100 and Done! (Countries that is...)

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We are back! This last trip brought the total countries visited to 100! It is a crazy milestone. It is difficult, time-consuming and can be (IS) expensive. After I got back from Antarctica in 2007, I started thinking about it. After 2010 I was thinking about it more (as I moved from NY to Georgia) and in 2014 it had become a real goal. Between Angie and I we have been to 109 Countries. We are tied at 100 countries each. We have 9 countries different in our lists. For example, I have been to San Marino. She has not. She has been to Israel. I have not, yet. There has been some fun competition in this area. That's why we had to establish rules. 1.) Must be listed (as a country) with the US State Department 2.) Being in an airport doesn't count. You have to get through immigration somehow and not in a DMZ or a no-mans-land 3.) A passport stamp is not required. I have been to Canada, Paraguay, and Uruguay without getting my passport stamped. There are friendly borders in many places...
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I am getting packed up to leave San Diego. The CIDM (Center for Information Development) conference was good. Next year the conference will be in Atlanta. The weather was great. San Diego is in the tropics after all. Bill Hackos and I had some great discussions regarding Baumol' diesese. One of the things that is interesting is that almost everyone was a farmer just two generations ago. These displaced workers are not really considered displaced anymore are they? I have a Dentist Appt tommorow morning. I should have the last of the PQ materials in the mail after that. I am thilled to be going. I am thinking of how it might change me. This is a good thing. I am thinking about presenations I will be giving after I get back. I certainly enjoy giving presentations. The experience will be good material. I was thinking about a motivation speaker I saw a few weeks back. The theme of the speech was "getting a front row in life." I like the concept, but it falls short of where I want to be. I don't want to be sitting and watching. I want to be "doing." I want to make a difference. I want to go to Antarctica.

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