well, the cat's out of the bag...the news is out and now I can breathe.

Well, I'm back! This proved to be a great trip. It was good to see old friends and great to make some new ones. I met a really cool couple while I was there. Viktor and Tanya are youth pastors at a church in St. Petersburg. I look forward to spending some more time with them in the future. Tanya was one of our interpretors. I met Oksana and Igor at the discipleship conference we were having in Gatchina. They are youth leaders from the Ukraine and are in St. Petersburg now.

Two days before I leave for Russia and what happens...my camera gets dropped. I was like no big deal, it wasn't dropped hard. It did however jam the lens motor making it inoperable. AAAAHHHH! So I take it to Click to get it repaired. Their response: We have to send it out and Kodak usually takes about 10 weeks for repairs...oh yeah, and it'll cost about $150. I was like what!?

I hate to buy from stores but I'm leaving tomorrow and couldn't stand the thought of going without a camera. So...I broke down and bought a new camera. I looked and looked for one that was comparable to my Z700 at about the same price I paid.


I decided to go with the Kodak Z650. It's actually a better camera than my Z700. I'm just not happy about having to spend the money on another camera. Oh well, I'm digging the extra features that this one has. So I'm off tomorrow with a camera in hand...

I'm off to Russia on Tuesday. I'm stoked about making it back there. I miss my friends. Then I found out that my friend Denis will be here in the states next month...Rock on! The cool thing is that I will be able to make it to Sosnovy Bor for a couple of days. Man, I miss those kids. They're so cool.

This trip will be a little different than the last couple of trips I've taken. I will pretty much be on my own. We are doing a conference in St. Petersburg but I am going to Sosnovy Bor by myself. That's cool by me but it will be a bit different. I'm just glad to make it back again.

I asked my friend Leosha if he needed anything and his reply was: drumsticks...and more hardcore music. I got him hooked on Demon Hunter and Staple the last time I was there.

So yeah, this will be a good trip and I'm really looking forward to it.

It's like a blizzard out...I'm listening to Norah Jones...I can close my eyes and be swept back to the Cayman Islands...good times.

I'm sorry it's taken so long to post my opinion about the last entry. I'm bad about posting regularly.

I look at it this way: I could care less. Yep, I know that might throw some of you into hysteria. But this is my opinion. Some people couldn't handle the truth if they were sedated to the point of being lethargic. They would freak out and start wide spread panic. "The Russians are going to nuke us! Quick, let's pillage and plunder before we fry!"

At the time it was a race between Russia and America to see who could make it to the moon first. Whoever made it first would be considered to have the upper hand in the nuclear arms race.

It brings to mind a conversation by agent J and agent K in the movie Men In Black "Why the big secret? People are smart, they can handle it." Agent K's response: "A *person* is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."

Do I believe in conspiracies? I would have to say yes. Do I agree with all of them? NO. Nor do I think they are all right. Do I believe that some are necessary to preserve our way of life in America? You betcha. If Some people knew about what went on in our government to keep them safe and secure, they would go all "Matrix" on us and talk about how it's better to be informed and know everything than to live life in an illusion. Some people should just leave the white rabbit alone and take the blue pill.

Try to take away my rights to protect my family and my country, we have a problem. Try to protect me from the idiots in our country that would panic by keeping them in the dark or making them think we still have the upper hand...I'll support the fact we went to the moon, whether it was 250,000 miles away in space or 2200 miles away on a Hollywood movie lot.