"I have flabby thighs, but fortunately my stomach covers them." - Joan Rivers

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. 

Fool me three times and I'm the neighborhood joke. 

Early this morning I booked my flight on FastJet from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya on March 31, and the return flight two weeks later. Dar is on the (east) coast of Tanzania and Mbeya is on the opposite side of the country, a distance of 423 miles. When I made this trip 20 years ago this leg of the journey could only be made on a "bus" and it took 12 hours. Describing that road trip adequately would take two or three posts, and they couldn't communicate the odors, sounds, or bizarre aspects of that ride, so I won't try. Just understand how happy I am that I get to do it on a plane this time.
I just hope the plane is in better condition than that bus.

Two weeks from tomorrow I leave for Puerto Rico. I made progress this morning and feel good about being fully prepared when the time comes.
Part of the press to get things in good order is that we're going to make a quick trip next week to see my folks in Seattle. We'll leave in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, be there by lunch, leave for the drive back Friday afternoon, and get home after dark Friday night.
We really enjoy spending time with them and realize the opportunities for that are limited. My two teaching trips mean either going now, before P.R., or after I get back from Africa in mid-April. And by then I'll have spring chores stacked up.
One of the things we liked about moving to OR is being a 5-6 hour drive from them instead of a 3-hour plane ride.
Note: while I'm in P.R. Pam will go back to MI to see her mom.

I'm almost done with the chicken run. Just have to finish getting the the hardware cloth across the top that will keep the hawks from swooping in for dinner. We have lots of hawks here.
Or maybe just one really active hawk.
They all look pretty much the same.