801 home

2008-04-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

I am back from a wonderful trip to Argentina. A re-cap of our travels: from Buenos Aires we flew northwest to Salta, capital of the province Salta. I'm just guessing. We landed in a beautiful lush valley right around dusk. The cab ride was something like 20 minutes or so into the city. It was kind of a typical colonial city for the region, although bigger than most. It had its jems... like the gondola and the dulce de leche. Our first night we stayed in a hostel type deal run by a couple old ladies who talked incessantly outside our door. This place had musty sheets and some mysterious flying cockroach that we could never find... It was late and dark and our bags were heavy (our 1 bag w/ all our things that I was carrying...). So I convinced Lauren that if she only just fell asleep, she would smell daffodils and ride unicorns and the flying roach would be like a dream roach, one with feathers, stuffed with cotton, and dropping chocolate chips from its wings. So we left as soon as we woke up to find a friendlier room. Which we did. Across from a park and cafe con leche in the morning. That place was sweet, except for my all too common traveler's incident. Lauren was sort of insistent I not burp or fart around her since we've only known each other for 9 months and farting in the presence of another should only be an occurrence saved for relationships of 2+ years. With that in the back of my mind, I proceeded to shit my brains out for 3 hours in the bathroom a mere 4 feet from the bed at 3am.

In the morning we got our cute little rental car, a volkswagon gol. 10 minutes of driving through the city, just to get out of the city, it was really important to be driving outside of the city, not in the city... we hit open road. This open road led us to San Lorenzo. It was the gateway to the jungle we were about to enter. It was lined with horse farms and hostels and the road started getting smaller. The next few hours were spent on a single lane road winding through the jungle and mountains. Where they came from, I don't know. But we saw the vines that Tarzan traveled on. In between sections of this jungle area were fields, probably created by the millions of cattle that were usually only standing in the road... around the bend... Anyways. I had a headache cause I was dehydrated. We ended up at the thermas de reyes. Wow. google that. Again, Lauren's gut feeling to spend a little more for the more comfortable thing, proved beneficial to us both, to our sanity, to our sanity, and to our sanity. Instead of swimming the the community thermal pool with screaming kids (i'm sure they were smart, beautiful children, but they were screaming...) we spent an hour at the Thermas de Reyes spa hotel. You just have to go.

We continued on to Purmamarca. A sweet little town right on the edge of loosing its charm to the movement of tourism and corruption. It had a great market. Stuff is cheap! We thought about buying everything and opening a store and selling it for way more! Corruption? Greed? I guess its an opinion, and opinions don't mean a thing, right?

So that was day one of our rental car, I wonder if I can actually remember them all...

Day2 we drove to the Salinas Grandes. Expansive salt flats, you just have to go. We stayed another night in Purmamarca... listened to more flutes and ate more empanadas.

Day3 we drove to Tilcara. Tilcara was a really cool little town, dusty roads, cobblestone roads, lots of young travelers and musicians around. We met a German and an Australian. This day we went horseback riding. My first time. It was cool. Our guide was some all knowing anthropologist archaeologist guy who told us all about the Andes. Well, he told Lauren all about them and she had to translate. And she hated me b/c her tits were hurting from riding the horse and all I wanted to do was ride the horse into the sunset and still be riding in the morning. "Has it been 2 hours yet?" So my translations were getting shorter until all of a sudden I could understand everything! haha. That night we went to a little place w/ some cute musicians and we ordered way too much food. Just in case we didn't like whatever we might be ordering, there would always be the salad, and the empanadas, and the tamale... and the soup... Lauren stayed out until 5 am w/ the musicians in a smokey bar, she had a blast, I slept.

Day4 we hung out in Tilcara for a good amount of the morning and early afternoon then drove north to Humauaca. When we got there we were starving, but it was only 6 pm and normal people in the whole country of Argentina do not eat anything until 10pm. We were allowed to eat cake and drink coffee until 8pm rolled around, which is what we did... and then we met the Texan's. If you cut off their hair, added some make-up and changed out the cargo shorts and tie-dyed moo-moo (is that right? moomoo, mumu? whatever) for some tight wranglers, big buckles, glitter and fringe, cowboy boots, and fly fishing rods, you'd have the majority of Texan's in Argentina. This couple was interesting. They were buying everything to put in a storage unit to sell in a store in the future or decorate their home. In the future. They drank a lot of beer. And they looked like they drank a lot of beer. They were big people from Texas. Big. Not fat. Biiiig.

