About Cars: Issues

It all kind of started last week. And it wasn't funny back then either. Well, as you all know - or should know (I did post about this, haven't I? *checks her filofax because she's actually too lazy to check the blog-log*) - I moved to another department within the company. Oh, I see, I did made a mention but haven't told you what my life has been in the new place. Oh, it's wonderful! But back to the car, thing is that two weeks ago on Monday I went to fill the tank of Sookie because she was running low on gas. At my new place I start my day at 7 a.m., like all regular human beings, not at 6 a.m. as in my other office, like all human beings who live in another province and rather get to the office before the traffic jams. Well, since at my new office the parking space is scare and precious, when I take the car to the office I normally get there around 6 a.m. That was my luck.

On that faithful Monday morning, after filling Sookie's tank, her battery died on us. Just plop! died. I was stressed out, scared (Freaking Hell! Now what? How do I revive my car!?) and called my dad to help me. In the mean time, because God is Big and He always has an eye on me, an old man in a rusty car came by and helped me restart my car. First time I've got to use those electric cords with dented clamps in the ends. That day, also I learned that you must check your battery's water level, and if it isn't full - and I mean to the brim - the you must add to it. The water you shall use is distilled water or Club Soda (the thing you use to mix with whisky), but never regular water.

I still had my Dad take Sookie to the mechanic to see her over. The mechanic said she's fine and her motor was perfect. This was Monday of last week.

When I got her back I did notice her a bit different, more potent, the way she used to be before she got all anemic on me. Well, I was happy like a clam.

On Saturday (not this past Saturday, but the one before it) I decided to go to the movies. Everything was nice and dandy until Sookie started to heat up, and heat up bad. I was in a traffic jam, in the middle of the city where streets are very narrow and deep, open sewers separate the road from the sidewalk, so I couldn't pull over. I turned off the car on every red light, but didn't made it to the Movies. At one point she refused to ignite. Well, there I could pull her over, called my brother and asked for assistance. He told me to let her cool down and then fill the radiator and the water tank with water. Sookie was dry as a stone. It did surprise me that she would be out of water and the mechanic didn't notice on Tuesday, when Dad took her to him, not five days before. Anyway, I cooled her, filled her and then drove home. On Sunday I went to the movies - also to test her - and everything was ok.

Then came Monday. I drove to the office, and when getting to the office she heated up. Not as much as on Saturday, but she hit the red. Called my dad and told him. During the day I checked the water and filled it. Before leaving I checked again and filled her again, and this time I notices water leaking from the side of the motor. This couldn't be good. I drove carefully and when she started heating up - not in read yet, but half way there - I stopped and waited for her to cool down. So far so good. Except that then she wouldn't start.

Oh shit.

Called Dad, hoping he could help me push her to get her started. Except he called me back and told me to get a tow car with the insurance. That's how I pulled my car on a two truck for the first time in my life, and got my baby home like that.

Yesterday we took her to the mechanic, again with a tow truck, and now she's there. I don't expect her for at least a month, and I can only hope the fixing won't be too expensive, though I'm already expecting a rather large bill. Now that I've been battling with my projects and my card (they all pull me in different directions and I'm trying to balance them all), and right now, on top of everything comes this surprise. Yeah, this sort of things come always in packs, I guess. However, heads up, we can manage and we will!

Talking with my Dad, I managed to get him to lend me one of his cars so I can drive to the office. Dad has two for reasons only he can understand (it's the kind of things people do at first when they get retired, don't have kids to worry about, still aren't taking that much medication and need to fill a void). He has a little one and a big one. I was rooting for the little one, though I don't like that very much (no car is like my Sookie), but I've got the big one, one I've never driven in my life. Since I'll have to use it tomorrow, I worked up some nerve and took it out today for a drive. Well, the clutch isn't in very good condition, and the shitf stick is rather problematic. I took it for a short ride and my arm already hurts! Dad said he will take it to the mechanic for fixing one of these days. Yeah, we all know when one of these days is. It's sometime around never-day.

What's most amazing is that my Dad really dislikes my car and has been using the happenings of these last days to start pushing his "lets buy a new car" agenda. Currently he's on the party of "I'll buy you a new car", so if you think that I should say "sure! if you buy it!" that won't help my cause. Dad buying me a new car means that he expects to pick it, but the main issue for me is that I actually love and I'm very satisfied with my car. She's 19 years old and has been holding up really well, the taxes I pay for her are rather low due to her age and market value, and even if this fixing goes up through the roof I would have spent less on her in total that I would have spent on a newer "better" car in the same period of time. Yes, Sookie's wheeldrive is a but harder than any of my Dad's cars', but it's still smooth, and her shift stick and clutch are fenomenal. Plus she sounds like a real car... and I love her.

