Just in case.....

Just in case you are worried - the Earthquake did not bother us down here in Cabo - didn't even know it happened til I glanced at the paper....

Can anyone say Miami Vice...

Imagine waking up every morning and having a cup of coffee in your infinity pool while gazing at the Pacific Ocean....yep that's how we start our days here in Cabo. Yesterday Karen our concierge came to meet with us and we got lots of good information from her. Bill Gates does have the house over by the rocks, also in that neighborhood Jennifer Anniston and George Clooney own homes. Paris Hilton is seen quite a bit downtown sporting a cocktail - we are the hunt for any of these folks! We pointed to a house "down the hill" that is MASSIVE and she said the owners x-wife owns it now. Apparently the owner and his wife started out with nothing and built this whole place and of course they are now worth a fortune. Somewhere along the way Mr let his buddy downstairs in on the act and WA-LA a new younger women in his life. Out with the old wife in with the new one. Only the old wife said "Go on with your bad self - leave me the house by the ocean and I'll be fine without you and your ways" so there she lives happily ever after with nothing but young pool boys to attend to her (Ok I made up the part about the pool boys....but it goes nice with the story)

So back to yesterday the four of us went to the welcome party at noon where they served us free margaritas and cervese - which is raw fish soaked in lime juice, diced up and served with diced up and shredded veggies....all in a margarita glass - nice presentation and it would have been delightful except for the cilantro - but I picked out as much as I could. After that we wanted to go to Rosa beach where you can actually swim in the ocean but had to wait an hour for the shuttle. Marge and Sue decided to check out some jewelry while Caroline and I decided to go to the pool. Big mistake for Caroline and I - we blew off Rosa beach and gave the day to margaritas and then the deathly Miami Vice's. After having our fill and meeting half the people at the pool we can home to our lovely villa - took showers and hailed a cab into town to the cutest little restaurant you could imagine. It was all open air - the roof was the big trees that were all over, with white lights shining every where. The mexcian musicians were singing their songs to all of the tables. An all together wonderful experience. Got home and crashed - hard!

Here is my advise to everyone - learn languages - any language because once you leave the US most people DON'T speak english! I'm charging my camera as I type and then maybe I'll be able to download some pictures and share....

WELCOME TO CABO SAN LUCAS

Hi Everyone - we made it safe and sound down to the tip of Mexico! When we arrived at the airport we had to wait for about an hour for Carolyn to get in so we sat in the cocktail lounge (and I use that term very loosely)and enjoyed - what else? A Corona! Anyway Carolyn arrived in all her glory and we proceeded to get our ride to the 'villa'. We asked the driver to stop at Walmart so we could pick up some groceries and he was more than nice about stopping. Once inside we were a little bit surprised to see everything in Spanish! You think you know your food until you try to figure it out in another language. But we succeeded - got our "stuff" and headed to the land of the rich and famous. When we walked in the villa we were blown away! It is an unbelievable place. Tastefully done and so so nice. The ocean view is a delight. The pool? Beautiful - I woke up this morning looked outside and there were Marge, Sue and Carolyn relaxing in the pool with a cup of coffee. We made a great breakfast and made our way down to Sunset Beach - which is kind of an oxymoron because no one goes to the beach - everyone goes to the pool. You can't get in the ocean because the under tow is so strong - so Sunset Beach is Sunset pool - with a swim up bar and a wonderful restaurant and lots of friendly staff to grant your every desire. We spent the day at the pool. Now we are home - still full from lunch and relaxing in the infinity pool and hot tub - oh - it is hard to be rich! I'll try and download some pics later tonight and post them so you can see this place! We are living in the lap of luxury and it is FUN!
p.s. Bill Gates has a home right next to our complex...
p.p.s. We met some people that went fishing yesterday and caught 4 or 5 fish and stripped one of them and cooked it for dinner last night - they also saw whales and lots of dolphin...we are going to go to the marina tomorrow and see if we can rent a boat and do the same thing.

In our democracy, 1 percent of the people take a quarter of the nation’s income—BUT what does this mean to me?

All quotes taken from Joseph E. Stiglitz - Professor at Columbia Business School. The article I read was very good, but probably too long for people to sit down and read. I'm going to give you some of the highlights - if it peaks your interest then please read the full article. We can doing something. I'm not sure what that is yet - but when I find out I'll pass it on. We cannot sit around and let 1% of our population control the rest of us. Democratic? Republican? I don't think it matters anymore - we need to get people in Washington who aren't rich, who can't be bought and who want to get America back to a fair playing field.

http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105?currentPage=1

A modern economy requires “collective action”—it needs government to invest in infrastructure, education, and technology. The United States and the world have benefited greatly from government-sponsored research that led to the Internet, to advances in public health, and so on. But America has long suffered from an under-investment in infrastructure (look at the condition of our highways and bridges, our railroads and airports), in basic research, and in education at all levels. Further cutbacks in these areas lie ahead.

None of this should come as a surprise—it is simply what happens when a society’s wealth distribution becomes lopsided. The more divided a society becomes in terms of wealth, the more reluctant the wealthy become to spend money on common needs. The rich don’t need to rely on government for parks or education or medical care or personal security—they can buy all these things for themselves.

But one big part of the reason we have so much inequality is that the top 1 percent want it that way. The most obvious example involves tax policy. Lowering tax rates on capital gains, which is how the rich receive a large portion of their income, has given the wealthiest Americans close to a free ride.

Virtually all U.S. senators, and most of the representatives in the House, are members of the top 1 percent when they arrive, are kept in office by money from the top 1 percent, and know that if they serve the top 1 percent well they will be rewarded by the top 1 percent when they leave office. It should not make jaws drop that a tax bill cannot emerge from Congress unless big tax cuts are put in place for the wealthy. Given the power of the top 1 percent, this is the way you would expect the system to work.

