Category Archives: blogging

Rum Race #7

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I’ve been busy. You would think things would slow down around here since I’ve been laid off, but nooooo… I’m just as busy as ever!

Saturday I went out with Capt Vic on the Bat Boat (she’s a C&C 38). We were a little late getting underway due to some trouble with the battery (it was dead). We made it to the starting line right on time (actually about 2 minutes early).

It was a gorgeous day, there were lots of boats out sailing. Capt Vic said about 60 were in the race with us. A few different classes of boats. I’m not really sure what they all were, I’ve really only started learning about racing sailboats.

These races are set up through the Galveston Bay Cruising Association. They have all sorts of races, regattas, cruises, etc. I don’t know much at all about how they run these races, just that we were one of the bigger, heavier, slower boats. Not using spinnikers.

The sun was out and the wind was about 10-15 kts for the first part of the race. It slowed waaaay down after we made the turn to head back towards Kemah. We took down the jib and put up the ‘gennaker‘ (the bat sail) and it actually helped a lot in the lighter winds.

We did lose some time, mostly because we were not used to setting that sail and it took us a while to get it working properly. Once we got it set, we had a nice, leisurely sail back towards Kemah. We were doing pretty good in the race til then, but we fell behind while we were messing around with the gennaker. 🙁

We made it to the finish line right before sunset and got to watch the sun go down and the full moon rise over the bay. The sunset was nice, but the moon was absolutely stunning! I wish I could have taken some better pictures, but I was on the wheel at the time and couldn’t concentrate on the camera, I had to pay attention to the traffic in the channel.

It was getting dark by the time we got to the dock. We fought off the mosquitos while folding up the sails up the dock. Once we got everything secured, we could try out the ‘dark and stormies’ we had been hearing about all day. D. came up with some mosquito spray and we had our 1st rewarding rum drinks out in the parking lot.

Not too bad. 😉

We slowly made our way over to the clubhouse for the afterparty. The Rum Races are sponsored by Cruzan Rum and so we had to head up there for the end of the race announcements. We had to see who won (even if we knew we didn’t), we could still enjoy the rewards. Free rum and snacks to go with it. 🙂

It was fun to hang out for a while and talk over the race with the other sailors. Everyone was friendly and in good spirits. The free rum helps with that. 😉

Some of us decided to go out for a more hearty snack from there and we met up at Sam’s Boat for nachos, sliders, chicken wings and more good stuff. 🙂

I made it home about 3 am. Days like that really make me appreciate the life of a sailor. 🙂

Rum Racing

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Hey, I got back home last weekend and ready to go out sailing again. Luckily, Capt Vic has had a standing invitation to join him for the Rum Races in Galveston Bay. I’m going out tomorrow! 🙂

Hopefully, the weather will be co-operative and we will have a little wind. I always love to go sailing. Not too much beats a day out on the water IMHO. Here’s a picture from the last time I went out racing with Capt Vic.

 

Now What?

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I know I haven’t been doing a lot with my blog lately. I moved it to a paid site and it has been driving me crazy since then. I’ve had a hard time even getting to where I can make a post lately.

It seems I’m at some sort of crossroads here. I just got laid off from my ‘real’ job. Yeah. I was on vacation in Nicaragua and they (finally) sent me an email. They wanted to know why I was refusing to return their phone calls!

I sent them an email back and told them that they should have known not to call me (besides the fact that we have NEVER done anything over the phone). I worked over last hitch for a month expressly in order to be able to take this vacation and my ‘boss’ (the pool co-ordinator) knew perfectly well I would not be available til at least mid August.

Anyway, we finally made contact on the phone. I was thinking it was probably for bad news and I was right. They called me around 2 am Sunday night so they could tell me I was being laid off. Yeah, nice of them to call me. Kind-of put a bummer on the rest of my vacation. 🙁

According to the company, due to the low price of oil, they have NO MONEY in the budget anymore for anyone in the resource pool. That is where I’ve been assigned since they hired me. I have no idea why they kept me in the pool. In actuality, I was getting more than a little sick of it. Still, it always sucks to be fired (laid off- same thing). Unless they give you a nice severance package, which of course they did not in this case.

I wonder how they plan to cover for all the people they have left when they need time off. That is what we were in the pool to do. They couldn’t really even manage when they DID have people in the pool! They have over a dozen ships they need to keep crewed up and each one has to have 4 DPOs onboard at all times. They only had 2 DPOs in the pool to cover for all those peoples vacations, sick leaves, time off for courses, etc. I know they kept me busy all the time.

Not my problem anymore. I know.

