Some Pictures

Here's the pile of my stuff:


Here's Elena's bedroom:


Here's my tent and sleeping bag in the closet:


Finally, here's Elena hard at work cleaning the oven:

Delay

We are going to delay our trip by a day. Elena, for reasons I never understood, decided to stay at her company until the day before we were scheduled to leave. So she never had a full day to just get all the little stuff organized. Luckily, Lisa, who is taking the apartment, won't be here until 3 or 4 today, so Elena can organize.

Because Elena is so organized, it turns out that she has much more stuff than it looks like. Every nook and cranny is a sardine can that once unpacked by a mortal irrevocably expands to 3 times its previous volume. That makes moving hard.

So we are going to stay for one more day to finish up, and then head out tomorrow.

Our Proposed Route

I think we'll take I-90 across the United States from Seattle to Chicago. One possibility is that we'll stay in Missoula, Montana; Rapid City, Sout Dakota; and Rochester, Minnesota.

The most likely snag--my car. Since I got my 30,000 mile maintenance--rough the same time I came up here, my mileage has gone done. From about 350 miles per tank to 250 miles per tank. I'll keep an eye on my mileage. I hope it's something like Canadian gasoline additives or something. Hmmm.... Here is a snippet of my mileage. Note the mileage is only accurate for the times where I filled the tank to the top.

