A day in the life

Cleef

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Feb 24, 2002
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I'm wondering if anyone would be willing to help add to a blog in this section about daily life in the DR.

For those wondering, or even (gulp) dreaming and planning on moving here, the one common piece of advice is to visit, get a feel for the everyday life here.

Perhaps with a consistent and steady stream of blogs on what catches your attention, makes you pause, or has you considering jumping on the next plane out of here, we can add to the knowledge base of potential sudo-suitors.

So please, add a story of your own.

Hopefully with the help of our Moderator, we can avoid people piling on their judgements of people's posts and just accept them for what they are, just one mans' (or womens') impression of their day/life here on the pile of coral.

If you really have nothing to say, then do us a favor and not give us wordy evidence of that fact.

Thanks.
 
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Cleef

Bronze
Feb 24, 2002
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Here Co?o, here boy!

In the first month here, my next-door neighbor was always out front putting together his car ? he had it running on everything but gas and banana peels. He?d get it running and broken down in the same day, week after week. The street was always littered with parts; the engine was literally in the road more than it was in the car. But I digress.

He spoke a Spanglish that reminded me of Cheech and Chong, like an American trying to do a really bad Mexican Spanish. It worked; I got most of his points.

He had an assortment of dogs around his yard and they were all named Co?o. They were always in the way or in the street and there would be an incessant barrage of ?Co?os? and other words directing the dog back in the yard or out of the way. I thought that was a neat name, easy enough to remember, I think some people I work with are named similarly. It was as common as Julio, Juan and Veina as far as I was concerned.

So I?m outside one day minding my own business and others as well, when I get a call ?hola rubio?. ?Hola? I banter back. My neighbors? mom it seems is having some computer trouble and she knows I work with them, and wants my help. I head over to see what?s the matter and Co?o and his brothers greet me at the door.

I kneel down and say ?Hola Co?o, hey boy, come here Co?o? while clapping my hands and making the assorted dog calls and commands. I stand up with a broad smile expecting to get the same, I didn?t.

That?s the day I learned that Co?o is not a dog?s name.
 

Cleef

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Feb 24, 2002
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So I?ve just moved here, don?t know a lick of Spanish beyond Arny?s lines ?hasta la vista baby? and what I picked up from a few Cheech and Chong movies.

In short order I make nice with the neighbors, trying to get a read on what I?m involved in. After just a couple weeks I realize that you can pretty much do what you want in your barrio; burn trash, blast music, rip up the street to connect some sort of maze of tubing, drains, whatever.

Wild dogs, piles of trash, and stickball in any open space available are all the norm. Cars that have lived far beyond their projected lifespan held together with tape and hopes are not only around, they abound. Can?t help but notice cars that really don?t fit either; I mean why would someone lower their car and put ferrings and outrageously loud and low hanging exhaust pipes on ? with speed bumps and gutters that are hardly passable with an M-1.

I don?t pretend to know, but they are common, as are horse wagons manufactured with axles of old vehicles, scraps of wood and a strong sense of humor. They carry whatever fruits they can sell, or dirt, or whatever needs to get from A to B.

Are these legal for the road? How do they get through inspection? Where do you put a parking ticket? On the horse?s head? You?d think they?d stick to back streets, that?s hardly the case, I?ve seen them on every major road.

How about riding ON the vehicle as opposed to in it? I saw a rack body truck filled with platanos to the point it was 6 feet above the 12ft. racks. There was enough green banana to fill another truck of the same type. If that wasn?t enough to catch your eye - as it made a corner that you swear was going to tip it ? is that sitting on top of the towering inferno of green were 3 youngsters having a grand old time from their elevated perches above all. Must be nice to be young again.

The freedom of your imagination and ways on this lush pile of coral are inexplicable at times, but that?s part of the charm I guess. However, I?m puzzled at the shock and awe of death here. I?ve seen one horrific motoconcho wipeout after another and yet people are always so taken aback and sad when death makes it?s presence felt.

