"Fade to Grey"

Well my friends, I decided to do a short book critique on Marc Sanders’ “Fade to Grey.”  You may ask why this book with a storyline in the USA is in a blog about Belize?  Fair question and a simple answer.  It’s because Sanders lives and travels throughout the Americas, including here in Belize.  I got the chance to meet him, so I decided to read his book.

I ordered the book from Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Fade-Grey-Marc-Sanders/dp/1451518161 and it took a couple of weeks to get to my nice Central American community.  The post office charged me about a dollar “custom’s fee” and I went happily on my way.

I won’t give you the story itself as it is a good read and I recommend it for anyone that likes a good crime fiction story.  But basically it’s about a journalist whose family gets hurt by some cult/crime elements and then he and some “shadowy” associates go out for some justice.

My Review:

I liked the style of the writing as each chapter was short enough to not get boring, yet had enough detail to make me want to read the next chapter.  The chapters then went back and forth between the different characters and events happening in the story to keep my interest up wondering what would happen next.  All in all, I thought it very well written and interesting.

Another aspect of the story is that Sanders has a lot of experience in journalism and in law enforcement, which in my opinion reflected in the story making this fictional story appear realistic.  Finally, the ending of the story has a very cool twist that caught me totally off guard.

So, overall, the book was a nice easy read, entertaining and captivating, included elements from south of the North Americas, and was nice to read while relaxing on the Caribbean Sea.  I definitely give it a thumbs up.

Let me know what YOU think

It's hot here

News from Belize

It's about 0930 hours (when i wrote this, and posting at about 1030 and it's hotter) and the temp is already 90F. Humidy about 80 percent. Was gonna work in the farm. I think that will wait until this evening. Swimming may be a good option. Then write some on my blog

Right now I'm making some more ice so my old hen can go crank up some nice home-made ice cream. Her ice cream is damn good, but is a lot of work. So hopefully by my seista time I'll have enough ice so she can get to work and have it ready when I wake up.

Yesterday was so hot everybody was grouchy.  Well, almost everybody.

Water truck men were grouchy

Kenny at Suzi's store was grouchy

Mr. Rum was grouchy. But I think that was because he's having a hard time catching the birds. That and Mr. Lido likes to chase him.

 Guess I was the only happy person around. Well, Mr. Lido is always happy. He always greats me the gate when I come home and jumps up and down and wags his tail. He's so happy happy


How 'bout these choppers from happy Mr. Lido?

http://belizewalkabout.blogspot.com/

Hell yeah! Life is good. Love is easy.
http://belizewalkabout.blogspot.com/

If ya want a good budget hotel in Belize City, I give this one a for sure "thumbs up."

Hey ya’ll. One thing a lot of travel guides say about visiting Belize, is to limit your time in Belize City. This is one of the few things I agree with them. However, if flying in or out of the country, doing business, attending to medical care or the University, it is often necessary to stay in “The City.”

If you scroll down my blog you will find a review of one hotel near the Swing Bridge. Here is my review of another Bachelor Inn, abother nice budget hotel that is in town, but a bit out of the hectic center of town.

 

Bachelor’s Inn is a budget hotel on Bachelor Road to the north side of town. I have stayed there several times. Ms. Nancy provides a good price for rooms that have a separate bedroom and living room. Prices vary on the specific rooms, but I usually get one with A/C, TV, microwave and refrigerator for about $65BZ. That is not a bad deal when in The City.

Ms. Nancy has a good facebook site at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=100001072598905

I saw a website before but can’t find it right now.

Belize City is a wild wild town, good budget hotels are hard to find. You can pay top hat if you want, but I don’t do that very often. And Bachelor’s Inn has clean rooms, good service, and a safe enivornment. In my opinion, Bachelor’s Inn has a very good price for the money. Of course, I'd always like to pay less, maybe I can get a repeat customer discount...  Only thing I would add, and this goes for both budget hotels and top shelf, bring bug spray and spray your room before putting in your luggage. That goes for almost ANY hotel in Central America.  

Here’s a couple of pics from the roof lounge, which is a very cool place to relax and have a lil beverage.

 

The location, as I mentioned, is very convenient for any business or visits to the medical centers, University, or traveling quickly in and out of the city.  It’s a few minutes ride from almost anything in town, but still out of the hectic and more dangerous areas on the south side of town

Let me know what ya think.

