Diary Of Panama 2016

Here’s a diary of all the things we did on our trip to Panama. I wanted to write this to keep track of the days.

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Got up really early and caught an Uber to Jeff’s place in Silver Spring. Picked Jeff up and took the same Uber to Dulles airport. The plane ride was one of the worst I’ve ever had. We had tv’s on the backs of our seats which was awesome however the dude in front of me kept putting his hand on the back of his seat (on my screen) which obstructed my view of the movies I was watching. Also the kid who sat in the back of my seat kept kicking my seat. We did have a meal on the plane (I got eggs). Once in Panama City, we took a taxi to our hotel. We checked in and walked across the street for sushi for dinner and drinks. Awesome drinks! Walked around to explore. We had drinks and watched some of the playoffs at this cool bar that had great drinks. The lady at our hotel marked the wrong place as our hotel so we were getting drunk walking around (being careful where we walked) and got lost trying to find our hotel.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Got up really early again to get the Jeep ride to San Blas. The Jeep ride was very crowded and the driver didn’t speak English. Had a great conversation with a French woman while traveling in the Jeep though. The Jeep ride was rough as we were all squished and the roads were very rugged in parts. Our Jeep sucked. Once we got to the place they dropped us off and we waited around for our boat. We got a water taxi to our catamaran. We kept on the table like waiting. Captain Franco told us what to do, showed us our stay rooms, etc. Then we traveled to a place where there was great snorkeling. Bri and I learned how to snorkel. Bri’s snorkel wasn’t good so he held his breath to do it. It was great snorkeling in the reefs. Afterward, we were all starving since we didn’t eat all day, we had lunch. Then we sailed to Jose’s island and docked there for the night. Had an awesome dinner with wine (I think lobster). Played cards and drank the rum we brought.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Had breakfast. Snorkeled at the island where we stayed. Took boat to the island where we met local people and met “crab dog.” Walked along the beach with “crab dog” following. Awesome food for lunch and dinner. Went to another island and kayaked around the other island. Explored it a bit. Another awesome dinner, drinks, and cards in the night.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Awoke to the engines rumbling. We were leaving the island to go back to the other island since the water was rough. Didn’t get much sleep. We should have left this day however we did snorkeling and visited the beach for lunch (a real dead fish for lunch with salad and rice). Excellent food. Swam and snorkeled. We headed to another island when I realized that it was Tuesday and we needed to be in Panama City to go to Bocas the next day. Scrambled around, trying to contact airline to reschedule since we couldn’t make it. Turned on my phone and used data. Went to the island and had a good dinner and a beer. Cool island place. Captain Franco made arrangements for us to be picked up in the morning. Couldn’t sleep that night. Tried to sleep in the hamack, got rained on. Boat was rocking and it was hot. My lip swelled. It was an awful night.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Got some pictures of the sun raise since I was up all night anyway. Waited for everyone else to awake and get ready. Got ready. Waited for water taxi. Had bowl of cereal. Water taxi came, loaded our stuff and we went back to San Blas reserve. Once there we waited a long time for another Jeep to take us back to Panama City. The driver kept drinking water and stopping to go to the bathroom. We arrived at the Panama City domestic airport and talked to AirPanama. They weren’t that helpful but we were able to get on standby for our plane. They also informed us since we missed our earlier flight, they canceled our flight back to Panama City a few days later. The airport had WiFi and we stayed there around 3 hours. All three of us were able to get on the plane to Bocas del Toro. Sat next to a dude who owned a dive shop there. Once there, got our luggage and a crowded van to the hotel. Got checked in. Very nice rooms! Washed my hair like three times. Went to a nice restaurant and had wine with dinner. Drank at some bars but I wasn’t feeling well so I called it an early night. Bri and Jeff stayed out.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Had lunch/breakfast at a Chinese place. Good food. All the restaurants we ate were on the water. Walked around and got information about activities to do. Got a taxi to Starfish beach. Walked to Starfish beach. Were worried about people and the path so someone was always watching our stuff. Saw lots of starfish and swam around. Afterward we did a beer crawl through the various beer stands located around the place and walked back for our taxi. We had a few drinks at a bar near where our taxi picked us up. There was a lizard in the bathroom. When we got back to the hotel we took showers and did dinner at a sushi place. The sushi was pretty expensive and not that good but we had a good time. Jeff and Bri wanted to do a snorkeling/beach tour the next day so we had to get up early for that.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Got up early and walked to a breakfast place. The breakfast sandwiches Bri and I got weren’t that good. Walked back to the hotel and got ready for the trip. Met up with some other folks in our hotel doing the same tour. There was this dude there trying to use his credit card when it was cash only. Also we put down phony passport numbers and faked our ages on their sign in sheet. When the tour was underway in the water taxi, we first went to Dolphin Bay where we were supposed to see some dolphins. We saw a few. I tried to get a picture but they were too fast. We then went to this restaurant/dock place to place our orders for lunch. We then went to a beach. It was crazy getting there as the boat wasn’t doing so well landing on the beach. Walked like a half a mile to a nice but dirty beach. The beach had a lot of debris. Snorkeling wasn’t happening as the water was very cloudy. We stayed there way past the time when we wanted to leave as there wasn’t much to do. We swam and skipped stones. The boat tried to pick us up there but the tide was too rough. Bri hopped on the boat though and then the boat went back to the original place where we docked. Jeff and I helped people and walked back to the boat. After the boat we we dropped people off to eat and went snorkeling. The snorkeling wasn’t great and the current was pretty harsh. After snorkeling we ate and met an awesome girl backpacking from Ireleand. We kinda hit it off with her. Her name is Ann Marie. After lunch we went to a few islands via the water taxi. The islands weren’t that good. Sloth Island we didn’t see any sloths. But we did see starfish by a place we stopped by. We also went to Bird Island but didn’t see any birds. When the trip was over we invited Ann Marie to dinner with us at 7. We took showers and met downstairs at our hotel at 7 and walked to a nice seafood restaurant. After dinner we had drinks. It was really hot but the drinks cooled us down. Bri and I decided to go back to the hotel since we had to get up early to leave to go back to Panama City the next morning.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

