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 mailed in all my Medical stuff today to become PQ'd. There was a bunch of arcane information to gather. It took a couple of weeks to get it all. It appears a lot of it would be good for research statistics not much else. For example, there is a very strange prevelance of gall bladder problems for people who winter over in Antarctica. No one knows why. Gathering additional data can help figure things out. There has been a lot to do. I have have had as many injections as trips to medical buildings. I have to thank Chris at Parkway dental and the folks over at Dr. Kennedy's for helping me get all this done when everyone else is waiting months for appointments.

I am off to San Diego Sunday for a couple of days for a conference. Thursday when I get back I have my last Dentist appt. before submitting my dental work (and xrays) for getting PQ'd.

I don't think the Resses cat is going to make it until I deploy. She is very sick. She has been taking water but nothing else. She is quite old; I remember when we got her. She was about 6 inches high. She has been a healthy spirited cat. We are all going to miss her. But she is not gone yet.

I am looking forward to the adventure. I look forward to adventures that many don't realize are adventures. They say no one comes back the same. I say no one leaves the same after being PQ'd.

The pic is from last winter with the Resses and Tioga stove-bonding.

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