Congratulations!

I just got word that my sister Eloise got promoted at the Trader Joe's supermarket she works at. Ellie has worked there for at least a couple years now. Last year, they accepted her into their management training program because of her right attitude, hard work and dedication. You must go through this training in order to become an assistant manager and full time employee at Trader Joes. Once you complete the training, your name is put on a list. As new stores open or assistant managers quit, they offer the new or open positions to those on the list. Ellie's name finally came up and she got her well deserved promotion. Many congratulations to her on her promotion. I know she worked very hard for it and I'm delighted she got it. Way to go girl!

Job Probation

One of the roughest things employers do in Maryland when they initially hire you is have a period where you're on probation. During this probation, they can fire you for any reason at all. In theory, if they didn't like the color of your hair one day, they could fire you for it and wouldn't even have to tell you why they fired you. With the Post Office, I heard they were different. Their probation was supposedly 90 WORK days vice 90 regular days. This made sense since a substitute carrier might only work for them one day a week. They wouldn't get to observe them very much in that case during a normal probation period. Yesterday, I found out I was wrong on that. It turns out the Post Office does the probation period like anyone else. For me, it was good news as it means I'm in the clear with them. I've been working for the Post Office for over 5 months. I also found out that they have a rule where I can't become a regular i.e. full time carrier until I've worked for them 1 year. Realistically, a substitute carrier can expect to wait a lot longer than that. Also, a sub has to wait until they are number 1 on the list for the next route that opens up. All the other substitute carriers that hired on before you will be ahead of you on that list. Right now, I'm the last one on the list as I'm the last sub they hired and who has stuck with it (there were six of us initially).

Concerning being a substitute carrier, I've found out that there are some plusses and minuses to it. Minuses, a sub gets no benefits and no guarantee of hours barring that they will work one day a week. A sub is also considered a temporary hire though in their case, they can work temporarily for the Post Office for 7 YEARS. A sub also doesn't get paid unless they work. Next week, the Post Office will be closed Tuesday in honor of former President Gerald Ford's passing. Full time carriers will get paid but subs won't. We only get paid for the hours we work. A sub also doesn't accrue any vacation time. Plusses, unlike regular carriers, a substitute carrier can get as much overtime as the Post Office will give them. Regular carriers can only get overtime if they're willing work six days a week instead of taking their weekly day off. Substitute carriers also get to work a number of routes which keeps the job from getting boring. A regular carrier can only work their assigned route. Lastly, substitute carriers get paid for all the hours they work as long as they go over 40 hours a week (see note). Regular carriers get paid a flat salary. If they have to work extra long hours in order to complete they route, they have to suck it up. They don't get paid more for working any extra hours. Note: if a sub is assigned to work a route that is assessed at 9 hours and they take 12 to do it, the sub will have to suck it up for the extra 3 hours unless they work 40 or more hours for that week. The Post Office pays the sub the number of hours of what the route is assessed however, if the sub works 40 or more hours then, they will pay them the total number of hours worked. This is where it can pay off for the sub to work a number of routes as in my case where I sub on three routes every week. Subbing on a number of routes makes it more likely you'll get paid for the actual number of hours you work vice the number of hours the routes were assessed. If the sub is going to be short a few hours of the 40 hour point, they might want to see if they can do express mail deliveries for their Post Office. This could help them hit the all important 40.

News at My End of the Woods

My friend Harvey pointed out to me that I needed to update my blog. I spoke with him on the 26th and he pointed out that on my blog, I had a marquee saying "two weeks till Christmas." Oops! I confess I've been very busy the last couple weeks. Here's why:

Post Office

I've been working 40 hours plus a week at the Post Office. We've been loaded down with packages (presumably Christmas presents) and catalogs. People sometimes slam the Post Office but they really do try to serve their customers. I worked this past Sunday delivering gifts that had arrived at the last minute. We also had a sub come in on Christmas day and deliver express mail. Things should slow down now that the Christmas rush is over. I continue to slog away at the job and feel I continue to improve. I still don't know if I'll stay long enough to get my own route. The pay, benefits and job security are very appealing but, I'll have to wait a long time to get them. We'll see what happens here.

Medieval Times

I've continued to enjoy my job in sound & lighting. I really like playing the role of castle guard and I continue to find operating the spotlight a challenge. I've earned kudos from various folks because I strive to go beyond the minimum. I'm always willing to have my picture taken with customers or their kids. I try to answer any of the customers questions and I strive to ensure they have an enjoyable experience at Medieval Times. It seems some of the bosses have noticed. I know my supervisor is very pleased with me. This week promises to be hectic at the castle as we have two shows every day till New Year's Eve. We also have a New Year's Eve show at 9:30 p.m. I'll get to work the castle that night and will bring in the new year there. It'll be my first time to do that and it should be interesting. For any squire wannabes, I've heard a rumor that the castle is short squires so now might be a good time to apply. The job is demanding and you must be in good physical shape. You do a lot of running and you constantly hustling during the show. Still, you get to be in the show and if you show you have the right stuff, it could be your ticket to becoming a knight in the show. If you're interested, see the folks at the ticket counter for an application.

French

Since I received the Rosetta Stone software I ordered, I've made it a point to study some French every day. I feel I'm making progress though I am getting kicked a bit with the written part. It can be very difficult to catch everything when they speak the various phrases. You really have to listen to catch everything so you can figure out exactly what the speaker is saying. I continue to be really pleased with Rosetta Stone's software. It really does a nice job of teaching whatever language you want to learn.

Airmiles

When I've had some free time, I've dined out and played the airmile game. By my calculations, I'm short about 7,000 airmiles so I can get a free ticket from Baltimore Washington International (BWI) Airport to Newark Liberty Airport. I should be able to earn the airmiles and get my free ticket. I've also made a down payment on the Scandanavia tour. So far, every thing looks good for me getting to go. Hopefully, it'll happen.

Conclusion

That's all at my end. I'm doing all right and have found the faith to leave my worries in God's hands. I don't know what the future will bring but feel confident that God will ensure things work out. Hopefully, 2007 will be a better year than 2006. We'll see. Cheers all!

Packages

With the Christmas season, a new headache has emerged at the Post Office: the deluge of packages. Mind you, it is a good thing business wise for the Post Office but, for the mail carrier, packages can be a royal pain. The Christmas season sees their package load double to quadruple in volume. This creates problems as the packages take up lots of space in their mail trucks which aren't super big to begin with. They also slow down the carrier as they have to organize the packages, stop their truck at the delivery address, may have to scan the package if someone paid for delivery confirmation and, collect a signature of the package is insured. If the carrier can't get the required signature, the carrier has to take the package back to the Post Office and drop it off in a section for packages going over to the regular Post Office. Later, someone will load up all the those packages and take them over to the regular Post Office so their owners can pick them up.

One thing the Post Office will do to make things easier on their carriers is have one or two substitute carriers (subs) do package delivery. The subs will take almost all the carrier's packages and make a package only run. Yesterday, I did such a run. I ended delivering over 50 packages during the morning. It's a huge help for the regular carriers. It also has a side benefit for the Post Office in that it can help teach the subs new areas of their city. There are parts of Laurel I've never had need to visit. However, I need to know all parts of Laurel so if necessary, I can deliver mail in any part of it. Thanks to doing package runs, I've learned a number of areas in the western part of Laurel. Learning these new areas will help me when I do express mail runs. With express mail, you must deliver all your mail by noon. You need to know exactly where you're going as you don't have any time for mistakes. Conversely, with package runs, you're not under the time gun so you can make mistakes though you try not to. Thanks to doing package runs, I'll now be able to deliver express mail on time to parts of Western Laurel. The package runs have been a win-win as I've gotten some invaluable training and helped make things easier for the regular carriers.

Postal Job

I set a new record hour wise for myself Monday. I worked nearly 16 hours in one day. What happened was first, the primary carrier for route 7 called in sick. As I've previously mentioned, we are short as far as substitute carriers. All of them were already assigned to various routes so we had to stretch them that much further so we could cover the additional route. I was assigned to route 10. I really pushed hard to get it done and managed to finish at 6 p.m. Then, I picked up outgoing mail from two other carriers who were busy delivering mail. All outgoing mail must be turned in by 7 p.m. on weekdays for it to catch the truck going to the mail processing center in Capitol Heights, Maryland. Neither carrier would've made it back in time so it really helped me picking up their outgoing mail.

After that, I helped out one of the other substitute carriers on route 5 for 45 minutes. Once I finished there, I drove back to the Post Office expecting to be finished for the day but it was not to be. To the horror of my boss, Clinton discovered a mistake the made it necessary for me, Clinton and our boss to go back out and deliver some more mail. It ended up taking us over an hour to deliver it. I ended up clocking out at the Post Office at 10:21 p.m.

