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Showing posts from August 12, 2012

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 a bit overwhelmed with work and getting my new house in order. There is only one of me. I do like my current position quite a bit. It is way better than The Raymond Corporation. I am just back from a day trip in Wisconsin. Now that I have the initial salvo of plumbing and electrical work done, I am concentrating on cleaning and organizing. I had some colleagues from Kansas over the other night. That was nice. I expect to do more of that type of entertaining here. Kicking back in the gazebo down by the lake with a Brazilian beer (absolutely not available in the USA) was a great experience. There is electricity in the gazebo and on the dock, but I have to figure out what I need to do to get the lights and what-not working.
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Well, I have almost all the plumbing work done as well as almost all of the electrical work done. I found a bit more of the wiring was ripped out of the house by the foreclosees than I figured. It worked out to be about 50 dollars more in materials (nothing compared to the costs of copper today). On the other side, I discovered the electric is all in for the spa. Not that I have the spa yet. I am certainly gaining on the house. I have my vintage McIntosh audio equipment hooked up to the computer for some really fine tunes and I am adding to the suite of audio equipment. A few more pieces to have it perfect, at least for now. My geese neighbors got in my way this morning on my drive out of my neighborhood. My place is pretty well fenced for geese. I don't need those turd machines making more work for me. I went for an especially nice flight today. Descending over Lake Lanier I couldn't help but think about my boating experiences on lake Ontario and what a step-change I have expe...