Almost Ready

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Well, it is Thursday evening/Friday morning and I am almost ready. I finished packing today. I thought I was being smart in buying some cheap suitcases from Big Lots, well I got them home and the expandable zippers did not work, but I was able to get everything in the three suitcases plus one carry on so I will have an excess baggage charge, but at least everything (I hope) is over there in Russia. It was hard narrowing down to what I wanted and knowing how many warm clothes I was going to need. Those vacuum bags were great with the winter coats and sweaters. I am not sure how much good they really did with pants and I used shirts to fill voids. And I weighed each one, all are under 50# according to my scale so I should only be hit with one charge.

I went to dinner with several of my friends. We had a lot of laughs, but at the same time, several tears. Today was probably the hardest hitting on me along with a very nice and sincere letter from my sister.

We are well ahead compared to last time in that my visa arrived today, three days before I needed it unlike last time which was at 10 AM with a 3 PM flight. My list is getting shorter, but still a lot to do and think about. I spoke with my old boss today. It was good to hear from him and that too just added to all of the emotion.

I am within $250 of selling my Audi. We can not seem to bridge the gap but I may just breakdown and sell it to the guy so I do not have to worry about it. Mark, my housemate offered to sell it for me if I do not get it sold. It is just going to get old and fall apart sitting in the garage and this way it will not take up space and I will not have to have any insurance on it, but that of course causes my house insurance to go up...go figure. Insurance companies are almost as bad as airlines in their pricing structures.

I am going to close for the evening, but wanted to keep everyone posted.

Vince

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Comments

[Gale]

See you soon
I know I'm not there to give you a farewell hug and wish you well in person but you're in my thoughts and wishes for the greatest year ahead. You'll be back before you know it and we can't wait to read more about your adventures along the way. Take care and we'll keep in touch.

[sher sclafani]

GOING TO MISS YOU SO VERY MCUH. WE KNOW THAT WITH YOUR OLD JOB YOU WERE HARDLY HOME BUT WE ALWAYS KNEW THAT IF NEEDED YOU YOU WERE THERE. PLEASE KEEP US POSTED AND DON'T FORGET TO SEND US YOUR NEW ADDRESS WHEN YOU GET IT. ALL OF OUR LOVE TO YOU AND BE SAFE DEAR FRIEND. THE SCLAFANI'S