I arrived back in NY on Friday night, a full week ago. The trip was fine, really, but long. I left Dominical in a friend of mine’s pickup truck at 5:30am. We drove for exactly 4 hours to the airport in San Jose. My flight wasn’t until 2:50pm, so I sat around the airport for many house, at a very expensive sandwich, bought very expensive magazines, and laid on the floor. Luckily the flight itself was empty when we finally boarded, so I had a whole row to myself. A few more delays, a broken entertainment system, and 6 hours later, I landed in NY to begin my re-assimilation.

I spent some time with the family and finally moved my shit back to the East Village apartment yesterday. I spent today running errands, getting my bike fixed, eating great snacks, and NOT getting bit by mosquitos. Most of the Costa Rica bite marks have finally faded and I am not scratching anymore. I watched Iron Man last night (loved it) and bought Grand Theft Auto IV (amazing). After a few hours of GTA today, I settled onto the couch for some quality TV viewing.

And that was when it happened. I found out that it takes exactly 1 week to adjust back to life in the good old US of A. I was sitting/laying on the couch crunching on Cheddar flavored Sun Chips watching a serious reality TV show about big fat nerds that are competing against each other in an XBox 360 Madden Football tournament on ESPN. Seriously. ESPN has a show about guys playing Madden Football called Madden Nation. I looked down and saw the orangy crumbs on my chest and belly and figured it all out. Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be riding my newly-tuned-up bike around Manhattan instead of watching SHIT TV.

In other goings-on, I have been lusting after the Sachs Madass 125, seen below.

I spoke to a dealer today and after a long complicated story, the 2008 model is NOT coming to the US because of California EPA costs, and they are instead waiting for the 2009 model which will arrive sometime in August and cost “significantly” more than the expected $2400. The guy can deliver the 2008 50cc version right away for $2200, fully kitted out with a performance package, 90cc bored out engine, auto transmission, and performance exhaust. It retains its “moped” instead of motorcycle status, and he claims can easily do 55mhp on the highway. I don’t know, but it is tempting for summer fun. I’ll be going to the DMV to take the motorcycle license permit test next week, but that won’t make owning a new Ducati Monster 696 in Manhattan any easier. I can’t believe they found a way to make the Monster better looking, but they did, and the reviews seem pretty good.

Hey, did you know that you can turn a Ducati Monster into a sweet looking chopper? Well, you can.

So that’s that. I am back in NY, maybe for a while this time. I’m back in the East Village and loving my apartment. I am aware of the horrors of television, mosquito bites, and crack cocaine. I’ve got one 2-wheeled vehicle from Cannondale and am planning to expand my empire to 90cc and 696cc variants. I need a job and miss my friends from the jungle. Wish me luck and let’s get some drinks.