Date	Miles	Volume	Units	Gallons	MPGtentative
6/19/2005	9
6/24/2005	214	10.663	gal	10.663	19.22535872
6/27/2005	498	10.341	gal	10.341	27.46349483
7/8/2005	839	13.752	gal	13.752	24.79639325
7/10/2005	1186	12.777	gal	12.777	27.15817485
7/21/2005	1543	13.516	gal	13.516	26.41313998
7/23/2005	1924	14.545	gal	14.545	26.19456858
7/29/2005	2128	8.435	gal	8.435	24.18494369
8/5/2005	2510	14.444	gal	14.444	26.4469676
8/7/2005	2834	45.677	l	12.06658933	26.85100081
8/15/2005	3178	13.903	gal	13.903	24.74286125
8/19/2005	3405	8.894	gal	8.894	25.52282438
8/23/2005	3823	14.512	gal	14.512	28.80374862
8/26/2005	3984	6.107	gal	6.107	26.36318978
8/31/2005	4361	14.355	gal	14.355	26.26262626
9/5/2005	4713	13.460	gal	13.46	26.15156018
9/13/2005	5075	14.071	gal	14.071	25.72667188
10/2/2005	5453	14.465	gal	14.465	26.13204286
10/13/2005	5792	13.536	gal	13.536	25.04432624
10/19/2005	6160	14.553	gal	14.553	25.28688243
10/28/2005	6441	11.312	gal	11.312	24.84087694
11/4/2005	6733	13.410	gal	13.41	21.77479493
11/15/2005	7083	14.175	gal	14.175	24.69135802
11/30/2005	7423	14.139	gal	14.139	24.0469623
12/4/2005	7752	13.935	gal	13.935	23.60961607
12/13/2005	8095	14.012	gal	14.012	24.47901798
12/23/2005	8451	54.973	l	14.52233324	24.51396715
12/29/2005	8797	14.068	gal	14.068	24.59482514
1/13/2006	9137	14.255	gal	14.255	23.85128025
1/17/2006	9496	2.086	gal	2.086	172.0997124
1/19/2006	9554	14.423	gal	14.423	4.021354781
1/27/2006	9886	13.099	gal	13.099	25.34544622
2/2/2006	10227	14.384	gal	14.384	23.70689655
2/14/2006	10551	2.048	gal	2.048	158.203125
2/14/2006	10577	13.157	gal	13.157	1.976134377
2/17/2006	10780	8.663	gal	8.663	23.43299088
2/28/2006	11124	6.268	gal	6.268	54.88194001
3/3/2006	11285	14.645	gal	14.645	10.99351314
3/15/2006	11591	14.114	gal	14.114	21.68060082
3/22/2006	11909	13.229	gal	13.229	24.03809812
3/30/2006	12273	3.548	gal	3.548	102.5930101
4/3/2006	12351	3.547	gal	3.547	21.99041443
4/3/2006	12379	12.148	gal	12.148	2.304906157
4/13/2006	12692	13.339	gal	13.339	23.46502736
4/20/2006	13062	14.186	gal	14.186	26.08205273
5/3/2006	13420	14.595	gal	14.595	24.52894827
5/10/2006	13768	14.703	gal	14.703	23.66863905
5/24/2006	14105	14.264	gal	14.264	23.62591139
6/8/2006	14446	14.403	gal	14.403	23.67562313
6/17/2006	14784	13.664	gal	13.664	24.73653396
6/22/2006	15161	14.526	gal	14.526	25.95346276
7/1/2006	15472	12.800	gal	12.8	24.296875
7/2/2006	15836	48.781	l	12.88657956	28.24644029
7/12/2006	16195	14.116	gal	14.116	25.43213375
7/24/2006	16515	3.128	gal	3.128	102.3017903
7/26/2006	16599	14.465	gal	14.465	5.807120636
8/9/2006	16950	14.508	gal	14.508	24.19354839
8/14/2006	17276	6.138	gal	6.138	53.11176279
8/16/2006	17457	14.015	gal	14.015	12.91473421
8/26/2006	17725	10.991	gal	10.991	24.38358657
9/1/2006	18098	14.767	gal	14.767	25.2590235
9/13/2006	18435	14.206	gal	14.206	23.72237083
9/24/2006	18775	2.554	gal	2.554	133.1245106
9/26/2006	18835	14.418	gal	14.418	4.161464836
10/3/2006	19104	10.984	gal	10.984	24.49016752
10/9/2006	19481	14.577	gal	14.577	25.86266036
10/16/2006	19809	3.706	gal	3.706	88.50512682
10/17/2006	19887	14.054	gal	14.054	5.550021346
11/3/2006	20187	13.926	gal	13.926	21.5424386
11/22/2006	20515	5.002	gal	5.002	65.57377049
11/24/2006	20588	12.147	gal	12.147	6.009714333
11/30/2006	20911	14.351	gal	14.351	22.50714236
12/18/2006	21240	14.356	gal	14.356	22.91724714
12/26/2006	21569	19.347	l	5.110937756	64.37174854
12/27/2006	21730	14.565	gal	14.565	11.05389633
1/9/2007	22050	13.912	gal	13.912	23.00172513
1/21/2007	22387	14.347	gal	14.347	23.4892312
1/31/2007	22719	14.345	gal	14.345	23.1439526
2/4/2007	23093	14.700	gal	14.7	25.44217687
2/16/2007	23427	7.522	gal	7.522	44.40308429
2/22/2007	23604	14.486	gal	14.486	12.21869391
3/6/2007	23933	14.292	gal	14.292	23.01987126
3/16/2007	24278	14.265	gal	14.265	24.18506835
3/28/2007	24614	14.374	gal	14.374	23.37553917
4/16/2007	24940	14.143	gal	14.143	23.05027222
4/27/2007	25287	14.345	gal	14.345	24.18961311
5/2/2007	25662	14.441	gal	14.441	25.96773077
5/12/2007	26012	14.254	gal	14.254	24.55451101
5/25/2007	26348	1.396	gal	1.396	240.6876791
5/25/2007	26375	13.897	gal	13.897	1.942865367
6/8/2007	26734	14.745	gal	14.745	24.34723635
6/16/2007	27011	10.966	gal	10.966	25.25989422
6/23/2007	27350	14.292	gal	14.292	23.71956339
7/1/2007	27688	14.141	gal	14.141	23.90212856
7/12/2007	27995	11.525	gal	11.525	26.63774403
7/14/2007	28267	35.224	l	9.305198299	29.23097297
7/16/2007	28656	13.420	gal	13.42	28.98658718
7/23/2007	29022	14.168	gal	14.168	25.83286279
8/8/2007	29365	5.040	gal	5.04	68.05555556
8/13/2007	29490	14.380	gal	14.38	8.692628651
8/27/2007	29827	13.630	gal	13.63	24.72487161
9/2/2007	30064	9.242	gal	9.242	25.64380004
9/10/2007	30446	14.169	gal	14.169	26.96026537
10/8/2007	30753	13.376	gal	13.376	22.95155502
10/8/2007	31144	11.573	gal	11.573	33.7855353
10/9/2007	31474	13.964	gal	13.964	23.63219708
10/11/2007	31830	12.809	gal	12.809	27.79295808
10/12/2007	32151	12.527	gal	12.527	25.62465075
10/12/2007	32514	12.051	gal	12.051	30.12198158
11/9/2007	32893	2.973	gal	2.973	127.4806593
12/7/2007	32951	14.104	gal	14.104	4.112308565
12/22/2007	33146	9.639	gal	9.639	20.23031435
1/5/2008	33424	53.132	l	14.03599239	19.80622333
2/10/2008	33686	56.147	l	14.8324713	17.66394789

