California 2 Puerto Rico

That’s right, Summer is here. Both of them.

Summer arrives in Puerto Rico I

Summer flew in almost a week ago from her three week business trip to San Diego. The entire time she was there she was working 15 hour days, moving warehouses, setting up new utilities, working with accountants and bookkeepers and I can only imagine what else. She left San Diego at 9:45pm on Jet Blue and arrived in Aguadilla around 10:00am the next day. I got to the airport a little early and decided to hang out at Wilderness (surf spot in the flight path) until her plane cruised in overhead. Here is a picture I took of her plane with my phone. Sitting on the beach waiting for her flights is definitely better than circling the San Juan Airport in the truck.

Jet Blue Arriving in Aguadilla

Summer arrives in Puerto Rico II

Not only is MY Summer here, but the summer heat is here as well! The past couple of days have been hot (but they are always hot when you are in the sun), but the evenings have been hot as well. In the winter, the nights really cool down quite a bit. It is perfect weather for shorts and a t-shirt and maybe jeans if the trade winds are blowing or there is a storm system over us. Once summer starts to hit, the evenings don’t cool off quite as much and the idea of putting on long pants becomes quite unsettling.

This prompted us (along with a visit from Brian) to install our new ceiling fan in the master bedroom and begin our research on installing air conditioning in the two bedrooms upstairs and the offices/guest bedroom downstairs.

We will be getting split units for upstairs, but Brian brought up putting in Ducts and central air downstairs since we haven’t drywalled the ceilings yet. Let the Air Con research begin! Have any of you guys made a Air Conditioning investment at your house? If so, do you have any input for us (cost, brand, pitfalls etc)? Let us know!

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I think I may need to purchase a Hazmat Suit to cook. Last night, I was defrosting a bunch of chicken breasts in the microwave, and the weirdest thing happened. I opened the door to check on the chicken and the microwave didn’t turn off! It didn’t really hit me at first, but when I realized the microwave was still cookin’ (may hand was getting hot) I shut the door and hit the clear/off button. The light in the microwave was off, but the cooker was still going. I was just about to unplug it when it turned off (I was turning everything on and off and hitting the clear button repeatedly).

So, here is the skinny. Summer and I bought a very nice set of matching Kenmore Elite Appliances from Sears in Mayaguez back in July. So, in less than 10 months, our microwave is trying to transform me from Bruce Banner to The Incredible Hulk! I am going to call Sears today and see what’s up. My concern with all this (aside from turning green when I get angry) is that we built custom cabinets over the stove to fit the Kenmore Elite Microwave / Exhaust Fan. Considering our experience trying to get doors, appliances and furniture on the island, waiting for a replacement microwave MAY yield us a new Kenmore elite microwave EVENTUALLY, but I would be more inclined to think that they are going to try to replace it with a different model (hopefully the microwave convection combo model is the same size and in stock).

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Listen up people! It’s time to go bowling and all of you need to join us. We have been bowling in Aguadilla a couple of times (Next to the Wendy’s and Freshmart Health Food Store on the No. 2) and have decided if it is a worthy enough sport for The Dude, it’s a worthwhile pastime for all of us. Summer and I would like to loosely organize a Rincon bowling night in Aguadilla. Tuesday and Wednesday nights offer $5 a person all the games you can bowl from 4:00pm to 9:00pm. Medalia is only $1.25 and the place is air conditioned. The way I see it, anyone that goes is making out on the deal.

Rincon Bowling Night

: Tuesdays, 6:00pm

Smokey, this is not ‘Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.

This may not be ‘Nam, but it is Puerto Rico so I am not going to make any rules at all. If you would like to play, Summer and I are going to go Tuesday nights around 6:00pm and would like all of you to come. As far as we are concerned, the more the merrier (rowdier)!

If you have never been to the bowling alley in Aguadilla, it is tricky to find, but once you have been there once, you’ll never have a problem finding your way back. It is right across the street from the Walgreens and next to Wendy’s on the No. 2. It is hard to see because it is up about 40 feet on a hill above Wendy’s and they don’t have any Vegas blinking lights advertising * Bowling * Bowling * Bowling . I embedded a Google Map below with directions to the Wendy’s. You will be able to find it from there.

Bowl Aguadilla with us, Tuesday Nights at 6:00pm

Let us know if you are thinking about going. Once we get this rolling on the weekly basis, we’ll reserve lanes, set up some teams and keep an official score sheet that we’ll post publicly here. It could be that my poker habits are bleeding into the rest of my life (especially since I am no good at bowling), but I think I’d like to make a $1 wager per game (yes, an entire dollar). Ya know, spice it up a bit. Who’s in!

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When I first moved to California, I didn’t notice many signs of the seasons changing. The weather changes a bit, but compared to the East Coast, the seasons barely changed at all. After living there for a couple of years, I really started to notice the much less apparent signs of the seasons changing. I wonder if it is going to be the same for me here in Puerto Rico where there are only two seasons; Rainy Season (summer) and Dry Season (winter).

