The Rise of Trump

The media and the world are trying to explain the rise of Trump as the Republican nominee. The world I can understand since they are fed the news by the media. But for the media not to see what is going on is just surprising. So I as a commoner I will explain what happened in very simple terms (English, is/was English). First, I am not a Republican, Democrat or independent, but a simple working citizen that has been fed up which politicians. There have been many opinions by the media on how Trump came to be the Republican nominee, trying to figure out what they (the media) missed and why they didn't ask the tough questions. Some have said that the rise of Trump was 40 years in the making. But let’s set aside all these "experts" and the media who live in a bubble and hardly get to live the lives of the people they preach to. Here is a quote from Rush Limbaugh (for those of you who have no idea who he is, basically he is the mouthpiece of the Republican party along with a host of other talk show radio personalities and Fox News as well. During the Clinton years Rush had fodder for his show, which I must confess I used to listen to. Republican and talk radio are synonyms and can be used interchangeably Republican hate for the Clintons and how they (the Clintons) have outsmarted them is the root of all this evil (if I were to call the rise of Trump as evil, not my words). I remember way back when Rush Limbaugh the mouthpiece of the Republican Party would bash the Clintons for anything they did. I mean there is nothing good that the Clintons did, not one.

Then when there was the rumor of Mrs. Clinton running for the presidency, all the guns were out, the talking points and the coordination of the message was great! If you missed it on the radio it was surely to follow on Fox. It seemed to work, and lo and behold a one-time senator from Illinois became the nominee and since he was the first black President the Republicans thought they there would be infighting within the Democratic party. But after Bush 43’s blunders, people across the country could take no more. So Obama was elected and the Republican party set out to make Obama worse than Bush. The only problem is that Bush/Republicans had screwed up the country so much from the war to the tax cut for the rich (which some still debate but it is so easy to show). When the politicians are talking about tax cut, it is in percentages, but when they talk about fines it is in terms of dollars. When the banks settled with the government related to the mortgage crisis it wasn’t in terms of percentage of the damage to economy or their profits or gains, it was some net sum. Here is a simple example. Let’s assume John makes $40,000 per year, which is about $1500 for two weeks. And let’s assume Jane makes $200,000/year, which translates to about $7600 for two weeks. If for example they are both given a tax break of 5%, John get $40,000* (.05=2000) while Jane gets $200,000*(.05=10,000). Now let’s assume after the party they are both stopped for speeding 5 miles over the speed limit and each get a ticket for $200. John will pay 10% of the $2000 while Jane will pay only 2%. For so long the Republicans have talked about being champions for small business, but in reality they are for big business.

 The Republican political machine went to work setting out to "make the President fail." I remember listening to Rush clearly as if it was yesterday say the following and from that point on the Republicans became a party of No.


"RUSH: I got a request here from a major American print publication. ‘Dear Rush: For the Obama [Immaculate] Inauguration we are asking a handful of very prominent politicians, statesmen, scholars, businessmen, commentators, and economists to write 400 words on their hope for the Obama presidency. We would love to include you. If you could send us 400 words on your hope for the Obama presidency, we need it by Monday night, that would be ideal.’" Now, we're caught in this trap again. The premise is, what is your "‘hope.’ My hope, and please understand me when I say this. I disagree fervently with the people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, ‘Well, I hope he succeeds. We've got to give him a chance.’ Why? They didn't give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated the search-and-destroy mission had begun. I'm not talking about search-and-destroy, but I've been listening to Barack Obama for a year-and-a-half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don't want them to succeed. If I wanted Obama to succeed, I'd be happy the Republicans have laid down. And I would be encouraging Republicans to lay down and support him. Look, what he's talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I don't want this to work. So I'm thinking of replying to the guy, "‘Okay, I'll send you a response, but I don't need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails." .’ (interruption) What are you laughing at? See, here's the point. Everybody thinks it's outrageous to say. Look, even my staff, "‘Oh, you can't do that.’" Why not? Why is it any different, what's new, what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what's gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it? I don't care what the Drive-By story is. I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: "‘Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.’" Somebody's gotta say it."


