Swan Song Sayonara

I leave Costa Rica Today with mixed emotions.... Excited to return to my life in Austin and sad to leave the life I started here behind. Another chapter in my book of life is closed, but not permanently. I will return to Costa Rica, I am sure of it. I just watched Francisco walk out the door for the last time this morning and I suddenly realized how final it all is.

I made a good go of it, professionally and personally. I made lifelong friends and met incredible people along the way. I saw this country�s finest and witnessed it�s unbearable side too. As all of the chapters in my life are, this was a huge learning experience. Living in depressed conditions in an underdeveloped country has made me appreciate even more the privileged life I come from. It will be much harder to take it for granted from here on out.

The preface for my new life chapter has already started. I�m gainfully employed, I have an action plan and most importantly, I have incredible friends and family to share my new adventures with.

I must say, given the sometimes trying circumstances, I made the absolute best out of this situation�That�s a gift of mine that I will never take for granted..

M,C,K & J at La Fortuna Waterfall

Bulk Bigotry

Thank you Wal-Mart for finally recognizing the fact that 75% of your customer base consists of uneducated, bigoted, tasteless, trailer-bound idiots who do not support equal rights for all citizens. Your agreement to cease your financial support for �extremely inappropriate and controversial� �causes� like the gay and lesbian population comes at a very opportune time, as the Holiday shopping season approaches. By giving into idle threats from the American Family Association, you have just empowered an organization that disguises their unabashed discrimination and hatred towards human beings through �religious� ideology and political scare tactics. Furthermore, you have allowed these people to manipulate and threaten you to gain much needed media traction and further their hate filled cause. The only real legitimacy this organization garnishes is from the mainstream press who help breathe life into their desperate need for public face time. They played you like the plastic fiddles made in Taiwan you buy in bulk.

I would call for a counter-boycott of your stores from the gay population, but our personal style and taste level keeps us all far from your doors. We stopped buying clapboard furniture and poorly designed home accoutrements when our average household income ratio more than doubled over our straight, Middle American counterparts. If we must go discount, it will certainly be at Target; at least they merit product design, store cleanliness and a higher-class shopping experience all around.

I�m not sure how ignoring one of the most powerful consumer demos in existence plays into your business model. I guess you sell enough cheap crap to discount-worthy shoppers to keep the Walton family high on the Billionaires list, so it�s not really of concern. What I do know is that as long as you continue to yield to organizations that actively pursue the demotion of human beings due to their genetic disposition, you will remain as classless and uneducated as the majority of your customer base.

Living By The Gun...

To wrap up an already eventfull day, About 30 minutes ago I heard gunshots outside the walls of my house. I ran to the window (um, smart?) to find my security guard with his gun drawn towards the gate. My neighbors were just robbed and their maid was "kidnapped". The robbers took their jewelry and all the money they had in their house. Clearly their maid was in on the action. The bad thing is, this is the second time these people have been robbed in 6 months. Last time they came home to an empty house and another missing maid. Either these people have the worst taste in maids or their luck just ran out big time. Im not sure where the shots landed, but I can say thats the first time I have ever heard gunfire from the comfort of my own living room. Um, Check please....

Woah...Momma

We just had an earthquake...it lasted alomost 2 minutes. Now everyones standing outside waiting for the second one to come..evidentially they come in pairs. It wasnt violent, but more like a slow wave motion.. When the house moved I saw the daylight come in from the top of the wall where it meets the ceiling...That was my express invitation to leave the premisis immediatly.


A few weeks ago there was another one that broke a water main near my house...I could see the water shooting up over the roof of the house next door..must have been 35 ft in the air. Below:

Simp-son-of-a-bitch

THIS has got to be the most tasteless, insensitive, disgusting thing I have ever read. O.J Simpson is obviously in desperate need of attention and has decided to flaunt his legal immunity in the US public�s face and �hypothetically� describe how he would have killed his Ex-Wife and her friend back in 1994. In an even more atrocious move, Fox will air a 2 part interview on the subject with the murderer next week (Thanksgiving Week). The panoptic disregard for the victim�s families is beyond mind-boggling. For me it seriously calls into question the media�s ability to separate the rat race for ratings and common decency and decorum. If bad judgment were a crime, Fox would be as guilty as O.J is.

I hope Mr. Simpson is stashing away some of the 3.5 million dollars he was advanced for the book to help pay for his condo in hell.

Cure for the rainy day blues...

I just got back from the gym and while I was there I rediscovered this song buried deep in my ipod....There's little a bad ass black woman with a big voice can't fix.... Faith Evans (AKA Miss Ex Biggy Smalls) bringing it down with 'Mesmerized'....

Rains Supreme

Costa Rica has 2 distinct yearly seasons the Summer and Rainy Seasons. A few years ago the Costa Rican Travel and Tourism Board cleverly renamed �Rainy Season� to the more tourist-friendly �Green Season�. It not a stretch really, when buckets of tropical rain gets dumped on a mineral rich landscape for 3-5 hours everyday, things will defiantly turn green. What they don�t explain is the effects the constant rain and gloomy weather have on things like traffic, roads, physical fitness regimes and mental well-being. The rainy season lasts from around June- November. This year, the season was extremely mild for the most part, but it seems like it making up for itself these last few weeks. It has been grey and rainy all day for weeks and it�s now starting to affect my psyche. There is actually a medically recognized condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder that directly relates the lack of sunlight to certain forms of depression. I�m sure, like ADD, there are plenty of doctors who would disagree with it, but I can tell you it�s true. Sitting inside my house and starring at the white blurr that has replaced my incredible valley view isn�t exactly an uplifting experience. The days here start at 4:45am and end promptly around 5pm. So everyday, as it rains, it also gets dark at 4:30-45ish in the afternoon. Watching Oprah isn�t even a daytime experience anymore, she comes on at 5pm local now. How depressing is that?

