Banker tapped for Bank

It seems every time our el Presidente taps someone for a certain position, his party cringes and the rest of us puke. The World Bank was filled with someone who led the design of arguably the most controversial war in US history, a female fossil for a Supreme Court Justice spot, and a short fuzed-milk man to play nice with the rest of the world. All that being said, the most recent tap seems, in hindsight, a pretty decent one.

It helps that it is someone with banking experience, coupled with a diplomatic (rather than militaristic) background. He just looks like a banker. I can easily see him staring at me over the counter and saying, "Sir, you'll need to fill out a deposit slip for that." Only this time it's going to be, "Cambodia, we'll reduce the interest rate on you 30 year loan by 25% if you stop selling your under 14 population as sex slaves."

Srta. Universe Recap

I was hedging my bets on Venezuela. Brazil did have a great showing though. India lacked compared to their previous winners. Both East Asian reps (Japan and Korea) were good, but not enough for me to pick one of them to go all the way. Like many times before, my voice was not heard.

But of course, all the rage the morning after is our own going down in a blaze of glory during the evening gown section. At that point, she was so far out of reach, she should have double-downed and stripped! I could see a jump from 5th to 3rd, maybe even 2nd. Our prudish image would be eliminated.

Personally, I thought the show was better on Telemundo -- It was in Mexico City, adding authenticity to the overall feel, the lady MC on that station showed a little more, and the fact I couldn't understand the dude next to her talking, made it all the better. Nelly Furtado was a good selection for the intro music. And, I thought it was cool that a bald one made it into the top ten, once again showing it is all about whats on the inside of these women that counts most.

Memorial Day Weekend

It's a weekend we're supposed to celebrate our fallen from war, both past and, unfortunately, present. However you choose to do this, just make sure that you do.

On a somewhat lighter note, we were having a discussion a while back, at lunch, about airport security. It seems every time we go thru the lines, some new technology is in place. Its been a few months since I've flown last, but a machine I was asked to step thru slightly resembled that of what would have been seen on Battle Star Galactica. Finally, I have my answer as to what a "puffer" is. According to that same article, new and exciting airport security features ("sniffer") will be coming to a terminal near you. Who comes up with these names? Sniffer? Puffer?

As promised ...

to my coworkers, before I left FSI, I would make 7-layer dip, so here it is, from the bottom up:

Layer 1: Refried beans (two cans)
Layer 2: Three avocados + two 1/4 cup of lime juice = really good guacamole
Layer 3: Hot salsa (one jar)
Layer 4: Diced lettuce (1/3 of a head)
Layer 5: Medium salsa (1/2 jar) + diced jalapenos
Layer 6: Sour cream (one jar)
Layer 7: Cheese (1/2 a block grated or two bags of shredded)

That burning sensation in your stomach is my way of saying thank you for the last year and a half. Enjoy!

App Done!

Today, my last letter of reference was turned in by Ange ... and I'm so glad that I asked her, as she wrote 250 "words", not "characters", just like it asked. Really, she is a smart person, as are most of my friends. I give her some leeway as she has had a rough couple months.

I keep telling people it really hit me last week when the recruiter (previous a volunteer in Turkmenistan) took my fingerprints. The process seemed to be moving a little faster than I thought, which is okay by me, as I hate waiting on people to get my work done (just ask any previous coworker of mine). So now I wait to hear what region and program I will be working for -- should find out by the end of the week if all goes well.

Have had lots of support from friends and ... well, friends. Mom and Dad are always thrilled when their son quits his job, sell his furniture and travels half way around the world to live on the floor. I understand their concerns.

So when a person decides to make sort of a big decision, like this one (or Law/Med school, marriage, etc.) everyone asks a mother load of questions, you know, all the Why?, When?, Where? and How?'s, so I've decided not to answer anyone of those, excpet one: I'm doing it cause I want to. For other reasons, go to their website.