The Peru Times

OMRFC Night at the Pub

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2006-12-15T15:34:00-05:00

Been a while

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2006-04-25T23:08:00-05:00

So its been a while, i find that my posts are becoming more and more infrequent and it BUGS the hell outta me, i will try to post more often. In large parts due to my last post i have received several phone calls / emails / IMs asking if I'm OK (thanks everyone) and the answer is YES, I'm fine. I think I just needed to get that rant off my chest!

I am actively trying to get more out of life not just work and go out on occasion. i have met some really cool new people and gotten back in touch with others I had lost touch with, so life is more interesting. Work is STILL kicking my ass and i have had to take a step back from rugby for now, which sucks! but cest la vie! I am going to start traveling more often again, so i hope I will have some cool pics to share in the short term, plus some new events are coming up which should make for interesting posts. The funniest thing to happen at work is that I was named interim IT Director (HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!) I guess someone told em I had a blog and therefore I was qualified!

Anyway I'm going to Arequipa / Moquegua (look it up!) for work until Saturday, thing is there is this volcano in Moquegua thats spewing ash and making noises but Its still not enough to stop me from going! i should have some stories to tell from this trip!

Just a rant

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2006-02-16T18:12:00-05:00

I have been thinking about the interaction between attractive women and men for quite a bit now and have come to the realization that I have yet to fully comprehend how the opposite sex thinks (has anyone figured that one out?), and I consider attractive to be a combination of physical and inner beauty.

When a guy is nice to an attractive woman and treats them like a lady (listen to them, be friendly, open doors, make em laugh, etc) they walk all over you and pretty much don't want anything to do with you "in that way", this doesn't not prevent the woman from asking you to do them a favor or help em out somehow, as you have now become "a great friend" which in guy speak means you are their B*tch, you have been completely emasculated, you are now one of the girls and WILL NEVER have a realistic chance in hell of getting anywhere close to anything physical. Sometimes, and its a BIG sometimes, the relationship become the oh so elusive "friend with benefits" which takes a LONGGGGGGG time. The key is you both have to become really good friends and the timing and conditions are critical (both single fro an extended period of time, absolute confidence to tell the other person anything and usually some form of alcohol) then it can sorta happen, but in the long run it rarely works out, as one person is going to get hurt and then it is near impossible to go back to becoming regular "friends".

On the other hand if you treat an attractive woman with a certain disdain (don't really pay attention when they talk, be curt, be serious, etc) you are more likely to get somewhere in the long run, I don't know if its about making the whole thing into a project to make the guy "nice" or if its supposed to be a challenge or just for the hell of it because the guy is kind of "mysterious", from what I have gathered its all about the "chase", and thats fair enough I get it, I just wish someone had given out the rule book beforehand so we knew what the game was.

Now I am working off of my own experience and observations over the years a bunch of places I have been in and experienced the attractive women / men interaction, in the end despite all cultural differences the bottom line is the attractive women / men relationship is the same everywhere - attractive women like guys who treat them with a certain distance and a certain assholey attitude.

I know that the women reading this (if there are any) will probably rip into me with a savagery known only to someone being eaten alive by red fire ants saying that everything I have written is way off base and reminiscing of some Junior High BS, and that real women, serious women, attractve women are on the look out for nice guys who can "make them laugh" and be their friends and partners, and how I need to grow up and Im full of sh*t as well as a hypocrit, as I have pictures of myslef with "hot" women on this site from my Rugby tours, and those are very valid points for which I have no real answers, im just ranting over here. Any of my guy friends reading this will probably say i juat need to get laid.

Cuzco & Beach Weekend

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2006-01-22T18:41:00-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I had to go to Cuzco to give a seminar, due to weather conditions (rain, fog) we couldn't leaver on Friday as originally planned so I had to stay overnight, normally I would have been totally cool with it and spent the entire weekend in Cuzco which is a wonderful city BUT that was the only weekend my friend Gabriel was here visiting from Jacksonville, so i headed out of Cuzco early Saturday, got home and headed for the beach an hour outside Lima (Arrival time 2:30 PM) where we proceeded to drink much beer, eat GREAT FOOD, watch the NFL playoffs and have a great time surrounded by friends. I headed back out to Lima on Sunday after lunch and was at work on Monday, quite the travel weekend.

