The Sun is Shining

But everything today makes me want to cry.

Not seeing a lot of the Son shining today.

Need some help with that, God.

Thanks.

One more week...

…of being the answer the Life, the Universe, and Everything.

 

Forget Waterboarding as torture....

….Just make people listen to Stevie Wonder singing Ave Maria.

It's Official...

...I need a new job.

Again, Seriously?

Just read a BBC article: Texas passed a law allowing concealed carry at public universities, and one of the deans at University of Texas quit as a result… http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35673426

I found two paragraphs at the end especially interesting:

Meanwhile, staff at the University of Houston have warned professors there to be careful discussing sensitive topics and drop them from the curriculum if they "sense anger" from students who may be armed.  [Seriously???? *Change* the curriculum????]

According to the Houston Chronicle, they have been instructed to "not 'go there' if you sense anger; limit student access off hours; go to appointment-only office hours; only meet 'that student' in controlled circumstances".

So, now- because it’s a “constitutional right” to carry a concealed weapon to your university classes- you may not actually be getting a full and complete education… In the one place that is *supposed* to be safe to test theories, push the boundaries, have quality relationships with learned adults (profs), now kids and profs and staff have to worry about whether or not the kid in the front row is going to be ‘that student’.

Another installment of “Why the World Thinks the U.S. is Full of Trigger-Happy Idiots”. Sigh.

Seriously... the world we live in.

While I work at the circulation desk at the public library, I often have time to thoroughly read through the BBC News website. This practice, more than anything else in my life right now, is what keeps me grounded in what is really important. When I think about the things I complain about during my day, or the things I wish I could have, and then read through the BBC, I remember how richly I am blessed, and how much work there is still to do in the world.

As a woman, there are few things that I could have been blessed with that would have affected me MORE than this simple fact: I was born in North America in the 20^th Century. Am I truly thankful enough for this “simple” fact? And what am I doing with the blessings that are a result of it? Read the story- it’s not getting much leading coverage here in the States. I ended up writing some more at the end, too. J

From the BBC News website:

In the remote Indian village where two low-caste girls aged 14 and 16 were gang-raped and hanged, there is a sense of powerlessness and anger. The BBC's Divya Arya travelled to Katra Shahadatganj and sent this account of the people she met.

The village of Katra Shahadatganj in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is difficult to get to. The roads are in a poor state. There is hardly ever any power here and few homes have toilets.

Days ago it was the scene of a brutal rape and murder. In the late evening on Wednesday two cousins left home to visit a nearby field, which they used as a toilet.

They never returned and by the next morning they were found hanging from a tree in the village. They had been gang-raped.

'The danger of having no toilets'

Having to go to the field to defecate is the real problem identified by many villagers.

For women it's a huge issue. They have to venture out early in the morning or late in the evening, as defecating openly in the middle of the day is too embarrassing.

"It is easier for men but it gets very difficult for us, especially during our menstrual cycles," the mother told me.

Women said they find themselves structuring their entire lives around when they can go to the toilet.

She said that it is a 15-minute walk to the field their family can use.

"I always keep my girls' safety in mind. I always accompany her and other girls in the family to the field. But that evening I had to help my husband in tending some animals so I let them go on their own. I asked them to be quick."

Mother: My girl was ambitious

The mother of the younger girl said her daughter was ambitious. This picture has been blurred to prevent identification.

The mother of the younger girl showed me her daughter's school notebooks lined with neat Hindi script.

She said that her daughter always wanted to do something more with her life than get married. She wanted to work and get a job.

"She wanted to study until college just like the boys in the village," her mother said.

She had told her daughter that she would be allowed to progress with her studies unhindered because she was the youngest girl in the family .

The mother said that in her generation women did not work but they have tried hard to educate their children.

She was composed but also full of anger. The mother of the older girl was howling and unable to speak.

Neighbour: This could have been prevented

A neighbour says he saw the girls being harassed by a group of men and reported this to the parents who then went to the police.

They claim they were rebuffed.

The neighbour, Ramesh, told me he was not surprised: "Even though the police suspended some constables, the ones who replace them would not be any better. They would discriminate too."

"People from our caste are poor and illiterate and do not get employed in positions of power and influence."

Father: The police ridiculed me

The girl's father is poor farm labourer.

When he went to the police outpost at the village one of the men seen by the neighbour harassing his daughter was with them.

The father claims that police then ridiculed him for his low-caste status. "The first thing I was asked was my caste. When I told them they started abusing me," he said.

