Arrived

I arrived safely in Copenhagen this morning. My flight on Continental was uneventful. I did think the seats were smaller than usual in economy. Also, the breakfast they served us was totally pathetic. We received one hot croissant and a small bowl of pealed orange slices. I also thought their beer was expensive. It cost $5 for a can of either Foster's, Heineken, Miller's or Miller's Lite. I'm not looking forward to flying back with them when the tour is over.

Danish immigration and customs was very easy to my relief. To my annoyance, our tour guide didn't show up till 10 a.m. It would've been nice if he had been there to meet us.

The hotel (First Vesterbro on Vesterbrogade) I'm staying appears to be good. It's just down the street from the Tivoli Gardens. After I checked in, Harvey and I went exploring. We managed to find the Hard Rock Cafe to my delight. I bought my sister her promised Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. After that, we went to a pizza place that had an all you can eat pizza and salad bar. For the money, it was a good deal. It cost $11 approximately (55 Danish Kronor), and had decent pizza. The salad bar was all right too. After our pizza lunch, we explored down the other end of Vesterbrogade. I was very surprised by how many 7-11 stores they have here. I had no idea they were that popular here. We also visited a Danish supermarket. It was interesting. I couldn't tell you what a number of the items were. I was astonished to find a post office inside the supermarket. I plan to go back there when I want to mail some postcards.

Tonight, the entire group will meet for the first time. Members of the group will be arriving throughout the day. I'm curious to find out how many are in our group. I heard from Joel Mills that the tour was totally booked up but, I have no idea what that means in terms of numbers. Tomorrow, the tour will begin in earnest at 8:30 a.m. when we do a tour of the city. It should be interesting. That's all for now. Stay tuned for further updates. Cheers all!

Advantages of a Globus Tour

Three days ago, I decided to check reviews on http://www.tripadvisor.com/ on hotels I'll be staying at. I couldn't imagine Globus picking some dumps. From what I read, it sounds like the hotels will be all right though the rooms may be smaller than what I'm use to in the states.

While looking at the hotel reviews, I also took down the price per night of each hotel. I wanted to see if the tour I'll be going on was a good deal. Based on what it would cost to stay at each hotel for the number of nights I'll be staying there during the tour, it is a good deal. If I booked each hotel via one of the on-line booking services, I could expect to pay $2,969 alone for hotels. This doesn't include the breakfast buffet many of these hotels offer. The buffet can add another $15 or more per day. The price of my tour was $2,319 with an additional $595 single room charge for a total of $2,914. That means, I'll save at least $55 on hotels but, that doesn't reflect the total savings.

For starters, my transportation is included with the price of the tour. For 14 days, there will be a driver and bus to take the troup I'll be with to all the places we'll be visiting. Also, the tour includes 7 dinners. Figuring on a minimum of $25 per dinner, that would be worth at least $175. It also includes the ferry crossing from Frederickhavn to Gothenburg and a cruise on Sognefjord. I have no idea what those would cost but I doubt they're cheap. Lastly, there are guided tours of Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo as well as orientation visits to Gothenburg and Bergen.

Another item that would be hard to put a price on is the use of a guide the entire time. This is one thing I particularly like about the tour. I'll have the services of someone who is very knowledgeable about the countries and who can answer any questions I have about them. They can probably speak the languages of the various countries and so interpret for me if that is needed. They can help me avoid any number of pitfalls I'd be likely to fall into if I were on my own. Remember, I've never been to Denmark, Sweden or Norway. Once I've been to these countries and got a feel for them, I'll feel fine visiting on my own but, for my first visit, I like having the services of someone who knows the ropes as us Americans say.

Overall, I feel Globus tours are a good value. If you booked the various tours and hotels yourself, you'd probably end up paying more. They are also very convenient and easy. From the time you arrive at your destination country, they take care of you. The hardest part of the Australia tour I went on taking my bag to and from my hotel room. You don't have to mess with keeping track of various reservations or making sure you arrive for such and such tour in time. When Harvey and I went to New York City, we found out how much Globus had spoiled us. No one met us at Penn Station when we arrived. No one took us to where the Greyline tours started. No one told us how to get back to our hotel or where Radio Music City Hall was. Globus would've done all those things. The nice thing about Globus is they allow you to concentrate on having fun. Isn't that what vacations are supposed to be about?

Disclaimer: Just so all my readers know, I'm not in any way affiliated with Globus i.e. I don't work for them. I have contributed stories and photos to http://www.exchangetravelstories.com which is run by the Globus family of travel companies. I have received 1,300 GO points for those stories. When you earn enough GO points (2,400 points for a $10 gift certificate), you can exchange them for gift certificates to Amazon.com and GiftCertificates.com. I feel my stories have told both good and bad things about their tours.

Maryland Renaissance Festival

They finally posted the entertainment schedule (it was supposed to be posted the beginning of the month and wasn't posted till nearly the middle of the month) for the Maryland Renaissance Festival. A number of perennial favorites will be returning. The Rogues will be warming things up with their fantastic bagpipes. Hack and Slash will be back with their whip mayhem. The excellent juggler the Squire on the Wire will be back to do more juggling derring-do. And Fight School will be back to teach audiences about various swords while making them laugh with their funny repartee. To my delight, I'll get another chance to see the Medieval Baebes. They return the last weekend of the festival to knock out festival goers with their beauty and their music. I definitely plan to see their show.

A little reminder, the festival kicks off the weekend of August 25th and 26th (just 5 days away, mark your calendars!). The festival runs every weekend through October 21st. There is tons of free parking. Admission is $8 for children (7 to 15 years old), $18 for adults (16 to 61) and $15 for seniors (62 plus). Their hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. rain (I can testify to that) or shine. For further information including how to get to the festival, please check out their website at http://www.rennfest.com/. Hope to see you there.

Gandalf Staff

One of the items that I had in my Lord of the Rings collection was a Gandalf Staff by United Cutlery. It's a replica of the white staff that Gandalf uses after he returns in The Two Towers. It's a very pretty staff and I was delighted to own one.

While working at Medieval Times, I took various items of my collection in to show them to my co-workers. They were equally appreciative of the beauty or the coolness factor of getting to see some of the items. Accidents happen and my Gandalf Staff was damaged. It was accidentally knocked over and broken by Mike Vertelli, the head of Sound & Lighting. He very kindly offered to replace it. I wasn't worried about the matter and didn't press him to replace it. Then, I had my falling out with him over the castle guard thing and the staff was never replaced. Part of that was because I didn't care to talk to him after the way he told me when my last day was at the castle.

So, I needed to replace my broken Gandalf Staff. Things have changed since I bought that one. United Cutlery went bankrupt and lost the license to make any of the Lord of the Rings items. Once something is no longer made, the price tends to go up on it and that was the case concerning the Gandalf Staff. I went in search of one on Ebay, found one and managed to win the bid on one. It ended up costing me $50 more than my first one. Oh well. I knew it wouldn't be cheap but, I wanted one for my collection. Now, my only concern is getting it before I leave for my Scandanavia trip. I emailed the seller and told him when it had to arrive by. If it can't arrive by that date, I asked him to hold it till I return. We'll see what happens there.

Correction on Laser Comb

I have a correction to make concerning the laser comb. I spoke with Steve Hodgkins who is the one who told me the various options out there concerning hair loss. It turns out that the laser comb won't cause new hair growth. What it does do is break up more of the DHT hormone in the scalp. This can increase the blood flow to the hair strengthening the hair roots that are already there. Concerning the percentages, there isn't a set consistent effectiveness percentage using the laser comb i.e. 40%, 50% or whatever. The big advantage it has over Propecia is that it is considerably cheaper to use vice the drug. One year's worth of Propecia would cost you over $744 at Costco. The comb costs approximately $580. Medical Hair Restoration offers a treatment called laser therapy which does the same thing the laser comb does. The comb offers the advantage that you don't have to schedule visits to their offices. You can do the therapy yourself whenever you want. You must use the comb 10 to 15 minutes, 3 times a week for it to have any effect.

Personal Propecial Trial Update

I felt it was time to post an update on Propecia. Propecia is a drug that decreases the amount of DHT hormone in people. For men, what this drug does is stop hair loss. This means it can prevent a guy from going bald. As far as I know, it the only drug on the market that is 90% in doing this. The drug also has very few side effects. There are three downsides I've seen to the drug. First, there is the cost. The drug is very expensive. A 3 month supply will cost you $182 from Costco. You may be able to find it cheaper elsewhere. Vanity in this case isn't cheap. Second, you must take the drug at the same time every day. I have to watch the clock every morning to make sure I take it around the same time. This can be a bit annoying. The reason for this presumably is to ensure you keep a steady low level of DHT and thereby ensure your body continues to grow new hair to replace lost hair. The third downside I've seen is that you must take it for life. If you stop taking it, your DHT levels will go back up to where they were before you started taking the drug and you'll start losing your hair again.

