SuperShuttle Baltimore

Over the past 3 years, I've used the Super Shuttle's airport transportation service to BWI at least 4 times each way (to and from my home). I have used both their share a ride service and their private car service. As I promised in one of my earlier blog entries, here is my review/opinion of them. A reminder, all opinions of their service stated here are my own. I haven't received any kind of remuneration from Super Shuttle. I don't claim to know all the circumstances of the some of the incidents that happened and, any incidents I mention here may not happen to you.

I forget exactly when I first used Super Shuttle's service in Baltimore though I'm pretty sure it was so I could catch a flight from BWI to Detroit Metropolitan (DTW). I usually fly to Michigan to visit my Dad and step-mom at least once a year and BWI is the closest airport to where I live. Comparing the cost of long-term parking vice using Super Shuttle's share a ride service, I found that for trips that are longer than 5 days, it was better to use Super Shuttle's service.

I have had some mis-adventures with Super Shuttle. Some of the mis-adventures were their fault and some were mine. One mis-adventure that was their's was when I was travelling home for Christmas. I arranged for the shuttle to pick me up at 0430 a.m. on the 23rd I believe. At 0430, there wasn't any driver. I waited another half an hour and then called them. They assured me the driver was on his way. 0530 still no driver, 0545 still no driver, 0600 I call again and they said they didn't know where the driver is. Great! They subsequently sent another driver. The second driver did show up and got me to the airport at 0630. Unfortunately, my plane was due to leave at 0705 and because of that, I couldn't check my bags in at the curb. I had to check-in at the check-in counter. By the time I got to the check-in counter, my flight was pulling out of the gate. I ended up getting to fly stand-by all the way home which was a bit nerve wracking.

To be fair to Super Shuttle, I will tell about one time where it was my fault concerning their service. I had made reservations to do a holiday in Iceland. I arranged to have Super Shuttle to pick me up at 6 p.m. to take me to BWI. I waited until 6:45 when I decided to call them. Thankfully, I showed the good sense to not say they were to blame right off the bat i.e. I hadn't forgotten the Christmas fiasco. I said I was checking on my reservations with them. To my horror, I found out I'd made the reservations for the wrong day and it was too late to get them to pick me up that day. I ended up driving into BWI and parking at their short term parking. I didn't have time to find their long term parking. My flight was going to leave in 90 minutes. I made my flight and had further mis-adventures in Iceland. I also had to pay the short parking folks $94! OUCH!!!!!!

As you can see, I've had some interesting mis-adventures with Super Shuttle. Because of these misadventures, I am a little paranoid when I use them. Recently, I got to use them on December 20th to get to BWI and yesterday when I returned to Maryland. I ended up having another mis-adventure with them on the 20th. I triple checked to make sure I put the right date on my reservations with Super Shuttle. I made my reservation for them to pick me up between 2:15 to 2:30 p.m. (You give them a 15 minute window when you want to be picked up.) My flight left at 5:05 and it takes 20 minutes from where I live to get to BWI. If I left at 2:30, I'd have over 2 hours to kill at BWI. I was not to be so lucky.

To my delight, at 1:58 p.m. the Super Shuttle driver called me and told me he would arrive at 2:30. That was within their time window so I said fine. I made sure I was outside waiting for him at 2:15. 2:30 shows up and there isn't any driver. 2:45 shows up and there isn't any driver. My step-mom Kay calls and asks if I'm at the airport. I have to tell her I'm not but I assure her I'll make it one way or the other. My back-up plan is to drive out to BWI, park in the long term parking (I knew where it was now, I made sure I found out after the Iceland fiasco.), and take their shuttle service to the airport. If you're wondering why my step-mom was a little anxious about me making it to the airport, it's because I'm the one who had all the information on the limo service we planned to use from Indianapolis International to the Downtown Indianapolis Radisson hotel, the hotel reservations were in my name, and so were the tickets to the Lord of the Rings film exhibition. I think you can understand why she was a little anxious. She wasn't the only one.

As the driver had called me on my cell phone, I had his phone number and called him. He assured me he would be picking me up soon. To my relief, he showed up at 3:05 p.m. and we drove straight to BWI. We made it in time and I was able to catch my flight with no problems.

Super Shuttle also has a service where a private car can pick you up. This service is triple what the share a ride van service is because you're the driver's only passenger. I used this service when I flew out of BWI to Dallas on what would be the beginning of my Globus tour of Australia. That time, there weren't any mishaps with Super Shuttle and I arrived at BWI right on schedule.

In regards to taking Super Shuttle from BWI to where I live, I've never had any problems there. They've always been prompt. I've never had to wait more than 30 minutes. I would definitely recommend taking them from BWI.

Overall, I'd say Super Shuttle has a nice service in Baltimore. I'd give yourself about 3 hours with them if you are going to the airport. That'll give you plenty of leeway if you have a mis-adventure with them. You shouldn't have any problems with them getting back home from the airport. Price wise, I think they're share a ride service is cheaper then a taxi and I know it's cheaper then a limo service. Remember, their private car service is more expensive but you don't have to worry about waiting for them while they pick-up other passengers. Depending on how important your trip is, it could be worth the extra cost. I felt it was on my $5,800 trip to Australia. The Baltimore Super Shuttle website is: http://supershuttle.com/htm/cities/bwi.htm. One last note, as I remember, they give frequent flier miles for the Frontier and America West programs.

Southwest Airlines

As promised, here is my review/opinions on Southwest Airlines. First, let me tell you what routes I flew so you can properly judge on what I base my opinions. None of the flights I took were longer then 1 hour 45 minutes. The longest route I flew was from Chicago Midland to Baltimore Washington International (BWI). Second, all the flights I flew were during the Christmas holiday season i.e. it may have been busier than usual. Third, the routes I flew were Baltimore Washington International to Indianapolis International, Indianapolis International to Chicago Midland, Chicago Midland to Detroit Metropolitan (and back), and Chicago Midland to Baltimore Washington International.

I got to fly on Southwest Airlines for the first time on December 20th. I was to find it a nice experience barring my initial confusion on how they work. When I first printed out my boarding pass, I wondered what the "A" stood for. I found out when I got to BWI airport. It turns out Southwest boards people by group. There are preboarders such as handicapped people and people with children under 5 years old (I fully support them allowing these people to board first as I feel they deserve it.) then, there are groups "A," "B," and "C." As far as I know, you get into groups A, B, and C depending on when you check-in. I found that if I checked-in as soon as possible (24 hours before my flight left), I could get into group "A." I quickly discovered the advantages of being in group "A." Group "A" gets first pick at the seats on the plane barring the pre-boarders. It also makes it easier for you to find an overhead bin to put your stuff in. The biggest advantage I saw of this was it enabled me to sit at the front of the plane. That meant I was able to get on and off the plane quickly which can be pretty nice. Another advantage of this is it virtually guarantees you should be able to sit with someone you're travelling with.

If you're in group "B," you're going to sit further back in the plane but you should still be able to get an aisle seat if you want one as well as find plenty of bin space. I got placed in group "B" on my way back to BWI and, I had no problems getting an aisle seat or bin space.

Group "C" in my opinion gets the dregs. You have to sit where ever there is a seat and you may have to hunt for space in the bins to store your stuff.

In terms of service at the check-in counters, I found the people there nice. I did take one issue with a lady at one of the gates. On my BWI to Indianapolis flight, it was known the flight was going to be late. The lady at the gate had to have known. She didn't bother to inform the waiting passengers as far as I know until it was almost time for the flight to arrive and, she didn't update the flight information on the board behind her till then. I also heard that the BWI to Indianapolis flight is routinely late leaving from BWI because it is regularly late arriving. Southwest might want to try to fix that if possible.

I found the stewardesses consistently kind and efficient. They were very quick in handing out the complimentary drinks and snacks. I found if your flight is under 1 hour, you'll get a complimentary drink (soda, water, juice) and a couple small bags of peanuts. If the flight is under 2 hours, you'll also get a bag of stuff similar to Chex Mix (it contained stick pretzels, small Ritz crackers, cheese flavored sticks). I found the stewardesses had no problem if you ate food you brought with you on board. I ate some of White Castle hamburgers I bought in Ann Arbor on the Chicago Midland to BWI flight and, they didn't say anything.

Seat wise, I feel the seats were a little small. I found myself repeatedly slightly scrunched in my seat. On two flights, I did have the bad luck of sitting next to very heavy lady and in the other flight to a very muscular gentleman. I feel the seats weren't terribly roomy or comfortable.

Baggage wise, I found Southwest's skycaps polite and helpful. I also found they were prompt on getting the bags out to the baggage carousels. I did feel I waited a bit at the Detroit Metropolitan airport but, they may have been due to the construction going on there. I found they were prompt at Indianapolis and BWI.

Price wise, Southwest can be a real bargain. Southwest doesn't penalize you if you go only one-way like other airlines do. They also offer some great prices on short flights. My step-mom checked into airfares and found Southwest charged $150 round-trip from Detroit to Indianapolis. All the other airlines wanted $300 plus.

Overall, I'd say Southwest is a very good airline and one worth considering. Because of the size of their seats, I wouldn't want to fly them on a long flight. I would absolutely check them out if you are planning on taking a short flight as you might be able to save some serious money flying them on short flights. A word of warning, you may have to change planes at Chicago Midland. It appears that is one of their major hubs and a lot of their flights go there. I've also heard a lot of their flights go through Dallas Love Field too.