Even though the accused and the victims are from the same broad category known as "Other backward classes" the victims were lower down within that hierarchy.

The father said he had to go down on all fours and literally beg the police.

He said the officers and the man with them kept laughing and told them to go home and the girls would be back in two hours.

They went back and waited. The next morning, police told them the girls had been found in a field in their village.

While living in Chicago, I worked twice at the world headquarters for Rotary International. The first time, my job was to enter data from applications from Rotary groups around the World, who were submitting information to receive awards for their humanitarian work, specifically work that impacted lives of children and youth. I loved this job- I loved handling letters with exotic stamps and written on paper in odd, NON 8.5x11 sizes and weights. I loved reading the foreign names of cities and villages, and looking them up on maps. And most of all, I loved reading through the descriptions of what they had done, and how that work was impacting lives.

I remember being surprised at how many Rotary Chapters existed in India, and how many of them were from very small, tiny, rural areas. And I remember being thoroughly surprised at how many entries, from many, many countries (not just India), were focused on one main thing: installing (and providing infrastructure for) working indoor plumbing, especially toilets. Many times, the poor communities being served had community clean water taps, but no indoor plumbing. The details in these applications of all the ways that INDOOR TOILETS would positively impact the lives of children and youth amazed and mortified me.

I detest and despise public restrooms. But, I have a GREAT APPRECIATION for even the worst U.S. public restrooms after travelling in rural Peru. And I’ve tried to stop COMPLAINING about them- about having to use them. I may not enjoy it. Especially at “that time of the month”, I still do my best to think ahead so that I don’t “have to” use a public restroom. But the truth is that there ARE PUBLIC RESTROOMS to use.

And when compared to the women in India, who plan their days around having to go to the bathroom in fields, and only at certain times of day, and even at that “time of month”—really, what have I got to complain about?

Seriously? (again)

THIS is what we want the United States to be known for? Whether or not I approve of "Stand Your Ground" laws, THIS incident is NOT what those laws are intended to "protect". (At least, I hope to GOD, it's not.)  What kind of a person sets up a trap expressly for the purpose of shooting another human being? SERIOUSLY? That is not the kind of behavior I want my country's laws to protect!

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-27243115  

(hopefully this comes up as a link, but i'm not holding my breath the way it's being treated in this email... so, you may have to copy and paste the link. Sorry.) (But it's worth it!)

On a completely different tack: Here is a great quote, and a great argument for walking (WITHOUT texting!) 

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."  Henry David Thoreau

How many people would think more if they walked just for walking's sake more? (ok, also inspired by a BBC story...)

Seriously?

LA Clippers owner was just suspended for LIFE for making racist comments to a female friend (don't associate with or bring black people to games). Okay. fine. great. 

But A-Rod, Mr. stinkin' I'm breaking the law and flaunting it in everybody's face was suspended for one SEASON? 

I know, two different leagues. Two different commissioners. Two different individuals. The owner doesn't actually bring in money (at least not the way a high-profile super-star player does). Who in the general rank and file is going to CARE that the owner of their favorite team was just forced to sell his shares and pay a fine? Good riddance, most will say. But Mr. Superstar? Naw, can't can him, fans will definitely notice that.  (but 30 odd years ago, Pete Rose was banned for life, for WHAT? yeah, whatever.)

So, new drafted law in Spain: (quote from BBC)

The measure, which would be part of a wider child protection law, says that children under the age of 18 have an obligation to participate in all areas of family life. That includes "co-responsibility in caring for the home and performing household tasks regardless of age and gender". The rules come under a section of the law called "the rights and duties of children". Along with doing chores, children would also have to be respectful to their parents and teachers, and have a positive attitude towards learning. 

Seriously? Wow. What happens if your kid is negative at school? Refuses to take out the trash? Community Service? Jail? Seriously, how can you legislate attitude?

Okay, so -- a few thoughts while bored at the library. :)

What Does It Take to Learn a Lesson?

Sports Illustrated, May 13, 2013, page 53. 

Drinking and Driving and Dying.

Go and Find it and Read it.

I read it this morning while working my circulation clerk job at the library. If I had not been front and center in a public customer service location, I would have had tears streaming down my cheeks by the time I was finished reading the article. As it was, my eyes were overly watery, and I had to swallow multiple times before answering questions from patrons while I was reading.

