Worse Than Epic Fail

You know how everyone knows not to send money to Nigerians? (if not, please read this) Well, apparently Citibank missed that memo. Consider the following letter:

Dear Citybancs,

We are to requesting wire of our funds in the amount of USD$27 millon to the attatched listing of acounts. The enclosed check for US$50000,00 is meaning to cover any cost you would have to be incur to complete thsi transfer. Please send funds emmeidately as we are to needing them now.

Thank you,

Ethipoia

Guess what they did? Ok, so that letter's made up. But the fact that they sent $27 million to a Nigerian scammer isn't.

I can't stop laughing about this. How much you want to bet they're going to be asking for more bailout funds now?

Update: The government may end up owning 40% of Citibank. Coincidence?

One, by U2

Is it getting better

Or do you feel the same

Will it make it easier on you

Now you got someone to blame

You say

One love

One life

When it’s one need

In the night

It’s one love

We get to share it

It leaves you baby

If you don’t care for it

Did I disappoint you? 

Or leave a bad taste in your mouth? 

You act like you never had love

And you want me to go without

Well it’s too late

Tonight

To drag the past out

Into the light

We’re one

But were not the same

We get to carry each other

Carry each other

One

Have you come here for forgiveness

Have you come to raise the dead

Have you come here to play Jesus

To the lepers in your head

Did I ask too much

More than a lot

You gave me nothing

Now it’s all I got

We’re one

But were not the same

We hurt each other

Then we do it again

You say

Love is a temple

Love a higher law

Love is a temple

Love the higher law

You ask me to enter

But then you make me crawl

And I can’t be holding on

To what you got

When all you got is hurt

One love

One blood

One life

You got to do what you should

One life

With each other

Sisters

Brothers

One life

But were not the same

We get to carry each other

Carry each other

One

One.

Yea, Fake Recession!

Bring on the cheap gas!

Video Roundup

Some videos I've been enjoying (many found through fellow bloggers whom I won't credit here):

Nice web, Mr. Crack Spider.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc)

Carl, shut the baby up.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r03IphXh1dI)

Everything is amazing, no one is happy.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbIGbZ6gq_Y)

Chicken Police
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybVb3t560oY)

Logistics Fail!
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7fkAF4nElA)

Why Obama Won

This election was interesting (and sad) to watch as it accurately portrayed many of the problems in the current American political climate. Gone are the days where voters listened to an intellectual and philosophical debate by the candidates and then made a choice to support the one whose ideologies most closely matched their own. No, American politics have devolved to the level of everything else in American culture: mindless activism and entertainment. The reason Obama won is simple, probably simpler than you would like. It’s marketing. Nothing more, nothing less. Allow me to elaborate.

(First, I should say that I know some of you voted for Obama after carefully researching the candidates and choosing the one you believe best represents your interests and what is best for this country. I commend you – you voted honorably and respectfully. This article is about the rest.)

Obama’s marketing was superior. Honestly, I don’t know what McCain did with all his money. I think a marketing student at any university could have designed a campaign with better image and penetration. Let’s start with the basics. Obama’s “brand image” was better crafted. It was younger and more culturally relevant. It’s not that he targeted young voters, it’s that he packaged everything more modernly. His ads fit in with the quality of other ads on TV. His flyers looked like those from fancy, reputable companies. His words were smooth and well thought out. He was on par with the quality of advertising the average American expects. Colors were better, fonts were better, logo was better – notice, his logo didn’t even have his name on it. Pure brand recognition. Am I saying colors and fonts decided the election? No…but yes. You know what it’s like when you go to a website that looks dated or you see a cheesy local car dealer ad. They don’t convey the same level of professionalism and competency. McCain’s stuff wasn’t THAT bad, but it paled to Obama’s. Am I saying Americans are so stupid as to fall for that? Well…we’re more in debt than we’ve ever been before. Clearly quality advertising works.

Speaking of websites, Obama ran a superior online campaign. Almost every website I visited had an Obama ad purchased. It wasn’t until a month before the election that I saw McCain ads. Seriously, John? No online ads? You just can’t do that in today’s world. Furthermore, Obama ran a “50 state” campaign. McCain ran a more traditional “focus on the biggest states I can win” campaign. That strategy works when both candidates are employing it, but once someone breaks, the difference quickly becomes apparent. Obama had large forces working in every state (more on that later), not just the ones that were “important” to win. Deeper market penetration, wider brand recognition.

