Maryland Renaissance Festival

I got to attend the Maryland Renaissance Festival today. Initially, things didn't look good. When I woke up, it was raining outside but luckily it stopped by 8 a.m.

I very much like the Maryland festival because I think they do a really good job i.e. excellent facilities, excellent acts, excellent shops and a good range of food for sale. There is something to please all ages and groups at the festival.

I also had something of a shopping list. I wanted to buy a doublet and some type of Renaissance pants so I could look the part of a Lord. I also wanted to buy a pair of leather gauntlets/gloves so I could look the part when I play the Executioner at Medieval Times. For the doublet and pants, I went to the Moresca shop. I've been very pleased with them with the cloak and shirt I bought from them. After checking what they had, I found a doublet that I thought looked all right. I got a shock when I laced the dang thing up. Suck in that gut! Yes, I now what a women feels like when she wears one of those bustier thingamajiggys. I definitely need to start doing some situps so I lose some of my gut. Pants wise, I didn't fair so well and ended up buying a pair of black breeches. They said they would be a bit baggy and I felt ya ya ok. Big mistake, I should've tried them on there. When I got home, I got another surprise. They weren't kidding when they said BAGGY. They're something fit for a clown. I'm definitely going to take them back and try to find something better.

After buying my doublet and breeches, I went in search of my leather gloves. I tried a couple places before arriving at Potomac Leather. I'd bought a leather pouch with strap from them before and well pleased with it. I needed the pouch as the black sweat pants I was wearing with my costume didn't have pockets so I needed something to carry my camera, keys and wallet in. The pouch did the trick.

I told one of the shops salespeople what I wanted and he quickly found it. It turned out they had a really nice pair of black leather gauntlet/gloves. I could've gotten ones with studs on them but I thought that was a bit too much. I also wanted to be able to wear the gloves with my Lord costume so I went with the plain ones. After that, it was time to check out the festival.

I got to see part of the Fight School act which was nice. It's a really nice act. My only complaint is they've been doing the same act for the last two years. Time for some new material guys! I got to watch a comic fake swallowing a very LONG balloon. He then faked popping it inside himself by swallowing a dagger. Yuck! I also took some photos which I plan to post here once I get them developed. Sadly, I didn't get to see the Medieval Baebes. I found out their first performance wasn't until 2:30 and I had to leave by 1:30 as I had to work at Medieval Times today. Damn! After shooting the rest of the roll of film I had in the camera, I decided to have one of those scrumptious smoked turkey legs.

I had no problems finding one of the stands and forked up the four dollars for one. It was as good as ever. It was also fun to munch on it barring having to pull out some of the ? quills maybe, I don't know what you'd call them. Anyway, barring that, it was great to eat one. I also found a stand selling root beer floats. I thought that sounded good so I paid two dollars and got half a glass of root beer and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I wasn't impressed.

Lastly, I listened to a group playing brass instruments. I don't know what they were called but they were very good. Some music sounds wonderful when it's played by brass ensembles. The music these fine musicians played was great. It was a nice finish to my visit.

I plan to go back again. I still have to try to find some decent pants that I can wear in costume with my full length riding boots. I also like being able to wear a cloak and not having people spaz out. I think cloaks are cool and it's neat to watch my cloak flutter as the wind hits it. I also like to wear a costume at the festival. The costume is one of the main reasons I like my new job in sound and lighting at Medieval Times so much. It's a lot of fun to wear it. I'll make sure I post more in this blog when I go back. Cheers my lords and ladies!

Job News

I've gotten good news the past week. I was asked to learn a fourth route at the Post Office. I took this as a compliment. It also means I can work for the Post Office another full week which means another butt kicking paycheck. I told the Post Office I'd be glad to do it. I just want to give the folks at Medieval Times a little breather before I disappear for another week. My boss at Medieval Times has been good to me and I didn't want to mess him over.

I also got a payraise to my surprise from the Post Office. I went from $16.45 an hour to $17.51 an hour. That was really nice news. I just wish the work wasn't so hard. I continue to make newbie type mistakes which can be really frustrating when I'm trying my dangdest to get all the mail delivered and get back to the Post Office. I think I'm getting better BUT I'm just not getting better as fast as I'd like. It makes it something of a battle everytime I go out to deliver mail.

I don't know if I mentioned it or not in previous posts but a second substitute mailman quit at the Post Office where I work. I was really surprised that he quit. I first met him when we were doing our initial processing. He was so enthusiastic when he started. He was also a source of encouragement when I've been struggling at the Laurel Post Office. I have no idea why he quit. It saddened me greatly to hear the news. He was a really nice person. I hope things work out for him where ever he moved on to.

Medieval Times wise, I'll get to learn the job of executioner tomorrow. It should be fun. You get to interact a lot more with the customers and try to drum up business for the spoof picture they tack of people in the stocks. The executioner is supposed to have his tongue cut out i.e. he can't talk so that makes it more of a challenge character wise. I've come up with some ideas for the character but I'll have to run them by the head of sound and lighting to make sure they're all right.

Chancellor wise, one of my co-workers in security may become the second Lord Chancellor. Supposedly, he was asked to read the script and the person in charge of the actors/actresses was impressed. He also has the chancellor look. To create something of a conflict for me, one of my best friends in gift shop is also up for the chancellor part. He also looks the role. I'm glad I'm not the one deciding who going to get the job. They're both super people who have paid their dues at Medieval Times. They both deserve the part but unfortunately only one can get the role. In regards to me doing the role, I was interested it but I have doubts whether I can do it. I still wish I could be a squire. Oh well.

We replaced all the old sand in the arena at the castle. Horses have calls of nature just like people do though unlike people, they let rip where ever they happen to be. Many times, they let rip in the arena during practices and shows. While the squires try to get all the crud up, small pieces do remain in the sand. These small pieces do rot and begin to stink. The castle can spray the sand with some stuff that deadens the smell BUT in time, this fails to take care of the problem. The only thing left to the castle is to replace the sand with entirely new sand. That's what they did this past Sunday. It's incredible how much nicer the new sand looks in the arena. We could have a mini-beach party down there now.

Besides my co-worker who may become the second Lord Chancellor, another person in security may leave. One of the old timers in security (and in my opinion one of the best people they have) has an interview at a chemical plant. I'm hoping he gets the job. It would help his family enormously and the guy deserves a good break. He is a super nice person and a very hard worker. I don't think the folks at Medieval Times have appreciated him as much as he deserves. Hopefully, lady luck will be kind to him and he'll get the job at the plant. We'll see.

All of this means considerable change in security. Personally, I'd like to leave security too but I have found one drawback to working in sound & lighting. The folks in sound & lighting don't get the hours the folks in security get. Pay wise, the two departments are about the same. I'm surprised sound & lighting doesn't have the personnel problems security has at times. I can only guess the reason for that is because working there is more fun and it is more prestigious. Fun wise, you get to wear a costume and be either the dungeon master, executioner, or one of the castle guards. Show wise, you are more a part of the show in sound & lighting than you are in security. The people who work the spotlights, sound system and special effects are crucial to the show. This puts you higher on the ladder than if you're in security. From what I've seen, security is big time at the bottom.

Spotlight Solo

Yesterday, I got to operate spotlight #4 at Medieval Times by myself for the first time. I was surprised when I found out I'd operate a spotlight by myself so soon. Still, I felt confident I could do it. As I'm somewhat hyper, I had to take a number of deep breaths to relax as I was quite nervous doing my first solo operating the spotlight. Operating one isn't super hard but, you do need to concentrate totally on what you're doing. One problem I had with my concentration was I was tired. I'd trained at the Post Office yesterday on rural route 6 for seven hours and then drove to Medieval Times two hours later. To make matters worse, they had someone doing a refresher as far as calling the cues. Whoever he was, he missed a few of them which left me trying to figure out what I was suppose to do. I also had to be careful not to accidentally open the shutter. Two or three times, I did that to my frustration. Overall, I thought I did all right for my first solo. Still, I know I could do better and plan to. Hopefully, I'll get to operate one of the spotlights next Wednesday or Thursday. We'll see.

Medieval Times Update

I got to work security and sound and lighting yesterday. There is no question which I enjoy more. Sound and Lighting is a lot more fun though I get fewer hours with them. Considering that I'll have three days a week with the Post Office, that won't be a problem. I got one surprise when I found out that supposedly, my boss isn't getting any new applications for security. The problem may be the pay. People with previous security experience supposedly see the pay, laugh and walk away. I think the pay is another issue in another way. While I was waiting in line at the Taco Bell Express, I noticed a sign saying help wanted, can start immediately. The quoted starting wage was $7.50 an hour. While I have no wish to work at Taco Bell Express, that is .50 more an hour than what I make at security at Medieval Times. I doubt others will be so picky. To make matters worse, I suspect the hours you'd get there are more secure. The last two weeks, we've had shows that were cancelled. I was released early or told not to come in at all. Because of that, I lost hours. Because of the lack of applicants, I'll be doing double duty at Medieval Times. I'll cover the Dungeon initially then, provide security at one of the posts at the entrance to Medieval Times till the gift shop opens then, revert back to my job in sound and lighting by working one of the spotlights.

