The Power of a Penny

On November 8^th a very important vote will take place in Glynn County that I want to make sure you know about.  Registered voters in Glynn County will have an opportunity on November 8^th to vote on a resolution for SPLOST 6.  On our website is a list of projects that would be funded if SPLOST 6 is approved.  If the referendum is approved it will be a continuation of a one cent sales tax that has been in existence for a long time.  It would not be a new tax.

For over 20 years the one penny sales tax that is collected through SPLOST has provided new buildings, park facilities and public safety equipment.  Every resident in Glynn County has benefited from revenues from SPLOST and every county employee has also benefited through the projects that have been completed.  The beautiful buildings that most county employees work in today were provided by SPLOST.  The North Glynn Recreation Complex was built using SPLOST revenues and the majority of the improvements in the village were made with SPLOST revenues.  The Casino, the Pier, the Fun Zone and Neptune Park were all paid for through SPLOST dollars.  We have an outstanding Police department, Fire & EMS Department and Sheriff’s Office.  The equipment they use to serve all of us in Glynn County has been paid for through SPLOST dollars.  

Glynn County is known for outstanding services and facilities that have been provided through SPLOST.  One of the reasons that over two million people visit here each year is because of the improvements that have been made using SPLOST dollars that have made our community so attractive.  I could continue listing all of the awesome projects that have been completed using SPLOST, but I do not want to write a novel.  If you are interested in learning more about SPLOST 4 and 5 you can find a list of those projects on the county web site. There is also a helpful fact sheet that highlights the important information you should know about the upcoming SPLOST.

St. Simons Island Casino- Renovated using SPLOST 4 funds

The 2011 SPLOST will allow the county to move forward with making improvements to county facilities, updating our 911 center with new equipment, improving drainage throughout the county, providing new walking trails, providing replacement public safety equipment and the list goes on.  SPLOST 6 also includes funds to replace existing water and sewer infrastructure, making improvements at both airports and additions at Jekyll Island and some important projects for the City of Brunswick.

It is the role of county government to provide education about SPLOST, but state law does not allow county government to promote the passage of SPLOST.  My goal with this post is to provide you with information regarding the upcoming referendum.  If you have any questions or need additional information, please call me or the Public Information Office at 912-554-7400.

Progress with Meeting Goals

In January 2011, three new county commissioners for Glynn County took office.  They joined four existing commissioners of which one had served 14 years as a commissioner and three had served as commissioner for two years.  In February 2011, this group of commissioners met to develop a vision for Glynn County and goals for the upcoming year.  At that time they agreed to meet again in six months.  The meeting in February went very well and everyone left with a spirit of cooperation and a joint plan on moving forward.  

As Administrator, after four to five months of when the Commission meets I start to get nervous in terms of how we are doing on their list of goals.  We all tend to get busy with day to day issues that we often lose sight of our main goals.  That can happen very easily, especially this year since we have had so much going on.  I am happy to report that I breathed a sigh of relief when I checked the list about 45 days ago to see that great progress had been made on completing the goals that the Board had established in February.  This was very important for a lot of reasons, but especially since the Board was getting ready to have their six month follow-up meeting.  I do not like to be in trouble with those I work for so I was especially glad that significant progress had been made  J.  I certainly am aware of goals that are worked on throughout the year, but I only look at them as a whole every three to four months.

The Board did in fact meet for a six month follow-up on Thursday, August 11^th.  The meeting was facilitated by Gordon Maner who is with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia.  Gordon does a great job leading discussion and getting commitments on goals.  Gordon led the discussion in February and it was good to have him lead again.  Gordon made several comments that it was very obvious to him that the Board had made a lot of progress since February.  

Here are some of the things that were discussed:

• Continue to improve communication between Commissioners and with executive staff
• Remain focused on the horizon and do not get lost in the weeds
• Continue to focus on our legacy as a Board
• Directed staff to develop executive summaries for long reports   ( not a bad idea, especially if you are the one doing the reading)
• Continue to develop positive press releases for Glynn County
• Staff to develop a Capital Improvement Plan
• Develop a plan to educate the public about the referendum in November for SPLOST 6
• With available revenue restore employee benefits that were cut three years ago (only a few benefits fall into this category) next fiscal year
• Continue to seek ways to streamline positions
• Continue to seek new technology to make government more efficient
• Look for ways to “Right Size” government
• Press forward with the detention Center project
• Last, but not least, continue to move forward with the Strategic Plan

Overall the meeting went very well and it provided the Board an opportunity to check the pulse of where they have been and where they are going.  The Board is one of the best that I have worked with in my 29 years of local government service and the citizens of Glynn County are fortunate to have a group of individuals who have a vision and a game plan!  Staff will move forward with these goals set by the Board and the Board agreed to meet for a follow-up in another six months.  This time I think I will check the main list every month, which will be good for my health J  I hope that throughout Georgia every county administrator/manager is proud of their county, but I will have to say that there is a tremendous amount of awesome things to be proud of here in Paradise!  

