Photos

Yesterday, I finally had copies made of some of my France tour photos. I suspect the reason I was so slow about getting it done was because I could see the pictures on my computer. Also, in order to make copies of the photos, I had to burn a CD disc so I could take them to either a closeby Costco or Sam's Club. I know you can upload photos to their website BUT, I use max resolution on the photos I'm going to get copies made of. That means a single photo will be over 3 megabytes. It would take forever to upload 124 pictures at 3 megabytes a piece. Lastly, I had a lot of photos to go through and choose from. I took over 300 during my tour of France. One nice thing about digital cameras is you can take tons of photos and, it doesn't cost you anything. Also, if you take a crummy picture or accidentally hold the button too long and take a second picture of the same thing, you can easily delete it.

One of the bad things about digital pictures is you can't pull them out of your pocket and show them to your friends. You might be able to do that if you have a camera phone but, you're not going to leave your phone with your friend while they look through your 100 plus photos. That's why I finally had copies made. Folks at the Post Office have asked repeatedly to see them as have my friends the Baldons. I kept saying I would and, I finally got off my lazy duff and did it. So, now they can see what I was talking about when I said Mont St. Michel was huge or Carcassone was impressive. The photos are for them vice myself. Me, I'll keep viewing them on my computer.

Difference

It was incredible the difference in package volume before and after Christmas. The Saturday before last, I had to deliver over 50 packages. Yesterday, I had 16 packages. The number of catalogs I would deliver was down too. The biggest shopping season of the year was over so merchants stopped mailing their various catalogs. Now, I'll get to see another difference mail wise as it'll gradually drop through the year until fall. The low point mail wise will be in the summer. I'll be happy about the lower mail volumes in one way and not in another. We're due to have another mail count for the rural routes at my Post Office. The last one didn't go well. If trends continue, this one won't either. We'll see what happens. For now, I'll be happy that I got through the Christmas rush and, I can look forward to my trip to Egypt. Cheers all!

Grief and Guilt

My sister updated me on what was going to happen with my step-mom's body. She'll be cremated Saturday and, a small service will be held afterwards. I think this makes sense. They'd have to use blowtorches to carve out a grave for her in the ground if they wanted to bury her. They have between 7 and 8 inches of snow and ice in Michigan right now. The high yesterday as far as I know was 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

As I stated previously, I very much wanted to attend the funeral BUT, Saturday is the worst possible day for me. Anyone who has ever worked as a substitute mail carrier knows that is the day most of the regular carriers want off. Also, as a substitute, I don't earn any paid vacation time. I checked into flying out the day of the service and, it would cost $70 more to do that. That would pretty much wipe out most of the money I would make the previous day (I usually get to work full routes Fridays and Saturdays).

I spoke with my Dad and, he said he didn't see any reason in my coming up there. It wasn't going to make any difference to her. He was right but, her death still hurts. There is also guilt over the fact I thought I had plenty of time and so I didn't mail her the gifts I'd bought for her and, I wanted her to have. I never knew she was that sick and, I would've liked to have been able to say goodbye and tell her I loved her one last time. Flying into the mess up there won't enable me to do those things so there isn't any point in going.

Her death however has made me determined to go home and see my Dad, my sister, my brother and my Dad's wife. I want to see them and enjoy them and make sure I won't feel this way if death should come knocking again God forbid. I've learned the hard way nothing is forever. Hopefully, I'll cherish the family I have left more thanks to my step-mom. We'll see.

Shock

As any readers I have know, I was looking forward to just getting Christmas over with and eventually going on a 12 day tour of Egypt. Christmas isn't special for me unless I'm home. My step-mom had asked me to come home for Christmas but, Christmas is the worst time to ask for time off at the Post Office. Mail volume is heavy and everyone is working extra hard. I had to tell her no. I'd bought her a china plate from Chateau Chenonceau and various other goodies. I was eventually going to get around to mailing it to her. I knew she was fighting her third battle with breast cancer. The last time I spoke with her, she was upbeat that she was going to beat it though she sounded really tired. I was concerned enough to ask my Dad (whom she divorced) how she was doing. He told me she also had liver cancer. Oh shit! He was skeptical about the treatments she was taking. Also, this time, the doctors found cancer buds throughout her body. They apparently didn't get all the cancer wiped out after her second bout with it. Crap! Still, she had said she was recovering and according to her, all was well. She was wrong.

