Cruise Update

I'm currently sitting in San Juan International Airport (SJU). My cruise ended uneventfully. Last night, I packed my bags and put them in the walkway so they could be picked up. This morning, I went to the Windjammer Cafe for the last time for a good full breakfast. I was grateful to Royal Caribbean as I probably won't eat anything else until I get home this evening.

After breakfast, I went back to my cabin and packed last minute stuff into my carry-on bags. I found the list of charges I made on the ship. All totalled, I charged $250 worth of stuff. Not too bad. I also said my good-byes to my friend Harvey. We'll be in touch and I'll see him again in six months when we do a 2-week tour of France with Globus. We also have to start working things out for a cruise in 2009.

The next step was to go to the Lyric Theater in the ship and wait for my departure number to be called. I ended up waiting over an hour. Finally, my number was called. I walked down to deck 4 and checked out of the ship for the last time. Then, I walked down a long walkway into a room with thousands of bags. I had to search for the 2 I checked. I finally found them, turned in my customs slip (first one to have ever have a ship name on it vice a flight number), and walked into the area where I would check my bags in with TeD/United. It was then that I had to find security and get my dive knives back. That went all right and I put the knives in my dive bag. I secured the bag using ties. I'm glad I won't have to mess with the bags again until I reach Dulles.

The next step was to find my ride to the airport. I'd prepaid this and I was glad. One less thing to mess with. I was directed to a bus which took at least 30 of us to the airport. The bus driver told us a little more about San Juan on the way. Once we arrived at the airport, I went to security as I already had my bags checked in and my boarding pass thanks to the ship's valet service. Security was uneventful and my gate wasn't far from there.

So, now I sit waiting for my flight. The cruise was nice but I miss the cameraderie of a Globus tour. It was impossible to have any cameraderie with 3,689 people. I still think it is the way to see the islands in the Caribbean. It makes it loads easier as you only have to unpack and pack 1 time. Also, the cruise can save you money on meals. The food on the ship was good. It was also VERY plentiful. I can understand how people can put on some weight on a cruise. I think I managed to avoid that. I kept myself to 1 plate per meal and I tried not to pile it on. Also, I made sure I exercised every day in some way. I was bit irked by the constant shop shop shop pitch on the ship. I'm not into shopping at all. Also, I didn't like the numerous pitches to gamble in the ship's casino. Gambling is a good way to throw away one's money in my opinion though I do it myself on occasion. I'm not immune to the lure of winning a few bucks.

As I previously stated, I'll post blog entries telling what I did on the cruise later. Hopefully, you'll find them interesting. If nothing else, they'll give you an idea what a cruise is like.

Cheers all!

Cruise Update

Greetings all! My apologies for not posting but, what Royal Caribbean Cruises calls nominal and what I call nominal are apparently two different things. When I got on-board, I checked into their WiFi service. I wasn't able to get my WiFi card to work on their system. I found out I would have to rent one of their cards at $50 and pay 55 cents a minute to access the Internet. I felt that was too much and so I haven't accessed the Internet the last 5 days. Today, the ship made port at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. As the U.S. Virgin Islands are part of the U.S., I was able to access the Internet via my PCS Connection card. Hurrah! It's great to be able to post again.

Sadly, I'll be back in San Juan, Puerto Rico tomorrow. From there, I'll fly home and go back to my very dull boring life. Oh well. I plan to catch up on entries for the cruise once I get back so there will be some interesting stuff to read the next week or so. I've dived 6 times in 3 different countries. I went deep sea fishing in St. Maarten though that turned out to be a royal dud. Today, I got to learn about real pirates that inhabited the Caribbean. It was very interesting. I actually bought my mom Kay a real piece of Spanish treasure. It's a real silver coin that was salvaged from the Nuestra de Atocha wreck off the Florida coast. I hope she enjoys it.

My friend Harvey and I are already planning our next cruise. We hope to take a 7-day cruise in 2009 that makes port in St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados and Antigua. It would be on the same ship. We'll see if it happens.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for further posts. Cheers all!