 The president didn't know whom he was dealing with. At first he thought he was dealing with politics as usual. He had both the House and the Senate, so he tried to work as a bipartisan fellow and to gain credibility from the Republicans and the Democrats. He lost the House in the midterm election when the Tea Party Republican came to power. From that point on, the Republicans could not agree on anything the President said or touched, for the party of NO came first before the country. Obamacare passed, and from then on it the country came at a standstill while the Republicans looked for ways to reverse the law without offering an alternative. They tried and tried, and they would not give up. Politicians stopped negotiating, and partisanship became the norm of the day. Obama won a second term, businesses started hiring, the economy grew, and people without insurance started being covered under the Affordable Care Act.

Yeah, yeah, we will get to Trump shortly, but I’m just giving some background.

 The Republican talking machine kept on pushing their failed policies (I mean how many times can one try to repeal the law while the President who passed it is still in power?). But then a businessman known as Trump showed up to run as a Republican. There had been a government shutdown, the speaker of the House had been kicked out, small businesses were not seeing the promises they had been promised, but big businesses were in heaven. Step in Mr. Trump, who ignored the politburo and marched to his own beat and asked simple questions that couldn't be answered, or even asked, by the politicians. Nineteen of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis, our supposed friends, and American soldiers have fought, died and become wounded to protect the Royal family who live in pure luxury. Meanwhile, when our soldiers come home they can't receive decent healthcare from the VA hospital. They have long waiting period, long travel time to see a VA doc, while Americans support the Saudi Royal family, who fly in their private plane to the US for medical treatment. Americans also spend so much on NATO, while we work ever harder for ever lower pay and few days off or holidays, while the Europeans spend so little on NATO (to protect themselves) but spend the money on a generous welfare system and great vacations and time off, building new Europe and renovating old Europe.

 So many studies and stories have been made and told of how the vets are getting sick and it is taking them longer and longer to see a doctor. What we ought to investigate is for example how are European vets treated when they become sick, or how about the Saudis vets? America and Americans have been cheated for so long and distracted by sports for far too long. America has protected the Saudis for far to long and the Saudis have laundered oil money to the point that now Saudi earns more from Emirates Airline than the sale of oil. Emirates is the best airline in the world, while Americans are stuck with 5 carriers who overcharge them and still make them pay for checked baggage. Trump has brought all this to the foreground and finally the Republican talk machine has failed to stop him. They tried on Fox News, but failed over and over. He even skipped a debate and still was able to crush all others. In Wisconsin there was a radio talk show host that Republicans made pilgrimages to for his blessing to run in the state or the nation. But Trump skipped him too. Finally the citizen have awoken and are not listening to the political machine which they deem either broken or cheating them. Two examples, Ted Cruz who opposed Obamacare could not on principle get his own insurance when his wife left Goldman Sachs. So he went on Obamacare. What a liar. Two, during one of the many debates when only four candidate were on stage, he promised to support the nominee whoever it is, but when he dropped out he has yet to fulfill his pledge. Now does anyone wonder why Trump is winning people over? The Republicans don't even have principles on which to stand.

Obama gave people healthcare insurance (I am not saying it’s the best, I am merely pointing out that it exists). In other words, Obama delivered to his base while the Republicans failed time and time again. Stupidity is the art of doing something over and over again expecting different results. The core Republican voter has awoken and is mad as hell...hallelujah.

 So if one would like an executive summary of how Trump came to be, here it is. Republican hated the Clintons. Bill leaves office. Bush takes power, and the poor get poorer while big business and the rich get richer. Hilary runs for office, and the hatred comes back to the forefront. Hilary is bashed and Obama wins...not their choice BUT at least it is deemed better than a Clinton in the oval office. Now to make the first Black president a failure, they became a party of No. The one thing that has eluded president after president passes as the Affordable Care Act. The economy recovers but people don't feel it. Clinton announces she is running, and 17 Republicans jump in, smelling there is blood to be had, still living in the analog world while the world is in a digital age. In the end Trump becomes the nominee, not that the Democrats are not gravitating toward Trumps.

