Life's an adventure & you just have to live it!

The Smokies

2009-03-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

Since my last post we have visited my sister A and R and little O. We had a wonderful time. Little O is somethng else. I finally did finish the electrical work I was doing over there. If I do say so myself I did a terrific job.

After spending some time (3 weeks)in God's Country (the homestead)I headed out to the Smokey Mountains. I stayed in the park near Gatlinburg. They say that the Smokies are the most visited National Park so I was fortunate to have gone right before the big rush. What made my trip extra nice was all the help I received from the Law Enforcement Park Rangers and that I stayed in their compound. Since I had the best guides I got to see the best parts of the park. Places that most people don't ever see in the park. I hiked a total of 20 miles way into the back country of the park in 3 days and was able to go to some other remote areas of the park by vehicle. I hiked anywhere from an elevation of 1400 ft to 3700 ft. I hardly ever saw anyone while hiking in the back country, it was just me and the wilderness.

The park was totally amazing. It is huge and most of the trails are only accessable by hiking. I took some beautiful pictures of animals, vistas, streams, cascades, and waterfalls. I also went to the highest point at 6600 ft by vehicle. There is certainly more to do at the park and I wish I could of stayed longer. But that leaves me more to look forward to on my next trip to the Smoky Mountains.

I will spend 5 days at the homestead and then head out to New Braunfels.

Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Boston & Virgina and Someday Montana!

2009-02-04T21:53:00.000-08:00

Just spent about 2 weeks in Boston visiting O, family and the Melrose Social Group and had a wonderful time. There was a lot of snow on the ground and it snowed about 3 days while I was there. Being in the cold and snow like that makes me want to have a place in Montana. I will have to go back to look for a place in Montana one day soon. The only problem is that Continental has no direct flights to Montana, and I prefer direct flights.

After two short days in God's country Alicia and me will be flying to Virginia to visit animated little O and family.

I finished reading a book "Into the Wild" given to me by O. I really enjoyed the book even though it was a trajedy. I mainly enjoyed the part about Alaska. Almost finishing a book given to me by Alicia titled "Freakanomics", rather interesting. Actually it talks about a lot of things I knew already but it is written very well and the arthors have a very interesting view point.

Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Beautiful Vail

2009-01-15T22:31:00.000-08:00

We ended 2008 by visiting Vail on our yearly ski trip. Vail is a big and beautiful place. Vail is located in the White River National Forest and it has amazing scenery across the back bowls, seven in all. Ofcourse the village at the base of the mountain is lovely with all the shops and restaurants. This year we stayed at the Vail Cascade, first class accomodations with ski in ski out.

Alicia is fast as lighting on the slopes so I thought it was time for me to take a ski class cause I had been getting into some bad ski habits that were slowing me down. I met a gorgeous girl named Carmen in the ski class from Cartagena, Colombia. We spent about 1 1/2 days sking together. She is 30 years old and living in New York City. Carmen was a talker and I like talkers. Carmen and I were too slow for Alicia, so Alicia left us behind and went off on her on. I think I learned just about everything about Carmen's life in those two days. She would even talk as we were sking and if anybody knows how to ski it isn't easy to talk and ski together. She was real nice.

Well Vail was wonderful but what else could it have been, it's Vail.

Take Care, Jorge

Bye to 2008

2009-01-14T19:39:00.000-08:00

Well I have been so busy in 2008 and it went by so fast that I did not post anything.

So here is a short recap.

I took a lot of trips in 2008 so many in fact that in a 2 month span I went on 9 trips. From Texas to Boston to Florida to San Diego to Montana to Boston back to Texas. I think in total about 34 trips, including Playa del Carmen and the Caymans. I love the Caymans. A very beautiful place with extremely wonderful people. Playa Del Carmen is probably the best place to visit on the Yucatan peninsula, It is half way between Cozumel and Cancun. So you can visit all three places in one trip.

The trip I would have to say was the best one was RV trip Alicia and I took up north to the Blackhills, then further north to North Dakota over to Montana and then down to YellowStone, Grand Tetons and then back to Texas. I have always wanted to visit these States and we wanted to do the trip in an RV cause we had once taken an RV trip to Yuma, Arizona and the Grand Canyon and we loved that trip a lot.

This RV trip was through beautiful country. We went through a huge hail storm in the Pine Forest of Nebraska to see the beauty of the Blackhills rise above the flat plains of South Dakota and North Dakota. We saw the beauty of the Powder, Rosebud, and Tongue Rivers. The flat plains of Montana with buttes, the green country side west of the Powder River in Montana, the huge Carter mountain range rising above 12,000 feet, which we went up and over to the other side while being hit by a snow storm at the top of the mountain, to the beauty of YellowStone to the Grand Tetons.
We even got snowed in while in Yellowstone cause of a blizzard in July. We had to stay in a cabin for one night on the north side of Yellowstone cause the roads were blocked cause of the blizzard. Our RV park was on the north side of the lake just about the middle of the park.

I would have to say that driving the RV was fun and this type of trip sure is an experience. We were fortunate to have a luxurious 40 foot , well equipped RV. This made trip very enjoyable. I forgot to say that we also went on a 40 mile bike ride in the Blackhills up and down mountains with a change in elevation of 1400 feet that almost killed us. Alicia ate an entire large pizza on our return. We also hiked up about 2000 feet to Harveys Peak in the Blackhills.

I had read a couple of books given to me by O about the Sioux indians who's range was the area we traveled in the RV. I now know why the Sioux held the Blackhills as sacred ground. We retraced a few of the paths that the Sioux had traveled. For some reason I really have an affection for Indian things. Our RV trip was quite an adventure.

So 2008 was a wonderful year.
Take Care, Jorge

Was here and now gone to the Caymans.

2008-03-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

I've been very busy since returning from Vegas, cathing up at the farm and business. We also went to Austin for one weekend and I made a trip up to Boston and got a lot accomplished.

People say that the farm is a lot of work, but what isn't, unless you want to be a couch potatoe. At least I enjoy doing what I do.

I've been doing my winter stuff at the farm, cutting and burning brush, building and mending fence, and planting trees. At the homestead I've been working on the house, painting inside, and I've redone the rose garden. Looks real nice now.

Well I've also done it. I've bought myself a new truck. A nice big Sequoia, what a nice truck, more buttons then I will ever know how to operate. I'm also doing my best to use up all the oil in the ground since a lot of other folks have been trying to conserve, leaves more for me to use and also maybe will prove them right, in that oil will be depleted one day.

Well we are off to the Caymans tomorrow, be back next week. Got to post Vegas pictures.
Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Off to Vegas!

2008-01-17T20:15:00.000-08:00

Well we've been home now for about a week and we are off to Las Vegas this weekend.

I've gotten a lot done while here at the homestead. At the farm I've cut some brush, tended to the animals, and did a little hunting. There is always something to do. At the house and at the business I've been cleaning up still. I don't know if I will ever finish that task.

I just finished reading a book that O gave me titled "America Invulnerable" by James Chace and Caleb Carr. I found the book very interesting. It's about America's quest for abosulte security from 1812 to present. It seems like todays foreign policy concerning security started with President Woodrow Wilson.

Well till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Vail

2008-01-11T19:30:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Houston from Miami at around 8 pm and we left for Vail the next day around 5 pm. Just enough time for a quik visit to the farm that morning.

Vail was beautiful as always. No serious injuries for our group. But we did see alot of other folks who were injured. We went with another 21 year old girl and two 15 year old girls, and one of thier parents. The parents could not keep up so it was me and the two 21 year olds two days and me and the two 21 year olds and the two 15 year olds the last day. The village at the base is really nice and the lanscape is something else. It snowed about 12 in each day we were there.

At the the top of the mountains the wind really blew. One time I believe the wind blew me back 3 ft while I was moving forward. Alicia was really good as always. I think she will be ready for the double black diamonds next time. We skied blue, moguls, and blacks, went off the cliffs and into the trees and I think Alicia went airborne at least twice. The back side of Vail is awesome. I think there are about 37 lifts in Vail. It really takes a long time to go from the back side to the front side. I was amazed.

Vail is truly beautiful. The last time I had visited was about 10 years ago. We want to go back cause we didn't get to ski all the runs.

Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

New Years in Miami!

2008-01-10T22:53:00.000-08:00

Well we had a fast turnaround in Houston. We arrived from Tennessee at 9:00 pm, Went to the farm that next morning and took off to Miami that afternoon around 5 pm.

