Hi Junior... Waiting in the BA Terrace Lounge at London Heathrow for my flight to Madrid. Nice to finelly get some ass kissed - ehm, respectful treatment - now that I am flying on actual business class tickets, not just upgrades or miles. I helped myself to a wonderful bottle of Perrier Jouet to warm up and celebrate x-mas... oh yeah, Merry Christmas to all of you! Of course, now that I leave Germany before the event is over they actually do have a *white* x-mas this year, can you believe it? That didn't stop me from flying on the Autobahn for 5 days straight... woohoo, nothing better to see that needle go beyond the 200 mark. Went to Cottbus to visit my uncle, whom I hadn't seen in 8 years or so. Of course, there was the visit to the crew in Anklam - always nice to play the gift-giving superstar for your little (...actually, now pretty big) god-daughter. Anyway, the bottom line is that I can hardly walk after feasting at least three times every day, plus the obligatory Weihnachtsstollen all the time in between. Madrid tonight, Miami and Cancun tomorrow - Washbear time!!!

Heya Mr. KJ - Signing off from Buenos Aires. What a great time it has been! I am sure I will be back one day soon, maybe for an even longer period of time. Three more nights here in summer, sun and fun - then it's back to the old continent. I will be extremely busy racking up air miles so I might not get a chance to write an update for several weeks but I will be back, as the Mattinator says!

Yoodidleedoo Kermit Jr... I have made it! Well, almost. Still no Antarctica, but at least I am at the closest thing there is to the Antarctic Convergence 60 degrees South Latitude - Ushuaia... "End of the World, Beginning of Everything", as the locals say. Quite the cool place! It better be that way because getting here from Punta Arenas was an all-day affair, not because of distance but because of the my proven-again-theory that ridiculously unimportant border posts tend to be the ones with the most scrutiny. Never again on land from Chile to Argentina! Two hours at the stupid Chilenean side, another hour spent with the Argentinians. Funny thing is that, while we were processed, everybody went back and forth across the border to shop at the gas station, use the bathrooms, whatever. Just getting the fucking stamp in your passport was the problem. Anyway, made it to Rio Grande, a wind-swept armpit of a location, then continued via Route 3 to Tolhuen (awesome food there at the La Union panaderia!) and for the fun part across the mountain ranges, nearby lakes, and past amazing skies to Ushuaia, End of the World. Wheww!!! Took the lift up to the Martial Glaciar base today, tomorrow sailing across the Beagle Channel (yeah, more penguins!!!). Finally, back to BsAs tomorrow night for one more week in my number two city (if you don't know number one you shouldn't be reading this). Miles miles miles!!!

Short-term schedule:

12/19-12/24 Friedland/Anklam, Germany Kind of Christmas.
12/24-12/25 Madrid, Spain Now that's what I call Christmas!
12/25-12/30 Cancun, Mexico A fun diving tanning boozing Washbear time.
12/31-01/10 Tokyo, Japan Gotta see the Rising Sun rising for the New Year.
01/10-02/04 Polynesia, South Pacific Fun fun fun on Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.

Yo Junior - Stuck in Punta Arenas for the next three days, so here's an update. No Antarctica this time for me... just not enough luck. Step by step: After my 5 deco days in BsAs by plane via Santiago de Chile to Puerto Montt - what a chaotic and unappealing place. Killed three hours and embarked upon my trip through the fjords aboard the Magallanes, Navimag's supply vessel sailing once a week to Puerto Natales. Great party ship, lots of cool people, super-comfy berths, and even acceptable weather for some great views throughout the journey, especially in Puerto Eden and on the way through the White Passage. Zoomed through Natales to catch my bus to Punta Arenas, where DAP finally confirmed that our team of 4 wouldn't make it to King George Island in Antarctica the next day due to lack of a sufficient number of people willing to make the flight. What a bummer... Heck, at least I have about $2k more in my pocket now and can blow a bit here, as there are no buses leaving for Ushuaia until Monday. So I went on this awesome little trip to a wildlife farm, jumping around between nandus, armadillos, guanacos, sheep and angoras, even a puma, to name a few. Highlight was the visit of Pinguineros, a beach where 10,000 Magallanes penguins come ashore to work on their offspring projects. Hillarious little creatures!!! Enjoying almost white nights here... the sun "sets" at about 11 p.m. and the sky is playing with colors in a limitless number of ways. More lazy stuff tomorrow, Sunday on a ship across the Straight of Magallanes to Porvenir.

Heya KJ... don't get stuck at GIG, Rio's international airport, unless you are able to enjoy the luxuries of the Admiral's Club - yikes, what an ugly and old terminal, not to mention that just about everything is closed and super-boring here. Well, time to update the blog. Maracana on Sunday wasn't nearly as impressive as I expected it to be like; yes, there were a few samba drums and dancing girls but nothing compared to the lunacy at a Boca Juniors game in Buenos Aires, if you ask me. The evening made up for it, though: The fabulous trio took a whole bunch of us out to Baronetti, the current hot spot of luxury night life in Ipanema - now *that* was an eye-candy palace, I must say! Too much cachaca, as always in Rio, so the return home at 6ish in the morning was kind of blurry, but what a tough life if you can relax all day at Poste 9 on Ipanema beach! The young, the rich, the beautiful - in short, the most impressive bikini catwalk you will ever get to witness in your life. Spent Monday doing some more touristy stuff and took the old rumbling bondinho street car from the city center to the Santa Teresa neighborhood. One more night out, and today I am back on my way to EZE - via SCL. Yeah... five days relaxing in the nightlife of Buenos Aires and at *home* before heading back into the snow of Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica.

Yowza KJ... summer time again!!! Have not been able to sleep much since my arrival here in Rio de Janeiro three days ago. San Francisco what!?!? I think *this* is the most beautiful city on earth... Cidade Maravilhosa as the carioca call it. Spent my daytime visiting the tourist stuff so far... Sugar Loaf at sunset, Christ Redeemer on top of the Corcovador (yes, I did take the rumbling cog train through the rain forest!), and beaches beaches beaches - I am staying right smack in the middle of the sand-and-surf action, in Copacabana, right on the beach. Drool drool drool... never seen so much dental floss separating thousands of nicely tanned and beach volleyball-tuned cheeks! Couldn't believe that Caipirinhas are cheapest at A Garota de Ipanema, the bar where Morais and Jobim wrote that famous song that started it all - made a few friends and got wonderfully wasted on prime-quality cachaca! Plenty of fresh and exotic fruit juices to pep you up the next morning here, whenever that is. I am back inside the tropic of capricorn and the climate tells... frigging humid here and 35/93 degrees here throughout the day, sunshine or not. Taking the overnighter to Florianopolis later today, back to Rio on Saturday - no way I will miss that football game at the Maracana stadium!