Trip Update

I felt like a proper tourist yesterday morning. I made my way down to the restaurant the Normandie uses for breakfast. Having breakfast in the hotel restaurant is standard procedure during a holiday. The breakfast was continental which stunk. I like a hearty breakfast with lots of sausage, bacon, eggs, potatoes and a pastry or two. It'll keep me going all day. A Continental breakfast WON'T.

After breakfast, I waited about 15 minutes for someone to show up for the tour I'd signed up for. The tour was one of the main reasons I chose to stay 2 days in San Juan. I wanted to get to see Old San Juan and the Bacardi Distillery. I didn't know what to expect from the tour company RICO Suntours. To my surprise, a van pulled up and a guy called out my last name. I gave him my voucher and hopped in. There were 7 of us, all from the mainland U.S. Incredibly, all or most were from Maryland too. I remember one lady saying she lived in Bel Air which I've heard of.

We drove around old San Juan with our guide/driver pointing out buildings of note. Then, we parked and began the walking part of the tour. We walked along the old city wall to the only surviving city gate. We walked through and saw packed houses with cobblestone streets. The cobblestones were used as ballast on ships coming out to Puerto Rico and then abandoned. The city decided to take advantage of the situation and used them to pave their streets in older days.

Our tour guide took us to Il Convenuto which is a former convent that was converted into a wonderful hotel. He told us some of the history and pointed out things of note. Right across the street was the Cathedral of San Juan. It isn't a super ornate building but, it still had charm. It was neat visiting it. We continued to walk around the old city gradually making our way back to the van.

From there, we drove to San Cristobal Fort. It was 1 of 3 (I believe) forts that protected the city. The fort was huge and very impressive. It had a dungeon and thick walled barracks. It also had great views of the city. In the old days, it would've been the highest building in the city. It was fascinating to walk around and learn of its history. After that, we would drive to the Puerto Rican legislature.

Puerto Rico has it's own Senate and House of Representatives. There are 8 Senators and 30 or 40 Representatives. Politics are a lot more passionate in Puerto Rico. In the last election, over 70% of the population voted compared to around 35% in the mainland U.S. The building is impressive with 26 different kinds of marble. It also houses the Puerto Rican constitution which was adopted in 1950 something. It was a beautiful building.

Bacardi Rum is known worldwide. They have the number 1 brand in the U.S. One of the things they advertise is you can take a tour of their distillery in San Juan. You can and you can't. It turns out you get to see the outside of the distillery. You go to a presentation building where you learn the history of the company and how they make rum. After the presentation, a drive outside the distillery, bottling and administrative buildings, you come back to a pavilion where you get 2 free drinks made with Bacardi rum. I found the drinks to be small. There is also a building called Casa Bacardi where you can buy any kind of rum they make including their 151 rum which you can't take to the U.S. because it's highly FLAMMABLE. It even says that on the bottle. I bought a beach towel there as I needed one for my check dives Sunday.

After the distillery tour, our tour was over. Our wonderful guide drove us back to our respective hotels. My guide also tipped me that I wouldn't want to go into Old San Juan. There were going to be 4 cruise ship loads of tourists there. I decided to take his advice. I chilled out at my hotel room and waited for the cruise ships to depart. They finally started leaving around 10 p.m. To my astonishment, the Celebrity X ship left the Pan American pier going backwards. I can only guess that the ship is so big that it can't turn around in the harbor area. I thought that a bit of a trip. I was impressed by how fast the ships could move. I made the mistake of not checking on 1 of the cruise ship for about 20 minutes. When I checked on it again, it had departed the pier and was halfway out of the port.

The day ended up being really nice. Sunday March 9th, I'll get to do my check dives and check in to the cruise I'll be going on. Stay tuned for further updates. Cheers all!