Thomas Lake, the author of the SI piece, has created a work of written art.  He takes the reader on a journey through time, beginning on the day a certain NFL player was born and concluding on the day that same player died a scant 25 years later. Almost like reading a dairy, each dated entry through the years of 1987 to 2012 provides a snapshot of events in the American cultural photo album entitled Drunk Driving. The first snapshot, on October 20, 1987, is not the first page of the album. No, this snapshot occurs well into the album, three quarters of the way through a year that will add 23,632 pictures tagged as “Died in Alcohol-Related Car Crashes”. It occurs seven years into the snapshots that are tagged “MADD”.  It occurs in a city whose MLB team is playing Game 3 of the World Series in a home stadium name for beer.

Bit by bit, Thomas Lake pulls out selected pages of the album, selected pictures of the cultural landscape of DUI America: deaths and MADD efforts to curb them. This being Sports Illustrated, many of those selected images feature professional athletes, both as DUI victims and offenders. And the thread that connects them all together so cohesively is the evolving story of the baby growing into adulthood named Jerry Jerome Brown, Jr. and the choices he makes that find him a 25-yr-old Dallas Cowboys player, dead and drunk, in a vehicle driven by his legally intoxicated surviving teammate, crashed less than a mile from the headquarters of MADD, leaving his unborn daughter to make her own choices.

Does not compute

I often feel that I’m operating on auto-pilot. The captain has left the bridge, the junior officers have decided to loaf instead of work, and all systems are left to automatic operating parameters… my eyes and ears send data to my brain which my brain shunts directly into long-term memory, delaying only long enough to assess what’s come in and re-issue whatever command my legs, arms, hands, need to do next.  My legs continue to walk, or sit, or whatever they’re supposed to be doing, my arms and hands continue to type, fold, hold the steering wheel, turn pages, as the next round of continuous loop input goes into my eyes and ears. Over and over. Systems on automatic, quietly minding themselves. I even hear the soft little beeps and whistles of 1960’s starship bridge special effects, as the helmsman fights to stay awake by counting the stars visible on the view screen and the communications officer yawns.

 

Seen from the outside, this would be called “glazed over”.

 

My mind is mud, or at least sludge, and my responses to outside stimuli are sluggish. It takes awhile, after all, for something to break through that continuous feedback loop, for the auto-pilot system to quietly beep an alert that it’s got something requiring actual input from something sentient. Like my brain is supposed to be.

 

And once the external stimulus has actually gotten the quiet beeping alert, the supposedly-sentient bridge crew has to actually notice, check it, and know how to respond.

 

This is where the junior officers come into play- so often, those poor greenhorns just don’t know how to respond. They just sit there staring at the console, wondering who’s going to end up having to call the senior officer to ask directions.

 

Glazed over - empty eyes, frozen mind, waiting for those junior officers in my brain to get on with draw straws and get an answer on what to do next. React, already. Respond, for heaven’s sake.

 

“Oh, hello ma’am. I’m so sorry I didn’t see you come up to the desk! Can I help you?”

 

That taken care of, things settle down again, and I realize that I don’t think those juniors ever actually called for back-up. I think the science officer just took some educated stabs in the dark while the rest of the schmucks silently held their collective breath.  Yeah, I can hear the echoes of the giant sigh of relief when the guesses turned out to work okay and no one had to bother the captain.

 

Or that pointy-eared science guy.

 

Cue the 1960’s starship bridge soundtrack.

 

 

Infinite Gaze

 

Emailing: naum_camac_na_obali

 

Things that annoy me...

·         People who hardly blog for more than a year.

·         The fact that I have had an unusual antipathy to writing ANYTHING since returning from Peru 18 months ago.

·         Coming into work (seemingly) just so the other 2 people can sit and facebook for 2 hours while I actually do the job

·         Having to drive everywhere: this is two-fold: not being able to walk to work, to the grocery store, to the park, to friends’ houses and not being able to get somewhere far away without being the one driving: I miss the public transportation in Chicago, and I miss the cheap taxis in Peru. What a waste of an hour of my life every day, driving to and from work! I could be reading, doing flashcards, or sleeping! But no- I’m stuck driving behind some dumb driver on SR 19 going 45 mph when traffic could be going 60…  and is that a buggy up ahead?  Sigh.

·         The fact that the 2 seasons of Doctor Who that I want are both 3 weeks overdue, and checked out by the same guy. That’s 50 cents per DVD per day! DUDE- return them!

·         When the inserts in our locking DVD cases get put in upside down, so that instead of unlocking the case, I’m actually locking it. Or vice versa.

·         When, no matter how clearly or often I state: “hablame lentamente, por favor”, the Spanish-speaker continues speaking at a gallop.

