Around Almaty

Several of our US Education Group people booked a tour bus for a little sight-seeing around Almaty today. It's a decent sized 'burgh, well developed.

First stop was at some kind of memorial across from the former Soviet KGB Headquarters. The apple in front represents one of the things for which Kazakhstan is known for (haven't tried one yet). At a memorial across the street was a statue to the Golden Man of Kazakhstan. Tradition has that you must kiss the book at the base of the statue. I faked it. Also included are various scenes from Kazakhstan's history. Then we visited a Russian Orthodox Church, St. George. Or maybe is was St. Stefan. Or St. Cloud. I really have no idea. It's supposedly the largest building in the world build without the use of nails. Only wooden pegs. Photos were forbidden inside, but I snapped off a shot of their vision of hell (My vision would be to sit through one of the services). Say what you will about hell at least we'll be surrounded by naked women. Of course they won't be in the best frames of mind, but how is that different from now?

Finally we drove about ten miles outside Almaty to the Medeu Arena, highest elevation speed skating rink in the world (1691 meters) and site of the 1980 Olympics. Medeu Dam located up the canyon protects from devastating mudslide which occur periodically. Various sources state the number of steps up the dam as 830/831/842/950/1000, take your pick. Of course I climbed them.

Baku, Azerbaijan

I first came here in 2005. Eight years on I barely recognize the place. Oil money from the Caspian Sea fields has made itself felt in a huge way. Back then Baku had a very old world, post-Soviet feel to it. Now it is ubër modern, high end shopping, foo foo Euro-chic clothing styles.

If you look closely at the last photo you can still see a hammer and sickle from the Soviet times on the front of the building. Otherwise you'd never know about it.

To the Untrained Eye...

This would appear to be the result of a couple sloppy guys just throwing their clothes all over a room with no regard for cleanliness or order. In fact nothing could be further from the truth.

Having finished a daily workout Mark and Mike dutifully washed their exercise togs and just as dutifully laid them out on the HEATED FLOOR to dry. Why has this concept not reached American shores? I'd MUCH rather have a heated bathroom floor than a dishwasher or garbage disposal or lights.

And for a guy with a tendency to have cold feet this is pure joy.

This is an actual place.

I'm pretty sure it's abandoned and rightfully so. But this pile is next door to my hotel in Almaty. The world can be divided into two kinds of people, those who think clowns are funny, great and entertaining and those who are sane.

All it needs now is a film crew to start making a horror movie.

Mr. Ed is Dead

And he was delicious! Horse steak is popular here in Kazakhstan. I had imagined a T-bone looking chunk of meat, but in the event they turned out to be medallions. Still it was quite a tasty sandwich.

Not sure why our cultural aversion to dining on My Little Pony exists. In my mind the equine is about the equivalent.

Room Service!

Our room in Almaty, Kazakhstan had no mini-bar. This is a problem. Hotel asked us if we wanted to change rooms. No, that's not necessary. Could you bring us some sodas and a couple bottles of water? No problem.

They were luke cold, but will do. Small problem.

Hotel offered to let us use THEIR fridge in the kitchen.

Problem solved.

Ahh, FashionTV!

One of many little known joys of international travel is FashionTV. This channel is seen from Middle East to South Asia to Central Asia (where I am now) to China and points beyond.

There is no plot to any of it except for airing videos of various fashion shows throughout the world. I've never seen a video with actual dialogue. Just model after endless, long-legged model parading one after another to a background of bland music.

But in its own way it's an awesome phenomenon. I submit Exhibits A and B (seen below) Your Honor. No false modesty. No attempt at informing the public. Just good wholesome viewing.

This was taken from the TV in my room moments after arriving in Almaty, Kazakhstan at 4:15AM.

In honor of World Water Day...

I'm following the example of noted philosopher, philanthropist and philander W. C. Fields who famously stated of the life-giving liquid, "Ah yes, water. I never drink anything fish (fornicate) in."

And the world is a better place for it.

Not to Beat a Dead Horse but...

On this observance of the 10th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War may I continue to ask what statement by then Vice-President Darth Cheney ever turned out to be true?