After 3 months of taking the drug, I can see that I'm not going any balder. Appearance wise, I appear to have a normal head of hair which is nice. It's only when you push aside some of the hair that you can see scalp. In the future, I hope to try a laser comb. The comb isn't as effective as Propecia but, it reportedly can start new growth. I'd like to get my hair thicker if possible. To any who may read this blog, if you suspect you are going bald and you don't want to, you need to see about getting yourself on Propecia as soon as possible. The reason I say that is because, the sooner you start taking the drug, the sooner you stop your hair loss and the more hair you'll retain. This is the only regret I have in my case. I could see I was gradually going bald but couldn't decide whether to really pursue the matter or not. Fortunately, I saw Dr. Ballon about the matter before I needed a more radical and expensive solution which is hair transplants. Those can cost you up to a whopping $4,000! Serious ouch!!!!!

FYI, I'm not an expert in hair loss matters nor Propecia. I'm merely stating what I know and what I've observed using Propecia. You may have different experiences with the drug. Propecia is not recommended for women or children. Before taking the drug, definitely talk to a doctor about it so you know what you're doing.

Update March 9th, 2014: Two generic versions of Propecia have come out in the United States making the drug a LOT cheaper (see blog entries about them). My latest refill cost me $72.50 for a 3 month supply at Sam's Club. However, in order to get that price, you must be an Advantage Plus level member.

Globus Documents

I've been waiting anxiously for my Globus documents. I need them in order to go on the Scandanavia trip I signed up for. My travel agent Joel mailed them on July 31st. All of last week, I anxiously checked with the carrier who delivers my mail. He never saw them. Today, I decided for S&Gs to see if they were at the apartment manager's office. To my surprise, they were. The normal procedure if that if the mail carrier can't deliver the package to you, he will leave a 3849 or some other kind of note letting you know you have a package at the apartment manager's office. For some reason, I never got one. I plan to ask the carrier what happened when he gets back from a trip he went on this week.

I'm thankful I have the documents. They were my biggest worry. Now, I get to start figuring out what I'm going to take clothes wise and what optional tours I'm going to take. Globus has some nice ones. They have a walking tour of Old Copenhagen which would be neat. There is also a ride of the Flam Railway. I haven't forgotten the train I rode out of Cairns. It was awesome. There is also a trip to the museum housing the Ra and Kon-tiki boats. It'll be neat to get see those.

I hope to find internet cafes I can use while on my trip so I can post updates on the tour. Then, you'll get to see where I've been and hear about any sights of interest. I don't plan on posting any pictures until I get back. I hope you'll find those posts interesting. It should be an awesome trip.

Sakura Japanese Steak and Seafood House

Restaurant Review

Another restaurant who I deliver mail to is the Sakura Japanese Steak and Seafood House on Baltimore Avenue just down from the Academy Ford Dealership. From the outside, it looks like a nice enough restaurant and it has decent parking. I decided to try it out today.

When I walked in, I was promptly greeted and taken to a seat that sat to the side of the grill the chef was going to use to cook the food. In this type of Japanese restaurant, the chef slices and cooks the food right in front of you. He'll also show some of the juggling skills by throwing the spatala and cooking fork in the air and catching them. It's an impressive display.

Food wise, I decided to splurge and I ordered the lobster and a ginger ale to drink. I racked up almost 19 hours of overtime this week at the Post Office so I felt I deserved a treat. In addition to the lobster, all entrees come with a complimentary appetizer, soup and salad. I found the soup to be outstanding. My only complaint of sorts was I would've liked to have had more. It was that good. The salad was decent enough. It had some kind of salad dressing that I couldn't identify. Also with an entree, you get a choice of steamed or fried rice. I was glad I chose the fried rice as the chef did a great job with it. The vegetables were firm and nicely cooked. The rice tasted superb. Appetizer wise, I had two shrimp flambe which I found good. The lobster was wonderfully prepared and I enjoyed every bite. The restaurant did offer some desserts but I decided to pass on those.

Price wise, I thought the restaurant was good value. My ginger ale cost me $1.95 and came with unlimited refills. I know that for a fact as I put a hurting on them there. My lobster entree was $29.95 and was a very good deal. I received 2 lobster tails and the food I've already mentioned. Service was outstanding. My glass was rarely empty for long before our great waitress promptly filled it up again.

Overall, I was completely satisfied with this restaurant. I definitely plan to go back. Also, I plan to take my friend Harvey there when he comes up this way some time. I think he'd really enjoy it. This is one restaurant I'd definitely recommend. If you like Japanese food, you should try the Sakura Japanese Steak and Seafood House. They have locations throughout Maryland. Their website is http://sakurasteakhouse.com. Bon Appetit!

Restaurant Review

One of the businesses I deliver mail to on rural route 15 is the Cold Stone Creamery at 13600 Baltimore Avenue. Every time I've walked in there, the place has smelled of delicious diet busting treats. Because of that, it moved to the top of my list of restaurants I had to try. Today, I visited the creamery. Here are my opinions on what I thought of the place.

I walked and found out that the creamery doesn't have small, medium and large sizes for their ice cream. They have like it, love it and gotta have it sizes. According to their website, they think this is cool though I found it annoying when trying to place my order. How much do you get ice cream wise for a like it ice cream? You get 5 ounces. The love it translates to 8 ounces and the gotta have it equates to 12 ounces. In regards to shakes and smoothies, they only have like it and love it which are different from their ice cream sizes. A like it shake will be 12 ounces while a love it shake will be 20.

After seeing what they had, I decided to try their very vanilla milk shake and a creation ice cream. Their very vanilla milk shake has french vanilla ice cream, skim milk and caramel (source: http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/drinks/drinks_faq.html#shake_serve). For a milk shake that was supposed to be very vanillaish, it wasn't. I was very UNIMPRESSED with their milk shake. I was also a bit shocked by its price. A gotta have it size milk shake will set you back a still $6. In my opinion, that is some serious change for a milk shake. Frankly, I think you could make a better one at home for less money. My rating on their vanilla milk shake is they're a rip-off.

Cold Stone Creamery features 3 types of ice cream dishes. You have just ice cream, you have what they call a creation which is ice cream with 1 item of your choice and they have their signature creations. As to what you can get mixed with your ice cream, the creamery offers a large and impressive choice of items. You can get gummi bears, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, sprinkles, walnuts, pecans, Heath toffee bars, Snickers candy bars, Butterfinger candy bars, Reeses peanut butter cups, Oreo cookies, almonds, M&Ms, brownies and still many more. You decide what items you want mixed in though the more items you choose, the more you pay. Signature creations are ice cream dishes that the creamery has come up with and found so popular that they are part of their regular menu. Examples of these are Banana Caramel Crunch, Berry Berry Berry Good and Cookie Minster. If you want to see the full list of signature creations, see this webpage: http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/icecream/original_creations.html. For your information, as the signature creations have the most ingredients in them, they are the most expensive ice cream dishes the creamery has though the largest size signature creation cost $5.40 not including tax at the restaurant I visited.

I decided to try their gotta have it size butter pecan with pecans added. I found the ice cream decent. I enjoyed the pecans I had added. I found it interesting to watch the person filling my order mix the pecans in. They have a special counter where they slap the ice cream, flatten it, pour the ingredients to be added on top and then knead the ice cream like you would bread dough. Once the person is done mixing the ingredients, their scrape the concoction off the counter and put it in the appropriate size cup. If you tell the staff that it is your first visit to the creamery, the entire staff will cheer out FIRST TIMER. They will also cheer out a happy birthday if you or someone in your party is having a birthday. Cost wise, my ice cream was $4.79 plus tax. For what I received, I thought that was reasonable. Their prices are comparable to Dairy Queen with the plus that you are getting better quality ice cream.

Overall, I thought Cold Stone Creamery to be pricey and in the case of their shakes, a rip-off. Their ice cream is all right but in opinion, it isn't better than Breyer's or Hagen Daz. If you are in the mood for an ice cream treat but don't want to mess with fixing it yourself, you might want to try them. Their website has a restaurant/shop locater tool that will help you find the closest creamery to where you live. http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/. Cheers!

Pasta Nostra Restaurant Review

I've been wanting to try out the restaurant Pasta Nostra for a while. It's located in Laurel and, it sounded like a decent restaurant. Pasta Nostra is located just off Van Dusen Road at the Laurel Park Shopping Center across the street from the Laurel Regional Hospital. It serves Italian food including pizzas and calzones. The restaurant is a bit different in that in you walk up to the counter, place and pay for your order, they give you a number and then, you find a seat and wait for your food. There aren't any waitresses. or assigned seating.

