Panama Pictures (Slightly Delayed)

The skyline of Panama City which lies on the Pacific Ocean and faces south

The Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal

These "mules" are small locamotives run along the side of the ships and keep the boats centered with guide wires.

Nikolas, Kristin S., myself holding Peter at the Panama Canal

Fort Clayton (where Kristin's family lives and no longer an active military fort) as seen from the Miraflores Locks

The Guari Guari restaurant in Bocas del Toro, where I had the great $14 six course meal and where I slept in the......

.....the hammock

The view from Cerra Punta

Looking west into the Cerra Punta valley and Costa Rica beyond from the highest point along the Sendero Los Quetzales.

Who is this?

A view from along the Sendero Los Quetzales.

This picture I found on my camera.......the couple who returned my camera to me. A testament to the fact that good things in the world can happen.

There are good people in the world

Read the following email I got from an employee of Continental Airlines:

Dear Mr. Chen;

A couple has written in that they met with a man named Ernie in Boquete recently, and he left a camera in their car. They originally met the man on flight 875 on February 17, sitting next to them on their flight. There were two men with the name Ernest on that flight, so I am writing to both Ernest’s’ to ask if it was you, and if so, may I give them your full name and mailing address so they may return the camera? They would like to send the camera to him, and asked me to assist in locating the correct person.

Guess who just got his lost camera back? Pictures to be posted soon. Thanks to the Robinsons of Olympia, WA for making the effort to get my camera back to me!!

"The Lives of Others"

As a reward to myself for finishing my 79 student reports by noon today, I went to go see the German film The Lives of Others. For me, a movie rarely lives up to its hype, but this one blew my mind. It easily moves into one of my top three movies ever. I can't tell you how well it was written and acted, but more importantly it so displayed in full view the pain and suffering of living in a totalitarian state. Thank whatever higher power that I was lucky enough to be born in 1970 in a democratic country and not behind the Iron Curtain. Talk about winning the life lottery on that front. This film won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

What was really excellent for me is that all those years of high school German is still rattling around in my head. I was able to recognize some of the basic German that I heard and is a testament to the fact that if we learned things as kids, even if we don't use them, they are there and able to be recalled at the drop of a hat.

PS: By the way, to finish up the last post.......we got our candidate!

Cliffhanger

One of my Math Department colleagues has decided to pursue graduate school studies and so we've had to start a search for a replacement. The name of a veteran teacher at a school in San Francisco who lives in the East Bay and has two children under 5 was looking to reduce her commute by working at a school closer to home. This candidate already has an offer in hand from our rival school in the area.

She came to visit us on Thursday and our Headmaster apparently hand delivered an offer and contract Saturday morning. Also on Saturday afternoon, the school held a celebration of Math and had NPR Math Guy Keith Devlin speak about the history of mathematics ability. The candidate showed up.

Will we win or will the other guys win. I could analyze the pros and cons but I don't think it serves any purpose. Keep your fingers crossed.

123

Ok, so Peter S. gets major cool points for sending me a link to try and name as many countries that belong to the United Nations as possible in 10 minutes. Out of 192, I got 123. Try and beat me. Here's the link to United Nations Country Quiz. Let me know how you do!

I Wanna Be In A Boy Band

When one reflects upon being gay I think of all the stereotypes I don't fit but then the ones that I do. The gaydar for me goes off when I reveal how much I LOVE musicals. Today, I saw the 2006 Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys. Watching the "Four Seasons" on stage and seeing how cool it must be to perform with a group of guys on stage is something that all of a sudden something I wanted to get up and do myself. Not sure that I'm going to act on it but know that when I get the soundtrack, I'll be trying out the moves here in the privacy of my own home!!

I must, however, end by mentioning something that crossed my mind. In the year 2030, will be be watching musicals called something to the effect of "The Boys of the Backstreet"?

Panama Part 4:Houston, We Have A Problem

The high of finishing the Quetzales trail was extended the next morning when Jeff took his family and I out to one of the Smithsonian's research plots. We took a small hike (part of it on the same trail that the first isthmus crossers used some 500 years ago) to a ridge that looked like any other forested site in Panama. However, upon closer inspection, one would see the trees were of different species laid out in a specific grid and tagged with an identifcation marker. Jeff's work down here is to coordinate and keep running the many reforestation studies and projects that are being done here in the tropics. The goal is to find out what combination of species, planted in what order will produce the quickest biomass growth as well as provide attractive habitat for native fauna.

A great deal of reforestation is done with monocultures of trees such as mahogany (African) or teak (Asian) which grow quickly, are monetarily valuable and serve as a vehicle for carbon sequestration, but aren't necessarily a long term viable solution since monocultures are more susceptible to disease and these trees will eventually be harvested.

For example tree A is known to have roots that are quite efficient at turning decaying organic material into nitrogen which is needed in soil for other flora to use. However does tree A grow more quickly when it has a great deal of direct sunlight or if it provided shade cover from another tree? To find out two saplings of tree A were planted three years ago. One is still standing in the open and the other had a fast growing large canopy tree planted adjacent to provide shade. These are the kinds of experiments that Jeff is doing throughout Panama. He's got another cool study coming up on watersheds and how they retain water and disburse it depending on percentage of forestation. It's the scientific process in action.

After saying goodbye to Kristin and her family (big shout out to the hospitality from their family) I arrived at Tocumen International to check in for my routine flight back to Oakland via Houston. The agent at the desk couldn't find my reservation until he discovered that I had booked my return for 3/24/07 and not 2/24/07.

Oops.

With a $100 change fee, I was rebooked on standby for the two flights. I got on the flight from Panama City to Houston without a problem. I even got an aisle seat. But at that point, my luck had run out. Upon arriving in Houston, I get to the gate for the flight for Oakland and I am told that the flight is in an oversold situation. The agents are already looking for passengers to voluntarily take a flight the next day. They were already up to $500 dollar vouchers. I wasn't getting on this flight.

And for the gods to rub it in my face, this flight to Oakland had on it a fellow math colleague and his girlfriend, a fellow 6th grade teacher and his wife and lastly, a former student mine and his parents. All of them had confirmed seats. So as they boarded, I headed out to the taxi stand to take a cab to go get a hotel.

When life gives you lemons you make lemonade. A shout out to my friend Thom B. (of NASCAR fame last summer) who has officially become my gay tour guide to cities in the American South. I called Thom in Orlando and he pointed me to the right part of town to go to enjoy the rest of my evening. There was no point in staying near the airport because the first two flights on Sunday to Oakland (or San Francisco or San Jose) was booked and I was given a seat on the 6PM Sunday evening flight. A $55 (Houston is a big spread out place, people) cab ride to the Best Western downtown was followed by checking out the scene at Westheimer and Montrose. I have to say that I did enjoying the big country music playing pool hall/sports bar that I got to go for an hour before bed. As I've said before, places with lots of real estate (unlike NYC and SF) have these large open spaces to open welcoming gathering places. They also give better service. The coke that I ordered was massive. For the same price in SF I would get enough coke to finish off in one large gulp.

