Update

I'm am so glad that I have All Hat No Cattle to come home to and share my adventures of the day.

My ride picked me up at 6am. My girlfriend had a day off and knew I needed to go to Santa Cruz to visit a doctor for a routine checkup. So off we went.

We arrived about 6:45am. Not much is open at that early hour so we swung by our favorite empanada stand which was open and chowed down our breakfast. Empanadas are a pastry filled treat. Ours was filled with chicken and rice and several squirts of homemade hot sauce.

Great, just what the doctor ordered! They cost about $1 apiece.

The doctor was open at 7:30am and we moseyed over there after we filled our stomachs with another empanada, this time filled with potatoes.

I had blood tests and a nice conversation with the doctor.

The next step was to drop off my blood samples to the lab, visit Seguro Social for some paperwork, then it was time for lunch and grocery shopping.

Walmart bought out a chain of stores here called PALI, which is a discount grocery store. They also began opening several MAXI PALI's, which is the Costa Rican version of a Walmart Super Center. Oh my God, it is truly discount and the bakery and vegetables are fabulous and affordable. Actually, everything is priced so low. My girlfriend bought a full cart of food and only spent $60....normally she would have spent $90 at her local grocery store. I was thrilled with the fresh french bread and coffee 1/3 less than I normally pay.

The only downside was we spent as much time waiting in line to pay, as we did shopping.

So, by the time I arrived back home, I was exhausted and needed to spend time with my translator to read me my medical instructions, which I did.

Once that was over, I opened my laptop and began writing this to you.

I will be back online tomorrow, on Friday, October 17, 2014 with a new edition.

Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.

Thank you to John, Joe and Michael who all kicked in for a backup 'puter for me! Big hugs. I now have $60 towards a backup.

Peace.

Second U.S. health worker infected with Ebola flew the day before symptoms

Second U.S. health worker infected with Ebola flew the day before symptoms
 The second Dallas health care worker who contracted the Ebola virus was on a flight the day before her symptoms, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.



Here's to Emory being as successful at containing these Ebola cases as they were the last. Heroes for a living.- LOLGOP

The World Is A Safer Place Without Saddam

• U.S.-led air strikes intensify as Syria conflict destabilizes Turkey
• Australian Troops to Iraq Held up by Legal Matters
• Yemeni man sues German gov't over US drone strikes
• U.N. refugee chief says EU should let more Syrian refugees enter legally
• Hong Kong tycoon calls for protests to end after tension over police beating
• Putin to focus on Ukraine during trip to Milan

Nobody knows where he is but the U.S. national security adviser says there is no evidence that Kim Jong Un has been overthrown. If anything, he was probably just tipped over.- Seth Myers

WMD Opens Its Mouth
Former Vice President Dick Cheney has once again emerged to warn Americans that ours is a very scary world, one that demands “a strong leader” who won’t hesitate to waterboard terrorism suspects and perhaps invade a few countries to make a point about American might.





Of course Saddam had WMDs stupid!  He just didn't use them because his evil master plan was to get killed.  Duh.- John Fugelsang



THIS IS A REAL HEADLINE: Dutch Bikers Fighting ISIS
Who's that heavily tattooed guy in a T-shirt and stylish European sunglasses, dwarfing the Kurdish fighter to his right? Apparently, that's Ron — just one of several Dutch bikers who've taken up arms with Kurdish soldiers against ISIS.

Meanwhile, Back In Eastern Europe
European companies in Russia warned on Tuesday they were being hurt by a Russian embargo on food imports as well as EU sanctions and risked being "sacrificed" in the standoff over Ukraine.





Republican Shenanigans

• NH GOPer Won't Back Down On 'Ugly As Sin' Screed: I Told You So
• Poll: ISIS now top issue for Republican voters
• Gay Republican House Candidate Hasn't Won Fans In LGBT Community
• Stephen Colbert Mocks 'Say Yes to the Dress'-Inspired Republican Ads

Chris Christie reassured New Jersey residents they are safe because he “blocked Ebola by closing lanes on the bridge.”- Top Conservative Cat

Fox News Host vs Fox News Host
Fox News host Greta Van Susteren isn't afraid to express a disagreement with one of her colleagues, even if it's the channel's grand poobah.

And so Van Susteren ventured into familiar territory once again on Tuesday, saying on-air that Bill O'Reilly was wrong to call for the resignation of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden over the Ebola outbreak.

That awkward moment when Republicans protest Latino immigration, but then celebrate white immigration to America on Columbus Day.- Top Conservative Cat

Rock The Voter News

• Obama Loses Iowans Who Launched His Path to Presidency
• Michelle Obama Parodies 'Turn Down For What' — With A Turnip

Ebola Over Politics
President Barack Obama is cancelling political travel to meet with his Cabinet on the Ebola outbreak.

"I'm not a scientist."
-Republicans

"I'm not a Republican"
-Scientists

-LOLGOP

Wall Street Has Ebola Fever
Very, very early this morning the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed a second health care worker has been diagnosed with Ebola. The news sent shivers down the spine of markets still trying to find a footing after the recent pole-axing to stocks around the world. Futures took a slight dip around the time the story hit the newswires but let’s be honest, just about anything could take two or three points out of the futures given the restive state of investors these days.

World would be a lot safer if fewer gun owners dreamed of being Dirty Harry and fewer gamers believed they are actually level 97 berserkers.- Gen. JC Christain Tweet

Business/Tech News

• US oil prices sink nearly 5% on weak demand forecast
• WTO sides with US farmers in dispute with India
• Ebola stocks: 2 to sell, and 5 to consider buying
• First case of Google Glass addiction reported

When News Clips Become Campaign Ads
A new ad by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) features NBC "Meet The Press" host Chuck Todd saying Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes "disqualified herself" by refusing to say in a recent interview if she voted for President Barack Obama.



