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Showing posts from February, 2007

The Real Reason Your Mom Told You To Wear Clean Underwear

I'm doing a whirlwind tour of the middle east this week in conjunction with a few work commitments. As much as I travel for work, I thought I had the whole process pretty well figured out. Not the case! I landed in Tel Aviv early last weekend with plans of visiting Eilat, and then popping across the border to see Petra in Jordan. I planned to take the bus to Eilat. It was a four hour bus ride, but it seemed worth it to get to see Petra that weekend. I've ridden the bus in Israel before. It's not too big of a deal, just a little interview with a guy with a big gun and onto the bus you go. On the way to the hotel from the airport I asked my taxi driver where the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station was and explained my travel plans. "No", he said, "You don't want to take the bus that will take all day. Take a plane. For $100 it will take you one hour to get to Eilat." Wow! What a deal! Thanks to my taxi driver I'd just instantly reclaimed six hou

The Sibling-Hood of the Big Goofy Grin

I forgot! I can't believe I forgot, but I did! I was standing in one of the chambers of the Great Pyramid this morning. I was the first one in line, so I was in the chamber all by myself. The entryway to the chamber was about 100 yards long. It consisted of three foot high passageways that went upwards and downwards straight through the middle of the pyramid. I could hear the voices of the group behind me projected by the passageways. I wondered if they would be shocked to find a person already there when they arrived. The first person of the group came into the chamber. She looked like she was 17, and about as tall as me. As she stood up, she looked at me and gave me one of the biggest goofiest grins I've seen in a while. And my heart lit up a little bit. Her boyfriend who must have been 27 came into the chamber after her. I looked again and sure enough, she was about 27 as well! She was 27 now, but that grin had taken 10 years off her age for an instant! We all know

A Walk In Cairo

Monday I saw the pyramids. Yesterday, I worked a little and got over a cold I had. Today I was feeling better, so I headed over to the Egyptian Museum. It's across the Nile from my hotel, so, I figured I'd walk. With the traffic in Cairo, I think it was almost as fast. I'm glad I didn't skip the museum. As a rule, I don't like museums. I'd rather get out in the world, hang out and see people or nature. I think it might stem from my folks taking me to every museum they could find when I was a kid. Great for the education, lousy for the attitude. The things in the museum are just incredible! Row after row of mummies, heirogliphic tablets everywhere, papyrus scrolls are hanging on the walls, masks of ancient Romans, giant limstone statues of kings and queens and all of it thousands of years old! And all of the workmanship is perfect! The pyramids give you a sense of awe about what the Egyptians did on a large scale. The Egyptian Museum gives you the sa