2002 was a great year, and we want to thank those who've sent us cards and letters.  We both still teach school, she doing Grade 4 and me doing science and wood shop for four schools of grade 7 and 8 students (about 500 of them, in total), in my centre just across the playground from her school.  We enjoy our jobs, but in case mine comes unexpectedly to a close because of evaporated funding, which seems to be an ever-present threat from year to year, I've also taken Part One of my Principal's qualifications.  I will probably finish Part Two by July.  This keeps me pretty busy with classes, readings and assignments.

    We had wonderful high points in between the months of work and study.  On the July 1st weekend we sailed down to the National Yacht Club for a C&C Regatta.  We brought home a trophy for a "cruising" competition.  I was smart enough not to enter in the racing category!  Our boat was a C&C Redline called "Pieces of Eight", which is the second photo on this page.  The photo was taken by a fellow competitor out on the water.

  We went to Sosua, in the Dominican Republic, for a week.  Our resort was on the edge of the reef cliffs, with jacuzzis cut right out of the reef rock to sit in while looking out over the ocean.  It was a great view from the pools.

    I did eight scuba dives.  Deb did three.  Only a few of the dives were really exciting.  One was a to the wreck of a cargo ship called the Zingara at 118'.  It was covered in coral and sponges, with schools of fish all around.  The water was clear and the light was surprisingly great for that depth, although the current was fierce that day.  The operator of the boat lost a tank from the boat and the dive master had to recover it, with some significant difficulty and risk of getting the bends.

    The Dominicans were really lovely people, and we enjoyed walking through the little town or along the row of 200 vendor stalls on the public beach.  We came home with some hand-painted T-shirts and some "extra-viejo" (extra old) Brugal rum.  It was delicious, just like a liqueur.

        Here's a boy selling hard-boiled eggs along the beach, complete with salt shaker and a warm smile.

    As we were leaving, the current President of the country, Hipólito Mejía, dropped into our resort for an unexpected visit.  We were sitting on a bench by the front entrance with our luggage, and no-one told us to move, or what was going to happen.  Dozens of gov't vehicles and all different kinds of police and secret service agents - the Presidential Guard, as it turned out - swarmed the entrance, but still no-one spoke to us.  Finally a series of vehicles arrived and guys jumped out and ran into the lobby.  Then a big SUV stopped and a guy stepped out.  He saw us, smiled, and marched straight over to shake my hand and give Deborah a kiss on the cheek, while cameras flashed and all the security guys stared at us.  I had to stumble to my feet when he offered his hand, since everyone else had been standing for his arrival and I had stubbornly kept sitting, writing notes in my diary. I thought he'd just breeze right past us, and I didn't consider the protocol of standing up out of respect when a head of state comes by.  Part of me was reluctant to show respect, because he is, by many accounts, a rascal.  I had been told enough about his political record over the last two years to be a little uncertain as to whether I really wanted to shake the man's hand. He asked where we were from, and told us that his daughters studied in Montreal.  He wished us well, and then continued into the building.  Bizarre. 

    The DR's economy is in tatters, and many building projects are stymied.  Each president can only serve for four years, and can't be re-elected.  The previous guy had been amazing.  He had disbanded the military and put the money into education and infrastructure, taxed the wealthy white rural population, and worked to stamp out corruption.  The new guy is a classic populist politician who appealed to the voters with his down-homey style.  He promised them the moon even though the few voters who could do the math saw that there was no way he could deliver.  For the past two years corruption has returned full bore, starting right at the top.  He took out a 3.5 billion dollar world bank loan at 9%, and parked it in a swiss bank account at 2%.  When people asked him what the money was to be used for, he would say, "don't worry, it's all part of my plan, you'll see..."  He's only got four years to make sure he and his buddies get even for being taxed under the previous guy - four years to make out like bandits, and he's making the most of it.