First Archery Class

First day of Archery and I love it! Got hurt with the string of the bow, and I'm actually quite proud of it :-) The trainer said it was a "rite of initiation", but then it happened because I wasn't wearing an arm protector. Most of the people in the class was quite an expert, and only another guy and I were beginers, though the guy had some experience - real experience - with the bow and arrow. Next week we'll have the last lesson of the year - I wasn't aware of that, but sure as hell, I'm going. ^_^

Getting to the Archery camp wasn't easy, specially because someone mislead me about how to get there. Well, plenty of people was misleading about how to find the archery camp within the Sport Facility of the UCR, but in order to get to the Sport Facility I wasn't sure about a certain street, or more like an exit of a rotary. It was the key exit to go to the city part where the Sport Facility was located. I knew the old exit was closed, so I had asked this friend about how to get there. She insisted the exit was open. I don't go there often, so there was a chance I remembered wrong, or I hadn't paid attention. However, I wasn't wrong, despite of this friend saying she had used the exit not a week ago. Then again, there's nothing asking around can't fix, so I asked a cab driver and quickly found the right path.

I've conquered Sabanilla!

Now I must practice and work towards conquering Archery. ^_^

A fabulous day after all

Oh goodness, wasn't I upset yesterday? ^_^ Well, my fault, I'm just not taking my life in my hands, or rather I'm not managing well some of my relationships, and lo there the results. Then again, let me place the blame somewhere else too - though I shouldn't -: this is the fault also of my friends, my family and my significant relationships, including my current, beloved boyfriend. And yes, I'm including also all of my penpals - former and present - and online friends, so YOU, dear reader, are most likely included and sharing the blame. But "what blame?" you wonder. How can YOU, dear reader, friend, family, significant others from past and present (Hello Kari! ^_^) could possibly be to blame for a current crappy relationship with someone you have nothing to do with and you don't even know? Well, that's because you ALL are wonderful, loving and perfect, and I've got lazy, and haven't practiced my skills at keeping people at bay or smacking their heads when they are going past what I'm willing to take. So there! Thank you for being such perfect and adorable and loving people and being so wonderful! Now I'm at loss dealing with someone who won't follow your incredible example.

Oh, don't you look at me like that, you know you are wonderful and that I love you a freaking lot. ^_^

Any follow up on "sucky relationship"? Nah, too soon for that. I am currently auditing my feeling about the whole thing, and analizing why am I adamant about pulling out once and for all, and whether that's what I want and what I really, really want in this case and generally. That's some soul searching to do. Hn, shall I let it all out through smash booking? ^_^ Nah, prose works much better, I'd say.

Now, yesterday wasn't a horribly bad day, if you ask me, as I had other very pleasant experiences. First, I drove to a part of town I don't drive often, (not on those routes), and I discovered new ways and new skills of mine behind the wheel! No, I didn't do anything stupid, no stunts, only discovering routes I normally knew by walking, but not by driving, and rediscovering old memories that helped me navigate around the fabulous University City.

Yesterday I had this meeting in a different district, so I drove there. The meeting - scheduled for the morning - stretched all the way into the afternoon, and it was wonderful. Yes, hard to believe, but it was! The meeting actually became a tremendously productive work session where we made a lot of important break throughs and possibly saved weeks of work to our teams. Also, since I was there, I went to eat to this fabulous little Mexican restaurant Dragonfly and I have met at, but also where Skylar and I went often to lunch either to celebrate something or to talk over sensitive issues that shouldn't be voiced around the gossip vultures of our environment. Lunch was fabulous. I only missed the mandatory tequila, BUT I was on duty, and driving, so no Don Julio for me.

Once the work session was over, I decided to drive up to the University City and try my luck at enrolling for Archery. I've been rejected for three months in a row due to lack of space. The day was sunny and beautiful, and after a biker protest due to a punitive raise in yearly vehicle taxes, the streets were empty, while drivers realized that the roads were open again. I went through the streets nearly deserted, as those streets are never seen, and got to the University City. With little searching I found the enrolling-paying cashier and there was space for me! So, guess who's going to an Archery class? Me!!

Then drove to a coffee place closer to home, where I met with a friend for some talking, and found the perfect paper to reply to a penpal of mine. Ah, perfect paper! You have no idea the difference that makes. I have a stack of acid green paper that simply doesn't cut it for me. Try as I may, it spoils my letters, really! So after much thinking I changed my pen, changed my paper to a smoother and simpler notepad paper, and the pen flows with the speed of thought, and thoughts come easy and fluent like love.

Yes, yesterday was a perfect day all in all, and even that rant, that sucky relationship was nice - now in perspective - as it made me see by comparison, how incredible, how wonderful and how deserving of all the love the world has to have you all are.

I LOVE YOU!!!!

I'm Smug

Today I want to purposefully keep it really, really short. Just because. ^_^ So here we go with my short post and short news. 

First of all I'm smug because I think I'm finally doing it: I'm getting out of my life someone who doesn't add anything positive to it. Yes, sure, maybe I shouldn't be so overjoyed and happy after such a short time, and when the pulling out is so subtle, but I can feel it working, I can feel the threads that tied me to this person snapping. Such a dear person, someone I still love - really, I do - and yet the sadness I expected to come from the departure isn't there. I feel fireworks of freedom inside my chest. Wow.

I'm also smug because some other things have worked well regarding some professional-life related matters that had me somewhat concerned. Some things are still not where I want them to be, but that only means that I have projects going on. There's room to work, to create and to keep myself delightfully occupied!