First Trip to San Juan Puerto Rico

I finally arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico. My misadventures continued. Everyone boarded the plane at Dulles International. After everyone was seated, the Captain comes on and tells everyone that their having problems with the plane's computer but he thinks the mechanic will be able to fix it with a reboot. At the next update, we're given the bad news. The plane's computer will have to replaced. That'll take at least 20 minutes. We grit it out for 20 minutes and pull away from the gate. Tower informs the plane that it will have to wait in the waiting area for at least 10 minutes. I forget the reason the Captain was given. After being nearly an hour late departing, we finally took off. The flight was nearly 4 hours. The stewards and stewardesses were excellent. However, TeD definitely packs people into their planes like cattle. I had very little leg room. Also, if you want something to eat barring 2 cookies, you'll have to shell out $5 for a boxed snack. I bought their mini-meal. It was actually pretty decent.

Once I arrived at the San Juan Airport, I followed the signs to baggage claim. The signs said through the rotating doors to the United Airlines baggage claim. One problem, the doors wouldn't budge. Someone found out there was a long way around to the baggage claim. So, off I trudged to find the baggage claim. Thankfully, all my luggage arrived and to my surprise, TSA left my toothpaste alone and didn't open my scuba diving equipment bag. Hurray!

I quickly found out that English is NOT the dominant language in Puerto Rico. It's Spanish. All signs were in Spanish and a few had smaller words in English. I wasn't thrilled with this discovery as I'm off on my own for the next 2 days and I can't speak Spanish (except the numbers 1 to 10 which wouldn't do a lot of good). Barring getting help from the hotel, I get to sort stuff out myself. Not fun. I like having someone there just in case. It's one of the primary reasons I go on Globus tours. If I run into a jam, I can go running to the tour guide and yell HELP!

My misadventures continued at the hotel. The hotel is supposed to have free WiFi. I hooked up my WiFi card and it didn't pick up any signal. I found out the free WiFi isn't working. The hotel let me use their cable modem for free as a consequence.

After calling my friend Harvey and telling him what to expect i.e. WARM and LOTS of palm trees and LOTS of bright sun, I headed off to Old San Juan. I found out it's 2 and 1/2 miles from my hotel. I didn't feel I needed that much exercise. It cost me $10 to take a taxi. The driver dropped me off at Colon Plaza, named after Christopher Colon (I think he was an explorer though I'm not sure). I walked down to the cruise ship piers to find out where I'll have to go Sunday. The Regent Seven Seas Mariner is in port. It's on par size wise with a ferry but this ship doesn't carry any buses or cars. It is huge. I won't be going on that one but, I will leave from the same pier.

After that, I made my way to the Hard Rock Cafe. In the last 22 hours, I'd only had the mentioned mini-meal on the plane. I was ready for some food. I ended up having a vanilla milkshake, an order of chicken wings and their artery frying hickory smoked bacon cheeseburger with caramelized onions with an order of french fries. By the time I finished all that, I was happily stuffed.

It was time to burn a little of that dinner off. I walked down Paseo de la Princesa (La Princesa Promenade). It was a nice stroll. I got to see some of the old city walls. At the end, I got to see the La Princesa Fountain. It's a nice fountain though I was surprised by the bare boobs on the women in the fountain. The views over the water from there were great. It reminded me of my days at Fort Walton Beach, Florida. They were very beautiful.

After that, I walked back to Colon Plaza. I hopped into a taxi and told the driver I was staying at the Normandie Hotel. The driver gave me a quizzical look. My reaction was ah oh. Thankfully, he did know how to get the hotel and, he didn't try to rip me off. Once in my room, I called Caribe Aquatic and confirmed all was set up for my check dives on Sunday. So far, all goes well. Stay tuned for my updates.

