Last time we were in Korea our garage refrigerator stopped working when the GFCI tripped.  This wouldn’t have been a big deal except for the fish we had in the freezer.   It took weeks to get rid of the smell.  Hell, for all I know it still stinks and I’ve just gotten used to it.

To avoid a repeat of that fiasco, before departing we gave all our stock of frozen fish to my daughter-in-law.  She just informed me that she forget about the fish and left them in her trunk.

It’s been 85 degrees this week in South Carolina.

Shutting it down around the old South Carolina homestead.

Ant poison in the yard.  Seeds in the bird feeder. (Damn, I hope I got those in the right order.  I guess I’ll know if I return to find ants devouring the carcasses of dead birds).

Furling the Taeguki (and Old Glory) until our return.

And putting the trusty kimchi pot away.

A tad more packing to do.

A money dart tournament tonight at the Duck.

A little sleep, then off to the airport in the early morning hours.

UPDATE:  Ok, got just about everything in the suitcases.  Had to do some shuffling around to get the two big bags under 50 pounds.  It’s close, but I should be golden…

Oh boy.

But here’s a day in the life for you anyway:

They took my neighbor away in an ambulance this morning.  I hope things work out for him, but I’ll not be surprised if he isn’t here when I return.

So, through some mystery of physics a goodly portion of my clothing seems to have shrunk while hanging in my closet over the years.  Nothing to be done about it, so I loaded them up in the automobile and gave them a ride over to the Goodwill store.  At the bottom of that pile is a 47″ flat screen TV.  I brought it home all the way from Korea and then I learned just how unforgiving electricity can be.  You can read all about that unfortunate incident here.  Also donated were a set of home theater speakers, a dog carrier for my parent’s now deceased dog, and a couple of used up designer purses.

After leaving those treasures behind (thanks for the memories!), it was on to downtown Columbia to visit the Registrar of Voters.  There was a surprisingly large crowd of folks there to register and/or cast an absentee ballot.  After suffering the line and completing the appropriate paperwork I exercised my right of suffrage.

Of course, voting is a private matter and I work hard to maintain a neutral political stance here at LTG.  Alright, maybe I don’t work that hard at it.  Suffice to say, I hold the view that we are Taxed Enough Already and voted accordingly.

Next stop was my credit union where I withdrew some cash money that I will soon convert to Korean won in order to pay for life’s necessities these next three months.  Well, I’m going to buy beer and Jee Yeun is going to pay her taxes.  And we’ll be eating out a lot at our favorite Korean restaurants I suppose.

I also needed to get a document notarized, a service my credit union has ably performed for me on numerous occasions.  To my chagrin, the notary advised that they cannot notarize “legal documents”.  I pointed out that this was the same type document I’d had notarized before, so she went to get a manager.  The manager came up front and said “I’m sorry” which I interpreted to mean go fuck yourself.  So, I left an unhappy camper.

In a tragedy of epic proportions, Jee Yeun ran out of kimchi last night.  I was quite certain that she would be suffering severe withdrawal symptoms prior to our Friday arrival in Korea and I can’t stand to see the poor girl suffer.  So it was off to the Korean market for a small batch of that pickled delight to tide her over.  That put a big smile on her face, believe me.

Next on my itinerary was the Bank of America to make a deposit.  I had Jee Yeun stand in a longish teller line while I hunted down a bank official to see if they might be willing to notarize a legal document.  To my relief they had no qualms about doing so and soon enough the task was completed.  Assa!

The final stop on my quest was the Kroger supermarket for some necessary supplies to sustain me in the Land of the Morning Calm.

Just the bare necessities, mind you.

And now you know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.  Or not.

I guess I’ll call it sickness gone

It’s hard to say to say the meaning of this song

An ambulance can only go so fast

It’s easy to get buried in the past

When you try to make the good thing last.

–Neil Young

I used to enjoy Farmer John bacon, but this is ridiculous.

Landsharks.

Too much of nothing
Can make a man ill at ease
One man’s temper might rise
While another man’s temper might freeze
In the day of confession
We cannot mock a soul
Oh, when there’s too much of nothing
No one has control.

–Bob Dylan

Winding down my last couple of days in the USA until next year.  I’m looking forward to being back in Korea for awhile, although truth be told I guess I’m also feeling ambivalent.  Nothing I can put my finger, just in general I guess.  Ah, but this too shall pass.

In other news I’ve decided posting on Facebook is a waste of time and energy.  So, I’m going to stop wasting time and energy posting there.   Lord knows, there’s plenty of other things to waste my time doing.  Like writing worthless shit like this on my blog.

I continue to work on my dart game and hopefully I’ll continue to improve.  I’ve got the added motivation of joining my Korea team mid-season which is going to force a reduction in playing time for the current players.  Shooting well will go a long way to silence any dissension my presence may arouse, but it is somewhat pressuring.  We shall see.

I suppose that’s enough nothing for one day.