Yesterday was a normal Sunday. I'd procrastinated about doing my French homework so I was busy trying to get that knocked out before I drove down to D.C. to do my French lesson. I get a phone call from my sister. My step-mom took a massive dive for the worst and was rushed to the hospital. Her liver was failing and her other organs were shutting down. Basically, her body was throwing in the towel. The doctors said it would be either a matter of hours or days. I was shocked. Shit! Damn! This sucks! Of course, there wasn't anything I could do about the situation. I live at least six or seven hundred miles away. I didn't want to fly home at once and then stay there for days when I was desperately needed at work. I asked my sister to call me when there was more definitive news on my step-mom's condition. Then, I called my boss's cell phone. She didn't answer so I left a message giving her a heads up that I was likely going to have to go home on very short notice. I would have to go.

I had to work hard to regain focus on my French homework. I kept thinking of my memories of my step-mother. All the stupid fights we had and some of the good times we had too. I remembered the Lord of the Rings film exhibition the 2 of us went to. We got to ride in a stretch limo to the hotel. We walked over to the exhibition hall and looked in wonder at all the cool stuff they had at the exhibition. Afterwards, we had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. I was determined to get their t-shirt so I could add it to my collection. We shared a room and, she played mom again when she reminded me to pick up my clothes. I grumbled and told her we were going to get separate rooms next time. She mentioned that she'd like to do the Egypt tour that I'll be going on money permitting. I thought that would be cool as long as we had separate cabins (grin).

I managed to regain my focus and, I had another great French lesson with my teacher. I learned some interesting French idioms (like our idioms like you can't have your cake and eat it too). It seems the French like to use the word "coup" (which means kick or hit) a lot. While driving back through D.C., my Dad calls. There isn't any way I can answer it. D.C. is terrible to drive through. Plus, I'm paranoid about missing a stoplight after the $75 fine I got for missing my first (and hopefully last) one. The stretch I was driving on had something like 25 stoplights. I figured I'd call him as soon as I got back to my apartment which I knew wouldn't be long.

I got back and promptly called my Dad. He confirmed the news. I asked him what I should do. Should I come home immediately? There wasn't anything I could do to help. I was willing to fly back at once but, I didn't want to hanging around for days in the dumps waiting for the unmentionable. Shit! Damn! This sucks! My Dad said to wait for my sister to tell me what to do. All right, I'll go with that.

I quickly grabbed something to eat for dinner. I hadn't eaten since breakfast. I decided to walk over to my best friends the Baldons and tell them the news. They're always willing to lend a shoulder to lean on. I made it down to the 2nd floor of my apartment building when my sister called. She said she was gone. I swallowed, sucked in a breath of air and said "dead?" She said "Yes." Grief washed over me. I'd known her for over 35 years. She had played a big part in my life. No one that super close to me has died before. SHIT! Some Christmas this is going to be. I have to fly home and bury my step-mom. God damn it! I knew my brother who had enough hard knocks already was going to be stunned. My poor brother. Christmas is the highlight of his year and, it was now totally fucked.

I continued walking over to the Baldons and told them the news. They were awesome. After speaking with them for about an hour, I returned to my apartment and called my boss again. Again, I got her voicemail. I left an update. I spoke with my friend Harvey too who expressed his condolences also. Memories of my step-mom continued to flash by. It's hard to believe I won't see her any more. I never got to give her the souvenir plate I bought her at Chenonceau. I thought there was plenty of time. God! Grief which God had thankfully shown me little of washes over me. Damn. God may pick the perfect time for someone we love to die but, that doesn't ease the pain of their leaving much. I'm going to really hate it when I have to fly home and see the body. There will be someone who I loved and she's gone forever. Shit. Tears well up in my eyes. Suck it up buddy. Carry on airman. Figure out what you're going to do. So, I'm left with my grief and waiting for word from my sister. Once I receive word from her, I'll make my reservations for home and quickly pack a suitcase. This Christmas is going to royally suck. I hope you who read this have a far better one. Cheers all!

