Orlando, FL

On Sunday morning I made scrambled eggs, Canadian bacon, toast and bagels for breakfast. I think it took us until almost noon to get out of the house.

We drove to Bob's house to return his carpet shampooer and get his desk top computer which sits un-used in a closet. We had to take a serpentine route to his house because of the Puerto Rico Fest and Parade closing streets downtown.

We also picked up these large carved wood Inca figures we bought in Peru - I refer to them as "Bob's Boys". I told Bob I would put my sanding wheel in the tablesaw and flatten the bottoms so that they will stand up without wobbling.

I told Bob that we should stop by Stonewall Bar and Grill for lunch because supporting our gay businesses is the right thing to do. I had the barbecued pulled pork sandwich with cole slaw and Bob had the roast beef sandwich with slaw. About 30 minutes after finishing my sandwich I broke out in a sweat, felt weak and dizzy, and I felt nauseous. Food poisoning.

About 60% of all food poisoning comes from unidentified sources. Well, I am pretty sure where I got mine. Ugghhh.

Back home I took "the boys" out to the garage to work on their bases and Bob worked on putting his computer in as a substitute for my pc until I can get a new one this summer with my tax rebate check. He was successful - I am writing this blog from it now!

I got the bases on the carvings mostly flat, then I covered up the yellow-white wood with walnut stain and put rubber feet on the bottoms of them. We are going to get a 24-inch picture ledge and mount it on a wall in Bob's house to put these interesting conversation pieces on.

For dinner I made a big skillet of chili with House Of Blues Heavenly Cornbread. Yum! Filled us both up!

Mom called in the evening and we talked for 90 minutes. She is very excited about the cruise she is departing on Friday, but her big news was that Roger came to visit on his way back from Florida and that he is engaged! I was a little surprised - heck, Linda isn't even cold in her grave yet! But not as surprised or outraged as some of the rest in that family!

This morning we were up at 5:30 am. I made oatmeal for Bob and then helped him carry his stuff out to the car. After he left I took Buddy for his morning walk.

At work I continued to feel terrible from my little food sickness. I told Craig that I was not coming back from lunch, and I meant it too!

Today was Jason's birthday and I sent him an e-mail message wishing him a happy birthday. He never responded. Maybe he took the day off?

Betsy started sending the rest of her Capital Equipment Bid orders in and by lunch time I had entered $150k in new orders - looks like another good week shaping up! Other than that I had a huge amount of babysitting tasks - getting orders fixed, tracking down service histories, finding lead times and shipping dates... stuff like that... and I did not feel like doing that shit today.

At 2:00 pm I finally left for lunch. I went to Wal*Mart to get a bag of dog food for Buddy and some bottled water for me. I came home, ate a small lunch, and went to bed. I still feel sore and tired.

After walking Buddy at 5:00 pm I took a very hot bath. That seemed to help a little bit. Now I am nursing a hairy navel and getting ready for bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Saturday

I got up around 5 am and took Buddy for his walk. I was surprised that it was relatively warm outside. When we returned from our walk I turned the lamp off in the living room and went back to bed until around 7 am. Then I got up and made breakfast.

For breakfast I took lastnight's leftover mashed potatoes and added flour and an egg. I stirred and then made potato cakes in the frying pan. Next I scrambled eggs and fried them. After the eggs I fried Canadian bacon. Finally I toasted bagels and we had honey-nut cream cheese to spread on the bagels.

After breakfast we brought the carpet shampooer in from Bob's car. We spent the next two hour scrubbing the living room and bedroom carpets. Alot of dirt came out of the carpet and it looks much better now! Buddy had to stay locked in the bathroom while we cleaned the carpet and while it was drying.

While the carpet dried, we went out to the garage to work on my truck some more. The first thing we did was disconnect the clutch master cylinder-to-slave cylinder hydraulic line. I wrapped the fitting with teflon tape and then made the connection up again. Then we had to bleed the line again. I think we finally have the leak stopped.

As a test we drove to Wal*Mart to get salad, bbq sauce, bruschetta, oil, oil filter, and an air filter for Bob's car. The clutch worked fine on my truck.

After that I worked on taking the windshield washer fluid tank off of the truck. Toyota does not make it easy to get this tank out of the fender! As it turns out the tank is not leaking at all. The rubber discharge line from the pump is where the leak is. Pep Boys has nothing like this "U" shaped rubber line so I am going to make a home made one out of steel brake line and tubing.

Next we pulled Bob's car up to the garage, I drained the oil into my carrier pan - his drain plug is 14mm like my Toyota! The problem came when we tried to get the old oil filter off. I tried everything and could not get the old filter to turn... I ended up with dirty oil draining all over my shoulder and making a mess.

We took a break for sandwiches at lunch and I took a shower. Then we drove to Pep Boys.

Here we got an oil filter wrench for tiny oil filters like on Bob's car. Bob got some Slick 50 for the oil change too. We left the used oil with Service Department for recycling. Then we drove back to my house to complete the oil change.

With the oil filter wrench (and alot of effort) I was able to get the filter slowly turning. Finally we had it off and screwed the new filter on and only tightened it hand-tight. Then we added the fresh oil and the oil change was done. Bob changed the air filter and topped off his windshield washer fluid. He checked transmission fluid, brake fluid, and everything else while we were under there.

We went back inside and found the carpet dry now so we let Buddy out and began putting stuff back on the floor. Then I began smoking ribs for dinner and making a salad. The smoker leaked alot of smoke and the house began to fill up with smoke. I unplugged the smoke detector, opened the doors, and turned the ceiling fan on. The ribs smoked for about two hours.

I took the ribs out of the smoker, transferred them to a foil-lined pan, poured a 71 cent bottle of Kraft Hickory Smoked BBQ sauce on them and put them into a 350 degree oven while we took Buddy for his evening walk.

We walked to Winn-Dixie where Bob bought a carton of Half-N-Half and a half case of Coke Zero. We need the half-n-half for making House Of Blues Heavenly Cornbread tomorrow with chili.

The ribs turned out okay. These were not great ribs to start with - we found them marked down to $3.11 on Friday night in the meat case at Winn-Dixie. But they turned out alright.

I had planned to work on my wood project more this evening, but both of us are tired. We will probably watch a movie and I will shower (scrubbing the shower down while I am in there) and go to bed.

Orlando, FL

Yesterday evening I stripped the bed to wash and dry the sheets, I loaded the dishwasher, and I dusted my furniture. I changed the AC air filter and poured 1/4 cup of bleach down the AC condensate drain to keep the "growies" from clogging it up.

I was tired when I finally got to sleep around 9:20 pm. I slept pretty soundly until the alarm went off at 5:00 am... I jumped up with a start and turned the alarm off and tried to keep sleeping. The alarm went off again 10 minutes later and I turned that one off too. I finally got up at 6:15 to take Buddy out for his walk.

On our way back to the house we had to cross Metrowest Boulevard. Since the light has a crosswalk and walk signals we have been crossing with the light. I pushed the button and when the white "walk" symbol lit up we started across. At the same time the light changed green for Robert Trent Jones Blvd and a blue truck coming down the road drove right into the intersection to make a left turn on to Metrowest.

He was coming right for us! We ran out of the way, but it seemed like he was swerving to hit us! I was mad! There were cars stopped at the red light watching him too. Fortunately we escaped with our lives.

Buddy was confined to his crate this morning because I had to make a call to the office to have Maintenance come and replace the flapper valve on my toilet - it's been running since I returned from vacation.

I arrived at the office at 7:15 am and found Craig there already. Fifteen minutes later Fay showed up saying that she had so much work to catch up she had to come in early. Work was not too hectic today. I managed to get alot of stuff filed, literature shelved, service issues addressed, trash gathered and out to the dumpster, and order entry. We finished the week with $597k in new orders - not a bad week at all!

UPS delivered my new computer power supply around 10 am.

At lunch I got a Subway sandwich and came home. I let Buddy out of his crate and I checked on the repairs to my toilet. It's not running any longer. I put liquid bleach into the bowl to soak and clean it.

After work I came home and Bob was already here waiting for me. After walking Buddy we took spare change from my ashtray and a can of change he'd been saving and we went to Winn-Dixie to the Coinstar machine to cash in the change and find something for dinner. I had a little over $8 in change. Then Bob added his change and our total came to $100.20!

