I wrote a friend of mine about my pink magnolia trees. Wish they looked like this!

Sadly, a neighbor cut that tree down. It filled me with great sadness. This song by Tom Waits reminded me of what I went through.

Worked hard this week. Completed another milestone. 1,400 days without missing a day of study.

OYB! I’m in Isaiah now. I’ve memorized all of chapter 40. That’s all of this page and about half of the next page.

Español!

Walked 2.32 miles. Thirteen hills. Not as much as normal because I planned on biking later.

Beauty.

Took my bike into Aztec Cycles to get my new tires on and redo my front brakes.

Preston has been working on my bike for over a decade.

I got a lot of stuff done. The tires were badly needed and should last me years. They are hybrid tires for my hybrid bike. That means that both are designed for street use as well as off road.

Listened to Don Cheto. Normally, there are about five people talking in the control room. They have a super fast conversation. Today, Don told a story about the change of attitude of a mother in the family. I understood pretty much all of it.

Kathy picked me up something to eat while I got the bike worked on. Thanks!

Worked on packing my bag. The backpack will go up Acatanengo volcano with me. It’s loaded with my cold weather clothes.

I think of packing in a modular way. I pack each thing in its own Walmart bag. I fold them up really tightly and then compress all the air out before I tie them up.

I sort everything by usage and put them in different gallon zip log bags. I’m fanatic about organization. Vision and cables.

Water prep and meds.

Tools and sewing.

Camera gear. I’ll shoot with my Canon Elph 360 HS and video with the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Gift bag and my laundry line. The laundry line is a new edition to my gear. I think it will be super handy. I read a ton of articles about stuff to bring on trips. Most things I already knew, but I still gleaned some new ideas.

I’m also taking a smaller back pack with me as my carry on. This has an inflatable pillow, extension cord/outlets, paper copies of all my reservations in case of phone troubles and of course my passport and inoculation records. I’ll also carry several external batteries and a light jacket.

This side of my suitcase will contain my clothes and bathroom stuff.

I’ll do final washing and decide what clothes and how many changes on Wednesday. Do a final weigh in and decide what things should be left. I could rent a back pack and winter clothes when I get there for pretty cheap if I decide I don’t have enough room or I weigh in heavy.

My phone holder for my car wore out. Usually get a new one about every year or so. The gears are made of plastic and fail eventually.

K, J and I went to Walgreens to get Covid boosters an the flu shot for the year. We had to fill out forms that included address of our doctor.

I walked around outside studying Spanish while I waited for my appointment. Cool little bird nest.

Got pretty warm today here and in Guatemala.

Prepped my bike for my first ride with the new tires.

Listened to Hot Chip and other artists.

Rode 15.18 miles. Pretty hard ride today. Haven’t been biking as much, more focused on walking.

Got an email from my host in Panajachel. Groovy.

Ordered a new case for my iPhone. My old one is worn out.

Wrote and produced my newsletter. I hope to drop it off and get it copied on Monday. Another thing to mark off my to do list before I leave on Friday.

Took a bit of a break this evening. Worked hard on other projects. I’m way ahead of the next guy.