Working one of the spotlights in pretty challenging, you have to know where to open the spotlight shutter, continuously adjust the the size of the light as the person you're covering moves around the arena and listen for the command to fade out the light. You also have to watch where you're at in the spotlight booth. The booth is at least 10 feet above the audience and the front of it wide open so the spotlight can have a clear shot on the various actors in the arena. You must stay aware of where you are in the booth. If you're not careful, you could fall out of the booth and come down on one of the tables or one of the customers. Another challenge is changing quickly back into costume. When the show is done, I had to hustle down the ladder from the spotlight booth, dash over to the sound and lighting booth, quickly take off my black long sleeve shirt (Sound and Lighting people must wear all black clothes during the show so we fade into the black ceiling.), put back on my fake chain mail hood, put back on my red overgarment (I don't know what else to call it.), put back on the belt with my axe (The axe is both cool in that it is neat to carry it and annoying as I keep jabbing myself with it. Thank God it isn't sharp!), and rush back to the Dungeon to collect tickets.

I've found covering The Dungeon fun as I get to joke with the customers. I tell them that the ticket guarantees they'll get in but they're on their on getting out. I'll also see some customers and say more food for the dragon. It was a bit unreal when one kid turned out to be something of an expert on dragons. He actually asked me if it was a Chinese dragon or not. I also ask customers when the come out if they found our dungeon suitably nasty. I assure them that we do our very best to keep a well stocked and suitably nasty dungeon. Lastly, I remind customers that we don't loan out any of the items in the dungeon for personal use at home (shades of kinky Suzanne). The customers seem to enjoy the jokes. I continue to be surprised by how many customers check out the dungeon. Last night, we must've had around 100 people check it out. Unreal!

Update on The Hobbit

According to the official Peter Jackson fanclub website (http://tbhl.theonering.net/index.shtml), MGM officially released the list of movies they hope to make and The Hobbit was on it. When Peter Jackson was asked about that, he replied that it was the first he'd heard of it. Jackson said that he'd be very interested in making the movie even though he has a number of projects planned or in various stages of development. I hope the fact that MGM hasn't approached Jackson isn't a sign that they plan to go with someone else. Jackson has the vision and so much of the development work for the project would already be done if they went with him. Interestingly, MGM reportedly plans to make The Hobbit into two movies. I wonder if they're trying to milk the novel for all its worth by doing that. Whatever, it would be awesome just to see the novel made into a real action movie vice the very well done cartoon movie that was made back in the late 70's (see my previous post for my comments on that movie). We'll see if anything turns out from this latest bit of titillating information.

Bad News Good News

I got word that I'm going to be the substitute mail carrier on rural route 6. The news was good and bad or vice versa. Bad in that my weekends will be virtually gone as I'll sub on the route on Saturdays with me also subing on Mondays and Fridays on rural routes 2 and 10. Bad because it's another 9 hour plus route which means another 12 work day for me. I can't wait for the day where I'll be able to do the route in the time that it's been assessed in. Bad because I'll be spending three days next week training on the route and then do the route solo two more. That's bad because that means I'll only be able to work for Medieval Times one day (Sunday) unless I can manage to help the primary carrier get it done on the training days in time to where I can go work at Medieval Times for another 3 or 4 hours. Bad in that I didn't get to do my new job at Medieval Times very long before this came down. Bad because I won't be able to work at all at SHARE during bagging week. Bad in that this route was so stressful that the previous sub walked out and never came back. Something, I've thought about doing at times. The main reason I don't leave the Post Office is because it is the best thing I have going right now. It offers a good future to it and pays really well.

Good first and foremost because it means more MONEY. I'll be guaranteed 26 hours a week now at the Post Office. I'll earn more during those 26 hours than I'd make working 56 at Medieval Times. Good in that it is something of a kudo that they gave me another route. I doubt they'd give me a third route to sub on if I was doing a bad job. (though they may have given me this route because I haven't quit yet, working at the Post Office has definitely taught me perseverance!) Good in that I'll get more experience as a postman.

We'll see how goes. Hopefully, I'll be able to continue to work at Medieval Times in Sound and Lighting. I got to try it a little this past Wednesday and I enjoyed it. Because of the increased hours at the Post Office, I doubt I'll try out for Lord Chancellor. I don't think they'll want someone who can do the part only 3 days a week. Another nice thing about the increased hours is it makes my chances of getting to go on the Globus Scandanavia tour more likely money wise. The big question is will I be able to get the time off from the Post Office. Right now, I don't know. I suspect maybe not but we'll see. I know if I don't get to go on that tour because of the Post Office, I going to be really miffed. We'll see what happens.

Guess Who

If you haven't guessed, it's me in costume. The reason I'm in costume is because I have a new job at Medieval Times. What lead to that was I got tired of working security. Security isn't a very fun job. You have to make sure people don't sneak in, don't do unsafe things like stand on the chairs or leave stuff in the aisles that the food servers could trip over and you have to be an expert on Medieval Times as you are the primary person customers come to for help.

The job I really wanted at Medieval Times was squire but I'm too old to be a squire. The only other job I could think of that I might want to do is Lord Chancellor. The problem with that job is that you are the emcee of the show and I've never been an emcee. You also have to memorize a staggering number of lines. I wasn't sure I could do it. To make matters worse, I got to watch the knights and squires work out and train which tormented me because here was the job I really wanted to do, felt I was qualified to do but, by the rules, I was too old to do it.

After much personal debate, I decided to heck with it. I was going to inform my boss that I was tired of security and was going to leave as soon as he could replace me. Actually telling my boss that I was going to be leaving proved to be a lot harder than I imagined. The fact is my boss at Medieval Times has treated me really well. Also, Medieval Times was the first place that hired me after I retired from the Air Force. For a bit, I was wondering if anyone was going to hire me so I was delighted when they gave me a chance. So, it wasn't easy deciding to leave and having to tell my boss the news.

My boss understood when I told him why I wanted to leave. He asked me to give him a chance to see if he could find something else I could do there. I couldn't imagine what he might find job wise. I didn't care to work in gift shop, reservations, or cash control. Still, because of how he'd treated me, I had to give him the chance.

I got a call from him Friday and he said he'd spoken with the person in charge of sound and lighting. He needed a Dungeon master and Executioner. My ears pricked up real fast when I heard that I could become the Executioner. I thought that would be fun and cool. I would also learn how to operate the spotlights and the sound system. I'd never done anything like it so it promised to be something totally new and challenging. I agreed on the spot to do it. Little did I realize how soon I would get to start.

I was scheduled to work security Sunday afternoon. I showed up, clocked in and went in search of the keys to the security office so I could put on my name plate and get a radio. My boss called me aside and asked if I was still game to do the job in sound and lighting. I said sure. He said good, you're starting tonight! Crap! The head of sound and lighting led me to one of his assistants who took me back to wardrobe where I got issued my costume. No one told me how to put the costume on so I got to figure it out myself. To my embarrassment, I put on the red overgarment you see in the picture backwards. I decided to have the lady who runs wardrobe check to see if I had the costume on right. She realized real quick my mistake and helped me with the costume. She also probably had a good laugh about my gaff. After that, I got to go guard the dungeon and collect tickets from customers who wanted to see it. I was surprised how much business we got. I found out that some nights over 100 people will check out the dungeon.

Just before the show begins, the dungeon closes. I got to watch Post 2 to make sure no one sneaked in. I noticed a big difference with people going by. Some kids wanted to see a little of the show so they could decide if it was any good. I had to tell them repeatedly they couldn't. I suspect they would've taken me more seriously had I been wearing my security uniform. I also had a couple little boys come up and shake my hand. I guess they wanted to shake the hand of one of the castle guards.

Once the gift shop opened, there wasn't any need for me to watch Post 2. I went to the sound and lighting booth where I got to watch the chief of sound and lighting and his assistant operate the strobes, the fog and the various soundtracks. It was interesting to watch. It was also something to watch the show from the booth. The booth has a great view of the show and audience. One thing I discovered the people in sound and lighting must have is a good sense of timing. They must know when to cut in with a certain piece of music and when to fade it out. They also must know certain cues which tell them when to do certain things like activate the fog or strobes. To the chief and his assistant, it was old hat but to me, it was interesting to watch as they carefully timed each segment of the show.

In no time, the show was nearly over and I had to head back out to the dungeon. I opened it up again and collected more tickets. I had to remind myself to call all the customers milord or milady. I now had to play the role of a medieval castle guard whereas in security we don't have roles. I suspect that's because we want people to take us seriously.

The audience cleared the castle quickly and I kept the dungeon open just 35 minutes. After that, I got the key to the security office so I could get my clothes back. Then, I changed back to my security uniform. I helped Dave (another person who works in security) brief two of the new security people on preseating and crowd control. After that, it was time to clock out.

Wednesday, I'll get to learn how to operate one of the spotlights. Sound and lighting operate four spotlights during the show. There is one person operating one of the spotlights who also directs the other three. It'll be interesting getting to learn how the commands and how the spotlight operates. I'll also learn more about the roles I'm supposed to play. First, I'll learn the role of castle guard. Later, I'll get to learn the role of Executioner. Sadly, I won't get to be the Executioner in the show. I found out they have to use one of the knights or squires for that. I will get to be the Executioner who gets his picture taken with people when they pay for the one of the spoof pictures they do at Medieval Times (They have a spoof picture where the person appears to be bound in the stocks and the Executioner is swinging his HUGE axe at them like he's going to chop their head off.) It should be an interesting time. I'm looking forward to learning my new roles and how to operate the spotlights.

9-11

I hadn't planned on posting about 9-11 but I read a post on Jack Yan's blog http://www.jackyan.com/blog/ and decided to write about it. (Jack has an interesting blog and shows a unique perspective on things as he's a New Zealander, you might want to check his blog out. He is also something of a celebrity in New Zealand which is interesting.) Concerning 9-11, I remember it well not because I lost anyone close to it but because I knew as it happened that everything would change. I later realized that 9-11 was just another in a series of attacks on the U.S. The attacks began with the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1991 and continued with the Khobar Towers attack, the attack on the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and the attack on the U.S.S. Cole. I remember the attack on the Cole particularly as I was in the Middle East at the time and heard what happened. It is chilling that the attackers actually drove their suicide boat around the Cole at least once and during that time waved to the sailors onboard the Cole before they rammed it into the Cole setting off a massive explosion that nearly sank the ship. It was only because of truly heroic efforts on the part of its sailors that the Cole was saved.

Like many Americans, I don't think we realized that we were under attack during the first World Trade Center attack, the embassy bombings or the attack on the Cole. It would take 9-11 to hammer that home. I'd finished my assignment in Bahrain in August of 2001 and was sent back to the states. I was busy inprocessing and in a little limbo as the shop I was assigned was reportedly going to be phased out. I was checking in at that shop when someone came over and said that a plane had gone off course and flown into one of the World Trade Center towers. I was stunned. I rushed over to the tv where CNN was broadcasting the event. As I continued to watch, we watched stunned as a second plane flew into the second tower. It dawned on us that there was no mistake when a second plane flew into the second tower. The horror continued as the broadcast showed people jumping from the towers to their deaths. It got worse because 40 or so minutes later, the towers collapsed and fell to the ground. Everyone was in shock. I knew everything had changed though I had no idea what the U.S. would do about it. Because of that event, the U.S. went into the Afghanistan, became friends again with Pakistan and would go into Iraq. 9-11 had enormous repercussions and still does to this day though scarily, some people just want to forget about it.

We can't afford to quickly forget about 9-11 because 9-11 won't be the last attack on the U.S. If the terrorists have their way, it will be just one in a series of attacks as it followed the previous attacks before it. The only reason the U.S. hasn't been hit again is because of the extraordinary efforts of the U.S. military, U.S. intelligence community and the U.S.'s allies. The recent plot in Britain proves that the terrorists have no plans of stopping their attacks. We need to remember that we can defeat the terrorists thousands of times (and we have) but they only need to successfully hit the U.S. once and they will have won. We also need to put aside any political correctness and profile certain groups at airports. We shouldn't be shaking down grandmas and U.S. Marines. (I've heard of this happening and I think it is seriously STUPID!) They're not the ones that are going to try to turn an airplane into a flying bomb. As I've previously mentioned, the terrorists have an entirely different sense of time. To those of us in the U.S., five years is old history and fifty is ancient history. Fifty years is nothing to these terrorists. I can assure you that 9-11 will stay in their mindset for some time and will seem like only yesterday to them. President Bush wasn't kidding when he set that this was going to be a LONG drawn out conflict. Lets make sure we remember 9-11 and realize that we must keep fighting these terrorists. If we forget 9-11, we will be doomed to repeat it in some way in the future.

Lost Passport

I've had some interesting misadventures with my passport recently. The whole thing started when I took my passport with me on my trip to Richmond. I left it out in my room and the cleaning lady found it. She got worried that it might get stolen so she put it in the hotel safe. Later, the folks at the reception desk told me they had it. I subsequently forgot about it being in the hotel safe and enjoyed my visit with my friend Harvey.

Three week later, I decided to find my passport so I could have the things I'll need to prove residency to the University of Maryland. I searched every where and couldn't find it. I remembered vaguely that I might've left it at the hotel in Richmond. I consequently contacted them. They told me they didn't have it. I searched the apartment again and couldn't find it. I had to conclude I'd lost the dang thing.

I checked the State Department website and found out what I had to do concerning a lost passport. You have to file one form informing them of the lost passport, where you lost it, and what you did to try to get it back. You also have to fill out a form as if you were getting a passport for the first time. All totalled, my mistake was going to cost me $102 ($67 for the State Department, $30 for the Post Office to process the application, and $5 for the passport photos at Costco). I wasn't thrilled with that but I accepted it.

I filled out the paperwork, called the Post Office to make an appointment to process the application, and got two new passport photos. I drove out to the Post Office today to get it done. Afterwards, I did some shopping at the Commissary and Post Exchange. When I got home, I found a portfolio I'd planned to use to take all the forms and other paperwork to the Post Office. I could feel that something was in it so I opened it up to see what it was. I had no idea what I'd placed in it. To my disbelief, there was my missing passport. I checked it four or five times to make sure it was the passport I'd searched every where for. It was.

I realized that I needed to contact the Post Office and stop them from sending my application for a new passport in if I could. I tried calling them but couldn't get through. I then hopped in my car, drove back to the Post Office, and anxiously asked if they'd sent my passport application to the State Department. To my relief, they hadn't. I told them to tear up the forms. Since the Post Office had processed my application, they kept my $30. I didn't mind that. I was just glad to have my passport and to not have to file a lost passport with the State Department. I've also heard that it's taking as long as 6 months to get a new passport. I was glad to have one already.

I don't know how the thing ended up in that portfolio. I do know I plan to lock the thing up in my safe. I also know the procedures now if I should ever lose a passport (God forbid). I also plan to write down the number of the passport in case I should lose it. It's very important so the State Department can stop someone from trying to use it. It has been a trying misadventure and one I hope I don't go through again. If you have a passport, make sure you keep it in the same place so you can easily find it. You don't want to have to do what I did though in my misadventure, all turned out well in the end.

SHARE Update 8/27/06

I worked at SHARE yesterday. I was delighted to get to work for them. They're really nice people there and the job is more laid back vice my jobs at Medieval Times and at the Post Office. The only hard thing about the job is when they start on Distribution Saturdays. I had to be there at 5 a.m. 5 a.m. isn't a hard hour for me to be up. What is hard about is that in order for me to be at SHARE at 5 a.m., I have to get up at 3:30 a.m. so I can rustle up some kind of breakfast (don't ask what I ate as you wouldn't be impressed by my eating habits), get dressed, and drive down there (the trip can take any where between 15 and 60 minutes depending on traffic on Interstate-295). After a long hard day at the Post Office, I wasn't keen about getting up super early. Still, I dragged myself out of bed, scoured the fridge for something readily eatable, and slapped on some clothes that were reasonably clean.

It was a typical distribution day in that things were busy all the way until 10:30 or so. After that, it slacked off and by 11:00, we had only a slight trickle of customers. We started cleaning up around 11:30. By 12:30, everything was pretty much done. I clocked out shortly afterwards and drove home. I planned to take a 2-hour nap but fate had other things in store for me. I had difficulty finding out what days I'd work at the Post Office next week and my former best friend Mark Morton called. Then, the folks at Medieval Times called and told me they'd like to come in early. Crap! It ended up being a very long day (I was up for over 19 hours) though it was a profitable one money wise.

One final note on this topic, I'll be glad when summer is over. I know some people love summer but I confess I don't. It is way too hot and humid in Maryland. I like cooler climes. Some where between 65 and 75 is just right for me. Anything above 80 gets annoying for me since I hate sweating. I particularly hate it when I break into a new sweat after I just got out of the shower. It makes me feel like I wasted my time in the shower. Yesterday, it was particularly hot at SHARE and my shirt was soaked with sweat by the time I left. I'll be happy when fall arrives. I like the beautiful colors and the slight chill in the air. (I also like spring with its refreshing rains. There is nothing like breathing the air after it has rained.)

On a different subject: just a reminder that the Maryland Renaissance Festival opened its doors yesterday. It really is a great renaissance festival with great facilities and wonderful acts. It's very affordable and not terribly difficult to get to. It runs until October 23rd (I think). If you have a free weekend, it would be worth your while to check it out. And make sure you try one of their smoked turkey legs! They are really good and fun to munch on.

Medieval Times Update

I walked into the Arundel Mills castle where I work and found out to my surprise that the castle was celebrating its third year anniversary. It opened on August 22, 2003. It claimed that over 750,000 had attended the show at the castle though I would dispute that figure. I know the castle gets a lot of repeat business. I personally attended the show several times. The reason I did that was it is a great place to take visiting friends and family for a fun night out. I know of school kids who went with their schools and later got their family to go. There is no question the castle has been a major success for the Medieval Times chain. Because the mall concept proved so successful with the Arundel Mills castle, Medieval Times has built a second castle in the Atlanta area attached to a mall. That castle opened this month.

