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What a small world, we had a good conversation over drinks in June. He mentioned how young he felt with the pretty ladys down there. Sorry to hear of this.

HOLY SHIT! And I'm just finding out about it now?!!! I can't tell you how sorry I am to hear about his passing. I ran into him 3 or 4 times in various places (mostly at the SL) when I was in town last April. He even got a group of us ex pats together for a junket to the Sartore Italian Restaurant and the Sportsmens Lodge which turned out to be a a bit of a "barn burner." He also helped me out with a couple of dermatologists in his own cantankerous way. How sad. He will be missed. God bless you Alberto. I will try to post a picture of our junket to Sartore in the VIP section.

Alberto Was My Manager And My Best Friend! He Helped Booked Gigs Around Town For Years For Me And Was Well Known For Singing (Tom Petty Free Fallin)! I Cannot Begin To Tell You All That Al Did For Me!
Alberto And I Travel Together many Places, We Got Robbed At Gun Point In Columbia! lol! Sure In The Hell Will Never Forget That! Many Trips To Granada Nicaragua, And Real Good Times Believe Me! Alberto Knew How To Have Fun, The Life Of The Party, Out spoken To Say The Least! lol, A Man With A Huge Heart, Al Sure Could Cook ! I Spent Many A Night At His Place After Leaving The Sportmens, He Would Cook Up The Best Food In The World And Make Sure I Was Sober Enough To Drive Home ! He Was A Great Friend, I Will Really Miss Him.

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To each his own!

I never got to know Alberto very well, but our paths crossed a couple of times over the past 10 years at the SL, and I vividly remember a couple of very pleasant and informative conversations over a drink or two. One enduring memory I do have is as follows. I was at the SL bar paying for a drink around 8 pm or so on a busy Memorial Day weekend three years ago. While doing so, I pulled my passport out of my front pocket along with my colones. I ordinarily always ditch my passport in my hotel safe and carry a copy, but I had just arrived the day before and forgot to make this copy. Alberto was sitting across from me on the other side of the bar and walked clear around the horseshoe to inform me that it was never a good idea to carry your actual passport and to always carry copies,describing the value of passports on the black market. Of course he didn't recognize me, but I thought this was really cool and caring. He gave me his business card and invited me to give him a call the next day, likely thinking I was a complete newbie. I never did give him a call. My mistake.

It's time for my "Alberto story."
Al was my neighbor for several years, and I last saw him a month before his passing. I did not find out about his death until that December, when I was in Thailand.
Al had helped me plan my first Thailand trip a couple years before that, and his regular hotel was the Nana Hotel in Bangkok on Soi 4, across from Nana Plaza.
On that December day, I checked in here and learned he was gone several months before. It was a shock; I felt sad that a part of my life was gone.
I walked out of my hotel down the street from the Nana Hotel and as I approached Nana Plaza, the music coming out of the Big Dogs bar was -- what else? -- Tom Petty.
No, it wasn't "Free Fallin'". It was "Won't Back Down".
If anyone could rig a sound system from beyond this dimension, it would surely be our Al.

The Mayor of San Jose was a character. The silver tipped gorilla. He hustled to survive and enjoyed his years in San Jose. It was a pleasure to have known him. Live here a while and you meet some very interesting people whether tourists or locals. Even in dull moments there is never a dull moment if you look around.