Random Routes

Cycling plans for 2008

2008-01-20T08:30:00.000-08:00

2008 looks like it will be a great year. I managed to not have a major biking accident on registration day for Sierra to the Sea, so I am registered for this and looking forward to it. While I love biking on its own, it's even easier to train and get [back] in shape if you have a goal like this in mind. The web site has a media library for past years, but there is a wonderful video from 2006 (minus the squirrel) that captures the spirit of the week well.

My other major event for 2008 will be my sixth year of Waves to Wine, a two day charity ride for Multiple Sclerosis on September 13 and 14. More details on this when I sign up and start fundraising.

Finally, one has to dream about the next big trip. Mine will be my next three week sabbatical from Adobe, which I'll extend to 5 weeks. The bulk of the time will be spent cycling through Alaska on the Great Alaska Highway Ride. I'd then add Ann to the itinerary and do a cruise from Anchorage back to Vancouver or Seattle. I have another three years to plan it all out.

Peter Myers entering politics

2008-01-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

As Peter got his degree in Journalism at Boston University and worked as a fundraiser for Kerry, he developed a greater desire for action instead of just the reporting that comes with journalism. He channeled this energy into personal contributions with activities such as Big Brothers in Boston, and finally in a tour in Moldova with the Peace Corps.

He became even more politically conscious in Moldova. His desire, now that he is back in the US, is to run for Congress with the Green party in the 15th district of California. You can find more information on his campaign website and information about the district on Wikipedia.

The Myers family mausoleum in Atlantic City

2008-01-01T17:50:00.001-08:00

I went to a family wedding in Ocean City, New Jersey in November. It was a delightful wedding, and the first time in at least ten years that all of six of my cousins were together at the same time.

But Atlantic City has a special place in my family history. Back before the Depression, the Myers (in fact, Charles Rudolph Myers I, whose name has been passed down for multiple generations; that is why I am Myers IV) owned a number of the hotels on the boardwalk. One of remaining artifacts of this time is the family grave site in the Atlantic City cemetery. It is on Black Horse Pike on the mainland, just across the bay from Atlantic City.

The mausoleum can be found very close to the main office for the graveyard (my Uncle Dan is standing next to the sign). The site itself is quite large, capable of holding 16 caskets, and it appears that less than half are occupied.

I have a few other images of the grave. The next three pictures show the site, first from a distance, and then up close.

Finally, we have the three living Myers males in from of the mausoleum. From left to right, it is Charles Rudolph Myers III, Charles Rudolph Myers IV, and then my uncle Daniel Myers.

Rescuing an IBM T43 laptop from oblivion

2007-11-24T11:03:00.000-08:00

I've had an IBM T43 for a bit over a year, and the poor computer was getting exceptionally flaky (blue screens a few times a day, etc.). I suspected that it was a heat problem, but could not prove it. After a few searches on the web, I found a program called Notebook Hardware Control. It comfirmed a few things. First, the CPU was routinely running hot (sometimes as hot as 87 degrees centigrade), and that the high temperatures were what was causing the flakiness and lockups.

It turns out that this program can also directly change the CPU speed settings. Just go to "Settings" and "Show all NHC options and settings." Then go to CPU Speed, choose "dynamic switching" and check the checkboxes below to enable custom dynamic switching. Then set the max multiplier down by 2X.

This computer has now gone from flaky to rock-solid stable. I highly recommend "Notebook Hardware Control" for those older Pentium-M based machines. Now I need to check it out with my new Core 2 Duo laptop (which, at least, is not flaky yet). But IBM/Lenovo does seem to design all of their laptops for the life at the performance/ reliability edge.

I do not recommend using this on a Core2 system (like a IBM/Lenovo T60/61). It seems to muck with the clock speed overly much and make the system run too hot. If you want to see more information on your system health and heat, I recommend the passive monitor Speedfan.

Facing My Fear

2007-09-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

I've always believed that you need to face your fear and conquer it. I had a small incident 8 months ago. It took me until June to even get back on my mountain bike. I'm finally back in pretty reasonable shape, although nowhere near what I've been at this time in other years. I've done one century, the Holstein Hundred in Marin County, and done a number of 60-70 mile rides by myself. I've done two hour rides on St. Joseph's Hill just outside Los Gatos, and sprinted up tough hills (a great aerobic workout - a mountain bike interval training).

But there is one place I would not go back to, which was the Kennedy Trail where I went down in January. Today was the day to tackle that again. Ann knew it was trouble when I walked into the house at 5:30 and proclaimed "This is face your fear day." She knew that she wasn't going to talk me out of this, so she only insisted that I check in with her. To make a long story short, I rode up the trail, back down, and sustained no injuries. The surprising parts were that I remembered exactly where I rode on the day of the crash, including how far I went up the trail before coming back. I took the turns that I wiped out on very gently and had no problems; I do think I wiped out at a drainage cut about 50 feet earlier on the trail than when I thought I had gone down.

I had promised Ann that I'd call her as soon as I got off the trail. I'm sure I sounded quite excited when I called and said "I made it." One interesting thing was that my neck was very sore; I'd been building up tension in my neck as I rode through those last turns.

I've made my rite of passage, conquered my demons, faced my fears, or pick your favorite trite statement. But I now feel ready to do the MS ride in eleven days. And ready to conquer some of my other favorite mountain and road rides.

Riding for Multiple Sclerosis for a fifth year

2007-08-02T08:14:00.001-07:00

I've done a charity ride for MS in the past four years. I'm now signed up for a fifth year, and am training for doing 175 miles in two days in September. I'll post various items about my training. But the first step is fundraising, and you can see my donation page and make contributions on the MS website.

If you're a cyclist, this looks like a wonderful ride; you can register at the Waves to Wine website.

FreedomHouse

2007-05-11T17:39:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered this institution and website. Part of it has come from various talks I have heard. A few of the points have been that democracy is not just having elections, but having the institutions and education to go behind it and have people involved, and that it is difficult to have a democracy at below a per capita income of $5,000 (GNI/Capita). These may not have been from Freedomhouse, but it is all related.

I suggest that you check out their website, and, if you're into an assessment of the Republic of Moldova, read the Country Report or Press Freedom Report.

I Love New York

2007-04-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

I was in New York for an IDEAlliance board meeting today, and happened to walk through the corner of 42nd and Broadway on Thursday night. I decided to cross the street to where a street musician was playing his saxophone on the corner. I listened to his music while waiting for the light, and realized that I recognized the music. He was playing, and playing well, Meatloaf; in fact, he was playing "Hot Patootie" from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. This was followed by "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," which is both a classic and nontrivial to arrange for saxophone. I ended up having a short conversation with him, and left a few bits of folding money instead of just change in his instrument case. You won't find this at 10:30 at night in San Jose.

Gotta love it.