We had a microwave pork roast, microwave mashed potatoes, canned green beans, and flavored sparkling water for dinner. After eating we turned our attention to the computer. We quickly installed the new power supply, but when I plugged the unit in, it began making the same clicking noise as before.

Well, I know it needed the power supply - the old one burned. Bob thinks the hard drive is making the computer behave like this. Well, that pc is over 5 years old and it is probably time to replace it. I want to spend my Economic Stimulus Incentive Check on a new computer.

Bob brought his carpet shampooer over too. Tomorrow morning we are going to clean my apartment carpets. Then maybe try Teflon tape on the clutch actuating line - that means we have to bleed it again, but we should be able to do that in 20 minutes. I need to get the washer fluid tank off of the truck and try to patch it with JB Weld too.

Maybe in the afternoon I can work on my wood project some more. I need to get the corners of the box trimmed up nice and flat so the legs can cover the corners tightly.

I do not know whether I will be paid tonight or whether Paychex will wait until Monday night for the deposit. I will check Navyfcu.org tomorrow morning to see if my balance changed.

This weekend will go by quickly.

Orlando, FL

When I got home yesterday evening I walked Buddy after changing into a t-shirt and shorts. With that out of the way I went ot the garage to work on my jewelry box project. I set up the dado blade in the tablesaw and made some test cuts on scrap wood. Now it was time to cut the 1/2-inch by 1/2-inch dado down the inside of the legs.

I taped each leg to prevent tearout and using safety push tools, carefully guided each leg over the spinning dado blade. The dados were actually cut 7/16-inch by 7/16-inch and they turned out fine. I cleaned them up with a chisel and some sandpaper.

Now I need to clean up the corners on the box so that the legs can be glued on to the box.

It was a little after 8 pm when I finished in the garage.

Back in the house I was cleaning up in the bathroom when I heard a big booming sound. I thought the noisy neighbors upstairs were horsing around again. The dog jumped up and came running to the bathroom. Only later when I was on the phone with Bob did I realize that Space Shuttle Endeavor was returning to the Cape.

The windshield washer fluid tank is leaking on my truck now. I filled it this morning and it dripped all day. When I get home I will crawl under and see if I can see the leak. Maybe I will cover it up with JB Weld.

During lunch I was going north on Hiawassee Road when I passed an AT&T van. I looked over and the technician who offerred to buy my truck was waving at me!

This evening I am going to put my sheets into the washing machine, load the dishwasher and dust my furniture. After that, if I am not too tired, I will work on my wood project more.

Orlando, FL

It was another cool morning when I took Buddy out for his walk. I think it was in the 40's. Forecast is for warmer temps over the next few days with a high in the mid 70's today.

After processing 5 new Darden orders this morning I had to get busy and make quotations for Disney that were not completed while I was on vacation. These had to begin with requests for more information because the customers are almost never specific about what they want.

While discussing my recent clutch repairs with Dad I told him I was thinking of trading the truck in next year. He said, "Oh nah, you don't wanna do that... sheeeet! By the time that dealer is done working the numbers, you will be paying him to take that truck off of your hands! You want to sell that truck in an open sale and then go to the dealer." What he said made alot of sense.

Today I was eating a Southwest Chargrilled Chicken Salad at Chik-Fil-A and discreetly checking out an AT&T serviceman's behind out in the parking lot. When I finished my meal I went out to my truck where the guy was still parked and doing something on his laptop computer. He called over to me, "Hey, you wanna sell that truck?" I was like, "Huh?" LOL! He gave me his business card and told me to call his cellphone if I ever wanted to sell my pickup truck. Said he had one when he lived in Colorado and he knew how good they were.

I had no idea what I wanted to take for it... told him it had been very reliable (I didn't mention the recent trouble with the clutch cylinders).

Back at the office I checked into the value at Kelly Blue Book Online. A 1996 Toyota Tacoma 2.4L 4x2 in Good condition is valued at $2,840. In Fair condition it should fetch $2,375. Sounds like a good down payment either way!

Orlando, FL

Monday was easy enough after two weeks away. Fortunately most of the day-to-day order entry and copying had been kept up with. I did find about six quote requests in my box that Debbie never did, so I am trying to get those caught up.

In my free minute I found a replacement Bestec power supply for my home pc on the Internet and I ordered it. The cost was $32, and it shipped via UPS. It is scheduled to be delivered on Friday, 3-28-08. I guess my computer will be running again this weekend.

When I got home from work I took Buddy out for his walk. Then I trimmed and watered my potted plants on the balcony, ran the vacuum, and took out the garbage. I cut my hair real short and showered. I went to bed early reading a book.

Shortly before 10 pm my phone started to ring off the hook. I thought it was Bob calling me, it was, but two other people were trying to call me too! I checked my voicemail to find a message from Fay saying that the alarm was going off at the office and that I needed to drive down and investigate.

I got Buddy into the truck and drove down. I called Bob back on the way there. When I arrived there was nobody here - not even the police. I checked the doors and windows and found everything in order.

I went back home and went to bed around 11 pm.

At 1 am the phone started ringing again. I rolled over and continued to sleep. Of course it was the office alarm again. Another false alarm.

It got down to about 40F lastnight. It was still very chilly when I took Buddy out this morning.

Work went by quickly today... I stayed busy trying to get my quotes all caught up. Someone, Debbie was supposed to do them while I was out, but that didn't really work out.

Weekend

On Friday I went to the office to get my work caught up.

I found two stacks of paper on my desk... one had a Post-It Note on it that said the orders had been placed, copied for Hollywood, and logged. The other stack said "We'll discuss on Monday". I was pleased that most of the work had been done.

I still had to put events on the calendar, read all of the email, and send order confirmations. Then I had to file all of the Darden orders. Craig came in after his trip to Tampa and he said that I was really missed. He said that he had some words with Debbie because she "forgot" she was supposed to come in and help Fay with the phones and quoting.

There were about six quote requests from Disney in my email, but I could only see that Debbie worked on one of them. Well, if I have to I will get the rest of the quotes caught up this week.

In between the 13 phone calls, and other things I worked on, I uploaded my trip pictures to the hard drive, edited and cropped with Picasa software and then uploaded them to Flickr.com.

In the evening I took Buddy back over to Bob's house. We had beef stew with carrots and potatoes for dinner. During the night Buddy puked on Bob's carpet. We had to get the carpet shampooer out to clean it up.

On Saturday we went to my house to finish putting luggage and clothes away and start my laundry. Then we went to Lowe's to get a few things. One thing we got was a motion-detecting light switch for Bob's laundry room and we installed that.

We brought mailing labels back to Bob's and typed up labels for Bob's trip album. I talked to Mom on the phone while we completed that project.

This morning I talked to Dad for a little bit. He wanted to know how the clutch work turned out on my truck. I told him it still leaks alittle, but that it is running better than it has since the begining of December. He thinks it might actually seal itself up on its own. I told him I was thinking about trying teflon tape on the hydraulic line threads.

We drove to Daytona Beach today to see Bob's parents at the nursing home. He brought the sweater for Tom and we stopped at Walgreens to get a bunch of candy bars and a nose hair trimmer for Tom... we brought the bracelet from Peru, and got Depends and some candy for Louise. Bob took the trip album along too.

The nursing home staff was enthralled with our stories from our trip. We had a big group in Louise's room looking at pictures and listening to us!

This evening we returned to Orlando and had beef stir-fry with a salad for dinner. We had a small peach pie for dessert. I ran the vacuum cleaner to get Buddy's hair and rawhide bone chips out of the carpet.

Back to the grindstone tomorrow.

Orlando, FL

We got up at 5:00 am when the alarm clock sounded off. We showered and dressed and went upstairs for our breakfast.

Peru For Less came for us early and we had to carry our suitcases to down the hill a block for our ride to the airport. The Cusco Velazquez Astete International Airport is actually clean and modern upstairs in the departure lounge. We browsed the duty-free store, bought a couple of bottles of water and a packet of chewing gum.

Our flight, Taca Flight 008 departed Cusco at 8:05 am. It was lightly raining when we took off. At 34,000 feet it was clear and sun shiny. The flight lasted 55 minutes.