In Miami we had a reunion with O and family and her sister I and her family, and their parents and brother. We ate, went shopping, sight seeing, to the beach, and Alicia went to the zoo with CF, RAF, and T. We also had a News Eve party at O's mother's house. I bought fire works with CF and Alicia and the kids loved the long show, especially the adult kids. Besides us there were cousins of O's there. F&J and family, and H and family, a total of 24 people.

Next is Vail. Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Awaiting another New Year!

2008-01-09T18:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and well we are back from another long trip. We went to three different places; Tennessee, Florida, and Colorado. Since this trip was long I will comment on the trip over the next three days. One day for each place thus done over three days, so as not to make any blog too long.

First there was Christmas in Tennessee. It was wonderful to see the whole Tennessee clan over Christmas. Alicia and me had a really good time. We ate, went shopping, played football, hiked in a nice park, ate some more, and opened presents. The opening of presents was extremely long cause the custom here is to open one present at a time. It was a nice and different experience.

Some folks have asked me why we have given the presents that we gave. Well, my parents and us were the poorest of the family while I was growing up and I remember very well instances when my uncles, who have since died, gave us presents that to me seemed very generous. I truly remember feeling something very special by their generosity. I don't believe gifts have to be large or expensive to be good gifts. I believe the giving of a gift is what means the most, the thought is what means the most, and as I have stated before the most generous gift of all that someone can give to someone else is the gift of their time. Giving of your own time to someone else. Cause once you give someone your time you can never get it back.

And so, if one is fortunate enough to be able to give someone something that one believes would make that other person very happy, then one can make that gift. Just the giving of the gift is what is satisfying, but also if one sees that the other person really appreciated, needed, and/or was grateful for the gift, well then that is a bonus.

I truly believe that one should try to live each day as if it was their last. Thus making sure that we capitalize on every opportunity that we have to let the people close to us know that they have meant something special to our life.

Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Mourning our loss!

2007-12-12T19:25:00.000-08:00

Near the end of my trip to Boston Alicia called with the bad news that our horse Hercules was down. He had been getting worst the last months, but I was hoping he would come around. The vet had old me that he was just old and the fact that he was missing so many teeth didn't help. I was very sad that it had finally come to this, but the saddest part for me was the agony Alicia went through. She found him like that and she had to put him down. I really felt for her. One of the saddest moments of my life. I buried him when I got back, next to our beloved dog, Cody.

My brother visited for a few days to do a little hunting. The conditions were not good so he did not kill anything

Well I'm home for almost 2 weeks and then we have a very busy travel schedule where we return home and then leave again the next day 3 times, and puts us back home the last time the second week of 2008.

Thanksgiving Feast!

2007-11-26T17:38:00.000-08:00

First Vegas was terrific. I find the life in Vegas interesting. I saw a few people drop a considerable amount of money on the tables.

Next our time in Maryland with J,E,M,C, was really nice. AA, RB, and OB also joined us for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. M and C are a blast. We also visited a park in Virginia that was beautiful. M, C, and me did some hiking at the park in 28 deg weather. We walked about a mile out into a prairie and had lunch on some boulders and then we hiked down a mountain about two miles to see a water falls. It was cold cause of the elevation. Not only did we visit the park but we also played board games, did a puzzle, walked the dogs, and cooked and ate. I say walked the dogs, cause Alicia is into dog training. She is really good at it. I also good to do a little bit of home improvement, my favorite.

Tonight I have a flag football game to attend at 10 pm and then I fly out to Boston to visit O and family in the mid day tomorrow. Short visit, one week.

Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

The Start of Hunting Season!

2007-11-14T22:05:00.000-08:00

This is pecan season and well the pecans are not as plentiful as last year. But I did have an extra good year for hay. I got 3 cuttings and 65 round bales this year, that's a record for me.

Also hunting season has started. Either it is getting too easy or I have just gotten better at hunting. Shot a good sized spike opening night with Alicia, and my first real 10 pointer with a heavy rack and good weight during the first week. Seen lots of other good ones also. Still hot though. It should get even better as the temperature gets colder.

Well enough, cause I'm off to Las Vegas, I get back Saturday night and then we're off to Maryland for Thanksgiving.

Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Home Again!

2007-10-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

Got back home and lots of work ahead for me. Hunting season starts this weekend and I still have to trim some of the trails and cut some brush. I've seen lots of deer since being back. Alicia has gotten real good with her rifle. She can put a 3 inch grouping at 100 yds. She'll make a good sniper. What a difference the right tool makes. She wants a pig so we'll see what happens.

In Boston I had a wonderful time. We all attended a revolutionary war reinactment and it was terrific. I like seeing the kids all excited. I also got a lot of work done. Build a garden shed for O, organized the basement, what a job that was, put in 3 didicated quad electrical outlets, rewired two other circuits, other misc things, and visited a lot. I have come to realize that I sure do get a lot of enjoyment building things and doing electrical work.

Alicia also had a terrific time in Virginia. Boy, they both do sound the same on the phone. OB is always a blast. We've also planned our trips for the next 6 months, and yes busy schedule as always.

Till next time, You'll Take Care, Jorge

We're off Again!

2007-10-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

I'm heading back to Boston and Alicia is going to Virginia.

Alicia got her new rifle and boy what a difference the right tool makes in performance. She was really able to handle the rifle and shoot in the center for a perfect shot. The pigs better watch out. Her new rifle is perfect for her, she was always having difficulties with the scope or the kick back in the past but now this is the one for her. I should of bought her this rifle before.

I got to plant the trails with wheat, oats, and clover, and also did a little trimming and mowing. We'll see what the coming season brings.

It's dry as a bone at the farm as we have not gotten any rain for 3 weeks +. But it's got to rain some day, hopefully soon. I thought it was dry enough to mow the back 40 but the creek was still wet cause of the earlier rains. I tried to cross at the 4 good crossings but ended up getting stuck in the creek, even though I picked the best crossing. I had to get the backhoe to pull the tractor out of the creek.
I might not get to mow behind the creek. too bad. I've got to improve the creek crossings.

Till Next Time, Take Care, Jorge

Hunting Preparations Begin.

2007-09-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

I'm back at the homestead with plenty to do. I have to start getting the farm ready for hunting season. Trail trimming, planting of winter grasses, and get my rifle ready. Alicia will be trying out her new rifle, she wants to put pork on the table.

Back in Boston I had a terific time. I got to see one of O's cousins and his family that I had not seen in a long time. They are a wonderful family. Also got to work on a brick path in the yard, trimmed some doors, and got to do some recon on some electrical work. I had a good time.

Alicia gave me a knew book to read about the civil war written from the accounts of the people there at Gettysburg. The book is titled "Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara. So far the book is very interesting. The book describes the strategies involved at the batttle from both sides.

Take Care, Jorge

Back at the Homestead

2007-09-02T23:18:00.000-07:00

Back from my trip from Memphis to Mineapolis to help my brother. Of the whole drive I would have to say that I found my drive thru Iowa very beautiful. Iowa looks just like I would picture America. Rolling hills of corn and farm houses with silos. It was a very beautiful site, I was impressed.

Back at the farm we're back to the usual plus getting ready for the hunting season.
We have definitly received a lot of rain this year so far. The most noticable difference is that the rain was constant. At the farm we usually have a very dry summer were we don't get any rain for about 8 weeks and the temperature is in the 100's and so everything dries up. This year was cooler, the 100's only lasted for about a week and the rains were constant. Must be global cooling, LTS.

I'm also getting ready for my trip to Boston to see O and the family. You'll take care, Till next time, Jorge

Work, Work, Work!

2007-08-27T05:44:00.000-07:00

Well I've been home 2 weeks and tomorrow I'm flying to Memphis to meet my brother then we're driving to Minnesota, then I fly back from Minnesota. He wants me to help him with something.
At the farm I've been catching up on the farm duties, mowing, fixing fences, cutting brush. Had some friends over who have two girls, 7 and 15 years old. They rode the horses and I took them on a ATV ride behind the creek, on boy, and they learned to drive the tractor. They had a blast.

Till Next time, Take Care, Jorge

Costa Rica Wrap Up.

2007-08-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

Costa Rica is like the real Disney World. Where Dreams (of adventure do) Come True. Again the people are extrememly nice, friendly, helpful, and smile at you all the time. This is true even if the encounter involves no money. They always say "Con mucho gusto", which means gladly or they were very happy to assist you. I use to say that the people from the Cayman Islands were the friendlyest people I had ever met but now I am going to have to change this to Costa Ricans.