Sunday morning, I changed plans. I decided to take a cab to the other Houston Airport (Hobby) and rented a car and drove down to the Johnson Space Center to take a tour. It was the best $18 I spent in Texas. On the tram tour, we saw Mission Control (unfortunately there wasn't a shuttle in space at the moment so the place was empty) but we did see people in the Mission Control for the International Space Station since there are three astronauts living up there at the moment. On the tram tour, we also saw the building where astronauts train to do all those things they do in space, like work the robotic arm. And no, there was no mention of the woman who tried off her romantic counterpart. There was also no mention of diapers.

The highlight (or perhaps lowlight) of the visit to the Space Center was the fact that I took a shot at landing the space shuttle on the simulator and crashed it four times. And I was on the novice level where all I had to do was take care of the altitude and nose pitch. The simulator stabilized the side-to-side pitch for me. And let me tell you, the simulator was quite sassy in its analysis of my failures!!!

If I had had more time, the Houston Rodeo was just starting its week long run in the new Reliant Stadium. I drove by it because it is located right next to the Astrodome, which I wanted to see. I'm surprised it hasn't yet been demolished considering the newer Kingdome in Seattle already has been.

The car was dropped off at Houston-Bush Intercontinental (Enterprise daily rental $19.99 what a deal) and my flight home was non-eventful. The lesson? Make sure you double check how you book your flights!!

Panama Part 3:Sendero Los Quetzales

After returning to Panama City on Tuesday morning and spending the day with Kristin's family at Rio Mar Beach about an hour and a half west of Panama City, I flew back to the western portion of Panama to hike the Los Queztales trail.

On the map from the previous entry, you'll see just south of Bocas is the town of Boquete. As the crow flies, these are less than 20 miles apart, but between them is a set of extinct volcanos which serve as the Continental Divide and are the spine of the country of Panama. I flew in to the town of David (third largest in Panama) and took a cab up to a little town called Bambito. Picture a road coming from the bottom of the map above directly into Boquete. Picture a parallel road to the west of it and that is where Bambito lies. I stayed at this beautiful resort (the most I paid for a hotel the entire time) and the weather was perfect. Temperature in the 60's in this high altitude (about 6,000 feet above sea level) little town.

On a whim, I followed a dirt road that extended from the back of the resort up a hill and two miles or so later I was rewarded with finding this most amazing high mountain meadow with grazing cows and sheep. Occasionally a man and horse would ride by. I climbed a bit further and was further rewarded with this amazing view of Volcan Baru, which I would visit the next day. I don't feel regret about losing my camera in this situation because I didn't bring it with me. The image is my own for me to have for myself. It was such a special moment, perhaps the true highlight of my trip.

The next day, after being served breakfast by Latin America's Vince Vaughn look-a-like (HOT). I caught the local bus which runs up and down the road from David up to the town of Cerra Punta. Shhhhh, this town is totally undiscovered by developers. I didn't see any American tourists and there aren't any big houses with security gates around them. This town, at 6,500 is just a hop, skip and jump from the border with Costa Rica. Actually, I rode the bus a couple miles further up the hill to the little town of Guadalupe.

From here, I set out to climb up to the trailhead of the Quetzales Trail. What was so cool is the the Quetzales Trail links the town of Cerra Punta to Boquete. I had my backpack and was hiking from one place to the next. It reminded me of hikes that one can make in the Alps of Switzerland.


This photo take from a Google image search, but I stood right at this location and took a photo of this sign.


A picture of the Quetzales Trail taken from Wikipedia

I strategically chose to hike the trail from Cerra Punta (6,500 feet) to Boquete (3,500 feet). This was not your well worn, well maintained European hiking trail. This was a slip and slide on one's rear end in places kind of hike. The hike itself was spectacular as there were vista points but most of it was under the canopy of a cloud/tropical forest. The hike took me 6 hours and my quads were killing me for the next few days. All I can say is Dr. B, he did a freaking amazing job for my feet to have held up to this pounding.

Near the end of the hike, I ran into a couple of fellow American hikers who turns out sat next to me on the flight from Houston to Panama City. We started talking and it turns out they are from a little town outside of Olympia, WA. We bonded and it was nice to end the hike with nice people who weren't all about bragging about what they had done and saw. They were there for the enjoyment of the moment.

We arrived at the trailhead and the ranger station was still a 3km trek downhill. My quads were dying so they were nice enough to give me a ride. It is their rental car that I left my camera. There is a miniscule possibility that I might get it back. The couple had yet to visit Bocas and were planning on it later in their trip. I told them about Ozzie's restaurant and if they go there and mention me, I left Ozzie my email address. It's a lot of things to have to go right for it to happen, but stranger things have happened!

That evening I treated myself to a wonderful dinner at a highly touted restaurant in Boquete. After hobbling a half mile to the restaurant, I was floored that the interior was straight out of New England B&B. White linen table cloths, flowers in the center of the table, polished silverware, you get the picture. I had an amazing ceviche followed by a huge piece of fresh grilled trout. It turns out the chef at the Hotel Penomene is a Swedish transplant and has brought his flair to Panama and now brings it to the local seafood to make amazing meals.

I have to admit that my hotel in Boquete had DirecTV and I watched American Television well into the night. I got caught on my episodes of the OC and Gilmore Girls. Ahh, now I know why Christopher went AWOL on Lorelai.

Friday morning was spent wandering around Boquete and then hopping on the bus back down to David and a flight back to Panama City. This portion of the trip was one of the highlights of my week!

Panama Part 2:Bocas Del Toro

As you can see from the map above, there is an group of islands in the northwestern corner of Panama of which the main town is called Bocas. I flew from Panama City to Bocas on Air Panama a 50-seat Fokker. The total flight time was about an hour. I landed in Bocas 8AM knowing little about the place other than it was highly touted by Kristin's husband Jeff who had recently returned from the area. Going solely on his word, there I was at the Bocas airport wondering what next? I walked out of the one-room airport onto a dirt road and there I was. I was not expecting to see houses that appeared to be ready to be blown to shreds with the next big windstorm. I surprised myself at being taken aback at the lack of touristy amenities, such as quaint shops and a tidy looking main strip. Everything looked rickety and unkempt and I never really got used to it.

I guess part of my lack of enthusiasm for the place stemmed from the overcast and drizzly weather the I flew into. I whipped out my handy-dandy guide book and had breakfast to plan my day. My first stop was to sign up with an outfit that ran an all day trip up the coast to see manatees. The guy at the shop stated that he needed people to fun the trip and had three signed up for Wednesday (this being Monday) and so it looked like it was more than likely to run. He pointed me down the street to a guide service that took people out on day long trips.

The trip had so much potential, but ultimately had few truly memorable moments. It was a group of 14 people in a boat of which there was another truly awful American couple from California. They were recent transplants from LA to Northern California and all the stereotypes of braggadocio American's was true for them. Did I really need to know how quickly they had sailed from the South Pacific to the Galapagos a couple years ago? Umm, no.

The first stop of our trip was to go see dolphins. I was a bit skeptical that we would see them, but ultimately we did. I wish there had been more of them and that they were jumping out of the water like Flipper, but I was excited to see a couple dolphins up close nonetheless.

Picture of a couple thatched roof huts built on stilts over the water

Next stop was some snorkeling followed by lunch at the restaurant one would have seen above. The snorkeling paled in comparison to the snorkeling I got to do last summer in Puerto Rico but I attribute that partially to the fact that we weren't taken to a really great spot but also that it was overcast and the light was poor.