Final dispatch from Lima, Peru

The last day of the adventure was really adventurous, since my flt was at 10:40 pm I decided that a whole day waiting is not worth wasting. I had a pamphlet that offered things to do in Lima. So I picked the one with the lest amount of time 3hrs, visit to Pachacamac, which I figure would include my getting lost time. I dropped the bag at the airport hoping that American Airline would allow a checked bag at 8am, they don't. Plan B(always have one) find a place to leave my check-in bag, it doesn't take long before I find a place that will charge me 28 soles, crap! my money is almost gone and this is a cash only society...for the most part 98%.I have less than 80 soles, since I will need my bag back at some point that brings my travel/eating cash to 52 soles. The "detailed"plan was fashioned as follows. Looked at a map, located Pachanamac, with my awesome Spanish head there on public transportation. Take more pics of the inca left overs then reverse my journey and that would get me to the airport just in time to checking. Awesome plan buddy, all the family member concur yeah! lets do this! gung ho! Since am an expert in getting to Lima Centro and even paying, one only gives 1 Soles and you might get change back otherwise not. Once I get to centro I know where the metropolitano, think of it as a bus subway, the swinging bus but have a dedicated bus line, is, so I head over and ask for directions by point on the iPhone map and asking how to get there. It doesn't take long before I get the "nessecary" info....that I think is true :). This is rush hour and the metropolitano is packed and I mean packed like sardines in a can, shoulder to shoulder. The mind goes to work, remember Mexico City where your wallet got stolen in the metro? my backpack swings to the front as if am carrying a baby ready to feed. My pockets are buttoned and zipped. I push and push and in I am after like 3 buses come and go. The directions,am to take this bus to the end then get a transfer to Villa EL Salvador, then from there ask how to get to Pachanamac. Well as luck would have it I get to the end of the line and without much difficulty I find the transfer without a problem at gate 11 and the route on the bus as it turns out...you guessed it "Villa EL Salvador". So I get on bus and get comfortable at the front of the bus to see where am going and pick land makers since my Spanish doesn't seem to serve me well. The scenery starts to change and the road seams to end and start, pot holes that would cause NASA to use this "road" as a testing ground for rover mission to mars. After many twists and turns we finally turn on to Revolucion ave and after a while the driver says something and everyone alights. I look a round hoping to see a train/bus station but I don't, I look a round and am in the middle of no where. Comparing this to the ghetto, ghetto would be a suburb. "S@#t!" the brain goes "we need to get outta here" "Nah!" we have to look for Pachanamac the mind goes. still gung about it. Now I stick out like a sore thumb. so I look at my map again and try to locate the station that the eyes had seen on the map. Two blocks up then hang a left and you are there. Normally what I do is to look at my surrounding and get information from the surrounding like a spy. What I notice is not comforting, shops are open but goods and cash are exchanged between the iron bars.....hmmmm, there are security guard at prime locations as well. "This is kinda good, security." the eyes say " You are such an ass" the brain says "the more security the more crime, dumb ass" "But its almost 11am, therefore the criminal are done for the "day" and they are resting, only the good people are awake heading to work" No kidding! no sooner was that thought thought. Gunfire!!! Now if you have never had a gunfire without expecting it, it sounds like firework. so I think kool fireworks....then another short. Crap!!! this is not good. I look diagonally to the left in the direction am heading and I see someone running after another guy shooting....people are on the run on the wide blvd, I dark in a side street and the gunfire continues for another five or so minutes. Mr heart is on overtime "this is the kind of s@#t I hate, now I have to do a double because of your dumb ass planning" he says "awesome plan Mr!" "Am thinking of a plan, to get us outta here" the Brain says "You better hurry" the lungs yells "The gunfire seem to be moving away" the ears say, so we head back to see what the issue was. After everyone(family members) has come down all that we can surmise is that there might