Visiters should not exchange any money. They except Dollars as well as the Colon (their money). Both currencies are used as if they were one. There is an exchange rate. The locals it seems wake up at 5 am as the sun rises and go to sleep at 7 pm. Sun sets about 6 pm and the rains start about 4 pm. We got to see the beach where they filmed the movie Christopher Colon.

Everyone in Costa Rica has insect bite marks on their body and we both got around 10 each. Alicia got a weird one on her leg but we are watching it closely. Alicia made all the arrangements for the trip and she did an outstanding job.

Pura Vida, Till Next Time, Take Care, Jorge

We Have To Say Goodbye!

2007-08-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

Well we have finished our time in paradise. Today we thought we would plan our day so we would not get wet, but we missed it by 10 min. and in those 10 min. we got shoaked. C´est la vie.

The closest town not counting the samll area we are in with all the resort places is aout 5 blocks by 5 blocks, and this is a big town. It is about a 15 min car or bus trip down the mountain and away from the resort area. Our resort is 535 feet above the beach on a hill and we have a beautiful view of the beach and ocean.

I found out that the yearly average rainfall here is 14 feet, that is right 14 feet. I also found out that the one lane bridges were built by the Chiquita company 100 years ago to transport the banana crop by rail. So the one lane bridges were train bridges at one time, that is why they are one lane. The banana plantations are gone cause of the banana blight of 1940 and were replaced by the African Palms for palm oil which they transport by truck.

I can see why so many Americans have come to settle here, the beauty, the adventure, the people, and the opportunities. I feal sorry for the locals cause it seems like all the property and businesses are owned by out siders. The population of the whole country is about 3.8 million (the size of Houston), about 500,000 from Nicaragua. Costa Rica is about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire in land. The Land prices are way up there above what the average person can pay. You can probably buy some cheap land in the jungle though.

Costa Rica literally means "Rich Coast" and their motto is "Pura Vida" which literally means "Pure Life" but they mean "The way Life should be lived".

The Costa Ricans are wonderful, extremely nice people.
This is Pura Vida, Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Pura Vida!

2007-08-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

It didn't rain today but we had an earthquake. A small one (nobody knows how big it was cause they do not have TV) right as we were going to sleep that woke us up cause the room and windows were shaking. First one for both of us. I thought the wind was blowing extremely hard like a hurricane but the wind was calm as the morning day. It seemed like it lasted 5 min but it was probably 1 min.

Alicia decided to get certified in scuba diving and she did. PADI certified in scuba diving. Alicia was a bit scared at the site where we first went into the ocean cause the conditions were real bad, visibility about 1 foot and real rough waves. I would have to say that the conditions were extreme. Visibility was 2 feet and the waters were real rough at the second site we tried. Worst I have ever seen. But she did really good but the other student kept getting lost cause of the visibility. The instructor was excellent. I was also in the water plus a Dive Master and another diver. The third and fourth dives the next day were a bit better. Visibility was about 15 feet and rough waves which is poor. We got to see a lot of fish, lobsters, rays, octopus, star fish, coral, and other things.

Well we got shoaked again today cause of the rains. We always get caught in the rain. We did bring ponchos but it doesn't help.

Another day in paradise, Pura Vida, as they say here,

These are the nicest people,
Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Zipping Along the Tree Canopy

2007-08-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

After another 1 1/2 ride into the jungle and up the mountains we arrived at the canopy place. Not as bad, but again very bad roads, one lane bridges, side of cliffs, and animals. This was a very good experience.

We zipped over twenty times along the tree canopies over the jungle, tree platform to tree platform, repelled down 80 to 100 feet a couple of times, and swung from tree to tree on a rope. The longest zip was about 300 ft. A lot of up hill walking was also involved in getting to the starting point. Good day but again we got shoaked when the rains came. Everything starts really early about 7 am cause of the 4 pm rains. Even if you finish by 4 you get wet with any evening activities.

Sloths are everywhere and so are monkeys. We have also seen jesus christ lizards (they walk on water), whistling ducks, howler monkeys, and caphucin monkeys amongest other animals I do not remember. Also now know where teak wood comes from and what the tree looks like, and what palm oil is, (used for sun tan lotion, cooking, and cosmetics). Also seen many beautiful flowers and that there is a cure for every sickness in the world in the jungle. Also saw a walking tree. Also learned other survivor things like what to eat in the jungle, like termites (taste like peanuts).

Great place to come to if you can leave the luxuries of life behind. Our room does have a/c but no TV. Almost everything is outdoors, even kitchens and bathrooms. It seeems like only bedrooms are indoors but no a/c.

It is a tropical paradise, Till next time, take care, Jorge

White Water Rafting is the BEST!

2007-08-10T17:12:00.001-07:00

White Water Rafting is all and more then I ever thought It would be. Our tour not only was white water rafting but I would also say a jungle tour as we had to go 1 1/2 deep into the jungle and up the mountains to get to the starting point. We were on a large open big military type 4x4 vehicle and it was slow going in some parts cause of the incline, the one lane road and bridges, cliffs, and the animals on the road. I think the roads really looked more like trails.

The back country is just amazing. I would think that this is how it was when the USA was being settled back in the 1800, relatively speaking. The Europeans would of probably thought of the USA as I see Costa Rica today. We have seen places that no human has probably walked on and some places that have no electricity and no phone lines. Three or four little shacks on the side of mountains and we saw 2 villages of 100 people that had to get to their village over the river in cable cars.

The tour guides worked really hard on this adventure plucking people and things out of the raging waters. The river we were on is rated a 3 or 4 out of 5. It depends on the amount of water in the river. For us they said it was close to a 4. There were 3 rafts on our trip down the river and our raft was the only one were nobody fell off. I say off cause you sit on the side of the raft not inside the raft. We lost some things from the raft like water bottles but that's all. Our raft was us and a family from Boston with two girls.

The rapids, rocks, and trees were something else. The other two rafts had people falling off and the guides worked really fast and extremely hard to pull them out and then they even retrieved the oars. That is, the guide from the raft that lost people or things was the guide that had to pick them up. The other guides did not help cause they were busy with their rafts. It seemed to me that the people on the other rafts did not know what to do or could not do it so the guide had to do all the work on retrieving what falls out. I think I would of been able to help if our raft had any people fall out. Like the head guide said "Do't worry if you fall off and we can't pick you up, just turn right when the river flows out into the ocean and you will get to your resort".

We all did get a safty and procedure talk at the beginning that I thought was really good. This is something that anybody that likes adventure has to do. Ofcourse here you have to also enjoy the primitive country. It also rained on us as we went down the river but it didn't mater as we were completely wet anyways from going in and out of the water and being hit by a wall of water in the rapids. We were wet, wet, and wet.

I can't say enough but we both looked at each other at the end and said WOW this is terrific and we would do it again and again.

Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Costa Rica is It!

2007-08-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

Now I know why so many Americans talk about this place. It is beautiful. The people are extremely nice. I think that the locals are desendents of Germans, Italians, and some Spaniards.

This place is not for those that like the modern things in life.
The roads are bad and the one lane bridges are dangerous. It rains here about 4 pm every day. About 95 percent of the places here are open to the outside.

When we landed we got picked up by our personal driver and hotel rep that took us on the 3 1/2 hour trip to the resort. On the way the driver stopped on a bridge so we could see the huge crocodiles. 16 foot animals with about a 3 foot head.

On the first day our personal guide took us on a tour of the botanical jungle. We saw Sloths, 2 toe and 3 toe. Sloths are important to me cause I remember Alicia writing a paper when she was small about Sloths. We have talked about them every since and now we have seen them. We saw monkeys and many other animals and plants.

Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Off to Costa Rica

2007-08-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

Well I've been home for a while and I have tried to catch up on chores. Spent a lot of time at the farm: shredding, cutting brush, clearing fence lines, burning brush, and taking care of the animals. It sure is nice to be working out at the farm and see wildlife as one works. The weather has been warm but I likes it hot. I threw a blade as I was shredding the other day, (it's kind of dangerous to have a 2 ft. 25 lb. chunk of steel come off rotating at 1500 rpm). This will give me something to do when I get back.

