Our New Office

September 4th, 2008. When we first got to Lake Tahoe, we were told about meat bees. Evidently, if you eat meat outside (like if you order suasage for breakfast and you’re sitting on the deck) “meat bees” will come up to your breakfast and abscond with a tiny little piece of meat. Talk about creepy. I already dislike bees and wasps – now you’re telling me there are meat-eating bees?! No thanks.

Next up, bats. Sara saw a bat somewhere. Evidently there are plenty of bats in and around Lake Tahoe. I don’t mind them too much – it’s not like they’re South American vampire bats that spread rabies – but I’m not in love with them or anything. Sara is totally creeped out by them.

When we first got to the house, we were told about bears. Bears that like food. Bears that like trash. Bears that have broken into the neighbor’s house – twice. We now understand why there’s a big bulky box out front with a lock – that’s to keep the bears out of the trash.

Bears.

Bats.

Meat bees.

Exciting times.

Did I mention just how dark it gets here at night? It’s like we’re in the middle of the woods or something…(humor). But seriously it’s pitch black – I’m truly uncomfortable here at night. Between the animals and the fact that it’s so remote, so dark, and so quiet, it’s sort of scary. It’s the kind of place a serial killer would choose for his victims. I’d be much more comfortable at a condo in a big city.

Which brings me to my point – it’s all about perspective. Some people are scared when they hear car alarms, random shouting, and police sirens, but I can sleep right through it. Other people are scared of meat bees, bears, bats, quiet, and eerie deep-woods darkness.

But isn’t everyone scared of bears? At least there are a lot of stray dogs around – if I was a bear I would be more interested in a tasty Labrdor Retriever than a smelly human. Hopefully the bears feel the same way.

Today was an interesting day with more animal interactions than I’ve had since we got here.

It started while I was in the kitchen gearing up to cook some breakfast. I looked over at the sink and couldn’t help but notice something big and brown on the counter in front of the microwave. On closer inspection it was a cockroach the size of my thumb flailing about on its back. I managed to get out a few “eeks” and then grabbed the can of bug killer. I’m normally not real big in to killing bugs, but this particular bug I was really into killing.

Once that was over Jason came to the rescue by putting the roach in the trash and then taking it somewhere far far away…a/k/a the trash out back.

Next, we got our pool gear and walked out the front door. Jason immediately noticed a green lizard on our stoop. Finally, a lizard nice enough to let us take his picture. Here he is lookin’ good.

After we got that long-awaited photo out of the way, we headed toward the beach. We no longer have our mini-car so we walked to the Radisson where we planned to hang out at the pool for awhile. We’ve found a couple of short cuts that allow us to bypass the Wendy’s parking lot and the crazy intersection without a crosswalk, which makes the walk a little nicer. As we were strolling through the grass we managed to spook a lizard, much like the one we saw on the stoop, who ran from out of the grass and into the street where he was immediately smooshed by a passing car. The accident scene was not even five feet away from us and all we could do was look on in horror. Not to sound dramatic, but it might’ve been the saddest case of road kill I’ve been witness to.

We made it to the Radisson where in the lobby they had several different tropical birds hanging out, including some macaws and other “pretty” birds. One of the birds actually came right up to us and talked for awhile. Here they are showing off.

From here we continued on to the pool. Of course we aren’t allowed at the pool because we are not guests, but the pool at our place is a little boring so we decided to make up a story about our friends “Jill and Brad” who were staying at the Radisson and meeting us there “around noon.”

It was a lie we never had to use, but it made us feel better.

So between the two dead creatures and the the potential lying, we had some bad kharma coming our way. I think it came to us with the sun burns we ended up with. Hopefully we’re even now.

This is a picture of Jason reading a book about traveling to Southeast Asia while simultaneously getting a sunburn.

August 5th, 2008. Today was pretty awesome. We got some work done, rented a car, bought groceries for the next 3 weeks, snorkeled, and ate in. Nice.

Renting the car was an experience. First of all, I wanted the cheapest one they had. That turned out to be a Suzuki Alto.

The joke – “It’s like a car, only smaller.”

Driving this thing is like driving a go cart. The first dirt road I found I did a donut – just for the thrill. The engine screams at about 50mph, and when you drive the whole car feels like it’s really working. It’s nice – the A/C works well, and it corners pretty nicely. It’s a lot like a new toy.

Grocery shopping isn’t usually fun, but it was interesting today. Lots of strange brands and labels, and lots of mysterious fish, poultry, and pork products. Ever seen the whole forearm of a pig wrapped in plastic wrap? Me neither until today.

After groceries, it was time to have fun. We bought some snorkeling gear and hit the water. We found a popular snorkeling spot (Malmok beach we think) and Sara and I took a bunch of pictures with an underwater disposable camera. Can’t wait to post them.

I’m still on Denver time, so I was up pretty late – about 1am EDT. As I’m getting ready for bed, I decide I want a cold glass of water. For some reason, the water that comes out of the kitchen sink isn’t cold. It isn’t hot either – it’s lukewarm. It doesn’t matter which faucet you turn – it’s lukewarm. The only place to get cold water is in the bathroom sink. As I’m leaving the bathroom, something in the tub catches my eye.

ROACHES! Two of them – and they’re pretty big.

I decide to kill them the old fashioned way (with a giant wad of toilet paper). I reach down to snag one and it takes off like a racehorse. “These #$%^ are fast!” I say to myself. I track them both down and kill them. The next question: Where did they come from? I scan the ceiling, the walls, inspect the bathroom window, and find nothing. Then, I notice a couple of antenna peaking out from underneath the bathtub’s shutoff valve.

After unsuccessfully trying to burn the roach(es) out of this fixture with a barbecue lighter, I decide the only thing to do is to go buy some bug spray. Knowing Sara as I do (who is asleep in the next room this whole time, by the way), I’m fairly confident finding a roach in the bathtub tomorrow will ruin her morning. The only way to be safe is to buy some industrial bug spray and kill them with extreme prejudice.

The local gas station is open at 1am and they sell me bug spray. I return, enter the bathroom, and find one more roach in the tub. Time to die. I blast it, and in the chaos of this chemical attack two more roaches scurry out of the drain – they’re everywhere! I kill these two, but I’m a little worried about tomorrow. That’s five dead roaches total, and where there’s five, there’s fifty. Because of the late hour (and my tired brain) I decide that leaving two dead roaches in plain sight will act as a warning to the rest.

So I leave a note on the bathroom door for Sara. It reads“Roaches! Bug spray on bathroom counter, two dead guys in tub. Gross.”