Food wise, I tried their fried calimari, salmon imperial and profiteroles. Their fried calimari was approximately $7. They gave a decent serving and, I thought it was good calimari. They didn't give any pieces that were rubbery i.e. impossible to eat and they gave a reasonable portion of marinara sauce. The salmon was nice and included a small portion of pasta topped with crab meat. I thought the salmon good but the portion seemed small. The salmon cost approximately $11. The profiteroles which are cream puffs covered with chocolate sauce/pudding and chocolate powder were good. You received three cream puffs with plenty of chocolate sauce. The profiteroles cost approximately $6.

All totalled, I spent under $30 for lunch. I thought the food was decent. The decor of the restaurant isn't anything special. Service was good and courteous. Overall, I'd say Pasta Nostra is a decent restaurant though not one I'd go out of my way to try. Location wise, it isn't very easy to get to unless you're travelling on Interstate-95 in which case you take the MD-198 exit for Laurel, turn right at Van Dusen and look for the center on your left. There is plenty of parking. Bon Appetit!

Update: This restaurant has either closed or changed its name to Bella which is operating in its location. I don't know when Pasta Nostra closed.

Pictures

I've been posting some of the pictures I took of Australia and New Zealand on http://www.exchangetravelstories.com/. I've tried to post pictures that others haven't posted already like my picture of people climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge or my underwater photos of the Great Barrier Reef. I plan to post a picture I took of Independence Hall and a couple I took of Colonial Williamsburg. To my annoyance, I can't find the pictures I took of New York City. I suspect I may have dropped them off at Sam's Club to be developed and forgot to pick them up. Because of that, I may have to make another trip to the Big Apple. For your viewing pleasure, here are a couple pics I took of Colonial Williamsburg.

Updating Resume

I worked on updating my resume today. I haven't touched the thing in months and that was a big mistake. I had a lot of updating to do. I remember either Marjorie or Ellie telling me I should keep it updated but, I didn't because I didn't think I'd need to use it again. Once you pass your probationary period with the Post Office, you have to mess up BAD in otder to get fired. I wasn't going to mess up that bad. With me planning to leave the Post Office in a couple months, my resume became very important again. I checked a temp agency and one of the things they asked you for was your resume. So, I've updated the thing and I may send it to my sister Ellie to review. She is extremely knowledgeable about such things as she played that game for years.

Globus Travel Site

As I mentioned previously, Globus now has a website (http://www.exchangetravelstories.com) where travellers can tell of their adventures on various tours with the Globus chain (they have 5 different travel companies). I decided to tell of the G'day Australia tour with Auckland add-on I took back in January 24, 2004 to February 8, 2004. It was the best tour I've ever been on. Our tour guide Jann Elphinstone was absolutely fantastic. I got to do so many cool things and the people in our group were so nice. I was terribly saddened when it was over. It's because of that tour that I'm looking so much to the Scandanavia tour.

Anyway, I had to do my narrative in six parts: Sydney, Cairns, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Melbourne and Auckland. We'll see if they post them. Also, I looked for stories on their tours to Scandanavia. I'd like to know how good they are. Sadly, no one has posted anything from those countries. It looks like I'll have to find out when I go on the tour.

Oxygen Senser

Thanks to sensers and small computers, cars are able to run far more efficiently than ever before. The down side is when one of these gizmos decides to go kaput. Sometime either Saturday or early Sunday morning, the oxygen senser on my car decided to bite the dust though I didn't know that was the problem. The only thing I knew was the check engine warning light came on and stayed on. I checked the owner's manual and it said take the car to the dealership. To me, if you have to take the car to the dealership, it has to be something serious. I was scheduled to work today at the Post Office but, I didn't want to keep driving my car if there was something seriously wrong with it. I never forgot the time I drove my Plymouth Laser and I thought the alternator was acting up. It turned out I was wrong. The timing belt had slipped and the intake valves were smashing into the piston heads. I ended up trashing the engine. Because of that experience, I decided to take the car to the dealership as soon as possible. I called the primary carrier for the route I was supposed to work and thankfully, she was able to work. I called my acting supervisor (the regular one is on leave) and he said it would be fine as long as she covered the route.

This morning, I drove to the dealership before it opened so I could be one of the first one's in line. To my annoyance, the dealership was booked up and the repair representative said it would be tomorrow before they'd get to my car. Damn! As the Post Office wouldn't like me missing two days of work, I decided to rent a car. That ended up costing $40 a day.

Then, luck shined on me. The dealership was able to check my car and it turned out to be the oxygen senser. Better still, they had one on hand. Better better news, I'd be able to get my car back today. The bad news, it was going to cost $340! Ouch!

Oh well, I'll keep my fingers crossed that this will be the last car repair for a while. We'll see.

Dogs

Since I was a kid, I've liked dogs. However, I'm learning to be a lot more careful around them as a mail carrier. Dogs are one of the major hazards of being a mail carrier. At my initial orientation, I remember the mail carrier who briefed us telling us of the two times he was bitten. I was less than thrilled at the news of this danger. I don't like the thought of getting bitten. I find it very annoying when owners assume their precious pooches won't bite. The way some of the dogs have charged at me, I wouldn't bet on that being true. One carrier I know at the Laurel Post Office broke his right shoulder because of a dog. What happened was a German Sheperd sized dog snuck up on him and the next thing he knew there was this 100 pound dog with snarling teeth nearly on him. The carrier tried to get away from the dog but unfortunately he tripped on a tree root which sent him flying into a tree. The impact broke his right shoulder. The shoulder eventually healed but, he still has a good size knot in his shoulder from the break.

The main defense we have against dogs is dog spray. As far as I know, it's a form of mace for dogs. I haven't gotten to try it out yet so I don't know how well it works. I make sure I carry it with me on city routes as there is a higher risk of dog attack on those routes. On a rural route, I can retreat to the safety of my truck. When your on foot, there aren't any places of safety. To my annoyance, the one time I really needed the dog spray, I didn't have it. I was helping a city carrier on a route that was mounted i.e. one you deliver from your truck. In order to deliver mail on one part of it, I had to get out of the truck. When I approached one of the mailboxes, a small black dog came charging out at me barking its head off. Twice, it charged me. Luckily, I was able to keep enough distance between us. I'd have sprayed the dog with dog spray but, I'd left the dog spray at the Post Office. I plan to keep the dog spray with me just in case.

Review

I wrote another review for tripadvisor.com (http://www.tripadvisor.com/). This one was on the Laurel Museum. Part of the reason I visited the museum was just so I could write a review on it. A little stupid I suppose but, I wanted to write another review. To my annoyance, the internet ate my first draft of the review and I had to write it again from scratch. Still, I think it turned out all right. Now, I have to wait for tripadvisor to review it to make sure I didn't use any profanity or other no-nos. It should appear on their website in 3 or 4 days. It's kinda cool being an author of sorts. Now, I have to find another place to visit so I can write a review on that. I may need to take a trip to Washington D.C. or Baltimore. We'll see.

Gift Shop

Yesterday, I made it back to the Laurel Museum so I could check out their gift shop. My previous visit, I arrived so late that by the time I was done looking at the exhibits in the museum, they had closed the gift shop. The lady who ran the shop highly recommended so I made a mental note to come back and check it out.

Like the museum, I found the gift shop to be small. They have some books on Laurel as well as Maryland for sale. They also had some children's books that explained various things like how a mill worked and who the miller was. There were also some fancy mustards produced possibly by one of the members of the historical society. It was a decent enough offering considering the size of the museum.

Another reason to visit the gift shop was you got to see what the kitchen areas would've looked like for those who lived in the house. They also have a 20 minute video you can watch that can tell you more about them and possibly about the house. The volunteers who ran the gift shop were very helpful and one was very knowledgeable about Laurel.

Overall, I found the gift shop to be all right. Like the museum, it is very small. Another problem the museum has is its location. Barring a visitor taking Interstate-95, it isn't easy to get to. Parking is also a problem during the summer as you have to compete with swimmers for spots on the street. Lastly, the volunteers are a blessing and a curse for the museum. They are a blessing in that they are very enthusiastic about the museum and Laurel. I found them to be very informative. They are a curse in that they limit the hours the museum can be open. The museum is only open 3 days a week and never more than 4 hours at a time. This can make it difficult to visit the museum. If you happen to be in Laurel on a day the museum is open, it would be worth a short stop but, I wouldn't make any special trips to see this museum. For all the hassles, it isn't worth it.

Beer Review

I continue to try different beers and ales from Corridor Wine Store on MD-198 (see earlier blog on that store). The latest I tried was Lord Chesterfield Ale. It's made by the Yuengling Brewery at its plants in Pottsville, PA and Tampa, FL. I thought the name Yuengling was Chinese but, it isn't. It's actually German. The brewery founder David G. Yuengling emigrated from Aldingen, Germany and founded the brewery in 1829 (Source: http://yuengling.com/faq.htm). The Yuengling Brewery is the oldest in the U.S.

