We spent most of the day today getting caught up on Internet tasks. It is possible to totally unplug (I've seen folks out here who have done it) but if you have any possessions, property or interests back home you will need to keep tabs. If you don't the banks, storage facilities, tenants and other suspects will decide you are abandoning your possessions and take action to claim them for themselves. Perhaps slowly over time, but never the less.

Credit Cards are famous for giving you a balance, which you dutifully pay, and then charging you interest on your next bill (which you don't check for 6 months because you "paid the whole balance"). Then they charge you interest on the interest, late fees, damage your credit and when you finally discover what is going on you owe them a thousand bucks on an 18 dollar balance and they have canceled your card. The world does not understand an individual who doesn't check mail daily and wants to do things over the internet with a once a quarter check in rate. Pessimist or realist, you decide.

End soap box.

The internet here on Palau is painfully slow much of the time. It often takes an entire afternoon to update your computer or book a single airline ticket or pay a couple of bills online. We have recently realized that we have been simply trying to use the limited pipes into and out of Palau at the same time as everyone else. After school things get tough, after work they get unbearable. A rainy Saturday, just forget it. Mornings are by far the fastest time of day if you want to be productive.

End second soap box

It is Tuesday and that means Kramer's spaghetti night here on Palau. Kramer's is always happening and is a big expat hang out. Spaghetti Night is a great deal at $4.50 for a plate piled high with Spaghetti Bolognese and yummy garlic bread.

The restaurant is named after the 1800s Kramer, who was a German researcher. He produced the definitive early works on Palau natural and cultural history. The owners of the restaurant are Jane, a lovely Palauan lady, and Rene, a German guy who is a popular character around Palau. Unfortunately for us Rene is off to Peleliu for a month soon to feed the Philippine Survivor film crew that has taken up residence there. Too bad the contestants won't be enjoying Rene's great cooking.