We got up early and met Jeff downstairs. We took a taxi ($2 a person!) to the AirPanama airport. Bri and Jeff were able to get on the same flight as me. Their scanning machine was broken so they were checking all the bags by hand. We had to wait a long time and our flight was probably late. When we got back to Panama City we checked into the hotel. Our room wasn’t ready but we put our stuff in Jeff’s room which was ready. We ate breakfast at this nice restaurant that had an “American” breakfast. After breakfast we walked around looking for souvenirs. Jeff couldn’t find a Panama t-shirt he liked. We then went to the pool since it was really hot. After the pool, we played cards and Jeff got a notification that our flight had been cancelled. We rushed to our rooms to call Copa Airlines. A half hour later we got through. They told us to go to their place at some mall the next day. I was sooo ready to go home and kinda freaking out about the whole thing. We got some booze and drank and watched CNN’s coverage of the blizzard hitting DC.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

We got up kinda early and walked to the Panama City metro. The thing only took bills smaller than $10 so I had to go and seek change. The Subway and McDonald’s claimed not to have change. I bought a McMuffin and all of a sudden they gave me change back! Took that back to the metro. Bought our tickets and went to the “mall”. The “mall” wasn’t open yet so we had to wait around. When it did open we asked a few people where the Copa Airlines was. We chilled out in the food court until they opened and tried to find them. Once we found them we rescheduled our flights for Thursday, the earliest we could fly out. I wanted to see about Planes, Trains, And Automobiling it back but it would have been extra cost and I wouldn’t be sure when I could get back. We decided to stay in Panama until Thursday. We all got ice cream at one of their food courts and walked around. We walked around Panama City some more then went back to the hotel. Bri and I tried to find a place to do our laundry so we tried to pull it up on google maps. We tried to walk there but got lost since we didn’t have WiFi except at the hotel. The hotel wanted to charge $5 a shirt for our laundry. Later we had dinner at the place we went drinking our night in Panama a week earlier. We decided to tour the Panama Canal the next day. Probably drinks and cards and pool (billiards).

Monday, January 25, 2016

Bri tried to venture out again to do laundry and find a place. No one knew of one around there. We were desperate so we did our laundry in the shower with shampoo and soap. We met up with Jeff later and got a ride to the canal. Our driver was also with us. We toured the Panama Canal’s museum first, looked at the history. I was pretty underwhelmed with the museum. They had a few interesting things there but nothing about the real history. We did get to see a simulation of what a ship sees when going through the canal which was pretty cool. We then got to see an actual ship pass through one of the locks. Afterward we saw both the Spanish and English version of their Panama Canal movie. They are very proud that they acquired the canal from the United States. After the canal we probably did the pool. We also arranged what we’d do the next day. I think we ate at the pizza place up the street. Jeff was thinking about doing some of the Panama late night. Bri wasn’t feeling well so we played some cards, drank some rum and he went to bed. Jeff and I went across the street for a few drinks.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

We got up early and got a ride to the ferry to go to Tobago Island. There were a bunch of seagulls that followed the ferry all the way to the island. There we got breakfast at a nice little place. I got pancakes. We then walked to the beach. The water was pretty cold and we didn’t feel comfortable leaving our stuff alone. We rented an umbrella for $5 for the whole day. Bri and Jeff mostly got in the water. There wasn’t much to do. The other beach on the other side was very dirty and no one was over there. There were a lot of rocks. Bri and Jeff had a little adventure while I watched the stuff and took a nap on the beach. Once they were back, I got in the water again with Bri. After that we decided to find drinks. I also had to cancel the maids for the next day so I needed WiFi in order to send an email to Bri’s parents. We found a little place and I was able to use Jeff’s phone to send an email. The place was nice (a bit hot though). We had many drinks and ice cream there. The fish kite they had kept smacking Jeff in the face. We also played some hearts until it was time to catch the ferry back to Panama City. Our driver was there almost when we arrived back. When we got back we went out to dinner at one of the places up a ways from the hotel. We ate at a place that made their own beer. They gave us a free flight. We stayed out pretty late doing a mini bar crawl.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