When we landed in Lima, we had to walk down an airline ladder and ride a bus to the Domestic Arrivals and Baggage Claim. Once we had our suitcases we found the Left Luggage stand and checked our bags in there while we went to the hotel for a brunch and shopped some of the airport stores. Outside it smelled like the Lima garbage dump was nearby. Cab drivers repeatedly ask you if you need a cab ride. They are so persistent and bothersome.

After two hours we came back, got the bags out, and went to the check-in hall to wait for Copa to open their counter for check-in. They set up their counter for check-ins at 11:30 am. We checked our bags and got our boarding passes. Copa locked our suitcases shut with zip ties. The counter did not know which gate the flight would depart from.

We sat in the second floor food court until the flight showed up on the TV screen. It still had no gate assigned. We went to the Departures area to pay our Departure Tax of $30.25 and then through the security checkpoint for metal detectors and x-ray machines.

On the otherside we browsed more stores and the Duty Free Shop. Bob got a big box of 5 cases of cigarettes for his mother and I got a couple of t-shirts. We had to wait until around 3:00 pm when Gate 16 appeared next to Copa Fight 436 on the TV screen.

Soon the Boeing 737 arrived and unloaded its passengers. After about 10 minutes we began to board the plane, first by business class and executive club members, then people flying with kids under 4, anyone needing assistance boarding, and then by seat number. We were in Row 24, Seats A and B. The plane took off at 3:58 pm and we headed north to Panama.

As we were passing over Equador and eating dinner we found some very strong thunderstorms that rocked us at 34,000 feet and the captain climbed the plane higher. The in-flight movie was Becoming Jane. The sun was going down as we crossed the border into Panama. It was dark when we landed at Panama City.

We got off of the plane at Gate 30, but Flight 436 continued on another plane at the other end of the airport at Gate 17. We had a one-hour layover at Panama City, but we walked directly to the next segment of the flight.

We were off the ground at 8:20 pm and continued north over the Caribbean Sea. Becoming Jane was shown again - somebody at Copa must really like this movie. There was a meal service and immediately after the meal the US Customs Forms were passed out. You have an $800 exemption and my total declared value was $133.

Soon I looked down and saw the city lights of Key West and the Florida Keys stretching along to the east below the plane. We continued north and and then we saw the lights of Marco Island, Fort Myers, Naples, etc. If you looked out the left windows you saw the west coast cities, if you looked out the right side windows you could see Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, etc - you could see clear across the state of Florida and still see Key West behind!!

We landed at 12:25 pm local time. The plane taxied to a gate set aside for International Arrivals. We went to a large room where Immigration processed our entry and stamped our passports. Then we went to Baggage Claim to get our suitcases. Bob's suitcase came right out first thing. Mine took another hour to come out!! Then we had to pass Customs. The bags had to go through an x-ray machine.

After pulling the suitcase off of the x-ray we went out looking for the train to the main terminal. As soon as we went into the hallway an man told us we had to put our luggage on a conveyor belt while we went upstairs to pass through Security. We were incredulous at this.

We had to take off our shoes, put our bags and all metal items through the x-ray machine while we passed through metal detectors. On the other side we put our shoes back on, got our bags, and continued to the shuttle train to the main terminal building.

After getting our bags off of the conveyor belt A-9 we went in and out of the building searching for a taxi cab to take us to Bob's house. It cost $40 and we tipped the driver $5. It was after 3 am when we finally got in. We took a quick shower and went to bed.

Around 9:00 am we got up and walked down Pine Street to The Breakfast Club for breakfast. We both had large omelets.

Next we put some of Bob's clothes away, then we loaded my suitcase into Bob's car and we drove to my apartment to put stuff away and check my mail. Then we went to pick Buddy up. He was glad to see me.

After stopping at Publix to get a meat loaf, garlic mashed potatoes, rolls, canned carrots, bagels, and canned dog food, we went to Bob's house and took a nap. At 5 pm we walked Buddy in the neighborhood and then prepared dinner when we returned. It is warm this evening and windy, but a front is coming and it is supposed to rain tonight.

We are planning to take Buddy to the dog park tomorrow. While Buddy plays in the park Bob's film will be at Wal*Mart for processing. We will request a photo CD too. I need to get a new power supply for my computer. On Friday I will go to the office for 4 or 5 hours to get everything caught up and then try to enjoy my weekend.

St Patrick´s Day

We were able to sleep in again this morning. When we got up around 9:00 am we went up and got the complimentary breakfast and then went out for the morning.

To start we turned left and climbed the hill up to San Blas neighborhood and then we continued climbing until we were pretty high over the city and overlooking the city from a church yard. We took pictures and headed down again.

After crossing the plaza we went down the alley of Lecanto and admired Inka walls on both sides. The wall on the left was part of the House of the Virgins of the Sun. Today it is occupied by pious Catholic nuns. The wall on the left was part of the Amarucancha and an Inka´s palace. We found the door to the Amarucancha by the snakes carved into the lintel over the door!

We wandered around souvenir shopping and got a couple of books about the places we visited. Bob found some very interesting conversation pieces for his house and I got a ring with the condor, puma, and snake on it made out of 90/50 silver.

After returning to our room to pack our bags we napped. After this blog update we are going to convert our remaining Nuevo Soles to US Dollars, visit the ATM for more cash, get some dinner, and prepare for a big day of travelling home.

Peru4Less is supposed to pick us up at 5:50 am and drive us to the airport. We have a 7:05 am flight on Taca Flight 8 to Lima, then a six-hour layover, then Copa Flight 436 to Orlando via Panama City. We will arrive very late at night!

What a vacation!

Palm Sunday

We finally got up around 9:00 am and went out walking. Down in the Plaza de Armas there were many people, music playing, and a parade in progress. It was a happy coincidence that we were here for Palm Sunday. Various military groups and ladies in traditional dress were marching around the main square.

I did not get pictures because the batteries for the camera were in the room recharging. It would have been interesting to have made a short movie of the parades.

To avoid the crowds we went away from the plaza down Avenida El Sol toward The Quóricancha (The Golden Courtyard) aka Inticancha. We found the entrance to the museum, but we were told that were needed the tourist ticket to enter. This ticket cost S/ 40, which is about $13. I did not want to buy the ticket when all I could use it for would be that museum and Sacsayhuaman.

We stopped at a pastry shop and had quiche for breakfast. The combo had a choice of hot chocolate and some blue/purple drink in a soda bubbler. We wanted the hot chocolate, but the girl started pouring the purple liquid which turned out to be chicha! We did not want chicha - an alcoholic drink that is made from corn fermented in saliva!

The whole morning was spent visiting many stores looking for souvenirs and some things for Bob´s parents. It was time-consuming to have to bargain for everything, but I think we got some real bargains.

At lunch we went to the Pachacutec Bar & Grill on the main square. One wall of the dining room was original masonry from the palace of Pachacutec! I ordered a beefsteak sandwich on a toasted roll and Bob had chicken mozzarella. Bob tried Inka Cola and I had a Cuzqueña beer. For appetizers Bob had stuffed mashed potatoes and I had corn pancakes. It was tasty. After noon a large crowd of French tourists came in and started to fill the place up.

The Palm Sunday festivities were winding down when we left. We shopped some more and then went to the Internet Cafe next to our hostel to update this blog and send email. After that we went to the room and napped.

In the evening we walked down to the Plaza de Armas and had dinner at the famous Inka Grill. We did not have a reservation, but they found a table for us. I ordered lasagna bolognessa and Bob ordered raviola espinaca in a white champaigne sauce and mushrooms. We had mineral water and a glass or merlot with the meal. Homemade potato chips were brought out in a basket along with a creamy mint sauce to dip them in. We shared a pineapple-anise ice cream desert.

We walked around for a little while and then returned to our room. Knowing that tomorrow would be our last day we decided that we would finish souvenir shopping and prepare our luggage for the return to Florida.

Machu Picchu

The alarm clock woke us up at 5:00 am and each of us got a quick hot shower. Then we rubbed Tiger Balm onto Bob´s sore calves. We packed up our bags and headed down to the Rupa Wasi Hostel´s restaurant for the complimentary breakfast of rolls with butter and jam, coca tea, freshly squeezed orange juice, and yogurt with quinoa on top. We turned in our room key and left a small tip for the server.

