| Saturday, March 28th, 2009 |
| 12:11 pm |
Home ...
I made it back to the US in one piece after my month long work adventure in Costa Rica. If I have a choice again, I'm never making another international connection through Houston. I came within 30 seconds of missing my connecting flight last night. That was not a pleasant experience at all. We were only delayed about 10 minutes leaving Costa Rica, but once I got off the plane in Houston to get to my connection, the events at the airport took almost an hour. A 15 minute walk from the arrival gate to incoming immigration. A 15-20 minute line to get through immigration. Picking up my suitcase to re-check it for my next flight hardly took anything. Another 10 minute line for yet another full security check like you get when you first get to an airport. The longest part, getting from the terminal where I arrived to the terminal where my flight was leaving. After the time that had passed, I had less than 10 minutes to get to the gate where the connection was leaving from. There were 5 or 6 of that ended up sprinting the last 1000ft or so as they were closing the door to the jet way. Thankfully we made it. On the way to Houston, I had a window seat so I took a few more pictures from an out the window view of the plane. My flickr photo set is complete and up to date now with all I took while I was in Costa Rica. I'm thinking of converting this to a collection and making different sets for easier viewing. I might do that later this week once I catch up on everything. My Costa Rica Photos Set Current Mood:  awake |
| Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 |
| 11:41 am |
Home soon..
This is my last week in Costa Rica after being here all month. It's been an interesting adventure since it all began. I know I'll be returning here, but I just don't know when yet. Yesterday I took the last day long tour that looked interesting to me so I could see some other parts of the country. This incuded the Irazu Volcano, Jardin Lankaser Botanical Gardens, and a trip into the hidden valley area of Cartago. When I return, I need to make it out to one of the costal areas. I didn't do that since most recommend taking some of the 2 day tours to really experience it. I didn't pack to really go out and stay elsewhere while I'm here. So next time for sure. My flickr site is up to date with all the pictures from yesterday's adventures. My Costa Rica Flickr Set Current Mood: awake |
| Saturday, March 14th, 2009 |
| 8:40 pm |
San Jose Tour
I got out again today and took another tour of the city. San Jose has quite the variety of things to see that's for sure. The tour lasted just over 4 hours and I think I might have gone overboard with the pictures. I'll let you be the judge of that though. My Costa Rica Flickr Set Current Mood:  tired |
| Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 |
| 6:14 pm |
Earthquake x2
So today was rather interesting. There were 2 rather significant earthquakes here today in the southern part of of the country. The first was at 11:24 and was a 5.7. The 3rd floor of the office building we're in shook for a good 30 seconds. That's a lot longer than the typical shaking we have from California quakes. I know it was that long because I was on the phone with our office in Costa Mesa so I was able to keep time on it. Then at 3:03 the same area was hit by a 5.9. This shook our building a bit longer. Thankfully the area of the quakes were about 110 miles away so there wasn't any harm done. Still rather freaky though to have two that strong together in a short amount of time. Current Mood:  blah |
| Monday, March 9th, 2009 |
| 6:57 pm |
Attempted tour...
So I finally got tired of seeing the hotel and our office building and everything I've seen in between for a week now. Yesterday I signed up for a tour to see the Arenal Volcano. This is the most active volcano in Costa Rica and you're supposed to be able to see the lava flows during the day but ever better at night. Unfortunately it turned out to be a bust for seeing the volcano. Once we got over the mountains on the other side from where I'm staying, the entire area was covered in clouds including the volcano. It also rained off and on the entire time. The trip wasn't a complete loss though. Lunch and dinner was included in the tour along with a day pass at a 5 star resort with volcanic hot springs. Lunch was at Arenal Volcano Inn and then dinner was at Tabacón Grand Spa Thermal Resort. Tabacon is a 5 star resort and from the glimpes we got, I can see why. The hot springs were beyond excellent. They had several pools/rivers to soak in. I tried 3 of them out and ended up spending 2 to 2 1/2 hrs immersed in these waters. After that it just got way too hot and exhausting. The dinner from the restaurant was Indonesian and very very good. I'm glad I got out to see more of this country while I had a free day. I've uploaded more photos from Sunday's adventures so take a peek. Costa Rica pics Current Mood:  relaxed |
| Saturday, March 7th, 2009 |
| 9:53 pm |
Irregular Activity..For your protection
Isn't it nice when banks put an auto hold on your account and you find out about it a day or two later. I get an email at some point today from the fraud group at BofA saying my credit card has a hold on it now due to "irregular activity." What a way to make your evening. I can see why they did it though. When I arrived here in Costa Rica Monday night, I had to use my card to make a phone call. Now having a charge from Costa Rica would definitely be outside my normal card patterns. After I spoke with them, I found out the hold went in to effect because they couldn't get a hold of me at home. I found it hard not to laugh at the fraud analyst after he hold me this. When I told him where I was and that's why I couldn't answer my home phone, he got a decent laugh out of it. So all is normal again. However, the cost of an apparent 3-5 min call to the US from Costa Rica via credit card comes out to about $45. I don't think I'll do that one again while I'm here. Current Mood: tired |
| Thursday, January 1st, 2009 |
| 1:38 pm |
2009.. Let it begin
Happy New Year to all who may read here. Past, present, and future. Current Mood: tired |
| Sunday, August 31st, 2008 |
| 4:37 am |
Altered State of Mind
"Never get drunk unless you're willing to pay for it - the next day. " -Capt Montgomery Scott ST:TNG Relics Someone kick some sense in to me later for this... Current Mood:  drunk |
| Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 |
| 8:32 pm |
Pick a weather type.....