We asked the hotel where good breakfast was and they pointed us to a cafe. Once there, we weren’t impressed since it was a cafeteria kind of cafe. We decided to go to the good breakfast place on another street where we ordered the American’s before. The waitress was nice and showed us what they were having for lunch. We contemplated going back for lunch. We then went to the Old Panama. They had a museum. We went through the museum… there wasn’t much there but it was interesting to learn the history of the first Panama City. My camera started to run out of memory so I had to go through pictures and delete them. We then took their golf cart thing to the actual ruins. We walked up the old church, learned roughly how it looked like back then. It was pretty fascinating. Captain Henry Morgan destroyed their city in 1671. Pirates would come by and steal their stuff including rocks. We walked around the ruins and walked midway back and took their golfcart the rest of the way. Our driver was waiting for us. We then did the pool at the hotel. We got dinner later at a place up the street. Jeff’s food wasn’t sufficient due to his allergies so we went to another place afterward and got drinks and Jeff got better food. After drinks Bri and I decided to call it an early night and pack and watch the democratic debate we missed from Monday.

We caught the flight home the next morning. An uneventful flight (just the way I like them). We got home to a lot of snow! We got Bri’s car out and I picked up Wiki.

Pictures can be found here: http://yearscollage.com/user/niles38?set_id=40

It was an awesome trip!

Janny February 3, 2016

Not So Good Things About Hillary Clinton

If you know me, you know I Feel The Bern and am a Bernie Sanders supporter to the very end (even going so far as to write his name in if he’s not the Democratic nominee come November). And I know it’s not Bernie’s style to go on the attack as he’s never run a negative campaign ad in his life. But since Hillary is going on the attack against Bernie, I thought it well to attack her a bit.

So here’s a list of stuff I compiled that do not paint Hillary Clinton in a good light. I believe she’s very corrupt, wrong for our country, and here is proof.

Janny January 14, 2016

Delivery Fee

I wanted to do a quick blog post about pizza delivery fees. As some of you know, I used to do pizza delivery for Domino’s back in college. Fun times. Lots of stories.

Anyway, pizza drivers are making less today than what I made when I did it due to delivery fees that pizza and other delivery places put onto the price of the order.

The summer I delivered pizza, it used to be $15.75 for the 555 deal from Domino’s. People would usually be nice and give the full $20 for tip; so we’d get $4.75 tip. I come into work one day, first order is a 555, go to the dude’s house and notice that it’s now $16.75… I thought he might have ordered an extra topping or something… Nope, it was the new $1 delivery fee. All of a sudden I was getting less money with the 555’s. Not only that, a lot of people stopped tipping as much since they were under the false assumption that the extra $1 went to the driver when it did not. It went to corporate profits.

The Huffington Post did a good article on it.

So just to set the record straight: a delivery fee DOES NOT go to the driver. Please tip these guys. It’s hard for them. It’s their wear and tear on their cars. They live off minimum wage and tips and whatever minuscule money they get per run (when I did it it was 85 cents a run).

Janny December 29, 2015

Our Biggest Threat

The second Democratic debate happened last Saturday night. The night before, Paris experienced a horrible terrorist attack which had killed 129 people and wounded many more. My thoughts go out to them.

Bernie Sanders was asked specifically if he thought climate change was still our biggest threat and he said YES.

Bernie’s answer is absolutely right. Climate change is still our biggest threat. Obama even got blasted for saying that climate change impacts more people than terrorism. And there’s data to prove it.

Bernie’s plan to combat ISIS is to create a global coalition and let the other countries in the region take care of it; like Iran. Iran is ISIS’ enemy. We have allies in the area that have millions of troops.

The other candidates (including Hillary) have no real plan. In fact Huckabee’s plan is to tear up the Iran nuclear deal. Is he stupid? Iran and ISIS are enemies.

It is very sad what has happened in Paris. And my thoughts do go out to them. But when you tally up deaths from guns in this country (which 129+ people die in four days due to guns in this country) and deaths due to climate change; it’s clear what OUR biggest threats are and they’re not terrorism.

Oh and by the way, if you’re not informed on what is happening in Syria, here’s a cartoon that can explain things to you.

Janny November 17, 2015

Clinton’s Not-So-Shiny Moments During The First Debate

Thought I’d blog about Hillary Clinton’s not-so-great moments in the first Democratic debate of the 2016 presidential election. The debate took place on October 13, 2015.

  • When discussing banks that are too big to fail, Bernie Sanders said his plan was to break up the big banks. Anderson Cooper then asked Hillary Clinton how her plan was better. She said:

    …The plan that I have put forward would actually empower regulators to break up big banks if we thought they posed a risk.

    If they posed a risk? How about now? The largest five banks control 45% of the industry’s total assets!