Sushi Review of De Lite Cafe

OK boys and girls, and transgendered welcome too.  I said I would do this little restaurant review so I guess it’s time to get to it.

Today I’m a gonna review a one meal from the “De Lite Café” in Maya Beach on the Placencia Peninsula here in Belize.

Maya Beach is roughly half way in the peninsula, and is largely a expat community.  It’s a very eclectic place with all kinds of peeps, including the Expats, Belizeans, and a fair amount of Central American’s and some Chinny.

But this is about “De Lite Café” today, not the peeps.  My assessment on a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being perfecto:

Ambiance                            8

Service                                 5

Food                                     2

Ambiance --  Nice location.  A bit off the main road and surrounded in a very well kept property.  Nice plants and a lil art gallery at the Spectarte complex.  The Spectarte complex also has massage, haircuts, and other things there.  But this, of course, is about De Lite, so I’ll give ya’ll my critique of the massage later….  But overall, a very nice, quite and clean place. 

Service – The reason I give service an average is simply due to the fact I was told different prices by different people, had a different price on the menu, and then was charged a different price when I picked up the food.  I don’t like that at all.  It’s a pet peeve of mine to be told a price and then get a different price when the bill comes. 

Which leads into the food.

FOOD --

I think that appearance of food is important.  And I will give De Lite a high grade on appearance of the food as you can see here.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the quantity of food compared to the price, not the quality.  In my opinion the price is too high for the quantity and quality.

By the menu, there should be two pieces each of Philadelphia Roll, Shrimp Tempura Roll. Maki Nori. Tobiko, Ebi, and Onigiri.

What was actually served was different than the menu.  I have no problem with substitutions considering we are living in Belize, and many times it’s hard to get the right ingredients.  But what I don’t like is that they didn’t even feel like they should tell me about the change of food.  Nope, I don’t like that.  A simple, “hey here’s what we got” would have shown a bit more concern about customer satisfaction.

So, now to the details…

First were their Philadelphia Rolls.  This is normally one of my favorites.  Very easy to make, and I’m a glutton for crème cheese anyway.  Unfortunately, the best I can say about these were that they were average in my opinion.

Second on the menu was Shrimp Tempura Roll.  It basically was seemed to be rice with poppy seed, some jalapeno, cilantro and maybe a tiny piece of shrimp.  I liked the taste of the mix of ingredients, but where’s the shrimp?  He must have swum away.

Third on the menu list is Maki-Nori.  this is kind of a rabbit food anyway, but the use of more vinegar in the rice and some other spices could easily make this much better.

Next on the menu was supposed to be Tobiko. I like Tobiko.  We didn’t get any.  This is what I mentioned above; the chef should have told me if she was making a substitute.  What we got was two pieces of something that I’m not sure what is was, but it did have a good taste. 

The EBI was just a very small piece of shrimp on a ball of rice.  Very disappointing.  Don’t know what else to say on that.

The last item on the menu was Onigiri.  This is also a favorite of mine.  However, no one at De Lite seemed to think they should let me know they made a substitution.  So I didn’t get any Onigiri.  What we got was some kind of cooked white fish on rice with a sweet sauce taste.  It was OK, but nothing to brag about.

So, to wrap it up (that’s a pun when talking about sushi), Overall I was disappointed.  I haven’t tried to other food at De Lite, but I won’t buy the sushi from there again.  I can do it better myself. 

Do cats & Birds Fight?

Oh yeah.  Mr. Rum fights these birds every morning.  First he hets chased up the fence by the dog.  The two birds try and get him off the fence.  He runs when the dog chases him.  But Mr. Rum don't back down from the birds.  The other day Mr. Lido felt bad about the birds attacking Mr. Rum and ran barking and chased the birds off.

I was so proud.

Birds flanking Mr. Rum on both sides

                                                                The stare off at high noon
                                                                  

                                                                 Airborne has an definate advange

                                                          But Mr. Rum refuses give up his ground

                                             Now it's time to stalk and close with the enemy

                                                    This boy be serious,  Eventually he'll get them

                                                         Fights over for today.  Time for R&R

Refuling for the next battle.

Everything you need to know about trainIng Belizean dogs

I got this from a dog trainer.  He has some really good techniques.  I just felt I needed to provide a few thoughts – my reply is in CAPS

---

I was driving home from a meeting the other
night listening to "Nights with Alice Cooper."

