Key West Magic Bus Test Run

3/15/13 Key West or Bust!

Sunset from Mallory Square

     I decided to take the van down to Key West as a mini test trip to try out the van and make sure everything was copacetic. So I headed down through Miami and decided to follow I-95 down to its end and pick up US 1 the rest of the way. I had no idea South Miami extended down so far. Big mistake, probably added over an hour to the drive and for no good reason.

     I was excited to make the rest of the drive because a friend had recently done it and said it was very scenic and I also saw on a "Scenic Drive" website that it was listed as one of the drives you should do before you die. Well, I can now say I did it, but honestly I wasn't that impressed. It was nice.... and anytime time you come across a 7 Mile long bridge it's got to draw your attention, but to me it was a case of being over-hyped. However, I have done this trip actually plowing through those waters by boat and nothing can compare to that so take my being jaded with a grain of salt. The waters are incredible as well as the sunsets and there are a few parks/scenic trails along the way that I should check out on the way back up.

     I'm happy to report that Mage (what I'm affectionately calling the Magic Bus) did well. The fridge door popped open once, but other than that she did her job flawlessly. I'm even getting better than 15 mpg which is better than I thought I would get.

     I found a parking spot near the main drag (Duval St.) and docked her. Then took a stroll to see Key West in action during Spring Break and St. Patty's Day weekend. I would say that the Spring Break numbers aren't going to break any records, but the green were well represented. 

So an Irishman walks out of a bar....... No really! It can happen!

     After a night on the town it was time to spend the first night in the van. I blacked out the windows, turned on the fan and had a nice uneventful, undisturbed night with the exception of the neighborhood rooster who really must be screwed up by Daylight Savings Time. Someone buy that thing a watch! 

Day two to come......

   "Hi Mom- it's me.....and I'm not in jail!"

     I slept in and was woken up by the police. Apparently Key West is another one of the corporations that believe they have the right to mandate where and where not a person can sleep. There are probably 1000 homeless in Key West sleeping on the street, but Heaven forbid if a guy wants to catch some shuteye in his legally registered, taxes paid, not an eye-sore vehicle. Anyway, I was polite and cooperative and the cop was cool so I got a verbal warning and as bonus he gave me props for the van build.

Very Funny and Talented Street Performer!

     The rest was typical Key West, you know, Eat, Drink, Bar hop, Sun Bathe, Sightseeing, Sunset at Mallory Square.... yada yada yada. I won't bore you with the details. If you want the full experience.... head down there!

Pura Vida in Costa Rica

December 4, 2012

Pura Vida

After landing in San Jose I found a friendly taxi driver to take me to my old high school friend, Ed Fieramosca's house. The directions I handed over to the driver went something like this: "Take Rohmeisero Road south, after 5km look for the fruit trees and turn right, go 200m and look for the corner just before the Market". I was dubious, but at least the directions didn't instruct us to take a left at the speckled cow on the hill. We made it there without trouble and I found it a pretty nice neighborhood and safe, undoubtedly because the U.S. Embassy is close by.

I spent the afternoon with Eddie and his family, had a nice meal, and tried to follow some spanish TV. More difficult to understand than the language was why they were giving weather forecasts for North America?? Oh, and I managed to stay out of jail after a couple of polizia informed me that it wasn't permissible to have an open cerveza on the sidewalk.

In the evening I sat in on a business conference call with parties in Australia, Nevada, and Austria. Ed is in the business of building "Green" residential housing and is working on franchising the "Nudura" product in Australia. A very interesting product and building method which is essentially concrete builds with one catch. Normally concrete is poured into forms and after curing the forms are removed. Nudura is actually a type of Styrofoam and is used as the forms and left in place. The result is a super strong build which is water proof, sound proof, mold proof, termite proof, maintenance free, gives off no gases and is highly insulated. It goes together like lego blocks and after the recent 6.6 Mag. earthquake they had, it apparently can also take a pretty good shaking and not suffer.

The next morning 5:30 am came way to quickly, but it was time to catch another ride to the Nacoya peninsula. An area in the North West of Costa Rica which was new to me and also home to some of Costa's best reef and point breaks. There Eddie also happened to have a couple of projects in the works so I got to see some of the work in progress as well as being introduced to a bunch of his friends, both ticos and ex-pat gringos.

