Hobbit Update

If you haven't heard already, Guillermo del Toro was officially signed to direct The Hobbit and the link movie between it and The Lord of the Rings. Here is the press report on the news: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4496833a1870.html. Peter Jackson will be producing both movies. As Jackson used multiple directors during the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I suspect he'll still have a big part in the films so they should have the same realism and magic that was seen in the Lord of the Rings movies. Also, WETA will be responsible for all the special effects and costumes so there'll be continuity there. Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis have signed up to do their parts in the movies again. (Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4501827a1870.html) McKellen was an awesome Gandalf and it'll be great to see him play the role again. My only complaint about this news is how long I'm going to have to wait for the movies to come out. I believe The Hobbit will come out in 2011 and the follow-on movie in 2012. That's a LONG time. Sigh. Oh well, at least it'll happen. I can't wait to experience the magic of Middle-Earth again.

Hobbit Update

If you haven't heard already, Guillermo del Toro was officially signed to direct the movie version (there was a cartoon version) of The Hobbit and a movie that will link it to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Here is the link to the press article about it: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4496833a1870.html. Peter Jackson will still produce the two movies. Considering that Jackson used multiple directors when he made the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I think the two movies will still have Jackson's imprint on them. Also, Jackson will be very involved in the two scripts I suspect. WETA will be doing the special effects for the movies so there'll be continuity there as well. My only complaint about this news is how LONG I'll have to wait to see the movies. I suspect The Hobbit won't be released until 2011. That's a long time. Still, it'll be awesome to get to experience the magic of Middle-Earth again. I continue to marvel over the Lord of the Rings films. They were so well made. The Hobbit should be equally great.

France Tour

I received some great news from my travel agent Joel Mills at Carlson Wagonlit Travel. The beginning of November of last year, I book the La France tour with Globus. It's an awesome 2 week tour that covers many of the key sights in France. You get to spend 3 days in Paris. You get to visit the famous beaches at Normandy and the American Cemetary. A guide shows you the historic Bayeux Tapestry which depicts the Norman invasion of England. You do a tour of Mont St. Michel. It was said to have been one of inspirations for Minas Tirith in Lord of the Rings. There is a tour of Cannes, the place of the world famous film festival. There is an optional tour of Monte Carlo where you get to see how the jet set live.

However, with the economy tanking, the hefty price of the tour ($3,400 with single supplement) and the weak dollar, I was wondering if the tour would go. I thought people might decide to pass on such an expensive tour. To my delight, that isn't the case. Joel informed me that the tour is fully booked so it's definitely going. Now, I have to wonder what fully booked means i.e. how many people. The Scandanavia tour was fully booked and we had 46 PEOPLE on that tour! It would be a trip if there were that many on the France tour. We'll see. You my faithful readers can look forward to some interesting blog entries and pictures in about 4 and 1/2 months. For me, I'm going to have to start brushing up on my French. It would be nice if I could speak some and read a little. We'll see. Stay tuned for future adventures.

Laser Comb Update

I've been using the laser comb I bought for a week now. It's too early to tell if it's having any effect. I do know that it is annoying using the thing. You have to remember to use it 3 times a week on non-consecutive days. For me, that means using it on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. You also need to time how long you've used the comb. I've never used the stop watch function on my watch much but, I'm using it a lot now. It doesn't do any more good if you use the comb longer than 15 minutes. It's definitely easier to take Propecia vice using the comb. Thankfully, the comb's teeth haven't pulled out too much of my hair. According to the directions, you have to have the comb's teeth touch the scalp so the laser will hit the scalp. In regards to the laser on my scalp, the only effect I've felt is some tingling on parts of my scalp. I don't know if that's a sign the laser is working or not. According to the manual, I should be able to see some benefit in a couple weeks. Stay tuned for more updates.

Restaurant Review

My friend Modestine Baldon works as an assistant manager at the Chik-Fil-A at Corridor Marketplace which is right next to MD-198 close to the MD-295 Baltimore Washington Parkway. I've promised her I would stop by her restaurant and give it some business because of her. Thursday, I got the chance to do so.

I dropped in around 1 p.m. and I was surprised how busy they were. Their parking lot was nearly completely full. They had lines at 4 cash registers. I ordered their 12 nugget combo meal with a large lemonade and large vanilla milkshake.

The combo meal consisted of 12 small chicken breast nuggets and an order of waffle fries. I wasn't impressed with the nuggets. They tasted fine but they were SMALL. Considering I paid over $7 for them and the order of waffle fries, I thought I got ripped off there. The waffle fries were good and I'd guess they were a medium size order.

Their vanilla milkshake is reportedly hand spun. Whatever. I thought it was decent milkshake though it could've used some more vanilla flavoring in it.