·         People who don’t update their blog forever, and then when they do, just fill it with a pessimistic “Things that annoy me” list.

 

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

Yes, I am addicted.  But I’d like to point out that I was addicted 2 years ago already, back when the total number of views was still in the several hundreds of thousands, as compared to the 5.7 million it is currently. When people tune in and say “You gotta be kidding me- who sits and stares at a bird sitting on an egg all day?” Um,  well, that’s me. In fact, I had the camera up in the background long before any eggs showed up at all- yeah, I’m the person who sits waiting for one or both eagles to bring or move the next stick on the giant nest. Right now, I’ve got this message sized to fit in the margin of the eagle cam screen, laughing at the 3 eaglets spread-eagled (no pun intended) around mom, lounging in the Iowa sun. Vitamin D- makes bones strong, right?

 

I’m the one who sat and stared, waiting eagerly for mom or dad to move off the eggs to see the progress of the pips (baby breaking egg from inside), and the 3 consecutive hatches. I’m the one who comments to the computer screen on today’s menu (“fish this morning”, “rabbit for dinner, eh?”) and doesn’t mind the literal blood and guts.

 

I’m the one who logs in every day and sits amazed at how MUCH these beautiful creatures have grown in 7-10 days: From little balls of fluff (literally, egg-sized) to today, at least 4 times as big- almost too big for all 3 to sit comfortably under mom or dad.

 

I’m the one- but I’m not really the only one, I’m only one of hundreds of thousands… 23,928 as of this second. THIS is reality TV at its finest. High Def, 24 hours, no censoring, God’s beauty on display for all to see.

 

Ain’t technology grand?  J

I'm all for conserving energy...

…but if the inside temperature in a place of business hits 80 degrees, the AC should be on, no matter what the outside temperature is!

Especially when said work place does not have ventilation that you can FEEL, and no fans to plug in and sit in front of.

And especially when customer service is part of your job…

It’s so hot, I’m getting sick! OY!

Words to live by...

“Honest Criticism is hard to take, especially when it comes from relatives, friends, acquaintances, or strangers.”

Words of wisdom from my favorite computer game: Zuma  (InkaZuma!) (Ribbit)

~Emily

 

Time keeps on tickin'...

...Into the future. I feel like I should post a new post just because that last one was so despairing. So, here is a post of thoughts in 3 weeks of being back in the States:

1. My mom buys really really nice toilet paper. The stuff is so super-absorbent I count out 4 squares instead of just pulling the roll. Seriously, took some getting used to. Also surprising how often I still go to throw tp into the trash, only to redirect mid-motion. 
2. There is high fructose corn syrup in EVERYthing. EVERYTHING. 
3. I don't care for the Mexican-grown avocados that are apparently my only choice here. This makes me VERY very sad. 
4. I miss Inka Cola. 
5. Snow and slush in vast quantities aren't as fun- nay, not even as tolerable- when one cannot locate one's kick-butt snow boots... 
6. Everybody here has so - much - space. As in houses and personal property. Granted, we live close to rural areas, but even the 'city suburbia' is spacious when compared to majority of Lima. And the houses themselves are spacious, even the small ones... Houses are starting to 'look normal' again now, but I'm not so sure that's a good thing. Just like I didn't like it that the 'normal Lima' residential vistas no longer jarred me- it was just 'normal' to see. And it was good when new people came and I saw it through their eyes again for the first time. People can become accustomed to ANYthing, if they are exposed to it long enough. 
7. I despise the job search process. 
8. I have the most AWESOME family in the world- immediate and extended, and on both sides of my family. (Notice I did NOT say 'perfect', but 'awesome'. There is a difference, and I think that the key to having an awesome family is to recognize and embrace the imperfect status that will ALWAYS exist.
9. I love driving on real highways and byways again. 
10. I love having a real postal service again. 
11. I miss being able to hail a taxi in front of your home and being taken directly to the door of your destination for pennies... well, couple of bucks. If it's kinda far... Door to door service where I'm not driving... sigh.  I didn't miss the actual 'driving' the way Cindy always did. (public transpo? I'll take it!)
12. I almost cried in church because the songs they were singing weren't in Spanish: cried because I MISSED the SPANISH. I missed the worship leader at the church I went to in Lima. Missed how energetic the singing there was. 
13. I have been a little bored in church- my brain is like: what? this is it? it's all in English? i don't have to translate and assimilate? um, ok, um, wait- is he still talking? missed that all-English paragraph- really? all English?
14. I have a lot of stuff packed in a lot of places. Almost none of it readily accessible. 
15. I have a little room in which to 'unpack' my stuff- therefore almost none of it truly unpacked.  Such is life living in a room in a basement already filled with things from your old apartment and your sister's, and then all the normal basement things mom and dad have down there. 
16. I miss my mattress in Peru. It was comfy. (No comment on the one here.)
17. Pretzels are cheap again. (relatively speaking)
18. I miss living with Chessa, Heidi, Kari, and Christina. I miss the silly read bird being passed around secretively and unexpectedly between us in new and laughter-inducing places.  
19. Things SEEM further away from each other here... maybe because i have to be the one driving now... 
20. I have absolutely NO IDEA who half the people on the news are ('real' news makers, or sports/entertainment), nor the details of any of the national news/govt debates on deficit, health care, etc etc etc... NO CLUE about anything that's been happening. 
21. I have had enough of winter now. I am SO ready for an ENTIRE summer spent in one hemisphere. 