Then there’s image. We all know Obama is one of the most eloquent politicians around today. It’s refreshing, honestly. He chose a simple mantra for his campaign: “Hope. Change.” It inspired people. He was the younger, fresher candidate. He laughed and joked and made pop culture references. He was relatable. He talked of happy things and warm feelings. McCain is an old, leathery war hero. He used cold, hard terms. He spoke of honor and duty, respect and difficult solutions. Obama smiled and talked about change, an easier life, and a better world. He spoke like a president in a movie – inspiring in the difficult times, even if lacking in real substance. He connected emotionally and made people feel good.

Don’t forget the oversell. Every salesman knows it. Obama promised the world. Delivered. Elect him and there will be peace on earth, good will towards man. The oceans will recede. The planet will heal. He would give healthcare to everyone AND cut taxes. And get us out of Iraq. And energy independence. Make peace with the world, cut the military and openly talk with any foreign leader. Never mind these are all mutually exclusive ideas. He would do it. McCain was too honorable to do this. The “straight talk express” roared on. No, we can’t do everything you want. The government can’t take care of you and solve all your problems. But we will do what we can. How does that compare?

Next up, the feverish disciples in every state. Obama supporters were missionaries. His campaign was run with religious fervor. He was their messiah. Oprah calls him “The One.” They talked to everyone about him. Relentlessly. Yes, people do that in campaigns, but this was unheard of. Women fainted at his rallies. Children sang. The media has long reported on the energy Obama has introduced into politics. Obama ran a viral, grass-roots campaign. He encouraged everyone to give what they could - $5 even – while I’m sure McCain was too busy going after the “big” donors. He made everyone feel they could be part of the solution. People were valued and included. We’re a nation of joiners, and he provided the ultimate cause. People did what they could to help. Here in Portland, there were about 50 different stickers. There were Obama socks. Everyone joined in.

But did it work? Like I said, the media has reported that this campaign had higher involvement than any campaign in history. People were more excited and energized. Around here, there were fireworks after he won. Funny thing is, it didn’t appear to really work. Obama garnered 62.43 million votes. In 2004, Bush won with 62.04 million. More interestingly, in 2004, Kerry got 59.028 million votes, while this time, McCain walked away with 55.386. So what does that mean? Obama only picked up 400,000 more votes than Bush did in 2004. Hardly a revolution in political involvement. In fact, when you total the numbers, 3.24 million FEWER people voted than in 2004. Presumably, most of those were McCain supporters. It also shows that voting was closely tied to party lines, not the broad, universal support for Obama the media reported. This also shows that the Republicans failed to capture their base. By choosing a more “moderate” candidate than Bush, many hard-line supporters didn’t turn out. They thought they could attract more independents, but they alienated the base.

So, yeah, I should probably mention the media. They absolutely fell in love with Obama, for a lot of the reasons I previously laid out. He was the romantic candidate. He was more interesting to cover. And, yeah, most of the media probably agree with his positions. But they gave him a pass. Obama’s campaign worked hard to link McCain to the universally despised Bush, and the media enforced that connection. McCain tried to link Obama to his terrorist friend Ayers, and people responded “huh?” Or his racist, hate-filled pastor. Those are two highly questionable associations, but no one cared. They just cared that “McCain was like Bush.” No one investigated his connection with the fraught-wrought ACORN. Or the fact that his online fundraising is breaking the law. Nope, instead, we’re going to report on Palin’s legitimate firing of her safety commissioner. Yep, she was cleared. But I bet you didn’t hear that story. And who doesn’t know her kid is pregnant out of wedlock? What about Obama’s wife claiming the government can “fix souls?” That sounds newsworthy. No, instead, they went after a normal guy (normal Joe, even) who just wanted to ask Obama why he wanted to spread around everyone’s money. A fair question to a politician, and the guy asking it is demonized. Even some in the media can’t believe what happened to journalistic integrity.

So what do we end up with? Higher quality advertising, a more relevant message, emotionally charged speeches, vial marketing and a media that failed to vet the candidate. That’s why Obama won. And we know so little about him.

