Half of a Weekend (or a Little More, Maybe)

January 23, 2009

• 5:05 PM Sunset run on the beach followed by ocean dip and drinks
• 6:00 PM Depart Tamarindo in 7/8 full Toyota Prado with one 40-ounce of Imperial
• 6:01 PM – 7:29 PM Pass around a million cars
• 7:30 PM Stop on side of street to buy two bottles of vino de coyol (palm wine) for $2 each
• 7:33 PM Stop on side of street 100m later para cenar at a tiny family restaurant
• 8:00 PM Discover that palm wine does not actually cause the advertised blindness
• 9:30 PM After some moderately difficult uphill dirt roads, discover at bar, with swim-up service and sign offering "Informacion de Monteverde," that we are actually still quite far away
• 9:33 PM Turn up nearly hidden dirt road next to church for 45-degree incline rocky dirty joy
• 9:45 PM As the road winds and climbs and climbs and climbs, begin somewhat nervous but mostly manic and joyful laughter. Increase volume on music.
• 10:15 PM After climb has leveled out, stop on ridge and turn off car lights to consider amazing vistas and stars and to pee.
• 10:55 PM Reach Santa Elena and Hotel de Sueños to reunite with Slepak of Safety 3rd fame
• 11:15 PM Head out into the nearly dead quiet Santa Elena to find a bar and a beer
• 12:00 PM Beer success! Then! Sleep!

January 24, 2009

• 01/24 7:00 AM Good morning!
• 7:15 AM Breakfast at the Hotel
• 8:00 AM Depart Santa Elena in 8/8 full Toyota Prado to Selvatura Park.
• 8:30 AM Begin zip-lining at Selvatura. See Quote #1.
• 9:00 AM Did I mention we were zip-lining? High high above the ground through a rainforest? Amazing.
• 9:30 AM Arrive at "la sorpresa." The surprise was, somewhat unsurprisingly, a Tarzan-style swing from a huge-ass platform.
• 10:15 AM Finish zip-lining with a few last nice rides.
• 10:30 AM Early lunch at Selvatura restaurant.
• 11:45 AM Head off hiking in local nature preserve
• 12:30 PM Climb closed-down observation tower for more amazing vistas of surrounding jungle
• 1:45 PM Become disgruntled with constant, sticky mud and its propensity to detract attention from surrounding flora and fauna
• 2:30 PM Complete hike, return to car for drive to Monteverde village
• 3:00 PM Shop for arts and crafts in Monteverde with way clutch coffee and peanut butter brownie refueling
• 4:45 PM Depart Monteverde and begin drive back to Tamarindo
• 4:46 PM Be convinced by three passengers in extremely tight back back seat that we should take the slightly less scenic but far less treacherous and bumpy route home
• 5:30 PM Stop at roadside of low ridge to watch the sunset and polish off the palm wine
• 7:30 PM Dinner in Cañas at seafood restaurant. Ceviche = good; sopa negra = not so good
• 9:00 PM Very nearly completely memorized Track #6
• 9:01 PM Finally stop listening to Track #6
• 9:45 PM Arrive home in Tamarindo, unload car, jump into our pool
• 10:15 PM Start playing Siete-Once-Dobles
• 10:17 PM Remove shirts and don sunglasses to increase Siete-Once-Dobles skill
• 10:33 PM Stop game after finishing five 40-ounces of Imperial between six thirsty, road-worn men
• 10:40 PM Remove sunglasses and don shirts; head out to Babylon for drinking and dancing
• 11:00 PM Cerveza! Bailando!

January 25, 2009

• 1:00 AM Más cerveza! Más bailando! See Quote #2.
• 1:30 AM Unquotable, indescribable moment(s).
• 2:00 AM Walk home on the beach, stopping to consider stars.
• 2:30 AM Arrive at home
• 3:00 AM Bailey makes scrambled eggs with extreme difficulty cracking egg shells on plastic bowl: nearly fall asleep with face in plate of aforementioned delicious eggs
• 3:25 AM Sleep! Wow!