Well, that's all that pops into my head now. Thanks so much again to all of you who have prayed for me and supported me financially. Please continue to pray!

How hard can it be?

Really, how hard can it be to figure out the next best step for the rest of your life? (It'd be easier if my fingers weren't numb due to the cold basement and I didn't have to backtrack to fix so many typing mistakes as a result of said numbness...)

I mean, come on. Joyce Meyers told me to be determined. Okay. So does the Bible. Even better!!! I'm determined to be a teacher. Ok. The internet is supposed to make that easier too. ok. Here's an idea: why aren't teaching standards national??? I'm so tired of trying to navigate the morass of 'what do i have to do to get certification' based on what state I'm planning to teach in. GIVE ME A BREAK. Talk about a system built in the times of living your whole life in a 50 mile radius! MOBILITY means I can go anywhere in this country, but I have to decide where I'm gonna end up in five years right NOW so that I'll know what requirements I need to fulfill. But really, it doesn't much matter anyway, because unless someone else is going to pay for this, I ain't going anywhere any time soon.

So, I start looking for all those 'things' people say exist: programs for high-need areas, programs for women over 35 (that's me!) to go back to school, blah blah blah... MORASS of internet sludge...

Places to post your resume... great, okay, but I LOOK TERRIBLE ON PAPER, and I don't HAVE $85 to pay to post anything, thank you very much, no thank you.

TESOL/TEFL/ESL certification, because at least then I can be qualified to teach abroad... OH. MY. STARS. Go ahead, I dare you: put "online TEFL courses" into google... go on. Holy cow. And all touting their great and all-important accreditation, and all with different accrediting organizations... So how do I know which ones just MIGHT be accepted by US school entities at a later date? I don't, I guess. At least, I can't find that info. And the little info I did find seems to change from- you guessed it- state to state!!!  So, I've got my last $500 to spend on 1 program... I feel like I'm playing Russian roulette!

Come ON people. I want to teach. I want to work hard and study hard to learn to be a better teacher. I am willing to go just about anywhere in the country to do so. What google search do I run for that???

Really, how hard can this be? (And do I have to spend much longer sitting at this computer? Cuz I think I'm developing a hemorrhoidal condition.)

Seriously, prayer for research that actually yields profitable results in the matter of finding gainful employment is appreciated. Especially pertaining to pursuing TEFL, etc. certification/diploma online in order to make myself more marketable (and I just would really LIKE to do it!!!!)  Thanks. And now my fingers aren't moving so I'm going to bed.  ;)

It's been- One Week...

...since I left Peru, said goodbye, took a plane to Atlanta.
(I love that song, One Week. However, I will not attempt to continue writing in the rhyme scheme of said cancion.)

A week ago, I was there, in the Jorge Chavez International Airport, boarding a 767 for Atlanta, connecting to Chicago Midway. A week ago, I was still on Peruvian soil. A week ago, I was still on summer vacation.

Now, I'm just unemployed. Now, I'm sending/submitting job applications, reluctantly; interviewing and procuring employment being the miraculous blessing that it would be, it would also be the final punctuation mark of NOT using that return trip ticket February 21. I've said already, and known it would be true: So far, it hasn't been THAT much harder to leave Peru and come back to the States because it's the third time I've done it. The previous two times, I was home for a month, and returned. It will get harder as the days pass, and my time is spent seeking gainful employment and trying to unpack my 36 years of life back into one room in my parents' basement, instead of seeking missionary support and repacking my next year's worth of teaching into two 50-lb suitcases.