Now, my problem is to figure out what to do with myself. I’ve always worked and I’ve always been lucky enough to have skills that have been in demand. That is no longer the case all the sudden. For months now, I have been watching the news and hearing from friends how jobs have been cut by the thousands. Most of my friends have already been laid off.

I’m pretty sure there will be no work available in my field until the price of oil goes back up and stabilizes and the companies start hiring again. Winter is always slow anyway, so I don’t expect there to be ANYTHING til at least next Spring and maybe not even then.

So. Now what?

Email Funnies: Engineers

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A friend sent me this in an email the other day. I got a few laughs out of it. My dad was an engineer and I actually went for a couple of years of engineering myself before I changed to math (just so I could get out of school earlier).

Understanding Engineers #1
Two engineering students were biking across a university campus when one said, “Where did you get such a great bike?”  The second engineer replied, “Well, I was walking along yesterday, minding my own business, when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike, threw it to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, “Take what you want.”
The first engineer nodded approvingly and said, “Good choice:  The clothes probably wouldn’t have fit you anyway.”
 
Understanding Engineers #2
To the optimist, the glass is half-full.  To the pessimist, the glass is half-empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
 
Understanding Engineers #3
A priest, a doctor, and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumed, “What’s with those guys?  We must have been waiting for fifteen minutes!”  The doctor chimed in, “I don’t know, but I’ve never seen such inept golf!” The priest said, “Here comes the greens-keeper.  Let’s have a word with him.”  He said, “Hello George, What’s wrong with that group ahead of us?  They’re rather slow, aren’t they?”
The greens-keeper replied, “Oh, yes.  That’s a group of blind firemen.  They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime!.”  The group fell silent for a moment. The priest said, “That’s so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight.”  The doctor said, “Good idea.  I’m going to contact my ophthalmologist colleague and see if there’s anything she can do for them.”
The engineer said, “Why can’t they play at night?”
 
Understanding Engineers #4
What is the difference between mechanical engineers and civil engineers? Mechanical engineers build weapons.
Civil engineers build targets.
 
Understanding Engineers #5
The graduate with a science degree asks, “Why does it work?”
The graduate with an engineering degree asks, “How does it work?”
The graduate with an accounting degree asks, “How much will it cost?”
The graduate with an arts degree asks, “Do you want fries with that?”
 
Understanding Engineers #6
Three engineering students were gathered together discussing who must have designed the human body.
One said, “It was a mechanical engineer.  Just look at all the joints.”
Another said, “No, it was an electrical engineer.  The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections.”
The last one said, “No, actually it had to have been a civil engineer.  Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?”
 
Understanding Engineers #7
Normal people believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet.
 
Understanding Engineers #8
An engineer was crossing a road one day, when a frog called out to him and said, “If you kiss me, I’ll turn into a beautiful princess.”
He bent over, picked up the frog, and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, “If you kiss me, I’ll turn back into a beautiful princess and stay with you for one week.”  The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket.  The frog then cried out, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I’ll stay with you for one week and do anything you want.”  Again, the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.  Finally, the frog asked, “What is the matter?  I’ve told you I’m a beautiful princess and that I’ll stay with you for one week and do anything you want.  Why won’t you kiss me?”  The engineer said, “Look, I’m an engineer. I don’t have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog – now that’s cool!!.”
 
Two engineers???
Two engineers were standing at the base of a flagpole, looking at its top. A woman walked by and asked what they were doing.
“We’re supposed to find the height of this flagpole,” said STEVEN, “but we don’t have a ladder.”
The woman took a wrench from her purse, loosened a couple of bolts, and laid the pole down on the ground.
Then she took a tape measure from her pocketbook, took a measurement, and announced, “Twenty one feet, six inches,” and walked away.
One engineer shook his head and laughed, “A lot of good that does us.  We ask for the height and she gives us the length!”
Both engineers have since quit their engineering jobs and are currently serving in the United States Congress.

Norms Thursday Doors

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I’m still here in Nicaragua, but leaving tonight. I should be back home in Texas by morning.

I figured I’d add another pretty Nicaraguan one to Norms Thursday Door challenge this week. They do have a lot of very nice ones around down here.

I really liked the carvings of the toucans on these doors. These were in Granada.

So Nice!

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The weather here in Matagalpa is SO nice! It’s so cool. 🙂

After spending the last couple of weeks down around the coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica where I was so hot it felt like I was sweating to death every day, it’s great to be in a new place where it’s actually enjoyable to be outside. At night it actually gets a little chilly when the breeze is blowing. 🙂

My old friend Tom from high school on the ship (the Oceanics) showed up the other night to visit me down here. That’s a whole ‘nother story! Yesterday we went to check out the local market which we both have always loved to do. It’s a great way to learn more about how people live. It’s also fantastic for photography.