ALICE COOPER DID SOME COOL MUSIC

It's a good radio show and I always like his
freaky facts and commentary. Good stuff like:

Kentucy Fried Chicken's slogan, Finger Licking
Good, in Chinese translates to, "Eat your fingers
off."

Thinking about Alice Cooper's freaky facts got
me thinking. You see, everyday I get loads of
questions via email, Twitter and Facebook.

Some of the common ones are:

Do Pit Bull's jaws really lock when they bite?

I DON'T KNOW. MY FRIEND HAS A PIT BULL BUT THE DOG LIKES ME BECAUSE I SMELL LIKE A DOG. OTHER PEOPLE TEND TO BE AFRAID OF THE DOG AND THEY RUN AWAY FROM ME WHEN THEY GET A GOOD WIFF

Does a Doberman's brain become enlarged as they
get older and make them aggressive?

I DON'T KNOW. SEEMS LIKE MY BRAIN HAS GOTTEN SMALLER WHILE OTHER ORGANS GOT LARGER

Is it true that a dog wagging his tail will not
bite you?

I DON'T KNOW, BUT AM NOT SURE IT MATTERS. IF THE DOG BITE ME, I BITE HIM BACK THREE TIMES

So, in the spirit of Alice Cooper, I am going
to give you Eric Letendre's Freaky Dog Facts:

1. President Lyndon Johnson had two beagles
named Him and Her - I once had a client that
had two choclate labs named "Hershey" and
"Squirts."

I DONT KNOW WHY, BUT THAT IS FUNNY FA SURE

2. A dog’s mouth exerts 150-200 pounds of
pressure per square inch with some dogs exerting
up to 450 pounds per squre inch - Pit Bull's
jaws DO NOT lock but with that much pressure,
you are not going to open their mouth. I have
seen this in many breeds, once they clamped
their jaws shut there was no opening them.

A CROW BAR, 38 CAL, OR RUN THEM OVER WITH THE TRUCK WILL RELEASE THE BITE. I HAPPEN TO PREFER NOT TO GET BIT IN THE FIRST PLACE

3.Basset Hounds cannot swim - I know this is true.
A client of mine had to jump out of his canoe to
save his basset hound. His basset got excited, and
fell out of the canoe and sank like a stone.

MY DOG LIKES TO BITE THE WAVES IN THE SEA. HE SWIMS IN THE RIVER WITH THE CROCADILES. HE GOT NO FEAR.  BUT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, EVEN MY ATTACK CAT CAN SWIM.  WHEN WE FELL OFF MY SURF BOARD HE DAMN NEAR WALKED ON THE SEA GETTING BACK TO LAND.  ON THE BAD SIDE, HE SCRATCHED ME UP FROM HEAD TO TOE TRYING TO STAY ON TOP OF ME AFTER WE FELL OFF THE BOARD.  I DON’T THINK I’LL DO THAT AGAIN.

4. Dogs have no sense of “time” - I don't beleive
this one. Feed your dog every day at 4:00PM for
three months. At the end of the third month, watch
what your dog does when no chow is given at that
time.

I HAVE TO AGREE WITH YA. BOTH MY ATTACK DOG AND MY ATTACK CAT ARE ON MY DECK SLIGHTLY BEFORE SUNRISE EVERY MORNING DEMANDING BREAKFAST. THEY ARE JERKS. THEY WAKE ME UP.  THEN AFTER BREAKFAST THEY CHASE EACH OTHER AROUND FOR A WHILE. THEN MY ATTACK CAT GOES AND FIGHTS BIRDS. MY ATTACK DOG GOES AND FIGHTS ANYTHING I MAY HAVE LEFT OUT IN THE YARD AND THEN HE HIDES MY TOOLS.

5. 70% of people sign their pet's name on greeting
and holiday cards - do you do this?

NO I DON'T. BUT SINCE I HAD MY ATTACK CAT, HE THINKS HE'S A TIGER, WHEN I HAD THE CONCRETE POURED AT ON OF THE GATES, I LET HIM PUT HIS PAW PRINTS ON IT. WELL, ACTUALLY I'M NOT SURE I "LET HIM." HE DOES PRETTY MUCH WHAT HE WANTS TO. BUT I DIDN'T HAVE MY GUARD DOG AT THE TIME SO HE GETS PISSY EVERY TIME HE SEE THAT CAT PRINTS ON THE WALKWAY.