have been a car jacking gone bad since a white car is surrounded by people pointing in one general direction on the median, people talking and trying to include yours truely..."balalalala?" "I figure they are asking what happened?" and I shake my head and shrug my shoulder to say "I have no Idea". Within a few more minutos the cops are all the place like flies on pup!. To call them cops would be an understatement, these are military cops, in Lima cops are like security guards. "See many cops, see how safe you are? and you might also notice the standard uniform, ,bulletproof vest" " the brain says to the eyes. "S#$t!!! am not even hungry and I haven't had anything since yesterday" Tummy says "Okay let's all come down and forget the pachacamac site and head to the airport slowly" the brain says. "wish you had taken some pic" the mind says "really?...seriously? you don't remember anything do you" the brain asks the mind. (if you been following the family saga you would know that the brain is for thinking and the mind for memory). "those would have been great photos...to last a memory" The brian lets that one slid, no reply. Was that a coincidence that I was on Revolucion ave when all that s#$t went down? only time will tell. So I make my way back to Revolucion ave to reverse the journey that go me here having abandoned the inca visit and set the course for plan B. On the way back I spot one of those markets that have really tasty food. Along the way I have avoid land mines left by the many stray dogs. I go in the market but it is hard to order. "Am hungry" the tummy says "lets go get the the food in the market downtown Lima on way the to the airport." the mouth says salivating "I can't hold it any more" he says "am in pain" "what do you mean you can't hold it?" mr bathroom caller asks "am the only one that can say that" "Am in pain" Tummy say "okay have something just to hold him over till we get to the market" mouth says and everyone agrees. so I pop into the local market, get yogurt and while am drinking it I see someone order something that looked like oatmeal from a steaming pot and not being sure what it is I say "por favall"(okay Spanish speaker please don't collect me :-) ) pointing at what he had just served someone. Now I start to sense this guy just want to mess with me, he starts asking questions. I just told him what I wanted and now he is interrogating me. I shake my head,no. Then he points at a pictionary menu, asking do you want it with Chicha, blablabla..."aki!" I point at the steaming pot. Tummy is getting pissed at the brain and the mouth for not sorting the issue fast enough. "seriously, how long have we been in Peru and you can't order faster?" tummy asks the two. They ignore him like a mother preparing food for a crying baby. Finally the guy puts that nasty slosh in a small cup and asks if he can sprinkle it with some thing brown and it is discovered to be cinnamon with the 1st bite. Soon everyone is happy and we head to the paradero,bus stop. We board the bus to the bus station then transfer to the one heading to downtown Lima. Now the mind gets to work trying to recall where that food market was and in no time we are there, great team effort. we sit down but crap can't order yet again, and the lady talks and talks and talks I would bet she is rapping the menu to me and the specials they have...Then I go "I didn't understand a word you said",in english which she doesn't understand but some how we both start laughing as if to ask me " then why didn't you stop me half the way?" after the tears dry up I say "uno momento" and I "walk" with my eyes around the counter looking at what people are eating and say "Aki" pointing to some guys food! not the best but heii! we are hungry and we need good food. As she places the order I look around again and want to change the order..."cambio?" I ask....having learnt that cambio is used when changing money, therefore super intelligence me thinks "cambio" might help to change my order. This is like eating beans and hoping for no exhaust gases. Nada!...so I just waited for my order and boy! was it good! and to wash it down am served with a half jar of brownish warm water. since everyone is drinking it..why not me? so I drown it just like the others, as it turns out it sweet and warm and I think it has some ginger in it. Everyone is happy and we head to the airport with a stop over at the supermarket to get more coffee, Chicha morada and mazamorra morada...some juice powder that is made from dark purple corn. one more bus trip and am at the airport, picked my baggage then head to check in.