"We will be greeted as liberators." "We know Saddam has weapons of mass destruction." "We know there are ties between Saddam and al Qaeda." "Oil revenues will fund the costs of the war."

These are just a few of his more notable burblings.

He along with his puppet George Bush should be charged with war crimes. The damage they have done to the US and the world will not be undone for generations.

I try not to have bad feeling toward anyone. But these two, along with Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rove and host of others turn my stomach.

Spring Comes to Seattle

Took this outside my apartment. It's still cool. Highs in the upper 40s, lower 50s. But nice weather isn't far off.

Here's a Job You Couldn't Pay Me Enough to Do!

Saw this fella washing windows at my apartment today. Wonder how much an hour he makes? Here's the thing, while there isn't enough money in the world to get me to clean windows hanging from that line, I'd probably pay good money to slide over the edge down to the street. Although, at 25 stories I believe that would be my longest rappel ever. Less than my bungee though.

Good luck to him I say!

Saturday Morning Kicking Around Seattle

So this morning I decided to finally ride the Seattle Great Wheel. If you look in the upper left-hand corner of the building in the lower right of the photo, my apartment can be seen. I put a sheet of paper, which you can barely see, in my window. I want to ride the Wheel on some clear warm summer night.

The umbrella I saw when I was walking around downtown.

Back to MEF

The few readers I have left on this blog may recognize the folks in this picture. In 2006 I volunteered at Millennium Elephant Foundation (MEF) in Kegalle, Sri Lanka for one month. It was one of the coolest experiences I ever had. The lady in the photo is Rani, whom I worked with back then. The mahout (caretaker) with me is Chandana. He still has the photo I sent him after my stint. A couple weeks ago, after seven long years away, I was able to return to MEF. Happy to report both are doing well. She took me down to the river where we gave each other baths. I'll be sending these pix onwards to Chandana too. I shouldn't wait seven years to go back again.

Second Flight Test of Boeing 787

OK, I didn't actually see this. "Borrowed" it from the Flight Aware web site. But these planes pass by my place on their way to Boeing Field all the time. Mt. Rainier is a stretch to see from my apartment (I'd probably fall to my death if I leaned out far enough to get a look).

Just a cool photo.

My digs

I saw this shot on Pinterest and just loved it. Haven't ridden the "Great Wheel" yet, but plan to on Saturday. I'll take more photos then. You can see my apartment in this picture. It's the one with the bicycle on the porch. Ha! Ha!

Whoops!

Looks like I was wrong. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. The first Latino (not @Latin) pope.

Habemus Papem

What do you want to bet it's an old white guy?

Deja Vu All Over Again

Having just returned from my latest whirlwind pass through the sub-continent I am fighting off the usual jet lag blues.

The afternoon of my first day back I opted for a little nap. About an hour in to it my phone rings. It was the airline informing me that my bag which had been re-routed from me was now in and would be delivered to my Seattle address.

I started! "No! That's no good. I'm not in Seattle! I'm in, uh, er. Oh. (Looking out the window) Huh, I AM in Seattle. OK. Thank you."

This temporary post-trip disorientation always happens at some point. This was just the first time anyone else experienced it with me. Wonder what the poor guy was thinking...

My First Look at the Himalayas

On my recent trip to Nepal I booked an early morning flight on Buddha Air to view the mountains. There isn't much I can say to add to the photos. We were at 25,000 feet, still below the top of Everest. Stunning. In the first photo, looking out the cockpit window, Everest is seen roughly to the left of center.

And yes, there is a Yeti Airlines which does similar flights. Given the choice I went with karma. But it was a tough decision.

Sweet Home Seattle!

These are a couple views from my apartment. Puget Sound. Olympic Mountains in the distance. It's a good place.

An Experimental Post if you Will

Adding a photo of a photo I took in the Hotel Suisse in Kandy, Sri Lanka. An elephant pulling what I believe is a Spitfire, circa WW II.

Trying to Get Back in the Blogging Habit

It suddenly dawned on me there is probably an iPad app for Blogger. And in fact there is. Having downloaded it I will now make every attempt to revive the moribund "Best of What's Left."