We went looking for a nearby town that my (2006) guidebook mentioned had an indigenous market with weavings and pottery. Turns out there was no market in San Ramon. Just like when I came back to Granada because the Hipico was supposed to be last weekend and they changed it without telling anyone! Too bad I can’t stick around Granada til the end of the month!

So, since we couldn’t find the indigenous market, we came back through Matagalpa and stopped by to visit a guy I had met in Granada. He’s been living in Matagalpa for a while and knows about the area. He told us about las Cascadas.

It was a beautiful waterfall with a big swimming hole beneath it. We only managed to find it after we stopped to ask directions of a group of kids by the side of the road. One little boy was going that way so we gave him a ride. He told us to stop as we drove right past the place.

It was worth the drive through the mountains. Even with the hairpin curves and steep slopes. The place was really pretty. Lots of plants and flowers. The sound of the waterfall and the little river flowing by. We were the only ones there. We had a little snack and a couple of drinks (non-alcoholic) at the little restaurant /hostel about halfway down the slope.

We made it back to town late in the afternoon and had a quiet evening at the hotel. Sitting out on the veranda having rum and cokes and dinner from the little place next door. Nice BBQ chicken, beef, pork, tortillas, pinto gallo (rice and beans), and plantains.

I was still tired from partying too late the night we got here, but still managed to stay up til midnight last night. I think I’ll need a vacation from my vacation when I get home (and sadly, it looks like I will get one). More on that later.

Moving to Matagalpa

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I won’t have much time to get online today. Maybe not for the next few days. I’ll be leaving Granada and heading North to Matagalpa. Its supposed to be cooler up there. I sure do hope so! The heat and humidity here is killing me. Yeah, I know. I live in SE Texas, I should be used to it. But we have air conditioners and we USE them!

I’ll be leaving here around noon with a guy I met before I left for Costa Rica. I’ll be staying at a little place recommended by another guy I met hanging out at a bar/restaurant on the main drag the other night. Hopefully these guys are reliable. 🙂

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Last look at Granadas ‘main square’, it’s really a nice area to hang out. I’m staying only a half a block up the street. If only it wasn’t so HOT, I’d really miss it!

Songs of the Sea: Pirate Jenny

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Here’s another Song of the Sea. More jazzy than most. It’s a real classic!

Nina Simone – Pirate Jenny Lyrics

You people can watch while I’m scrubbing these floors
And I’m scrubbin’ the floors while you’re gawking
Maybe once ya tip me and it makes ya feel swell
In this crummy Southern town
In this crummy old hotel
But you’ll never guess to who you’re talkin’.
No. You couldn’t ever guess to who you’re talkin’.Then one night there’s a scream in the night
And you’ll wonder who could that have been
And you see me kinda grinnin’ while I’m scrubbin’
And you say, “What’s she got to grin?”
I’ll tell you.There’s a ship
The Black Freighter
With a skull on its masthead
Will be coming in

You gentlemen can say, “Hey gal, finish them floors!
Get upstairs! What’s wrong with you! Earn your keep here!
You toss me your tips
And look out to the ships
But I’m counting your heads
As I’m making the beds
Cuz there’s nobody gonna sleep here, honey
Nobody
Nobody!

Then one night there’s a scream in the night
And you say, “Who’s that kicking up a row?”
And ya see me kinda starin’ out the winda
And you say, “What’s she got to stare at now?”
I’ll tell ya.

There’s a ship
The Black Freighter
Turns around in the harbor
Shootin’ guns from her bow

Now
You gentlemen can wipe off that smile off your face
Cause every building in town is a flat one
This whole frickin’ place will be down to the ground
Only this cheap hotel standing up safe and sound
And you yell, “Why do they spare that one?”
Yes.
That’s what you say.
“Why do they spare that one?”

All the night through, through the noise and to-do
You wonder who is that person that lives up there?
And you see me stepping out in the morning
Looking nice with a ribbon in my hair

And the ship
The Black Freighter
Runs a flag up its masthead
And a cheer rings the air

By noontime the dock
Is a-swarmin’ with men
Comin’ out from the ghostly freighter
They move in the shadows
Where no one can see
And they’re chainin’ up people
And they’re bringin’ em to me
Askin’ me,
“Kill them NOW, or LATER?”
Askin’ ME!
“Kill them now, or later?”

Noon by the clock
And so still by the dock
You can hear a foghorn miles away
And in that quiet of death
I’ll say, “Right now.
Right now!”

Then they’ll pile up the bodies
And I’ll say,
“That’ll learn ya!”