Things at the office are also fine. Some are more difficult than they used to be, due to the latest management style and a different work philosophy which puts the emphasis on speediness rather than other matters that used to be central, but that's fine as well - I'm getting there. Also, today I've got that feeling that I've got my footage on a given topic. That was also WOW. You know, that feeling where you have the tenis racket in your hand, and whatever they throw your way you are prepared and grinning. Well, my clasp is firm on my racket, and I felt that crystal clear today. I'm back in the game.

It's Friday and it's nice. My only worry is my brother, who got ill and hasn't recovered yet. He promised to fix my car and take it to the technical review, and though I appreciate that and time is running for Sookie to get her tech-sticker, I just can't get my brother to stop worrying about it, and just tell me what she needs, and how to contact the mechanic to get her fixed - off the line, of course - and then get her to take the test. I mean, I guess the last part really requires no skill from me, but if it would, I sure can whine the mechanic into going to the test with me so Sookie takes it and pass it.

That's my only worry. Oh yes, and that I can't decide what should I eat today and where, since I really don't want to eat at Subway, won't go to the Greek-Libanese fast-food joint I know, most of the diners around aren't my cuppa and it looks like it's going to rain soon. Oh hell, I'll just heat up a bowl of oatmeal. ^_^ Flavored oatmeal! Apple and cinnamon, or cinnamon and spice, or maple syrup and brown sugar... Yep, I'll do that. So I'm left with one last worry. Hm, what to do about that? Well, I can call my brother tonight if he hasn't taken Sookie and ask him pretty please to tell me what she needs, promise him to go right away to the spare part supplier and get the exact parts. At least that would get Sookie in the right direction, I hope.

Isn't it wonderful when the world yields before you with solutions? Oh, and look at this! A rather short post! ^_^ Many Blessings to All!!

So Hard To Do Your Job? Then Quit!

It's been raining every afternoon now. Now that I mind, but driving in these conditions is not pretty. Roads are slippery, packed with four times are much cars, and drivers are more impatient and stupid. Geez man, haven't you driven enough to understand that you must be more careful during rain? Particularly when, say, you can't see the road or the car before you? Some people just drive on good grace. Then again, there's this missconception about driving, where some believe that the number of stupidities per mile is directly proportional with how good a driver you are. Ummm, no.

I'm 38 minutes away from rain, and today I've a couple of errands to atend, with the RTV among them too. Hope wet tires don't fuck up my break test, though most likely they would. Oh well, I shall trust brother and his skill to do things well.

I've plenty of stuff at the office to keep me pleasantly occupied, which has resulted in me learly missing today's post - which also explain why am I going again for the "daily stuff that crosses my mind" kind of post, mixed, with some of my trademark "bitching about the incompetent". For some reason - and I'm sure it's a good and just reason - I was paired with someone to do an analysis of a document. The document wasn't large, but it was legal, so it took me a little to get through it, and honestly I still have stuff to check on documents I haven't found yet. However we've got this assignment yesterday and by yesterday I had gone through the whole document, marked up my main observations and sent this person an e-mail (with a blind copy to my boss) with my main remarks. Then I asked him if he would assemble the final document woth both our observations, so I would send him my remarks. He said yes.

Today in the morning I sent him a three page document with over 15 observations on different aspects of the document, for him to put together with his own document. It did bother me - truth to be told - that I would make part of the job for him by providing the document, so that he would only open it and write into it. Then again, I made use of the Bcc when sending it, so whatever shenanigan he came up with, my boss would know what part have I done and which was done by him. Why did I bother? It sounds so stupid now.

This person actually resent the e-mail a couple of hours later to my boss telling him that the document included my observations, and that he would add only three more, and THERE, in the body of the e-mail he scribbled up three rather ... whatever observations that didn't even exactly addressed the content of the document. This after the express request to send the observations in ONE, you get that? ONE! O-N-E, ONE, UNO, EIN document. Oh, yes, DOCUMENT! Of course my boss resent the request for ONE document, in case his "please sent the remarks of both of you in one single document" wasn't clear enough. Well, he was the one who agreed to unify our replies in one document, so I didn't move a finger. It took him nearly 30 minutes to actually manage to squeeze his three observations in one document. Are we for real?

There's a crisis out there, there's people with no jobs, there's people who have been unemployed longer than you can imagine, and this individual comes to the office freaking late (at least one hour late everyday), cashes his paycheck, and can't even be bothered to open a word file and do some work. This type of maggots annoy the begeezus out of me.

Car on Diazepam

What a great Saturday this was! Yes, I'm blogging later then usual, and Blogger tells me that's already tomorrow (you know, the issues with moving Blogger from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere), but I can't be bothered by that today. In my plans I was supposed to meet with Dragonfly and then with Carrie, Kate and Lau. Carrie got sick, Kate got a double shift and Lau was held hostage by homework. The meeting with Dragonfly also fell through because her family business became more successful than they expected - ^_^ as it was bound to, because they are all terribly talented people - and so she was caught making more organic, artisanal soap, so she couldn't meet me. Not that I mind, as this way I can place an order for some of the fabulous products she and her sister make, so maybe next week we can meet and then I can take home some fo the fabulous products these talented girls make.