Cusco

I arrive in Cusco at 11,150ft above sea level, I kinda feel okay, not sure what the big brouhaha was all about that I have to take high altitude medicine. For one I prefer not to take medicine and if I can sweat it out I do. Am advised to drink a lot of water, BUT the draw back with that is that at high altitude people tend to pee a lot even without the water and am sure you can see my predicament. So what do I do? buy a large bottle of water and head down town to arrange my trip to Machu Picchu, I get a taxi and head to Centro!, Plaza De Armas...this was easy to find, smaller town and add a taxi to the mix. As we travel to the Plaza, we encounter a traffic jam and the driver decides to take the back way to avoid the travel...the way I looked at it was the he was shaking me down for my change in the pocket, we were not on the road anymore unless this was a very future planned road. My tummy is starting to feel something not sure what. The brain and the month are cracking up at the tummy as if saying "don't blame us". After ten minutos we are back to the present day road and in a shot time am at the travel agent, now calling him a travel agent would be equivalent of calling the a CEO POTUS, and he is next to a McD which is a few steps walk from KFC right across Starbucks and at this point I understand why the French hate the US. I make all the necessary arrangements and start my tour of Cusco, but at this point am starting to queasy, so I stop and drink water, I break in and out and everything seems to be back to normal. I walk some more and the same thing happens and I do the same. I explore the city head to the museum. By now it's night and am not hungry which is also the side effects of the hight altitude medicine which I got but is in a safe place :) in the bag at the hotel. I head to a restaurant to try the guinea pig, I seat down but am still not hungry, and the waiter doesn't even come to the table. So I head "home" and buy a third bottle of water. I take a shower chat a bit and decide to head on to bed since I have to wake up early, mind you it's only 9pm. I review some pics on and lay down. It is at this point the I start feeling the "full effect" of high altitude. I have a breath problem so I breath deeply in out, in out and I feel better. Now the family feud starts, the brain goes " well you are breathing in out when you get that abnormal breathing effect what happens when you are asleep?" The heart interjects "I need a rest" "Hell no!" the mouth retorts "I need water" "The eyes and the legs do get rest" Heart says They, legs and eyes, are out of this feud and at this point, they are resting. The heart is pissed off but keeps working, the eyes are done, but just as eye are about to close someone calls for a bathroom break, "seriously?!!" yells the eyes! "you were just there like 5mins ago?" "And your point?" yells the caller "I got to go unless you want to be embarrassed in the morning." "okay okay go!!" yell the legs pissed. The tummy jumps into the feud..."Am hungry" Between the bathroom break and breathing everyone gets a chance to get pissed and at that point everyone gets a rest all pissed at 6a.m only to get up an hour later.

"Your actions are so loud I can't hear what you are saying"

"Your actions are so loud I can't hear what you are saying" As I head to the Aerupuerto to take my flt to Lima, I head to the centro to San Pedro market where I can get Cusco only coffee, La Cholita. I take the local bus, collectivo, to the market. I get there with no problemo, am an expert now book a trip with me to Machu Picchu. I walk inside the market, Dios Mio!!!...this is where the locals eat! seriously how did I miss this market? 4 course meal made in front of you with fresh produce, peeling the potatoes, chopping the onions and in the middle of all that serving you with soup all for 4 soles...less than $1.50. Now, for those of you who are into hygiene, mind over matter folks...this is not the place for you.The same hands that are handling money and chopping and peeling are the same hands that are sprinkling dressing on to your soup. But boy!! forget those high end restaurants this is where the food tastes great! am not hungry but I have to eat at some point I turn down the addition food am offered, saying in Spanish "the 4 soles includes salad and the main course" I have to leave some room from all natural fruit juice....They must have harvested the fruits in the morning just in time for my juice at 11:30am. The Juice I get, after a long discussion of what is to go in it, is made of bananas,pineapple,papaya, apple and milk sub for orange at my request. And that is a whole blender's worth! "crap!" the tummy says "I have no room for that" So with much trouble am told that a-to-go-cup will be 50cents but it wont pass the Aeropuerto security so I down my agua and use the bottle to store my fresh fruits in liquid semi-form. Time to looking for what I came here for ,Cusco only coffee. With much fun fair being given directions in Spanish in such a big market with no signs, the only sign being Entrada and Salida, enter/exit. It takes me longer to get to the kiosk that is selling "La Cholita", yeah! so I say La Cholita? Si! she proceeds to show me all the coffee and the prices. Then she decide so show me a stronger coffee and an organic coffee. I bust out laughing and saying in english "the whole of Peru is organic" she cracks up loudly too and takes the organic coffee back. she was selling but I wasn't buying. Her kiosk is the center of attention...there is so much fun going on there. Finally I make the purchase and head to the Plaza to meet Jorge, my Mustang instructor, since am low on soles I give him most of my gear and he is very happy, this is no pretend to be happy and I tell him to say hi to capricorn which he does promise and I can tell he will. When I arrived in Cusco and walked around centro I noticed a lot of rainbow flags, at hotels and I thought,this must be the most LGBT friendly city next to Amsterdam. The sq had the rainbow flags and I started noticing some on the buses too. I finally discover that the rainbow flag is the flag of Cusco city! Now I have another ? what is the history of both flags? anyways that was a by the way. I walk to the bus stop to caught the bus to Aeropuerto saying good byes to everyone that I have come to know for they are many, from the ones who offered me city tours, massages, pedicure,manicure even the guy who offered to sell weed to me last night. I guess its the way I declined and chatted with them in baby Spanish that made them remember me or maybe I was the only negro with a yellow bag either way I bust out laughing with each one for one last time. And with that I have an epiphany "your actions are so loud I can't hear what you are saying" Adios Cusco. Am on FLT 2036 Cusco-Lima

