One of the most difficult shifts for me to make is the one which allows me to consider the differences, both real and imagined, between what life is like in the US and what it is like in other countries, especially what could be considered �"third world countries�", more accurately described as either developing or less developed countries. What brings this to mind is a couple of things, one specific to circumstances on the boat and the other more generally is my experience over the last couple of years. The specific issue is the ability to have things delivered in a reasonable time frame. Our water maker failed shortly after we arrived in Tonga, which in port is not terrible, yet it is a nuisance to have to go to the dock every three days or so to get water. Ten days ago a small but essential part was shipped FedEx International Priority from Ft Lauderdale to Vava�'u Tonga. The part weighs less than 5 pounds and is in a box about six inches square; i.e. it is small. In the US, FedEx invented the idea of next day guaranteed delivery. It does not work outside the US and I must admit it is not the fault of the local population. The company built a system that works when the company controls the process from beginning to end, yet falls apart when you are shipping to the developing world. At some point in transit the package is no longer in the control of FedEx it is under the control of local agents and your package travels on local airlines. Yet FedEx is charging you for door to door delivery and it can not provide a delivery date. If you have not noticed I am venting a bit of steam over this since it is not the first time it happened. The difficult shift for me has been to let go of the ease and convenience. Because I can ship FedEx I think in terms of guaranteed delivery within a specified time. The above mentioned package left Florida on a Friday morning with an expected arrival in Tonga this past Thursday. It may actually be delivered this coming Thursday, but no one is sure. This same shifting of expectations applies to many other things, some of which I easily deal with and others of which frustrate the hell out of me. For example, I don�'t mind that you have to visit all seven grocery stores to buy the foods we need. The people are all friendly, though the establishments are a tad disorganized, yet you can find what you need and the walking is good exercise. On the other hand, cellular phones are probably more common here than the US, yet the phone company is terribly inefficient. You but talk time and data in very small bits (2 gigabytes is the most data you can buy at one time) so you are always running out of time or data in the middle of something important. On a similar note I have been working on making travel arrangements for a trip back to the US (just to make sure I don�'t forget the ease and convenience) for a routine medical checkup and to see the grandkids before they are all grown up. Making multicity reservations from here is more than a bit challenging. Since I want to use the points I have on my Merrill Lynch Visa (instead of paying cash, not a credit card, but cash) I have been using their travel web site. It is run by someone who loves Alaska Air, so for every city I go to, for example Chicago to Tampa, they route me through Seattle Washington. Seems pretty stupid to me to keep going all the way to Seattle every time you are trying to go east or south. Needless to say I have turned that task over to my trusty helpers from where I retired. It has been said that in order to maintain ones composure and dignity when travelling in these parts of the world it is best to forget all about modern conveniences and technology, simply try and remember a time when they did not exist. I can easily remember a time when shipping stuff was slow and I can remember phones with party lines and no such thing as data. I think I need to go stick my head in the sand�.... More later