The anniversary coincided with an anniversary of sorts for me with Medieval Times. I've now been working for the Arundel Mills castle for six months. It's hard to believe it's been that long. The time has really flown by. I definitely feel like an old hand now at the castle. I've enjoyed various aspects of working there while hating others. I will be prudent and won't illuminate the things I haven't enjoyed about working there. Overall, I've liked working there and would recommend Medieval Times as a potential second job employer. Money wise, it isn't something you could pay the rent on. I think it is an ideal job for a high school student or one just starting to attend college. You should earn enough to pay your car insurance and cell phone bill and have some money left over for spending money. I can't give any advice if you wanted to make a career at Medieval Times. I have no clue what the various managers make. I do know they have a manager training program. In order to apply, you must've worked at Medieval Times three years and have a Bachelor's degree. Right now, I don't see myself applying for that. I don't see myself staying at Medieval Times that long. Hopefully, I'll have a long term job set up some where else in three years. Right now, I'd guess it would be at the Post Office but we'll see. One thing I've learned during the past year is nothing is definite.

Lastly, in four days, I'll celebrate of sorts being retired from the Air Force. I can't say I'm happy about that. I liked the Air Force and miss it. I fear my years there will be the best ones of my life. I know I did a crappy job of preparing for life outside the Air Force. I believe I did that because I didn't want to face the prospect of life outside the Air Force. It was something I didn't want to think about. I remember every time I thought about it feeling a cold chill go down my spine. Not thinking about something doesn't prevent it happening, it only makes things worse. So, now I get to face the consequences of my fear. I scramble around blindly trying to make a new life for myself. With God's help, I'll hopefully make a new successful life for myself. We'll see how it goes.

A Week at the Post Office

I survived working five very long days at the Post Office this week. The primary carrier for route 10 decided to take 4 days off and I did my usual sub for route 2 today. By accident, I got to do all of route 10 by myself Monday. It took me almost 13 hours to sort, case, and deliver all the mail and packages. At the end of the day, I was having to strain to read the names on the boxes as it was getting dark outside. Management wasn't thrilled about how long it took me and sent me help on the route every day afterwards. As I kept working the route, I gradually got faster and believe I would've gotten it done Thursday in 11 and 1/2 hours. The reason route 10 takes so long is first, there are a lot of addresses to deliver mail to (729 if everyone received mail). Second, route 10 requires two sorts vice one on route 2. You do an initial sort at the Post Office then, you do a second sort into the individual boxes when you arrive at the multi-mail box. Since route 10 has a lot of apartments which people move into and out (route 2 has a lot of homes where people tend to stay put more), I found I'd have to do a third sort of all the undeliverable mail. All first class and periodicals would be forwarded whereas all standard mail is discarded. Lastly, I've had a hard time finding some of the apartments or row homes on route 10 which has further slowed me down. I think it's just going to take time.

One encouraging sign job wise is that I done route 2 three times by myself and twice I've gotten back to the Post Office before 5:30 p.m. For those of you who don't know, all outgoing mail must be in by 6 p.m. so it can be put on the truck that will take it to the processing and distribution center in Capitol Heights, Maryland. If a carrier arrives back late, the mail may fail to make the truck and not get out till the next morning. I suspect such late mail hurts the Post Office's stats as far as to how much of their outgoing mail they get out on time.

Overall, I'm pleased that I'm making progress and getting better. I can't wait to see the check I'll get for this week. I'll get paid according to how many hours it's been assessed that it takes to do the two different routes I did, not how many I actually worked. In the case of route 10, it's been assessed that it takes 9 hours to do the route. Route 2 takes 8 hours. So, I'll get paid for 36 hours (four days) for route 10 and 8 hours for route 2. If I understand it right, I may get 4 hours of overtime which would really be sweet as that would be $24 plus an hour. We'll see.

Lord of the Rings Musical

If you want to see the Lord of the Rings theatrical version in Toronto, you're going to have to hurry. The show will be doing its' last performance in Toronto September 3rd. After that, the show will move to London where it will open in May 2007. Supposedly, the show hasn't done that well (the Detroit Free Press reports it lost money). One of the the things that may have scared people off about the show was its' supposedly length. Initially, it was over 4 HOURS! The Detroit Free Press reports in the following article (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060813/FEATURES07/608130515/1032) that they pared it down to just over 3 and 1/2 hours. That's a long time to be in a theater though it's incredible that they were able to cut the books down to that little time. It took Peter Jackson something like 10 hours to tell the whole tale in his three movies. I personally haven't seen the show but I did see a review by someone who did who said they did a nice job. I'd like to see the show just for curiousity sake. If anyone who reads my blog has seen the musical, please let me know what you thought of it.

On a different subject sort of, Alan Lee during an interview on 11 August said that he thought it likely The Hobbit would be made in the next three or four years. I hope he's right. I'd very much like to see it.

Book Review - The Heat of the Day

I've been meaning to write this review for a while. I've been busy so I didn't get it done till today. The book is one of the ones I had to read for the college class I was taking this summer. It is supposed to be a combination Graham Greene spy thriller with some of the insight of Virginia Woolf. I didn't find it terribly suspenseful and I found the dialogue in the novel tedious and melodramatic. The basic story line is our heroine (Stella Rodney) finds out from a shadowy character named Harrison that the man she loves (Robert Kelway) may be a spy for the Germans (the novel is set in London during the Blitz). The novel attempts to show how Stella slowly finds out that the man she thought she knew wasn't that person at all. In my opinion, it does a poor job of it. It is only at the climax that we find out for sure that her lover is a spy for the German's. The two lovers have their heartbreaking scene before Stella helps Robert make an attempt to avoid the authorities (yawn). The attempt fails of sorts as Robert falls to his death. We are given the impression that Harrison may have something to do with this though he later denies it.

Overall, I found the novel really boring. I also found the dialogue tedious. The only good thing I can say about the novel is it does give a snapshot of how things were in London during the Blitz. I definitely wouldn't recommend this novel to anyone. If you want a good spy novel, I would suggest you read John LeCarre who wrote Tailor, Tinker, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People. I remember seeing Smiley's People and I thought it was really good. I think you'll be more pleased with LeCarre than you will be with Bowen's The Heat of the Night.

What I've Been Up To

Since I got back from Richmond, I've been working every day. I've been pleased about getting the work though the 7-days a week thing is a bit of a grind. I've also been pleased about my growing bank account. As I told my Dad yesterday, he definitely doesn't have to worry about me hitting him up for a loan.

Work wise, I did my second solo on route 10 this past Monday. Supposedly, we got more mail than usual that day. I don't know if that's true or not. I just know I ended up with 8 and 1/2 trays of mail plus packages and accountables (registered, certified, etc.) to deliver in just 5 hours. It wasn't going to happen. Clinton showed up around 5:00 (I think) and started helping. Still, I didn't get back to the Post Office till 7:25 p.m. There are a number of reasons why. First, I'm slow sorting the mail into the case at the Post Office though I'm getting better every time I do it (price of being a newbie). Second, I made various mistakes. I forgot there are certain addresses where we can drop off the packages at the apartment manager's office. I only remembered this after I'd bundled up all my mail in the trays. I decided to write the slips up for the packages and remember to drop them off in the boxes as I went later. This idea fell apart in the crunch when me and Clinton rushed to finish my route. Third, on route 10, I have three sorts. A lot of people move in and out of the apartments on this route which causes a lot of mail to be undeliverable. I have to take that mail back to my truck where I have to separate it into First Class/Periodicals (magazines, newspapers, etc.) and Standard Class (catalogs and flyers from Non-Profit organizations). The First Class stuff will be forwarded on while the Standard won't. This third sort costs more time and time in the enemy of the mail carrier. You're always in a battle to get the mail sorted (cased) as quickly as possible and delivered (this is one of the things that makes the job so stressful). Fourth, I'm still learning the area. I had a piece of postage due mail and it took me at least 10 minutes to find the row house where the person lived. This was during the crunch which made those 10 minutes costly.

Incredibly, I'll get to work 5 days for the Post Office next week. The regular carrier on route 10 is taking 4 days off so she can relax a little before she starts evening classes at Anne Arundel Community College. The fifth day will be when I sub on route 2. I look forward to getting to work those 5 days as it'll mean a fantastic paycheck (possibly as much at $1,000 gross). Plus, the more times I carrier the mail, the better I'll get. I'll learn better who is and who isn't on the route and where various homes are located. In the case of route 2, I'll continue to learn the case better which in turn will help my sorting speed. I'm to the point now where I can tell you based on the street name if the address is on either of my routes. This is useful as it keeps me from taking out mail that I can't deliver. I'll also learn better how things work at the Post Office. I learned yesterday where the forwarding service is located in our Post Office for the two different zip codes we handle. Still, those five days promise to be trying. Every time I finish working at the Post Office, I'm wiped. It really is a bit of battle to get the mail out. We'll see how it goes.