White Castle Hamburgers

Today, I got to pick up a case (30) of White Castle hamburgers. It brought back lots of memories. The most vivid ones were of trips to my grandmother's trailer home in the back woods of Indiana. Once a year, my Dad and Mom would pile me and my sister in the car and drive to Indiana to visit my grandmother (on my Dad's side of the family). Grandma lived in a trailer out in the country. It was so country that until she and my Grampa got a full size trailer, they didn't have a bathroom. They had an outhouse and that was real interesting. I remember it well because it stunk and me being a kid at the time, the last thing I wanted to do was have to go to the bathroom when it was cold and dark outside. Later, they did get a full size trailer which got a bit full when my family, my Aunt Marge's family, and my Aunt Norma's family showed up. It became something of a massive slumber party then. Still, it was a lot of fun visiting grandma.

One of the highlights of the visit ironically wasn't seeing her. It was stopping by the Columbus, Ohio White Castle restaurant. The drive from Pittsburgh (where we lived at the time) to Indiana was something like 9 hours. Me and my sister Marjorie being typical kids could only stay good and patient so long. One way my folks kept us more good was to stop by the Columbus White Castle.

What is so special at the Columbus White Castles' you might ask? Actually, it was like any other White Castle restaurant. What it made it special was the food. White Castle hamburgers are square shaped hamburgers that a kid could easily handle. To make them more fun, since there not terribly big, you could eat a lot of them. I remember stacking the empty boxes they came in after we'd finished eating. To me, they were a special treat. They have remained so ever since.

One annoying thing about White Castle restaurants is that they are primarily located in the Midwest. There aren't any in Maryland as far as I know. I can buy the frozen White Castle hamburgers at Sam's Club but they're not the same. The frozen ones don't come in the stackable boxes and they don't have the same flavor after you microwave them. I wanted some right off the stove. Today, on my way to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, my step-mom who was taking me stopped by a White Castle restaurant where I could get a case of them. I was delighted. Later, during the flight to Baltimore Washington International Airport (I was on my way home from staying with my Dad and my other step-mom Jane during Christmas.), I got to enjoy seven of them. They were great. I still have 22 left so I'll be able to savor for a little while longer some more White Castle hamburgers and reminisce about years gone by.

FYI, White Castle hamburgers come 30 to a case. If you did the math above, you'd see I should have 23 left. My step-mom Kay, who also loves White Castle hamburgers, jokingly charged me a transit fee of one hamburger. I gladly paid. White Castle hamburgers cost 48 cents each. A case normally costs $14.40 however, they are having a special promotion where you can buy a case for $12.99 not including tax. For further information on White Castle restaurants, their website is: www.whatyoucrave.com. If you don't have a White Castle restaurant close to you, you might see if there is a Krystal restaurant close by. Krystal's serves the same burgers White Castle does (in my opinion). I found this out when I ate at a Krystal's in Mary Esther, Florida. As far as I know, Krystal's is primarily located in Florida. Their website is: www.krystal.com. One final comment about White Castle restaurants. They're also located in New York and New Jersey. Also, fyi, this comments about White Castle and Krystal restaurants are my own. I also don't receive any kind of remuneration for this positive review. Lastly, I don't promise you'll like their hamburgers. Each of us has different tastes. I know I personally enjoy their hamburgers and heartily recommend them.

Carey Indiana Limousine Service

The following statement is my own and is not in any way endorsed by the Carey Indiana Limousine Service. Nor has Carey Indian Limousine Service in any way paid for the following comments about their services. In fact, the service has no idea of what I've written here about them. They are my own personal comments and observations about their limousine service. Should you try their service, I can't guarantee your experiences will be the same as mine though I think it very likely. Prices quoted are subject to change by the service and I have no idea when they may be changed. I have no affiliation whatsoever with Carey Indiana Limousine Service.

In my last post, I told of my visit to the Lord of the Rings film exhibition at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis. As I don't live in Indianapolis, I had to fly out there to see the exhibition. I flew to Indianapolis on Southwest Airlines and plan to post a blog on what I thought of their services. This blog entry however is about my use of Carey Indiana Limousines Services.

As I was making my reservations for my trip to Indianapolis back in October I ran into a problem, I couldn't find an airport shuttle service from Indianapolis Airport to downtown Indianapolis. I decided to call the Radisson where I was going to be staying. They told me about the Carey Indiana Limousine Service. The Radisson is one of an unknown number of hotels who have a deal with them to drop off travellers at their hotel. I then called the service and found out it would cost $11 each way per person. I thought that was a great price though I didn't realize at that time just how great. I subsequently made reservation for me and my step-mom.

The day finally came to fly out to Indianapolis and I used the Super Shuttle (Blue Van) service (I'll give my impressions of their service later) to Baltimore Washington International Airport. From there, I caught a Southwest Airlines flight to Indianapolis. When I arrived at Indianapolis, I met up with my step-mom, picked up my bag, and we went in search of the Carey Indiana Limousine Service. The service was located across the street from the arrivals entrance. We walked over to the building they're located in and checked in. About 5 minutes later, our transportation arrived.

A lot of limousine services use vans, buses, as well as limousines. For $11 each way, I expected a van. Me and my step-mom were both stunned when we stepped out and got to board a great looking stretch limousine. It was absolutely fantastic. It was a great start to our visit to Indianapolis. The driver and his assistant promptly got us to the downtown Radisson and were very courteous. We ended up tipping them $8 because we were so delighted with their service.

When it was time to depart, we waited for what we expected would be a van this time. To our surprise, Carey sent a stretch limousine AGAIN! We were delighted. The driver was just as great as the driver that took us to the Radisson. We were at the Indianapolis Airport in no time. The driver also very kindly told us where we needed to go to check-in for our flight.

I don't know if you'll get a limo every time like we did but, if you need a cheap but high quality service to get you to downtown Indianapolis, you might want to try Carey Indiana Limousine Service. Me and my step-mom found them consistently excellent and will gladly use them again in the future if we have to travel to Indianapolis. Their phone number for reservations and rates is 317-241-6700.

Lord of the Rings Film Exhibition

Currently, the Indiana State Museum is hosting the Lord of the Rings film exhibition until January 3rd. Me and my step-mom finally got to see the exhibition yesterday. If you are a fan of the Lord of the Rings films, it is a must see. They have the costumes warn by Christopher Lee (Saruman), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), and Orlando Bloom (Legolas) on display. There is also have the armor and weapons used by Bernard Hill (Theoden). The character Sauron is represented by his armor and terrible mace. For those who are fans of the dwarves, they have the armor and weapons worn by the double for John Rhys-Davies (Gimli). They also have armor worn by orcs, goblins, and Lurtz the terrible Uruk-kai created by Saruman. A row of different suits of armor is also on display. The row shows the different kinds of armor among the various races. There is a beautiful set of Elven armor, a suit of armor from Numenorean times, two suits of armor someone of the Rohirrim would wear, a suit of armor a Gondorean of the third age would wear as well as others. Videos tell about the actors and actresses involved in the film. A wall shows some of the thousands of prostetics that were created for the films. For special effects nuts, they show how they performed some of the special effects and for $6 you can get your picture taken where a you can be shrunk to hobbit size. The models of Isengard and Barad-dur are on display too. One thing that really impresses is the attention to deal that Peter Jackson and others showed. Many of the items are beautifully made and very intricate. On film, it is extremely unlikely that movie goers would notice these details but that didn't stop the special effects and costumes people. They made some truly breath taking costumes, armor, weapons, and other items (they display the telescope Elrond had at Rivendell).

Another nice aspect of the exhibition is all the artwork that is on display. Drawings by Alan Lee, John Howe, and other artists are on display. Some of them are really beautiful. They had a color painting of Bag End by John Howe I wish I could've purchased. Supposedly, the exhibition is unique in having all the artwork that is on display.

For those who wise to acquire some kind of film souvenir, the museum has a very good gift shop. You can buy maquettes of some of the characters, replicas of the some of the swords, jewelry replicas including a copy of the Evenstar jewel, magnets, book marks, books, and for those who want to look properly elven, a replica of the Fellowship cloak. Two warnings about the cloak. First, it is purely costume. The cloth is very thin and can't be expected to keep the rain and wind out. Second, the cloaks are imported from New Zealand and are expensive. I saw a price tag of $889. Still, I will say the cloaks are pretty. I just don't need to look elven that badly.

Overall, the exhibition is awesome. Me and my step-mom thoroughly enjoyed it. We walked around in delight viewing each of the outstanding exhibits. I left with an even greater appreciation of the films and those who played a part in their making. They truly are benchmarks for any future fantasy films. If you can make it to Indianapolis, I would strongly recommend you catch the exhibition.

One last item of information. Once the exhibition closes on January 3rd, the exhibition will return to New Zealand for 6 months. It hasn't been announced where it will go after New Zealand.

SHARE Distribution Day

4:00 a.m., time to get up. It was the beginning of a busy morning. I'd promised the folks at SHARE that me and Tami Baldon would help out on distribution Saturday. That meant I had to be on the road by 5:15 a.m. Poor Tami, who really hates getting up early had to drag herself out of bed only to find her mom in the bathroom. Her mom was recently promoted to assistant manager at the Chik-Fil-A down the street. Part of her assistant manager duties is opening it at 5 a.m. So Tami found her mother busy getting ready for work at the same time she needed to be out the door so we could drive to SHARE. She finally made it and off we went.