Hola Sr. Frog - back in Bs.As. tonight after a whirlwind tour of Patagonia this week. Flew into this outpost of civilization called El Calafate and immediately went on to a day trip to the Perito Moreno glacier. Holy fucking cow!!! I thought I had seen my glaciers back in Switzerland but this one is a way more impressive sight to watch - a 30 km long and 4 km wide advancing icefield continuously calving new icebergs from its 60 meters high front. The impact of the icebergs when hitting the lake water below cannot be described... what a roaring thunder, as if a mortar shell hits the ground and explodes! Wait until you see those pictures... Next day for 5 hours over the infamous gravel and pothole-infested Route 40 to an even tinier outpost of human settlements, El Chalten: Self-declared trekking capital of Argentina and (they think) the world. Got my workout during a 7-hour hike to and back from Cerro Fitz Roy the next morning, one of those picturesque mountain ranges that are a Garden Eden for postcard sales people. Same evening back the afore-mentioned 5-hour ride to El Calafate, only to immediately get up again at 5am (!!!) to go for another 5 hours over dirt roads in a Land Rover to Chile and its fabulous national park Torres del Paine. Here came my next boink, boink, boink moment: You should see the herds of guanacos running around all over ther roads! Yes, I do have pictures, and I even caught a grey fox fletching his teeth at me only 2 meters away! Not to mention all these funny-looking newborn lambs - just too funny how their tails dangle when these poodle-looking creatures run for cover... More Kodak moments in the park: Wonderful trekking, huge waterfalls, another glacier field with icebergs on a seasonal beach, just simply amazing nature everywhere. And I even got to see my first two condors in the wild!!! Enough of the cold trekking world for now... tomorrow its Brazil... samba, Rio de Janeiro, beaches, Florianopolis, and just being lazy for 10 days!

More from Rapa Nui - what a wonderful experience... after two days you can recognize almost every face you see on the street and today, after five days here, almost every local waives a greeting of hola or iorana when I walk by. The first days seem to leave an impression of poverty around the island but the longer one stays the more amazed one will be how happy these people truly are... no worries here (Bush who?). The food doesn't have a lot of variation but what they do is yummy... especially the Ceviche, lemon-marinated raw tuna. After my dives yesterday I watched local fishermen prepare the fresh catch of the day at the pier - quite a bloody affair to separate a monstrous tuna from its head and stomach (yes, I do have pictures!). Speaking of diving here - huge coral reefs and an amazing variety of underwater landscape, some caves, and a few strange-looking fish. Oh yes, huge turtles!!! Amazing how these plump animals can look so graceful when swimming underwater. Back via SCL to EZE tomorrow, then immediately south to El Calafate on Sunday.

Today, an extremely happy Iorana Korua from Rapa Nui ("Hello everybody from Easter Island"). Christmas - or Easter, so to speak - came almost two months early for me this year... I have finally made it and can now proudly put the crown jewel of true globetrotters into my traveling resume: I arrived on Isla de Pascua, the most isolated and remote place on earth. Over 3700 kilometers from South America, over 4100 kilometers from Tahiti - nowhere on this planet is one further away from populated areas, including the polar regions. The nearest island is even tinier Pitcairn, about 1700 kilometers to the west, of Mutiny on the Bounty fame - the paradise where Fletcher Christian and his men found refuge (it is not permanently populated these days). Getting here is an adventure in itself, a challenge of luck and one's wallet. LanChile's 11-hour Santiago-to-Papeete/Tahiti flight makes a stopover here once or twice a week, depending on the season - being able to actually make a reservation is a different story, as discount fares, RTW seats or mileage award spots are virtually unavailable. From brightest sunshine and sweltering heat to torrential rainfalls - my first day had it all. Went on a hike to stand next to some of the famous moai, huge sculptures carved out of a volcano mountain's side and mysteriously transported by the Long Ears and Short Ears to their ceremonial ahu sites. Sunset coloring these monoliths was amazing, with the tropic clouds constantly changing the shades of purple, yellow, blue and orange. Steering a 4x4 through red lava mud can be quite challenging but I never got stuck so far. Anakena beach and its Thor Heyerdahl moai today, then two days of scuba diving... woohoo!!!

Short-term schedule:

10/27-10/31 Bariloche and San Martin de los Andes The Lake District in the mountains.
11/01-11/01 Santiago de Chile Just a first brief visit... more in December.
11/02-11/08 Rapa Nui (Isla de Pascua... a.k.a. Easter Island) The most remote archipelago on earth.
11/09-11/14 El Calafate Awesome Perito Moreno glacier and much more.
11/15-11/25 Rio de Janeiro And a side trip to Florianopolis.
11/29-12/14 Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica Well, we'll see about that.

Yowzadlidoo Mr. Kermit - what a busy 11 days since I last wrote. Safely returned from the Andes on another marathon bus trip before diving head first into... Washbear week!!! (inside joke, I know) Another River Plate game on Sunday, another 17-hour bus ride - this time to the spectacular Cataratas de Iguazu, one of the seven natural wonders of this earth. Absolutely breathtaking waterfalls, from the frightening Garganta de Diablo (Devil's Throat) main falls, to the Bossetti Falls and the San Martin Falls with its crazy power boats riding straight into them, to a walk right on top of the rim where the calm water still doesn't know what's going to happen within seconds. Plane ride back, more lomo and even more lomo in Bs.As., and now in Uruguay after a short jet cat ride across the Rio de la Plata. Quiet Colonia del Sacramento is a welcome oasis of silence and enjoys fourth-worldish slow pace after the craziness of BA, not to mention the air-cleaning tropical thunderstorm accompanied by the usual miniscule amount of rainfall to say hello today. Tomorrow Montevideo and back to BA at night.

