Tomato Juice, Spies, and Miracle Computer Fixes

Our trip to Poland and the Ukraine has begun, and so have the adventures and, yes, the misadventures.

On our shuttle bus between Vancouver and Seattle, the man sitting behind us talked non-stop to his seat mate. Actually, he started even before the bus arrived. Without trying to eavesdrop, I learned that he’s 66 years old, retired ten years ago, had a small stroke, is afraid to fly, is a former high-school Latin and French teacher, and the list goes on.

I also learned (four times over) that he was very nervous about missing his flight because someone told him there might be a delay going through security at the border. I felt sorry for the guy – he wasted a lot of energy worrying for nothing.

Spy movies

Then there was the guy sitting two rows ahead of us. Again, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but it was impossible to miss his monologue. He talked about everything from what happens to a helicopter if bullets hit its rotor, to thinking that he’d take a bullet himself if he tried to reclaim the property his grandfather once owned in the former Soviet Union, to riding a bus in the Czech Republic that was boarded by a gang of hoodlums who were arrested and cuffed by police when the bus reached its destination.

It sounded like the stuff of which spy movies are made. But he didn’t look like a spy (what does a spy look like, anyway?). He resembled an overweight Einstein with white locks gone wild.

I must say that I’ve never heard men talk so much. I thought only women used 30,000 words per day!

Spilled tomato juice

In all the miles I’ve flown, I’ve never spilled a beverage on a plane.

But my luck ran out when I dumped tomato juice down my right leg, Gene’s left leg, and on the bags at our feet. Red splattered everywhere.

We sopped up everything possible with napkins and paper towels, and then we ducked into the mini-bathroom to wet-wipe our pant legs. Thankfully we were able to get most of it out and our jeans dried before we landed in Minneapolis. But my computer keyboard didn’t fare as well.

I was typing this blog when it happened. I immediately turned the keyboard over and dabbed it gently with paper towels…and prayed. Within minutes, however, the entire bottom row of keys wouldn’t work.

Try typing the words an, and or no without an n. I could do nothing but pray more and put the computer away. We figured we’d have to take it to a repair shop for the weekend and hopefully get it fixed before our overseas flight on Tuesday.

Miracle computer fixes

Thankfully that won’t be necessary. A couple of hours later, Gene turned my laptop on and wonder of wonders, it worked. All I can say is, “Thank You, God!”

So, here we are in Clear Lake, Iowa for staff meetings before heading overseas. It’s beautiful here. And cold. Very cold.

In a few minutes we’ll head to our US headquarters – my first time to see it. And later today we’ll drive a couple of hours to a camp for our advisory council meetings.