http://keckley.org/journal/index.php babblings ! en 2008-11-22T08:06:56 will@keckley.org hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://keckley.org/journal/index.php?p=32&c=1 2007-12-30T15:56:32 Will K (mailto:will@keckley.org) General There is now a rockwall on the side of my house. Go check it out. Update 6/19/08: Insurance carrier dropped me. Please don't set my house alight.

Update 6/19/08: Insurance carrier dropped me. Please don't set my house alight.]]> http://keckley.org/journal/index.php?p=31&c=1 2007-05-26T15:38:25 willk (mailto:willk@specialtysand.com) General I picked the spot on the map due to the curvaceous nature of the roads, and the abundance of water and trees in the area, on Google maps. I picked the restaurant by entering "breakfast" and "San Augustine" into Google local. But when i showed up at the intersection called ...
I picked the spot on the map due to the curvaceous nature of the roads, and the abundance of water and trees in the area, on Google maps. I picked the restaurant by entering "breakfast" and "San Augustine" into Google local. But when i showed up at the intersection called San Augustine it was more magical than any product of Google could ever be, with the possible exception of Google spreadsheets.

I was met by a man John Doe, no really, that was his name. He saw my bike and took it upon himself to show me all the best trails to get it dirty on. what a magical town, you show up and they provide the fun. I went across the street to the "breakfast" spot in San Augustine, Happy Donuts, and ordered a croissant a Blueberry Donut, Bear Claw and a Gatorade. I was amazed when the lady told me i owed her $3.50, since thats practically what a single Gatorade would cost in Houston.

Ben showed up three decades later, and was struck by the same phenomenon. However more welcome than the low prices was John Does return, this time he got a Blueberry donut (good taste!) and wanted to offer us a place to stay. However all he had to offer was a lake front paradise complete with hand made dock. Only catch was we had to go NOW. Donuts digesting, we hit the road. John made his 3/4 ton pickup scream down the road giving us plenty of room to wind out the twisties. We lost sight of him when we started into the forest, but he would always appear on the other side of a corner for just long enough to make sure we were still in tow. He stopped the truck and grabbed a Motorcycle out of a shed on the road, and the chase continued.

After showing us to his little slice of heaven tucked away in the heart of the national forest, John decided a little Dirt was in order. So we cruised the "infamous" 9-mile road through the Mud and trees. the mud puddles required certain tiptoeing to insure you stayed clean, but after awhile i had had enough of that and flew headlong into them. It was going alright, dirty, but alright. We didn't stop rolling till dusk when we set up camp on the shores of the lake/river/Resevoir/creek whatever they want to call it, i'll call it fun.

The next day we set our own pace and had a blast, did some real fun paved rollers. we spent the day exploring the area and found some great gems, we woke at 8am and didnt get out of the saddle till that night. Biiig day. If you want to see what ground we covered i created a little Google Homage to our trip there.

As i was riding home i thought to myself what a wonderful trip, it had its scary moments but all in all we came out bruised and battered, but with a feeling of real accomplishment. For all the bent brake levers and bruises the bikes held up magnificen...t...Oh crap. My bike started chugging down as i crossed into he city of Houston's Limits. Flogging the go-juice i attempted to breathe life into my failing stallion. But despite my best efforts it died, at 60 mph on US 59. Hoping for the best i instinctilvy hit the starter switch, and was greeting with the purr of the engine, that quickly turned into a chortle as it struggled, coughing and sputtering to get me off the Freeway. Ont he feeder road, i was thinking, i am close enough, i can ride this beast through town flogging it and sputtering all the way home. The bike disagreed as it sputtered one last time dying here
. Long after dismantling my bike and trying to figure out the mysteries of its illness I made my one phone call, the call i had been saving since my phone threatened to shut off a day ago. Dad Help! Within a few hours i was back at home sobbing, i had a fallen soldier in the back of the pickup truck, so undignified.