Driving Playlist (On Repeat: We Only Had 1 CD)

1. Led Zeppelin – Over the Hills and Far Away
2. Curtis Mayfield – Move On Up
3. Us3 – Cantaloop
4. Jurassic 5 – Concrete Schoolyard
5. Arrested Development – People Everyday
6. MIA featuring Bun B and Rich Boy – Paper Planes Remix*
7. Kanye West – Homecoming
8. Vampire Weekend – Cape Code Kwassa Kwassa
9. Regina Spektor – Hotel Song
10. Paul Simon – You Can Call Me Al
11. Old Crow Medicine Show – Wagon Wheel
12. Modest Mouse – The Good Times Are Killing Me
13. The Who – Baba O'Riley
14. Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime
15. The Moldy Peaches – Anyone Else But You
16. Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112 – I'll Be Missing You

10 Simple Rules of Siete-Once-Doble

1. Stand around table with two dice, one shared cup for beer, and beer source.
2. Roll dice, taking turns and passing counter-clockwise.
3. If one rolls a seven, eleven, or double, assign the (quarter- to half-)cup of beer to someone else
4. As soon as assigned drinker touches cup to start drinking, roller tries to roll another seven, eleven, or double.
5. If the dice settle with one of the combinations before the drinker puts down the empty cup, the roller refills the cup: return to Step #4 with same drinker and roller.
6. If the drinker puts down the empty cup before one of the combinations is rolled, the roller refills the cup and the dice are passed to the next player.
7. At any time before the drinker touches the cup, any player can steal the cup from the drinker and become the drinker. The same rules apply to the new drinker for finishing the beer before a siete-once-doble roll.
8. If the roller touches the dice before the drinker touches the cup, the roller must finish the cup and the dice proceed to the next player.
9. Do not wear a shirt (optional).
10. Wear sunglasses (not optional).

Food I Have Eaten

• Casado de bistek
• Casado de pescado
• Casado con chuleta
• Gallo pinto con huevos
• Gallo pinto con queso
• Gallo pinto con bistek
• Tostada
• Pizza Selvatura (chicken, olives, anchovies, and eggplant)
• Every fruit
• Every fruit, in juice form

Quotes from the Weekend

• "I'm just playing with my equipment." "Somebody's got to do it."
• "You can dance near me, but you can't dance with me."
• "It's cold today: I'm glad I wore a shirt."
• "Her name is Beretta and she's m-----f---ing crazy."*
• Yeah, I think I should stop sharing these…

Wow, yeah, that was quite the weekend.

* At the point on the drive home at which we'd already listened to the whole CD numerous times, we decided to memorize the lyrics to the Paper Planes Remix. Queue repeat. I'd say we did pretty amazing but we did mess up a few lines. For example, apparently it's not that "you need more than a helicopter to stop us" but rather "a million cops." Who knew? Additionally, if you undertake such a task, the hand motions on the chorus are absolutely vital.

This video inspires me to dig out my Original Hybrid but then I remember that one of the trucks is totally broken and that Seattle hills are not so friendly.

Interestingly, the iPhone works with the WordPress code editor but not with the visual editor. I think this special Safari version has issues with certain dynamic elements, such as the Facebook status editor. I happily await future updates and features.

Fleet-wide, Ford cars and trucks averaged 19.7 miles per gallon (mpg), narrowly avoiding last place in the fuel efficiency report for the third straight year... ...19.7 mpg on average is less efficient than the old Model T Ford.

Excerpted from "Ford Stuck in Neutral on Fuel Efficiency."

Ford's own informational site on the Model T provides a range from 13 - 21 mpg. There it is: Ford sucks. JumpstartFord has more information on the campaign for Ford to improve its technology and policies.

Oh, and I know that despite the superior fuel efficiency of my Honda Civic, SparkleMotion, I am still driving and I am still buying gasoline. I am a part of the problem.