Hola K... Mendoza. Caught a 13-hour bus from BA last night - nothing to complain about; better than business class on an airliner: Upper deck front row, fully reclining seats (only 3 per row), sherry and wine along with a full dinner, brandy and whiskey to tuck you in while watching a movie - they know how to make you sleep through the night! Some 1,000 kilometers west of BA daylight breaks and the breathtaking snow-capped Andes become visible, still over 200 kilometers away. The volcano Tupungato and the imposing Aconcagua (tallest in America) throne almost 7,000 meters above sea level (that's approaching 23,000 feet for all you SI-challenged) visible from everywhere - that's twice the altitude of most mountains in the Alps! It's Discovery/Columbus Day today, so most businesses are closed and I can explore Mendoza in all its splendor. Completely destroyed by an earthquake in the 19th century, the city was completely rebuilt with sidewalks wider than the streets in most other cities! Everything is lined by exotic trees from all over the world - it somehow feels like a big version of Alice Springs, an oasis within the vinyards of the 4th-largest wine-producing region of the world. Speaking of wine, I thought I start off this week on the proper foot by going on a tour of bodegas and winemakers this afternoon. Tomorrow will be a full-day adventure to the base of Aconcagua, the Puente de Incas and Lago Horcones.

Yowza Mr. K. Jr. - One week in Buenos Aires now. What an amazing place! Don't even know where to start... went to see a Tango show at one of the most classic esquinas in town, attended my first Boca Juniors game, hiked all over Palermo/Recoleta/San Martin/Microcentro/San Telmo, found an apartment, watched River Plate win, and basically went to bed at about 7 am pretty much every day. Oh, did I mention that the diet here is more or less 100% steaks, steaks, and more steaks? Not a problem, though, as the meat quality is impressive. Gonna do the girlie thing and go shopping for shoes these days - with all this beef there's plenty of good leather around here. My apartment rocks... kind of smallish but in one of the best streets of the city in Palermo, on a 9th floor overlooking the zoo and the skyline, very central, full security. Moving in tomorrow - they just completed a full renovation of the place with new paint, new hardwood floors, etc. Should have cable TV, telephone, adress, all that good stuff within a few days.

Springtime Kermit... Isn't life great - some 14 hours by plane and I have another whole spring and summer ahead of me again! Made it to Buenos Aires... have been here for just a few hours but it looks like a fantastic choice: Crystal-clear Monday morning here, streets full of life, everywhere in the city the trees start to show their green leaves and some even blossom, and it is cheap cheap cheap here!!! Pretty cool shit last night, as the flight from Munich was delayed and they had to hold the jumbo in Madrid just for me and one other dude for half an hour. It's 10:30am now and I am ready to begin exploring my home town for the next three months - taking it easy today but tomorrow I will find myself an apartment. Hasta luego!

Hola K - Catching my breath, now being back in Germany and soaking up Munich at its best... Oktoberfest time!!! Madrid has been just one big unbelievable blur, as always. I ran into old friends at Atenas, the terraza de jour, and never looked back: Nightlife until 9:00am every day, the most amazing flamenco and salsa dives, etc.pp. Ended up joining friends to head for the beaches of Benidorm, just south of Alicante, for the last weekend, and spent the day on a cable-ski platform... woohoo! Too bad there´s no beach in Madrid... Talked to Mr. Woody already; they got delayed from the good old US but we will all meet up tonight and warm up for the Oktoberfest at the fancy Augustinerbraeu beer party house. I''m already seeing myself gaining back those 13 pounds that I've lost over the past two months...

Yowza Kermit... Madrid, Madrid! La vida, la noche, la Marcha, las Latinas - this is the life. Going out every night... been to Palacio de Gaviria, Joy Eslava, my beloved La Venencia, an awesome night at Cardamomo, witnessed a soccer pummeling of Valladolid by the royal ballet of Real Madrid (7:2), watched a bull scale the side walls into the stands at the latest Corrida at Las Ventas (oh, and also a torero getting dismembered by that same bull - they carried him out of the arena with the bull grinning), more soccer tonight (Real Madrid again, this time Champions League against Olympique de Marseille, again at Santiago Bernabeu in front of 100,000 fanatic aficionados), etc. pp. Never a dull day here! Going to check out the new terrazas, too - Bolero and Boulevard have closed at La Castellana, so now it's at Atenas below the Puente de Segovia. Hasta luego...

(Mr. Kermit Jr. speaking Tweety-style) "I thought he went bananas... He did!!! He did!!! He did go bananas!!!" Oh well, so I did go bananas - people buy fancy cars all the time, so why can't I blow money on traveling?!? Long story short, I will follow up my South America adventure with an all-business class, 5-continent, 150-day round-the-world trip... how about that, huh? You only live once! Here's the tentative schedule but as I am traveling in style I can change anything and everything as often as I want to, whenever I want to:

10-SEP-2003 Munich-Madrid La Marcha.
24-SEP-2003 Madrid-Munich Oktoberfest.
28-SEP-2003 Munich-Madrid-Buenos Aires South America, here I come!
18-DEC-2003 Buenos Aires-Madrid-Berlin To mama over b-day and x-mas.
25-DEC-2003 Berlin-Madrid-Miami-Cancun Tequila and sunshine.
30-DEC-2003 Cancun-Dallas-Tokyo Rising sun for New Years.
12-JAN-2004 Tokyo-Nadi That's Fiji, for the geography-challenged!
03-FEB-2004 Nadi-Sydney-Perth No worries, mate. Boink, boink, boink!
03-MAY-2004 Perth-Sydney-Johannesburg An old promise to the baronesse...
17-MAY-2004 Johannesburg-Nairobi Gotta do Kenya and that fancy white mountain!
01-JUN-2004 Nairobi-London-Berlin Catching my breath at mama's.
07-JUN-2004 Berlin-Zurich-Miami-Caribbean Going on visa-standby on the beach.

Note that there will be serveral major side-trips: While in Argentina, just about the entire continent is unsafe from me. Plus, add Antarctica to that. While in Fiji, I plan to hop over to Western Samoa, Tonga and Tahiti. While in Perth, Western Australia will be explored. While in South Africa, I will head to Capetown and to Kruger National Park, maybe Botswana. And, finally, while in Kenya, short hops to Tanzania and to the Seychelles are a real possibility.

Oh, I am in Munich right now. Visited the pre-Oktoberfest Theresienwiesen today - woohoo!!! They have cantinas open for the workers setting up all the shit, which is basically Oktoberfest beer and food at a quarter of the party prices... awesome! Beer really does serve as basic nutrition here. To beer or not to beer - shakes beer!

