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Showing posts from June 23, 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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My friend Pete passed away. I met him in 1982. We were friends the whole time despite all the competing circumstances. We picked up where we left off every time. I will miss him. I am glad I got to spend quality time with him over Memorial Day weekend a couple weeks back. I always had tremendous respect for him in all ways. The weirdest part is that he respected me. Very humbling, and actually disturbing. He confided with me and I with him. Ask me to tell you a story about him. Pic is from 2014. Blog post Blog post Blog post Obituary
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Interesting song I heard about today. The lyrics are important. Southern California Wants to Be Western New York Dar Williams There's a part of the country could drop off tomorrow in an earthquake, Yeah, it's out there on the cutting edge, the people move, the sidewalks shake. And there's another part of the country with a land that gently creaks and thuds, Where the heavy snows make faucets leak in bathrooms with free-standing tubs. They're in houses that are haunted, the with kids who lie awake and think about All the generations past who used to use that dripping sink. And sometimes one place wants to slip into the other just to see What it's like to trade its demons for the restless ghost of Mrs. Ogilvey, She used to pick the mint from her front yard to dress the Sunday pork, Sometimes southern California wants to be western New York. It wants to have a family business in sheet metal or power tools, It wants to have a diner where the coffee tastes like...