And the ship
The Black Freighter
Disappears out to sea
And
On
It
Is
Me

Working On It

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If you’ve been here before, you must be wondering WTF is going on around here. It looks like hell and it looks a LOT different than it used to! Well, to tell you the truth, I think I made a major mistake in moving my blog over to captainjillsjourneys.com from captjillsjourneys.wordpress.com!

I’ve had nothing but major frustration and aggravation from day 1 with this move and I’m not happy at all. I had my blog looking pretty decent and had (finally) figured out how to add widgets and such. I had my blog moved over more than a week ago and only just discovered that my follow button was gone!

I’ve lost access to the wordpress reader and can’t find out how to connect with it again. I can’t figure out how to get my visuals set up the way I want them. I can’t remember how to put the widgets I had back on my sidebar (twitter feed, flickr feed, facebook feed, etc). I can’t even see my old site to try and copy it!

I’m on vacation and really don’t want to spend ALL my time here in a beautiful foreign country working on the computer trying to get my blog back in order. I AM working on it. I just can’t spend the time here and now.

So, I’m asking for help. Does anybody know anything about how to fix any of those things I just mentioned? I’m lost. 🙁

Norms Thursday Doors

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I like to try to get into these challenges when I can. I’m late his week since it’s really horrible. I moved my blog and it’s been hard as hell to do ANYTHING with it since then. It’s worse than pulling teeth! It looks like hell and I’ve been traveling so haven’t really had time to deal with it.

Anyway, I did take some nice pictures of doors and will see if this works for Norms Thursday Doors. He has some really nice pictures this week. 🙂

Here’s mine for the week. I took this right around the corner. It’s a house on Atravesada Street in Granada Nicaragua. They have some really beautiful colonial buildings (and doors) here.

What Happened to My Reader?

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I moved my blog to www.captainjillsjourneys.com from www.captjillsjourneys.wordpress.com and besides the fact that it looks like I need to pretty much start all over from scratch, I can’t seem to find the wordpress reader any more! What happened to it?

I can’t even get my old blog to open up any more! WOW. This sucks!!

Crossing the Border to San Juan del Sur

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I left Costa Rica on Sunday morning along with a few others from the blogging workshop. I was dropped off at the airport in Liberia to wait for the local bus to town (it was late).

Taxi drivers offered to take me to town for $30, but since the local bus only cost $1, I figured it was worth the wait. Even if it was hot! I caught the bus along with a British girl, we stood in the back and talked about our travels til the bus arrived at the station.

The information desk was closed for lunch, but some helpful people told us which bus to take and where they would arrive. I only had about a half hour to wait. There were plenty of people selling drinks and snacks. Sliced mango with limes, banana chips, cashew nuts, sodas, and all sorts of sweets.

I met a young guy from England who was also going to SJDS and we decided to share a cab from the border. That would make it an easy decision to take a cab instead of dealing with more busses. 🙂

We left on the bus to the border at 1230 sharp. They put our luggage under the bus and off we went. This was the local bus, so we took a different route than I took on the Ticabus coming South. It stopped every so often for people getting on/off. It went through a lot of small towns and there was beautiful scenery to see along the way. No AC, but with the window open it was pretty nice with the breeze.

The bus dropped us off at the border (Penas Blancas) and we walked up to the immigration office. Made the mistake of not paying the exit fee beforehand (which I was informed there was none in Costa Rica- there IS). It cost $8 to leave. We had to go back along the road to one of the little houses to pay the fee and get our paperwork stamped. Then back in line for the officials to collect those papers and stamp our passports.

After completing the paperwork, we walked a few minutes over the border to Nicaragua. It was very simple to enter, we just paid $12 to the official and he stamped our passports. We were in!

We had already made a bargain with a taxi driver while we were walking in. He would take us both to SJDS and drop us at our hotels (different ones) for $25. Off we went! It was a nice ride and pretty quick. It only took a while to find my hotel since the driver wasn’t familiar with SJDS. We asked directions a couple of times (at least he had no problems with doing that!). I gave him a couple of dollars extra as a tip since I’m sure he wasn’t planning to take so long to find my hotel. It still only worked out to $14 for the ride. 🙂

Sailing and Snorkeling- Tamarindo

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It wasn’t all work and no play. We had plenty of fun during the blogging workshop. One day we went for a cruise on a nice big catamaran called the Marlin del Rey out of Tamarindo.

waiting for the launch

waiting for the launch

We spent the day sailing, fishing, swimming and snorkeling. It was a ton of fun. There were other people on the cruise too, not just our group. There was a couple on their honeymoon from Texas. There was a group of cute young Italian guys. A couple of pretty young German girls (who got along great with the Italians). A couple of local ladies and a few more.

