Complacent for too long…

Complacent for too long…

Sometimes, you have to take the long way around to get where you want to go or you may not appreciate the destination as much.

It came to me in a small, dank somewhat smelly hotel room the darkness of night. I was actually jolted awake by these thoughts: “Why would you want to move to a Country that is well down the path of Socialism?” “It’s time to take a stand and you need to do it at home!”

Hmm, why couldn’t I have these thoughts prior to getting on a plane and riding for over 3000 miles, I would have saved lots of money not to mention the indignity of have those friendly folks at TSA go through my underwear at the airport?

Ecuador has an almost magical quality to it. Everywhere you turn your to look is like a picture that needs to be taken. I found the people friendly and engaging, someone is always willing to point the way or offer advice as to where to find “the best” place for lunch or some spectacular attraction. You do need to be aware of who is in close proximity because you will find out quickly that relieving you of your valuable is a favorite sport here.

The soil is rich and fertile the temperature is moderate for most of the Country. I could love it here and I know my family would too. There is only one glaring issue for me, the Government.

The President here recently got re-elected to office. He was, apparently pretty moderate during his first term but now that he has a second go at it he seems to be stepping up and cozying up to the likes of Cuba’s Castro and every freedom lovers favorite, Hugo Chaves. Ecuador’s President is initiating some “programs” that sound just like they came from the commie play book.

Stuff like: Taking control of all media or how about “community councils”? Community councils sound like Hitler’s brown shirts all over again. You better only have good things to say the Government or that crash you hear in the middle of the night may be your door getting kick in. I love this one; if you own any “unused ground” the Government will take it off your hands and give it to the “people”. These are not instituted yet but they are talking pretty seriously putting them into effect.

Now what?

I caught a flight and came home last night. (Sept. 1st)

And now, I have a “fire in my belly”!

No, nothing to do with the diarrhea I have been experiencing for the last few days.

It’s the kind of fire that motivates a guy to action. No longer will I be silent and just grumble under my breath about the direction our County is going. No longer will I grumble to my family and close friends about the sad state of affairs we are now in and how I wish somebody would do “something”.

We are under attack!

Our God, our Families, our Country are under attack!

Who is attacking us you ask? Evil scheming men in high Government positions that want to ultimately control every aspect of our lives. This is nothing new, since the time of Adam there have been those who plot to take away freedom and choice.

Do I sound like some anti-Government nut job to you? I’ve been accused of worse but please know that I love the Constitution and the Government that our founding fathers were inspired by God to put into place.

If you can’t see what is happening then right before your own eyes then roll over and go back to sleep. Me, I am getting involved!

How did it come to this?

A man, I am sorry to admit that in the past, I have not paid much attention too, who, the more I read his words the more I am in awe of his grasp of what Governments is supposed to be and who was sounding the alarm over 40 years ago; A man who has served as in the Federal Government as the Secretary of Agriculture and as the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Ezra Taft Benson suggested who is to blame and how we have come to this, he said:

“The troubles of the world may largely be laid at the doors of those who are neither hot nor cold; who always follow the line of least resistance; whose timid hearts flutter at taking sides for truth.”

“I accept humbly this obligation and challenge and gratefully strive to do my duty without fear. In times as serious as these, we must not permit fear of criticism to keep us from doing our duty, even at the risk of our counsel being tabbed as political, as government becomes more and more entwined in our daily lives.

In the crisis through which we are now passing, we have been fully warned. This has brought forth some criticism. There are some of us who do not want to hear the message. It embarrasses us.

The things which are threatening our lives, our welfare, our freedoms are the very things some of us have been condoning. Many do not want to be disturbed as they continue to enjoy their comfortable complacency.”

--Ezra Taft Benson- 1973

Ouch! I have been comfortably complacent for most of my life… Time for a change, how about you?

Time to get Political

>>>>Be Warned!<<<<

Ardent political view expressed below...

If you think the Country is going the right way- do not read...