We slowly went down the long long stairs to the street and went to the main square where a tall metal statue of Pachacutec stands. Soon our guide arrived and we walked down the main street of Aguas Calientes - the railroad tracks. We ducked into a restaurant owned by Sylvia´s friends and kept our bags with hers behind the bar. I told Sylvia we would try cuy (pronounced "kwee") - traditional Andean roasted guinea pig for lunch.

Next we all headed to the bus stop and she distributed our bus tickets to us. There were two tickets - one for the ride up the mountain and one for the trip back down. Once the bus was filled up we pulled out and headed up the switchbacking road to the top of the mountain.

At the top we went up to the first booth to sign in, then Sylvia took our passports and tickets and went through another sign-in process. She returned our passports with the Machu Picchu stamp inside them!

We walked into the ruins and Sylvia began her presentation. As we continued it was obvious that Bob was up to climbing and descending all the stairs. She asked the site guards if an exception could be made for Bob (walking sticks are forbidden in the ruins) and she went to the bag check room and returned with a rubber-tipped walking stick for Bob to use on the stairs.

The first two hours were spent touring the ruined city and seeing the most important temples and buildings. At the end of two hours she said it was time for her to go because she had lost her train ticket or something. She said we were free to explore on our own and that she might, maybe, meet us at 2:30 pm at the exit.

We were pretty sure we would not be seeing her again and I told her that we had something small for her - it is the tradition to tip your guide. I asked her if she knew who Ulysses S. Grant was. She said she did and I pulled a $50 bill out of my wrist wallet for her. She didn´t want to take it and was almost in tears, but relented when Bob told her it was from both of us. She gave us her business card and asked us to send her pictures. That tip is over two weeks wages for a typical Peruvian.

The day was gloriously clear and sunny. I had wanted to hike up to the top of Huayna Picchu - the mountain you see behind the city in all of the pictures, but it was pretty obvious Bob could not do that. Instead we slowly made our way up to the top tiers of terraces to take the classic "bragging picture" with the city in the background.

With the picture taken we decided we would walk to see the Inka Drawbridge to the southeast. We were assured that it was a short and easy walk over level ground. Well, I guess "level" meant "Inka level" because there were many stairs in the path and it was more going up than down on the trip out to the bridge.

It took us over an hour of walking to get out there because we were moving slowly and took frequent breaks. The path wound along the sheer cliffside and you could have easily fallen off of the path to your death!

At the end we found three people lounging on the rock in the strong tropical sun. They asked us to take their picture and they returned the favor. One of the guys was from Sweden, but he spoke Spanish, English, and Hebrew too! Soon another group arrived and you could tell they were disappointed at the size of the little drawbridge!

It took us another hour to hike back out from the drawbridge. We decided to go ahead and ride the bus down when we got out. In the town we would spent a little time shopping for souvenirs and then go to the restaurant operated by Sylvia´s friends.

We were seated in the back of the restaurant by the windows overlooking the roaring Urubamba River and the road that the tourist busses sped along to and from the ruins. We ordered Cuzqueña beers, spaghetti, and the cuy. We used Wet Wipes to clean our hands and faces.

The rolls that we had seen everywhere in Peru were brought to the table, but they were quartered, toasted, and had melted cheese drizzled over them. Sauces were brought to dip them in. Soon our spaghetti arrived. It was good, but a little salty. Later the roasted cuy was brought to the table on a platter. Bob and I each ate one leg of the little animal and left the rest of it. Once you removed the skin it tasted like dark meat chicken. We are sure the staff saved it and ate the rest of it later.

Sylvia said she left paper for us in the restaurant and wanted us to fill it out for her. We were expecting a questionaire, but blank sheets were put on the table with ink pens. We both wrote how much she helped us and added to our trip and only hope that the comments were what she was looking for.

After that I asked for the bill. We paid the bill and left a handsome tip. The waiter was so grateful for the tip he walked Bob and me to the train station!

Around 5:03 pm the Perurail train took us out of Aguas Calientes. It was starting to rain. It was a long ride back to Cusco and as we went the temperatures got cooler and cooler. Eventually Bob put his nylon running pants back on and I covered my legs with his jacket. It was after 9:00 pm when we finally arrived at Cuzco station.

I was not sure whether the tour company would be there for us or if we would have to get a cab or walk. As we descended the front steps I saw a sign in the crowd with my name on it and we were speedily returned to our hostel.

We claimed our bags and were shown to our new room - 101. This room had two beds, but it had a light in the bathroom and a mirror over the sink! We were very tired and slept soundly. It was nice that we could sleep in and not have to worry about being anywhere by a certain time in the morning!

Inka Trail

When the alarm clock went off at 5:00 am we got up, showered, dressed, ate our breakfast, put our suitcases into storage, and went to the lobby to wait for Peru Planet to pick us up and take us to the train station.

It was a crappy wet and cold morning. The little car was speeding through the narrow cobblestone streets and I was almost sure we were going to have a wreck! When we arrived at the station, the girl gave us our roundtrip train tickets and our boxed lunches in a plastic bag. I swear, the lunches (three of them) must have weighed 25 pounds!

We had to show our passports and tickets to get to the platform. Then we walked to our car and the conductor tore off the tab from our tickets and let us into the car. We took our seats and the train was packed full! We were knocking knees with two girls from Boston in the seats facing us. Our seats faced backward.

The train pulled out of the station at 7:05 am and started up hill. At the top of the hill the train stopped and inexplicably the train began backing. We kept going back and forth and it took a few minutes to understand that we were going higher each time we went back and forth. Evidently that is the only way a train can climb out of a deep valley - multiple switchbacks.

After 30 minutes of switchbacks we were on our way through countryside to the Sacred Valley.

Suddenly I heard a very loud "THUD" on the floor behind me. The noise sounded like someone dropping their backpack. Annoyed, I turned around to see one of the Japanese tourists on the floor and the sound I heard was his head hitting the wooden floor. I was helpless to get up as I was holding 25 pounds of boxed lunches in my lap. Soon many people in the train car came running back to help the poor guy. All of them were offering their personal medication for him, God himself only knows what all he took!

As the train descended into the valley we went through a couple more switchbacks and then we rolled along to the river. We crossed the river at Urubamba and continued to Ollantaytambo where a stop was made. After that we continued to kilometer 78 where those people hiking the Four-Day Inka Trail were let off.

We enjoyed beautiful scenery as were rode along the Urubamba River. Mountains went up into the clouds and an angry swollen river raged over boulders in the stream. I was dismayed to see that it was cloudy and continuing to rain.

At kilometer 104 the train stopped again. There was nothing here, but 10 people got off the train along with Bob and myself. Sylvia, our Peru Planet guide, was supposed to meet us here, but she was no where in sight.

Everyone was starting down some rough stairs toward the river and across a scary cable suspension bridge across the wild foaming river. On the otherside we climbed steps to a park ranger´s checkpoint. Sylvia was not here either.


I put on my cheap-ass Chinese-made rain poncho because it was still raining. I went back over the bridge to the tracks to see if Sylvia was waiting for us there. She wasn´t so I crossed again and waited with Bob. We watched as the other tour group checked in with the ranger and then left the station. Bob and me were the only ones left here!

Before the park ranger could leave I walked up and in my poor Spanish tried to ask him if he had heard from Sylvia or Peru Planet. We could not enter the Inka Trail without Sylvia because she had our tickets! The ranger called on his radio and told me she was on the next train and that the train was running late.

All three of us went back down, across the river, and waited beside the tracks for the next train. While we waited we tried to make small talk in my weak Spanish. We saw, and were amazed, by Peruvian guys carrying 5 and 10 cases of empty Cuzqueña beer bottles down out of the trail and stacking them by the tracks! When the train arrived they would have to carry full bottles back up to the restaurant at WinyaWayna.

Finally the train came and stopped. Sylvia was the first one to jump off the train and she was apologizing. She said that her bus was speeding on the rain slick street and had an accident and that made her late.