If you have 3 on a motorcycle and you?re flying through traffic and then get flattened by an intersecting car ? one that had the ?right of way? - why get so upset when the contorted bodies are impaled on medians and light poles? Didn?t you get the memo?

The law of averages ? or perhaps the law of inevitability will get you if you continue to not only flirt with disaster, but date it?s sister too. I?m just confused by the lack of acceptance of probability. If you beg for death and get it, why act like a victim? Why me? Why me? Well, umm, you begged for it.
 

andy a

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Feb 23, 2002
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I'm not sure whether you want comments, but I'll be the first to offer applause!

BTW all those junky cars have one thing at least that works - the blasted horn. There are special "in the street" garages that seem to specialize on making the horns work louder. A single car will sit there for hours with an attendant repeatedly honking it, making adjustments, then doing it again.

Presumably the car itself would be junked if somehow the horn didn't work.


Edited for a typo.
 
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Cleef

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Feb 24, 2002
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It ain't easy being a gringo!

#3
Another oddity that I haven?t completely grasped is the idea that $200 pesos once every other month is more valuable than $600 a month. Just call me crazy and get it over with.

We?d hired a man to cut our lawn and keep the landscape respectable. Only problem is that he would show up when it was entirely convenient for him, so sometimes he had to do 3 times the work, because it had been 6 weeks since his last visit.

I somehow came up with this bright idea - again, call me crazy - to make him an offer, which was not only sensible, it was profitable and everyone would benefit from it. Instead of coming once every whenever, would he come every 10 days or so and keep the place looking really good. We?d pay him $300 on the 15th and $300 on the 30th, just like everyone else.

The answer was a flat no. ?I just want my $200 now?.

So perhaps there was a language problem, I had one of my local friends explain it to him in Dominican. Still a flat ?no?. He couldn?t be convinced that we?re offering steady work/pay, all the coconuts you can harvest and all the mangos you want. I?d always given him water and any leftovers that lunch would produce so he was treated very well.

None of it mattered, and not only did he refuse, he never came back.

Go figure.

On another occasion we?d just come back from doing errands and find the house help had come by to do their bi-weekly moving of the dirt. As my roommate heads up to his room, he?s horrified to hear his Waterpic toothbrush in high gear. As he approaches the bathroom, his horrific assumptions were one bettered. No, she wasn?t washing the sink with his brush, something far more diabolical. She was brushing her teeth. If that wasn?t enough to set you off, she?s completely offended that she?s just been fired.

My friend had been sick for a straight month so his imagination was running wild, and unhealthy.

She then claims that she?s calling the ?Department of Labor? because she wants her pay and an additional year?s worth of wages.

Wow, it ain?t easy being a gringo, do we all look this stupid?
 
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Cleef

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Feb 24, 2002
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"Naylu"

When I lived in Boston I'd lose my nut if the electricity was ever out. Of course when you work from home, "naylu" is not an easy problem to overcome. I even went so far as to complain to Boston Edison about the amount of work I'd lost on one occasion. As incredible as this sounds now, they would then alert me to upcoming service so that I could plan my work accordingly. I can't believe I had it that good, and still thought it an inexplicable inconvenience.

I didn't even know what an inversor was, and (a) UPS was a shipping company, so when the power went out, that was that.

Since moving here, I know that (a) UPS is a backup battery and an inversor can mean the difference between taking a shower in the dark (giving new meaning to "don't drop the soap") knowing you only have about 45 seconds of water to get all the hard to reach spots before the built up pressure offers nothing but a drip (the shower, not me).

With the knowledge that the power supply is only going to get worse and not better, I planned ahead last night and bought 4 Presidentes and 12 candles. I had to have light to at least read. Our inversor is hanging by a thread and hasn't been fully charged in quite sometime. Normally it could offer 6 solid hours of computer, TV, fans, etc. That has now been reduced to a couple hours at best.

