"The Girls" are coming back tomorrow from a two-week trip in Thailand. I've missed them both terribly and I'm really looking forward to seeing them. I tend to worry when they're away because of the radio silence they usually keep when on one of their trips.

This trip was financed in part by the partial refund of their Egypt non-trip, which was planned for just a few weeks after September 11. Though the Thai populace is 95% Buddhist, I still worried for them in my own slightly irrational way, as Thailand would be in the fallout profile of an India-Pakistan nuclear exchange.

Anyhow, they're probably in the air right now, flying to Tokyo and from there to San Francisco. In fact, since the great circle linking Tokyo to San Francisco parallels monday's eclpise path, they might get the longest eclipse experience of us all!