Jesse and I had quite an adventure the last week and a half!

We flew from Atlanta to Birmingham, England. The trip was very challenging with United Airlines coming in late to Atlanta, which caused me to miss my connecting flight to Newark about five minutes, despite a valiant attempt and over a one mile run to the connecting terminal. Managed to get customer service on the phone which set me up for another flight, which again I had to run about a half a mile to catch. BARELY made that one.

Then got to Newark to catch up with Jesse and had to run about two miles to catch the flight to Birmingham. One of the most intense physical challenges I’ve had in years, but I MADE IT!

The plan was super crowded and the aisle was incredibly tight which meant every time the cart went by it would clobber my elbow. Not zesty. That kept me up all night long. Got to Birmingham and for the second year in a row they lost my bag! Ay caramba. They finally got it there the following day.

Had a wonderful time with the Jacquin family.


Anthony has been a great friend for over three years now. We’ve met up in NYC, San Diego, Vegas, Amsterdam and again in London. Fun to see my buddies again.

It was beautiful in Derby!

Anthony took us to the Peak District on the 14th which was amazingly beautiful. It reminded me of the Rift Valley in Kenya.

Interesting hand made stone walls and building.

We went into the little town of Edale to eat at the Ugly Nag’s Head.

I loved the stone paths.

And this phone booth.

Met up with my friend Amit Badiani who took us around Leicester for some delicious Indian curries.

The 15th we went into downtown Derby. A wonderfully historic city. Always fun to see new places!

The 16th we traveled into London. Had a nice train ride into the city. Got into our hostel (which was just ok) and enjoyed visiting with our friends at The Gun. It’s a historic pub which Lord Nelson used to hang out in. It’s right on the river across from the O2.

The 17th Jesse and I enjoyed the Change/Phenomena conference. It was great to seem many of my friends there and was a very interesting group of speakers including the Artist in Residence of the British Library.

Went back to The Gun that evening. Sad to say goodbye to my many amigos in the UK.

The 18th Jesse and I toured the British Museum.

A FANTASTIC place where we saw the Rosetta Stone, an Easter Island head, the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens, some of the earliest writing from Mesopotamia, busts of Julius Caesar (same birthday as me!), and the earliest known coins.

Also dropped into the Museum Tavern which is over 300 years old. Beauty!

The 19th I checked out the Victoria Albert Museum. It was ok.


Also saw the Science Museum with Jesse. Liked that a lot. We saw the earliest computers including the Apple 1, the Babbage Difference Engines, an exhibit on 3D printing, the first Cray supercomputer, parts of the original DNA model by Watson and Crick, the first light bulb by Edison, and the first phone by Bell, WOW!

Next we went to the Natural History museum where we checked out the marvelous display of dinosaurs. Some were animatronic!

The 20th we went for a traditional English breakfast. Delicious!

The to the Tower of London.


Enjoyed the stories of the guards, Ann Boleyn, the ravens and the armory. It was awesome to see the Crown Jewels, but couldn’t take pictures of them. Boo.

I liked this statue of George Washington in Trafalgar Square.

Across the Thames over the Tower of London Bridge to check out Southwark Cathedral where Shakespeare and Dickens went to church. It was set up originally as a monastery in 609! Incredible.

Also visited the George Inn and the Anchor Tavern both of which Dickens and Shakespeare frequented. I’m quite sure that Ben Franklin must have also been there!

Went to check out the Globe Theater, a wonderful reproduction of the original, built in exactly the same way, with no iron nails!


We walked over London Bridge.

Met up with another friend of mine James Tripp who is terrific and super smart guy.

We hung out on the River Thames in the Hornimans and Hays. Another really old pub. Very interesting.

ON the 21st, Jesse and I got all our gear together and traveled the hour and a half from the East End of London all the way to Heathrow.


We caught our flight in plenty of time. Flew over to Toronto in good time. I watched Rush and the Monuments Men on the was. Canada Air is a SUPER good airline. Very comfortable and great customer service.

Caught our flight from Toronto to Atlanta and had another good flight into the ATL! Yeah, baby!

It always amazes me that in only 13 hours you can be all the way to the UK back to the USA. Astonishing.

Got an early night’s sleep. Slept just fine with hardly any jet lag.

Enjoyed a late breakfast with Kathy and Jesse.

