Mike: How goes it? Is life starting to settle down a bit more with your new job? Any more families asking you to pose with their kids for a quick photo? (Did I send you a copy of the one I snagged of you on the Great Wall? If not, let me know.)

I’ve been on the east coast for a few days and get to finally see my wife and son tomorrow. They arrive in Boston after taking a short detour to attend a funeral. My boy heeded my wishes and didn’t start walking until after I returned from China. He’s been walking like a champ now and loves getting around on his own to play and check things out.

As an aside, I’ve been thinking a lot about the conversation you, Azad, Dierdre and I had that night on the boat. Some of the things that were touched on have helped put recent events in my life (man, I’m being a bit vague, eh?) in perspective. I don’t want to say that I’ve grown more wise (don’t we lose wisdom as we age?) but I do feel quite a bit more certain about the things that are important to me and my family. Life is too short to not be packed to the brim with joy.

Paul: I think you are back from your trip to New York now, right? If so, how was it? Did you get to walk around a lot and take everything in? Now that I think about it, I am pretty sure you were still there on Friday, right? I circled around the city (west and then pretty far north) to avoid traffic, but may have been in the state at the same time as you. I was pretty exhausted from the trip, doing it in less than half the time I had intended to make it in, so I probably would have been pretty poor company. Regardless, now I’m bummed that I may have missed you. I would have loved to hit up a pub and enjoy a Guinness with you (and then perhaps a round of Hefeweizen to satiate you as well). I’d love to hear about your experience when you have a chance.

I think James Lee mentioned something about a similar thing happening in Myanmar in the late 80’s as you referenced in Thailand, though he may have been talking about Thailand as well. I need to work on my short-term memory.

On another note, I hear Chile has a very substantial wine industry. Perhaps you, JingWei, Jessica and I can swing a Markstrat reunion down there?