Sunday, September 28, 2008

Another Leap, Toss & Catch





If you know anyone at Cal who can kick a football, have them contact Coach Jeff Tedford right away.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Coming Home

Gina's future is a little more clear.

Her Peace Corps service is over. She had the option of ending her service now with the equivalent of an honorable discharge, or could have taken an assignment to a new location to serve out her term. The problems with that are twofold: 1) 80% of people who accept that kind of transfer do not complete their 27 months of service, and 2) If you accept a transfer and leave early you don't get the honorable discharge. So this seems like the wise decision.

She'll be on a plane a week from Monday and landing in SFO that afternoon. A college roommate lives in San Francisco but is working in Portland on a project for her company, and has offered Gina and Ben her apartment in the city until January. This is a good offer.

We'll have her home for a little while, then a lot closer than Bolivia or Peru for a while. After that, who can say?

And one more big and public thank you to Dave for calling Lima on our behalf to figure out how to talk with Gina. Thanks!



Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Spirited Away, Part II

Gina's now in Lima, Peru. Next destination, unknown...

Monday, September 15, 2008

Ace Really Is the Place...

It was a whole-house scrubbing weekend in This Land, which is not news anyone can use, but we did rent the best carpet cleaner I've ever used, which might be good knowledge for someone else.

Rented it at the local Ace hardware, and it's a very compact square-looking machine. No hoses or attachments. It was $25 for 24 hours, and an $800 professional cleaning wouldn't have done a better job.

So if you have dirty carpets, Ace really is the place.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Spirited Away

If you've seen, heard or read the news out of Bolivia in the past day or two, you're already aware things are going to hell in a handcart.

Gina is safe. She and Ben took various modes of transport to various places, and is now in lockdown with other Peace Corps volunteers in an undisclosed location. (I don't think Dick Cheney is with them...)

Not sure what's going to happen next, but a Bolivian exit visa in her passport wouldn't surprise me a bit. More news when there is.