Please don't mug me!

I did not die in what may or may not have been a fire at our hotel. I did, however, leave there and go to Manhattan. New York City never ceases to amaze. I am currently typing this from underneath the 5th Ave. Apple glass cube that I didn't get to visit last time I was here. Tonight was the Apple iPhone premiere. I saw the super annoying guy from G4/TechTV. Beck is playing on the overdriven ceiling speakers, and this place is hopping. It's funny how as I approached the entrance to the Apple store and they had people clapping as someone would exit I felt more and more like it would be a good idea to buy an iPhone. Again, brains are weird. Tomorrow I'm gonna try and visit my bro bro at Shiloh camp in NY state. I love having vague directions and hoping things work out. Well, when they actually work out it's fun. Typing on this MacBook makes me want one. I gotta get out of here before I do something dumb.

Quite a lot has transpired since we last talked. 1. I read The DaVinci Code . It was a good, fast read. The hostel loaned it to me and even let me take it on the plane over the Atlantic. It made the 6 and half hour journey fly by. Pun definitely intended. 2. My flight to Nashville from Newark, NJ was cancelled. I got put up in a hotel and fed good food. I can deal with that. 3. Right now a fire alarm is going off in the hotel that Nick Howell and I have checked into for our second night's stay. 4. I'm sure some more stuff has happened, but I better evacuate the building. Laters.

Well, we made it to the airport on time to fly to Belfast today from Glasgow, Scotland... WRONG AIRPORT!!!! Yes, another missed flight and I feel like a champ! Only 200 dollars down the drain between the two missed flights. It's just money, though, right? No, it's expensive lessons about not assuming things will work themselves out automatically. So after 7 hours of travel and 150 dollars spent, Nick Howell and I are successfully in Belfast, N.I (228 miles from where we were this morning!!!) We have a goal of only spending 120 more dollars before we get home. We'll see if it works. (no way)

My European excursion is quickly coming to a close, but thankfully, there will be a few more hurtles to overcome and sights to see. The group from Murfreesboro is heading back, and Nick Howell and I will strike out on our own. We may flub it up royally. Haha. Speaking of royalty, I got to go to Edinburgh (pronounced Edinborough) today. It was straight raining for a long time, but we go a ray of sunshine on the way out. It was funny because our friend Kevin that drove told us that in his conversation with God, God said that the rain was a necessary part of the day but we could have some rain shortly. We got the first ray of sunlight while Kevin was telling someone that on the phone in Edinburgh. It was cool. Let me go ahead and say that John Jones was a trip maker for this leg of the journey. Along with others, John has broughten levity where it was very much appreciated. We just kind of picked up where we left of in the nineties. I'll also go ahead and say Jon Burgess is the man. P

click on I saw this on yahoo's site. Way to go, TN! Recent news from over the ocean... I met up with the group from North Boulevard. Despite popular belief, people from different bodies can work together! It's been good to have to get to know people so that I can be a part of the whole. For real, these jokers eat too much. Well, the problem isn't that they eat too much it's that they always have food available to eat. And as everyone knows, if there is food available I'm probably eating it. John Jones (a former Stones Riverian) got in to Dundee today. It was good to have another familiar face in a sea of people that I don't know yet. Also, we got to see a baptism of a nice girl named Leanne. She was dunked in the North Sea. It was a good day. We'll be working in Dundee, Scotland for this week and then I'll be heading back to the U.S. Next week. It's been both a long and short trip. Thankfully, it's not over yet. See you soon.

Today was my last German day. Tomorrow I become a Scot. We did it right, though, and visited a hugest Catholic cathedral, a museum of chocolate manufacturing and a Roman-German archaelogy museum. All were impressive. I'll see if I can't upload some pictures. Go to said link for 'eum. I must thank my gracious hosts, the Siebels family, for all their hospitality. THANK YOU! There have been many times over the past two weeks where I imagine how life continues at home. It doesn't correspond easily to what I do over here. The world in Tennessee seems to have stopped even though I know that it's waiting just the same as it was when I left. I'm not ready to go back to work, but I have a feeling that I will be when the trip is over. I'm glad for breaks. Daily life is seldom appreciated.