Phew! Made it! We are feeling a little bit like we've survived something... the last week has been a blast, but lots of work and play have added up to two very tired people here in the Sandcruiser household. On top of all the little things that we have going, our close buddy John came down with some friends and the group of us went a little nuts staying up way past our normal bedtime nearly every night, surfing, looking at property, and generally touring about all day looking for monkeys and such.
The week started with the boys calling to say that some lowlife had made off with some of their bags (note to tourists: just around the corner for five minutes is long enough...don't leave your valuables in an unattended car!) including a passport and other useful documents. So they had a tough start. The week ended, however, with the passport-less person smoothtalking his way through the airport! Holy bravado, Batman. Wish we could have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.

Working on getting Bubba (our '73 fj40 Landcruiser) into shape. 30 years of Costa Rican wiring "repairs" have left the electrical system a complete mess. Or rather, had left it a mess. We are getting pretty close to finishing a complete wiring makeover. It may not look quite as good as the factory harness, but it is much less complicated, far fewer wires, and most importantly, not as likely to keep shorting/popping fuses. In the process I found this site, which has some interestingWiring Specification Information.

Caly came out of her spaying just great. No pictures (must respect her privacy after all...) but she is healthy and only a little bit mopey. The worst part will be not playing stick with her for a week.

The eye is healing up nicely, for those of you who had expressed interest.

Just got in from a long day of work... grabbed a fifteen minute surf session (longboard, mushy shoulder high waves with a strong offshore)that cleared my head and lifted my spirits, now I'm sitting on the deck watching palm fronds tossed by the breeze and enjoying a cold one. Pura vida.
Summer is here, by the way- things are turning brown and dusty. We are starting to look forward to some rain... but still enjoying the dry warmth and thankful that the winds haven't died off yet.

We're fine and having a great time of it.
Steve finally agreed to visit the doctor after two days of very minor swelling under his left eye. After about three seconds he said, "Antibiotics. Just a little infection."
Being a bit of an anti-antibiotic kind of guy, Steve asked about alternatives. With a completely straight face the doctor replied, "You could just leave it and see if it goes away, but if it gets worse you'll have to go to the hospital and get an IV drip of antibiotics. You could also lose the eye."
"So which antibiotic am I buying. Right now?" said Steve.
After popping some Cipro, we headed over to the french bakery for some pastries (always helps sick folk, right?) and coffee, while watching some birds cruise the lagoon there. Then off to the beach to play with Caly before heading back to get to work in what is turning out to be a very busy month for both of us. Good to be overloaded with work for a while, but not particularly as fun as a healthy mix of work and play.

Found a running counter estimating the Cost of War in Iraq these days. Horrific.

Got up to a lack of construction noise (always a plus), and got some work done that had been waiting far too long. The power went out at 10am (scheduled for 8am, always nice to have it last two extra hours) so we decided to walk down to the beach to check the surf. It was small and slow... perfect for longboarding (Langosta is very rarely perfect for a longboard). Had a GREAT session, finally ending my weeklong surfing slump, while Caly and Bb played stick and sunbathed. Lunch was leftover pizza.
The power is back on, getting some more work wrapped up...
All in all, a great day so far.

Small country, this one in which we live. While walking out for an evening session in the waves, Steve ran into Jose and Cecilia from Hotel Pacande in Alajuela. Those of you who are good with marginally useful trivia may remember that they are two very friendly and kind hoteliers with whom we stayed several years ago while on our driving tour. Anyhow, so there Steve was trotting down the beach with his surfboard and he almost literally bumped into them. To their credit, they remembered his name before he remembered theirs.
On top of the fun of seeing old friends, the surf this evening was AMAZING. If the waves were this good even once every week, the market here would go crazy. Ok, the market is going crazy, but waves like this.... would be really fun. Wish we could post some pictures, but Steve was way too busy surfing to shoot, and Beebee was at home helping our friend Bailey (who is eleven) bake some deliciousness for her school's bake sale.
Fun evening for everyone.