A couple quick follow-ups before I pretend it'll be possible to sleep

- Ryan complains something-or-other to the effect of "you don't call, you don't write."

Let me remind him, and the general public, that I can be reached merely by dialing a Portland (503) phone number. I'm also Skypeable. If you'd like either the digits or the userid, you can, as always, email me.

- We've decided on Berlin for the enjoyable half of the vacation. It doesn't meet the minimum temperature requirements, true, but what could be a better antidote to all things Indian than all things Teutonic? Plus, I'm curious to see whether I still speak German. And what really clinched it was seeing pictures of city parks in their fall colors. Trees...