Well, things have been kind of slow around these here parts. I'd love to report that my building is finished and I moved in ... but that isn't the case. Things are slowly progressing and most of the trim work is now complete. I ran into a minor water setback today. The toilet was bubbling whenever the sink faucet was turned on. We flushed it several times to see what was going on and the water came up through the floor drains. I called the plumber and he came out and tried to snake it out but there was blockage. To make a long story short, he started investigating outside and discovered that the septic guy just glued the extension onto a capped pipe (so there was no water flow through the drain lines). The result was that water flowed up into the vent lines and when there was enough pressure up through the floor drains. Thankfully this was discovered before the wood floors were installed. We should have the situation in hand now and normal floor installation can start later this week or early next week.
As soon as the floors are in the kitchen cabinets will be installed and I will have a completed apartment. There will still be some work to do around the place but I should be able to start really thinking about moving over by the middle of March. As it gets closer the excitement level is increasing. My only concern is getting everything over there without breaking and damaging everything in the process. I plan to move some stuff but the bulk of it will require a moving company. That will be weird in that the 2 houses are approximately 800 feet apart as the crow flies. By road it is more like a 1/2 mile by the time you drive out my driveway and around the block to the other house.
If all of my readers want to volunteer we can all (both of you) meet at my place and I can bark orders as you load and unload my stuff (you have to find me a moving truck though).
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
US Airways - Cactus 1549
It's been interesting to see the flight crew of the infamous Hudson river landing aircraft (Cactus 1549) at various events over the past few weeks. It's made me miss my former vocation more than ever which is kind of weird given the reason they are all now famous (near deadly accident). I've appreciated the way the entire crew has handled the situation and can't even imagine how tired they must be of rehashing the incident. I've always kind of bashed Airbus aircraft but in this incident the A-320 held up it's end of the bargain pretty well at the hands of Capt. Sullenberger and First officer Skiles.
Tonight David Letterman had one of his best shows ever (I've not watched him in a while) as he interviewed and hosted the entire flight crew. He did a pretty good job of getting the details of the entire incident with brief moments of levity while still recognizing the severity/significance of the event. The crew was professional and appeared to be in good spirits. I have several friends who fly for US Airways and I can't wait to speak to them about the incident and how it has impacted the company and flight operations (if it has had any impact at all).
Anyway, it is a great story and helps to take our minds off of the continued lunacy happening in Washington with the new "time for a change" government spending even more money that the country doesn't have. I'm not sure how long we can continue printing money (deficit spending) and expect our currency to have any value. Time for a change ... why not bring back fiscal responsibility and a currency based on an actual asset (maybe like gold or silver for example??!!!). Of course that would prevent our government from just starting up the money printing press at will, but that's a topic for another day...don't get me started!
Tonight David Letterman had one of his best shows ever (I've not watched him in a while) as he interviewed and hosted the entire flight crew. He did a pretty good job of getting the details of the entire incident with brief moments of levity while still recognizing the severity/significance of the event. The crew was professional and appeared to be in good spirits. I have several friends who fly for US Airways and I can't wait to speak to them about the incident and how it has impacted the company and flight operations (if it has had any impact at all).
Anyway, it is a great story and helps to take our minds off of the continued lunacy happening in Washington with the new "time for a change" government spending even more money that the country doesn't have. I'm not sure how long we can continue printing money (deficit spending) and expect our currency to have any value. Time for a change ... why not bring back fiscal responsibility and a currency based on an actual asset (maybe like gold or silver for example??!!!). Of course that would prevent our government from just starting up the money printing press at will, but that's a topic for another day...don't get me started!
Monday, February 9, 2009
As I mentioned in my write-up several weeks ago I finally decided to join Facebook. It has been interesting and has proven to be a great way to reconnect with long lost friends. There are several Taiwan and Hong Kong MKs (kids that I grew up with and ran with while living in Taiwan) on FB.
One of the interesting things with reconnecting through FB has been to see the diverse world views and ideologies that each of us have developed/embraced over the years. Many of my friends have remained strong in the faith but several have either abandoned the faith or never developed faith nor a relationship with Christ in the first place. I pray that Christ will continue to call and that each of them will seek a personal relationship with their creator.
It has also been interesting to see the difference in appreciation for the entire experience of growing up in another country (country other than country of birth/nationality). Some of us appear to resent our parents for making us live overseas while some of us revel in our experiences in our adoptive countries. It seems that for the most part even those who have expressed some resentfulness also appreciate aspects of their time in Taiwan.
Our Alma Mater, Morrison Academy, appears to also be a subject where we are not in complete agreement. My time at Morrison offered some of the best memories I have of Taiwan. Of course where ever one grows up, will provide great experiences and fond memories. I have fond memories of hiking up at Ku Kuan with Mike Klein and Robert Harrison in 8th and 9th grade. I remember hanging out at O Lan Pi during the summer and running into classmates from Morrison. It was also a blast playing sports against Taipei American School (TAS) and Hong Kong Intl School (HKIS). Morrison is a Christian school founded by several mission organizations doing work in Taiwan. I had a blast and was in some sort of trouble pretty constantly while there but loved being there. Some of my classmates never got into trouble but resented the environment and hated being there. Also there were some kids, who at the time, I assumed were angels who told me later all of the things they did that would have gotten them thrown out of the school. It's crazy how different each of our perceived experiences were at the same location/school.
One of the interesting things with reconnecting through FB has been to see the diverse world views and ideologies that each of us have developed/embraced over the years. Many of my friends have remained strong in the faith but several have either abandoned the faith or never developed faith nor a relationship with Christ in the first place. I pray that Christ will continue to call and that each of them will seek a personal relationship with their creator.
It has also been interesting to see the difference in appreciation for the entire experience of growing up in another country (country other than country of birth/nationality). Some of us appear to resent our parents for making us live overseas while some of us revel in our experiences in our adoptive countries. It seems that for the most part even those who have expressed some resentfulness also appreciate aspects of their time in Taiwan.
Our Alma Mater, Morrison Academy, appears to also be a subject where we are not in complete agreement. My time at Morrison offered some of the best memories I have of Taiwan. Of course where ever one grows up, will provide great experiences and fond memories. I have fond memories of hiking up at Ku Kuan with Mike Klein and Robert Harrison in 8th and 9th grade. I remember hanging out at O Lan Pi during the summer and running into classmates from Morrison. It was also a blast playing sports against Taipei American School (TAS) and Hong Kong Intl School (HKIS). Morrison is a Christian school founded by several mission organizations doing work in Taiwan. I had a blast and was in some sort of trouble pretty constantly while there but loved being there. Some of my classmates never got into trouble but resented the environment and hated being there. Also there were some kids, who at the time, I assumed were angels who told me later all of the things they did that would have gotten them thrown out of the school. It's crazy how different each of our perceived experiences were at the same location/school.
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