If you think Mr. Obama is Deity on earth- do not read...

If you think socialism is the way to go- Please do not read...

...because you WILL be offended.

A friend of mine made the comment the other day that he thought I went to Ecuador to do a “walk about”. A walk about? Me? Not really.

You remember that guy from down under who said the line “Come on down to Australia and we’ll throw another shrimp on the barb’y for ya”. Paul Hogen, aka Crocodile Dundee is his name and he made a couple of movie that made the term “walk about” famous.

I suppose a walk about means to aimlessly go some place and tour around with no real objectives or plan, perhaps when you go on a walk about you are trying to learn more about yourself than anything at least that is my interpretation of the term.

If that is what it is intended to mean then nothing could be farther from the truth in my case.I’m here for several reasons and nothing about this trip is aimless, I have objectives and I certainly know who I am. So, a walk about is not accurate and my buddy is mistaken. (I still love ya Scott!)

I came on this trip because of what is going on back home. Maybe you missed it but our Republic is changing right before our eyes.

“We the People” now own a majority share of General Motors, a once PRIVATE all be it publicly owne company. How could this happen? And the President of the United States of America can somehow fire the CEO?

Watch this video regarding your Government taking over GM: http://tinyurl.com/kmggu3

Big banks have been handed our money with no accountability; go ahead request an accounting for where the money went from the Fed (Federal Reserve) and see how your request is handled.Prepare to be ignored.

If the Gov is running a little short of cash they will just print more right?

I will never be accused of being a great scholar but what happens when you print money that is basically worthless? Oh yeah, you will probably experience something called hyperinflation.Even I remember from Mr. Wells World History class at Mesa High, home of the bad A Jackrabbits, the photo of the woman with the wheel barrow full of money heading to the bakery to buy a loaf of bread. That’s where we are headed, better stock up on wheel borrows while you can.

This whole health care “debate” is unbelievable. The Government wants to take over health care? What the heck? Our Government couldn’t pour water out of a boot with the directions written on the heel! And they want to take over the health care system? Have you read what is contained in the Bill they want to pass? Probably not, if you are like most.

Oh yes, and the Department of Homeland Security wants to keep an eye on folks who own guns, believe in God and are dissatisfied with “Our Dear Leader”. According to DHS these types of folks should be considered extremists and not just extremists but “Right wing extremists”, the most EV-IL sort of extremist.

I could go on but maybe my reasoning for concern is a little clearer to you by now.

Maybe you think me a crank, thats OK. Maybe all is well in your happy place but maybe YOU have fallen asleep because you don’t feel like you are affected; don't worry, you will feel it soon enough.

Anyway, now that my blood pressure is at dangerously high levels I will calm down and explain why I came on this trip.

Basically, I wanted a palace to go to that I felt my family and I could escape the wholesale destruction of what once was the greatest County in the World.

Guess what? I'm not alone.

I have met at least 3 couples who feel the same way that I do in my travels here in Ecuador, they are looking for a place to weather the storm as it were. If I have met 3 couples sofar, could there be more? You bet! Lots of them.

The USA may still be the greatest but Mr. Obama is hell bent to see it no longer is; this the Country whose Constitution was inspired by God Himself and the Country which been the economic engine that has fought for and funded freedom and democracy around the word.

We are being cut off at the knees and will be paying taxes at levels that will reduce us to mere servents of the state. Just ask out friends in England how it feels to pay the kind of taxes they are now paying. Now, there is some change that you may not have counted on if you voted for B.O..

I wanted a place to run and hide with my family while trying to maintain some or most of those basic freedoms.

A place where arbitrary laws written by boneheaded bureaucrats/politicians based on junk science (Note: vague reference to Global Warming here) would not get in the way of living one’s life to its fullest and highest potential a place where political machinations’ by evil men would not exist. (Look up “machinations” it’s a good word to know these days)

Does this place exist?

Well frankly, NO.

