Friday, August 29, 2008

Cruising into middle age...


The big 5-0 milestone has been reached and it ain't so bad. As the saying goes... consider the alternative!

The birthday excursion to Switzerland was quite enjoyable. The weather was a bit iffy for a Saturday evening dinner cruise, so we opted for a Sunday lunch cruise on the lake which lasted for 3 hours. We got off the boat feeling like it was over a little too soon, (the weather was perfect!) so we drove to Lausanne and caught another boat and did another three hours, this time accompanied by the above bucket. Cheers!

This past week has been spent working by day and watching the Democratic Convention by night, thus the late post. Last night I stayed up until 5:30am to see the entire closing event and watch Barack Obama accept the nomination. I know I posted this before, but I remember back in 1992 when Bill Clinton accepted the nomination, my first real "involvement" with politics. He was inspiring and even back then it was time for a change from the first Bush. I think both Bill and Hillary did the right thing by putting their dreams aside for the better good of the Democratic party.

Watching the speeches this week has given me a new sense of hope, that perhaps the US can pick itself up and dust itself off and go forward. Hopefully, come November, those of us living abroad won't have to once again say, "But I didn't vote for 'him'!". (I guess you know my affiliation by now!)

That said, whatever your party choice, I hope you are all registered and that you will send in your absentee ballot. If you need help getting registered, or want some information on how to vote from overseas, visit the AARO website and click on Voting. (When did I become such an activist?)

I think Barack Obama's message of looking forward and not turning back is appropriate for this milestone. It is time for new beginnings... because, like I said earlier...

Consider the alternative.

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