Hello everyone! We're back in Cairo after quite the little adventure all over BFE and back... We've met a whole cast of characters -- Saeed, Mahmoud, Mohammad, Mustafa, Nova, Kareem, Asraf, Aswam, and have a business card for each. So it took a lot --- a lot -- of bargaining and bribing and arrangments but we managed to get past the 10 odd checkpoints on the way out to the Libyan border to reach our campsite. Apparently it is a big issue for Americans to travel inside the borders of Egypt off the beaten path - so whenever we didn't have to show passports we became 5 englishmen (ingleezi). It worked well, minus the part where we had to indirectly bribe an Egyptian Military General for approving paperwork... We have learned that Egypt is a crazy system of layering bueracracies and middlemen that all want a piece of the tourist money. But we've also seen amazing kindness from strangers, and I feel more safe here than I feel walking around in US city. Egyptians are great, and everyone back home should not worry about our safety.

So our campsite (government run and sponsored) provided all the camping facilities for our stay outside of Sallum. We slept approx 2 km from the Libyan border. Actually our driver missed the turn for the campisite and we actually got a little more up close and personal w/ Libya than I had hoped. But no worries :) The campsite was in wondeful good shape and we even got to see a sweet live band and belly dancer show. Everyone here is covered in cloth from head to toe 24/7 it seems ~ takes a while to get used to.

The solar eclipse itself was AMAZING. I cannot put it into words. The sky was perfectly clear and the whole partial-total time took over an hour! The energy one feels from the cold wind and the approaching shadows is like nothing I've ever experienced before. And when you see the sun turn into a glowing black orb w/ flares shooting off the sides -- it just touches your soul there's no other way to say it. Then the 4 minutes passed quickly. I hope that we get the video taped on Dustin's camera of the period of the totality because that is the only hope y'all ever have of understanding the feeling without actually being there. I'm afraid this probably won't be my last total solar eclipse hahaha.

We haven't gotten to the pyramids yet - or met up with Alejandro and his party of 3 yet. We plan to see the Giza pyramids today, and have dinner w/ them. Scott's phone is working for text messages btw -- awesome! tonight, we are planning to spend the rest of today arranging a night train to Luxor, where we will take some flavor of Nile Cruise down to the historical sites. Also, we want to stop in a city by the red sea for a day or so. That should about fill out the trip -- which will leave us with a couple days (1 day for Dustin) to see the rest of Cairo which we have not really explored -- save the pita sandwich and sheesha shop next to our hostel (still staying at the Meramees). Anyway, that's all for now. Love you all -- Darin

Well the longest plane journey i've ever attempted is over. After navigating to and from airports for 26 hours, we are at the Meramees Hostel in downtown Cairo. We found Dustin (bonus points) and the group is ready to start off on the adventure. Just had our first taste of sheesha at the corner smoke bar and a meal for 5 for less than 1 US dollar. That is not a typo. Tomorrow, we're gonna get some finances squared away and hopefully see the Giza Pyramids! Then probably the next day we will set off for Sallum on the eclipse chase... Sleep well friends and family back home!

As I wake up a bit hungover from the night before -- not having left myself much time to pack for the Egypt trip -- I get this email from Mandy that made me smile: Are you tired of those sissy-ass "friendship" poems that always sound good, but never actually come close to reality?

Well, here is a series of promises that actually speak of true friendship:

1. When you are sad -- I will help you get drunk and plot revenge against the sorry bastard/dumb bitch who made you sad.
2. When you are blue -- I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.
3. When you smile -- I will know you finally got laid.
4. When you are scared -- I will rag on you about it every chance I get.
5. When you are worried -- I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining.
6. When you are confused -- I will use little words.
7. When you are sick -- Stay the hell away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.
8. When you fall -- I will point and laugh at your clumsy ass.

This is my oath..... I pledge it to the end. "Why?" you may ask; "because you are my friend".

Source: Mandy, thanks!

Email I just sent to my group at work:

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Subject: OOO for 2 weeks - Mar 27 - Apr7 [eom]

Solar eclipse hunting on the Egyptian/Libyan border...

details if you're interested:
http://jumphook.com/wiki/Travel/Egypt

pray that the dreaded Khamsin ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/khamsin.shtml) will not blow us asunder.

~cheers,
Darin Gillis
LabVIEW RT R&D

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060322/us_nm/bars_dc

Read this ridiculous article about the latest Texas Police strategy on stopping drunk drivers. This is ridiculous, it's an outrage. You better keep this hot shot donut-eaters outta Austin dammit or I'm gonna instigate a riot like only a CU alumni knows how to...

Sources: Dustin and Laura, thanks y'all

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nda_OSWeyn8&eurl=

As Ramiro told me when he sent me this link, you just can't make this stuff up...

Source: Ramiro, thanks

Why don't I get bug reports like this one?