My Bank of America debit card was hacked by someone. The bank called me while I was in Derby. I went through all the transactions and told them which were NOT mine. I called the bank this afternoon and looked like everything was OK. I had my new card in the mail which I’ve already activate. Thank you, LORD for making sure all that was ok!

Ashley came over to our house later today to love on her sweet ol’ Daddy. Nothing better!

Admin duties now. I was thinking about going to Azalea, but there’s nothing going on at all. Looking forward to a team coming into town on Saturday. AWESOME to be back at work!!

It’s great to get family together!

We had our whole tribe meet up at Miles’ sister’s house today. Roxy and Justin make a great couple!







Ashley got Kathy a Bacon Bowl cooker. Funny. And delicious!

Delicious food and warm company. Don’t get no better!

Putting the finishing touches on packing for our trip to the UK tomorrow! I’m really looking forward to spending time with Jesse and my buddies in England! Be praying for our safe flight and that we’ll sleep well while we’re overseas.

We’ll be back in country on the 21st. I won’t be blogging until I get back. I’ll try and keep up with some Facebook posts until then.

Enjoyed a restful morning.

Ate an early lunch with Kathy. Good times. She washed my car afterwards.

Came home to work on packing for my trip to the UK on Monday with Jesse. Looking forward to that!

Got a lot of exercise. Biked 6.6 miles and ran 6.8 miles.

Whew. Lots of beauty on the trail!

I love the fragrance as I ran past the honey suckle.

Tiny, delicate flowers.


I thought this was an interesting image.

Heron head.

Love the mushrooms.


Wasp.

I found this 4 pound sledge hammer on the side of the road. I carried it in one arm and then the other for several miles. I felt like Thor.

Got cleaned up and working on admin duties. I knocked out my financial report for the donations yesterday. That was a weight hanging over my head. Glad to have that done.

Looking forward to K time this evening.

Had such a fun day with my friends John and Debbie Dorr today!

John is an amazingly creative guy. We’ve worked together on projects in Zimbabwe.

I enjoyed showing them around the International Village. The Buford Highway Farmers Market is always interesting!

John grew up in Yemen and is fluent in Arabic. I had fun listening to him and my friend Ali carry on a conversation. Al Madina is another of my favorite places!

Went to the bank to deposit money. Thank you, LORD! Finances are looking better all the time.

Came home to spend some time with Kathy and Jesse. Then rested.

Spent a long time working on the financial report. We have started asking our donors to give money directly to Whirlwind Missions. Many still give through the North American Mission Board, although that is slowly changing. For now that means I need to track the donations that are given to Whirlwind through NAMB AND through Whirlwind (to give a total picture of ALL the donations) as well as ONLY through Whirlwind, so we can send them a letter for their taxes at the end of the year. Gets kind of complicated, but I have it figured out. Just takes time and patience.

Speaking of patience, mine ran out. Our neighbor has had a terrible looking couch and mattress in front of his house by the road for over eight weeks.

My sweet wife has given me no end of grief about it. I talked with my neighbors about it twice. Last two weeks I started putting mattresses or cushions in my garbage can, which promptly got taken away. All those years of construction paid off.

I can destroy nearly anything with amazing efficiency.

I put most of it in my garbage can for next week.

The rest, HOPEFULLY, my neighbor will put in his. But I’m not holding my breath on that. It looks a lot better for the whole neighborhood!

Had to stop briefly when it poured down rain.

Admin duties now. Looking forward to a restful evening with Kathy. I didn’t sleep well last night.

Ashley and Jesse and I met up with Frank Sabo from Perimeter Church and Hessel Baker an apartment owner at Perimeter Mall today! Frank is a long time supporter of our ministry.

Hessel has some properties in Marietta that he thinks we may be of some help. He’s a great guy, I look forward to working with him.

After our meeting, Ashley, Jesse and I enjoyed wandering around the mall and then visiting the Barnes and Noble bookstore.

I thought this was interesting.

I liked these shoes.

We spent a few minutes at Biggar’s antiques in Chamblee.

It used to Chamblee United Methodist Church in the 1860s. I like their signs.


Not sure I want to be experimented on.

And we always have to kiss the horse.

Later we went to the mission to help the kids with their homework. Hardly any work to be done.

I liked the girls on their bikes.

I gave them some clay to play with. They made some interesting things!

