Bryant surprised me the other day when he asked if we had a basketball. In 17 years that would be the first time he wanted a sports related item of any kind. I told him to look in the garage. He comes back in with it and starts dribbling and whipping it around, decides its not good enough and heads to the store for a new one. What in the f.........?
Turns out he is in the school play "High School Muscial" and has a singing and dancing number called 'Get Yer Head In The Game' that requires a basketball and some dribbling and passing. Ahhh, makes sense now. Gotta love the Boo.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Lookout Lovenest Lovefest
I recently procured a reservation at another old firelookout in the Couer d'Alene Forest. Little Guard Lookout is ten miles up the mountain from the CDA River. Lisa agreed to go with me and we had a great time. The lookout was originally built in the early 1900's and the present structure has been there since 1950 something. It is in great shape and even had the Osburn Fire Finder still in the center of the room. It was a beautiful sunny fall day and we enjoyed the drive up. We kicked back and enjoyed the scenery. Towards evening we cooked up a delicious dinner of chicken and wild rice. We read the guest book comments for entertainment and took a walk at sunset around the peak. A storm moved in and the wind blew and rain fell all night.. At dawn I raised the stars and stripes and went downstairs and made a huge breakfast. The rain continued but we didn't care. We finally packed up and headed home. Can't wait to do it again we had a lot of fun.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Nuevo Laredo Part Tres
.........if you actually read this crap start at the first one down below.........
So now I have taken care of myself by seeing the good doctor I head back in the direction of the border. I stop at an open cantina for some much needed refreshment and rest. I get hit up some more for money by different people including a young girl who looked so tired that she could barely stand up. Breaks your heart to see that, I gave her some money and she wandered out into the street, I hoped someone was looking out for her. I watched the street scene in Nuevo Laredo for about 45 minutes, it was interesting. I walked toward the border and stopped at some small shops to look for some trinkets for the family. I saw a knockoff of a Louis Vitton purse and couldn't resist getting it for Lisa as a joke. I call it the Lewis Vitin bag. (she laughed but won't actually use it) I also bought Boo a Nacho Libre wrestling mask, I knew he would get a kick out of it. Got em both on a package deal for 20 bucks. Also grabbed some perfume and a bottle of Aquila Los Cosinozes. Had enough for one night and head to the bridge. I walk past the Mexican customs without a second glance from anyone and head out onto the bridge. As I walk across the bridge towards the U.S. Port of Entry I get a little nervous about my pharmaceuticals, I mean what is the worse that can happen. Arrest, jail, a vigorous beating I don't really know. So I grab the small package and toss it over the bridge I hear a faint splash as my precious purchase hit the black waters of the Rio Grande. Feeling safer now I approach the US gate, there is one guy there and no line whatsoever. He says hello, asks me if I have ID, I show him my drivers license he yawns and asks what I'm doing in Laredo. Once again I don't really know, he smiles and waves me through. Should have known I could get across the border with anything. I look like Howdy Doody and I'm sporting short pants and a Idaho drivers license and carrying a bag with a purse and a Nacho Libre wrestling mask. Good God I could have had 2 kilos of heroin in my underpants and walked through there and only gotten some bored looks from the border patrol. Oh well back in the USA at last. I miss Mexico terribly but sadly have nothing with which to deal with the pain.
So now I have taken care of myself by seeing the good doctor I head back in the direction of the border. I stop at an open cantina for some much needed refreshment and rest. I get hit up some more for money by different people including a young girl who looked so tired that she could barely stand up. Breaks your heart to see that, I gave her some money and she wandered out into the street, I hoped someone was looking out for her. I watched the street scene in Nuevo Laredo for about 45 minutes, it was interesting. I walked toward the border and stopped at some small shops to look for some trinkets for the family. I saw a knockoff of a Louis Vitton purse and couldn't resist getting it for Lisa as a joke. I call it the Lewis Vitin bag. (she laughed but won't actually use it) I also bought Boo a Nacho Libre wrestling mask, I knew he would get a kick out of it. Got em both on a package deal for 20 bucks. Also grabbed some perfume and a bottle of Aquila Los Cosinozes. Had enough for one night and head to the bridge. I walk past the Mexican customs without a second glance from anyone and head out onto the bridge. As I walk across the bridge towards the U.S. Port of Entry I get a little nervous about my pharmaceuticals, I mean what is the worse that can happen. Arrest, jail, a vigorous beating I don't really know. So I grab the small package and toss it over the bridge I hear a faint splash as my precious purchase hit the black waters of the Rio Grande. Feeling safer now I approach the US gate, there is one guy there and no line whatsoever. He says hello, asks me if I have ID, I show him my drivers license he yawns and asks what I'm doing in Laredo. Once again I don't really know, he smiles and waves me through. Should have known I could get across the border with anything. I look like Howdy Doody and I'm sporting short pants and a Idaho drivers license and carrying a bag with a purse and a Nacho Libre wrestling mask. Good God I could have had 2 kilos of heroin in my underpants and walked through there and only gotten some bored looks from the border patrol. Oh well back in the USA at last. I miss Mexico terribly but sadly have nothing with which to deal with the pain.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Neuvo Laredo II
continued:
So I wandered up the street in Mexico and was attracting a lot of attention. Finally a young guy jumps in front of me and wants to know what I'm looking for. Women? Weed? Coke? Fireworks? What? I tell him no each time and he holds out his hands and says, what are you doing here? That's a good question, I'm starting to wonder myself. I go on by and walk up a couple more blocks stopping once to give a little girl some money, she was begging for her mother who was sitting on the sidewalk. I don't see anything worth stopping for and finally turn around and head back down the other side of the street. The little girl hits me up again and when I tease her about already giving her some money she smiles so cute that I give her a few more dollars.