Tier 1

I received word Sunday that I'd made the necessary number of dining outs to keep my tier 1 status with Northwest Airline's reward dining program. It's been fun working toward that. I've tried just about everything on the menu at Remomo's. From eating there so often, I would recommend you not get their pizza as it is overpriced. Also, you can get better pizza at Papa John's or Pizza Hut. I would recommend you get their chicken parmiagiana as they give you a huge serving of parmiagiana and pasta. I would recommend the plate of mussels as you get quite a few mussels. That said, do plan on getting something to eat if you order the plate of mussels as they won't fill you up. I would absolutely recommend you have their prime rib as this cut of meat has been consistently outstanding. I've had this twice and it is something to savor. The soup of the day has been consistently excellent though I think the bowls are a bit small. For $5, I feel you should get more soup. Their soft drink deal is a nice deal with unlimited refills. I've taken full advantage of that. The smoothies are average priced and good but at $4.50 a pop, I have to cool my smoothie addiction when I'm at Remomo's. I can't say anything about their desserts as I haven't tried any of them in ages. The deal with the tier 1 was I had to spend $20 to get the airmiles. With an appetizer, entree and drink, I had no problem spending over $20. Plus, sometimes, I was so filled up from the meal, I didn't feel like having any dessert.

Airmile wise, the dining has paid off nicely. I have almost 14,000 airmiles with Northwest and may get myself up to the 25,000 I need. 25,000 airmiles will get me a free round-trip ticket from Baltimore Washington International Airport to Newark Liberty Airport so I can catch my flight to Copenhagen for the Globus tour. I could buy the airmiles through Northwest but they would cost more than the flight. I still think it sucks that it costs so many airmiles for such a short flight (163 miles). Oh well. At least the signs remain favorable for me going on the tour. We'll see if it happens.

Rosetta Stone Language Software

Before I begin, I have to put in a disclaimer stating that I haven't received any gift or remuneration for my recommendation of Rosetta Stone's language software. Also, if you should buy the software and you have problems (though you shouldn't), I won't be responsible for those problems. Nuff said on that.

The reason I'm mentioning Rosetta Stone is because right now, they are offering what is probably their best deal of the year on their software. You can get $46 off their level 1 or level 2 software and $80 off their combined level 1 and 2 package. You can get $100 off their level 1, 2 and 3 combined package BUT that is only offered for English and Spanish. Shipping wise, you get free 2-day shipping. Also, if you order by December 18th, you can get a free headset and microphone. In order to get these discounts, make sure you enter in promotion code EMC126. When I placed my order today, I nearly mucked that up and almost missed getting my discount.

Concerning the software itself, I've tried a number of language learning programs and the one I've liked the best is Rosetta Stone. It's easy to use. It helps you pick up the language quickly and it's presented in a nice format. Also, it helps you practice on different aspects of the language. You get practice speaking, writing, and hearing the language. You start out with very basic sentences like "the man runs" and work up to more difficult ones. You also get lots of lessons for your money. Level 1 in French gives you 92 lessons alone. One other plus about Rosetta Stone is they let you try out their software for free. They have demo software that you can download off their website or you can order the demo CD and install it on your computer. The demo software gives you a chance to try out the product and see if you like it.

Lastly, Rosetta Stone participates in Northwest Airlines' Worldperks Mall. What that means is that you can also earn airmiles buying the software. In the case of Northwest, they're offering 9 airmiles per dollar spent. In my case, for the combined level 1 and 2 package I ordered, I'll receive over 1,800 airmiles. If you belong to a different airline frequent flier program, if they have a shopper mall program, you might want to see if Rosetta Stone is a member of their program. Not only could you get a nice deal on the software, you could earn some airmiles that might help you travel to a country where you'll be able to use the language you're working on learning.

Medieval Times

I recently found out about another benefit a person gets working at Medieval Times. Once they pass their probation period, when Christmas comes, Medieval Times awards them a gift certificate they can use in the gift shop. This year, we were given $75 gift certificates. I thought it was really nice of them. I used mine to buy a fleece lined sweatshirt type jacket, a hat and three decks of playing cards (I like to fiddle with cards when I'm bored). I was very pleased with the stuff I bought thanks to the certificate.

Work wise, the my job in sound & lighting continues to be fun. I still enjoy playing the part of a castle guard or dungeon master. Working one of the spotlight continues to be a challenge as you have to work to maintain concentration during the show. After you've seen the show as many times as I have, it's easy to let your mind wander. I also strive to help out where ever I can. Yesterday, I saw they needed help taking chairs down from the tables and setting up the candles and condiments. I jumped in and did what I could until it was time for me to take one of the posts as a castle guard.

People wise, I continue to marvel at the high turnover we have in people. Part of it is that a number of the employees are kids (17 or 18 year olds). They get bored and decide to move on to something new. Part of it too is some of the jobs aren't everything the folks think they're going to be. One kid I know who was working as a squire decided to quit. I suspect he found out that the squire job is demanding and not all fun. As a squire, you groom and tack the horses, during the show you're constanting running to get weapons for your knight or setting up various contests (small ring spear, large ring spear and jousting lanes) and lastly, you get to scoop up all the horse poop (Yuck!). It isn't all glamor being a squire.

Broadway Show - "Mary Poppins"

The finale to our trip to New York City was to see the new Broadway musical "Mary Poppins." It's the same story as in the movie with some new songs thrown in. From the very beginning, the show was a delight. All the actors and actresses did a fantastic job. Ashley Brown played a particularly good Mary Poppins. She was able to deliver some great lines beautifully while embodying the wondrous magical nanny who changes the lives of the Banks family forever. The show offers great laughs, wonderful songs and fantastic dance routines. The sets and costumes were perfect for the show. The show is an excellent example of what is great about live theater. The audience was able to interact with the cast and let them know by their applause or lack of whether they got it right. The show was also perfect for all ages though I think kids will like it in particular.

Overall, I was delighted with the production. It made a great ending to a fantastic trip to New York City. If you're going to make a trip to the Big Apple anything soon, this is one show you'll want to see, particularly if you have kids or are a kid at heart. It will warm your soul and delight your heart.

Tavern on the Green

During our second day in New York City, Harvey and I scouted out where the Tavern on the Green was. From the outside, it didn't look terribly impressive. My friend May Jackson swore that it was an outstanding place to eat. We were to find out that she was big time right!

We had to make reservations in advance to eat at Tavern on the Green. Our reservations were for 1 p.m. We showed up a little early and checked our coats. I was immediately struck by the professionalism of the people working there. All the employees were very well dressed and gave an impression of competence. We made our way to our dining room which was impressive. Nine chandeliers hung from the ceiling and various stucco drawings adorn the ceiling. All waiters work green suit coats and bow ties with the captains wearing black suit coats and bow ties.

The menu was a set menu that we'd prepaid for. We had a choice of appetizer, entree, dessert and cup of coffee or tea. Harvey chose a wild mushroom fricasee which he loved. I tried the Tuscany white bean soup which I found very good. For our entrees, Harvey had broiled salmon with thai purple rice. I had range raised turkey, green peas with pearl onions, sweet potatoe and cranberries. We found both of our entrees to be excellent. For dessert, Harvey tried the chocolate cake while I tried their cheesecake. Again, the food was outstanding.

Our only complaints were our waiter got our orders mixed up TWICE and they charged us $5 for a glass of ice tea and $3.75 for a glass of 7-up with no refills. I thought the charge for drinks was steep.

Overall, the food was outstanding both in taste and presentation. The seating and serving staff seemed competent. The restaurant is expensive. It cost us $48 each for lunch but both of us felt that the food was well worth the price. Dress is upper casual i.e. a nice pair of slacks and shirt for men and a nice dress for women. I wouldn't recommend wearing blue jeans here. If you want an excellent dining experience in New York City, you should definitely try out Tavern on the Green. For further information on them, you can check out their website at http://67.59.176.121/tg1003/newsite/index.asp?headinfo=home. Bon appetit!

Radio City Music Hall

The main reason I wanted to come back to New York City during the Christmas season was to see the Rockettes perform at Radio City Music Hall. They only perform during certain times. Christmas time is one of them. I'd heard from my friend May Jackson that they were spectacular. As it turned out, she was right.

The first thing that impressed me was the hall the show is performed in. It is a beautiful hall and it is humongous. They must be able to seat four or five thousand people in there. Second, thanks to our travel agent, Harvey and I had phenomenal seats. We were only 6 rows from the stage. I was delighted.

The show itself was spectacular. It was filled with wonderful music, great costumes and sets and the outstanding Rockettes. Those ladies know how to dance. Particular highlights were the 3-D trip Santa Claus makes to New York City, the great organists, the moving orchestra, the ice skaters and the stunning living nativity act. A person couldn't help but be dazzled by the show. It was really that impressive. Time wise, the show lasted around an hour and twenty minutes though it should be noted that once the show started, there weren't any breaks or intermissions. The action was continuous and constantly full of surprises. Adults and children would both love the show. It is a show for all ages.

Overall, the show was spectacular, sensational, awesome, breathtaking in its beauty and incredibly impressive. It is an absolute must see if you're in New York City during the Christmas season. Price wise, the tickets Harvey and I had cost $85 each. Considering where we were seated and the show itself, I thought that was a fair price. I was very happy with what I received for my money. I would absolutely recommend this show with the caveat that you try to get good orchestra seats. You should be able to see the show from the upper levels but, it would be nicer to be closer to the action. But above all, do see the show. It'll brighten up your spirits and definitely help put you in the Christmas spirit.

