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Showing posts from March 12, 2023

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...

Chased by a Bear

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It was/is good to hire others to do the work on the house. It is very uncomfortable at times, but it accelerates things. I am unhappy with the craftsmanship. The most prized skills for this kind of work is speed. Quality skills comes in second. In the normal DIY home improvement strategy you do the inside work first then do the outside work. If you do it the other way around your taxes will go up while the inside is not worth it. I always say that property should have higher tax assessments on property that is not kept up, not higher taxes for property is kept nice. The poorly conserved properties are a drain on civilization. There should be an incentive to keep your property in good repair. Well, you might say, ""I dont want the government judging what should be done to my house". The fact is they are already judging your house with an assessment that penalizes only on how how nice your house "looks" as well as some basic stats (which are good and should be p...