The time is near ...

OK, a short post. It's 12.38pm in the Pacific Northwest and I'm getting ready to go to the airport with Rivjuando and Soule Sista, both of whom I'm about to lavish with gifts because, in short, they're such good people. The task of packing my bags is complete and I'm going to adopt a wait-and-see approach when I arrive at Portland International later this afternoon for a flight to San Francisco. Luckily, I have big shoulders and Cousin Slugg to meet me there.

The last few days in and around Portland have been very fruitful. I've caught up with old friends like G.I. Vic. I also renewed acquaintances with LZ from my old school and some of the guys from the Rotary Club that hosted me for my youth exchange all those years ago. I also met some cool new people, including the Polish Gypsy of Corvallis. I christened him the Beaver Brewer because he lives near Oregon State University and, like me, he prefers to make his own beer. His chronicles are highly recommended - you must trust me on that. I wanted to link his blog to my site a little bit earlier, but considering the section is called "I Like These People (And Their Blogs)", such moves may have been premature. And a shout out to Yvonne from Victoria who is putting the finishing touches to her London blog. I'm still waiting for your address, however - there's no point publicising you have a blog if you don't have an address! Maybe you're just shy? But thanks for saying I inspired you to "being able to ramble on". I tend to do a bit of that.