Richmond - Part III

It is always a bummer when it's time to leave. I very much enjoyed myself in Richmond and it was great seeing Harvey. He's a lot of fun. We've have similar interests and enjoy doing things together (don't get any wrong ideas about our friendship though). We just like doing stuff together. I've gone on a number of fun trips by myself and enjoyed them but I've found I enjoy them more when I do them with a group or someone I like. That was how I came to meet Harvey. I'd decided to do an escorted tour of Australia because I thought I'd enjoy it more that way. As luck would have it, Harvey signed up for the same tour. We were the two bachelors in the group so the tour guide paired us up. We hit it off and have been friends since.

Packing was easy since it'd only been a two day trip. I slapped a few shirts back in my bag and double checked my hotel room to make sure I wasn't leaving anything behind. We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant as that was easiest plus their breakfast buffet was good.

We arrived at the Richmond Staples Road train station and waited for my train to pull in. There was a surprisingly long line for the train. We agreed to get together again the beginning of October when it would be his turn to come up to my neck of the woods (we take turns). We plan to see a show at Toby's Dinner Theater in Columbia, Maryland. We saw Beauty and the Beast there some time back and really enjoyed it. It was my first visit there and I was impressed with the place. The show was very good and the food was respectable. Also, you will get filled up unless you don't want to. We're also going to attend the Maryland Renaissance Festival. We did that last year and really enjoyed it. After that, we'll do a trip to NYC the end of November to see the Rockettes and a show on Broadway. It'll be nice to do that barring the $300 plus a night hotel (gasp!).

Finally, it was time to board. I gave Harvey a sad handshake and got in line. The conductor checked my ticket and directed me to the Business Class car. Five minutes later, the train pulled out of the station. The ride back was uneventful barring a problem they had after we left D.C. At Union Station in Washington D.C., they change the engines from diesel to electric as the line is electrified all the way to Boston. We pulled out of Union Station fine and we were making good time when the train unexpectedly slowed down. They made an announcement that the electric current on the line wasn't steady and it would take a few minutes to fix the problem. Because of this and a previous delay because of a freight train, I ended up arriving back at BWI Amtrak station at 11:30 a.m. which is about 30 minutes late.

Fortunately, I didn't have to be at Medieval Times till 3 p.m. I drove home and got ready for work. The show went fine and we had approximately 500 people attend that night. The next day, I'd get my last day of training on the postal route I'll be the substitute carrier for. That would be another adventure that I'll post about. This post is done as this concludes my fun trip to Richmond. Cheers all!

Richmond - Part II

I slept well at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The bed was very comfortable and they have a CD that helps you get a good night sleep. The last time I stayed at the hotel, I asked them if I could have a copy. They said sure and I've used it number of times since. The CD is made by some sleep specialists who help you relax so you can conk out quickly. I've found it really works and would highly recommend it.

Harvey and I had breakfast at the hotel. To my surprise, they gave me coupons for two free breakfasts. I found the breakfast buffet good. You'll be able to fill yourself up and may be able to even skip lunch.

After breakfast, we drove out to see Harvey's travel agent. His name was Joel and he works at the Richmond Carlson Wagonlit (Update 12/31/12: Joel no longer works for the Richmond Carlson Wagonlit as this company no longer exists in Richmond. He is a freelance travel agent now that works through 2 different travel companies - 1 in Richmond and 1 in Fredricksburg I think). The reason I was meeting him was he had gotten price information for us on a trip to New York City (NYC) to see the Rockettes. The last time we went to NYC, we discovered the Rockettes have certain seasons they perform. Late July wasn't one of them. We also discovered last year that you want to go to NYC during the prime season, you'd better book early. So, Joel was helping us put together a travel package for early December so we could see the Rockettes and another show on Broadway. Joel did a great job and found us a reasonable hotel though the price still made me gasp. It's going to cost over $300! a night at this hotel and that is one of the cheaper ones. The five-star hotels would go over $600 a night! I've never paid so much for a hotel. When they say NYC is expensive, they're not joking.

Another thing I checked into with Joel was doing a Scandanavia tour with Globus. I was really bummed when I had to cancel the planned tour this year. I found out Joel will be able to tell me if the tour has enough bookings to where it will go. He would also be able to help me if I had to cancel. I booked with another agency and found out I didn't know what credit card I used to charge me booking on so I couldn't get my money back when I cancelled since I couldn't prove I'd paid for the booking. It cost me over $200. Serious ouch! Hopefully, Harvey and I will be able to do the tour late-August of 2007. It would be a lot of fun to do another tour with Globus. We'll see if it happens.

After meeting with Joel, we travelled to the Virginia Museum of Art (VMA). It's a good art museum with an interesting exhibit on the famed Russian jeweler Faberge. Faberge didn't create the pieces he was renowned for but he did come up with the ideas for the renowned eggs. The famous Easter eggs were very beautiful. They also gave a poignant picture of the doomed Russian royal family. I found it really interesting viewing the various pieces of the collection. One painting the museum that I disliked greatly was a piece of modern art done I believe by a Dutch artist. It was a painting of a modern Black man dressed in modern clothes holding a sword. To me, it looked incredibly STUPID. I never would've wasted money on such a pathetic painting. I hope the museum got the painting cheap because in my opinion, it isn't worth much if anything. The museum also had the Mellon collection. The collection was donated by George Mellon and was nice. Mellon must've been into fox hunting as he had a lot of paintings on that. He also had three Renoirs, a Monet, and a bust of the apostle John by Rodin. I particularly enjoyed those. The Rodin piece was very impressive. I think Rodin was a great student of Michelangelo in that both emphasized the strength and majesty of the human body. Lastly, we saw an exhibit on Tiffany glass which was nice. The workmanship clearly shined through. The pieces were very beautiful.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend that if you like art and you're in Richmond, you check out the museum. We spent an easy four hours there.

After that, it was time to find a place to eat. Harvey remembered a place where he'd go for some noteworthy sausage sandwiches. I said lets go. We drove out to this mall only to find out the place had closed. Harvey then remembered a bar-b-que restaurant which was open. The bar-b-que however wasn't terribly impressive and it wasn't air conditioned. I would've rated it so-so.

I had a fun day and was pleased that we were able to make arrangements for future travels. The NYC trip should be a lot of fun. Sadly, I'd be returning home the next day. I was worried about Amtrak's timeliness as I was scheduled to work at Medieval Times from 3 to 11 p.m. Stay tune for the final installment of my Richmond trip and find out if Ditto makes it back in time or not.

Richmond Trip - Part I

As I mentioned in previous posts, I planned to take a train trip to Richmond, Virginia to see my friend Harvey who lives there. Last Wednesday, I finally made the trip. The following Richmond trip blog entries will concern the trip.

I woke up two hours earlier than planned. This was usual for me when I was going to be leaving on a trip. I was nervous about getting my bag packed, arriving at the train station in time, and being there when the train pulled in. I tried going back to sleep but it didn't work so I got up, got dressed, scrounged up some ready to eat food (I don't like to cook) for breakfast, and then packed my bag. The trip was only going to last a little over 2 days so it was easy to pack for. In no time, I was packed and ready. After wasting some time fiddling with some playing cards, I picked up my bags, stuck them in the car, and drove to the train station parking lot. The parking lot at the BWI Amtrak station is a large multi-level two garage lot. I suspect the vast majority of their customers are commuters who take the train into either Baltimore or Washington D.C. I know when I reached platform 3 that it was packed with people with no luggage who boarded the MARC (Maryland Railroad Corporation) train. There were only three of us left for the Amtrak train to D.C. and one of those worked for Amtrak. The train arrived about 10 minutes late which isn't any big deal. I found my seat in Business Class and settled down for the ride. I napped a little as I was a little tired. I didn't sleep great and as I mentioned, I woke up early. I also listened to some bible doctrine tapes to pass the time. The trip seem to go quickly and I arrived in Richmond at approximately 10 till 10 in the morning.

Harvey was waiting for me at the station. It was nice to see him again. He's a really nice person and a great person to chat with. We walked out to his car and started to catch up on the news. For some reason, it seems that though we've talked a number of times on the phone, there was always more to catch on (things we forget to mention on the phone perhaps?). We drove to the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Broad Street. I'd stayed at this hotel before and felt it was reasonably priced. It was also well placed in relation to the train station. Lastly, I was pleased with its service. The people there were always friendly and helpful. Check-in was easy and it was time to figure out what we wanted to do. There wasn't any set itinerary so the two of us hashed out ideas before finally coming up with a plan. We decided to see the Confederate White House, Museum of the Confederacy, and then go some place for dinner.

The Confederate White House is where Jefferson Davis and his family lived in Richmond during the time he was President of the Confederacy. It is a really nice house and the organization that runs the tours of the house has done a really nice job of restoring the house to the that time. Our guide showed us the rooms the rooms the Davis family lived in and told us stories about the family. During the time the family lived in the house, Davis had two children bringing the total to four. Davis believed children should be able to do whatever they want, not be disciplined, and should be listened to by adults. Not surprisingly, his children were unholy terrors and went through a number of nannies. The situation grew so grave that Mrs. Davis would post help wanted signs without her name so prospective employees wouldn't know what they were getting into. The house also had the rooms where Davis met with his generals including the legendary Robert E. Lee. It was something to stand in the same room where he, General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and others met. Our tour guide was excellent and really helped make the house more alive to our group. After the house tour, it was time to see the museum.

The museum has three levels. One covers the history of the confederacy in general and the war. One covers the confederate navy which receives very little notice in most history books. And one covered the life of the conferate soldier. The confederacy in general floor helped explain the political maneuvering that took place and some of the painful choices those in the military had to make. One interesting thing that surprised me was how much the confederacy sought to draw upon from the U.S.'s founding fathers. They argued that the founding fathers approved of slavery and that made it right. In fact, a number of founding fathers disapproved of it but the issue was so contentious that for the sake of helping found the new nation they dropped the issue. Later, during the 1789 (I hope I have the year right) constitutional convention, the issue had to be dropped again as it again threatened to destroy the nation. The floor also had a number of interesting items including Brigadier George Armistead's sword that he used at Gettysburg. For those of you who don't know, it was Armistead who lead Pickett's famous charge. Armistead took off his hat, put it on the top of his sword, and then advanced toward the Union lines. Sadly, just as Armistead was reaching the Union lines, he was cut down by Union fire. The floor also showed how General Lee lived on campaign. Lee lived in the same conditions his soldiers lived. He believed it wrong for him to live better and it would bother him greatly if he did. He slept on a portable cot, used a simple mess kit, and slept inside a standard tent. The floor did a great job of covering the various issues and events. Harvey and I had no problem spending an hour and half there.

The floor covering the Confederate Navy was also interesting. It was the confederates who built the first iron-clad ship, the precursor to the modern navies of today. The ironclad C.S.S. Virginia could've helped break the Union blockade but the Union came up with its own ironclad the U.S.S. Monitor. The result was an epic battle. While the battle ended in a draw (neither side could penetrate the others iron armor), it marked the unquestioned end of the age of sail. Another interesting topic the exhibits help show is how critical the Confederate Navy was in keeping the Confederacy in the war. The South had precious little industry and had to import a large number of goods. Thanks to the Confederate Navy, they were able to get a number of the supplies they needed. Ultimately, the Union blockade slowly strangled the South but for a number of years, the Confederate Navy did its part in keeping the Confederacy in the war. The last thing of note that many people may not be aware of was that the confederacy helped further the development of the submarine. The Hunley was capable of diving and like modern submarines took in water to help it submerge. It used a harpoon connected to a barrel that contained as much as 135 pounds of gunpowder. The submarine would charge a ship, ramming the harpoon into the ship, set off the barrel containing the gunpowder which would either cripple or sink the ship. The idea actually worked and the Hunley became (as far as I know) the first submarine to sink an enemy ship when one sank the U.S.S. Housatonic outside Charleston, South Carolina. Sadly, the ship and crew that sank the ship were lost for unknown reasons. Later, the missing submarine was found just outside the Charleston harbor. It remains unknown what caused the submarine to sink. One last interesting note on the Hunley. The Hunley was human powered. It used eight men sitting cramped on a bench pushing and pulling a crank that powered the propeller which in turn powered the ship. The conditions the ship's crew lived in were appalling and speaks of the bravery and sacrifice the fighting men of the confederacy made for their cause.

The third floor on the life of a confederate soldier was interesting as it showed letters from the soldiers and told of the hardships they went through. It also showed art that done during the period. The quality of the art varied. Some of the paintings and drawings were well done while others weren't. The floor also has a painting of the last meeting between Lee and Jackson. It's a nice painting and has an interesting story behind it. The artist E.D.B. Julio planned to become the artist of the Confederacy but his grand plans went no where. His painting remained unsold for a number of years and he ended up going bankrupt. The painting was bought in the auction of his property and eventually donated to the museum. It was the only painting the artist did of the confederacy.

After seeing the Confederate White House and the Museum of the Confederacy, it was time to get something to eat. Harvey had heard of dining event that was being held at the Richmond NASCAR racetrack. Supposedly for $25, you could have all you could eat of crabs, corn on the cob, pie, and other various foods. It sounded really great. It was to be the beginning of our misadventures when it came to dining. We drove out to the racetrack only to find out that you had to buy tickets in advance. You couldn't buy them at the event. I still had a hunkering for crabs and Harvey thought he knew of a restaurant that would have them. After getting the address at his apartment, we drove out to Crabshack Louie's. Crabshack Louie's it turned out didn't have any steamed crabs though they did have soft-shelled crabs (which I tried). I was also frustrated when I tried to order something to drink. They didn't have lemonade or root beer and I ended settling for a ginger ale. I decided to try their calamari as a I really like the stuff. The waitress assured us it was enough for two. It wasn't. The only good thing I can say about their calamari was there weren't any big chunky pieces. Price wise, I thought it was a bit of rip-off. Overall, I thought the place was very pricey and I wouldn't recommend it.

After dinner, Harvey dropped me off at my hotel. The day had been a fun day and I looked forward to the next. The next day I would get to meet Harvey's travel agent, see the Virginia Museum of Art, and have another dining miss adventure. Stay tuned for Richmond Trip - Part II.

Neither Rain Nor Snow

I got to experience first hand yesterday one of the hard aspects of my new postal job. Yesterday, it hit 100 degrees and that didn't take into account the humidity. Summers tend to be very humid in Maryland. If you have high temperatures and low humidity, it isn't that bad being outside. When I was stationed in Texas, people would comment about it being a dry heat. They had a point as it was easier to deal with the high temperatures. Here in Maryland, we have a wet heat and it makes things worse. I wore the Seattle Sonics t-shirt my sister Ellie gave me for the first time. By the time I got back to the Post Office, it was soaked with sweat. Because I was sweating so much, I had to drink a lot of water otherwise I'd have become dehydrated. Lastly, the heat slowed me down in doing my job. When I'm hot and sweaty, I don't have the constant pep that I normally have. The result was it took me longer to deliver the mail. The mail delivery trucks don't have air conditioning which is a downer though to be honest, I don't know if it would help things much. A carrier is constantly getting in and out of the trucks or has the windows down so he/she can insert mail into the mail boxes through their driver side window. The trucks do come with a small fan with variable direction. The fan does help some in that it helps create some air circulation inside the truck. Still, the carrier for the most part is left to swelter. It is one of the aspects of his/her job that they must suck up in order to ensure the mail is delivered. As the old cliche goes, "neither heat nor snow nor driving rain or enormous heat will stop me from delivering the mail." For the Post Office that saying isn't cliche. It is a fact. The Post Office does its best to ensure that no matter what the weather, the mail will be delivered. As a carrier for the Post Office, it is something I'll just have to learn to deal with. Still, it'll be great when fall arrives (sigh).

College Update

I figured I'd better post something on this. For the past month, I've been falling behind on the college class I was taking at the University of Maryland. There were two reasons for this: work and the class itself. I've been putting a lot of hours in work wise and the last thing I felt like doing when I'd get home was work on either the reading or writing assignments. The second problem was the class itself. The professor really poured it on assignment wise with at one point, three consecutive 300 page plus weekly reading assignments. I wonder if she realized that some of us had to work. Because of these two items, I fell behind in the class and it was going to get harder and harder to catch up. Finally, I decided to withdraw from the class. I hated doing that as it meant throwing the $1,348 tuition down the drain but I just didn't see any point in continuing with it. So, I went into the base education office and withdrew. I'll have to take the class again this fall and hopefully, I'll be able to keep up then. We'll see.

Just a Reminder

I just wanted to remind any readers I have in Maryland that the Maryland Renaissance Festival will be kicking off in a month. It opens August 26th and runs till October 22nd. For those of you who haven't been to the festival, it is an outstanding festival and a lot of fun. Why do I say that? I say that for a number of reasons. First, the festival has an outstanding site. All buildings are permanent and well maintained. It is a pleasure to shop in the shops or watch various acts in the various open-air theaters they have. Second, the entertainment has been consistently excellent. I look forward to seeing Fight School, Hack and Slash, and the Squire on the Wire again. The festival also plans to have some acts that haven't been there before including Mediaeval Baebes, an all female British group that sings classical music and plays classical instruments. From their website, they look seriously hot. Third, they offer some really good food. The place got me seriously hooked on smoked turkey legs. I can't wait to go back and munch down on one. Lastly, it is very affordable. It only costs $17 for adults, $15 for Seniors, and $8 for kids (anyone under 15). If you sign up for their mailing list, you can receive a brochure through the mail with a discount coupon that will save you between $1 and $3 apiece for admission until September 11th.

So, mark your calendars, start getting your medieval or renaissance costume ready, and begin preparing for a fun day at the festival. See you there!

Sidekicks

Yesterday, I found out about a neat list Entertainment Weekly came out with. The list presents the top 50 greatest sidekicks. The list also states why the sidekicks were so valuable. One example was Ed McMahon with Johnny Carson. McMahon had the ability to help some of Johnny's stinker jokes come across better. He also had a superb sense of timing. While some thought McMahon was Carson's lackey, McMahon was in fact invaluable to Carson making him look a lot better than he would've without him.