You can thank me later.

The Olympics: In My Opinion

So the games of the something or other Olympics have ended. Only the closing ceremony remains. Due to a recent move we have no cable or satellite hookup, so I won't be watching. No matter. I saw the opening. After Beijing I knew it would be a tough show to follow. No one, and I mean NO ONE does opening ceremonies like the Chinese. But the London opening was interesting...and odd. The whole Industrial Revolution thing was a strange theme. Funny how they skipped over the colonialism and the slave trade. Those had as much or more to do with Britain's rise to a world power as anything else. But that's water over the bridge. Now as to the games themselves, I have my personal preferences and dislikes. Which I will share with you now. I realize I may be opening myself to criticism and accusations of sports snobbery and I don't know what else. But certain things need to be said. If I were appointed Czar of the International Olympic Committee there would be big changes. Now, I am not alleging that certain events are not difficult to perform. Jason. That's not the point. It's the kind of "making up" of sports to fit into the games I object to. So for instance, any "sport" with the words Synchronized or Rhythmic in them would be abolished. You all know this. They aren't really sports. Seriously, if ribbons or hula hoops are involved: Out. Any sport with a "Kiss and Cry" corner. Gone. I mean come on. Again, I'm not saying this stuff isn't hard to do. It's just that the whole thing depends on the judgement of some ideological nitwit or potential child abuser with a grudge to determine the winner. Although I'm writing about the Summer Games this goes for figure skating too. Essentially any sport where you feel the need to wear glitter and ridiculous eye makeup (Eastern Euros) has to be shown the door. I realize I may be doubling up here. Moving on, soccer: Out. Soccer (aka futbol)has both mens and womens world cups. Those are HUGE, vastly entertaining events in and of themselves. Olympic soccer doesn't have half the value. Basketball: Gone. I know this is usually a lock for the US. They should just automatically award the Americans the Gold and let everyone else play for Silver or Bronze. Any sport that requires another species. Aka Dressage. This is what county fairs and rodeos are for. Air rifle. Shoot a real weapon. Boxing. Gotta go. Its a great sport with a great Olympic tradition. But the game is so crooked, the matches so fixed its lost all its allure. Can it. Same apparently goes for badminton. Ping pong, I mean table tennis, too. A third of the planet plays it so it will be around for a while. That indoor cycling sprint relay thing where I can't figure out what they're doing and its over in 20 seconds. Lose it. I like the kind of recent tradition of having the womens marathon being the first track and field event with the mens coming last. A nice bracket. I'm basically a track and field fan. To me THAT is the Olympics. The Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius." Faster, higher, stronger. Stick with events that fall under that. So swimming stays. Rowing stays. As an aside I noticed some of the teams had Concept II oars. I bought a prototype Concept II rowing ergometer from two grad students at Northeastern University who developed it in 1981. Glad to see they're going strong. Most races stay. Even the triathlon, although I have a little problem because it isn't run the full Ironman distance. The 26 mile 385 yard marathon is that unusual distance because in the London games of 1908 organizers wanted the race to start near Windsor Castle so the royals could watch. Due to the need to stretch the course distance from a planned-on 25 miles it became the Olympic distance. The triathlon became a famous race because of the Hawaiian Ironman. THAT's the distance that should be used. Also on the branding thing (which has absolutely nothing to do with my enlightened leadership), since the Olympics has become a whore for advertising value,you may or may not have noticed the Chinese brand Li-Ning prominently displayed on jerseys, shoes and other accouterments. I believe Li-Ning will in the near future be as ubiquitous as Nike, Adidas and Puma. I've purchased several Li-Ning shirts and shoes when I was in China and found them to be of very high quality and good value. Any of the currently existing races and feats of strength stays. Under my leadership the whole shebang will take about six days. So the Tour de France is over. The Olympics is over. Tiger Woods is over. Hey the Pirates still have a shot at the playoffs. I haven't been able to say that for twenty years!

Hi. Yeah I'm back.

When I hear conservatives saying "We need to make this country great again" I wonder...what the hell do they mean?

