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Showing posts from July 31, 2011

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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Today was an exciting day. I bought some laps in a Winston Cup car at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That was a real hoot. Now that I have had a few hours to think about things I know I could have picked my line better and really optimized. You definitely get going fast, especially since it is only a 1.5 mile tri-oval. You are almost always in a curve.The banks are 25%. They are so steep you can certainly fall down them if you are walking. I understand that I got it up to at least 140 MPH. The car had a lot more to give. When I watch the video I feel like a cat watching a bird out the window. I am grabbing the desk and my breathing changes... what a hoot! It was a great experience. I might do it again. The guy with the Gen 3 T-shirt is Randy Baker. http://www.speedtech500.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=136&Itemid=118 After my racing thing I went and toured Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Little White House" in Central Georgia. That was great too....
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I did some tree cut-up in NY over the weekend. In addition to ripping off barn roofs and taking out bridges the storms (a couple months ago) did some damage to trees as you might imagine. This tree has a diameter of 40 inches. I had to borrow an old fashioned crosscut saw to finish the cut off since my largest chainsaw has only an 18 inch bar. Man that is hard work using a hand saw. I need to really appreciate things like chainsaws. There is a lot of firewood in that oak. I think I have a few beams as well for the barn. It was 111 degrees in Wichita the other day. Man, that is hot. Here a few pics from the air taken recently. Not in order, Speedsville, NY; Berkshire, NY; Cincinnati, OH; Atlanta, Ga; Ithaca, NY.