6. 58% put pets in family and holiday portraits - I
do this one

UM, NO.

7. DOgs can only learn about 20 words - WRONG! Dogs
can learn way more than 20 words.

In Stanley Coren's book, "The Intelligence of Dogs,"
he states: "Sure, most dogs understand the basics --"fetch,"
"sit" and "stay." But if you have the motivation and patience,
you will probably be able to teach your dog even more
than 100 words."

Mr. Coren adds, "That average trained dogs know about 160
words. Some dogs even show a vocabulary as vast as a human
toddler's."

MY GUARD DOG, MR. LIDO, IS ONLY FOUR MONTHS OLD. HE GOT VEX'D AFTER READING THIS EMAIL. HE ASKED ME TO TYPE THIS HAS HIS PAWS GETTING TO BIG FOR THE COMPUTER KEYBOARD. "20 WORDS HE SAID?." HE JUST WISH HE HAVE THUMBS SO HE COULD DRIVE. THEN HE GOT VEX’D BECAUSE BELIVE THAT WITH BIG PAWS AND NO THUMBS, THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD GIVE HIM SOME DISABILTY PAYMENTS.

I DIDN’T REALLY KNOW HOW TO RESPOND TO THAT. SO I JUST TOLD HIM TO CALM DOWN AND HE CAN VOTE FOR SOME CHANGE NEXT ELECTION.  THEN HE GOT EVEN MADDER SINCE HE'S NOT SURE OF HIS IMMIRGATION STATUS, HAVING AN AMERICAN FATER, JAPANESE MOTHER, BELIZEAN BROTHER CAT.  I GUESS HE BE CONFUSED. SO NOW HE IS BACK OUTSIDE. CHASING THE CAT.

What be wrong wit that damn chicken?

Why did the chicken cross the road?

by Douglas M Bower on Sunday, April 10, 2011 at 8:22am (with additional content from Dr. Buzzard)

DR. PHIL:

The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must

first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road before it goes after

the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE' of the road. What we need to do is help him

realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his 'CURRENT' problems

before adding 'NEW' problems.

 OPRAH:

Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he

wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn

from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give

this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live

his life like the rest of the chickens.

 GEORGE W. BUSH:

We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know

if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either

against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

 COLIN POWELL:

Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of

the chicken crossing the road ...

 ANDERSON COOPER (CNN):

We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been

allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

DR BUZZARD:

If the Porkman's chicken cross over here then dinner free fa we

 NANCY GRACE:

That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY! You can see it in his

eyes and the way he walks.

 PAT BUCHANAN:

To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART:

No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a

standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped

to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

 DR SEUSS:

Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the

chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

 ERNEST HEMINGWAY:

To die in the rain. Alone.

DR BUZZARD:

If the Porkman's chicken cross over here then dinner free fa we

 JERRY FALWELL:

Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth?' That's

why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay.

And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all

chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media white

washes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side. That chicken

should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

 GRANDPA:

In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us

the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

 BARBARA WALTERS:

Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the

chicken tell, for the first time, the heart-warming story of how it

experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its life

long dream of crossing the road.

 JOHN LENNON:

Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

DR BUZZARD:

If the Porkman's chicken cross over here then dinner free fa we

 ARISTOTLE:

It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

 BILL GATES:

I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will

lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book.

Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken. This new platform is

much more stable and will never cra...#@&&;^(C% ......... reboot.

 ALBERT EINSTEIN:

Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the

chicken?

 ALGORE:

I invented the chicken!

 COLONEL SANDERS:

Did I miss one?

DICK CHENEY:

Where's my gun?

DR BUZZARD:

If the Porkman's chicken cross over here then dinner free fa we 

DR BUZZARD:

If the Porkman's chicken cross over here then dinner free fa we

The Secret Belizean OS Codes

 OK, some folks have asked about the secret Masonic Codes and the secret OS Codes.  I will discuss only the secret Belizean OS codes here.

They are really very simple.  OS 1 is "Oh shit the cat....  OS2 is "Oh shit the dog..."  OS3 is "oh shit the old hen."  And OS4 is "Oh shit the old man." 

