Do you use del.icio.us at all? It would be awesome if you linked me up to your account so I can see the crazy things you browse all day.

I actually got sick, yesterday, a combination of a cold with altitude sickness, so I didn’t make it out to Mr. Popo’s village. According to Ellen, it was fairly awesome. He’s a temple-restoration magnate, and took her and Tim to his bronze workshop, where they hammer out 10 foot tall Buddhas. I stayed back at the miserable hostel, and read the New Yorker.

On the other hand, I’ll be an extra in an American movie tomorrow, so that might be interesting…

Do you remember Dana Schloss? She had an accident in the shop once when she was pushing something through a table saw. It hit a knot and the board jumped back and smashed her hand and she passed out from the pain. She had to go to the hospital, but I don’t remember if she actually broke her hand or not. I guess that’s a pretty common sort of accident to have happen, and not something that can be completely avoided.

I was also roommates with a Mr. Kornbluth when he used a circular saw in the shop and shaved off the tips of several fingers. He sued the school because the protective guard wasn’t on the saw. Nice guy, but I did have to personally question how someone would let a saw get that near their fingers, with or without a plastic guard. That seems like a more avoidable type of mishap.

As for Tibet:

Ooohhh. Do tell stories once you get back!

On an interesting note, though, Ellen and I are in Tibet right now, and we ran into a guy whose specialty is traditional architecture. He showed us around a 500 year old apartment building he was restoring. Interesting stuff.

Tomorrow, we’re visiting his home village. So this might be my last message.

So I finished cutting my piece, picked it up, and pivoted my body to put it on the shelf next to me. That was when the blade on the still-running saw snapped, slapped the work area where my hands had just been, and slithered across the shop floor.