We took a small launch out to the catamaran and got underway (after the safety briefing). We motored out of the anchorage and then set sail. It was a great day for sailing, good breeze but not rough. We saw whales, and dolphins came up to the boat for a while. We had a couple of trolling lines out, just in case we went through some fish.

checking out the dolphins

checking out the dolphins

We arrived at the snorkeling spot and the crew passed out life jackets and noodles for anyone who wanted them. We all dived in. The water was crystal clear and just a little bit cool when you jumped in, but warm enough once you got wet. 🙂

enjoying a nice swim

enjoying a nice swim

We spent a couple of hours enjoying the ocean. I saw a spotted eagle ray and followed it around for a while. I tried out my new waterproof camera and even got a movie of it. I took a few pictures of the fish there, but was a little disappointed. There really was no coral. Or at least I didn’t find it. There were some rocks, and algae growing on them which attracted a few fish, but nothing like a real coral reef.

The swim was nice anyway and when we got back onboard they had a nice lunch spread out for us. Chicken, rice, beans, potato chips, doritos, Cheetos, and even chocolate chip cookies. Of course, the drinks were free and flowing all day. Excellent pina coladas!

We set sail again just as the sun was setting and watched as it turned the sky brilliant colors of orange and red. We even managed to catch a fish on the way in!

When we got back to the anchorage, it was a subdued group that loaded back into the launch for the ride back to the beach. Yeah, I would definitely do it again! 🙂

Changes

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I’m making some changes to my blog. I’m finishing up the blogging workshop and decided now was a good time to do this.

I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do or how it will work out. I do have some help here at the moment.

I hope I don’t screw things up too badly! It will probably take another couple of days (at least) before I’m comfortable again.

Got in Late

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Today was another busy day. I made it to Costa Rica yesterday in time to start the blogging workshop I’ve been so excited about. We had our first class session yesterday and had a chance to meet everyone.

This morning we all left our hotel at 0700 for a day at the Rincon de la Vieja National Park. It took a couple of hours to get there and another couple to get back to our hotel. We spent all day there so I didn’t get a chance to get any photos online yet.

I got all mixed up when we got there. I thought we were going to take a ‘short walk’ through the forest to a waterfall for photos and then a horseback ride. Well, I took a walk, but it was NOT a short one!

Somehow I got off ahead of everyone else, thinking they were all ahead of me! I kept on walking and walking, thinking ‘damn! how the HELL did they all get so far ahead of me??’.

It was a really beautiful walk. It was really breezy up there (up the slopes of the volcano) and so it was pretty cool. Lots of interesting plant life. Huge trees with buttress roots and all kinds of bugs (but no mosquitos- too windy). 🙂

I didn’t see many animals (maybe because I was making too much noise huffing and puffing up the slopes?). The others saw some monkeys.

I did see some gorgeous big metallic blue butterflies, blue dragonflies and lots of other butterflies. Also some pretty birds and some big lizards (I think collared lizards but they ran away before I could tell for sure).

I saw a couple of pretty waterfalls, a few fumaroles (hot, steamy, sulfer-smelling volcanic vents) and a bunch of bubbling mud pots. After seeing 3-4 of them, I quit turning off the trail to check them out. The photos I took didn’t seem to do them justice. Plus, I was starting to worry about the others I was with worrying about me. I was trying to hurry up and get back to the beginning of the trail.

Every time I saw someone on the trail I asked ‘how much further is it to the exit?’, they would say ‘not far’, something like 300 meters. So, I kept on going. The longest 300 meters I’ve ever walked!

I did finally make it to the end of the trail. Thank goodness it was a loop! Seems like I didn’t hold them up too long after all. Glad of that, since we still had lunch waiting and the promised horseback riding after that. 🙂

One Word Photo Challenge: Foggy

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I like to enter these photography challenges when I can. They’re always interesting. I like to see what other people are doing too. This is for Jennifers One Word Photo Challenge: Foggy. I took these one night in New Orleans. I love New Orleans! 🙂

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OWPC: Foggy

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This is one of my favorite photos. I’ve even had it put on my business cards. I like to enter these photography challenges when I can. They’re always interesting. I like to see what other people are doing too. This is for Jennifers One Word Photo Challenge: Foggy.

I took it while we were riding the crew boat out of Fourchon to join the Pacific Santa Ana. The supply boat is one of Aries Marines. They were behind us in the jetties, we lost them soon after.

 

Just In Time

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I left Granada this morning on the Ticabus (there is alsoTransnica) and arrived in Costa Rica just in time to start my blogging workshop this afternoon. 🙂

I really didn’t think it would take SO long to drive such a short distance! The bus left Granada right on time at 0700 sharp! We got to the border around 0830 and didn’t get through there til almost 1100!