At the homestead the big project was installing new carpet. I had help picking out the color, and I would have to say it looks good. I was working ahead of the 2 guys installing, screwing down the entire second floor flooring. No more squeaking as you walk around on the second floor and stairs. What a job, we worked till 8 at night.

Well we're (Alicia and me) off to Costa Rica tomorrow. White water rafting, zip lining, and canopy watching. We'll get to see what everyone is talking about Costa Rica.

I would like to say thanks to everyone who has made a positive impact on my life before I leave on a trip. Love you all, till next time, you'll take care, Jorge

Co2!

2007-07-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

Some scientist believe that the largest component of the earth's warming is Co2. There are other smaller factors like the sun's brightness, cosmic rays, and volcanic activity to mention a few others.

Some things about Co2: Co2 is only .o4% of the atmosphere. .04% is a very small amount. If you had 2,500 dimes, .04% would be 1 of those dimes. Without any Co2 in the atmosphere the earth's average temperature would be 23 deg F.

However scientist do it they have determined that the average temperature of the earth is 59 deg F. In the 150 years since humans have been recording the earth's temperature the average temperature has risen 1.8 deg F.

Earth's surface and atmosphere absorb the sun's energy and radiate it out. Thermal equilibrium dictates that the power level of the incoming radiation matches what goes out. Earth's temperature rises or falls by its own mechanisms until radiation balance is achieved. Co2 modifies this balance by trapping energy that would of escaped into space.

Humans can not predict climate (listen to the weather report). In fact climate is chaotic (sensitive to intial conditions). So to model how climate responds to different changes one needs precise initial conditions to get exact results, plus we would also have to know how the future will be like (ie. # of cars & factories). We do not know any of this with any precision. All we can do is assume or guess. If our assumptions are off at the beginning, even by a small amount, our extrapolated results will be way off.

Also when it comes to climate there is a lot of cause and effect. Which makes it challenging to determine exactly what causes warming. Some scientist believe that half of the human global warming comes from cause and effect.

For instance warmer air holds more water vapor. Water vapor is a green house gas cause it warms the earth. So as Co2 increases so does water vapor. The Co2 will linger in the atmosphere for decades, but water vapor rains out as conditions change. Aerosols amd clouds trap and reflect sunlight depending on their vertical distribution. The higher they are they reflect, the lower they trap.

The eruption of Mount Pinatube in 1991 dropped the average global temperatures by .9 deg F the following year, the cause was sulfate. The burning of fossil fuels throws 55 billion tons of sulfur into the air, half of this turns into sulfate, which could cool the earth.

The earth responds on its own to changing conditions by its climate. Changes in cloud patterns could cool or warm the earth, and the oceans absorb Co2.

So to wrap this up, it would cost 100's of billions to trillions of dollars to change things by a small amount and then we really would not be sure of the long term effects of what we do. It's nice to have people thinking about different things and I am happy that somebody is thinking about global warming. Am I worried about global warming, ofcourse not. But that does not mean that we shouldn't do the right thing, we also shouldn't change our lifestyles cause of it.

Besides the sun is a dying star, and as the sun dies the energy it sends toward earth will decrease and so one day we will be happy to have more Co2 in the atmosphere.

How about that, till next time, Jorge

Global Warming?

2007-07-22T06:34:00.000-07:00

I love talking about this subject, and I had plenty of opportunity in Europe. Even on one of the legs of my trip back to the USA I sat next to an 18 year old from Kolin (Cologne), Germany on her way to El Paso and this was one of the subjects we talked about. She is in a program were she finishes her high school in the USA.

This is still on my mind so I want to write a small bit about my global warming opinions. First some basics. The earth has been going thru ice ages and warming trends many times in its millions of years of existence. All this even before humans. I have no doubt that we are in a warming trend. In fact some scientist believe that the earth's temperature is rising cause we coming out of an ice age. An example is the small ice age we had between the 14th and 19th century that killed many in Europe.

Next, science is not exact. I can probably find one scientist for every one someone else finds that will have an opposite view. Scientist are all over the place on this subject, how many on each side nobody knows. A recent example of science not being exact is the oil crises in the mid 1970s, when scienctist were saying that we would run out of oil in the next 10 years. Oil prices doubled cause of the scare. Thirty plus years later we still have oil and nobody knows when we will run out. Other examples are all around us.

Also we have only been taking the earth's temperature since the 1850s and only measuring the Co2 (carbon dioxide) levels since the 1950s. I very small time frame (less then 160 years) in the earth's millions of years of existence.

More on Co2 next time, Aufwiedersehen, Jorge

Europe Wrap Up

2007-07-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed the trip to Germany and Italy.

Too many people smoke in Europe. Public transportation, buses and trains, are on the honor system. You are supposed to buy a biglieto, ticket, but there is no one checking. Actually someone did walk thru the train on the way to Pisa checking biglietos but that was the only time after many trips. I was very lucky to have a T-Mobile phone as this is probably the must common carrier in Europe, Vodaphone was second.

Bicycles and people walking everywhere in Germany. Germany was especially enjoyable since Alicia and our friends were there. The German people are extremely nice. They love to talk english, listen to American music, and eat pommes(french fries) with mayonaise. The Porchse ride thru the country side 2 lane roads and the autobahn at 135 mph and more was cool. Berlin was very interesting.

The Toscana area (Tuscany to the USA) of Italy was beautiful, a must see for any traveler. Scooters and people walking everywhere in Italy. They do not know english or spanish and do not understand anything but Italian and they could be a bit nicer. The Italian food is almost exactly like we have here in the USA. They love to eat pizza with french fries on the pizza. It was breath taking walking up to the bell tower in Pisa as I came in from the east and could see the lean as I walked up. Must people walk up to La Piazza del Duomo from the south and do not see the lean on the bell tower right away. Firenze had a lot of character and the Tirrenia coast was beautiful.

Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Hamburg Again!

2007-07-16T19:33:00.001-07:00

Do you know what a Hamburger is? It is someone from Hamburg, Germany, like Texan. In Germany fries are pommes and they are very popular. There sure is a lot of turbine windmills in Germany. Did you know that the sun rises about 4 am and sets around 10:30 pm here? That stints. Got to ride in a Porchse, wow. The maximun speed cars travel on the autobahn is about 135 mph. I like the autobahn.

The W family took me on a tour of a 1200 acre farm owned by CM, HW's sister. GM, WW's cousin will be coming to the USA in August to do a 1 year exchange student program in Denver. This is the same program how we met WW.

Ofcourse I found the farm to be really interesting. They grow iceberg lettuce, potatoes, bio-fuel corn, sod, and christmas trees. We actually witnessed the harvesting of the lettuce. They have about 250 acres in lettuce production. Each field is about 75 acres in size, and in a different stage of growth, ie. just planted, growing, and ready to harvest.

They use two machines each about 24 wind rows wide (75 feet) with 8 workers cutting, 8 workers wrapping, 2 workers packaging, 2 workers stacking, and 2 workers loading and driving the lettuce machine and tractor, all in a smooth operation. I was disappointed to see how much lettuce is wasted, only about 50% of the lettuce is good enough (size and shape) to be sold at market, the rest of the lettuce is left on the field. I tasted the iceberg lettuce in the field and I would to say that it had a better tast then any store bought iceberg lettuce I have tasted.

It was amazing to me how the lettuce is cut and right in the field it is packaged to go directly to the market. Unfortunately the reason for the high waste in the harvesting is that there is only a 3 day window to harvest the lettuce once it is ready. As the workers move thru the field the lettuce towards the end is less marketable cause the crown opens up.

Well my time is up here, going back to the USA,, Aufwiedersehen, Take Care, Jorge

Firenze, Italia

2007-07-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

Firenze or Florence as we call it is an extremely beautiful place with lots of character. The different architecture on the buildings from different eras was stunning.

One thing about Italy there was a MacDonolds at every train or bus station. In Germany it was lots of Burger Kings.

I love Italian food and the food here was terrific. Very much like the Italian food in the USA. So many places to see in Firenze, San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella, Maria Del Duomo, Bargello, Vecchio, Santa Croce, Pointe Vecchio, Santa Spirito, Pota Romana, Galileo, Piazzale Michelangelo, and a lot to be said about each one, plus the view of Firenze from Viale Machiavelli was stunning. I put a lot of miles on my feet in Firenze.

Contrary to what I had heard about being safe in Italy, I found it to be very safe. I saw no problems and there was planty of police. I walked just about the whole place.