I was a bit surprised by the lack of development in this area. There is the new highway that gets you to the area, but after that it's all dusty dirt roads. In fact, in Playa Negra where I'm staying there isn't even a bank or ATM! There are a few homes, a few guest houses, a few restaurants and an approximately 200 square foot grocery store "oxy-moronically"  called Mini-Super Mercado. Not surprising, after my previous  visit, is that Costa is still really expensive, on par or more expensive than the U.S. in regards to food, fuel, land, homes, vehicles, etc. A third world mystery to me.

Somehow the locals make it work though and have kept their friendly disposition. It's a place where friends and strangers alike unfailingly wave and say hello whether walking, biking or driving. The intriguing new mantra which I don't recall in past visits is the constant uttering of "Pura Vida" (pure life). Q: Como Esta? (How are you?) A: Bien! Pura Vida! (Good, Pure Life!)  Maybe the Costa Rican government has started their own version of "Just say No!"

The first few days saw less than spectacular surf, but the last couple has seen the swell rise. My first session was good even withstanding the fact that I hurt myself more in one surf than I have in the last twenty years. Nothing big, a fin scrape on one ankle and a reef scrape on the other. To cap it off I took a left barrel and got pitched. Not wanting to dive into the shallow rocks I decided to skim the surface. Well, my board had the same idea and wacked me in the back of the head. Oh well, things come in threes so I figure I'm safe for a while. Except from the sun. Living in Florida preps you pretty good for dealing with the sun. Puerto Rico kicked the intensity up a notch. However,  the sun down here is downright wicked! Hades would feel like "Shade-ys" compared to here!

Today's swell was bigger and tomorrow's.... we will see!

Voy a ir surf! 

Pura Vida!

Wide Awake and Tired in Puerto Rico

The flight from Lauderdale to P.R. is cheap on Spirit Airlines ($75 o/w) which makes a midnight departure a little more palatable. That is unless you get caught up in their new policy of charging $100 if your carry-on is a little too big. I didn't, but it's still outrageous that bringing along a large backpack could cost you more than your seat!

With a 3:30am landing time I was a bit concerned about securing transportation, especially after this summer's Spirit flight to Atlantic City, which, after delays caused me to have to sleep in the airport until the car rentals opened up the next morning. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that not only would there be taxis available at that time, but the car rentals would also be open. 

So after a packed flight and getting the car it was a short drive to the guest house owned by ex-pat Tom Luker, fellow Jersey Boy and father of high school friend Greg  who is now owner of Lex Mex Restaurant in Ship Bottom. Thankfully Tom is an early riser, really early. Around 4:30am he showed me to my room, gave me a surf map and said if I'm up for it he would be heading out for a surf at sun up. Who needs sleep? So off to "Surfer's Beach" we went. 

We were greeted with head high surf with only a few guys out and it sure was nice to get a board under my feet after 2+ years. I was on an unfamiliar board and understandably rusty so I certainly didn't getting any bonus points for style, but I made all my waves and was happy with that. Eighty something degree water temperature didn't hurt either!

Needless to say I was pretty tired as well as hungry so I went and found some pancakes and eggs. At least I think they were eggs. There was definitely something different in the texture and taste, but my stomach said keep eating and I trusted it. Then it was off for a much needed nap.

That afternoon I got in the car and drove around to get the lay of the land. The roads in PR have, unlike our waistlines, not kept pace with the increasing size and number of vehicles. Even in a Kia you need to be alert to many sections of road which won't accommodate on-coming traffic. Perhaps  playing "Chicken" is a national pastime.  Or perhaps instead of "national" I should say "US territory" possibly soon to become a state, as they have just voted to apply to become a US state.  Also, as much as I hate to say it, they could do with a few more traffic lights. Getting through crossroads can be a challenge when traffic gets heavy and further supports my "national pastime" theory. 

Late afternoon I met the other two guests and we enjoyed conversation and some adult beverages on the porch well past sunset. Jhana told her story of being robbed the day before and how things were sorted out. Although she was heading home to Massachusetts the next day, she was not dismayed and will be coming back. Tony is from Ocean City, NJ and a similar age so we played the "do you know so and so" game. We had about a 25% hit rate with that. 

I told them both to knock on my door in the morning when they headed out for a surf. It won't surprise anyone reading this that I blew them both off for a little more sleep. I did, however, get up early (for me anyway) and decided to join them at "Wilderness". I probably should have paddled out, but instead decided to check somewhere else. On the way out I hit a pot hole and the "POP" I heard did not sound good. Luckily it was only a blown tire.