  • After Bernie Sanders brought up the deregulation that happened under the Clinton administration and how we need to break the big banks up, Anderson Cooper asked Hillary Clinton to respond. She responded by saying:

    I represented Wall Street, as a senator from New York, and I went to Wall Street in December of 2007 — before the big crash that we had — and I basically said, “cut it out! Quit foreclosing on homes! Quit engaging in these kinds of speculative behaviors.”

    Clearly that worked.

  • When Anderson Cooper asked how would a Hillary Clinton administration not be a third term from President Obama, Hillary Clinton responded by saying:

    Well, I think that’s pretty obvious. I think being the first woman president would be quite a change from the presidents we’ve had up until this point, including President Obama.

    Wow, that is new!

  • Anderson Cooper asked if Hillary Clinton regretted her vote on the Patriot Act of 2001 (you know, the one that took away liberties such as habeas corpus, Hillary Clinton said this:

    No, I don’t. I think it was necessary to make sure that we were able after 9/11 to put in place the security that we needed.

    Aww, come on, really?

  • When talking about the DREAM act and instate tuition for undocumented immigrants, Anderson Cooper asked where Hillary Clinton stood on providing it since both Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley are in for it. She said this:

    My plan would support any state that takes that position, and would work with those states and encourage more states to do the same thing.

    Anderson Cooper then interjected and asked if she believed undocument immigrants should get instate college tuition, she replied:

    …If their states agree, then we want more states to do the same thing.

    So she’s for STATES RIGHTS? WTF?

  • Anderson Cooper said Hillary Clinton plead guilty to being kind of moderate and center and asked her if she changed her identity depending on who she was talking to. She replied:

    No. I think that, like most people that I know, I have a range of views, but they are rooted in my values and my experience.

    A “range of views?” Clearly, yes, her views are whatever is politically popular at the time. She helped negotiate the TPP and is now against it. She also switched her position on the Keystone XL Pipeline, free college tuition, gay marriage… the list goes on.

  • When Martin O’Malley said Hillary Clinton was against Glass-Steagall, Hillary Clinton responded with this:

    Well, you know, everybody on this stage has changed a position or two.

    How original. And that came from a real presidential candidate!

The full transcript can be found at the Washington Post’s website. Please note that it is subject to change since big media has been changing things all over the internet since the debate. Their online polling said Bernie Sanders won, focus groups said Bernie Sanders won, he got the most google searches, the most followers on social media; yet all the news outlets claim Hillary Clinton won.

Janny October 16, 2015

#UCCShooting Best Tweets

Special United States! Look at how tiny the scroll bar is on the School Shootings in the US page! And that page is just tables! It’s not even any descriptions! We’re so special we get our own page when it comes to school shootings.

Anyway, so I’m on twitter today looking at some of the #UCCShooting tweets since yet ANOTHER school shooting happened. Here are some good tweets:

And two of my favorites from twitter (that have been said in may different ways):

  • How come baking a cake is participating in gay marriage but selling a gun to someone ISN’T participating in murder?
  • One Mexican kills someone = DEPORT THEM ALL; Twenty angry white dudes commit mass shootings = LET’S NOT RUSH TO JUDGEMENT.

I have these pages bookmarked on my phone just in case I get into a debate with a right wing nut job over guns:

Janny October 1, 2015

Best Self Interests

I have to wonder what a poor guy in a rural area (let’s call him Bob) and a rich business man have in common… they both vote Republican. But why? Why does the poor guy seem to think that voting the same as the business man will benefit him or be in his best self interest?

I think people need to think about which political party really aligns with their beliefs. I can’t see many people like Bob actually having the same interests as the Koch brothers. Think about some of the things the Koch brothers stand for:

  • No taxes on the rich
  • No government regulations
  • No protections for the “commons” like the environment
  • No protections for workers
  • Unlimited money in our elections
  • No free education
  • No social safety net
  • No guaranteed health care coverage
  • Free market that isn’t regulated
  • No tariffs

How can any of these views match what a working person like Bob believes?

Sure I guess in some distant universe far, far away Bob could lift himself up by his bootstraps and become rich and have the same ideals. It does happen but probably not to Bob or the millions of low-wage workers…

So why want no taxes on the rich? Why wouldn’t Bob want government to regulate what companies can and cannot do? It’s his planet, too. Doesn’t Bob want to be protected from his boss demanding him to work 70 hours a week with little pay, no benefits; or else get fired? Bob doesn’t have millions of dollars to spend on our political process so why would he want the Koch brothers to be able to do it? Maybe Bob wants to better himself or send his kids to college so why wouldn’t Bob want affordable or free education? If Bob gets sick or if he has to stay home with his sick wife, wouldn’t Bob want some safety net since he most likely doesn’t have savings since his wage is so low anyway? Wouldn’t he want to be sure he has health coverage no matter what? Wouldn’t Bob want regulations on Wall Street so they don’t fuck all of us over again like in 2008? Doesn’t Bob want to make sure his job stays in the United States and not go over seas where someone can do the same thing for pennies on the dollar to what Bob makes?