I appreciate McCain’s concession speech. It showed character and honor. And he’s right, Obama is our president. We should support him. Just because the left has engaged in a hate-mongering campaign against Bush for the last eight years does not give conservatives the right to return the favor now. He IS our president, and deserves respect, even if you don’t agree with him. 

I do feel bad for him, though. When you sell a world you simply can't deliver (the president isn't as all-powerful as some seem to think), there's no way you can deliver. He made a lot of promises, and people are going to be disappointed. There will be a couple years of blaming Bush for everything he can't deliver on, but then there's going to be no one holding the bag. It's sad, but he set himself up for it. I see the inexperience and youthful ignorance there. McCain knew better than to promise things he couldn't deliver. It cost him the election, but it will end up costing Obama, too...just later.

Here’s the challenge to Christian Obama supporters: you’ve proven you can be emotionally captivated by a message of hope. You’ve shown us that you can believe in something (or someone) enough to go out and relentlessly talk to everyone you know about him. You showed yourself fearless in engaging others in a discussion about politics, writing supporting blogs and articles, and generally doing a good job spreading the message. You showed that politics is not a “personal” decision that you keep to yourself, but something you want others to join you in because you believe it will change the world for the better. But Obama is not your hope. Jesus is. And you’ve showed us all that you don’t have a problem evangelizing for a human leader, so let’s see you take all that energy and now go tell people about the REAL hope they can have in Jesus. You are out of excuses.

In closing, here’s a hilarious video from the Onion. Enjoy.

Go Vote

Go vote. Really. I don’t know what kind of persuading you need. Here in Oregon, they’ve made it about as easy as possible. You get a ballot in the mail and you just have to drop it off by 8pm tonight (too late to mail it back!). Drop-offs are all over the city. You have the amazing privilege of being involved personally in your government – something unheard of in many places around the world. Thousands upon thousands of men have died over the years to preserve that right for you. Exercise it, and thank God for the freedom we have in this country.

But with that privilege comes a responsibility. I would encourage you NOT to vote if you don’t know anything about a candidate or an issue. If you can’t say, “I support XXX for reason(s) YYY,” don’t fill in that bubble. If you simply have an emotional reaction to a person or issue, stop. Take a few minutes and learn some facts, then vote. Remember that you don’t have to vote in every contest; skipping a section does not invalidate your other votes.

Above all else, pray. No matter which way the presidential race goes, this country is (and will continue to be) in a difficult spot. Pray for leaders who seek God and will lead this country back to Him. Rest knowing that He is ultimately in control and His purposes will not be thwarted.

Work Stuff

Wow. So I failed pretty miserably at this “return to blogging” thing, huh? I had good intentions, really! When I have interesting things to write about, life is moving too fast to find the time or energy to blog. And when life is slow, well, there’s nothing interesting to write about. I have new respect for those professional bloggers who faithfully produce for the rest of us. And I’ve been a little…distracted…with most of my free time. 

I haven’t really written anything about work since my trip to Indonesia, and that’s a fairly easy thing for me to ramble on about, so let’s start there. Things at MTI have been good, but we’re certainly feeling pressure from the economy. We’re completely dependent on people’s generosity, and when they’re worried for their own well-being, it’s (understandably) harder to give, especially substantially.  It’s different than for a “normal” company, where we could sell more widgets or raise prices or something. The consumers of our services are not the ones paying for it, and there’s no fixed price. And the people most likely to support us in a big way are also the ones who stood to lose the most in the meltdown. So things have been tight. Budgets have been slashed, and it doesn’t appear to be over. They say markets always jump after an election, so hopefully we’re only a couple weeks away from a major turnaround. Of course it will probably crash hard again once that new president starts enacting Marxist programs, but that’s a post for another day. 