Browse Album...

News

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2006-01-06T21:50:00-05:00

SO long time no post, figured it was time for a bit of an update about whats been going on.

First off I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yup i am now officially an Area Head (or as my co workers are calling me "The New Chief") I was told i got the job on December 30th, so I'm pretty thrilled, its not just the money, I am really happy that after a long grueling selection process I was finally promoted to the job Ive been doing on an interim basis for the last 9 months (about time too!) now i get to hire my staff (3 new peeps) and do more of a strategic long term thing than what i was doing before PLUS its a whole new set of challenges which I am really looking forward too.

Xmas was totally a family thing, which i needed, and i got to relax and rest up, and I was a bit stressed out wondering if id get the job. For new years i went to the beach an hour outside of Lima to my friend Lecnones house, good times at the beach with good food, good drinks and good friends, which is all you really need anyway. New years eve we went to a party at the beach with like 1000 people, waiters, dinner and GREAT music (mix of Spanish dance, 80s and party music).

2006 finds me working like a b@stard, but I am getting an office (no more cube for me!) and I'm in the process of hiring my staff, finding an apartment to buy and getting my social life in order! I will most definitely try to add more updates and post some pictures as I get them.

I have a wedding in Santo Domingo in early September and am most likely headed to the US in late October (as it is TRADITION!)

l8r

Its Peanut Butter Jelly Time!!!

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-12-02T11:46:00-05:00

Yeah, so I found this page and it made me laugh, so I will link it and share the fun!

http://www.notadora.com/flash/banana.html

Sounds like something for the next dabu CD!

News

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-12-02T10:15:00-05:00

Yeah, so i haven't really been updating this page as much as i should (and I really meant to as well!) see as soon as i got back from my DC / NOVA / Tampa trip everything at work went to hell (as in there was way too much stuff to do) so Ive had my head buried at my desk for near on the last month, i have managed to do a few things here and there, some of the highlights:

Played and beat the Campaign Age of Empires 3 !!, granted it was on EASY mode, but still pretty good game if it could keep my attention for so long, i like the interface, the maps and pretty much everything about it, and i haven't even played on-line yet!......... guess I'm scared some 12 year old will kick my ass!
Last weekend was a Rugby weekend, my club organized a rugby tournament all day last Saturday, we played 20 minute halves (which is more time than it sounds) and played a total of 4 games, thats 2 hours of Rugby! which in my current unfit state is not cool. We managed to win 3 games and tie one, which made us champs for the day, somehow i got roped into being the captain again, which meant i got to take a picture with the trophy and lead the troops from the front during the game i scored 2 tries as well! (1 one was awesome with a 50 yard run and the other was a typical 2 yard crash, ill explain better in another post). I manged to come out pretty much injury free (5 People ended up in the hospital, none serious thank god!) but with some pretty good bashes in the face and scrapes on arms, legs and elbows. That night we had the post tourney party and it was an all you can drink beer / Vodka / Rum for US$ 10.00, so it was good times for all! no luck with the ladies, but I wasn't looking or trying very hard anyway. As soon as i get some pics i will post them.
My NFL betting pool is doing OK, i am in a tight fight for second place with he leader almost impossible to catch, but its ion good fun, and the winner has to organize and cater the Super-bowl party, so i didn't mind not winning (theres six of us in the pool)
Apartment hunting is still ongoing, not as active as I would like, but i am looking around and April looks like a probable date to move out.
Xbox is WAY too much fun, hooked on EA Rugby, as is my brother! we try to play once a day in the evenings so we can both unwind from work and have the competitive juices flowing, we are pretty evenly matched at this point, so its quite fun. Plus its good bonding time.