Lots of tourist from everywhere. I met a British girl, about mid 30, along the sites that was also taking pictures at the same places I was, she was very nice and not Italian. She was going on the 4 pm train to Pisa and I was on the 6 pm train to Pisa.

Well that is all, back to Hamburg, Take Care, Jorge

Bella Italy

2007-07-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

Pisa and the Torre Campanaria, leaning tower, was amazing. The place is actually called La Piazza del Duomo, cause it is actually a dome, church, and a building with caskets. The bell tower (leaning tower) was built around 1100 and took two hundred years to build. It started leaning right away as the 3 rd ring was finished. They actually kept building it and adjusting for the tilt. longer columns on the south leaning side to compensate for the lean. So it was built leaning, but it has leaned more since and sunk about 6 feet. The bell tower is about 60 m high and has about 8 foot walls at the bottom getting narrower towards the top to about 4 feet. The stairs are in between the walls so they also get narrower towards the top. It is an amazing tower.

Also on the grounds is the Battistero, dome, which is interesting cause you sing and the tone carries loud and full. Also the cathedral was really beautifull. Lots of tourist from everywhere. I did a lot of walking all over town as there are other sites to see. I met a spanish girl, about early 30, who was really nice and helpful, cause she was not Italian. She was taking pictures at the same places I was and we met each other a lot along the way. She was taking the train to Lucca next and I was going to take the train to Firenze.

It seemed to me like everytime I bought a meal it was undici dollarie einquanta centesimi, $11.50. Odd!

Pisa is a beautiful city with lots of character, and La Piazza del Duomo is a must see.

Arreverderci, Take Care, Jorge

Tirrenia, Italy

2007-07-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, The Tirrenia coast is really beautiful. Just like the pictures. No modesty here for the women. One can tell Italy is poorer then Germany, but it has beauty in character. The harbour town of Livorno was old and interesting.

Here in Italy everything, almost, shuts dowm between 12 noon and 4 pm. They work 8 to 12 and 4 to 8. They have very good ice cream here. it is everywhere. Maybe that is why the Italian people are beefier. Scooters everywhere, the samll ones, and everybody smokes it seems.

The beaches are amazing, also visited Calambrone. Was to go to Lucca, an old city, but the tour was cancelled.

The Ialian people are nice but they could be nicer. Even though they are not as nice, deep down I feel a stronger deep down bond to them. Maybe because they are latin, or maybe because I like a challenge. Who Knows? Some how I feel like I can relate more to them. Actually they do not speak good English and they give up trying to understand me. I understand them better then they understand me, and I speak very little Italian. Forget about speaking spanish to them. Even the Germans here try to speak English to them.

The Italian people have the best yellow eyes ever. I am partial to yellow eyes. I met this girl, girl only cause she is younger but she is about 30, who had the most brilliant, stuning beautiful yellow eyes I have ever seen. She said they were real and I do believe her. Those eyes were out if this world.

Pisa next, Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Berlin & Boltenhagen

2007-07-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

The history in Berlin is very interesting. The wall is marked on the pavement with raised brick through out the city. There are at least two places where the wall is still standing. A small 50 foot area at Potsdamer Platz and a 1000 foot area on the Spree river. We visited check Point Bravo and Check Point Charley. Check point Charley was very interesting cause they had pictures of before and after. They have completely built up the area along the wall with new buildings. At some points this area was maybe 2000 feet wide. They also had a museum showing how people escaped. In some places they had memorials for those that had died trying to get out, their life story. We also saw many other sites like the East Germany radio tower, Berliner Dome, the huge Reichstag building, the Braden Burger tor, and others I do not remember. We took a boat river tour and bus tour of Berlin, plus we walked around a lot. The public buildings are amazing. We do not build anything like this in the USA, well maybe public school buildings.

It is interesting to me how any society can be communist or dictatorship or the like when in all these cases people are always wanting to get out. Doesn't this mean anything to people that these forms of goverment are not good. You don't see people killing themselves trying to leave capitalistic societies.

They have this tiny car here called Smart that is so small that they park it perpendicular to the curb when there is any space left between cars, and it does not stick out into the street. Public transportation is well used here. It is on the honor system. One is supposed to buy a ticket but nobody checks. They say that sometimes they come around checking but we rode a lot and nobody checked. People have to carry everything here, bags, umbrellas, coats. Very different way to travel.

Boltenhagen on the Baltic sea was very beautiful. This used to be in East Germany but again a lot of money has been poured into renovations. We saw the army station that used to watch and shoot those trying to escape over the water. The water is too cold for me.

With as concerned as people here are supposed to be about the earth they don't care about their health, cause most smoke. Good thing the W family does not smoke.

Love the German people, they are very nice, and boy can they speak English.

Well that is all for Germany here, read my book someday for the rest of the story, I say that but I do not like reading books, off to Italy, Till next time, Jorge

Germany

2007-07-12T02:40:00.000-07:00

In the town of Winsen we visited the cheese lady. I call her that because she sells cheese that she makes from her 13 cows. She has 2 kids about 8 to 10 years old and she works very hard. Her farm, which was past down from her parents, was very interesting. The buildings were old but were very well built. In this part of Germany all the local farm houses and barns are located in a cluster and the farmers have to travel to the fields. So in the cheese ladies farm she walks her cows twice a day to the barn to milk them. If I opened the gate at my farm the cows would go running and eat the grass and flowers of the neighbors. She has an interesting task at her place. Lots of farms in the country side.

In Hamburg we visited the harbor, the old church, St Mickaelis, the red light district, toured the city, and WW's place. The red light district was interesting in that they do not allow women to enter this street and the ladies that work here sit in the windows tlaking to the men so that they will hire them. Hamburg was very beautiful.

I would have to say that there is really no difference between what was the East and West. The Germans have put a lot of money into upgrading everything. Once in a while one can see an old building from the East that has not been renovated.

In Potsdam, which was in the East we visited the palace Sans Souci. Which means "without worry or care" translated from French to German to English. What a beautiful place. The grounds were nice and the buildings were amazing. About 18 huge old structures scattered around 600 acres of grounds. It was a Kings residence back when there were kingdoms in Germany and now it is an attraction. The East Germans did not keep up the place and now the goverment is putting a lot of money into upgrading everything. It was really beautiful.

Till next time, Jorge

Germany is Wunderbau!

2007-07-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

The parts of Germany we visited have been terrific, mainly the northern part. Winsen (The W family home), Hamburg (WW's home), Luneburg, Potsdam, East and West Berlin, and Boltenhagen (the W's vacation home on the Baltic Sea).

WW and the W family have been extremely nice to us. They will always be welcomed at my house. HW, WW's mother, has some things in common with me. You should see her garden. Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, strawberries, apples, onions, tomatoes, and other things I have probably forgot. We ate like pigs. Then there is her flowers, you would not believe it. She works very hard and has endless energy it seems. She also dresses very confortable. A very nice person. There is also AW, WW's very nice sister which we also know well since she has also visited us, and CW, WW's father, a very nice man.

It has amazed me how much English the German people know. Everyone has been very helpful and they always say "Hallo" as they pass you on the street.

One can tell that there is a lot of money in Germany. But high unemployment and they complain about their jobs or are not happy at their jobs. The German people are very dedicated and loyal though. One can tell that they do things right when they do something. I can tell by the buildings they have put up. Really good work, that will last a very long time.

Berlin was amazing. I have alot more to say but too much for this format. I've been told that I should write a book and maybe one day I will put all my writings in a book.

Graffiti was everywhere in Garmany, it is almost as if it was part of the landscape.

I like women that tell stories but I like to tell stories too sometimes. True ones and good ones.

Next is Italy and then back to Germany. Again thanks again to WW.

Till next time. Take Care, Jorge

Europe here we come!

2007-06-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

Well, we're getting ready for our trip to Europe. Alicia has made most of the plans. We fly into Hamburg and the W family will show us around Germany, then I fly to Tuscany where I have rented a Villa. Alicia has some other plans while I visit Tuscany. We'll see how everything goes.

Till Next Time, You'll take care, Jorge

The Land Sustains Our Life!

2007-06-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

Well it's amazing how much food one can produce from a small plot of land, "The Veggie Garden". It's been one month (since the beginning of June) that harvesting has started at the farm. At this rate by the end of June we would of picked about 600 tomatoes, 400 peppers, 20 gallons of beans, some herbs, and a few peaches and plums which were eaten very fast. There has been some collateral loses due to harvesting and transportation but it has been kept to a minimum.