Lord Chesterfield Ale sells for $5.49 for 6 12-ounce bottles at Corridor Wine Store. I found the ale itself to be a bit bitter and harsh. However, it doesn't have a strong alcoholic taste. I was surprised to find out it was rated at 5.4%. It is the most potent of all Yuengling products.

Overall, I wasn't terribly impressed with this ale. Price wise, it is very affordable. Per the Yuengling website, Lord Chesterfield Ale is currently only available on the east coast except for Alabama (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina & Alabama). However, the brewery is expanding their markets and it may become available in time in your area if you don't live in one the areas they currently distribute to.

Sven

I visited a person I knew at Medieval Times today. Herb, also known as Sven, was the chief castle guard at the Baltimore/Washington Medieval Times that I used to work at. After I gave notice and left the castle, I didn't have any contact with anyone from the castle nor have I visited the castle since. I tried to contact Herb because I ordered a chainmail shirt which I latered cancelled. Since I was leaving the castle, what did I need a shirt of chainmail for? I asked for a refund and Sven promised to give me my money back. Unfortunately, I didn't get my money back before I left and, I didn't feel like calling him as I was leery of having any contact with anyone from the castle. I sent Sven a postcard reminding him of the refund I was owed and, I didn't hear anything from him. I assumed my money was gone. It was a great surprise when I heard from Sven yesterday. He had my money and, he wanted to give it to me. He suggested I come over the next day. I said "Sure!"

Sven lives in the Northeast part of Baltimore County. I'd never visited that part of Maryland so it was interesting to drive out there. I found Sven and his wife live in a small home there in a pleasant enough neighborhood. When Sven contacted me, I was stunned to find out he'd left Medieval Times. Sven had been there since they opened the Baltimore castle. He is extremely knowledgeable about the Medieval age. He is fantastic around kids and he did an awesome job of working one of the spotlights. I couldn't imagine the castle without him. They have lost someone priceless and who was very devoted to the castle.

We chatted about the castle. I found out Randy, the person in charge of the actors at the castle, was found to have a benign tumor the size of a football. After the operation, he started taking therapy which continues to this day. I hope its successful. I also found out that the new storyline should be out in November. I'm curious about the new show and, I'd be willing to go back to the castle to see it. I found out that Corwyn, who became the new chancellor, is doing an awesome job. I was delighted to hear it as Corwyn paid some serious dues at the castle. He worked there for 3 years in security before finally getting his shot at chancellor. He is also a super person and is a case where a good person came out on top.

Sven showed me his weapon collection and some of the weapons he was making. He told me of his re-enactor days when he was Duke of a re-enactor Duchy. It sounded seriously cool. Sadly, a real life schemer became Chancellor and ultimately dethroned Sven and became Duke. I hope one day Sven and his wife can start a new group as I'm sure it would be an awesome and fun group.

Sven also mentioned his movie career. One day, you may get to see him on the silver screen. He has been auditioning for various parts. I hope he gets one as it would be cool to see him in the movies providing it isn't a horror flick. If it is a horror flick, I will congratulate him on getting the part but, I'll pass on the movie. Sometimes, I have too good a memory. When I watch a horror flick, the images stay with me a LONG time. If I want to sleep well, it behooves me to stay away from horror flicks.

It is amazing how time flies when you're having a good time. I arrived at Sven's house around 1 p.m. In no time, I found it to be past 7 p.m. It was time to head back. I'd enjoyed hearing the stories of Sven's family and their various adventures. They've done some incredible things and, they're not done yet. He and his wife have a great zest for life. I look forward to visiting again, hearing more of their adventures and finding out about some cool part he'll win in some movie.

Music Review

On November 22, 1977, John Denver recorded the album John Denver - Live at the Sydney Opera House. It was originally intended purely for Australian audiences. Later, it was released in the U.S. with a few changes. In the U.S. version, the album producers included the songs Today, Calypso and Me and My Uncle. The album showcases why Denver was a favorite in concert. Easygoing and appreciative of his fans, he encouraged them to sit back and join in on any songs they felt like joining in on. Combine this with some great songs like Rocky Mountain High, Today, Annie's Song and his signature songs Thank God I'm a Country Boy and Take Me Home, Country Roads and his fans were assured of a magical night.

The album has a superb set of songs. It starts off strong with Rocky Mountain High and keeps a pleasant tempo throughout. For U.S. fans, there is one song that may throw them. For his Australian audience, Denver performed Moreton Bay which tells of the terrible treatment of an Irish convict banished to Australia. Early in its history, Australia was used a dumping ground for convicts by Mother England (as the U.S. was until the American colonists complained). The album also features It's A Sin To Tell A Lie which apparently was a favorite of Denver's mother. Denver tells of when he first performed the song for mother at Carnegie Hall as she and his Dad sat in the audience. For me, Take Me Home, Country Roads was an early Denver favorite. My Grandmother Wilkes lived in a trailer in the backwoods of Bowling Green, Indiana. It was thoroughly country. I remember visiting my Grandmother, hunting for crayfish in a stream nearby, nearly jumping out of my shoes one time when I saw a large black snake in another creek I was exploring as well as fishing for catfish in a lake about a mile away. The song resonated with my memories of the visits to my Grandmother.

Overall, the album is excellent and a pleasure to listen to. It makes me wish I could've seen Denver in concert. Sadly, I never did. If you would like to experience what John Denver was like Live as well as relax to some of his best songs, this would be an album for you.

Laurel Museum

Today, I visited the Laurel Museum in Laurel, Maryland. I've been wanting to visit it for a while. It's one the main attractions of sorts in Laurel. The museum is located on 817 Main Street, just across from one of the city pools and nearly at the end of Main Street. It's housed in a house that was built for mill workers. Where the swimming pool is located, a cotton mill was operated that made cotton cloth for Clipper ships built in Baltimore and Conestoga wagons. The first floor of the house holds the various exhibits. The museum has a hodge-podge collection of articles. They run from a 12-pound steel cannon ball from the Civil War era to a gown worn by Mamie Eisenhower, wife of President Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower is the only U.S. President to have ever lived in Laurel. He and his wife lived there for a short time while he was stationed at Fort Meade. There are also old photographs of school classes as well as businesses from days gone by. The museum has a nice little collection. To take in the whole museum which isn't that big, it should only take 20 minutes at most. Admission is free.

There are some problems with the museum. First, the only parking available is on Main Street. The swimming pool makes the parking situation worse as visitors would have to compete with swimmers during the summer months. Conversely, I suspect visitors could use the swimming pool parking lot when it's closed during the fall, winter and spring. The second problem is that the museum is only open 3 days a week. It opens on Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m., Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lastly, the museum isn't in a location easy to get to. The quickest and easiest way to the museum would be to take Interstate-95 to the MD-216 exit for Laurel. You would turn right at Main Street and go nearly to the end of the street. The museum is located on the right and has a sign in front. The museum's website can be found at http://www.laurelhistory.org/museum.html. The museum is run by volunteers from the Laurel Historical Society.

Additional Note: One additional plus for visiting the museum is the chance to take a quiet stroll in the Riverfront Park. A sidewalk leads from the museum to the park where one can walk among numerous shade trees and view the Patuxent River. The park has 1.5 miles of paved hiker/biker paths. It has 3 small picnic pavilions for rent. When not rented, the pavilions are available on a first come first served basis. For further information on the park, check the following website: http://www.laurel.md.us/prfac.htm#Riverfront.

Update

I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July. Mine was terribly uneventful. I used it to catch up on some things like laundry and grocery shopping. I made a trip to the credit union so I could deposit my paychecks and my retirement check. I had nice conversations with Harvey and my Dad. I found out from Harvey that he paid off the Scandanavia trip. Now, both of us get to wait for our documents from Globus. The documents are the official notification from Globus that were going. I don't remember if there is anything in them we have to give to our guide when we reach Copenhagen. There will also be a couple luggage tags that we're suppose to put on our luggage. Lastly, they'll contain information on optional tours we can take while we're on our tour. An example would be a trip to the Wasa Museum in Stockholm. The Wasa Museum is a museum the Swedes built to hold the Swedish warship Wasa which sank on its maiden voyage. It was top heavy and capsized. Thanks to it sinking in lots of mud and the cold waters of the Baltic, it was superbly preserved. In the 60's, the Swedes raised the ship and a museum was built for it. It is the only surviving 17th century warship in existence (I think). I plan to sign up for that trip. Another optional tour is one where you can see Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-tiki and Ra ships. Heyerdahl was a famous adventurer who proved via the Kon-tiki that it was possible that people in South America could have had contact with the Polynesians. A documentary film was made of Heyerdahl's Kon-tiki voyage which won an Academy award. I think it would be interesting to see the ships.

I found out from my Dad that my sister Ellie will be flying home for a visit in a couple days. I hope she has a nice time.