The miles for this calculation were the odometer reading between filling the tank on Friday and filling the tank today. The gallons consumed were the amount of gas necessary to refill the tank today, after having driven the aforementioned miles to Portland and back, and to work yesterday.

This fuel efficiency matches that of my recent Seaside round trip, during which I drove 415 miles between gas visits. I should note that SparkleMotion enjoyed an oil change in the last month, at which I chose a synthetic blend of higher grade than usual.

Oh, and he wasn't wearing a helmet.

Look, dude, I know you probably had a walk signal on the crosswalk but, guess what, you weren't walking. You were going the wrong direction. You are not a pedestrian! Pedestrians don't travel at 10 - 15 MPH through crosswalks.

This incident was not my fault, right?
EDIT: Charlie pointed me at the appropriate Washington code, RCW 46.61.235,  and I remain, in my opinion, without fault. The cyclist was more than two lanes away from my starting and ending point when he initiated the cross and he left the curb suddenly.

After dinner, Trina and I went back out and I intended to show her the proper manner of inserting a key into a lock. What I found instead was a mangled mess of metal where my driver-side lock had formerly been. Minutes before Trina had stepped out to get her water, some punk had attempted to force my lock with a screwdriver. Sparkle Motion's silent, ignition-killing alarm had tripped and locked down the car. The punk had skedaddled and Trina came out to find a magnificently unresponsive machine. Minutes later (?) the car reset and I was able to click it open.

Did I mention that my laptop was in the backseat at the time? Yikes! I love you, Sparkle Motion!

The next day, my 25th birthday, was far better. Trina and I brunched with Amber and AC at Silence-Heart-Nest and then drove to IKEA to find me some birthday furniture. We returned to Wallingford, and Trina and I hopped the 26 to Belltown, where we met Julia, Ariana, Claire and Deirdre at Mama's Mexican Kitchen. The burrito and margarita was decent but the mojito was delicious. I want another, right now.

After dinner, we met Molly and Jesse for a beer a bit east of the Seattle Center and discussed clothing swaps and possible book clubs. Then, the original six meandered over to Key Arena, finally remembering the differences between the Superman, Batman, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars movie theme songs. It's hard: give it a try, I'll wait.

The final element of my birthday celebration was the Death Cab for Cutie concert, at which the oh so beautiful and talented Jenny Lewis was opening (with her Watson Twins). Death Cab was great; they rocked as expected. Jenny Lewis was simply divine. I need to see her headline, with Rilo Kiley or whatever project she next takes.

Trina and I must soon search for pickup down at Discovery Park. I have not even touched upon the ridiculous amounts of work I have completed of late or the havoc-wreaking wind storm of Thursday night. These weeks have been exhausting.

My fingers are firmly crossed for December improving all the way until a magnificent New Years in Maryland. Stay tuned!

The day had been hectic, to say the least.

So, I was grateful when an SUV slowed down to allow me into the left lane on 4th, so that I might take the weird elevated ramp up to a left turn on Atlantic. The cars lining up the ramp to the red light was typically long and I had to throw some weight into the brake after having accelerated into the merge. But stop I did, well short of the car front of me.

Mr. Honda Pilot, who moments before had let me cut in, did not fare so well and, as I checked the rear view after my stop, appeared to be driving just a bit too fast. His brakes squealed, I tensed, and my bumper exclaimed in protest.

So, my car is all screwed up, right? Our accident started a chain reaction of fender benders? No. My Honda hardly moved and the car in front of me drove off without seeming to notice. Sparkle Motion may have a few little scratches but the major effect seemed to have been the removal of dirt and dust from my bumper in the pattern of his license plate.

Time for me to take a shower and drive to work. I love you, Sparkle Motion.* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated *

Did I mention that the temperature was 55 degrees in Massachusetts yesterday? Perhaps I am living on the wrong coast after all.