31 December 2015

2015 Books I Listened To

My annual list of books listened, mostly kept by me because I’m curious of the trends across time (see books label).
Awards
Hound of the Baskervilles: Can’t Help Myself (listened to yet again)
The Reckoning - Rennie Airth: Outperformed Expectations (random selection that totally paid off)
PANIC! The Story of Modern Financial Insanity: Underperformed Expectations (needed lengthy editing)

  1. Summer of the Danes - Ellis Peters
  2. Heretic's Apprentice - Ellis Peters
  3. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax - Dorothy Gilman
  4. American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms - Chris Kyle
  5. A Serpent's Tooth - Craig Johnson
  6. Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish - Dorothy Gilman
  7. The Reckoning - Rennie Airth
  8. PANIC! The Story of Modern Financial Insanity - Edited Michael Lewis
  9. Calico Joe - John Grisham
  10. The Monuments Men - Robert Edsel
  11. Hound of the Baskervilles - Conan Doyle
  12. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Conan Doyle
  13. The ABC Murders - Agatha Christie

2015 Books I Read

My annual list of books read, mostly kept by me because I’m curious of the trends across time (see books label).


Awards
I am the Messanger: Fan Favorite
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water: Outperformed Expectations
Silas Marner: Classic all should read
not a clear one here, unfortunately: Most likely affected me

  1. Silas Marner - George Eliot
  2. The Jeeves Omnibus, Vol 3 - P.G. Wodehouse
  3. Flashman - George MacDonald Fraser
  4. Reaching Out - Henri Nouwen
  5. This Immortal - Roger Zelazny
  6. Boomerang - Michael Lewis
  7. The Prince and the Pauper - Mark Twain
  8. Last Bus to Woodstock - Colin Dexter
  9. The Native Americans: Illustrated History - David Thomas
  10. Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scientific Fact - Vine Deloria
  11. I am the Messanger - Markus Zusak
  12. Track of the Cat - Nevada Barr
  13. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt
  14. Rumpole of the Bailey - John Mortimer
  15. The Eagle Catcher - Margaret Coel
  16. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water - Michael Dorris
  17. ABC Murders - Agatha Christie
  18. Life Together - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
  19. The Mating Season - P.G. Wodehouse
  20. History of Africa - Kevin Shillington
  21. Ring for Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse
  22. Surprising Lands Down Under - Mary Ann Harrell
  23. James Madison - Garry Willis
  24. Africa: The Struggle for Independence - Dennis Wepman
  25. A Short History of Australia - Ernest Scott (written in 1916)

04 December 2015

Greece, Photos from Mytilene

The Harbor20151119_141433159_iOS (Copy 1)
The boat to the right is a ferry that runs each night to Athens, 8 hour overnight.
Once refugees are ‘registered’…
not actually sure what that means, but I know if involves determining whether you are a refugee (with a protected status), or a migrant (with less protections/opportunities).
Anyway, once you are registered, you can buy a ticket on the ferry and go to the mainland.
This is not a lock-down situation. People are free to roam around, and many did. The camps that people stayed in while waiting to register were a few miles away, but people would walk or take a taxi into the city, and meander through the shops the same as I would, excepting that they carried on their persons the limits of their physical possessions.
Chapel
20151119_140944433_iOS (Copy 1)
I tried buying a European made blazer. Very sharp looking. Was feeling the vibe, and wanted to put something slick over my Carhartts. But nothing I could find had sleeves long enough. I am not Greek-sized.
Hotel Loriet20151113_071546563_iOS (Copy 1)
The UNHCR (High Commissioner of Refugees) stayed at the Loriet. The actual hotel is behind this old house, which is facing the Aegean Sea. The house serves as the entry foyer, and ornate sitting rooms.
I was dropped off here 10 minutes after arriving, to meet my predecessor and other WASH actors. I was 90 minutes early for the meeting, so I walked in, asked where breakfast was being served, and made myself comfortable.
I pay my taxes. The U.S. funds most of the UN budget. I feel no guilt.
In the end, I had multiple meetings here with UNHCR to coordinate WASH work throughout the island, and plan for the 2016 response. I had no other free meals.