In the spirit of full disclosure, Meatloaf was on the Bat of out Hell III - Seize the Night tour, and was scheduled to play at the Garden that night; however, the show was postponed until mid-July due to illness. Arranging the music for sax and the entrepreneurial spirit both deserve praise; it's more than your normal view of a street musician.

Transdniestria, Moldova, and Russia in American Media

2007-04-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

Peter, who's in the Peace Corps in Moldova, made a few complaints about the lack of coverage of Moldova's simmering conflict with Russia in Transdniestria in western media. I was quite surprised when the March 22 edition of Time magazine had an article and diagram of all of Russia's conflicts. One of them was Moldova and Transdniestria. To get the full impact, I did copy the graphic from the magazine (click on the picture for a full-resolution PDF).

It may not be the highest item in American media, but it does get noted occasionally.

A few bits of background on Transnistria include Tod Lindberg's Turmoil in Moldova, a bulletin from the US State Department (kind of dry, but gets the basic facts), and a bibliography by the Library of Congress. Also, the US State department has a good summary of Moldova, including the history of the Transnistrian conflict.

Thanks

2007-04-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

This blog has been a tale of woes and medical wonders for the past three months. I'm now ready to put this behind me. It is time to start the rest of the year, and even the rest of my life, on a less eventful basis.

I'm tempted to look back on these three months and think of all of the pain, lost time, and recovery. But I had a great bike ride in January (saw a coyote on my way into the mountains... always a treat) before my crash. I've had great, but short, bike rides as I have recovered. I had a wonderful Indian meal with co-workers before food poisoning struck and started. And I was not writing in pain from my gall stones: this is supposed to be a very painful experience, but now people look at the big scar on my face and say "you must have a high pain threshold." I guess they figure that I ride a Harley also.

Thanks to friends and co-workers for the supporting emails, get-well cards, and visits in the hospital. The wonders of finding a co-worker who became a nurse, and was a student nurse one of my days in the hospital. And for people at work filling in for me as I have disappeared for weeks.
Thanks to the medical profession for the great respectful care. This is true for doctors, surgeons, X-ray technicians, and even the people who draw blood and insert IVs.
Thanks to Medical Science for CAT scans, MRI's , and incredible procedures like ERCP and Laparoscopic Surgery (see previous post). Also thanks to physical therapy for helping to bring me back, and Chiropractors for fixing my twisted back.
Thanks to Ann and my family I've put you through a lot, but you were always there with smiles, phone calls, and encouraging words.
Thanks to God for rapid recoveries I find the way that the body can heal to be nothing short of miraculous.

Also, if you ever need some hospital tips, I'm told that the meatloaf is a good menu choice at Good Samaritan's (you get to pick your food from a menu... great for a hospital). Have the nurse inject the Demerol slowly to prevent nausea. And get out of the hospital bed and walk as much and as often as you can.

Medical March

2007-03-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

The past two weeks have been another interesting. It all began on March 20. I went to my primary doctor for my fall in January. After a brief discussion and a few pushups and neck bends, I was declared in good health with ths suggestion of resuming normal activities. That even meant the end of physical therapy; I will be glad to have the time back in my schedule. The preceding weekend I'd done a few long walks in the mountains with my dog, Maggie,covering the terrain of the bike crash in January. She enjoyed eating the fresh long grass, and I proved to myself that I was back and going again. I even did a 9 mile flat bike ride. That weekend, and especially the twelve hours after my appointment with Kahan were peak times. Little did I know that a new trough in the cycle of life was headed my way.

Tuesday evening had me out for dinner (Indian food) with a number of compatriots from work. In the middle of dinner, my shoulders started getting sore, which I thought was strange, but I chalked it up to sitting still for too long. The fun began when I returned home. My stomach (left side of body, mostly) began to spasm. I threw up numerous times. I had cold sweats like a fever, and could not find a comfortable position to sleep or sit. In fact, every sore muscle and joint in my body, and there are many of these, lit up like a five alarm fire. The pain was like a purging fire; I am much less sore after this than before. Except for those times I was kneeling before the porcelain throne, I stood up until 5:30AM. I was still in questionable shape for conference calls that started at 7 AM, but I made it through the day. My major outing was a trip to the drugstore for anti-nausea medicine, Ginger Ale, Seven-up and crackers. I ended the day feeling somewhat better. I did make an appointment with my doctor for Thursday.

Thursday was a somewhat normal day. I had energy again. I did visit the doctor, and we concluded that I had a quick bout of food poisoning. I had a somewhat exciting dinner (microwaved chicken breast and rice). Friday was also ok, although I had a bit less energy. I also noted that my abdomen was a bit sore, but I chalked that up to starting to use my muscles again.

Ann was off with her sister and a conference for her new business for the week, and was returning Saturday. I had little energy Saturday, and my abdomen was starting to hurt more. I still couldn't figure out if the pain was on the left or the right, so I constrained myself to a diet of Ginger Ale and Saltines. When the evening came, I suggested that I was not in shape to pick her up at the airport, but that she should take a cab home instead; this is a sign of me not being at all well. She walked into the house, looked at me, said "you don't look right," felt my forehead, and a thermometer was in my mouth in two minutes. The answer came back slightly over 100. She also said that my color was grey (never the best of skin tones). I then went to sleep within a half hour, and had a fitful sleep. When I awakened at 6 AM, I decided that my abdomen hurt more (it hurt when I inhaled deeply), and that the pain was definitely on the right side.

I awakened early Sunday morning, and the pain in my abdomen was more intense. It was definitely on the right side. There was pain if I took a deep breath. I went to the medical books, and read the various fault trees. It came down to appendicitis, diverticular infection, or gall bladder issues. I had learned that I had gallstones from a CAT scan in January, so that seemed a possibility, but I couldn't decide which it was. One thing was clear however: none of these were issues where you hang around the house and see what develops. I awakened Ann at 7 AM (having made some coffee first) and suggested that this would be a good time for a hospital visit. 7:45 brought us to Good Samaritan Hospital's door (a very good time for an emergency room visit). I explained all this to the doctor, who ordered a CAT scan. Within a few hours, he came back and said "it's not diverticulitis, and it's not your appendix, which leaves only one thing left... you have a gallstone lodging in your common duct, and bile has backed up into your liver. You're jaundiced (I had yellow rings around my eyes by that point). So, a few surgeons will come in, but we'll remove the stone today by ERCP (see below) and remove the gall bladder soon."

To make a long story short, they did the ERCP and removed the stone. I began to feel much better. I was admitted to the hospital for Sunday evening, but had a relatively healthy stay (as opposed to my crunched face in January). The Laparscopic removal of the gall bladder took place around 9 PM on Tuesday evening, and I was released on Wednesday afternoon. The incisions hurt for a day or two, but I'm approaching normal like again.

If you'd like to know more about the surgical procedures.

