Month: March 2010

8,920km Baja road trip

On By Rick McIn health & fitness, photos, travel, travel MexicoLeave a comment

Mom, Dad, Pete and myself arrived safely back in Parksville, B.C. after a month. No major problems. How about that?

It was our first time driving to Baja, California, an epic adventure.

We toured the peninsula right to Cabo. Then crossed to the mainland via the surprisingly good La Paz to Los Mochis ferry.

ferry at La Paz, Baja

ferry at La Paz, Baja

Returning via Needles, California, we visited my Uncle Bob Moore and his wife Lydia.

Uncle Bob Moore, Needles, California

… note that his Flames flag is not yet at half mast. Incidentally, Needles is like many parts of California, an economic disaster. You could buy a mobile home in Bob’s river front park for $10,000. Pay $300/month rent. Play golf year round outside your door for $600/year.

map of Needles, CA

Prices have dropped to almost zero. Yet nothing sells in Needles, CA. If you cross the river into Arizona, fuel prices drop from $3.60/gallon to $2.60/gallon.

The most beautiful sections of our driving tour, I thought, were the stark deserts of northern Baja and Nevada.

Driving to Baja is one of those epic trips that we’ll look back at fondly, while doggedly insisting that we’d never do it again.

Actually, I’ll be headed back to La Paz by air later this Spring for final installation of 3 new dental bridges. I’ve got temporaries now.

Mexican truck

simplifying legal jargon

On By Rick McIn economics, government, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Alan Siegel is my hero.

Tax forms, credit agreements, healthcare legislation: They’re crammed with gobbledygook, says Alan Siegel, and incomprehensibly long. He calls for a simple, sensible redesign — and plain English — to make legal paperwork intelligible to the rest of us.

acoustic medley of TV show music

On By Rick McIn humour, music, TVLeave a comment

A one man band, Fredrik, of learnguitarez.net.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

0:01 Two and a Half Men
0:22 The Simpsons
0:36 O.C
1:00 Naruto
1:11 Family Guy
1:41 Married with Children
1:57 Cheers
2:16 That 70’s Show
2:41 Big Love
2:58 Freaks and Geeks
3:18 Malcolm in the Middle
3:35 X-Files
3:55 Firefly
4:09 The Office
4:24 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
4:44 Scrubs
4:54 True Blood
5:27 Charles in Charge
5:38 The Big Bang Theory
5:55 How I Met Your Mother
6:05 Mission Impossible
6:14 Friends

Thanks Warren.

Tales of the Alhambra

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Last summer while in Spain I listened to this classic as a book on tape. Highly recommended. I’s not “dated” at all.

This book, implemental in reintroducing the Alhambra to the Western world, was published initially in the beginning of the 19th century. It consists of a series of essays and short fiction pieces. …

Amazon

… The Alhambra (Arabic: الْحَمْرَاء‎, Al-Ḥamrā’ , literally “the red one”), the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra (الْقَلْعَةُ ٱلْحَمْرَاءُ, Al-Qal’at al-Ḥamrā’ , “the red fortress”), is a palace and fortress complex constructed during the mid 14th century by the Moorish rulers of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus, occupying a hilly terrace on the southeastern border of the city of Granada, now in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.

Once the residence of the Muslim rulers of Granada and their court, the site became a Christian palace. Within the Alhambra, the Palace of Charles V was erected by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1527. After being allowed to fall into disrepair, the Alhambra was “rediscovered” in the 19th century. It is now one of Spain’s major tourist attractions and exhibits the country’s most famous Islamic architecture, together with Christian 16th-century and later interventions in buildings and gardens. …

Wikipedia – Alhambra

exploring beaches out of La Paz, Baja

On By Rick McIn McCharles family, travel, travel MexicoLeave a comment

My parents and I spent 7 nights in the El Moro hotel, a luxurious getaway. We stayed because only a few hotels are up to this guy’s high standards:

near El Coyote, Baja

El Moro is OK. Hotel choices in La Paz are not all that interesting, in my opinion. Most do not allow pets.

Each day, scheduled between my dental appointments, we made road trips.

First was wonderful Tecolote, the best beach near La Paz. I could camp out here, gladly. It’s paradise.

Mom - La Paz, Baja - Tecolote

This is the jumping off point for Isla Santo Espirito kayak trips.

Another day we got lost on the “road to nowhere” (El Coyote) and found this near deserted beach.

near El Coyote, Baja

On a big loop of Baja south we really liked El Sargento beach, a hangout for snowbirds from British Columbia.

El Sergento beach, Baja

Most everyone likes the south of Baja.

We caught the ferry to mainland Mexico. Is it Summer in Canada yet? We’re on the way home.

health care anger

On By Rick McIn government, health & fitness1 Comment

I’ve just arrived back in the U.S.A. after several weeks not following the insanely convoluted American political process on that debate.

… A USA Today/Gallup poll showed a plurality now favored the new law — yes, favored. After months of Republicans saying Democrats were going against the will of the people, a plurality — 49 to 40 percent — said passing the bill was “a good thing,” …

NY Times Opinion piece – House of Anger

The people have spoken. A small majority think that the Health Care legislation is an improvement.

That’s democracy.

Suck it up, buttercup.

Why are opponents so ungracious in defeat?

As Colbert would say, “WHY DO YOU REPUBLICANS HATE DEMOCRACY“?

I respect the opinions of those against the Bill. But I have no tolerance for anyone who breaks the law in frustration over losing the vote.

Lock ’em up.

Stouffers suicide prevention tips

On By Rick McIn food, humourLeave a comment

Here’s a company that’s willing to admit their customers are desperate and despondent. Kudos.

Stouffers says the suicide prevention tips are available on all single serving microwavable dinners whether you enjoy veal parmigiana alone or beef stroganoff alone.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Thanks Kate.

Update: If those products appeal, check out a great book BFF: Microwave Cooking for One

I must love the dentist

On By Rick McIn health & fitness, humour, travel, travel Mexico1 Comment

As a kid I had a horrible dentist. And rotten teeth.

I shunned dentists and avoided their haunts.

Older and wiser, two years ago I flew twice to Mazatlan for major dental work.

Last year I got some work done in Kathmandu.

Over the last week in La Paz, Mexico I’ve spent some quality time with my new dentist, Dr. Lorenia Estrada.

… at least 6 extractions, 5 fillings, 3 long temporary bridges, more …

At times lying back in the chair, trying to relax, trying even to sleep, I believe I turned into Patty Hearst. It was Stockholm syndrome, for sure.

I started to get emotionally attached to my captors. My punishment flashed me back to earlier in the day, floating on an air mattress in the outdoor hot tub at the hotel pool. The dentist’s harsh light reminded me of the tropical sun between palm fronds.

Am I going mad in the Apocalypse Now sense of the word?

Harper “pouring money down a rat hole”

On By Rick McIn bad news, economics, government4 Comments

So says Craig Jones, executive director of the John Howard Society regarding the Canadian prison system.

Why is the Harper government taking millions more dollars out of our pockets in times of massive deficit?

… expenditures for the coming fiscal year will increase 43 per cent, to $329.4 million in 2010-2011, from $230.8 million in 2009-2010 …

Calgary Herald

If the Americans have taught us anything, it’s that longer prison sentences don’t work in reducing crime.

The best moment in the movie Sicko was the scene showing that the vile terrorists get better Health Care in Guantanamo Bay than survivors of the American families victimized. The health personnel-to-detainee ratio is 1 to 4 there.

Perhaps Harper should look more closely at the Mexican prison system. In Mexico prisoners are expected to pay for their own cost of incarceration. Work camps are a far better deterrent than free dental.

prp