My local safeway had a video rental machine installed a few weeks ago and I tried it out for the first time. New release dvd rentals for $1.49. It was super easy and convenient and they had quite a decent selection if you are looking for newer movies.

Wow it has been a long time since posting anything at all. The other week I tried to get a passport and get one quickly and I failed. I made the mistake of letting my passport expire and then thought I needed one to go to Mexico so I was in a huge rush to try and get one. I filled out my passport application online, got my photos and made my way to the downtown passport office on a cold Monday morning. I got to the office around 8:25, they open at 8:30 and there was already a huge line up all the way down the stairs. I got into line and waited. Found out that the girl in front of me actually was at the airport this morning and found out that her passport was expired at the gate. All the people around her felt really bad for her, but then we felt even worse once she got kicked out of the line when the security check found out she didn’t have an application, pictures or anything. All she had was her boarding pass from this morning and her expired passport. Not really sure what she was expecting.

After about an hour and a half I finally made it into the passport office and since I did an online passport application I got to go into the really short line (highly recommended!). I got up to the wicket and tried to ask really nicely if they could expedite my application for that extra fee, but she wouldn’t do it without proof of travel which I didn’t have. She said I could go away and get proof of travel (and wait in line for another 2 hours) or just hand in my application. I just handed in my application and left, no passport until around May she figured which I thought meant no vacation until May

Luckily some people informed me that you can go to Mexico on just a birth certificate and drivers license until the end of the year so I was once again on the search for a vacation spot and what a spot was found. Cindy and I will be staying at the bahia principe coba which is in the Mayan Rivera which is about an hour and a half from Cancun. It should be an awesome trip, and my first “real” vacation in over 3 years.

merry christmas everyone, run dmc style!

From the UK show Balls of Steel here is a clip called ‘The Bunny Boiler’. This is such a great show, pity the only place I have seen is it online. The girl in the clip tries to pick up another girl’s boyfriend in front of her and then hilarity ensues.

So I tried dragon fruit for the first time today. It is the fruit that grows from a type of cactus and you can actually raise cactus plants from the seeds inside. The flesh of the dragon fruit tastes much like a kiwi, but not nearly as tart. It is also way easier to eat then a kiwi, you just cut it in half and use a spoon. I quite enjoyed it, but at $5.00 each in the winter time here it isn’t going to be an every day fruit for me.

So I made my way to the Chongo’s Fruit Market today to buy some food for the next little while. I just made it before they were closing but made my rounds and bought A LOT of fruit, and I found out I get a 8% discount for coming so often! Anyways I now introduce the fruit fridge:

On the top shelf:
4 persimmons, 1 pineapple, 1 dragon fruit (more on this one later), 2 pomegranates, 1 bag of seedless grapes
On the middle shelves:
3 avocados, 5 lb bag of chestnuts, 1 watermelon, 5 kiwis
Lower shelf:
1 bag of carots, 40 lbs box of oranges
In the drawers:
10 lbs of ambrosia apples, more oranges, and celery.

Not sure why I’m posting this but I just came upon that pasta cat image and couldn’t help but notice a similarity.

So I hop on my new Vespa PX-150 that I’ve had for awhile now and as I’m getting ready this older guy with a heavy Italian accent comes up to me and starts up a conversation. He told me that he had a Vespa just like mine when he was a kid except it was a 50cc (I think he said it was a 1966 Vespa 50 Special). We talked for a bit and he told me how he used to get sparks to fly by leaning it so far in the corners that the exhaust would scrap. As my PX warmed up he wondered why I had a super loud exhaust on it since it sounded ‘obscene’ to him (it is crazy loud). Anyways it was neat to connect with someone when the only thing we had in common were Vespas.

Soon after I drove away my headlight decided to burn out, aka stealth mode was activated. Normally this wouldn’t really be to bad but this late in the year it was already dark out and there was still lots of traffic on the roads. So my entire ride home from downtown was with stealth mode enabled. One thing about stealth mode is some cars must have stealth mode detectors, they will try and honk, wave or do whatever they can to tell you your lights are not on. It gets pretty old pretty quick. Luckily my exhaust is so bloody loud that people could hear me even if they couldn’t see me. I made it home without incident but it isn’t something I would want to do every day.