Glynn County Just Keeps Getting Better

Neptune Park Fun Zone Pool on St. Simons Island, GA

The weekend of July 15^th I had the opportunity to visit the Tampa, Florida area.  I have been to Tampa before, but it has been several years ago.  Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater is one large, continuous area.  Parts of the area are very nice and parts of the area are not so nice and appear to be old.  The area exceeds well over a million people and has all of the traffic associated with other large US cities.  The budget for Hillsborough County is in the Billion range and they have thousands of employees.  When I think of Tampa I think of a place I would like to visit.  I am a member of the International City County Management Association and they have an annual conference each year.  I know that Tampa submitted a bid for the 2019 conference, but was not selected.  I am not sure why they were not selected, but for me I have been to better cities that have offered more.

While I was in Tampa I thought about Glynn County and how attractive our area is.  I think we have one of the best kept secrets in the nation.  Before I moved here I was one of those who had experienced the secret and kept coming back for more.  I first came to the area in 1998 when I was Manager in Lowndes County and have been coming back ever since.  Why did I keep coming back?  Because things kept getting better!  Although it has been 22 years since I had been to Tampa I really have no pulling desire to return.  It is basically the same place as it was in 1989 when I was last there.  However, in the 13 years since I first experienced the beauty of the Islands, our area keeps getting better.  I guess some could say that it is like a fine wine that gets better with age.

The Board of Commissioners' goal is to continue to make our golden isles better.  In fact, they and other community leaders have developed a Strategic Plan that will continue to move Glynn County forward.  The vision of the Board is: “Glynn County will be the nation’s premier, uniquely diverse, most desirable ecofriendly coastal community”.  The Strategic Plan will focus on the following areas:  Technology based education systems, natural resources and eco-tourism, heritage and history, economic development and international trade, recreation and active lifestyles, attractive gateways and corridors, integrated transportation network and leading edge government.  We have our work cut out for us to reach this vision and the goals that have been developed.  However, successful communities get started with a vision and keep moving forward.  My sense is that whether it be 10 years or 20 years from now, Glynn County will be a better place and will become the nation’s premier coastal community. 

Secrets are meant to be shared and our secret of being a great place will continue to be shared with others.  The successful columnist and writer Rhonda Rich continues to mention St. Simons Island in her columns and my guess is those who follow her will want to find out about this gem called St. Simons Island and experience all that Glynn County has to offer.  How many coastal communities do you know of that have an outstanding mainland and four beautiful islands?  Can’t think of any myself!

Back to Life in the USA

Life is back to normal after returning from my trip to China.  My flights back to the States were long, but non-eventful and it was good to be home.  On my Journey home I flew from Xian, China to Seoul, Korea.  In Seoul I boarded a Delta flight to Detroit.  It took me a minute to realize that I did not need to speak through an interpreter and the people on the plane actually spoke my language.  They even had real coffee and lots of diet coke, so I knew it would be a good ride back home!

Monday, June 27^th was my first day back on the job after being gone for over two weeks.  It was great to be back!  I found things exactly like I thought I would.  With the exception of the great swamp fire all “fires” had been put out before I returned.  Of course I expected nothing less.  I work with an outstanding group of people and the County is always in good hands!  I cannot say that I had any jet lag because during the day I felt great, but around 8:00 each evening I was very, very tired and had to go to bed.  This is unusual for me because I usually do not leave the office until 8:00 or later.  This past weekend, I felt fully rested and ready to resume my normal work schedule.

