Heathen is the new black.: September 2012

I would like to take a moment to talk about one of my favorite shows! HOARDERS! I specifically am fascinated with the one on A&E. I watch this show enough to know the names of the Doctor's names and the other people that help out in the show.

I am going to take a moment to tell you all why exactly I like this show. I find it is very curious that the casual observer woud think these people's problems are simple to solve yet in reality the problem is deciptively complex. To most people, to solve the problem the guy just has to clean up after him/herself. That is not the case. The hoard itself is a physical manifestation of someone having a disorder(s). You can clean it up but the people will immediately hoard it up if they don't get the mental help they need.

The episodes are all different and each case have different challenges. One thing that makes it even more fascinating is that not all of the people can clean their house which reflects reality. Not everyone has a happy ending. Sometimes, the house is so fucked up they can't go back!

Each episode has common thread: taumatic event(s) causing the person to hoard. It may be a divorce, problem marriage, death(s), drug addiction(s), and depression or a combination. After these events, apparently if you don't get help, your brain makes an alternative reality. The other common thread is that their families are severely dysfunctional to the point where they are clueless how bad a member of the family is living.

What makes me sad is when these people involve children and pets. There was this episode where this guy loves rats. So his pets got out of their cages and then OVERTOOK the house. There were rats EVERYWHERE. In the walls, attic, all over the place. There was another episide where the owner's house was overrun by rabbits.

Some people are attached to every single item. For some reason they associate the item with someone or some event and relive that event by touching that object. They are scared to throw out that possession because they don't want to forget that memory.

Some people can't distinguish garbage. Some people find self identity with their possessions. In their logic the more stuff they have the "richer" they are. Some people get a high off purchasing good deals and they keep on buying to keep that high. Some people grow up very poor and never want to end up like that again, so they save everything "just in case".

Lots of times, the people are just depressed and don't take care of themselves, or their house. They just give up on life. They just throw their trash anywhere and forget about it.

What blows my mind is the fact that most of these people are cool with sleeping with feces nearby. Their noses get used to smelling shit all the time that they don't notice it! That is just a testament of the human body adapting to the surrounding.

Hello everyone in Internet-Land! I just got back from Puerto Rico (PR) and I had a great time. People say that PR is the Hawaii of NYC and that makes sense because it is less than 4 hours from NYC. For me it was a 10 hour ordeal. When you first arrive, the humidity hits you like a train. 90 degrees with 50% humidity is definitely not fun. From what I understand, peak season is late November to Springtime. We went there off-peak to save some $$$, and that we did! First up is that we rented a car. We somehow upgraded from a POS to a Kia.

This HZK 375 was my primary mode of transport in the "Enchanted Island"

The Kia was nothing spectacular. We actually racked up nearly 400 miles in a weeks worth and this is the best way to get around if you don't want to take the tour bus. Speaking of driving, from what people told me, PR has come a long way and that doesn't surprise me. All the roads were pretty decent. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the local drivers. I am amazed how much of a hurry these islanders are in because they love to cut people off yet don't love to use their turn signal. Speaking of signal, they could use some more left turn arrows as well as stop signs, actually some more signs in general would be great. There are parts of the island where there are no signs! Actually these people have a wierd address system. Actually more specifically, THEY LACK ADDRESSES. Google maps is just somewhat helpful to get around. Even Google can't figure this island out. On the good side, the island is small so you should be able to find where you have to be. Worst case scenario ask a local. Most of the people know both English and Spanish and are super friendly.

First stop was Bebo's BBQ. This is close to San Juan airport and next to the car rental place. So if you are renting a car, go here!

Bebos, BBQ. Where the locals eat!

Rotissary Chicken. We had half a chicken

Roasted Pork. I had some of this too

Sausage and the Blood Sausage ont he right. Had them both.

So we had 2 full plates of ribs, pork, rice, yuca plus 2 beers, with a grand total of $14. Wow. The bathroom was deplorable. If you go to Bebos' go the bathroom first and bring yourself some wet wipes.

Next up is the SuperMax!

This supermarket was in the nice area of PR, Condado. Very touristy! I did note that the Blockbuster was open, but didn't have time to check it out. This was an interesting supermarket for a couple of reasons. First of all, they had valet parking.

When was the last time you saw valet parking at a supermarket? This was a first for me.

Sorry for my finger blocking the picture.

They had a "Gaurd Tower" in the middle of the parking lot.

Look at that green thing in the midde. Hmmmmmm

Inside, things were definitely not cheap. I noted Paula Deen pushing chicken.

Since when is Chicken vegetarian? Hmmmmm

Edy's looks like Dryer's. And for $7.

Hello Kitty hair care!

These beer cans are only 8 ounces, as opposed to the normal 12OZ.

This looked interesting. Cream of corn cereal?

Mufungo! This is what PR is all about. Smashed Plaintains with some steak.

Good Stuff. This plate was $20!

That $20 plate comes with an awesome view!

They have different condiments in PR. Mayo Ketchup? Kind of funky. Not bad though.

Here is a fried fish plate. The fried cakes on the left is from yuca. Very tasty!

Subway is very similar to the new ones in the USA.

They do not have the $5 foot long but they did have this cheap special!

Different flavor of chips for the locals!

They offered smoothies here!

Here was our home away from home for a week.

You can see it on google maps.

http://goo.gl/maps/v2pnN

Casino across the bridge!

Mini mufungo with ropa vieja. Good stuff.

The local authorities have a high powered boats! Note the boat between the rocks.

I zoomed in on the Police boat.

Note the buildings are the same as the ones above the Police one above.

Here is the view from our room to the right. Note the bridge. That is the same from 5 photos above. The ad for El Yunque is their national rainforest. I have some photos you will see below. The building across has the casino, 2 pools, and beach.

Here is an artistic picture.

Here is looking to the left. Compare the buildings to the beach pics above.

Here an artistic pic looking left.

We checked out the rainforest, el Yunque (Yoon-ke). Very cool.

I read that there are no dangerous animals living in the rainforest.

You see lots of these guys.

Rainforest. You can barely see the ocean in the middle.

Kitty.

Yokahu Tower.

View from the top.

Here is the same pic as above but zoomed in.

It took about 45 minutes of a walk through a rainforest to see this waterfall. Definitely not for the novices.

Next up is the Bacardi Factory Tour!

Find it on Google maps!

http://goo.gl/maps/dvQqp

Unfortunately they have EXTREME security measure in place. You can only go to certain spots and you can only take pictures in certain areas. That is the bad part. The good part is that you get 2 free drinks! If you have the need for more, you can get mojitos for $10 and they come with a nice souvenir glass. Afterwards, you will be in a great mood to check out the tour.

When you park your car, you walk to this strange structure.

There are 2 bars there and employees that will let you know what the deal is.

One bar is for your 2 free drinks (they only give you 2 drink coupons.)

If you wanna drink more buy some mojitos. $10 and you get to keep the glass!

The flags were flown at "Half staff" in rememberance for Patriot Day.

In the tour, they re-create a bar in the 20's and teach you how to make a Cuba Libre, Mojito and how they made Daqueries originally. They also explained how they got their names too. Unfortunately you cannot drink here. I bet some of the employees get crunk here.

Here is another photo of the bar.

In the backround is their original distilling facility.

At the end of the tour, you get dropped into the gift shop, naturally. The prices where very good and you can get your people all kinds of stuff including zippos, umbrellas, shirts, golf stuff, pens, hats, and of course alcohol. No Costco sized bottles though.