All four of us went back over the wildly swinging suspension bridge and back up to the ranger station to sign in and start our Inka Trail hike. Sylvia needed our passports and the ranger stamped the passports with the Machu Picchu Sanctuary stamp. Once the paperwork was completed we tied the lunches to Sylvia´s little back pack and we started at 11:00 am.

After a 100 yard walk we came to the ruin of Chuhabamba. Here there was an altar for the river an 7 ceremonial baths. Water was still running in the fountains - 500 years after the Inka had abandoned them! Sylvia made a small sacrifice of coca leaves to Pachamama (Mother Earth) on the altar here.

Further along the path Sylvia pointed out wild anise to us. She broke it off and you could smell the strong liquorice scent. She also found a plant that looked like rhubarb, but when you bit into it it was very sour like lemon!

We slowly climbed up the rough stone path and our guide would point out wild orchids and other flowers. She would explain the local traditions and customs.

After climbing a few hundred feet we stopped at the first rest stop. A small thatched roof covered some seats at a scenic overlook. We went in out of the rain and Sylvia asked us to try the coca leaves because we were both suffering from the thin air, our colds, and the climb. You roll the leaves up and chew on them holding them in your cheek. The opioids in the leaves are absorbed through your cheek and you get a feeling of well-being - you forget you are hungry, thirsty, or tired, and it opens your airway up.

For 15 to 30 minutes I felt like Superman, then the tiring reality began to settle in again.

We continued higher and higher up into the Cloud Forest. All you could hear was the roaring of the Urubamba River below growing more and more distant and occasionally the sound of the train whistle on its way to Agua Calientes.

We walked past little streams and waterfalls. Occasionally Sylvia would point out orchids, little white orchids that resembled Lilly Of The Valley, and Yaupanchi - Sacred Tear - a red flower that looked like tear drops. We saw ferns, bamboo, eucalyptus trees, and many many other plants I could not identify.

Sylvia pointed our checkpoints where the Inka controlled access to the roadways and supplied the chaski´s (runners) on the roads.

Sylvia was a small woman, but she had walked this trail many times and she was very used to the thin air. She easily walked on way up ahead of us. We continually apologized for being "gringos debiles" (weak white boys), but she waved it off and said we were doing fine.

After more than three hours of walking and climbing innumerable steps we arrived at the ruin of WinyaWayna. This large complex of terraces was used as an agricultural research station according to our guide. So completely was it covered by jungle, the complex was not discovered until 1942!

Unfortunately, here we had to climb steps to the top of the terraces - 376 to be exact. Bob and I were both very tired, a little hungry, and intimidated by the big climb. We went up slowly, and a little at a time. It was hard because of the rain everything was slippery.

Sylvia took my camera from me and ran up to the top of the steps to take a picture as Bob and me struggled up. Here is where the battery in my camera finally died. Luckily a British girl who was trekking saw the problem and she happened to have the same camera as me! She loaned Sylvia the battery for that one picture. Good thing I had a fully-charged spare in my bag!

At the top we walked to the edge of the terraces and Sylvia took a film photo with Bob´s camera of both of us on the edge with the huge ruin behind us. Then we continued up to our lunch.

We climbed another 60 to 100 feet up to the WinyaWayna Lodge where we ate our lunches. The boxed lunches contained a ham sandwich, cookies, hard candies, a green apple, and a bottle of water. Here the Four-Day Inka Trail hikers were setting up tents to camp for the night - their last night before walking into Machu Picchu in the morning.

We finished lunch and we felt much better. We walked out of the small compound and continued our trek around Machu Picchu Mountain.

It rained the whole afternoon and I was completely soaked. We discarded my poncho at WinyaWayna because I was soaked with sweat under it. Now my bag was getting wet too. Everything smelt wet and fetid - decomposing vegetation from the cloud forest.

We were both becomming very tired and then Bob asked how much farther it was. Sylvia, ever optimistic, said, "Oh, only about another 30 minutes of walking!" Yeah right. Well, Bob had to go to the bathroom and he wasn´t going to walk two or three more miles.

We were near a ruined wall and Sylvia told Bob to go behind the wall and go. I dug the Wet Wipes out of my bag and handed them to Bob and Sylvia and me went around the corner and stood under some overhanging grass to wait out of the rain.

When Bob rejoined us I put the wipes away and we continued. We were tired, cold, and wet. We approached a short rise of steps and the guide said we had to climb 51 steps. I started up and I counted. I counted to 30 before I stopped. When Sylvia caught up she said that those were not the steps she meant and pointed to a huge rise of steps with a gate at the top. Oh shit.

Bob was tired and was ready to throw his day bag off of the cliff, but I volunteered to carry it for him and I started up the huge rise of stairs. My heart was pounding in my ears and my lungs were burning for oxygen. Sylvia said the burning was good because it cleansed your body with the clean mountain air. When I reached the top I kissed the gate and exclaimed,¨Intipunku!" But my joy was short-lived when Sylvia informed me that this was the Moon Gate, not the sought-after Sun Gate - The Inti Punku. I cannot tell you how tired and discouraged we were.

Another 30 minutes of walking and climbing finally brought us to a stair with a large gate at the top. We finally reached our goal! As we climbed to the top and passed through the gate at 6:00 pm you could see the fabled lost city of the Inka´s down on a saddle of the mountain below!! That was a beautiful sight!

We certainly saw more than the typical tourist who rides the train and bus to Machu Picchu and we walked in to Machu Picchu like the Inka themselves would have done it 500 years ago.

The descent to the city took another 30 minutes. The City was already emptied of tourists for the day and was deserted. Sylvia ran ahead to stop the last bus of the day from departing. Bob was hurting as we descended the steps - his right calf was very sore. We walked about 7 miles in the rain and at altitudes up to 8,000 feet.

When we arrived at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge we got on the last bus with all of the park and hotel workers and began the descent down the mountain on the winding Hiram Bingham Highway to Aguas Calientes where we would find our lodging for the night.

Our hostel was at the top of a huge rise of 200 steps. Sylvia went up and helped us check-in. The auditor showed us to the room and it was much nicer than we expected!! It was a wooden walled and floored room with contemporary furniture and a nice bath in an upstairs loft! It even had a balcony!

We agreed to meet our guide in an hour for dinner so we emptied our bags so that everything could dry, quickly showered, dressed, and went to the lobby to wait.

When Sylvia arrived we went down with her to a restaurant where she had a coupon for a free meal. Unfortunately Bob found descending the steps very painful, so I went up and got him on my back and carried him all the way down piggy-back style.

In the restaurant Bob and Sylvia ordered pizzas and I had trout. I also ordered a big bottle of water for us. We had a nice meal in the cozy family-operated restaurant. Then it was time to go back to the hostel and sleep. Sylvia was staying in the town with her friends and agreed to meet us at our hostel at 6:30 am.

We confirmed with the front desk clerk that we would have breakfast at 6:00 am and then went to our room. We slept with the windows open and you could hear the river roaring through the rapids all night long - it was like sleeping at Niagara Falls! I slept like a log I was so exhausted!

Sacred Valley, Peru

We got up at 5:00 am to the alarm on my travel alarm clock. We dressed and went to the dining room next to our room for the complimentary breakfast of coffee, rolls with butter and jam, and scrambled eggs. There were some beautiful views of the city from the windows of the dining room and from the balcony and I took a few pictures here.

After breakfast we went downstairs to the lobby to wait for our Peru Planet guide to pick us up for our Sacred Valley day tour. At 8:25 am, Maria came in for us and we stepped out to the curb as Juan Carlos, the driver pulled the Mercedes-Benz mini bus up for us. We climbed in with 6 couples and drove down to pick up more tourists. Altogether we had 10 people in the van - Bob and me, Shirley and Bill from Montreal, Mr. Sun and his son from Singapore, and two other couples.

We drove out of Cuzco into the surrounding mountains while Maria pointed out the famous landmarks of Saqusayhuaman (pronounced "sexy woman"), Puca Puchara, Quenqko, and Tambo Macha. We drove past a mountain with a big gash on the side and Maria explained that it was an earthquake fault.