Aside from the meetings with my friends, which didn't happen, and do to which I'm sitting here blogging instead of laughing like crazy and sipping on Applebees' alcohol devoided cocktails, I attended a seminar on Institutional Risk. No, it's not what you might be thinking, it's a topic related to Internal Control, stuff like procedures and how should you do things in order to do them properly and right, what's the proper chain of actions and so on. Well, Institutional Risk and Risk Management is all about risk, and that's a part of my Internal Control framework that I've been lacking for a while. The seminar was sponsored by my Professional Collegium - that thing I can't properly explain in any language that isn't Spanish because I believe there might not be any like it in any other place in the world - and so was held at the headquarters, which are located in San Pedro.

The seminar lasted pretty much the whole day, which was rather convenient because since the girls and I usually meet in San Pedro, I wouldn't have to deal with the Saturday afternoon traffic, just wait for the girls with a drink in my hand, maybe having time ahead to do some windowshopping that may or may not end up in actual shopping. So far so good, except that as it happens Sookie went to the mechanic on Wednesday, for those issues she had at the technical revision two weeks ago. Wednesday I had to go home by bus. Thursday I went to the office and back with bus. Friday I also took the bus, though then again I normally do that on Fridays because of the plate restriction. However I was really, really sad that I didn't have Sookie, and I was missing her terribly, and wished I got her back as soon as possible. One of the things that also got me worried, to word it somehow, was that I knew I would need her a lot today.

I actually found myself praying to God to please let me have Sookie for Saturday. So in the early afternoon, my brother called that Sookie was sort of ready  -or at least ready enough to take her to the test again. However he was on a work trip very far away from the Metropolitan Area, which meant that I had to go for her, and since I don't know where's the mechanic, I had to go with my dad. So I called dad, and we met to go for my car. the mechanic explained to me what was done with my car, and how some temporary measures had to be taken - hopefully enough to get her to pass the technical revision - but that the definitive solutions were in work, as soon as he got the spare parts needed.

One of the adjustments made were due to the gas emisions. What was done was that the ... something of the car was set on a different tempo. It's some weird stuff that regulates the potency of the car. On lower potency the motor seems weaker, slower, but it makes lesser emissions and it saves gas. Man, you have no idea what's like to drive her now. It's like they've put my car on diazepam! It's like she used to be all hype and hands-on type of girl, not afraid of anything, ready to take on any challenge and then laugh and say "that's all you've got? Come on, don't sell yourself short, sweetheart!". She was the type of car that would take anything you would throw at her, and she would chew it and spit in in your face. Now, on diazepam she's... hippie. It's all ease, cool and calm, no pushing, no limits... it's all like a magic trip down a mythic yellow brick road.

In that sense, I realized that she and me are much alike, or more like I'm much like my car. We are always the push-it type, the hard workers even if we start the day with difficulty and much grumbling. We might get offended by lack of care, we might have our issues, but we puch the envelope, make the whole nine and puch for the extra mile. We appreciate pampering, get our things, but then, when we have to fit the norm and be like the others, we need to get on diazepam, and that, my friends, makes us groovie.

I love my Sookie, and today was a fabulous day, but I can't wait to have my girl off her pills.

Another Hectic Sunday

Something must be definitively out of order whrn you wake up on a Sunday at 6:45 am all by yourself. No alarm, no plans, no trip to the beach only a disjunctive: join my usual yoga class at 10:30 am or join my friends for breakfast at this awesome location some miles away driving, with the opportunity to meet new people, update on information and plunge into the most recent topics of conversation hot on the cyberuniverse - which I may or may not know of. This was a Twitter Breakfast, a uniquete kind of meeting where you can synch with the rest of the community, or at least be updated on the latest trends without having to sacrifice your own usual search. (For instance, I'm quite disconnected of the local gossip and national actuality, as I'm more stuck in telecommunications, Amazon.com, books and American Politics.)

As I was starting my Sunday as any other Sunday, I realized that I still had to wash Sookie. But not only that. Kari and I had decided to take my older nephew for shopping to get him scubba diving equipment (he's birthday is close and his aunt - me - thinks that a T-shirt and a Chinese Chess game ins't nearly enough). Then I realized that I had to get going with Lau's scrapbook project, so either I worked on it now or I would never be ready. As result Sookie got washed and waxed, but neither the yoga class not the Twitter Breakfast were doable under my current situation.

It's kinda sad that two things that are important to me, that could be among the last one I can attend in my life, are moved for something one could say I can do any other time. Well, no. Yes, say, but I had to cancel on both for the reason that though I could do scrapbooking any other time  - pictures are not going anywere - scrapbooking is a very time consuming thing and either you get doing it on schedule, or you end up with no margins of time left, holding into any available, free minute to work on them.

It reminded me of studying and even working. Sure, you can think you can study any time, you can work anytime, but exactly that sort of thinking is what pushes you later to be unable to do it anytime, because either you do it now or you'll never get done with it, and you'll fail or lose what you where aiming for with the project. I didn't plan my time well with this project and I ended up running out of time, and as result now I have to give up things I would love to do, in order to catch up on the project and get it by the last available time possible for me.