Update: January 1, 2014. Two things. First, the Hard Rock Cafe in San Juan is closed at the time of this update. I was in San Juan April 2013 and sadly saw it was closed. I don't know why it was closed. Also, today, I checked the Hard Rock Cafe website (http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafe3/) and, it still isn't listed. Second, the Normandie Hotel is closed. According to the following webpage: http://blekko.com/wiki/Normandie_Hotel?source=672620ff, it was closed in 2008 due to redevelopment plans and purchased by Ben Medetsky and Jack Polatsek of Interra Capital Group in 2013 who are working on redeveloping the hotel. I couldn't find anything on that on Interra's website: http://www.interracapital.com/default.aspx about that or what their plans are for the hotel though the property is a departure for this company as all its listed properties are in Texas.

Messed Up

I messed up yesterday. I should've taken the day off so I could've taken my time getting ready for my trip. Instead, I did a full day's work at the Post Office. To make matters worse there, the direct-to-point service (DPS) mail was over an hour and a half late. That caused me to be over an hour late hitting the street. I finished work at the Post Office around 5:45 p.m. I dashed home, had something to eat quickly, loaded my car with my diving gear and drove to Columbia Scuba (see previous blog entry). To be on the safe side, I decided to buy an extra mask strap and a couple extra fin straps. I was surprised to find out the fin straps cost $10 a piece. Ouch! I also decided to buy some electrical ties so I could secure my diving bag. I don't want anyone to help themselves to my diving equipment. The stuff is very expensive.

After that, I had to do laundry which took another 90 minutes. I finished packing around 10:15 p.m. and hit the road at 10:30. It took an hour to reach the hotel I was going to stay at. The one benefit I had for leaving so late was no traffic on Maryland 295 and the D.C. 495 Orbital. I got a shock when I found out I had to pay 2 tolls to get to my hotel. It's located off one of the few Virginia toll roads.

The hotel my travel agent recommended turned out to be very nice. Sadly, I didn't get to enjoy it much as I had to be at Dulles at 6:15 a.m. Considering how much sleep I've had, I'm surprisingly coherent. I suspect I'm going to sleep like a log when I get to San Juan. We'll see. That's all for this update. I'll post another when I arrive in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the first time. Stay tuned.

Dive Shop

I visited Columbia Scuba (http://www.columbiascuba.com/) today. One of the pieces of equipment I decided I wanted to take with me is a small underwater flashlight. The flashlight would be useful for looking into crevices and nooks. When I tried turning the flashlight on, it wouldn't come on. I assumed the batteries were dead so the next day, I drove to Safeway and bought some new batteries. I installed them and the flashlight still wouldn't come on. I decided to take the flashlight to Columbia Scuba and see if they could figure out what was wrong with it. If they couldn't, I'd buy a new one. It turned out that a) I put the batteries in wrong and b) the bulb was burned out. The flashlight didn't have any kind of diagram showing how batteries should be put in. As far as the bulb, the only thing for that was replacing it. To my surprise, it cost over $20.

Another diver was at the time shop while I was there. Unlike me, he had gone on a number of dive trips. I asked him what he could think of that I might need. He came up with 3 things. The first two were standard: mask defogger and ear drops. Mask defogger keeps your mask from fogging up once you get in the water. Ear drops keep you from getting an ear infection while diving. I learned the hard way how important these were. The last item he came up with was a whistle. Why would a whistle be important? It would be very important if you surfaced away from the dive boat you're using. Blowing a whistle would help you get the attention of the people on board. The whistle the dive shop sold me reportedly can be heard up to 1 mile. Another item the fellow recommended was spare fin and mask straps. These can break and there isn't any guarantee the company you're diving with will have replacements. Unfortunately, there are specific straps for specific masks so I'll have to go back to Columbia Scuba tomorrow so they can match up my mask with the right strap. Concerning the fin straps, I thought I had spares of those but, it turned out I was wrong so, I'll be buying some of those tomorrow too. Lastly, I plan to buy some electrical ties so I can secure my diving bag. If the TSA folks want to check something in my bag, they can easily cut the tie. The securing the zippers on my bag, I'll make sure some baggage handler doesn't get tempted to help themselves to a free diving knife or fins.