On the side of the road was a cultural interpretive center dedicated to llamas, vicuñas, and the traditional Andean spinning and weaving. Maria explained how vicuña, llama, and alpaca are camelids and are related to the asian camels. We got to feed the alpaca and take pictures. Further along we saw how the wool is spun, how natural plants and minerals are used to make dyes (like the coachella beatle used to make red), how the wool is dyed, and there were four women in traditional dress sitting on the ground weaving blankets. After a short break to explore the store there, we piled back into the van and continued toward Valle Sagrado - The Sacred Valley of the Incas.

At a cliffside scenic overlook we stopped for pictures of the Vilcabamba River and the Sacred Valley. There were people here selling their small dolls, hats, bottled water, ceramic whistles, carved gourds, etc. I bought 5 of the little ceramic whiles for S/$1 each (about 35 cents each). We got back into the bus and continued down the mountain to Pisac, a small town on the Vilcanota River with Inca ruins and a famous market place.

Temperatures were much much warmer in the valley and Bob was able to take off his jacket. Shorts and t-shirt were very comfortable here.

Our bus pulled up into one of the very narrow side streets and Maria said everyone was free to explore the market and to be back at the bus in 45 minutes.

The first thing I bought was choclo maize - a boiled ear of corn, with VERY BIG kernels, served in the corn cob leaves. They had mild white cheese and a spicy green sauce to put on the choclo. The corn was very good! I was afraid it would be dry like hominy, but it was juicy and slightly sweet.

We wandered through all of the booths taking pictures and turned up the street that goes up the hill. We stopped in a booth with very nice water colors. Bob purchased two very nice water colors for $15 each. Those watercolors would have been over $100 each if he bought them in the US. The vender rolled the prints up and put them in a mailing tube for us so that they would survive the trip home.

I found a nice silver bookmarker shaped like a pear in another book. It was 90/50 silver and she wanted $30 for it. After dickering back and forth I finally got her down to $18.

We went into a store and got Coca-Colas - in real glass bottles too! Then we headed back to the bus. We were the last ones there and everyone was waiting for us! I told them all very loudly, "Yeah? Well, we saw it all! They tried real hard to sell us more things too!" Everyone laughed.

The bus pulled out on to the highway that runs alongside the Vilcanota River and we headed northwest toward Ollantaytambo (pronounced "Oy-yan-tay-tam-bo"). After the river passes the little town of Urubamba it is known as the Urubamba River.

At Ollantaytambo we entered the park and Maria explained the significance of the site. First it was a religeous site and later it represented the Inca resistance to Spanish rule when Manco Inca led a large rebellion from the site that nearly wiped the Spanish out.

We proceeded to climb up the terraces to the top nearly 500 feet up.

All of us were laboring in the thin air. My heart was pounding, but Maria stopped every 60 feet or so and everyone caught their breath. She would point out the various things about the site that were not immediately obvious and explain construction techniques. Eventually we reached the top where the unfinished, and later destroyed, Temple of the Sun was located. Some of the stones weighed over 30 tons, had to be moved from the quarry across the river 5 miles, and fit together precisely!

Going down was much easier than going up, for me atleast. Going down all of the steps can be very hard on the knees ("rodillas"), but not for me. I noticed that my neck and arms were slightly sunburned from the intense tropical sun.

At the bottom, Maria explained that we were going to a restaurant and that the meal was included for some of the tourists, but not for us. She said that we could look at the restaurant and decide if we wanted to eat there.

The restaurant in Urubamba was called "Alhambra" and it was very nice. It featured a buffet with al fresco dining. The cost was $15. We decided to eat with the group. The site was landscaped nicely and they had a pen with baby vicuña and even a parrot up in the tree with his very own birdhouse!

We stuffed ourselves at the buffet to make it worth our while ("hacerse un puerco" - "to become a pig"). The Canadian couple sat with us and we discussed all of our travels. We had the local Cuzcqueña beer with our dinner. We avoided the salad bar because we feared the lettuce was washed off with tap water which would make us sick.

After dinner we drove across the river and up into the mountains. The mountains are all very high - some of them have glaciers on them and are snow-covered all year. One in particular, Chincarone, was over 16,000 feet high! We continued through agricultural land of potatoes and corn. Maria explained the agricultural techniques and how neighbors help each other farming.

The sun was going down as we arrived in Cusco. The bus dropped us off at our hostel and we were both tired. We spent our last hour repacking our day bags and getting our luggage ready for storage - the next day would be a big day for us too!

Cusco, Peru

When we landed at Lima the plane was taxied to a remote part of the tarmac and airline ladders were rolled up to the front and rear doors. We stepped down the stairs and onto busses which drove us to International Arrivals to process our entrance visa.

Oh my God! There was a huge number of people in here waiting in multiple lines for processing (even after midnight!). We were in that first line for over an hour. Next we went to Baggage Claim to get our suitcases. After that we stood in a short Customs line. When you arrive at the checkpoint you push a button - if it turns a green light on, you continue, if it turns on a red light you have been selected for further search. Luckily we both got past that hurdle.

Because the airline we were using for our domestic flight would not even start checking in until 4 :00 am, we wasted time in the second floor food court. Taca has one flight to Cusco each day. Flight 7 departs at 5:50 am.

The terminal was filled with backpackers, families, all kinds of people camping out and trying to get comfortable. Only people with passports were allowed in here. We were not able to sleep so we read our books and tried to stay comfortable. At 4:00 am the airline personnel came to the desk and set it up for checking us in.

We let the clerk know that we wanted to travel together and she assigned us seats side-by-side. We made our way to the Domestic Departure Gates, but we had to ask for directions. Lima International is a large airport, but the floor plan is very confusing. We had to go through an abbreviated version of our Homeland Security checkpoint and then we walked down to Gate 3.

Taca Flight 7 was an Airbus 320 with 3x3 seating. We took off in the pre-dawn darkness and headed southeast from Lima up over the Andes mountain chain. The flat-screen TV´s came down and a Spanish language dubbed episode of Friends (Amigos) was shown. Bob slept again.

This was supposed to be a 55-minute long flight, but 30 minutes into the flight the first officer came on the speaker to report that weather conditions were too poor at Cusco to chance a landing and we were returning to Lima. The airport was closed due to fog. How disappointing!

At Lima we sat in the airplane cabin out on the tarmac. The plane was re-fueled. Atleast the flight was not over-booked - I´d say it was 60% and we had plenty of room to stretch out.

After receiving report of improved weather conditions at Cusco, we departed for Cusco a second time at 9:00 am. The passing scenery below was very rugged, but beautiful - snow covered Andean peaks and lots of fluffy misty clouds.

We began to descend and the pilot extended the wing flaps. We were dropping down surprisingly low over the small mountain farms, down between the mountains. Suddenly he opened up the throttles and pulled the flaps back up and turned the big plane. We circled the area four times before he tried to approach again. This time he was committed to land.

It was very hairy - bringing the big plane down between the rugged mountains on each side! You could see why he was reluctant to do this when he could not see! When we touched down in Cusco all of the passengers applauded!

What a dismal place. Peru is a developing country and I would say it is a second-world nation right now. Bob said it reminded him alot of Brazil.

We deplaned and walked through the aging air terminal to Baggage Claim downstairs. People were coming up to us trying to sell us items in the terminal, trying to sell us taxi cab rides. After we got the suitcases we went out the front door where a huge crowd was gathered waiting. Many were holding signs with names written on them -- tour companies with their customer´s names on the cards.

I quickly saw one marked "Thigpen" and walked up to introduce myself to Andrea, our representative from Peru4Less. "Buenos dias, me llamo Vicente"

Andrea had a battered up van waiting for us. We put our bags in and started for our hostel. The trip was a bouncing, vibrating ride as we swerved to avoid huge potholes and other cars. We drove up Avenida El Sol to the city center - Plaza De Armas and then up in to the hills through extremely narrow streets to the San Blas neighborhood. We turned into a VERY narrow street (an alleyway back home) and descended to Hostal Amaru where we very quickly unloaded and went inside. Amaru is a two-star accomodation. I chose a hostel to save money.

While were served hot coca tea we completed paperwork and discussed our itinerary. Soon we were shown to our second-floor room. The rooms surround an interiour courtyard and there is a lounge and a dining room.