Information on Laparoscopic gall bladder removal (it contains a 54 page presentation on the surgery and the glall bladder in general, which is quite complete... I suggest you load the PDF version)
ERCP - Removal of Gallstone blocking bile duct.
A site on Laparoscopy that includes a video.

Myers back on the bicycle

2007-03-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

I've talked about getting back on the bike for about two weeks. The key impetus was my sports medicine doctor saying "you're doing ok... it's time to get back on the bike and conquer your fear." I wouldn't say that I had a fear of riding, although I do have a more profound respect for that one downhill corner on Kennedy/Priest Rock Trail. But I will leave that challenge for the future.

What I do have is an extreme respect for all of the minor muscles in the body. When you do weights, you concentrate on the big guns (delts, traps, quads, biceps, triceps) and lump all the small muscles into "stability muscles." I found a Gray's Anatomy online, so there is a picture and some text. When the muscles been shut down for a month, they let you know of their existence when they start up again. This is especially true for small muscles along the spine connecting the vertebra and small muscles that stabilize the shoulder blade. I avoided biking until I'd gone through most of the reactivation pain.

My first bike ride since January 16 was on a beautiful sunny Los Gatos day. The temperature was almost 70F. I put sunblock (spf45) on my entire face to minimize scar damage. I inflated my tires again (they'd lost 40 pounds... a sign of how long it had been) and then went out on my road bike. I will not be on a mountain bike for a few months; this is from three issues: (1) having shoulder strength, (2) making sure that my broken cheekbone (zygoma) is fully set, and (3) having the physical stamina to do crazy climbs. You can read more about the zygoma (I broke it at all four of the junctions) in Gray's Anatomy.

I made it about 2 flat miles away from home before my awakened muscles told me of their presence. I felt pain across the lower back and sides near the bottom of the rib cage (the serratus muscle). You don't even pay attention to these guys until they speak to you.

I traveled 4.6 miles in just over 20 minutes. The warmth of the sun felt great. The wind in my face was invigorating; it was a wonderful feeling to deeply inhale fresh air again. I was in terrible shape, with an unjustified racing pulse rate and muscle pain. But I had a smile from ear to ear as I entered the house.

A number of relatives have suggested that I go safe and do a stationary bike indoors. This short bike ride convinced me to the contrary. I can't wait until I'm back doing 50-60 mile rides again. And it'll be a bit longer before I go for a mountain bike ride.

Two loud cracks in the back and I'm almost "right as rain"

2007-02-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

If you've seen me lately (and I actually went to the office on Friday), you'd notice a few interesting things:

My right shoulder was noticeably lower than the left
My right shoulder would pop up when I went to raise my arm in front of me or to the side (I was barely able to get over horizontal
I wasn't able to turn my neck more than 50 degrees, which makes right turns in a car interesting

Then I did an experiment in the middle of last week. I laid down on the floor on my back, and felt pain across my back, including what felt like a plum-size stone under my shoulders near the base. Not fun.

Then on Thursday 2/8 I bent over to pick something up, and did it more by bending over than using the legs to squat. I heard a loud crack as all of my neck and upper back. I didn't notice a major change in the way I felt (but I was able to raise my arm 20 degrees over vertical)

Sunday 2/11 brought a new experience. I was at my desk and turned and twisted and bent over a bit to insert a DVD in my Mac Mini. I was greeted with another loud noise in my back; it was so loud that I paused for a minute or so. But then I found that I was able to raise my arm both in front and on the side. Pure excitement. I feel 100% better, and Ann can tell you that I'm smiling for the first time in a while. I'm finally feeling like I'm getting better. I've since found that the official term for this is that my back "released;" I'll take that any time.

I don't think I am out of the woods completely. I did the "lay on the floor" test just now, and I'm probably at the "right as sleet" level. I still have a few rough spots in my back, but it is lower down. Abatement of pain and mobility are both going in the right direction. Today will be an exercise in pain as start moving in ways I have not for a month. But a bit of pain to get to a better place is fine by me.

So, all in all, I keep getting better. I'm still on soft food and doing physical therapy twice a week. The scar is looking better, and my beard has finally been trimmed back. I'll post a picture soon.

The Crash: What happened and how I'm doing

2007-02-01T17:06:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling better, but not at full energy yet. But the two most common questions I get are (1) How are you feeling, and (2) What Happened?

How am I feeling? Simply stated, much better. Last week I had an MRI of my right shoulder (no injury) and neck (no injury). So, on Monday. the orthopedic doctor said that I could take the cervical collar off. Oh, was I a happy guy.Since then, I've been recovering and getting some strength up again. Thursday has been my first day of participating in work, over the phone.

I alluded to my distaste for the cervical collar in my last post. Now that I was free, it was almost burned in effigy. What I did not appreciate (until this came off) is that the collar drove me somewhat crazy, and I had strong anxiety reactions with it on. I am told that this is not uncommon. I understand why I needed it, but it turns out that I took Vycodin more for the anxiety than for the pain. I've been Vycodin-free since Monday night. I have had a few more doctor's appointments since, and I start with physical therapy on Friday. So, the toll from the crash has been (1) a red eye and 28 stitches on the face, (2) a broken bone in my face, (3) a slightly hurt left shoulder and rotator cuff irritation, (4) Torn muscles on the right side of my neck, (4) a more messed-up right shoulder, (5) a bruised/broken rib on my back (only hurts when I laugh or cough). And I'm recovering from 12 days of sleeping no more than three hours at a time.

What happened? After a bit more retrospection, the issue was that this was a trail I have come down too many times and knew what I could get away with in speed, turns, etc. What I did NOT take into account is that we'd been getting some rain lately, and that softens the ground. When I went into a turn I was going a bit too fast )I had decided to take it a bit faster than normal), and the bike went out under me (spinning out). It happened so fast that there was no chance for a recovery or a bail. The positive part of the soft ground was that it was easier on the face. When I started mountain biking, I was told "if you're not falling, you're not learning." Guess I earned my Masters degree in mountain biking and weather impacts on terrain this trip.

Gifts. I received a number of great cards and gifts from folks since I've been home. I'm grateful to all of you for thinking of me. One set of gifts does merit special notice. Cousins and nieces of ours in Wheaton, IL sent me a two-part package from Amazon. The first was a book called Bicycling Medicine by Arnie Baker (a great book). The second package was a set of training wheels. Now, I could say that this misses the point (the wheels would not have helped). I could also say that a better item would be a Downhill helmet, which would have prevented the broken bones and laceration (and possibly even the loss of consciousness).
But, still I got a very good chuckle at getting the training wheels.

In all, I'm still much happier than if I'd had another heart attack.