It's great to have been able to share this with family, friends, and employees. You know Crazy Horse (I am know a Crazy Horse expert after reading the Crazy Horse and Custer book) believed that one should share one's wealth with others and he practiced that to the end. I have always given of my time to others, and I believe that ones time is the most valuable thing that one can give to others to show them you care about them. Time is precious. Cause once its past, its gone forever, and you can't get it back. I also belieive in sharing so in a way I kind of belief the same as Crazy Horse.

With minimal effort I have been able to produce a huge amount of food on a small area of our farm. No one should ever go hungry in this country. You know one could really live off the land if one wanted to. I have had more tomatoes. peppers, and beans then I could ever eat, and then if you factor in the deer, pigs and rabbits, yes one could live off the land. I also have the pecans, dewberries and grapes that I have shared with many. You know I don't buy meat at the grocery and no veggies for now. I have had so much meat that I have also been able to share a lot of my meat with Alicia, O, friends, and employees, and I still don't buy any meat.

It looks like this year will be the first year that I will be able to harvest oranges.

Wow, Till next time, Take Care, Jorge

Great Time Had By All!

2007-06-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

I had my companies 20 year anniversary party the day after I returned from O's this last time. It turned out better then I could of ever expected. Out of 39 employees 31 showed up, plus their guest, plus I invited about 7 other people. We had about 70 attendees. I rented a banquet room at the Omni hotel in Houston. I was very satisfied with the arrangements. Ofcourse my General Manager and office staff did all of the planning. I was very moved by all the employees and was surprised by what they gave me. It sure is nice to be able to sit back and realize that there are a lot of very nice people in this world. The success of my company is due in large to all the dedicated and hard working employees that work for me. Like I like to say "A leader is only as good as the people that follow him or her." I am very blessed to have terrific employees.

Today was father's day and I had a terrific time with my daughter. She gave me a very moving present for father's day. A 25 page book with pictures of her growing up and captions of the most wonderful words I have read. I cried while reading the book. We also went to the farm,, ate a peach and grapes grown at the farm, fed the animals, did some fence work, picked about 36 tomatoes, 30 peppers, about 2 gallons of green beans, some bassel and rosemary, went home and prepared a dinner with some of the farm veggies we had picked. Sometimes I think I am luckiest parent on this planet. I don't know why I have such a wonderful daughter, but she makes me very proud. I could not of dreamed of a better daughter.

Till next time, Jorge

Back at the homestead!

2007-06-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

Well I had a lot of fun in Boston. The weather was nice, got a lot done, and I saw some people I had not seen in 15 years. I had a great time.

I finished the book I was reading, "Crazy Horse and Custer" by Stephen E. Ambrose. What a terrific book. One of the best books I have read so far, ofcourse I haven't read many books at all. Some how I can really relate to the Sioux Indians. Maybe I was an Indian in a prior life, ha, ha. Best 25 cent O has spent on me.

Hasta Luego, Jorge

New trip!

2007-05-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well I'm heading back to Boston to visit O again. I will really try to finish the patio this time. The tree is down and out of the way. Got some other small projects and the site seeing and visiting the Melrose Social Club is always fun.

As for the rest of the summer, my travel plans are as follows:

The Africa trip is out for this summer cause everyone that was interested in going has now backed out. They have good reasons and they have assured me that it will happen next year. I hope so. Germany and Italy will be coming up in July and then Costa Rica in August. Looking forward to these two trips. Germany and Italy are kind of open trips right now, Alicia is planning some of it. Maybe I will ask for a sitting with the Pope and I've heard the restaurant Olive Garden trains their chefs in Tuscany, so maybe I'll look for their chef school, LTS. She has planned out the Costa Rica trip, Canopy watching, zip lining, and white water rafting. Can't wait for all that. Got to make sure my life insurance policies are paid up.

There is a chance that I could go Carabou hunting in the early fall, but haven't finlized that yet. Carabou are Santa's reindeer. The trip consist of flying into Montreal, then flying North to the frozen trunda in a puddle jumper, then taking a waddle boat to a camp site on an island.

We will also be taking a trip or two to Las Vegas, maybe one in October for work and for sure one in December for Alicia.

Any takers on any of the trips are welcomed. Till next time, Arrevaderci, Jorge

The fields are full of glory!

2007-05-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

Got to go to the Farm (God's Country), and it was beautiful. Green and growth everywhere. The dewberries are still going strong. Some real big and juicey ones. I eat dewberries everywhere, left and right, north and south. My tomatos are setting wonderfully, lots of them. The green beans are going out of control. The peppers are coming on. The basal is unbelievable. I always have problems with corn, I don't know why. I have a few peaches and plums also.

The fields are full of black-eyed-Susans, what a beautiful sight. While walking I walked up on 3 seperate deer in 3 different locations. The does are dropping the fawns now so the does are out alone. They stay near the fawns but not close and if something comes close they bolt up and pretend to be hurt as they trot away so that you will follow them and not find the fawn.

My hay field will be cut today. Hope to get about 25 big round bails.

Ah La Bonne Vie, Till next time, Jorge

Back at The Homestead!

2007-05-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

Well just got back from visiting O and had a wonderful time. One of the places we visited was called Ipswitch, I think it is spelled correctly. This is a place I would not mind spending more time at, say a whole day. Alicia and CJF get along great. We all played tennis and baseball, two of my favorite sports. I would much rather play a sport then watch it on TV. We also worked on house projects, another of my favorite things in life. I am really enjoying working with rocks. Building rock walls and steps. I have always had an interest in rocks but have never really been around them, now I know why my interest.

O got what I think was a terrific bargain on a book she has given me to read, only 25 cents. I am really enjoying this book. It is somewhat challenging for me as I have always had a very tall wall to overcome in reading books(never read a book or Cliff notes before Alicia gave me a book to read about a year ago). This book is about 500 pages of small print, yuk. But what is keeping me going is the subject.

The book is titled "Crazy Horse and Custer" by Stephen E. Ambrose. I have always had a facination for Crazy Horse and Custer, sometimes I think that I have always looked up to these two men. Reading about their lifes is just out of this world for me. I have always been interested in the life of Indians. Somehow I feel like I can relate to the life of the Sioux. One interesting thing is that the Indians beleive in the circle of life. Something I also believe in. Where as the white man believes in a linear path to life. I can see both points of view, and they are detailed in an excellent way in the book.

Till next time, Jorge

I'm Off again!

2007-04-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

Well I've been at the homestead for a couple of days and then I'm leaving back up to Boston with Alicia day after. I wonder if one flys west all around the world will you go back in time, since you subtract hours as you travel west, or will you loose a day out of your life, or will you end up on the same day you left. Well here I am talking about time again.

There must be a Zillion dewberries at the farm. I've been eating them left and right. I also ate all the strawberries I found, not much. It was nice to see everything lush with green in God's country.

Until next time, Jorge

I survived another trip!

2007-04-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back from Virginia again. Even got to see O's sister J and her family in Maryland. We went to a Colombian Dance and Music festival (featuring El Tayrona) which was nice but didn't get to do any projects for J as I was only there for a couple of days. But I did consult with them on installing crown moulding and baseboards, plumbing issues, light installation, and carpentry.

At my sister's, AMA, I got to do some drainage work, repoint some of her brick, and some gutter work. I also got to go to the Spy Museum. One really needs about 3 hours to really go thru it all or one can do it in about 1 1/2 hours skimming. OB got food poisoning so we had to deal with that for a day, now wait a minute it wasn't anything I did, it was from the school lunch. But she did have to buy the school lunch cause I didn't make her lunch, uh.

Until next time, Jorge

I'm Back!

2007-04-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

Back from Virginia. Checked in at the Farm today. The dewberries are coming into season. I found some nice juicy tasty ones and ate them up right away.

It was cold and rainy in Virginia. But had a good time with AMA, RB, and OB. Took down some wall paper, did some gypsum patching, and painted the kithchen. Had lunch with OB at her school, went to the park and she road her bicycle. Went out to dinner at OB's favorite places, Sydoo's and Noodle something a few times.

Hope OB didn't pick up any bad habits and she doesn't get into too much trouble after hanging around with me.

On the plane I was able to read a book O had given me a while back. "Cuentos From My Childhood, Legends and Folktales of Northern New Mexico" by Paulette Atencio. I enjoyed the book. I liked the legend titled Marina La Malinche and really liked the tale titled La Morena Linda, which was my favorite.

