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Showing posts from November 30, 2014

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...

The Chandelier Restoration - Take Two and Grace the Cat

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I refinished the chandelier. I first refinished and rewired this chandelier when I was 14 or 15 years old. It was originally a gas chandelier, perhaps 100 years old. This time I left more patina and I didn't lacquer it this time. Grace the cat is growing fast and being a kitten. She is well behaved for a kitten, although not as well behaved as I would like. We have travel plans for New Orleans and Hawaii. I figured out if I want to get to all the US states I have to go to Hawaii. It is time for that one to come off the list. I have a plane already booked for rental in Hawaii. Flying between the islands has been a dream for quite some time. We had a nice Thanksgiving. We cooked a traditional bird. We used a roaster pan from the 1950s (I think). It occurred to me that the 11 pound turkey was just right for the pan. Turkeys have gotten a lot larger in the last 50 years! Most of what was sold in the store today wouldn't come close to fitting in that roaster. You can probably tell w...