That took some of the wind out of my sails so after putting on the donut spare I decided to go in search of a replacement. Having heard horror stories of price gouging in these situations I wanted to find a replacement on my own. I can't say I was surprised that no one, even Pep Boys, carried the correct brand. In the end, I had to call Enterprise and they informed me that it didn't have to match the brand and I could replace it myself or exchange the car and they would take care of it. No big whoop, but I have to remember in the future that Kia economy cars are not real good for off roading!

The surf forecast looks good so we will see what tomorrow brings, other than another trip to Pep Boys.....

Adios, Hablamos pronto!

The End of the Climate Change Debate

As the smartest guy in the world and I'd like to once and for all put to rest the "Climate Change Debate". So, what is the answer? Is humanity the cause of climate change or not? Where do I stand? Well, I’m not saying because IT DOESN’T MATTER! 

Of course, I’m kidding about being the smartest guy in the world, but I would like to and think we can put this to rest because for the life of me I can't understand why we are collectively allowing ourselves to be duped into having it. 

Consider an analogy: Expectant parents are about to give birth and they know they will have to buy diapers for the baby. However, one parent introduces the question of whether the pooping will be a result of eating or digesting. They inexplicably and irresponsibly decide they aren’t going to buy diapers until they resolve the question. The debate starts, the debate never ends! And still shit happens!  Would that be a rational exercise that benefits the child? Of course not! These parents would be considered unfit to raise the child. Similarly, anyone (politicians, lobbyists, the public) who insists on coming to a consensus on the Climate Change Debate before we clean up our act is unfit to have any say in anything. They should have to don the Dunce Cap and sit silently in the corner.

Ultimately, the only rational answer to the debate is to end it immediately and take care of the situation which is a clear and present danger. A clear a consensus on climate change is far from being reached, not so in understanding that action needs to be taken regardless. Is there any likelihood of finding a single sane person on the planet who believes that pollution (emissions, fossil fuels, etc) is not detrimental to our well being? I think not! The debate is nothing short of moot. 

Ostensibly we are having the Climate Change Debate as means to an end, to bring about positive effectual change. But the Climate Change Debate is nothing more than smoke and mirrors, a classic divide and conquer technique designed to stymie useful and desperately needed action (undoubtedly perpetrated by those who stand to lose if change is enacted).  Pollution is bad. We know this. As a rational and conscientious race of supposedly intelligent beings we should not allow ourselves to be distracted and derailed from solving a problem that undeniably needs to be addressed at once. Pollution of every kind is toxic to our welfare. Whether or not it also tweaks the Earth’s thermostat is a completely unnecessary fact in deciding to reverse the damage we know is being done.  Are we seriously going to continue to debate the unacceptability of temperature change all the while ignoring the unacceptability of suffering cancers and illnesses caused by the degradation of our water, land and air? At the risk of being unconscionably adversarial, if you are still on the fence, I suggest asking a child and following their advice. Or better yet, find a homeless person and trade them some spare change for some common sense. 

 If we must debate I suggest it is infinitely more productive to focus our debate on whether or not we should be having the climate change debate. Clearly I’m taking the negative position. I sincerely welcome challengers.

News Flash

Flash Code

Depending on whether or not you have this blog bookmarked directly or you got here via www.whereisdjtoday.com you may have noticed that my website has undergone a facelift. After five years I guess it's about time.

I have no experience building a website so I was pleased when the basic foundation came together quickly and without any real trouble. I have to give a shout out to www.thesitewizard.com for his tutorial which made it possible along with dad for help with the ftp account. The next step was to add a photo gallery so I found a plug in and plugged it in. No trouble there, but I wasn't completely happy with it. So being one who is always looking to expand my horizons and also a little bit of a glutton for punishment the thought occurred to me to build my own.

Now I have absolutely no experience with Adobe Flash programming, but I do love a challenge so I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.  I figured the first step was to learn something about Flash so I sat down and soaked up all the pertinent video tutorials on the subject that I found on the excellent site of www.tutvid.com.

Before attacking the photo gallery I decided to start with something I felt would be a little easier so I started building a Navigation Bar. It's a few days later and I'm still working on the nav bar. I've built two so far, but wasn't content with either so I tried combining some elements from each. That proved to be a small disaster, but I took another approach and now I'm back to having one basic nav bar.

Unfortunately, by looking at it you wouldn't know that it was done in Flash and that isn't acceptable to my vanity after all this work so I'm experimenting and hopefully tomorrow I can add a little something something and make it "Flashy"!

