Dear America...

The latest news out of Yemen is would be attackers using the postal service to send explosives to the US.

Read more at the BBC here

This raises some questions in my mind about how good these attackers are. In my experience, it is exorbitantly expensive to ship packages from Yemen. I can't imagine that was an cheap package to send. Also, the postal service in Yemen just doesn't work all that well. Expensive and unreliable is not a good combination. I confess I'm trying to make light of a serious situation in case that was not clear.

I will take this as a suggestion to fly economy, not freight, when coming home.

Here is a good summary of the current issues facing Yemen courtesy of the NY times

A Change of Seasons

It's that time of year in Aden when the hot summer days fade into the hot autumn days. Ah. If there were leaves on the trees, I'm sure they would be changing into fiery reds and golds and oranges. Typically, the time of seasonal transitions back home bring runny noses and sore throats - and, depending on your opinion, yucky or yummy cold medicine - but Adenese and those in the Gulf face a greater challenge with the common cold, one that is not confined to the change of seasons.

Cold medicines in the Gulf are advertised not for the change of seasons but for people who work in buildings with powerful AC systems. In TV commercials, you see a man come out of the hot sun to sit at his desk right in front of an AC unit and come down with a terrible cold. (The terrible cold is a saw blade spinning in his throat. Bad news)

It's true. Some buildings are kept COLD while the outside is affirmatively HOT. If only I could remember the name of the cold medicine...