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!