The drive to SHARE was uneventful. We made good time though we did get one shock when we got there. Previous distribution Saturdays didn't start till 6 a.m., not so on this one. We got there at 5:35 a.m. and all the parking spots were filled. People were picking up food packages already. We managed to find a spot thanks to Sam Minor, SHARE's webmaster I've mentioned previously. We then walked in and wondered where we should help out at.

Sam suggested bagging sweet potatoes but I wasn't thrilled with doing that. Jingle then came up and asked if I'd like to be a checker. What is a checker you ask? A checker is a person who takes the customer's order sheet and fills it. There are two kinds of checkers at SHARE. One checker gets single or small lot items such as 5 bags of apples while the other kind of checker handles orders for cases of stuff example: 4 boxes of black eyed peas. Both jobs are very important as they make sure the customers get what they've ordered. Neither me or Tami had been checkers before. I nervously decided to try it. Tami unbeknownst to me became a checker for cases of items.

In my opinion, the small order checker job is the harder of the two checker jobs because you've got more items you have to watch over though the large order checker could cost SHARE more money if they mess up. The small order checker checks off the number of each item the customer receives and makes sure the customer agrees with that number. You also have to make sure the people handing out the items give the customer the right number of items. A few times I found those giving out the items miscounted. Another problem you have is with stuff that the customer rejects an item for one reason or another. In one case, a customer rejected a bag of onions because one of the onions in the bag was bad. The checker also had to explain to the customer how things are done. Repeatedly, I had to explain to customers how they were going to receive their order of tangelos. We were prebagging them 20 to a bag and then putting in another bag anything under 20. So if a customer ordered 75 tangelos, they received 3 bags of 20 and another bag of 15. Lastly, I had to make sure the customer agreed he or she had received all the items I'd checked off and signed the form proving they'd received the goods. I then signed it and turned it into the office. For me, it was a nerve wracking job because I wanted to be absolutely sure the customer received everything they'd paid for.

The morning went quickly as the line of customers didn't seem to shrink for hours. I would finish processing one order, sign off on the paperwork, and promptly go back to the beginning of the line to start processing another order. The orders didn't slow down till 11 a.m. It was incredible how much food was distributed. When me and Tami first arrived, there cases of food stacked up on the warehouse floor. When we were all done, almost all the cases were gone. We actually ran out of turkey link sausages and had to substitute those with packages of ground turkey meat. The warehouse which had been filled with food now looked incredibly empty. Having the warehouse so empty though was a good thing as it meant those who figured how much to buy of each item had gotten it right. They would have very little left over that they would have to sell later.

Me and Tami left about noon and drove back to the apartment complex. For the people who work at SHARE, they would put away the leftovers, and see about tidying the place up. For them, the big holiday surge was over. They could finally take a breather though in 2 weeks time, things will begin to spin up again. It is a continous cycle. The beginning of the month sees them taking orders and then ordering the necessary food. They also organize how ever many volunteers show up to help do whatever jobs need to be done (bagging potatoes, beans, or other food stuffs, making bags, boxing fixings, etc.). Things will begin to surge as it gets closer to distribution day. Distribution day is the peak of the surge. After all the food is distributed, they'll see what's leftover, start working on what is going to be in the next month's food packages, and take a short breather.

The people at SHARE have to find their work deeply satisfying. They help a lot of needy people stretch their food dollars while at the same time ensuring they get good nutritious food. They also help to build community by encouraging volunteerism. People who buy the packages are expected to do 2 hours of community service for each package they buy. SHARE is also a place where young people learn about community service and helping others. I've seen a lot of high school students do their mandatory community service there. For some students, it may be one of the few times where they get to help those less fortunate. I'll never forget meeting some students from Georgetown Preparatory School. Those kids reeked of money and the good life. It had to be a real eye opener for them to help out at SHARE.

If you might be interested in helping out at the SHARE warehouse in Bladensburg, I have their webpage linked on my blog. The webpage has a phone number where they can be reached as well as directions on how to get to the warehouse. I can promise you you'll meet some nice people including Jingle and help a worthy cause.

SHARE 12/16/05

I helped out at SHARE for the third day this week. I must be a glutton for punishment. I also got a surprise today, SHARE decided to set up a distribution line that stayed open until 5:30 p.m. The line wasn't as busy as it is on distribution Saturday's but we did get a fair amount of customers. I ended up helping out in a number of areas. I handed out potatoes initially, then started bagging tangelos for the table next to mine. Later, I handed out onions, apples, celery, sweet potatoes, black eyed peas, and pancake mix. It kept the work interesting. I also got to enjoy some of Jingle's excellent chicken and rice soup. That helped keep you warm in the warehouse.

Another person I'd like to tell you a little about is Scott. Scott is the executive director at SHARE, the big man who runs the whole show. He's a very nice guy who shows no sign of having a big man attitude. Like other people who work at SHARE, he's a jack of all trades. He helps fill orders, hand food out, and do whatever else needs to be done. Scott also usually leads the morning prayer on distribution Saturdays. It's a nice prayer and a nice way to start things on those days.

One correction I have to make to my last SHARE post, there isn't any sub-group managers. I spoke with Chris today to make sure I understood how things work as far as the orders go. He said the individual who wants to order for a package or packages goes to whatever group that is taking orders (usually a church) and they in turn come to the SHARE warehouse to pick up the orders. Chris and the other four group managers deal with those groups over any problems, showing them how to promote SHARE, how to take orders, and how to turn the orders and money in.

SHARE 12/14/05

I'd promised Sam and Karen yesterday that I would help out again today. Still, I was dragging my feet. I finally got my act together around 10 a.m. and hit the road. Traffic was light on Interstate-295 (Baltimore Washington Parkway) and I arrived at the SHARE warehouse in Bladensburg half and hour. I expected another boring chilly day of bagging sweet potatoes. It was not to be to my surprise.

The first surprise I got was when I bunch of 3rd or 4th graders showed up at the warehouse. I don't know what school they were from but I have to applaud them. It was great of them to bring the kids down to warehouse to help. It helps teach the kids about giving something to the community and caring about others less fortunate. Karen alias Jingle (probably because of her wonderful personality) briefed the kids on what they had to do. It was the same job I'd done the day before. You weighed out 2 and 1/2 pounds of sweet potatoes, put them in a plastic sack, tie the open end of the sack, and put 12 bags of potatoes in each box or large potato sack. The kids took to it with gusto though they did have to be shown just what was 2 and 1/2 pounds. Barring that, I doubt SHARE had seen such enthusiastic volunteers.

The second surprise I got was when Chris, one of the group account managers, told me they needed help in the back. Little did I realize what I was getting myself in for. Certain orders are so big that SHARE gets these orders ready ahead of distribution day. Chris and some other volunteers were busy getting these orders ready. It is hard work as an order may have 5 50-pound sacks of potatoes, 3 40-pound sacks of onions, 8 40-pound boxes of apples, 4 40-pound boxes of celery, and 5 30-pound boxes of tangelos. In no time, I was beat from lifting the boxes though Chris kept right on trucking. I guess he's use to such work. I know I'm not and found new admiration for his surprising strength.

FYI, SHARE has five group account managers of which Chris is one. Each group account manager manages a certain region. Chris told me they have one that handles the city of Baltimore, another handles Washington D.C., and others handle regions in Maryland and Virginia. The individual members of the SHARE program will go to a sub-group manager who in turn goes to the group manager. Only if the matter is particularly urgent will an individual member go to the group manager i.e. they got shorted 50 pounds of potatoes or large quantity of some other item.

Karen alias Jingle is another person you should try to meet at SHARE. This lady walks around with a permanent smile on her face and a song in her heart. I've never seen her angry. She has repeatedly shown great kindness to volunteers who help out at SHARE. One of the first things she did when I arrived this morning was direct me to where some hot chicken soup and hot chocolate was. She is also working on a list of volunteers so SHARE can host a get together for them to show its appreciation for what they do as well as let them know of other events at SHARE. She is definitely one of the people that help make it fun to help out at SHARE. If you show up there some time, make sure you say hi to Jingle.

SHARE

I got to help out at SHARE today. Today, they had LOTS of boxes of sweet potatoes that they needed broken down into 2 and 1/2 pound bags. Once we had 12 bags of sweet potatoes, we'd put them back in the box we dumped out and stack them on a pallet. SHARE is busy getting things ready for distribution Saturday. It's incredible how fast those bags of sweet potatoes will go come Saturday.

There were a surprising number of volunteers today at SHARE. At one point, they had people working at seven tables bagging sweet potatoes. It was really nice seeing so many people coming out to help out. The people who run SHARE were busy as always. I got to chat with Sam, SHARE's webmaster par excellence. Sam is a wonderful person who is constantly busy organizing volunteers, showing them what needs to be done, moving loads of food, getting food shipments ready, and taking care of their webpages. If you ever get over to SHARE, you should look him up and say hi. He really is a nice person.

Book Review

I finally finished a book I'd started months ago. The book is "No Phule Like An Old Phule" by Robert Asprin with Peter J. Heck. It is the fifth in the Phule series. For those of you who may not know about the series, what it basically is about is the comedic adventures and misadventures of Willard Phule, heir to the Phule Industries fortune, and his command of the biggest bunch of misfits and outcasts in the Space Legion. The series at times can be quite funny. This one was all right. Why do I think it was just all right? I guess because the gags just didn't leave me rolling laughing. Asprin can do a lot better and this was not one of his better works. That is why I rate the book as fair. If you are a fan of the Phule series, you'll still want to check it out.