Traditionally, Glynn County sponsors a fireworks show on St. Simons Island on the Fourth of July at the Pier and this year was no exception.  Last year, before I was on the official payroll, I watched the display from the East Beach area.  This year I was up close right at the Pier.  It was a wonderful display that lasted for 30 minutes.  It was great to hear the oohs and aahs from the people around me.  I sensed that everyone truly appreciated the display and enjoyed their time that evening.  The weather could not have been better and the crowd was orderly.  I thought the Police Department did a great job directing traffic after the display and getting people off of the Island in a timely fashion.  It is great that so many come out each year to celebrate our freedom, which has come at a price.  I am very grateful for those men and women who serve us this day to continue to protect our freedom.

As a government worker I get to celebrate two new year’s each year.  One is on January 1^st and the other is on July 1^st when the county fiscal year begins.  During the spring of each year a lot of hours are spent on developing the budget for the next fiscal year and then the Board adopts the budget in June of each year.  It is always nice to get the budget adopted and enter into a new fiscal year.  The budget numbers for last fiscal year won’t be final for a few more weeks, but the County will finish in a strong financial position, which is a credit to the conservative fiscal policy of the Board of Commissioners and the diligent work of department heads to live within their resources.  As the new year has begun we have a lot of work to do.  I like the slogan of Jekyll Island “It’s All Good” and when you live in paradise it truly is All Good.  Yes, we do have occasional problems, which I refer to as opportunities, but with a positive spirit and a team effort those problems truly become great opportunities.

I look forward to continuing to update the BLOG with what I hope are items of interest about Glynn County.  My door is always open and I welcome input from others so feel free to call me or send me an e-mail with your thoughts.

Chapter Two Continued

Xian City Wall from early AD

I am now in the historic city of Xian,which is located west of Beijing. I am very happy at the moment because my tour guide found a wifi hot spot, which as it turns out is in an upscale coffee shop right across the street from my hotel.  This is actually the first time I have been able to use my I-Pad for e mails since I have been in China with the exception of when I was in the Shanghai airport.  I ordered a whole pot of coffee because I have a lot of updating to do. 

When I was in Beijing I was able to use the computer in the room one time and then it would not let me back on the AT&T web site.  So I will try to start where I left off. In Beijing I stayed at the Beijing Administrative Institute,which is a sister to the organization in Nanchang.  However, the campus in Beijing is much larger than the one in Nanchang and somewhat nicer. The hotel room was spacious, but had twin beds.  My feet did hang off of this bed.  Beijing is a city of over 20 million people.  The people who live there must be of more means than in Nanchang because there were far fewer bicycles and mopeds and a lot more cars. From what I was told just to get a license tag in Beijing costs 35000 US dollars, which is hard to believe.  They have so many cars they want to limit the number so they give a financial disincentive. However, i will say that traffic in Beijing is more like New York City than Nanchang.  Traffic in Nanchang is downright crazy. 

After we arrived Saturday in Beijing we went straight to the BAI, had lunch then were whisked away in a taxi to the Forbidden City.  Kristy, Bubba and I went together and since John had been here before he served as our unofficial tour guide. The Forbidden City served as the home for 24 emperors. From around 1400 AD to 1911. It has very much the Imperial feel to it and consists if several hundred acres.  The emperor lived there with his wife, several hundred concubines and thousands of eunuchs. If you are not sure of what a eunuch is ask me when you see me and I will tell you. It was very hot on Saturday while we were out and we had a lot of sun.  Although the sun was shielded some by all of the smog.  The air quality in China is terrible.  I drank three bottles of water walking through the place.  The buildings within the Forbidden City were very large and numerous. It is amazing at how precise the building methods were so long ago.  I am also amazed at how they possibly moved such large boulders and other material.   

Right across the street from the north end of the Forbidden City is Tienanmen Square. The square is huge and in the middle is the mausoleum of Mao. His body is embalmed and they raise him up at certain times each day. For a fee one can see him.  I decided to take a rain check on seeing Mao. I hope he doesn't mind!  We left this area and went to the "silk market". It is basically a place with u hundreds of vendors selling all kinds of clothes, shoes, etc. and my guess is most of it is counterfeit. It was wild. The vendors pulled on you and begged you to buy from them.  It was one of the biggest rackets I have ever seen.  We left this once in a lifetime experience (I hope) and went to a Indian Restaurant that John used to go to when he lived in Beijing and wanted to have another opportunity to go back.  The food was good and I had two cold diet cokes.  They were not on ice because you do not drink the water here. No one drinks the water here.  Even the Chinese have to boil their water.  I would think as progressive as China has become that they would have figured out a way to have clean drinking water.  I have even brushed my teeth with bottled water. I do not trust it.  So far I have managed to escape  any stomach problems and by God's grace I hope it stays that way.  I did have a little stomach issue after we had Indian food. In was told afterward that you never eat another countries food while in a different country. 