Day5 we had a couple bus tickets to Iruya. A town in a mountain. The road was windy. The day was dreary. The ride was long...
When we got back to Humauaca we drove down to Tilcara and saw the German, then to Purmamarca. We liked it there. It was like home. Kind of. Not really.

Day6. I can't remember. How many days? Day 6 we probably went shopping in the morning. Then we drove... drove south... this may have been the day we drove all the way to Cafayate. If it was, we drove all the way to Cafayate. Through mountains and cardones and sand. Ending in a country of wine. We went to taste the wine (I was the driver), but the wine tasting was closed. We met some crazy hostel guy who Lauren says had a crush on me. I didn't believe it, but then she re-enacted the way he got down on one knee to kiss my hand and ignored Lauren when she gave him her hand. I didn't believe it b/c everyone was seeing me as a guy the whole time. Northern and Central Argentina. I'm a guy there. Gender. pthhhht.

Day7 back to Salta. This day we had the best food. La mejor. Chicken and potatoes. I can't even remember what else, but we were almost late for our flight and we ate everything on our plates. It was good.

I thought we were there for 8 days. Maybe I missed a day. I can't remember. It was fun.

Still in Buenos Aires

2008-03-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday we walked and walked and walked, we took the metro and a cab, hunted around for a casa de cambio to exchange some money, but it was sunday and a holiday weekend. I'm going to wait until Salta to get all the cool things on my list of cool things to get. We walked through a huge market of things probably made in Salta and Jujuy... saw some great music on every block, and stopped for pizza when the hunger pains struck. It was this day we saw many "stray" dogs, and many "stray" children, all digging through the piles of trash that are set out every night. I seem to project sadness into the eyes of the dogs, but it seems real in the eyes of the chilren. Camped in the corners of the subway, eyes up toward the travelers, the light is gone too soon, 4 years old and already his eyes show no hope. His mother digging through the trash w/ her baby. The beggars all seem to have something to sell here. I haven't had anyone ask for money w/o having something in their hand to sell. They will walk by, either a corner cafe or on the subway, drop off some stickers or a picture of jesus, then walk back to pick up your payment or their product. Less begging, more selling.
I'm only speculating, but I don't think people here have to go to driving school before they get a license. Mostly b/c people don't drive in the lines, don't stop at stop signs, don't stop at stop lights, don't turn their lights on at night, don't obey any speed limit (although I don't think there is one) and don't seem to be worried about the police. Example; walking home last night I was talking about this, I said what do the police do here? We were standing at a corner, 2 cops diagonal across from us, and a car drives right through the stop sign right next to them. He didn't appear to be speeding, but he definately didn't stop. Lauren said the signs are more like suggestions.
We went to the grocery store last night to make dinner at home. Beets and squash. You have to put all of your food in individual bags and get them priced by a special guy in the produce area. There is a whole isle of dulce de leche and only one type of salsa and it is imported. The coffee isle is full of mate'. Everything was going smooth until we got in line. There is a tv in line, i guess for when the lines are really long. Lauren says there is always a problem w/ the people in front of her in line w/ something. We made it through in no time until we realized we didnt get the price on the grapes so they had to call someone to come get the grapes and take them to the produce section to weigh and price them. I guess this was the most common problem in line w/ young foreigners not pricing their fruit. The check out lady seemed to be used to it and didn't roll her eyes or anything, unlike our server at the pizza place earlier... Lauren is pretty fluent so the eye rolling is mostly b/c of me, like when the server was telling me to move the book off the table or something and I just looked at her inquisitively. I don't think she liked her job.
This morning I got my hair cut at the request of the fashion police w/ whom I am housed. It was so fun! We stopped in a little barber shop, I sat down and got the sides and the back trimmed and my neck shaved w/ one of those razors that look like a switch blade. EHH. Deep breath. My head is still attached and I will only ever get my hair cut by barbers w/ switchblade razors. I loved it. We were on our way to the zoo to see the miniature ponies but today was easter or some holiday and Everybody was at the zoo. So we went for lunch and I had my first beef. This week I'm gonna have a burger AND a steak. Probably not on the same day, but I will let you know.