The only thing I can honestly see Bob and the likes of the Koch brothers having in common is guns. But this issue is negligible since the Democrats haven’t done anything on gun control. They’re too afraid of the NRA to do something as simple as expanded background checks (which could have prevented mass shootings).

I don’t understand how people like Bob would want to vote for the same interests as the Koch brothers. They’re clearly on two sides of the political spectrum.

Janny July 21, 2015

Planned Parenthood

I am really getting sick of people attacking Planned Parenthood. People seem to think all Planned Parenthood is out to do is destroy fetus’. They’re for family planning. They’re for helping people. Like 3% of what they do is abortions and yet that’s all they get flack for. They never get any good press. Get the facts.

If they do ANYTHING wrong, it’s like open season. They get flack from Congress, the Republicans, and basically anyone who is pro-life.

Planned Parenthood is one of the only places where women can go and get help and not be judged. (Besides by those idiot protesters who stand out front of the Planned Parenthood offices holding up stupid signs of dead babies; cause that’s effective.)

Women who are poor, women who are in college, any woman can go to Planned Parenthood and get their yearly examinations and mammograms for free; without insurance. It’s one of the only places that does this. They can even get birth control for free.

I know; I did it for years. I didn’t have health insurance for ten years of my life (through high school and college). Planned Parenthood was there for me.

I take offense to anyone who wants to smear them and tear them down. They’re doing good things. Why can’t people and the press see that? They’re helping people.

Janny July 17, 2015

Quickie On Minimum Wage & When I Used To Earn It

When I was in college my husband (then boyfriend) and I worked this minimum wage job up in western Maryland just so we could be together. We worked 30-40 hours a week so pretty much full time. We earned the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour.

I remember getting my paycheck and it instantly going to food and rent and that was it. I didn’t have any left over. In fact I may have owed money.

Maryland is awesome and liberal so since then the minimum wage in our state has risen to $8.00 an hour (soon to be $8.25 July 1st 2015, $8.75 July 1st 2016, $9.25 July 1st 2017, and $10.10 July 1st 2018). I wrote my congressmen a lot of letters regarding the minimum wage in our state.

Using an inflation calculator, if I were a college student working minimum wage now, I’d be earning around $7 an hour in circa 2005 dollars. That could have afforded me a lot better life. I might have actually gotten by without borrowing money that summer.

Well that’s this blog post’s story. Vote Bernie Sanders and vote for a higher minimum wage!

Janny June 15, 2015

Verizon Wireless “Surcharges”

Isn’t it bull s**t that we have to pay “surcharges.” They’re getting to be ridiculous. These “surcharges” cost me $13 a month. My Verizon bill is almost $200 for two phone lines, 700 minutes, unlimited text, and 6 GB of data on one phone and unlimited on the other.

But these “surcharges” go up every month it seems.

When I hover over the ? on my bill, a bubble appears which explains their surcharges

It states:

Verizon Wireless Surcharges – Includes charges to recover or help defray costs of taxes and of governmental charges and fees imposed on us by the government. Other Charges and Credits – includes charges for products and services, and credits owing.

So it’s the governments fault? I see. The government charges too much in taxes so they need to pass that onto their consumer. Makes sense.

But wait. It turns out they don’t pay taxes! What the f**k? They actually make a s**t ton of profit and still pay no taxes. They even get money back from the government!

At least they create jobs right? Nope. Turns out, their tax breaks don’t even create jobs.

It’s such bull s**t. I think I’m going to start to complain. Why should I pay more to pad their bottom line even more than it is now when they pay nothing in taxes? I pay taxes! You pay taxes! Why should we pay more of “their taxes?”

I’m fed up with this country sometimes. It’s bull s**t.

Spread the word.

Janny April 10, 2015

Stuff I Still Have From College

Bri and I were talking the other night about the stuff we still have from college. I thought I’d blog about it since I’m a bit bored and would like to update my blog more. So here’s a list of stuff that I still have since college (and some before):

  • Coffee table (acquired in college, was my Mom’s or her dad’s)
  • Can opener (acquired in college, we actually took it from our apartment in Frostburg)
  • Microwave (acquired in college, we bought it for $40 at Walmart)
  • My bathroom tote (acquired in high school, Ricky and I were shopping for his college when I got it for my college for a year later)
  • My pink laundry bag (acquired in high school)
  • My TV (acquired when I was a kid, I’ve had this RCA 12 inch boom tube since I was born basically)
  • size_t (acquired in college, he’s still good although he has diabetes… and yes he’s a pet not an inanimate object)
  • Most our pots & pans (acquired throughout college, we still use the same forks, plates, spatculas, etc)
  • My comforters (acquired in college, my Aunt Ruth bought them for me)
  • Chair (acquired in high school from my mom, the only stable chair we have that we can stand on)
  • Computer Chairs (acquired in college, both mine and Bri’s, we also acquired another one from Seth)
  • Boxes & bins (acquired in college, still are used to store shit in)
  • My messenger bag (acquired in high school, bought from Old Navy, used in high school & college, I’ll have it forever)
  • Spare bed (acquired in college, for Bri and my first apartment in Frostburg)
  • Junk bins (acquired in high school, storage for pens, tape, cords, etc)
  • High school & college papers (acquired throughout high school & college, I saved all my papers & notes from classes I took)
  • Stuffed animals (acquired throughout life)
  • Computer monitor (acquired in high school, was my first, now is Bri’s second monitor for his PC)

This list doesn’t include DVDs and items of the sort. Maybe I’ll update this later if I can think of more stuff I’ve had since college. Pretty cool I still have the same stuff.

