October at 2008 at The Observer's Log

Archive for October, 2008

Blog or Die

31 Oct 2008

There’s been a lot of talk lately about people saying you shouldn’t blog anymore. The arguments seem to break into two categories:

Don’t blog because you probably have nothing interesting to say and no-one will read it
Don’t blog because it’s passé and there’s better places to go

The problem with these arguments is that they’re missing the big picture, and that’s presence. Namely, your presence (either your company or yourself) on the internet. (more…)

With all the problems we’ve been having down here, you eventually start to become inspired to find an outlet, a way of bringing forth all your frustrations and desires into a singular vision. For some, it is art, for others it’s the urge to beat the living crap out of something.

For me, it’s music.

(more…)

I swear I’m going to kill my vendors

19 Oct 2008

I don’t care what the excuse is, the reality is that I’m not getting service I expect from a vendor. I’ve been told that it’s just something I have to adapt to. That it’s the way things are done. That it’s a cultural difference. I’ve encountered a variety of these aspects since first arriving here in Costa Rica. I’ve dealt with the indifferent, the incomprehensible, the insolent, and the indescribable.

But no matter how bad that service is, nothing excuses you from lying to me.

(more…)

My evolving job

16 Oct 2008

When it was first proposed that I would come to Costa Rica and start up a new office, there were a lot of questions about how all this would be done. Starting a new office means running without the infrastructure that you’re used to, without any of the existing foundations that you need, with a whack of unknowns that get in your way, and without the hands-on help you’d normally get.

In other words, it’s all one big massive challenge. In the big picture, challenge is good. It’s when challenge bleeds strongly into the details that things go from being interesting to difficult to … well, to past being frustrating to the point where you really want to do nothing more than scream at the top of your lungs for a while.

Anyhoo, all of this leads me to evolution. Namely, the evolution of my job.

(more…)

Canada, you can blame Calgary

14 Oct 2008

Sigh.

Well, thanks to the residents of Calgary Centre-North, Canada is now stuck with Jim Prentice again. And I’m just too darned tired to rant. Wasted effort at this point.

But I reserve my right to call “I told ya so!” when the lawsuits start.

Just say “no” to Prentice!

14 Oct 2008

Okay Calgary, here’s your last reminder. It’s the big day. Make sure the Conservatives get the message: don’t ram bad laws on Canadians and expect that they won’t notice or remember.

Don’t re-elect Prentice.

Or I’ll be forced to rant. Seriously.

Thanksgiving in Costa Rica

13 Oct 2008

It was always a foregone conclusion that we’d end up spending various holidays and celebrations doing things differently here. The ubiquitous summer long weekends (every month except June) are one thing, but when it comes down to the core family staples such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, we had no idea what would ultimately happen.

Thanksgiving — for Canadians, anyway — comes on the second Monday of October. Officially, that’s today, but many Canadians tend to have the feast on the Sunday owing to a need to travel. And since Thanksgiving isn’t observed in Costa Rica (in fact, it’s barely known outside the expat community), it’s not even a blip on the radar.

Which begs, of course, the question: How does one get their turkey fix?

(more…)

Calgary: Vote “no” for Prentice!

13 Oct 2008

Hi folks, it’s your friendly (but still pissed-off) Ex-Pat reminding you that with tomorrow’s federal election, you can send the message to Ottawa that poor legislation that places handcuffs on all Canadians will not be tolerated.

Please do not reelect Jim Prentice. This man does not deserve your support. Voting for him will allow the same mistakes to happen again.

Hangin’ out in Panama

4 Oct 2008

I’m sitting near the edge of the illuminated blue-green pool, laptop burning a hole through my lap (as usual, the laptop is too wam to actually keep on a lap), spending some time outside while Mi Pequeña Niña is sleeping.

Yes, we leave her in a hotel room to sleep alone. It’s either that or we go to bed way too early, or we keep her up. Not much wiggle room, there.

Anyhoo, we’re sitting down by the pool to relax a bit before going to bed.

(more…)

San José Airport is no fun after 20:00

3 Oct 2008

Well, we’re here waiting at the airport for our flight to Panama. A flight that I’m not really looking forward to, only because I’d rather not to go Panama this weekend (would rather do this intentionally than being forced into it).

I will say this: Normally this isn’t such a bad airport given the stores that you can spend a couple of hours searching through. But everything closes here at 20:00, leaving us not much to do. And considering that the lines are non-existent at the check-in counter in the evening, we’ve got a lot of time to kill.

Sigh.