Couldn't Get Much Better...

(written on a plane somewhere over Central America)

What a trip back home. It truly feels like I left Peru months ago. That must be a sign of a good vacation. I did quite a bit and got to see many friends and family along the way. A bonus stop over in Houston was the perfect way to end my temporary visit in the U.S. of A. Great weather, waaayyy to much good food, lots of laughing and the occasional lounging around (though very very brief) made it a wonderful trip.

Work on the pile driving front is slow. I flew down here on Thursday night and made it to the site yesterday based on the possible start date of some pile testing today (Saturday). Not so much. Fortunately, the site, though 10 miles or so away from the M 8.0 earthquake, did not experience any catastrophic failures. The site responded to the event in much the same way as the project team (predominately Golder and specifically a very bright engineer named Rodolfo) predicted.

There have been numerous (over 40) aftershocks since last Wednesday evening's event. Many of the aftershocks would be considered significant events in their own right elsewhere in the world, with magnitudes approaching 5.0 and 6.0. Keep in mind that the Peruvian coast near the project site is one of the most seismically volatile areas in the world. I have never felt the earth shake before, but I am convinced that I felt the bed and floor shake a bit Thursday night as I drifted off to sleep. Maybe I was dreaming. It felt real!

To help make the rest of my stay in Peru feel more like home, I brought down my geetar. The fingers came alive once or twice when I was back in the states and hopefully that'll inspire me to come up with some new music. I've had "writer's block" for what seems to be 3 years when it comes to my "music" and it will be nice to experiment playing new ways and creating new sounds.

I'll be in touch. Till next time, take care.


Scotty