Heads Up

In case you didn't know, daylight savings time will be starting March 9th. At 2 a.m. on March 9th, you'll need to move your clocks forward 1 hour (or you can move them forward 1 hour before you go to bed). The earlier start date is due to the Energy Policy of 2005 (Source: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/daylight_time.php). Daylight savings time will end this year on November 2nd.

Trip Preparation

I've begun getting my scuba diving equipment together for my trip to the Caribbean. As previously mentioned, this will be the first time I'll have travelled with the stuff. It's a bit of a challenge because you have figure out what exactly to take. Some scuba diving equipment is very heavy ex. weights and because of weight limits you don't want to take those. You're not allowed to bring some equipment on board planes. I found out I can't check in my spare air tank because you're not allowed to check pressurized air tanks. My travel agent told me one person did that one time and the tank exploded causing the plane to crash. In regards to the stuff you can take with you, once you take, you're going to be lugging it with you the whole trip. So, do you really need that anchor line finder? Are you going to need a wreck reel? Will you need an underwater flashlight? Scuba diving equipment tends to be expensive so you don't want to leave something behind and then have to buy it again at a local dive shop. Some equipment uses batteries. You have to make sure the batteries are still good though you might want to replace them to be on the safe side. You don't want the batteries to die while you're diving or have to go in search of batteries in some foreign country. Lastly, you need to remember to bring your certification cards and dive log. The cards are necessary to prove you're qualified to dive. The dive log is important so you can prove later that you did the dives you said you did. When I show up to do 2 dives in Aruba, they require proof that I've dived in the last two years. My dive log will be my proof as it'll show where I did my 2 check dives and have the signature of the divemaster that accompanied me on the dives. For me, all this is new and challenging. Yet, it is exciting too. I can't wait to see underwater world in the Caribbean.

Sudoku

I started playing Sudoku again. I know I'll be playing the electronic version I bought on my flight back from Oslo, Norway while enroute and back to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It's a great way to while away some time while you're waiting for your flight at the airport as well as use up some of the scrap paper from your computer printer.

This past Sunday, I was at the Laurel Books-a-Million. I saw a Sudoku game book that offered tips on how to solve the puzzles faster. I decided to see what tips it offered. While checking those out, I found out that Sudoku has become bigger than crossword puzzles in the U.S. There are now more Sudoku puzzle books published than crossword puzzle books. All major newspapers now carry the puzzles. I suspect people prefer Sudoku because it isn't dependent on their vocabulary. Also, the puzzles are very challenging. Last night, I tried to beat my best time of 12 minutes 51 seconds. Luck wasn't with me though. I swear the machine came up with one of the harder level 1 puzzles. It ended up taking me over 41 minutes to solve the dang thing. Still, it was fun doing the puzzle and it is a great way to exercise the mind. I look forward to playing a lot of Sudoku while I'm off on my latest adventure.

New Postage Rates

I justed wanted to give folks a heads up that First Class postage for a 1 ounce letter will go up 1 penny on May 12th. If you own forever stamps, you won't be affected by the price increase. I don't know how much of a grace period the Post Office will give on the new rate. I do know that after a certain period, they will kick the letter back for 1 lousy penny. So, you can either buy some forever stamps now so you don't have to buy a bunch of 1 cent stamps or mark your calendars and be ready to add a 1 cent stamp on your letters. The increase is due to the cost of inflation. New rates for Express Mail, Priority Mail, and International Mail will be announced in March. (Source for all the information above: http://www.usps.com/prices/welcome.htm?from=bannercommunications&page=prices)

Show Review

I saw Toby Dinner Theater's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" last night in Columbia, Maryland. I've been looking forward to seeing it as I first saw it in London, England and thoroughly enjoyed it. Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the music for it and did a fantastic job. It has some great song and interestingly, they are in a number of different styles i.e. country, reggae, rock, choral. It's the first show I've seen of Webber's where he did that.