For me, the rest of the week, I'll be working at the Post Office. The primary carrier for rural route 10 took the entire week off so she could go to Myrtle Beach, North Carolina. She was really excited about it. I had mixed feelings . I was pleased to get 40 plus hours i.e. a very sweet paycheck but, I hate doing her route. Recently, we received three more new substitute rural carriers and my supervisor had to find work for them. He decided to take rural route 7 from me so he could give it to one of the newbies. I wish he'd taken rural route 10. I like 7 because it has a nice mounted part. 10 is all multi-boxes. Also 10 has a lot of people that move in and out which means you end up taking a lot of mail back to the Post Office where you try to forward it on (depends on if they put in a forwarding order). It promises to be a hard week.

That's all that is happening at my end. This coming Sunday, I hope to visit the Laurel Museum. It's a small museum run by the Laurel Historical Society. I'm curious to see if it's any good. I plan to write up a review on it for tripadvisor.com. I'll let you know what I thought of it. Cheers!

Caribbean Cruise

I paid off my future Caribbean cruise sort of. By that, I mean I made the last payment on the cruise via charge card but, I still have to pay the charge card bill. Also, Harvey and I have to decide on a hotel in the San Juan area where we'll stay one night so we can do a tour of San Juan before the cruise starts. Joel Mills, the travel agent we use is trying to find out what hotel would be best for the tour and the cruise. Once he knows that, he'll advise what to do.

Concerning my cabin on the ship, my step-mom/mom Kay got me to check into if I was getting the best deal cabin wise. Right now, I have a reservation for a Deluxe Ocean View Stateroom which has 173 square feet of space. The next cabin up would be a Junior Suite which has 280 square feet of space. The cost to upgrade would be a whopping $1,500! All I would get for that money is the roomier cabin. There wouldn't be any better food or other perks. When I learned that from Joel, I told him I'd stay with the cabin I have. It's on the 8th deck, seven decks down from the top of the ship but, it is the 3rd highest deck as far as cabins go. The passenger decks are deck 2 to deck 10.

The ship itself "Adventure of the Seas" must be huge. It can accomodate 3,114 passengers. It has 4 swimming pools, a rock climbing wall, an in-line skating track, an ice skating rink, a 9-hole miniature golf course and a full-size basketball court. It also has a spa and casino. It weighs an inconceivable 138,000 tons! It sounds like it's a floating town. I wonder how long it takes them to get everyone on board. I'll find out next year. Cheers all!

Humidity

One of the bad things about Maryland summers is the humidity. While the humidity isn't as bad as it is in Northwest Florida (I remember my glasses fogging up every time I walked outside), it still saps you when your outdoors. I feel certain it causes you to sweat more which is annoying. Yesterday was particularly bad. I was working at the Post Office and I could feel the humidity in the air as I cased my mail. It got worse when I hit the street to deliver my mail. The only good I could say about it was it sure did make you appreciate air conditioning. When I finished delivering my mail, I returned to the Post Office to turn in my undeliverable accountables (the people weren't home), packages I couldn't deliver (the people weren't home) and undeliverable mail (the people had moved). When I walked into the Post Office, the air conditioning hit me and boy did it feel GOOD! Sadly, the humid summers here last into August. So, I'll get to sweat and suffer for a good while. :-(

Crabs

One of the food specialties you'll find in Maryland are crabs. During crab season, a number of restaurants offer all you can eat deals. One such restaurant is Captain Jerry's Crab House in Laurel, Maryland. The last time I ate crabs was at the SHARE warehouse in Bladensburg, Maryland. I found it really neat though very messy. I've been wanting to eat crabs again and today, I decided to find a place. To my surprise, I found out there was a restaurant in Laurel called Captain Jerry's Restaurant (http://www.captainjerryscrabs.com/door/). I called and I found out their basic all you can eat crabs was $25.95. For $37.95 (I think), you're guaranteed to get only medium-sized crabs. Considering what crabs cost, it isn't a bad deal. You also get hush puppies and french fries. All you can drink sodas are $2. I managed to eat 2 platters of crabs which I thought was a respectable effort. It took me over 3 hours to do that.

Overall, I was very pleased with Captain Jerry's. I'd definitely recommend them. The service was very good and the place was clean. Parking was plentiful. I definitely plan to eat there again. If you're in the Laurel area and want a nice restaurant that offers all you can eat crabs, you might want to give them a try. Cheers!

Montpelier Mansion

Without a doubt, one of the surprise jewels in Laurel, Maryland is the Montpelier Mansion. The mansion was built by Major Thomas Snowden in 1781 and likely completed in 1782. The mansion had a number of distinguished guests including George Washington and Abigail Adams, wife of John Quincy Adams. The mansion is located just off of Maryland 197 and Muirkirk Road. Visitors can do a self-guided tour of the mansion for $3. The mansion has a number of rooms set up to what they would've looked like in the early 1800's. The mansion is situated in 70 acres of land. The greens around the mansion would be excellent for a picnic though I wouldn't do one right now with the summer heat and humidity.

The mansion has a gift shop in its carriage house. The gift shop is called The Little Teapot http://www.the-little-teapot.com/. The gift shop has the typical tourist t-shirts as well as an outstandting selection of loose teas (over 50) and tea sets. This shop may be the finest tea shop in Laurel and in the local area. It offers afternoon teas in the mansion on select Fridays. Reservations are mandatory. For information on future tea dates or to make reservations, you need to call 301-498-8486.

The mansion holds various special events during the year. One particulary noteworthy one will be hold on July 7th, 2007 from 10 a.m. till noon. Visitors will get to see what life was like for a Revolutionary War soldier. Admission for this event is $10. For further information on the mansion and other upcoming events at the mansion, check their website at
http://www.pgparks.com/places/eleganthistoric/montpelier_visitor.html.

Teeth Report

Yesterday, I saw Dr. Ronnie Jones, the Periodontist who was treating my case of periodontal (gum) disease. The visit was to check on how my gums were recovering. Once I had my teeth descaled, I had to use Listerine regularly, brush and especially floss. Listerine is important because it kills the germs that can cause gum infection. Flossing is very important because there are a lot of areas around the teeth a tooth brush doesn't hit. If you doubt, take one of those tablets sometime that shows you all the areas that has build-up on them. You'll be shocked.

Anyway, the visit went well. Dr. Jones measured how much space there was between my gums and teeth. The more space there is, the greater the chance of the teeth shifting or eventually coming out. Thanks to the descaling and my consistent efforts, my gums had improved enormously. The spaces between the teeth and gums and decreased markedly. This is good because you want the gums to be snug around your teeth. If they're snug, your teeth won't move. Also, it means that there isn't any infection below the gums which could cause teeth loss or cavities. I was pleased about the news though I kick myself for letting it get as bad as it did. It was an expensive mistake. It ended costing me over $400 though it would've cost over $1,300 if it weren't for the Delta Dental of California plan I received from the Air Force. Many thanks to the Air Force for helping taking care of me after I retired.

Middle East

David Horowitz has put together an outstanding presentation explaining what the situation really is in the Middle East. We often hear that all the Palestinians want is their own state and that Israel stole their land. Horowitz shows that the issue isn't about Palestinian statehood (the Palestinians were offered their own state in 1948 and 2000 and both times they turned to violence instead of accepting the terms) or Israel stealing their land (there wasn't a Palestinian state to steal the land from), it is about driving the Jews into the sea and completely out of the Middle East. Horowitz shows that Israel has much right to exist as Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon or Syria. When it comes to who has lived there longer, the Jews have lived in this region for over 3,000 years. The Arabs who claim all the land in this region didn't arrive until the 7th century during the Islamic expansion. In my opinion, the presentation also shows why there is little chance of peace between the Jews and the Palestinians. There is too much hate among the Palestinians and they won't give up their quest to drive the Jews out. Until they give up their hate and accept Israel's right to exist, there won't be any chance of peace in that troubled land. The presentation can be found at http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened/. The presentation file is large and it may take you a few tries to download the whole thing. I know it did in my case.

Heat

Yesterday, summer hit Maryland with a vengeance. The high was supposed to be in the 90's and it felt like it. One of the bad things about working as a mail carrier for the U.S. Post Office is you have to work in all kinds of weather including high heat. Because of the heat, it was a real trial delivering the mail yesterday. I hate being sweaty. Unlike the cold where I can put on an extra jacket, with the heat, there is nothing you can do but suffer through it while you're delivering your mail. The heat can also make me irritable. I had to do my best not to get frustrated. Today is supposed to be more of the same but, I wasn't scheduled to work today and I don't plan to help out on the city side. I plan to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid it. Hopefully, it'll get cooler soon. We'll see.