Quiet

It's been quiet the last 3 or 4 days. I worked a full route the last 2 days. It went fine. Packages were heavy (I had 50 of them yesterday) but, that's to be expected during the Christmas season. Once that ends, it'll get back to normal and the mail volume will begin to decrease. It'll keep on decreasing till next fall. Weather wise, I've been lucky. It's been cold and it rained Friday but, it hasn't snowed. I'll take rain over snow any day. Thanks to the cold but not freezing temperatures, I've been able to hold off turning on the heat in my apartment for the most part. My latest BGE bill was just $33.78. I was very pleased about that. I don't like giving BGE any more of money than I have to. If I've felt a little cold in my apartment, I've put a coat on vice turning the heat on.

Also, the winter solstice was this morning. You say no big deal. It does matter mail wise. Once the winter solstice hits, we start getting more sunlight vice darkness. Delivering the mail in the dark can be a royal pain as well as dangerous. I wear a reflector belt so I can be seen by cars when I'm crossing streets to deliver packages. Another hazard I have delivering the mail in the dark is my mail truck. The truck has serious blind spots. To compensate for these, they've installed 7 mirrors so you can see all around the truck but, these mirrors don't do a lot of good in the dark. You have to be very careful backing up a mail truck in the dark.

Barring working at the Post Office, I'm impatiently counting down the days till Egypt. Also, I'm slowly but surely paying off the Globus U.S. and Canada tours I'll be going on next summer. I'm impatient to get my scooter. I think the thing would be handy for short errand runs. I got approved for a new Dell credit account. I plan to use that when I buy a new laptop computer from them in May or June of next year. I wonder how bad my taxes are going to be this year. Last year, I got really clobbered. I plan to make a recycling run soon. I've been amassing a considerable pile of old magazines, cardboard and various bottles. I plan to treat myself to lunch at the Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe. I found out I'm less than $3 away from my next $20 credit with my All Access membership. I've been writing a few blog entries on MySpace. I finally figured out how to link pictures in their blogs so I was able to show folks on there some of my best France pictures. Slow slogging away at creating a database for my CDs. I need it so I don't buy duplicates of ones I already have. Been trying to get rid of some of the junk I've amassed. I'm something of a packrat and, the stuff does pile up. I'm gradually getting a pile together of stuff I'm going to take to the Salvation Army.

That's all to report for now. Like I said, it's pretty quiet at my end of the woods. And, it'll probably stay that way for at least another month. When it gets closer to the Egypt trip, things will start picking up as I'll get busy getting ready for that. Cheers all!

Multiple Blogs

Jim (I don't remember his last name) at Seratoninrain has multiple blogs. I know blogger offers the same option though I had no idea how that worked. Out of curiousity, I decided to find out. It turns out blogger creates totally separate and unlinked blog pages. With Seratoninrain, you can access all 3 blogs on the same base page. I guess that is one of differences between blog site providers.

In regards to my other blog pages, I don't intend to use them. I find it difficult enough trying to post things of some kind of interest on this blog and my MySpace blog. My life for the most part is terribly boring. While I enjoy reading about the issues of the day, I don't care to create a blog to discuss them. I've seen how rancorous those can get. So, I'll stick to telling about my travels, music I've listened, airmiles games I've played and whatever trivial stuff I can think of. Cheers all!

Surprise

3 or 4 days ago, I decided to try out my Sony CDP-C900 CD player. I'd bought the thing when I was stationed in South Korea back from late 1985 to late 1986. It was part of a dream stereo system I decided to buy while I stationed there. Korea at that time was the place to buy stereos or cameras if you were in the military. Supposedly, you could get good deals on them there. So, I bought myself a Sansui double cassette deck, Pioneer 2-sided record player, Yamaha pre-amplifier, Yamaha power amplifier, Yamaha tuner, Sony CDP-C900 CD player and Bose 901 Series 5 speakers. It turned out to be a really nice system.