I have been blogging about watering our plants every day until rainy season starts (and hanging the rain gutters) but I haven’t had to touch the hose for almost a week now. It has been raining in the afternoons a bunch and for a few days, we had a low pressure system over us that sent cool weather and non-stop drizzle for two days.

Another big afternoon rain storm just hit about an hour ago and it prompted me to check the weather forecast.

Yep, that’s right. Rain, rain, rain and more rain.

Could rainy season be on Rincon Puerto Rico already?

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Summer and I are anti-chemical when it comes to treating our house and yard for insects. We do our best to not allow standing water where mosquitoes will breed and I have started adding a cap full of bleach to the baby pool we leave in the back yard for the dogs. Despite all this, we are still going to have mosquitoes on the property (proven by the assault on my exposed skin at 4am last night) because of the cabrada (stream) and the puddles from all the rain. So, I did some research and found a few plants that will actually repel mosquitoes!

Plants that Repel Mosquitoes:

• Catnip
• Lemon Grass (aka. Citronella Grass)
• Marigolds
• Mosquito Plants
• Rosemary

Catnip: I know what you are thinking. Catnip is legal marijuana for cats and cheech is too young to experiment with such a controversial gateway drug. Don’t worry, catnip has another very useful purpose, it repels mosquitoes! The natural oils found in Catnip is actually a more effective mosquito repellent than the highly toxic DEET. You can plant it all around your outdoor living areas and you can also crush it up, retain the oil and use it as all natural mosquito repellent (I can’t guarantee cheech won’t kill you if you do this).

Lemon Grass: Lemon grass is a delicious herb used in many Thai recipes like Thai Grilled Chicken Salad with Lemon Grass Coriander Dressing and it is also a mosquito repellent. Lemon grass (aka: Citronella Grass) is a plant that grows in clumps, and can grow up to 6ft tall. I really like the idea of having lemon grass clumps planted around the yard because this stuff smells so good and grows as fast as grass. Uh, hence, lemon grass. The long and the short of it is this. If you plant a small clump of lemon grass by all of the windows downstairs, they will be 6 ft tall clumps of mosquito repelling love in 6 or 8 weeks .

Marigolds: Marigolds repel all kinds of bugs, not just mosquitoes. We planted Marigolds around our vegetables to try to help keep the little veggy eating bugs away from our booty. Marigolds do a good job repelling mosquitoes around the house, but they are annuals (life cycle of one year), so they are not going to live year around like some the other mosquito repelling plant options.

Mosquito Plants: This plant was created for the consumer. It is the hallmark holiday of plants. This plant (in my opinion) is banking on the ’sucker’ in all of us. What scientist would name a plant the Mosquito Plant! It is marketed heavily and as its name implies, it is a mosquito repelling plant. I did some research on the Mosquito Plant and can’t find any solid evidence that these things actually repel pesky mosquitoes, so I am just going to dismiss the Mosquito Plant as an option for us.

Rosemary: YES! Rosemary actually repels mosquitoes. I love this. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs to cook with as it has a really strong unique flavor (great for marinating lamb/chicken, infusing with virgin olive oil). Rosemary also grows year around and can grow into quite a large plant. It can become a total ground cover (if properly groomed) or a beautiful hedge once it matures. Rosemary does better in more temperate climates and tropical climates, but it grows quick enough that if you are in an area that actually has seasons, you can grow it on the porch and then bring it inside come winter. The oils in rosemary also work as an all natural mosquito repellent.

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Puerto Rico can vote in the presidential primary elections to help elect a candidate for the President of The United States. Puerto Rico has 5 Superdelegates (same vote as a delegate, just they aren’t pledged to a candidate). At this point in the primary, of the 5 superdelegates, three of them are unofficially pushing for Hillary Clinton and the other two are pushing for Obama.

I am an Obama supporter, and just made a donation to his campaign, because I beleive in him and think that he can get our country back on track. That jackass Texan in the White House has created an enormous mess which the next President will have to unravel (if a Dem wins the whole shooting match, the conservative press is going to have a field day bashing the new Prez for problems created by George W), but I think having Obama as our next President (well rounded, well traveled, cultured, educated, charismatic) is Americas HOPE. I don’t want America to be the laughing stock of the world. I want our dollar to regain value and our economy to become a super power once again. Obama can get us there.

If you want to Donate to Obama, click on the link or the banner.

YES WE CAN

Do you want to have to pay a toll to your Internet provider to access websites? Do you want your Internet provider to charge the business you are buying from to have premium connection speeds (this charge will need to be passed on to the consumer)? NO NO NO.