Mountain bike crash on everyday trail

2007-01-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

2006 was an accident-free year. I had looked back on it as a statistical fluke, but had no idea the degree of vengeance that the fates would have in store for me. It may not have been my best biking year (too much travel) and the weight came on a bit too much, but it had a number of great trips (like biking from Eugene Oregon back to California) and no significant accidents.

On Tuesday, January 16, I started work at 6:00 AM with phone calls to India. I left work around 3:15, and wanted to get a quick mountain bike ride in before it got dark. Normally I like doing road rides, but mountain rides are good for an intense ride without major fears of traffic. I drove home, hit the trail (doing the Kennedy section of the Priest Rock Trail in Sierra Azul preserve (the trailhead is a bit over two miles from my house, so I do this ride or St. Josephs once a week). I knew that I wanted to be home at 6:00 to register for the ACTC's Sierra to the Sea ride as soon as it opened; I did the ride two years ago, thoroughly enjoyed it, and was looking forward to doing it this June. And, with my time on a bike getting up around ten hours/ week, my weight was coming down and I was getting back in shape.

I was planning just a short ride this Tuesday (60-75 minutes) before it got dark. As I rode out, I had a sense of foreboding (if something happened to me on this ride, I'd miss the Sierra to the Sea registration). I laughed that off as one of those absurd negative thoughts (and just a sign that I was trying to be lazy). I rode up the trail about 500 feet vertical, and turned around to come back (keeping the ride short). It was the last descent of the ride (an area that's about a 20-25% grade, just after the pipe that crosses the trail). I crossed the pipe properly, but somehow messed up at the little ditch 50 feet down the trail. As best I can determine, my bike went down on the left side (brake handles were caked in dirt, but the rest of the bike was fine; all of the dirt was on my face). My face planted in the dirt (which, at least, was not rocky); I did have one laceration which required 28 stitches (but it was shallow). I will post a picture of the spot on the trail when I'm walking in the area again. You can see a map of the full Sierra Azul Open Space area as a PDF and a small
annotated area of the ride.

The bone of my left temple and eye socket was broken (hence the black eye and blood in the eyeball), but it was not displaced; the main implication was a soft food diet for 2-4 weeks. I got two lightly scratched knees. There were other injuries that were less clear. They hooked me into a cervical collar (standard procedure). Note that the model is smiling because he gets to take the collar off at the end of the photo-shoot. In the world of strange reactions, I have found myself getting claustrophobic/anxious about this silly collar, even when I know it's the right thing; your mind does funny things to you at times.

You can see a full range of photo index also, from January 17th to the 28th. My only regret is that this didn't happen at Halloween. The scar and the blood in the eye would have been a great costume.

I wear a Polar pulse watch/ bike computer when I ride. The results from the trip are here. Please note that the times are relative to the start of the event. which was 4:09:19 PM. It's neat to see the telemetry for the ride, even if it is part of the engineer's coping response. You can see the crash at 48 minutes (my speed went to 0, and my pulse dropped to 56 as I lost consciousness). My guess is that I went into the EMT truck at 1:20, and then we drove off to valley medical at 1:45. What this also tells me is exactly where I crashed... it was about 40% of the way down the first major hill on the Kennedy Trail (the gas pipe is the top of that hill). I was going a bit too fast and hit a drainage cross ditch non-perpendicular about 75 down from the pipe and it tossed my bike to the left.

And, while the left side of my face was compelling, the more subtle injuries were the right side and neck. I had lots of CAT scans and MRIs (head, neck, spine) which found that I had torn a neck muscle near the base (for rotation), but this was not clear until neurology tool the collar off for tests (and told me look left and right and that I only got 60% of that). There was no dirt or tears on my gloves either (just a bit of blood from the aftermath).

The other side of my body took injuries that were less obvious. When I slammed my left handlebar and face, this put much of the rest of the energy into my right arm and hand, which hit the handlebars and up the arm. The damage is much less obvious. The prime symptom is that I have limited motion in my right shoulder. If I place my arsm at my side and raise them (not bending the elbow), my left arm can go over my head, but my right arm will not go any further than parallel to the floor. However, the limit is not one of rotator cuff (an MRI has shown that it's all there). So, I had an MRI of my neck on Friday evening, and will be seeing a neck/spine doctor on Monday morning. I'm hoping that we'll both find the cause of the arm motion problem, the arm pain (hard to describe, but times of sharp but achy pain in the right deltoid muscle), and get rid of the neck brace (an irrational hope, but one has to hope... that collar constrains ones ability to sleep).

For anyone that is wondering, yes, I will ride again. I will wait at least eight weeks from the accident to let the facial bones fully set. And I may do more road and less mountain for a while. A visit to the hospital like this is still much more "fun" than a visit for a heart attack.

Finally, I'd like to thank everyone who sent cards and gifts. These help immensely when you're feeling down (or just stupid an uncoordinated). Ann has been enormously help through this (and I think I'm only driving her crazy a bit... when the collar gets to me or when pain is just about to go over the edge and I have not realized it yet), And encouraging words from all the the biking doctors and nurses have helped significantly.

A Cyclist's Dream Girl

2006-11-25T15:44:00.000-08:00

I recently found a new cab driver, Paul, in San Jose. It happened when I dropped by the Fairmont early one morning in downtown San Jose, and he was working on his Mac laptop in his cab, instead of jawboning or sleeping like most cab drivers. It turns out that he's a student at the local community college, and is driving as an easy enterprise (and I will say that a $100 cab fare to San Francisco airport is a plum fare).

I've had three rides with Paul now, and last Friday we talked a bit about bicycles. It turns out that he is both a road and mountain biker. He also asked me if my spouse was a cyclist. I gave my normal response (my wife has better bikes than I have but doesn't like riding with me because I am too fast, etc.), This is not unique to me; it is the state of many avid people on cycling endurance events (century rides or more server rides like 400-500 miles in a week across California or Nevada); it's a common topic at a dinner table. We have all tried to get our spouses interested, made sure that the spouse has a better bike, and any other incentive we could imagine.

Paul made a confession to me of what one of his fantasies was about his dream girl. He wanted to have her come to the bedroom one morning, wake him up with a bowl of fresh fruit, and suggest that they go out for a morning mountain bike ride. But while he desires this, he can't ask her, because then she'd do it just to please him, rather than it being from the heart.

It was great to have this moment of bonding with another cyclist.

The Myers branch into a new business

2006-06-23T22:29:00.000-07:00

Now that the kids are gone from the house (but not off the payroll), it's time for Ann to find some gainful but flexible employment. She's found something that fulfills her creative desires, while allowing time for travel and make some extra money. Check out the Refreshing Home Design website for a better idea, and consider using her services in the future.

A few reasons why I love to ride a bicycle

2006-06-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it. - John Steinbeck

One of the things that you learn on a bike ride of any length (even the local training rides) is that delightful things appear when you expect them least. And you look back and treasure them on those dark rainy days when stuck inside.