So depending on where you might have been in Southern California today you would have ran into just about any kind of weather imaginable (well almost). We seemed to have it all. Sun in parts, dark overcast, rain (torrnetial downpours in some spots), flooding, wind, hail, snow, thunder & lightning, and finally.... tornados. Yes you read the last one right. A tornado touched down in the far reaches of populace out by March Air Force Base. Unusual to say the least, but goes to show they can happen anywhere. This odd pattern is supposed to continue through Saturday, but who really knows for sure what will happen. Current Mood: weird |
| Friday, March 21st, 2008 |
| 8:26 pm |
A post...
Of nothingness Actually I just haven't had a lot to really write about in recent months. Things are just so so lately as the days go on....... Current Mood:  bored |
| Thursday, January 17th, 2008 |
| 5:17 pm |
Shameless Self Plug..
Happy Birthday to me! Ok, so what do you do when your birthday is during the week after work... Yup nothing! It's not always a bad thing, but the way the work environment has been lately, I don't mind it this time. Current Mood: calm |
| Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 |
| 6:20 am |
NinjaDay 2007
Apparently today is Annual Ninja Day so go forth and be sneaky!  Click the ninja for more info. Current Mood: amused |
| Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 |
| 10:01 pm |
Weird night..
10pm and it's still 78 outside. Since I still bowl tuesday nights, I don't get home till 9:30 or so. Having a closed up apartment all day when it's 95-100 outside more or less makes it a mini oven all day. Not the exact reason for the post, but a trivial piece of information. The real part of this post.. We're into the 3rd week of our summer bowling season now which means after tonight, my average for the season will be established. I started 3 weeks ago using the 170 I ended last season with. Here's the fun part, how I bowled tonight and what that will do. Tonight's games were 190,186 and 217 making the series 593. That makes my average now 182 going foward for the rest of this season. This will make things interesting if I can actually maintain this. Back to trying to stay cool... Current Mood:  accomplishedCurrent Music: Alma Chillout - Esta Cobardia |
| Sunday, May 6th, 2007 |
| 10:42 pm |
Brief Update
Yes I'm still alive and kicking =^.^= (as some witnessed this weekend) This weekend brought the adventure known as Califur The local furry convention here in SoCal. Since it's been right around the corner from where I work, it's been an easy access con to get to. Saw lots of faces I hadn't seen in a long time so it was good to catch up on things and stuff. This con does a "pet auction" for charity every year where brave souls go up on the auction block to be a pet to someone for the rest of the con (unless they're released before Sunday). Normally I've only been a spectator to this event, but this year I became the active bidder and ended up with a pet purchase. I won't say the exact amount other than it was more than $75 but less than $150. Either way a good donation to the charity they were helping out, which sadly I forget the name. (Pet's identity withheld to protect the innocent) The Saturday night cabaret show was very well done by all those in it and who put it together. Overall, a good weekend with good company and brief hightlights above. Current Mood: awake |
| Monday, February 26th, 2007 |
| 5:30 pm |
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| Tuesday, January 16th, 2007 |
| 12:16 pm |
Healthy Doughnuts?
There's just something about this that seems strange. Granted, a lot of food products shifting toward healther ingrediants, but a healthy doughnut??? Isn't the whole point of a doughnut to not be healthy eating?? Doughnut makers seek healthier recipesAt this rate, just about everything we eat will be "healthy." Current Mood:  contemplative |
| Monday, December 25th, 2006 |
| 11:38 pm |
does this need a subject?
The day will come when you will look and find nothing but emptiness as a response Current Mood: drunk |
| Thursday, November 30th, 2006 |
| 7:00 pm |
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| Tuesday, November 7th, 2006 |
| 1:06 pm |
What month is it again??
If you're outside of Southern California, you might not like this post... Ok, so it's November according to the calendar, but the weather outside says differently. Yesterday was around 96 or so where I live. Right now at work it's 87 and at home 12 miles away it's 95. This is a bit unusual even for this area. I'd trade anyone for cooler weather right now. Current Mood: blah |
| Friday, October 20th, 2006 |
| 6:05 pm |
OMG Make it STOP!
I'm still sitting here at my desk at work on a conference call that started at 2:15pm this afternoon... WHEN WILL IT END! Current Mood:  aggravated |
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