30 Days By Train - The Last Post

A girl...	...her big sis...
...and the people that got them into this mess.

It's 12:06 AM, September 13, 2003. I should be sleeping. Instead, I'm trying to set up this online journal. We're leaving for France tomorrow morning. Technically speaking we're leaving this morning. In less than 12 hours. I definitely ought to get some sleep.

Gina my fabulous wife will no doubt poke her head out from the bedroom any moment now, and give me one of those looks that says, "Have you completely lost every single brain cell?...Tomorrow we leave on a two leg transcontinental flight to Paris to begin a month long trip through Europe with a five year old and a three year old, and you're at the computer???" (Yes, she can and will project all of that with a single look.) I'll give her one of those "shit, you're right" sheepish grins, and hope the pictures she will see tomorrow of Inessa and her younger sister, Eva, are sufficient to convince her I haven't lost every single brain cell. Just the important one.

But she's probably right, because the laptop no doubt will crap out the very first day. And even if it doesn't go to laptop heaven within 24 hours, then probably little Eva will knock a demi-litre of French cream deep into the key pad while demonstrating how she wiggles her tush like the Tahitian dancers she saw at the Long Beach Aquarium. Or maybe the power supply will get fried by the Parisian Electrical Power Authority. Brought on by Jacques who decided to extend his vacance in Brittany by an extra 6 months (yes, I'm jealous...all Americans are). And if not, then I'm sure the phone jacks (or is it phone jacques?) are different. In Europe it's probably some monstrous three-pronged double-fused retractable multi-coded thingumajigger that I don't have. And even if you get the right adapter for France, don't think for a moment that it will work in Germany or, God forbid, in a former Eastern Bloc nation like Hungary -- my ancestral homeland -- where "high tech" is a landline with a dial tone.¹

No, I'll lug along my ancient laptop -- hoping to convice Gina and I that I've done the right thing -- the entire 3000 kilometers from Paris through Bavaria to Budapest, followed by Annecy with a final stop on the cote d'azur, and more than likely this first post will be the last. I'm tired just thinking of it. I really ought to get some sleep.

Oh well, what can you do. Our main reason for hitting the Euro rail is to descend upon good friends and close family like California locusts. Which, as locusts go, is a benign breed if you think about it. These days California locusts are fairly innocuous, and tend to do things like run for Governor. Hell, between Arnold and Arianna, half the field are Europeans. Maybe I'll run for Mayor of Munich. At least they have Oktoberfest.

Aaaanyway...if on the outside chance the Gods of technology and international detente smile favorably down, with just a click of a mouse I'll be able to seamlessly post funny stories, compelling observations, and one-of-a-kind pictures for you to enjoy every day for the next 30. Okay, I'm dreaming. I should be, at any rate. I must get some sleep.

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¹Of course I'm joking. Hungary is a spectacular country. Wonderful people. Ancient civilization. Cheap beer. Please visit. And spend your hard currency.