On the Road Again

Title says it all. After running around the past couple days, madly trying to get stuff done; after zero nervous breakdowns on my part (this must be a record); after trying (and not succeeding) to get caught up with my correspondence- I'm off and running. The biggest conundrum turned out to be What to Do With the Plants. I'll be gone till August. People will come and go from the apt, but not so's you could count on them to keep anything alive. Julie's fixing hers up with a gauze wick and 3 liter bottles of water, so I took my babies over to her this afternoon where they can party with her plants all summer... can't wait to see if they survive.

I hate paying for taxis... Just always seems that there are better things to do with $$ when your legs work ok. But- when you leave with enough stuff for 2 months and when you're short and your back whimpers just looking at the mountain of stuff to cart along... So, I was glad enough to see that little gray taxi pull up... And even happier to sit in the passenger seat...just as soon as he took his handgun off it. I've seen that a few times but it always rocks my boat a bit. Nice guy though. Courteous. Chivalrous. Charged 41 UAH ($5.40). I gave him a 10 UAH tip for being nice enough to put his gun away. (Taxis are still relatively cheap- although not nearly as cheap as they used to be; food and housing though are high even by Western standards.)

So- On the train. Fellow passengers are in bed. Train is brand new, comfy...and air-conditioned. No Joke.

Going to visit the deaf folks out of Odessa tomorrow. We'll find out how much sign language I've forgotten. Thank goodness for lip reading.

Good night!

PS- I'll continue to keep up with your blogs via google reader... but won't be able to comment while using my mobile, so that's the deal. You all have a great summer!