Tell Me Something Good Thread 2012

[ECO]

Something good: The Tell Me Something Good Thread has been around since way back in 2009!

Something else....the seeds I started in rock wool cubes just a few days ago are starting to come to life Soon come some hydroponic watermelon, cucumbers and other legal stuff.....actually the selection of crops was selected by my kids....I just have the honor of paying for the supplies.

[Wahoo]

Useful pick-up suggestion: To increase the chances of chicks giving you their phone numbers, stuff a large cucumber down your shorts before you hit the bars.

[ECO]

"Smuggler's Blues" by Jay Carter Brown......very cheap if you buy a used copy at Amazon.com.

[Nanoose]

Maybe Bob Marley called me for help today.

Today my job was sorting and tidying up a yard. There was one pile of junk that I didn't want to touch because there was wet stinky cloth and plastic bags with dog poop in them but I started sorting it out anyway. When I got it down to just a pile of ash and leafs I figured the guy could push it over the bank with his front end loader but then for some reason I though the word "buddy" more specifically I thought it the way Pauley Shore says it – "buuuuuud - - dy" so I dug around in the ashes and found an empty bottle of Marley's Mellow Mood Black Tea. It was in mint condition so at the end of the day I asked the people if I could have it.
I don't think Bob Marley used the word buuuuuud - - dy - but it seems weird to me that I thought it then dug around and found the bottle. Anyway now its part of my front room decorations. Cheers!

[ECO]

Something good.......Booked a vacation to the DR.....30 day countdown to learn Spanish.

[Wahoo]

Something good.......Booked a vacation to the DR.....30 day countdown to learn Spanish.

Good deed! You'll agree--I'm sure--that the beaches are spectacular, the Presidente (The DR's national beer) is mas excellente, and the rum (Brugal) is pretty good.

The hazards:

--I suffered permanent eye strain from gawking at the topless sun-worshippers on the beach (sort of like staring directly at the sun), so avoid staring at the sun and excessive gawking at topless beach bunnies.

--Make sure all your immunizations (hep A&B, cholera, etc) are up-to-date. I never got sick from the water or the food duing my visit (and I consumed pretty much everything in sight), but I heard a lot of tourists retching (literally) about getting sick.

Take the day trip to Saona Island (Isla--pronounced ees-la--Saona). I regret that I missed the trip to Saona Island during my short visit, though I did take in the Marinarium booze cruise instead, which was great fun.

The DR--as you are aware--is a Spanish-speaking country, and I made an effort to communicate only in Spanish during my visit, despite my woefully rusty high school and college Spanish, but I got by. A few Spanish greetings and courtesies go a long way.

[Wahoo]

And if the guard dog at the airport stops at your luggage, you'd better hope it cocks its leg.

[ECO]

Lol, I'm not going for the beer....I'm going to watch the largest gathering of hump back whales on the earth having sex! No bullshit they have two blowholes (unlike any other whales on the planet or even on the internets). For $100USD you can stick an arm in each on of them, for $500 you can climb in and they will safely dive to 200 meters and shoot you out....some people fly 110-150 meters in the air before landing safely in the ocean......okay I made up some of that...just some.

Thanks for the heads up on getting my shots....a must do since I don't want any downtime. I hear there are two popular chemical meds for what you get if you consume too much of the local water so I'll get scripts for them at home......even though the pharmica (thing I spelled that correctly) there will give you anything you want for a little $ not $$$ or $$ just $.

Looking at Haiti for a few days.....spent the last several days doing hard to come by research on the internet. The only real source of good info so far is a sex tourism site.....some INTERESTING reads there but OMFG Penthouse Forums would blush with some of the stuff.

[Wahoo]

I suspect you're pulling my leg about fisting humpback whales (though I did see a few beached whales that would probably let you stick one or both arms in their blow holes after a couple of coco locos). I'm serious, though, about the ees-la Saona day trip. Take a look at some of these Saona pics:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Sao ... RE#x0y9954

They speed you over to the island and back on these cigarette boats, like drug-runners used to use (maybe they still do, but I wouldn't know about such things). I'm still kicking myself for not planning ahead and missing out on the Saona Island day trip.