As the twilight faded I began having a hard time just getting through the long-winded introduction to Tom Sawyer, so I hit the bottle.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't looking for the buzz, I just had nothing to put the candles in. So after putting two down - piss warm of course as the Colmado is "naylu" too - I was ready to read by candlelight, just like the Taino's must have.......

So that's a typical Wednesday night in the capital nowadays. Reading by candlelight the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, with warm beer and a nice cool breeze - the weather has been wonderful lately - in stark contrast to the more palpable social/political climate.

Before you make that leap to paradise, consider this; taking showers in the dark, throwing out your groceries after they spoil, reading by candlelight, not having enough power to move the fan while you sleep - to avoid feeding the next generation of mosquitos, having no water pressure to move the water - no toilet flushing, showers, dishes, brushing your teeth. And worst of all WARM BEER - that now costs 28 pesos!

Can these challenges be dealt with and partly overcome? Sure, where there is a will there is a way. But where there is a way there is a cost, fiscal certainly, but often more taxing is the mental strain of knowing that if it isn't the power, it's the water or the cost, or something else.

The saying being "it's always something".

There is something to be said for being able to count on power, water, police, firemen, passable roads, integrity, fiscal stability. Keep that in mind before you leap.

So, if you want to live here, bring your dollars, bring your sense of humor and most of all, bring a huge reserve of patience and perserverance, sans that, keep that return ticket in your front pocket.
 

Jwb

New member
Jan 10, 2002
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Great storties Cleef

Keep'em coming, the "Naylu" one was quite funny. Your post reminds me of Timex's first piece.

Two more good ones, and you may get yourself promoted to........................ "Sticky" status.
 

andy a

Bronze
Feb 23, 2002
532
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Another good one, Cleef.

Concerning doing things by candlelight, I have a solution for the ones that listen - LED flashlights. They are super efficient by being more nearly monochromatic - not wasting bandwidth, so to speak.

They can be found on the web. One brand in particular is Lightwave. Lightwave claims that a hand held (pocket carried) model with 3 AA alkaline cells will illuminate continuously for 14 days. I use it myself. I have also seen US troops using it in news clips. Its slightly off-white, bluish tint light is bright enough to read up close. It has a usable range of 30 feet or more. It certainly beats candles. Who wants to mess with candles anyway, or even try to light them with humidity soaked cardboard matches (use wooden ones, at least)?

There are also miniature LED flashlights that can be carried on a keychain or worn around the neck at all times.

If lack of light makes going to the toilet a problem for you, think what those without indoor plumbing have to go through regularly. Many of them use chamber pots at night to avoid having to go to the outhouse in the dark. Think what a nice present it would be to give an LED flashlight to a Dominican. It would be much more appreciated than the trinkets so many people take down.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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Cleef, keep going with the blogs. I don't think it is a joke about a book. So many crappy expat memoirs type efforts are published, and in this case it is really good. If I'd kept my 'first impressions' e-mails from when I first arrived I'd add them to the collection.

Chiri
 

andy a

Bronze
Feb 23, 2002
532
0
0
Texas Bill,

You can do a search on "lightwave flashlight" and get various websites.

One in particular that has a pretty good explanation, but maybe not the best prices is:
http://www.lightwave-me.com

The 3 AA model that I have for personal use is the 2000. I also use the keychain sized Pocket Bright.

A more generalized site, for finding other types and vendors, is http://www.ledmuseum.org

If you're going to sell them, it had better be to gringos. Dominicans don't have money, or if they do, it goes for Brugal and Presidente first, as you very well know.

Edited for a typo.
 
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D & D

New member
Jul 17, 2003
239
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Woe is me!

This is a letter I sent to our family after being here for about three months. I was sitting here logging on to sites in the Atlanta area just to see pictures of home and feeling sorry for myself when I wrote this.