Came home to clean up my yard. A neighbor has had some old couches out by the street the last eight weeks.

I’ve slowly been putting his junk in my trashcan to haul off.

Spent some time cleaning my rug by my outside door.

Then went for a 5.01 mile run. It was pleasant outside tonight.

Saw this Thrasher on my run.

Found this bird egg.

Came home, but Kathy was already headed for bed.

Admin duties now.

Always liked this.

There’s no Optimized without TIM.

This has a nice ring to it.

Worked on financial projects this morning.

Also refilled my hummingbird feeders.

Met up with Ashley and Jesse at FBC Doraville. Went to Ashiana to enjoy lunch and talk about teams coming into town.

Had fun looking through antiques. Chamblee has some great stores! This reflection reminded me of Escher.

I made Ashley pose in hats.

Went to Walmart to pick up some supplies.

Then to the bank to deposit checks.

Worked with the kids at the mission. Good crowd today. Kind of surprising!





Cleaned my fish tank.

Admin duties now. Looking forward to Kathy getting home.

Hmmmm.

I liked these little blue flowers.

Had a fun morning. Ran 5.03 miles around my neighborhood. Always something beautiful to see! The roses have been spectacular!

I liked these too!

This sounded interesting.

Ate lunch with Kathy and Jesse. Always good to have family together!

Met up with Jesse at the mission. Worked with the kids.

Not much homework, but enough to keep busy.

I thought they did a great job on a project that wasn’t even assigned by a teacher!

Enjoyed supper with Jesse, then went to the Buford Highway Farmers Market to pick up some small things for my friends in the UK. I taught him how to use a hot glue gun. One of the most practical tools EVER!

We enjoyed strawberry crepes after eating Vietnamese! Yumbo!

Enjoyed watching Castle with Kathy.

Admin duties now.

Last night Jesse and I enjoyed supper together. Then we worked on modifying his shoulder bag. Looks good!

Recorded a new podcast this morning!

One of my favorite and most important things I do! Do you want to know the secret of happiness? Then check out “PermaNICE!” It’s all about relationships!

Got up on the roof to clean out the gutters.

That was a nasty job. Blew a bunch of mud in my face. Not zesty.

Then mowed the front yard.

Trimmed more trees and bushes in the front.

This rain makes the grass grow like crazy.

Hot, sweaty work!

Rested after having a nice lunch with Kathy.

Then went to pick up my car. Had to have rear brake job. Also got the emission tested and passed. Couple of other minor things, oil change and checking it out. Cost about $450. Ouch.

Then to the mission. Not a lot of homework, but kept me busy.

Please pray for Jesse. He hasn’t been sleeping well.

The kids are enjoying the new soccer goal we got them. They’ve been working on the field, taking out the big rocks and filling in the holes. Seems to be better!

Did the shopping.

Then came home to watch the Mentalist with Kathy.

Admin duties now.

Are you smarter than a second grader?

I liked these super thin con trails. Shows that the upper level air is super dry and very still.

Had a short night last night. Never sleep that well when I need to get up really early.

Enjoyed having a booth and chatting with people at First Baptist Atlanta.

Always a good crowd there.

People liked my “dress” aka Kurta.

Plenty of people interested in our ministry.

Had some great times of prayer and sharing with many people.

I liked the flowers outside the building.

Came home to rest.

Looking forward to seeing Jesse soon.

Admin duties now.

Gave myself a haircut this morning.

Enjoyed lunch with Kathy. Always fun hanging out with her.

Did the grocery shopping at Walmart.

Went by the bank to deposit checks for the ministry.

Came home to rest.

Talked with our neighbors. Sounds like the house has been sold to a real estate company. They’ll be moving out of the neighborhood. Sorry to see them go. I really enjoyed seeing their kids playing.

Worked on my bike seat. Glued some pieces that were coming apart.

Transplanted one of my plants into a bigger pot.

Redid my yard art.

Cleaned out my rain gauge. It was gross. Nothing bleach can’t fix!

Went out for a 3.98 mile bike ride and a 3.36 mile run. Always something interesting and beautiful to see.





This car was in front of Park View High School.

Ol’ glory!

I particularly liked getting up close to this vulture.

I just kept creeping up closer and freezing.

I had fun on my bike. But I still miss my skateboard.

Admin duties now.

This is one of the new pieces I bought from the Antique store. It’s more than 50 years old.