Elena is Home!

Elena is home! That means for the first time in a long time, she's officially unemployed, just like me! I heartily congratulate Elena for having the courage to leave all she has known for these past few years and join me on an adventure into the unknown. :-)

iPod touch Post

I need to figure out a good way to post when all I have is the iPod. It's annoying as hell. Whoever says the iPhone is great is lying. It's awful. It is hard to use and super frustrating because, while it should be superpowerful, in fact it is weaker than the TRS-80 I grew up on. Ugh! I give up. :(

Last Day in Vancouver

Well, at this point I only have about 24 hours left in the most wonderful city in the world--Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I'm going to miss Vancouver.

Soon I'll go out and enjoy my last few hours. Then I have to do my assigned tasks: Elena's last load of laundry, take three packages to Gordon House to donate them, take a couple of bags to Elena's office, and then run rags over the surfaces inside the kitchen cabinets. When Elena is home, I'm on call to do whatever specific tasks she has for me. When she's packing, she seems to work better with me out of the way than trying to help, so I just put myself on call like that.

When Elena comes home at the end of the afternoon, she will be free. Today is her last day at work. Why she thought she could work on Thursday and leave on Friday, I don't know, but that's the way it worked out. We plan to eat take-out sushi tonight since it's our last dinner in the Pacific Northwest.

Well, off to have my morning coffee...

Dollar vs. Euro

The dollar/euro rate has hit a new record. $1.50 to get a Euro. Dammit! Why?

Americans--stop living beyond your means!

Last Minute Phone Calls

This morning I made some last minute phone calls for things I have to get out of the way.

First I called my insurance company to make sure they have my parents' address and to tell them to switch my car to a storage rate. I'll call them once again when it's in storage. The rate is only $79 for 6 months. Not bad.

Then I called my bank to see if I could a credit card that doesn't expire when I'm in Togo. He said they could send one, but they'd have to turn off my current card. No good because I'm about to start and cross country journey from Vancouver to Wisconsin/Illinois. When I asked if they could send one by expedited mail, he checked with his supervisor and said he could for free. It's funny that he'd have to check. Nobody wants to be without a credit card. If they are going to turn the current one off and mail out a new one, it should always be by overnight mail. Crikey!

Then I called my cell phone company. I will get a code to unlock my phone, made sure I have international roaming, and tried to update my address (they already had my new address). I need to make sure I have international roaming because when I went to Spain last year, they thought my account was fraudulent and turned it off. I had to fax them a copy of my driver's license and a copy of a electric bill to verify my existence and address. It was very annoying.

Last Weekend In Vancouver--Sin City

This post is being done over time. Be forewarned: parental guidance is suggested. Nothing bad here, but I can imagine some people may not want to explain to small girls what Uncle Mark is up to. ;-) It's just a night club we're going to with a theme party. Nothing too bad goes on, in my opinion, but Brent Bozell wouldn't like to see what's going on--or at least he would be filled with self-righteous indignation.

