Luck o' the Irish. Business Class to Bangkok!

We leave for Nepal on March 8, via Bangkok on an 18 hour Thai Air flight from LAX to BKK.

We upgraded the 18 hour leg to Premium Economy Class. Yesterday Thai Air called to tell us that there had been an "equipment change", and that we'd be flying on a plane that had no Premium Economy seats, so they were upgrading us to "Royal Silk" BUSINESS CLASS at no extra cost!

Morning dew reveals spider webs

Traveling along Iron Duff Rd., towards Waynesville, NC at 9:19 am on 9/23/07. Looks like a new hatch of young spiders, setting up shop near mom's lair.

Reality check for all Americans

In this time of presidential nominations, we hear cries of “we’re at war” from the republican candidates and “the democrats want to cut and run”.

Duh! We are not AT war, we are IN war, a civil war between the Sunni and Shiite Iraqis, caused when Team Bush invaded the stable (stabilized by the one time bad guy, Sadam), sovereign nation of Iraq. In the meantime, Osama reigns free, as an aging icon in Afghanistan, in the REAL "war" we got distracted from in going after Sadam again, to finish "dad's work".

McCain talks about a long US presence in Iraq; reminiscent of Colin Powell’s remark before he resigned, “You break it, you own it.”

These have been a sorry 7 years for our nation, now deeper in debt (China owns us now) at historically high levels. Ironically, the $600 stimulus package some tax payers may get will very likely stimulate CHINA’S economy, as most of it will likely be spent at Walmart, where it is hard to find anything made in America.

Take the challenge! Find something made in America for sale in Walmart!

Room with a view

Introducing our "room with a view" series.

This is the view from room 405, Summer Place, just north of Marineland, Florida. We spent a few days here recently, with Buddy Tignor, who helped us set up our blog site.

More entries will follow, as time permits, and deadlines allow. Tom has until February 20 to get a research grant application submitted to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation.