“I just wanted to email Melika with questions,” I explained. “And see if she wants us to take care of the cat.” (“And see what I can find out about Burning Man on the web,” I thought.)

The website led me to believe:

“It’s a sort of artsy, musical, conclave in the middle of the dessert. 68,000 people ooming to the Black Dessert in Nevada.” I explained to Nazy.

“Like a 21st century Woodstock?” Nazy asked. “In Utah.”

“Nevada. But, it’s more like an Arab Spring uprising without dictators.”

“That doesn’t make any sense..”

“Okay. It’s like an Occupy Wall Street demonstration without bankers.”

“No bankers in Utah?”

“Nevada. Melika said money is not allowed at Burning Man.”

“But..”

“Except, of course, to pay for the tickets. That means that it’s not a real event.”

“Why not?”

“Nobody is selling tee-shirts, Nazy. No teeshirt? No event. It’s a law of American culture.”

“Melika also said that attendees live in tents and ride bicycles. And she wanted to borrow Mitra’s googles because of the dust storms. Why does she want to go to a dust storm?”

“Living in a tent. Riding a bicycle. It just doesn’t sound like Melika,” Nazy opined.

“I know. That’s why she and Tom are traveling in a Luxury RV and why they rented electric bicycles. And why they spent two days buying food. They even hired two cooks.”

“That sounds more like it”

Melika and Tom had a great time with their friends at the festival. One friend even had an official Art-Car, the only kind of vehicle permitted to drive through the event.

‘While Melika was at Burning Man, Darius was in Beirut where things were also heating up.

Darius, Nazy and I agreed that a temporary departure to Cyprus (chosen because the airfare was cheap and Darius had a friend there) would be a good idea and a valuable test of rapid departure procedures. Darius packed and left within 10 hours.

“See Nazy,” I said. “He’s efficient. You could never pack for an evacuation so quickly.”

“But I bet he forgot his jacket,” Nazy thought.

“And he probably didn’t bring any unnecessary items,” I continued. “Like a jacket,” I thought.

Unfortunately, Darius’ friend was on holiday (and, therefore, out of the country). Moreover, it was high season in Cyprus. Darius called the next morning.
“There are no hotels,” Darius explained. “And the semester starts in five days. And the University is having new faculty orientation - and old faculty meetings. And Markus said I shouldn’t have left. And I can’t concentrate on my research in Cyprus. And nothing is going to happen before classes begin. And I can’t just quit my job. And I’m at the airport. I got an early return ticket.”

“I’m so glad when he follows our advice.” I thought.

While on the topic of returning, Nazy had prepared for my return to California by scheduling a bevy of medical appointments...

“... because your health is important,” she explained.

I couldn’t think of an acceptable way to disagree with Nazy’s comment, but I didn’t really want to go to the doctor because: “I feel fine. If the doctor concurs, I’ve paid for information I knew. If the doctor doesn’t agree, then it’s bad news. I don’t like paying for bad news.” I thought.

The doctor spent a lot of time explaining my condition.

“Are you ‘a little high’?” I finally interrupted.

“What?”

“You keep talking about being high. I just wondered,” I replied. “Blood pressure, Cholesterol.. why isn’t he talking about IQ?” I thought.

“Don’t eat grapes.” The doctor interjected while interrupting my thoughts.

“What about cherries?” I asked.

“No.”

“So it’s a simple diet,” I replied: “If it tastes good - spit it out.”

“You can eat berries.”

“Really?”

“And most vegetables.”

“Is Hemlock a vegetable or a berry? Did my wife put you up to this?”

Although my lab results were essentially the same as they had been in Switzerland (where my doctor said that I was “in excellent shape&rdquo, here they had a more stringent guideline. I also note, in passing, that lab work done here cost 4 times as much as identical lab work in Switzerland. The cost is completely inconsistent with every other price comparison. It is, in fact, the only thing that I’ve discovered to be more expensive in California than it was in Switzerland. One could conclude that the American healthcare system is overpriced.

As part of getting settled, Nazy and I have been enjoying a variety of events with new friends from the Santa Barbara newcomers club. Nazy continues to look elegant when we go to parties.