We all piled off the bus and hung around waiting for ????? (they did make announcements in Spanish but I am not at that level yet). No one was allowed back on the bus. It was hot, but thank goodness we had a nice breeze and the clouds helped a lot. There were all kinds of locals hanging around.

They had food and drinks: regular little roadside restaurants with tables in the shade set up selling bar-b-que chicken and plaintain chips. Cold water, fruit juices and sodas. Lots of people wandering around to change money, sell you sim cards for your phones, guys selling leather shoes and trinkets, gum and cigarettes (individually), hammocks, women selling sweets and cashew nuts.

After about an hour and a half, a little Nicaraguan lady came out of the station with our passports. She called our names one by one and we were allowed to collect our passports and re-enter the bus. We drove about 300 meters and had to go through the whole rigamarole again on the Costa Rican side of the border (tho it went much faster there). I’m sure glad we didn’t have to wait for the dozens of trucks!

They dropped me off around noon at the Ticabus station in Liberia where I tried to find another bus to my final destination. The bus from Granada just goes direct to San Jose. The ticket costs the same $29 whether you want to get off in Liberia or go all the way to San Jose.

I probably could have found something to get me a little closer to the beach, but since I was cutting it so close to the time the class started, I just took a cab.

There are shuttle buses that run from the airport to the resorts, but it would have cost me $10-15 to get to the airport and then another $20-25 from there. Considering the extra time, I figured it was worth it to just take the cab straight from the bus station for $40 direct to the hotel. My driver Angel was fast and spoke enough English to make the trip even more interesting. 😉

More manana!

What’s it Like In Granada

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I’ve been here (Granada, Nicaragua) since Tuesday afternoon and I’ve been busy since I got here. Granada has about 125,000 people living here, but it really doesn’t feel at all like a big city.

I’ve been walking back and forth between my homestay and the school a couple of times a day, to and from the Central Park and/or the lake and it just feels like a sleepy little small town in a lot of ways.

Maybe it’s the horses? They still use horses here for a lot of work. I see them all over town, including in the lot next door. I haven’t taken a city tour in a horse cart yet, but I probably will before I leave. People say it’s a nice way to see the city. I see the locals riding around town in them too. Granada is ‘famous’ for its horse carts. They even erected a statue of one at the entrance to the city. 🙂

Maybe its the drummers I hear practicing every night? I followed my ears to the local Red Cross (next to the Iglesia Guadelupe). They’ve been diligently practicing for their ‘fiesta patronal’ coming up August 15 (in honor of the ‘Virgen de la Asuncion’. It looks to be a hell of a party! I watched the band practice their music while the dancing girls accompanied. The guys continued their basketball games undisturbed.

Iglesia de Guadelupe

Iglesia de Guadelupe

Maybe it’s how the pace of life seems so relaxed? The people here seem to take things as they come. I don’t see people rushing around to do anything. I see them sitting outside their doorways relaxing or talking (might be because the AC is too expensive and it’s HOT and humid here). People come out at night to hang out in the parks or play in the streets (there’s not much traffic).

what a nice change! even the cops are just chillin'

what a nice change! even the cops are just chillin’

All in all, it seems like a pretty decent city to spend some time. Maybe I’ll come back. 🙂

Nicaragua Here I Come!

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I finally got my vacation! I’ve been asking about it since April. I had to work 2 months straight to ensure I had the dates I needed off so I could attend a blogging workshop in Costa Rico. It was really just pure luck that it worked out that I could do that.  My boss told me a while ago that I could have that week off, but who wants to travel so far just to spend a week in class? Not me!

So, I got home from the ship late Friday night after 2+ days of traveling from Luanda, Angola. I spent all weekend trying to catch up on rest and mail. Monday was spent running errands and returning phone calls. Tuesday morning, I set the alarm for 0300 so I could make the 0845 flight to Managua. Even then, I almost didn’t make it!

Arrival in Managua was a nice change. Quiet and simple. No long lines or huge hassles. Ricardo, my driver, was waiting for me right outside. I had arranged this through my chosen school, Nicaragua Mia.

Nicaragua has dozens of Spanish language schools. They’re all very affordable and they all seemed to offer pretty much the same deal. I wanted to get out of Managua right away and thought Granada sounded good, so I picked a school there. Nicaragua Mia got the nod since they answered my email immediately and I was setting all this up last minute.

Ricardo took me directly to the school where I could finalize my choices for the week (how many hours of classes, any afternoon activities, etc). Then he took me to the home of my local host, Maria Elena. She was very nice and welcoming. She showed me my room and asked me what I wanted for dinner (in Spanish).

view from my balcony

view from my balcony

I decided to take a walk after getting settled in. Lake Nicaragua is just a few blocks down the street, so I walked over there. There’s a nice park and malecon along the lakeshore. People were hanging out over refrescos and helados (ice creams). I wandered around til it started getting dark and then headed back to my room.