The room was nice with wood floors, cathedral ceilings with exposed eucalyptus wood beams, a tiled bathroom with toilet, hot shower, and sink. But there were things that were disturbing too - the room is chilly - no heat at all. The bathroom has no mirror over the sink and no towel bars. The room door has a double door with an ancient lock on it that we did not have alot of confidence in - and is impossible to lock from inside the room. You cannot lock the room window.

To make up for the lack of heat the beds have heavy wool blankets on them and they really helped keep us warm.

After settling in, showering, changing clothes, we went out for a short walk. We saw the famous Hatanrumioc Stone, the Plaza De Armas, and we made a dinner reservation at La Cicciolina - an Italian restaurant named after an Italian porn star who is now serving in the Italian legislature.

We bought some snacks and more water. On the streets you are constantly bothered with beggars trying to sell their hand-made souvenirs. "Deja de molestandonos!" (Stop bothering us!) I would say. So annoying!

On the way back up the hill I noticed my heart racing - I concluded that the thin air was having an effect on me! Back in the room we took more cold medicines and tried to nap.

We got up at 5:00 pm and dressed. We went to the lobby to meet our tour guide from Peru Planet who would be escorting us on the famous Inka Trail to Machu Picchu. She gave us maps and verified our passport numbers (the federal government sells Inka Trail tickets to passport holders only and the passport is checked/stamped on the trail). She explained what to wear, what to bring, and asked us to be sure to ask the train conductor to let us get off the train at Kilometer 104 where she would meet us.

Right after this meeting we went down to La Cicciolina for dinner. We asked if they could take us early and we were seated at a high top near the bar. From the menu we ordered our meals. Bob ordered red trout and I had a chicken breast with a brown porcini mushroom sauce. For appetizer we had kabobs of calamari, prawns, and scallopson an avocado salad on a bed or angel hair. We had small Pisco Sours (the national drink of Peru) and Cuzqueña beers (locally brewed). The Cuzqueña was almost as good as Budweiser!

Our bill came to S$99.00 (about $30.00 US). Not too expensive. Foods here are a real bargain.

After a short walk around the downtown square we returned to our cold room for a goodnight of sleep.

I promise I will upload pictures as soon as I can get them out of the camera!

Lima, Peru

I woke up this morning with a scratchy back of nose/throat from the cold I caught from Bob this weekend. I took all of my vitamins, some echinacea, and Zicam (zinc) and walked Buddy. I knew this was going to be a very very long day.

Bob called around 9:30 am and we talked until after 10:00 am. I took Buddy to Hiawassee Veterinary Clinic for kennelling and drove with my suitcase and bag in my truck to Bob´s house. I have been planning my vacation since November and today we are flying to South America to see Inca ruins and hike in the Andes.

We went for sandwiches at City Fish a couple blocks from his house then walked back. His friend, Jack, was going to drive us to the airport. Jack got there around 1:30 pm and drove us to Terminal A at Orlando International Airport so that we could check-in with Copa Airlines for Flight 422. We both checked in a suit case and got our boarding passes.

The trip through the TSA checkpoint seemed easier than usual, but Bob´s bag was selected for extra search because of the large bottle of prescription cold syrup in his carry-on. We rode the little train out to the terminal, bought some tissues, bottled water, and lip balm. Then we sat and waited at Gate 80 for boarding.

Copa began boardingat 4:00 pm and we took off shortly after 5:00 pm. Our 3-hour flight to Panama City was nice. The Boeing 737 was set up with 3x3 seating and we were in Row 20, Seats E and F (Bob got the window seat). They served little meals and even mixed drinks complimentary! That´s something you don´t see on US domestic flights anymore! Bob took a two-hour nap after the meal. I wish I had been able to sleep!

It was night when we arrived at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City. This airport is very modern. The jetway tunnels were clear glass with painted steel frames. We deplaned at Gate 29 and Boarded at Gate 33 - just 80 feet apart. We had time to get more bottled water and pee. We were not assigned seats together on this next segment to Lima, Peru, but I went to the counter and said, "Deseamos que ir al juntos" (We desire to travel together) and the agent found two seats side by side in Row 27 - the last row on the plane.

We departed Panama City on Copa Flight 307 in an Embraer 190 jet with 2x2 seating. We hoped to sleep on this night flight and inflated our "U" shaped neck pillows, but it was not meant to be. There was another nice meal and drink service. Then there was noise from the galley and coach latrine directly behind us. I think I slept a few minutes. We landed at Lima, Peru around midnight. We have a five-hour layover at Lima before we continue in the morning.

Got Recession?

Found at USA Today online.

Orlando, FL

Friday, March 7, 2008

FER-Orlando sent over $480k in new orders to the factories this week. Hollywood sent in $125k. A good week over all.

In the evening a powerful storm was coming. On the way home I stopped at Publix and got a frozen pizza and ingredients for baked quiches.

Bob showed up suffering from another bad cold. Runny nose and coughing.

While the pizza baked we took Buddy out for his walk. As we waited to cross the street, Bob noticed the dog heaving and asked me what he was doing. "Well, you saw him eating all that grass? He's getting ready to puke." Sure enough, in the middle of the cross walk - in the middle of the street - he puked up a big puddle of white nasty stuff and grass.

We had pizza and wine for dinner. I immediately started to mix the quiches up and baked them in the oven. I forgot to get the pre-cooked bacon for them, but they turned out okay anyway.

After that was done and I had the dishwasher loaded we sat down to watch "Annapolis", a movie on DVD. The storm really started while we watched the movie. Lots of rain and some gusting winds. It was good to be inside, warm and dry.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

After Buddy got his walk Saturday morning I made heated quiche wedges for breakfast with coffee. I started laundry and Bob worked on his paper for his class. I went out to the garage and worked on the clutch hydraulic line and then glued up my wood box project.

Later Bob came out to help me bleed off the hydraulic line on the clutch. Then we test drove the truck again. We went to Sports Authority to get Bob a nylon running suit and then to Super Target to get a few things. I got a loaf of foccacia bread to go with dinner.

With bags of stuff in the bed of the truck I could not go to the car wash, so we went home. Now I noticed that it was getting late so I walked Buddy while Bob worked on his paper some more.

Dinner was leftover quiche with foccacia.

We had to turn the clocks forward one hour for Eastern Standard Time on Saturday evening.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

I walked Buddy first thing while Bob got a hot shower to help open his head up and relieve some of the aches from his cold.

Before noon we headed out in my truck to Wal*Mart to get a few items - a roast, carrots, and potatoes for dinner, some echinacea to help Bob's cold, and other items.

Next stop was Octopus Car Wash on Highway 50. I got the truck cleaned off and now it looks like someone actually cares about it!

Bob was looking for a large lithium-ion battery for his camera and neither Wal*Mart nor SuperTarget had it. We drove to Batteries+, but found the store closed on Sundays! We tried the Ritz Camera store in Winter Park too, but they did not have this strange battery either.

We drove to Sanford to Flea World to find a power supply for my computer. The man in the computer booth asked me, "So how do you know it's the power supply causing the problem?" And I replied, "Well, you are right, it could be something else, but when I pulled it apart this is the only part that smelled like burned wire insulation. I guess I have to replace this first and see if anything else is messed up." He plugged in the power supply and it made clicking noises. He agreed that the power supply was toasted, but he did not have one just like it in his booth there.

The man asked me if that power supply came out of an e-Machine and I told him it did. "Yes, e-Machines uses Bestec power supplies and you have to replace it with another Bestec or you will mess up the motherboard. It has to do with the way e-Machines has the board pinned out." I took his business card and agreed to call him when I could come to the shop to get a new power supply.

We drove back to Orlando and stopped at Stonewall Bar to get a lunch of salad and lasagna. We seldom go out, but I figured we should stop in and help support "the community". It's the right thing to do, after all.

After Buddy got his evening walk I started dinner of roast, carrots and potatoes. I made this in the pressure cooker. Although the pressure cooker was fast the meat turned out very tough.

Bob layed down to take a nap - his cold was still bothering him. I went to the garage to take all of the clamps off of the box project and I called and talked to Mom for awhile. She is very excited about her cruise coming up in three weeks. I am sure they will have lots of fun again.

Today was sunny but cooler. We got the week off to a good start for orders - about $66k today.