Carnegie Deli

While riding the Downtown Grayline tour bus, Harvey and I heard from the tour guide that two delis located by 57th street made particularly good Reuben sandwiches. I haven't had a good Reuben sandwich in a while so I recommended we try one of them out. Harvey agreed. After we rested and got changed for the Rockettes performance we were going to see that evening; we hopped on a Grayline bus heading up to where the delis were located at. Of the two, we decided to try Carnegie Deli. It was closer to where we were.

When you enter Carnegie Deli, the first thing you see are hundreds of autographed pictures of various celebrities that have eaten at the deli. It's quite an impressive collection. The deli has seating and a server directed to a table where we were promptly served. After scanning the menu, I managed to find the Reuben sandwich. I was initially shocked by the price. They were charging $20.95! The waitress assured me that the sandwich would cover the entire plate. She was right. It did. The sandwich itself was one of the largest I've ever eaten. It was loaded with corned beef. I managed to finish mine and Harvey gave it a good try. For the money, I thought it was good deal. Sandwich wise, I wasn't pleased with it. It just wasn't a great tasting Reuben. I wonder if that was because they didn't use pastrami instead of corned beef. I don't know.

Overall, I thought the Carnegie Deli was a nice deli. The service was excellent. The food was good value and good tasting. I would say give it a try if you're in the area. Personally, I'd like to try more of their sandwiches so I can see if maybe I got just a blah Reuben. I think I could give it a fairer rating then.

Rockefeller Center

Harvey and I also visited Rockefeller Center. It was a pretty area with a small ice skating rink, shops and a huge Christmas tree. The tree itself was huge but not very pretty. Tonight, they'll hold the official lighting ceremony. A tour guide on a Grayline bus we rode around Central Park said that it was expected something like 20,000 people would watch the ceremony.

One really cool thing we got to do while at the center was see the Today Show broadcasted live. Jerry Lee Lewis actually performed a song on the piano just 10 feet from where we were standing. It was fascinating to watch them put the show on and pretty cool too. I'd seen pictures of the Today Show being broadcast from there but, it was the first time I'd seen it in person.

Central Park

I visited Central Park today. I was surprised by its size and rockiness. To me, parks are like St. James and Regents Parks in London. They are flat, grassy with maybe one body of water. Central Park does have some flat spots but, it also has some parts where huge rocks jut out of the earth. Like St. James, it has at least one small lake where you can feed ducks and swans. Another similarity I found between it and St. James are the picture sellers. There were a number of them lined up along 60th Avenue (I think). One nice difference I found was the nice ice skating rink they have. It was neat to watch the skaters. Overall, I thought it was a very pretty park where one could relax from the rush rush grind of the city.

New York City

Yesterday, I arrived in New York City. Harvey and I took the Amtrak train up. The train itself was nice. I particularly enjoyed seeing the various sights roll by the window. It's one thing you miss when you fly. One thing I wish I would miss with Amtrak is their tardiness. They arrived 40 minutes at BWI Amtrak station and were 25 minutes late pulling into New York Penn Station. They're definitely not a mode of travel to rely on when you MUST be some where by a certain time.

After we arrived, we footed it the 12 blocks or so to our hotel the Milford Plaza. I was surprised how busy the hotel was. We had to wait at least 15 minutes to check in. I found my single room to be small and English looking. The wallpaper and pictures remind me of ones British hotels use. I confess for the size of the room, it grates me to think I've paid over $300 a night for it.

Once we'd dropped off our stuff, Harvey wanted an early dinner. I suggested an Italian restaurant called the Southside Cafe which was supposedly less than have a mile away. I'd researched it when I looked for restaurants in the dining rewards program that were close to the hotel. He was game so we went in search of the restaurant. We were able to find it pretty easily. The restaurant is a little small but the food and wine were excellent. They have a fixed prix dinner that will definitely fill you up while not breaking the bank. I had their grilled calimari, angel pasta with fruits of the sea (shrimp, mussels, clams and calimari (squid)) and apple pie. I was throughly pleased with each dish. As Harvey likes wine, we ordered a bottle of chianti which was good as far as I know (I don't know tiddly about wines). The bill came to $98.50 with the bottle of wine which I thought was cheap for the dinner we had. I also have to praise the service. Our waiter Armando did an excellent job. If you're in New York City and your in the mood for Italian food, you might want to try the Southside Cafe.

After dinner, we'd agreed we would see the new James Bond movie Casino Royale. I'd heard it was good. As I haven't seen a movie in a movie theater in a long while, I thought it would be nice to see that one. Also, there happen to be a movie theater just 2 blocks from the hotel (AMC 25). The movie was excellent. Daniel Craig plays a great and moving James Bond. He has plenty of toughness but can also show pain and grief as well when Vesper Lynd dies. The movie definitely has more grit and realism then previous James Bond movies which seemed to get more ridiculous and outlandish. Hopefully, the owners of the franchise will continue with this new tangent on the James Bond series. Another thing I have to praise is the script. Craig has some great lines in the movie and does them justice. Overall, I would definitely recommend this movie. I know I'll be looking forward to the follow on movie. Based on the first, it promises to be an action packed thriller.

That's all for my first report from the Big Apple. Today, I get to see the famous Rockettes perform. Harvey and I will also also try to figure out what other sights we want to see. To my embarrassment, I dug out my NYC travel guide and then forgot to pack it. At least I didn't forget to pack anything important as far as I know. Cheers to anyone who reads this.

Golden Corral

I'd planned to eat at Remomo's for Thanksgiving but when I arrived there, I found out to my dismay that they were closed. Worse still, virtually the entire mall was closed. I saw that McDonald's was open when I arrived at the mall but, I wasn't thrilled about eating a hamburger on Thanksgiving. Then, I remembered that the Arundel Mills Golden Corral restaurant was open. I decided to try it. I'd never eaten at that particular restaurant but, I believe all Golden Corral restaurants are the same. They specialize in offering a flat price buffet lunch or dinner. They only thing you have to pay extra for is your drink. My soda cost me $1.29 I believe.

I found the restaurant clean and of decent appearance. They had a salad buffet, entree buffet and desert buffet. All three were included with the price. Each buffet had a good choice of items. I tried the fake crab salad and found it good. From the entree buffet, I tried the roast beef, turkey breast and bourbon chicken. I also tried their cooked corn, boiled cabbage and mashed potatoes. I found all the items in the main entree to be good solid food. For dessert, I had a rice krispy treat.

Overall, I found the food at Golden Corral to be decent food. It won't impress you with its appearance or wipe you out with its taste but it will fill you up. The main thing I liked about Golden Corral was I felt it was excellent value. The meal and drink cost me approximately $16. I thought that was a great price considering wide range of the items they offered. If you want a decent filling dining experience at a very reasonable price, you might want to give them a try.

Chicken Wings

After working a double show at Medieval Times, I ran over to Remomo's restaurant to buy some food to go. At Remomo's, you can dine in or you can buy food from a shorter menu and eat it in the mall or take it home. After spending ten minutes trying to decide what I wanted to get, I settled on their hoagie and two orders of chicken wings. I laughed as I bought the chicken wings because it was largely chicken wings that got me in the airmile game.

While I was stationed in England, I decided to join British Airways Executive Club. I wanted to fly their Concorde aircraft but I didn't want to pay for it. The cheapest price I ever saw to fly Concorde was over $6,000! I thought collecting airmiles was the way for me to get to do it and not kill my bank account. I found that it was easy to collect airmiles with British Airways while in England. When I moved to Northwest Florida, that all changed. I found myself in a bit of predicament as to how to earn airmiles there.

I heard of BA's Executive Club dining program. You could earn up to 10 airmiles per dollar spent at participating restaurants. I thought, that was the way to go. However, when I asked what restaurants participated in the program where I lived, I found out to astonishment that only one group of restaurants participated in the program. It was the Hooters restaurant chain. For those of you who don't know Hooters, Hooters is a notorious chain that specializes in well endowed skimpy clad waitresses and chicken wings. My mouth dropped when I visited a Hooters for the first time. I found out that only the first visit each month to each restaurant counted airmile wise. As Hooters had three (later five) restaurants in the program, I made it a point to visit each Hooters once each month. As I could only each so much food at each Hooters, I looked for ways to buy more stuff. One of them was to purchase chicken wings to go. At one point, I had over 300 Hooters chicken wings in my refridgerator. I marvel that I didn't grow wings considering I ate so many of their wings. This is why when I ordered some chicken wings to go at Remomo's, I had a nice little laugh.

Remomo

As I mentioned previously, I plan to write up a number of blog entries on restaurants I dine at as I play the airmile game with Northwest and British Airways. The first restaurant I've dined at is Remomo's at Arundel Mills Mall. Remomo's serves excellent Italian food though they offer steaks and seafood as well. I dined there three times in the past week. This is what I thought of my visits.

Remomo's offers a nice choice of appetizers. I tried the calimari and minestrone with crab meat. I found the calimari to be well done. One of the things you have to watchful with calimari is getting stuck with large chunky pieces. Eating one of those is like trying to eat a piece of rubber. It doesn't work. To my delight, I didn't have that problem with Remomo's. They also gave a nice portion of marinara sauce that went well with the calimari. In regards to the minestrone soup with crab meat, this was very tasty. It was a nice soup and would be a good start to any meal.