There is no place that is a utopia, not yet anyway but I thought even with all its warts, it's left leaning President and the murderous revolutionary Che Guevara loving people, (not all ecuadorians like Che but enough of them do) Ecuador might be as close as it gets. (Che Guevara, the guy’s image you see wearing a beret, usually warn on T-shirts by miss-guided Idiots)

So, what have I discovered?

That my friend is the rest of the “Why did I come to Ecuador” story, stay tuned and stand up for Freedom!

P.S. I have recently learned the Ted Kennedy has left this mortal realm. At this time of remembrance of the life of Mr. Kennedy I would just like to take note and say: “This is the best thing he has ever done.” Adieu, Chappaquiddick Ted, Adieu. Che, Murderous Revolutionary>>>

Let's go to Church!

If you are going to see the sites of old town Quito (Ecuador) you will undoubtedly be looking at Churches. I don’t think it’s too much of an understatement to say the Churches here in Quito are rather ornate.

You may be the sort that prefers your alter wrapped in gold leaf, If so, this is the place for you. I visited 3 of the larger Churches and only got away with taking pictures in one but the one I did get photos of will give you at taste of how the houses of worship are done in this part of the world.

The rest of old town is pretty hilly with narrow streets typical of colonial architecture. It is a vibrant place bustling with activity. Some might say it has a certain charm. I say get me one of those 2 wheeled segway scooters to run around on and then I may notice the “charm”. Walking for most of the day at around 9000 feet altitude on hilly ground has the tendency to suck any high fluting fancy ideas regarding the appeal of any given place right out of me.

Here are some pictures:

I have straddled the equator! (And I liked it.)

Met a great family from London and overheard them talking about a little trip to the center of the world they were planning on taking. Being the shy type I naturally kind of invited myself and tagged along.


For 12 bucks you can’t beat this type of outing. If that is all I would have spent that would have been great but of course I had to buy a new finely crafted wool shoulder bag. The Indian lady who sold me the bag was a master negotiator.

She started out at $12 dollars but that was just a ploy, she wanted $10 and she knew I would pay it. She toyed with me allowing me to think I could come out on top of this deal but my feeble attempts to get her down proved futile. Her confident expression and unyielding manner made me cave in early on. But now I can ditch my militaristic looking gringo bag and hopefully attract less attention of would be bad guys- but I digress.


First stop on the 12 buck tour was the outlook for the Pululaua valley. This just happens to be the largest volcano crater containing no water in South America and maybe the world. Very pretty, hopefully the picture will load and you can judge for yourself.


Then we stopped at a “museum” that explained many of the mysteries of life. For instance maybe you saw my videos in another post showing how water spins counter clockwise and or clock wise depending on which side of the equator you are on. Not only that but water won’t spin at all when you are standing directly on the equator. And by spin I mean like when you flush the toilet and the water spins, got it?


Not only did we learn about the Coriolis effect (the water spinning stuff) but also why certain Indian tribes go pretty much buck necked and tie there privy member up to keep it secure. They had a life sized anatomically correct statue for illustration purposes. That’s something a guy just won’t forget any time soon and that’s all I want say about that.

As if that wasn’t enough we also saw a real shrunken head and even learned how to shrink the heads of anyone we vanquish, if of course, the need arises.


Oh, least I forget our last stop of the day was the French made Center of the World Monument. Why did the French make it? I missed that part but it seems the French thought they would make a huge monument to exactly mark where the equator ran through. The only problem was they were off a few miles… but it’s the thought that counts right? Leave it to the French to mess up something like that up. Viva La Fenchies!

I don’t want to put too sharp a point on the whole fiasco but not too far from that monument is the ruins of a pre-Inca culture that made their own monument and they were only off less than 100 feet! (According to Google Earth)


What a day it was, I made new friends, learned some “stuff” and straddled the Equator all on a 12 dollar tour, what a deal.

Did you know...?

Did you know that depending on which side of the equator you are on will determine the direction water will spin when you flush the toilet?


This and other semi nonsensical facts are just waiting for any traveler who will take the time to learn.