Define great. Does that mean, what, we roll all over every other country? We kind of already do that.

Should we have the highest rate of conspicuous consumption, energy and resource use of every other civilization that ever existed? Been there, done that.

And IF there is a way to make this country great again (what ever that means) how do they propose to do that with the likes of Ricks Perry or Santorum, Newt Gingrich or Willard Romney at the helm? Maybe Colbert could pull it off. He gets my vote. If I voted Republican, fat chance.

Seven years

But the good times always outweighed the bad.

Now It Can Be Told...

May 19th, 2011 I received the payoff from the sale of my house. The place had been on the market since January 2007. On other words straight into the teeth of the most massive real estate downturn in U.S. history. Had I tried to sell it one year earlier odds are I would have sold it much easier and for (I estimate) double what I eventually received.

But OK, that's history. Others had it far worse. Life marches on.

But there's a heck of a story leading up to the actual sale.

We were in China. This was last February. At the Wudang Taoist Kungfu and Taiji Academy foreign students come from virtually everywhere in the world. They do so for all manner of reasons and lengths of stay. Some we became close to. Others not so much. It depended largely on how long they were around (often only a week or so) and of course personality.

Over the winter, when it was very cold, the number of students dropped to maybe six or seven students. So we all tended to bond together more so than in the spring or summer when the roles would swell to three or four dozen folks.

Around the first of the year we had been joined by a French woman whom I'll refer to as Dana, a very pleasant, jovial lady, who was always a joy to be around. She had been with us for close to two months when it came her time to leave.

On her last night in Wudang several of us gathered in her room for a bit of socializing and to bid her a safe journey. We had some snacks and a bottle of "Great Wall" wine. A very pleasant evening. In the event I was telling her my basic life story, lamenting the difficulty in unloading the house. I actually did have a buyer who was living in the house paying me on a "Bridge loan" until he could qualify for bank financing. But the contractual time limit for the financing had expired and even though I had agreed to extend the limit it was looking unlikely anytime soon. I had a constant fear of learning he had moved out with no forwarding address (It had happened before on an earlier sale attempt).

At this juncture I should mention that Dana is a self-described Shaman (Shawoman?). No, Shaman. That in itself is a very interesting yarn. But it's hers, so I'll roll on with mine.

So I'm giving her the sorry details when she asks me to hand her some cards she had laying on a nearby table. They were little, business card-sized things. Laminated and connected with a kind of ring as I recall. She also had a little pyramid-shaped charm, like you'd see on a decorative bracelet. She began waving the pyramid over the cards and having a private conversation in French, which I couldn't understand. It seemed as though she was asking some questions, making the odd comment, occasionally nodding her head as if in response to something.

After a minute she looked up and said "You have a ghost in the house. It doesn't want the house to sell. Until you get the ghost out the house won't sell."

I was stunned! But the shock was just beginning. So, who is this ghost? Turns out it was my mother-in-law! I will tell you that in my story I had mentioned how my mother-in-law had lived in the attached apartment for several years, but a few years before her death had moved in with her surviving daughter. Some might say "Aha! She picked up on that and used it to 'work' you." OK, maybe so. But in the end I don't care. I'm not one for mumbo-jumbo, metaphysical crapola. As a rule I don't buy into Aliens, Yetis or spirit world/human interaction. But read on...

"How could this be!" I asked. She didn't die in the house! Dana replied it wasn't necessary to have passed away there. She explained how the spirit of those "beyond" sometimes go back to a place where they were happy during their physical life. I knew my mom-in-law had loved her little apartment, so that made sense as far as it went.

"What about my wife? She actually DID die in the house. Was she still there?"

No, she has moved on. In the spirit world she is not Jan as you once knew. She is a different "facet" of her spirit. But she is happy and well and wishes you good things (I'm paraphrasing.)

"So what do I do?" I asked.

Dana gave me explicit instructions. I needed to write a letter to my mother-in-law, read it to her aloud, burn it and spread the ashes into the hillside. Even though I was in China the message would be delivered.

I looked at Cabrini and said "I gotta go!" Cabrini had been in other conversations and didn't know what I was up to. "What?" she asked. "What are you talking about?"