Buenos Aires

2008-03-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

Here I am, in Buenos Aires. It is Sabado, I have been here tres dias. Thursday morning, after my 10 hour flight from Dallas arrived in Buenos Aires, I changed my clothes in the airplane bathroom, made it through customs, found a cab, chatted the whole way into the city, and met Lauren at a small cafe in Palermo Viejo for coffee. We chatted for a while, I let the city sink in un poquito, then we caught a cab to a bed and breakfast, Yira Yira, in Recoleta. This place was really sweet. Huge wrought iron door w/ a bronze buzzer, marble stairs and an antique iron elevator. Our room had glass french doors that opened into the living room and another set on to a balcony. The living room was in the center of 4 bedrooms and a courtyard, rows of arched brick lined the ceiling, it had definately been modernized, but just enough to save the integrity of the existing architecture. It was like something out of dwell. The past 2 mornings we found ourselves in the courtyard with new travelers from Spain, Argentina, Canada, and France. So this morning was especially exciting we were speaking French, Spanish, and English over bananas, coffee, toast, and apples w/ caramel, jam, butter, and mayonaise. Oh and fresh squeezed OJ every morning. Thursday we went to Parque Palermo, a botanical garden with, deep breath, the most amazing trees, trees with different kind of trees that grow in trees with roots hanging down like ropes, I guess the ones that Tarzan uses to get around the jungle.
Huge old trees, all different kinds, conifers, palms, oh and a little cactus area w/ huge cacti. This park is home to dozens, maybe hundreds of the sweetest ferel cats. Reminds me, machine was in my dream the other night.
Friday we walked and walked and walked, but not as much as Thursday. Yesterday we went to an Iglesia o Basilica y un cemeterio. Kind of touristy, but hey, why not. I have a great tour guide who knows all the "authenitic" places, I had to actually request to be a tourist this day. We had coffee and read, finally heading back to the b and b around 4:30pm. Around 5pm it started to pour. Lightning and thunder, mmm mmm mmm. We watched 'Into the Wild' w/ the other guests.
Later that night we went to a tablao, a place to get drinks, tapas, and watch live flamenco. Whoahohoho. Wow, this was amazing, the music, the singers, the dancers. Maybe its on youtube or something, I dont think I can describe it. It was very intense. We met up w/ some Americans we had met the previous night when we were out for dinner. They had been there two weeks and were looking for something cool, Lauren suggested the tablao. It was a good idea, no cover, small venue, agua con gas in the cool bottles where you have to press a lever to get the water to come out.
Today is Saturday. After we checked out of the B and B, we took a cab to Palermo Viejo, LPs neighborhood, got out at a corner cafe, sat outside and had a coffee. The serve cafe con leche in these tiny little cappucino cups with little sweets or toast. Its fun to get one, then walk a couple blocks, or a couple hours, and sit and have another.
Got to the apartment, dropped off the bags and got dressed for tango class. Lauren was actually going to take me to an intermediate class in only spanish. But I found out there was a beginner class starting a little after the intermediate class, so I watched a bit of hers, then went to the other class. It was me and 2 older men. The teachers were great, one was translating for me. I had a whole hour of class that was great, then when Lauren's class was done, she came in my class and I got to dance w/ her, only, when my instructor saw we were together, he quit giving me so much attention, got all wierd and confusing, and basically my lesson was over. He lost it and became a baby, we speculated he had had a crush on Lauren. But it was fun nonetheless.
After that. We saw 'No Country for Old Men' in the theater. I've seen it, and love it, it was Lauren's first time. We walked home and grabbed dinner on the way.
Buenas noches.

jump!

2008-01-12T19:50:00.001-08:00

ready?