Yo KJ - just to let the last one know: The "J" obviously stands for "Jr." (if the real K was the real K and I am the original fake K then the blog can't be another fake K, got that?!?). Anyway, I survived Ios and the Far Out Club pool games (even though the last night at Flames was pretty wild and their Flaming Lamborghini truly is one downable and sexy-looking drink) and made it, fucked up ferry schedules and all, safely to Santorini. What an amazing island... truly postcard and Kodak moment material, even though the masses of stupid, emphasis on stupid, tourists are getting on my nerves. Visited the ancient settlement of Akrotori today and hiked down to overrated Red Beach (well, it's pretty but ugly commercialization with umbrellas and lounges kills it). Also did my second sunset today - yesterday's caldera version in Thira was spectacular; today's famous version of Oia was otherwordly to say the least, and I have seen my fair share of kick-ass sunsets. Bazillions of Asian video camera operators, though. Will see what the night life holds later tonight. Monday back via Athens and Zurich to Munich, then Wednesday on to beloved Madrid. Cya!

Yoodidlidoo Kermit... Just another 5-second thingy from the islands... people keep asking what kind of places I am staying - well, try these for starters: On Mykonos, it was a bungalow at Paradise Beach Camping, http://www.paradisemykonos.com. Right now, I am on Ios at Far Out Club, http://www.faroutclub.com. If you really want to know what's going on here at night, go to http://www.iospartyisland.com and don't tell my mom!!!

Okey dokey people, stop sending those inquisitive e-mails... here are a few dictinary entries, finally!

KERMIT, a.k.a. the Muppet Show frog chief reporter, green as hell but wrongly reported to be in love with that drag queen pig, was my boarding school pseudonym from 1984 to 1988. Don't ask me how my then-buddy ZAI-MEN cooked up his acronym (of course, I do know) but, as far as me and Kermit go, the story is fairly simple: Boring rainy weekend day in coed dorms led the adolescent pupils to engage in a hillarious staging of our own Muppet Show on the 11th floor. Apparently, my rendition of the kick-ass frog and a convincing love-scene with the girl who tried hard not to be Mrs. Piggy (because of the pig association, not because of me, obviously!) was the talk of the school the next Monday and I had to cope with the nickname Kermit during the following 4 years.

Shooting stars will never stop, even when they reach the top. One of the biggest smash hit albums ever produced, Bang! by Frankie Goes To Hollywood contained many words of wisdom (!) for my life. Even though the New York Edit of Relax is unsurpassed in sheer power to test those JBL!s, numerous other killer hits made this album one to remember. My line is the basic idea of Welcome to the Pleasuredome - no meaning gets more basic than this.

Para que sigue viviendo al 100%. Basically, the most to-the-point dedication on any photograph I have ever received, my dear friend Yolanda (de la noche de Marcha salvaje) passed this one to me between visits to Bolero on Castellana and whatever other night venues her throng of people and me visited during the days of debauchery way-back-when. Too bad most of them are married-with-children these days.

Yoodlidoo Kermit... woohoo!!! Time to peel off my Fruit of the Looms!!! Mykonos was its touristy beach and party self (did I mention nakkid rip-gurls dancing to house and techno on the 40 meters long Tropicana bar on Paradise Beach at 3 in the afternoon?) but today it's finally beach heaven again: Took the Hellas Flying Dolphins high-speed jumbo jet cat to Naxos and voila, here I am at nothing but white beach sand as far as you can see, a.k.a. Plaka Beach. Being a good Washbear I am staying out of the lunch-time sun and surf the net for a bit. Gonna rent a scooter tonight and head downtown, maybe I will also do some more ancient Greek stuff across the island tomorrow morning (a.k.a. after 2 p.m.) if the Meltemi hasn't blown me off the moped by then. Speaking of wind, fucking heaven for Feleep & Co. here - bazillions of French windsurfing dudettes and dudes here. At least the chicks are naked on the boards; quite the sight. So, in a nutshell, it's sweet as on Cloud 7 here so either I will go to Paros and Ios two days from now or, well, maybe I won't.

Hallihallo Kermit - finally in Greece. I am getting older... I actually didn't travel deck-class like any good InterRailer should but treated myself to a nice cabin. Patras to Olympia via Pyrgos was quite the little experience, as Greek railways are third-worldish to say the least. Sunrise the next morning at ancient Olympia made up for it, though. Transferred myself to Korinthos (Corynth) next and posed in front of the Temple of Apollo, before doing the clamber up to Akrokorinthos, an amazing expanse of stone rubble resembling a fortress atop a mountain right next to ancient Korinthos. Nafplion the next day was absolutely marvellous and relaxing, even though I climb up the 1,000+ steps of the stairs to the Palamidi Fortress overlooking the town. Nothing to complain about the beach club there... nice chairs and good house tunes all afternoon. Getting to Delphi today was another example of Greece's archaic state of public transportation - which isn't that bad as long as all you do is travel to and from Athens. Took one bus from Korinthos to Athens Terminal A, jogged around to the city bus station to catch one to the Terminal B about 5 kilometers away, missed the next bus to Amfissa by ten minutes and had to wait for another 2 1/2 hours, then another 3 1/2 hours on the bus. However, by the time you see the amazing village of Arachova on the mountain top before Delphi the views do make up for everything. Visited the Oracle but didn't get any answers to my burning questions, as I forgot to pack the obligatory sacrifice (sheep or goat). Back to Athens tomorrow, on to Mykonos two nights later. See ya...

Ciao K... mamma mia Napoli! Forget the stories about rich north and poor south of Italia - finally a place where more people honk their horns than in Madrid, more cars criss-cross in front of each other than at the Place Charles de Gaulle in Paris, with some ridiculous number of scooters added into the mix, and the power of prayer when crossing the streets as a pedestrian. The birthplace of pizza and pasta, anything from Domino's just looks decidedly wrong. And then talk about having a master-piece of a pizza at Napoli's most recommended place, da Michele, and life can't be better when relaxing in your trattoria looking at the crazy traffic after a long day of explorations. Speaking of explorations, I hiked up the volcano of Mt. Vesuvius yesterday, wandered through the excavations at the Herculaneum, and then finished the layer of dust on my skin in the streets of ancient Pompei. So, obviously, I needed some beach contrast today and caught a jet ferry to the island of Capri. I've had one beer too much last night so I decided it couldn't hurt to do some more hiking... all the way from the marina grande to the mountain top Villa Jovis of emperor Tiberius Maximus, with a breathtaking sidestep into Parco Astarita, where the most unspoiled views down 300-meter cliffs to the cobalt-blue waters can be enjoyed. My three days here would have been perfect if it hadn't been for a little accident during the last swim of the day at the Bagni Tiberio in Capri: I got swiped by a medusa; fortunately not my body, but my left wrist is about twice as big as my right one right now and it burns like fire. It's been three hours now and the pain finally seems to go away but stay away from those things! On to Brindisi tomorrow, where I'll hopefully catch the 18-hours ferry to Greece at 8 pm.