Victory Is Mine, Day Two.

Victory Is Mine, Day Two. p.s....no editor and hanging out with my friend my Gin. I get up early having done my homework from the previous' day disaster. I have regrouped my troops we lost the battle but the war is still on. I order breakfast at 7am in the hopes of swallowing it down in 5.....yeah minutes. But as I sit at the table with my new found friend Yu, Japanese, and we start shooting breeze....tit tot tit tot the clock seems to be saying something which my grown up part of the brain seems to be ignoring say "when are you gonna have another chance to chat with Yu" Buy my childish brain is like "dude we have to go out and play"...trying to be nice and not offend any one, I hear the horn and it's a taxi for Yu who happens to be heading to the airport for a flight to Quito so that he can head to Galapagos island. Kool! I shout....but it stands for a few things at the same time. One my brain can stop fighting, great place to go and great the taxi is here so Yu is not late. I head to the bus stop with the following information, take the bus that say Callao-Ate on Peru Ave and alight at Tujillo and just cross the bridge and you are there! easy sounds like taking a candy from a babies mouth after it has fallen asleep. I wait at the bus stop for 15 mins circling the plan in my mind (not the brian) mind is for memory and brain is for decision making, think of it as a war room. I wave one bus that has the signs "Callao - ATE" but in a hurry I ignored what the conductor was shouting till we are rolling past the 3rd bus stop and he is shouting Bolivar Bolivar and something else...now mind you I recall that Bolivar is a road that intersects Brasilia. I wipe out my iPhone and investigated this new curve ball that is coming at me at 90 mph. Butterflies are in my stomach- which by the way is still not happy with the brain in regard to the fried rice fiasco. Then I remembered " if you butterflies in your stomach, since you already have them, make them fly in formation" which I do. Stick with this one brother you will be alright I hear mr smart pants tell my brain. The only problem was this was the equivalent of trying to go to the moon with a stop over on mars...on way to the moon. we were on Peru Ave and at some point we took a right turn and headed south. I look at my map and figure we are heading south crap! this is not turning out good, the only advantage I have at this point is that I left early. After so many twists and turns I get my iPhone and map where I am and Lo and Behold! am 2 miles away from my ultimate price "CENTRO" this one is not getting away again. It's almost 9:45 and for 2 miles I will walk to it!. At the next stop I get out as if am getting off a plane confident am at the right airport thanks to my intelligence that got me to that airport. So I start walking towards centro, the avenue am walking is almost in industrial area (254...think of river road) think of it this way, take Home Depot and split it into all the different departments, lumber, lighting,painting,electric, hardware..etc... and then make them the size of an ATT phone shop, put them next to each other and multiple that by a 1000. Do the same for Walmart,Target, Kroger and Publix and now you might get a good pic of the street. As I walk the brain tries to make peach with the stomach, they settle for Churros aka mandazi, Johnny cake, or street donut. The old lady selling them I ask how much? she say "uno soles", I don't hear well since am half a mile to my destination and can't wait to get there. she yell at me as if she is chasing me away saying "you either buy it or keep walking" I bust out laughing and she does too,what customer service i think, I pay and head on to my destination. Having discovered another loop hole in my quest learning Spanish I learnt to ask in Spanish how much...but didn't learn numbers in Spanish, so the they will understand give me the answer but I won't understand. At this point my brain, mouth and brain are in a constant family feud, the mouth can't speak Spanish and it's relaying on the brain to process the picture on the menu and the stomach just want the two to stop argue and put something in to be full. The bum is trying to stay of out of the whole thing since what goes in hot comes out hot if not hotter. And to that end the brain ordered tiger's milk or panthers milk,the best way is describe it is milk with hot sauce. And so after walking the half a mile I see the glorious centro in its all it's majestic view. Building from the 1500s still standing looking as if nothing has changed after being built yesteryear. I wipe out my camera and start clicking. At the end of the day I reverse the direction I had, cross over the bridge and look for the minibuses that say Callao-Ate heading in the opposite direction, I want keep in mind that in Mexico that is not always the case, so am careful here. In Mexico the buses go up one way and get this, they come back the same way....even on a one way road! when in Mexico look both ways even if it's a one way. so I get on the minibus with a sign board saying Peru Av and am heading on the final lap! Just short of Callao they say this is the end of the line! Oh s#$t! I wipe my trusted iphone at 35% battery power and decreasing, I look and see a plane flying low taking off the airport and since am staying close to the airport I figure am close to my temporal crib and I finally I meander my way to the crib and call it a day and wind my "clock" to five o'clock.

