When we left Jackson we tried to "downsize" some, but now we're doing it in earnest. I've shipped furniture and tools to my brother Dan in Seattle, given away several large boxes of stuff to the Lupus Foundation, sold a lot on Craigslist, and helped UPS a lot by shipping items to friends and relatives all over the country. Now we're busy dividing our "stuff" into four groups -- our suitcases and carryon, 600 pounds of air freight, 7200 pounds of ocean container shipping, and the rest to storage. It's been interesting. Hopefully Wednesday morning when the movers and packers show up, we'll be ready.
Cindy and I go to a two-day State Department training Monday and Tuesday. We have to complete it before we can go. Then while I watch the movers, Cindy has more training.
We were advised by people already in Tirana not to bring our Prius. They feared it wouldn't survive the potholes and the general driving milieu. Service was also a question mark, since no one could recall seeing a hybrid. When Cindy was in Tirana a couple weeks ago she confirmed the suggestion. So we sold it and bought a 2001 Mercedes ML-320, which is all-wheel drive. It has 83,000 miles and a few dings here and there, so we won't cry over what we expect will be a few more added.
Cindy received word today she passed her medical clearance from the State Department doctor; Taylor and I are still waiting.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
First post - test
This is the first post to this blog. It is mainly an attempt to see what is going to happen when I find it on the web.
Our House
This is the house the embassy has assigned for us to live in in Tirana. It is pretty much a zero lot line deal. Embassy rules require the fence and locking gate, which was a nice touch for Zeta the dog.
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