Learning coding is like learning another language, except you'll rarely hear anyone converse in it. At this point my code skills are sort of like my Spanish skills. I can read it and sort of understand what is being conveyed, but I can't put a good sentence together on my own to save my life. So when you get an code error it's worse than trying to find a needle in a haystack. At least a needle is shiny, metallic and has a distinctive shape. Finding a code error is more like trying to find a piece of hay in a haystack.  It is like being told there is a piece of hay in that stack which we don't like, now go find it!

So it's an interesting exercise, really frustrating at times, but rewarding when things work they way they should. I now have a huge semi-productive time sink in my life and lots of ideas floating in head to try so I should learn quite a bit, even if it will cost me a lot of time and a few fistfuls of hair!

Is it worth it? Well, I'll let you know.

Flying- Through Heaven and Hell

Flying- Heaven and Hell

I've done my fair share of traveling. I have to say, all in all, I've been pretty lucky whether it was trains,

planes, automobiles or even boats. Sure, there have been less than optimum moments. I've had to sleep overnight in a bus station in a country where the language was "all Greek to me" (Greece!). I've had accidents, mechanical difficulties and flat tires in automobiles. There have been train delays and anxious moments when I wasn't sure if I would make it in time. I've seen rough weather in ports and open waters. I've also had an airline snafu in Germany where they couldn't provide my flight, but in that case they set me up in swank hotel for the evening so I can't really complain about that instance.

There is no doubt about it though, traveling is one of those things where the dualistic nature of reality can become blatently apparent. As hard as we try, it's not always possible to keep the pendulum from swinging away from the pleasant, right on through neutral and on to composure trying, pain in the ass, never again instances of "life sucks".

This past trip to and from the Caribbean was one of those examples highlighting both sides of the coin.It all started off well and good. To avoid having to drive up to L.A. I took a short 20 minute commuter flight there from San Diego. From there it was a not so short layover of 4 1/2 hours before my Delta flight to Atlanta. No big deal, I've become fairly adept at killing time.

Atlanta was another story though. What was supposed to be a 2 1/2 hour layover was to become oh, so much more! About 20 minutes before we were supposed to board the Captain comes up the jetway, walks to the check in counter, picks up the P.A. mic and states, "Folks I know you all are planing on taking this plane to St. Lucia, but you aren't. There is an airconditioning leak and it will need to be repared. We are looking into either repairing this plane or switching it out for another. The good news is that since this is a Delta hub we should be able to find a replacement jet. I'll keep you posted."

So about 45 minutes later they announce that they have another jet available and they will switch them out. This of course entails a thorough safety check (go right ahead) and then provisioning and transfering the baggage. It's about noon now and they announce boarding. Everyone is comfortably seated and we await push off from the gate when the captain comes on and announces, "Sorry folks, it seems that this plane is leaking hydraulic fluid from the front landing gear. It will need to be repaired. The good news is that the problem is readily accessible and the mechanics say it won't take more than two hours. Sit back for a bit while we sort this out and I'll update you shortly. But I promise I'll get you to the island today."

At this point I start to hear all kinds of mumblings from passengers about how the day is shot and how they are loosing hard earned vacation/honeymoon funds. I myself am wondering if we are indeed going to make it to our destination today or will I wind up once again in a hotel for the evening. A little while later we find out they have decided not to repair the plane and instead swap it out for one coming in from Venezuela. They have us disembark and I for one am glad not to have to sit on the plane for two hours while they repaired it.

So, long story short, the third time was the charm and our 9:40am flight finally left the gate at 4:15 pm! I tried to contact the boat to inform them of my tardiness, but couldn't reach them. I envisioned a very irratated taxi driver sitting at the St. Lucia airport waiting for me and could only hope he was smart enough to check the updated arrival time.

I finally landed just before sunset, found the driver and then made the 45 minute drive to the other side of the

island where the yacht was docked. All in all it was 24 hours of travel time with about an hours sleep and I was really happy it was over. Delta did give us $100 vouchers for a future flight, but I'm not sure I want to use it and risk flying with them again! Honestly, it may not sound so bad, but if I had known all that was going to happen I probably would not have taken the job.

Before I go on to the yin of this yang I'd like to take a few moments to write about clouds."What is the deal with clouds!?" (said in a Jerry Seinfield voice). One can't help but wonder about them when you are looking down at them from 30,000 feet. I asked myself, "What the heck is keeping these things aloft?" Something is amiss and I don't think science has adequately come up with an explanation. Maybe they just don't know or maybe I've just never learned it. I don't know, but here is what I do know, or think I know, or have been told that we know.

