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Wired 14.05: The RFID Hacking Underground

Oil Production: Not a peak or a crisis.

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David & Lisa's Website

Here is a link to David's own website

Trip and Arrival

Belize, May 2005

Doreen and I took a trip to Belize this past weekend to attend the wedding of two very dear friends. Now, you may ask who in the world is worth a trip to Belize when I don’t dive, sail, snorkel, parasail, or even necessarily like the clear waters of the Caribbean Sea. Suffice it to say that the list of folks who would qualify is very, very short. And now that he is married (and unless someone in the family gets married) I don’t need to worry about trips like this anymore.

Let me get this straight from the get-go here: This is my story here, not his. I am sure that both David and Lisa will have a much different opinion of the trip (the parts that they can remember, anyway) and I will let them tell there story when and where they may want to do so.

The trip started out as most trips do, with me being a bit nervous about the flight, getting to the airport, making sure our seats have been reserved correctly, and all the general foolishness of travel these days. We had splurged and got first class ticked using frequent flier miles, even thought it was a very short (two hour) flight. I hate travel enough that I told Doreen that if I could figure out a way to get on a “no fly” list I would do so. It would sure reduce the pressure to travel, anyway.

We both had to work the morning of the flight – I had a breakfast meeting with John Gibson, a former peer of mine at Landmark who rose to great heights, eventually being the COO of Halliburton (and being quoted on the front page of the Wall Street Journal) who is now a partner at Fox Paine, a large private equity firm, and also a board member of Paradigm, one of the companies that I want to get as a client. John is nothing if not entertaining, so we had a good time. He told me exactly what he thought of David Lesar (the CEO of HAL), but those comments will remain between him and I. John raises zebras. I don’t know much about that, and I hope to get to his ranch someday. Also Clydesdales, Belgians, geese, ducks, and swans.

Doreen had a meeting with her novelty vendors from the park. I will leave all that unsaid. All I knew is that she was going to be later than she said she was going to be (we wanted to leave the house at 11:00 AM), but she got home right on time and we drove to the airport with no problem.

For Continental Airlines international flights you now leave out of a new terminal at the George H. W. Bush Intercontinental Airport. (IAH, to those of you in the know). It is Terminal E, and is really a great place to wait for a flight. We did that, and then got on the plane. Because it was about 1:30 by now, we had a couple of drinks and enjoyed the flight. We finally got to the Belize City airport, and walked easily through customs.

We then had to take the small prop plane to the airport in Ambergris Cay. We checked in, and were able to get on an earlier flight than we had planned (we were very lucky fliers this trip) and had to pay $1.50 for the security check. You may very well ask, “What sort of security do you get for $1.50?” ($0.75 per person) and the answer is, of course, none.

But we walked to the little (Cessna Caravan, seats 11 passengers) single prop plane and jumped in happily. It bumped and grinded bounced and slide throughout the 15 minute flight. We could see the perfectly clear water than is the appeal of this part of the world (I kept looking for whales, but saw none)

We landed without incident and waited to be collected by the hotel – in a golf cart. We had met Lisa’s maid of honor on the plane, so there were three of us (with luggage) that had to fit on the cart.

Golf carts. Yes, as you walk around Ambergris Cay, you see plenty of golf carts. Big ones. Little ones, short ones, tall ones. You put the lime in the coconut. I am not sure why golf carts became the premier means of transportation on Ambergris Cay, but I can see why. Quiet, small, cheap, no pollution (at least at the source of transportation. Nothing like exporting your gaseous emissions) They do cause little mini traffic jams, though. It was an adventure.

We finally got to the hotel, and checked into our room.

Our Hotel Room 

After Check In

Very nice. No TV, but had great Air Conditioning and I had hot water every time I wanted it. For some reason, Doreen did not get hot water during most of the trip.

We t hen went and had a great time meeting all of David’s family:

Keith, Lisa, Phil, David, Chris 

David, Humberto 

Diane, Anne, Keith, Humberto

You have to figure who these people are on your own. 

Thursday Afternoon

We had a nice afternoon, drank a few Belikans (Belizean Beers) and then retired fairly early.

The next day we discovered our place in the sun. Well, in the shade, anyway. On the beach right in front of the hotel they had lounge chairs, some huts, and Lo! And Behold! String Hammocks!!! We plopped ourselves down in them after breakfast and didn’t move for about four hours:

When we did decide to get up, it was just to look at fish in the clear water. 

Barracuda 

A BIG ray (about three feet across) 

A smaller ray 

Nice Hats! 

Friday

Throughout that day (Friday, the day before the wedding) we didn’t do much of anything besides what you see on these photos. We did walk into town. Following are some pics of the town:

Note the jivey golf cart 

Doreen's Favorite Store 

I don't think we ate there. 

The Beach in front of the Hotel 

The Hammocks Again 

Wedding Day

But this was the day of the wedding. My guess is that neither David nor Lisa will be able to remember much about that day. Suffice it to say that it all turned out great. Following are some photos:

Wedding Ring of Roses 

David and Greg (best man. No, wait, that is Best Man) 

With This Crimp, I Do Wed 

The Love Of MY Life! It was SUNNY!!! 

Ain't They Sweet? 

Doreen and Keith talking about how sorry they feel for Lisa 

I am not sure if this was a Bunny Hop or a Conga Line 

The Bride and Groom 

We Been Drinkin' 

Recovery

The next day, as you can imagine, was somewhat of a LONG SLOW day. We woke up early, which was painful, and had a long slow breakfast, waiting for our plane to leave.

Out flight off the cay was at 1:00 PM, and the flight back home was at 2:30. We found out that this was a tight connection.

We arrived at the little airport hut, and gave the Maya Air attendant our names. He looks them up and says “We had you down for yesterday”. Words that will turn your bowels to wax. We found out that yes, we had reserved out homebound ticket off the cay on the wrong day. AND all the seats were full. The guy behind the counter said to wait, and they would see what they could do. We worried, and I worried especially that we had made the wrong reservations back home as well. Luckily, I had my Treo 600, which is a PalmPilot and phone and all that jazz, so I was able to check our original flights. The homebound was OK. Now, if only we could get to the mainland.

The Maya Air guy said that we had booked our homebound flight too close to this one, and we may not make it anyway. Bummer for us. But he said that he was calling for another plane to come and pick us up. Now THAT is service. It turns out that we were not the only overbooked passengers, and they end up with FIVE planes with the same flight number. (go figure)

As we were walking to the plane, the pilot looked at me and said I wouldn’t fit. I am not really sure if he was worried about my 2 meters (6’6”) or my 100 kg (220 lbs). But in any case, they made us get on separate planes. I gave Doreen her passport, saying that if my plane went down, I didn’t want her to be stuck in country. One of the other passengers said, “How Sweet! Kiss her!” and I am and I did.

The two planes landed moments from one another, and we walked to the Continental counter. By now it is about 1:40, and it turns out the flight leaves at 2:15! The women tells us we will have to hurry, and that we may not make the flight!

I can see the 727 only about 100 yards away, so I know that it is not the distance we must travel, but the bureaucracy we must navigate. Luckily for us, everyone was in a good mood that day, so we made it through, put our meager bags through the x-ray machine, walked through the terminal, walked outside, up the stairs and onto the plane. They closed the door, and we came home.