My internet connection is STILL having problems. I’m also spending lots of time at my parents’ house and sleeping there to facilitate showings. So it’s difficult to update the site. To make up for that, you get a big entry today.

First, Elvira is here, and she rocks! If you need a car, I recommend Hondas, and I recommend getting yours from John Eagle Honda in Dallas. Talk to Anthony Hickman. He and I worked out the deal over email, and the whole process was very smooth. The Honda Fit is fun to drive, easy to park, very flexible, and has lots of great extras like cruise control and speed-sensitive volume with the Sport trim. Katy is borrowing my old car until the wedding because hers died hard. Soon afterward I’ll give Sarah to IBC.

We got the first offer on our house, but it was unusual. The buyers wanted to close in TEN DAYS, and their financing was odd. We couldn’t agree on the terms, so the deal fell through. It was encouraging to get an offer within the first month, though. We’ve had a few showings since then and still have hope for a good outcome.

I saw an amazing movie recently called Hotel Rwanda. It’s about the Rwandan genocide and civil war in 1994, an event that the West largely ignored at the time despite the deaths of nearly 1 million Rwandans. The founder of ALARM is from Rwanda and lost family members and friends in the tragedy. The movie tells the true story of Paul, a hotel manager who turned his hotel into a safe haven for over 1000 refugees and helped many of them to escape. It draws you in emotionally from the beginning with fantastic acting (particularly Don Cheadle, who plays Paul) and a great script. Today we have a similar situation in Sudan near Darfur, with similar apathy here among Western political leaders. I wonder how our reaction would be different if sub-Saharan Africa held the oil reserves of Iraq.

Jenny and I went bowling last night for Date Night. We visited Golden Triangle Bowl in Irving, a place where I attended a lock-in back in high school. I was thrilled to find that Golden Triangle is now SMOKE FREE! One employee said they’ve gotten lots of comments about the policy, both good and bad. I told him I thought it was great. My lungs didn’t shut off during the two games we bowled, and I didn’t come out smelling like smoke. I think and hope that most public buildings except bars will be smoke-free within 5-10 years. We are winning!