A little information on Robert Asprin. Robert Asprin has also worked on the Thieves World books and Myth adventure books. I've never read any of the Thieves World book but I have read some of the Myth books and enjoyed them. I would recommend you check out some of the Myth books if you like fantasy comedy books.

I finally wrapped up the the women's literature class yesterday that I was taking at University of Maryland. I was scheduled for my final yesterday at Maryland's Cole Field House. I'd never taken any of my finals there and it ended up being an interesting experience compounded by the fact I ended up being late for the final. The final was open book and I decided to print all six modules we'd used in the course. This ended up taking longer then I expected. To compound my tardiness, I didn't take into account how long it would take me to clean off all the ice and snow on my car from Friday's morning snowfall. I finally pulled into the parking lot at Maryland at 9:02. My final started at 9:00. I prayed the folks there would cut me some slack. To my relief, I found out I wasn't the only one that was late. It turned out I lost 15 minutes out of the 3 hours given for my final due to my tardiness which I didn't consider any big shakes. It was interesting to see how they set things up. Those who had open book tests got to go down to the playing court and sit at tables. Those who had closed book tests got to sit in the stadium seats to take their tests.

Of the modules that I thought I might need so badly they caused me to be late, one of the modules I printed did turn out to be invaluable for one of the essay questions Professor Beaudry asked. Of the final itself, we had to write 3 essay answers of at least 600 words to three different questions concerning material we'd covered. I won'te say what the questions were in the one in a zillion chance that one of my classmates who hasn't taken the final might actually read this post. In regards to how I did on the final, I managed to knock two answers of 600 words and gave something of a decent answer for the third. Overall, I thought I did all right on the final. With that and the fact I actually turned in all 3 papers this time (though I can't brag too loudly on that as I only managed to do that because of Professor Beaudry's great kindness as far as timeliness), I should pass the class. I happily sold my textbooks back to Maryland after I was done. Concerning English 354, I'm mixed about it. I can't say I liked all the material or some of the stuff we had to study. I will say the Professor Amy Beaudry is a great teacher. She is kind, cares about her students, and genuinely works to make her class really nice. I would strongly recommend this lady for any English classes you have at Maryland. I hope I have her as one of my instructors again.

After the final, I walked over to the University book store so I could make sure I have the required texts for my spring semester class (English 433 - American Literature 1914 to the Present). To my relief, I have all the needed texts. I didn't want to have to buy any more of them considering what they can cost. The cost of textbooks can be insane.

On the way back to my car, I got to see a beautiful set of statues you may not be aware of on the College Park campus. I don't know for sure but I guess Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, attended the University of Maryland. In a memorial to the man, there is a bench by the Adelphi student center with two statues. One is a life size statue of Jim Henson and the other is of Kermit the frog. The statues are positions so it appears they are talking to each other. It's a very beautiful memorial to Henson and if you're ever on the College Park campus, I'd recommend you see it.

Book Review - Praisesong for the Widow

The last novel I had to read for the college class I'm taking this semester was Paule Marshall's "Praisesong for the Widow." It's an interesting novel because it tells of an African-American woman named Avey Johnson who finds herself widowed, her children grown and living their own lives, and doing what was expected of an elderly woman in the early 70's. Little does she realize that in her rush to achieve the American dream that she has had to sacrifice a lot of her personal happiness and identity. Due to some strange occurrences that begin to happen to her, Avey begins a journey of discovery. The journey will have its pitfalls. She'll have to trust a man she doesn't know at all and who may be something of a crackpot, she'll go on a boat journey that will make her violently sick, and she'll deal with people who speak a language (Patois) that she doesn't even know. Still, she'll persevere on and discover the terrible price her and her husband paid to achieve the American dream. She finds that she doesn't even know who she really is where once she did. She also finds that there are ties to Africa that she wasn't aware of. Finally, she finds a new sense of purpose in life. Avey had been feeling like she was no longer of any value. In her journey, she finds that she can still do something useful in life. She can help instill in her grand-children a sense of identity and of their heritage as African-Americans. It will mean that she will have to break from what was expected of a typical widow of that time but, Avey is willing to pay the price in exchange for the sense of purpose and self fulfillment her purpose gives her. The novel ends on an uplifting note with the reader wanting to cheer on Avey. I would definitely recommend this novel to some one who is African-American as I think they would find it a great read. For someone who is white like myself, I think you can enjoy it too as it is still a beautiful novel of self discovery and the realization that our later years in life can be every bit fulfilling and exciting as our earlier years are. The elderly still have a vital part to play in our society and this novel shows just one important task they can play albeit from an African-American part. Still, there are undoubtedly many important things elderly white Americans can do. Our later years in life shouldn't be ones of doom and gloom. Instead, they should be ones filled with new challenges and dreams. This novel serves to inspire elderly people to do just that. Be you white, black, red, or yellow, I'd recommend this novel to you as it shows that our later years don't have to be one of misery but of fulfillment and purpose. Hopefully, those who read this wonderful novel will find new inspiration themselves.

Boxing Day at SHARE

I got help out again at the Self Help and Resource Exchange (SHARE) in Bladensburg today. Today was boxing day at SHARE. What boxing day is is where you put together boxes and then fill them with the fixings that go with their ham or turkey food packages. Typically this includes stuffing mix, mash potatoes, a bag of frozen vegetables, corn bread mix, and some other stuff.

The warehouse opened at 7 a.m. In order to be there when they opened, me and Tami headed out at 6:15 a.m. The drive was uneventful and we arrived shortly before things kicked off. Putting the boxes together was easy. I found once I got into a rhythym, I was able to steadily knock out quite a few boxes. Initially, I thought all we were going to do was put boxes together but, I found out the people who run SHARE also planned to fill them in advance of distro day. Tami and I got tagged to help out with the line they formed for filling the boxes. Tami stuffed the bag of frozen veggies, a packet of some kind of seasoning mix, and a box of stuffing mix into the boxes. My job was to stack the boxes on pallets and when we got enough boxes, wrap them in something resembling saran wrap. The group we were with worked hard and got a lot done. I figured we assembled and packed over 500 boxes of fixings for distro day before me and Tami left. The two of us ended up spending over 4 hours at SHARE. It was nice to help out again and I look forward to helping out on distro day. I may also try to help out after I take the final for the college class I'm taking.

Bible Doctrine

I thought I'd tell you about something that has had a big impact on my life. If you don't care to hear about religious stuff then, you'll want to skip this post.

Back in 1990 or 1991, I was having some personal problems. I had a lot of anxiety, low self esteem, and I felt I was a failure with the ladies (this matters to a straight guy). I got counseling which helped but it didn't solve the problems. They kept coming back and, I was getting pretty discouraged. The counselor I was seeing to my surprise recommended I see the base chaplain. The base chaplain at the time was Dr. Christopher Seidlitz.

As far as I can remember, I believed in God and I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior however,  I wasn't very religious. I occasionally went to mass and occasionally took communion. But for the most part, God didn't play a prominent part in my life. I was highly skeptical that Chaplain Seidlitz could do anything for me. I mean what could learning how to say a particular prayer or knowing a particular doctrine do for helping me feel better about myself or help me deal with some of the worries I had at the time. Still, I figured what did I have to lose.

Chaplain Seidlitz turned out to be a very nice man. I enjoyed chatting with him and, he became a friend. It was Chaplain Seidlitz who told me about the bible doctrine tapes. What the tapes are are lessons in bible doctrine by a pastor named Robert B. Thieme Jr. He was the pastor of Berachah Church in Houston (his son R. B. Thieme III is now the pastor there). The tapes are no nonsense teaching of the word of God. Thieme believed that God gave us everything we needed to deal with life's problems in the word of God. All we needed to do was learn it, metabolize it, and use it. My reaction was yah, right. Still, Chaplain Seidlitz stayed on me about listening to the tapes and strangely, my life did seem to get better. I gradually got myself to regularly listen to them and funnily enough, I began to manage and solve the problems that had plagued me. Ultimately, I was able to solve my problems myself with use of the tapes. Since then, I've had other life crises including the transition I'm going through right now from military to civilian life. The crises have been hard but, I've found that the teaching in the tapes has helped me handle them and get through them. If you're going through a tough time in your life and you're receptive to Jesus Christ, you might want to give the tapes a try. They don't cost anything except the time to listen to them. You can find a link on my blog to where you can get more information on the tapes (R. B. Thieme Jr. Bible Ministries). I can't promise they'll be the answer to your problems but, they may help. I know they have helped me with problems I've had in my life.

2005 National Capital Kennel Club Dog Show

On Monday the 28th, I got to go to the National Capital Kennel Club dog show at the Howard County fairgrounds. The main reason I went was so I could see a bunch of pug dogs. One of my dreams is to own a couple pugs. I had one when I was a kid and I thought he was the cutest and funniest dog I've ever had. Unfortunately, my grandmother who we called Mimi (I have no idea why) made my mom give him away. We'd moved to Clinton, New York and were living with her at the time. Mimi for unknown reasons didn't want Puggsy as we called him to mess around with her two beribboned Yorkshire terriers. Mom as far as I know did find him a good home but I never forgot that Mimi made us get rid of him. It would be another item on a long list of grievances I had with that lady.

