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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Hurricane Helena (Before the Storm)

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It is before the storm, Hurricane Helena. Its raining now as it has been for a day or so. The storm gets here in about 10 hours. They are calling for 60-80 MPH winds in Atlanta! I have done my due diligence. I have gas for the generator, all the cars are charged and fueled. I have the chainsaw at the ready. I ran the truck last night to be sure. I am glad I insisted that we install hurricane straps to the rafters of the house when I was having the soffit/roof work done last year. My shitty contractor kept saying "you dont need them". I hope we don't need them. Most of the older homes around here don't have them. A hurricane strap is a metal bracket that ties the rafter/truss to the wall. Otherwise they are just toe-nailed and gravity holds the roof on. Once the wind gets under the roof gravity is no match for the wind and the whole roof structure blows away.

This will be bad.

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