So much to blog, so little time to do it (especially with connection problems in Angola).  Went on the Luanda Hash yesterday (Saturday).  Had a great time ... its quite a diversion.  Even sold about 10 t-shirts, which is normally Decy's job.  I will hand over that responsibility next weekend.  I am also responsible for the mailing list (email and YahooGroups of course) ... which I will hand over this week.

About the hash, it was great. we were out on a penisula ... ran along the beach, through houses, past sunken ships, said hi to the three little pigs (really), looked at a jet plane in the "park", and yadi yadi yadi.

Once again, I had problems with the kilo driver to take me home ... it was bad enough that I had a dinner I was supposed to be at ... at 700pm ... but when I can't find my kilo and call dispatch ... and they say (at 630pm) ... where are you?  We will send a kilo ... that really blows my mind ... given that (a) they dropped me off at 1230pm and I asked the driver to explain to dispatch exactly where I was, (b) I called dispatch at 330pm to organize a pickup at 530pm and reconfirmed the location, (c) the kilos deposited 5 other company employees at the exact same site I was at, and (ahem) ... (d) there were vehicles waiting for the other five folks  .... urggghhh ... ANGOLA !!!!  I arrived at the dinner at 8pm ... after jumping in somebody else's vehicle.

Had a great dinner with KC and Lydia Yap, good Malaysian friends of mine.  They also had over Drew and Debbie Bishop, whom I work with very closely, Pauline (a very good friend of Decy's and mine) and King (?) whom I've never met before.  Had an absolutely great dinner of Malaysian food ... and then went on to karaoke.  Debbie refused to sing. Drew tried, but held back, Pauline did great ... but had to leave early.  So, KC, Lydia, King and I decided to carry forward the activities.

Now for those of you that don't know/participate in karaoke ... each machine is different (scoring, for example), each music is different (even on the same songs), and often the translations are in error (such as saying "eres tu" as "e restu").  BUT, it is fun anyway.  So ... there were lots of scores in the 80s and 90s ... then suddenly King and I get a 100 ... well, that blew everybody away ... so Drew taunts us about a repeat performance ... a few songs later ... King and I get another 100.  Well, that shut Drew up (seriously, I like Drew a lot and see more of him than I do Decy ... as his office is right next to mine).  After the folks leave, KC and I are playing around ... and we score a 100 on some song.  Hey man ... three 100s.  Can you believe that?  I can't. That machine must be broken ..... BUT, it sure fed my ego !!!! - Thasya, eat your heart out !!!!

Woke up this morning to a ringing phone.  Decy was trying to reach me from Indonesia ... even though I sent her an email at ~230am my time .. she wanted to call me bright and early. Took care of that. Then went back to sleep. She called me an hour later.  Seems that JIS called her (on Sunday) about placing Thasya ... so, presumably that means she has been accepted.  Still didn't get the official word on Thasya nor Chely ... so that is Priority #1 Monday morning.

Decy and the girls went to Ciputat today (Sunday). Ciputat is a burb of Jakarta ... and where they lived before coming to Angola; we have a small (but beautiful) house there that Decy designed and had built. They spent the day with the family. Don't have all the info, and maybe the girls will blog more for us ... but I think they learned (and saw) that you can never "go back".

For me, today. I continued working on the move/packing ... double checking closets, throwing away items of little value.  Found a duffle bag of pics ... including ones from the boys first trip overseas to Colombia in 1997.  Wow ... memories ... love ... pain ... loneliness (those are my feelings, not the boys).  Even found some pics of friends that are now passed away.  This moving stuff really hurts !!!!

One thing is certain ... just like the house is "empty" without Decy and the girls ... so is my life ....

ciao ciao