New Line's Greed Strikes Again

New Line Films, the folks who produced the Lord of the Rings films, has struck again. A number of lesser known actors and actresses who had minor roles in the Lord of the Rings movies are suing them over royalty issues. It seems that New Line has made a good bit of money on lunch boxes, posters, toys, etc. but claims that after all the various charges are made, they don't owe the actors and actresses anything. In one case, New Line reportedly took in over $9,000,000 from the marketing of the Gil-Galad character alone but, after all the various charges were taken out, it supposedly posted a $400,000 loss! Something doesn't sound right here. Plus, with the way they've treated Peter Jackson, New Line is showing itself to be one of the greediest film companies out there. I definitely don't plan to see any of their movies. Also, I hope they lose the film rights to The Hobbit. If they do, and Jackson finally makes the film, they'll have mud on their face for their greed as the film will be a monster hit. Bob Shaye, the CEO of New Line, has shown himself to be a conceited jerk. Best of luck to the actors and actresses in their lawsuit with New Line.

Source of information: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10443373&ref=emailfriend

Music Review

When BMG had a special where you buy one CD at regular price and get 4 free, I looked for music I'd never listened to. One artist I decided to try was David Arkenstone. His music is new age and is put out by Narada. The CD I ordered was The Best of David Arkenstone. It turned out to be a very nice CD. Arkenstone creates various acoustic pieces of beautiful music. Some have nice beats like Under The Canopy while others sound use bells a lot as with his Night Wind. Some, I don't understand how the music ties into the title of the sound such as the song Temple of Vaal. Still, the music is beautiful and easy to listen to. I felt the CD finished strongly with the piece The Southern Cross (not anything like the Crosby, Stills and Nash hit).

Overall, if you like New Age music, I think you'd like The Best of David Arkenstone. It's a very nicely done CD. It is great music to sit back and relax to (to my embarrassment, I fell asleep 3 times while listening to this CD so I had to listen to it repeatedly so I could give a proper review on it). My only complaint with the CD is I wish he'd included more music on it. The entire CD lasts just 49 minutes 18 seconds which seems short compared to other CDs. Price wise, I believe it would cost $18.98 plus shipping and handling through BMG. You may be able to find it cheaper if you shop around. Cheers!

Recycling Depot

I did my quarterly trip to the Glen Burnie, Maryland recycling depot today. It's my bit for the environment. I took a load of cardboard, paper, cans, jars and plastic bottles and jugs to the depot. I had enough to fill up the trunk of my car and the back seat. I wish I could drop the stuff off here in Laurel but because of the trash collection rules, I have to drive to the depot in Glen Burnie. I think it's a little messed up. Anyway, it was nice to do my bit for the environment.

Discount Shoe Warehouse

I got an incredible deal yesterday at Discount Show Warehouse (DSW). I'd earned a $10 off my next purchase certificate from them through their shopper's reward program. The certificate was going to expire on the 10th. After procrastinating for a couple weeks, I finally got myself to their Columbia, Maryland store. I looked at their selection and tried to think of something I actually needed shoe wise. I'm not a shoe-aholic and really didn't need any new shoes. One thing I knew I could use was a pair of water-proof boots for when it rains. When I'm delivering mail, I'm outside a lot and I can get soaked if it really pours.

I decided to check out DSW's clearance section. They were offering double reward points for any purchases in that section. I found a pair of water-proof boots but, I wasn't sure they'd fit. To my delight, they did. The boots were on clearance but, I wasn't sure how much was going to be taken off their $40 price tag. It turned out, they were priced 80% off! That dropped the price to under $10. With my certificate, I ended paying just 1 penny for my boots. I was delighted. So, that is how I got a great deal yesterday at DSW.

Secret Shopper

I notified ICCDS that I didn't want to do any more secret shopper assignments. I felt that it was too much hassle for too little money. Before doing a secret shop at a Weis supermarket, I'd have to check out the ad for that particular store and figure out what I was going to buy. I'd also have to think of at least one question for each of the six departments. Depending on what store I inspected, it could take from 10 to 30 minutes to reach the store. Then, I had to spend a minimum of 35 minutes in the store itself. Once I'd finished my shop, I had to do a survey telling the good and bad things I'd found. Once the survey was complete, I had to file my assignment voucher. I ended spending some where between 2 and 1/2 and 3 hours for $10 plus up to $5 for whatever I bought a the store. It just wasn't worth it. Still, ICCDS was nice about it. If I decide I want to start doing shops again, all I have to do is email them my field representative number and I can start doing it again. Kudos to them for being so nice about it. If you like doing secret shopping, you should give ICCDS a try.

Magazine Review

As I mentioned in a blog months earlier, I ordered a number of magazines through Northwest Airlines on-line mall. It was so I could earn enough airmiles to get a free ticket from BWI to Newark Liberty International Airport. That ended up being a bust but, some of the magazines I ordered have turned out to be very enjoyable. One of them is Airways. Airways covers airlines, airports, commercial airplanes and the history behind those topics. If you're in to any of them, you may enjoy the magazine. The June 2007 issue has an article that tells of the Lockheed Constellation Starliner. This plane turned out to be the apogee of pistoned powered airliners. Sadly, the Boeing 707 was coming on to the scene dooming the plane to obsolescence. The July 2007 issue has an interesting article on Lukla, Nepal's airport. This airport is the one closest to Mount Everest. Trekkers and mountain climbers use it to bring in large amounts of supplies for their expeditions.

Not all the articles are written by the magazine's staff. Some are written by airline crews. In the July issue, Andreas Rohde a first officer with Contact Air, takes the reader through all the different steps on a flight from Stuttgart, Germany to Toulouse-Blagnac, France. It's an informative article that tells all the behind the scenes action that goes on in making the flight happen.

Overall, I found this magazine to be really interesting. Every month, it has a number of superbly written articles. I learn things I didn't know about before and the magazine helps me think of new travel possibilities. I didn't know anything about the new French business-class carrier L'Avion until I read their June 2007 article. If you want to fly from Newark to Paris in business class at an affordable price, you might want to consider them. If you're interested in commercial aviation in any way, you should very much enjoy this magazine. Price wise, you'll be looking at $5.99 U.S. an issue. A yearly subscription will be cheaper though I don't know what that costs. Cheers!

Movie Review

Yesterday, I watched the 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movie. As I haven't watched the 2nd movie, I had no idea of some of the stuff the characters were talking about. Still, after the initial action, you get into the main gist of the third movie i.e. freeing Jack Sparrow from the hell Davy Jones sent him to and freeing the sea goddess Calypso so she can stop Davy Jones from his reign of terror on the seas. There are all kinds of double crosses and people keeping secrets from the others in the movie. I found there were so many that it got rather ridiculous. I also found the substory of Calypso and Davy Jones a bit much.

Rolling Stones member Keith Richards appears in the movie and I found that neat. He looks cool as a pirate captain and as Sparrow's father. While he doesn't have a major part in the movie, he does all right with the part he has. He adds a neat aspect to the movie.

Overall, I found the movie so-so. The action was good. The special effects were good. But, the story itself was a bit ridiculous. All the double crosses became a bit much. Also, the movie is long. It goes just over 3 hours. I definitely wouldn't see this movie twice and I doubt I'll buy it on DVD. It just doesn't seem worth it to me. Cheers all!

Reminder

I wanted to remind everyone that a 1st class letter now requires 41 cents postage. I've been seeing a lot of letters and bills missing the extra 2 cents in postage. I haven't seen the Post Office kick any of those back YET. Still, I wouldn't take a chance on the generosity of the Postal Service. If you want your letter or bill to get to its destination, please make sure you use the correct postage.

Another item, any letter or bill that you mail that weighs less than an ounce costs 41 cents unless it is more than 1/4 inch thick. All you have to do is stick a tape or something a little bulky and you may have to pay an extra 17 cents postage. I was reminded of this when I mailed a letter to my friend May Jackson. One thing I like to do with letters I write is seal them with sealing wax. It adds a nice touch to the letter and I think it looks classy. The flip side is the seal causes the letter to exceed to width requirements so I have to pay an extra 17 cents postage. If you seal your letters with sealing wax, please take note. The 17 cents surcharge is because the letter has to be hand stamped vice machine stamped.

Church

I went to church today for the first time in over a year. I stopped going because I was working at Medieval Times every Sunday. A number of times, I had to be at the castle by noon and church didn't start until 11 a.m. From where I live, it takes me at least 30 minutes to get to church. The church I belong is Berachah Church in Houston, Texas. How do I attend church in Houston when I live in Maryland you ask? Berachah broadcasts their church services. They have a group in Bowie, Maryland that receives the broadcasts. We go to fellow member's home and listen to the services there. It was neat to get to hear the service live. It was also interesting to hear Pastor Thieme's son give the 2 bible lessons. Thieme's son was chosen to become the new pastor when Pastor Thieme had to step down. His son is very much a chip off the old block. His teaching is extremely strong doctrinally. And to my embarrassment, he can put me to sleep just like his dad could. I don't know what it is about their teaching. Anyway, it was nice to listen to the service and meet with the group in Bowie. I plan to go every Sunday barring when I'm travelling (3 months till I leave for Scandanavia!).