Trip to Peru... Day one

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. So my 1st full day in Lima, got up ready! figuring out this will be the day! Go downstairs for breakfast and I open the door to verify the iPhone weather which called for partly sunny skies and some clouds, to my horror it gray and drizzling....aka Seattle weather...boomer! No sweat I think this is adventure if I get fix, cup of coffee, things will start rolling in the right direction. I have my breakfast coffee and an egg sandwich. I have no soles, aka Peruvian dinero, so I head out in search for a bank to perform the dollar conversion. After walking for about half an hour I spot a bank and go over ask for the conversion rate and it is 3.065 soles to the dollar, I walk over to the next bank and it is 3.075. So I make the change and as I walk back to pick my backpack I go past a money changer @ 3.14soles to the dollar. Crap!!!! I cry why didn't I walk this way 1st? oh well! S#@t happens. so I head back to the crib pick my bag and head out to pick a Matatu aka minibus as part of my transportation. Now mind you, boy genius here forgot to do his homework and Spanish? nada! so am at the bus stop and I see the hwy signs with an arrow pointing up ahead and the word LIMA next to it. so I wait at the bus for about 15mins minibus/bus come and go and none says Lima,most say Independencia and people are boarding and so yours truly puts 2 and 2 together and figure this s#$t out. Lima is up ahead most people are going that way therefore being a work day they must be going to city center!!! Am smart I can tell myself, so I board the minibus where someone was shouting Independecia and off we go.

It was cloudy as we left and as we drive towards Lima the clouds start to left up and as we get close to "LIMA" rather than the office tower I expect to see I see a big dirty mountain and am like okay way to go mr smart pants! there is your Lima city center! gray dirt mountain. At some point I get off the bus and start walking to where my iphone is telling me the city center is. I try to get direction but the locals English is equivalent to my Spanish.....something has to give here I think and sure enough am thinking surely that can't be me. I find a metro and but the ticket expensively at 10 soles card plus fare. I jump on the bus in one direction....reason? ...this goes back to world cup, so when the world was on and I would skip work, I mean while i was sick, I would watch world cup on the Spanish channels and when the goal keeper kick the ball the announcer would yell CENTRO!!!!!! and the ball would be in the center of the field. Now armed with a good memory and trying to find the city center that shouldn't be a problem the voice in my head announces. so I take the metro and head to centro and I alight at centro walk around and at this time my stomach is starting to whine...not sure about what since its only 11...so I ignore it and keep walking looking for the museum can't find any of them, the sounds start emanating from the middle of my body. I look for a place to fill the tummy and as one might recall Spanish is  not working for me so I go to the next best thing Pictures of food! all I have to do here is point at the picture and say I want that! and I will be fine...so I walking in to a restaurant by the justice department and point to a picture that looks awesome combined with the fact that the tummy is whining it look awesome, I take a sit and the soup comes out, great with hot sauce, then the main dish is presented at the table....and on boy!!!! am I fuming!!! as it turned out I order FRIED RICE!!!!! s#$t I can get that back home! Crap!!! so my mouth is really angry that am in Peru and the brain got fried rice, my tummy just wants my mouth to get over it and hurry and swallow it.....the soup that was holding the tummy is now starting to sober the tummy and  it wants to get drunk with the fried rice. so the mouth obliges and in 10mins the compromise is done (compromise: what everyone gets and nobody wanted).