Well, it's my last weekend in Vancouver. Next Friday, we are off to the good (c)old Midwest. So how am I spending my last weekend in the city? Well, at Sin City.

Here I am wearing my neckwear:


And to give me an extra boost of confidence, here are my shoes:


They add about 6" to my height which is good because I'm only 5'6". Actually I never knew that 5'6" is short until I tried match.com and found that even women who are 5'2" want men who are 5'9" or up. Well, tonight I'll be 6' tall. :)

-------------------

3am Feb 24. OK I just got back. It's 3:09am. Here is Sin City at 23 West Cordova. First, my feet hurt like the dickens. I don't know how women put up with shoes that are so uncomfortable. However, that said, I think the reason I enjoyed tonight so much is that my shoes made me tall. I experienced something I hitherto had not experienced. As I walked around the club, I looked into the eyes of all the women I could. And unlike the usual case where they mostly ignore me, they smiled. In number way out of proportion to usual. It might have been my red feather boa and spiky neck thing, but I don't think so. I think it just purely and simply the height. Nothing more than the fact that I was 6 feet tall in my shoes. It was magical. Basically, I look at a woman and she smiled. Every time.

Let me give a general description of the place. First, keep in mind that it's 3:17 and I still have a few shots of JD in me. There are 2 dance floors. The main one played typical dance music including the one song I can't stand (that You Want A Piece Of Me song). Downstairs there is a smaller crowd dancing to more Techno I guess. Upstairs there is a lounge with several places to sit. And there is a dungeon where people can borrow cat-o-nine-tails, etc and do their thing with a partner or two. The theme is fetish. Most people had something interesting on. There were about 3 people who had something on that seemed outside the theme of the night. Oh well. They got in by some means. About 10% of the women were completely topless. Another 15% had either pasties or an electrical tape 'x' over their nipples.

I went with 4 other people and I was the only one to make it to midnight. I stayed 2 hours after that. My outfit was hot, so I had to go out and hang with the smokers every so often. I put the smokers' balcony on my circuit as I walked around smiling at the women.

-------------------

6pm Feb 25. What does this have to do with traveling? Well I'm doing something in a foreign place (Vancouver), doing something I don't normally do, and I'm observing human nature which is my ultimate reason for wanting to go to the places I'm going.

The other travel related issue is a sort of comparative cultural aspect. Elena has been warned by various travelers about how men in other countries tend to harass women--even touching them against their will. This thought doesn't sit well with her. She doesn't want such unwanted attention when she's traveling. The funny thing is that cultures like that can never have a party like this. The rules at the party are strict. No unwanted touching. No photography. No harassment. And there was none. At all. I didn't see any attempts by anyone to touch anyone without explicit permission. Everyone who goes there respected both the rules and the other participants. Period. I read an interview in French of Pervez Musharraff talking about rules. He pointed out that in France you can paint a yellow line and tell people not to cross it. But in Pakistan, you build and wall and then count the number of people trying to climb over it. It's sort of sad. Societies work so much better when people respect the limits.

Anyway, that was the highlight of my last weekend in Vancouver.

My Parker Cisele Finally Works

I got a Parker Cisele fountain pen with a fine point for my 39th birthday for myself. Ever since I bought it, it has been scratchy, runs out of ink while writing, skipping, and most of the time impossible to start without priming it by dipping it in ink. Here it is on my latest l'Express. (That's the new First Lady of France on the cover promising to do her best, BTW.)



For a while I thought it was that air was getting into the cap. On the internet, I found a technique where you dip the end of the cap into a bottle cap filled with melted wax to seal it off, but I saw another forum posting saying to not do that because the vacuum created when you remove the cap causes the ink to come out and spill.

Last weekend, I decided to clean the whole thing out. Give it a nice thorough cleaning. Then I let it dry. And since then, it has writing perfectly.

