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April 2, 2004 here in bolivia, sucre to be specific... chilling in gringo bliss for a few days. all goes well, jesse running most fine if you ignore her constant
gasping for a fully oxygenated breath. i've changed the timing a bit, and
shut off the choke for start-ups, but short of that, this carbureted gal
is probably doing as best she can at 4000m. i imagine a plug swap or
scrub is probably in order. ah yes... .well there is a little voltage
regulator issue as well. and now that i think about it, i did have to
swap out those re-manufactured leaf spring bushings that alberto
installed... destroyed after only 3 weeks. now there's one of those 'little differences' that come around every so
often that i find completely inexplicable. i know that most folks are
driving cars w/ independent suspensions, but certainly there are plenty of
old trucks and such that still do it the old way. so the fact that you
can buy nearly any part if you look hard enough, but that you absolutely
100% cannot locate any authentic leaf-spring bushings really floors me.
these piece of shit home-grown tire pieces that they glue together and
call a bushing don't last worth a damn. so what gives?
roads suck, cars take a beating, folks are installing stuff that won't
last a month. i don't get it... everything else down here i can wrap
my head around... . however, if the bushing import business doesn't pan out, i may instead export these sunglasses... i think they would be a real hit back home. i am in fact on a sunglass buying rampage (though i haven't yet splurged for any niggas). They only cost a couple bucks here, and that's for the expensive knockoffs. they are quite popular with the locals. thus, to blend in i have been buying some of the glitzier models... you know, the ones that make you look like a cross between george michael, rupaul, and some tripped out party freak from ibiza. i hear that rabbits occasionally die in large numbers because their population exceeds the food supply (other than the fact that they like to screw like crazy, which i always thought was good for you). obviously my fate is probably destined to walk out in front of an oncoming bus, since its damned hard to see with 8 pairs of glasses stacked on your nose. what this has to do with rabbits i have no idea. i saw a rather strange thing today. four people walking down the sidewalk. in a line. each holding on to the shirttail of the person in front of them. in descending order of size. the first two had walking canes of the sort that blind people have, and were using them as blind people do. i assume they were blind. the next person, a female i think, seemed in perfect working order. no cane, eyes fairly normal looking. the fourth person was about 3 years old... and simply hanging on for the ride. perhaps i can catch this rather odd procession again tomorrow... i saw a woman today selling little pamphlets today on the street... (and of course you can buy anything on the street here... i think it's where 95% of all commerce takes place) she was selling copies of the bolivian constitution. now you know a population is riled up and ready to boil over when folks are selling copies of the constitution/bill of rights on the street. and indeed... bolivians always seem to be protesting something. its like the national pastime around here. somehow somewhere i underwent a transition, from where i struggled to understand most people, and most situations, to where i can understand nearly everything... and my conversations are fluid, and only occasionally interupted by a request for clarification-- or that priceless look of complete incomprehension. i've stopped drooling as well, which helps things tremendously. i can think of few greater senses of satisfaction than that of beginning to feel that you are mastering another language. joey sent this URL today... this chick rocks. i wonder how many marriage proposals she's gotten. [Dad sez: 'what... from men that don't want kids?' roflmao] this city probably ranked as 'slowest internet connection' on earth in last month's yahoo mag. i can actually watch the packets coming down the wire. i'm homesick. i've been working on a top-ten list for latin america. here's a first cut:
10 best things about latin america
10 worst things about latin america here's a link to some of letterman's best lists... just for the hell of it ----------------------------- friends from home responded to the above comments with the following email:
Dear dan,
Reading in your journels I found two points of intersest. First
of all the point about the rabbits in bolivia are dying in large numbers
because they run out of food. Every species has a certain amount of
available nutrion needed to stay alive. The enviorment supplies this
amount and when the species reaches the point to which the enviorment
can no longer sustain them, we call this the species Carrying Capacity(
or K). The rabbits have hit their carrying capacity by growing to
rapidly and using up all their available resources. If the population
declines too quickly then extinciton can occur, due to the recources not
being able to replenish themselves before the population can recover.
Now to turn to humans. You mentiuon Peak oil in your journel and the
fact that we may have reached that point or soon will reached it. It is
interesting that although we don't consume oil (like food), we greatly
depend on it for survival. Humans unlike animals, have not only have
Nutritional carrying capacities but also Fuel Carrying capacities (as
well as other factors influencing our survival). Are we destined to
become the rabbits?
PS.
If you make it back to the states by May 2, we are having a party for
Flora and would love for you to be here. I hope you are being safe. and
we miss you!!
Love Brian and Flora
some good points... though i don't think i remember saying that the rabbits in bolivia are dying in large numbers at present. if so, this would truly be an odd coincidence, and certainly unfortunate for the rabbits. i promise to keep my eyes peeled though.
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