     We took out a small sailboat at the resort, something like a Sunfish.  It was supposed to be airtight, but it took on water, perhaps through the seam between deck and hull, but definitely also through two rivet holes in the cockpit that had never been blocked.  After about half an hour of sailing, we noticed that the stern was dropping, and tried to sail back to shore, but the inner hull was full of water by then and we couldn't point properly.  When we tried to tack, it went right over.  If it had been empty between the hulls, we could have turtled it and climbed back aboard, which we've trained to do, but since it was waterlogged it just sloshed over and rolled the boat again instead of allowing it to stay upright.  We sat on the upside down hull and waved our arms at the shore. Fortunately the resort people had binoculars, and came out for us in a rescue boat.  Before they even started to help us out, they told us we'd have to pay $25 for the "rescue".  I resisted the temptation to tell them to just leave us there for someone else to "rescue", and agreed.  When we got into the beach and they pulled it up, they pulled the drain plug and water poured out of it like Niagara Falls from inside the hull. We reneged on our promise to pay for the rescue under duress.  They'd sent us out in an unsafe boat, and were completely at fault.  Fortunately, they didn't apply a charge to our bill.  I suspect they try to pull that one on many of their customers, and just hope they'll volunteer to pay up on the spot in cash, which would be a way to generate "tips".   

    It must be said once again, however, that in general the resort was very good for a three star.  The food was great, and we like the Dominican people.

    The weekend after we returned, we spent twelve hours in the emergency room hallway at Scarborough General while I passed sand out of my kidney.  They got Demerol into me just as I was about to pass out from trembling and sweating and gritting my teeth, after the pain had built up over two hours to a level that put me, as the Australians describe it, "around the twist".  They could not administer a pain killer until a doctor finally arrived to approve it.  I had woken up at 3 a.m., which I've learned is typical of this kind of an attack (it's my first, but probably not my last), and Deb took me to the hospital at around 5 when I finally admitted there was no way it was just a gas pain.  She was amazingly devoted, stayed at my stretcher all day and helped me to deal with it, get to the bathroom, etc.  She didn't get much sleep.  I got a bit of shut-eye after being thoroughly stoned on Demerol at the moment of my final deepest, writhing pain - what an immediate relief that was!  I've got some Endocet to carry around with me, in case I'm out on the lake, or somewhere equally inconvenient, when it happens again.  The urologist has told me I ought to drink beer! It's a diuretic, you see.

    We spent a week pony-sitting at Richard and Kim's farm.  Kim has seventeen lovely Thoroughbred horses and Welsh ponies, and lots of lovely photos of them on her own website, http://www.pendragonfarm.com/

    We flew to Edmonton for Thanksgiving weekend, more or less to compel my family to throw me a 50th birthday party.  They rose to the occasion, and I had a great party.  My Dad enlarged a lifetime of photos and created this unforgettable display:

    When we got home to Scarborough, I had another surprise party that Deborah had arranged for me at the Yacht Club, but I accidentally foiled her surprise.  I went down to the boat to meet someone, and bumped into her down there as she was setting up.  She was furious.  But the party was great fun, and a few weeks later we threw another one for Sol's 80th birthday.

    We drove to northern Florida with our Boler trailer over the Christmas break.  We took Maxie with us. It took four days of driving to enjoy seven days in Florida.  I drove sixteen hours on the final day, returning home.  We also drove around a lot while there, finding out where everything was that we wanted to see and do.  We knocked around Gilchrist County and neighbouring counties.  We had a great visit with Ed and Virginia LeMaster in Kentucky on the way down.  My main objective was to swim with manatees, which we accomplished at Homosassa Springs.

    Yesterday was the twentieth anniversary of the TCP-IP internet as we know and use it, that replaced the original military version.  It was launched on January 1st, 1983.  That makes it all the more fitting to be able to create and share this diary entry, which allows me to include photos and links so that you can see some of what we've experienced.

    Wishing you all a Happy New Year and sending you all our love,

    Steve and Deborah Gilchrist