Vancouver Weather

Wow!!! After 2 days where it was supposed to be nice out, but was it was only so-so, we had a day that was supposed to be crappy, but instead it was absolutely fantatsigorgeobeautiful out. A day so nice it warrants it's own brand new word. Back in Wisconsin when I was growing up, we called it by the probably unPC term "Indian Summer". I sat outside the Vancouver Art Gallery with a beer and a salad rereading an article in LePoint about how Romanians hate the Gypsies, especially now that Gypsies are causing problems all over Europe while carrying Romanian passports.

Poor Elena was at work unable to enjoy the fantatsigorgeobeautiful day. Well, spring is still a few week away, and we'll be in the south of France on the Mediterranean this spring, so I can't feel too bad for her. I do feel bad for all my Illinois and Wisconsin readers though. ;-)

Montpellier In The News

Yes, the city that Elena and I plan to make "home" for 3 months was actually mentioned in the news. It turns out someone thinks he saw Madeleine McCann, that little girl who went missing in Portugal there. I'm not particularly interested in the story of Madeleine McCann, but I thought it was cool that it was the first time I ever heard the name of our city in the media.

Organizing Another Apartment

Poor Elena is sick and trying to organize her apartment. It's interesting watching her do this. She was brutally willing to throw out all my stuff that she didn't think I needed, but not her own stuff that I think she doesn't need. :-) And, again we are fighting the toss vs. donate battles. She had a pile of old Chatelaine magazines (like Cosmo in Canada) dating back to who knows when (I saw one from 2001) and rather than recycle them, she wanted to donate them to the library because, apparently, they are still readable (in the sense that the ink still forms letters). I've been buying Le Point and L'Express for weeks now, folding them in half to carry in pockets everywhere I go, underlining the words I don't know and putting a dot next to each line I read. And will she let me toss them into the recycle bin? No--they are still "readable" so before we go, there is going to be a mortal battle to the death. If she is the last one standing, we'll "donate" these to the library (the library will recycle them anyway if they don't want them), and if I am the last one standing, they will go into the paper recycling bin of Elena's apartment building.

And why does Elena get to "organize" where I had to "move"? It's because Elena has a house-sitter. She is keeping her place. I certainly don't blame her. The location is ideal. Only 2 blocks from Robson Street in the West End. The hot chick per square meter gradient points to Robson and Thurlow. And she's a knight's jump away from that hot babe ground zero. Of course, that feature of her location doesn't factor into her desire to live here, it factors into mine.

News From Wisconsin

It's always nice when there is news from my home state. We don't hear about Wisconsin too much out here in the Pacific Northwest. Actually, I do see a lot of WI plates and people wearing Badger gear. And C-SPAN has someone or another with a UW connection about once a week.

So to hear that Wisconsin's primary results are important is kind of nice. We are an oft overlooked state. I met a lot of Wisconsinites in Japan, actually. Wisconsin citizens seem to wind up in places out of proportion to our numbers. Maybe it's that farm ethic (not that I have it) or Midwest honesty and common sense (this I think I can claim). I don't know what it is, but it's nice to be from there. Previous Wisconsinites have laid the groundwork of good ambassadorship and I hope I follow in those footsteps, especially now that I'm going to be a sort of ambassador in countries where not so many tourists go.

I'm proud of the fact that as a Wisconsinite, I had a chance to vote for Herb Kohl and especially Russ Feingold. I'm a slight Obama leaner, but I love both Barack and Hillary. I will happily and willingly support either or both. I hope my Wisconsin readers enjoyed basking in the attention--while watching all those commercials I don't get to see because I am in Canada. On Wisconsin!

Party Party Party

After our bon voyage party last week, we had more parties.

In the middle of the week we ate with Darrel and Joan because they went to some of the places that Elena wants to visit. We had a nice dinner and Elena learned all about India, Vietnam, and such places. Elena is simultaneously more excited and more scared after hearing of some of the non-Homo sapiens forms of life she'll encounter.