On a side note, while iw as waiting by the side of the road for those few hours, not a single sole stopped out of the thousands that passed by in cars or even bikes, but a lone bicycler peddled up and let me make a follow up call on his phone. When we were by the roadside in the Piney Woods, the first car that passed us would stop, so would the second and third. It truly is a different world out there.]]> http://keckley.org/journal/index.php?p=30&c=1 2007-01-21T22:20:08 Will K (mailto:will@keckley.org) General There are 26 separate items of moose in this condo. From a set of coasters, (one moose count for the set) to light fixtures, on to curtains and pictures. There is a lot of moose up in here. We didnt even notice it ourselves, Jesse's girl pointed out( and counted) ...
Itemized Update:
Moose Curtains
Moose Coasters x2(two sets)
Moose Pictures x6
Moose Signs x4
Moose Light fixtures x 4 (1 lamp, 3 wrought iron fixtures)
Moose 2 foot tall Dolls x2
Moose Curtain Rod
Moose Bed Spread x 2
Moose Coat Rack
Moose Throw Rug
Moose Soap Dish
]]> http://keckley.org/journal/index.php?p=29&c=1 2007-01-16T10:37:46 Will K (mailto:will@keckley.org) General Our mission to exchange the projector went alright. They accepted it, but they didn't have any good projectors so we were stuck with the biggest crappiest most expensive piece of junk, the Epson Movie Mate. In town we also picked up a Speakman Anystream Showerhead. When we walked into the ... Our mission to exchange the projector went alright. They accepted it, but they didn't have any good projectors so we were stuck with the biggest crappiest most expensive piece of junk, the Epson Movie Mate. In town we also picked up a Speakman Anystream Showerhead. When we walked into the best buy Tyler asked for it by name and model number. Can you imagine a shower head so impressive you knew its name and model number? With the product in hand tyler explains its greatest feature, its hackable. You can hack the shower head by removing its water restrictor and getting the full force out of your shower turned Niagra Falls. Fabulous.]]> http://keckley.org/journal/index.php?p=28&c=1 2007-01-15T16:21:32 Will K (mailto:will@keckley.org) General We drove off into the recent cold front at 11pm Houston time. It took us some time to get though the tough weather, the whole trip lasted about 20 hours. But we stayed safe, crawling through snow storms and ice fields. In fact one car flashed us, and we immediately ...
We burnt out the projector last night, should have brought that spare. Going to exchange it in Denver in 15min as soon as Adam gets out of his 3rd shower of the day.]]> http://keckley.org/journal/index.php?p=27&c=1 2007-01-10T05:41:35 Will K (mailto:will@keckley.org) General In my mind Kenya is a land divided by two sentiments. Two forces that I cannot seem to separate. On one side there are endless smiles that are broken only for laughter. Arrayed against this noble force is an entitlement to something for nothing, a desire to profit for ... Focusing first on the good positive. In Kenya the children wave and run up to you, to shake your hand and feel your pale white flesh, rub your hair, and incessantly chant "howareyou, howareyou?". Occasionally they may stare at you from a distance with uncertainty and a little fear, but after the first reassuring smile or proffering of your hand melts their cool visage into a radiant smile. Even on a rainy day this jubilance of Kenya comes through, brilliantly. We were standing out in the rain getting drenched when a man came out of and invited us into his home. How many of us invite strangers into our home simply because its raining? Too few. May Douglas' home be filled with such compassion and happiness for all time. Beyond that the welcoming nature of Kenyans is afforded another great aspect. People randomly welcomed me to Kenya. Welcoming aside one they regularly went on to inquire about me and my thoughts on Kenya, very personable. A wonderful treat. Originally I asked myself, "How did they know?". Kenya with its homogenous (99%) racial composition uniquely enjoys this pleasant advantage to other more diverse societies. Another thing that makes me marvel at their friendliness is the tendency of children by the roadside to wave to passersby. Most kids wave endlessly weather you are traveling 10kmh or 120kmh. I would always try and do my best to return this kindness in an attempt to delay the point in our lives when we stop waving at each other.

On the other side of this issue is the less flattering specter of the greedy solicitor. The terminology is difficult to come by, since this idea is so strange to me. Tell me how it suits you. A friendly fellow and I speak for an hour, I meet his wife and his first born. We talk of many things, in this time, he even asks me to take his picture and send it to him which I politely do. I learn of his marriage his job and his life. We become fast friends. His manner was a little off putting, I normally, as a rule, don't like people who command photographs, but he was being cordial enough. But as we neared the end of the road the man ended our friendship in the following manner:

Ngobe: "we are extreme best friends now"
Me: "You bet"
Ngobe: "OK as my extreme best friend don't you want to buy dinner for my family, only 1000 shillings, (14 bucks)"
Me: "Sorry Ngobe, that's not what friends do."

The nerve! At that moment that man pissed away the good feelings I had about him. Sadly its not a unique experience. Even officials in the airport asked for some sort of monetary gift.
Kids sometimes asked for money, or a pen or other item, but their efforts were almost forgivable. Since the majority of the kids were far more eager to extend a hand in friendship than for money. Prices in Kenya are not fixed, they are floating depending on how much you think you can get. I am not talking about he souvenir hawkers, who are beyond shame. But the bus drivers, whose rates are more fixed. Bus drivers have the unenviable job of collecting 50 cents from everyone then looking you in the eye and saying 75 cents as if I were somehow more a burden on him. I mean if he can get it, why shouldn't he take it from us, really. Integrity is so darn unprofitable.