From this I leave you a question: Are you looking forward for Hectic Sundays? Is your schedule really as flexible as you pretend it is, or are you working yourself a whole lot of rushing and trouble? Pressure isn't fun and it can end up being really expensive.

Organize your time well. Plan your activities.

Fuchsia

From the past century there's a memory I use to recall about feeling on my own skin the social differences between people. It happened in Hungary at the dorms where I was living at the time, that I was with the Latina team, girl taking and one of them, a quite rich girl from Ecuador, lets call her Emma, though I forgot her name, was telling us stories about her friends back at home. Her stories were nothing like mine, about walking home from highschool - a distance of maybe some 10 to 20 km (that's like 6 to 12 miles) -  just to save the busfare to spend it on candy, stamps or save it for a keychain of the New Kids On The Block. Her stories were about how her parents gave her and her siblings a lot of money every week to buy their things - lunch money, shopping money, etc. - but they spent it all on gas. They where the only ones of their friends to have a car (Emma had her own car, it wasn't shared with her siblings) - and their friends loved driving around, so sometimes they used up all their weekly money on gas in a day. She told us about the constant quarrels with their parents because all the money went to gas.

Then, she told us, one day to add to the matter, her friends decided to prank her by painting the bumper of her car fuchsia. I still remember Emma looking at us out of herself.

"Fuchsia! Can you believe it? Fuchsia!! I was so mad at them!"

I didn't get it. I mean, back then I didn't know how to drive, less did I have a car! I saved up money for a keychain, wore the same shoes to highschool for three years, the same uniform and the same backpack. I think I wasn't even sure what color was fuchsia exactly. (Yes, I could be certified as a 100% straight man, according to cannon perceptions.) I don't know if she was laying to us (she should have been driving in Ecuador at the age of 15-16, and I never bothered to check if that's possible), but she did love telling us all about her glamorous, rich life, and that was okay with all of us... I guess. But be it as it may, it stuck with me that - for some reason - fuchsia bumpers are bad. There's something about fuchsia on bumpers that sends rich people screaming and we all should understand why. Other than that for me it was just a color.

That was until yesterday. No, nobody painted Sookie's bumper fuchsia - if so I'd be blogging from jail -  but as I was driving home, a black car rolled right in front of me.. with fuchsia rims. THEN I understood! Fucking shit! Fuchsia! If that color looks so bad on rims, how the HELL would it look like on the bumper! I tried to find a picture to illustrate the source of my horror and the reason of my temporary blindness, but there's no avail. All pictures of fuchsia rims simply look lovely and girly and only needing a Hello Kitty head with a lot of bling on it. No, this thing was so horrendous, so horrendous... that there are no words for it. (Specially because the car was pitch black and the rims were VIVID, LOUD, SHRIEKING fuchsia.)

Then it kinda got me thinking about something else: fashion. I know that back in our days Madonna and her raggy style with black roots and poor bleaching job was the headache of our parents, and today we have weird-faced, ugly-nosed Lady Gaga prancing around in clothes and hairdos so hideous I'm sure it's all to keep the attention from her horrendous face, BUT what has happened in the past 18 years that we got from shrieking at fuchsia bumpers (in the rich segment of society) to going bonkers for fuchsia rims? I turn again to Kurt Andersen's article for Vanity Fair, "You say You want a Devolution?" (January issue, page 40, with no other than Lady Gaga on the cover), and I must say, sorry, but there have been a some sort of evolution in fashion in the last 20 years, because we went from "No, fuchsia does not go on my car" to "yes, please, FUCHSIA!". But what else? Yes, we do pull from the past to do our fashion, even in the more "creative" and "evolving" decades, by taking a hint of Victorian here, some romantic Renaissance there, picking a thing or to from Ancient Rome or Ancient Greece, a flare of the Barbarians and even pulling inspiration from the Middle Ages. (Accents at the waist, flowing sleeves, certain types of layering...) So, we copy, and often the success is in what copies because we have seen it somewhere and we can relate. We copy in fashion. But then, there's something that doesn't stop and carries from one age to the next picking and pulling on the one before. Is it fashion, is it true rebelion or is it simply a generational temper tantrum that might not even find it beautiful or groundbreaking, or a way to "express themselves" but simply a way to piss us off, shock us and make us react, so that we notice that they are there.

It's like a generational spoiled child that chooses to grab the attention of adults by being bad, outrageous to earn a scolding because somehow it can do it by earning praises.

Evolution, Devolution, Fuchsia... the world doesn't seem to care where it goes anymore, as long as it makes the headlines.