Here are updates on some of the key projects I’m involved in: 

Website Migration
This is the big one right now. We’re moving our website off Convio and to a platform we will be hosting in-house. This is a big deal for a number of reasons. One, bringing it in-house means we’re responsible for keeping it up now. As a major fundraising tool, that’s a little stressful. Two, it means every single page has to be re-created inside our new platform. There are over 500 pages on the current site. That’s a massive undertaking. Three, our webmaster left at the start of this project. Three of us have taken on the migration (one of whom was just named the new webmaster), but that also means we’re changing a lot of things. It’s good because none of us have the personal attachment to certain things on the site, but there’s so much we want to change we have to be careful about taking on too much work. Four, the new site will be a major improvement for our constituents. A major impetus for this change is to improve the donor experience on the web. This new platform (Blackbaud’s NetCommunity) integrates with our CRM (Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge) so we can link more information to the web. This will be a MAJOR plus to our donors. And finally, there are technical challenges. We chose to use another CMS along with NetCommunity, a product named Sitefinity. We found NetCommunity to be lacking in a lot of basic content management areas, and didn’t want to put undue burden on our content managers. So we’re building the bulk of the site in this other tool and all the CRM-integrated functions in NetCommunity. But it means we have multiple products to juggle and manage.

I spend my time serving as a consultant, helping the two women who are actually building the pages in the new products. I deal with technical issues as they come up and provide input on web strategy. It’s a flashback to a previous season of life spent doing web consulting, but a welcome one. Especially when there’s other people handling a lot of the grunt work!

Our target launch is the start of January, meaning this project will be completed in under 6 months. Most migrations of this scale take over a year. So we’re working hard. I’ve been posting over on the Blackbaud User Society’s forum, writing about our migration experience if you’re interested in tracking on a more technical level. http://www.blackbus.org/forum/netcommunity-bbnc/4310-mtis-bbnc-journey.html

Inventory Management System
This was the big time-consumer before the website but has recently taken a back seat. For almost 30 years, inventory has been tracked on paper sheets and Excel spreadsheets. Not a problem for a while, but now that we process ship over $100 million in donated medical supplies annually, keeping track of the inventory has become more challenging. The decision was made to go with a computer-based system and I’ve been working on developing a friendly “face” for that system. The system is now in use in the warehouse, though just in its first (of three) phase. So there will be more work on that once some of these other projects die down.

Smaller Projects (and those looming on the horizon)

SharePoint – Building out an intranet. We have some stuff already up there, but we need a one-stop internal resource for many of the tools we’re creating. This is underway, I just need to spend more time meeting with various user groups to determine what they want/need built out before we launch.

Communications – We have a fancy new phone system in our Bellevue/Redmond/Seattle/wherever-they-are-now office and would really like to get a matching one down here. But now’s not the best time to be asking to make a large purchase, even if it would be really helpful. We’re also playing with some “unified communications” products. Basically a Skype replacement we can run ourselves that integrates with email, the phone system and pretty much all our other internal systems. But we don’t really have the money to move forward much on this front.

Infrastructure – A major technical component of the website project was to ensure we have enough bandwidth to handle our web traffic, especially during a disaster time when we can get a month’s worth of traffic in a day. The best solution we (and our ISP) came up with was to do a wireless shot between our facilities (less than a mile), getting us 10 MB up/down for a lot less than bonding T1s or a fractional T3. We had a lot of problems with it at first, but it seems more stable now. We still need to replace all network switches, but, again, no money.

Branch Offices – Remember that Indonesia trip? The whole point was to develop some sort of solution for our foreign offices to better integrate their systems with ours here and take a load off them. This has come up again as that office is moving to Jakarta and will have access to more resources. Still don’t have a lot of answers, though.

Funding
Things are pretty tense here, though, with the economy being what it is. The kinds of people who generally give us the most money are also the types that lost the most in the market crash. So they have far less to be giving away. I know we’re not the only non-profit feeling the pressure. And most churches are too. I want to write about how important it is to continue giving in the midst of financial insecurity, but maybe that will be another post. Also, consider the risk of electing someone who wants to raise taxes on “the rich.” “That’s not me,” you may be thinking, “and they should pay more since they have more!” Well, socialism aside, think of all the things those “rich” support and make possible. Most of the humanitarian (and missional) work around the world is financed by people with resources. If the government starts taking more of their money away to fund ridiculous mandatory programs at home, you can forget about “saving the world.” I want to write more on this, too.

I really will try to be better about posting. It’s not that I don’t think of things to write, it really comes down to time and mental energy to make it happen. There’s a lot going on right now, and I generally don’t want to be thinking when I’m done with work. So that makes it hard. Anyway, no more excuses!

