Sharon's New Truck

Sharon in her new truck (or cart at least) with our friend Dave.

Maybe this will be useful when we get really old. But who will pull us?

Halcyon Days In Egypt

In some ways I think of  Egypt as my third home.  Now we must hope for a peaceful and positive outcome to the recent harrowing days of protest.

Many visitors to Cairo are at first overwhelmed with the noise, the dust, the traffic.  But behind this powerful veneer lies a splendid, functioning, medieval city. This photo captures some key elements of Cairo ..... a mosque in the foreground, felukkas on the Nile and the Pyramids of Giza faintly seen though the red, dusty air.

The River and the Delta form such a tiny percentage of the total area of Egypt; most is arid desert. In the distance, you can see the sharp delineation between sand and the fertile agricultural land.

It is a grand people-watching location, mainly folks just going about their business. The knife grinder, the yam seller, the potter with his kilns and the fellahin.

The children ........

A man having a quite smoke ....... and inevitably the less fortunate .....

Of course friends were essential components of my life.  Both Egyptian (Salah Zafaan and me)

and those special expatriate friends who were almost in loco parentis to me as a single young man.

And I suppose we should not forget that, after all, our business reason for being there was to find oil, in partnership with our Egyptian colleagues.

Egypt:  I think about you nearly every day in these troubling times.

Foreign Model Worker & Zhu Rongii

A brief moment of "fame" (?) was in 1996 when I was declared ..........

The ceremony and State Banquet at the Great Hall of the People was hosted by (then) vice-premier Zhu Rongji, later the Premier, of The Peoples' Republic.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhu_Rongji 

This is how the China Daily saw it.

Note that I was thanked for my contribution to the Victory of the Chinese Revolution..... wow !!!

I guess we have now both moved on ......

Michigan says "What's the Big Deal"

OK, OK, so it was only an inch or so. But is is REAL SNOW and here in Central Texas.

But I get ahead of myself. First I have to dress appropriately:

Now we are ready to go. The back yard:

Shoal Creek:

And the Boulevard in the middle of rush hour (8 pm on a Friday).

So take that, Michigan !!!!