Why do smart people do dumb things?

 

The short answer is that they are not as smart as they think they are!

 

Yesterday we moved in with Gail and Jim Cutler [of The Madagasgar-Lemur-Caper and Tiger-Safari-in-India fame], up the road from where we were staying at Kihei, Maui. The move went well enough and we were soon settled in comfortably with our good friends.

 

It was the day that we were scheduled to return our rental car. Jim and I started out to Kahalui in separate cars. A few hundred yards up the road I remembered that I did not bring our cash to pay for the car. Why cash you ask? At the Visa rate of 28% we did not intend to use our credit card in Maui this time. Therefore we brought US dollars from the income of our Condo in Maui. [Living here is not cheap, our first shopping trip to Costco a few weeks ago was $379, US$!]

 

So.... I called Fellette and told her I was returning and please dig up our cash. Dutifully Fellette appeared on the balcony as I drove into the driveway of the four-storey complex and proceed to insert the envelope with the money in the bill-holder in my wallet. She was preparing to throw it to me as I uttered the words "I don't think you should throw it!" Too late, soon the missile with over $1000 US was hurtling to the ground. It was composed of five $100 bills, eight $50's, several $20's and scads of $1's.

 

Please understand that winds can be very heavy here at Maalaea! Within ten feet of being propelled from the fourth floor, the wind miraculously opened my wallet, blew out and opened the envelope. Soon every single bill was flying to the ground being briskly escorted to a nearby drainage ditch by the warm Maui Typhoon-like winds.

 

Jim had appeared on the scene by now, returning to the Condo when I turned back to get the cash. Fellette had also now arrived on the driveway, in stocking feet, after waiting for the elevator. I cannot imagine what Jim was thinking when he arrived on the scene and saw me scrambling around on the blacktop and the weeds making mili-second decisions on whether to disregard a single dollar bill in favour of a twenty, fifty or, 'please Lord, make it a $100 dollar bill'.

 

We seem to have recovered all of the bills!

 

The lesson learned is... 'WEAR YOUR SLIPPERS' and Don't forget your wallet!

A word or two about Blogging...

As some of you may be aware, I have 'blogged' a few times whilst travelling abroad. As you may also be aware, there has been no activity since the odyssey of Amsterdam, ending in April 2008. 

We have 'travelled' since then, but somehow even though fun and exciting for us, our trip to Atlanta for  a few weeks and to Maui for five weeks does not cut it for exciting reading. [Even though I was often tempted to engage in some stimulating story-telling].

Successful blogging is, I believe, a bit of an illusive art. It must be exciting, interesting, well written, amusing, and regular. The latter to me is critical. I believe that my previous blog[s] had a reasonable following. After long trips I would hear from people days, weeks, even months later that told me how much they enjoyed 'travelling' with us and how it became a part of their daily routine. 

We have some good friends from Australia who are/were on a year-long trip around the world. Actually I helped Lyn and Rod set up their blog in Australia while we were there, [blogging on that trip actually]. Unfortunately they were dependant upon somewhat variable internet access at remote countries and locations so the blog was not able to become part of my daily routine. I learned from their experience, that blogging must/should be regular to be well received if we measure number of readers as any indication of success.

As an aside, on the above comment on Lyn and Rod, since they left home west of  Melbourne last February the stock market melt-down and economic collapse has happened. Also now that they are about to step foot on their home soil for the first time in 366 days, their country is now reeling from the worst natural disaster in Australia's history, the bush fires. On the positive side their country home has not been affected and hopefully their kitchen 'remodel' that has taken place in their absence is complete!

The reason for me doing this blog is to get my last blog, 'Will this trip never end?' off the top of the list. As you may have detected at the end of that trip I was somewhat jaded and really thought that we would never travel again. Since then we have had an attitude adjustment and have two trips planned , one in July the other in January 2010, both Lord willing. I hope to be blogging then. 

In the meantime we are all well, the "Great Recession" has touched us, son-in-law Robert is fearful that his employment as a glass-blower at his firm may be over and Canada Ticket is scrambling to minimize the inevitable affects of this creeping slowdown.

I have inserted a somewhat current picture of our immediate family so you can see how we are all handling the ageing process.

Love to all of you, Fellette and Doug