In regards to entrees, I tried the delmonico steak, prime rib and Italian cut salad. I haven't had steak in a while so I looked forward to the Remomo's delmonico steak. I wasn't disappointed. It was very nicely cooked and I savored every bite. The only fault I could find with it was that it was outdone by Remomo's prime rib. Remomo's prime rib is truly outstanding. Both meats come with a nice portion of sweet and regular potatoes but the prime rib outshines their delmonico steak. They include some excellent horseradish sauce which goes with it perfectly. If you want an excellent piece of superbly cooked beef, you won't go wrong with their prime rib. The only complaint I have with the prime rib is that it's only offered after 3 p.m.

If you're not hankering for a nice piece of beef or you want to watch the cholesterol, you might want to try Remomo's Italian cut salad. The serving is impressive and will definitely fill you up. When I saw the size of the salad, I regretted ordering a half order of sauteed mushrooms with it. Oh well. The salad comes with cut pieces of ham and salami, lettuce and onions, Greek olives and tomatoes and is topped by a very nice salad dressing. The salad is a meal in itself and would fill the bill for a main entree.

I also tried the sauteed mushrooms, a strawberry smoothie and Remomo's lemonade. I found the mushrooms decent though nothing to get terribly excited about. The smoothie was good but at $4.50 a glass, it wasn't something that I was going to drink a lot of. Remomo's serves a good selection of soft drinks. They cost $1.99 but come with free refills. I can attest that I put a hurting on them there and was very pleased with their free refill offer.

Some of the things I didn't try was their beer and wine selection. From what I saw of the list, it very good. As I was alone and had to drive, I had to pass on trying them. When it comes to driving, I don't take any chances with alcohol.

Overall, I was very pleased with Remomo's. The service was consistently excellent. The food was delicious and well presented. Cost wise, I thought their prices were very reasonable. Since they're at Arundel Mills Mall, Remomo's is very easy to get to. The only problem there is trying to find a parking space at times. I would definitely recommend this fine restaurant to anyone. If you're in the Hanover, Maryland area, you should give Remomo's a try. Bon appetit!

Rewards Network

One of the easiest ways you can earn airmiles is by dining at various restaurants that participate in the Rewards Network program. There are 11 or 12 airlines that participate in the program. They include American Airlines, British Airways, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines and U. S. Airways. Each airline has a link to their particular program. You click on that link and you follow the directions on activating your account. Once you're enrolled, you can earn airmiles at participating restaurants. However, please check the program website to make sure the restaurant you want to dine at that day is offering airmiles. Restaurants can vary in how many airmiles they offer each day. There can also be limits on how many airmiles you can earn at a participating restaurant ex. Remomo's in Arundel Mills Mall, Maryland has a limit of 600 dollars per month. What that means is that you can earn airmiles on your total purchases there up to 600 dollars each month. You won't earn any of any purchases over that amount.

The program has three tiers. The first tier is for those who don't enroll through any airline program. The person dines out between 1 and 3 times a year and will receive 1 airmile per dollar spent at participating restaurants. The second tier is for people who enroll through an airline program or who dine out between 4 and 11 times per year. The member earns 3 airmiles per dollar spent. The program offers some bonus mile opportunities at this tier. Bonus opportunities are offers where the member can earn additional airmiles through promotions the participating restaurant is offering. The third tier is for those who dine out 12 plus times per year. The member earns 5 airmiles per dollar spent. The member also has the best chances for bonus miles ex. at Tier 3, I can earn 5 airmiles through the program and I receive an additional 5 bonus airmiles per dollar spent. Plus, I can receive additional bonus miles depending on the restaurant. I've seen some deals where I could earn as many as 20 airmiles per dollar spent. There is one catch with the tier levels. If you want to remain at tier 2, you must dine at participating restaurants between 4 and 11 times each year. If you want to remain at tier 3, you must dine a minimum of 12 times per year. I find myself in the predicament where I'll have to dine at participating restaurants 23 times in the next month and a half in order to keep my tier 3 status in the British Airways and Northwest Airlines programs. You can expect to see some restaurant reviews in the future on my blog.

The program has some very nice features. One, when you dine at a participating restaurant, you don't have to show any special membership card or tell them you are a member of the program. All you have to do is make sure you use a credit card you registered with the program. Second, airmiles are automatically deposited in your frequent flier account in 6 to 8 weeks. Third, each airline has a website where you can find out what restaurants are participating in the program. The website tells how many airmiles the restaurants are offering as well as maps which show you how to get to the restaurants. NOTE: You should check the website to make sure the restaurant you want to dine at is still in the program. The program adds and drops restaurants every month. If you don't check, you may not earn any airmiles when you dine out. I know this rule from personal experience.

Overall, the program makes it pretty easy to earn a lot of airmiles with your frequent flier program. Also, I've found the restaurants that participate in the program to be consistently good. The program has thousands of participating restaurants throughout the U.S. In my opinion, it's an excellent program and an easy way to earn yourself an upgrade or free ticket.

Disclaimer: FYI, I don't work for the Rewards Network and I haven't received any kind of remuneration for this blog entry. All opinions are my own. I do belong to the British Airways and Northwest Airlines dining programs. I've been a member of the British Airways program since 1997. Because of that, I feel I'm qualified to make some judgements on the program.

Col. R. B. Thieme Jr.

I checked the R. B. Thieme Jr. Bible Ministries webpage today. I was wondering how Colonel Thieme was doing. For all effective purposes, Colonel Thieme has been my pastor for over 11 years now. I don't go to church as I haven't found one near where I live that I like. Plus, I've found it very convenient to listen to Colonel Thieme's bible doctrine tapes. Listening to the tapes, I can go to church anytime I want. Also, I feel the tapes have done a lot for me. They've helped me get through a number of crices in my life. Colonel Thieme himself was something of a character. He was very much a straight shooter who wasn't afraid to pull any punches. Now sadly, he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. My heart goes out to his family. It has to be hard to deal with a loved one who increasingly can't even remember who you are. It also saddens me because he was such a vibrant man. He was so full of life and so driven in teaching the bible. I'll never forget the bible conference I got to go where I got to see him in person. It was really something. I wonder why God struck him with Alzheimer's. He was such a great pastor-teacher and he helped so many advance spiritually. It doesn't seem right in some ways. Oh well, as Thieme would say, God's plan is perfect so we must trust in him. I hope God has granted peace to Colonel Thieme in these twilight years of his life. He certainly deserves it after all the years he worked so hard for God and his plan.

Work

It's been over a week now since I got back to work. It's been both good and bad. I've enjoyed playing castle guard at Medieval Times. It's fun to put on the costume. I also try to do what I can to make it enjoyable experience for every customer I come in contact with. If a customer wants to take my picture, I'm always willing to give my best pose. I also gladly stand by them if they want to do a group picture. I also try to get better at working the spotlight. I try to keep it on whoever I have to spotlight no matter where they're moving which can be challenging. I've been lucky that I have a nice boss in S&L. After being late last Saturday, I'm making a special effort to keep him informed of my work schedule at the Post Office.

Post Office wise, I finished learning rural route 7 this week. The route is interesting in that it is a combination of routes. It has 10 condominiums, 5 kiosks and a mounted part where the carrier delivers to 200 plus homes. The easiest part of the route is the mounted part. For the most part, you never have to leave the truck. You can drive right up to the mail box, open it, take out any outgoing mail, put in the incoming mail, close the box and drive to the next box. The bad part of the route is that there are a lot of deliveries on the route. It's rated at something like 8.8 hours which means it will likely take me 12 plus hours to do it. Aargh!!!!!

I've enjoyed delivering Express Mail at the Post Office. It's a challenge to get it all delivered by noon. The only downside to Express Mail is the hours. The person who does express can figure on working no more than 3 hours. That's better than nothing but it isn't that great.

Working at SHARE wise, I haven't been able to. Worse still, because of my lack of reliability because of my jobs at the Post Office and Medieval Times, they've turned to a temporary hire who by all accounts is doing a good job. I wish I could work more there but it just hasn't been possible. I suspect I'm going to have to let this job go. They need someone who they can depend on to be there every day and I'm not that person.