After lunch, the skies opened up and poured. We were taken to the famous Red Frog Beach. There were other tour groups there and everyone was huddled underneath a big hut. It looked straight out of Survivor and I was ready for Jeff Probst to come out and give us some immunity challenge. It's a sad thing to know that Red Frog Beach is being encroached on by developers and the open access and lack of buildings will soon be a thing of the past.

The rain continued to come down (and it's no Seattle drizzle my friends, we're talking Central American downpout) and the other members of the boat opted to skip our last stop and go directly back to Bocas.

Upon arriving in Bocas, I went to check to see if the manatee trip was going to run and saw that the group of three had rescheduled for the following week. Ugh. I then set out on trying to find a place to stay. And the intrepid traveler story begins.

I came to Bocas during the middle of Carnival. There was NO rentable place to sleep anywhere in town or on the neighboring islands. NOTHING. So I came up with my next best plan. I rented a bike and planned on riding out to a beach and sleeping there on the sand. I literally had come to Bocas with a towel, swimsuit, basic toiletries and a change of shorts. It was going to be a long night.

I located a beach about two miles out of town. It looked like I could nestle down and get some cover from the trees, but I was screwed if another Central American downpour occurred during the night. So to treat myself before the long night, I biked to a cute looking restaurant that I had passed coming out of town which was advertising a six course meal for $14. Yeah, prices in Panama are still kind of reasonable. This wasn't some lame six course meal either. I had a salad, some fish, fried egg with bechemel sauce, bread with goat cheese and spinich, pork cutlet with a nice sauce and chocolate ice cream with orange sauce for dessert.

Over the course of dinner, I found out from the waiter that he (a German) and his wife (a Spainard) had moved to Bocas a couple years back and bought their building, renovated it so the front had a beautiful covered open air dining area and then turned the back of the building into their living quarters. The name of the place is Guari Guari.

Being the ballsy and desparate guy that I was, I asked Ozzie (the owner/waiter) my story of how I didn't have a place to stay that night and whether I could sleep in the hammock they had. He said yes and I solved my lack of lodging for the night. Minutes later, downpour. And we're talking buckets.

Picture of the hammock I stayed in.
Picture of the rain coming off the roof in sheets.

The next morning I woke up and it was still overcast and raining. Realizing that my trip to see the manatee was probably off, I cut my jaunt to Bocas by two days and flew back to Panama City. There were other adventures to be had in Panama!!!!

Panama Part 1:The Canal

Picture of Ernie, Kristin and her kids Nikolas & Peter with a Panamax ship in the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal

The postings from Panama will all have the captions of the photos that I would have posted had I not left my camera in the car of a very nice couple who gave me a ride down from the Boquete Ranger Station into town on the third to last day of my trip to Panama. So the question in many of your minds may be, why Panama? My friend from high school, Kristin S., moved down to the country with the Canal last year as her husband took a job coordinating native tree reforestation. So, why not go visit?

I really can't do the Canal justice except to say that I could sit there all day and watch the ships go into and out of the locks. The Canal is actually oriented North-South with the Pacific Ocean on the southern end and the Caribbean/Atlantic at the northern terminus. Transiting from the Pacific to Atlantic one enters the canal and reaches the Miraflores Locks. Here's a link to see a two Panamax ships in the Miraflores Locks. In two separate steps, a ship is raised about 50 feet where it exits into Miraflores Lake and a couple miles later is raised up another 30 feet at the Pedro Miquel Lock.

Picture of a Panamax before being raised.

Picture of a Panamax after being raised.

At this point a ship enters the 8 mile long Gaillard Cut. It is the Gaillard Cut which was where the majority of the digging was done in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Because two ships cannot fit side-by-side in the Cut at one time, groups of ships traverse the Cut in one direction. When they clear, then another set can traverse the Cut in the opposite direction. This bottleneck limits the number of ships that can be in the Canal system at one time.

Proceeding out of the Cut, a ship enters Gatun Lake, formed by the damming of the Chagres River. Gatun Lake is 85 feet above Sea Level. Ships continue North until they enter the three step Gatun Locks which bring them back down to sea level. Ships then exit into the Atlantic Ocean ready to sail off to their final destination.

The Panama Canal is an amazing feat of engineering. I can't put into words the excitement I felt everytime I saw a huge ship being raised or lowered. The large ships have this regal look about them as they slowly glide into place in one of the locks and then in one continuous motion are lowered.

Hurdle Number 1

In the ongoing saga of the conversion of the building in which I live/own to condominium, a important milestone was reached this week. Our lawyers submitted our application to the Bureau of Streets and Mapping (BSM). Getting everything in order to get to the point of submission took just over one year. Here's what's to come:

•BSM completes initial review of application and draft of parcel map.
•BSM sends application to Bureau of City Planning (BCP) & Dept. of Building Inspection (DBI).
•BCP must approve of application and then BSM reviews map.
•BCP issues its decision with its additional requirements
•We must clear up any issues with BCP
•DBI issues its decision with any additional requirements
•Surveyor works with DBI to clear up issues
•BSM issues approval of map
•Still more to go

The Omnivore's Dilemma

It's cliche to say that reading a book can transform how you view some part of your world because it seems as people say it all the time, however, it recently happened to me when I read the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. I read it in anticipation of Pollan coming to speak to our school for an assembly a few weeks ago.

Michael Pollan

I have begun to think much more closely about the choices I make when eating and to understand that organic isn't everything that it is meant to be. Most importantly, I've learned about the concept of sustainable agriculture. The chapter in the book about grass was riveting reading.

Moon Over San Francisco Bay

Independence

In my senior Economics class, I warn them that if they comprehend the concepts and are paying attention, they will perhaps become more conservative (politically) in their thinking as they encounter the market killing implications of taxes the issues surrounding price controls and subsidies. Remember that teaching in the Bay Area, most of my students are lifelong liberals and pretty adamantly vocal ones at that. So when I claimed to be a registered independent, I sensed a bit of incredulity at my political persuasion. Of course, I tend to vote the Democratic candidate or position most of the time, I told them, but I have voted for Republicans in the course of my 18 years of voting.

This got me thinking, in all my years of voting, I can only name three candidates for state or national office that I can remember going with the GOP candidate. The first is quite obscure that being Representative John Miller who was the incumbent congressman from my district in Seattle back when I first started voting. I think he's the only Republican I voted for twice. When I lived in New Jersey, I voted for Governor Christine Todd Whitman, who became head of the EPA. Alas, sadly, I never actually had the opportunity to vote for my favorite politician, Bill Bradley as I arrived after his last election to the Senate in 1994. As a resident of New Jersey, I did vote for Democrat Robert Toricelli. Oops. Lastly, I proudly admit to have voted for the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger in this past election. I have voted Republican in the past (and I know this makes Mom happy) and will do so in the future when the candidate is right.

I Finally Learned This Lesson

Long time readers are well versed in my "issues" with friends who produce (ok produce sounds a bit industrial, but I'll not edit since this is a blog and my true feelings should come out even if not exactly PC) children and then have those new ones become the focus of their lives and subsequently disappear from mine.

(SS ARE YOU READING THIS?!!?!?!?! You've won your battle!!!)