1) Clouds are essentially water vapor and particulates such as dust or soot.
2) Gravity is an inevitable and inherrant force on Earth without bias or exception.
3) Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Well I'm sorry, but one of those assumption must be incorrect or there is another force that is acting which science conveniently doesn't allude to or thinks we are all too stupid to comprehend. I may be one of those stupid ones, but it seems to me that neither water or particles are exempt from gravity. There may be some delicate balance of electromagnetic forces coming into play, but I sure don't buy the obvious explanation that convection currents do all the work. Particularly since it's like -200 F degree up there and cloud altitudes are much too stable. So if Gravity is being countered by an equal and opposite force, what is it? Please enlighten this dummy if you have a really solid explanation. (I'm not really interested in a conditioned, dogmatic, regurgitated 10th grade science book explanation.)

OK. So now to the concluding half of this travel saga.

My work was coming to an end and it was time to come up with a plan to get me home. A 7 am flight was booked for me off of Dominica and since we really didn't think it wise to depend on a local taxi to show up at 4:30 in the morning it was decided to get me a room near the airport for the evening. In the morning the guy where I stayed did wake up on time and got me to the airport for my flight on Liat Air to Puerto Rico where I would jump on to U.S. Airways back to San Diego.

We lifted off from Dominica and 30 minutes later we landed in Antigua. I knew damn well that we would be taking that very same plane on to P.R., but of course they made us disembark. Then we had to visit the transit desk and get another boarding pass. Then, even though we just got off the plane we had to pass through security. I think the whole purpose of this exercise was to entice us to spend money at the restaurant and gift shop. Five minutes later they called us for boarding. Once again we had to go through security, only this time our bags were hand checked and we were patted down! And no, even though I might be considered a shady character, it was everyone and not just myself. At this point I was just about to change my attitude from "flying is OK" to "I hate flying!"

Fortunately things were going to get better. But not until after a moment of confusion. I arrived in Puerto Rico and got the "Welcome Home" from Customs. I tried to find a Currency exchanger, but apparently no one has any interest in "Eastern Caribbean" dollars and so I'm stuck with 40 of them. Yes, if I go back I can always use them. That's if I remember to bring them. Aaah, at least they are pretty. So my email confirmation from Orbitz says I'm booked on U.S. Airways and since my phone actually worked once on U.S. soil it was again confirmed by a voicemail message that my flight on U.S. airways was on time.

Naturally I go to the U.S. Airways counter for check in. "Hi, I'm going to San Diego via Washington Dulles". "Not with us you're not, we don't fly there!". "Are you sure?", "Yes, check with United." After a moment of trepidation I found that I was indeed booked with United. Just confirms my suspicions that they are all in cohoots.

Oh, and something to keep an eye on as you travel on airlines these days. United boasts a #1 ranking for On-Time Arrivals. I guess that is something to be proud and boast of, until I realized that on every single recent flight all the estimated travel times were padded. The ticket travel times state for instance 6 hours and every time the pilot comes on and says the travel time in the air is an hour less than the the time on the tickets. So even if they take off 45 minutes late they can still get you there on time! So much for truth in advertising!

Anyway it was at this point that things became honky-dory. From P.R. to S.D. I was booked into first class. And it's true, "It's the only way to fly" unless you have your own wings, feathered or mechanical. There is nothing like a big cushiony chair, hot towells, good food and free drinks to make things more pleasant.

There was also a phone in the armrest with a light that would indicate an incoming call. How the hell someone would get ahold of the phone number for me in Seat 2D I have no idea, but the next time I'm flying first class be sure to give me a ring, won't ya?!

Off to St. Lucia

Hopefully everyone has made it to the new website address: DJandMusing.blogspot.com.

If not, I guess you aren’t reading this!

So it looks like I’m headed to St. Lucia for some work on Motoryacht Champagne Cher where my friend Chef Fran is currently working. I don’t know exactly for how long, but it looks like 10-14 days. I’m looking forward to visiting a new Caribbean Island. I’ll be taking along my new camera so hopefully I’ll come back with a bunch of great photos.

I’m leaving Friday 6:45pm from San Diego, on to LAX, then Atlanta and finally to St. Lucia. It will be a long day. So the bad news is I’ll be working on my Birthday, the good news is I’ll be on a tropical island!

I have no idea what phone service will be like down there, but I should be able to check in on the internet. I’ll keep you posted…….

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