Jungle Journal 12-18-2006
It was a stressful day in town and I haven’t had a drink in six days.
Yesterday Jackie and I met at the lawyer’s office in San Isidro to finalize the land deal with Jorge.
I am buying (bought) some property down the road next to the river, and yesterday was the day to
pay the piper, the lawyer, the beggar and the thief.
The ride over the mountain on my bike was quite nice and the weather, though threatening,
never opened up on me. I arrived at the office five minutes early, Jorge was there, and Jackie
arrived in a couple of minutes. All was going well. The appointment was for 9 A.M. The lawyer
graced our presence at 9:30. We discussed details, signed forms, and came up with exact
amounts of this and that to be paid to this person and that person. Then it was time to hit the
bank and make the money transfer, withdraw cash etc.
I was on the bike and Jackie and Jorge walked. They got there first. Traffic really sucked and I
couldn’t even get through it on the bike. It was sort of embarrassing watching them walk past me,
stuck in traffic.
Banco de Costa Rica was crowded, but we had no choice other than split up and jump in. Jorge
got there first. My account was fairly new and the money from The States was fairly fresh. We
were told to go to another window down the row. The teller disappeared. He seemed upset that
I didn’t have a Banco de C.R bank card, but I assured him I was me, and there was my account
number, so let’s just do the deal and be done. He disappeared again. We stood there. Twenty
minutes, thirty minutes, forty minutes passed. He returned. He disappeared. I suspected it was
a fun game of Fuck the Gringo in play. We were at that window a full hour (after an hour in line)
before he concluded nothing could be done till I had a bank card so we should go to another
teller in another room to sort it out, get a bank card etc.. I was verging on a serious lapse in
control. I lost that bit of control after about 30 minutes of the same bullshit at the third paper-
pushing cold-eyed fuck you in the face teller.
I hated the first teller on sight..he had that Momma’s Boy Haircut..all pushed forward except the
very front which is pushed straight up. All requiring a fair amount of hair goo. The second teller
had snake eyes. She was likely a shape-shifting alien, and seemed to take joy in my growing
impatience and barely contained rage. I was told that I did have a bank card, but it was waiting
for me in Dominical where I opened my account. I failed to see the significance of this, and
implored Jackie to tell her to get with the task at hand and forget the fucking card business. The
teller disappeared..walked by with some paper in her hand..walked by the other way with more
paper in her hand..she was doing the paper walk. I told Jackie I was sure we were not going to
leave here having accomplished a single thing. The teller and I soon made this prediction a
reality when she returned finally with three or four forms in hand and announced that they were
waiting for a fax with my signature on it. I stuck my passport in her face and asked her if it looked
like a valid passport. She nodded, “Jess”. I asked her if that looked like my face? “Jess”. Is
that not my signature on the passport? “Jess”. Well why the fuck do you need a fax to see my
fucking signature? “Blah, blah,blah,blah,blah…” She said.
I said “Fuck it! Let’s get outa here.” I added in purple-faced rage “Three FUCKING HOURS!”
She stared at me, un-moved. We left in a huff. Three and a huff hours! I had murder on mind.
Then it was off to another bank to get some cash to pay the lawyer and the government etc, then
another visit to B of CR in Dominical to actually do what was undoable in San Isidro. That bank
was crowded too, but I employed a slick maneuver which got me directly to the required teller and
we were finished with business in about 15 minutes, and my new bank card in hand.
God I hate banks.
The land deal is done except a couple of little details, so now I can start planning the home-
building process. Please see my web page regarding this endeavor.
I came home to find my energy stocks in serious decline..down amost five bucks a share. Now I
was feeling despondent, exhausted, verging on inconsolable. All I could do was wait till the
market opened this morning and bail out with what was left of my investment. I was still up a few
grand on the deal, so it wasn’t as bad as possible if I could get out before dropping more. This
was accomplished a few minutes ago. Now the stock will surely surge to new highs.
It’s been a rough week; six days now without a cocktail, beer, or shot of hard liquor. I’ve been on
anti-biotics for my sinus infection. I’m determined to kick it this time. This is my final day of
abstinence. I am thankful I didn’t also have to give up my numerous other vices in the name of
health, and anxiously await tomorrow morning when I can once again kick off the day’s
proceedings with a tall Bloody Mary, complete with celery stick (organically grown, of course).
The dogs are doing well, the most recent tick battle has been won, and while sporting their new
summer hair cuts they revel in the temporary, slightly nervous peace with the ever persistent
parasites.
A large “Banana Spider” has made a large web in my front yard. I’ve been photographing it a lot
and we are almost on a first name basis now. (news flash, 12-21-2006, the spider was just
attacked and eaten by 4 or 5 birds, which also picked apart the web for it's cache of bugs)
The holidays are at hand; I’m dreading the influx of fiesta-bound next door neighbors, eyeyiyi.
feliz navidad, fuckers
Another day in the jungle.