[ECO]

Looks nice but that end of the island have a few too many tourist in my opinion. Pull it up on a map and zoom out, then go north west to an island off of the north coast of Haiti (about the same size) I want to go there. Then zoom north about 50 miles, zoom in on that island, look at the giant inland lake...... I need one of those speed boats to explore!

[Wahoo]

I don't see no island off the north coast of Haiti on my map. You sure that "island" ain't a humpbank whale?

[Wahoo]

If I ever get back to the DR, I'd like to "rough it" (Indiana Jones style) and visit one of the amber mines.

http://www.ambarazul.com/mine.php

[ECO]

Yeah I read up on Amber and decided to stay clear of it. From another site I read that most places sell plastic as Amber....or foreign imported the brown stuff that floats in the toilet. Interesting ways to test it to see if it's real but it's not a buyers market to find something worthy of reselling.

Google maps Port De Paux Haiti, look 10 miles north...if you don't see the island I forgo my trip and spend the money for a nice set of eyeglasses for you.

[ECO]

Something good....7 days until vacation!

Not so good is my Spanish is maybe 200 words and I can't form a sentence not can I understand Spanish speaking people on the internet. Since I'm going to Haiti as well I've been trying to remember some French...now I'm walking around somewhat able to form sentences in a mix of Spanish, French with a dash of English. Hopefully I'll meet someone intelligent enough to clue me in on why one word can mean so many different thing example http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/parado

Also bebe means both baby and drink....that could get confusing asking for a drink.... Nada means swim but if you say de nada it means you're welcome???

[Wahoo]

Got my kid squared away with his living arrangements for next school year. Co-signed his lease and paid the deposit, so he won't have to live under a bridge next year after all. The house they're renting is just off campus. He and his friend will have the two-bedroom downstairs apartment and will be responsible for keeping the grass in the backyard cut, and the girls in the three-bedroom apartment upstairs will be responsible for keeping the grass in the front yard cut.

Elder son, the Marine, is on a week-long training exercise in the desert outside Las Vegas. If he visits the Pawn Stars Pawn Shop and doesn't get me a Chumlee T-shirt or shot glass or bobble-head, I'm gonna be pissed.

[Wahoo]

I guess I can forget about my son bringing me a Chumlee T-shirt. If I know him, he'll probably visit the Chicken Ranch instead of the Pawn Stars Pawn Shop.

[ECO]

I guess I can forget about my son bringing me a Chumlee T-shirt. If I know him, he'll probably visit the Chicken Ranch instead of the Pawn Stars Pawn Shop.

Lol, I can't blame him

[Wahoo]

Something good....7 days until vacation!

Not so good is my Spanish is maybe 200 words and I can't form a sentence not can I understand Spanish speaking people on the internet. Since I'm going to Haiti as well I've been trying to remember some French...now I'm walking around somewhat able to form sentences in a mix of Spanish, French with a dash of English. Hopefully I'll meet someone intelligent enough to clue me in on why one word can mean so many different thing example http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/parado

Also bebe means both baby and drink....that could get confusing asking for a drink.... Nada means swim but if you say de nada it means you're welcome???

Have fun in Hispaniola, Eco. Can't wait for the trip report.

[ECO]

I'm posting the trip report on www.ecotours.me (one of my sites and my family reads it so pg13). I'll create some sort of thread here with links back to that site when I update it.

Something good: 3 more days of cold crappy weather and then 2 weeks in some warmer climate. Some rumors of cold cold temps in the mountains of the DR/Haiti have me concerned....if I see snow on a vacation I might head home!

[Wahoo]

I bet Eco is kicking hisself now for leaving his machete in Jamaica on the last trip. He might need it when he gets to the DR/Haiti.