Arrivederci, Jorge

I'm off again.

2007-04-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

I'mmmmm leaeaea-ving ooonn an airr-plaaane, don't know when I'llll be back a-gainnnn.

Just kidding. But I am leaving tomorrow to go to Virginia and visit my sister AMA. I'll be back at the homestead on Sunday for three days, then off again to Virginia and Maryland till the 27th to visit my sister again and hopefully O's sister J. Then I'll be back at the homestead for 5 days then back to Boston with Alicia to visit O again.

L, Sounds like you are having a terrific time in NYC with her friend Kate. Hope you enjoyed your first live concert in 20 years.
You'll Take Care, Jorge

Happy Easter and reading

2007-04-08T20:19:00.000-07:00

Hope Everyone had a terrific Easter.

One of the things I never used to do was read books. I never even read any books in school, I couldn't even read the Cliff Notes. I just could not justify sitting down for any length of time to read a book. Now don't get me wrong, I do read magazines, newspapers, and technical articles. I just could not concentrate enough to read a long book.
About a year ago Alicia gave me a book to read and told me that I would like the story so I read it and I did like the book. I think it was called Babylon. Now since I've been flying around a lot Alicia and O have given me a few books to read and I've liked them. It seems like I am a captured soul on an airplane with nothing to do but sit for hours, so I have time to blow.

On this last trip to Boston I read a book Alicia gave me titled "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. I really liked this book. It was about a father and his small son who travel somewhat empty roads in search of safety after I think a nuclear war. The book brings together the strong bond between the father and son and the lessons the father teaches the boy in order to survive. The book also makes one realize that our lives today are made very simple with todays technology and that we have lost track of the simple things in life that are necessary to survive.
I found the following two quotes from the book very interesting. "You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget" and "How does the never to be differ from what never was".

And so time is important some times. Jorge

Boston In April

2007-04-07T14:08:00.000-07:00

I had a great time in Boston this past week with O and her family. We got to work on many things and also visited with most of my "Melrose Social Club" friends. The major projects were releveling the patio and demolishing a small rock wall and rebuilding it as a larger rock wall, K even helped. K is a talented pointer when it comes to mortar. We almost finished but didn't cause the weather prevented us from finishing as I saw snow in April.

O also took me to Portsmouth, a beautiful looking city with houses over 250 years old. We had the best hot chocolate while it was snowing in a wonderful place. I wouldn't mind spending more time there. She also took me to Maine, another place I wouldn't mind spending more time in. Now I've traveled to all four corners of the continental US. I've been to north of Seattle, south of San Diego, and Key West, so I would really have to go to Edmundston to say this but I was close.

New Hampshire and Maine have great mottos, "Live Free or Die", and "The way Life Should Be". I can really relate to them.

O took me to see many places. One of my favorite was and is South Boston. Where we had lunch at a really nice restaurant. I think I've come close to ODing on Tostones. O is an excellent host. Time can be wonderful. Jorge

My Life (Till the Present)

2007-03-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

I've been getting ready for a trip to Boston to visit O and her beautiful family. Just for info, I'm going to be traveling for about the next two months visiting family. Alicia will be with me on one of those trips.
I've been going through a personal set back in my life this past year and it's been very hard on me. In the past I've always said I've been blessed to have had a wonderful life. I haven't said that anymore. I say blessed but I've had some tragedies in the past. My parents dying when I was in my 20's, my marriage problems in the beginning, our family dog dying 1 1/2 years ago, and my two uncles dying this past year, amongst other smaller events. But even with these events the good has always out done the bad. But this new event has been really dificult. But deep down I know that I have had a blessed life.

I would like to thank the close people in my life who have made it easier on me. Of course the closest person in my life is Alicia. There is nothing in the world I could do to show her my appreciation and the proudness I feel and have always felt for her. Next is O, a very close person. I could say too much about her and what she has done for me, and most folks would get bored cause I could go on and on. I could never do enough for her. I've known her for a very very very long time. Since I was a teenager and she was a small girl. From the first time I remember her she has always had a big smile on her face and she has always laughed quite a lot. She has always put a smile on my face, and she has also helped me through the years when I've needed her. Too many good things to say about her so I'll just say she's extraordinary.

Then there's my brother and sister. They've always been very supportive of me. I am very lucky to have a brother and sister like them. Then there's O's sisters and mother. Her sisters are wonderful people. I enjoy spending time with them and talking to them. They can both talk up a storm and have great insight. I've known them for a very long time also but because of life's circumstances I've gotten closer to O. It's a pleasure to be with them all. Their mother is a very caring person. I think of her like my mother, what else can I say about her. It's during hard times that people's qualities come shinnning through.

Another group of people that have lifted my spirits lately is the Melrose Social CLub. A group that O introduced me to. What a wonderful group. Besides O, there's K, a beautiful person who is very thoughtful. She has very dreamy eyes, and knows my weaknesses, chocolate and cookies. Then there's L, a very energetic and witty person, who's opened my eyes to new things, including blogging. Then there's LH, a terrific person who loves many of the things I love in life, like nature and animals. Then there's Lu, a lovely exciting person who embraces life's adventures. When I met Lu for the first time we talked and talked for about 2 hours. We share the love of hard work and the adventure of getting it done. And of course there's the families of the Melrose Social Club members. What an amazing group. This is how I see them through my eyes.

I know that I am and have been a very lucky and blessed person no matter what happens and even if I don't say it. I truly feel like giving thanks to all the people who have touched my life and brighten my life.

Life's an Adventure and You Just Have to Live It! Jorge

Lawn Grass Care

2007-03-24T06:48:00.000-07:00

My 30 plus years of experience has shown me that most of the time there is no need to buy expense weed and feed fertilizers. Lawn grasses thrive on three things. They have to have sun and water in moderaton, and then they need to mowed often, usually once a week while growing.

As long as lawn grasses are growing and you mow at least once a week the lawn grasses will choke out any weeds. Most weeds like to grow tall and thus will be prevented from going to seed if the lawn is mowed often and the weeds that are short will be choked by a vigorous growing lawn.

If the lawn grass needs extra nutrients to grow more, they benefit the most from 13-13-13 fertilizer. Triple 13 fertilizer is usually very cheap and has all the needed ingredients to make the grass grow. Do not apply more then once a month during the growing season.

Again, weed and feed fertilizers are expense and the weed killer in them will actually stress out other plants and can even kill a tree if applied under the canopy. So, for a perfect lawn make sure the lawn gets sun, one inch of water a week, is mowed once a week, and if needed no more then one application of triple 13 a month.

Till next time, Jorge

Spring has Sprung !

2007-03-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of spring and the Azaleas and the wildflowers are coming on. To the right I have included some pictures of Azaleas at the homestead and Wildflowers at the farm for your enjoyment.
Next time I think I will write about lawn care. Ofcourse this will be my opinions from my 30 plus years of taking care of my lawns and pasture land. I might have some unconventional views on this subject, but I know it works.

I've kept this short for O. Till next Time, Jorge

Chocolate and Birthdays

2007-03-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

I will explain this next week, but for now I will give you a hint. I said something like "my birthday chocolate lasted from my birthday this past February to my next birthday". So when is my next birthday? Think outside the box. This is something unconventional. This was first posted on March 12 " Exhibiting Self Control!" and comments since then.

To side step the riddle, I've come to find out that my birthday chocolate mentioned above, which came from O, was supposed to be maybe twice as much but somewhere alone the way it was siphoned off. For good cause I heard. I wonder how long that chocolate lasted. I'm guessing a long time cause it was probably rationed.

I'll give anybody who solves the riddle above a surprise present, but you will be disqualified if you ask O or if O tells you. Till later, Jorge

Can I make time slow down?

2007-03-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

It has been suggested that I slow down and let time catch up to me. Well, I don't think I can do that. I'm afraid if I slow down that means my batteries are running low (I'm borrowing this from someone else) and I might die. So, we'll just have to live life at whatever speed were're at.

Back to gardening. Most of my tips are good for anywhere but some slight adjustments might be needed. Let's take prunning for example. I've had two comments on prunning. There is nothing wrong with prunning shrubs and trees and it is almost impossible to kill a plant or tree by prunning. Just remember not to prune right after the tree or shrub puts out new growth. Prunning during this time makes the plant spend all that energy for growth and the plant receives no benefit from photosynthesis because you have prunned the leaves. . Thus putting the plant in stress. Stress is the number 1 killer of plants.

