Communication and the New Year!

Greetings from the Wind family scribe, Angela
(who is writing from the United States).

On behalf of Rachel, per her request, I am writing to the Gone-with-the-Winds (GWTW) fan-club to give an updated word. All is well! However, due to the earthquake off the shores of Taiwan on December 26, the Wind's Internet usage is virtually non-existent. I received an email from her today with a bit of information that I'd like to pass along to you.

Rachel states, "The quake actually broke two of the three major cables that connect Asia with the US, so any Internet usage which requires international connections (like me trying to view a US site) is either extremely slow or not available. The worst news is that it may be the end of January before it is back to full speed again!. . . International calls have been affected as well."

Rachel is able to occasionally view (Internet) sites in the US (she says it can take up to 20 minutes to load one single page--yikes!!), but she is unable to pull up her Blogger account, ". . . hence," she states, "no blogging!"

So GWTWers, never fear! The Winds are well--just a little out of the communication loop. So keep them in your prs. Also, sounds like they've been dealing with the flu, as well. The most exciting news is the reminder that they are busily preparing for their return to the US. Rachel said, ". . . we leave for [another country] for vacation and meetings a month from today, and then from there back to the US." Exciting times!!!

Lastly, be expecting a few more updates in the future. Until she is able to access Blogger, Rachel plans to send along those updates via email for me to post for all of us to enjoy. Thanks, Rachel, for allowing me the privilege to be your mouthpiece from Asia. I told Matthew that I now could label my time spent on Blogger as the L.d's official work! (ha)

Salutations!

P.S. Rachel is able to receive your comments on this blog via her email (I'm pretty sure), so don't be hesitant to leave a message on this or any future post. Email works (occasionally), just not blogger. Or, if you have her email address, she'd love to hear from you. . . just keep in mind the slowness of the Internet over there with regard to her ability to respond.

Angela