Toby's version was very nice. It had the same great music though different costumes. Each of the 12 brothers wore overalls with the first letter of their name. In place of a kids choir, the have a women's ensemble that sings the choral pieces. They have a small ensemble that plays the music for the production. Interestingly, all the waiters and waitresses either perform in the show or work in sound & lighting or the music ensemble. If you enjoy the performance, you might want to give them a larger tip as this is supposedly the biggest source of their income at Toby's.

Food wise, the food was good and there was plenty of it. I wasn't super impressed with the salad bar but, overall I thought the meal was good. As it's a buffet, you can eat as much as you want. I didn't make a pig of myself but I left filled up. Drinks wise, drinks from the bar are not included with the meal. I ordered a vanilla milkshake in a show glass. The shake and glass cost $6.10. I thought that was reasonable. The shake itself was very good. Service was excellent. My waiter Matt repeatedly checked on me to make sure everything was all right.

Overall, I was very pleased with the show and Toby's. I thought they did a fine job. Another plus about Toby's in Columbia is their excellent location. They're just off of Maryland-29. Their location made it easy for me to get home vice seeing a production in downtown Baltimore. If you're interested in seeing this production, their website is (http://www.tobysdinnertheatre.com/tobyscolumbia_003.htm). Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will be running at the Columbia Toby's through June 8th. Cheers all!

Periodontist

I saw Dr. Jones today at Batz & Weiner Dental Clinic. The dentist who cleaned me teeth said I needed to see him. It turned out I didn't. However, I learned that because my gums had been so badly infected, I would need to see him about cleaning my teeth as he can go below the gum line and make sure the infections don't come back. A regular dentist works only above the gum line. I also talked with him about getting my teeth cleaned every 3 months. I'm lazy about flossing. By going in every 3 months, I can make up for my lack of flossing and make sure my teeth don't get so bad again.

Cell Phone Off

This post is for any of my friends or family that read this blog. Thanks to the situation at the Post Office, I've turned off my cell phone since I don't want to be reached by them till I have to go back Thursday morning. If you need to contact me before Thursday morning, please email me.

Test Drive

I did a test drive today to Washington Dulles International Airport. I'll be flying out of there when I fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico for my Caribbean cruise. The drive went all right barring slow traffic on a number of spots on the Washington 495 Beltway. As I was going to west on 495, I saw that there were bad spots going east and decided to continue on 495 South once I finished checking Dulles out.

Washington Dulles International Airport was built between 1958 and 1962. The main architect of the airport was Eero Saarinen. (Source: http://www.metwashairports.com/dulles/about_dulles_international_2/history_2)

Saarinen did a nice job designing the airport. He also designed it so it could grow as more and more people flew. Thanks to Saarinen's foresight, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority was able to expand the airport as needed. I drove the dedicated road that runs to the airport. It was well maintained and well marked. I was able to find the long term (economy) parking lots as well as the departure area I'll leave from. From what I could see, my only worry will be the traffic along the 495 Beltway. Once I reach the dedicated road, I should have no problems reaching Dulles. I'm considering staying at a hotel at the airport or close by. I have a somewhat early flight and I don't want to have to get up super early to drive down to Dulles or take a chance on the traffic. I don't know what the traffic is like on the Beltway at 6 a.m.

My drive back was uneventful barring a 3 or 4 mile backup before the drawbridge on the southeast side of the beltway. I suspect construction in this area is what is slowing traffic down there. Once I was past that, I made good time getting home.

Hobbit Update

This is a little old but, I thought I'd post something on it anyway. The Tolkien Estate is suing New Line Cinema for its share of the Lord of the Rings movies. The estate reportedly received just $62,500 as an "upfront payment" before production began (Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080211/ap_en_mo/tolkien_lawsuit). The estate was supposed to receive "7.5 percent of the gross receipts." (Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080211/ap_en_mo/tolkien_lawsuit) The estate is suing New Line for more than $150 million. They are also seeking to prevent New Line from making any movies based on other Tolkien works.