So then you tie them together with other alpha codes.  Such as:

OS1 is SGB

The cat is sleep guarding the bedroom

OS2 is SGD

The dog is sleep guarding the deck

OS3 is APC

The old hen is awake playing on the computer

OS4 is RFS

The old man is ready for a freaking siesta

OS - EILILC

Another easyone.  "Oh shit, everyone is loco in le cabaza ahhh ha ha ha

Operation Tomadachi

Operation Tomodachi:  "Tomodachi" in Japanese, means friend or friendship, depending on the context it's used in.  My old hen translated a message she got from a friend back in Japan and is listed below. I removed the name of the sender since I can not make contact.  But I am so proud of our guys and gals out there doing what they can to help, and to keep the security systems running even during these very unusal times.

Pete, Todd, Misae, Riko, and the rest of you guys and gals -- you all know who you are -- I am so damn proud of you all.  You are heros!

--- 

A Japanese friend of mine, email from her friend from Osaka, Japan, on 3/31/2011 and forwarded to me.  This is my translation of part of his email.  Osaka is far from the affected area. 

“The U.S. military is pursuing Operation “Tomodachi” at various places in Tohoku (northeast) region.  Thank you, America!  Those who had been saying, “There is no need for US-Japan Security Treaty” are keeping silence.

We are indebted to America.  We’re just so grateful to them.

Sendai Airport was utterly destroyed by tsunami, but the U.S. military worked hard on restoration by camping out at the lobby and eating canned food only.  Today, the airport was brought back to the condition so that their transport plane could land as the first one.  Thank God!!”

Some silly survey sent to me. Are you brave enough to take it?

Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!!  
1. Did you date someone from your school?
 Well, if you consider casual sex as a date, the yes.  

2. Did you marry someone from your high scho...ol?
No  

3. Did you car pool to school?
No, but I did drive a car into a pool  

4. What kind of car did you have?
 MG Midget    

5. What kind of car do you have now?
No cars, just trucks  

 6. It’s Friday night...where are you? (THEN)
Football game or at the pool hall.  

7. It is Friday night...where are you? (NOW)
Checking out the senoritas in the village or running through the jungle naked.  Sometimes fishing.  I prefer the senoritas with margaritas.  

8. What kind of job did you have in high school?
Meat truck driver.  

 9. What kind of job do you do now?
 Job?  Ah daan need no stinking job!  

10. Were you a party animal?
I was a hound dog.  

11. Were you considered a flirt?
Nope.  I was very direct.  No need to flirt  

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
No  

13. Were you a nerd?
 Ha ha ha.  

14. Did you get suspended or expelled?
Yes, a couple of times  

15. Can you sing the fight song?
Me and the crew didn’t sing about fighting.  

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)
This one dude from history class.  I was always stoned so don’t remember his name.  But he was a Vietnam Vet and he told history the real way, didn’t worry about being PC.  

17. Where did you sit during lunch?
At the bar down the road  

18. What was your school's full name?
 Robert E. Lee.  We didn’t have no lessons on “Civil War.”  It was all about the “War of Northern Agression.”  

19. When did you graduate?
I ain’t sayin.  But it was well AFTER Betty graduated.  

20. What was your school mascot?
Did we have one?  

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
Only if I could get Suzanne to drop her panties.  She was the one I couldn’t get.  

22. Did you have fun at Prom?
It was stupid.  

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with?
No  

 24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion?
Only if Suzanne will come and drop her panties.  

25. Do you still talk to people from school?
Most of them are dead, in jail, or hiding in Honduras.

Dangriga

Well friends, I had to carry to carry the old hen to Dangriga the other day.  The growth and progress over the last few years is significant.  Nice and new govrenment buildings for customs, immigration, lands, and such.   I will get some pics of them on my next trip.  But also lots of new stores and such. 

Hanging out at the old SuperSaver

I enjoy shopping at the old market for the few things I can't get free. 

This is the new big supper store up on the Valley Road.  They are like a small wallmart. 

Inside of the store

Good prices on Machetes.  I no go anywhere without one.

Lots of groceries there too.  It's nice to get cambells soup or some heinze tarter sauce to go with my free fish and bananas and gibnut

All kinds of stuff in one place.  Things are changing fast in the towns.  But they think I should wear shoes when going into Dangriga, Bel-pon or BC.  What the hell are shoes, or underwear for that matter?  Ah daan need that shit out here back-a-bush