Back for More in '08...

Hello and Happy New Year folks!

This post comes to you from the oceanfront confines of Apartment 405 in Cerro Azul. I found my way back to Peru late Thursday night. It's amazing where you can wind up after a 6 hour flight!

One-hundred percent fantastic holiday voyage: 2 continents, 7 states, 13,000 miles and the family and friends. Like all good things, the fun had to come to an end. I had a great month-long trip back to the States. A perfect mix of "get up and go" and hangin chilly.

My first stop was Seattle where I snuck back in time to make Golder's Christmas Party. I was able to make an emergency dress shirt and tie purchase before hand that really paid off throughout the trip...Working in Seattle for two weeks brought back memories of what it's like to work in the office again. Proposals and reports and drawings oh my! Got to spend quality time with good friends and enjoy life after the workday. Never got out on the bike as the weather was absolutely heinous a few days. On the couple sunny days, I couldn't shake the feeling of the legs itching ever so slightly to push some pedals again...but, not this time around. The one day that I felt most like riding I was helping Doc Pepe move a behemoth of an examination table into his new office. The Doc is starting his own private practice. Great location and great office.

Following the Seattle visit, I flew over the river and past the woods for a big city adventure in New York. My friend Therese and I did a lot of get up and going for four days. Empire state building, subways, Broadway show, Rockettes, pizza, cabs, ice skating, live music, Irish car bombs, etc. I'll let the pictures in my web album do the talking. The emergency dress shirt made it's NYC debut for the Rockettes! An awesome time. NYC is a fun city. Now that I've been there and experienced it, I'd like to officially state what I've felt in my heart all along...Chicago pizza topples NY pizza in taste and style...hands down. NYC pizza is tasty, don't get me wrong...it's practical and the pizza joints are usually teeming with fun people...but there isn't anything like scarfing a real pizza PIE.


The third leg of the trip entailed a short jog from the Big Apple to the Windy City where I was greeted with 6 inches of snow outside the jetway. I found myself helping Mom make pirogi my first day back to the Chicagoland area. Listening to Christmas carols (in my new emergency dress shirt and tie) by the world's greatest Chicago Symphony Orchestra was a treat. Christmas with aunties and uncles and kids all around made the holiday really fun. I got to wrastle with my Godson Bobby and the other little cousins. Tremendous amounts of food were the norm whether I was at home or out and about. I got into the gym a few times with the Old-Man...Even though he's got 38 years on me, I'd still put money on my dad in a 100 m dash against me.

A quick but great trip to Cleveland to visit friends as close as family worked out really well to qualify as the fourth leg of my journey. The mass quantities of food continued to find their way on my plate for some reason. I got to see my other Godson Carmine while in Cleveland. He's getting bigger every time I see him.


The final stop before jetting back to Peru was a four day layover in H-town. Relaxing in Houston? Oh contraire, my friends...no such thing this time around. Rather, I wound up breaking up and dumping concrete sidewalk slabs and replacing them with nearly 200 of the finest oven-baked bricks ACME Brick Co. can sell. It wasn't forced labor as I volunteered for such abuse. My good buddy Johnny has been a mix of Bob Vila, Norm Abram and the Energizer Bunny the last six months or so remodeling his house so I figured I'd help my mate out. He's done a great job and gets Scotty Z's stamp of approval. The brick laying day just happened to be New Years Eve. It was a game-time decision, but I cleaned up and slipped on that new dress shirt one last time and headed out to a hotel party in downtown Houston with a group of friends. At one point I was cruising around the masses with 5 ladies all by meself. It doesn't get much better than that! Lots of dancing and a bit too much wine made the night a lot of fun.

It's amazing how much I left in Peru when I skooted out of here on 30 November...As I was probably flying over the Gulf of Mexico on my way back the other day, I couldn't remember any of the things that peeved me down here...my mind was blank. I guess that's the sign of a perfect vacation. Now that I've been back for two days it's all rushed right back in...but...

I return to Peru feeling fresh and energized. Not much has changed here...the constant hum of the diesel generator located not too far from my office window still fills the air. There are a few more piles in the ground. We're completely over the water now. I took a walk onto the work platform and got a first hand look at the waves crashing on the piles that support the jetty. Humbling experience...I had a hand in making sure those piles do their job. Based on all the data that we've reviewed and all the numbers crunched I think we've done a purty darn good job. It's been a great team effort.

I returned to the apartment Friday morning and was pleasantly surprised to see a Christmas tree and nativity set up in the living room. The apartment staff put it up. I was unpleasantly surprised to find the refrigerator door slightly ajar when I arrived, though. A nice chunk of ice formed on the freezer door and prevented the main door from closing. I decided that all the chiseling wasn't going to solve the problem, so I pulled the plug. Upon our return to the apartment after work, we had to traverse across "Lake Scotty is a Gibroni" to get to our rooms. After sopping up a couple gallons of water which found its way into dips and crannies across the imitation tile floor, I finally got my bags unpacked and situated. I commandeered the big room from Luis, so now I'm sleeping in a full-sized bed. It might take some getting used to since I've been kicking it twin-sized bed style for the last 30 years and all...but it's not too bad. One new thing is that the beach out the front door is now filled with people on the weekends...it's Peru's summer vacation time here...lots of folks surfing and having a good time.

If you haven't noticed, I added a new feature to the blog for 2008...a poll. Feel free to send your answer and check out the results. Some fun and goofy topics...and maybe a few brain teasers too. Don't forget to check out the new pictures.

That be it for now. God bless.

Scotty