Music Review

Recently, I listened to the London Palladium Cast recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." The soundtrack is from Jason Donovan played the lead of Joseph. It's a nicely done soundtrack and that has all the main songs from the show. The show itself is about Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers and rose to be 2nd only to Pharoah in Egypt. The soundtrack is interesting in that it features 4 different types of music. You get to hear country, pop, rockabilly and choir music. The show featured the coolest Pharaoh I've ever seen. Imagine a rockabilly Elvis Presley Pharaoh and you can get the idea. There are clear references to Presley in the songs the Pharoah sings. I remember seeing the person who played Pharoah on stage throwing a lady in the audience a royal scarf. It was hilarious.

Overall, the soundtrack is nice. I think it would be enjoyed more by someone who has seen the theater production of the show. You would understand the music better in that case. Still, if you're a fan of Webber's music, this is one you'd want to buy. Unlike other Webber musicals which seemed to concentrate around one song, this soundtrack has a number of nice songs as well as some funny ones. Cheers!

Last Day at Medieval Times

I worked my last day at the castle today. I didn't know if it would be or not. Two friends at the castle tried to help patch things up with my boss but, I guess they wouldn't be patched. My punishment was revoked but, the damage was done. My boss said no hard feelings but I suspect there were some. I may have hit a nerve with my comments about Medieval money. Oh well. Life goes on. The pain of leaving will fade. I still wish I could've been a squire. Ironically, another person in Sound and Lighting got picked for squire. Maybe, it is best that I left as that would've rankled.

Rumor has it that the new show they've been working on the past couple years may finally come out this fall. I'm tempted to go see it if it does. I'd just like to see it at a different castle as I don't care to go back to the Arundel Mills castle for a good while. I need to let it go and get rid of the hurt. We'll see what happens.

Gold Card

I finally earned a gold card at Dave & Buster's. What is so big about earning a gold card you ask? It gets you a 10% discount on game play. In the case of the trivia game I like to play so much, it saves me 1/2 of a chip a play. In effect, with the gold card, I'll get a free play every 9 times. What do you have to do to get a gold card? You have to purchase and play 1,200 chips (a guesstimate of approximately $210 worth of chips). Once you've done that, you have to see the cashier who will transfer your remaining chips from your Powercard to your new gold card. It is your responsibility to track how many chips you've bought and played. (I think this part stinks. It's very easy to lose track.) It doesn't cost anything additional to get the gold card. If you play the games at Dave & Buster's a lot, it is definitely worth getting.

Happy Belated Mother's Day

I should've posted something on this yesterday but didn't get around to it. So, I'm wishing all mothers out there a Happy Belated Mother's Day including my step-mom Kay. I hope she had an extra special day yesterday. Mom's are awesome folks and deserve their own special day.

Product Review

Thanks to the Medieval Times auction last week, I was able to try Grolsch beer for the first time for free. I found the beer to be all right. It isn't terribly smooth or have any noteworthy taste. It is imported from the Netherlands though I don't personally care if a beer is imported or not. I just care about the taste. The one thing I really liked about Grolsch is that the bottles are resealable. They come with their own plastic stopper that you can lock in place. Why is this nice? Because if you don't feel like drinking your entire beer, you can seal it up again and drink the rest of it later without it going flat on you. It's a really nice feature. As I received the beer for free, I obviously can't tell you how it rates cost wise though I doubt it's cheap. Imported beers tend to be more expensive.

Overall, I'd rate Grolsch as a decent beer. I wouldn't make any special trips to buy some but, I'd drink if it was available and wasn't too expensive.

Giving Notice

To my surprise, an event happened at Medieval Times that caused me to give them my two weeks notice. I've very much enjoyed working there and even foregone greater money at the Post Office in order to work there. What happened was that I was punished for helping another section in the castle. Here is my version of what happened.

This past Thursday morning, I was working post 1 as a castle guard. We had a matinee show which means we have bus loads of kids who attend the show. The primary person for directing the kids to line up and where to enter the castle is the Prince (the King's brother) though the position is also called the ambassador. The Prince was busy outside the Arundel Mills Mall watching for buses arriving. When they arrived, he would tell them where to go inside the mall. There wasn't anyone by the castle entrance to direct them in. I decided to step up and direct them through the castle entrance. All went well except for one case where 3 students decided to leave the castle without permission from their chaperones. One of my duties as castle guard incredibly is to make sure no students leave without their chaperones (I was told this afterwards.).

When I went back to the Sound and Lighting booth, the head castle guard told me there were two complaints about me doing my job at Post 1. Because of that, he decided that I would no longer be assigned to Post 1. Instead, he would permanently assign me to Post 2. He understood that I was trying to help but it wasn't my job to direct students into the castle. He also admonished me for letting 3 students leave the castle. I thought it was ridiculous that I should be punished for helping out the folks at the check-in desk and said so. I apologized for letting the 3 students leave. I wasn't sure what the rules were on that at the time.

During the show, I considered my options. There were only two. I could accept the punishment or I could leave. Considering that the job was not crucial to me money or job wise, I could afford to leave. Also, there wasn't any real future for me at the castle. The main reason I was still working at the castle was because I really enjoyed it. I really liked playing castle guard and interacting with the customers. There are few jobs where you can make believe and get paid for it at the same time. Medieval Times is one of those few places. Finally, I made my decision. I was going to give notice.

One bad thing about giving notice is that you still have to work those last 2 weeks. For me, this is going to be the pits. I would like to leave now but I won't do that as it would leave my boss in a real bind. I also have to work post 2 even though I hate working that post and it was my being moved there permanently that caused me to give notice. The only alternative to not working post 2 is to walk out which I won't do. To make matters worse, word has gotten out that I'm leaving. I was already down about leaving when Dave, one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, came up and asked me what was up with me leaving. I wanted to leave quietly and that was clearly shot to all heck. God only knows what rumors are going around the castle. The castle can be terrible in that way.

While it saddens to leave Medieval Times, there will be some good things to come out of my departure. I'll have the time to take college classes again. I'm only 4 classes away from getting my Bachelor's degree. Also, when the Maryland Renaissance Festival opens in late August, I'll be able to go without having to take time off from my job. I'm hoping the festival gets the group Medieval Baebes back. I really wanted to see them last year but had to work both days they performed at the festival. Lastly, I'll be able to make more money. Thankfully, I didn't burn any bridges with the supervisors who direct the city carriers. I checked and I should be able to get at least 24 hours a week with them. While delivering the mail won't be as much fun as working at Medieval Times, it pays double what I'm getting at the castle. The extra bucks will help, especially if I have to pay the out-of-state rate at the University of Maryland. We'll see what works out.

My Routine at Medieval Times Part II

Once I've hung up my guard tunic, stowed my fake chainmail hood and put away any weapons I took to do guard duty, I head to my spotlight tower. There are four spotlight towers in the show arena, one for each corner of the arena. The towers are approximately 15 feet up. You climb a metal ladder into your tower. Once you're in your tower, you step from the ladder to the tower platform. You have to be careful at this point as a mis-step could result in a nasty fall. Once you're on the platform, you lower a metal plate over the opening so the platform is completely closed. Then, you get things organized on the platform for the show.

The first thing you do is turn on your spotlight. There is a power switch on the side of the spotlight which you flick then, you press an ignitor button right next to it. The spotlight will slowly come on. The second thing you do is don your headsets. The headsets help all the spotlight operators communicate with each other. Once the operator has donned their headsets, they'll check in by saying their name and the spotlight their on. Another important aspect of the headsets is that they enable the operators to hear the person calling the cues. There are certain times when specific spotlights have to be on specific knights or acts. The cues are the points when the operators has to open the shutter on their spotlight to highlight the knight or act or when the operator needs to close the shutter on the spotlight. The last thing the spotlight operator will do is set a chair for themselves. There are set points in the show where the spotlight operators stand down. The chairs give them something to sit on while they wait for the next cue.

If all goes according to plan, the show will last 2 hours or less. Once the show is over, all the spotlight operators turn off their spotlights and put their headsets back on the bar where they were before. At this point, I may end up doing one of three things. I may go to wardrobe to collect all the headsets that were used by the showcast. I may go back to the sound and lighting booth, don my castle guard costume and go to the dungeon to collect passes from those wanting to enter the dungeon. Or, I may take out the trash from the booth if the trash can is filled up. Once I've completed any of these tasks, I'll head back to the changing room. There, I'll change into my regular clothes. After I'm dressed, I drop off my costume at wardrobe. They'll launder the fake chainmail shirt, hood and hose. The Sound and Lighting booth is my last stop before I clock out. I drop off my boots there. By storing them there, I don't have to keep them in my car and I don't have to worry about forgetting to bring them to the castle. While at the booth, I may double check the schedule to see when I have to work at the castle again. Once I'm all finished at the booth, I clock out and head home.