Because I'm such a big Lord of the Rings fan, I was delighted to see Samwise Gamgee be number seven on the list. Sam was critical to the success of the destruction of the ring though he would likely never admit it. Repeatedly, Sam stays by Frodo through thick and thin even when Frodo treats him like crap as he does when he chooses to believe the treacherous Gollum before he enters Shelob's lair. Sam also shows extraordinary valor. It is he that saves Frodo from the orcs and fends off Gollum's attacks outside Mount Doom. He is an extraordinary noble character who deserves a place as one of the great characters of the trilogy.

If you're interested, the list can be found at: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,1213384_12336181_0_,00.html. I hope you enjoy the list as much as I did.

Seat Belts

I felt I had to touch on this subject after some recent training at the Post Office's Calvert Training Academy. One of the subjects they hit on was how important it was to wear your seat belt. I'd heard this before and felt like yawning. What got my attention was some of the videos they play. The first video they played showed test crash dummies and what happened to them during a crash. The instructor pointed pointed that it isn't the impact of the opposing car that kills. It is the impact of the passengers with parts of their own car. In the case of the front seat passengers, they consistently smashed into the windshield with horrific results. I could see them hit the windshield with such force that if they'd real persons, they'd either broken their necks or ended up paralyzed. Equally horrific was what happened to children who weren't buckled up in the back seat. In one case, the child became a missile that smashed into the buckled in adult in the front seat. I shudder to think what would've happened to real kids. Parents should definitely make sure their kids are securely buckled in when travelling.

The last video they showed was interesting in that it proved conclusively that seat belts can save lives. To be absolutely certain that seat belts save lives, an unknown German ministry recreated certain car accidents with real people in the cars. One example was a driver going full speed head on into a tree. The taped footage shows the car totally smashed up but the driver incredibly enough exits the car alive and unhurt. After watching the video, you can't have any doubt that seat belts save lives. If you don't use them, please start. If you have kids, please make sure they're properly buckled in. Every year over 50,000 people in the U.S. die in car accidents. I suspect if those people used their seat belts, most of them would still be alive. Don't become one of those statistics. Use your seat belt and stay alive.

FrequentFlier.Com

FrequentFlier.Com is a site that has excellent information on airmile bonuses that airlines are offering as well as bonuses that hotels and rental car companies are offering. They have a weekly/monthly? (not sure) email you can sign up for which will tell you of the latest deals and any deal expiration dates coming up. The email can be very useful as can the site. The particular reason I'm mentioning them today is an article they posted on their site. The article superbly explains the different options available to the consumer. They compare the airline credit card, American Express/Diners Card, and bank cards that are out there. Using the information the article provides, the consumer can decide which card would be best for them. For example, if you travel a lot on ONE airline, you'll want to get that particular airline charge card. If you travel on a lot of different airlines, you might want to get the Diners Card or an American Express card. If you're more of a shopper than a traveler, you might want to go with on of the bank cards. The choice is yours but the article will make your decision easier. Check it out at: http://frequentflier.com/card-intro.htm

Music Review - Ottmar Liebert

I first listened to Ottmar Liebert thanks to Windham Hill Music. I think they had him play one of his pieces of music on a sampler of theirs. I very impressed with his ability to play the guitar. Later, I bought some of his CDs and found I had one problem with him, his music is very hispanic which means I can't understand some of the songs he plays. An example would be on his The Best of Ottmar Liebert. Liebert plays a nice sounding version of Mercy Mercy (Robert Plant made this a big hit I believe) but it's in Spanish. Because of that, I couldn't enjoy the song as much. His Best of also has a nice version of The Girl from Ipanema. Other selections on the CD are decent.

Overall, I wasn't wiped out with this CD. It has some decent stuff on it but it isn't one I'm going to listen to a lot. I wouldn't heartily recommend this CD. However, if you're music tastes are more hispanic, you might enjoy it more than I did.

Postal Training Continued

When I arrived at the P&DC today for my second day of training, I can't say I was terribly excited. We were going to cover safety. Safety is important but it can be a very boring subject. Surprisingly, the training today wasn't. One thing I learned about was the danger of dogs. I've always liked dogs and rarely had any problems with them. That could change with my new job as a postman. Dogs are a major problem for mailmen/women. The lady that lectured us on safety was a mail carrier for 18 years and was bit twice by dogs that ambushed her. She told us that the Post Office does arm us with pepper spray but the best defense against a dog was watching out for them before you got attacked. She also said that we should make owner's restrain their dog before giving the owners their mail. The dog may sit quietly by the owner initially but could easily jump up and bite the carrier when the carrier tries to hand the owner their mail. Dogs could mistake what the carrier was trying to do for an attack. Another thing that the service does is have its carriers put a card in their tray which tells where a dog is located on the route. This reminds the regular carrier where a dog is located. It also gives a substitute carrier a warning which can be really handy since he's not familiar with the route.

Dogs however turned out not to be the biggest problem right now. The biggest problems carriers have to deal with is the heat. It is summer time in Maryland and it's HOT and HUMID. Mail carriers have to deliver all their mail in the outdoors so they get the full effects. To make matters worse, the delivery trucks are not air conditioned and tend to get quite warm. The safety lady reminded the new mail carriers to make sure they drank plenty of fluids so they didn't get dehydrated. They might also want to wear lighter clothing. As a Rural Carrier Associate I found out I'll be able to wear shorts and short-sleeve t-shirts. I may not look very postal but I'll be considerably cooler. The only potential problem is this will leave more areas vulnerable as far as dogs are concerned. I'll just have to see how it goes.

That's all for my second day of training. Tomorrow, I get to do a half day. I have no idea what I'll get to learn. Sadly, our group will break up after tomorrow. Those that have to do vehicle training will go to the vehicle training center in Hyattsville Thursday. Those that don't such as clerks will either start at their new jobs, or receive additional training in their specialty. I'll be sorry to see the group break up. It's been neat getting to meet some of them. I hope the people I get to work with at the Laurel Post Office will be equally nice. We'll see.

Postal Training

I got to attend my first day of postal training at the Southwest Maryland Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC). I found it interesting. I found out that the U.S. Postal Service delivers 60% of the total mail mailed in the world. It deliver 65 million packages and letters a day! Because of this, it is one of the largest employers in the United States (no surprise there when you think how labor intensive the business is even with automation). The service continues to automate as much as possible to cut costs but it is still very labor intensive. You'll still need people to deliver the mail, attach zip codes when the sender forgets them, figure out a person's address when the writing isn't terribly legible (like that written by a doctor), sort large or unusual shaped packages like tubes, or re-package something when the package breaks during automated handling.

The first part of the training was where we found out where we fit in the picture. After that, we learned how the Postal Service is structured i.e. Headquarters, district office, branch office, and finally associate office (your local Post Office). Then, we learned about permanent and non-permanent positions. In the class, we had both types of employees. We also learned about some the services the service offers its employees as well as promotional opportunities. I was surprised to find out a starting line supervisor at the Post Office could make $70,000! Hm, I might want to think about becoming a supervisor there in time if I decide to stay there. We also got to do a tour of the two facilites they have at the center. The center is one of only two centers in the U.S. which does regular mail operations and bulk mail (i.e. what is commonly known as junk mail) operations. Both operations are huge. The bulk mail operation center alone occupied the space of FIVE football fields. I remembering looking down at a corridor there and thinking that it reminded of the cavernous warehouse in the first Indian Jones movie where they store the ark of the covenant at the end of the movie. It was HUGE.

Overall, I found the training interesting and look forward to more. Tomorrow, I'll get to learn about safety. The day after that, I'll finish my training at the center and prepare to go to their vehicles center where I'll get to learn how to drive a postal delivery truck. I found out I'll have to take a test on driving one of those. Hopefully, they're not that hard to drive. Lastly, I'll spend three days learning the rural carrier job. Rural Carrier Associates are something of mini-Post Offices. We're expected to sort and deliver mail, sell stamps, and pick-up packages.

I still don't know if this is what God wants me to do with my life but for now, it looks like the direction he's pointing in. We'll see. If nothing else, it will be interesting working for the Post Office as a substitute mailman.

Rotten Tomatoes Website

When you hear the name Rotten Tomatoes, you would first think such a site would be no good but the name is deceptive. Rotten Tomatoes is a website that actually brings you the latest news on upcoming movies. You can find out where the future movie is in development, watch any trailers that have been released, and read reviews once the movie has been released. It's actually a very useful site. Ex. a couple days ago Anna Popplewell who played Susan in the Chronicles of Narnia movie revealed that the producers looking for shooting locations right now for the next Chronicles of Narnia movie. According to her, they expect to begin shooting the beginning of next year. Another nice aspect of the site as I previously noted are the movie trailers. The site has the upcoming Spiderman 3 and Casino Royale trailers. I watched both and was particularly impressed with the Royale trailer. Daniel Craig looks like a very gritty 007. Casino Royale will be released in the U.S. November 17th. Based on the trailer, it should be good.

