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Showing posts from August, 2019

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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Still trying to be in three or more places at the same time. I took a picture of my three key rings (collections). Left to right--- California, Georgia, New York. I am sure there are some from NY that are not needed anymore. But still... A picture of Angie's plane on final for Orange County airport on her way back. A picture of Angie with the Gwinnett mall (walking distance from the house in Duluth) where The Netflix show "Stranger Things" created and filmed "Stargate Mall" in Season 3. A real chopper (#Derelict #Shovelhead) we saw at breakfast today in Orange County, CA.

West to East and back. A busy trip for sure.

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Last weekend I had a quick adventure. I flew to Tampa picked up a moving truck, got it loaded up at my Brother's and drove to Atlanta and unloaded. Then flew back to SoCal. I did manage to lose the keys to the rental truck. I decided that wasn't much fun, but I am sure I learned a valuable lesson, just not sure what it was. I also managed to take down a phone line across my driveway with the truck. Opps. We had dinner with my cousins in Huntington beach while they were out this way last week. It was a great dinner in a great place (Dukes on Huntington Beach), so much to talk about. It turns out my half-niece Marina is headed to Antarctica right now. I am very pleased she got into the program. It will be fun to watch her blog. https://www.the-strudel-is-real.com/

Geiger Counter reading

Test. ****************************************** ******************************************
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I have pretty much finished the "sq foot expander" in the apartment. It is a nice office area and a nice comfy bed above. I took a pic of some guy's truck who sells garbage. Maybe he just picks it up. God bless him nevertheless. Gracie poses for a picture.
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I have been watching some of this stuff lately. I admit it. More brute violence than the finesse of rock climbing, but what ever works (or breaks). Better entertainment than regular rock climbing.
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We added a large Loftbed to the apartment. It has a queen size mattress and I can walk into the desk area without hitting my head. It is a very good way to double usable space, but you do need high ceilings. I built some stairs/steps to get into the bed around the back side. I was up in Long beach a couple times this week. It is about a 20 minute drive.