Still in Bali

I know that I said that I would write more about family today (and maybe I will), but the sunsets have been so spectacular lately, in addition to the weather. I do the sundowners thing every sunset these days. It's just so wonderful that I can't let it go by. I make an effort to be at home to see the sun set every afternoon. There's a scene in an 80s movie that I really liked about just thing. The movie is about Chicago as well which makes it even better. Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines are Chicago cops that want to retire and run a bar in Florida, and when they get there they're wandering around the pier and everybody is staring up at the sky and they ask what they're doing and the reply is watching the sunset. Yeah, precisely why I want to retire.

I just read some articles on the cnn online site about retirement for my generation, and I sure as hell don't want to work until I'm 75. The goal is get out before they carry me out. Jim Morrison said it as well as anybody – trade your time for a handful of dimes.

OK some family stuff. The photo is three of my children and two of my nieces and a cousin. The only one really smiling is daughter #2 who loves photos and attention and is the outgoing and troublesome child of the group. My wife and daughter #1 were out in Sumbawa getting my daughter's graduation certificate so she could register for high school here, and I was the cook and responsible adult so we went shopping. Since the car was in the south of the island, and I wouldn't let the unlicensed teens drive the motorbikes, we took a bemo (small public transportation), It was a lot of fun for everyone except for my son who found it somewhat embarrassing to be in a public bemo. The younger kids have never heard the stories about my somewhat tenuous financial situation when I was younger. So they got to hear it today. Ahh, getting old.