Hospitality gone wrong
Just like Ngobe's false understanding of friendship there are some people in Kenya who don't really seem to grasp the idea of hospitality. At “Nyoma Choma†we approached a filthy table and we were asked if we wanted to eat there, because if so, she could clean it for us. My only thought was, you are going to need to clean it anyway, so just do it. But of course when we declined to eat at that table it went the entire night without being cleaned. Service was horrible the rest of the night from all of the wait staff, we paid upfront, so they had no desire to speak to us after that. Other incidents were that the safari people said all inclusive, but not drinks. And each place we went we found the drinks way overpriced. Speaking of interesting sidenotes to hospitality, it seems that in our host cooked three meals a day for us, and gave us lodging, but we had to buy our own toilet paper. Odd but not rude. Also we were expected to pay for the nights when we were out of town between the nights we stayed there, Since she claimed she had to hold the rooms for us, so that our rooms would be there when we got back. An interesting interpretation. You don't pay for products/services, but potential loss of products/services to others. Over all it seemed that more people wanted something for nothing than those who would genuinely offer their hand in friendship.

Writing this has been an exercise for me in discovering how I feel about Kenya. My gut reaction has been that I don't like it (haha, its funny cause my bowles are biased.). But after looking back on it as a whole I am not so sure. Ultimately, it's not important what I think; go make your own minds up.

]]> http://keckley.org/journal/index.php?p=26&c=1 2007-01-09T09:10:09 Will K (mailto:will@keckley.org) General Back in the states. Demitry in Chicago lost my luggage. Demitry in Chicago lost my luggage.]]> http://keckley.org/journal/index.php?p=25&c=1 2007-01-06T13:17:34 Will K (mailto:will@keckley.org) General ... If you speak of differences; Lebanon is miles apart while Kenya is measured in light years. If you speak of differences; Lebanon is miles apart while Kenya is measured in light years.]]> http://keckley.org/journal/index.php?p=24&c=1 2006-12-27T05:35:21 Will K (mailto:will@keckley.org) General This evening we leave for dubai. we will be spending 6 hours in the airport before we continue onward to Kenya. Addis Ababa was our other choice of connections. Everyone tells me that Dubai airport is so huge and packed full of stores that the 6 hour layover will fly ... This evening we leave for dubai. we will be spending 6 hours in the airport before we continue onward to Kenya. Addis Ababa was our other choice of connections. Everyone tells me that Dubai airport is so huge and packed full of stores that the 6 hour layover will fly by.

Which brings us back to last night? Why do i even bother with a chronolog? We started off at timeout, a place for the parents to talk and meet, it was very nice, i tried to sell my body to get a lebanese passport, but no luck. Seems that only men can give their spouses lebanese citizenship, and wouldn't you know gay marriage is out of the picture here too.

the rolled on and we found ourselves at Che, a quaint little homage to the revolutionary, that happens to serve mojitos. After soaking up the revolutionary vibe for a few hours our small posse moved on to gauche caviar, but not before leaving our mark on the town, or at least its cars. Now i know where all those scrapes and dents on cars come from.

Rolling on, we arrive at Gauche Caviar. we we rejoin the younger contingent. Here i use my supernatural foreinger powers to pick up every girl in the bar. Amazing. it seems the entire bar was constituted of lebanese who very much liked texas. Bravo!]]> http://keckley.org/journal/index.php?p=23&c=1 2006-12-27T04:47:38 Will K (mailto:will@keckley.org) General I mean really, when isn't pirate talk appreciated? Yesterday was wonderful, just like i mistyped. We did nothing i played with gallery2 for a new image system, that i plan to wrap into the site soon. The day was inspired by my last journal entry. It seems my hosts read it ... Yesterday was wonderful, just like i mistyped. We did nothing i played with gallery2 for a new image system, that i plan to wrap into the site soon. The day was inspired by my last journal entry. It seems my hosts read it too, and the second i posted it, they read it and made sure it happened. Its great. However this does raise questions about bias in reporting that i am not comfortable with. Thank goodness this is a wonderful adventure and i have nothing bad to say, but if it were not the case? Do i not report Or do i ban the host country from reading my website? Hrm... I met the man who controls the .lb top level domain tonight.

As we prattled on about computer gizmos and gaffaws the girls called out in agony. Why cant guys discuss nonsense for a little while? Why would anyone want to do that, if i am only here in lebanon for a short time, do i really have time to waste talking about the weather? Now take that mindset and apply it to life, if we are only here for a 100 years is there any subsection of that you would like to immediately write of as conversational waste products? I hope not.

Today is the day after christmas here, but it doesn't feel like it at all. The country works right through all holidays it seems, since half the country doesn't observe it there is still work getting done, and when it comes time for muslim holidays all the christians will be working, its kinda great.]]>