A bug report for Mozilla/Firefox:

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=330884

Here's an excerpt:

This privacy flaw has caused my fiancé and I to break-up after having dated for 5 years.

Basically, we share one computer but under separate Windows XP user accounts. We both use Mozilla Firefox -- well, he used to use it more than I do but now we don't really use it. The privacy flaw is this: when he went to log-in under his dating sites (jdate.com, swinglifestyle.com, adultfriendfinder.com, etc.), ... I went into the Password Manager to change the saved password option from Never to Always and that's when I saw all these other sites that had been selected as "Never Save Password." ... Then I realized who, how and what... and sh*t hit the fan.

Source: Stephen, thanks!

New Photo Album Posted

Oh yes, my birthday was yesterday. And what a day it was. Feels like just last weekend we had the 'Pink Shirt Party', and here we are partying it up again. Spent the day at the Texas State Fairgrounds at the rodeo - specifically at the BBQ cookoff competition with Chuck and the BMF cooks. Then, I got lost on the way back to Austin and ended up changing a tire before making it back into town for a quick shot of Sherlocks and an impromptu house party! And of course, no night is complete without a 5am caps game with Ryan King, including our drunken guitar session :) Best times I'll never remember!

A test for the old eye-hand coordination. This is very addicting, and a good game to play when you're bored at work. Move the red block around the white square without letting any of the blue block touch it. Also, you can't touch the black edges. I could do this for hours. It's been said that the US Air Force uses this for fighter pilots. They are expected to go for at least 2 minutes.

Give it a try!! Post your best time in the comments!

http://tinyurl.com/56t9u

Source: Leah, thanks!

It's that time of the year again! It's March. It's almost St Patty's Day, and its time for some brackets. :) The NCAA college basketball championship tournament starts this Thursday! The teams are set, the games are ready to start. The jumphook.com NCAA basketball pool is back in full force for its 5th year anniversary!

This year: $10 cash or PayPal to play. (Not taking credit cards this year, sorry) Choose your bracket online and the scores will be updated as the tournament progresses... Use the PayPal link on the left to pay. Just create yourself a login & password, fill out a bracket, and pay the man. Fun comes that easily.

Anyone can win -- actually, out of the 8 years I've run a pool, a girl that doesn't watch basketball has won 6/8 years... The usual prize comes out to around a $130 or so (75 % of the pot) , w/ a runner-up prize of 25% of the pot. This year it promises to get much bigger! Invite your friends, lets make this the biggest pool ever :)

Official rules are here: Rules

Fill out a bracket here: NCAA Pool Login

Good luck!!!

Read this Absoultely Hilarious document with instructions for Mormons to help conquer their masterbation urges. (mispelled in document) Do yourself a favor and read this. It's work safe (all text) but content-wise it's probably not. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the 'Guide to Self-Control'

1. Never touch the intimate parts of your body except during normal toilet processes.
2. If you are associated with other persons having this same problem, YOU MUST BREAK OFF THEIR FRIENDSHIP.
3. If the temptation seems overpowering while you are in bed, GET OUT OF BED AND GO INTO THE KITCHEN AND FIX YOURSELF A SNACK.
4. In very severe cases it may be necessary to tie a hand to the bed frame with a tie in order that the habit of masturbating in a semi-sleep condition can be broken. This can also be accomplished by wearing several layers of clothing which would be difficult to remove while half asleep.

Source: Ramiro, thanks man fantastic work

Check out this quick video of a Southern Illinois cheerleader at a basketball game last night. It's soooooo empowering... YIKES! Sometimes in life, you just gotta stop cheering, right?

Dictionary.com defines expatriate (ex·pa·tri·ate) Like this:

1. One who has taken up residence in a foreign country.
2. One who has renounced one's native land.

Interesting because there's been a lot of talk from my Austin pals lately centered around abandonding everything, leaving the US, and moving to South/Central America. The latest destination du jour: Buenos Aires, Argentina. Read about some Wall Street Execs living like millionaires down there. Wanderlust anyone?

New Photo Album Posted

A whirlwind of activity -- First some random pics from Austin over Balki's Birthday with Erin and her friend Megan... Then 2 nights and 3 days in Breckenridge, Vail and Copper Mountain -- where the skiing was good, the sun was shining, and the guiness flowed like water. Thanks to Laura for organzing everything once again!

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And an extra added bonus - Dustin's video of me skiing. Watch it, trust me you will laugh. I start at the top, and ski down to him at the bottom. Directly at him at the bottom... Hil-ar-ious!

Oh gosh, now this it too much. The US government Department of Homeland Security has just launched ready.gov - a new site created to help American families prepare for terrorist attacks. First off, just surfing the site is funny enough to me.

• Check out this comic strip I downloaded from the 'Ready Kids' section: Comic Strip (PDF file)
• But really the funniest part are these 'warning symbols' created to help people stay on alert. Check out this hilarous critique of the warning symbols(PDF file) sent around the NI office here today!

Source: Erin, Thanks