We also had a late night tipple with Cecilia and Luis.

Then we had an afternoon tea with Scott, Jocelyn, and Pascal (who didn't actually have much to say).

Then the evening was a big birthday party for Pushpa, an athlete who makes Elena look like a lazy bum by comparison. Pushpa ran a marathon at the base of Mount Everest. Why? Because she's insane like Elena. ;-)

We went there with Pandora and her friend Jon. Elena and I are looking forward to a party next week Saturday where we'll see Pandora again. I may or may not blog about that party because it is the sort of party that one doesn't tell your Mom or your Republican friends about. :-) Errr... Actually it is much tamer than the parties Republican Jack Ryan tried to take his Star Trek actress wife to.

Party Recovery and Shots

After a nice bon voyage party, I was thoroughly wiped out on Sunday. Even this morning I slept in until almost 10am. I'm too old to party like that. It was a great party. Tons of people I haven't seen in a long time. It was nice to reconnect before heading out on our trip.

Today I had to wake up early enough to get to the travel clinic. I got three more shots. This time I ate before I went so that I wouldn't almost pass out again. So I went in on a full stomach. This time I started to feel queasy--like I chose the wrong thing to eat and that I would puke instead of passing out. Finally they called me name. The "fun part".

But it was OK. I got 2 shots in my left arm. I felt the first jab, but there was no pain. The second hurt a little. Then I got the third one in my right arm. The third was worse than the first but better than the second. And that was it. So I left $185 lighter and all vaccinated up and ready to go. I still need one more Hep B in 6-12 months. But other than that, I'm good to go for a long time.

Bon Voyage Party Tonight...But I Wish I Could Caucus

Tonight is our bon voyage party. About 35 people have signed up to come, so it will be a good time. But still I wish I could go to the caucus. Everyone is talking about the caucus on the Seattle blogs. Everyone is excited. And it actually means something this year because the race is still close when it comes to my location.

Right now I lean Obama, but I like both Obama and Clinton, so I'm not too worried. Whoever it is will be better than McCain and who ever his VP is for when McCain would die of old age while in his first term.

So I'll content myself to enjoy the party and not think too much about the caucusing I could be doing. I'll live vicariously through http://capitolhillseattle.blogspot.com/, http://chtriangle.blogspot.com/, http://seattle.metblogs.com/, and http://slog.thestranger.com/.

More Jabs And Shopping at Mountain Equipment Co-Op

Yes, more jabs. But fortunately for me, it was Elena who got stuck 4 times. Her arms hurt all day. She was mostly angry with herself because she takes a weight lifting class on Thursdays and because she had jabs in her shoulders she couldn't take the class. She wished she would have gotten her jabs today instead of yesterday.

After Elena got jabbed, we got some stuff at The Travel Bug on Broadway. I got phrase books on Moroccan Arabic and a small Swahili phrasebook. Elena got a book on cycling in Europe. We had late breakfast at Tomato which has moved from the construction snarl on Cambie to Broadway. It's gotta be tough to have to move a restaurant from one neighborhood to another. Oh well, the infrastructure improvement will be nice. I'd much rather take the train from the airport to downtown than the B-99 bus.

Then we went to our favorite store, Mountain Equipment Co-Op. It's like REI in Canada and the flagship store is in Vancouver. I bought 3 things.

This is a lantern that is chargeable either through a cell phone charger or by cranking it. It has a little work light for reading or preparing food or whatever. The lantern part is adjustable from a low light but long lasting light to a brighter but shorter lasting light. It's solidly built and very cool.





The same company also makes a flashlight. Here it is:



One of the things about Africa is that there is a long of bartering going on. So if I find that these are less useful that I think they might be--or I find I use one but not the other, I can barter them for stuff. Since my last stop will be Ethiopia, I think I can barter them there since I want to leave them in Africa. I may also give them as gifts if someone does something especially nice for me like let me stay at their place for a while.