Read Obama’s stance on Net Neutrality

Protect the Openness of the Internet: A key reason the Internet has been such a success is because it is the most open network in history. It needs to stay that way. Barack Obama strongly supports the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet. Users must be free to access content, to use applications, and to attach personal devices. They have a right to receive accurate and honest information about service plans. But these guarantees are not enough to prevent network providers from discriminating in ways that limit the freedom of expression on the Internet. Because most Americans only have a choice of only one or two broadband carriers, carriers are tempted to impose a toll charge on content and services, discriminating against websites that are unwilling to pay for equal treatment. This could create a two-tier Internet in which websites with the best relationships with network providers can get the fastest access to consumers, while all competing websites remain in a slower lane. Such a result would threaten innovation, the open tradition and architecture of the Internet, and competition among content and backbone providers. It would also threaten the equality of speech through which the Internet has begun to transform American political and cultural discourse. Barack Obama supports the basic principle that network providers should not be allowed to charge fees to privilege the content or applications of some web sites and Internet applications over others. This principle will ensure that the new competitors, especially small or non-profit speakers, have the same opportunity as incumbents to innovate on the Internet and to reach large audiences. Obama will protect the Internet’s traditional openness to innovation and creativity and ensure that it remains a platform for free speech and innovation that will benefit consumers and our democracy.

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We are narrowing down our surf trip destination options to Central America and Mexico. It is peak swell season there during July/August and the airfare and accommodations are going to be much less costly because it is not tourist season. I would really like to go to Indo with all of our friends, but I think that is going to prove to be too expensive for us this year.

I spoke with one of the guys at the poker game on Monday night about our possible plans of going to Puerto Escondido and he gave it two thumbs up! He said that the beach break gets pretty heavy and that it isn’t a beginner wave but there is a left point break that can accommodate all levels of surfing. After checking out the surf maps, it definitely looks like a cool spot to check go. Flying in seems a little tough, but it is my understanding that Mexicana flies into Puerto Escondido once a day 7 days a week. The airport is just a few kilometers from town. There is also another airport in a town called Huatulco that gets service from Houston Texas. That town is about an hour and a half from Puerto Escondido by taxi.

I also really like the idea of Nicaragua. The winds blow offshore there 360 days a year, it picks up good south swells during the rainy season and Summer and I may be able to talk some friends that live in Costa Rica into driving up and hanging out for a family vacation. The downside of Nicaragua for me so far is the lack of information for regular surfers. All of the Vacation rentals are either 2 bedroom condos in big developments or accommodations targeting Big Timers which cost a minimum of $150 a night. There is no way we are going to drop $3,000 for about 2 weeks in Nicaragua. We could score Indo for that price. Does anyone have any good suggestions for Nicaragua? Remember, we need high speed Internet.

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I know what you were thinking when you read the title to this post. Summer and Stefan are planning a surf trip? They live in a place people take surf trips to! Well, I’m not one to argue that point with you in the winter time, but come summer (rainy season), the swells hitting Rincon (created by the wintertime low pressure systems marching across the states) stop hitting the North West part of the island and Rincon goes from a bustling surf destination to a quiet, tropical paradise for snorkelers. Now, Summer and I both love snorkeling, but we also love surfing and deserve a vacation.

So, here I am, researching a surf trip that Summer and I can take this Summer. We want to go somewhere neither of us has been to yet. We are open to suggestions if you have any for us. The only pre-requisite for a destination is that it must have hi-speed Internet access. Either of us can take the time off from work, so we will be bringing our computers with us.

Here are a few Surf Trip Ideas
• Indonesia
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Mainland Mexico
• Canary Islands (not Tenerife)

We have some really close friends that are going to Kandui Resort in Indo for two weeks in July. The resort looks absolutely insane. Aside from all the world class waves a short boat ride away from the island, they only allow a certain amount to surfers on the island at a time (limits the amount of people surfing) AND it has high speed Internet.

I have also been doing a bunch of research on Mainland Mexico, specifically Puerto Escondido. I found a cool vacation rental that has high speed Internet, close to the beach, the grocery stores and the waves there are insane. Also, we would be able to put our conversational Spanish to good use and it would be a very budget conscious trip, which is good. I’d like to blow the rest of my money on the house and our trip to Colorado in August.

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I haven’t really noticed exactly what was itching for the past two days (itching is a very common thing this time of year in Puerto Rico because of all the Pica Pica) but I have been scratching as needed. Yesterday, I realized that it wasn’t Pica Pica, that it is some sort of rash, but I don’t know what it is from: sea lice? allergy to another plant?

Have any of you seen this? Can you identify this itchy rash on my back?

The welts I have on my back are from Sea Lice! Crazy, sea lice bites me, but I have never had welts. I guess the sea lice in Puerto Rico is vicious!

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Without even getting into the DIY projects we have around the house (hanging fans, light fixtures, organizing tools) Summer being gone exemplifies to me that it definitely takes teamwork to take care of this house. Man, who’s idea was it to build such a big house?

Kuta and Monkey do a really good job scaring off our neighbors goats on the nightly basis. Don’t take this the wrong way though, the goats are fenced in and can’t come into our yard. But Kuta and Monkey know that they are dangerous beasts so they periodically run outside and bark at them (next to our window) through out the night to deter them from even trying to break out of their pen. Evil goats.

Cheech does a good job killing critters, making sure I don’t sleep all night (attacking face/crotch at the wee hours of the morning) and making sure the house doesn’t get flooded by emptying the toilets on a regular basis.

Team Work Gets the Job Done

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