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.