Howwwwler monkey

Friday, June 23

Well, this morning is my 47^th birthday, and while I don’t feel that old, I sure don’t like the sound of being “47.” Somehow being 46 and “mid-forties” felt a lot less than 47 and leaning toward “late-forties!” Then again, this may have something to do with having my peaceful sleep interrupted rather inconsiderately by a howler monkey this morning at 4:55am, just as the sky started to get light. I’ve heard them regularly in the distance from our house in the past, but today, he decided to set up shop within 100 meters of my bedroom window. For those of you who have not experienced a howler monkey’s vocalizations at close range, let’s just say they have unquestionably earned the designation “HOWLER” monkey! While the call of the howler doesn’t quite have the same quality that every parent recognizes in a screaming child (you know the one, where your stomach lurches and your brain immediately flashes, “Is that MY kid?”), it is several times as loud, and sounds much more threatening, sort of along the lines of the T-rex in Jurassic Park… Needless to say, it’s a rather jarring wake-up call!

The other bit of nature for the week is the little lizard above. I'm not sure what type he is, but for the second time one has wandered into the house (they come in under the door) looking for insects to eat. Not that I've got a lot of bugs in the house, but I think they bugs I do have are in places that the lizards find easy to cath them, like window sills. Unfortunately, the lizards (at least the kind with the long toe nails) then get stuck when they hit a slippery surface. This one got caught in the kitchen sink and couldn't get a grip on the stainless steel. So I helped him out!

At the Institute, the week has been rather busy, mostly with my student’s work. We have a presentation to our clients later this morning, and they have been in a nocturnal frenzy to finish their work. There must be something unique in the brain chemistry of 19-25 year-olds that compels college students to work primarily between the hours of 8:00pm and 5:00am, then sort of stumble through the daylight hours in a near zombie state. Nothing can convince them that more sleep would allow them to focus and be much more efficient during daylight, thus giving them plenty of time to sleep. We’ll see how it all goes today. For the most part, everything looks OK!

Tomorrow is my big adventure down the mountain to drop the car for its engine work. If all goes well, they will do a pretty complete overhaul, completely replacing the piston rings in each cylinder. I have my fingers crossed. At least whatever they do is free—it is all under warrantee right now. I’m mostly just hoping they actually DO the work, and don’t try to fake it by adding some “miracle” additive that masks the symptoms (poor compression & lack of power, as exhaust gasses blow by the piston rings into the crank-case on the power stroke, and lots of oil burning as it blows by the worn-out piston rings into the combustion chamber on the opposite stroke) for a month or two. After I drop of the car at the dealer, I’ve got about 3-4 hours to shop in downtown San Jose for whatever I can carry to the bus station. There are a bunch of things I need for the house that are hard to find in Monteverde, or should be MUCH cheaper in San Jose. We’ll see… Then I get to try the Public Bus back to Monteverde. I’ve never taken the public bus, as I’ve typically been a bit worried about its reliability, but I’m in no hurry tomorrow, so it seems like time to try it. Besides, the whole trip costs only $5.00 (compared with $30.00 for the private bus service), so it’s hard to beat. It will also be a good time to work on my Spanish, as there will likely be no one speaking English anywhere.

That’s it for now—more later in the weekend…