As I was biking home yesterday from BART, I passed by the house of a friend of mine from a 1986 summer program Debby G. who with her husband and 2-year old son, moved here from Washington, DC a few months ago. They live a five minute walk from me (that's pretty cool to have a friend from childhood move across the country and land in the next neighborhood over) and I hadn't seen her at her home since their move. So I stopped in and was invited over for dinner. I wasn't shunted off to the corner like I thought I would. In fact, Debby was grateful and overjoyed at having company.

So, the lesson? When couples have kids, us singles have to go to them. It's not as if they don't want to see us, in fact I sense that they are wanting to see us friends, but due to the constraints of raising a baby/toddler, the spontaneous dinner out is a relic of their lives. As long as I'm willing to put up with/enjoy having conversations broken into bits and pieces around cutting food for the child or a bit of babytalk, I can reclaim my friendships with my childrearing friends. Plus, how can I resist the opportunity to lay on the floor and having a 2-year old climb all over me and pinch my eye?

We Become The Things We Mock

When I am zipping around town going from here to there, my path more than likely crosses the intersection of 18th and Guerrero. Those of you who are knowledgeable about San Francisco geography and gastronomy know that this corner is home of Tartine, a most wonderful bakery. If I ever pass by this corner in the mornings, I will always find a line out the door onto the sidewalk. In times past, I would say to myself, "Who are these people who stand in line for more than a couple minutes for what is essentially glorified donuts?"

These days, I eat my words. A couple weekends ago, because of the holidays I drove by and saw there was no line (?!?!?!) so I went in and the rest is history. Three straight weekend visits later, I sit here and am scooping up Muesli as I have to choose between a Morning Bun, Frangiapane Croissant or a "Pan au Jambon" (a gruyere and ham croissant which will become part of tomorrows lunch). This is AFTER I spent twenty minutes in line on the sidewalk BEFORE the place even opened.

Cool Sounds

I don't post promotional plugs except in rare occasions when I believe in the person who is on the beneficiary end of the plug. So the fact that I'm urging you all to check out the site of Stephen Jeromewho is a NYC musician who has put out an album produced by my dear friend Ian McGrady, is a testament to my near two decade friendship with Ian. The two of us met at a life-changing summer program for high-school students back in 1987 and look at us today, living on two coasts but still friends to this day. As for the song that you can preview at the link? Most of you know that I'm not really a music fanatic and are amazed that I live in my home in silence, but I did like the middle of the song a great deal. Not such a big fan of the beginning and end, but then again, I'm always partial to easy to follow melodies.

Losing the Double Down Hurts

The Seattle Seahawks have had a wild ride this past couple weeks. I have been the beneficiary of their good luck having won a dinner off my cousin (who is from Dallas) last weekend. However, before I could collect on the dinner, he had to take a business trip to Shanghai and so I doubled down with him, betting him that the Seahawks would pull off the upset of the Chicago Bears this weekend. This morning, I called up my friends Leah W. and Rich A., who are longtime residents of Chicago, and bet them dinner as well. When the game reached a climactic 24-24 tie with about 6 minutes left, my cocky self called up the two Chicagoites and Rich answered the phone. I offered the double down on dinner (I have to admit I am going to embarrass Rich here, but to hear him ok the double down with his wife was pricelessly domestic and whipped to boot).

The Seahawks lost in overtime 27-24 and thereby so did I. Leah and Rich will be getting a gift card from Carson's Ribs of Chicago. They will be treated to dim sum the next time they come out to San Francisco. And I get no dinner from my cousin.

Also, condolences to my cousin Jeff and his wife Ming (I'm not sure how much she cares) and Bryant for the San Diego Chargers loss to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. We can all commiserate together at the losses of our hometown teams.

Every Step is Progress

Remember my occasional reference to the condo conversion process that my building partners and I are going through? Today, one of the major hurdles has been completed. We had the meter for the common area installed.

The meter for the common area

As usual, the backstory. In each and every condominium complex, and we are trying to have our building declared as two condominiums, there is almost always areas of the building that can be accessed and used by any members of the condominium association. The common area for our building is the garage in which we store our stuff and where my washer and dryer is. Because the common area is on the same level as the lower level of my unit, all of the electricity that was used in the common area was attached to my PG&E bill. To turn the building into condominiums, we have to formally peel off those outlets in the common area into a third electrical system. This required an electrician (obviously I couldn't do anything like this) and by far the most expensive portion of this process. Back in September, we forked over a hefty chunk of change to an electrician to do the work.

The newest fuse box is on the right

Today, PG&E came and installed the meter as seen above. The journey continues.

Some Thoughts on "Yellow Fever"

I received a couple of emails from friends about the contents of the two clips I posted last week. In response to "Yellow Fever", I wrote this:

"I've been pointing out the Asian Girl/White Guy thing forever, BUT I do think that we are in the time of the rise of the Asian male. Seriously, with the advent of Yao Ming and Japanese baseball players, Asian men are competing on the ultimate of male battlegrounds, sports. And once we can demonstrate equality on that front, everything else will fall right into place."

I have had a number of other significant insights, planned and unplanned over the course of the past week. Some overwhelming, and some providing explanations for many questions I've had rattling around my brain. This isn't the right forum to disclose, but know that I'm churning through some personal stuff, and it's healthy!

My Act of Civil Disobedience

On the days I take public transportation to work, my day starts off with a short walk and then a 6 (long) block bus ride to the BART station. The 14-Mission and 49-VanNess are the two buses that run along this section of Mission Street. Theoretically, these buses should arrive every five minutes or so. However, that is rarely the case and when a bus does arrive, it is packed to the gills. It isn't a pleasant way to start one's day.

However, it is my feeling that SF Muni can run more buses or at least keep the spacing betweeen buses constant. It is not an unusual occruance to for three or four buses to be lined up and driving one right behind the other. On the way home at the end of the day, I often can walk most of the six blocks from the BART station home before I even see either a 14 or 49.

So, as of late, if a bus arrives standing room only, I board the bus from the rear door where exiting passengers are getting out. I refuse to pay $1.50 for a service that I don't deem worthy of my money. Granted, I know that by not paying my fare is increasing the burden of MUNI and asking them to improve service without the benefit of my money, but still it makes me feel better knowing that I'm sticking it to the man, even though ultimately the man is myself.

Yellow Fever

I know that this is my second video clip posting in a row, but TRUST me on this, watch this clip from beginning to end. Mom, that means you too. The people who made this video are BRILLIANT. Alas, I've been making this observation for years and as I was watching I was HOWLING. When was the last time I capitalized three words within a posting. Trust me, when was the last time I led you astray? Ok, don't answer that. Just hit the play button.

Ghostride the Volvo

Ghostride the Volvo


The two protagonists of this short clip are HRS graduates, class of 2002 if I remember correctly. I enjoyed it but I think I'm missing something because I don't what "ghostriding the volvo" means. Do I take it at face value? Or was there a song of this name written as a take off of "Ghostbusters"? Is there significance that a Volvo is being ghostridden? Is ghostriding have something to do with driving around with the doors open and on top of it? Someone help give me context!!

But, another big deal here is that I figured out how to post YouTube videos into my blog. It is SO easy, no wonder Google bought up the site.

All for the right to not have to.....

Each and every year (well, except for last year), the first weekend in December finds the Math Department heading down to the Asilomar Conference Center on the Monterey Peninsula to attend the Northern California Mathematics Teachers' Conference. Tradition has it that we drive down Friday after school check in to the same motel and then have a wonderfully festive and expensive dinner on the Department's dime. After dinner we generally gather to play a game (Pictionary or Settlers) and then hit bed to get an early start to the day on Saturday.