Here is the dramatic Proof:





This one is showing water drainging on the North side of the equator (by just a few feet)

This on is directly ON the equator, its the real "NO SPIN ZONE" (sorry Mr. O'Rilley)

And the last video showing the South side of the equator you will just have to take my word for it because I cant get it to up load but rest assured it spins the other way than on the North side of the equator.

For Your Viewing Pleasure (or not)

You may be wondering, "will this video be corney?" Undoubttedly it will but what the heck to you expect?

Please know any opinions on the Kallari Chocolate are purley mine and mine alone. I gave others a taste and they loved it. These taste testers were from Europe and obviously have a more refined palet.

I think that I am just used to the American "caca" they pass off as Chocolate. Who knows?

In Country

Arriving in a foreign country always carries a little of apprehension for me. Did I fill the visa forms out properly? Did I bring the correct papers, do I look like a smuggler or some undesirable and will suffer extra scrutiny from the immigration officials?

It didn’t help that the good folks at Continental Airlines put the bug in my ear about my passport being messed up. When I got to Houston I was told to ask for a supervisor and have them inspect my passport. I even had an appointment with the passport office in Houston to get a new one if necessary.

Mr. Brooks looked at my ratty PP and said “you know they have zip lock bags you can keep these in”. Thanks, for the lecture but can I fly with this one or do I need a new one? “It looks good enough to me and I will add to your file that I gave approval”. “Oh, by the way, this doesn’t mean that the officials in Ecuador will accept it, have good day” Nothing happens and I breezed right on in to Quito.

I’m staying at a Hostel that costs $20 bucks a night. When I arrived at the Travelers Inn at 11:30pm Diego was waiting for me. He took me directly to my private room and asked if I need anything else. “Nope, not a thing, see you in the morning”. I was tired and didn’t waste any time spreading my silk sheet out on top of the bedding and passing out. It must have been 2 o’clock or so and I woke up freezing. It was time to get over my weirdness of letting hotel bedding touch me and I piled on the covers.

Sleeping in until 8:30 was a great treat but time is a’wasting; only have a month here and I got ground to cover. Shower then out the door. Diego was good enough to give me a city map and pointed out some interesting places to see and I was on my way. I felt slightly dizzy walking down the streets. Some of you may think that me being dizzy is not all that unusual and I can’t disagree but this was different.

Turns out Quito elevation is around 8000 feet or so I’m told. If true, it would explain my being out of breath and dizziness. If it’s not true then I am stroking out or something. I think it’s the altitude.

After my mid morning hour nap I was more coherent and made a plan. I wanted to see the Plaza Grande and the Basilica, two touristy things to do for sure. It was time to travel like a local also. The map says they have a trolley and it goes right past my intended targets (more or less).

On my way to the trolley I spy a sign that got me excited. “Trout Pro Shop” Hot Dog! Could it be possible I could wet a hood on this trip? Entering the store I somehow, in spite of my miserable Spanish skills I sealed the deal; I had a pack rod and reel, 3 spinners and a map to trout streams and lakes supposedly full of fatties (I’m talking fish here), all of this for under $22 dollars. A two hour bus ride and I can release my inner “EL PESQUADOR” (The fisherman, for you none Spanish speakers). Did I mention this fishing area is in very close proximity to hot springs?

The trolley trip was short due to some bonehead trying to get into my back vest pocket. I noticed him looking at me and my bag while waiting to get on the trolley and when I jammed on he followed me on and positioned himself behind me. He wasn’t a very good pickpocket because I felt him tugging on the zipper. I just turned around knocking his hand away and got off at the next station. Taking a taxi is safer and that is what I did.

Just got through talking to a guy who was robbed at gun point, he was walking to the hostel at about 8:00pm and got jacked. So much for carrying my mono pod around thinking I could beat a robber with a knife. Apparently they look for foreigners with back packs or bags assuming they have a lap top and a camera. The lessons to learn here is don’t walk at night and if you are out and about take a taxi.