Driving in Costa Rica

Some months ago the Ministry of Public Developments and Transport (MOPT by its initials in Spanish - I used the word "development" to translate the word "obras" which would encompass public road infrastructure development) put in work a few cameras to watch the traffic and fine drivers who drove too fast. The cameras were installed quite ahead of time, and were extensively tested, and then they explained on several media that these cameras would take measure the speed at which the cars drove and issue tickets for those who exceeded the speed limit. People complained some, but then, when the cameras came to work and the first tickets were issued people went in a frenzy claiming all sort of unfair procedures and treatments, from which a "model" claimed that she shouldn't be fined because she works only at nights, doesn't watch TV, wasn't aware of the news, at that hour there were no cars on the road, so she was entitled to drive at +100 kmph on a 60kmph road, and 12 tickets in a week was unseen and she had no money to pay the tickets. Others complained that the amount of the fines wasn't proportional to the average income, and with such amount only the rich could afford a speeding ticket! A lawyer actually had the nerve to claim that the tickets were illegal because they were based on the plate of the car, so you wouldn't know who was driving.

Initially the MOPT held its position, though this was quickly eroding as it was made evident that the only tickets issued were for those who surpassed the speed limit by 20 kmph. (In other words, if you were driving at 80 kmph on a road allowing 60 kmph you are okay, BUT if you drive at 90 kmph on a 60 kmph road you've got yourself a ticket.) The complains continued showering, and people made huge lines to complain in an effort to get their tickets revoked, all of them with arguments that held no water. I mean, if you lend your car to someone - be it friend or family, coworker or someone who lends it from you for money - you are still responsible for your vehicle, and you shall face the damage done with your car. It should be up to you to arrange the matters with whomever was driving your car, not a matter for the Ministry to sort and solve. Then, regulations and laws are made to be kept. So, if there's a sign that says "MAXIMUM SPEED LIMIT 60 KMPH" it means that you are not allowed to go at any speed over that speed. However the Government wa lenient in that and sensing their weakness a population used to breaking traffic laws and invent their own pushed until recently the Ministry danced back and promised to check on the project of the cameras again.

Currently there's a regulation that seeks to reduce traffic at the Capital City, which bans certain plates from entering the Capital City on certain week days. The complaints shower tremendously on this measure, and only a small group of drivers keep it (me among them), with the vast majority still driving their cars on their restriction day, looking for escape routes and alternative alleys when they see a traffic officer. What would have happened if the camera system would have also checked on the plates and issued tickets for the cars that were caught driving on restriction days?

Some smarty-pants talked on the media about the whole system indicating that the new fines in Costa Rica were so disproportionate the same fine was cheaper in Europe (a 5 minute research proved them wrong, yet they still hold their stand), but also complained that it was irrational to demand you to drive at 60 kmph on roads that allowed higher speeds with modern cars that can go faster, claiming that driving at 80 kmph already created a traffic jam, so slow that speed was. This last arguments holds no water either, as I've personally proved that driving at speeds consistently between 40 kmph and 60 kmph allows a nice, fluent traffic and no, people don't honk at you and insult you for going at that speed. However these sort of shameless public declarations sadly put in evidence an undeniable fact about Costa Ricans: they don't know who to drive.

From the habit of paying off the instructors to get the License, to the idea that stunts and hazardous driving are part of good driving, to the idea that fines shall be affordable, it doesn show the need for tough measures, shows that high fines that can't be afforded are in need to keep people from considering breaking the law as their unallienable right, and constant camera surveilance on the roads to keep the Captain Americas fo the road from thinking they have any piece of asphalt at their mercy. Changing lines regardless of the cars behind on the same line, speeding up to cut through two or more lines, rushing into incoming traffic, disrespecting red lights, rushing through yellow lights, getting into the other line with vehicles coming just to pass another car, passing at full speed on the right side... next to a cliff, passing traffic using the shoulder of the route... these are more are among the bravados considered "skills of good driving" and here I haven't even mentioned the crass mistakes like phoning or texting while driving, eating AND texting while driving (that's right! Driving with no hands on the wheel, no eyes on the road), or driving ahead while looking back to attend a child on the backseat.

Yes, 60 kmph on metropolitan roads must be enough. There's no reason to claim the right to rush +100 kmph in a 10 km route that goes in front of a hospital and it's marked over 3 times with signs indicating you that the speed limit is set at 60 kmph, and yet drivers do and are upset when fined for driving at speeds over 80 kmph.

The picture I added to this posts was taken from this site ESTIMATED ROAD TRAFFIC FATAL INJURY DEATH RATE, which you can check to discover a few interesting fact, among them how the countries that some of the "experts" quoted as having "cheaper fines" have half or even a third on fatal traffic accidents per 100K people than Costa Rica, or for instance how Costa Rica has the highest rate of fatal traffic accidents per 100K people in the Continental Central America. (Mexico isn't part of Central America, is part of North America.)

Tough measures are needed, but also a Government with brass balls and iron fist to draft them, pass them, execute them and tell the complainers to fuck it.

Inner and Outer Peace While Driving, Please!