Salve Kermit - more from Bella Italia. What a nice little surprise my sidetrip to Cinque Terre turned out to be! Spent another wonderful day along the breathtaking cliffs of these 5 incredible villages - some major hiking in the late morning (Maranola to Vernazza via Carniglia), then finally some nudie exposure on a hidden beach. Talk about a fancy access... I had seen Gonava beach from way atop the cliffs during my hike and couldn't figure out how to get there. So I get all my Spanish/Italian combo ginglish together and ask some old dude how to descend to that bay and he tells me some story of abandonded railroad tunnels and doorbells to ring, which will magically open doors (or so I understood). Heureka! The old man was right - after I had found the old tunnel entrance past Corniglia I rang the bell at some private property sign and voila, a gate to the tunnel opened and a 1-mile hike under the earth followed. Once again in daylight, I found myself on this old railroad bridge with just a short descent to a pretty little beach - no hotels, no umbrellas, no tourists not sure of the meaning of "clothing optional". I finally realized that true vacation time had begun, and I couldn't help but marvel again at the Mediterranean people. How come they eat and drink so much, yet everybody seems to be in kick-ass shape? The girls are stylish as can be and would pass any bouncer at the most en-vogue nightclub in L.A., even (or especially) the way they dress going to the spiaggio. The guys are never overly muscular but always fit and some chiseled as if designed-by-Buonarotti. Not to mention that even the beachwear is never anything less but D&G, motivi, or Armani... with the obligatory Chanel shades without frames (seems like everybody has them right now). Anyway, killing an hour at the railway station in La Spezia right now, so on the way here I wondered what all the commotion in the streets was about: A little calcio on TV, so all the bars are overflowing with Milan and Juve fanatics! It's just the pre-season Trofeo Berlusconi but the San Siro is packed. I can't help it but somehow this Mediterranean thing is always getting to me and it feels more and more like my home away from home.

Ciao K - time to catch up... Siofok and the Balaton lake where just a blur - nothing to write home about, except the fact that there was good German beer everywhere! The night train to Venice was a different story alltogether: My old theory proved right again that the smaller and less important a nation, the more it tries to overcompensate at its border crossings. Getting out of Hungary took over half an hour but getting into Croatia was quite the communist experience - all passports and tickets collected, everybody corraled into their compartments where we had to sit (not stand or lay down), and no fewer than six (6!) dudes checking the passports. That's in good old communist fashion just half the story - next came the proverbial customs bitches, sniffing through backpacks and suitcases as if economic refugees where hiding there (of course, they would all try to get off the train in Croatia and not in Italy). Repeat at the Croatia-Slovenija border crossing. Long story short... those are two stamps in my passport that were earned the hard way! Venice the next day (with little sleep the night before and at super-hot and humid weather) was nothing I could enjoy too much - out of control tourism there, even for this seasoned traveller. So nothing but catching the next train to Florence... what a relief! Beautiful sights, an awesome hostel in the mountains, and quite the rewarding day trips to Siena and Pisa. No, I was two days early for the Palio but, yes, I did shell out the 15 Euros to climb atop the Leaning Tower. Had two more days to kill so I decided to check out La Spezia and the Rivera at Cinque Terre... what a must-see coast line!!! I am amazed that I almost missed it - hiked from Monterossa al Mare to Vernazza today, then a quick train hop to Riomaggiore, and the sunset walk along the cliffs an the Via dell'Amore to Manarola. Maybe some diving tomorrow, then the night train to Naples. The tan is kicking in!

Yehe Kermit... Time is flying; it's become increasingly difficult to keep you up to date on everything. I'll try! So, Vienna was my last blip... went on to Budapest - what a blast from the past! A beautiful city but considering it was the eastern place closest to the west during the iron curtain times it's amazing to see it now, seemingly stuck in the old times. Awesome sights, though, and wonderful people - not to mention the Roman and Turkish baths everywhere... I spent every single one of my afternoons in the city there! Left Friday for my whirlwind trip to Paris over the weekend. As amazing as ever - walked the Champ de Mars at night to marvel at the strobe-illuminated Tour Eiffel, hiked all the way up to the Etoile to the Arc de Triomphe, along the Champs Elysees to the Place de la Concorde, and then cooled off my feet in the ponds aroud the Pyramide de Louvre. Next day I finally managed, in my third attempt over the past 11 years, to get on top of the roof of the Tour Montparnasse... what a view! Kind of a weird feeling - it's so similar to the WTC rooftop platform, albeit a little lower, but nevertheless. Night time at Notre Dame, then hiking from Pigalle up to Sacre Coeur. Yesterday back via Zuerich to Budapest and then on by train to lake Balaton. Enjoying the beaches (and the super-low prices) today... will catch an overnighter to be in Venice 14 hours later. Next: Florence, Pisa, Sienna, Naples, Pompeji, Vesuv, Capri, Brindisi... then by ferry to Patras/Greece on August 21/22.

Gruezi Kermit! Getting way too much culture and history right now - first beautiful Prague, now fancy Vienna. What a life!!! I even managed to get some working out squeezed in between beers and desserts galore - I climbed the tower of the St. Stephan's Dome yesterday and enjoyed a marvellous view over the old downtown roofs. Thanks to Torschtel-Borschtel's old Deutsche Bank connection I even organized a quick lunch caffee with the one and only Mr. Froemmer, who now resides here and in Berlin. It's ridiculously hot right now (36C-97F) with quite high humidity but I shouldn't complain... Maybe I will take a break tomorrow afternoon and join the masses sporting some Speedos in the sunshine and swimming in the Donau river. Monday it's Budapest!

Yowza Kermit! Resurfaced from the dive'n'fun vacation on Malta today. Very sweet - I finally finished my PADI Advanced Open Diver and even did some deep, wreck and night diving. Tickled an octopus or two, visited Comino and Gozo (the latter being the famous island of Calypso, if you're somewhat familiar with mythodology), and generally tried to suffer the least bit possible by evading the 40 degrees Celsius heat by spending as much time as possible at/in the swim-up bar. Charge it to the room!!! Drove like a mad man during our all-day 4-wheel safari on Gozo and begun tuning my sleep rhythm to the Mediterranean beat again - dinner at 10 pm, night clubs after 12:30 am. One more day recharging batteries at mom's and then I am off InterRail-ing for a month with an added extra 2-3 weeks of island hopping in Greece at the end. Life is rough but somebody's got to live it... :)

K... just a quickie today... Tons of fun in Anklam, Berlin and Dresden - time flies; another week went by just like that. Now it's the "making mama happy project" - a week with her in the Mediterranean sunshine of Malta. Later gator!