Lake Nicaragua

Lake Nicaragua

When I managed to find my way back to the house, it was already dark and Maria Elena had dinner waiting for me. We had dinner together of pollo, pinto gallo, and verdes (chicken, rice & beans, and vegetables).

I was still dead tired from the last few hectic days, so I hit the sack by 10:00. School starts at 08:00 and breakfast here is at 07:30. I hope I can catch up on some sleep soon! I really hate to be falling asleep when there are so many interesting adventures awaiting. 🙂

my room en la casa de Maria Elena

my room en la casa de Maria Elena

 

Been Busy!

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I’ve been so busy! I left the ship (LATE). I finally got off on Thursday, got to Luanda around noon. Had just enough time for lunch at the hotel and a beer out by the pool with a few of my shipmates. YES! First beer after 2+ months tastes soooo good! 🙂

Headed to the airport at 1500. Got on the plane at around 1800. Had about a 10 hour flight to Dubai, a 4 hour layover there, and a 16 hour flight to Houston. Instead of my previous flight with KLM through Amsterdam which was much shorter AND I paid for an upgrade to business so I would have been able to sleep, I was stuck flying coach in a packed full plane for 2 days. Talk about tired!!

I got home about 9 PM Friday night. Fell asleep immediately.

This crew change was SO screwed up! Because I got home so late on Friday, I couldn’t make any of the phone calls I needed to. Like try to set up appointments for Monday, etc. I was WAY too tired to wake up Saturday morning to go sailing that afternoon, so those plans were ruined.

All I managed to do was to catch up on sleep a little bit and get through the humongous piles of mail!

I had a bunch of errands to run today, phone calls to make and get ready for my vacation tomorrow. I sure hope it goes better than the last few days have been going.

I tried to get a rental car today to take to the airport so I wouldn’t spend so much money on parking. Even with the huge rip-off charges for ‘drop fees’ (when I bring the same car back and forth every month), it’s still cheaper to rent a car to and from the airport than to park my car there for 3-4 weeks. So, I tried to get a car this morning.

They called me back around noon (when I was supposed to get the car) to tell me they didn’t have any cars yet. They expected them by closing. I had so much to do and couldn’t wait around til closing, so I figured I’d go ahead and use my truck (even tho it needs some work right now). Couldn’t get it started. 🙁

I had to rummage around for the battery charger, clean up the battery and let it charge for a couple of hours. I finally got it started and was able to run some errands.

Good thing too, since they never did come up with a car they could give me today. Maybe tomorrow they said. Lot of good that’ll do when my flight leaves at 0800!

I should be somewhere in Nicaragua by this time tomorrow. 🙂

This is Messed Up!

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Here I was this morning, feeling good and all ready to go home. I even managed to get an upgrade to business class for the 10+ hour flight from Amsterdam. It was expensive but I thought it was worth it for a 10+ hour long flight. I just HOPE they’ll give me a refund! Continue reading →

8 Weeks!

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It’s crew change tomorrow! I will finally be able to leave this ship and head home (that’s if there is no problem with the helicopter).

I left home on May 27th (after spending 2+ days on call). I will have spent over 8 weeks away from home this time. All ‘in the service of the ship’, so technically work time, even tho this company won’t figure it that way.

I’m tired of the way things are going out here, but that would take a whole ‘nother post to go into…. It’ll be so good to get off!

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Green

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Cee always has such fun photo challenges on her blog. I always like to try to participate when I can. It’s hard to do when I’m out here. I don’t have a lot of free time and the internet is not always available when I do have a little time to get online.

This week, her Fun Foto Challenge subject is: ‘lime or bright green’. I found a few decent photos with nice, bright greens in them. These were all from a trip I took to Indonesia a couple of years ago.

Check out those green, green rice fields!

I spent some time in Bali and then went over to Sulawesi in search of a sailing ship. That didn’t quite work out, but it was a fantastic trip. I loved every minute of it. I’m not sure why, but the local people loved having their picture taken with me. 😉

Half And Half No. 3

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The challenge from the Daily Post was Half and Half. I didn’t know what to post for that subject. Here’s a classic…

Glass half full, or half empty? 😉

Half And Half No. 2

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The challenge from the Daily Post was Half and Half. I didn’t know what to post for that subject. I took a look at a few of the other entries and saw a lot of sunsets. That is usually one thing we get a lot of out here! Half sky- half water. 🙂

Sad to say, offshore Angola is sadly lacking in this area. I don’t know why, but it’s almost always grey, gloomy and overcast skies. It’s very rare to see a nice sunset here. It’s kindof depressing. Day after day seeing nothing but grey skies. I’ve been here almost 8 weeks now this hitch and so far, I’ve seen the sun only 2-3 times. 🙁