2008-01-12T19:36:00.000-08:00

first, new years eve, then new years day.

otras cosas

2008-01-12T15:48:00.000-08:00

debbie had an 80's themed prom last night. i felt really comfortable dressed up as an 80's prom goer, i even found a new pair of shoes i can wear every day. some sweet burnt sienna and gold pumas. oh my geez god. yum. ouch, it really hurts to look at them b/c they are so good looking. i'm thinking i might ride my moto up to la encantada tonight to see what kind of jeans they have there. i adjusted my clutch on my bike and it is a much nicer ride after doing so. see pictures.

the pictures always get inserted in some random order here, pero... my moto, me and my new jacket (not my moto jacket) on my moto taken from the ground by the timer on the camera, a sweet little succulent garden i put together, i personally would've used a different ground cover, but thats what they had so... a yard i am demolishing, it really looks better, there was nothing there before but some overgrown juniper bushes and a horrible fountain. i will post the prom pics as soon as sarah gets out of bed. it is 5pm. lucky.

my early days of riding

2008-01-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

First road trip of my life on my motorcycle. Woke up around 6am, normal morning routine. Hopped on my bike around 7am and headed to the office only to find that someone had broken in the night before. A window was boarded up and glass was all over the sidewalk. I decided not to go in b/c the office manager had written a note on the door to call her if we were going to work over the weekend and I didn't want to call her that early. So I met with Sarah, a client who is best friends with my neighbor, Dirk. We hung out and had coffee and went over ideas for her yard for about an hour. After our meeting I headed home. I got all my gear on, turned the bike on, and headed to the place where sarah and aisha were house sitting. Got there, no answer, rode to anast's place to show off my bike. He's jealous. South on Kolb I turned left on 22nd stopped at a village inn for some breakfast, who knows how long I'll be gone, I thought. I took Old Spanish Trail out to Colossal Cave, turned around and headed toward Rancho del Lago. I found that the frontage road only dead ends, and the interstate was still a little too daunting for me on my first ride. I turned around and went the way I came. Old Spanish Trail to Houghton, Houghton to Speedway, Speedway to Kolb, Kolb to Tanque Verde, Tanque Verde turns into Kolb, Kolb to Sunrise, Sunrise turns into Ina, (bought a tank bag and some new gloves at the end of Ina), Ina to Oracle, Oracle turns into Main, left on University, home.

2008 is great

2008-01-01T00:03:00.001-08:00

sarah and i got dressed up for new year's. but i actually rang in the new year in a parking lot at the airport.

1 month

2007-12-30T14:41:00.000-08:00

1. xmas eve.
2. xmas morn.
3. tamales.
4. camping.
5. lights. 6. planes. 7. trains. 8. film. 9. friends. 10. music.

2007-12-22T17:07:00.000-08:00

quick trip to safford last night to check out a large parcel of land soon to be "graham view estates" barf. rosalee and i are designing the common areas of the development. it is next to a mormon church, so i saw what they had, and will probably use similar plants b/c everyone there is mormon and they will feel right at home. well, it was a nice trip. i rode the yellow ninja today. honestly, it was scary. it was only my 3rd time riding and i kept the traffic interaction to a minimum, but i will definitely need some hours in a parking lot before i hop on speedway. i will probably get it wednesday. i have to ride a few more to get a good feel for the bike, and to get the price down. the ducati dealer has the yellow ninja and they are selling it right along w/ all the other ninjas in town, only they have tax and title. adds a couple hundred. so i let him know i'm looking around and i look around. then he will knock the price down and i will buy it from him. he knows i want it. i come to the shop twice a week to make sure we stay friends. the ninja i'm looking at tomorrow is blue with silver flames. kind of barfy. whatever. yellow is more visible. i'll put a picture up, the pic has flames, mine will not. i thought they might be cool in a funny gayish rainbow sticker way. over it.