In time, I lost interest in using the thing. It is a bit of hassle hooking everything up. It's a lot easier to just play a CD in a small portable CD player. At some point, I put 10 CDs in my Sony CD player. Then, I forgot about those 10 CDs. When I was re-located to my last duty station, I noticed that the CD holder cartridge was in the CD player. I didn't think anything of it. So, it sat for over 7 years. I did notice that I was missing some CDs but, I had no idea what I did with them. Today, I found out what happened to them. I decided to see if the CD player still worked. To my annoyance, I wasn't able to listen to the thing as I didn't have a set of headphones with a 1/4 inch stereo plug and, I didn't want to go through all the hassle of hooking my stereo system up. I had to drive to Best Buy and buy one. When I got home, I plugged in the new set of headphones I bought at Best Buy and popped out the CD cartridge so I could put in some CDs I'd been meaning to listen to. That was when I got a big surprise as there were 10 CDs in the cartridge. Now, I have to go through my CD collection and find out if I replaced the CDs or not. I hope I didn't but, I won't bet on it. I've done that before where I mis-placed something, bought another one then, I found the first one I bought. Crap! One good thing came out of this - my Sony CD player works fine. Maybe, I'll finally get around to listening to the stack of 15 CDs I bought that has been sitting on my dresser for the past year. We'll see.

Shots

Last week, I found out the recommended immunizations (shots) for Egypt. I fervently hate shots BUT, if I have to get them, I figured I might as well get it over with. So, today I visited the base immunization clinic for the first time since I retired from the Air Force. I didn't know how things would work since I'm retired. One advantage I have being former military is that they military gave me every shot I might remotely need including anthrax. So, I didn't think I was going to need too many. I thought I heard some where that I'd have to pay for the shots. I could deal with that. I didn't think they would be exorbitant so off to the clinic I go. I found out that I to make an appointment to see someone at the travel clinic who will apparently check my shot record and determine which shots I need. Then, I'll be able to get them for free and be all set for my trip to Egypt. So come January, I'll drive down to the travel clinic and hopefully get my shots. I found out the only one I REALLY had to have was a new tetanus that includes Pertussis and Diptheria and is good for 10 years. Since I'll only be in Egypt for 12 days, Typhoid is optional BUT, I'm going to get it any way though the arm I get it in will be sore the next day. It always is from the Typhoid shot. Oh well.

French Lesson

Yesterday, I did another French lesson with my teacher Nadya. I had 2 weeks off from the lessons because Nadya went some where to see her grandkids and the next week, I didn't feel like driving down to D.C. It's a real pain to drive in D.C. It's constantly stop and go. Also, you have to really pay attention to potential stoplights. There must be 20 plus of them on the route I take to the Alliance Francaise. About 4 weeks ago, I wasn't paying enough attention and got half way through an intersection before I realized the light was red. At that point, you might as well keep on going. To my rotten luck, one of the D.C. traffic cameras caught it and I got a notice with pictures of my car informing me of the $75 fine. I knew I did what the camera showed so I promptly wrote the check and mailed it. Since then, I've been really watching out for the stoplights.

The lesson itself went well. I still have one major problem - vocabulary. I'll try to compose sentences in French and, I'll find words I don't the French equivalent for. Nadya told me that'll come with me reading more articles in French. I'll keep looking up the words I don't know and, I'll eventually remember them. So, it'll just take time and lots of reading on that. I am getting better on translating written French. Nadya had me read in French an article where the Marquis de Lafayette was awarded American citizenship posthumously. After reading every 3 or 4 lines, she'd have me translate it into English. I could see I was slowly getting there.

That's all on the French lessons for now. Au revoir!

Keeping Airmile Accounts Active

One thing a less than frequent traveller must watch for is making sure they do some kind of activity on the airline frequent flier memberships. A number of them will delete all your miles if you don't have any activity in the past 18 months. There are a number of ways you can keep your accounts active. One of the easiest and most pleasant is through a dining program. Northwest Airlines has such a program. I haven't had any activity in my membership with them since April so I decided to check out a restaurant called Pasta Nostra so I could earn a few airmiles and have a nice lunch.