Anyway, it was neat to go to the dog show. All the breeds were there though some weren't in great number. I got to see one Chinese crested which was an interesting breed. They actually shave those dogs down to their bare skin which made me go "ooooo." I also got to see some bulldogs which were neat with their bat like ears. I also discovered the dog I typically think of as a bulldog was in fact a French bulldog. Those are the bigger bulldogs with the massive jaws. Regular bulldogs are a lot smaller. Before the pugs came on, I got to see some King Charles Spaniels which were cute. A young lady to the surprise of the crowd won best of breed with her spaniel puppy. It had a nice personality and the lady did a good job of handling it.

The pugs finally came on at 11 a.m. I think they had a total of either 11 or 12 dogs. They were neat to watch. One thing that surprised me about them is that pugs can let down their tails. The ideal pug has a tail with a double curl. However, when a pug is upset or nervous, they'll let their tails uncurl. One poor lady had that happen. I'm certain that cost her judging wise. Another thing that was neat about pugs was watching their faces. They have very expressive faces and it was something to watch their expressions. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the pugs. I big time hope to own a couple some day. I just need to get the place for them. Right now, I live in a two bedroom apartment on the third floor. An apartment is fine for a pug which is a small dog BUT puppies have to go to the bathroom a lot. I'm not prepared to carry the dog(s) up and down two flights of stairs five or six times a day. I hope to get a set-up like my Dad has. He fenced in part of his back yard which is connected to a glass door. When it's time for his corgis to do their business, he opens the door, they go outside, and they do their business. When they're done, he lets them back in. The fenced in part of the yard is covered in gravel and every 3 or 4 months, he'll take a heavy yard rake, rake up the dog poop, and throw it out. It's an excellent system. Some day, I'll be able to buy a house and set something up like that.

The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook

I believe it was last month that I heard that Alan Lee was coming out with a book called "The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook." He was reportedly travelling to various bookstores across the country and signing the book in efforts to promote it. I sorely wish I could've met him and got an autographed copy. As it is, I had to settle with buying the book. Yesterday, I bought it.

I expected the artwork to be breathtaking and it is. Alan Lee is a phenomenal artist. He and John Howe are the two most responsible for giving Peter Jackson an idea of what Middle-Earth could've looked like. Their visionary drawings are incredibly beautiful and make one wish such a world had really existed. The book contains over 150 drawings showing how artistic work on the Lord of the Rings movies went from start to finish. It also tells some stories of Lee's involvement in the movies, a project that would involve him for over 6 years.

To complement the incredible artwork in the book, the publishers Houghton Mifflin used high quality paper, good quality binding, and even included a ribbon book mark. It is a high quality book. The only down side in my opinion is the high quality price. My copy cost me $30. Still, you get what you pay for. This is a fantastic book that would make a wonderful Christmas present for any Lord of the Rings fan. I highly recommend it. I feel it will give you or someone you give it to as a gift many hours of pleasure looking at the incredible pictures and dreaming of a world that never was but we might wish had been.

Virginia Trip Report

Greetings all. I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while but, I've been very busy with work and travelling to Richmond, Virginia and back. I got back to the apartment about 20 minutes ago.

First impressions of my trip. I have big time mixed feelings about Amtrak. They are convenient, can save lots of hassle, and their trains are fun to ride. The down side is their timeliness can royally suck. I ended up getting back 3 hours late today. If you have to be some place by a certain time, I would recommend you DON'T take Amtrak. If you're not in any hurry, they are a fun way to travel though do be prepared for delays. I plan to take the train whenever I go to Richmond. It really saves a lot of hassle though it would be cheaper to drive my car down there.

Places I got to see: Shenandoah Valley National Park, Luray Caverns, Mitchie Tavern, and Monticello. The rangers at the park were very helpful. The woods were beautiful and the views from the park were stunning. I managed to get a few pictures which I'll post once I get them developed.

The Luray Caverns were very impressive. They reportedly are the largest on the East Coast. Some of the stalactites and stalagmites were huge. It was something to think it took millions of years to make them.

Mitchie Tavern was very nice though I do have a gripe with the dang hours. They are only open from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Me and Harvey ended up having to go there before Monticello so we could have lunch there. The buffet they offer is all right and reasonably priced. The menu is fried chicken, bar-b-que pork, potatoe salad, cole slaw, sweet yams, green beans, black eyed peas, and corn bread. Drinks and dessert are extra. This place also gets busy at times. We ended up waiting 20 minutes to get in.

Monticello was awesome. The mansion isn't as big as you would think a mansion would be but it is still very impressive. You definitely get the impression that Thomas Jefferson was a renaissance man though he was only able to be that thanks to the 110 slaves he owned. Without the slaves labor and the money they made for Jefferson, I highly doubt he would've achieved nearly as much as he did. I also wasn't amused that Jefferson who called slavery an abomination only freed 5 slaves during his life and in his will. If slavery really was such an abomination (and it is), he clearly could've done more. Barring that, I very much enjoyed my visit to Monticello. It was great to finally get to see it.

One correction to previous posts, Harvey it turns out is 68. He only retired about 3 years ago. I thought it had been longer then that.

Future plans, a new trip is in the works. While riding the train to Richmond, I noticed a package promotion Amtrak is doing where you can get train fare to NYC, a ticket in the orchestra section to see the Rockettes Christmas show, and a soda with popcorn at the show. I didn't get to see the Rockettes perform when I visited NYC in July and, I would very much like to see them. Me and Harvey are looking at doing a weekend trip. We'll see if it happens. Hopefully, it will. It would be a lot of fun.

Cheers! :-)

Cairns - Part III

Time to finish my tale of my adventures in Cairns, Australia. Since my last post, I managed to find the trip itinerary that Jann (our guide) gave the group so my narrative should be more accurate. The picture to the left is a picture of the train we took from Cairns to Kuranda. The cars were old fashioned cars with benches in them for seats. In the following pictures, you'll get to see some of the beautiful scenery the group got to see on the trip to Kuranda. Kuranda for your information was the main town that raw materials were taken to from further inland. The materials such as gold, lumber, hides, etc. was then put on the train to Cairns where it might be shipped out to other places in Australia and abroad. Kuranda is now something of a tourist town. They have a butterfly farm where you can see a number of beautiful butterflies. They also have a number of craft and souvenir shops. The other thing I remember of note was a very pretty Aussie girl who was selling sausages here. I bought one (it was all right) but the main thing I enjoyed was the sight of her. I didn't try to chat her up because I didn't see any point in it. I was only going to be in Kuranda 90 minutes or so and never expected to return. 90 minutes is not enough time to properly get to know someone so I let it go but, I do remember the girl from Kuranda.

Above are pictures of two waterfalls. The one on the left is a small one the train passed by. The one on the right is a massive waterfall that sadly has hardly any water going over it. Where did the water go? It was diverted and sent underground to power a turbine to generate electricity. Further down the river, the water is sent back into the river and continues along it's way. Supposedly when it rains really heavily, you can see the large waterfall in all its glory. It's said to be very impressive.













The picture on the left is me with my Aussie hat on and Harvey. The picture on the right is our absolutely fantastic tour guide Jann Elphinstone. The picture doesn't do this wonderful lady justice. She was an absolute marvel. She managed repeatedly to get 19 people and herself through a number of airports without losing their luggage or them. She managed to see off every member of the group on whatever optional tours they signed up, even at the most ungodly of hours. And lastly, to the envy of any woman, she managed to look fashionable no matter what time of day or night it was and on very little sleep at times. There is no question that this wonderful woman made my tour of Australia an absolute delight. Later, when I got to visit Auckland, I and others who went on the Auckland add-on tour missed her greatly. We didn't know it but, we had been spoiled rotten by her and had a rough time coming back to earth afterwards. This July, when me and Harvey went to New York City, we missed her again. We had to find our own transportation to the hotel, had to find where to board the Grayline bus tour of NYC, and had to find the theater where we saw "The Producers." If she had been there, all those things would've been taken care of. If you can take a tour with this wonderful woman, by all means do so. You won't regret it.

After getting up to Kuranda, we had to get back down. There were three ways you could do that. You could either a bus or the train back or you could take the Skyrail. What the Skyrail is are cars that ride along cables that hang from very high towers above the rainforest. At times, you are 130 feet above the ground. It's an awesome way to see the rainforest outside Cairns. At the end of the ride, whether you want it or not, you get your picture taken. They later offer that picture for sale. By this time, I was getting totally tired of having every dang restaurant and boat we rode on take my picture and then try to sell it to me for a hefty mark-up. I would've normally passed on this one except that Harvey must have gotten caught by surprise by the camera because he looks like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. I think he looks hilarious and I subsequently bought the picture. I don't have it posted because Harvey hasn't given permission to post it and I won't do so out of consideration for his feelings.

After we finished the ride on the Skyrail, we returned to the hotel. You had the choice of doing what you wanted or going on an optional ($29 Australian) tour to the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Center. Jann recommended the center and I decided to go. The center is very nice and you get to see aborigines play the didgeridoo (a very long wooden tube like instrument) which is native to Australia. The didgeridoo player was very good and could do some really impressive stuff with the instrument. You also got to see some aborigine food, learn how it was prepared, learn how they made fire, learned about their religion, and saw some of their dancing. Afterwards, you could visit their giftshop where you could by some Aborigine souvenirs. I think thats where I bought a Aborigine handkerchief that I plan to put in my family's Christmas grab bag this year.