Half And Half

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The challenge from the Daily Post was Half and Half. I didn’t know what to post for that subject. I finally came up with these photos. They might not be politically correct, but I’ve never been known for being that!
I took these pictures a couple of years ago in Bangkok, Thailand. I really love Thailand. The people are so nice and friendly and there’s a really laid back atmosphere, even in the big cities. I usually stay a few days in Bangkok and then go off somewhere else. Maybe Phuket, or Chiang Mai.  I’d love to spend more time exploring more of Thailand. I haven’t really seen much of the country. I always do enjoy my time there.  I especially like the way they treat people there. They accept you as you are. There doesn’t seem to be the prejudice that there is in America. At least I don’t notice it as much.

I took these photos at the famous Calypso show. I had a great time. They really put on a great show. The performers (shown above) were all men (or transgender). I chose this for my post on half and half since these people are considered to be half men- half women, he-she’s, lady-boys.

I’ll come back later with a more standard shot. 😉

Selfies

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Ha! I needed a laugh today. I hope you got one too. 🙂

Carl Miller – Right to travel without a license plate

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I agree with this guy in principle. We should NOT be forced to get a license plate. I have argued against being forced to get a drivers license in order to use the roads I have PAID for, the car I BOUGHT, the gas I PAID for. There is NO justification under constitutional law for the state (or any other government agent) to FORCE me to submit, to BEG their permission to travel freely!
I was BORN with the INALIENABLE RIGHT to TRAVEL. FREELY! That means I can move along a public road or any other public space without interference as long as I am not bothering anyone else. That goes for the airways too! The TSA and all its bullshit security theater is a HUGE violation of my rights and IS totally unconstitutional in every way! Where’s the warrant? Where’s the probable cause? What right do those government thugs in uniforms have to restrict you in ANY way in YOUR RIGHT to travel? The answer is NONE! They have STOLEN your rights from you!

Songs of the Sea: Pirate Chantey

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Here’s another little sea chantey to add to your musical collection. It’s done by Key & Peele, 2 funny guys who used to be on MADtv (which I loved). I really used to love MAD magazine when I was a kid, but the ones they’re coming out with now are nowhere near as funny as they used to be (and no, it’s not just because I’m getting older!).

This sketch somehow manages to be both a little risque’ and PC at the same time. 😉

Pirate Chantey– Key & Peele

“Thar once was a lass so fine,
She was drunk on Barleywine,
I’d been (out) to sea for a month or three,
I knew I could make her mine.
But the lass was past consent,
So it was off with her we went,
And we threw her in bed and we rested her head,
And we left cuz that’s what Gentlemen do…

A woman has a right to a drink or two,
Without worryin’ about what you will do!
We say Yo-HO but we don’t say ‘ho,’
Cuz ‘ho’ is disrespectful, yo.

Thar once was a girl from Leeds,
Who I heard was good on her knees,
So I docked my ship for an overnight trip,
To take care of all of my needs.
She was fine as the tales did tell,
And my mast began to swell,
So I laid her down and I raised her gown,
And performed cunnilingus for an hour or so.

Always take care of yer lady fair,
Cuz they deserve as much attention down there!
We say Yo-HO but we don’t say ‘ho,’
Cuz ‘ho’ is disrespectful, yo.

I once had a woman so fair,
Whose whom contained my heir,
With a son by my side, the seas we’d ride,
The child she would bear.
But my woman she was no fool,
She was working her way through school,
So I did support when she chose to abort,
Because it’s her body and therefor her choice.

No we don’t say ‘booty’ ‘less we talkin’ ’bout gold,
and we don’t look at chests ‘less they’s treasure-holds!
With a hat and a feather and a cutlass on our hip,
We don’t say ‘she’ when we’re talking ’bout a ship!
We don’t say ‘bitch’ and we don’t say ‘whore,’
Cuz that language leads to things like body dysmorphia.

Thar was a lady with a golden eye,
And the doctor said she would die,
So she emptied her purse to lift the curse,
And prayed to stay alive.
She awoke the very next day,
And in her grave she lay,
But the scariest part of the story from the start,
Is I bet you assumed the doctor was a man.

Women are doctors too,
And for a fraction of the doubloons!
We say Yo-HO but we don’t say ‘ho,’
Cuz ‘ho’ is disrespectful, yo.

Thar was a slut with tits to here, and an ass that- (gunshot. he is dead and that is good.)

Cuz it’s Yo-HO but we don’t say ‘ho,’
Cuz ‘ho’ is disrespectful, yo.”