señor taco’s travels

src="/SenorTaco/fotos/spider_leaf.jpg" alt="Spider in a leaf house" />

Photo by Dan Weeks

A spider nestled in a leaf house. Taken in a garden in Marin.

Keith and I, wanting to snowboard a lot more this upcoming season,
searched out a house in the Lake Tahoe area. We found one in the href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=tahoe+city,+ca&spn=0.131230,0.237768&hl=en">Tahoe
City area. It’s a nice place and so far the relator has been nice
to deal with. Now we just need to get everyone that was interested in
it before to confirm and we’re good to go.

I can’t wait for the season to start. We’ll have the house from
January through April and I know that I’ll get up there a lot more.
Not having to worry about finding or the cost of a hotel (which are
usually crappy) will be great.

What the hell is wrong with people in the United States? Why is it acceptable
to throw trash on the ground at all?

Last weekend I was in Berkeley and a guy
was crossing the street opening a pack of cigarettes. First he removes the
wrapper and then tosses it on the ground. Then he removes the inner foil and
throws it on the ground. All this as he’s crossing the street and walking
right at a trash can. Why dump it when he could have just put it in the
rubbish bin. I actually felt like taking a bat and beating him until he
learned not to litter, but that would make me no better than him.

Today a woman walking down the street finished a drink and tossed the
container against a building. Huh? Just carry it until you get to throw it
out. It’s not that hard.

The cap of all of this was at the taco truck.
They not only are parked right next to a city provided trash can, but they
also provide their own trash can to make sure there isn’t an overflow. A guy
gets his food, squeezes some lime on top and then tosses the lime half on the
ground. He was standing right next to the trash can. When I asked him why
he did that he told me to mind my own business and started stuffing his face
with his tacos. When his back was turned I picked up the lime half and slipped
it into his backpack. We’ll see how he likes my own business.

I’ve already mentioned
that New Zealand was clean. It was damn clean where I went. Now on my return
to the US I’m finding I am totally disgusted by the litter and trash and
disregard for society. I don’t know what has caused it, but it makes me
sick to think about it. What is it? Race? Economic status? Upbringing? Some
combination of the three? Do people feel slighted and like they’re rebelling
against the authority rather than slowly destroying their own homes? I hate
to say this, but trying to find a job in New Zealand is looking better and
better. I’m sure society in NZ isn’t ideal or perfect and has its share of
problems too, but it sure seems like a great place to live.

At home my roommate got a href="http://www.fitter1.com/bongo-board.html">Bongo Board to
improve balance. It is a little tricky to get used to it at first (as
evidenced by two friends that have gotten on it and promptly fallen
off and onto the concrete floor in our place) and I used to put it on
a piece of carpet or a really thick towel to slow it down.

I didn’t use the board much in the last couple of months and this
weekend was the first time I got back on it since coming back from New
Zealand. I felt like my balance got better while riding in NZ but I
had nothing other than my rides on the href="http://www.bart.gov/">BART where I stand and don’t have to
hold on to bolster that perception. Well, when I stepped up to the
Bongo Board this weekend on the concrete I was able to just balance on
it (centered and offset), roll it around, and keep from busting my
butt. I’m happy I have better balance now. Losing weight, a proper
stance, and more confidence on the slopes all contributed I’m sure.

Next, the href="http://www.tikitouring.co.nz/images/circus-highwire.jpg">highwire,
right?