Home Sweet Dump

So since I�m relocating back to Austin in 2.5 weeks I have been scouring craigslist and realtor.com for both temporary rentals and homes for purchase in an attempt to secure a roof over my head; More importantly a space for all of my newly acquired furniture that will be traveling back with me overseas. I have come to the conclusion that 50% of all realtors are bait and switch professionals who will lie to you even when the truth sounds better. I have emailed 6 different realtors to inqure about specific properties they have posted only to find that the properties were �just rented� or �under contract�. Several of the posts I answered hadn�t even been live for 5 minutes. Hardly enough time for a rental/purchase contract to be drawn up and signed. They clearly posted old �desirable� properties in �hot areas� to entice inquiries. Of course after being told that the properties aren�t available, the sales pitch begins.

Realtor: �Ive got several other properties you might be interested in�
Eyeque: � I want something identical to the property I originally inquired about�
Eyeque: �Where in town are the other places you have? �
Realtor: �Well they are all over town�
Eyeque: �I�m only interested in properties located in Central Austin�
Realtor: �Well I do have two great places in Cedar Park�
EyeQue: �Cedar Park is 30-45 minutes north/west of town depending on traffic�
Realtor: �Well there going to run a commuter rail out there�
EyeQue � Really? When? �
Realtor: �5-8 years�
EyeQue: �Ok thanks for your time (you BEEP, BEEP , mother BEEP BEEPhole�

I�m fighting an uphill battle in Austin, and here�s why.

1. It�s a college town, so rental property owners gear their rental costs to college kids who will stack themselves 10 deep in a 4 bedroom. So it doesn�t become outrageous to ask for $5000 a month rent for a shitty, unkept, outdated home that has no driveway or green grass or air conditioning.

2. Single renters are snubbed out of the �professional, desirable� areas because A-hole property speculators have snapped up all of the smaller homes, torn them down and built McMansions on them that rent/sell to family�s of 6 for 8-10K a month.

3. The �keep Austin weird� vibe has all but ruined most apartment building in central Austin. Young, upwardly mobile professionals don�t really care to live next to Star and Moonbeam and their hyperponic pot growing pastime. The patchouli oil and incense all but ruins any Champagne wishes and Pottery Barn dreams that you might have for yourself.

4. I�m an architectural snob. I don�t like �cookie cutter� apartment/condo buildings. The 80�s/90�s shotgun apartment approach is about as desirable to me as a white baby is to Madonna. Stock cabinets, laminate flooring and hotel air conditioning units ruin any feelings of uniqueness and comfort.

5. Post Properties, Amli and Gables have all built �loft� residences downtown. Should I feel comfortable dropping $2200 per month for a 1 bedroom loft unit that comes with one free parking space? That seems like a financial sinkhole to me.

I fully believe the Real estate market is cyclical. I know that property prices and values are going to come down, because they can�t get any more ridiculous than they already are. I�m just realizing that as a single man with one source of income my options for finding a home that suits me and my lifestyle are extremely limited and possibly non-existent. I�m going to have to accept the fact that unless I double my income, buying a home that I like will be a near impossibility.

This Debbie Downer post has been brought to you today by HUD. Helping less fortunate, less responsible, less wealthy, less employed, less white people buy their dream homes everyday.

Re-Invented

I was an INXS fan back in the late 80's/ early 90's before Michael Hutchence offed himself unexpecetedly. I recently got the "new" INXS album featuring their new frontman J.D. Fortune. Evidentially he won some sort of reality show contest and become the new lead singer. I dig his vocals and this song.

Going...Going.....

One farewell dinner down�several more to go. The good-bye�s have begun here in Costa Rica as the team I�ve been working with slowly disbands and relocates their lives back to the United States. My boss and his lovely wife leave on a jet plane tomorrow morning to begin the next chapter in their lives. I mention them specifically as they were both integral in making this opportunity a reality for me. Kerri provided many services to the company including recruiter, relocation specialist and the distribution of general fabulousness. Scott glued together the Marketing team and helped buffer the never ending organizational chaos from me and my colleagues. We had dinner at my house and enjoyed each others company for one last time here in Costa Rica. I know I�ll see them both again, and probably very soon. They have temporarily moved to Dallas and I�m a sucker for that town. The combination of hairspray, cowboy boots and attitude always provides a memorable experience thats usually accompanied by a nasty hangover.

Until we meet again: Do videnja�Aloha k�kou�Ciao!

1:44:38

So today I find out what (if any) my involvement with my company will be after the major corporate restructuring that�s been occuring over the last month. All indications are that big changes are taking place from the top levels down. We have already received one �resignation announcement� from the Director of Marketing of our parent (public) company this morning, so clearly today has been earmarked as D-Day.

I�m sure given my title, my job here in serious Jeopardy. While I have mixed feelings about that I feel confident that the company will do the right thing in regards to contract/severance buy-outs. Knowing there is still over 100 million dollars in the bank, I�ll have a hard time stomaching a stingy deal.

I�m anxious as hell..but glad that after today I will be able to sleep knowing what my professional destiny is�My personal life here in central Amercia�well that�s a bit more complicated.

There and Back Again....

I welcomed Francisco back into my life last night. I have no idea if this is a good thing or not. What I do know is that when I saw him for the first time in 20 days, I felt something that I didn�t expect. I explained why I broke things off, he explained why he couldn�t speak to me for 3 weeks. In the end, we both realized that our time together is limited and we both deserve to enjoy what we have as long as we can. I watched him as he fell asleep in my arms and enjoyed that perfect moment. Sometimes we make choices that don�t make any sense on paper, but play out beautifully in real life.