Janny March 9, 2015

What I Am (Like Diet Wise)

One of the happiest like moments I’ve experienced in the past few weeks was watching Real Time With Bill Maher. Maher had David Duchovny on. Duchovny has a new book called “Holy Cow” that he was talking about. Apparently it’s like a children’s book that brings up some very important questions. One of which is the way we raise our meat.

Duchovny said that he’s not a vegetarian but more a lazy vegetarian. Bill Maher questioned what that was and asked if it was when there’s nothing else on the menu, if he eats meat. Duchovny said it’s more like if he goes over someone’s house and if they were having meat, he wouldn’t turn it down since the animal has already been killed and you don’t want to waste it.

That has been my predicament all along. What do I do? Hearing that both Maher and Duchovny did consume meat when in certain situations, I felt a whole lot better about everything. It was probably one of the best moments of my life knowing that others face the same challenges with meat that I do. It was so relieving.

I cannot be called a “vegetarian” since I do eat meat occasionally (when it’s going to be wasted anyway) and since I eat shrimp, eggs, and fish.

According to one article I read, I’m more of a flexitarian where as I tend to not eat meat but don’t rule it out completely. But I’m also somewhat of a lacto-ovo vegetarian where I won’t eat meat but do eat dairy and eggs… then I also eat fish which makes me more of a pescatarian. But I guess if I had to pick title, I’d say “lazy vegetarian.”

It’s difficult to know what I am. I just hope what I’m doing makes a difference to the environment and saves innocent animals lives. It’s also been very good for me health wise. I used to get bad stomach aches at least once a week. Now it’s almost never.

If you’re thinking about becoming a vegetarian (or whatever word you’d choose to use), do it like I did… I did it slowly, over the course of like a year. Apparently this movement is gaining momentum. There are now 16 million vegetarians. That’s AMAZING to me.

But anyway… Thanks Bill Maher and David Duchovny for making me feel less alone!

Janny March 4, 2015

Staying Away From Moonshine

The weekend before New Years we went over a friends house. We had some beers, had a nice fire, talked, etc. Then he brought out the moonshine… One shot and I was done. And that was all I had. The next day was pretty bad. I think I was useless for the entire day. Maybe that night I was good.

However the feeling kind of hung over until New Years where I couldn’t drink that much. It was a shame too. The party we went to had bourbon slushies and some nice tasting shots. They, too, also had good tasting moonshine. Unfortunately I took a sip and had to pass.

I’m staying away from moonshine. That’s all I have to say about that.

Janny January 12, 2015

I’m Tired Of Being The Only One Who Cares Enough

I’m going to make this quick but I am tired of feeling like I’m the only one who cares about climate change. The American people elected idiots the other day who plan to destroy the earth even more by limiting the EPA, pushing through the Keystone XL pipeline, etc.

I’ve changed my diet (I’ve been a vegetarian for like three years) because it’s better for the planet, I’ve recycled, I got solar put on my house, I put my life in danger to ride a fuel efficient scooter… I even researched what Halloween candy was more “earth friendly” and gave that out.

No one else seems to care. I have my husband on board for some of it but he wants me to tell him what to buy instead of looking for himself. He wants me to suggest meals. He doesn’t want to do any of the work.

I feel like I’m in this alone. None of my friends are vegetarians. They are all supportive and try to accommodate but it’s still hard.

My family is the same way. I go over there and all they have is meat. We go out to lunch and they all order meat; even my husband.

No one cares. Do people even know the earth is fricken dying? And people still don’t care and do and say anything to remain ignorant.

I don’t even have kids! I don’t have any legacy. You’d think people would give some sort of shit about it since it’s their children and their children’s children but they don’t. I don’t get it.

I’m tired of being the only one who cares. We only have one earth and this is my planet, too!

Janny November 6, 2014

Obituary For Candi

Candi

Candice “Candi” Cane Musselman, 18

Candi, of Rockville, Maryland, passed away on June 1, 2014, peacefully at her home next to her family.

Candi was born, presumably, around Glen Burnie, Maryland in the winter of 1996. She was a lost dog that was later found near a pawn shop in Glen Burnie by Ann Musselman. She immediately had a new home there with Ann and her two daughters, Janis and Stacy.

Candi mostly grew up in Pasadena, Maryland with her owner, Janis, her family, and a bunch of cats. She later lived in such places as Annapolis, Glen Burnie, Frostburg, Germantown, and finally settling down in Rockville, with her owners, Janis and Brian.