After that, it was back to the hotel again. I went off by myself into Cairns to rustle up some dinner. To my delight, I found a shop that sold Donner kebabs just like in England. Donner kebabs are kebabs made of a hamburger like meat that is slowly cooked sideways on a spit. They then shave the meat off, and stick it in a pita with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and hot sauce. It is very cheap though greasy eats. I was in greasy bliss. I also tried a Bundaberg rum and Coke and found it very smooth. I wasn't impressed with rum though I think it is better than cognac. Cognac to me tastes like really bad tasting cough syrup. I can't understand why people would drink barring trying to look all sophisticated.

The next morning, those in the group that "really" wanted to do an optional hot air balloon flight got to get up at 4:15 in the morning and returned at 9:00 a.m. I passed and enjoyed the pleasure of sleeping in. Around 7:30 or so, I strolled down to breakfast. After that, I went back to my room, got my bags, hauled them down to where the bus driver could pick them up, settled my bill with hotel, and finally boarded the bus. The bus subsequently drove us back to Cairns International Airport where we left for Alice Springs for the next part of our Australian adventure.

Stay tuned for Alice Springs where you'll get to learn about witchety grubs (I actually ate some cooked bits, first time in my life I've eaten a real BUG), what an Australian bar-b-que is like (damn good eats mate!), and learn out about the Royal Flying Doctor Corps. Cheers! :-)

Ebay Lessons

First, all the opinions I'm about to express about Ebay are my own. They are an attempt to let people know some things about Ebay both good and bad. If you choose to purchase something from Ebay based on what I say here, you do so at your own risk. Advise costs nothing and sometimes is worth just as much.

The last few days, I've been bidding on various Gimli battle axes on Ebay. I'm hoping to get a better deal on one then I can get a regular shops that sell the item. If I'm patient, I think I'll get that deal. You can find some bargains on Ebay, if you're patient, and know the rules. If you're not patient and know the rules, you can get ripped off. Because of this, I decided to post a blog post about Ebay and tell of some of my hard learned lessons so hopefully you won't have to learn the same lessons.

First lesson, make sure you've lost the bid on one item before you bid on another copy of the same item. This may seem like a no-brainer but it wasn't in my case. As I mentioned previously, this ended up being a $600 lesson. Hopefully, you have more sense than I had at the time and don't make the same mistake.

Second lesson, know that Ebay will not help you mediate with a seller if you don't contact them within 30 days of paying for the item. This was another hard lesson. I won a bid on an item and the seller said they wouldn't be able to deliver the item until after 30 days. Payment was expected immediately. If I had know the rule about Ebay's mediation, I never would've tried to purchase the item. What ended up happening in this case was I'm still owed a Herugrim sword or $94. I highly doubt I'll see either. It seems the seller was selling items she didn't have on hand. Since this lesson, I've always made sure I get what I pay for in time. If it gets close to the 30 days, I'll be contacting Ebay to cover myself.

Third lesson, avoid getting caught up in the competition to win the bid. The object of buying something on Ebay is to try to buy something you want at a better price then you can find elsewhere. If you get caught up in winning the bid, you may not end up with the bargain you were looking for. If there are a number of the particular item on Ebay, decide what is the limit you're winning to pay for the item, and stick to that price. When the bid goes over that price, stop bidding on it. The exception to this rule is if the price is only a dollar or two over your limit. In that case, you might want to see if another dollar will get you the item.

Another exception to this rule is if there aren't a lot of the item you want. If it is a limited edition or one of a kind, you are probably going to pay a premium for it if there is high demand for the item.

Fourth lesson, be prepared for the last minute bid grab. A number of times, I've thought I've won the bid on an item only to have someone snatch it away at the last minute. What more experienced buyers will do is have a last minute bid ready and when it gets within 45 seconds of the item closing out, they'll send the bid in. This tactic has worked a number of times to my great frustration. Be prepared for it and have your own last minute bid ready if you really want the item.

Fifth lesson, make sure you buy from a seller who has sold a lot of stuff and has a high satisfaction rating. You're less likely to get ripped off from such a seller. This isn't to say you shouldn't buy from someone who is selling for the first time (I'll be doing that myself soon) but be careful with such newbies. They don't have a proven track record.

That's all the advice (for what it's worth) that I have on Ebay. I can say without a doubt that thanks to Ebay, I've saved some serious money on things I've wanted to buy. I think it is a really nice place to buy stuff but, you have to be careful there. Learn the rules on how it works. Knowing those rules could save you some grief and some serious cash.

2005 Visit to Maryland Renaissance Festival

Because of A^2, I decided to post what I did this past Saturday. I'll have to post the pictures I took of the knights that were jousting later.

Saturday, I finally got to take my friend Tami to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. The folks who organize the yearly event really do a great job. I've been four times now and enjoyed it every time.

Tami had never been to the festival. I was looking forward to introducing her to it. The festival is located near Crownsville, Maryland. It has been a yearly event since 1976. It has permanent buildings for all the various shops as well as a permanent jousting field. Price wise, it is very reasonable. The non-discounted ticket is $17 for an adult. I don't know what it costs for a kid. How long it'll take you get there depends on where you live and when you leave. I made it a point to leave around 9 a.m. so that I wouldn't hit a long line of cars trying to get in. This worked as we weren't stuck in traffic for very long. The festival opens its gates at 10 a.m.

There are a number of acts that I particularly like at the festival that I made sure I introduced Tami to. There is the scottish bagpipe group called "The Rogues" who play some awesome scottish bagpipes. They've also tried to create more modern music for this instrument so they can keep it alive. I think they succeed admirably.

Another good act is "The Squire on the Wire." The squire's name is Michael Rosman. He mixes comedy, juggling, and tight-rope walking into an excellent show that keeps the audience roaring.

If you want to see two action heroes, you see the act Hack and Slash. They're a great comedy act at the festival. Their real names are John Davis and Spencer Humm. The two would be heroes do a number of routines that are hilarious. Hack is the one with the green and brown whip. The world's most difficult color combination. Slash is the "big" man. You'll find out what I mean when you see him perform.

Another favorite act of mine is Fight School. This act is noteworthy because it is funny AND you learn something. They actually explain how certain swords and swordfighting techniques developed while cracking various jokes. Fight school is composed of Jim Frank, Mike Martin, Casey Severn, and Geoff Thompson.

Jousting is a staple of the festival and this one was no different. What is interesting about the jousting at the festival vice Medieval Times is the knights wear real plate armor, ride horses whose ancestors would've carried "real" knights, and they don't fall off the horse intentionally. While some of the fighting is obviously fake, the jousting is a lot closer to real jousting vice what you'll see at Medieval Times.

Another nice thing about the festival are all the different shops. A number of them sell very nice merchandise. You can pick up some nice pictures, leather goods, well made renaissance clothes for the festival, or some beautiful hand made glassware. I bought myself a nice renaissance shirt and a satchel. One bad thing about pants that you have to wear with riding boots is often they don't have pockets. That makes it difficult to carry your wallet, keys, etc. The satchel fit the bill perfectly. It was big enough to carry all those things and a camera to boot without being bulky, didn't cause me problems with my cloak, or was exposed to any would-be thieves. It also isn't touristy looking.

The touristy thing is important because when I travel, I don't want to look like a tourist. Tourists are big targets for thieves and people selling junk I don't want to buy. The satchel should be great for carrying my passport, airplane ticket, wallet, camera, and keys. The only complaint I have with the satchel is the three stone buttons you use to secure it. They're not that easy to use.

The last thing I like about the festival is the food. The smoked turkey legs are particularly excellent. I make a point of having one of these every time I go. If you go to the festival, as long as you're not vegetarian, try one. They have lots of other kinds of food including pizza to eat though the only other one I can recommend are the orange ices. They also have a good selection of beers though I would ask you to please don't drink and drive.

The only thing I can fault the festival for is the short time it runs. It starts the third weekend in August and goes to the third weekend in October. I wish it ran longer.

Cairns - Part II

A couple days ago, the lady known as A2^ sent me a comment. She said that she was going to put climbing the Sydney harbor bridge on her list of things to do before she died. I replied that another thing she would want to put on that list was scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef. Why? First, it one of the largest living organisms in the world. It is so big that astronauts in space can see it. Second, it has one of the largest collection of creatures on this earth. The number has to run into the thousands. Third, it is a place where man can enter a totally alien world without having to go into space or beyond. The underwater world is totally different from our own. Even with all our technological advances, it remains one of the most inhospitable to man. You have to be very careful in this world otherwise it can kill you in any number of ways. So, if you are searching for adventure, diving the Great Barrier Reef should fit the bill. The picture here is of me in my diving gear, doing a safety stop under the pontoon platforms the Quicksilver Company had at the Great Barrier Reef.

The Quicksilver Company collects its passengers two ways. You travel to Port Douglas by either by boat or bus. In our case, a bus pulled into the hotel parking lot Wednesday morning. We summarily boarded and got to enjoy a very scenic half hour drive to Port Douglas. Port Douglas at one time competed with Cairns for the principle port in this region. Eventually it lost out and for a while, it became a ghost town. When I visited here in 2004, it had a population of over 5,000 which sometimes swelled to as many at 15,000 due to tourists. Its primary business now is tourism.