The rules of economic globalization are likewise designed to benefit the rich: they encourage competition among countries for business, which drives down taxes on corporations, weakens health and environmental protections, and undermines what used to be viewed as the “core” labor rights, which include the right to collective bargaining. Imagine what the world might look like if the rules were designed instead to encourage competition among countries for workers. Governments would compete in providing economic security, low taxes on ordinary wage earners, good education, and a clean environment—things workers care about. But the top 1 percent don’t need to care.

Of all the costs imposed on our society by the top 1 percent, perhaps the greatest is this: the erosion of our sense of identity, in which fair play, equality of opportunity, and a sense of community are so important. . With youth unemployment in America at around 20 percent (and in some locations, and among some socio-demographic groups, at twice that); with one out of six Americans desiring a full-time job not able to get one; with one out of seven Americans on food stamps (and about the same number suffering from “food insecurity”)—given all this, there is ample evidence that something has blocked the vaunted “trickling down” from the top 1 percent to everyone else. All of this is having the predictable effect of creating alienation—voter turnout among those in their 20s in the last election stood at 21 percent, comparable to the unemployment rate.

The top 1 percent have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn’t seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live. Throughout history, this is something that the top 1 percent eventually do learn. Too late.

Ayten has many talents - one being a plumber!

Yesterday the kitchen sink started leaking. Yusif found water on the floor right when we were sitting down to dinner. He said "I'll clean it up" as he proceeded to the dinner table. Ayten was feeding the baby so when she came out she saw the water and said "I think it's the sink - it leaked before." I got up and got a towel and started cleaning it up. Yusif said "I told you I would clean that up" I wanted to say "When were you planning on doing it?" But instead I just wiped up the water. I said "Yusif are you going to be able to fix this?" He said "Yes" so after he finished eating he looked under the sink and pronounced to us that it was broken and needed a new part. Ayten said, "Yusif this has happened before - let me look at it." So she gets under the sink and comes out and says - "Yes - this is the piece we need." It was a plastic ring that goes inside of the white thing that looks like a bolt. Well, Jav is sick so he is crying. The baby still isn't asleep so they asked me if I would go to Home Depot and get the part. No problem. I ran to the store - picked up the part and gave it to Ayten. She gets under the sink and replaces the part. She said "there now it's fixed." Later that evening Yusif said that a while back their toilet was leaking. They had to call a plumber and he looked at it and said he could fix it and would charge $300. So Ayten asked him if he would tell her what it was that needed to be done. The plumber explains it to them and Ayten says "Is this something we can do ourselves?" The guy says "yes". Yusif then tells me Ayten went online and read all about how to fix the problem - how to turn the water off to the house and how to fix the toilet. So Yusif says then Ayten says "OK we are ready - Yusif I will tell you what needs to be done and how to do it." Together they got it fixed! So last night before I left for Home Depot I said to Yusif "I sure hope this is the part we need." He responded in a rather sarcastic way "Well, that is the part the plumber lady says we need!" I guess it doesn't really matter where you are from - all marriages are basically the same.

On anther note - everyone who knows me knows how cold I like to keep my house. They keep theirs at 75 degrees. I have never sweat ed so profusely in my life! I keep looking at the weather in St Louis and I see that it will be 32 when I arrive in the Gateway to the West and I can't wait to feel that good, cold air on my face!

My last comment - someone who wants to make a lot of money needs to invent two things - first a nook that will stay in a newborns mouth and second a pair of socks that will stay on a 6 - 12 month old childs feet. Now there - all of you inventors go to work - both of these items will be big sellers!!!

The little Prince is sick!

Just a quick post - Javenshir is sick - fever at 102 - that's why he was so bad yesterday. Poor Ayten! She is up in his room with him now and I'm listening for the baby - so at least now we know why the Prince had such a bad day yesterday! More to come later...

I don't think I have a book in me!

Well - I don't think I'll be writing a book in this lifetime. Just trying to blog daily is getting hard. I mean who really wants to hear that we had Chicken Casserole for dinner? Who cares that when Ayten put Jav's favorite T-shirt in the wash today that he screamed and cried through out the entire wash cycle? Does anyone care that when the shirt came out of the wash he grabbed it and promptly put it in the "trunk" of his tricycle? No hanging on the line for Javs shirt - he just wanted it with him. Yes it's been a rough day for the Prince of Azerbaijan which leads me right into some old Azerbaijan Folklore.



The tale of the Devil's Eye


The picture above is a photo of the "devil's eye" - the devil's eye is said to remove or deflect bad thoughts that someone might be having and it is known to get rid of bad behavior. Typically people hang this above their doors. Kind of how Catholics hang a crucifix near the door. Now when you need to "call on the spirit of the devils eye" you take these seeds that look like pop tops (those things you throw on the ground on the 4th of July and they POP) and put the seeds in a little bitty pan. Put the pan on the stove and heat them - get them really really hot. Next you need to fill your sinuses with the scent of the little pops. Then you take the pan and move it over the top of your head in a circular fashion 3 times. Once this is done it is assumed that the devil has been removed. You can only buy this spice (the pop top) in Azerbaijan - Ayten keeps some on hand. Yesterday the Prince woke up from his nap in a nasty mood. She said "See, it's the devils eye - we need to remove it." So she heated the pops up and went through the ritual. When she put it under his nose to sniff it he made a bad face and quickly moved his head away. I said "Let me smell that stuff." I took of whiff of it and Lord A'mighty was it stinky! I said "No wonder he moved his head away so fast." Anyway Ayten thought it worked and he was a little better. So today when he was carrying on about the T-shirt I said "The devils eye has him again!" And that is the legion of the Devil's Eye.


And last but not least a picture of Sweet Little Farhad...