Over the course of many years, my snoring has been foisted on any new male department member by making him my roommate. This year, I was to get my own room sparing every male the painful experience of my nocturnal sounds. Except this week a wrench was thrown into the works. One of my colleagues companion (this is a story in and of itself but since it's my blog and his story I can't tell it) will be joining us and so he is getting the single and I am going to have to share a room.

So what is the Math Department way to equitably decide who has to room with me? I posted on the whiteboard in the department room, a challenging extra credit problem I gave to my Honors Geometry classes that I didn't know how to do. Last person to solve it is my roommate. There was frantic scribbling all after lunch.

On an ironic note, the first person to give me the correct answer (I have the answer book but not the solutions manual) was a senior girl who was given the problem by another senior. She figured it out during her last period Neurobiology class.

Where are you on the political spectrum?

CENTRISTS espouse a "middle ground" regarding government control of the economy and personal behavior. Depending on the issue, they sometimes favor government intervention and sometimes support individual freedom of choice. Centrists pride themselves on keeping an open mind, tend to oppose "political extremes," and emphasize what they describe as "practical" solutions to problems.

So there you have it. Where are you? Take the 10 questions quiz here.

Slate's Green Challenge

As a diversion from the twice-yearly pain that is writing comments about each of my students, I have discovered podcasts and that led me to visit The Green Challenge at Slate.com.

Here's a result of my carbon footprint:

Your annual carbon emissions are 15,829.6 lbs.

That's equivalent to the emissions from 1.55 passenger cars.

Average carbon emissions per year, per person:
United States: 44,312
Qatar: 117,064
France: 13,668
India: 2,645
Kenya: 440

I think I may have underreported a couple things but I do know that I am on the low end of energy consumption living in a place where I don't have to air-condition and the fact that I don't fly on a plane more than twice a year. My taking BART to work a couple times a week is a big reducer as well. I'll try and follow the course of actions that the site suggests to reduce our carbon footprint by 20% over the next eight weeks.

It would have to be that one, of course...

This past Friday, the Head-Royce School Annual Fair went off without a hitch. This being the second year I have been the coordinator, there were fewer kinks and from the outside, appeared to go on seamlessly. But of course, I have some story to relay. This one just happens to involve another faculty member. It has become apparent that most of the run-ins I've had in my tenure at HRS (or even Lawrenceville for that matter) have been with other adults. It is partially a matter of two adults having to deal with each other and compromise which both find difficult because both are used to being the ultimate authority in the classroom and their word most frequently being the final word.

So, as usual, some background is needed. The crux of the fair is the activities and games that different clubs/classes/groups sponsor for the little kids. For many of these groups, it is their main fundraiser of the year or they donate their earnings to a worthy cause. Early in September, I posted a blank copy of a School Fair application on my website and blank copies on the board in the main hallway. I had a couple annoucements made at our twice weekly morning meeting over the past six weeks. The deadline (which is SO not enforced at HRS) was Friday October 13th which was the Friday before the Fair. Most groups followed the instructions and were assigned a space at the Fair. There were a couple stragglers, but by the Tuesday before the event, things were in place.

Then at 12:15PM Friday afternoon, just over five hours from the start of the Fair, a student comes in and asks me where their booth was located because she didn't see it posted on the map I created. I told her that I never received a form from her group and because there were no spots available that she was out of luck. After a bit of hemming and hawing, she went to locate the club member who was supposed to turn the form in. Twenty minutes later, the faculty advisor to this club asks if there is any special consideration I could give to this club. He says he signed the form and that would I be willing to let them into the Fair. I gave my standard, no form and no space reply. At that point, the tone of voice changed and the faculty member stated that we should probably speak in private and at that point I was told that this group (which didn't exist in the past or if they did it was under a different group name) had always been a participant at the Fair and that should be enough. I, like most human beings, when told that they should do something in that tone of voice will NEVER allow the other person to win and could not be persuaded to find that group a spot.

About a half hour later, a member of the group who is one of my favorite students, asked if there was anything I could do. I found them a spot, which was located behind another building that wouldn't have my foot traffic, but I accomodated them.

Fast forward to Monday afternoon and I am tallying up the earnings of each of the booths. Most of the groups counted their tickets and so it was a matter of jotting down the amounts. There were a couple groups for which I had to count tickets. I posted the earnings of each group and submitted the values to the Business Office so the groups could be credited that amount.

An hour after I posted the earnings list. Guess who comes by to ask what happened to that groups earnings. F*** Why of all the groups could I not anywhere find an amount for that group? Did I not transfer it from my written notes onto the word processing document. Of course that sheet with my written notes was gone. And I had recycled all the bags of tickets earlier in the day. Of all the groups that I could have forgotten, it had to be this one.

So, tomorrow, I have to face the music and confess to the faculty advisor of that group that I don't have a record of how much that group earned. Damn.....

Ernie and Michigan's 6th Congressional District Part II

My friend Peter S. sent me this email today after having read my previous entry about my admiration for my friend Dave F's partner for running against a longtime incumbent congressmen, Fred Upton, from Michigan's 6th Congressional District, which takes in the Southwest corner of the state. Here's the contents of Peter's email:

Hey, you forgot the 3 most important details in your post about Fred Upton.

1. My family moved to Washington DC when my Dad went to work for David Stockman as his Deputy Director of Management. Stockman left that House seat to take the OMB job.

2. My Dad is pretty friendly with Upton.

3. I worked for Fred Upton for 3 days. I got an unpaid internship in his office the Summer of '88 after I graduated high school. It was stultifying. I got a call after several days from the Great Falls Village Green Preschool asking if I'd take a job there -- and that they'd pay me extra if I drove the school for field trips. Done! Driving the school bus was great!

I demand an addendum to the blog post!

What connection between myself and this district might come up next?

What a soon to be talking child sounds like on email

Longtime readers will certainly remember the brouhaha that I caused around the holidays last year when I had my flip out over my friends' small children. In my list of rant items, I definitively stated that I found it quite annoying and not in the least charming when my friend put their "not yet talking but definately making noises" toddler on the phone to "say hello."

So yesterday I got an email from my dear friend Catherine V-S and she got me with the following:

"L would like to type--is this that awful equivalent of putting the kid on the phone--he's asking for a turn though--so here he is.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhjjjjjddddddddddddssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
j555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll


lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll;vvvvvvbbbbbbvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvhkhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh;;.k;//////////"


All I can do is laugh and admit that I'm never going to win this one.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Music Festival

The frequency of my postings to the blog this fall has been low and that has mostly to do the return to the daily/weekly rhythm of being back in school. Add to that the fact that I am doing the same things, for instance planning the school fair, that I've written about in years past, hasn't given me much to write or expound on. Keeping this blog has given me pause to realize that I need to shake up life a bit and do things that expose me to new things or learn about new things. That's why there is the flurry of woodworking home improvement projects. Yesterday, I decided that since I've always loved Bluegrass music (not exactly something you would expect from an Asian-American guy who grew up in the Pacific Northwest) and brave the enormous crowds to attend the free of cost The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival held on the Speedway Meadow of Golden Gate Park here in San Francisco. The reason why it is free of cost to all of us who attended is well documented in this story on NPR. The weather for the three day event was perfect (remember that the best months of weather in San Francisco are September and October) and attendance this year was estimated at 350,000. My friend Jason L. and I heeded the suggestion of taking public transportation and arrived around 3PM Sunday afternoon. There were five different stages, each with a separate lineup of performers. Jason and I found a nice spot on top of the Southern ridge that rises above Speedway Meadow. The headline act of the festival (and from what I gather each of the previous five festivals) was Emmylou Harris. Thanks to Jason and the two sisters who sat behind us for giving me the reasons why having Emmylou's presence at the festival was so significant. During the three and a half hours at the festival, we heard two other bluegrass bands in addition to Harris.

