at least it's a tiny step forward (i guess?).

"telecommunications monopoly empresa de telecomunicaciones de cuba s.a., or ETECSA said it would allow the general public to sign prepaid contracts in cuban convertible pesos, which are geared toward tourists and foreigners and worth 24 times the regular pesos cuban state employees are paid in....

....a program in convertible pesos likely will ensure that cell phone service will be too expensive for many cubans, but ETECSA's statement said doing so will allow it to improve telecommunication systems using cable technology and eventually expand the services it offers in regular pesos."

ewwwwww!!!

how can i use this to my advantage?

bring it on!

28

first day of spring. doesn't feel like it. true, it doesn't go from cold to hot in 24 hours, but:

snow.is.on.the.ground! doh!!!

last night, the rain turned to snow and continued snowing for i don't know how long. i only know that when i woke up this morning, the ground was covered with the white stuph.

in other news, i had another crossfit workout last night and scored 238 on the "fight gone bad" routine. killed me. literally...ok, not that extreme, but i was beyond thrashed. feel good though. no soreness (yet) . . .

i survived my first crossfit workout today. when i first arrived, i met the trainers, derek and christmas. the first thing that i learned was the proper technique for a squat. i learned where my "sticky spot" is and how to kip. the kipping technique is still lost on me, but with continued practice, hopefully i will be able to get it down.

we warmed up and then continued on with the workout called the "tabata". my score afterwards was 231. i don't know if that is a good number or not, but again, with practice, i'm hoping that i can bring that number higher.

after class was finished, derek showed us the proper way to execute a lift and christmas and i talked about the thought behind crossfit.

it was good...

our air ducts are being cleaned today. the vacuum is so loud and noisy, i have to wait until he is done before i can hear any of my programs.

i just thought of elaine benes when she was getting a new phone number and was thinking to herself about the phoneman: "i wonder if anyone would notice if he suddenly disappeared?"

hmmmm, thought provoking. . .

yesterday was a beautiful day. the sun was out, the sky was blue. a pleasant 52°f. true, there were clouds roaming and floating by, but the sun was out.

i spent about three hours raking the backyard, trying to dethatch it and pull out all the dead grass. it's taken me three sessions so far. we have a lot and it has been taking a while to finish, but i think i got the majority out and it will only take one more session. then i get to move on to the front yard and start raking all of that dead stuff out.

our backyard has morphed into a different yard every year. the first year, the yard was non-existent. much landscape raking and dirt hauled it, then seeding it gave us our grass. over the years, a pergola, trees, bonsai table, rose bushes, flowers, plants and a garden have taken over. hoefully the wisteria will cover the pergola this year and create a shady refuge.

apparently others had the same idea of working in their yards yesterday. both of my next door neighbors had an agenda for getting a jump on getting yards ready. . .

i've been playing phone tag with my aunt who lives in california for the last month. last night, my cell chimed and it was her. finally made contact. we talked for about 25 minutes and caught up on things. how everything is going in each other's lives and this and that. i told her that it is finally warming up and it was around 50° and she laughed. it's been in the 70s there.

on my igoogle, i keep tabs on my hometown, cancun, singapore and india, just to see the difference on weather. it's supposed to be 77° where my aunt lives and 48° here. i'm just counting the days until flip flop weather is upon us. . .

the cuban black market: petrol and internet.

just to spoil your day...

indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull. hmmm, interesting. i like in raiders when the nazis become shrinky dinks.