Errands, Errands & Hurricanes

PHEW...what a crazy few weeks. Kudos to all you guys that have had big weddings in town, I can't imagine the amount of work that went into that! I've heard from some friends that it took every weekend for a year to get their weddings planned...although Mel and I haven't gone through that, it's been hectic with the wedding and the trip. We'll be glad when we're done planning..Which means Tuesday! Although there are some items left to figure out for the trip...we'll do the rest on our 3 days back here after the wedding.


For those of you watching the news, Hurricane Beta (they're using the Greek alphabet now) did not hit Costa Rica directly. Manuel Antonio is on the pacific coast where hurricanes are rare this time of year and Beta was another Atlantic hurricane. Basically the pacific coast did get rained on, but none of the water surges/wind that were expected on the Atlantic side.



Speaking of hurricanes what's with the Greek alphabet names now? What about Indian or Chinese names? Doing that would also solve the problem of people not evacuating, a name like Hurricane Bhupendra would surely scare those Floridians into leaving their homes no?!

The Tikster

For those of you that haven't had the pleasure of meeting her, I'd like to introduce you to Tiku. We're definatley going to miss her .... a lot. She's an old lady now, over 13 Human Years old, which means my family has had her since I was 16. She's been moved a lot, lived with my Mom when Altaz and I were in University, and has for the last while lived with Mel and I. She's definatley a Senior Citizen now and has been through the ringer; 2 Cancers, 1 weird growth that keeps coming back and 1 bum hind leg later, I'm hoping she's got another few years in her. Mom will be house sitting for us and looking after her while we're gone.

We were planning on taking her for the wedding to Costa Rica, but decided against it, since we're not sure she could handle the flight. Also, Air Canada changed their Pet policy on us out of the blue. You used to be able to take small pets with you on the plane as long as they were left in a cage. Now they have to go with the regular luggage...I'm sure it's those terrorist Terriers they're worried about, a couple of bad seeds ruin it for the rest of doggy land..End Snark

Javier the unwanted house guest

Still prepping for our wedding and not much to blog, so here's a little story from the last time we were in Arenal, Costa Rica :
Mel and I were staying at the Tabacon Hotel in Arenal, which luckily had a really nice view of the Arenal Volcano . Anyway, we stayed 3 nights and the first day we noticed this big patch of dirt on the floor of the closet. We figured they were just lazy maids. Anyway, every day we would see the dirt and laugh and wonder why the maid would clean everything so well but leave that one patch, and always in a slightly different spot. On the third day as we were packing up, I got up close and personal to Javier (pronounced Havier)..the Roach..this thing was the size of my hand..When I told Mel she had the presence of mind to pretend nothing was wrong, ignored me and continued packing..I on the other hand was flipping out..how do you kill a roach the size of your hand?! Anyway, she wouldn't (didn't want to) believe me regarding the roach so I took this pic, and then we took off. In retrospect I'm glad we only figured it out on the last day. I would have had to call the reception, cause ain't no way I'm messing with a Roach that ate cows for a living, and they would have laughed at me all day. I'm also glad I took the pic, cause no one believes me that this roach was that big..I wonder if it could fly?

Costa Rica

Not much to write today....ok we bought a mini GPS device...for uploading to google earth (so we can map out our route throughout the trip), geocaching (if we're bored)... but more on that later. Today some pics of Costa Rica. For those of you attending the wedding and doing the ZipLine tour, rest assured that the pics here are of the ZipLines in Monte Verde and are the highest and longest in Costa Rica, the ones in Manuel Antonio aren't this "scary"..but close :P . That's GI Mel showing no fear, as always! The other pic is of Manuel Antonio Park, Beach #3 I think, it's a beautiful place.

Da Villa

Soooo..T-11 days until we get the hell outta dodge for this little paradise. We booked through a woman named Tricia Morris, who we found while surfing the net for rental houses in Manuel Antonio. Her homepage is here. She was a tremendous help during the booking process and suggesting wedding planners in the area. If you're looking for this type of accommodation in Costa Rica, we definitely recommend going through her(contact info is on her page).


Although the house can handle weddings (as seen in the pictures on the link), and although that was our initial plan(to hold the wedding reception at the house)...too many people showed up...which is a good thing..Crazy People :P So now the reception is at a restaurant.

Man I am sooo glad we are doing the wedding this way i.e. Away...wooohoooo VILLA! ..I'll shut up now

Google Earth

Bored?
Have Google Earth?.
Then Download this file.

I love Google Earth! Check out the current version of our travel plan..which changes..usually after a bathroom break..because that's where the Lonely Planet books are ok! Sheesh.

Geek Stuff - Please avert eyes if not so inclined

So..we like toys....Interpret that as you will :P . Most of this stuff has been acquired over the last few months, I've really just needed an excuse to purchase it. Here's what were taking :

1) Camera Panasonic DMC FZ5
Ok I wanted a DSLR, Mel wanted a small camera. We both wanted something that could handle a variety of lenses and with a long zoom. So the compromise solution was the FZ5. This thing fits in the palm of your hand, 12x Optical Zoom (Check out item 05, that makes this a 24.4 x Optical zoom), all the advanced features. 1 glaring problem..no Manual Focus ring..I hate that..but there is nothing else with this zoom length and a small form factor that also has Manual Focus..oh well.