Let's Try This Again

So…I haven’t posted anything here in about 2.5 months. There are a lot of reasons for this, most of which have something to do with lack of motivation. I’ve been writing online since 2001 (still working on the very manual import process), during which time I’ve taken three or four breaks. Sometimes you just need it. Plus, I see that I’ve now fallen off the link list on a number of other blogs, so I should have a much smaller reader base now. That’s probably good. It’s a little awkward when people at church/work/strangers come up to me and say they’ve been reading. I also have reason to believe there are few NEW stalkers in the mix (welcome), so I should probably provide some fresh fodder for judging me.

You’ll also notice I made some design changes. Still sticking with an out-of-the-box template (lazy), but it’s at least been updated to use some of the cool new Google sidebar thingies. So there’s that.

Anyway, there isn’t anything substantive in this post. It’s just here to let you know I’m going to try now. We’ll see how it goes.

Quiet Revolutions, Josh White

The following is a quote from the jacket of the new Telecast CD "Quiet Revolution." I've never really cared much for their music or lyrics. My mom actually lent me this CD and pointed out the liner notes. So she really gets the credit here. I still don't care for the CD, but this short note of Josh's ties in with a lot that's been going on lately. Those things will eventually become posts here, but, for now, enjoy the note.

"Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We want to change the world. We want to feed the poor. We want to care for the orphan and the widow. But I can’t help but wonder why it is, in the flurry of our countless activities and programs, why the vast majority of Christians still find themselves leading defeated lives. These causes we rally around – which are great things – may get done, and even effectively, but something seems to be missing.

I recognize this in my own life. It’s much easier to serve God than it is to know Him. It’s much easier to imitate than it is to be the genuine article. I am not Jesus and my feeble attempts at white-knuckling up Jacob’s ladder have always ended in absolute frustration. G. K. Chesterton’s words ring so terribly true: “Christianity is not tried and left wanting, it’s found difficult and not tried.”

At some point on the road of Christian effectiveness we have become so effective at changing the surface that the interior can go untouched and frankly, unnoticed. “Lord, I’ll change the world but please don’t change me!”

Is the root of this problem simply that we live with a cross-less Christianity and a Christ-less center?

We need a Quiet Revolution where we come before a holy and perfect God and say, “Lord, crucify in me everything that is unworthy of You. I accept the cross not only as a place where you died once but where I die daily.” Only then will we really live.

We need a quiet Revolution where the saving life of Christ so permeates our being that Jesus Christ Himself is allowed to Be Himself in us right now. And that equilibrium would be restored to our lives that we would once again find our center.

Jesus is not looking for decisions. He is looking for disciples. There is a lot of talk about the kingdom on Earth but pray we would begin to understand that to speak of a kingdom is to speak of a King. We must give the world not a weak imitation of what Jesus did but a tangible expression of what He is actually still doing in and through redeemed, surrendered vessels.

Are we ready to count the cost?"

Quotes

Going through some old notes, I found a list of quotes I've jotted down over the years. A couple that still stand out:

“Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering. The love of God is of a different nature altogether. It does not hate tragedy. It never denies reality. It stands in the very teeth of suffering. The love of God did not protect His own Son. That was the proof of His love – that He gave that Son, that He let Him go to Calvary’s cross, though “legions of angels” might have rescued Him. He will not necessarily protect us – not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into that process.”
- Elisabeth Elliot

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
- Gill Bailie

“Against the flesh, the traitor within, a warrior uses discipline. We have a two-dimensional version of this now, which we call a “quiet time.” But most men have a hard time sustaining any sort of devotional life because it has no vital connection to recovering and protecting their strength; it feels about as important as flossing. But if you saw your life as a great battle and you knew you needed time with God for your very survival, you would do it.”
- John Eldridge

“A man stands tallest when he’s on his knees.”
- D.L. Moody

“He Who spoke still speaks, and He Who came is coming back.”
- Max Lucado

Indo, Day 18: Airborne

There isn't a whole lot newsworthy about today (Saturday). I woke up at 4am to get my transfer tickets for a 6am flight to Tokyo. For all Singapore does right, there are some strange inefficiencies. Like the counter agent who took 10 minutes to check in each person in line. I never waited that long in Indonesia with people who didn't speak English!