I like hearing how we shouldn't believe the job numbers from people who believed the color coded terror alerts.- John Fugelsang

'Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.' - Oscar Wilde. Right. Because he's, like, SO smart and knows Everything.- John Fugelsang

_______________

Backup Laptop Fundraiser

I'd rather be safe than sorry. I perused through ebay's computer section and found everything from an inexpensive tablet to high end laptops that I wouldn't have a need for! The prices below are in colones. 50,000 colones is around $100 US dollars.

_______________

Odd News

• Illinois pet dubbed world's tallest cow
• Woman sent to jail over overgrown yard
• Truck with portable toilets crashes in California
• One-ton California pumpkin weighs in as heaviest ever in North America
• DWI Suspect Bribes Cops With Mountain Dew: Police

Time To Deflate Photo

Saturn's odd hexagonal jet stream swirls in this amazing photo taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Image released Feb. 3, 2014. 

Peace.

Ebola Overload

These 5 unhinged Ebola conspiracy theories expose the right’s anti-Obama delusions
Ebola, which originated in Africa and is spread by direct contact with bodily fluids, apparently taps into some deep-rooted xenophobic and racial anxieties among right-wingers terrified they might catch a poop-related disease from black people.




Watching an hour of Fox News can undo up to three days of Ebola Safety Training.- LOLGOP

The World Is A Safer Place Without Saddam

• 180000 People Flee Western Iraq as ISIS Inches Ever Closer to Baghdad
• Istanbul rattled by signs of Islamic State support
• US, Russia vow stronger cooperation on many issues
• New Ebola Cases Seen at 10000 a Week by Dec. 1, WHO Says
• Blocked From Pope’s Synod By Ebola, Liberia’s Bishop Tells His Nation’s Story
• US charity helps NKorea fight drug-resistant TB
• As Kim Jong Un returns, North Korea becomes slightly more open

Republicans should have to wear their giant "I'm Not a Scientist" foam hat when talking about Ebola.- LOLGOP



Soccer: The Ebola Cup?
 Africa Cup of Nations' hosts Morocco say they have not made a definite decision on how to respond should organizers CAF refuse their Ebola-motivated request to postpone the continental showcase.

Mark Zuckerberg gave $25 million to fight Ebola. Obama hasn't given $25 million, so I guess he just doesn't care if we all die of Ebola.- Top Conservative Cat

John Boehner: "The CDC and NIH don't have a cure for Ebola, so we were right to cut their research budgets for the last 10 years."- Top Conservative Cat




The Republicans Are Coming. They Really Are. 
Republicans’ chances for taking over the Senate in the midterm elections rose to their highest point yet in a new average of polls.

As of Tuesday morning, Vox.com’s average of forecasts gives the GOP a 69% chance of wresting control of the upper chamber from Democrats. The average is made up of six forecasts from the New York Times, fivethirtyeight.com and others like the Washington Post — which last week gave Republicans a whopping 95% chance of winning back the Senate.

Republican Shenanigans

• State Rep: Democratic Congresswoman Will Lose Because She's 'Ugly As Sin'
• Right-wing Jimmy John’s forbids employees from making competitors’ sandwiches for two years
• Ohio pastor forced vasectomies, abortions because kids divert money away from church: report
• GOP congressman: ‘I’m not talking about guns necessarily’ to fight a Bible-based revolution

Straight white men perplexed that anyone spends so much time worrying about the right to vote, consensual sex and not being shot by police.- LOLGOP

Uncompassionate Conservatives
DeKalb County in Georgia threatened to cut the sewer lines to Emory University because the hospital was caring for Ebola patients, a doctor revealed recently.





Ann Romney is an inspiring stay-at-5-homes mom.- John Fugelsang

Rock The Voter News

• Obama waiting for midterm to name attorney general 
• Obama plans South Side rally, congressman says 

WTF NEWS: Democrats Drop Advertising For Close Senate Race 
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has stopped running TV ads in Kentucky's U.S. Senate race, a troublesome sign for Alison Lundergan Grimes in her challenge of Republican leader Mitch McConnell.




Slut Shaming -when culture media & men demand women sexualize themselves & punish them if they actually enjoy it.- John Fugelsang

Marriage is at an all-time low. I blame Newt, Trump and Rush who are finally making it work and driving down the numbers.- LOLGOP

Business/Tech News

• Hazmat crews at scene of crude spill in Louisiana: report
• American Airlines Boeing makes emergency landing after wall panels come loose
• Supreme Court leaves California foie gras ban intact
• Doctor involved in botched Oklahoma execution 'experimented' on inmate: lawsuit

Let the free market solve Ebola.- LOLGOP

Meanwhile, Back In Fergusonland
More than 50 people were arrested in a series of peaceful rolling protests in the St. Louis area on Monday, staged to draw attention to police violence more than two months after a white officer killed an unarmed black teenager in a local suburb.



Republicans want to make it harder to vote, marry and get health care. But they're all for making it really easy to be scared of the Ebola.- LOLGOP

______________

______________

Odd News

• Gun-slinging patrolwoman chases off polar bear from Alaska home
• Dream beach house built on wrong lot
• Police: Thief posed as Connecticut wedding guest
• California parrot that vanished for four years returns speaking Spanish: paper
• Police: Drunken Santa zombie enters St. Paul home

Time To Deflate Photo

Bonsai Shah.

The Society Argentina Gardening

has cared for the Bonsai since 1936.

Peace.