Our new Gadgets

Good morning all! It's a beautiful day out here in Hutchinson, Minnesota and I am on day 3 of my time here. I am really enjoying it. Thanks to all of you have tried to get in touch with me about getting together. I haven't forgotten about you, I really just needed to get on the ground and reclaim my sanity. I have had beautiful weather and while I have been working on a few logistical items, it is a huge relief to just have some time to relax with family. I'm excited for Brian to arrive this weekend and for our trip to the State Fair!!

Since I last wrote, we have a couple of new gadgets in our apartment, which I'm very excited about. The first unique gadget that I have to share with you is the Magic Jack:

This little device can travel with us anywhere in the world. All we have to do is plug it into a USB port and we can receive phone calls on our very own Minnesota number. We just plug a regular cordless phone into the other end of it and it works like a normal phone line. It's pretty cool. We've been testing it out and the call quality is fantastic. If we have the computer off or closed, the phone will go to voicemail, which we can check either on the phone or through email. It's pretty amazing. We'll be distributing the number privately to those who are interested.

The second device, as many of you may have guessed, is our GPS device. We have heard that this is a really great tool the first couple of weeks in Venezuela. It allows you to record locations you have been to that you may want to visit on your own in the future so you can find your way there without always having to have someone familiar with the neighborhood tag along.

Outside of our new gadgets, we have been receiving reports about shortages. The latest reports are showing shortages of sugar, coffee, rice and toilet paper. Aside from the obvious necessity of toilet paper, any of you who know us well know that the item that most concerns us from that list is coffee. I was shocked to hear about the coffee shortage, but apparently it relates to strained trade relations with Colombia in recent weeks. I guess we'll be stocking up on some Archer Farms Breakfast Blend when we leave and hoping for care packages with coffee in them!!!

Looking forward to seeing many of you on this trip and during our October visit.