OK enough for now, i will try to keep updating and posting picture as soon as i can

This October, on The Lifetime Channel : A DABU Gathering

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-09-29T19:40:00-05:00

Ok, so its been real busy lately, work is kicking my @$$ big time, what with the hours, business trips, stress et al and the cold weather ain't helping!

As some of you may have heard there was a bit of an earthquake the other day (Sunday the 25Th, my B - day too!) in a province here called San Martin, normally I would have been pretty chill about it as earthquakes are NOT rare in this part of the world, but I happened to have been at this particular province, in fact at the very epicenter of the damn thing (a place called Lamas) the day before on a business trip. As you may have read from my previous posts I was also on an airplane 1 week before it crashed in the jungle killing most of the passengers. So I have drawn some conclusions:

NO more trips to the jungle for me in the near future, a plane crash and an earthquake send a pretty strong message.
These catastrophes seem to be following me AND they are getting closer each time (1 week and then 1 day after I left)
I have 1 weeks vacation coming up
I need to get out of here PRONTO

With that being said I WILL be heading up to the USA to attend the various DABU functions that are scheduled (it is after all our 10 year anniversary). Now, traveling may seem as a risk by some since these catastrophes seem to be following me, BUT, they only happen when I travel to the jungle! Ive been on 4 trips in between the catastrophes and NOTHING has happened, except being really tired due to lack of sleep, so I am 110% confident that this trip will be A Ok AND it should serve to dispel the bad vibes surrounding my jungle trips.........hmmm that Iquitos trip might be coming back to haunt me, nonetheless I am going ahead with this

The earliest I can get out is October 21ST, so:

I am getting on the last flight out and heading to Miami on the evening of October 21ST
As soon as I can I leave Miami early the 22ND and head to Tampa to have Birthday Breakfast with Mike and visit Hoss as well as all the other Dabus who will be there (NEED A PLACE TO CRASH - Hoss & Mike please mail me digits so I can call and arrange a space on the floor and bring the appropriate offering to the hosts)
Head for DC on Monday and crash at Dabu Castle (Thanks Chris & Dylan)
Attend Dabu Halloween 2005 WITH a proper costume
Head back to Lima if I am still conscious

All in all looks like a fun trip, I know it will be as fun as the last time I was there and hopefully Suzy will bring her hot friends along!

See you all soon!

Bored at Work

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-09-06T15:26:00-05:00

So I'm at the office right now, pretty bored...........very bored actually. There is plenty of stuff to do, but the past few weeks have been so hectic and stressful that I feel like I am out of gas right now or just bored. Some highlights from the past few weeks

Scheduling about a million seminars for the next 2 months............well not really that many, but a whole lot!,
fracking phone doesn't stop ringing,
Designing a whole new workshop with brand new subjects and developments in 2 days flat (that was kinda cool actually),
The apartment hunting is not going as well as expected,

I am being picky, but im in a bummed out sorta mood right now!

On the bright side there is hope on the horizon (trip to DC, cool trips for work) and I am having dinner with my good friends Flash, Lucho Lt, Lucho S, C, Conan and Mike V (I know my friends here have funny nicknames, mine is Bunny, so go figure!) this Thursday and it should be pretty sweet for several reasons.

Its been like forever since we were all together at the same time, and its always a blast
Mike V lives in New York and we haven't seen him for about a year
Lucho Lt is expecting his first kid
C´s Bday is today, so we will celebrate that as well on Thursday
We will be going to Matsuei for Sushi and they have a deal on where its US$ 20.00 all you can eat (and its GOOD Sushi) What a bargain!
Oh, and I just went into Suzy's page and her friends are hot!
DABU Halloween party starting to come together and I am psyched about being there!