The lemonade was allegedly fresh squeezed. I thought it was decent also. One thing I did like and I wish I'd known about was the free refills. I would've bought the medium lemonade in that case and skipped the milkshake. Oh well.

If you have kids, you might like this restaurant as they have kids play area and give out free balloons to the kids.

Overall, I wasn't wiped out with the place though it was decent enough. I definitely wouldn't order the chicken nuggets. If you go there, get one of their chicken breast sandwiches instead. Do take advantage of the free refills at the restaurant. One last item of note, all Chik-Fil-As are closed on Sundays. I think it's because the owner is religious. That's what I've heard. Bon Appetit all!

Published

To my total surprise, I will soon have something published that I wrote sort of. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, Globus and their family of tour groups has a website called The Travel Exchange (http://www.exchangetravelstories.com/default.aspx). You can post stories on this website of your adventures on one of their tours. You can also earn Go Points which are redeemable for gift certificates with Amazon and Gift Certificates.Com. When I found out about the site, I decided to tell about my Globus tour of Australia. The tour was absolutely fantastic and really sold me on Globus tours. Because of that tour, I did a tour last year to Scandanavia and will be doing a 2-week tour of France this year. Anyway, to my surprise, I heard from a lady at Globus who informed me they wanted to use an excerpt from one my Australia stories in their eNewsletter. I was delighted. I'm going to be published sort of. I think that's pretty cool. A side result of this is that I've started writing stories for the site about my Scandanavia tour. I hope those stories will turn out as nice as the Australia ones did. We'll see.

Ivy Ridge Townhomes

I checked out the demo townhome at the Ivy Ridge development in Dallastown, PA. I was impressed with it. The townhome is definitely bigger than my current apartment. Also, the townhome had a very nice appearance. On the negative side for me, I found out that York County has the second best schools in Pennsylvania and the people in that county pay for it. My property taxes which include school taxes would be $300 a month. Serious ouch! Since I don't have kids and I don't think I'll be having any soon, this is a big negative. Another negative is the commute. On the drive out, I confirmed that it'll be about an hour and 15 minutes to get to work. One good point of sorts is that it'll be virtually all highway driving so I'll get the best gas milage I can but, it'll still be a long drive (about 73 miles). Figuring 25 miles to the gallon, I'll burn 3 gallons of gas (over $10) each way. I'm getting a lot of 2 hour work days at the Post Office so that would make those days pretty pointless. Also, I've heard the auxiliary route I'd like to get will only be 2 hours each day. I would like to have my own place and stop the rent increases where I live but, I don't know if it would be worth buying at this development. I'll have to weigh the pros and cons some more. We'll see what I decide.

Pictures of Old San Juan

This is a picture of the fortress walls that surrounded Old San Juan. Originally, the walls came right up to the water's edge.

This is a picture of the only surviving gate for Old San Juan. It was through this gate that representatives from a ship would pass through and go to the Governor's palace. There, they would present their proofs that they were on legitimate business with the city. The man on the left was our tour guide Jose who did an awesome job.

This is one of the streets of Old San Juan. If you look at the road, you might be able to make out that it's covered in cobblestones which originally were used as ballast for ships coming out to San Juan.

This is Il Convenuto. It was originally a convent that was converted into a very nice hotel. The building still has fixtures from when it was a convent including things in the walls that held holy water. It's a beautiful hotel and right across the street from the San Juan Cathedral. Our guide Jose did say it was expensive.

This is the cathedral of San Juan. It wasn't very ornate but, it was still a very nice cathedral. Ponce de Leon, the first Governor of Puerto Rico is buried there.

Laser Comb

I used the laser comb I bought Tuesday for the first time yesterday. It was interesting using the thing. You have ensure the laser light hits your scalp and you have to give it enough time to have some effect. The operating instructions state you are the make sure the teeth in the comb touch the scalp. You also brush against the hair so the light will reach the scalp. In order for the light to have enough time to do any good, the comb has a timer. It beeps every 4 seconds telling you to move the comb 1/2 inch. You'll work through your hair front to back and right to left in an imaginery grid. By working the grid, you hit every spot on the top of your head. Once you've completed the grid, you start all over again. You keeping combing for between 10 and 15 minutes. If you do it any longer than 15 minutes, it doesn't do any additional good. I used the stop watch on my watch so I could time myself as far as the overall time. The whole procedure is a bit tedious but, if it helps me grow new hair, I'll be happy. Supposedly, if the comb works, I'll see some kind of results in a couple weeks. I'll report on if I see any results or not.

Dr. Ballon

I got to see Dr. Jonathan Ballon today. He's the hair restoration surgeon at Medical Hair Restoration's Bethesda office in Washington D.C. I had to see him to get my Propecia prescription renewed. The prescription is only good for 1 year. I don't know why it doesn't stay good longer. Also, I wanted to buy a laser comb from him. His office treated me really well my previous visit and I was grateful. I know I'm not one of their usual high profile clients.