It's ironic that for a self-proclaimed "music really doesn't interest or resonate with me" person that I've gone to two concerts in the past two weeks. I'll attribute it to the "growth" I'm working on and expanding the things about which I can blog.

Saving a piece of my childhood

Turtleback Mountain, Orcas Island, WA (Photo Credit Seattle Times)

Many great childhood memories I have took place on Orcas Island, a group of idyllic islands in the Northwestern corner or Washington State (and for that matter the Lower 48 of United States). First off, the humorous part would have to be the picture of a bunch of Asian-American families travelling en masse to a beachfront chunk of land on Deer Point of Orcas Island. My family as well as the group of families that formed to social community in which I grew up would go up camping at least three times every summer. The amenities were few, a rundown trailer, an outhouse and a spigot with running water. The rest of the seven acres, which was owned by my parents and two other families, was overrun with nature. But the fact that we owned half of the beach of a small cove was amazing, and only as an adult do I truly understand how special it was. I say was because the land was sold by the three families in the mid-90's to someone who contacted my parents and their fellow co-owners and offered up an ungodly amount of money to buy it and so my parents and et. al. sold it. This was a tragedy most devastating to the six children of the owners. We six still mourn the loss.

Our families would set up tents and we children would play on the beach, dig up crabs, skip rocks, attempt every summer to climb just a bit further out towards the tip of the cove and watch the fog roll in and out to reveal or hide the "disappearing islands" offshore. We would all go to Moran State Park and get driven to the top of Mount Constitution and then hike (or in many cases run) down the mountain to Cascade Lake where our parents were waiting for us. Our parents would play set up folding tables to play Mah-Jongg (picture my mother and her friends playing Mah-Jongg amidst the towering trees of Orcas Island) into the night time hours. We would BBQ traditional camping food but it was always served with traditional Chinese dishes that our Mom's could pack up in a cooler. And somehow, I remember us always having fireworks. Certainly we were up there on 4th of July and that made sense for fireworks, but we were always setting off fireworks, so we must have brought them every single visit.

As you can tell, I speak of these childhood camping trips to Orcas Island with great fondness. The memories are even more treasured now that the land is no longer in the hands our either my parents or their friends. That's why this story about saving Turtleback Mountain from development struck a chord with me. The Seattle based Medina Foundation has put up the large swath of undeveloped land, currently privately held, up for sale. But in an act of generosity, conservation groups have been given the opportunity to but it first before developers. At $18.5 million dollars, the land could be preserved undeveloped and opened to the public for hiking and general enjoyment. Please consider a donation to the San Juan Preservation Trust. At the site, you can specifically designate your funds toward saving Turtleback Mountain. With a gift of $150 or more, you will receive a Gary Larson (of the Far Side) designed T-Shirt that references saving Turtleback Mountain. I've got my T-Shirt coming.

My most enthusiastic participant wins

The latest word I ask those who leave voicemail messages for me is SYNTHESIZE. For some reason, mostly coincidental, the first person to call me and get my outgoing message with the new word is Joe H. of Greenbrae, CA. He's always in the running for the victory, but as I look back at the winners, he has yet to win, but does have a number of honorable mentions. Well, this week, there was no doubt, he cleverly used the word and trounced all other participants. Here's his message...

I wanted to let you know that my plants are doing wonderfully. The light has been just right this year so the photosynthesis has caused my plants to really bud out" -- Joe H.

Alas, I must report that I am terminating the game as the participation rate has dropped precipitously since its inception in August. So, unless, I hear a groundswell of disappointment over the ending of the game, it is what it is. Thanks to all of you who left me a message with the word of the week whenever it was. I enjoyed your efforts.

Well guess who showed up?

These past few weeks, I have been the beneficiary of my friend Hans' wife's illness. Because she hasn't been feeling well, I've been to a SF Fringe Festival play and last night, to the Tom Petty concert at UC-Berkeley's Greek Theater I have been in and around the Berkeley campus and must have driven right by the Greek many times, but I had no idea that it was this beautiful amphitheater in this grove of trees that I've always wondered why it hadn't been cleared for some building. Now I know why.

Oh, and what about the concert itself? Can I go on about how nice it is to be able to sit outside on a Saturday evening as the sun is going down in the Greek and watching the sunset over the Bay through the trees? It's life in California at its best. Petty was entertaining and I actually recognized about half of the songs he performed, but alas, he didn't do Wildflowers, which is a favorite of mine. Oh, and about half way through, Stevie Nicks showed up and performed along side Petty for a couple songs and for the encore. Definately very cool, and unexpected.

I actually know someone who is running for Congress

I am a political junkie and so I think it's totally cool that I actually know a person who is actually a major party candidate for the United States House of Representatives. Granted, it's a tenuous connection, but it is a connection.

If you happen to be reading this and are a consitutent of Michigan's 6th Congressional District, which encompasses the Southwestern corner of the state, I urge you to check out the candidacy of Democrat Kim Clark. His opponent is Republican Congressman Fred Upton, first elected in 1986, and is a the grandson of the one of the founders of Whirlpool. Congressmen Upton, according to the analysis of his voting record, is a moderate Republican.

You are probably wondering how do I know the candidate? A couple summers back, on my two month roadtrip across the country, I spent three weeks in Chicago and became friends with Kim's partner, Dave F. and that is the connection. According to every prognosticator and election guru, Kim's chances or victory are slim to none. But I applaud him for taking the risk and partcipating in the political system we enjoy.

On a totally random note, the 6th District of Michigan was once represented by a congressman named David Stockman. This is the David Stockman who became Ronald Reagan's Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the one who spearheaded the ideas of Supply-Side Economics, which lead to the huge budget deficits of the 1980's. A little history with our posting today, eh?

The bridesmaid becomes the bride

Congratulations to Tim A. or Princeton, NJ for winning the most recent message contest. You all will remember how Tim was runner-up the at the end of first round and his honorable mention. This time, Tim outclassed the field by using the word STAMPEDE in gerund form and in a context that was seamless. The winning message.....

"Hello there, I was calling to return your message and even though you aren't answering I hope there aren't children STAMPEDING all around you." -Tim A.

A surprise phone call and an even better message

The word of the week was DETERIORATE. Before I reveal the winner and their message, I have noticed a dropoff in participation rate of those who have called and left messages when I first began the contest. Those who are experiencing the challenge for the first time are nearly always game to try and leave great messages, or the attempts are hilarious themselves. So a charge to those who have tapered in their enthusiasm to forge on and continue. It's a little brain stretching and improvising that provides much happiness and humor in my day.

