Earthquake in Costa Rica

Earthquakes are a common occurrence here. The average is about 300 a year, but most are very small. Yesterday around 4:00 PM, we experienced one that was a little larger than normal. It shook the house a bit and there were waves in our pool. However, everything is cool - nobody hurt and no damage whatsoever to our house or belongings. The quake occurred near Quepos, which is about 40 miles from us on the Pacific Coast.

Below, is an article from the Tico Times website:

A 6.1 magnitude tremor rattled Costa Rica's central valley and the southern zone of the country on Thursday, The Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (Ovsicori) reported.

The tremor occurred at 4:16 p.m., with its epicenter located 30 kilometers southwest of the Quepos, a port town on the Central Pacific. It struck at 10 kilometers below the surface along the Coco plate, according to Ovsicori.

As of 5 p.m., Thursday, the National Emergency Commission (CNE) had received reports of fallen objects in houses, but no injuries. In Ciudad Neilly, a small wall in the town center collapsed.

Press officials with the CNE said they didn't see a reason to issue a tsunami warning.

The United States Geological Survey reported the tremor as having a magnitude of 6.2 with a depth of 38.8 kilometers, and centered 67 kilometers south-southwest of San José.

In the Central Valley, Twitter posters reported feeling �very strong� shakes in Orotina, La Guácima, Pavas and Alajuela, west of San José, and in San Pedro and Cartago, east of the capital.

In downtown San José, employees evacuated office buildings. The shakes lasted for roughly 15 seconds in downtown San José.

Now, one very interesting things I learned this morning is that there are a lot of earthquakes every day around the world. California is not the place to be if you are bothered by quakes. Check out this site:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php

Anyway, for those of you that are wondering about us - Everything is fine down here - Take care

Carol's New Medical Healthcare Reform Trip

April 19 - 30, 2010

Remember when our friends Bob & Carol were here in November for Thanksgiving? That was the time that Carol decided to design her own healthcare reform plan. And, it was the time the political leaders were fighting over healthcare reform in the US The idea behind this was that the cost of her medical insurance in the US was starting to get out of hand and the cost for excellent medical care here is dirt cheap as compared to the US. The way Carol looked at all this was to cancel her regular medical insurance, get a major medical policy, come to Costa Rica every so often for the routine work. The money she would save would pay for a vacation here every quarter. And, it was much more simple and less costly than what the political leaders came up with. -Ahh Costa Rica - what more could you ask for?

Carol's healthcare venture here began on April 19th. With the tax season over along with the miserable Tennessee winter they had,  it was time to relax a bit and enjoy the beautiful Costa Rica weather.









Stef had some plans in store for the time Carol was visiting here. Carol knew a little bit about it, but didn't know that she was about to become an official member of the Girls Ya' Ya' Club. Stef had made some big plans for the girl's Friday card game. She made arrangements for her massage girl to give massages, and the nail gals from town to come do manicures & pedicures. The event was to start at 9:00 AM and last all day. This convinced me that I didn't need to be around, so I headed to San Jose. It's was really a good idea that I left as you will see below:

Yep, Bloody Mary's in the morning, massages, nails done, cards and more to drink. You can see the effects of this in the picture above. This is what I came home to, but it was good that they had fun. Welcome to the Girl's Ya' Ya' Club Carol.

Now for the medical part of the trip. - What Carol wanted to do was to get her eyes checked - and get some new glasses for driving. Stef got them set up with an eye doctor, and you are not going to believe the results. The exam was $20, Guess what? Both Carol and Stef found out that they had been wearing their contact in the wrong eye for years!! Both of them can see much better now. Carol ordered a pair of glasses for driving and another for reading tiny print. When she got them, she could read things better than ever before, and the cost for both pairs was around $200 - Not a bad price for all of that would you say?

After a few more days of relaxing and reading her books ( Carol loves to read), it was time to head back to Tennessee. The night before she left, we went out for dinner along with our good friends Ed & Johanna. A good time was had by all as you can see in the picture below.

Carol, as always, it was a joy having you here - Your next scheduled medical visit is scheduled when? Looking forward to it!!!!!

Somebody Had a Birthday

 "Pistol" is a nickname that was given to me years ago

Well, I guess that I can say I made it another year in this crazy world. Thank God we are in Costa Rica and away from the hustle & bustle of the north. Anyway, Stef got this idea to take me out to dinner at one of my favorite resturants with a couple of friends. Little did I know that she invited many other of my friends. I really enjoyed this night with these people because they are all very special to me. Especially - my lovely wife Stef. She got going with the camera so I will have to describe who these crazy people are:

This is Don & Elaine - they are a great couple from Canada whom we are fortunate to call our neighbors and friends. They built a guest house, garage and pool here in Hacienda Atenas and plan to build the main house when they retire in a couple of years.

Graham and Mary here - Graham is from Ireland and Mary is from South Africa. Mary is also Stef's art teacher, and has taught her well. They have recently built a beautiful home in the country and are seriously into gardening.