Finally, I bought a sleeping bag liner. Not for a sleeping bag, but because I suspect many of the places I stay in Africa will be totally gross and disgusting and I'll want to be in this bag rather than directly on the grimy sweaty bedding. It rolls up pretty small. I'll be spending a lot of time in this bag, I suspect.

Rêve-je en Français?

I was puzzling over this sentence:

“Et ce après la mise en place supposée imminente, mais ô combien laborieuse, dans l’est du Tchad et dans le nord-est de la République centrafricaine, du contingent euro-africaine Eufor, appelé à veiller sur la sécurité des réfugiés et des civils.”

Which I translate along these lines:

“And this after setting in place, almost imminently, but oh how difficultly, into the east of Chad and the north east of the Central African Republic, some of the contigent of the of the Euro-African EUFOR which was called to watch over the security of the refugees and civilians.”

The word I didn't know was "ô". It wasn't in my dictionary. My translation as "oh" is a guess. But before I read it deep enough to really figure it out, I had a dream. I looked it up in the dictionary in real life and it wasn't there. Then I had a dream where I looked it up and it said that it was just the way to write the ^ character when you want to use it alone meaning "circumflex". That of course is wrong. French is hard enough. I don't need my subconscious screwing me up by throwing these monkey wrenches into my studies while I sleep.

The Definition of Suckage

Suckage is being an American political junkie in Canada on Super Tuesday with only basic cable.

At least my Google Reader is being barraged by updates to all the blogs I'm subscribed to.

We Will Leap on Leap Day

Today is a big day for Elena. Today is the day she turned in her letter of resignation making her available to come to France with me. She has been with the company for about 14 years. Wow! That many years with one company!

Right now she is very happy. Almost giddy. It is a nice feeling to have the burden of work lifted off your shoulders. Very refreshing. She gave them an extra week, which means I'll be in Vancouver until Leap Day! On Leap Day we head out on our journey to the Midwest.

Namibia Is NOT On My Itinerary

I guess the bandits knew where to strike. That's why I'm just taking public transportation and staying in hotels/guest houses at night. The large group of foreigners camping is too enticing to those who have no money but do have guns.

http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/blog-242816.html

The Le Point/l'Express Method for Learning French

Here is my method for studying French with the magazines. I read the article and after each line, I put a dot. If I don't understand a word, I underline it and write it into my little notebook. I then look up all the words I didn't know and write their definitions. I have the page number of the words in the left margin of the notebook. It isn't shown here, but each list of words is headed by the magazine number.

Super Bowl Results

Holy Cow! That was one great game. I was totally torn between wanting to see a perfect season completed and the desire to see the victory of a scrappy team that knocked off Dallas and then Green Bay.

And WOW!!!! Wow!!! Wow!!!! Wow!!! What a game!! Boy did Eli Manning earn that. He earned it! Wow!!! That was one amazing game. I'm still shocked. I'm sort of sad that I'm not a Giant's fan. But tonight I'm so happy for the Giants fans. What an amazing 4th quarter. Just absolutely fantastic!

By the way, I'll probably be seeing all those "New England Patriots Super Bowl Champions XLII" T-shirts in Africa. ;)

Update: Oh, and I can't believe the Super Bowl in Canada is followed up by Corner Gas. Canada has 2 good comedy series: The Newsroom and Trailer Park Boys. The rest is just bad.

Check In

Nothing really to report. This is just a sort of check-in post. Last night Elena and I had dinner with our friend Darrel for his 50th birthday party at the Irish Heather in Gastown. Today, I'm watching the Super Bowl.

Lot's of icky news from Africa lately. Coups, attacks, earthquakes, rebel activity, kidnappings, etc. But I'll be OK. Vancouver had another murder last night. Fortunately, this current wave of murders is mostly confined to people who pissed of the local mob. The attack last week was at about 10pm is front of a downtown steakhouse, so there isn't much time to recite Ezekiel 25:17, but at least the mobsters are keeping the collateral damage to a minimum.

Other than that, I'm still studying the French. Not much else.