I just said I'll be back in a few minutes. Then I ran to our room, grabbed a piece of scrap paper and wrote my letter. I basically told her that, much as I loved her and appreciated her many kindnesses to me during her life, it was time for her to "go into the light." In fact I wrote "I command you to go into the light." I then set fire to the sheet and blew the ashes to the winds.

Afterwards Dana told me the house would sell by the end of March. She added the proviso that since she didn't speak English well and all the messages she received were in French it was possible she may have mistaken certain details of the message. But we agreed to stay in touch. I would let her know what went down.

Well, March passed by and no sale. Oddly, I had been hopeful. I don't know why, nothing else had worked in four and a half years. But I'm a generally positive guy.

About halfway through April I finally emailed Dana to inform her nothing had happened. It was a couple weeks before she replied (some people apparently don't LIVE on Facebook). But toward the end of the month she wrote back. "I checked and checked again for your house... just be patient... it s ok now, just it needs little time more ;-)) that is the message from "Upstairs"...just wait..."

The very next email I checked that morning was from the guy in the house. Suddenly he had come into enough money to give him the down payment he needed to close out the sale.

To shorten a long story my accountant emailed a few days later telling me to check my bank account, it was a little heavier. Indeed it was! My long financial nightmare was over. The house was gone, Baba was in heaven (or where ever) and the cash was in the bank. Zip-a-dee-do-dah!

So how far off was Dana's original call? March...May...How similar are those in Francais?

All Too Soon It's Over

A couple days ago I posted about the sale at long last of the old homestead.

An even better story was occurring practically simultaneously. Literally (and by literally I mean literally) five minutes after the confirming email of the sale Cabrini got an email from an agency that recruits for the US government. She had posted her resume online the night before.

Long story short she's been offered a job as a (civilian) Social Researcher with the US Army. She reports to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas the 11th of June for training followed with deployment in four or five months. Its the kind of position she is extremely qualified for and will give her great "Street Cred" in years to come.

We leave for the States in two days.

These past couple days have been bittersweet. Nine months living here has changed us in a fundamental way. We feel like we belong in our little unusual Wudang Taoist community. The temple monks and nuns, the ladies who run the tourist shops, the kids in the school, our teachers...all have made us feel so welcome and accepted here. It's been a time in our lives which we will always look back on with deep fondness.

But life moves on and so must we.

228 South Albatrossaroundmyneck, Columbiana, Ohio

I thought May 19th was a big deal last year.

Four and a half years ago I put my house of 16 years on the market. Those who have seen or visited the place will agree it was a pretty sweet layout. Secluded, lake front 3800 square feet ranch-style, completely finished basement, attached "Mother-in-Law" apartment, detached Guest house, 40x40 two-story pole barn, all with matching facade. All in all one great house in the great little village of Columbiana.

In the midst of the most drastic economic downdraft of my lifetime I have ridden waves of angst over this. At least five times the house was supposedly sold only to have the deals fall through.

But today, May 19, 2011, exactly one year after leaving the Peace Corps the deal is FINALLY done! Woo! Hoo!

I would like to express my undying appreciation to the bastard SOB bankers of the world who so torched the financial system for their own personal cocaine habits that they completely hosed me (and basically everyone else along the way) out of at least half what I would have gotten five years ago.

If I ever have occasion to visit the graves of the chief culprits from Countrywide Lending, Lehman Bros., Merrill Lynch, etc. KNOW I will happily relieve my bladder on their tombstones. Then I'll shit on their burial mounds. Or vice versa.

Because in the long run we're all dead and all that junk they accumulated will go to someone else.

But for the moment I GOT MINE!

May 19, 2010

One year ago today we did the Botswana Bugout. It's been a wild, crazy, wonderful ride.

The best metaphor for it is a once great Akron, Ohio-based tire manufacturer: Goodyear.

A few more years like this and I might just live forever...

This Great Idea is also Stolen

Politicians should be required to wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers. The product logos plastered all over them would represent corporate donors. The size and placement of the patches would indicate the size of the largesse.