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Journal (The Ember Update)

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Thursday, April 6, 2006

[updated April 8; added photos to the Retirement section]

I bought a certified used car, a 2003 Honda Civic with only 27 thousand miles on it and no accident history. Sure hope it's a good one. I thought about getting a hybrid (used) but I estimated I'd have had to drive the car for 6.75 years to make up the $2,500 difference in cost through gas savings. I'm too poor right now to put out an extra 2.5K in order to practice one more way of being environmentally mindful. (A new hybrid was right out the window … research revealed that our government still hasn't finalized the "tax benefits" of buying a 2006 hybrid and there was no guarantee that I'd see any tax break as a result.)

Massage therapy school is going great. Got a 94 on my first exam. The anatomy memorization is grueling, but it's nice getting massaged by my classmates twice a week!

Transforma Meet-n-Greet

Back in January Kevin and I attended a party in North Carolina. We've been thinking about which of the regional burns we'd like to attend. One we've considered is Tranformus, and when we learned there was going to be a related Meet-n-Greet we packed up our tent and went.

Visit my Transforma Meet-n-Greet travelogue, view the slide-type presentation, or click on a photo below to see more:

Retirement

Our Tampa friends Russell and Shelly "retired" last week. (They both resigned their jobs and are changing careers.) The timing couldn't have been better … for us! The previous weekend Kevin and I debated whether to call R&S and tell them we wanted to come for a visit last week, but we talked ourselves out of it. Then Russell called on Thursday, and towards the end of the conversation he happened to mention that they were having a retirement party Friday night. It didn't take any convincing to get Kevin to agree to go. Russell and Shelly are two of our favorite people.

So we left Thursday night and Kevin drove 'til the morning, when I took over. Arriving before noon, we had time to visit a little, nap a little, and then get ready for the evening. Many of the party attendees were yoga students of Shelly's and were pretty interesting folks. I spent a bit of time talking to a lifelong professional photographer named George, who was once sent to Malaysia just to take one picture. Three or four massage therapists were at the party, and I enjoyed my conversation with Laura about energy work and cranial-sacral therapy. Kevin introduced Burning Man to a few people who'd never heard of it.

The next day we hung out around the house talking, playing their ever-growing number of instruments, and generally having fun. We finally decided to venture out late in the day, shopping at several cool places. After dinner, Shelly and I spent hours talking, doing an Osho Zen Tarot reading (VERY interesting and timely), and singing Indian chants to the guitar. All the while Russell and Kevin debated their points of view over various topics on the balcony. Unlike previous visits, we didn't do a spot of yoga, kayaking, or beach-walking, but for both Kevin and me this was the most edifying visit yet! I'm sure if we were able to stay more than a day and a half we'd have done more outdoors. Maybe we'll just have to move to Florida for the winter.

Here are a few pics from the weekend (no slide show, just click to see the full image):

1. Shelly's colorful paisley kaftan.
2. Kevin and Russell.
3. Carole (Shelly's mom), Shelly, and two friends. The woman in the thumbnail is a singer and will soon be traveling with Bhagavan Das (an acquaintance of R&S's).
4. Kevin and the owner of a local coffee shop.
5. A church built in the Googie style of architecture.

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