Monthly Archive for May, 2011
Page 2 of 9
It arrived! My $3.99 investment in Zimbabwe dollars has paid off.
I am now a Trillionaire.
My investment in Iraq Dinars hasn’t done so well. But I am a patient man. And I have heirs that may benefit from my investing prowess.
I liquidated my positions in coins of the realm at a Garage Sale. My aunt and parents kept their pocket change from their world travels. After trying to sell them for twenty-five cents each (literally had a pot-full) I decided to offer a volume discount and had a taker at $15 for the lot.
$15.00 – $3.99 = One Trillion.
Damn. Step aside Madoff.
Or maybe I should run for Congress.
We have done extensive, exhaustive research on the innerwebs to prepare for our move to Costa Rica. By FAR, the most frustrating part of our research has been the forums on Yahoo Groups.
So many opinions, so few facts.
The biggest of the Yahoo Groups forums is Costa Rica Living… touting 6746 “members”… of course a handful dominate the posts, holding themselves out as experts on every topic.
The forum is heavily moderated, something I had to get used to. Online forums are the last of the www wild, wooly, web. Step into most forums and write the sky is blue today and be prepared to be called a rad-lib, greenie eco-freak.
I did not enter the Costa Rica Yahoo Groups lightly. I plunged right in. When someone asked for advice on which was the best laptop, I responded along the lines of “Jane, you ignorant slut…
Well I wasn’t quite that blunt, but I guess my feelings were revealed in my reponse. Here’s what really threw me for a loop. The site is moderated! Heavily. By seven people! (although not all at once, I’m guessing they have some kind of rotating schedule.) I got slammed by one of the female mods for my personal attack and my response never saw the light of day.
I offered my mea culpa – to a forum mod! – and moved on.
But wow, there are some real winners that have internet access, asking such questions as:
- Is it safe in Costa Rica?
- Where should I take my grandchildren when they visit?
- Will my iPhone work?
- Should I buy a camera in Costa Rica or the US?
- What’s the best way to get from Miami to San Jose?
- My name is ______ and I want to move to Costa Rica, what do I need to know?
- How much does it cost to own a car in Costa Rica?
There are other Costa Rica Yahoo Groups, one is even unmoderated. But that didn’t stop me from apologizing to that forum to when I linked to this post about earthquakes. I got roundly slammed for being childish and sophomoric.
Guilty.
Here’s another oddity… the moderators on Costa Rica Living don’t like threaded messages. You know where I respond and you respond and I respond and you respond and it’s all one giant long message? Piggybacking…
…piggybacking. NONE – 99% of the time the subject line you are replying to is sufficient. If absolutely necessary – perhaps a snippet of the previous message for clarity, but allowing it will be TOTALLY up to the moderator’s discretion and NO arguing or berating the moderator’s decision allowed. No berating the moderators in general any day of the month is a good rule to live by anyway. The moderators aren’t going to remove the piggybacked message for you unless you get a nice one (and your odds aren’t good, since I know who will be moderating), the message will just be rejected and you will have to figure it out.
But as with most forums, there seem to be some very helpful nuggets of information. (I guess, we won’t really know until we act on some of the recommendations and referrals.)
Forums: Bringing New Life to “Separating the Wheat from The Chaff.” It’s a struggle for me not to chafe them with chaff. I don’t do well with authority… especially fake humbleness.
Sincerely,
Your humble moderators
There is a cartoon making the rounds now, but I can’t locate it now that I want to, about commenting on blogs. A stick figure is in front of a computer going through the various stages of writing a comment… and ends up with delete.
I’m doing the same now with the Costa Rica Living Yahoo Groups. I read, I fume, I open up a reply box, I flame, I re-write, I re-read and I then I delete without responding.
Costa Rica will be good for me. I think it will knock some of the smart-assery out. I think that is a good thing.
Smallburg has a massive Soap Box Derby race on a specially designed and built track with grandstands, food tents, wi-fi, loudspeakers and timing traps.
…David Brinkley, was also getting ready to race. He was scheduled to participate in the Nat Love Memorial Race for adults. The entry fees will be donated to children’s charities.
The dads once again are having too much fun at an event that is designed for kids.
Dads killed the Soap Box Derby once before.
A kid was caught cheating by adding a magnet to the nose of his car. When the starting plate dropped the slight additional pull to the car was enough to give the kid a unbeatable margin of victory. The kid’s wheels were also doped to be extra slick while turning on the axle.
His adult guardian (not technically a dad) was indicted for deliquency of a minor. The dads had messed up.
That was in 1973.
Today, in an attempt to eliminate cheating, all the cars must be purchase from the Soap Box Derby company. There are build clinics that must be attended by an adult with a kid. Cars are as close to identical (except for graphics) as possible. The cars are impounded the night before the race, wheels are removed and reassigned on the day of the race. There are heats, it’s no longer a one and done race. It is a great family event.
But this hasn’t stopped the adults from having their Soap Box Derby fun… adults are forming their own division.
Rules are not strict so we can keep it fun. Be inventive!
Be inventive! Have fun! On the front page of the rules: kit cars are strictly prohibited! Kit cars are for kids.
So the dads are building Soap Box Derby cars like this X Wing Fighter from Star Wars.
Is it cool? Absolutely. Would a kid just love to fly the X-Wing Fighter down a hill? Absolutely. Is it a Soap Box Derby car? Absolutely not.
In Smallburg, adults who work for companies who sponsor the Soap Box Derby cars are allowed to participate in the Adult Oil Can Derby the Thursday afternoon before the Friday/Saturday Soap Box Derby.
I had as much fun as the rest of the sponsors.
Currently, there are only two cars for the Oil Can Derby.
I’m not optimisitic.
Adding a Dad’s Division is not a good sign. Hopefully, the guiding forces for the Soap Box Derby will realize this and clamp down on the adult events.
I’m not optimisitic.
In a town that races mini-Corvettes in a charity race and is dominated by professional mechanics, it’s only a matter of time before the Soap Box Derby for kids is over-shadowed by the Soap Box Derby for Adults.
Gentlemen, Start Your Cheating.
I just walked up the street to have a large Chai Tea latte. It’s not a regular deal with me, but when the weather is perfect, and I want to get out of the orifice for a while, I stroll up to Spencer’s.
Yesterday, Nancy drove to Louisville for some spare car parts and to do a little shopping. Today she is in Frankfort doing a little Costa Rica residency paperwork.
I will stop at Arby’s for a Market Fresh sandwich about noon on my way home to let the canines out to evacuate their intestines.
On the way back to the orifice, I’ll probably get the car washed.
Everybody will speak some form of English… even if it is:
(via Facebook…)Really won’t to be in bed snuggled up to the Hubby!!!!!;))
I’ll surf the web on a fast, stable internet connection.
Tonight, we’ll tune in the NBA Playoffs in HiDef.
Wonder what life will be like in Costa Rica? What happens if I don’t like it?
I will be so screwed:
- No job to return to
- No house to return to
I think I’ll be OK. I think Nancy will be OK.
But one never knows does one?
I could be so screwed.
Even though we have moved before, I’ve never moved and been unemployed before. Our moves were always tied to a job change, which meant an increase in pay which meant we would spend more. Not that spending equates happiness. As a matter of fact, Nancy was pretty miserable in one of the places we ended up.
I don’t think I will be miserable at Sedolosoder. I just can’t imagine what our life will be like. As most people observe “it will be an adventure.”
So is haulin’ balls in whitewater, but some times an adventure turns out badly.
I could be so screwed.