Hello all:

Danny and I were talking last night and I've decided my two biggest bitches about living here are boredom and lack of "quiet". These goddamn people can't listen to music unless it's blasting at 200 decibels. They spend more money on speakers than food! They can no longer talk in a conversational tone of voice due to generations of being blasted with noise levels consistent with an airport runway, a BUSY airport runway....Mufflers are something that crazy people wear who live in the northern territory, and then there's the headlights and tail lights, or lack thereof, that also contribute to the screeching of worn out brakes when people run up on each other in the dark.

Our house sits right on the street with another that intersects (3 way) and basically dead ends in front of our door. Every kid in the neighborhood, from 2 to 18 years old, hangs out on our corner and plays stickball or basketball. The ones who aren't playing are screaming as loud as the ones who are because a; they aren't allowed to participate or b; yelling encouragement to the ones who are. The parents could give a shit less, because as long as they are out in the street, they (the parents) can enjoy their ear shattering music without being bothered by children.

Next on the list is boredom. What can I say? This is the most boring place I have ever been. We can't leave the house for very long, due to mother. So, that precludes any overnight trips to see other parts of the island unless we take her with us and that's not happening! We're afraid she'll either run Elizabeth (the housekeeper) off, or we'll come back to find half of our things missing. Mother is determined to convince us that Elizabeth is a thief so we'll fire her. To that end, she is constantly stealing little things from us and also complains and accuses Elizabeth of stealing things from her (lipstick, toothpaste, etc.). Mother, unfortunately, takes great pride in trying to make our lives as miserable as hers and it has long past worn thin. I can't convince Danny to throw her out as he seems to think she can't afford to live anywhere else. The truth is, no one would have her even if she paid! Lucky us.

But, I digress, Back to boredom. I miss working. Never thought I'd say that. I'm not sure if it's work I miss or just having something to do everyday. The money was also nice. For me, or anyone in my position with no Spanish, working is impossible. Even if you could find something, making an average of US$1.50 an hour isn't exactly appealing. Starting a business is cost prohibitive so I read, play on the internet, cuss mother, my hair, the heat and the country in general.

Going into Santiago is good for an adrenalin fix for a little while. As I've said before, driving here is an adventure all in itself. Those with even minor heart problems or anyone having an innate fear of dying are strongly discouraged from participating in the country wide demolition derby. I do it anyway. I cross myself, throw in a few hail Mary's, kiss the Star of David, say In'shala, rub Buddha's belly and call on all my spirit guides for protection and then head out.

On a more positive note, we went to the local high school and talked to an English teacher about Spanish lessons. Roya (the instructor) will be here beginning this week for my lessons. He will be coming to the house two days a week (Tuesday & Thursday) in an attempt to actually teach me the language. I am hoping to at least pick up something, but I have no illusions of ever being proficient. My brain and tongue simply do not co-operate. We'll see.

We're still getting a nightly thunderstorm. My poor beans have root rot and aren't looking so good. I did pick enough for Danny and I to have for dinner today. Another high note. I found some imported, pre-packaged sirloin burgers at Pricesmart. Boy are they good! The beef here sucks big time and I was starting to have beef withdrawal. They also have whole NY strips (choice not prime) at the National, but at US$85 to US$90 each and add to that freezer burned, we're not apt to be buying those very often. Not much freezer space anyway. For steaks, we go to the Cosa Nostra once in awhile. Barbara gets her meat from the states and makes a mean b?arnaise.

I haven't been weight training for the last week or so. Not sure why, just not in the mood. I've got to get back into it though, I'm starting to feel crunchy. Haven't gained any weight, haven't lost any more either. Still have no clothes that fit. Most of the stuff you see here is stretch, faded to look old and worn, or "wanna be" street walker. They do have some nice shops, but they also have outrageous prices. Plain 100 percent cotton is very hard to find and to me, that's strange. Guess I'll have to drag out the sewing machine a see what I can cobble up. Hey, not a bad idea, at least that will be something to do. See boring.