veintisiete

2007-12-20T19:27:00.000-08:00

i am freaking miserable. m i s e r a b l e. i'm sure i will not be so much after i wake up but it seems too early to go to sleep.
tradescantia pallida mixed with a gray ice plant and Sprawling prickly pear (Opuntia macrocentra) add a silver torch and a totem, how about a mexican palo verde cause they look so good. a few accent boulders, some slipper plants and a few muhlenbergia rigens to soften it up. how to make it urban desert, urban desert... hmm...
"It has been suggested that some prickly pears coevolved with the now-extinct giant mammals, such as mammoths and ground sloths. It’s an intriguing theory and, if proven true, further illustrates the already-established fact that natural systems are anything but static."

ruined my appetite

2007-12-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

holy christ i feel like a sock monkey right now. glazed over, malleable, soft, tacky. i worked 10 hours today. it really only feels like 10 hours if i skip lunch. never on purpose. always never on purpose... until 3pm when i eat some nuts and think about how i just ruined my appetite by eating a handful of nuts so i eat 5 more handfuls of nuts. and ruin my appetite.

i got up early today. 6ish. had a note on my desk to get ventana reserve lot 12 to donnie by this afternoon. vr is a small development of stupid million dollar homes surrounded by landscapes of 1/2"-3/4" deco rock shoveled around the desert by young men who are just trying to survive with a job that can pay their rent and buy them at least a forty a day. more like 3 forties a day.

i had to see what kind of a landscape the house was left with after they cleared most of the lot for the home. one 20ft. saguaro, one poor, velvet mesquite- mangled by the builder's bobcat, a boulder the size of a baby elephant, some desert shrubs- brittlebush, prickly pear, cholla.

back at the office, paul is waiting for me by his truck. i am 15 minutes late. "donnie needed me to check out this house, paul." "yeah yeah yeah, mumble mumbe" mumbled paul. i like paul. i like everyone i work with. we stopped by some fast food joint and got some breakfast biscuits. paul smokes a cigarette. i eye the bacon. do i love it? am i scared of it? i love it. who cares that you can see through it. you can actually see through the red part of the bacon. it tastes good. so does the fluffy yellow filling in the center of the biscuit. i think it is egg.

we drive 40 minutes east. lots of traffic. i asked every question i could imagine about bidding landscaping jobs, what we were on our way to do. it really just came down to "you measure it, and it costs a certain amount". silence. until i re-word the question and get a slightly different answer, silence.

we got to the job, a place i have been before, off of old spanish trail in vail. johnny williams and his wife are here to retire. they have worked their whole lives, mostly as border patrol and homeland security in the nation's capital. retiring on a 1.87 acre lot in a multi million dollar home along the foothills of the rincon and saguaro national park east. common story. johnny hires a fly by night landscaper who installs rip-rap, low voltage lighting, an outdoor fireplace, plants, drainage, irrigation, brick paver patios, 2ft-5ft cmu stuccoed walls, and an outdoor kitchen. the guy did all of this stuff. all of it. really really really shitty. really shitty. the outdoor kitchen was full of water, the grout used for the tile work was mixed wrong and things were falling off, the masonry was poor quality, the fireplace looked like a large bomb shelter or tomb with a teeny tiny fireplace, the wiring for the lighting was buried all throughout the yard and not connected to a thing, the rip-rap along the slope in the back had defective mortar. it was washing out from between the rocks. we have to bid the removal/demo of everything, and the putting it back together. he is getting bids from 3 other companies. this process is for some kind of homeowner's blahdy blah, so he can get reimbursed for his mistake. he might not use us to do the job, making the hours of estimating a waste. but i really tried to connect with this guy. we were both very familiar with virginia AND i just asked if he worked for homeland security in dc- he had said he worked for the government- he did, AND my cousins wife just happens to work there as well, of course they didn't know each other, but we made a connection and that half-hour we were there, i was so interested in this guy. he was funny, smart, and from dc. after the half hour was up, we left the ogre and his wife in their beautiful home in the middle of the desert. its like living on the outskirts of dubai.

