Yeah, uh, misadventures are what they are, Roger.

Thanks for the welcome and a Mudcat welcome to Micky. He isn't a folkie... yet. He may learn to regret inviting Wakana and I into a get-together.

We've been over a week since the water heater died. Cold showers on Guam (and the rest of the tropics I suspect) are not the same as for those who live in the northen southern latitudes.

To start with, our water lines run just under the ssurface, just deep enough to protect them from lawn mowers or weed whackers (on Guam they are called bushcutters). Add to that the daily temperatures in the 80s and taking a cold shower is like getting into a swimming pool. It feels cold at first but you quickly get used to it. It isn't painful like some cold showers I've taken in Maine.

Tomorrow Mystic Seaport will be launching the Charles W. Morgan. She's been out for refit for the last several years. I wish I could be there. I am planning on getting up at 3:45 AM to watch it on the computer. They will be streaming the video.

When I was born my parents were living in a trailer an the hill across the river from Mystic. At that time she'd only been at the seaport about 9 or 10 years. I have visited that ship off and on since I was a baby and I feel a kinship with her. It breaks my heart that I cannot be there tomorrow.

Next year they plan to sail her and I really want to be there to see the departure. I hope I can do that.

My new job will be in a middle school teaching reading to 7th graders. Yikes! The concept scares me. The one thing that reassures me is that Inarajan (the 'j' is pronounced as an 'h') uses a team teaching concept so it should not be like the Romans throwing Christians to the lions.

And I will be a GovGuam employee. This might not be a plus. GovGuam always has financial problems and education is one of the biggest budget items so that gets slashed first. Still, their retirement plan is pretty good though it is THE biggest budget item for GovGuam.

Some time ago I bought a Nook reader andlately (while on vacation/unemployment) I've been catching up with the reading I did in my childhood. I have to do that because ancient books are cheaper and some of my childhood authors are in Gutenberg.org which is free. It is fun to see what modern devices were thought up by the old SF authors. Currently I'm reading The Mote in God's Eye which predicted tablet pocket computers.

I love this stuff. Surfing through the different sites I see that Mark Twain predicted the internet, Star Trek Voyage Home predicted transparent aluminum, and so many other science fiction stuff that is coming into reality. Every time I see something like this I laugh out loud and feel the victory every SF fan should feel.

Gotta get to work cleaning up my side of the office to prepare for another year of lesson plans and UOG classes. As Superman used to say on TV, "Up, up, and away!"

Or, as he would say if he were a Scot, "Oop, oop, and awa'"