Though I have my driving license for over eight years, maybe more (can't remember exactly when did I get it, but I think I wasn't working then, and I've been working 10 years now...), it hasn't been since recently that I've started to drive regularly. This also means, as you might imagine, that it wasn't up until recently that I re-learned how to drive. As quite a newbie in the craft, like most of the newbies, I tend to drive veeeeery carefully, sometimes too carefully, and that tends to drive mad the more "seasoned" drivers standing behind me, running late or in desperate need to reach the nearest bathroom. Road bullying is all over, nearly on every inch of the asphalt, concrete, gravel or dirt road, from the honking driver urging you to mindlessly risk your life throwing yourself to the oncoming traffic, right under the 16 wheels of a massive container truck - or worse, a cistern truck full of gas! -, to the maniac with a Vin Diesel complex, who cuts right before you, into your lane, tail no further from your little car's nose than the lenght of an average dick (this being something around 6 to 7 inches, sorry boys but you are hardly as big as you would like to believe you are), and then probably congratulates themselves at being so skilled as to manage a tight fit.

When driving under 30 mph (roughtly under 50 kmph), it's easy to dodge the Vin Diesels, and let them think they are Fast & Furious instead of what they are, Risky & Stupid, so you can always hit the break and avoid a trip to the mechanic. Of course, diving slowly - which helps you with the Fast & Stupid - gets the other kind upset. The Honk Beasts, are those who believe they have the right to be Legend. Yes, all alone in the planet, with no other car on the road. They want to drive over 100 mph (over 166 kmph) in urban areas, city centers and around schools and hospitals. Stop signs are not meant for them, those are only signs to decorate a corner or put some paint on the road. They don't want to stop and they don't aknowledge nobody's priority but that of themselves. It's like if they are on the road, they have automatically priority, which is why it upsets them to no end the "women driving" like me, the "newbies" and the "grandmas", who might dare to be driving on the lane they choose to drive on, and won't get out of the way like otherwise would when an ambulance is rushing through. Going slow is bad, but stopping is worse. However the unforgivable is to not only stop, but wait for a decent chance at moving.

As a person close to 40 (yes I am!!! ^_^), and a fairly newbie driver, there are a few things I can tell you. First of all, Honking Beasts can honk and curse and stop next to you and scream all sorts of things at you, all that rolls off your windowshield. They boil up their liver while you, my dear careful driver, save your car from an accident the moron would have pushed you into, and for which the asshole wouldn't take responsability, you save on medical expenses and the mechanical fees of all the cars damaged - yours included - AND you can take your car out the next day too. Also, you know you are doing things right, you are being careful and it's you the one behind the wheel and only you know how fast and precisely can you manuever, how could you react to something unexpected! So, as the Honking Beasts push themselves closer to a heart failure, not to mention all the other stupidities they might do on the road that could earn them a messy end and lost of limbs, you tune yourself to your inner voice, tap on your inner peace and bring it to the outer peace. Smile at the music on the radio, smile at the day, smile at the sky, smile at all the other drivers, be gentle, give space to those trapped in the traffic, in need of a kind soul to get a bit ahead.

Whether you are a seasoned driver, or a newbie driver, or just learning to drive, or even simply thinking at starting your lessons, please remember those first days and keep them in your heart. Drive gently, without haste. You don't need to hurry, you can be late today and remember tomorrow or next time that you need to get on the road that much earlier. Anger won't make other cars move faster or an accident to disappear, a roadworker to speed up. Anger will mainly affect you. It will make you stupid, it will damage your health, and it could bring sorrow to those around you and their families. So before you honk at the slow slugs, or start cutting in front of other cars, speeding into any available space to get faster to your destination, remember that those cars have people in them, people like you, who might not react the way you would like them to. Breathe, tune on your favorite radio station, plug in your iPod and listen to your favorite podcasts, or push in one of those great CDs you have around, relax, ease into the music, connect to nature, pass yourself into the organic-mechanic flow you are in, concentrate on gentle driving and wish all other drivers a safe journey.

You can be better, and that will make you happier! ^_^

Driving Lessons

I've a driving licence seven years already... or so. I finally have a car too, an adorable, tiny, beanie little thing I affectionately call "Little bean" or Sookie. So okay, what's the deal? The deal is that I haven't driven in such a freaking long time I'm all rusted. Not exactly my fault as basically non of the cars in the family were ever really made available for me to drive, so it had to pass seven year (or so) and some things (like me seriously making plans to move to Hungary for good, and never again see my close family on daily basis), to get things on the move and get my own car. Why didn't I buy one for myself, you ask? Well, so far, with the lifestyle I had, it didn't seem like the smartest thing to do. Up to a few years buying fab clothes and traveling as often as possible was far more important, and the maintenance costs of a car didn't really fit in my budget, so even if I could have bought myself a car, I didn't want to have all my goodies shackled down and limited because I had to pay for gas, parking, taxes, circulation rights, insurance and all accompanying annoyances.  Every once in a while I've got to drive some, take the car for a ride, do a certain distance when we were on the road towards the beach, and so I was confident of my habilities, but never got to steadily test them, hone them, work them. Then, lets be honest, up to a few years ago I used to go out drinking with my friends a lot - not enough to get drunk! but on occasion I did got warm and fuzzy - so how could I drive responsably in that state? Not a chance. I believe I did thought that driving was like biking: you can't just forget it, no matter what.