back at the office.
i have a list of plants that can go in. 3-15gallon trees, 10-5gallon shrubs or accents, 10-1gallon shrubs or ground cover. i chose palo verde, mesquite, chuparosa, soap-tree yucca, giant hesperaloe, mount lemmon marigold, santa rita prickly pear, and salvia greggii. maybe some other things, i can't remember. I made a little note at the bottom of the plan telling jason, the foreman on the ventana reserve jobs, that i would like him to pick out some of the existing stones and boulders on the lot and incorporate them into the landscaping- have fun, i wrote. it must suck having to follow someone's plans all day and not get to do your own thing. not a big deal, but if i were him, i would love to put the rocks where i wanted, really if i let him put everything else where he wanted, i wouldn't have a job.

done.
dawn, the boss, wants to know where the raised planters are that i was supposed to design. i hadn't actually had the time yet, and started as soon as vr12 was done. i did a plan of 3 raised planters, 2 are 34" high on one side, and the other side arcs up 6 more inches in the middle. they are capped with brick and stuccoed white to match the house. 2 have benches built into the curves of the walls, one is 2 feet high and 20' long, running along the edge of the pool. computer freezes, data is lost, time is lost. cursing under my breath. i have to get this done, this is a test, dave is meeting rosalee about my salary today, they are testing me. shit. it is 3pm. i lost data, i have a meeting at 3:30. dave's meeting is at 4 with rosalee. i quickly reworked my drawing saving, saving, saving, i had to leave. i explained to dawn my situation, i could have her the planters tomorrow morning. no prob.

i drive to the englehardts. they have a contract for the work of the design i did for them. i want them to sign it. kevin is allergic to palo verdes, have to take it out. they want to change a few things, add the irrigation and make the palo blanco bigger. done. sweet. they just added a couple grand to their job. great. our guys can work another week.

i get a company truck to drive to my appointments. rosalee calls me to fill me in on the meeting with dave. he's gonna talk it over with dawn. good enough. "listen to this" VROOM, VROOOM, GRRRR, VROOM! rosalee is having me listen to a harley that just pulled up next to her on her drive home.

back at the office. 5:15pm. just dave and me. i'm working on the planters. dave asks me for a favor, sure. 530pm. can i put together a proposal and email it. sure. i have dinner plans with anast. supposed to be there at 6. his sister is in from out of town. dinner at 6. i'm late. must get a raise...ninja...ninja...ninja...

done.

st. francis

2007-12-17T05:40:00.000-08:00

WHOOO! After 20 hours of class this weekend (yes, 2 days), I aced my motorcycle written and driving exams. I am up, as usual, at 6am- this morning searching for the most convenient MVD to get my license. The one at Ina and Shannon will do. I heard it was slow there.

Anast and I are designing a bathroom for these feng shui guys. Its a small space that needs to fit a toilet, preferably enclosed, a closet, a roman tub, 2 sinks, and a sitting area. Oh, french doors and a large glass block window. If I come up w/ something good we will use it. I just have to keep in mind that Anast is building it.

I am enclosing a picture taken by the office manager of me in my new leather jacket.

its getting real cold

2007-12-13T19:36:00.000-08:00

It is so cold we had a fire. I bought a truck full of wood and chopped it with my bare hands. swinging a large chopping maul. I can see the snow on the mountains, but it hasn't reached us yet. Today the weather was actually quite pleasant. Wore a t-shirt. So its probably not like Virginia weather, but its cold enough to reevaluate your wardrobe.
Oliver has been acting like an only cat today. She came with me into the bathroom and batted at the air while she rolled around on the bright, woven, bathroom mat. HaHA! she was telling the other cats. I am the favorite!

I should put a picture of me on here...

the weather

2007-12-13T07:16:00.000-08:00

it was crazy foggy the other morning from the rain the night before. the palm trees looked really cool in it.

all my plants have almost made it inside, but there hasn't been a frost yet, so i'm not worried. i have one 4' grow light and 2 160 watt clip on lights for the cacti. soon i might have to sacrifice my little heater for them. why isn't our heat on? a simple phone call that only i can make to the property manager. why only i? well, the rmates have other warm places to sleep at night. i will also have to pay most of the electric bill since it will be attributed to my little heater and my grow lights. and my motorcycle helmet came in!

The Blog Starts Here

2007-01-04T15:25:00.000-08:00

This is the Official Blog of house 801.