy was taken to the local hospital were he survived. 

Now the back story.         

Glenda and her twin sister Brenda worked in the plant as auto hemmers. I had heard through the jungle drums (rumors) that Glenda was involved in an ongoing adulterous affair. As it turned out the drum beaters were right. The guy in the parking lot was her husband. 

He was a probation officer and had borrowed the pick up from a friend the night before so that Glenda would not recognize it when he pulled in the next morning and jumped out as she was locking her car up and shot her fatally in the head.  

What came out in the trial was that he had warned her that if she did not break off the affair he would take drastic action. He had left a note in his sons room that morning that he was going to hurt his mother because she would not listen to him.  

It turned out that it was the service girl that had called me out that faithful morning was the one that saw him shoot her. We testified at the trail, her for what she saw and me to verify that no one had touched anything before the cops arrived.  


He was tried before a judge. He had been a probation officer for many years and seemed to be well liked and respected by his peers and the others in the legal system there. He received a seven year sentence. Seven years for premeditated murder!!! 

And they say the justice system is blind.............