The only possible problem that may have arisen is, despite my printed itinerary to the contrary, she insisted her system said I was going to Portland today. "No," I tried to correct her, "I'm going to Seattle today and Portland tomorrow. See the printout?" She just kept repeating that her system said I was going to Portland. I tried to explain how that didn't matter because my fight from Seattle to Portland isn't even on Northwest, so what her system said is kind of irrelevant so long as Alaska has it right. This created no small amount of confusion. She muttered something about rebooking me, and now I can only assume I have no flight to Portland tomorrow. But I guess we'll find out soon enough.

After that flight it was another to Seattle. Basically, I spent the entire day on a plane. No, really, an entire day. See, nothing really to write about.

I arrived in Seattle three hours after I took off (ugh), got to my hotel and tried to sleep. Didn't go so well.

I'm hear for a work event, which I'll write more about tomorrow.

Indo, Day 17: Finality

This was the last day in Indonesia. Most of the day was spent answering final questions and generally hanging around until it was time to go to the airport. It seems kind of strange to be leaving – I half expect to be flying back to Medan in four days, as has been my habit.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for my health. I feel about 80% today and the flight to Singapore was uneventful, which was relieving. I still don’t feel like eating anything, but I should be able to find some “neutral” food here.

Singapore crashed on me like a wave. I remember it being nice, but now it appears opulent. My room in the transit hotel feels fit for royalty. Things are clean, the faucets produce a full stream of (potable) water, and there’s even HOT water! It’s quiet and smoke-free. I have been wondering what the transition would be like. I know I was only gone for 2.5 weeks, but I adjust to new places very rapidly. Going from electricity and water being luxuries to necessities is quite a jump.

But I can reflect on that later. I have to hit up the transit desk in four hours, so I better sleep.

Indo, Day 16: Sickly

Pray for me. I managed to get sick the day before I leave. I can’t complain, though: it’s been over two years since this has happened to me. It makes work hard, but I’m ok powering through that. Spending 20+ hours on a plane, however, will be slightly more…challenging…if the…explosive…nature of this affliction doesn’t get toned down a couple notches.

I think it was some undercooked meat for dinner last night.

The nausea-inducing anti-malarial meds don’t help.

I leave Friday at 8:30pm (GMT+7, 6:30am GMT-7).

(For Joe: it feels like everything on my insides wants to be on my outsides.)

Indo, Day 15: Misc

There’s not a whole lot to say about today. I thought about skipping, but that sort of defeats the purpose. In the morning, I said goodbye to the Sigli/BA staff and (once again) headed to the airport. This time I met an enthusiastic local who was learning English and really wanted to practice with me (though he didn’t introduce himself that way) and a weathered British chap who seemed happy to be understood for a change. For someone who has been here a few times, he didn’t quite seem to get how it works. The flight was smooth and uneventful and soon I was back in Medan.

I’ll be here for the next two days before I start the long journey back home. Since I’ll be in one place for more than a day, I took the opportunity to do a little more sink laundry and prep for the layovers. I was also able to charge my camera battery, though I doubt there will be much to take pictures of before I leave. It’s amazing how quickly time has passed. It feels like a year ago I was in Portland, and I’ve almost forgotten about my time in Singapore and Tokyo. I don’t know if it is the constant moving around or the general intensity of my time here, but it feels like I’ve been here much longer than I have. Maybe I’m just adjusting well.

For lunch, most of the office went out to pizza…at a Pizza Hut. I can’t remember the last time I had their pizza, and this restaurant was WAY nicer than any Pizza Hut I’ve seen in the US. I joked around about not seeing a rice pizza anywhere. It was strange eating something without it, let alone semi-American. Of course the toppings were totally unique, but it still tasted a little like good old American pizza. It’s a fun group here…when I understand what they’re saying.

Everywhere I’ve gone, at least one person has asked me about the upcoming presidential election. They want to know who I think will win, Hillary or Obama. I didn’t realize that race had garnered so much international attention yet; it’s only the primaries! Of course it was hopeless to try explaining that we’re not even to the actual race yet, this is just intra-party bickering. (My money was always on Obama, since I can do math and see that Hillary can’t catch him on delegates. Other people finally started to see that and now he’s been declared the presumptive nominee.) No one seemed to have any questions about McCain. Bad sign for him, I guess. Our political system is crazy. Don’t believe me? Try explaining it to a foreigner.