Personal Observations: Considering the complaints Peter Jackson and actors/actresses who had parts in the movies about not getting their share of the profits, I can believe New Line was tightwadish enough not to pay these guys. I don't know how they thought they could get away with it. The estate probably isn't hurting for money so they would be able to get the best legal help out there and force New Line to pay them their share. Unless New Line quickly settles with the estate, this will hold up "The Hobbit" and its follow-on for another couple years at least. The good thing about that is that New Line Cinema will lose the rights to "The Hobbit." MGM will most likely buy the rights from Saul Zaentz (who owns them). Also, by the time this lawsuit is settled, Peter Jackson's schedule will be more open and he may be able to direct the two movies himself. Right now, current speculation says Guillermo Del Toro will get to direct the movies though I haven't heard of him signing any contract to do so. As far as I know, his agents are still in talks which may have been put on hold because of this lawsuit. The obvious bad point of this lawsuit is that "The Hobbit" will be held up for a couple more years (groan). One hoped for good point is that the egotistical Bob Shaye, Co-CEO and Co-Chairman of New Line Cinema will be given the boot by the studios parent company Time Warner after this latest fiasco. The tightwad certainly deserves it. Stay tuned for further updates.

Cruise Documents

Last week, I received the documents for my upcoming cruise with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. As this is the first set I've ever received, I was very curious about them. The documents include itinerary, luggage tags and optional excursions at the ports the ship will call at. It also explained some things about ship life. One thing they mentioned that I'm very interested in is their WiFi Internet service. They said they charge a "nominal" charge. What do they consider "nominal"? I remember using the terminals at the Radission in Oslo and Stockholm. They charged something like 50 cents a minute which to me isn't nominal. It's damned expensive! Because of their WiFi service, I'm going to take my laptop. I hope that I'll be able to post updates on my blog during the cruise. We'll see on that.

Book Review

I confess that I'm an Anglophile. I am very much fascinated with things concerning England. One of the subjects that fascinates me most is the Royal Family. They get to live a life that I can only glimpse at in wonder. One of the neatest things I've done is take a tour of Buckingham Palace. The place absolutely dazzles. That someone would get to live in a place like that all the time boggles. So, when I heard about the book A Year With The Queen, I had to buy it and read it. The book tells you what Queen Elizabeth II does in a year, how she does it and the people who support her as monarch of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It also shows the part her family and cousins (Duke of Kent, Duke of Gloucester) play in helping her do her job. It's impossible for the Queen to attend all the engagements that require her presence so she has to send various members of her family as well as her cousins to represent her. The book explains how much it costs the British taxpayer for the Royal Family and what the money is spent on. It explains the relationship between the Queen and her Prime Minister and her relationship with the Commonwealth (former British colonies). In pictures, it shows the Queen and her consort the Duke of Edinburgh doing their various duties.

The list price for the book is $30 though you should be able to get it for less than that. All the major bookstores in the U.S. should have the book. The book is a companion to a tv series that will air on ABC (I believe) though I don't know when.

Overall, if you're an Anglophile, this is a delightful book about the Royal Family. You'll learn more of how things work at Buckingham Palace and what Queen Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh are like. You'll even find out how you can get an invitation to one of the Queen's tea parties. If you're fascinated about England or just curious about the British Royal Family, this is a book you ought to read.

Voting in Maryland

I just wanted to post a reminder to any readers in Maryland that today is election day in Maryland. Today, you get to vote in either the Maryland Democrat or Republican primary election depending on which of these parties you registered with. If you are unaffiliated, unless there is nonpartisan election such as a nominees for a board of education, you won't get to vote today (source: http://www.elections.state.md.us/voting/primary.html). You will get to vote in the national election. I would urge you vote. This is one of the times when you can have your say on where you think this country should go. If you don't vote, I feel you don't have any right to complain about where this country is headed because you didn't do anything to change it. You can say your vote won't make a difference. I say, you don't know that for a fact and even if the person you voted for loses, at least you made the effort to change things vice those who complain and do nothing about it. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today (source: http://www.elections.state.md.us/voting/election_day_questions.html#Time).

