Blue Moon of Costa Rica

(with apologies to Bill Monroe)

New year ends with blue moon. I'm sure a lot of people will take it as some huge cosmic event, but since time is arbitrary (and far from universal ... ask any Chinese or Jewish people you know when the new year is), I simply see it as another chance to stare at the full face of the moon.


See y'all next year!

The Penultimate Day

Of 2009, that is.

Heh. Penultimate. Reminds me of this:



Enjoy this randomly inserted random (not Tuesday or Thursday) Monty Python, and, if I don't get back afore midnight tomorrow....

Happy New Year!!!

Turns Out It Was Actually 775 Consecutive Days

And now it's 2 consecutive days.

Of posting, that is.

There was some action (of the paperwork kind) on the phone for the new place today, so mayhap we'll have phonage and internetage soon at home. I hope so, because in another four days we'll have to move this computer over to the house, as it'll be January and we'll officially be outta this apartment.

We can (and will) go to an internet cafe (is like 40 cents for a half hour), but that will entail going somewhere, and using unusual (i.e., Spanish language layout) keyboards, and I don't know what all, so that Consecutive Days count might just get reset once or twice again before I get settled back into my regular rhythm and resume posting the heartpounding and poignant and ... well, possibly boring at times posting that you have come to expect from me.

Plus, I'll get back to reading y'all regularly and keeping up with what's going on in the world.

'Til then, keep it between the ditches, y'all!

Wherein Blogger Decides That 700 (or so) Days in a Row Is Enough

So, I have had a backup post lined up and ready to post if I should fail to (or simply choose not to) come over here where to the land of internet connections (aka, The Old Place). I've been bumping the date by one each day that I did post, to cover the next.

Well, yesterday I was feeling a bit poorly in the tum-tum, and decided to let the pre-scheduled post have the day.

Only it didn't.

And so my streak ends.

And so it goes.

And so on.

And et cetera.

And ad naseum.

And.

Happy Boxing Day

(aka, Day Whatever w/out Internet)

I'm over at Jen's old apartment, where we'll have a computer for a couple more days, to post, and there are people settling in in the old downstairs place. I'm not sure I like it, my first Costa Rican place taken over by strangers.... ;)

...and I can't think of a single other thing to say, except, I've gotta go to the supermarket and pick up a couple of things -- like some whole bean coffee so I can make use of the coffee grinder the girls gave me for Christmas!!!

Oh!

Before we moved, I downloaded a game (the "next" version of one of my faves) and it turns out it's the Italian version. Anybody wanna come down here and translate?

Later!

A Tradition Continues

Merry Christmas [y'all] From the Family Costa Rica!! I hope you all got what you deserved wanted, and that you're surrounded by loved ones.

Christmas Eve in Costa Rica...

... and it's sunny and about 80 degrees. Just like every other day here.

Those of you with White Christmases enjoy the heck out of it, okay?

(this has been day five of no Internet. Seriously, Dr. Monkey, I have no connection ;) )

Day Four and...

...we're over here at the old place(s) to finish cleaning out the downstairs apartment (my former demesne) and hopefully turn in the keys.

Anyone wanna help sweep and mop?

Day Three of InterWebs Absence

Missin' alla y'all, busy settling the new place and emptying the old ones....

That's about all I got for now....

See ya soon, I hope!

Jus' Checkin' In...

Finished reading the 58 emails in my inbox (wow, teach me to be offline for two days!) and thought I'd say Hi! here.

We're getting settled in to the new house, and Jen tells me that there is ppotential movement already on getting connected over there. To the InterWebs Tubes, I mean. She and I are already connected :)

Hope all are well, Happy Solstice, and I'll be back soon!

Just in Case

Hey, all!

I'm too busy settling things into the new place to go over to the old place where we still have a computer hooked up to Teh InterWebs Tubes (for another couple days or so).

So, anyway, have a good'n!

Something's Happening...

The apartment(s) are emptying, and all the furniture (except for the li'l desk on which the computer rests and chair upon which I rest) is gone!!!!

And all the books, and the appliances, and ....

Is someone trying to tell me something?

Wherein I Don't Have To Feel Bad About Not Making It To the Family Christmas Gathering Tomorrow

Because if this comes to pass:



...they won't be able to do any gathering. It's looking like they'll all be getting snow, even my siblings that live in the RDU area! So, Family, enjoy the snow and all that.

I'll be wearing shorts and a t-shirt, as usual. :)

(also, everyone knew I wasn't going to be there, so there really wasn't any feeling bad to begin with)

Updating to add:


[webcam shot in Burnsville, NC about 11:15am EST today]

and

[ditto in Spruce Pine]

(Burnsville is where I was born, and Spruce Pine is just a few miles to the east. The two towns lie about midway between Boone and Asheville, the two places where I spent the last couple decades)

For comparison, this is the current view out the kitchen window here in San Rafael de Heredia, Costa Rica:

O Little Town of Belén

As I've mentioned, I'm teaching some Saturday classes now, over in the town of Belén (that's Bethlehem to those who don't comprende español), and I took a couple pictures out the window last Saturday:



Also, tonight the institute had a "training session" for several new teachers, and I was surprised to be asked a lot of questions about procedures and how "we" should do things. I didn't realize it, but I have the most seniority (yeah, six months).

