Forgive me! I have been busy working a full-time job and surviving the brutal Latvian winter. I have been feeling the urge to write ever since receiving Christmas letters from my sister and brother where they told the tales of their year in review. It is February, and this is long overdue. From Hip Replacement …
Jeff’s life takes a turn as he get himself a brand-new prosthetic hip! Latvian medicine, is it worth it?
I know that time shifts as we grow older. I see that at 53 that weeks last a day, days an hour, and time is just slipping away. I open my eyes on January 1, and by the time I blink it is September. I just wanted to write something of little consequence and without …
Pinball: A Love Letter It has been awhile, but I feel like I need to write something, so let me announce the introduction of pinball to Latvia! Thanks to Pinball Arena, Latvia may finally join the rest of the Western World! Yes, that’s right, we may have pinball machines! What is pinball? For those of …
Technically I took the trip the weekend before my birthday, but Baiba and I decided to pre-celebrate my 53rd in Belgium. The plan came together based on the cheap tickets I was able to find via Ryanair. I am also working on visiting places I haven’t been yet, and I am slowly covering all the …
Andra’s Death My sister Andra died suddenly at the age of 69 on 5 January 2025. By chance, I had visited her the day before. I was in the U.S. visiting for the holidays. On the last day of my visit, I was in a hurry to meet a friend when my sister Susan texted …
It has literally been months since I have written anything, and so much is going on in the world that I feel inspired to make a little blog post. Halloween just ended, but the scariest few days are yet to come. With 2 days until the U.S. election, no one knows what is going to …
Travel to beautiful Vienna and experience mediocre coffee with lots of people walking around in tennis shoes! And see one man urinating on the church steps!
Arnolds Grinvalds 25 October 1956–10 November 1990 Arnolds was the second child of Liesma and Vitauts Grinvalds. He was named after his uncle Arnolds Grinbergs, his mother’s brother, who had been a soldier, stranded behind in Latvia after World War II. Uncle Arnolds’ wife Alma fled the country with their children in October of 1944, …
Jeff and Baiba take a whirlwind weekend trip to Sweden. Find out about the good, the bad, and the coffee.