Overall, if you like movies or if you want to know the latest on an upcoming movie, the site is one you'll want to check out. It can be found at: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/

Crowne Plaza American Express Offer

I booked my Crowne Plaza hotel reservations today. I thought I'd point out a rather interesting deal Crowne Plaza is offering. Through the end of August, you can book a room at Crowne Plaza hotels with your American Express card and receive a $25 American Express gift card. That sounds like a good deal right? There is a catch. You have to book at their flexible rate. In the case of the hotel I'm going to stay at in Richmond, the flexible rate costs $34 more a night than the advanced purchase rate. That means it would cost me $68 to earn a $25 American Express card. The offer doesn't sound so hot after all. I will concede there are a couple good points with the flexible rate vice the advanced purchase rate. First, you can cancel or modify your reservation with the flexible rate. You can't with the advance purchase rate. Also, you must pay at least 7 days in advance with the advance purchase rate. You don't have to with the flexible rate. Still, I think the savings make the advance purchase rate the way to go.

I also discovered something interesting with Crowne Plaza and the Intercontinental Hotel chain. You have to be savvy when you use your hotel points with them. Their website showed me that I could get both my nights free with them if I used 50,000 of my points with them. You would think that is a good deal. Actually, it isn't. The chain sells those points for $10 per 1,000 points. So if I used 50,000 points, I'd be using $500 worth of points for a room that would cost me $210 at the advance purchase rate. You can see this would be a major losing proposition. Make sure you watch it when your frequent hotel club tells you you can stay for free using your points. You could be getting a losing deal.

The American Way

Bill Reilly has a really nice article about the new Superman movie and the culture war in the U.S. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BillOReilly/2006/07/08/superman_and_the_culture_war

The article points out that the American way is under attack both from without and within like never before. The newest Superman movie is a sign of this. Superman no longer stands for the American way. The movie's producers wanted to make him more international. They were also afraid that making him a patriotic American would turn off foreign viewers. They didn't want to lose that important source of revenue. What those producers seem to ignore is the enormous good that America does for the world. There is nothing to be ashamed of when you stand for the American way though a number of apologists in this country would differ. Incredibly, people like U.S. House of Representatives member John Murtha have said the U.S. is the greatest danger to world peace. They see it as more of a danger to the world than Iran. I can't help wondering what planet these folks are on. It is the U.S. that is helping make this world a safer place. For the last 5 or 6 six years, the vaunted Europeans have sought to negotiate with the Iranians to get them to give up their nuclear program. They haven't gotten any where with them and Iran is closer to having a nuclear weapon then ever before. This is the same Iran that wants to wipe Israel right off the map. So much for the great Europeans. I suspect it is the U.S. that will end up actually doing something about the lunatics in Iran just like it was the U.S. that has helped solve so many previous problems. I remember hearing about a book written by Tom Brokaw about what he called "The Greatest Generation." This generation was the one that came through the Great Depression and fought in World War II. They were common people who did extraordinary things. Brokaw reportedly lamented their passing. I agree with him that it is sad that these people are dying off. These people believed in the American way. They realized what a great system the American way is. No other system offers more opportunity or freedom. If you've got the drive, ambition, and will, you can become a success in this country. You don't need your family's connections and you definitely don't need a handout from the government. Sadly, later generations are foolishly beginning to hate the great American way and hope to replace it with something that will destroy the very opportunities our great system offers. God help us if they succeed.

In short, there is nothing to be ashamed of about the American way. America remains the greatest country in the world with the most opportunities. No other country offers greater opportunities or greater freedom. All those illegal Mexican immigrants that are coming to this country aren't coming here for no reason. It is because of what America offers. We should be proud to be Americans. We have nothing to apologize for. We most definitely should continue to follow the American way and unashamedly support it. It is still the greatest system in the world today.

Book Review - The Well of Loneliness

I got to read Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness for my college class last week. I thought the book was ahead of its time in that it was written in 1926 (I believe) and was openly sympathetic to lesbians. During that time, lesbianism was very taboo and women who did it were considered mentally disturbed. Hall's characters are actually decent people though the heroine does have some quirks. The heroine Stephen Gordon (her father Sir Philip decided he liked the name Stephen so much that he gave her name irregardless of the fact that Stephen was a female) thinks she's a man in a woman's body and actually dresses like a man. This would hardly cause a stir now a days but back in the 1920's it was shocking stuff. Hall also shows lesbianism in a very sympathetic light and actually argues for their plight. Hall argues that since lesbians were made the way they are, that it is unfair to persecute them. She also argues that they should have the right to find happiness in a lesbian relationship.

Based on what I've read, I believe it's been proven that women choose to be lesbians vice being born lesbians. This blows Hall's appeal to God right out of the water. One thing that surprised me was that Hall repeatedly appeals to God concerning the unjust way lesbians are treated. I couldn't help but wonder who taught her her theology or did she just ignore what the bible says about lesbianism.

Concerning lesbians having the right to find happiness in a relationship, I personally agree there. If they can find happiness in a relationship, they should be allowed to do so. I have a different opinion when it comes to lesbian marriage. I just don't see the point in two women or two men marrying. Marriage is intended to provide an acceptable union in which to have children. Since lesbians or gays can't have children (unless they adopt or use artificial insemination in the case of the lesbians), what is the point.

I also disagree with Hall over what she calls persecution. At no point does anyone attack or imprison the heroine. Our heroine instead suffers what I would call social ostracism. Society simply refuses to have anything to do with her. To me, there is a big difference between the two. I don't see lesbians being persecuted in the story. Should society ostracize lesbians or homosexuals? I would say no. I also don't believe society should persecute them. Should society accept lesbians and homosexuals? I would say they should be tolerant of them i.e. they have no business telling them how supposedly awful they are when society ignores so many of its own faults. Doesn't Jesus say we shouldn't be concerned about the splinter in our brother's eye when we have a log in our own?

Back to the novel, overall I can't say I liked the novel. I don't feel the heroine was some tragic figure. I think if she was happy with her lady love Mary, she should've stayed with her instead of sacrificing their relationship so in theory Mary would be happy with the man that also loves her. I suspect if Hall had written the novel in present times, she would've. I think the novel becomes sappy at times when whining and crying about the lot of lesbians. Ok, life sucks, deal with it. Life isn't a bowl of cherries for heterosexual people either. The novel does tell an interesting story but it isn't one that I'm really interested in. If you like a story about a lesbian finding herself and her attempts to find a meaningful relationship with another woman, this novel may be for you. For me, I'll pass on it.

Airline Credit Cards

With the increasing difficulty of getting free seats using an airline's airmiles, travellers might want to look at whether or not it is worth having an airline's credit card. Some of the credit cards aren't cheap. Until today, I had the Citicard AA Advantage card. This credit card costs $85 a year and only gives you one airmile per dollar charged on it. To me, that is very steep. Unless you charge a lot of stuff on just that one card, you won't get a good ratio of airmiles to the dollar. In fact, you might get a ratio buying them from the airline. However, if you do buy them, remember they might not do you a lot of good considering the difficulty of using them. I've been a big fan of frequent flier programs but I confess my ardor is cooling. The airlines keep raising the number of airmiles you need for a free ticket and there are more ways to earn them which means there are more people trying to get the limited number of free seats. In my case, I plan to cancel a number of the airline credit cards I have. I just don't think their worth the yearly fees the credit card companies charge for them. You might want to think about doing the same.

BWI Amtrak Station

I visited Amtrak's BWI train station yesterday. I wanted to make my train reservations to visit my friend Harvey who lives in Richmond, Virginia. The station is very small. It has only three rows of 8 seats each. There are three ticket counters though only one was open when I visited. There is also a small news stand and a couple soda machines. Incredibly, the station has a double 7-tier parking lot. I suspect that's because the station is used for commuters into Baltimore and Washington D.C. I also believe the station is used by those who choose to take the train to Baltimore Washington International Airport. It's probably cheaper than an airport shuttle. The reason I use it is because it's easier to take trains from there vice using the Maryland State rail network. The Maryland network is run purely for commuters and as I've previously reported, it only runs in the mornings and evenings. After 9 a.m., there aren't anymore trains till 3:30 p.m. This means if you take it into Washington D.C. or Baltimore, you're stuck there all day, a major nuisance.

Price wise for the parking, its daily rates are comparable to the long term parking lots close to the airport. They charge $9 a day I believe. I plan to use one of their lots when I drive out there for my trip to Richmond.

I will give kudos to Amtrak for one particular thing I like about their service. You can upgrade your seat on their regional trains to business class for just $17 each way. To me, this is cheap! The seats are wider and I think more comfortable. Plus, I just like travelling Business Class if I can afford it. At $17 each way, I can afford it.

One downside I will slam Amtrak for is some of their so-called train stations. I discovered yesterday that the Virginia Beach train station is in fact a bus stop! It turns out that if you want to take the train on the Northeast Corridor line to Virginia Beach, you get to de-train at Newport News and take a 90 minute bus ride to Virginia Beach. I wasn't amused by that. I think it is a bit dishonest. The schedule implies they have TRAIN service there and they don't.