Well, I have to tell you - from left to right - you have Ken who moved here from the Northeast, then you have Ursula who is German and happens to be married to the crazy guy on the right. His name is Robin, and we have become very close friends. Robin is a bio-chemist who is starting a new venture in Costa Rica that will provide many benefits for those in the USA. - In addition, these two guys are on the BOD for Hacienda Atenas and try to keep all of us in line - they have a little problem with this guy, but they still like me.

It's obvious that these two are having fun. These crazy people are Ed & Johanna from CT - We spent 10 days last year on their yacht. Ed is retired NYFD and Jo is a retired divorce attorney. They are a great couple and we love them dearly.

Another great couple is Carolyn & Dennis. They are from Colorado and living here full-time. Carolyn is one of the key members of the group The Ya' Ya' girls. Yes, Stef is also a member - they are into cards every Friday, which gives me and Dennis some free time :-)

Now this is a little deceiving - This is Dan, our new friend and neighbor and our friend Lee. Dan just moved here from Texas and built a beautiful new home here in Hacienda Atenas. Lee is a little worked up because his wife Cathy has been in the USA for 2 weeks, but she will be home in a day or two. For my TN friends it is important to know that Lee played football for The BIG ORANGE UT and also did some coaching there.

This is a great Costa Rican couple - Luis and Mercedes - They have become good friends with Stef and me. Luis is the guy who saved my ass on the construction of the guest house after Pedro bailed out. He also did the same thing on the houses that my friend Charlie was building -  Now, he is building a house for my friend Keith Bell. Besides keeping Luis in line - Mercedes is a godsend in helping us with many things. She also takes care of the finances for Luis's business - In other words - she is the gal I give all the money to at the end of the week.

Here we have the Guanacaste guys. On the left is Marco who is the owner and then we have Manuel on the right. He had a pretty big crush on Amanda and even told some people that I was his future father in law - Fat chance of that Manuel

Guess who this very happy couple is? Yep, you got it - the birthday boy and his lovely wife Stef. We had a great time with these wonderful people and I am thankful that I made it another year. Stef liked that too. Hee Hee

Some Birthday Cards I received

This one was custom hand-made by Ed & Jo. Probably one of the most creative I have ever received. Then, below, you will see one from everyone at the party.

Yes, it was indeed a great night for me - Thank you everyone!!

Cordero Appreciation Day

May 9, 2010

 Left to right: Ana Cecilia, Gerald, Marjorie. Mama Cordero, Don Cordero and  Ana Lilian

Since being here in Hacienda Atenas, we have been very fortunate to learn to know an amazing Costa Rican family here. My friend Robin first introduced me to Gerald who became our contact for getting many things done around the house. Gerald, his father Eduardo, and his brother William are responsible for planting every shrub, and blade of grass on our property. In addition, they have done many other things to help us. We also pay Gerald $40 per month to guard our house at night during the hours of 9:00 PM and 5:00 AM.

In July of last year, there was a horrible car crash when the brakes on their vehicle went out coming down the hill after working on my friend Don's house to lay the sod for my guest house. I do not know how any one of them could have survived the crash, but Gerald and Don Cordero did - Unfortunately, William eventually died from his injuries. - He was an outstanding person who also worked at a school as a guard and the kids absolutely loved him - William, you have been sincerely missed since that time.

His sister Ana Cecilia is here every day to clean the patio areas around the house and and take care of our pool. During the time of the tragedy, this girl took completely over and handled everything that needed to be taken care of.

Another sister, Marjorie, has taken me to the Hospital for tests under the CR National Heath Program - she knows what I need and communicates it to the doctors. Recently, we have hired her to take care of the cleaning of the guest house.

Mama Cordero and Ana Lilian are usually at home to make sure that food is sent out the everybody on the job during the day. In addition, Mama Cordero recently went through a bad situation with diabetes - she has the highest level possible, but continues to take care of the family.

Last year, there were fires around our neighbors house that belonged to Ed & Johanna - The Cordero's jumped in and helped with everything they had - If you would have seen Ana Cecilia leading the fire fighters down a hill through a burning fire with a the lead hose in her hand, you would have been absolutely amazed.

This year when we had the fire around our house, they were back to help again. This time, they brought their cousins, friends and uncles with them to help. Ana Cecilia did it again. - Gerald and his Dad took the pump from the fire truck to pump water from our pool, and Ana Cecilia ran up the hill to the fire with the hose in her hand to put the fire out. - Today - She is better known as "Wonder Woman."

Well, enough is enough and we decided to show our appreciation for this wonderful family. We got together with some neighbors and decided to have them over for a cook-out in their honor. This happened today. We had them over for burgers and chicken and a bunch of sides, I did a banner in their honor and we put together a letter of appreciation. They were flabbergasted because I don't think that anyone ever acknowledged what they have done for the community. I have to tell you that these are some wonderful people!!!

Here, is our neighbor and friend Don grilling all the food for the event.

Everyone chowing down on the great food that was grilled and brought here by the neighbors.

The family with us - you really cannot imagine just how wonderful these people are  - they are friends who we have learned to respect, admire and trust. I once told Robin that I could trust Gerald with my life.

This is a picture of them leaving. They only live about a mile away, so it is ok. By the way - this is the truck that my friend Robin gave them after their vehicle was destroyed in the accident - Not a bad ride.






This is part of what living in Costa Rica is all about!!!