Airline Credit Cards

Recently, I found out that I was approved for an airline credit card that I applied for. As I try to think of at least somewhat interesting things to blog about, I thought I'd write a blog entry about airline credit cards. With the new credit card I'll be receiving soon, I'll have had four airline credit cards so I feel I know a little about them. Airline credit cards can be useful in helping the consumer earn airmiles for things they would've bought anyway or they can be a waste of money. It depends on how much you use the card. I remember reading an article in the Smarter Travel email I receive every week. The author whose name I can't remember recommended that if you are going to have an airline credit card, you should use THAT card for all your credit card purchases. The author had a valid point. If you charge $3,000 or $4,000 worth or merchandise and services on your airline credit card in a year then, it can be worth the $55 or higher fee you'll have to pay every year. If you don't then, it is a waste of money and a bit of a rip-off. Case in point, I had an American Airlines AAdvantage credit card. The card cost me $85 a year. I only used it 3 or 4 times a year and never charged more than $500 in an entire year. Why is that a rip-off? Because in effect, I paid $85 for 500 airmiles. You can get a much better deal buying the airmiles from the airline vice paying that. This is why it is so important that if you are going to have an airline credit card that, you use it extensively as long as you don't get yourself into massive debt doing so. The more airmiles you earn while using the card, the better deal the card is. There is one catch here. Hopefully, you'll be able to use all those airmiles you're accumulating. As I previously blogged about, in some cases, it is getting harder to get free seats or upgrades using your airmiles. A number of airlines are making it easier than ever to earn airmiles. This is great for them in generating business but it is bad for the traveller as it means there is greater competition for the limited number of free seats and upgrades. Airmiles are worthless if you can't use them when you want. There are travel credit cards that can get you seats on any airline you want. As I don't have any experience trying to get a ticket with one of those credit cards, I don't feel I'm qualified to comment on those cards.

In conclusion, airline credit cards can be a nice way to earn free travel providing you use them extensively. As the unnamed author at Smarter Travel recommended, if you are going to have an airline credit card, you should pick one airline and use their card solely. The more airmiles you earn in a year using the card, the better the deal the card is. If you're not going to use an airline credit card a lot, you'll want to find one that doesn't have a yearly fee. There are a few out there that don't charge a yearly fee. However, most airline credit cards do charge a yearly fee of between $55 and $85 a year. Bon voyage!

Hansen's versus Shasta's Root Beer

This is a review of Hansen's root beer which is sold at Trader Joe's supermarkets and how it compares with Shasta's root beer.

As previously blogged, I bought a six-pack of Hansen's root beer at the Trader Joes supermarket in Annapolis. Hansen's root beer has some immediate advantages. For starters, they don't insert caffeine to give an artificial energy boost. Second, they don't use any preservatives. Their root beer is totally natural. Lastly, it is sodium free. This can be of concern to someone who is watching their blood pressure. In terms of taste, Hansen's has a good smooth root beer taste. It also isn't heavily carbonated so you're getting a decent amount of root beer instead of a lot of fizz. In comparison to Shasta's root beer, Shasta also has no caffeine and no sodium. Shasta does use potassium benzoate as a preservative. So far as I know, I've never suffered any ill effects from that preservative. In terms of cost, Shasta is 2 cents cheaper an ounce than Hansen's. You can also get Shasta in bigger containers such as a 2 liter plastic bottle. So far as I know, you can only get Hansen's in 12 ounce aluminum cans. As far as I know, Shasta's plastic bottles and Hansen't aluminum cans are both recyclable.

So which is the better root beer? Taste wise, I think they're about equal. Price wise, Shasta wins in that category. However, Hansen's is probably the better root beer for you in that there aren't any chemicals in it. Another disadvantage to Hansen's is that you'd have to drive to Trader Joes to get it. Depending on where you live, this can be a bit of a hassle as in my case. Conversely, there are plenty of stores that sell Shasta soda. So, in my opinion, I have to give the nod to Shasta. It beats out Hansen's in terms of price and ease of purchasing. Still, when I'm at Trader Joes, I'm going to make sure I pick up a couple six-packs of Hansen's. I think the fewer preservatives and other chemicals we put in our bodies the better. Cheers!

Back to Work

I got back to work at Medieval Times and the Post Office. Wednesday, I worked as a castle guard and spotlight operator at Medieval Times. To my relief, I did a fine job. The only annoying thing was the restriction I have concerning ladders. Right now, I'm not allowed to climb any ladders. The surgeon didn't want to take any chances with me pulling out the stitches. Because of that, I couldn't get to the spotlight platform. My boss in sound & lighting figured a way to solve that problem. He used one of the lifts we use to work on lights and the sound system. Using the lift, I was able to get to the spotlight platform without climbing. I was sorry to have to put him out like that but I'm very leery about disobeying the surgeon. I want to heal up properly and get back to normal.

Concerning the Post Office, yesterday I delivered express mail. Express mail is mail sent in specially marked large envelopes which has to be delivered by Noon. The Post Office promises to have it delivered to the receiving address by Noon the next day or the sender gets their money back. Because of the money back promise, the person who delivers express mail has to make sure they get all of them delivered by Noon. Depending on the number, this can be easy or impossible. Yesterday, I was given 15 express mail envelopes and packages. The delivery locations were all over town. There was no way I was going to deliver all those by Noon. My Post Office supervisor realized this and had me take only the ones for areas I've delivered the mail. That left with me with seven packages and envelopes. Thanks to me knowing the delivery area, I had no problem making the deadline. I was able to organize the deliveries to where I could take the most efficient route to deliver them. The only drawback to delivering express mail is that carrier can typically work just 3 hours at most. As I'm on a lifting restriction until November 15th, it's better than not working at all. Plus, it does give me a chance to learn my way around Laurel better. I know some parts of it pretty well. Other parts, I don't know at all. The reason for that is because I don't have any need to drive through those parts. Delivering express mail, I have to learn the various parts of Laurel. This can help me in the long run with the Post Office because I'll be able to deliver to more areas for them.

I was glad to get back to work. Money wise, I'm fine but I like having a paycheck coming in. I still want to do that Scandanavia tour next year and the only way I'm going to able to afford that is if I'm working. So, I was glad to get back to the grind. As long as I'm careful and follow the surgeon's orders, I shouldn't have any problems working.

Hospital Bill Shock

Yesterday, I received a summary of charges from Laurel Regional Hospital for my 1 day and 19 hour stay. I confess I am truly stunned by what my short hospitalization cost. My semi-private room cost $633 a day! I have never stayed in a more expensive place in my life. The IVs and antibiotics they gave me cost a whopping $2,100! My chest x-rays were a bargain at $153. The ultra-sound they used to determine I had gall stones cost a respectable $306. I got out cheap on the heart monitoring equipment. That only cost $19. The entire bill came to a mind-boggling $5,876! Next time, I get really sick, I'll tell them to take me to Walter Reed Army Hospital or Bethesda Naval Hospital. I had no idea civilian healthcare cost so much. Thankfully, the Air Force offered me a very good retiree medical health plan. If my understanding is right, my part of the bill will be just $50. If that is the case, I'm going to write an extreme thank you note to Federal Health Services. I'll also count my blessings that I did make the Air Force a career. I enjoyed my time in the service and it looks like I'll enjoy my life as a military retiree thanks to the service. I'll definitely have a lot more peace of mind since I won't have to worry about catastrophic medical bills.

Annapolis Mall

On my list of things to do yesterday was visit Annapolis Mall (also know as Westfield Annapolis). I've gone by this mall a couple of times but I'd never stopped by and checked it out. Here are my opinions on this mall.

Annapolis Mall is a large single level in-door air conditioned multi-store mall. According to its website (http://www.westfield.com/annapolis/), it has 270 stores and restaurants. The mall is conveniently located in that it is just off Interstate-50 and close to Interstate-97. It has plenty of parking (over 3,400 according to the website). Sears, J.C. Penney's and Nordstrom serve as its anchor stores. It is open 10 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 to 6 p.m. on Sundays. It has a free Wi-Fi hotspot so you if you have Wi-Fi capable laptop, you can surf the web for free there (I didn't try that during my visit).

Annapolis Mall seemed very much a run of the mill single level mall. There was nothing exciting or unique about this mall. It does offer a large number of shops including some of the top names such as Banana Republic, Coach, Godiva and Lord & Taylor which can be convenient shopping wise. I bought the 2007 Lord of the Rings and 2007 Zits boxed calendars at one of the Day by Day Calendar Company kiosks. These are the two calendars I make sure I get every year. I like seeing the pictures from the Lord of the Rings movies and I find the comic strip Zits very funny. One downside about buying calendars right now at Day by Day is that you will pay list price. As I remember, around New Year's, they heavily discount their remaining calendars. Border's Bookstore has a nice store here. I stopped by to see if they had a copy of Foreign Affairs magazine. Sadly, the article I was interested must've been in the September/October issue. I tried an Italian strawberry ice at Vaccaro's. I thought it was all right. I was very disappointed by their gelato selection. They only had four flavors to choose from. Lastly, I visited the Today's Pet store. I wanted to see if they had any Pug puppies I could drool over. Sadly, they didn't. They did have a very impressive aquarium with a number of anemone and four pretty tropical fish.

Overall, I wasn't wiped out by this mall. It isn't anything I'd make a special trip for. It does have some nice shops. Westfield, the company that owns and runs the mall has a handy website where you can find if they have a particular shop you want to buy something from. Another aspect I liked about this mall was that it was so close to Interstate (I) 50. When I decided to head to Arundel Mills Mall, it was very easy for me to hop on the I-50 and be on my way. As it is out of my way, I don't see myself using it very much. However, if I lived in Annapolis, I probably would. How much you use it depends on where you live. If you don't live close to Annapolis, I wouldn't make any special effort to get to this mall. My next mall report (if you will) will be on Arundel Mills Mall. Stay tuned.