Love Rules Mr. Kermit... Some minor detail I forgot to mention: I'm sure "Harry The Swimming Pool Car Racer" will be pissed off at me but I will make certain to party twice as hard just for him - it's the Love Parade this weekend in Berlin!!! Should be fun to finally see Westbam and DJ Motte again after many years on the road for me. Will go to Columbiafritz to see Paul van Dyk the first night; that should be something awesome. Post-parade party probably at the Casino with Marusha... woohoo!

Ciao K - I've added some Bella Italia to the mix (had to do it after the politicians started chickening out and cancelled their own trips). Good news first: The back is not back yet at 100% but it seems to get much better every day. Still have to be careful and still feeling some weakness but much much less pain... woohoo! I promise to begin with my diet and to do exercises now (really!). *** Now for bella Italia... I have solved the 3-zones-30-days InterRail riddle again and will milk the system in perfectionist fashion: Prague and Budapest as planned - but the trick is to play my Madrid residency card, which enables me to go for free through Germany and also into Vienna (ooops, YES - I've also added Vienna to the mix... it was on the way). After the weekend adventure (in many ways) that Paris will be I will continue on via the Balaton and Rijeka to Venice, Florence and Pisa before heading way south to Napoli and the island of Capri. From there it will be on to Bari or Brindisi to catch a ferry to Patras and Greece. The InterRail will run out by the time I will get to Athens (end of August)... so just enough time (2-3 weeks) to do some island hopping - likely Santorini and Mykonos and some smaller stuff. *** Also close to finishing up the details on my apartment in Buenos Aires... people, start making your travel plans!

>>>>> Current: Europe, Germany, Friedland (lounging at mama's and seeing old friends)

>>>>> Next: Europe, Germany, Dresden... 07/14/2003-07/17/2003
(you know, the Matthias-Ulf-Katy thing)

>>>>> Planned: (* denotes a fix date)
* 07/18/2003-07/25/2003 > Malta
(vacationing with mama, diving in the Mediterranean Sea)
* 07/26/2003-07/27/2003 > Germany: Friedland
(eating and sleeping at mama's - home sweet home!)
* 07/28/2003-07/31/2003 > Chech Republic: Prague
(checking out places of the past)
* 07/31/2003-08/03/2003 > Austria: Vienna
(it just happens to be on the way)
* 08/03/2003-08/07/2003 > Hungary: Budapest
(ever heard of Roman baths? "Brazil 2 - Germany 0" just might get a heart attack...)
* 08/08/2003-08/10/2003 > France: Paris
(too late for "La Tour" mais toujours... what rhymes again?)
+ 08/11/2003-08/27/2003 > Croatia, Italy and Greece
(this is the hard-core InterRail part via Rijeka, Florence, Pisa, Naples, Capri, Brindisi, Bari, Patras, Athens - and maybe even Istanbul)
+ 08/28/2003-09/08/2003 > Greek islands
(well... more Ouzo and I might get some idea where the hell that might be)
* 09/09/2003-09/10/2003 > Germany: Munich
(that's called a decompression stop)
* 09/10/2003-09/24/2003 > Spain: Madrid
(la vida, la noche, las latinas - the good old days again)
* 09/24/2003-09/27/2003 > Germany: Munich
(Oktoberfest!!!)
* 09/28/2003-12/18/2003 > Argentina: Buenos Aires
(and a bazillion miles traveling around Brazil)
* 12/18/2003-12/25/2003 > Germany: Friedland
(yeah, birthday and xmas at mama's!)

New Year's is still up in the air - maybe Whistler Blackcomb (Canada: Vancouver, BC) or Hong Kong. Arrival in Australia (most likely Sydney as my launching pad to the South Pacific) no later than January 4, 2004.

Hola Senor Frog... lot's of stuff has happened. Went diving last Wednesday with Axel. First fresh-water dive and pretty cold at that (full dual wet suits with hood, booties and gloves). It was pretty nice, except for the fact that I fucked up my back again. Arranged some belt weights on the floor before the dive and felt a pretty good pinch in the back. Lots of pain that evening and the next two days; now we're back at no-movement-no-pain but move-wrong-and-lots-of-pain. Trying to do some exercises; we'll see if everything relaxes over time. Already have organized Hermes to pick up my luggage here so I won't have to haul it all over the train stations tomorrow. *** Munich was pretty cool - nice Augustinerbrau visit with Jochen and some more Oktoberfest scouting for the 09/24-28 weekend. *** Got the tix for South America; into EZE September 28/29, out of there December 18. Gonna plan Florianopolis and Rio later while there. Tix from BUD to PAR and on to ATH are more of an ordeal - still plenty of work to do for the European Union. I'll figure something out. At least I can still go InterRail in Greece after August 10. *** Oh, and I think I've added a full two weeks in Madrid, September 10-24.

Yo K - here's the current list of reasonably fix travel destinations for the immediate time ahead:

> Current location: Europe, Germany/Switzerland, Konstanz

* 07/03/2003-07/04/2003 > Germany: Munich
..........(Oktoberfest scouting with Jochen)
* 07/05/2003-07/07/2003 > Germany: Konstanz
..........(maybe more Bodensee diving, babysitting, bars with Axel & crew)
* 07/08/2003-07/13/2003 > Germany: Friedland
..........(eating and sleeping at mama's - home sweet home!)
* 07/14/2003-07/17/2003 > Germany: Dresden
..........(looking for the other Matthias and Ulf, driving Katy nuts)
* 07/18/2003-07/25/2003 > Malta
..........(vacationing with mama, diving in the Mediterranean Sea - www.visitmalta.com)
* 07/26/2003-07/27/2003 > Germany: Friedland
..........(eating and sleeping at mama's - home sweet home!)
* 07/28/2003-08/07/2003 > Chech Republic: Prague, Hungary: Budapest
..........(checking out places of the past)
* 08/08/2003-08/10/2003 > France: Paris
..........(meeting friends in town)
* 08/11/2003-09/03/2003 > Greece: Athens and the islands
..........(island hopping, sailing, the good life)
* 09/04/2003-09/23/2003 > Spain: Madrid
..........(la vida, la noche, las latinas - the good old days again)
* 09/24/2003-09/27/2003 > Germany: Munich
..........(Oktoberfest!!!)
* 09/28/2003-... off to South America

Life is rough, folks, but somebody's got to live it... I am gladly sacrificing myself.