Now that I've focused on obtaining a particular goal, it happens that a car - and driving a car - is a rather important matter that means shifting around certain things. The Life on the Fab Line is basically over, like many other things in my life, that was also a phase that came and went - but certain things still stay, such as Benetton, Swatch and NafNaf. MNG has been outcasted inspite of giving me some of my favorite clothes - so now that the foccus came towards lowering and hatching the hefty loans I've accumulated (and doing awesome!), I did my math, spread my Excel sheets and determinated that at this point of my life a car could fit my budget. Also, the practice here with the car would certainly be a great help once I'm in Hungary. It also bothered me to have a licence, to have learned to drive and not do it, so it was about time to put my skills to use.

Well, as it happened, the first time I tried to drive Sookie I could hardly remember how to ingnite the car!!! Oh the horror!! I was thinking, "what the fuck? I've already parked my dad's other car!". The shock didn't end there as I realized I was having difficulties feeling the clutch. It was like being back to zero again. :-(

So there I was, with a lovely car, and no skills to use it. I had to repractice myself into driving. As expected, Dad was less than amenable towards practicing with me, and his step-by-step practices at starting the car were driving me up the wall. Sorry, I don't work on that system, I need to work on my own system. Dad even mentioned hiring again my old instructor, but I wasn't going to have that. That dude does drive me crazy worse than dad (he has all this slang words like "opening" and "closing" I never figured out. Why couldn't he say I'm too much on the left or the right?), and so it happened that the first day I was going to practice on myself I drove into the gate. Ooops. I've got panicky, so it wasn't until recently that I started practicing again, with one of the most devoted, wonderful instructors I've ever met: my boyfriend.

On this note Kari and I have been practicing, which is a real blessing. It's actually nice to have someone in your life that won't shun away from practicing, but egging you to do so. I'm - on the other hand - really hard for this, as it depends on the mood I am, and I don't like practicing for given amounts of time (that stresses me), but rather by distance. This is how today I drove twice as much as usual and the car didn't turn off even once! That's a usual problem I have with cars: getting the start out, but once I get it, I'm good to go. Now I feel more confident, though I know I still have a lot to practice, since starting the car or getting it moving on a hill is a pain in the ass for me, but I'll get there, you'll see. So watch it out, because soon I'll be on the road! (Only not doing stupid stunts like putting on make up and talking on the phone while driving...)

Americana Drives

I can't remember when did it started, or why it started, how it happened, who is the culprit, but somewhere in the way me, the Ultimate Europe-Lover, all about European Products (which I still am, in a way), started leaning towards the good ol' American stuff. I would be happy to say that it was because Barack Obama won the elections, but I really think it comes from before him. Maybe it was Supernatural and their all-American wrap (even if the boys are anything but wholesome, which is far from me to object), or me watching one too many Iron Chef America or Diners Drive-ins and Dives (or Triple D) eps, but the thing is that one day I found that I like and prefer and chose American goodies. (My taste in man, however, invariably leans towards the old Continent. What can I say? European men are just so much better!) This is how instead of leaning for a nice Citroen C3 as I had orginally imagined (no Italian cars, and I've my reserves with the German cars, however French... well, everything that's French is just goooooooooood), I was leaning towards American Muscle. The Impala came as a natural result of Supernatural, but then, movie by movie, I was introduced with other breathtaking beauties.

Their beauty, however, does seem to be in the eye of the beholder, as talking with my Boo this weekend, it turned out that he finds most of my favored cars just horrible. (Currently he's planning on selling the one car responsible of me falling in love with him - yeah, risky move - and fantasizes about getting an old, classic Mercedes - his car gara be German. I already teased him telling him that he may want to get Adolf Hitler's wheels.) A car I fell in love with thanks to XXX: State of the Union, the graceful, slick, smooth, manly, suave '67 Pontiac GTO seemed to him ugly, disproportionate, shapeless and with unfitting wheels. Dude, it's a '67 GTO, pimped up, sprayed down with orange-to-purple chamaleon paint, a patented type of unique car paint developped by West Coast Customs, thank you very much, and chrome 22 inch rims. It's a work of beauty, it's an art monument. Just sitting inside must be a religious experience. I mean, if you are good, when you die you go into a GTO. Well, us, we go to the GTO, not my Boo.

Great cars are many, and sure nowadays one of these gas-sucking darlings isn't the smartest move one can make, but... aren't they just beautiful? Don't they look as if they were made of angels? Take for instance this astonishing cherry painted Mustang. Looks like too much snout for a two door car, but does that take from the beauty of it? Sure it will be a pain in the ass to park her in a car crowded city, and I certainly can't imagine her turning into some of the narrow alleys and streets that cobweb Budapest. Stripped from nose to rear, across the hood like the classic racing models, or smooth, shiny like this cherry up there. I mean, wow. Do you know that "pretty please with a cherry on top"? Well, that's the cherry I fall for.

I don't have a car, nor I have really had a car so far, which is odd for many people. The way things look up, I think I'll have my car in Hungary, not here, and so the chances for me to have an American car, and American Sweetheart, as some would say, and quite slim. I mean, how on Earth would I get my pawns on one of them? They are beautiful, amazing, but the way things develop, they will only remain in my heart as an unfulfilled desire. Maybe, maybe one day.... :-)