Our winner is Emily D. formerly of Berkeley, Santa Barbara and now Boulder, CO. She was in my advising group during my first three years at HRS and, like many of the class of 2001, has managed to keep in contact and move from student to peer. Here is the winning message:

"Hey Chen, I'm calling to chat, as I have appointed you my lifetime advisor. I was wondering if you had any pearls of wisdom on hot to help me manage my money after college before I deteriorate my funds." -- Emily D. (Sept. 2006)

A note on how long a word stays as "the word". When I listen to the messages there are times when I hear one and it simply strikes me as "the one" and at that point, I'll change to a new word. Usually, it takes about a week for "the one" to reveal itself, but for deteriorate, it was about two weeks. I think I have a winner on the first day with the newest word. You'll find out soon enough.

A bigger project

After the success of the flowerboxes from this summer, I decided that it was time to tackle the bookcases that I had been thinking about building in the front room, which I now use as both my office and what, in the olden days, was called a drawing room. For those of you who have been to my home, you'll remember that there was a decorative non-working fireplace against one of the walls. At first I was going to take the fireplace out, but then decided to build AROUND the fireplace. I thought it would breakup the monotony of a wall of shelves. Here's the result:

Like I said last year when I installed the french doors, moulding and trim hide all mistakes and "non-traditional" methods. I'll now add a fresh coat of paint to that list.

Survivor: Cook Islands

Ok, so I have to admit that I think the current Survivor set up is certainly a ratings ploy (there are four tribes that are separated into racial groups), but a part of me is totally rooting for the Asian-Americans to kick butt, especially in the physical challenges. You know if one of the challenges was something academic, there would be no questions who the money would be on. And what happened the first week? The Asian-American tribe (Puka Puka) won the immunity challenge. If you want to be totally entertained, read this this article, The Tribe Has Spoken that was in the San Francisco Chronicle. It had me howling, while bringing up some interesting points of view.

I am going to be a NERT

No, No, not NERD (I already am one of those) but I have started the training to be on my Neighborhood Emergency Response Team. The program grew out of the chaos in the Marina District here in San Francisco after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake struck. There were so many people willing to help and the SF Fire Department recognized that. Out of that tragedy the SF NERT was launched. This program to train residents to know what to do to take care of themselves and their families and subsequently go out into their local areas and aid others. Over the course of six three hour sessions, we will learn:

•How to prepare before it happens
•What to do when the earth starts to shake
•Basic Disaster Skills
•Natural gas, water and electrical controls, why, when and how to shut them off
•Types of fire, and using extinguishers to put it out
•Hazardous Materials awareness in the home, on the road, and all around you
•Disaster Medicine
•Health considerations for the rescuer
•Opening airways
•Stopping bleeding and shock position
•S.T.A.R.T. triage
•Minor injuries and burns
•Light Search and Rescue
•Different types of construction and where to look for damage
•How to classify damaged buildings
•Building marking system
•Interior search patterns
•Lifting heavy objects and mechanical advantage
•Victim carries
•Team Organization and Management
•City Disaster Plan and where the NERTs fit
•NERT Incident Command System, managing the disaster
•Disaster Psychology
•Terrorism and NERT
•Extinguishing fires
•Triaging and treating moulaged victims
•Extricating a victim trapped by heavy timbers
•Interior search for reported missing persons
•Exterior building damage assessment

Wow, that's a ton. But the coolest thing is that upon completing the course, I will receive my own yellow hardhat that identifies me as a NERT. I'm a NERT.

You never know what you're going to get

The word of the week was PANACHE, which seemed to fluster more than a few callers. Most of the messages used the word to describe something (or me) as having flair/verve/elan. However, once again Joe H. of Greenbrae, CA gets special mention for using PANACHE as describing a hat with ornamental feathers or a plume.

But the winner this week is John H. or San Francisco who informed me that Panache Choclatier was his chocolate store of choice when he lived in Kansas City, MO. And we have a winner.....

The new word has been recorded on my outgoing message and is ready to go. Have fun!

They must have done their research

The first day of school in August is one of total logistics. It's a bit easier for advisors who don't advise freshman because all of our students already know the ropes and our role is simply to collect forms, distribute forms and make sure we ourselves get our picture taken. It was this last task that threw me off today because instead of sitting on a box and looking at the camera, the photo company now has each and every person KNEELING and then having their hands gripping metal bars at chest height. Yeah, that's what I thought too. I think the shock of this new method for posing just might cause our photos to be even worse than normal. But, as I said, the company must have done tests and research and found that kneeling is the way to go.

A new skill for my resume

PICKLING

Our first winner

Those of you who call me have, for the past six months, heard a very somber sounding outgoing message from me. Last week, my friend Carlos P. said that enough was enough and that it must be changed. Therefore, I have recorded a new outgoing message that has a much more chipper sounding me, but I've also added a bit of a twist. I've instituted, for those who choose to participate, a little contest in which the caller must leave a message and use a word of my choosing. Our word this first week was TURBULENT.

I must applaud my friends and those who called me as 75% went along and successfully used the word correctly in the message. My Mom, however, when she heard the new outgoing message, thought she had dialed the wrong number.

I hope to be disciplined about posting a transcript of the winning message here on the blog. This weeks winner is David C. of Casselberry, FL.

"Oh the turbulent and tumultuous times we live in. My kitty was at the vet getting a bath this morning. She had such a turbulent experience that the vet said please don't bring her back as we will not bathe her"

I must however, include the message left by Tim A. of Princeton, NJ who didn't use turbulent, but went his own way to leave this witty message.

"The state flower of Indiana is the peony. The state bird is the cardinal. And the state..........what would you call Ernie......you're a bit like a stalker. So the Indiana state stalker is Ernie"

Honorable mention must go to Joe H. or Greenbrae, CA for using the adjective and noun form of the work turbulent. One must also go to Carlos P. of Santa Cruz, CA for using the word morose in conjunction with turbulent.

On a whim

While in New York, I got the rare opportunity to chat with my friend Jeff O. He's one of those great friends who I can not see or talk to for two years and when we get together, we pick up where we left off seamlessly. Jeff has spent this past year in San Juan, PR, having the honor of clerking for the Puerto Rico based judge on the United States Court of Appeals - 1st Circuit.

He had invited me (as well as many other friends) to visit him there. Many had, but I had yet to make it there. I learned that the upcoming weekend, August 12th and 13th, was his last weekend in Puerto Rico. I took the bull by the horns, as the saying goes, and extended my trip by five days. Instead of returning to the Bay Area on the 9th as scheduled, I instead flew to San Juan. I landed on the afternoon of the 9th and spent the evening walking around Old San Juan.

A particularly beautiful street in Old San Juan

Jeff's apartment was the top floor of the blue building. It was on Calle de la Cruz in Old San Juan.

I spent Thursday out Ocean Beach and Condado. It was windy and it rained intermittently, but I had a wonderful time walking on the beach and walking back into Old San Juan. Swimming in the ocean was fantastic. That evening, Jeff's former downstairs neighbor, Jeff and I went to an woman's art show and then out for dinner and some open mic music.

On Friday, Jeff had to do some business at the Puerto Rico DMV, called CESCO. I accompanied him just because I sensed that some huge frustrating fiasco might happen and being that Puerto Rico is not an efficient nor customer service oriented culture, I might be witness to some hilarity. Unforunately, everything went smoothly, but I paid for my desire for chaos when later on that afternoon, I got on the bus which ended up going the wrong way and I spent almost two hours on that bus before I returned back to Old San Juan.