Then the guy that stopped me before spots me and runs over, okay he says, what are you looking for. Nothing I say just looking around. Come on he says, I have women, massages, heroin, pain pills - he notices my hesitation at that one. I just drove 2300 miles I do have some pain. But I have no prescription senor. No problemo we see doctor, 10 dollars. Follow me.
So off me and my new amigo Marcos go, off the main street, past dark seedy shops, people in the shadows watching, he points to a few places - dentist, lawyer, pharmacy - all open at 11:00 at night. Just as I'm starting to think I'm being led into the barrio to be robbed and killed for fun we come to a small alley. Very dark, very narrow, not a place you would ever walk down. So we walk down it and come to a door and by this time I am starting to kind of get a fatalistic kick out of the whole thing and I don't hesitate to walk right in.
It is here in a small room with a bare light bulb hanging over a beat up metal desk that I meet Dr. Jose Antonio Cerra Quintero a real humanitarian. Dr. Quinn turns out to be a taciturn fellow wearing a ballcap that says Hurley on it. Marcos converses with him in Spanish and I start to tell him about my arthritic hip and lower back pain and so forth. Turns out that even if he could speak English he doesn't give a rip. I am offered a chair and handed a menu like I have walked into a cafe. I puruse the list of medicines carefully, pretty much anything you can think of was there and plenty I have never heard of. Like all good menus the price was also clearly marked, quite frankly I felt the prices were steep considering where I was. I felt obligated to buy something, that is only good manners I suppose. I finally settle on 10 percodans for 20 bucks. Cash please, plus ten for the Doc and five dollar tip for good old Marcos. I produce the bills and another cat comes in (Segundo).
After some agitated conversation Marcos informs me that they don't have any on hand but that Segundo can go get some but will need to take the cash. Sure fine, as long as this is all on the up and up what can go wrong. So we wait, me and Marcos joke around for a bit but the conversation lags and Doc Quin just sits there staring straight ahead. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that my forty bucks is gone but what the hell it had entertainment value. But Segundo comes back and he has the medication. It is packaged professionaly and they tell me that I can take it across the border with the prescription I've been given as long as the package is not opened. Somehow I doubt this..........
to be continued.
So I wandered up the street in Mexico and was attracting a lot of attention. Finally a young guy jumps in front of me and wants to know what I'm looking for. Women? Weed? Coke? Fireworks? What? I tell him no each time and he holds out his hands and says, what are you doing here? That's a good question, I'm starting to wonder myself. I go on by and walk up a couple more blocks stopping once to give a little girl some money, she was begging for her mother who was sitting on the sidewalk. I don't see anything worth stopping for and finally turn around and head back down the other side of the street. The little girl hits me up again and when I tease her about already giving her some money she smiles so cute that I give her a few more dollars.
Then the guy that stopped me before spots me and runs over, okay he says, what are you looking for. Nothing I say just looking around. Come on he says, I have women, massages, heroin, pain pills - he notices my hesitation at that one. I just drove 2300 miles I do have some pain. But I have no prescription senor. No problemo we see doctor, 10 dollars. Follow me.
So off me and my new amigo Marcos go, off the main street, past dark seedy shops, people in the shadows watching, he points to a few places - dentist, lawyer, pharmacy - all open at 11:00 at night. Just as I'm starting to think I'm being led into the barrio to be robbed and killed for fun we come to a small alley. Very dark, very narrow, not a place you would ever walk down. So we walk down it and come to a door and by this time I am starting to kind of get a fatalistic kick out of the whole thing and I don't hesitate to walk right in.
It is here in a small room with a bare light bulb hanging over a beat up metal desk that I meet Dr. Jose Antonio Cerra Quintero a real humanitarian. Dr. Quinn turns out to be a taciturn fellow wearing a ballcap that says Hurley on it. Marcos converses with him in Spanish and I start to tell him about my arthritic hip and lower back pain and so forth. Turns out that even if he could speak English he doesn't give a rip. I am offered a chair and handed a menu like I have walked into a cafe. I puruse the list of medicines carefully, pretty much anything you can think of was there and plenty I have never heard of. Like all good menus the price was also clearly marked, quite frankly I felt the prices were steep considering where I was. I felt obligated to buy something, that is only good manners I suppose. I finally settle on 10 percodans for 20 bucks. Cash please, plus ten for the Doc and five dollar tip for good old Marcos. I produce the bills and another cat comes in (Segundo).
After some agitated conversation Marcos informs me that they don't have any on hand but that Segundo can go get some but will need to take the cash. Sure fine, as long as this is all on the up and up what can go wrong. So we wait, me and Marcos joke around for a bit but the conversation lags and Doc Quin just sits there staring straight ahead. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that my forty bucks is gone but what the hell it had entertainment value. But Segundo comes back and he has the medication. It is packaged professionaly and they tell me that I can take it across the border with the prescription I've been given as long as the package is not opened. Somehow I doubt this..........
to be continued.
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