Mexico City, Mexico

Just got back from another trip. This time my brother and I went to Mexico City, Mexico for a show he was doing for this travel company. In attendance were some of the CEOs (and wives) of some of the biggest companies in Mexico including Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Bayer, and many others. Also, the Mexican Ambassador and his wife were there. The picture you see is of a Mercedes SL500 Gullwing. I believe it's about a 1955. It's the most beautiful car I've ever seen up close! This car looked like it had never been driven! The lifted it up the side of the hotel to the 4th floor (where Les's show was) and set up the display just outside the entrance to the room. The theme of the night was "Back to the Classics".

I love traveling, especially outside of the United States. It really gives me some perspective, you know? I love seeing how different other people live outside of the U.S. Especially in third world countries like Mexico and some of the islands I've visited, you notice how poor many people in this world are. It makes you really appreciate how blessed you are to have been born here. If my parents would have stayed in Holland or even Indonesia (when they were young), my life would have been much different.

Probably the thing that sticks out the most about my trip is how many people there are in Mexico City. Our driver, Jonathan, told us that 22 million people live there. By contrast, I believe the entire metropolitan KC area is about 1.5 million. For that reason, unemployment is very high. Also, Les and I both had terrible headaches while we were there, and we feel like it must have been the pollution. The air in parts of the city was as brown as if there were a dust storm. I mean it was dark! Darker than even I've ever seen in Los Angeles or Denver.

This is a picture of what I witnessed the first day in Mexico City. There were hundreds of naked men with signs strapped around there waist and in there hands, protesting some senator or government official who they say has taken away all their land.

The Presidential Palace

Some kind of Center for the Arts

A beautiful, old church

Now, I'm off to my sister Christel's wedding in Minneapolis, Minnesota! I can't believe she's getting married! Paul is such a nice guy. They're both very lucky to have each other!

Peace.

Alex

Atlanta Pics

I just got the pictures back from my Atlanta trip. Here they are! Those with flowers are from the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Then the Coke tour, CNN logo at

The Omni Hotel at CNN Tower, The High Museum of Art, and the Awards Banquet.

New Car!

Oh yeah...I bought a new car the day before I left for Atlanta! It's a Silver 2005 Mazda 6S, and I love it! Marquix thinks it's way too cool for a guy like me! What do you think?

Triple Crown in Atlanta

Hello again! I just returned from 4 days and 3 nights in beautiful Atlanta, Georgia. I forgot how many trees there are and how beautiful the south is! As we were driving through the city towards the hotel, I kept commenting to Angelina how beautiful all the trees were in the city. I remember going to Charleston, South Carolina and flying over Savanna, Georgia and thinking how beautiful the south was when I was working for Kansas Wesleyan back in the 90s. I'd live down there if I didn't have such an aversion to humidity.

We left Thursday morning from the Salina Airport (my first time!) on a small jet (my first time!) and it was such a nice, short flight to Kansas City! Actually, both the flights to and from Atlanta were excellent. We had great weather and nice flying conditions. I don't care much for flying anymore, but on this trip the flights couldn't have been better! Our luggage even arrived with the plane both times even though we changed airlines in Kansas City!

I tell you...Aflac spent a wad of money on this trip for all of us! I won the trip by being a Triple Crown winner. The Triple Crown is an exclusive award that first-year agents can win if they meet all the sales criteria. Everything on the trip was paid for by Aflac, including travel accommodations for two, hotel for three nights at The Omni Hotel at CNN Center (4 diamond rated), group tours for all on Saturday, and three meals a day along with entertainment and dancing each night. I estimate that there were a couple hundred agents who won the trip from all over the U.S., and they all brought a guest.

Some of the highlights of the trip include the day Angelina and I just walked around for awhile, then took a train through the city. The weather was a perfect 70 something and cloudy with very little humidity. Perfect conditions for a stroll through Atlanta! We went to the Lennox Mall, The Underground (which is an underground mall and party district), and all around downtown. We also took a tour of the High Museum of Art and Atlanta Botanical Garden along with the Coca-Cola Museum tour where we got to see how Coke is bottled, view old Coke memorabilia and commercials, and even taste test various drinks Coke sells throughout the world. Our hotel was right downtown across from Centennial Park and next to Phillips Arena. The 1996 Olympics were held in facilities all over this area. In fact, Centennial Park is where they had that bomb scare and the security guard Richard Jewell was falsely accused. It really was a beautiful area! Oh...we also got to watch a performance by the vocal group Toxic Audio. They did a Take 6 type of vocal performance where they do all the sounds of a band without using any instruments...only the human voice and body. They were extremely talented and even added a lot of humor.

We did so much in a few days, it's hard to remember everything. Needless to say, we missed our kids a lot, but had a very nice trip and spent some good, quality time together. All couples need to do that at times.

Peace.

Alex

Georgia On My Mind

Well...I'm off to Georgia on Thursday. I won an all-expense paid trip from Aflac by winning the Triple Crown and get to take my girlfriend, Angelina, with me. I hope she can put up with me for 4 days! It's supposed to be a pretty cool trip. They fly us from Salina which will be a new experience for me. I've flown all over the place, but never from my hometown airport on one of those small jets. We are staying at the Omni CNN Towers Hotel in Atlanta. One day we will be taking a tour of the Aflac Headquarters in Columbus and one evening we have a nice formal event where they recognize the award winners and have entertainment and such. The rest of the time is on our own. I really need a vacation too. I'll take some pictures and post them on my blog next week.

Peace.

Alex