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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Things have been a blur lately.

I had a flight lesson the other night. I am gaining confidence. I remeber some of the things that I struggled with before I am now comfortable and confident. I have a ways to go still for sure.

The big thing was though, I called a missed approach (go around) because I was too high and didn't feel comfortbale with the rate of decent. I gave it the gas and went through the process of a go-around and the engine skipped a few beats on the climb-out! I let my instructor have the plane and to be safe we did a 300 degree turn and landed downwind. That is the second time the plane has hiccupped on me during climb out at low altitude. We agreed this time it was a bit different than the loss of power we had last time with a scored cylinder. This seemed electrical. The plane is being looked at. My instructor says I have bad luck with the plane. We had an extended debrief and talked about options. We both agreed that the golf course was the best place to go if the power quit entirely. More experience. Turning back to teh airport with a power-out condition is a common mistake. Concentrating on landing the plane is a priority.

I went to a student music recital in Greene on Sunday. That was different and simple.

I mowed the hay-field-to-be Saturday. It took me about 6 hours to mow 17 acres. That was a speed record for me. I still managed to hand carry a bunch of rocks I found with the mower to the hedge row. I plan on mowing that field 4 times this year. Some of my other mowing plans are under review.

I am getting some expert advice on my silo of whether it is safe and/or usable.

I am working on one of my Evinrude outboard motors. I don't remember where I got it. Possibly I got it from the trash years ago. It turns out it is a 1948-1951 1.5 HP model. It looks like it is all there. It will go well on the canvas canoe since it has an internal gas tank and it will look period.

The garden is going in with a different setup this year.

I am behind on my firewood. I need to get going.

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