I found a few very cool websites devoted to weblogs… one in particular that I thought was clear, concise, with refreshing content was photoblogs.com. It’s nice to stray from the traditional “text” weblog into some that offer more of a photographic intention. I admired the entire list from welldesignedweblogs.com – they provide inspiration for me to finish my own site – thejavajive.com – yet the list makes me realize how much I’d like to improve this blog.

I’ve been asked to show more photos of myself – how do I do that without making this seem cheesy? I’ll figure out something. It’s not that I don’t have photos of myself, but rather I’m confused on how to incorporate them within this site.

On another note – for the 20 months that I’ve lived in Indonesia, I’ve never been able to access the Internet from my home (only at work) – I have a satellite phone and a handphone – neither from which can I connect to the net. Finally I have the chance to use cable internet through the local Cablevision company. Here’s the catch – it’s only running at 64kb/sec. When I was in the States I had a 768 kb/sec DSL line for less than I’m paying here! Oh well, I’m still going to hook it up – hopefully enabling me to update java jive more often and stay “in touch” with the world a bit better.

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Let’s take a look at the lastest “safety issues” in Indonesia.

* There’s been a breakout of Dengue Fever in Indonesia with close to 200 people having already succumbed to its grasp.

* Two earthquakes within a month have proven lethal – one near Bali, another on Sumatra.

* The Avian flu (bird flu) is still spreading throughout Southeast Asia, including Indonesia.

* There has been terrible flooding in Java and Jakarta recently from the drenching rainy season – fortunately my area is still relatively safe.

* Elections for a new Indonesian President occur in April – riots, demonstrations, and turmoil are likely.

Other than that – life is good.

Actually – even with all this crap I still would rather be here than in three feet of snow in Michigan! I thought by now I’d be tired of the tropical climate, but I’m quite accustomed to it now.

I finally got back into the gym after a month of not going – it feels so good to be sore again from lifting. I thought for sure my strength would be down, but actually things were fine. My fitness club is one of the amazing benefits of living here – and something that will be hard to leave once I move on.