We made it to Panama City!
Crazy how different it is from San Jose, Costa Rica... no time to describe everything right now, and can´t upload pics from the camera just yet, but there will be more info headed out soon. We are blowing way more money than we should and staying at the Intercontinental on the water, wait till you see the views.
The flight down was fun, we went with a private pilot so we got to sightsee along the way, including the entire length (50 miles) of the Canal. Pics to come.

Labels: travel

...too warm. and sunny. and too many bikinis walking around. Not that that is a bad thing. Just detracts from my ability to believe it is really "Christmas Time".

But life is nice otherwise and the weather has been superb, here are some photos- the first is just a sunset, the second a bit of land that we are looking at buying for a project, and the third is Louie- with tint and new suspension. I'd include a photo of our Christmas Plant, but somehow it is just too depressing to photograph one dusty little poinsettia with a few presents arranged at its base. I think that the biggest gift we are giving each other this year is.... nothing. Absolutely nothing. No work, no cellphones, no email, no construction... just a few days of relaxation. We are trying to jump a plane for Panama for a few days. Not sure if we can get tickets yet, but if we do, it should be a great time!

Labels: garden, photo

As a nice contrast to US energy policy, it appears that foreign manufacturers are planning for a less-polluting future. Honda announced today that it will begin construction on a plant in Japan to produce solar electric cells. Good work, Honda!

For those that continue to stick their heads in the sand believing that alternative energy can't compete with petroleum resources, stop and think for a while about how much Honda must have thought about this investment... the future is now, people!

On a related note, my Dad installed a solar power system at his home in California last year-- works great and he's tickled pink at "earning" money all summer towards his winter power bills. We never really acknowledged that move until now, but we're proud of his investment. If you are interested in powering your home (at least in the SF Bay Area) contact our close friend Brian at Palo Alto Solar.

Labels: california

This photo is almost a year old now... from the 1st of 2005, but I just recently put it up on my computer as a wallpaper and thought that others might enjoy it. Ok, and I haven't posted anything to our journal in a while...

Had a great morning surf the other day with the full moon setting as I walked out to the water at 5:15am. I sure would have loved to have had my camera with me, but leaving it sitting on the beach while I surf seems like a pretty silly thing to do, so I don't typically carry it out.

We've enjoyed a bit of SW swell for the last few days, so I've put away the 9.0 for a while and am enjoying my 6.0 fish instead. Might be time to consider another board in the quiver as I'm getting a little frustrated with the fish on the steep, fast waves that have been arriving. Then again, maybe I just need to get better at surfing what I've got.

My business partner and close friend, Brian, had a birthday yesterday so we all partied it up at his house last night. Fun times, but a mild hangover makes it just that much harder to drag myself into the office on a Saturday, ugh.

Finally got our sign at BBA! We are all happy with the craftsmanship, the wait was long, but apparently worth it.

Labels: real estate

Just the other day I finally had a chance to check fuel economy on Louie based on a something that could reasonably be called "city driving"- mostly along our "highway" at speeds of 40 to 55 mph (60 to 90 kph) but with a nice mixture of some in-town driving and some Tamarindo driving. After a little over 150 miles (200km) I had average 10.4l/100Km, or about 22.5 mpg. When corrected for slightly larger than stock tires, that puts me at about 24 mpg. With which I am very happy, considering that my vehicle is nearly 20 years old, is huge, and I had the air conditioner running the entire time.

What I can't bring myself to understand is how a brand new car can get worse mileage than that. Seems absurd. Wake up!! Stop wasting fuel!! Buy vehicles that aren't stupid!! Ok, rant complete. Have a nice day.

Labels: landcruiser