Sunday we left at 8:00 am to drive to the Great Wall of China.  Indeed it was great. It took us a couple of hours to drive there. Since it is built in the mountains, once we arrived at the base we still had a ways to go.  Fortunately we rode the gondola to the top.  It is hard to describe the awesome feeling standing on the Great Wall. I have always read about it, but I never imagined that I would be standing on top of it one day.  I was told that it is 2000 miles long.  The Wall follows the ridge of the mountain so as the mountain goes up the Wall does and so it goes down.  You have to have some physical ability to walk on the Wall. Although we were there in the morning it was still very hot and humid.  Unfortunately you could not see a long way because of the smog from Beijing. The steps up and down were not meant for Americans,like me, with big feet.  At the end our route our student guides bought tickets to ride a toboggan back down to the base. I can tell you that I was more than a little apprehensive, but it turned out to be very fun and I wish I could do it again. John was in front of me and there were two Chinese dudes in front of him that were going slow and messed it up for the rest of us. At the base we had lunch at Subway. Yes, hard to believe but there is a Subway at the base of the Great Wall.  It was nice to have a sandwich. On our way back from the Wall we stopped at the Birds Nest, the home of the 2008 Olympics. It is an awesome place and it was surreal being in the place that the opening ceremonies of the Olympics took place.

My route down from the Great Wall



The Bird's Nest- 2008 Olympic Stadium

 


The Bird's Nest- 2008 Olympic Stadium



After arriving back at the BAI we all freshened up and then headed out for dinner at a place called Hi Ho, which was about 4 miles away from the Institute. It was beautiful and consists of a lake surrounded by coffee shops, bars, shops and restaurants. The lake had beautiful flowers and attractive lights. It reminds me a lot of River Walk in San Antonio, but has a lake instead of a river.  We had a very nice dinner with Kristy, John, Paul Burks and his wife Vanessa and a student of Johns from a few years ago that has been an exchange student in Beijing for the last four months. Paul is Kristy's teaching partner this week in Beijing and is teaching performance measurement. It was nice spending a few days with Paul and his wife. They are a very nice couple and very enjoyable to be with.

Monday came quick and I was now on my home stretch. Still being in China at this point was bittersweet for me as I wanted to be back home with my family and also back at work.  There is never a good time to be away from the office, but this time was especially not good due to so many important issues being discussed. However, since this may be my one and only time to be in China I still had some more places to visit.  I had to go for it while I was in this far away place!  Monday morning a student escorted Paul, Vanessa and I to the Beijing pearl market. It was a very interesting place and my family will find out on my return if I looked at pearls, touched pearls or bought pearls :) Monday afternoon, while Paul was teaching, Kristy and I were escorted by two students to the Summer Palace, which is located outside of the city. The summer palace was built for the emperors mother and is a very expansive place.  It is actually larger than the Forbidden City and has a very large lake, many palaces and buildings all of a royal feel. Lots and lots of trees and gardens. In fact, before I forget to mention this the City of Beijing could also be called the city of flowers.  There are flowers everywhere and all are very beautiful.  The corridors and all of the main street are lined with gorgeous flowers. It certainly inspires me to find a way to beautify our main thoroughfares in Glynn County. If China can do it we should certainly be able to find a way.  Beauty adds to a community's quality of life and sets it apart from other places!  One of the things that most impressed me about the Summer Palace was a covered walkway along the side of the lake that was at least a mile long. Underneath the ceiling it had beautiful paintings that were numerous and all very beautiful. I am curious at how long it took the guy to paint all of the pictures.

Beijing has numerous tall buildings a lot of new construction and a very modern airport. However, as America has done they have over built in China and there is a lot of bad debt on the books of most every bank in China.

Monday evening I was invited to attend the opening dinner for Paul and Kristy with the President of BAI, which I thought was nice since I was not teaching there this week, but just staying on campus this week.  It was a wonderful dinner with great conversation, great fellowship and good humor. The food in Beijing is not as spicy as Nanchang and the eating mannerisms seemed more western than in Nanchang. I did not feel quite right spitting bones on the table although I had gotten pretty good at it.  They also did not seem to slurp their soup like they did in Nanchang. All of my new eating habits had to change while in Beijing. If my Mom was still alive she would give me a good talking to for my poor manners while in China. It would be hard for her to understand that while in China you do as the Chinese do!