Candi enjoyed car rides, human food, walks, shedding, and, in general, being with people and her family.

Candi will be remembered by her broad smile, her ever happy attitude, the joy she brought into everybody’s life, and her saying, “I’m just a puppy.” Candi had a way of warming her way into everybody’s heart.

Survivors include her owners, Janis and Brian, her brothers, size_t and Wiki, and many others. Candi is preceded in death by Spooky, Tina, Lauren, and Rocky.

Feel free to share Candi stories in the comments below and on Facebook.

Janny June 2, 2014

Ocean City Beach Mix May 2014

Thought I’d blog about the cool mix I created to get us to Ocean City, Maryland for the May 2014 Crusin’ Car show. The mix was perfect. It was a lot of songs I hadn’t heard in a long time… lots of 90’s stuff. The mix was successful as it got us from Bowie to OC without a repeat.

  1. 311- Amber
  2. Ace Of Base – Don’t Turn Around
  3. Akon – I Wanna Love You
  4. Akon – Smack That
  5. American Hi Fi – Flavor Of The Week
  6. B52’s – Love Shack
  7. Blue Oyster Cult – Burning For You
  8. Caviar – Tangerine Speedo
  9. Cher – Believe
  10. Crazy Town – Butterfly
  11. Destiny’s Child – Jumpin Jumpin
  12. Eagles – Life In The Fast Lane
  13. Flo Rida – Low
  14. Jason Derulo – Talk Dirty
  15. Justin Timberlake – My Love
  16. Kool & The Gang – Hollywood Swingers
  17. Linkin Park – Breaking The Habbit
  18. Lou Bega – Mambo Number 5
  19. Michael Jackson – Beat It
  20. Mims – This Is Why I’m Hot
  21. Nelly – Hot In Here
  22. Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
  23. Offspring – Pretty Fly
  24. Rihanna – Rude Boy
  25. Rod Stewart – Do You Think I’m Sexy
  26. Rolling Stones – Can’t Get No Satisfaction
  27. Savage Garden – Chica Cherry Cola
  28. Sean Paul – Tempurature
  29. Soup Dragons – I’m Free
  30. Spin Doctors – Two Princes
  31. Sugar Ray – Every Morning
  32. TLC – No Scrubs
  33. Talo Cruz – Break Your Heart
  34. Talking Heads – Once In A Lifetime
  35. Weezer – Beverly Hills

I’ll post pictures on flickr when I get around to it :)

Janny May 30, 2014

Years Of Living Dangerously

I’m really excited that finally a network is giving some attention to our climate change problem. Showtime now has a series out, Years of Living Dangerously, which airs Sunday’s at 10PM.

The other week the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) shouted saying, “Hey guys! We have a problem here!” and no one was listening. And it doesn’t have to be that difficult. Instead places like Oklahoma, who is now making solar and wind more expensive.

One of the reasons I became a vegetarian was to help the planet. I also ride a scooter, recycle, put solar panels on my house, bought a Prius, bought an electric car, reuse as much as I can, etc to help the planet and reduce my carbon footprint.

I think with a little effort we can do amazing things. For instance why don’t we stop eating meat one or two days a week? Why don’t we plant some trees? Or get a pile of recyclables and take them somewhere if you can’t recycle at your house? I think little things that won’t change your lifestyle can make a difference.

If you have Showtime, make sure to catch Years of Living Dangerously. They have celebrities like Harrison Ford, Jessica Alba, Chris Hayes, and Michael C. Hall on there who go investigate climate change and its effect. It’s pretty cool. Check it out if you can.

This problem of climate change doesn’t and shouldn’t be political.

Janny April 18, 2014

The Tale Of Valentine’s Day 2014

I’m not a big believer in valentines day. I let Bri off the hook and tell him not to do anything. It’s a silly holiday, in my opinion.

However this valentine’s day was very different. Bri wanted to surprise me, and that he did.

On Tuesday night Bri went to the store to get groceries. He came home, I unpacked the groceries. Bri then told me to go into Wiki’s room for a few minutes. When he was done, I walked out to find this:

flowers with a note; see note text below

The note reads:

My love,

I wanted to give you a little bit of the beauty you give me everyday.

Love you always

Bri Bri

I brought the flowers into work the next day. Everyone loved them, as usual. Bri gets me flowers about once every other month. My coworkers get jealous and Bri loves hearing stories about what my coworkers say about them.

I thought it was over from there, but I was wrong. The best was yet to come.

I had been experiencing vertigo for a few days where I’d get disoriented when I tilted my head. We finally went to the doctor about it. (It’s nothing, I should be fine.)

When we got out of the doctors, Bri got something from his trunk:

a bear with a note; see note text below

The note reads:

My Dearest Janny

You give me so much love, I can’t return it all myself. This guy is here to help me return some of the love you show me everyday.

Love

Bri Bri

We decided to go to Carrabbas since we hadn’t been there in a while for dinner. He got something out of his car when we got to the restaurant.

