Humm....

Wondering about more ways to post here.  Part of the problem is having an easy way to post when I think of it.  So I am trying the blogger app for my phone. I will let you know how it works.

Damn...

No I did not fall off the face of the earth, it just felt like it.  Been a bit crazy of late, hopefully I will have that fixed soon and I can start playing catch-up.

It takes an intelligent man to be spectacularly stupid

I suppose I could start with excuses here, but I won't.  After three days of bouncing back and forth I finally landed in the home of a dear friend that will be my base here in the SF Bay Area.  It has become normal when I do this kind of relocation to pack a lot of stuff; two large suitcases, a carry on, my laptop bag, and my CPAP.  Oh, and my hat, jacket, water bottle, and whatever book I am reading.  I need a personal porter.

So, when I finally landed here in Oakland (that is an important point) I was tired of lugging this crap around.  And that is when I got stupid.  You know where this is going right?  Yeah.  I left stuff in the truck over night on the street in Oakland.  So in a simple smash and grab some individual walked off with my laptop bag.  Laptop, backup HD, and camera...  all gone.  And to add insult to injury, they looked thru the clothes and such in the other bags, and left them.

The big loss, as always, is the data.  Pictures, documents, etc.  I believe I have a backup on the HD in Seattle.  But it will be awhile before I am up there again.  Damn.

So off to a new foreign country...

 California.  Another fun and interesting project, a tunnel for a water main.  One long basically flat, basically straight tunnel.  Now one might question the sanity of getting in a 3.5 mile long, 10 foot diameter tube up to 750 feet underground directly adjacent to the Hayward Fault.  If that is one of you folks reading this, let me know what you get for an answer.

The good news is I have already been to hospitals in California so I can skip that whole part of my working out of town experience.  I wasn't really enjoying it much anyway.

It will be good to see some friends, enjoy some of the things I miss about the Bay Area, and be reminded why the move to Seattle was such a good idea.

Things I have learned so far...

Now there is no way this could be a complete list, but since it is the start of the year I thought I would cover some of the things I have learned so far.  So, in no particular order:

Having what you need is very important.  So is needing what you have.

Beauty is as hard to define as love.  You know it when it is there, but it is hard to describe to someone else.

Having a village is important.

Having the right tools for the job is important.  Not having the right tools does not make the job impossible.

Nigerian Pepper Soup is really good.

Chopsticks (kuài zi) are one of the most useful kitchen tools ever.

I have been mispronouncing Chow Mein my entire life.  Oh, and Chow Mein noodles is redundant.  Kind of like software programs.

Nigerian women need to teach the rest of the world's women how to walk.  It is an art.

Prejudice is human nature, overcoming that is civilization.

Maggi is for lazy cooks.   Yeah, I used a lot of it.

To really understand a people or a culture, you have to work at it.  Everything you think you know when you start is probably wrong.  But if you are open and truly interested, people are will to show you.

Never let a politically motivated person stand behind you, and if you have no choice, watch the cutlery.

I don't bounce.  Not even a little.  Damn.

The great food I had in the little shops on Changxing Dao made me regret I never got the opportunity to try little shops in Nigeria.

At some point I have to go to India.

And, for all its faults, the US is a really nice place to live.