Orlando, FL

I spotted this interesting picture while browsing the Internet. It is a picture of a landslide near the north Martian pole. You can see the dust cloud at the bottom of a steep cliff. This picture was taken by a surveying satellite in orbit around Mars. Fascinating.


The picture below was kind of interesting too - it is a picture taken from the surface of Mars through a telescope at the Earth and its moon. A very different perspective for us on Earth!

Yesterday was a pretty run-of-the-mill day at FER. Routine. I had lunch at Orlando Ale House. Fish and chips for lunch. The lemon juice for the fish really burned when it ran into the cut on my thumb!

In the evening I took left over fish home to Buddy. He was very picky about which parts he would eat (smart dog). He only wanted the white fish meat - he would not eat the breading or the skin. We took our evening walk and then I continued to read Down To The Sea, a naval history of the Pacific typhoon of 1944 and how it sunk three US Navy destroyers.

Bob called shortly after 9 pm and we talked for about a half an hour. He has a couple of papers to write about ethics in health care for his evening class.

Today is partly cloudy and a little cooler. It is expected to rain.

We are demonstrating the Lincoln Fusion conveyor toaster and the Merrychef 402S high-speed oven in our Test Kitchen to Florida Hospital today. We had to pick the food items carefully - they are Adventists and have strict diet requirements and the foods they have been serving were advertised as healthy, but really were not. So, we are going to try to help them with the menu too.

This evening I am planning to run the vacuum cleaner, water my plants really good, and do some laundry. It is almost the weekend again!

Orlando, FL

The clutch on the truck continues to operate well, even though it is "weeping" fluid from the lower hydraulic fitting. It is operating better than it has anytime in the past three months!

It was a windy day with clouds scudding across the sky. A cold front was on the way. The high was 81F.

During the afternoon Craig was rearranging equipment in the Test Kitchen to prepare for a presentation with Florida Hospital on Thursday. He asked me to come back and help lift a new Merrychef 402S up from a dolly onto a steel table. I did that and then got some trash ready to take out. Craig continued moving equipment. Next thing I see is a $30k combi oven tipping over, about to fall on to its front!

Craig was pushing it out from under the hood and the front caster wheel feel into the drain trench! I ran up and grabbed the door with my left hand and was pushing and lifting the side with my right hand. I felt sharp metal cutting down into my thumb.

After we had the oven safely back on four wheels I went to the bathroom to wash out my thumb and bandage it. It cut deep. It hurt. Craig gave up moving all the equipment around and phoned Nass Service to send a couple guys over to set it all up.

I left the office around 6:45 pm and went to Pep Boys to get more steel hydraulic line and then went across the street to Pet Supermarket to get a small bag of dry food for Buddy. I think it was almost 7 pm when I got home. After changing into shorts and t-shirt I took Buddy for a walk.

Buddy's bedding was washed last night and he settled down into a bed with three (3) stained white towels on it! It was a little softer for him.

In Like A Lamb

March came in like a lamb this weekend - it was sunny, warm, and clear for us in Florida.

On Friday evening Bob picked me up from the office. We went to my apartment and I packed a bag for myself and a bag for Buddy. I took the bottle of wine from the refrigerator and we turned the AC and the stereo off and went to Bob's house downtown. I wrote the rent check and dropped it in the rent drop box on our way out.

The first thing we did was take Buddy for his evening walk. Then we had a roasted turkey breast with potatoes and carrots for dinner with a foccacia bread and red wine. We spent the rest of the evening reading and went to bed early.

On Saturday morning I made coffee and bagel sandwiches with egg and Canadian bacon. We took Buddy to the car and drove to my house where I left Buddy in the house and got tools to work on my stranded, disabled pick-up truck down at the office.

Starting around 10 am I pulled the clutch piston rod-to-clutch pedal pin and cotter pin, removed the clutch master cylinder mounting nuts and then attempted to remove the hydraulic line from the master cylinder. Here is where I ran into trouble.

The line was screwed in tightly - either cross-threaded or rusted in. I ended up rounding over the corners on the hydraulic fitting and still could not remove it with the 10mm wrench or the regular pliers I brought down. I decided that I needed my channel locks, so we went to the house and got my channel locks and vise-grips. With these tools I was able to back the fitting out and remove the master cylinder.

Installing the new cylinder was a 10-minute snap (except for the badly chewed up hydraulic fitting). We had to take a break at this point because Buddy had his vet appointment.

We arrived at Hiawassee Veterinary Clinic about 10 minutes early and had to wait. The technician soon came to get us and we weighed Buddy first. He weighs 49.5 pounds - exactly where we want him. Then the tech sprayed the bordatella vaccine into his nose from a syringe and that was it.

I was afraid this vet visit would cost over $50, but my bill for the day was $17.50. I was relieved.

Now, back to the truck. I struggled with having the truck towed to a transmission or brake shop to have the line cut, the fitting replaced and a new flared end put on, but before I did anything I called Dad and asked him about it. He said, "Oh no, you would need special tools to do that, but that steel line comes in standard lengths in two-inch increments. You just go to AutoZone, or wherever, and tell them you need flared, double-walled, steel brake line as long as the one you take off that truck." So we took the line off and drove to the nearest parts store.

Sure enough they had steel tubing with flared ends like the one that came off. I made sure the threads were metric and the same thread pitch as the ones that came off. The line was $3.56 so I got an extra one "just in case".

Back in the office parking lot we continued to work. Craig stopped by and asked how we were doing. Wanted to know if I needed in the office or if there was anything he could do to help. There really wasn't. I carefully bent the line down to the fitting in the bottom where it hooks up to a flexible hose for a short jump over to the transmission and then bent it up to the master cylinder and made both fittings up. Then started the bleeding process again.

As the sun was going down I did not succeed in getting the system bled - there were still air bubbles coming out and sometimes the pedal would be firm, other times it would be very soft. We decided to come back to it in the morning.

We went back to my house, pulled my computer out and unscrewed the mounting screws for the power supply. Bob was certain we could easily (and cheaply) get a replacement power supply for my computer, so we took that with us. We took Buddy and all of my bills and went to Bob's house. Buddy got his evening walk and we made a salad to go with the leftover turkey, carrots, and potatoes.

I logged onto Navy Federal Credit Union to verify that my paycheck was deposited - it was. A $500 bonus check was deposited too! Then I proceeded to pay the bills with web bill pay and balance my checkbook. I checked my email there too.

On Sunday we got up and went to Waffle House for breakfast. Bob had eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns. I had pecan waffles and hashbrowns. Then we went to continue working on the truck clutch. We started bleeding the system again. We worked for two hours and we ran out of fluid. So we had to go to my house and get another quart from my garage. We came back and kept working, but we could not get it bled completely. I noticed that the line I made up was weeping fluid at the bottom fitting. Not enough that you had to wipe it, but it was not completely tight either.

I could have sworn my legs were getting sunburned as I worked in the cool shade up under the truck.

It was already afternoon and we needed to go to Daytona to see Bob's parents so I decided to drive the truck home and work more later. The drive home the clutch worked perfectly, but I knew it could go away at any minute. I decided that I would take the extra steel tubing I bought and carefully bend it to match the one taken out of the truck, put it in and bleed again later this week. Meanwhile I will carry a pint of brake fluid, bleeder kit, 10mm wrench, and rags in the truck "just in case" I have to do an emergency bleed.

We drove to Daytona and saw Bob's parents in the nursing home. We visited with them for about an hour and a half. Then we drove to their house and Bob emptied the refrigerator while I isolated the hot water heater and drained it. Then we opened the breakers for the refrigerator and the hot water heater. We dug up the water valve at the meter and turned off water to the house too. That should give Bob more peace of mind about the house and lower the electric bill a little bit.

It was dark as we drove back to Orlando. We stopped at Panda Express and got carry-out Chinese dinners to take back home. We walked Buddy around Lake Eola and ate our dinners. Bob paid his bills and his parents bills on web bill pay, and I went to bed early. I was tired.

This morning Bob took Buddy and me back home and he drove off directly to work. He was facing a day of useless meetings about parking, ambulance repairs, personnel issues and other EMS-related problems. I was only concerned that the clutch would work okay in the truck.

The drive to the office went fine this morning, but I will have to finish repairs to the clutch operating mechanism soon. It's going to be a long week.