with everyone okay, we head out to hunt for the museum again. I come across this building that look awesome looks great then the MET in NY...I walking and a security guard stops me and I ask what the build is. To which he responds something in Spanish and yours truly agrees with it and  walks out....I walk around this beautiful place and look around, great building and as I walk I see people lining up and as if line for a party or a museum entrance, the genius in me lines up and when I look closely they all have forms they are filling out as the line moves, of course in Spanish, I get one and after I look around and "read" the signs I once again discover my brain is not as smart as I would like, as it turns out am in a line to register for classes! am on a campus at the university of Peru!! all in Spanish! At this point I figure out the local time is 2pm but I just have decided to make it 5pm. The only problem with that call is that  I have to figure my way back to the temporally crib!.......to be continued!

Gov Shutdown

10/05/2013

From: JBoehner@HouseOfRepresentatives.gov

To: PRyan@HouseBudgetCommittee.gov

Subject: Re:Re: Gov shutdown

Michele Bachmann, good thing you don’t even remember who she is J.

JB

10/05/2013

From: PRyan@HouseBudgetCommittee.gov

To: JBoehner@HouseOfRepresentatives.gov

Subject: Re: Gov shutdown

John,

As a matter of fact my staff is working on that. We need to cut these entitlement craps! If you look at the entitlement programs we have in this country we are a very socialist country!

You are right I too hate the SOB, he has put us in a log jam that even the might Mississippi can’t unjam. I can’t say much since I also have TP followers in my camp.

Who is MB?

PR

10/05/2013

From: JBoehner@HouseOfRepresentatives.gov

To: PRyan@HouseBudgetCommittee.gov

Subject: Gov shutdown

Paul,

We really need to figure this shutdown out. The way things are going Ted seems to be the leader of the house. The president doesn’t want to give me a lifeline to get out of this jam to fix the problem, I really hate that SOB(Ted). Here is the plan since you are the chairman of Budget committee, come up with a plan to negotiate with the WH that will blindside the stupid defund OC issue. Once we are in the clear I will see to it that we are never pushed to such a jam in the future however far or near that future is.

IOU you one.     

P.S. I really hope Ted goes the way of MB.

JB

Gov Shutdown

10/05/2013

From: PRyan@HouseBudgetCommittee.gov

To: JBoehner@HouseOfRepresentatives.gov

Subject: Re: Gov shutdown

John,

As a matter of fact my staff is working on that. We need to cut these entitlement craps! If you look at the entitlement programs we have in this country we are a very socialist country!

You are right I too hate the SOB, he has put us in a log jam that even the might Mississippi can’t unjam. I can’t say much since I also have TP followers in my camp.

Who is MB?

PR

10/05/2013

From: JBoehner@HouseOfRepresentatives.gov

To: PRyan@HouseBudgetCommittee.gov

Subject: Gov shutdown

Paul,

We really need to figure this shutdown out. The way things are going Ted seems to be the leader of the house. The president doesn’t want to give me a lifeline to get out of this jam to fix the problem, I really hate that SOB(Ted). Here is the plan since you are the chairman of Budget committee, come up with a plan to negotiate with the WH that will blindside the stupid defund OC issue. Once we are in the clear I will see to it that we are never pushed to such a jam in the future however far or near that future is.

IOU you one.     

P.S. I really hope Ted goes the way of MB.

JB