It’s nice to be staying in a room devoid of insects.

Like I said, not a whole lot going on. Pretty much a transit day.

Indo, Day 14: Banda

This morning I finished up working in the Sigli office and prepared to head back to Banda Ache for my morning flight. Unlike Nias, when given the opportunity to ask me any technical questions or relate problems, the staff had nothing to say. Things run extremely well there. So we actually got out of town on time.

The anti-malaria meds made me sick again this morning. First time I’ve thrown up, though. Too bad I still have four and a half weeks on them. They really suck. Maybe I should take my chances with the malaria. I only have half a dozen or so bites – how many could be malarial?

The drive back to town was beautiful (and not raining this time), but I didn’t take any pictures to save my battery for Banda. So stupid of me to leave my charger in Medan! We got to the staff house, dumped our stuff, then Flora (the Sigli finance manager), the drive and I set out to see some of the relevant sites.

Our first stop was the beach that marks “ground zero” for the tsunami. It’s a really nice coastline that reminds me of Oregon. Much rockier than Nias or Sigli. Actually waves. It was nice. We walked along for a while and talked about the wave. Fifty feet! And the coastline was 1km farther out before the tsunami than it is now. You can still walk through a dirt plane made up of rubble that once was worker housing for the nearby cement factory. 150,000 people died here.

After the beach, we went and saw the two boats that made it over 5km inland and are stuck on top of houses. They’re too big to move, so they’ve become semi-permanent monuments. None of the pictures are great because I started using my cell phone camera which is markedly poorer.

From there we went to the mosque. This is the city were Islam first came to Asia, and they’re proud of their mosque. It’s the largest in the country, and has got to be right at the top of the list for Asia. Flora donned traditional garb to be allowed inside the complex. I’ve never received so many dirty looks in my life. A western man walking with a local in traditional clothing. Not a welcome sight. We walked around trying to take pictures, but then my battery finally died. Flora made a joke that maybe we should walk around seven times and the walls would fall down. It’s good to see Biblical humor transcend cultures.

We talked a little about being a Christian operating in a Muslim world. They get that we’re Christian, and I think they’re becoming ok with it. In Sigli they have to crop our logo to make the cross look more like a plus or just use the words. I don’t think anyone here is militant, and they want (need) our help, but apparently we still have to make some concessions. I don’t think that’s very fair.

I had previously asked if anyone knew where I could find a machete. I saw some guys using one in the bush, and thought it would be a sweet souvenir. “Machete” proved to be a difficult word to explain and translate, and they ended up taking me to a place with traditional ceremonial knives. It’s pretty close, but utterly non-functional. Not quite what I had in mind, but it still looks cool.

Dinner was at a little coffee house near the staff house. It’s too bad I don’t drink coffee, being as this is where it comes from and all. I’ve heard about the special blend here…apparently many coffee houses also run drugs, and sometimes the coffee and marijuana get a little, well, blended. This didn’t seem like that sort of establishment. The food was the highest quality I’ve had yet. Not necessarily the best tasting, but the most western-like in quality. What I mean is, well, for starters, the meat wasn’t raised on the premises. And it was actually plump, not forcing you to scrape what you can find off the bone. Like it was bred to be eaten. And served boneless! Ha! I felt spoiled not having to work at my food.

Afterward, Flora decided we would get back to the house via Death Taxi. If you remember from one of my first posts on this trip, most taxis here are motorcycle sidecars. But not like sidecars we have in the US that are enclosed. No, these are pretty much a seat and a floor with a bar on the side and in front. Very open air. If you’ll also remember how I characterized “driving” here (going/doing whatever the crap you want and using the horn to keep you alive), you’ll understand the Death Taxi moniker.

It was fun, though. We took a loop around the city to see some of it at night. The air (I almost called it fresh) felt great and relatively cool. And there were only a couple close calls (red light? What’s that mean?). I really regret leaving my charger in Medan as I could have gotten some great pictures.

All in all, a fun day, and fairly touristy at that. I wasn’t expecting to be shown around quite this much, but it was kinda nice. Tomorrow morning I head back to Medan (pray the airport doesn’t shut down again) for the final leg of this trip.