The boat we travelled out to the Great Barrier Reef in was a big catamaran. The boat must have held at least 250 people plus diving equipment and enough food to provide everyone who went out, a fantastic buffet lunch. While enroute, people got to decide what they wanted to do. You could lay on the platform and get a nice tan. You could snorkel or you could scuba dive. If you were going to scuba dive, you had to either show your certification card or fill out a form stating where you got your certification and with whom. You also had to listen to a short refresher course on diving and take a quiz afterwards. Once you arrived at the pontoon platform, you had to promptly suit up if you were going to dive. The diving equipment was well organized and you went from bin to bin collecting your equipment.

Once you were ready, you entered the water with a bunch of other people and checked out your equipment. One thing I've seen time and again are people who claim to be better divers then they actually are. This time would be no different. We had a guy who claimed to be a great diver and he ended up holding the group for over 5 minutes because he couldn't get his bouyancy right and sink. At last, the instructors helped him make it to the bottom and we began our dive. The sea life was dazzling. The instructors pointed out things of note like particulary impressive fish or having us touch an anemone. They really do sting. They also made a video of us that you could purchase later though I decided to pass on it. I think it only had about 3 minutes of us actually diving in it.

We finished the first dive without incident, did our safety stop, and then changed our tanks out. I signed up to do a second dive and got paired up with a guy that had only dived 9 times. I wasn't thrilled with that. I prefer to dive with experienced divers since they know what they're doing. I have over 80 dives to my credit but before the reef dives, I hadn't dived in over 2 years. I still knew what I was doing but, I wasn't super confident. I'd never dived the Great Barrier Reef before and it is a good thing to dive a new area with someone who is experienced in that area for at least a couple times. I wouldn't have that luxury here. Fortunately, the second dive was equally uneventful as far as diving problems go. I did get to take my first underwater photos which are what you are looking at on this post. The company sold cheap underwater cameras and I decided to try it out. To my delight, the photos came out reasonably well.

Overall, I ended up having an absolutely awesome time. It made me wish to do more diving when I got back to Maryland. Unfortunately, where I live is at least 3 hours driving from the coast and the water is very cold here. The only time you can dive with a wet suit is during the summer months. I did get my dry suit qualification but, I haven't cared to spend the money on one yet. I don't know how much I would use it. Hopefully, I'll get to do more diving in the future.

Those who do two dives out on the reef never get a chance to try the excellent buffet lunch the Quicksilver company provides. Fortunately, the company takes this into account and the diver can arrange for them to put aside 3 plates! of food for them when the reboard the boat. I got to eat the food on the way back to port and it was delicious. The drive back to Cairns was also very pleasant. We drove along the coast and got to see lots of seashore and water. When I arrived at the hotel, to my delight, our tour guide Jann Elphinstone invited me to join her for dinner in Cairns. She also invited Harvey and that is when I got to know him somewhat better. The three of us had a dinner at a food court in town and had a nice chat. I ended up having some lacklustre Thai food and a rather poor smoothie. Jann also recommended I try Bundaberg Rum (the local rum which was supposed to be very good) and XXXX beer. I found the rum was all right though I confess, I'm not real keen on hard liquor. The beer was also good. The one nice thing about trying the two was I slept like a rock that night though I might've been a little worn out from the diving too.

The next day would be our last day in Cairns. We would get to ride the Kuranda train, see the town of Kuranda, ride the Skyrail back to Cairns, and visit an aborigine cultural center. It would be another very full day. Stay tuned for Cairns - Part III.

Cairns - Part I

The minute we arrived in Cairns we could feel the difference between it and Sydney. It was warmer and the humidity was greater. It definitely felt tropical and it was. It was the first time I'd gotten to see land in a tropical environment. I was finally able to imagine what Hawaii looked like barring the muddy beaches in Cairns. We didn't go directly to our hotel the Tradewinds Esplanade. Instead, we went to a wildlife park where we were introduced to some of Australia's nasty and cute critters. The picture you see here is of an estuarine or salt water crocodile. These creatures are vicious and BIG. As I remember, the one in the picture you're looking was 8 feet long and they get bigger then that. It is these crocodiles that have killed people up in Australia's Northwest Territory. The territory where real Crocodile Dundee's would've lived.


One of the cute creatures we got to meet was a koala. For a fee, you could do as this member of our group is doing. You got to hold a koala and get your picture with him or her. I don't remember if they told what its sex was. After watching others in our groups get their picture taken, I had to give in and do it myself. It was kinda neat. The koala is very cute and it was nice experience barring the stain I got on my shirt from holding him/her.

We also got to meet some kangaroos. They were pretty laid back as you can see. We could buy food to feed them with if we wished. They were so use to humans that we could walk right up to them and pet them.





Another group of creatures we got to see through glass tanks were 10 of the most venomous snakes in the world. Interestingly, I believe Australia has 6 of them. Those were creatures I was glad I didn't get to meet any closer.

After the wildlife park, we drove to the hotel and checked in. I tried out the pool and have a nice swim. After that, I got changed and explored Cairns. It was a nice city and more quiet then Sydney. It was also a lot smaller. It had a lot of touristy shops which reminded me of Destin, Florida which is a big tourist town in Nortwest Florida. When I was stationed in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, I did a lot of scuba diving out of Destin. My scuba diving would come in handy later at Port Douglas (earlier I reported this as Port Arthur, I got the name wrong).

As I walked along the esplanade next to the beach, I took this picture. As you can see the beaches aren't very pretty and it is a tropical region i.e. the palm trees.





In the evening, the group had dinner at the hotel. The dinner was noteworthy because we got to try barramundi (an Australian fish), crocodile, and kangaroo. As I remember, crocodile actually tasted like chicken and kangaroo was a bit dry. Supposedly, it didn't have a lot of fat in it. The dinner ended up being very enjoyable.

The next day, we'd go to Port Douglas where we'd take a catamaran out to the Great Barrier Reef. I'll tell about that in Cairns - Part II.

Australia Tour and Lord of the Rings Sketchbook

To be more accurate, I dug out my 2004 organizer. One of the main ways I keep track of things I've got to do or have done is by keeping them in my organizer. This has been priceless later when I've needed to check on them. The only fault with this system is I'm not the most ardent chronicler when it comes to entering stuff into it. As an example. From mid-May to mid-June of this year, I stopped making entries. I was still busy doing things but I suspect I was so caught up with various problems and I didn't feel like making entries. Fortunately, for the Australia trip, I was very accurate recording what I got to do.

Corrections on the Sydney leg of the adventure. First, I arrived in Sydney at 10:50 p.m. I believe we arrived at the hotel at 11:45 p.m. Then we had to up around 6 a.m. Surprisingly, everyone managed to get through the day fine.

We also did a one hour boat cruise of the harbor where we got to see some of the expensive homes on the harbor. And they were expensive though I think that is typical of any place. Waterfront property is never cheap.

On my own, I took a taxi to the Sydney Hard Rock Cafe where I bought myself, my sister, and a friend a city specific t-shirt. What these are are shirts that show highlights of that particular city. In Sydney, it was the opera house and the bridge. In Paris, it is Arc de Triomphe and the Champs de Elysees. They are pretty cool t-shirts, especially compared to the standard ones with the Hard Rock Cafe ball and the name of the city under it. I've heard they've finally come out with one for London and I hope to get it when I visit there next summer.

Lastly, the restaurant we had our welcoming dinner is called the Waterfront Restaurant.

On a totally different subject, yesterday I found out that the artist Alan Lee will be doing a quick book signing promotion tour promoting his new book "The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook." Alan Lee and John Howe had enormous influence on Peter Jackson's movies. The grey hat that Gandalf wears came out of a drawing John Howe did. Also, the appearance of Bag End was heavily influenced by him. Alan Lee had enormous influence on the scenes of Rivendell and in the extended version of The Fellowhip of the Ring, you can see him touching up the set with paint. Below are the cities, dates, bookshops, and times when he'll be at them. I sorly wish he would make a stop in Baltimore or Washington D.C. so I could get a book signed by him and get to meet him. He is an awesome artist and fascinating person. Cheers!

New York - Saturday October 22nd

Books of Wonder - 12 noon

Philadelphia - Monday October 24th

Friends select school - 7 p.m.

Atlanta - Tuesday October 25th

Peachtree Battle - 7 p.m.

Austin - Wednesday October 26th

BookPeople - 7 p.m.

Denver - Thursday October 27th

Tattered Cover, LoDo - 7:30 p.m.

Salt Lake City - Friday October 28th

Borders Books, Murray - 7 p.m.

San Francisco - Saturday and Sunday October 29th and 30th

Saturday - Book Passage, Corte Madera - 7 p.m.
Sunday - The Booksmith - 2 p.m.

Seattle - Monday October 31st

University Bookstore - 7 p.m.

Portland - Tuesday November 1st

Powell's Books, Beaverton - 7 p.m.

My source for this information was the Aint It Cool website: www.aintitcool.com

I would call these book stores before you go to make sure there haven't been any changes since this post in order to avoid any chance of disappointment.

Lastly, it was reported in the press that the Ontario government has loaned the equivalent of nearly 2.5 million U.S. dollars to the stage version of the Lord of the Rings. (I'm still wondering how they're going to pull this off in just say 3 or 4 hours. Any longer and, they're going to lose their audience.) The government justified the action saying all the money the show would probably bring into the province when the show opens in Toronto in February 2006. That is dependent on the show being a hit. The government doesn't seem to think the show is going to be a stinker as so many other theatrical shows are. It remains to be seen if they are right. If they are, it will be a smart move; if they aren't, they'll take even greater heat then they're taking right now.