And we also had Tamales: The Costa Rican Version. They were different from the Mexican tamales I grew up eating, but were pretty dang good.

The Latest in Diety's

So, What'd I Miss?

The (state run, i.e. socialized) phone company is doing a massive redo of the lines in this neighborhood -- just in time for us to be moving out, but it's a good thing overall -- and somehow it trickled over to the cable lines with the result that we were GASP!!! without internet pretty much all day.

Anything happen out there in the wide world? Retributive lightning strike Joe Lieberman or anything equally wonderful?

It's All Relative

"I'm wearing your shoes because it's cold."



"I see."

I Don't Know Why People Think Foreign Languages Are So Hard...

(found over at Lockwood's place)

Ding Dong

More Merry Muppet Madness:

Quick and Dirty

Here's the layout of the new house:

Check That One On the List

Would you believe that Jen had not seen Miracle on 34th Street? Well, that cultural touchstone has now been ... touched, Fred Gailey proved once again that Kris is the one and only Santa, and li'l Susan got her dream house.

I think she liked it, and I know I did (having seen it many, many times).

Run For Your Lives!!!

Head for the hills... but not the hills of potatoes.

Petunias and potatoes may actually be carnivorous plants, scientists now suggest.

Them spuds have eyes, and they're a-watchin' ye!

Anybody Got A Spare 200Grand?

That's how much the initial flights will cost but, as will all "new" things, it'll get cheaper as time passes.

(yes, the video is essentially a long-form commercial, but it's still cool)

They rolled out the first of the second wave of orbiters, and it's called Enterprise. Just another reason to go up, as far as I'm concerned.

Well, That Was Different....

We just watched the latest Doctor Who episode, "The Waters of Mars", and, as I said to Jen about halfway through the show, it was a different kind of episode. I won't give any spoilers, but if you've seen it and want to talk about it, you can find a link to my email address over on the right --->

In other developments, we drove around a bit this afternoon, mostly because I wanted to take a photo from a certain spot, but also to see if we could spy any "For Rent" signs that would lead us to TOTH. We didn't find any such thing, nor was I able to get the photo I wanted. I did get this, though:


Mayhap we'll try again on both counts (well, we'll definitely be trying more on TOTH).

Yearning For A Taste

So, back in the Old Country (that would be Teh USA -- and more specifically, NC), they had snow this weekend.

Sigh.

I love snow... but I love being here in Costa Rica, too, so it's all good.

But there is something that I'm really missing tonight, and the fact that winter has arrived in NC means that it's available.

Highland Brewing Company Cold Mountain Winter Ale
(image found here)

Brewed in Asheville, NC, Highland's beers are available in lots of places in the Southeast of the US (distributor listing here), so if anyone comes across some, have one for me, okay?

I'm Always Surprised...

...when I look at a map of visits to my li'l corner of Teh InterWebs Tubes:


That's visits from 62 countries. Wow.

Also, I am appreciative of each and every visit. Thanks, y'all.

Today in the Annals of Teaching

I picked up a new class tonight. A Level 1 (beginners -- like really beginners) class. After a nice, hearty blank stare all around, I started searching for a way through the language wall, and, luckily (and somewhat surprisingly), there is a book for the class.

So we started at the beginning: The letters of the alphabet, numbers, days of the week, months, and all that. And by the end of class, I think I had learned as much Spanish as they learned Inglés.

To be continued, I'm sure....

Jeebus Wept

So, you've probably heard about this -- the Salvation Army in Houston is requiring proof of citizenship before giving children Christmas presents. Epic FAIL on the whole "Christ-like" thing, there, SA.

Well, General JC Christian, Patriot, has a wonderful suggestion included in his typically adroit takedown of the hypocrisy and stupidity:

"It'd be a real shame if wicked people tried to pressure the Salvation Army into treating everyone with dignity by doing something like this:

1. Download the graphic below.
2. Print it.
3. Cut it into check-sized pieces.
4. Deposit "checks" in Salvation Army kettles.


Please don't do it, and for God's sake, don't go to other blogs and mention it in their comments."

Not-Friday (Eco) Cat Blogging

3442.5 Cubic Feet*

As Jen has already mentioned, we're beginning the process of moving from having separate (but contiguous) apartments to The One True House (TOTH). When I came here to Costa Rica back in March, I had two suitcases and a carry on bag and this apartment was pretty empty (basically a couch and a mattress on the floor in one bedroom). Since then, though, I've built a couple of tables and... well, you know how it goes. One acquires things.

So, over the next month we'll hopefully be finding said TOTH, but if not, moving all the stuff from upstairs to down here. And while Jen laughed at my idea of bunk couches, I'm not really sure we can use the third dimension of the interior space that well.

(*that's 17' * 27' * 7.5')