Annapolis Trader Joe's

I wasn't feeling 100% this morning so I decided to do some fun things on my to do list. One of those was check out the Annapolis Trader Joes. I'd heard some where that the Annapolis one was bigger and I wanted to see if it was true. The small size and the tight parking at the Silver Spring Trader Joes were serious turn-offs. To my delight, what I heard about the Annapolis Trader Joes was true. While it won't compare in size to your regular supermarket, it was larger than the Silver Spring store. The Annapolis store also had better parking and a more convenient location. It's only a block from the Annapolis Mall. The store had a larger selection of produce though it isn't close to equaling the produce you can find in a regular supermarket. It does have a good selection of low fat snacks and frozen prepared meals. If you hate cooking, this store will ensure you eat well and right. They also offer natural soda pop and a good selection of spring and mineral waters. They offer a large selection of organic products. It appears that one of Trader Joes niches is in organic products. Their stores are a good place to find a good selection of such products. The bakery section had a nice selection of breads and cakes but you won't find any donuts or pastries. Another plus in terms of baking was that the store carried a good selection of bread mixes. Lastly, the store's staff were very attentive. By the time I got in line to pay for my items, a number of the lines were getting long. One of the store's staff promptly called for all cashiers to come to the front. This resulted in shorter wait times and I'm sure their customers appreciated it.

Overall, I thought the Annapolis Trader Joes was a lot better than the Silver Spring store. I thought it had a better selection of merchandise and was more convenient. The staff was just attentive at the Annapolis store as it was at the Silver Spring store. The store offered a good selection of Trader Joes own brand products. I tried some of their multi-grain crackers and found them fair taste wise. However, if you're counting your calories, you'll like the fact that they put them in 100 calorie bags in the box. They also offer products without all the chemicals we see in some of today's processed food. I was able to buy some beef jerky without Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). MSG is one chemical I hate as it had negative effects on my body. It's very annoying that it is used in so many processed foods. You will pay more for some items at Trader Joes but the flip side is that it is better for you. I bought a bag of their rice sembei crackers. Unlike other rice crackers, these were baked which cut down the amount of saturated fat they'd have in them. I was able to buy a six-pack of Hansen's natural Root Beer. Their root beer doesn't have any caffeine, sodium or preservatives. Trader Joes won't meet all your grocery needs but it does offer healthier foods at fair prices. They're a great place to pick-up a frozen ready prepared meal or healthy snacks for a party. Their website is located at http://www.traderjoes.com. You can use their website to find out if there is a Trader Joes close to you. If not, you might want to keep an eye on their website. Trader Joes is a growing chain and it might not be long before one comes to your part of town.

My Condition

After waiting 11 days, I finally got to see the surgeon who operated on me. I very much wanted to see him so I could find out what was going to happen. Was I going to be allowed to drive a car again? The past 11 days have royally sucked because I was grounded. The cashier at the local Weis supermarket looked at me strangely when I started putting the groceries I'd bought in my backpack. I explained to her I wasn't allowed to drive because of a recent operation. I was interested to find out what was going to happen work wise. Could I go back to work? What would I be barred from doing till I was fully healed? All these questions ran through my head as I drove down to his office. To my dismay, I ended up at the wrong office. Luckily, the surgeon's office wasn't far and I managed to make it with 2 or 3 minutes to spare.

Dr. Daee was as nice as he'd been when I met him the night in the emergency room at Laurel Regional Hospital. He examined my scars, asked what I'd been eating, asked how I was feeling, what medications I was taking and what my various jobs entailed. He decided I could drive again and do light work until November 15th. I'm barred from lifting anything heavy and I'm not allowed to climb any ladders (I have to climb one to get to whatever spotlight I work when doing a show at Medieval Times.) until the 15th. The lifting restriction puts a bar on me delivering mail for the Post Office. The average tray of mail weighs 50 plus pounds and I'll have any where between 4 and 10 of those. So, I'm effectively barred from doing regular mail delivery. That said, I can deliver Express Mail as long as it isn't any heavy packages. It usually isn't. I should be able to work at SHARE as long as I don't lift anything. I plan to go in there tomorrow and help out.

Overall, I'm doing well. They took the bandages off at Dr. Daee's office and I appear to be healing fine. I plan to take it slow and make sure I get plenty of rest. I don't want any complications to arise because I pushed too hard too soon. I helped out Clinton for about 2 hours with his mail because he asked and he is one of the nicest people at the Post Office. It went fine. I plan to go to the Medieval Times Halloween party and auction tonight for an hour or so. I want people to see I'm still a member of the living and I'm recovering well. I should get back to work at Medieval Times Wednesday. That's all the news for now on how I'm doing.

Icelandair Airlines

Next year, I hope to get to fly Icelandair Airlines to Copenhagen. That's where the Globus tour I hope to take begins. I've only flown Icelandair twice. About 3 or 4 years ago, I decided to do a quick holiday in Reykjavik. Icelandair Holidays offers some very nice package deals. For $540, I got round-trip airfare, airport transfers, two nights in a 3-star hotel (the Loftleidir), single supplement (the price of being single and travelling alone) and breakfast for 2 days. I found the airline itself to be a very nice airline. I found out that they offer some very cheap airfares to Europe. In my case, if I fly Icelandair, I can save at least $200 flying them to London vice British Airways. The downside to flying Icelandair is that it takes longer. All flights to Europe go through Reykjavik. You'll fly there, change planes and fly on to where ever you're going. This can add 3 or 4 hours of travel time. Another downside to Icelandair is that they don't serve all the capitals of Europe. They don't offer any flights to Rome, Brussels, Dublin, Praque or Vienna. They also offer limited service to the U.S. They only fly from Boston, New York City, Minneapolis/St.Paul, Baltimore and Orlando via Sanford International Airport. I've heard that they sometimes offer flights out of San Francisco but so far this appears to be a seasonal offering. Still, they are a really good and affordable airline. They offer the best service to Iceland (no surprise there huh?). Iceland itself is a fascinating country filled with very kind people. Some parts of it looked like the moon to me. There are areas where you can see its volcanic heritage. Iceland produces all its electricity from geothermal power. The naturally hot water is piped up from the ground and used to produce electricity. Iceland offers some outstanding horseback riding adventures. I got to do a 90 minute ride and it was awesome. I hope to take my mom Kay there some time so we can do some horseback riding there. They also have a man-made lagoon where you can go and soak in 102-degree water year round. It's supposed to be very good for your skin. If you're into whale watching, Iceland offers one of the few places where you can actually get to see blue whales. Blue whales are the largest creatures in the entire planet. They can grow up to 98 feet in length and weigh as much as 198 tons (Source: Wikipedia). The best time to go to Iceland is during the summer when it's warmest. Shopping wise, the best bargains to be found in Iceland are in Icelandic woolens. They also have some nice duty-free shops but I don't know how much you'd really save there.

Overall, Icelandair is a really nice small international airline. For the places they fly, they offer very affordable service. If you can fly them, they are definitely worth a look. You might also consider taking a holiday through them in Iceland. Iceland itself is a lovely country with plenty to do. It is definitely on my list of places to go back. I look forward to getting to fly Icelandair next August.

Miffed With British Airways

I'm pissed off with British Airways (BA). For years, I've done all kinds of things to earn airmiles with their frequent flier program. I've eaten at various restaurants through their Executive Club dining program. I've bought flowers through various flower clubs. I've rented cars with their car rental associates. Because of all these efforts, I've earned over 443,000 airmiles with them. This past week, I found out that for effective purposes, those 443,000 airmiles are worthless.

As I mentioned previously in this blog, Harvey and I are planning to take a Globus tour of Scandanavia. It should be an absolute blast. One thing that would've made it even nicer and saved us some money is if I could've gotten free First Class tickets with British Airways. I got to fly First Class on British Airways years ago and I never forgot it. It was so cool. I have never been so pampered on an airline like I was then. I stepped on board the plane and they promptly offered me a glass of good champagne. I had my own vcr player and could choose from 42 different movies. My seat folded down into a six foot bed you could actually sleep in. Good luck sleeping in their economy seats. They even gave me a free set of pajamas which I still have. The thought of flying First Class to Copenhagen and back promised to make the tour far more enjoyable. I had no idea how many problems I would have trying to use my airmiles.

The first headache I ran into was trying to fly out of Baltimore Washington International (BWI). I prefer BWI as it's only 20-25 minutes driving from where I live. BA has one daily flight out of there and I thought I'd be able to get free tickets on that flight. No such luck. There weren't any First or Business Class tickets to be had on the dates I needed to fly out. Conversely, if I had been willing to pay $3,500, I could've gotten a seat on the dates I'll be flying out and back. I wasn't amused when I discovered this.

One advantage of living in the Washington D.C. area is that there are other airports I can use. I can fly out of Reagan National and Dulles International. The drawbacks to flying out of those airports is the substantially higher airport shuttle costs. The shuttle costs me approximately $25 each way to BWI. It costs me $75 plus each way to Dulles. Still, if I could've gotten tickets on the dates I needed to fly out and back on, I was willing to do it. A month ago, I could've done it. To my extreme frustration, it seems the limited free seats BA had out of Copenhagen got totally booked up for all four Sundays in September 2007. If I wanted to get a free seat coming back, I would have to spend an extra night in either Oslo or Copenhagen. I was thoroughly pissed off with BA.