Hallihallo K... got my lucky ass shipped out of the U.S. of A. in style - OneWorld thought I deserved a sweet ride in first and business class, so I succumbed to the temptations of Veuve Clicquot and the likes instead of sleeping my way to freedom. Anyway, Axel picked me up at ZRH to fly me into Konstanz Autobahn-style and we enjoyed a fabulous German brekkie on their balcony over the downtown city roofs. It's hot as hell right now and a fair amount of time is spent swimming in the Bodensee and its adjacent channels and rivers. Checked out Axel's workplace at Hyperstone - very nice but nothing beats the feeling of knowing that I won't have to hang at a desk for the next year or so. Just booked my Bundesbahn tix to see joekrausolini in Munich for two days July 3-4, and another short trip from Neubrandenburg to Dresden July 14-17 to see Ulf, Matthias and Katy. Mom has already booked tix to Malta for a week of fun and diving beginning July 18. What a stress... vacation, vacation, vacation! ;-) hehehe...

Okey dokey Kermit, here we go – folks wanted an earful so they should have it. Why am I leaving this country, and why now? Let’s start by saying this, my fellow Americans: Your vote counts! I wasn’t the greatest fan of Mr. Clinton, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I sensed that better things were happening to this country during his political advent in the summer of 1992, which I was fortunate enough to witness from my window at Berkeley’s Alpha Epsilon Phi, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. I am conservative as hell with a great deal of liberal influences but I sure knew that politics in this country would go down the toilet with Mr. Bush Jr.’s arrival on the federal scene. In a nutshell, I truly believe that I can, in all finality, blame my departure on the murky election proceedings in Florida – who would have known then… Priorities, priorities, priorities. Does this country have any at this time? I could chime into the sarcastic questioning of WMD in Iraq, I could overly simplify by blaming life on The Power of Oil, I could blame 7 million illegal immigrants, in particular 4 million Mexicans (but, hey, I am German so I know my role representing the subdued grand grandchildren of people who just happened to live at the time when Nazis went after Jews), I could simply go into hibernation and show the world my skinny ass and not give a damn. Long story short, thanks to the Mullahs and Mufties the Big Brother instituted the Department of Homeland Screwing - umm, Security, this amazingly immobile glob of everything and then some, including the former INS. My visa extension was dutifully filed with the old INS to the tune of $1,130 in fees, then nothing happened, then the INS got dismantled and swallowed by the DHS-BCIS, and then even less than nothing happened. Half a year later we find out through the grapevine that there might be 6-8 months processing delays in addition to the standard processing times, but what do we care, humble people who try to be legal tax payers instead of illegal Medicare recipients. Today, I find myself realizing that bitterness in my heart makes me negative and pessimistic, so maybe regaining my freedom by leaving this country is the only way to go. I have many things to be thankful for in this country: I was given an opportunity to finish my education with an MBA for free. I experienced the rise and fall of the Internet bubble first-hand at its epicenter, the Silicon Valley. I finally found a great job with great people in a great organization, which has managed to go through the tough times without layoffs so far. I have been relieved of many years of back pain through the amazing work of bright people at Stanford (and it takes a lot for me to say this, being a wannabe Cal Bear at heart). I have traveled the world and fulfilled lifelong dreams (did I say “boink, boink, boink”). I have been able to put lots of money aside to travel even more and without work for the next 12-18 months. I have received my FAA Private Pilot License; I have finished diving and yachting certifications. I have made lifelong friends. This is a great country of opportunities and I am thankful for every moment that I have spent here. It’s just fucked up at this time and I am done adoring it for now.

Hallihallo... Time for the good-bye tour. Dropped off the Topless Rabbit yesterday to be sold at Wheels & Deals again - what worked once should work again. I just hope it will be within less than a week so i won't have to deal with release authorizations, power of attorney, etc. pp. The set of wheels Enterprise got me is quite the shoebox but at least it has a/c so it's bearable during these hot days. Brucey bear was all over that poor Asian dude trying to buy my bike yesterday; I finally managed to get rid of it at a 50% premium without him screwing up the deal. Packing proves to be quite the challenge this time around... unbelievable what amount of junk one can accumulate over just 7 years. Holy crap... 7 years!!! Can't believe it has been that long - the more I think about it the more I am getting stoked about travelling again. Hopefully I will manage to schedule in some flying this Saturday - probably the last time for a very long year I suppose. The LBA in Germany is one fucking hell of a bureaucracy - for them to recognize the FAA license it would take more time and money than to get a new one on the spot right there. Oh well... CB has offered to go sailing on their 60+ feet 2-mast ketch south of Marseille for a week or so; I think that would be a great start to my year on the road. Let's see if it pans out.

Heya KJ... here we go - it's a done deal. Just got confirmation from AA that my ass will be shipped outta here on June 28; that's less than 4 weeks from now. Get ready to rumble! Kind of scary not to know what the future holds but I am beginning to actually feel excited about the prospect of travelling for a long period of time. Started cleaning out my pad this past weekend; unbelievable how much junk one can accumulate over 7 years. Will try to go to PDX one more time next weekend to start the Good-Bye Tour in treehugger country.

Salut Kermit - wow, no news should be good news but in my case not necessarily. Absolute radio silence, not a beep from the stupid INS or whatever they call themselves now. I talked again to some immigration lawyer in SFO today... more reinforcement for the position that the 180-day grace period begins with filing of the extension, not with expiration of the prior visa. So we're still looking at end of June unless there's a lottery miracle. *** Other news: Did some major x-country flying this past weekend, RHV to OVE with full radar services and a nice lake fly-over to finish things off, OVE to O48 and a sweet afternoon in Mendocino, and finally O48 to RHV with the full Class Bravo works with sight-seeing over the Golden Gate, the City, SFO, and the South Bay.

K... this is it. Eventually gotta break the news to everybody - tentative reservation for tix to DFW/ZRH on June 28. Call it resignation, call it a new beginning, call it a challenge to the lottery - whatever. At T-45 days there's no wiggle room left.

Yo K... just a quick update on the "stuff" that's happening (or not): There were indications today that the grace period of 180 days is now being applied based on the original postmark date of a filed application, not the receipt date or the actual former status expiration date. Clear text: Cut off another month of my stay here - we're looking at end of June to get my ass outta here. T-51 days, baby. I suppose I'll have to begin convincing all folks who are still in denial.