Riding my BikeFriday out in the Chilterns, being passed by a car full of 11 year-old boys, and having them sing "Bicycle Race" (Disc 1, track 5) from Queen.

Being a few hundered feet up on the banks of the Eel River in Northern California and having an eagle fly by about 10 feet away from me.

Stopping in the forest to see listen to the birds (and sometimes just the silence)

Stopping by the side of the road in Nevada and watching a dust devil and rolling sagebrush.

Seeing young animals in the wild... rabbits, calves, sheep, wild turkeys, elk, bobcats, groundhogs, and squirrels. And the look that people give me when I give the wildlife report.

The long sweet descent on a road bike after a multi-thousand foot climb.

The roller-coaster like thrill of doing little roller hills on a mountain bike (when you let loose of your speed near the bottom of the down, knowing that you'll bleed it off on the uphill, even if it is just a bit too fast).

Seeing a drove of pigs in a field in Los Gatos. When I head up the road next to the field, the large tusked males with the hair up on their back stand guard, letting the piglets and sows cross the road back into the woods to get away from the threat of me.

Steven Colbert lays out the factstruthiness on W

2006-05-04T11:12:00.000-07:00

Peter just pointed me to a transcript of Steven Colbert's routine at the White House Correspondents Dinner. I suggest that you read it, and be prepared to laugh uncontrollably (even though it rings a bit too true).

Reflections on the final day in Mereseni and Moldova

2006-03-11T23:50:00.000-08:00

It's our last morning in Moldova. The night was warmer than the past have been (don't know the exact temperature, but it did not get below freezing... my guess would be the mid to upper 30's F).

I started this trip with two reading assignments:

The topics of these two books seemed fitting to the trip. My work at Adobe has gone global. I can remember 12 years ago when we considered a Japanese version of FrameMaker as an external process that would be done 12-24 months after the primary languages, and was done by a partner. We internalized Japanese development into the product cycle, and started directly engaging with the sales force in Japan. Fast forward 10 years, and 50% of the engineering groups that I deal with are in Noida, India, project managers are in Ottawa, Canada, and we strive to assure that conference calls will be at a time of day for equally shared pain. If you need a definition of shared schedule pain, here is an example: a meeting scheduled from 10:00-11:30PM on a Tuesday night, and then a regular weekly status meeting at 6:00 AM Wednesday morning (that's six hours sleep).

I see the flat world in the experience with the Peace Corps. All the PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) have mobile phones, and SMS-messages are sent multiple times a day to other volunteers. Most of them have digital cameras, and post weblogs. When you talk to original PCV from the 60's, they relate how happy they were to get their one letter a week from home in postal mail. In fact, Peter related that the Peace Corps would be a much more difficult experience without his ability to stay in communication through the computer (he figures that 90% of the Moldova PCV have laptops).

One of Peter's hotshot 7th graders, Maria, took pictures of us on her mobile phone at school Friday. It's good to see that phones are becoming the kind of problem in schools that they are in the US.

Internet access (except through phone system) does not exist in village. I asked Peter, who told me that DSL was barely deployed in the regional capitals, let alone the small villages. And the thought of learning internet access in the schools was greeted with chuckles.

Another part of my experience was a quick trip to the principals office to help with a printer problem. The immediate issue was that their multifunction printer/fax machine from Xerox was making black-streaked output. The problem was actually worse than I had expected... There was basically a one inch-wide streak of output, and everything else was black splotches. I opened the printer, toner went flying, and the belt of the cartridge was fully carbonized except for a one inch wide strip. I asked how many times the cartridge had been refilled and the only answer that came back was "we just put a new cartridge in last week." My estimate was that it had been refilled at least a half dozen times. The solution for the moment was to go back to their old toner cartridge, which only had a 7.5 inches of good area and one inch of black.

The computer, which was reputed to be "good" was far from it. The office administrative computer was a 32MB Pentium Pro (probably 150Mhz) system running windows 95. The modem was an external US Robotics X2 modem. I felt like I had entered a time warp. Then I thought back to the old computers that we send to recycling at Adobe. 800mhz Pentium 3 machines with 512MB memory are routinely sent for recycling. These would be hot machines in a school in Moldova. One can get a better idea of the issues of computers in poor countries in an IEEE article on Peace Corps Computers in Belize and this study about peace corps computer programs. The next time that someone from the European Commision describes the old computers in Eastern Europe, this computer will always come to mind.

My hope is that, somehow, Moldova can develop some industry or information economy. It's made difficult by the fact the languages that are chosen in Moldova are Romanian (or the Moldova dialect of Romanian) and Russian. As opposed to Sweden or the Netherlands, where one can have useful discussions virtually anywhere in English, that is beyond the realm of possibility in Moldova today.

I also read "The End of Poverty." Simply stated, this (and the chapter describing how officials during the first Bush administration made sure that the states of the former USSR accrued their share of Russian debt. I thought that this was a set of simple issues (debt should be forgiven, inflation needs to be under control, farms should be more efficient and consolidated under private hands). Then I started reading some of the links that follow. My conclusion was that I shouldn't dabble in economics. But, if you'd like to read more about this struggling young country, take a look for youself at some overall IMF papers and an overview from The World Bank.

I had considered going for a photo-walk around Mereseni earlier, but the sight of a stream of water coming down the muddy road convinced me of my folly. I stayed in Peter's room and talked to him in dry mudless warmth until our departure. We had many good discussions about Adam Sandler, Skype (which we will soon all be using... Peter, Claire, Ann, and me.. either direct or with SkypeOut) and the state of computers in Moldova.

We packed up and left for the airport around 1:00. Peter's host brother, Sergiu, came to Mereseni to pick us up. Packing to leave was much easier than our arrival. We had 5 less bottles of wine, less art supplies for Costesti host family children, less a suitcase of clothes and various items for Peter, and one less computer and leather case. The two books I had read were also left with Peter, along with magazines. So, we packed up and left Mereseni, slipping and sliding up one very muddy road (Peter had taken pictures before).

Peter's host father, Dumitru, worked Saturday (he works a 24 hour shift every three days for the gas company). We saw him on our way out of town, as his truck was stopped at the side of the road in Hincesti. It seems that he went out on a call in the morning, and the truck ran out of gas (an interesting social item is that people seem to run cars and cabs on the verge of empty as opposed to the verge of full... undoubtedly this is a function of the high price of gasoline). We stopped and said our second goodbyes to him.

We then continued our trip to Chisinau (40km) and the airport. The trip was as bone-jarring as ever, but Sergiu was skilled at avoiding the potholes. We needed to go through Chisinau to drop Peter off near the PC office (so he could get a shower and talk to people) and then Sergiu would take us to the airport.