I ordered a drink for him and myself. He came to the table and asked me a question: “small, medium, or large”. I was hoping it wasn’t food since I’ve been on a diet for a little while now… I said “small”.

It wasn’t food, it was a hat:

A hat with a note in it

In fact, it’s a headphone hat. A few days prior, we went for a walk and my ear buds kept falling out. Bri had gotten me a hat with headphones in it. (I had one before but our cat chewed the cord.)

The note inside the hat read:

My Dearest Janny

I hope this can keep you warm during the day because you keep me warm every night.

Love

Bri Bri

Hat with note

Once our main course arrived, Bri got out another surprise for me.

He got me what I had been wanting for a few weeks but was too afraid to buy. Some friends of ours have Up bracelets which tracks their sleep, their water, how much they’ve walked, etc. I’ve been wanting one for a few weeks but couldn’t find the right one. The reviews online were bad.

Bri had done his own research and got me one that had better reviews. It’s called Fitbit Flex:

My fitbit flex on my wrist

The app for fitbit flex

It was one of the most amazing gifts. I can’t wait to use more of it. It should definitely help my progress in getting more in shape.

The last gift came after dinner:

A jewelry box

Now anyone who knows me knows that I don’t like jewelry. I don’t wear rings or anything. Bri later said I had a look of horror on my face when he presented this jewelry box to me.

I was thinking, “Oh, great. Another piece of jewelry I’m going to have to pretend to like and never wear.” But I was wrong:

The jewelry box contained a note and two keys

TESLA KEYS! He had them made!

When I bought the Tesla it only came with one key. We went to Tesla to get two more keys. They were able to make the keys but not cut them. It had been on my to do list for months to find a locksmith to get the keys cut since Tesla didn’t do it. (Model S keys aren’t keys; only Roadster keys are actual keys.)

The note inside read:

My Dearest Janny

You are the key to my happiness, so I hope these keys can return some of the happiness you give everydday.

Love

Bri Bri

Tesla keys and the note

I have the sweetest husband. I love him so much.

 

Janny February 13, 2014

Why America Shouldn’t Be Considered A First World Country

Everybody thinks the US is a first world country. However some things in this country make it less than great. I think that America isn’t really a first world, but somewhere between second and first. We show a lot of the same behavior or characteristics of a country that isn’t first class. Here are some examples:

Healthcare

We’re way behind a lot of other countries who are not first world; like Cuba. The Affordable Care Act did great things but we’re not there yet. Every citizen isn’t guaranteed healthcare yet. Our life expectancy (#51) and infant mortality rates (#50) are still higher than a lot of other countries. Even some which we consider worse.

Women In Power

According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the US is 80th in the world in women in parliaments. There are only 20 senators who are women and 79 (or 18%) are in the house of representatives. We still haven’t had a female vice president or president. Even the Philippines has had a women president.

Incarceration Rate

We’re number one in prisoners per capita at 716 per 100,000 population; behind Russia at 490 per 100,000 population. We blow Mexico out of the water. They only have 209 per 100,000 population. We’re less than 5% of the population yet we have almost 25% of the prison population of the world. First world countries start around 100 on the list, but we’re number one in incarceration rate.

Birth Rate

We still have a lot of kids in this country which isn’t like a first world country. And it’s really funny too. Other countries have a lot of incentives for their citizens to have kids, but not in the US. We don’t even get paid maternity leave. The only thing guaranteed for us is under Clinton’s FMLA; and that’s unpaid.

Guns

We have the highest number of guns per capita (and the highest gun deaths). We have 88 guns per 100 people and 10 gun deaths per 100,000 population. Switzerland is behind us with less than half our number (45.7 per 100 people).

Income Inequality

We’re not doing well here either. We’re worse than countries like Egypt, Niger, Iraq, Iran. Even India and Ethiopia have better income equality than we do. Our gini coefficient is at 40.8.

Military

The United States is always high when it comes to military expenditures. We’re number one in defense spending. In fact, according to the World Bank, we spend 4.2% of GDP on military. We’re in the company of all third world and below nations. The UK, only 2.4%.

Janny January 6, 2014

Tesla Car Fires

I’m not getting how news of the third Tesla Model S has sent stocks plummeting and people skeptic about electric cars. I’m doing some math here to try and illustrate why this shouldn’t be such a big deal.

According to Tesla, there have been around 20,600 Telsas sold (including the Roadster; around 2,500 Roadsters were made). 3 Teslas have caught fire… So 1 out of 6,867 Teslas have caught fire.

According to the US Beureu of Transportation Statistics there are 254,212,610 registered passenger vehicles on the road as of 2009. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 152,300 vehicles catch fire per year… So 1 out of 1,669 cars catch fire each year.

I was attempting to find how many new cars catch fire per year but I wasn’t able to find that data as this may seem to some comparing apples to oranges.

I still feel safer in an electric than in a gasoline powered car. We shall see if the NHTSA launches an investigation and what they find.

Janny November 8, 2013

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