My Yoga Group Says Good-Bye

So my yoga class had a little going away party for me Saturday night. Youngstown Sports Grill. These people have been my local social support group for the past couple years. I'm gonna miss them and my three weekly yoga sessions.


The "King" performing Tree.

To their credit none of the girls yelled "Whoo!"

Bud demonstrates his "Man Crush" on Bob. Bob was into it.

Open House

Had an open house today. One hour only, from 2 to 3 PM. Must have been over a 100 people show up to go through my stuff. Many of the neighbors came over too.

Crazy feeling to have complete strangers go rooting through all your stuff. But in the end it's all just "stuff." I've made my disconnect. My renter, Karen, told me she got a little emotional when she saw the old bucket of baseballs I used to pitch to Mick for batting practice. Funny how the mundane flotsam of our lives sometimes unwittingly impacts others.

Hope whomever shows next Saturday brings their wallets.

Here's the ad for the sale of my worldly belongings.

Gettin' Down To the Short Strokes...

Well, we're getting down to cases now. I came home last Sunday night and was surprised when I couldn't pull into the garage. While I'd been gone the auctioneers had been busy getting the place ready for the sale next Saturday.

Except for the major pieces of furniture the house was EMPTY! Not a plate, knife or spoon. The only toilet paper left was what was on the roller. I couldn't even scrub the commode because the brush was gone! No food except what little was in the fridge. Everything is laid out on display in the garage and barn.


Even my beloved kayak.

I've been scrambling to disconnect my life from all the things that keep us here, cable TV, satellite radio, health insurance, cell phone, changes of address...every night I remember something else. Today I have a work crew mulching and cleaning up the yard for the open house Sunday. Getting the car detailed tomorrow so it looks good.

Next Saturday is the auction. All my worldly goods. At the end of the day I should know to a dollar figure exactly what I'm worth.

It's a very freeing experience. In a sense it's like I'm dying. In a way I am. In 18 days my old life will end. What follows will be a whole new existence. That's why I'm inviting as many friends as possible to the auction.

It'll be like hosting my own funeral. Only I'll actually be there to say good-bye.

Ya'll come!

My Last Middle East Trip Update

Due to the dearth of free internet I haven't been posting while on this trip. It was a pretty normal tour this time. Had a couple nice side trips.

On my first full day Wes Roy (fellow recruiting tribe member) and I took a quick jaunt over the Israeli border into the West Bank. The crossing was crazy. No signs or instructions. Just follow the crowds of Palestinians and hope you don't get lost. I asked the customs guard NOT to stamp my passport with the Israeli visa. If you have Israel stamped in your passport you may will be denied entry into Kuwait, Saudi and some of the other Gulf countries. They stamp a slip of paper and you carry that until you leave.

Anyway, as it turned out we didn't have much time. The Israeli's decided to close the border at 1:30PM that day and we only got in around 10AM. But we hired a Palestinian driver (blue-eyed! Crusader influence I reckon.) and drove to Masada. In 66CE a band of Jewish rebels fighting against Roman rule captured Masada, formerly Herod's winter palace. Sitting high above the Dead Sea Masada is a near impregnable fortress. The Romans built eight encampments on the desert floor surrounding the heights. You can still see them. Their main assault was toward the western gate. The Romans built a siege ramp and in due course were about to breach the wall.

The rebel leader made an impassioned speech to the 960+ rebels trapped inside the walls of Masada. Rather than live as humiliated Roman slaves they agreed to commit suicide. Since suicide is considered a serious sin what the did was basically count off from one to ten. The tenth man then killed the other nine. Then they recounted and again the tenth man killed the other ten. And so on until in the end only one guy actually killed himself. There were some women and children who escaped the slaughter and hid in the fort. When the Romans took possession they were alive to tell what had happened.

Masada is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Jason tells me I can claim both Israel AND Palestine since they both have their own governments. It may be weak, but I'm taking it. It's no worse than Greek and Turkish Cyprus.

We made it back to the Jordanian border with 13 minutes to spare. A good day.

Here Comes the Peace Corps

Man, it's closing fast. I came home from my last Middle East trip Sunday night. Opened the garage door and couldn't pull in. The auctioneers have the whole thing PACKED with my stuff, ready to sell.

The house is almost empty. I couldn't even find a dish, knife or spoon to eat with. Had to rummage around the barn to find the stuff and retrieve enough utensils for the remaining couple weeks. Got a couple coming to look at the joint this afternoon. This will be their third look.

I think they are waiting until the auction in hopes of getting the place at a lower price than what I have it listed for. There might be a couple other interested parties.

The economic question of the day (and night) is: At what price does "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" kick in? With this market and the possibility of putting any profit to work while I'm gone, plus eliminating the need to do upkeep, pay taxes, keep it rented, etc. etc. etc. I'm strongly inclined to sell.

My flight to Philadelphia for the Peace Corps pre-departure training is booked. Pleasant surprise: I get to claim frequent flier miles, even for the jump from JFK to J-Burg. Oughta be worth a couple bucks. Plus we bus from South Africa into Botswana. So I'll claim two more countries before we even get started. That'll make 47. With luck I'll hit 100 before I kick.

The things I think about...

More About Botswana

This link really lays it all out with regards to HIV/AIDS there.