2) Camera 2 - Canon a70
We're going to try to be nice and switch Camera's every other day, since this is the runt camera..I have a feeling this one will be mine!

3) iPod Travel Speakers.
Best thing about these is that I can use Batteries, they fold up fairly small, and they also work with the portable Mini Battery pack (16) and 120-240 AC outlets

4) Raynox 0.5x Wide Angle (Almost Fisheye) lens. Works with both Camera's using the adapters in (08)

5) Raynox 2020 2.2x Teleconvertor Lens
Makes the Panasonic 24.6x zoom the Canon into a 6.6x zoom

6) 2 4-LED Head Lamps
Works off 3 AAA batteries, really powerful. We'll need it for the climb since peeing in a hole in the middle of the night at 13000 feet can get nasty....yah I said hole..I may get a selective case of constipation

7) His and Hers iPod Minis
Got these 3 days before the nano came out..it still hurts a little inside. The reason for the his and hers? Hers is predominantly alternative, I'm more of an R&B Hip Hop guy..The jostling for Radio presents during the morning drive is a whole other story ;)

Geek Stuff Part II

8) 1 - Panasonic Lens Adapter and lens hood, 1 - Canon Lens Adapter, Bunch of Filters which works with both adapters (UV, Polarizer, Radial)

9) His and Hers Binoculars
We've heard through reading a lot of reviews that it makes sense to bring a set of Binoculars for each person, not one wants to miss a Rhino giving birth or a Giraffe pooping you know.. + we share everything, but electronics, no scientific reason has been able to explain this

10) 2 - AC 120V - 240V to 12V DC AC to Car lighter adapters
Basically converts a wall socket into something you can attach a car adapter too. The charger for the Battery pack(18), the ImageTank OTG (12), Panasonic battery Charger (16), Flashtrax (11) all can be charged through their respective adapters though this

11) FlashTrax
40GB Image storage system, with LCD Viewer. Also an MP3 player, runs of Linux. Basically you put in a compact flash card (use adapters for SD (24) (17) ) and it copies the contents onto the internal drive.

12) Image Tank OTG
40gb Image storage. It has USB OTG "On The Go" technology too, which means it will take anything connected through it's USB port and copy it to the internal drive, this includes External HardDrives, Camera's etc... It also has the CF to HD capability as the FlashTrax

13) Compact Battery Charger + Battery pouch
Can charge 4 batteries at a time AA or AAA

14)Mini Tripod
Cause you know I have shaky hands! Fits both Camera's

15) 12 V DC Car adapter -> 9V DC charger
Works on the Portable battery Pack (16) and The Image Tank OTG (12)

16) Universal Battery Pack
My Favourite thing on the whole list. This thing has adjustable output voltage (7.2, 6, 5, 4, 3) and has many adapters on it. It can
Recharge/Run the iPods, using item (23)
Recharge/Run the Image Tank (12)
Recharge/Run the Flashtrax (11)
Recharge/Run both Camera's (1,2)
Run the iPod Mini Speakers (3)
Run the 5 LED head light (22)

Can be charged via wall outlet or Car charger....rrrrrroooooooowwww..ok I need to go shower...

17) SD, Memory stick, CFII, MMC, SM -> CF Type I converter
For the Flashtrax (11) and ImageTank(12). Also, it allows us to use the Secure Digital cards we have for the Panasonic with the Canon

18) Panasonic Battery Chargers & Batteries
2 Chargers (1 works with car adapter and wall(
3 batteries

19) 2 Universal world Travel Adapters
The Swiss army knife of Travel adapters. Converts all wall sockets to North America plug style

20) Various USB cables for all devices

21) Screen Wipes

22) 5 LED lamp
We had bought a cheapo spare LED headlamp...well..that broke..cheapo and all. SO I soldered a DC adapter so we could use the Universal Battery Pack (16), consider it a spare flashlight

23) Ghetto USB Chargers
I made these using some help from hackaday.com Basically I can charge any USB chargeable device with a 9volt battery so that means
Recharge/Run the iPods, using item (23)
Recharge/Run the Image Tank (12)
Recharge/Run the Flashtrax (11)
Recharge/Run both Camera's (1,2)
Run the iPod Mini Speakers (3)
Run the 5 LED head light (22)

yah kinda like a USB battery pack. Also created a way to use the Universal Battery Pack to charge USB devices.

I think that's it!!!! So yah, a lot of redundancy built in. Other than the time and the memories, the pictures are going to be the next most important thing, and we want to make sure nothing happens to them..I'm knocking on wood as we speak. Don't ask me how we're going to pack this stuff yet.

We'll get a trial run during the wedding to test this stuff out. Any Questions?