Hola KJ - wow, I *am* getting older... there's virtually no old friends left now that aren't parents yet. Miss R got the gift on my checkride day and JJ finished her job on the 30th. Congrats to all of you! Can't wait to see little D and the proud papa two months from now - finally, a good excuse to hit the beer gardens. Just mama will be getting on my nerves by quizzing me when I'll be joining the ranks. We shall see! Secured my first leg tix now for the one-year goof-off; I'll post a tentative schedule of events and locations soon. Remember to start saving that money to come visit me!

Heya Kermit... back from Arizona this past weekend. Sunny and hot as usual - went hiking to see countless Saguaros in Sabino Canyon and on the way up to Mt. Lemmon. Still no news from the government but I'm beginning to shift gears to look into plane tix and what to do next. It's amazing how quickly time flies when you can count down the days left. Vamos a ver...

Heya Junior... cool weekend! MVille finally re-opened last week and I made sure not to miss the first Saturday afternon in the sun. Many old faces are still around so the quality of the margaritas remained high. They gotta work out some bugs, mess up the place ("age" it a bit), open the bar windows to the outside, throw out some stupid tables and chairs and replace them with benches, and attract the old large crowds again. Let's give it a few weeks and we'll see. Went flying yesterday, too - nice little jump to Zuniga's in WVI, then up the coastline to Pigeon Point, back over the hill, and then transitioned with the full Norcal Approach works through SJC class C. The big E is starting to freak out about the potential departure but what can I do... it's pretty sad but life isn't always fair.

Yo K - looks like it's been sealed now... fucking DHS/BCIS has all processing indefinitely on hold. After hundreds of attempts finally got a line yesterday, was put on hold for over 80 minutes long-distance, and then talked to some bitchy lakeesha-style person with a heavy accent, a disgusting Mexican/Indian combo. Long story short, pending a lottery win in May or June it is T-105 days now. I'll start travel planning and floating resumes again!

Hi KJ... well, too bad the weather was all fucked up this past weekend - I really would have loved to make use of that pilot license to do the proverbial 100-dollar burgers. Still no word from the DHS/BCIS. I think those suckers are watching CNN all day; I can't believe what the challenge might be putting a stamp on a piece of paper for me. After all, they didn't fail to cash the $1,130 check only one day after receiving the documents. It's been well over 4 months now - "30-60 day processing time" my ass. It's decision time right now... I might have to start dissolving my household now if I need to finish by July; just about 100 days left here. I am definitely not going to overstay more than 180 days. Change is scary but I suppose I'll quickly enjoy my new-found freedom to travel for several months. I should send that line to all the Arabs watching Al Jazeera... "new-found freedom by leaving the U.S." - now that is a strange thought.

Hey Kermit - I HAVE MY WINGS !!!!! Woohoo!!! I passed my FAA Private Pilot Checkride today... what a day! The weather was nice and sunny so we started with take-offs and landings at RHV. Next, off to do x-country stuff - diversion 1 over the hills, diversion 2 down the beautiful coastline above Moss Landing to Marina, sweet cross-wind landing, back north for some stalls. Rough air over on the way back over the hills - instrument and unusual attitude recoveries. Back up the valley to UTC - some awesome steep turns and then climbing up over RHV to test the Class B. Some ATC trouble, discontinuing, steep turn back towards RHV and then WHOA... a Pilatus PC-12 didn't have TCAS active and zoomed by at lass than 400 feet - we in 80 degrees of bank, dive, nicely avoided! Back at Nice Air I needed to break some more sweat and ace some follow-up questions on ATC clearance requirements for Class B and some limited visibility Class E/G and SVFR Class D stuff. Passed!!! It will be lots of free beer at Teske's Germania this Friday!!!

Salut KJ - Trying to get my x-country assignments from the examiner today. My last pre-test ride with the instructor went great last Saturday; I executed the diversion perfectly and he didn't even want to see it a second time. I am still concerned about all the theory stuff, though - if I fail I bet it will be because of some stupid FAR that I forgot. Can't believe that we've already been planning to go on trips - no more traffic jams on Memorial Day!

Hi Kermit... I'm finally getting there! Had another chat with my flight instructor today to review hits and misses during the testride with the chief pilot. We decided that all it takes now is one more x-country for diversion practice and that will be it. Lots of TCU today so we decided to stay on the ground. T-5 days now. Oh, and I will be traveling to the East Coast on the 12th... hopefully, the lawmakers will abandon snow by then. Can't believe I am voluntarily trading a weekend on the beach for snow and slush in Connecticut!

Yo Kermit... Just got back from my pre-checkride with the chief pilot. Wonderful conditions; everything went great with the exception of a few minor things. Just about everything seemd to be up to PTS standards! Gonna study and practice some more and then I'll hopefully make it next Wednesday... T-8 days now!

Morning K - woohoo, it's summer! First 80/80+ weekend of the year. Drove the rabbit topless all weekend. Saturday on the beach on a double-whammy of good news - MV will finally re-open two weeks from now and they actually did manage to get a new outdoor bar going. Good old times... April 19 is the first big day there. Did some more solo flying, too - awesome weather all over the South Bay.

Heya Kermit... flying again this morning if the weather improves - more unusual attitudes! Exactly 2 weeks to the checkride. Read the first part of "Stick and Rudder" last night - yeah, it was written back in 1944. The good old WL has a language that makes even foreigners cringe! It might actually help, though...

Salut KJ - Getting really pissed now... I don't care about body count and all that other ultimate bushwarrior crap in the mideast - all I know is that the fucking stock market tanked yet another time yesterday. Good thing I finally wisened up several months ago; I've been leaving everything I save in cash ever since. Still, should have sold out the rest and run with the money while I could. Anyway, if I do take a year off to travel it will be more than enough to live well.

Hi Jr... Finally received my "Stick and Rudder" book in the mail today. Hopefully, the FAA examiner will take notice of my checkrides.com studies. Only 15 days to go!

Hey blog... I decided to give you a name! It's "Kermit Jr." - I'll give you the story behind this later.

Still no word from DHS BCIS. Filed 12/19/2002 (yep, that was my 33rd birthday!), Notice of Action was supposed to be issued between 01/19/2003 and 02/19/2003 (30-60 days). One month plus overdue now... filed a petition for the personal attention of the California Service Center Director in Laguna Niguel last week. Will have to leave x+180 days if no word earlier (and no DV lottery, either). Hence... target date for freedom, one way or another, is 07/31/2003.

Hello my new blog... let's go!