Well, our bags are backed again. We’re leaving for Austin tomorrow (Sunday) morning. Our first stop will be Little Rock, which is the halfway point. We spend a night there, and then will be in Austin on Monday evening. Since the hotels have internet access, I should be updating the blog on a regular basis.

We’ve finally decided on dates for our road trip down to Austin. We’ll be leaving Chicago on Sunday the 23rd, spending one night in Little Rock (halfway point) and then arrive in Austin on the 24th. We’ll spend four nights in Austin, then head back to Chicago. On the way back we’ll probably be stopping in Fort Smith (near the Ozarks) for a couple of nights, depending on whether we can hook up with a friend of ours there. So, we’ll either be back around the 29th or the 31st.

Things have been pretty quiet over the last couple of weeks. Continue to visit family and friends. On Friday we were thinking of going to the Savo picnic, but the weather looked crappy, so we bailed out. Good thing, too, since Tiff needed help with the baby, so we went over there instead. I’m glad we did, since I was able to babysit Glenn and Tiff and Ev were able to go out to lunch.

On Saturday we visiting with Ev’s sister and some of their friends. I was pooped from the long drive up there, so slept most of the time. Today Ev did some more visiting (on her own).

This coming week will begin the great job hunt. I pulled our server out of storage the other day, so I’ve got my old resume. Now I just have to update it…last touched it in 2001! Once it’s updated, I’ve got to get in contact with headhunters (recruiters) in Austin and see what the job market is like down there.

I really don’t want to get back into full-time IT, but it’s easier for me to get a full-time gig, and one of us needs to be working for a mortgage. Once things settle down, and we get the house, the plan is for me to ditch IT again and either do independent consulting, or something different (ex. cooking).

It looks like we’ll be heading out on our road trip next week (last week in July). To save some money, we’re going to be cutting out the Florida portion of our trip. So, we’ll head down to Austin (stopping one night in Memphis, probably), spend a few days there, then head up to Arkansas for a couple more days. In total, we’ll likely be on the road for 10 days.

It doesn’t looking like the situation at Evelyn’s old job is going anywhere fast, so we are for-sure going to take our big US Road Trip of 2006. Start out in Chicago, drop down to the panhandle of Florida to visit friends, then west to Austin to check that area out. After that we’ll head north again and visit more friends in Fort Smith Arkansas. Then it’s back to Chicago. A total trip of about 2,800 miles in two weeks.

We’re doing this trip mainly to visit Austin Texas, as it’s one of our top choices of places to move to. There are some good jobs out there, and the land and houses are much cheaper than Chicago. We’re talking $150K houses with acres of land. Evelyn also likes the fact that many are listed with “horse facilities”. Oh, and there are huge colonies of bats.

Right now, we’ll planning on heading out sometime next week, so that we can make in back to Chicago in time for my birthday. I’ll keep you posted.

We didn’t ship our 2001 Echo back to the States, so we’ve been car-less for the last week. We were waiting for the new Honda Fit’s (a sub-compact hatchback) to come out, but finally got sick of waiting. Instead, we bought a much more practical Toyota Corolla. It’s nice to have a car with a bit more room and with all the gadgets.

Evelyn and I made it back to Chicago late last night after an eventful ride. First, we managed to get to the airport in record time and were through to the gate by 3 PM. Of course, we found out that our departure was delayed until 7:15 PM!

After a wonderful 4 hours of sitting in the terminal, we finally got on the plane and took off. About an hour into the trip (very turbulant) we hear a big “ker-thunk” sound. It’s at this point that a passenger flags down the stewardess and frantically points out the window! It seems that something wasn’t working quite right with one of the engines. To make matters better (or worse) the pilot comes on and says “uh, yea, we reported that yesterday, but the mechanics said everything was okay….I guess it’s not okay.” (It reminded by of the Twilight Zone episode, where the alien [?] is ripping apart the engine.)

At this point I was glad that I reserved seats all the way in the back of the plane, right near the two life rafts (we were over the Bermuda Triangle area, in open water, when all this happened).

After that, the rest of the flight was okay, but pretty bumpy. Whenever we hit a big bump I was waiting to hear screeching metal. As we approached O’Hare I was just thinking “please–let’s get on the ground–and may the thrust reversers work”. In the end, the landing went fine, and we all arrived safe. Thank goodness!

In total, we left the house in PR at 1 PM AST and got to my parents house at 1 AM CST. Quite a long day!

Today we’ve been taking it easy. Went to the grocery store to pick up some food, and then went to lunch (sushi!) with my Mom & Dad. After that, we stopped by and checked on our new nephew, Glenn. All three are doing well, which is good. Now it’s nap time for me, followed with a nice BBQ in the evening.

Ah, one other thing: When Evelyn and I got to the car at O’Hare we were freezing–and it was 75 degrees! Just shows how your body gets used to warm weather. Our teeth were actually chattering when we were in bed! It was pretty funny.

Well, by this time tomorrow we should be on our flight back to Chicago. It’s certainly a bittersweet time for us. We are sad to be leaving behind some good friends and family, but we’re both a bit tired of being “stuck in first gear” and want to move on. Like I said to Luis (one of our good friends) the other night: “Chicago is too fast and Puerto Rico is too slow. We’re looking for something in the middle.”

It’s been a lazy day today. Doing the final suitcase packing, grilling some steaks, having a nice glass (bottle) of Riesling, and watching movies. Basically, letting our “vacation” wind down.

When we get back to Chicago the first order of business will be to visit with Family and Friends. After that, we’re going to be looking for jobs. As I’ve mentioned before, the key is for Evelyn to find a place that she wants to work–whether that be in Chicago or elsewhere. Right now our key cities/areas are Chicago, Santa Fe, Austin, and panhandle Florida. If anyone knows of “headhunters” in those areas, please let us know. If a job in Chicago doesn’t pop up right away (ex. within the next month), then we’re going on a road trip to those places and see which we prefer.

Here’s a list of books that have been banned by (school) libraries. Do the world a favor and read them. Here’s a list: List of Banned Books.

While I’ve been dealing with heat and humidity, others have been freezing their asses off. One of those people is currently spending (another) winter in Antarctica. His name is Phil Jacobsen and his blog is a good read. Make sure to check out the Archives. Phil’s blog can be found here: Antarctica, McMurdo and Me.

I’ve always been interested in Antarctic adventures. The books by Scott, Shackleton, and others are very interesting reads. Be sure to check them out.