Alami.com

I can identify a lot with this story. I hear a fair number of horror stories involving a new arrival to Costa Rica who trusts the first person he sees, only to get shafted in the end. That being said, this guy takes the cake over in neighboring Panama. If I ever get my car windows tinted, and the guy doing the work says he’s got connections with attorneys and recommends people to handle my finances, I’ll ask him what the !@#$ is he doing tinting windows for a living.

He owned a BMW M3 convertible, Lexus LX470 and GS400. In Panama. A third world country. With rampant poverty. And Colombians hanging out there. Smart.

Update: Bad guys hire design people to make professional-looking web sites. Even the guy with the security tinting products has his own personal site. You can also buy real estate from him and put money down before even coming to Panama. Sounds like a job for 419eater!

Jeff :: Jul.19.2007 :: Livin' in Costa Rica :: 3 Comments »

Project 4×4: Suzuki Samurai Back in September 2005 I bought myself a 1990 Suzuki Samurai JL with the intention of making it the ultimate 4×4 machine. Here’s what it looked like when I bought it:

See a video of the Zuk digging up unforgiving mud in a crazy track, bone stock, except for new tires.

So far I’ve done the following modifications:

• Spring-Over-Axle lift conversion care of Rocky Road Outfitters
• 1.6L 8-valve Tracker/Sidekick motor swap (the original blew a piston)
• 2″ Lifted shackles
• Complete 2″ exhaust system with hi-flow cat

Here’s my wish-list for future mods:

• Jeep Wrangler YJ spring swap
• 15×8 backspaced wheels
• 31×10.5R15 mud terrain tires
• Front bumper with fog lights and winch mount
• Reinforced rear bumper with gas can (who needs to stop at the gas station?)
• Nerf bars
• New soft top
• 4.625 Ring and pinion gears (from Sidekick)
• 4.16 transfer case gears (12% high range, 88% low range reduction)
• Short headers for torque
• …and anything else I think is cool.

Recent pics coming soon!

Jeff :: Jul.17.2007 :: News 'n' Commentary :: 2 Comments »

The photos below come pretty close. These are never before seen hand-touched color photos of the battle of Passchendaele, a World War I battle in Belgium that began 90 years ago this week. The battle claimed the lives of about a quarter million Allied soldiers and about as many on the German side (being the war of attrition that it was).

Jeff :: Jul.17.2007 :: Interesting Stuff :: 1 Comment »

I should have stopped by this place when I was road-tripping back in 2000. The hundred-odd year old Carson Mansion has a level of detail that borders on the unreal. Can they even build something like this anymore?

Jeff :: Jul.16.2007 :: Interesting Stuff :: No Comments »

Looks like the young kids are giving up on MySpace for Facebook, according to Media Matrix. I never really liked MySpace anyway, and ever since Facebook became public to join more people have seen it and enjoyed it, although Facebook has its own problems. Maybe I should start a new social networking site and it’ll get all the new sign-ups in 2011.

Jeff :: Jul.14.2007 :: News 'n' Commentary :: No Comments »

Last night Saprissa Basket won the opening tournament of the first-division basketball league, 68 to 57. Basketball isn’t nearly as big and popular as soccer down here, but you wouldn’t have noticed from the excitement and the chants of the second half of the game.

Saprissa is better known here for being the name of the top soccer team in league play, being the returning champions, and it looks like they’re also on top of basketball for the moment. My girlfriend Debbie has an older brother (at 6 foot 5, surprisingly tall for a Tico) who plays for Saprissa Basket, and blocked a good number of shots during last night’s game.

Jeff :: Jul.12.2007 :: Livin' in Costa Rica :: No Comments »

Well, it was bound to happen. Here in Costa Rica lots of local neighborhood supermarkets are called “Super X,” with X being either the business name, or if the owners are less imaginative, their own names (as in Super Carlos). It was only a matter of time until someone by the name of Mario started a supermarket. I wonder if it sells plumbing supplies?

Jeff :: Jul.11.2007 :: Livin' in Costa Rica :: No Comments »