Our goodbye to Peter was a scene that would fit in a depressing Soviet-era movie. [I almost took a picture of this, but decided to be a father more than a photographer, so you'll have to use your imagination.] Sergio pulled off to the side of the 4-lane road. It was a grey and rainy day in the low 40s. The rain melted the snow, leaving a blanket of brown grit (from the sand that is used to treat the snow-covered roads). This would be a depressing day in Chicago or New York. But add to this the main passenger rail yard, a tall red/white striped power plant smokestack in the background, grey soviet apartment buildings, approximately 15 stories tall on the right (complete with wash hanging outside), and you have the correct depressing scene. Ann and Peter had a long hug (we'll see you in July 2007), and I had a good hug. Peter went off to the Peace Corps office and we went, teary-eyed on our way to the airport.

We arrived at the airport with lots of time to spare. The day became even more grey as rain set in, and we couldn't even see across the valley. One high spot was that the airline departure (all international) area was quite nice. It had a few duty-free shops and Moldovan wine shops, and was a new upbeat facility. Quite impressive. Visibility is limited enough (and Europe obscured by clouds) that there is little to visually report for this part of the trip.

The final part of the story is that we did arrive in Vienna, and checked into a hotel at the airport. A shower has never felt so good. Heck, even just the concept of a real bathroom and a kingsize bed (which was a decimal order of magnitude larger than Mereseni) was exciting. My other bit of amazement was with water and was threefold:

Water (both hot and cold) came out of a faucet
I could drink it and enjoy it
I would not get sick later

So, we are back in civilization, and appreciating it much more than even before. And tommorrow we fly to Frankfurt and on to San Francisco.

Dinner discussion in Mereseni

2006-03-10T11:45:00.000-08:00

Three meals a day in Mereseni were all served in the warm and toasty little house the parents cook and sleep in during the winter. Ann's favorite dish was chopped eggs, chopped crab meat and corn mixed with a mayonnaise dressing. We will try to duplicate it at home. Ann was craving some scrambled egg and toast but alas it was not to be. Maria spends lots of time cooking and cleaning up with no running water or conveniences we take for granted. She was most gracious and we enjoyed our discussions with the family.

One of the things that I enjoyed with both families (Costesti and Mereseni) was a brief discussion about life in Moldova and politics after dinner. The stories and views on each of our respective countries were interesting. The Moldova stories included:

Loss of savings - one of the things that I understood is that Dmitru and Maria had saved a reasonable amount of money, built their house and sent two children to college as lawyers. However, they were in a much worse financial than in the USSR. The conversation was about how they lost so much money in the banking crisis in 1998 and since. I did some research afterwards, and discovered that 1998 was a major financial panic in Russia and all of the CIS (read this Washington Times supplement from 1999... a bit dated and overly "Moldova is great and there are no problems... I do suggest reading it as a general overview, and to find out that Sacramento is sister-city to Chisinau). The value of the leu went from 5 leu to the dollar to the 13 leu today (and this is against the weakening dollar, not the Euro). There have been reports of 30-40% annual inflation. The basic issue is that their financial well-being was significantly at risk as a family. This devaluation took away the savings and resources of many in Moldova. The story is a common one... they didn't have much in communist days, but they knew what they were going to get.
Dmitru told a story (more than 15 years ago) about waiting five years to get a car. He finally got a notice in the mail that he was entitled to a car; he picked it up appropriately. Then, two weeks later, he received another identical letter that he was entitled to a car; he was honest and assumed that this was a duplicate. In retrospect, he wishes that he had just worked the inefficient system and taken the second car.
Was asked if they had more goods in stores than they did in the Soviet days. Maria said that there was moch more now, and better quality, although they have less money for purchases. Then Maria went on to describe how it worked 15 years ago. She worked a a local store in Mereseni - the Russian shoes, which is what they normally had in stock, were bad. However, when shoes arrived at the store from Germany or Poland, Maria would bring the shoes home for her family, working around the system.
Dmitru worked in construction in Portugal for a year (large amounts of the working adults leave the country for "black work;" in a sense, Moldova is to construction in Europe what Mexico is to landscaping in America. He did say that this was the most lucrative year of his life.
Discussion of having a Peace Corps Volunteer (they have had 9), how they need to do this to make up for Dimitru's more-local job that an pan-European truck driver, and how they'd like to have the money. It is hard to think of having a peace corps volunteer as a economic boost, but there are numerous stories of families with volunteers boarding having the money to buy a washing machine.

Then conversation then turned to me and our views of the US and Iraq. Peter has covered many of these topics in his blog, but I'll give a quick summary. My main That US was fighting a destructive conflict in Iraq, but that did not reflect the views of the people of the US. If I had one wish, it would be that the people of the United States would acknowledge the issues of Moldova, and spend our money to help their economy get rolling again instead of military campaigns. At the same time, I was encouraged by the government funding of the Peace Corps, and support of the many volunteers in Moldova and around the world; George Bush did double the funding for the Peace Corps.

Water was an interesting topic. One took captured water everywhere. As an example, the melting snow from the roof was collected in buckets, and then emptied in a 55 gallon drum in their cellar. This water was then used for cleaning. There was no running water in the village. When I went for my walk a few days earlier, we passed a tower (30 feet tall, somewhat rusted and with a set of pipes coming out the bottom. This was their former well for the village. It had broken a number of years ago and was not repaired. Peter also explained that the well for this had been too shallow; even when operational it was not good water. The village is applying for a grant to get a new well drilled deeper and get running water functioning again.

School Day in Mereseni

2006-03-10T11:43:00.000-08:00

We slept in the big house in the room next to Peter's. It was quite warm and we were relatively comfortable although their idea of a double bed is not quite the same as ours. It was a sort of divan that when Ann got up to go to the loo in the middle of the night, Charlie was then off balance and fell to the floor. Good for some comic relief.

We started the day at the school with a visit with the director and adjunct director We then went to the faculty lounge; everyone came and we were introduced to them all. They too love Peter, they think he has adapted to Moldovan life very well. We presented the school with some soccer and basketballs we had brought and of course pictures were taken.

As we walked through the hallway, we were greeted with many smiles and "good mornings." The best of the day was Ryan (in the back right corner in this picture) and this interchange: "Hello Mr. Myers... What's up?"

After a brief visit to the home economics room, we arrived at Peter's class. The kids in Peter's classes were like kids anywhere. There were the top kids who were interested in the novelty of having us there, the medium kids who thought it was fine and then there were the few who didn’t really care. They worked hard on the questions for us and I think my favorite was when Charlie was asked if he loved his wife! Discussing age is done openly there and we were asked by each class how old we are, were we proud of Peter and they were looking for some childhood stories of Peter but we couldn't come up with any that would be easy to explain. Ann read some Dr. Seuss to the sixth graders and they enjoyed the silliness they could understand.