That gives you an idea of what my days are like Medieval Times. It's fun working there. It's one of the few places where you can get paid for playing castle guard and using a fake English accent. It can also be a pleasure dealing with the customers. A lot of the folks that come to the castle are pretty nice. It's neat to see the small kids dressed up as knights or princesses. Sometimes, we'll get adults dressed up in Medieval or Renaissance garb. That can be pretty cool too. Cheers all!

Condolences

I was having a slightly busy day today. Between appointments, I decided to call my step-mom Kay and find out how things were going with her and her husband Ed. Ed has been sick for over a year at least. After scores of tests, the doctors finally found out what was wrong with him. He had primary amyloidosis. It's a plasma cell disorder which affects 2,000 people a year. There is a clinic in Boston which is renowned for treating the disorder and Ed was going to go to the clinic for treatment. I expected when I called Kay to found out that he had started the treatment. It came as a great shock when Kay told me that Ed arrived at the clinic this past Sunday and died there. I was very sorry to hear the news. From the few times I'd met the man, he seemed like a very decent bloke. I know he and my step-mom were very happily married. I hope my step-mom can find comfort in that at least his suffering is over. If any of my blog readers pray, please say a prayer for my step-mom to help her as she deals with this terrible event. I know she would appreciate it. Cheers!

Auction

One of the employee incentive programs Medieval Times has is a program called Medieval Dollars. Medieval Dollars are fake money that the castle awards to its employees for any number of things. It can be awarded for meeting your sales quota in gift shop or the photo department. It can be awarded for perfect timeliness. Basically, it is awarded for doing something beyond the norm. It encourages employees to give that extra effort.

Now, you ask what good are Medieval Dollars? That is where the bi-annual auctions come in. The auctions are where those who have earned Medieval Dollars get to use them to bid on various items the management has bought for the auction. Example: I bid and won on 4 tickets to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. For me, this was a really nice reward for giving that extra effort as it was something I really wanted to do. Others won an Xbox, a food processor, a 158 piece tool kit, gift certificates to Damon's Sports Bar and to one of the Texas Roadhouse restaurants. There were some nice prizes to be won.

Overall, I think the Medieval Dollars program is a great employee incentive program. It definitely rewards and encourages its employees to take their work up another notch. I know I will because of the program. It also makes me glad to have sacrificed some bucks so I could work at the castle. I can make a lot more money carrying mail for the Post Office vice working at the castle. The prizes I won at the auction made me glad I decided work at the castle vice making the bigger bucks at the Post Office.

Dentist

I finally got my lazy procrastinating butt to the dentist today. I've been needing a cleaning since January but I kept putting it off. Now, I wish I'd seen the dentist back in January. I received good and bad news. The good news was no cavities which was also a surprise considering how bad I've been about brushing and flossing my teeth. The bad news was that I have a moderate case of gum disease. I'll have to see a Periodontist three times to get all the crud cleaned off my teeth and then we'll see how my teeth and gums recover. This is the price for not brushing and flossing like I should've. Thankfully, I have a dental plan thanks to the Air Force. The bill for my teeth is going to run to almost $1,300! Because of the dental plan, I'll have to pay $390 which is better than paying $1,300. Hopefully, I'll get my lazy butt in gear and start brushing AND flossing more regularly. We'll see how the treatments with the Periodontist go.

My Routine at Medieval Times Part I

I thought my readers might find it interesting to find out what my routine is when I work at Medieval Times. This is what it is like for someone working in Sound and Lighting there.

When I first arrive, I clock in with a scanner that has a picture of two of my fingers. This way, the castle can make sure the person that is clocking in is the person they say they are. Then, I make my way to the Sound and Lighting booth. I store my Dehner full length English riding boots in there because they are so valuable. They cost me over $930. The castle didn't supply me with the boots. I bought them earlier when I was riding at Aspiring Heights Farm (http://www.aspiringheightsfarm.com). The castle supplies those who play castle guards a fake chain mail shirt, a fake chain mail hood, a pair of black hose, a cover tunic, a black belt to cinch around the cover tunic, and weapons. The employee is expected to supply their own black tennis shoes which they are supposed to wear with the costume. I don't think Medieval castle guards wore black tennis shoes back in Medieval days so I asked and received permission to wear my riding boots.

Once I have my boots, I head to wardrobe. Wardrobe has all the costumes for everyone who works at the castle. They're responsible for washing them and repairing them. After I pick up all my costume items barring weapons and gauntlets, I go to the men's locker room where I change and lock up my regular clothes.

I'm not finished getting costumed if you will. I have to head back to the booth where I get my big black leather belt (a dyed weight lighting belt with various studs added for decoration) and decide what weapon I want to carry on it. I usually pick out a sword as I think it's pretty neat to carry one. Then, I cinch the belt and smooth out my cover tunic so it looks smooth. After that, I put on a black ski cap. Why would I wear a black ski cap? Because it cushions really well the metal helmet I have to wear. The ski cap does get a little warm but it's warm it considering how well it paddens the helmet. Next, I put on my black leather gauntlets. Like my boots, I bought my own gauntlets. I thought they'd enhance my costume. I got approval from the higher ups (all changes to costume must be approved by them) and have worn them since. Lastly, I select which halberd I want to use to guard the entrance to the castle. The only difference between the two we have is one is shiny and one isn't.

I'm finally all set to play castle guard. Now, I have to wait till it's time for me and the others to go out to the castle waiting area to our posts. We take our posts 2 and 1/2 hours before show time. My favorite post is post 1. This is the entrance closest to the ticket booth. It is also the side that people line up on when preparing to check-in at the check-in desk between the two fake stone lions. Working post 1 is a bit of a challenge as I have to answer a number of questions concerning ticketing and reservations. I also have to make sure that only those who have a seating card (they get one of those when they check-in) are allowed in. Lastly, I get asked a lot to pose for pictures. I confess I enjoy this part as I find it fun. I'm always willing to have my picture taken by myself or with guests.

I remain at post 1 till the herald's trumpets sound and the Lord Chancellor makes the call to table. The call to table is where people are directed to the appropriate doors for their color section (there are 6 colors with each color corresponding to a particular knight). Once they enter the appropriate double doors, serving serfs and wenches direct them to their assigned table. Before the people are allowed into the arena and to their table, all of those doing guard duty and working the dungeon go back to the Sound and Lighting booth. There, we put our weapons away and change from our costumes into clothes that are entirely black so we can't be seen when we're working the spotlights in one of the spotlight towers.

To be continued.

New Postal Rates

In case you haven't heard, postal rates will be going up on May 14th. The price of a 1 ounce First Class letter will go up 2 cents. You can mail letters using the 39 cent stamps until May 14th. After that, you must have to have the increased postage on your letter otherwise it'll get kicked back to you. Believe me, it will. I've seen it. Your local Post Office should be selling the new 41 cent stamps as well as 2 cent stamps so you can use up your 39 cent stamps. For further information on the rate increase or to order stamps on-line, see http://www.usps.com.

Pete's Wicked Ale

On my last visit to the Corridor Wine Store, I bought some beer. I decided to try something I haven't tried before so I bought a six-pack of Pete's Wicked Ale. This is a product review on that ale.

The company that produces Pete's Wicked Ale states that it is extremely smooth. I did find it an easy ale to drink. It does have a smooth taste. They also state it has ruby color though I can't testify to that as I drank it right out of the bottle. I found out it was also potent. They don't tell you the alcohol content on either the bottle or carrier. I had to look it up on their website http://www.peteswicked.com/. I found out it is rated at 5.3% which is stronger than your normal U.S. brews. The potency doesn't take away from it being a good brew. Overall, I enjoyed drinking this ale. I found out Pete's Wicked Ale makes three other regular products: Pete's Rally Cap Ale, Pete's Strawberry Blonde and Pete's Wanderlust Cream Ale. I plan to try these some time and see how good they are. Stay tuned for further reviews on their products. Cheers all!

Cruise

My friend Harvey and I have agreed on what cruise we should take next year. Both of us were game to visit the Caribbean as neither of use had ever visited there. There is an ample number of cruise ships that do cruises out of the Caribbean so the next question was what cruise we should go on. Both of us agreed that it would be neat to take a cruise out of San Juan, Puerto Rico as that is another place we've never been to. We could do a little sightseeing and then board the cruise ship and see other places in the Caribbean. Boarding the ship at San Juan cut down the number of cruises. Our travel agent, Joel Mills at Carlson Wagonlit, helped narrow the choices further. We finally decided on a 7-day cruise with Royal Caribbean. We'll visit Oranjestad, St. Thomas, Willemstad and Philipsburg. As I've never been on a cruise, it should be an interesting time. I'm looking forward to going.