I am reluctant to go to church tomorrow, to thank all those wonderful people for making my three years possible, especially this last year, and to tell them that I've no idea what I'll be doing now. I don't want to think about the fact that I don't get to prepare my classroom for the next group of third graders- for Diego, and Vittorio, for Sara Isabela and Paula and Hannah and Grecia, for Luciano and all the others whose stories I have heard from second grade teacher Katie Guerrero.

I don't want to think about the fact that I don't get to prepare ANY classroom, ANYwhere, for ANY students. That's really what I don't want to think about. And yet, I have to, if I ever want to get BACK to doing just that: I've got to figure out, search out, apply and pray for HOW God will put me back into a classroom, somewhere. Because if nothing else, my 3 years in Peru showed me very clearly that in a classroom is exactly where I desire to be, where God intended me to use the abilities He's given me.

I don't want to think about the fact that in this economy, I'll be lucky to find ANY job, let alone one that I'll actually grow in and enjoy. That's the fear I battle now: that I'll take the first available job because I need money to live by, and I'll end up in a position that saps the joy of living right out of me. Because that's what happened the last time I was in a similar situation, and it was, quite honestly, a little bit of hell on earth. My conviction that God will provide for me in a way that will NOT strip me of all joy is at war with the fallen fear of future unknowns, of becoming a stress and leech to my wonderful family.

I am not sure HOW I can still be fearful- my life is a testimony to the gracious provision of God, a witness to the blessings He bestows when I am following His will in faith. Fear, or Faith: that is the question, really.

When I have stepped in faith before, He has vanquished fear and led me beside still waters and green pastures through blackest shadows to a table of surety and safety set in the very presence of the things that seek to destroy me...

What has God done for you? When has He stilled your fears and amazed you with His mercy and provision? Seriously, I'd like to hear stories from others. Like it says in Romans, that 'all these things' were written for the encouragement and hope of others to come... (paraphrased), hearing the stories of others gives us the encouragement to hope that we often lack on our own. Can you take a moment to share? With everyone, or just to me?

Thank you all for your continued support. I have received some 'extra Christmas' checks that have really been helpful. I have felt always that I am prayed for, and that is such a gift for which I can't express my thanks enough.

One week. 4000 miles. What will one MORE week bring? (Eyes on Jesus, not on my own footprints, right?)
Peace and grace to you all,
Emily

Weather still exists.

Well, dear friends, weather DOES still exist. Not here in Lima (Except for last Wednesday night, when it actually RAINED for the first time in 3 years), but it does still exist. I'd forgotten about weather. I'd forgotten about organizing one's life around weather, according to the weather, as a result of unexpected weather.

This morning, God, and my good friend Dana Chen, reminded me that weather still exists. I have a ticket to leave Lima tonight, arrive in Atlanta tomorrow morning, and fly into Chicago at 11 a.m. Dana is picking me up and driving me the couple of hours to Elkhart, Indiana, and home. Well, at least, that was the plan, before The Weather.

Dana remembers that weather exists (living in Chicago, one cannot forget it), and so she was smart enough to check my flights when she heard about the storms in the southeast... I didn't even KNOW about storms, and it NEVER would have occurred to me to check. Because weather doesn't exist here. You never have to check anything. Ever.  Dana checked. And this morning by 11:00, my flight from ATL to Chicago had already been canceled.  So she called me. And I tried to log into my itinerary and couldn't. So she called Delta, and discovered my NEW travel arrangements.

NEW travel arrangements: Arrive in ATL at 8:00 a.m. Sit in ATL airport until 7:30 p.m. Leave for DETROIT. Stay in Detroit airport until 7:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. Fly to Chicago. Instead of 12 hours travel time: 36 hours, plus some driving.  I am not too excited about this. For many reasons. One of which is buying airport food for a day and a half is NOT in my budget... (since my support was only through December, I am now officially unemployed). Any way....

Had sister Cindy call Delta reservations for me. Cuz let's face it, wouldn't Delta prefer it if I just took myself out of the equation for a few days? I'd much rather enjoy the weatherless summer of Lima for a few extra days than to sit around enduring various airports in uncomfortable seats and public restrooms, with no traveling companions to watch my ultra heavy carry-on bags...

So, now I am leaving Lima SATURDAY night/Sunday morning. And arriving in Chicago Sunday at 11:00 a.m. And Dana will still pick me up and drive me home to Indiana. And there will be whoopie pies from Auntie JoAnn, and much rejoicing.

Assuming the weather holds.
;)