There were many other questions that they asked. Below is a small sample:

What is your impression of Moldova (cold, good food, friendly people (especially in villages instead of Chisinau, but we didn't say that)
Did you hit Peter as a child? No, not often. We did, however, klunk his and his sisters head together once
Do you like Moldovan wine (yes, but most places (incl. US) people do not make their own wine)
Mrs. Myers... do you like to cook? do you like shopping?
Do you like to travel? (yes, we travel around the world). I made a point to reinforce Peter's "and they speak English in most of these places."
How many children in your family, and where is your family from? (we explained where all we have lived in the United States, and that we are now about 11000 kilometers away from home in California. Also, our roots are all in Europe - England, France, Germany, Poland, and Dalmatia (now Croatia).
Who is your favorite actor?
What is your favorite book? (my answer was Brothers Karamazov, which I think surprised a few kids)
What is your favorite kind of music? Ann: Classical and pop, Charles: Rock and Roll (which is where Peter got it)
We asked one class where they would want to go in the US. The common answers were California, Los Angeles, New York, but one was firm on Miami Beach, because a previous volunteer had mentioned it many times
What is the weather like at home? We explained that it was warm (high around 20C), and that the fruit trees had started to bloom two weeks ago (that seemed to be the easiest to relate to). We also said that the weather was about the same in Moldova as in Illinois, Michigan, or New York.
How many tools do you have?
How many cars and what types do you have?

The school is clean and the kids seem happy to be there. Peter has great rapport with the students and they really want to please him, for the most part. Ann would have loved to see the kindergarten and first grade rooms to compare but since we only went one day that didn't happen.

Communicable Diseases, or "Even teachers have sick days"

2006-03-09T23:40:00.000-08:00

This was to be our big day at school. Peter's students have been preparing questions for us, so we were to be the focal point of the class.

Instead, we got another lesson in infectious diseases. If you refer back to the first entry, I described how a "stomach flu" had been making the rounds at the W3C meeting in Cannes. We had our worst day of symptoms on March 5, with a trailing edge in my case on March 6. Peter greeted us this morning with "thanks for bringing illness to Moldova with you." Yes, we verified that the incubation period was approximately 4 days. Backtracking, that means that we acquired this illness at the W3C reception on Wednesday evening (along with 300 other people), who have now gone back to their host countries and companies. As one example, people from the meeting in France also got sick on Saturday on their train trip to Spain. We each blamed it on bad food, until you put the details together. At least this is not a life-threatening disease (although it does give one about a day of extreme unpleasantness). But it does give you pause to think of serious communicable diseases at events like this. And I feel terrible for having visted this illness upon my son on this trip, which is made only worse by knowing that he will be spreading it around Mereseni.

So, we're not going to the school today. The day (at least for now) is inside, reading books and magazines, and staying warm. The ducks and geese are awake (they're busy honking away), and the sun is shining in a beautiful blue sky. The frost that had nearly covered the window has thawed.

I went on a walk up to the main road and to the town (two small stores and the local culture hall) with Diana and Dmitru. I saw the two stores, two bars (no fear of Peter hanging out there) and the culture hall that has the disco.

Over dinner, we had a discussion about the relationships of people in the village. Maria described how she had many godchildren in Mereseni. We were a bit confused in the godchildren discussion until we understood that children at baptism have many godparents, typically 10-20. One of her hotshot godchildren was Maria (seen here in the far left of the picture from the next day at school) and Maria thinks that Peter is pretty neat.

Women's Day in Mereseni

2006-03-08T23:35:00.000-08:00

Today was our first quiet morning with an interpreter. Since Peter spent the night with us, he was able to join us for breakfast at the hotel and give us explanations. We learned that the main item for breakfast (and that filled the role of oatmeal) is boiled buckwheat. It's more salty (and good) than you'd think.

Our goals for the day were to stay warm, buy a bicycle for Peter, pick up a few packages of books that had been sent to the Peace Corps headquarters, and then head to Peter's host family in Mereseni.

Peter had decided that he wanted to buy a bicycle, and that he wanted to do it with me. The thought of going with my son to buy a bike so that he could learn to tear up and down farm roads the same way his father goes up and down St. Joseph's Hill in Los Gatos was too good to pass up. But it had snowed a foot a few days before, the sidewalks were compacted snow, with a nice glaze of ice on top. We knew of one bike shop near the central market. With hats, gloves and at least one set of appropriate footwear we set out on our quest.

Our first stop was the central market. It was mostly outdoors, with stalls selling everything from food to clothing and shoes to CDs of Romanian music. The produce part of the market was meagre winter goods: walnuts, prunes, dried apples, lentils, pasta, and not a bit of green vegetables to be found. After that we went into an enclosed building... the refrigerated and meat market. One picture I did get was of the butcher area (I'll let you guess which meat was being sold in this area). I took this picture very quickly (my Minolta camera has a sub-second startup time) and put it away. Peter noted that people were very concerned about having their picture taken and gave us strange looks.

We did go to the bicycle shop, but the steel window shades were down, which telegraphed the "closed" sign. It makes sense for a bike shop to be closed on a day when you can barely walk with the ice, let along ride on two wheels; but it was still a disappointment. Once spring came, Peter did buy a bike (the model 2643 full suspension from DHS Bike, but he can describe that on his blog.

Our next stop was the Peace Corps Office. It was a nice building, with a gate and intercom (and a guard inside). The guard didn't answer the first two times we buzzed, and we almost went away in disgust. We gave it one more try, he heard us, and we entered. The volunteer area was on the third floor. There was a computer room (4 computers with a broadband connection), a room with two showers (which I was soon to appreciate the utter luxury of). There was a television room, with a plethora of old VHS tapes; a DVD player had just recently been purchased. There was a "library" in the hallway of books left by previous volunteers. The one area I captured in a photo was the volunteer storage area; this is Peter's area, and that of another volunteer. In toto, it had a very strong college survival aspect to it.

I did have one experience that I have not had since moving to California. I fell on the ice twice that day (one left a good bruise you know where). The thing that I had forgotten is that ice strikes the complacent; as soon as I stopped concentrating (100 meters from the hotel front door at the end of our trek), down I went.

We returned to the hotel, and managed to pack all of our (and Peter's) stuff into the cab. We filled the trunk, and had two suitcases in the backseat between Ann and me. The trip was about 40 kilometers, and full of major bumps and weaving (to evade the even-larger potholes).

We arrived in Mereseni, and took our bags to our room for the next three days. We stayed in a room next to Peter's, and both of our rooms were heated through a common wall. A coal stove provided the heat, and the chimney was ducted through this wall.