Peruvian Plane Crash

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-08-23T21:40:00-05:00

A flight went down this afternoon in Peru, it was headed from Lima to Pucallpa and then Iquitos. It was a bit of a shock as I had taken that very flight to Pucallpa for work last week and the week before that some of the Rugby guys took that very flight to get to Iquitos, a bit of a close call for all involved. I have been getting lots of IMs and calls from people all over wondering if I am OK. its always nice to know people care. Big thanks to everyone for the concern! The full story at the Washington Post

Party Schools

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-08-23T10:12:00-05:00

Just read this article on CNN about the top party schools in the US: I don't know how to feel about seeing UMCP listed at # 20, a part of me says" cool man! PARTYYYYYYYY!" and another is more introspective, wondering if this is really a good thing for the current students and Alumni. hmmmm, food for thought I guess.

Panic ensues in rush for cheap laptops

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-08-21T12:21:00-05:00

I read this article on CNN on Tuesday, I thought it was pretty funny that people would atack each other over old, cheap iBooks, special attention to the lady who solied herself while in line and to the dude who used a chair as a weapon to defend his place, gives the term "no cuts" a new meaning!

Panic ensues in rush for cheap laptops

Police try to control the crowd rushing to get cheap iBooks.

(AP) -- A rush to purchase $50 used laptops turned into a violent stampede Tuesday, with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with a folding chair and nearly driven over. One woman went so far to wet herself rather than surrender her place in line.

"This is total, total chaos," said Latoya Jones, 19, who lost one of her flip-flops in the ordeal and later limped around on the sizzling blacktop with one foot bare.

More than 1,000 people turned out at the Richmond International Raceway in hopes of getting their hands on one of the 4-year-old Apple iBooks, which retail for between $999 and $1,299. The Henrico County school system was selling 1,000 of the computers to county residents.

Officials opened the gates at 7 a.m., but some already had been waiting for hours in line. When the gates opened, it became a terrifying mob scene.

People threw themselves forward, screaming and pushing each other. A little girl's stroller was crushed in the stampede. Witnesses said an elderly man was thrown to the pavement, and someone in a car tried to drive his way through the crowd.

Police would not immediately comment on the number of or extent of injuries, though witnesses said they mostly had scrapes and bruises.

"It's rather strange that we would have such a tremendous response for the purchase of a laptop computer -- and laptop computers that probably have less-than- desirable attributes," said Paul Proto, director of general services for Henrico County. "But I think that people tend to get caught up in the excitement of the event -- it almost has an entertainment value."

Blandine Alexander, 33, said one woman standing in front of her was so desperate to retain her place in line that she urinated on herself.

"I've never been in something like that before, and I never again will," said Alexander, who brought her 14-year-old twin boys to the complex at 4:30 a.m. to wait in line. "No matter what the kids want, I already told them I'm not doing that again."

Jesse Sandler said he was one of the people pushing forward, using a folding chair he had brought with him to beat back people who tried to cut in front of him.

"I took my chair here and I threw it over my shoulder and I went, 'Bam,"' the 20-year-old said nonchalantly, his eyes glued to the screen of his new iBook, as he tapped away on the keyboard at a testing station.

"They were getting in front of me and I was there a lot earlier than them, so I thought that it was just," he said.

Rugby Tour in Iquitos

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-08-19T20:36:00-05:00

Iquitos is a City in the middle of the Amazon jungle here in Peru, amazingly enough they have a Rugby team! the club has been trying to go back there to play for quite a while now (last time we were there was 1997!) we finally got our act together and 13 of us made it out there last weekend.

I arrived at Iquitos on the last flight on Friday, which means I made it to the bar by 1Am Saturday and stayed till about 6AM, the game was scheduled for 3pm, and it went well. Those guys had some skills and could tackle with no fear, however, as tired, hungover / drunk as we were we still had WAY more experience and than them and it told in the end as we came out winners by a score of 47 - 24, still much props to the Iquitos boys for their determination and guts. After the match we went to the pool for some rehab and then headed back to the hotel for some rest, at about 8:30 we headed out for Dinner to "Fitzcarraldos" a restaurant which specialized in jungle food (AWESOME Alligator nuggets!) RIGHT after that we went to the bar next door "Arandu", at the bar we caused a bit of a ruckus (what else is new!) and somehow got free passes to the best club in Iquitos "NOA" and this is where things got crazy (as you can see from the pictures!) and we were loving it! finally managed to drag ourselves out of the club by about 6Am (me anyway) and got up at 9AM to go up the amazon River in a little boat to play some River Beach Rugby, which was a new experience, my knee had started to act up after Saturday's game (plus 5 hours of sleep in 2 days take their toll) so I just took pictures of the Beach Rugby. In short an AWESOME time was had by all and I definitely will be going back! Que VIVA IQUITOS!