If you live in an area that has ice and snow then you should prune before the ice and snow but after the plant goes dormant (about a month after the leaves fall off). This type of prunning should be done for the purpose of lightening the tree because of bad growth patterns. Prunning before spring is for the purpose of shaping the shrub or tree. Any subsequent prunning , like before summeror before fall, is also for shaping or for releaving some stress in the plant. Never prune within two months of winter if you can help it. Because if you do then the plant will also go into shock because all the new growth will be burned by the cold weather.

During the winter the plants spend all thier energy below ground growing new roots. When spring comes the plants with thier new roots send up more nutrients then the plant had the previous year thus allowing the plant to grow larger.

During the spring the plant uses photosynthesis to provide nutrients for the leaves, branches, and all the roots. During the summer the plant tries to stay alive by almost going dormant and in some cases will go dormant by dropping its leaves if it is too hot. The leaves loose water through evaporation and so have to drink up water from the ground to come out even. The more hot it is the more water the plant needs. More water has to come in from the bottom (roots) then leave the leaves. If there is more water coming in from the roots then leave the leaves then the plant has excess water to provide growth if not then the plant goes dormant to survive.

During the fall the plant thinks it is time to grow again until the temperature starts dropping. In the fall the plant goes dormant and sends all the water (nutrients) from above the ground down below ground to help the roots grow. And so the cycle begins again.

In the spring the water goes up. In summer the water goes up or might stop. In the fall water goes down. In the winter the water stays below ground.

The cycle of life, Jorge

Gardening

2007-03-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

We had a very busy weekend at the homestead. We ate pizza, watched a lot of movies, went shopping, and worked on the yard( I did a lot of prunning). One of the movies that we went out to see was Premonition. It reminded me of Ground hog day, a funny movie that I really like, except this movie was sad and difficult to follow. I do not recommend this movie for those that like up beat movies.

One of things that I did at the farm was prepare the veggie garden for planting. I tilled the soil and made the win rows. There is nothing in this world when it comes to food like a home grown tomato, pepper, green bean, potatoe, or corn. Vegetable stand produce comes close, but I prefer home grown. The taste of home grown veggies is superb. Unfortunately I did not get to plant the garden last year, but this year I've got a good start. Alicia likes blueberrys a lot so I bought her a blueberry bush earlier this year, but I forgot to put a cage around the bush and the deer have been eating the tender new growth. I need to get on this.

And time goes on. Jorge

What is Time?

2007-03-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

I have a lot going through my mind today so I think I'll write something to help clear my mind.
Easy subject.

I have not changed my clocks to what I call fake time. I am still on real time just like the rest of the world. My body functions much better on real time. I would like to be just like Arizona and Hawaii and stay on real time, but I know that would be hard to do in the central time zone.

Since I do not have a schedule or appointments, time is a floating thing with me. I really don't worry too much about time so it really doesn't matter what time those around me think it is. It used to not be this way, as those close to me know I used to always say "I never have enough time to do the things I want to get done", I used to never want the day to end cause I needed more time. But now sometimes the end of the day never comes fast enough. Enough of that.

I get up as the sun rises and I go to sleep when I get tired. The most important thing to me is to get 8 to 9 hours of sleep. I can do with less here and there but my body loves 8 or 9 hours. I also fall asleep faster then when the coin hits the floor when dropping it from your hand. But I think I will have to conform to the masses soon because flying requires one to be at the airport at a specific time. Or else now-a-days you miss your flight. So I will have to change my ways to travel.

I have to go now because Alicia's friends are arriving and she is not here yet. They are all coming over to eat pizza (our favorite food) and watch movies.

By the way did you know that as one approaches the speed of light time slows down so in theory at the speed of light time stops and faster then the speed of light time should go backwards.

And time goes on. Jorge

What's On My Mind?

2007-03-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

I have been reprimanded for not writing in my blog. I have a lot on my mind but I think it is too much for the blog. So here is something else.

Today I would like to comment on "The Office" TV show. I liked the show, the Dwight/Andy,Jim thing and the Pam/Karen thing. Michael finally came up to the plate. Also I wonder if anyone saw the Gatorade commercial. Good commercial explaining how Gatorade was invented at the University of Florida. My place.

Spring has arrived as most of the plants and trees are budding. All the pruning should of been done by now since the plants are coming out. If you prune now you will kill all that energy.

Next I want to comment on Crapemyrtles. I feel sorry for all those crapemyrtles that people butcher during this time of year. Crapemyrtles do not have to be pruned, but if you must you can alternate cuts every year so that there is only a stub having 3 years of cuts max. Otherwise it looks terrible the way people keep cutting the trunk at the same place. I'll have to show pictures of this later.

Next I want to remind everyone that roses should of been cut on Valentines day, and trees should of been pruned by February. The next pruning time for trees would be right before the hot summer.

Don't want to make this too long since some folks have a challenge reading long passages.

Arrivederci, Jorge

Exhibiting Self Control

2007-03-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

I would like to let everyone know that I was able to make all the chocolate I received for my birthday in February of this year last till my next birthday. I am very proud of this accomplishment.

This past weekend I moved a lot of stuff, some might call it junk but I call it treasures, to the farm. My friend who just moved to Colorado let me have the treasures instead of him moving them to Colorado. I call them treasures because I use a lot of stuff at the farm. So I save money whenever I don't have to buy something and I do have a lot of room at the farm. The challenge is keeping everything looking neat.

So now I have another place to go elk hunting.

La Vita Dolce, Jorge

March 9, 2007

2007-03-09T21:28:00.000-08:00

Well Alicia went back to school and work, I say that but school is not that far. Alicia had her spring break this week. She spent some time in College Station, and at the homestead we had time to go shopping, eat, and spend some time at the farm. We ate our favorite things: barbecue, pizza and more pizza, and ofcourse cookies. We have turned Alicia's friends into cookie eaters. They now say "Cookies?". At the farm we fed the animals, Alicia finished tightning the bolts on the pickup bed ( we had to take the bed off to replace the fuel pump), and we finished the fence in the middle pasture so we could turn the horses out in the middle pasture and let them enjoy the new grass. C'est Tout, and life goes on.

March 5, 2007

2007-03-06T19:04:00.000-08:00

We just got back from Oralando, and we had a terrific time. We were able to get into breakfast with the characters and Alicia took pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald Duck, and some other one. I even took a picture with pluto. We went shopping, spent a whole day at Downtown Disney, ate at Bongo's, went to a Mystery Theater, first for me, and attended the formal dinner. Alicia looked really nice in her dress and she got a lot of attention from the crowd. Mainly cause most had known her from when she was a baby. She even got to walk up to the stage to accept the awards and shake hands and have her picture taken, I think she was thrilled.

I missed most of the scheduled events but some folks had seen me, very few, here and there. Everyone that knew me was asking where I was, because of the few sightings. Some were saying I think he's here, his name is on the attendee list, or I think I saw him the other day. Most people were asking each other where I was so it became a joke, "Where is Waldo". I did get to visit with all my friends Saturday night. I hope I did not miss anybody. There were about 300 people there and I probably know close to 200. We had a wonderful time.
C'est La Vie.

March 1, 2007

2007-03-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

Alicia finished her test before spring break and we're ready to go to Orlando.

2007-02-25T21:32:00.000-08:00

February 25, 2007

We had a very enjoyable weekend. I went with Alicia's friends family to watch Alicia and her friends run in the Rodeo 10k run on Saturday and I also attended the Rice Alumni College weekend.

Alicia's freind's family is very nice. They are very funny people. Ofcourse that is what everybody says about us also. I guess we are all very funny people. We all had lunch at one of our favorite places after the run, IHOP.

Alumni College weekend was terrific, it ran Friday to Sunday. Now you might say what was I doing at the Rice Alumni weekend since I am not a Rice Alumni, I'm a University of Florida Alumni, but since my daughter is a Rice student, I was also invited to attend. At the Alumni College we had many classes that we could pick from to attend. I enjoyed 70 % of the classes I attended. I also skipped two classes because I was at the Rodeo run. The classes were very interesting. The Rice folks were very very nice. Rice also provided all the meals and the meals were excellent. One of the dinners was at the Petroleum Club, and boy was that good. I had forgotten how good the Petroleum Club was. I had been there once before when I was in the petroleum business many years ago. Till later.