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?