The restaurant itself is clean and pleasant enough looking. It's easy to get to. It's located just off of Van Dusen Road in Laurel, Maryland. It serves good Italian food like Penne al Salmon and Calimari Fritti (the 2 dishes I had). Price wise, it was reasonable. It is different from your normal fancy dining in that there is open seating and there aren't any waiters or waitresses. You go up to a counter where you order your and pay for your food. They give you a plastic number which you set on your table. When your order is ready, someone from the kitchen finds you and gives you your food. I wasn't thrilled with this aspect but, Pasta Nostra isn't trying to be a high class restaurant so it wasn't any big deal.

Overall, it was a nice restaurant that I wouldn't mind going back to. It was also an easy way to keep my Northwest Airlines frequent flier account active. That was more important to me as I want to keep my miles just in case I decide to try to use them for some kind of travel in the future. If you want an easy way to keep your airmile account active, you might check and see if your airline has a similar dining program. Bon appetit!

Puzzle

While at work, I noticed an interesting puzzle on my boss's desk. It's a paragraph that has 25 books of the bible hidden in it. Some are very easy to find and some aren't. I found it fun and challenging. You can find it online at http://www.eternalchoice.com/puzzle.php. For those who are less knowledgeable about the various books of the bible (like me), you might want to print a list of the books of the bible so you know all the books that could be in the puzzle. Cheers!

Won a Lot at Dave & Buster's

As I said I'd do, I made my way down to Dave & Buster's at Arundel Mills Mall and tried to put a hurtin on them ticket wise. It was 1/2 price game day. This is the best day to play their arcade games because you get twice the game play. I spent approximately $160 playing Spin & Win and, that enabled me to play approximately 250 times. I think that increased my chances of winning considerably. I ended up winning 34,200 tickets. I hit the 1,000 light 26 times! I was delighted. People kept commenting on how many tickets I won. It was sweet. I wish I could be that lucky when I play the Lotto. Oh well. I brought my total ticket winnings to 110,895. I'll savor that for a while. Cheers all!

Parka

About 7 or 8 years ago, my sister Ellie took me to a Burlington Coat Factory store to buy a winter coat. I needed it with as cold as it got where my folks live. The parka I bought turned out to be a really good deal both in price and in the job it did in keeping me warm. Unfortunately, clothes only last so long. Through wear and tear, part of my parka's zipper got ripped out and some of the seams were coming loose. My parka began shedding feathers (it has a down lining). So, it was time to get a new one. Because I was able to get such a good parka at Burlington before, I decided to try them again. There were a couple in the area where I live. I checked both of them out and found out one with the features I wanted (a hood, double zipper and down lining). The price was good again. My parka cost me $60 and would've cost around $150 else where. We'll see how it holds up with the coming winter.

Game Ticket Special

One advantage of registering your game card with Dave & Busters is apparently they will email you special promotions like their 1/2 price holiday game promotion. Last week, they emailed me a coupon where if I won 1,500 tickets, I would receive a bonus 1,000 tickets. There were some exemptions on the coupon. The biggest was I couldn't use it on 1/2 price game days. Today, I decided to use the coupon. I got lucky right off the bat. I hit the 1,000 ticket light on my very first spin at Spin & Win. Then, I went cold. I kept missing the 1,000 light by 1 or 2 lights. I tried to keep count of how many times I hit the 20 ticket or 40 ticket lights. Finally, I got up to what I guesstimated was 1,420 tickets. Then, I hit the 1,000 light again. Thankfully, I had the sense to stop. I took my tickets and went to the Winners Circle counter. It turned out my guesstimate was off by 180 tickets. I'd already reached 1,600. Oh well. I received my free bonus. Now, I have 76,692 tickets. I checked out the prizes they had and apparently a lot of the good stuff is going fast. All the 30 GB MP3 players were gone as well as the digital video camera. I'm curious to see what they replace them with. I plan to go back in the future on some Wednesday and try to run my ticket total higher. I want to take advantage of the 1/2 price games. We'll see how I do then. Cheers all!

Looking Like Christmas

It was definitely looking like Christmas on the route I did today. A lot of people had their outdoor Christmas lights up or were putting them up. I saw a pick-up truck drive by with a Christmas tree in the back. Lastly, we received some light snow flurries which gave a nice white dusting on the ground. I don't think we'll get any real accumulation. It's too warm for that. Still, it does make it look pretty outside.