On Saturday, Jeff and I rented a car and drove along the "Ruta Panoramica", which traverses the mountainous East/West spine of the island of Puerto Rico. At the end of the day, we strategically ended up near the Western Coast because we were on a quest to find Mangosteens, which are said to be the one of the most delicious things to eat in the world. Alas, we failed. That night, we spent swam in the pool, played ping pong and ate dinner all at The Hacienda Juanita

The view of the Mountains of Puerto Rico from the Ruta Panoramica

Sunday was spent in search of a waterfall, which due to my inability to walk on large slippery boulders, we didn't reach. But we then drove to Shack's Beach where we met up with some of Jeff's friends and spent the afternoon laying on the beach and snorkeling.

This picture doesn't do Shack's Beach justice

I left Old San Juan on Monday, but here are some final pictures.

A view of the "Del Morro", the centuries old fort that guards the entrance to the harbor of San Juan.

A turret along the city wall, which encloses Old San Juan.

Shaved Ice, a Puerto Rican specialty. The flavor here is Guanabana, which I have no idea what that is but I like the flavor.

The area that leads up to the "Del Morro".

What a treat to get to visit Jeff and to enjoy Puerto Rico. But I have to say, the amount of trash that lies on the street and sides of the road is truly shameful. But, in the end, it truly is the Caribbean at its best.

I Heart New York

For a Westerner like me, New York City has been a "scary" place. It's the big city, and back in the 1970's, it was, in my mind, a dirty crime-ridden city. When applying to colleges, I essentially put a big X through the New York Metropolitan Area. While living in Ithaca, my first significant visit to "the City" was with friends as we travelled and stayed with my New York City native friend Nora B. I was so petrified that I memorized her home phone number, which I still can recite to this day.

Over the course of these many years, I would visit New York City many times, but never for more than a couple days and always running around trying to meet up with the friends who were putting me up or when I was at Lawrenceville, making sure I didn't miss the last train back to New Jersey.

I would hear everyone around me rave about New York and there is that rabid core who could never imagine living anywhere else. But, I never really got it. I enjoyed visiting New York, but it wasn't yet in my soul.

Well, things changed during this last visit. I spent four full days in New York, staying two nights at my friend Jennifer C. studio in Murray Hill and then two nights with Peter S. who lives in Brooklyn Heights. Having only to move once changed my entire visit. I arrived on Saturday August 5th in the early evening after a long Greyhound ride from Ithaca. That night, I saw "The Producers". It was great, although I spent a great deal of time thinking about how great it would have been to see Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane doing the two lead roles.

Sunday morning, I awoke and stepped out in search of Bagels, which I found a mere block and a half from where I was staying. I spent the morning reading the Sunday New York Times in New York City. This leisurely morning was the first I had ever spent in New York. I walked to visit my friends Gayle A and Rob M for lunch and then we all strolled over to Columbus Circle where I bid farewell to them and spent the afternoon in Central Park. That evening, I took the subway to Queens to have family dinner with Jennifer C.'s family.

Monday the 7th had me arise and pop on over to take a tour of the United Nations. After that I packed myself up and moved myself to Brooklyn Heights to meet Peter. He gave me a tour of Park Slope, after which we ate lunch and walked through Prospect Park. In the late afternoon, we walked around the waterfront of the Red Hook neighborhood. I have to give credit to New York for having invested a great deal of money developing and maintaining great parks and green spaces.

Tuesday the 8th was my last day and I started out with a walk along the Brooklyn Promenade and then did a bit of shopping on Broadway in SOHO. Peter met me for lunch at Katz's Deli. This Deli is where they filmed the famous "I'll have what she's having scene" from the movie, "When Harry Met Sally". Afterwards, Peter and I took a tour of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. I then took a bus down to the South Street Seaport to meet Ian M. to take in The Bodies Exhibition. I then took the subway back to Park Slope to meet up with Peter, Simeon S. and Mary Bentley H. (a shout out to all three for putting up with my surly behavior) at The Applewood Restaurant which was holding a fundraiser for an Upstate New York farm that was devastated by the floods in July.

As you can see, I packed in quite a lot in my four days, but it felt leisurely. I guess what I came to understand and really love about New York City, is that everything is at your fingertips, seemingly 24 hours a day, and usually you are getting the best in the nation, if not world, of what you desire. But mostly, what I came to find fascinating and amazing is the juxtaposition of two things that are completely unrelated. The Tenement Museum is located at 97 Orchard St and right next door, at 95 Orchard St., is the Il Laboratorio De Gelato. How cool is that?

My Nickname was "-2"

The original crux of this East Coast trip was to attend the Cornell Adult University (CAU). I was interested, and partcipated in, a weeklong seminar on the history of the US Senate. Even though my undergraduate major was Geological Sciences (and Economics but the department handed me a degree with me really knowing essentially nothing) I've recently have wondered if I got the wrong major starting with the letter G. If I were to go back to college now, I would more than likely major in Government. The added bonus was that the course was taught by two highly regarded professors who's names were always mentioned in reverent tones. The two professors claimed that teaching in the CAU was a highly sought after gig and one of them boasted that he had started teaching CAU courses in 1968 at which I promptly, and smugly blurt out, "I was -2" and thus I was called by that name.

We had lectures on:
1) The Historical Constructs of the US Senate
2) The Great Compromise of 1850
3) The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
4) Woodrow Wilson and the Treaty of Versailles
5) Joseph McCarthy
6) The Civil Rights Bill of 1957
7) The Filibuster
8) Watched the movie "Advise and Consent"
9) The confirmation of Clarence Thomas
10) The Impeachment of Bill Clinton

We always had two hour long lectures in the morning followed by an afternoon discussion of the mornings lectures and the current political scene. I found it a totally different educational experience to actually be interested in class enough to listen and not need to take notes because I was absorbing what I was hearing out of sheer intellectual interest.

Outside of class, it was wonderful to be back in Ithaca. If I knew how well alumni were treated, I would have been more active alumni activities earlier!! During the week, I went swimming in one of the famous gorges that border the Cornell campus, ate at the Moosewood restaurant, visited for an afternoon and evening with friends Michelle P and Mike B and their very happy son, Raymond and played a round of golf at the Cornell golf course.

However, on the day before I left, I was in the dining hall grabbing a piece of French Bread before I headed out and I ran into a student that I taught at HRS and was working as an RA this summer. Sam W is in between her sophomore and junior years at Cornell and we spent Friday evening walking around campus and had dinner.

Sam W and I after dinner. I must note that the man who took the picture asked if we were a couple. I don't look that young, people.

In front of the building I lived in my junior year. Nothing has changed.

This last photo needs some explanation. In college, friends of mine would reserve the Lynah Ice Rink for an hour every once in a while, usually at 1AM, and we would get together and play hockey. Well, I tried playing hockey. It was just a blast to get out there on the ice. We took this picture (my friend Jeff O and I have no clue what Omega Beta Kappa was supposed to stand for), framed it and nailed it to the wall of the Chapter House Bar on Stewart Street right off campus. We did this in 1992 and the picture is still on the wall, as seen below.

It's pretty easy to see how young I looked. Jeff is kneeling and is located second from the right in his row.

Who says you can't go "home" again??