Frequent flier programs are supposed to create customer loyalty. I know for years, I made a special effort to fly BA because I wanted the airmiles. However, when I find that all those airmiles that I've collected are of little use to me, I find that the last airline I want to fly is BA. Because of this whole boondoggle, I know I won't be busting my butt to earn airmiles with them. There doesn't seem much point in doing so. From what I've heard this problem isn't unique to BA. When you're flying, you might want to think more about price and convenience and less about the airmile scam. Nowadays, frequent flier programs definitely don't seem the deal they once were. Cheers!

Digital Camera Died

To my great annoyance, my digital camera decided to die. It is very annoying because all the pictures I took of this year's Renaissance Festival were on that camera. I was looking forward to downloading them and posting them on this blog. It also means I have to buy a new one and new digital cameras aren't cheap. After comparing various cameras, I've settled on the Canon EOS-30D. It has a wide choice of lenses, uses a flash card and has a USB 2.0 port so I can easily download pictures to my laptop. The only downside to this camera will be the price for it, a good multi-lense, flash card and battery recharger. I'll likely be looking at over $1,000. Damn. Oh well. Hopefully, this camera will last me a good long time. We'll see.

The Matrix

I watched The Matrix today. I haven't seen it in at least a couple years and I thought it'd be nice to watch it again. It was. The Matrix is still an awesome movie with great special effects, creepy monsters and a fascinating story. It is also the best of the three Matrix movies. While the other Matrix movies have their moments, as a whole the other two don't match up to the first. The first movie was solid the whole way through. The third movie has an absolutely disastrous part in the story where Morpheus is wondering what has happened between the machines and Neo. Morpheus assumes some how Neo has won and everyone starts cheering. I thought that part extremely weak and ridiculous. If you haven't seen any of the Matrix movies, you definitely need to see the first. It is really an awesome movie.

CNN and The "Unvarnished Truth"

I recently heard about CNN showing footage of a terrorist sniper in Iraq shooting and killing either a soldier. The only thing the footage didn't show was the unfortunate soldier's face. Because of this, a California Republican congressman urged the Defense Department to remove all remaining embedded CNN reporters. Why keep them with our troops he urged when they are aiding the enemy? CNN's reply was that they had to show the "unvarnished truth." What a total piece of BS!!!!! This is the same network that wouldn't show the "unvarnished truth" about Saddam Hussein when he was in power in Iraq because they KNEW they'd get their big fat butts kicked out of Iraq in a heartbeat. Also, if CNN is so concerned about showing the "unvarnished truth" about Iraq. Why doesn't CNN show all the good we're doing over there????? Wouldn't that be showing the "unvarnished truth" about the situation there. If they're willing to show our guys getting killed, why don't they show pictures of dead terrorists? Are they AFRAID that would upset their Muslim audience? If that is the case, why aren't they afraid that the sniper pictures would upset our people? I personally don't believe CNN is showing the "unvarnished truth" about Iraq. I've heard too many stories of troops over there who say what is happening is totally different what the so called "main stream" media is showing. I personally hope this disgusting attempt to distort what is happening in Iraq backfires on CNN and costs them more viewers. I know I stopped watching them a while back because I'd become so disgusted with them. I would urge you to do the same.

Turner Pictures Gettysburg

In 1996, Ballantine Press published Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels. The novel tells the story of the battle of Gettysburg. Unlike other Civil War novels, Shaara tells us the thoughts and emotions of a select few soldiers from both the Confederate and U.S. sides. He also very graphically describes the days there that would see Lee's plans of invading the North crushed and put him on the defensive for the rest of the war. The novel was an enormous hit and its movie rights were picked up by Turner Pictures who used the novel to make the movie Gettysburg. These are my impressions of the movie.

The first thing that impressed me about the movie was its excellent cast. Martin Sheen plays General Robert E. Lee, Tom Berenger plans Lieutenant General James Longstreet, Jeff Daniels plays Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and Sam Elliott plays Brigadier General John Buford. The second thing that impressed me about the movie was its attention to detail. The producers faithfully reproduced the uniforms the two sides wore right down to the boots. The result is a movie that succeeds in taking you back to that period in time. Thanks to the novel which was the basis for the movie script, we get to see the thoughts and feelings of a number of critical players in the epic battle.

We see Cavalry General Buford who knew good ground when he saw it and was determined that this time Union forces would have the advantage ground wise. It is Buford that unknowingly picks the site and begins what will be the bloodiest battle ever fought on U.S. soil. We see the great citizen soldier Joshua Chamberlain. A great academic, he had dreams of being a soldier and enlists in the Union Army. At Gettysburg, he showed extraordinary leadership and courage. He plays a critical part in the Union victory. We see General Longstreet who doubting the wisdom of General Lee's plan nonetheless follows it to its bitter end. Lastly, we see the extraordinary bravery of the men who fought on both sides. Chamberlain's men from the state of Maine who stopped the Confederates from gaining Little Round Top and thereby flanking the Union forces and driving them from the heights. We also witness the legendary Pickett's charge. 15,000 men knowingly walked a mile through shot and shell for what they believed in. If valor alone was the thing that won battles, the men of Virginia would have won the battle hands down.

Overall, the movie is superb. It is a must for any Civil War buff. My only complaint with it is that it is 254 minutes long. 254 minutes equates to over 4 hours of sitting on your butt. I don't know about you but, that is a long time for me. To break up that long stretch, I watched the movie in two parts. Considering the normal movie rental is for 3 days at least, you should be able to do this too. Price wise, I don't know what the movie is selling for. If your a Civil War or history buff, I would definitely buy it. You will find a new understanding of the great battle and be touched by what happened there. As I live in Maryland, I don't believe I'm that far from Gettysburg. I hope to visit the battlefield myself someday and see for myself some of the places where its momentous events occurred. God bless.

Music Review

It might be heresy but I can say truthfully, I have never watched American Idol. Why haven't I watched it? Because I don't own a tv. Can't I afford a tv (how poor are you ditto)? Yes, I can afford to buy a tv but, I don't care to own one. I think a lot of the stuff put out these days is junk. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I'm able to get all the latest news I want. Movie wise, I can rent a movie from Blockbuster. I have been tempted to get a tv thanks to all the cool channels offered on cable BUT the price of cable service has done wonders for cooling my desire to be able to watch Fox News, ESPN, A&E and the History channel (a typical case of Ditto cheapness). Still, I have heard of American Idol. It's hard not to considering what a big hit it is. Also, the radio stations have played the music of those who won like that Ruben fellow and those who didn't Clay Aiken (I hope I have that last name right, I don't want to mix it up with the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback). Because of this, when I saw the American Idol Season 5 Encores CD on sale at BMG music club, I decided to buy it and give it a listen. This review is on that CD.

The CD has the following songs:

Melissa McGhee - What About Love
Bucky Covington - Superstition
Mandisa - I'm Every Woman
Chris Daughtry - Wanted Dead Or Alive
Ace Young - Father Figure
Taylor Hicks - Takin It To The Streets
Lisa Tucker - Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)
Kellie Pickler - Walkin' After Midnight
Elliot Yamin - Moody's Mood For Love
Katharine McPhee - Think
Paris Bennett - Midnight Train To Georgia
Kevin Covais - When I Fall In Love

Of the songs available on the CD, I thought the best ones were McGhee's What About Love, Daughtry's Wanted Dead Or Alive,Young's Father Figure with an honorable mention for Mandisa's I'm Every Woman. The only reason I didn't rate Mandisa's work comparable with the others is because I don't care for the song itself. However, I thought she did an excellent version of it.

Concerning McGhee's What About Love, I thought she a very good job with it and sounded a lot like the group HEART however, I'd swear I could hear some country in the lady's voice and at times, it came through.

Daughtry's version of Bonjovi's great hit Wanted Dead Or Alive is great. I heard Daughtry was a true rock singer and it shows in Wanted Dead Or Alive. He gives the song all the intensity it deserves and hammers home every note. It is very comparable to Bonjovi's great work.

Lastly, Young does an equally great job on George Michael's hit Father Figure. His voice is equally smooth and very comparable to Michael's. The song itself is superbly composed and clearly was a good fit with the singer.

I'm not going to do a Simon (forget his last name) and start ripping into the other artists. I just didn't find the other songs as good. I particularly felt that Bennett's version of Georgia came no where close to the great version done by Gladys Knight and the Pips. I also didn't care for Pickler's Walkin' After Midnight though if she was the blond in the contest then, the song suited her looks. I just don't care for that kind of song.

Overall, I thought it was a nice CD. I suspect it would be a must for any American Idol fan. For other music listeners, it depends on what you pay for it. I would be willing to pay $10 for it but I wouldn't pay $20. It isn't THAT good. If you find it on sale, you might want to buy it. If nothing else, you'll get to see if some of the contestants are any good. Based on this CD, some of them clearly are.