In regards to the laser comb, I found out that you must use it 3 non-consecutive days for 10 to 15 minutes each time every week. You have to have the teeth of the comb touch your scalp so the laser reaches your scalp. If the laser doesn't reach your scalp, it won't work. As I understand it, what the laser does is break up the male hormone DHT in the scalp. The less DHT you have in your scalp, the more hair you'll have. Using the comb more than 3 days won't have any increased effect according to Dr. Ballon. As I previously blogged, the comb is supposedly between 30% and 90% effective. I guess they haven't been able to come up with a definite percentage like they have with Propecia. Dr. Ballon showed me one example where the comb did work. It did make a very noticeable difference. We'll see how it does on my head. Cost wise, the comb cost me $577. The comb will reportedly last for 15 years.

Concerning Propecia, I have found this drug to work. According to the folks at Dr. Ballon's office, Propecia is 90% effective in stopping any further hair loss. However, it won't cause any NEW hair growth. Propecia is also EXPENSIVE. A 3 month supply of it costs me $178.37 at Costco. According to Dr. Ballon, Merck & Co. is offering a $25 rebate for those who get a 90 day supply of the drug. According to the Merck website, the $25 rebate will be good till June 30, 2008. I hope they continue it after that.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Women and children are prohibited from taking Propecia and pregnant women should avoid all contact with Propecia as it supposedly can be absorbed through the skin.

Laurel Tavern

I decided to stop by the Laurel Tavern and buy some donuts today. While there, I found out they are now open on Sundays from 6 a.m. till 5 p.m. That means, they are open 7 days a week now. Their donut selection remains fair from what I saw though remember I stopped in there today around 1:30 p.m. They may have sold a lot of donuts earlier. I don't know. Their mini-burger prices haven't changed and remain pricey in my opinion. Bon Appetit all!

Travel/Geography Game

Purely by accident, I found out http://www.tripadvisor.com/ has a travel/geography game called World Challenge. You have to locate on a map various cities throughout the world (in some cases the map doesn't show the city and country as they are too small for the map so you have to click in the vicinity of where the city would be located) or in a certain part of the world such as Canada or Europe. You have less than 15 seconds to guess each one. The game has 12 levels with each level getting progressively harder. If you manage to score in the top 20, you get to be in the top 20 list where everyone gets to see your score, the level you reached (always level 12 if you want to be in the top 20) and your travel IQ Your travel IQ can be any where between 0 and 200. When you've finished playing you can save your score and see how you did in relation to others that played the game Ex. my best score was 570,037; level 12 with a travel IQ of 155. That put me at 1,674 on the list. My mind boggles at the folks that have scored 670,000 plus in this game. It is seriously hard and challenging. It'll definitely help you learn geography

My Cabin

I had to lighten this picture so you could see my cabin as it faced the balcony. The cabin had a good size bed, tv set, couch, drawers and bath room. I thought the shower was small though.






This shows the small couch, tv set, drawers and entrance to the bathroom.









This shows the view from the balcony. I really enjoyed watching as we came into or left port. The next time I go on a cruise, I will definitely get a balcony.

Considering

Last week, the primary carrier agreed to buy a new townhome in Dallastown, Pennsylvania. She told me her townhome cost around $140,000 (this is half what a place in Maryland would cost you) and it's really nice. Her mortgage payments are going to be under $1,000 a month. The only drawback she's going to have is the commute to the Post Office. She calls it 1 hour but Mapquest calls it 1 and 1/2 hours. Barring the commute, her new place sounded like a really good deal. For me, my rent is going to go up sometime this summer to over $1,500 a month and I'm not living in the most expensive apartments in town. There are apartments just down the street from where I live that are between $200 and $400 more a month.

Another appealing aspect of living in Pennsylvania is they don't tax military retirement pay. Maryland does. That would save me probably around $2,000 a year in state taxes.

I plan to drive out to the new development and see how the drive is. Also, I want to find out if there are any military bases along the drive. I like being able to use the base Commissary and base clinic. I don't like the prospect of a 2 hour drive to get to the closest base. We'll see what works out. For now, I'm considering the option. It would be nice to have my own place and to save money on taxes. We'll see what works out.

Size of Adventure of the Seas

I hope this picture will give you some idea how BIG the Adventure of the Seas was. Length wise, the ship was 1,040 feet long. Width, it was 154 and 1/5 feet. They didn't give the height though the surface part of the ship had to be over 4 stories high. Here is another picture that might give you an idea how big the ship was.

You can see building is 2 stories high and the ship towers over it. Lastly, here is a picture of ship taken from high on a high in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

That should give you some idea just how big the Adventure of the Seas was. In my next set of pictures, I'll show how my cabin looked and some of the things they had on the ship.