Visit to Sydney, Australia

I don't know about other folks but I know I would get tired of seeing just text so on this post I'm including a couple pictures I took while in Sydney. In one of the pictures, you can see people climbing the bridge. The other is of the very famous Opera House. We actually took a tour of the Opera House and it is an awesome building. The different shell like roofs are supposed to represent sails. The building is unique and has become a recognized symbol of Sydney. For your information, opera is not the only kind of show you can catch here. It is a place of concerts, other theatrical productions, and is also used for conferences and wedding receptions.


Now, when did I do what. Sunday, we saw the aquarium, did the city tour, I believe we also did the Opera House tour, and then had a our welcoming dinner. Quite a long to do for a bunch of people that had just crossed the Pacific but that is how they scheduled it. (At the end of the tour you get to fill out a feedback sheet where you can praise the people who did a great job and slam those who didn't. One point I made was the lack of time to adjust. From the time we arrived, we were on the go.)

The welcoming dinner was at a restaurant (whose name I don't remember) by the Rocks which was a very notorious place in Sydney. It was originally the place where the first settlement was built in Sydney. Later, it became the haunt of prostitutes and thieves. Now, it is very cleaned up and is a very popular tourist destination.

It turned out there were 19 of us in the tour. For the most part, everyone was married. The only exceptions were three Puerto Rican girls who all knew each other and two bachelors (me and Harvey). We had a nice welcome dinner and began to get to know one another. We came from all over the country and had a couple wonderful Canadians from Toronto named Fraser and Denise. Fraser was a retired labor arbitrator and Denise was still doing it. They called themselves the token Canadians but they were anything but token people. They really added to the pleasure of the tour.

The next day was a free day and that was when I did the bridge climb. Later, I explored around the harbor. I checked out a couple malls, ate a forgettable lunch at McDonalds, took the harbor water taxi back to the wharf where the aquarium is, and watched the Australian Independence Day fireworks at night. I didn't stay up too late because I think the time change was finally catching up with me.

The next day, everyone packed their bags, had breakfast, checked out of the hotel (the Darling Harbor Four Points Sheraton, very nice hotel), and boarded the bus for the airport. Our next stop would be Cairns.

Australia Adventure Begins

Living in the down under, where women throw and men chunder (or something like that). That song remains one of my favorite songs. I remember actually seeing Men at Work perform in an absolute fantastic concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Ah, my young and stupid years. Now I'm older and probably still not much smarter. Oh well.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I discovered that I wanted to get to share some of the things I got to see on my travels. Unfortunately, I didn't have a girlfriend I could take along and my sister Ellie was busy with school (don't forget kid, we still gotta do a trip to Egypt some time). I don't know where I heard of Globus but, they sounded like a good company. I decided to see what tours they had available. It turned out they have a very nice tour called G'day Australia. It gives you 12 days in Australia. You get to see Sydney, Cairns (including the Great Barrier Reef), Alice Springs, Ayers Rock and the Olgas, and Melbourne. Not bad for 12 days plus 2 days travelling. I thought it was just what I wanted so I did some more searching on the internet and found Affordable Tours. They offer a 10% discount on the ground only portion of the tour and 13% on ground and airfare. It's not a bad deal though there is one catch. You never deal with a real face. You deal with these folks entirely over the phone and via email. If you have a problem with this, don't use them. As it was, I didn't have a problem with that and ended up being very pleased with them.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I booked my tour with them, got up to the six week mark, and Globus cancelled it because of a lack of people signing up. I was stunned. I was still determined to go to Australia though so I waited for Globus to release their 2004 tour dates and then booked the tour again. This time, I got lucky. The tour went.

I was big time nervous about the trip. This tour ended costing me over $5,800! That was before souvenirs, additional tours, optional meals, and what have you. I wasn't going to take any chances on things getting messed up on this trip. (I will have to tell you about my misadventures to Iceland some time.) I arrived at BWI airport 2 and a half hours before my flight. I didn't want to take any chances on the airport shuttle failing to show and causing me to miss my flight. (this has happened) I was glad to be at the airport because things were pretty much now out of my control. I did have to change planes in Dallas and L.A. and so had to find those gates but otherwise it was in the hands of the airlines. Scary thought I suppose. I remember arriving in L.A., finding the gate, and then looking around to see if there was anyone else with a Globus bag or name tag on. That was when I first met Harvey. Harvey is in his early 70's I think and was sitting by himself. I saw the Globus bag and decided to get up my courage and say hi. He said hi back and I asked if he was going on the G'day Australia tour. He said he was and I said I was too and it was nice to meet you. I forget if we chatted much more. I know they finally started boarding the plane and I told him I'd see him in Sydney.

The flight ended up being pretty nice. I had an aisle seat which helps with my long legs. To my annoyance, it was in economy which I hate. Worse still, the flight was over 11 hours. That was a LONG time to be stuck in economy. Fortunately, Qantas stocked a good supply of Victoria Bitter. I'm not a big drinker of alcohol but as long as I don't have to drive, I'll drink a beer or a glass of wine on occasion. I'm also very partial to champagne. I have been ever since I was introduced to sunrisers on my first flight from London to Detroit on Pan Am (when they were still flying internationally). Sunrisers rock, though truthfully, any good champagne rocks.

I didn't feel like champagne and I'd heard that Australia had some good beers. There were only two I was familiar with: Foster's and Broken Hill Lager. For some reason, I decided to try Victoria Bitter. Good choice my son. Three of those and the flight was a whole lot nicer.

We arrived in Sydney at 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday. Customs and immigration went smoothly and our guide Jan Elphinstone (may she be forever blessed, she is a wonderful person) had a sign and corraled all of us together. Once everyone was accounted for, she told us when we would meet for breakfast (6:30 a.m., you've got to be kidding!), herded us out to the bus, assigned us our hotel rooms when we arrived at the hotel, and wished us all a good night's sleep. Yah, right!

Amazingly, I think everyone showed up for breakfast slowly but surely. After that, I think we got together and that was when Jan showed us the list of optional tours. There were some seriously cool things on the list. You could go camel riding, hot air ballooning, scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, do a dinner tour of Melbourne on a moving trolley, visit some wineries, visit an old Australian gold mining town where you could pan for gold, and other assorted things. There were other events Jan could arrange for you too as I found out (don't worry, it isn't dirty, I'm not that kind of person, if you're disappointed, too bad).

After that, we walked across the street to the Sydney Aquarium. It ended up being a nice place where you got to see various fishes and some pretty cool dolphins. We then boarded the bus and started our tour of Sydney. One thing of note was our visit to Mrs. Macquarie's chair. Mrs. Macquaries chair is where Mrs. Macquarie, wife of the Governor of Australia back in 1815 or so, would go to see if there were any sign of arriving ships. It has a very nice view of the harbor and it was there that we had our group picture taken like so many other groups did. It was also where I found out about a particularly interesting thing you can do in Sydney. You can climb the Sydney harbor bridge!

I was taking pictures of the Sydney skyline and I noticed what looked like ants on the Sydney Harbor bridge. I asked Jan about them and she told me they were people. I asked what they heck were they doing on the bridge! (they up on the very top of it mind you) She said they were climbing it. I was thoroughly certain the Aussies were crazy. It turned out that some one got the idea that people might like to climb the Sydney Harbor bridge and so sought permission to do so. Incredibly enough, the eventually got it and it is a major tourist attraction.

Now let me tell you something about myself. I don't like bridges. I look down from them and I see that usually it is a LONG way down and, I don't like the thought if what would happen if I fell all that way DOWN. So I tend to leave bridges alone. Consequently, I have no idea what inspired me to sign up for the Harbor Bridge climb. I know only one thing for certain. I wasn't drunk, I wasn't even slightly inebriated, I had all my wits about me. Right!!!!!

Jan took me to the welcome center where you pay your $110 Australian, sign a form saying the people running the climb aren't responsible if something happens to you (smart move on their part), get a briefing on what is going to happen during the climb, line up for equipment issue, take off your own clothes, put on the climbing clothes and gear, and then line up to begin the climb. Your guide checks to make sure everyone can hear them on their headphone set. You are then guided to where you insert your locking mechanism (which is attached to a line which is attached to you) on to a metal cord that lines the entire route and from which you won't be disconnected until you step off the bridge. You then begin your climb. While you're climbing, the guide tells you some interesting things about the bridge. You find out how many rivets it took (I don't remember how many she said), how long it took to build it, how much steel it took etcetera. The truly scary part comes when you get up on the arches and climb to the top. If you are afraid of heights, don't even think about looking down because it is a LONG way down! You look out and you realize you are above the top of the Sydney Opera House. Oh crap! You actually go all the way to the top. 420 feet up! That is where you get the free group picture that is included in the price of the climb. It is also proof that you are totally insane. I have no idea if that picture can be used in a court of law against you when they question your sanity. But, it is a cool picture. They also take your picture at other points along the climb. You can buy copies of those pictures at the souvenir shop later. All totalled, I think the climb took something like an hour and a half or so. I NEVER imagined I would do something like that but, I was glad I did. It was a blast and I started my Australian adventure off in a very exciting way.