Browse Album...

Full Monty Night at the Irish Pub

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-08-07T19:04:00-05:00

Browse Album...

Updates

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-08-07T15:44:00-05:00

I am currently updating the site with tons of pictures I have around the house from Rugby, Trips and anything else I find.

The weekend was pretty good, I went for drinks with the office peeps from 8 - 9:30ish on Friday as it was someones last day at work, then I headed over to Lucho's for more drinks with him, Pancho, ale and some more people that went on until about 2:AM I finally made it home and slept till 10 and started working on some things around the house, i didn't make it to the Rugby National Team scrimmage (I was just gonna watch!) and i also missed Gato and Jody's event (Civil wedding). I did however make it to the Pub for the Club fund raiser for next weekends tour of Iquitos (I am THERE) we organized a raffle, sold tickets and some of the guys did a Full Monty show ............ well it was more like Half a Monty! hee hee still good times and the pics should be up soon.

Rugby Tour - Buenos Aires

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-08-07T15:39:00-05:00

OMRFC Tour Buenos Aires 2003

Browse Album...

Rugby pt2

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-08-06T17:56:00-05:00

OMRFC Rugby Part 2

Browse Album...

La Semana que fue

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-08-06T11:14:00-05:00

Bueno, El primer post en castellano (ya era hora!), ya le pase la voz a un par de personas para que visiten el sitio a ver que les parece este nuevo blog que estoy creando. Anyway, la semana que acaba de pasasr fue una reverenda M. demasiadas cosas y muy poco tiempo, fue una semana donde todo era urgente y ademas era importante!. Este fin no pienso hacer algunas de las siguientes cosas:

Dormir Bien (ya me toca)
Ir a ver el partido de la preseleccion y tomar algunas fotiños
Ir al Matri Civil del Gato y Jody
Ir al evento que esta organizando el OMRFC para recaudar fondos a la gira de Iquitos En el Irish Pub en Miraflores................y tomar fotos!
Acabar el libro que estoy leyenedo "In the Company of Soldiers" que esta bueno
Ir a comprar trago a Santa Isabel que esta con 30% de descuento
Hacer un mantenimiento de la PC
Actualizar esta pagina con algunas fotos y temas interesantes
Dormir !

Nos vidrios y traten de no rajar mucho!

BBQ at La Cantuta

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-07-31T14:54:00-05:00

On Saturday while Dabu was having Mike´s Farewell BBQ in NOVA, I went to a BBQ with some friends to "La Cantuta" which is about 1 hour outside the city of Lima. A Great time was had with Much food, Wine and Beer consumed

Browse Album...

Dabu search

fharman@terra.com.pe (Lu) — 2005-07-29T12:07:00-05:00

I did a quick Web search for "DABU" and came up with some interesting results, some of them are:

Dabu Dabu Restaurant in Indonesia, we could probably hold the next Annual General Meeting there!
The Danish Boxing Union, I guess we have a Dabu Boxing Brigade in Europe.
Not quite sure what this is: da-bu.com , anyone care to enlighten me?
The Approved Dabu Gangsta Listing, who knew we went Hollywood.
Art in the house! Deaf Arts from all over the United Kingdom (in Cache)
Some dude even uses Dabu as his nick in Spain! (Al take care of this!)
Dabu Frozen Foods, we do get hungry from time to time.
Dabu book, Dabu grows up?
Also a Style of MLB Cap, However I do have an issue with the color.
Dabu Realtors, wow you can have your very own Dabu house!