Almond Bark

I visited the Trader Joe's in Columbia, Maryland. They have almond bark again. Their almond bark is made with dark chocolate and at 50% California almonds (I don't see what is so big about California almonds). They're selling it in 8 ounce single slab boxes vice last year when they were selling it in 1 pound/2 slab boxes. At the Columbia Trader Joe's, a box is selling for $4.99. This is a seasonal item so if you want to enjoy their almond bark, you'll need to buy it during the Christmas season. Come January, it'll be gone again till next Christmas season. Cheers all!

Hair Update

I haven't given a report on Propecia or the laser comb in a while so here goes. The Propecia is definitely working. My hair loss has totally stopped. However, there are some negatives to the Propecia. First, there is the cost. Sam's Club is slightly cheaper than Costco but a 3 month supply of Propecia will still set you back over $180. Second, you have to take the drug at the same time every day. This was a major hassle when I was travelling because of the time difference. It was a serious hassle to have to stop what you're doing in mid-day and make sure you took your pill. It's a lot easier to take it first thing in the morning.

In regards to the laser comb, I'm not sure how well it's working or if it is. That was why I held off buying the thing initially. There isn't any set success rate with the comb barring it is more than 30% effective and less than 90%. The comb has been a pain in 3 ways. First, I have to use a stopwatch everytime I use it. You must comb your hair/top of your head with it a minimum of 10 minutes. However, it doesn't do anymore good if you go over 15 minutes. Second, you have to remember to use the comb every other day. Using it more often than that doesn't do you any extra good. Lastly, you have to be careful using the comb with your eyes. It is a laser and it could harm them if it shines directly in your eyes. I make sure I have the thing over my scalp before I turn it on. The biggest advantage of the comb is what it could save you in money if it works. The comb costs approximately $580. A 1 year supply of Propecia would cost you $720. So, in the first year, it would save you $140 and the savings continue after that.

So, that is what is happening there. I still wish I'd started on Propecia earlier. But, I'm not going to go bald so I'm happy with that and I'll deal with the hassles. If you think you might be going bald and you don't want to, you might want to check into Propecia or the laser comb.

Computer Problems

I had unexpected computer problems this past Sunday. I decided to re-watch one of the extras in the extended version of Fellowship of the Ring. One of the interesting things they threw in with the extended version was interviews with the actors who talk about the other actors and their experiences. It's neat stuff.

Anyway, I put the disk in the DVD/CD player and it spins for a little bit but, when I click on the movie program to play it, it doesn't show the movie listed. Uh oh! I call up Windows Explorer and it doesn't show the DVD/CD player either. Something was clearly seriously wrong.

I called up Dell's Support Center (I have a Dell laptop) and had some suggestions on what to do about such a problem. I tried them and they didn't work. Finally, I contacted Dell's technical support. After waiting about 5 to 10 minutes, a person named Justin came up on the chat window. I told him what my problem was and he said he could fix it. It turned out he was right. The problem is fixed but, it brought up a couple unexpected issues. First, my extended warranty will end the middle of next year. I won't be able to extend it again for the coverage I have now. What that means is I'll have to buy a new laptop. That's the last thing I want to do. Still, I like having full warranty coverage on my computer just in case. I haven't forgotten what happened when the motherboard went out on my first laptop. It cost me $400 to fix and the laptop was never the same. Second, one of the major problems I had was a registry problem. I remembered that Norton's 360 program claims to be able to help with those. I didn't buy that program because I was cheap. I didn't care to spend the extra $20 for it. I'm wondering now if I should have. I suspect when it's time to get the latest version out i.e. 2009, I'll get that program vice the one I'm using now.

For now, my computer is running fine (knock on wood) but, I'll have to sadly think about replacing it. One of the rubs about laptops is they don't last like desktop computers. Also, you can't upgrade them like you can desktops. As I've been very pleased with my Dell, I'll buy another one of their computers. Hopefully, when it's time, I'll be able to get a good deal with them. We'll see. Cheers all!