Soon after I bought my first recumbent bike, I became a devotee of chain wax instead of oil.  When I was a kid, we always used 3-in-1 oil on our chains, but it only took one application of that stuff to the long dangly chain of a Bike-E to make me realize my error -- oil got all over my leg!  I had to remove all the oil with a rag and replace it with wax.  I was so sold on wax that once when I took my bike to a small-town shop for unrelated work and the we

So as you all know Ben and I made it official 5 weeks ago. It has taken some time to get all the photos together and find the time to upload them but now there is a lovely selection here on our site. Only about 15% of the photos we have are on the website as I am sure none of you really want to see all 1000 or so images, however if you really do let me know and I'll hook you up. I have selected those I think are the best and displayed them here.

On Sunday (May 31) we faced the prospect of another day without our luggage. We bought some clothes from roadside vendors, washed our traveling clothes, and hung them out the courtyard window.

When exited the Colosseum Metro station, we found that the whole area had been prepared for a bicycle race. At first it was just a curiosity, but later in the day it became a major obstacle to sightseeing!

On Monday night, Jessie and I played host to four young bicycle tourists -- Kelly, Lucy, Remy, and Ann Caroline -- on their way from Colorado to Washington, DC as part of the Trek to Reenergize America.  You can read Kelly's take on their visit -- now it's my turn!

We arrived in Rome at 9:50 AM on Saturday, May 30, but then we waited 30 minutes for our luggage and another hour figuring out how to report the luggage missing, so we didn't leave the airport until about 11:30.  We took the Leonardo Express train to the main train station, grabbed a quick lunch of panini and cappuccino, and took the Metro to the neighborhood of our hostel, One Step from St. Peter's.  We quickly checked in and ran to the Vatican Museum in time for our reservation... and we were fortunate to have a reservation, because the lines were quite long!

We got back from Italy last night, and although we had some misadventures all along the way, for the most part we had a wonderful trip and couldn't wish for a better start to our marriage!  We'll spend the next few days digging ourselves out of the backlog of work and mail and such and should start posting photos and stories from the trip sometime next week.

We have had a wonderful two days in Rome. Friday we were surprised to find Patti had booked us in business class seats! So we had a late but very pampered flight to Rome. Saturday we arrived in Rome around 10am. We got through customs quickly as they merely glanced at our passports and stamped them. We went to baggage claim only to wait 45 minutes and then find out our luggage had not made it. We filed a claim, they said our luggage would show up Saturday or Sunday, and went on our way to the city. We hastily checked into the B&B and ran to the Vatican for our 2pm reservation.

Public relations is such a fragile thing.  A company can spend millions polishing and maintaining its reputation, only to let you down when it matters most.  Another company can treat you like crap repeatedly, consistently cutting corners in a heartless bureaucracy, and then in one beautiful, human moment make you want to sing their name from the rooftops.  In this particular moment it may still be premature to say which company is which.

If you were relying on this site to keep you up to date on our lives, you'd think nothing had happened in the past few weeks.  On the contrary - we spent a wonderful week in New York at the YAI conference and in New Jersey visiting Uncle Dave and Aunt Elizabeth; we spent a week in Manley, NE preparing for the wedding, and we got married!  We just haven't had time to blog about any of it.  So stay tuned.

Back in September, I wrote about our frustration in trying to follow Consumer Reports' guidance in buying appliances, including a dehumidifier (pictured at right).  Then in November I reported on the energy consumption of our appliances, including the dehumidifier, which was