Believe it or not, I lived in Baker City, OR (not sure if that really counts) for about 2 years about a lifetime ago. However, that´s got nothing to do with it this time around. This time I´m riding my wife´s coat tails into a life of green ease. I´m not sure if I qualify as "normal," but I do plan to infiltrate the system by means of beer brewery, coffee roastery and unexpected right leanery.

BTW, my wife´s coat tails are made of a kick-ass scientist´s resumé (CV) that got her an equally kick-ass position at OHSU after four long years of serious suffering in the absolutely worst environment (scientifically and otherwise) conceivable (i.e. Spain - the scientific and cultural equivalent to Marshall, Will and Holly´s Land of the Lost experience).

Thanks for the well wishes, bros. I´m bustin' it to get outta here by Oct. 1 :-O

Miss him still.

I´m only alive in spurts, dudes. As of today, I´m right back at it in the bathroom now. Just finished removing 5 or 6 square meters of tile so I can fit the shower basin with some spiffy glass doors. I´ll work my way back around to the door and save the hardest stuff for last :-) Kitchen´s still not done either; still waiting on my slacker brother-in-law to finish the electrical mess he started going on A YEAR AGO...

I´ll still be back and forth and in and out around here though; hopefully a little more often.

If you two (ECI and Innom) ever get around facebook I actually look at that every morning before pulling more wads of hair out of my head...

Lots of Predeeps here too, btw Innom. Fact is, they do better business than the Spanish (though it´s next to impossible not to).

And, ECI, I was just watching a little Sowell on Uncommon Knowledge over here http://3.ly/YkYR today, if you´re into that kinda thing ;-) Scroll down to Jan 4-8.

Later, bros!

Thanks, bro. It´s like I said before, you can´t turn around in this country without hitting a holiday. Christmas officially starts about half-way into December and doesn´t end til after Los Reyes Magos (the Three Kings) on January 5/6th. That´s basically the Spanish equivilant of Santa coming on Christmas eve and leaving presents to open on Christmas day.

¡Si Señor!

My man, I´m with you 110% (here and on the "blinded me with boob belt crack). And, please, never think of anything you use from this non-blog as stealing. You´re welcome to any and all. I already know it´ll go to good use.

P.S. I promise to get around to your (and other) blogs soon. I finally got a round to installing a bench-seat/storage compartment for our dining area, and I´m just popping in now and again to "tweet" some mumbo-jumbo and any email.

P.S.S. You ever gonna get on Twitter? I´d love to read every detail of your daily routine and whatever else you would surely come up with to say :-)

Good add, VL!

You still plan on coming here for Christmas?

Totally. I mean, I can build, but plumbing and electric; not so much.

Dude. If you only knew. He still lives in the village he grew up in (about a 25 minute drive outside of the city) and it took him 6 months to muster up the will to get back over here and continue the job. Apart from riding his bike along the parts of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela that happen to wind into France years ago, I really don´t know if he´s ever been out of the country. We got two and a half switches, some conduit and a couple openings for the outlets done, and some of the wiring is "in place", but other than that I´ll probably be waiting another few months before he comes back to hook it all up and install the rest of the outlets. Plus I´ve now got a new water heater sitting in the middle of the dining area in place of a table. I´m just lucky as hell to have a wife that doesn´t get stressed out by this mess. But, then, she´s Spanish and used to waiting in vain for anything to get done. American no like.

I´ll tell them again, mon frère. They swore they had all the glitches fixed last time. Not cool.