Packing Photos

Here you can see even with our plan to pack lite - still piles of stuff.


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Thoughts on New Zealand

As we depart each country I am going to try to summarize my impressions. New Zealand is a beautiful country with varied features. I have never seen so many shades of green. I can only imagine if it had not been overcast during our entire trip it would be even more striking – especially the coast line. The people we met were not overly friendly, but certainly not rude either. I never heard a New Zealander say thank you, sorry or your welcome. I suppose there are some hints in that fact regarding their attitudes towards life. When I overheard conversations they were often about the economy or politics – we were even asked about our next president. They seem much more world savvy then the typical American. I can see how a true exploration of the country could take months per island – even the travelers we came across seemed to be permanent travelers – they would work for a few months and then travel for a few months – and had been doing that for years – what an interesting lifestyl...
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Day 57 Pisa

Thursday January 31st Up this morning and it is raining – glad we have the umbrellas. We strike out for the train station which is a good hike from our hotel. We catch the train – I even figure out how to use the automated machines. It is 18.6 Euro for all of us one-way - 3 adults and 1 child. A little over an hour later we disembark. A long walk north to the Piazza but we find it without getting lost. At first sight it is more dramatic than I could imagine. The Piazza is huge and there is a lot of grass. The Cathedral with the leaning tower (bell tower) the Baptistery and the cemetery. We first visit the cathedral we think it is free and nobody stops us as we enter. It is very large and beautiful. Many of the paintings are much darker than any we have seen before – a byproduct of not having been restored. After the Cathedral we buy the pass that gets us into all attractions – we also pay extra to climb the leaning tower. We are a little uncertain about this as it is quite expe...
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Diagnosis

Well – went to the Dr. today – I called this morning because I was in so much pain in both feet I can barely walk to the bathroom. I have been living in the downstairs sofa bed- the good news – getting lots of work done, the bad - duhhh - I can't walk – tremendous pain. So I was able to move my Friday appointment to today in between my conference calls and meetings – So the final diagnosis is …… Rheumatoid Arthritis ! I got a steroid shot in the rump – it should help with the pain for the next month – got a prescription for Prednisone for on the road if I have a bad flare up and am starting a new drug similar to methotrexate but not as strong – the advantage is the chance of side effects is lessened (but so is efficacy) and it does not require complete abstinence from alcohol which is not realistic after all I am visiting Italy! I will need to get blood work done every couple of weeks on the road to make sure the drug is not having disastrous side effects. I hope this works. I...
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