Assuming the butter I left out for the cake hasn't melted and run on to the floor, guess I'd better go on downstairs and finish dinner. Our kitchen would give a sweat shop a good reputation. Can't wait for winter. A week or so ago, we had rain for several days straight and consequently cooler weather. All the locals were running around in long sleeved shirts and pants. Not me, I was in shorts and a tank top enjoying every minute of it, even if it was raining like hell! O'Reilly, being a gene jump Dominican dog, was shaking so that I had to wrap him in a towel. Poor thing will probably freeze when it does cool off.

Love to all,

Dianne
 

D & D

New member
Jul 17, 2003
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Another one after the earthquake...

Now we?ve got earthquakes! I was online long enough to get the following info. It was a 6.5 about 5 miles down. Villa Gonzalez was close the epicenter. Ain?t that just f**king ducky!!! It is now 9:30am and we just lost the phone. Big one happened about 1:00am and we?ve had quite a few after shocks. We were literally shaken out of the bed, O?Reilly started going nuts, doors banging, pot & pans falling out of the cabinets, we grabbed some clothes and ran out of the bedroom stark naked. Then, the damn door slammed with all our keys inside. Sooo, we?ve been up all night drinking coffee and watching umpteen movies. Had to wait for Elizabeth to get here to with her keys so we could get back in the bedroom. Lost regular power, but we have back-up. Came in handy last night. Now we have regular power, but no phones. What a life! No one said anything about this shit in the travel brochures?..Don?t like doing earthquakes, not me, no no no????.

Danny is now in bed, I?m really tired, but wired. Besides, mother is trying to lure Elizabeth in to clean her bedroom. No way! Danny and I both told her never to go in there again for any reason. If Elizabeth doesn?t go in her room, mother can?t accuse her of stealing. So we?ll probably have words about that shortly. I?m afraid to go to sleep for fear of what she will start.

The woman has no common sense. Right now, we?re low on water. Got a truck coming, but have no clue when they will be here. So what does my Dominican mother-in-law do? Her laundry, then takes down all her screens, brings them outside and washes them. Christ, what a pain in the ass!

Anyway, I?ll get this out as soon as I can. No telling when we?ll get the phone back. Take care.

Love ya,

Dianne
 

Cleef

Bronze
Feb 24, 2002
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Sony Play Station's "Santo Domingo Commute"

From an earlier post: Impression after 6 months

I can't help but think I'm in a video game while driving in Santo Domingo.

My joystick is an actual steering wheel, and the game even has AC -which is a must have- and a pretty good stereo. I actually have to put high priced (and watered down) gasoline in it.

I head down my street and the game begins. Watch out, they're unloading platanos in the middle of the street, I'd better get up on the sidewalk where it's safe.

I drive around the Botanico, and of course there's always a couple random cars/trucks coming the wrong way at me, "ha, una via only for you gringo" they chant.

I swerve to avoid a horse drawn "carriage" (a better description would be a platform of wood balancing on the axle of a 76 Ford Pinto) with two different sized tires - and no blinkers...... like they'd get used anyway?. Oh, and we're on 27th de Febrero now - a major highway.

A highway/taxi stand really. The entire right lane is at a standstill due to the 17 taxi's (is it "guagua's") trying to pick up 3 people. The left lane is at a snails pace - I mean a mule's pace - a mule towing a Ford Pinto.

Weeeeeeeeeee, let's get on Churchill. Funny thing is that they have painted these white dashes all the way up the street (they look just like lane markers) so that everyone can center their hood ornament right on them.

To score points you have to stay as close to the bumper in front of you without actually hitting it (whether it's at 3kph or 93 kph). If you so much as leave a foot of space you could have as many as 6 cars diving into your lane and that's -100 points each. If you get beeped at from behind that's an additional -100 points.

Another scoring mechanism is the ability to jump lanes continously to avoid potholes that are reminiscent of downtown Beirut. But be careful, every motoconcho you hit is -100 points. If you hit a coconut/naranja stand on wheels the games over and you have to purchase all the coconuts and squeeze all the oranges.