It was a stressful day in town and I haven’t had a drink in six days.
Yesterday Jackie and I met at the lawyer’s office in San Isidro to finalize the land deal with Jorge.
I am buying (bought) some property down the road next to the river, and yesterday was the day to
pay the piper, the lawyer, the beggar and the thief.
The ride over the mountain on my bike was quite nice and the weather, though threatening,
never opened up on me. I arrived at the office five minutes early, Jorge was there, and Jackie
arrived in a couple of minutes. All was going well. The appointment was for 9 A.M. The lawyer
graced our presence at 9:30. We discussed details, signed forms, and came up with exact
amounts of this and that to be paid to this person and that person. Then it was time to hit the
bank and make the money transfer, withdraw cash etc.
I was on the bike and Jackie and Jorge walked. They got there first. Traffic really sucked and I
couldn’t even get through it on the bike. It was sort of embarrassing watching them walk past me,
stuck in traffic.
Banco de Costa Rica was crowded, but we had no choice other than split up and jump in. Jorge
got there first. My account was fairly new and the money from The States was fairly fresh. We
were told to go to another window down the row. The teller disappeared. He seemed upset that
I didn’t have a Banco de C.R bank card, but I assured him I was me, and there was my account
number, so let’s just do the deal and be done. He disappeared again. We stood there. Twenty
minutes, thirty minutes, forty minutes passed. He returned. He disappeared. I suspected it was
a fun game of Fuck the Gringo in play. We were at that window a full hour (after an hour in line)
before he concluded nothing could be done till I had a bank card so we should go to another
teller in another room to sort it out, get a bank card etc.. I was verging on a serious lapse in
control. I lost that bit of control after about 30 minutes of the same bullshit at the third paper-
pushing cold-eyed fuck you in the face teller.
I hated the first teller on sight..he had that Momma’s Boy Haircut..all pushed forward except the
very front which is pushed straight up. All requiring a fair amount of hair goo. The second teller
had snake eyes. She was likely a shape-shifting alien, and seemed to take joy in my growing
impatience and barely contained rage. I was told that I did have a bank card, but it was waiting
for me in Dominical where I opened my account. I failed to see the significance of this, and
implored Jackie to tell her to get with the task at hand and forget the fucking card business. The
teller disappeared..walked by with some paper in her hand..walked by the other way with more
paper in her hand..she was doing the paper walk. I told Jackie I was sure we were not going to
leave here having accomplished a single thing. The teller and I soon made this prediction a
reality when she returned finally with three or four forms in hand and announced that they were
waiting for a fax with my signature on it. I stuck my passport in her face and asked her if it looked
like a valid passport. She nodded, “Jess”. I asked her if that looked like my face? “Jess”. Is
that not my signature on the passport? “Jess”. Well why the fuck do you need a fax to see my
fucking signature? “Blah, blah,blah,blah,blah…” She said.
I said “Fuck it! Let’s get outa here.” I added in purple-faced rage “Three FUCKING HOURS!”
She stared at me, un-moved. We left in a huff. Three and a huff hours! I had murder on mind.
Then it was off to another bank to get some cash to pay the lawyer and the government etc, then
another visit to B of CR in Dominical to actually do what was undoable in San Isidro. That bank
was crowded too, but I employed a slick maneuver which got me directly to the required teller and
we were finished with business in about 15 minutes, and my new bank card in hand.
God I hate banks.
The land deal is done except a couple of little details, so now I can start planning the home-
building process. Please see my web page regarding this endeavor.
I came home to find my energy stocks in serious decline..down amost five bucks a share. Now I
was feeling despondent, exhausted, verging on inconsolable. All I could do was wait till the
market opened this morning and bail out with what was left of my investment. I was still up a few
grand on the deal, so it wasn’t as bad as possible if I could get out before dropping more. This
was accomplished a few minutes ago. Now the stock will surely surge to new highs.
It’s been a rough week; six days now without a cocktail, beer, or shot of hard liquor. I’ve been on
anti-biotics for my sinus infection. I’m determined to kick it this time. This is my final day of
abstinence. I am thankful I didn’t also have to give up my numerous other vices in the name of
health, and anxiously await tomorrow morning when I can once again kick off the day’s
proceedings with a tall Bloody Mary, complete with celery stick (organically grown, of course).
The dogs are doing well, the most recent tick battle has been won, and while sporting their new
summer hair cuts they revel in the temporary, slightly nervous peace with the ever persistent
parasites.
A large “Banana Spider” has made a large web in my front yard. I’ve been photographing it a lot
and we are almost on a first name basis now. (news flash, 12-21-2006, the spider was just
attacked and eaten by 4 or 5 birds, which also picked apart the web for it's cache of bugs)
The holidays are at hand; I’m dreading the influx of fiesta-bound next door neighbors, eyeyiyi.
feliz navidad, fuckers
Another day in the jungle.
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