I booked a reservation for a car through travelocity. The car company did not pick me up at the airport last night and they don’t answer their phone this morning. I am on the skype phone with Travelocity. Every now and then the audio gets interrupted with the unmistakable sound of a circular saw cutting wood, very strange.
Nice phone call. Travelocity said the company does not answer their phone and they asked if I could hang around here for 5 or 6 hours while they try to contact the car company. No, not really, thank you. So I have ebooked through another company for about twice the rate I had reserved. Travelocity said their price guarantee does not apply if I rent from a different company. As it is impossible to get the car I reserved I assert that the travelocity price guarantee is worthless.
Why don’t you don’t you drop them a line travelocity@travelocity.comand reference this blog and trip id 4921 0582 9653 and tell them how valuable their service is.
Does anybody know how to get a teenager out of bed?
We made it Puntarenas, tomorrow we go to Jaco to catch a day of the world surfboarding championship.
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Todays route
Well we ended up going to Puntarenas via
View Larger Map
We are hoping to catch the world Surfboarding event in Jaco tomorrow.
http://www.1costaricalink.com/eng/surf/costaricasurfing.htm
http://costarica.es.craigslist.org/trv/1285233140.html
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
We have arrived
Yesterday was fun. After I sold the car, Mark drove me back to Karl’s. We bought a bunch of house warming gifts. After Karl got off work we were prepared to move all of his large items but we had no pickup truck and no way to pull a trailer. There was some monumentally bad planning here. There were two nearby Home Depots. One would answer the phone, but did not have a rental truck, the other would not answer the phone. While driving to Home Depot location two we spent all the time on a cell phone with U-Haul on hold. In any event we rented a truck and moved his bed, recliner, desk, desk chair, bean bag chair and a bunch of his clothes. Mark and I went to Karl’s new place and Karl and Kyle packed up the balance of his stuff until 3:00 in the morning at which time they started to march across the living room like 150 pound ants on speed.
We took off from Austin at 2:50 and from Houston at 4:55 and arrived at Liberia at 8:30 or so.
When we arrived at Liberia, the driver for the car rental was nowhere to be found. A taxi driver called the company but there was no answer. He drove us to the Best Western in Liberia. Nice big room, one queen and two doubles. We went across the street to the bar, but decided to return to the hotel bar where it was quieter and we had internet access.
We took off from Austin at 2:50 and from Houston at 4:55 and arrived at Liberia at 8:30 or so.
When we arrived at Liberia, the driver for the car rental was nowhere to be found. A taxi driver called the company but there was no answer. He drove us to the Best Western in Liberia. Nice big room, one queen and two doubles. We went across the street to the bar, but decided to return to the hotel bar where it was quieter and we had internet access.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Move Karl and Sell Car
I got a blood blister last night on my left foot while walking around Austin in sandals. Lots of pics of bats from Congress Street Bridge, home of the largest urban bat colony in North America. Today already looks over booked. I have to drive to Karl’s new house, a duplex near downtown Austin, empty the truck and then drive across Austin repeatedly to move the big screen TV, desk, recliner, bed, and the rest that sounds like about 6 trips. In addition to all that I have to sell the truck. Mark is coming down this evening.
Having no great desire to see how the money pit is doing I didn’t drop by the old house. Should have picked up the back seat to my Expedition, apparently it adds $500 value to the car. The registration expired while I was in Michigan. In order to transfer title I need to have a current registration. Past due registrations can only be renewed in the county in which the car is registered. As Mark is still in Southlake, hanging out with Kwame Kilpatrick, I called him at 4:30 and asked him to blast down to Town Center, where they would of course ask for proof of insurance and a letter of authorization from the corporate secretary. I called Sriram to ask him to create a letter and was on my phone with the insurance company when Mark laughed and asked “Have you gotten any tickets for exprired registration?”. I denied having received any and he started laughing and said “I got it” before I could coordinate getting the necessary paperwork to him to finish the transaction. Ok, I guess I’ll sell the car tomorrow
Having no great desire to see how the money pit is doing I didn’t drop by the old house. Should have picked up the back seat to my Expedition, apparently it adds $500 value to the car. The registration expired while I was in Michigan. In order to transfer title I need to have a current registration. Past due registrations can only be renewed in the county in which the car is registered. As Mark is still in Southlake, hanging out with Kwame Kilpatrick, I called him at 4:30 and asked him to blast down to Town Center, where they would of course ask for proof of insurance and a letter of authorization from the corporate secretary. I called Sriram to ask him to create a letter and was on my phone with the insurance company when Mark laughed and asked “Have you gotten any tickets for exprired registration?”. I denied having received any and he started laughing and said “I got it” before I could coordinate getting the necessary paperwork to him to finish the transaction. Ok, I guess I’ll sell the car tomorrow
Monday, July 27, 2009
Driving Cross Country
Saturday
I had a late start as I had to wait for the eyeglass center to call to tell me that they had my eyeglasses. The ones they absolutely promised would be delivered by Friday. So Saturday I had to go the center and pick them up. That left me about 5 hours behind schedule.
I drove from Washington, Michigan to Lincoln, Illinois; by 8:00 I was done. Had dinner and went to the hotel to surf the web a bit to find that my newly configured laptop would no longer start up X (the linux Graphical User Interface). The first hour and a half were pretty bad as every road in Michigan is in a state of non construction. Orange barrels placed everywhere, exits are blocked, no detour directions and nobody actually working on the roads.
