A roundup of news ...

Last week, I encountered the two dangers on my bike I was hoping to put off for a while. On Wednesday, an extremely strong thunderstorm came through about two minutes after I left work. I hydroplaned (luckily onto the sidewalk) and gave my palms a little scuffing. It scared me more than it hurt me!

On Thursday, I tried to jump a storm drain and my back tire ended up going right into it, causing a dreaded flat. I had my extra tube with me, and luckily was close to a gas station. The whole ordeal of changing the flat (including trying to use my woefully inadequate mounted pump) took about an hour.

Friday, in my quest to get more tan, I started peeling from overdoing it last Saturday. I figure that the more tan I get, the better my skin will be able to adjust to the increased UV radiation coming at me in Africa. Maybe that wasn't the best approach, getting burned pretty badly!

Saturday I went to Six Flags with Lisa courtesy of Dirt Devil. It was a blast, and I got a little more color. I realized how devoid I will be of these little pleasures on the other continent. Not that I'm dependent on them, it's just that my thrills will take a different form.

Tonight, I'm going to see Indigo Girls for the third time (wooooooooooo!). I wonder what the music situation will be like overseas - does anyone but Bono and the US Government tour Africa?!

Oh, and while I'm in digest mode, you may notice the links and excerpts I've been posting recently. Their relevance to my experience abroad is limited, but usually has to do with how strange America is compared to the rest of the world, in good and bad ways!