Nina never says that to me … but she did this morning! It’s worthy of a blog entry! I am usually quite content to listen. Today we’re leaving in about an hour to Henry’s Lake State Park for three days and four nights of fun-filled camping with the three visiting grandkids (Christopher, Michael, and Danielle). The motorhome is about ready to go; just some last-minute items to be put somewhere inside the vehicle. I had showered and was getting dressed. Nina came in to also clean up and get out of her robe and dressed. She then decided to take a short bath. She turned on the bath water just as I asked her a question. She had to turn it off so I could repeat. She answered the question with a question while she turned the water back on. I answered and she had to turn off the water so I could repeat. Then came those memorable words: “Stop talking — I’m taking a bath!”. I smiled and, of course, stopped talking!

Yesterday Nina drove south for the day. She stopped in Layton to visit with a friend and have lunch at her favorite restaurant (Mimi’s) and then continued south to Orem to pick up three grandchildren: Christopher, Michael, and Danielle (aka Blitzen). They will be here with us for the next week or so while their parents flit around England and Switzerland. Nina and the grandkids got home late last night. We’ve had a fun day today. The weather was lovely. The kids played around the house in the morning mostly downstairs with the various toys and stuff. Michael is a major Star Trek fan and enjoyed watching several episodes of Season One of the original series. Nina needed to go help out at the women’s prison in the afternoon so when she left, we left for a stop at the bank, then to a scrap booking store for some supplies for Danielle, then to a sporting goods store for a badminton / volleyball set and other outside toys, and finally a stop at Arby’s and Taco Bell for lunch. After Nina arrived home we went down to Pocatello’s annual River Festival. The kids had a good time on the huge slide and the rock climbing wall. After that we had dinner at Applebee’s and then came home. The kids are watching a video and are pretty tuckered out. We had a very pleasant Saturday. It’s fun to have the grandkids around!

It’s also good to be back home. I’ve pretty well recovered from jet lag and the trip to Manila. The week at work was very busy with a lot of catchup after having been gone for two weeks. I did take Monday as a recovery day. We drove over to Soda Springs in the morning to visit with mom and dad and then I mowed the grass in the back yard. Tuesday morning it was back to work. The routine of home is now back in motion and I’m glad to be here. I did hear from a person at our office in Manila who had stumbled across my blog. She wrote a nice note and told me that she also kept a blog — but it was written in Tagalog. That would be hard for me to read! I asked her to send me the URL, however, because I can see how well the Google translator works.

Tomorrow afternoon we’ll go to Soda Springs for dinner with my folks. They enjoy getting to see and spend some time with the grandkids. Life is indeed back to normal!

The flight from Salt Lake to Pocatello landed on time, my luggage arrived, Nina was waiting out front, and I’m home. I’ve called my dad to wish him a Happy Father’s Day. I’ve had a lovely shower. I’ve had several kids call. Life is indeed good. I’m home!

The flight from Narita to Portland arrived about fifteen minutes early. That extra time makes no difference for me as my outbound flight time doesn’t change. The fellow sitting next to me, returning home from Shanghai, China, lives about twenty minutes from the Portland Airport. He was home getting ready for a nap as I settled in at the Delta gate waiting four hours for my connecting flight to Salt Lake City. Then I’ll wait again for a connecting flight to Pocatello. There was an earlier flight to Salt Lake City by SkyWest, but that little airplane was overbooked and two people volunteered to stay behind for some compensation. There was no hope for me to get onto that flight. It wouldn’t have made much difference, anyway, as I wouldn’t make the earlier connection from Salt Lake to Pocatello. Waiting in Portland has one small advantage — the airport has free WiFi for travellers. I think that is a very significant bonus. The airport is practically empty of people right now, so it is very quiet. There isn’t a good place to take a nap, either.

The Japanese have invented the short-time bed for late-night commuters who miss the last train. These small one-person cubicles have a bed, a toilet, and a small TV with just enough space to lay down. I’d think something like that would go over well here at this airport — say $20 an hour — I’d be in one right now grabbing some Zzzz’s. As it is, the nearest hotel is about fifteen minutes away and doesn’t have a short-stay option.

That made me think about where to live if one travels a lot. Pocatello probably isn’t the best choice as you can’t get anywhere without going two other places first. The fellow who lives just a few minutes from the airport flies quite often to Asia. He buys building products for import into the USA from Asia. The Northwest flight to Japan is ideal for him. He gets to Tokyo and four hours later is at his destination — late a night and ready for bed. He comes back through Tokyo and ends his trip here in Portland where he is home within about 40 minutes of landing, ready to take a nap. That’ll never be the case in Pocatello! However, I’m not sure it is worth it to live here in Portland just for that advantage….

There’s a new link on the right under Blogrolls. LeeAnn has started writing a blog and has three entries in it so far. It’s worth checking out!

My Manila business trip is winding down. Tomorrow is the last day at the office and will be a busy day as I try to wrap up everything here. I probably won’t be back until next year. I couldn’t get a flight out until Sunday, so I have another Saturday to do something with. I’ve been able to make arrangements to go to Corregidor Island for the day. One of the fellows who has been expat here in Manila for the past year and his wife will also be going. It’ll be interesting to talk with her about what it’s like to be an expat wife in the Philippines. It must be something to get used to. She can’t ride in any of the public transportation such as jeepneys, busses, or pedicabs. She has to have a driver take her everywhere and be with her while she’s shopping or doing whatever. You have to be very careful what you buy to eat and everything has to be washed in a bleach solution before being prepared for cooking or eating. So, I should learn a lot about what it’s like. That’ll hopefully keep me and the other guy from talking shop all day!

Then it’s up to catch a 5 a.m. shuttle to the airport for the 24 hour flight back to Pocatello and my own bed. I’m right ready to go home!

It’s finally June 12th in Pocatello, Idaho. We’re now both on the same day for a few hours! This is important on this one day because it’s our wedding anniversary. Forty-two years ago we were young, naive, brash, and definitely in love. Today we’re no longer young, not so naive, definitely not brash, but absolutely in love. It’s been a good time — funny, I don’t remember any bad times — and this is only the beginning! The picture is of Nina doing one of the hundreds of things that she likes to do best. This time it’s folding origami. No matter what she wants to do, she figures out how to make it happen. I just get out of the way…!! Here’s to several eternities more, babe!

Friday I went to lunch with a number of people on our local staff. They wanted to take me to a very traditional Filipino restaurant in Calamba. The place was very small with lots of tables crowded into a small space. The service was buffet style featuring some very “interesting” items. I eventually made some decisions. The best part of the meal was the bottle of 7-Up…. This particular restaurant is supposed to be quite famous…. I think it qualifies as a one-time experience. While there, I noticed a sign prohibiting meetings posted in several places around the restaurant. One was right by our table. I pointed it out to the folks I was having lunch with and they didn’t think it was very strange at all. Well, I certainly did! This is another one of those signs that goes into the blog because it’s, well, strange. On the other hand, a prohibition on meetings for a couple of days sounds pretty good to me!