Sunday
Drove to Plano, TX and stayed with my good buddy John King, Kimmy was in Chicago so we each got in a few more words than usual. Best thing I saw along the way was “Bob’s Good Junk”. If you see the pictures, you will have to wonder what passes as bad junk. Diner quality salt shakers or just rocks that you would find on the side of the road were offered for $.25.
Monday
Connected to a shared server and had Sterling look at my X configuration. After all this it was a modded /etc/profile.d that was defective. Interferred with init.d boot processes starting. I am ready to hit the road again to go to Austin, arrive just as Karl get’s off work around 2:30. If you want to track me on Google Latitude drop me a line at my gmail account.
Had lunch with Israel Denis at Blue Mesa and then stopped by the LaFleurs on the way to Austin. Pulled in to Austin at 6:00. I had forgotten how pretty Austin is. The temperature is about 102 degrees; it finally feels like summer.
I had a late start as I had to wait for the eyeglass center to call to tell me that they had my eyeglasses. The ones they absolutely promised would be delivered by Friday. So Saturday I had to go the center and pick them up. That left me about 5 hours behind schedule.
I drove from Washington, Michigan to Lincoln, Illinois; by 8:00 I was done. Had dinner and went to the hotel to surf the web a bit to find that my newly configured laptop would no longer start up X (the linux Graphical User Interface). The first hour and a half were pretty bad as every road in Michigan is in a state of non construction. Orange barrels placed everywhere, exits are blocked, no detour directions and nobody actually working on the roads.
Sunday
Drove to Plano, TX and stayed with my good buddy John King, Kimmy was in Chicago so we each got in a few more words than usual. Best thing I saw along the way was “Bob’s Good Junk”. If you see the pictures, you will have to wonder what passes as bad junk. Diner quality salt shakers or just rocks that you would find on the side of the road were offered for $.25.
Monday
Connected to a shared server and had Sterling look at my X configuration. After all this it was a modded /etc/profile.d that was defective. Interferred with init.d boot processes starting. I am ready to hit the road again to go to Austin, arrive just as Karl get’s off work around 2:30. If you want to track me on Google Latitude drop me a line at my gmail account.
Had lunch with Israel Denis at Blue Mesa and then stopped by the LaFleurs on the way to Austin. Pulled in to Austin at 6:00. I had forgotten how pretty Austin is. The temperature is about 102 degrees; it finally feels like summer.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
The Journey Begins
Stages
1. 1958 – 1977 Dependent
2. 1977-1983 Independent
3. 1983 Married
4. Children 1988 Karl, 1990 Mark
5. 1993 divorced children live with mother
6. 2002 Children old enough to choose, live with me
7. 2008 Children grow up and move out
I am now at stage 8, selling the house and all my worldly goods and moving anywhere that interests me, doing my job via a broad band connection and a notebook computer. I have handed titles to 4 water craft and 2 ATVs to a great friend along with power of attorney for these vehicles. The house is for sale.
Tomorrow I begin my trip to Costa Rica. I will be driving from southeast Michigan to Southlake, TX to meet up with my younger son, Mark (19). On Monday we meet my older son, Karl (21) in Austin. I hope to sell my truck in Austin on Monday or Tuesday. On Wednesday I will move to Costa Rica with nothing but the contents of 3 duffel bags and a back pack. My boys will be joining me for a couple of weeks and then they are off to their respective lives.
We have no set agenda, no hotel rooms booked, no car rental and no destination. That’s ok. We’ve done this all before. We go where the spirit moves us. I figure that we will probably agree to shuttle from Liberia to La Fortuna and hang out there for a while. The northern pacific coast has grown too Americanized for my taste thanks to Ollie North and the Liberia airport. The weather is nicer on the pacific than it is on the Caribbean side but I prefer the remoteness of Puerto Viejo and the genuine spirit of community.
1. 1958 – 1977 Dependent
2. 1977-1983 Independent
3. 1983 Married
4. Children 1988 Karl, 1990 Mark
5. 1993 divorced children live with mother
6. 2002 Children old enough to choose, live with me
7. 2008 Children grow up and move out
I am now at stage 8, selling the house and all my worldly goods and moving anywhere that interests me, doing my job via a broad band connection and a notebook computer. I have handed titles to 4 water craft and 2 ATVs to a great friend along with power of attorney for these vehicles. The house is for sale.
Tomorrow I begin my trip to Costa Rica. I will be driving from southeast Michigan to Southlake, TX to meet up with my younger son, Mark (19). On Monday we meet my older son, Karl (21) in Austin. I hope to sell my truck in Austin on Monday or Tuesday. On Wednesday I will move to Costa Rica with nothing but the contents of 3 duffel bags and a back pack. My boys will be joining me for a couple of weeks and then they are off to their respective lives.
We have no set agenda, no hotel rooms booked, no car rental and no destination. That’s ok. We’ve done this all before. We go where the spirit moves us. I figure that we will probably agree to shuttle from Liberia to La Fortuna and hang out there for a while. The northern pacific coast has grown too Americanized for my taste thanks to Ollie North and the Liberia airport. The weather is nicer on the pacific than it is on the Caribbean side but I prefer the remoteness of Puerto Viejo and the genuine spirit of community.
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