Paypal/Ebay

I don't know what it is about Paypal or Ebay but it seems I get an incredible number of scam emails for these two. This blog entry is to warn people about them. The two services are very useful. I've been able to securely pay for items without having to give credit card information via Paypal. I've been able to purchase items I've wanted at considerable savings on Ebay. I also got ripped once on Ebay for $94. Make sure you know Ebay's rules on how they'll help you concerning you failing to get merchandise you were promised. You'll also want to look at the customer satisfaction rating and how many items the seller has sold on Ebay. Someone who has sold a lot of stuff on Ebay isn't likely to run off with your money. Concerning scam emails, Paypal does have a free tool called SafetyBar that you can download that will enable you to forward to them any scam emails you get. They also try to make some money off you by selling an additional spam filter. Fortunately, you don't have to order the spam filter in order to use the scam email tool. The tool is worth having if you use Paypal or Ebay.

Automatic Renewals

Recently, I had two different on-line companies automatically renew their services without me realizing it until I got the bill. That's why I'm posting this blog entry. Please double check the terms of the contract before you order. In the case of Classmates.com, you'll want to remove the automatic renewal. Once they bill you automatically, you can't get your money back with them. Fortunately, it was only $40 with Classmates.com. With TrueCredit, my mistake cost me $120! I suspect it is a very lucrative move by the companies as they can legally say they informed the customer and it helps them generate more business. I confess I don't like it as I think it is a bit scammish but I realize it is the customer's responsibility to look out for such things. So, the next time you order a membership to something or a product like credit warnings watch out for the automatic renewals. It could end up costing you more than you expected.

Gall Stones

It has been an eventful couple of days for me though to be honest, I wish I could've passed on them. Tuesday, I was feeling fine and working at SHARE when the stomach pains I'd suffered the last five days came back. I took two antacids but they didn't seem to work. I decided to head home early. I got home and took another antacid tablet. Again, I didn't see any improvement. I debated what to do and decided I'd better see a doctor. It turned out to be a very wise decision.

I arrived at the clinic where my regular doctor works and asked if I could see a doctor. I told them I was experiencing considerable stomach pains. To my relief, they got me in to see a doctor. My condition worsened. Less than an hour after arriving at the clinic, I was in serious pain. Later, I became nauseous and began to throw up. The doctor who saw me called an ambulance. I asked for some painkillers and was told I couldn't have any until they had figured out what was wrong with me. The ambulance medics arrived and asked me about my condition. The doctor told them what they knew and I filled in any missing bits. They subsequently rolled me on stretcher out of the clinic to the ambulance. While enroute to Laurel Regional Hospital, my condition worsened further. I began to throw up violently to the point to where blood began coming out of my left ear though I didn't realize it at the time.

The ambulance arrived at the hospital in good time and I was promptly wheeled into the emergency room. There, Dr. Koons examined me and ordered chest x-rays and a sonogram. It was the sonogram that would show the problem. I had at least one gall stone in my gall bladder. It was the stone that was causing my excruciating pain. Dr. Koons promptly called a general surgeon by the name of Dr. Daee who arrived around 10 or 11 p.m. He explained to me that the standard procedure for gall stones was to remove the gall bladder. He said I had to back-up organs that could produce the bile my body needs so losing my gall bladder wasn't a disaster. I agreed to the surgery and it was scheduled for the next day at noon.

While I slept, the gall stone or stones moved and when I woke up the next morning, I wasn't in any pain. I waited patiently for the surgery. The only thing I was afraid of was the stone moving and causing the terrible pain I'd suffered the night before. At 10:50 a.m., I was told the Dr. Daee had been delayed by another case and my surgery was now scheduled for 5 p.m. There was nothing I could do so I accepted it and continued to wait. I also made various phone calls on my cell phone telling my Post Office and Medieval Times bosses what was going on. I also let my Dad and Mom know. Finally, at 3:55 p.m., I was prepped for surgery. I was wheeled down to the recovery room where they put another IV into me. To my annoyance. Dr. Daee was delayed again. I wouldn't actually be operated on until 5:50 p.m.

I don't have any memory of the operation itself. I found out afterwards that they used general anaestesia on me and it definitely worked. I never felt any pain during the operation. They kept me in the recovery room until they felt the anaestesia had worn off. Then, I was wheeled back to my room.

I slept well thankfully. The next morning, I was told I'd see the surgeon and he would determine if I could leave or not. I very much wanted to leave the hospital if possible because I was bored silly, my cell phone battery was nearly drained and I knew how expensive civilian hospitals are. I have the standard retired military health plan called Tricare Prime. I knew it should cover the costs of my hospitalization but I didn't want to make my hospital stay any more expensive then I had to just in case. I remember how much it cost Tricare when I came down with a case of severe bronchitis two years ago. It was a rude awakening to how expensive civilian healthcare is here in the U.S.

I never got to see the surgeon. I guess based on what the nurses told him, he determined there wasn't any need to see me. I was told that I wasn't allowed to do any heavy lifting, to stay away from spicy and fried foods and to see him in a week. Later, I found out from the surgeon's office that I was grounded i.e. no driving either until he gives me the clean bill of health. Luckily, I have lots of movies to watch, reading for the college class I plan to take for the third time (I withdrew twice) and letters to write. I also plan to write some blog entries on some CDs I've bought. Still, it's going to be a boring week.

That sums up my two eventful days. I try to look at this experience positively. At least, I found out what was wrong with me health wise and the terrible pains that came when the gall stone (s) moved won't be coming back. I count myself fortunate to have a very affordable health plan through the military. I'm also grateful to Ray Baldon who very kindly picked me up at the hospital and drove me to the clinic so I could get my car back. I'll have to make sure I do something nice for his family. Lastly, I'm lucky to have family and friends who while they couldn't be there in person were able to give me words of sympathy and encouragement. It turns out my Dad and Mom also had their gall bladders removed because of gall stones. They could fully understand what I was going through and what I could expect. Now, I just need to rest, recover and carry on.

Executioner

I got to play the executioner at Medieval Times for the first time this past Friday. It is the most challenging role I've had so far at Medieval Times. For starters, the executioner isn't allowed to talk. He can only make various grunts as well as use various body movements to make himself understood. The executioner is supposed to be sinister and scary. You only get to see the executioner's eyes and they must instill a slight tingle of fear when they look at the customer. The executioner also makes money for the castle. The castle has a set of fake stocks where people put their head and hands in and the executioner brings down his mighty ax so it looks like they're having their head chopped off. The photos are a neat spoof photo. A number of kids and adults find it fun to get the photo taken. They cost $10 each. The executioner is supposed to help drum up business in that way.

I found the job challenging. I constantly mingled with the customers and sought to put a little fear in the kids. In some cases, it didn't work. I had one cute little girl come up and hug me. Some boys who came for the show gave me high 5's. Still, the kids for the most part seemed to enjoy what I did. I only scared two kids badly which I regretted. My main aim was to make their visit more enjoyable. I want them to come back for another visit. I'd also really like it if they would mention that I helped make their visit more enjoyable on the comment cards which are left by the food servers at the end of the meal. Photo wise, I helped sell seven photos which I thought good for the size crowd we had. The bosses should be pleased about that.

Improvement wise, I need to be more careful about how I handle the ax. It isn't at all sharp but it is BIG and it is conceivable that I could accidentally hit someone with it. I also need to further develop my version of the character. Every person who plays the executioner plays it differently. Each person has to come up with their own unique version as this is the one they'll be comfortable with and most easily play.

I don't know when I'll get to play executioner again. Hopefully, I'll get another go at it sometime soon. I look forward to it as it is a fun and challenging role. It also gives me another chance to do what I can to make the customer's visit an enjoyable experience. That is my ultimate objective. If I do that, I'll be doing my bit in promoting Medieval Times dinner and show.

New Links

I posted some new links on my blog. The first new one is for Old Soldier's blog. Old Soldier is a retired Army warrant officer. He's pro-military and patriotic. As I'm very much pro-military (I very much enjoyed my 26 years in the U.S. Air Force) and think the U.S. is the best country in the world, I very much like his blog and heartily recommend it.

The link to Jack Yan is interesting in that it offers different perspectives on various world events. Jack is a Taiwanese/New Zealand citizen who lives in Wellington, New Zealand. It appears he is something of a celebrity in New Zealand based on some of his blog entries. I can't say for certain as I've never watched New Zealand television. I also gather he is a very successful businessman and is the owner/publisher of the fashion magazine Lucire. I've enjoyed reading some of his comments on various issues. He also talks a lot about branding (product brands like Mars bars and Tide detergent and Rolls Royce cars) as this is one of his great areas of expertise. I confess discussions on that lose me but I like his reading his viewpoints which is why I recommend this site.

The last new link is to Life as a secret agent blog. As far as I know, this interesting lady isn't really a secret agent though she does like spy shows like Alias. She works for Proctor and Gamble (I believe) and is currently living in London. She took the opportunity of a lifetime and agree to a 2-year job posting there. As I seriously love London, she has made me green with envy. I can't wait till I can stroll down Pall Mall, look at the ducks in St. James park and see a theatrical show in the West End again. Her blog is interesting because she tells of her adventures and misadventures in London as well as giving her views on Cincinnati, Ohio. She swears it is one of the greatest cities in the world. I don't know if I agree with her on that but it is neat to read her blog entries on it. If you want to read some interesting posts on London and how an American would see things there, you'll want to check out her blog.