Anyway this is my first post while in Country. Time to move along and get down the road.

1st Rule of Travel, know what gate you are supposed to be at.

Oh the joy of being me. You know the saying: "If things can go wrong; they will"? Yeah, I can relate.

What a day it has been. Ecuador has been postponed until this coming Monday due to severe case of A.I.S. (Avery Inattention Syndrome) and "Mutilated" PassPort Issues.

Watch this latest edition and find out some important issues that one should pay attention to when traveling.

Oh yeah, I checked a bag all the way to Ecuador this morning. It should make it OK and I hope to be reunited with it some time in the future.

"Are you out of your freaking mind!"

The case, I suppose, could be made that yes, I am out of my freaking mind. It really doesn't sound rational that I am moving ahead and trying to figure out how to jump ship and move out of the Country.

How do you explain wanting to up-root your family and move them to a foreign land?

Most people, when they hear that I want live somewhere else blink vacuously a couple of times and quickly dismiss the idea as poppycock.

Who can blame them?

Besides, this is the gall’durn United States of America! Land of the “free” and home of the brave, a “choice land above all others”. Its the First World baby! Not some banana republic-third world crap hole like... (place the Country of your choice here)

Thats the predominate perception, I think.

If that's your perception then I doubt you are really going to understand anyway.

Best move along at this juncture and maybe check out what is going to be on TV tonight.

Still here? I'm surprised.

The truth is, I really don’t understand it myself. I love the USA but things are changing in a way that is not good from my point of view. Additionally and even more hard to dismiss is the fact that I have had for most of my adult life the desire, a pull, if you will, to live somewhere in Latin America.

What can I say?

When I look up at the night sky from my back yard the stars don’t look right to me. I want to be in a place where the stars look right. Not sure if it is a blessing or curse but it is what it is and I have repressed it for way too long NOW.

For me, NOW, is not such great time to make this happen. A couple of years ago yes, things were really good.

Remember?

It seems like it was so long ago. You know, back when everyone was a genius and making boat loads of money. THAT would have been THE time to go.

I told myself. "This high rolling, money pumping, hot diggitty dog good time wham-bam-slam market will last a while longer".

Green was the shade my sunglasses were tinted. Its no coincidence that green happens to be the color I associate with greed.

I had the means, I hesitated, and BAM! Missed opportunity.

The market didn't last and clinging on to a sinking ship can have the effect of pulling you under. Just ask Jack and Rose of Titanic fame, they’ll tell ya- it will suck you down fast and deep.

I didn’t have the courage to let go of my sinking ship. Should have let her slip beneath the waves while clinging to a piece of flotsam.

I would have made it, hell, I would would have thrived. But that, as they say, was then and this is NOW.

Move forward.

The first video blog entry ever attempted by Yours Truly...

In this video you will learn the following:

1. I have a great face for radio.

2. How I intend to use the Flip Mino HD Camera.

Amazon and Cosco sells them but check out your local craigslist and get a deal on one.

3. Clothes may not make the man but good travel clothes can make the man happy and Scottevest makes good clothes. Check 'em out at www.scottevest.com

Honey? I'm going to Ecuador for a month, OK?

"Honey, I'm going to go to Ecuador, for a month, OK?"

Having been married for over 29 years to the same woman, I pretty much knew what to expect.

"And how are we going to afford that?" Was the anticipated response.

"Well, I'm going to sell a few things..."

And that was pretty much how it went. Its funny, my friends stare at me in disbelief and then shake their heads in amazement that my wife is the way she is. What can I say? I know a good thing when I see it and all it took was a bit of deceit on my part to win her over all those years ago.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not proud that I had to resort to deceiving her into believing that I was worth marring, but as the boys from Brooklyn are fond of saying "You's gotta do what you's gotta do".

A few days later she got around to asking me "Why Ecuador?" and "What are you going to do there?" Questions that took a lot more explaining and in fact, will take a few more blog posts to really understand.

Until then.