After a good rest Monday night I packed my bags and headed to the airport for a flight to the city of Xian. Xian is a very historic city and was once the capital of China dating back to around 100 BC. Although our flight was delayed it was a fairly good flight with some bumps along the way.  I am convinced that due to the poor air quality in China all flights have some bumps. I was met at the airport by my tour guide while I am in Xian. His English is very poor, but he seems like a nice young man and has gone out of his way to help me.  I am glad that I had already had some time in China before I arrived in Xian. Since I am basically by myself it is good to have been exposed to the culture before I ventured out on my own. On the way to the hotel we stopped by a tomb of some emperor. Here in Xian there were at least two emperors that created underground cities out of clay concubines, eunuchs and buried live animals with them. They all believed they would come back to life after death and they created thousands of these clay figurines to be there for a new city once they came back to life.  The "new city" was created before the emperor died and then the emperor was buried with all of the thousands of figurines.  The figurines at the site I visited on Tuesday were very small. On Thursday, which is tomorrow morning for me (it is now Wednesday evening for me) I will visit the most famous site of all that has the "Terracotta Warriors". It should be interesting.

In Xian I am staying at a hotel that is somewhat dated. 30 years ago, by US standards it would be a four star hotel, but definitely needs an update. At least the bed is a king size, although all of the beds in China are very hard.  It will be very nice to sleep on my pillow top mattress when i return home.

Today or Wednesday I visited the 2011 Horticultural Exhibition. At first i was I was not sure if it was something I really wanted to see, but it turned out to be good as the grounds and flowers were stunning and beautiful.  I even saw panda bears that were housed there as well as monkeys. There was also a large sand sculpting exhibit that was very cool. I wonder if SSI ever considered hosting a sand sculpting contest. On our return to the hotel we stopped by the original city wall that was built in early AD and is about 75' high and 30' wide, surrounded by a large moat and and had a draw bridge as the only way in centuries ago.  Due to steady rain I did not walk far on the top of the wall but it would have been fun to walk all the way around the city.  Not a short walk though at 9 miles. It has been rainy here and a little cooler than Nanchang, but still hot and sticky. China beds to work on their ac systems. Even most places inside are warm and humid. I am looking forward to going to see the tomb of the emperor with the terracotta soldiers tomorrow.  Hopefully, the now two pots of coffee won't keep me awake. I think I may have try an ice cream before I leave the coffee shop to cool me off. Yum!



Fountain at the Horticultural Exhibit









Sand scuplture exhibit in Xian





Horticulture Exhibit



Me at the Great Wall of China

Statue to scare away evil spirits at the Forbidden City

Off to Beijing! Week 2 Begins...

We left Nanchang at 6:30 Saturday morning to head to the airport for a flight to Beijing.  Our bags were packed and we were ready to leave on a jet plane!  Kristy and Bubba were with me.  Kristy is scheduled to teach this week at the Institute in Beijing, while I am free to experience the sights and sounds of more of China.  We had no problem getting through the airport, but I did have a little trouble getting through security.  After you go through the metal detector they take a wand to each person to check for whatever they check for.  They have everyone stand on top of a six inch high box.  As soon as I stood up there the lady was telling me to get down.  She could barley reach my belt buckle.  Even when I was on the floor she could not reach everywhere she needed to.  It was quite a site and all of her comrades were laughing.

Although the flight was safe, it was very bumpy.  Since flying is not my favorite thing to do, I could have done without the bumpy ride.  A Chinese lady was sitting next to me and seemed to be very nice.  For the in flight meal they served porridge, bread and cherry tomatoes.  The lady next to me put a tomato in her mouth and worked it and somehow peeled the skin off of the tomato and then spit the tomato skin into her hand.  The precision that the Chinese can process food in their mouth is amazing.

We were met at the airport by staff from the Institute who escorted us to the City of Beijing.  Beijing is a city of over 20 million people and is so large it would take you a lifetime to go everywhere.  It is quite different than Nanchang.  While Nanchang is an emerging city Beijing is very international and very metropolitan.  The Institute in Beijing is ten times larger than the one in Nanchang and very modern.  Our hotel room is very large and very nice.  The bed here is shorter, but softer.  The beds in Nanchang were hard.  Every night I would wake up with my legs hurting and I was not sure why, but it must have been the bed because they have not hurt while in Beijing.  Ahh, the simple pleasures of life like a soft bed.  My immediate impression of Beijing was very good.  Within a short period of time I had a diet coke in my hand, which turned into three within minutes.