When you come upon a major intersection without operational traffic lights (oh, let's say 50% of them for arguements sake) you get 500 points for getting across in less than 4 minutes (during rush hour) - which incredibly seems to be from 8am - 8 pm. A 100 points for "off - hours" (no pun intended, kind of).

Upon arriving at your destination - usually late - subtract 75 points for each white knuckle. If you're still shaking after 15 minutes you have to start at level 1 again.

If I had anything left in my 401k I'd look into buying a helicopter.
 
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AZB

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
12,290
519
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A day in AZB's life.

Seems like after my fall which has almost broken my back, nothing seems to go right in my life for time being. Maybe a curse put on me by an ex-girlfriend. Who know.
Last night I was in my friend's new internet cafe business near PUCMM university (santiago). We were talking and I was checking out her PC machines and the cute girls who were coming in and out. I was surprised to see she had invested so much money into it (I was wondering if she was getting any return yet).
Anyway, we started talking about the movies and it turns out that she wanted to go see one right there and then. So I felt as if it was my lucky day. Since we had only less than 10 minutes to catch the next show, so we hurried and decided to go to the nearest Movie theather (Hollywood). I quickly drove there into the parking lot and to my misfortune the parking lot was full. But I was quickly pointed out a vacant space next to the garbage dump by the parking (illegal) attendent. I parked my car and we quicky went upstairs to catch the show. It turns out the movie was a total bore. My friend was kept sneezing and feeling cold from the blasting airconditioning. We decided to cut the movie short and I figured it would give me some extra time to take her to my house to try out my luck. She is a cute, educated girl from a very good family. She drives a 2003 model car and owns her own small internet cafe business (so you all know that I wasn't with a chopa). Anyway, every thing was HonkyDory; we were holding hands, she had her head rested on my shoulder. She was squeezing me tight. I was all set for the show in my room. I was imagining putting on the bellydance music and dimming the lights. I could almost feel her undulating body all over me as the music played on.... like Shakira.
My honeymoon soon came to a screetching halt when the girl screamed her lungs out and ran away from me towards the street. At first I thought someone had jumped on us and she got her purse taken away or something. I looked around and saw no one except she is running hysterically. At that point I saw some movement from the side of my eyes. God damn, (I jumped) my car had been hijacked by rats the size of small cats. I mean they were all around my car seeking food in the garbage bags. I panicked but I tried to keep my composure to calm the girl down and kept my distance from the freakin monsters. I threw some empty cans at them to have them scatter away. right when i thought the bastards were gone, I tried to approach my car in artificial calm. As I touched the door handle, out comes a freakin huge rat from the garbage bag below and runs right at my foot. I felt the damn thing crash in to me. I screamed like a little girl and ran away as far away from the little sh*ts as i could. Now we had a scene where all the cab drivers were rolling on the floor from laughter. Seems like this show had been repeated many times before. No wonder the parking spot was empty.
To make the long story short, I threw many stones and empty cans at those monsters and got them away from my car and then jumped in my car and closed the door really quickly. Now my friend won't get into the car thinking there might be one who might have sneaked in. I had to talk to her for a while to calm her down and let her come in. She was so shook up from the incident that she had her feet on the seat and constantly looking around for any unusual movement of any kind. Needless to say, I didn't even get to the first base. I was compelled to take the girl to her business where she had her car parked and i went home alone.
I remembered saying in one of my posts "never a dull moment in santiago".
 
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Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
21,843
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yahoomail.com
That is the BEST post you ever made!!

My mental image of you being attacted by "Giant Rats" is priceless!Seems that we have more than a few creative writers on DR 1 these days!!! cc

Can I have the girls phone #,I doubt she will be geting in your car anytime soon!
 

sjh

aka - shadley
Jan 1, 2002
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www.geocities.com
what a great story..... and for future reference, a great way to get rid of an unwanted date.

As I tell my family, life here isnt always good but it is always interesting.....