As Long As It’s Not Sharia Law, We’re Cool With It

Property rights only matter if you’re rich.

Fucking retards.

Not that there’s much of a 4th Amendment left anywhere.

Oh, hai kidz! I finally figured out why I couldn’t log in on my oh so very smart iPhone – apparently we have to allow cookies. I like oatmeal raisin.

If I sound a little delirious right now it’s because I just got out of the jungle after 5 days of Survivor-lite in NotFiji. All sorts of wacky mishaps including Aussies and volcanoes, a 7.1 earthquake, no alcohol, no electricity, jeeps and cows stuck in mud paths forcing us to miss a flight and spend the night in a hut with creepy crawlies, running out of local currency and finding nobody willing to take US dollars, having no food for 24 hours but a cliff bar split with Mr SFL, spending an insane amount of money texting a friend in the US asking him to help us figure out flights from the jungle island to the capital, and that was just yesterday. Oh and there was a goat and a one-eyed cat involved too.
But we caught a flight today, no extra charges involved unlike US airlines. Now sitting on the verandah of the colonial building hostel catching up on email and getting ready for the 40 degree temperature drop when we go to the Land of the Hobbits and Conchords tomorrow.

@SanFranLefty: Believe it or not, all of that sounds wonderful (except that 24 hours w/out food bit–that sucks). I’d take a non-life-threatening bungle in the jungle adventure over the usual workaday blahness anyday. Enjoy! And report back at your leisure–or not, your choice!

@SanFranLefty: . . . and that’s why there’s always beef jerky and water in my pack. At least you had the Cliff (R) bar.

@SanFranLefty:
been hoping you would check in! a wonderful adventure!
enjoy, enjoy! xoxo
can’t wait to see your pics. did you snap the goat and the one eyed cat?

@SanFranLefty:
Hopefully you and Mr SFL can laugh about it after. Hope the rest of your trip goes uneventful.

I had a similar experience of disaster in the deep woods of Canada City (minus the earthquake.) I can laugh about it a little.

@ManchuCandidate: I spent two days on the trail with no food after my dad got thrown from a horse. They took him down back home, along with the saddlebags holding our food. I didn’t have any in my pack (I was walking) and got by with what people gave me. Lessons learned.

@SanFranLefty: So good to hear from you! I will be showing your post to Mr Cyn, who’s been advocating a cheaper tropical destination than Hawaii, and asking him how he thinks I’d react to such an experience. That should shut him up. If I don’t have indoor plumbing, electricity, and 24-hour access to alcohol, there will be hell to pay.

@RML: I had purchased and packed 2 bags of Trader Joe’s trail mix, 10 Clif Bars, and a bag of turkey jerky. The day we were leaving, *someone* felt that my backpack looked unbalanced and too heavy to check at SFO and *he* took it upon himself to unpack and repack my bag for me, without me supervising. Somehow my goggles and none of the food I had packed save two Clif Bars were repacked. As we reflected upon this in the hut we realized that the pile of food I wanted to bring for such an emergency was on the floor next to our couch. Luckily he didn’t get to the first aid kit in the name of efficiency.

@Cynica: Believe it or not, this place is way more expensive than Hawaii thanks to the weak dollar and having to ship everything here. Locals live on a subsistence existence and everything is insanely expensive. Loaf of bread at the market is around 5 bucks, bottle of water is the same. The jankiest of street food vendors works out to around 10 bucks. The bug infested hut worked out to around $85, and that was after I haggled the price down (interestingly bartering and haggling is considered “tabu” (taboo) and insulting here. Same with tipping)

@all: Hi! Talk to you Later!

@flippin eck: What Flippin said.

@ManchuCandidate: I had a flat tire outside World Domination Headquarters last month. It was arduous.

@nojo: AAA took that long to arrive?

@SanFranLefty: You are creating some great stories and earning some SERIOUS “Remember when you…” points. Bank ’em.

@SanFranLefty: Sounds awesome, to be honest. Me, I’ll be riding the Ginza line in about 72 hours.

@all: oh yeah it was a blast. FSM knows it wouldn’t kill us to miss a few meals. We’re off today to look for hobbits. Rode an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Wellington with the Prime Minister and his one (female) bodyguard. No Bret or Jermaine spottings yet.

@SanFranLefty: NZ is regarded as a majorly cool destination for hunters and anglers for the mountain hunting and beeg feesh.