Peter's room was a nice size bedoom and a 7x7 foot room that contained the coal stove and a table for his computer and phone. He also had a water distiller and a Brita water purifier, and the obligatory refilled water bottles (more on this later). He had a nice setup. The peace corps also provided an electric/oil radiator heater, which he loaned to us to help keep our room warm (he had the warmer of the two rooms). Maria and Dmitru stayed in the "summer kitchen house", so most of the big house was vacant, but for Peter and our rooms. It was a shock to walk out of your bedroom and be confronted with 40F temperatures.

We had heard that slippers were required in Moldova, but had no appreciation of the issue. Here's how it worked in our situation. We stayed in the main house (and had a pair of slippers for inside). We had a pair of slippers for the summer house, which is also where we ate meals. Then there was a pair of slippers to use when going between the two houses. Between all the slippers and the shoes (one did not wear shoes beyond the entryway of the house), things got quite congested.

Our hosts were Maria and Dmitru. I have a picture of both of them, Ann, Peter, and me, but I still have to do some work from the flash reflection. But Peter took pictures at other times of Maria and Diana (their 21 year-old daughter) and Dmitru for your enjoyment.

Dogs and cats are different in Moldova. Or, to look at it a different way, they lead very strange lives indoors in the United States. Animals do NOT come indoors in Moldova. They stay outside, even in the cold. They had three dogs and one cat as you can see in
this picture and this. The funniest thing is that two of the dogs who look almost identical are father and son, and do not get along with each other. So, one hangs out with another dog to stay warm, and the other keeps warm with the cat.

Wednesday was also International Womens Day. This always had vague feminist/ communist overtones, but I'd never been to where it was natively celebrated. It was basically Mothers day. We brought flowers to Mereseni (always an odd number of flowers). The Hallmark/America "giving cards" was unknown. The cutest part of the evening was that the Moldovan State TV had an hour-long show for Women's day. It was a very spring-like set (with pastel colors and sets of large flowers) and had cute kids from 3-9 years old dancing to the beat while one of the talented children lip-synched a very cute song. It was tacky in a very cute way; the only issue is that it should have lasted just 5 minutes: we went into sensory overload after that amount of time.

The outhouse (especially after the Costesti experience, which I won't describe except as "gross") was truly exciting. The building was brick, had plaster all the way to the roof (so the wind did not blow through), and had an internal light. That, combined with a real seat, was a sight to behold (our views on life have changed in a few short days). I should note that whenever Ann complains to Peter about the quality of a place we stayed, his two questions are "did it have indoor plumbing" and "did it have running water?" It helps put things in perspective quickly.

Costesti

2006-03-07T23:08:00.000-08:00

This was our first day to seriously venture out in public other than brief dinner sojourns the previous two days. We had breakfast at the hotel, in a room so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Some of the items available included fried eggs (fully cooked), buckwheat (very good), and some bread, cheese, and yogurt. We asked for a coffee, thinking that we could have something like a nice Italian cappuccino. We were surprised when they went to a bowl of dark crystals, spooned two teaspoons into a cup, and added hot water: instant coffee. It turns out that instant coffee is the norm here.

Then we waited for Peter to arrive and then took a cab to Costesti for the day to meet his first host family. We originally had a plan to take a Rutiera to Costesti, but our digestive systems suggested that this was not the most wise. It is in the low 30's but the sun is trying really, really hard to poke through the grey clouds. We will all stay here at our hotel tonight and then, tommorrow, take a car to Mereseni for a few days.

Peter's first host family was wonderful and friendly... Tudor and Mila are the father and mother, Veronica is in sixth grade, and Vladamir is in ninth grade. We arrived and we spent a brief while in the front room (a couch and a few chairs. And rugs on the wall). After a brief house tour, we entered the kitchen, where we spent the next six hours.

The house was an interesting layout. One entered into what you’d call a mud room, full of shoes and coats. You then enter the house through an unheated hallway. The formal room and kitchen were on the first floor, and their bedrooms on the second. The other side of the house had a garage and some storage on the first floor, and two unfinished rooms on the second floor. Tudor has built the house himself, so it is a continuing project. In fact, construction is the major marketable skill of Moldovans: most of the black work is construction in Western Europe and Russia.

Eat, eat, fill up! The command was given at each meal as the plates of food covered every square inch. The first Moldovan meal came in Costesti at Peter's first host family. We ate in the warm kitchen with the family of four plus a cousin, her husband and baby. Many of the dishes had a familiar look to them and were quite tasty. Everything is served family style and we each use a salad plate which should be full at all times. In addition to the food of course is the wine, grown and bottled by the host family. Bottled is a loose term since it is in the cellar in a large barrel and then transferred to recycled water bottles. One is supposed to drink and toast, eat and then drink more. You have to remember that we were not at our best physically and this was a difficult five hours around a table! No bit of the chicken is left unserved (for example, one piece was the neck with the head and the comb attached), one learns quickly to identify and choose carefully. [Watch The Slaughtering of Herman if you need a referesher course on how chicken is prepared.] The people were lovely and obviously enjoyed having Peter stay with them for 10 weeks.

We had hoped to take the rutiera back to Chisinau that evening. However, we were late in leaving the house (too many pictures). So, we trudged the 1/4 mile back up the icy road to the house, and called the cab driver who had brought us here earlier in the day.

In the hour of waiting for the can, we talked about life in Moldova and their prospects:

Tudor was a tank commander in Germany in the Red Army. I thought the decription of just "Germany" and not east/west was interesting.
EC and US can't help Moldova with Transnistria (wikipedia) and (moldova.org). This takes standing up to the Soviet Army. I admitted that most people in the US did not even know where Moldova was, let alone the territorial issues with Transnistria.
His major economic concern was getting money to buy seed crops. He can, but banks want 30% interest, and he can't afford that. In general, there is little concept of credit here (at least at the personal or village level).
They asked us how much our plane fare was to visit Peter. We said it was about $2,000, and there was an uncomfortable period of silence.
An overall observation is that this family and Peter's Mereseni family were all very friendly to us. Yes, Moldova is a poor country, but much of these issues stem from the departure from the Soviet Union and the attendant inflation and its devastating effect on the economy.

Since we missed the rutiera, we called the cab driver who brought us to Costesti earlier in the day to bring us back; he would at least know the way to their house. Driver had a college degree in economics. He spoke English well, and appears ready to get together with Peter to speak English (and the world in general). Peter did commend him for staying in Moldova instead of going outside for "black work." A few parts of the trip home were interesting, as the streets in one area of Chisinau that we travelled through were covered in ice, and this was on hills; we made it up the hill on our third attempt, but Peter's stories of finding sand were coming to mind.

Our vocabulary is growing with practice, but barely. The phrases we have learned so far are Matsu Mille (I thank you), Pooftim (you're welcome). Many things are similar to Italian. So, you can say "bene" and that means good. However, molto bene as an expression over a good meal does not work as well as it does in Italy.

We arrived back at the hotel around 8:30, and Peter lay down on the bed and was asleep (fully clothed) within 15 minutes.