I now have a large check, but own no car. I will miss the car, but I am more releived than depressed. Cars are fun when they are new, but when you've had them for years, they're not that great any more. I can live without it. When I told my officemate about my plight, he said he would be out of town starting on Thursday for two weeks, and I could use his Civic. WOW! What luck!

I picked up some good reading material at Borders today. About two years ago a book caught my eye called "In Siberia," by Colin Thubron. Wow, I thought, I wonder what's in Siberia? What a fascinating place to visit. I never got around to reading it. It's been in the back of my mind though, now that I am going to be in Siberia too, even if just passing through, so I figured I would check it out. I also picked up Paul Theroux's "The Great Railway Bazaar," about the author's trip through Asia by train. He went through Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan; I fear those days are over for awhile, unfortunatly.