Part two of this update will follow later...

Last Day of Teaching...

Last dinner with my class.

I woke up at 3:15 am on June 17th and could not go back to sleep.  Since it was day time in the US I sent several text messages to friends and work associates.  I guess I had a lot on my mind.  I was sort of keyed up for the last day of class and I was interested in several items on the agenda for the Glynn County Board of Commissioners meeting that was scheduled for 6:00 PM Thursday evening, which for me would happen at 6:00 am.  Fortunately I had some colleagues at work that sent me text messages during the meeting to keep me informed of what was taking place.  Although I was not at the meeting I felt a part of it. 

Since I was up so early I went ahead and got ready for the day before the Commission meeting started so I would be able to receive the text messages.  I then walked to a famous square in Nanchang that is a memorial to the 1927 uprising.  It is a very large place and in the morning hundreds of Chinese are out doing their morning exercises.  I went back to the Institute for breakfast and had great success holding a fried egg with chopsticks :)  After breakfast Kismet and I went shopping at a nearby location.  While we were walking to the shops I saw a very unusual site.  A child perhaps 20 months old was walking with its parents and wearing a pant suit.  Although this was not your usual pant suit.  The back part was draped open exposing the child's naked bottom.  I asked Kismet about this and apparently when children are small this outfit aids them in using the bathroom.  I am not so sure about that because there is no way at the age of this child that they would have control.  But perhaps they do.  I have refrained from discussing the style of bathrooms in China and will continue to do so.  Lets just say that they are different than the ones in the US. 

I was interested in the porcelain, which is made in this province.  Unfortunately the boxes that each item is packed in are very large and would be difficult to fit into my luggage.  We came back to the institute about 10:00 am and I took time to prepare for class.  I also had to change my shirt from perspiration.  It was so hot this morning and muggy that my shirt was wringing wet when I returned to my room. 

We had a special lunch with the vice-president of the Institute and other officials.  The food was, as usual, plentiful, spicy and very tasty.  I did have to apply a couple of coats of chapstick to my lips after lunch since they were burning from the spices in the food.  It was a wonderful lunch and very special.  Typically a farewell dinner is held Friday evening with Institute officials, but several of them were going to be away this evening.  Since this was a more formal lunch it lasted longer than our other lunches this week.  After lunch I headed back to my room to gather my things and look over my notes one more time.  Then it was off to class.

To follow-up on our session Thursday on planning I showed slides that had been converted in Chinese on Glynn County's Altamaha canal restoration project, which they seemed to enjoy very much.  I tied this project back into planning aspects of a county and the importance of a vision statement and how everything needs to tie back to the vision for a community.  I then spent a while on the budgeting process for a local government.  I was able to show a lot of illustrations to drive my point across and I believe that the illustrations helped them connect the dots.  The budget process generated a lot of questions that were very perceptive.  The last 20 minutes we had another Q&A session, which they seem to enjoy.

For dinner the class hosted us at a very nice and upscale French restaurant.  They actually had forks and knives, which were a little difficult for our hosts to use.  We had a wonderful meal and there were lots of speeches and kind remarks from our students and from us.  We also had a very good kind of ice cream for dessert and somehow I ended up with two bowls.  I did not complain :)  The dinner was very unusual for the Chinese.  We sat at a rectangle table rather than a round table and our food was American.  Steak and french fries.  It was more than obvious that the class chose the place to please us, which was very, very kind of them.  I am also sure that the dinner cost the class a lot of money. 

Tomorrow we are scheduled to leave the Institute at 6:30 am to travel to the airport.  My flight was originally at 11:30, but John suggested that I change my flight to be able to fly to Beijing with him and Kristy.  John lived in China for 7 years back in the 1990's and knows his way around pretty well.  So after we arrive in Beijing tomorrow John plans to take us to the Forbidden City.  Sunday we are scheduled to go to the Great Wall.  Next week I will be on vacation and will see sights in Beijing and Xian before I return to the states on June 24th.  I do hope I can find wifi while in Beijing.  I would like to beam some pictures back home.

Signing off from Nanchang.