Getting real close now

4 Days to Go
Living on the floor now. Everything gone and I mean everything. My hip is still very sore. I need to rest. Damn, I don't see an an opportunity to take a break. They scheduled me everyday at the store. I asked for a light schedule but it feels like they want to stick it to me. Jealous bastards. In 16 months I didn't call in sick or miss a day or be late. I guess its not worth much around here. To me its another test. The commitment is to myself not to these folks, and to think I thought about coming back here. Not long now. It will be over soon.
I ride for the brand that pays me until the job is done.

Ingrid - She's Gone

8 Days to Go

Well I sold my sweet Ingrid. I had her a long time. (1995) What a great car she was. Whenever I was in a jam she was there. She never asked for much. As long as I did the regular maintenance and took care of her she stood by me. No questions. But things change and you can't keep inanimate objects around forever. But she was good to me and I won't forget her.

pp

I still have a limp but getting better

9 Days to Go
Well I'm starting to heal up. I had a lot of swelling but now my right hip is just black and blue. It reminds me of the time I was thrown from horse years ago. And by the way I blame the crashed on the last batch of shots I recieved that morning. Of course it wasn't me. So let's see, things are moving along I seem to catch a break just when I need it. Just when I think I'm going to have a problem something breaks and then I'm back on track. I just have a few things left to sell or give away. Everything is going to be fine.

Some old shots of my early climbs on Mt. Rainer

I finally was able to get my old photos copied and put into the computer. Just thought you might like to see them.

(slide show)

The Crash - NOT NOW

14 Days to Go
I went to the Doc for my finial group of shots today. I know that when I get stuck like a pin cushion the chemicals make me fell tired and week but I still had to go do a little training on the bike. I thought it would be nice to take a ride around Newport Beach and Irvine. I was with a friend at work, Drew and we went about 25 to 30 miles. Not that much but about 4 miles from the car I got caught trying to turn left in the intersection and crashed. I fell on my elbow and my right hip. At the time my elbow was my concern because it was bleeding all over. After riding to the car my hip started to hurt. When I got home I couldn't walk. I had parked my car in the street and needed to get it in the garage later and I couldn't walk out there. I did though and it felt broken. It was nauseating to get in the car because I couldn't sit behind the wheel. All I could think of was how stupid I was to let this happen with 14 days to go. I was determined not to let it stop me. I'm writing this two days later and I am still limping a little and it is very stiff but I know that it is just a bad bruise. Good Karma I guess.

Friends at REI

30 Days to Go (slide show)
I wanted to get a picture of everyone at work but I was told I couldn't get a employee list for some reason. I wasn't sure who I had a photo of or not and I couldn't get a list to compare too. So I'm sorry and apologize to all those I missed. I tried and I will keep trying until I leave. It was nice to meet all of you.



pp

Itinerary for China and Pakistan

37 Days to Go
I received my new China and Pakistan itinerary today which had to be changed due to the problems in Tibet and the devastating earthquake in Chengdu. The changes still have me flying into Hong Kong but two days earlier. I will have to spend 24 hours in Hong Kong before the rest of the group arrives. This is very exciting.

Here is the itinerary.

New Air Itinerary

38 Days to Go
I spent the day working on my visa's and selling my furniture and art work. I did pretty good. I sure hope they don't lose my passport. I received the new air itinerary witch cost $230.00 more. It's alright because I figured a 20% higher price then I paid so I'm still inside the budget. This is a good post to look at.

(click on the title)

pp

Time

39 Days to Go
Its interesting how time works. I know that you can't loose time but where does it go. It seems I can't get enough done. I've been selling many of my personal items. With a little luck and some good Karma I've found a good home for most of it. I will be selling my car next week and that will be difficult. I don't want to sell to cheep but I might have to. My visa applications are in and I've got my new itinerary on the China segment so things are coming along. 30 day notice to the landlord and I will be gone. It will be nice to get out of this dump.

Always the expert

40 Days to Go
Its amazing to me how many people I meet who have traveled internationally that can't tell me about the banking fees. Its like they never look at their bills. I ran into a nice guy yesterday that said he travels to Europe and South America and just got back. Never said when. But all he could talk about was pickpockets. I told him that I was worried about Bankers. He was only worried about some kid in Chile stealing his underwear. I told him that the Bankers pick his pocket every time he swipes his card. Then he went into a rant about some kind of transaction fee that was $5 if he wanted cash. Maybe I said, but what about the currency conversion charge. What is that he mumbled. Come to find out he didn't know about the 3 to 5% charge and doesn't look at the bank statements that close. Turns out he paid several hundred dollars more then he thought. I asked him who was the pickpocket?