Been using Open Office.org software for a year or two now. Good stuff. Free. For basic word processing, spreadsheets, and whatnot there isn't much reason not to use this 65MB suite instead of the mainstream one. Stop pirating software, use the free stuff that is out there. If you are one of the very few home users who actually paid several hundred bucks for "Office". Well... gee, that sure is a lot of money to spend for something that you can get for free.

Pretty frightening stuff in the news today about Glaciers Disappearing. It is discouraging that people continue to tout coal and oil- produced energy as "cheaper" than solar. Or that the US government continues to avoid the Kyoto treaty because it will "hurt the econonomy", or that people are getting all excited about "pollution free" hydrogen cars... when one of the most significant threats we face is carbon dioxide pollution.
Our diesel landcruiser gets nearly 25 miles to the gallon. It is nearly 20 years old. What, can someone PLEASE tell me, are auto companies doing releasing daily-driver vehicles that get less than 25mpg?? C'mon folks!! Twenty years and they haven't improved mileage at all!?!? That is inexcusable.
According to USA Today, 45% of the oil we use in the US goes to cars and light trucks (read: passenger vehicles). Diesels get about 30% more mileage per gallon of fuel*, significantly more when the cars are large and heavy (SUVs) or in low-speed applications (stop and go highway traffic). In Europe, most people drive diesels*. In the states, less than 1/2% of passenger cars are diesel powered*.
To all of that add this: we can run diesels without burning petroleum. Biodiesel is here, there are thousands of vehicles in the US alone that are running it, successfully. There are even people running their vehicles on straight used vegetable oil, which produces exactly ZERO net carbon dioxide (all the carbon there was in the air a year or two ago, captured by a plant, made into oil, then burned= net gain of zero).
Bummer post for such a beautiful Sunday morning, I know. But relevant.
(* all from a NY Times article)

Got an email today from someone who told me that they enjoyed the photography on our site- Thanks! So I thought I'd include a link to some more pictures. First off, for a huge variety of photography and digital artwork, point your browser to photo.net. I've got a portfolio there with some images that you might enjoy. You could also drop by my photography website but we never update that... so if you've seen it in the last few years, you've seen it!

Labels: photo

No, not us. Our lives haven't been particularly wild. Taking three weeks off of work has both of us totally buried right now. But here's an iguana. He's not buried in work. I'm sure that there is a zen lesson to be learned from the Iguana, but I don't have time to learn it right now.

On the right side of the fence is a natural local forest. Note that it is vibrant green despite the fact that we are two months into the dry season. If you were to stay a while you would hear a variety of birds, pick out dozens of trees, and maybe even spot some of the variety of lizards, mammals, insects and small plants that make up a healthy forest.
On the left- dead grass, cows, and some mostly dry trees. Not much there. Ugly. Allows topsoil to blow away in huge, choking clouds and is subject to frequent fires. Also allows erosion to carry soil down into rivers, eventually choking out reefs and ruining surf breaks.

Labels: photo

Hot down here today. The wind seems to have forgotten to come up and the heavy-laden clouds scudding along slowly in the sky only taunt us with moisture that they just won't drop. The thermometer says 91, but it feels hotter than that today. Of course, I'd still rather have 91 than 20, which is what we "enjoyed" in Indiana last month. Brr.
And of course, we've got ocean and pelicans. That's another plus.

Last night's sunset was fabulous, even if Steve watched it from the inside of the cruiser while trying to repair years of "quirky" repairs that have been made to the electrical system. Electrical repairs are the worst. Yuck. But at least the sunset was spectacular.
This morning brought clear skies, an offshore wind, and high-70s temperatures so we took Caly out to play some stick on the beach. What a great start to the day!

Labels: landcruiser, photo

One of the many pleasures of visiting the states this year was spending time with family and friends. It was the best part of the trip, really.
New Year's Day found Bb off with her pal Heather for chatting and shopping. Steve was invited to join his brother and family for a day at the beach- we headed to Mavericks' hoping to see some big wave riding, but in the end we had to be satisfied with incredible weather, an abundance of shorebirds, and a boiling sea.

Steve loves pelicans

Steve's siblings, Marty and Karyn

Family on Boxing Day

Labels: photo

The weather is just fabulous right now- windy and hot, but not too hot. Bb's allergies are acting up a little bit from the dust, but otherwise it is perfect.
The only downside is that the surf is horrible. A few miles south they tell us it is head-high, here we are lucky to see it past 2ft. Lousy. But the dusty skies make for pretty sunsets, so at least we've got that going for us. Which is nice.
Ever wondered what the inside of the steering column of a landcruiser looks like with the ignition cylinder removed? Yeah, well, just in case, here is a picture. Whoo-boy. Exciting stuff, no? Steve doesn't think so either, but since he spent an hour looking at ignition lock cylinders today trying to fix one, he thought he would go ahead and share it, juuuuust in case someone else gives a darn. And if you liked that picture, you'll enjoy this one too. That's a steering column with ignition cylinder on a diesel cruiser. Boy, the fun never stops around here.
Unless you are Caly. She's not having much fun. We pushed off getting her spayed just a tad too long and now she is in heat. Which, for those of you who have never had a dog in heat, is really really not fun. Not for her, not for us. We can't take her out for walks or beach time without having at least a couple of dogs following along. So far they've kept their distance with some persuasion from Steve (by "persuasion" we really mean chucking sticks and rocks at them to keep them at bay. Haven't had to actually beat up on one yet... but close) Being "mean" to strange dogs stinks. Having them put the moves on Caly is even worse. In the end, we just can't let her romp and play outside like normal.
So that's life right now. Still planning to backfill for our trip to the states, but not tonight.

Labels: dog, landcruiser, photo, tamarindo, weather

We were gone for three weeks. Cold places. Wonderful people, but cooooold weather.
Caly is happy to see us, or at least happy to see the new toys that we brought back with us. Hopefully we'll do a snazzy writeup with lots of pretty photos about our USA visit, Christmas, the New Year and all that jazz, but for the moment we'll just show you Calypso, chewing on a stuffed trout toy. We hope everyone out there is as happy with their holidays as Caly is with her fish. Happy New Year!