Purpose of this Blog

Recently, Jim on Serotoninrain brought up the possibility of making a donation to him via his blog. To me, that opened a huge can of worms because I think it changes the nature of his blog. It becomes more of possible money making enterprise vice putting something out there as expression of yourself and that you hope someone else might enjoy. It also caused me to look at my own blog and why I do it.

First and foremost, this blog is for my own enjoyment. I post whatever I feel like posting. Sometimes, I've used it to vent and sometimes, I've tried to be creative by posting what I hope are nice photos of places I've been to. At times, I try to make it useful to whoever might read it. I'll post reviews on products, music, movies or places. I don't claim to be an expert on anything and considering what my blog costs you (zip), you shouldn't expect some great product or service. What you do with the information I provide is your business and you take the information at your own risk. I do try to be accurate and state sources when I use information from other places. If any readers of this blog see something that is wrong, I would greatly appreciate a remark letting me know so I can correct it. Jim did that recently with the post I published on Starbucks. I was grateful for the correction. I do reserve the right to moderate remarks. I won't allow any remarks that in my opinion advertise some kind of service. My blog is not in any way a commercial enterprise and won't be used for that. There is a small advertisement beneath my counter on my blog. In order to use the counter for free, I had to agree to that advertisment. You can blow that advertisement off if you wish. I definitely don't push that product or any product for that matter.

Second, I hope this blog is entertaining or useful to you the reader. While I enjoy posting stuff on this blog, I find it more enjoyable when I find that people out there actually read what I post and enjoy it or find it useful. I won't promise this blog will always be entertaining or useful to you because each of you have your own ideas on what is entertaining or useful. It's impossible for me to meet the ideas of each reader. Plus, some days, I'm bound to write a stinker of a blog entry. We all have our bad days.

That summarizes my thoughts on this blog and it's purpose. I would encourage you the reader to post your remarks as long as their civil. I like hearing from readers of this blog. Cheers all!

Payraise

To my surprise, I found out the rural mail carriers received a payraise this past pay period. Our pay has gone up 47 cents an hour. I know that doesn't sound like much but, it can add up. This past pay period, I worked 40 hours plus both week. That 47 cent raise translated into almost $40 more in my paycheck. Overtime wise, the raise means we make nearly $27 an hour when we're in overtime. I'll gladly take the additional money.

Trips

I paid off the Globus France tour I'll be going on in September. It should be an awesome tour. Globus does a really nice job. The only bummer is the weak dollar. France is going to be more expensive than Scandanavia. Like the cruise, I've also paid off the additional things for the tour like the airplane tickets and airport shuttle. Annoyingly, Globus isn't showing a list of optional tours and prices for the tour. It would be nice to see what additional stuff I could do on the tour and what it would cost.

Concerning the cruise I'll be going on, that's only 30 days away. Sometimes it can be nice when time flies and this is one of those times. I'm very much looking forward to the cruise as I've never been on a cruise ship or seen the Southern Caribbean. It'll also be nice to get to go scuba diving and deep sea fishing. I also play to play the slots in the ship's casino. Hopefully, I'll have the same luck or better I had at Atlantic City. I won $120 there. Thanks to my friend Harvey, I kept it as I stopped while I was ahead and resisted the temptation to go back and try again. I found out from my travel agent Joel that Royal Caribbean Cruises sends out some kind of travel documents though nothing as fancy as Globus. I'm curious to see what those are like.

Retraction

Yesterday, I posted a blog entry about Starbucks not supporting our troops. As a retired member of the Air Force, I was very incensed about them not supporting those who are putting their lives on the line for us. My source for the blog was an email from a trusted friend. It turns out my friend was wrong. Jim at Serotoninrain sent me a website (http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/starbucks.asp) that proves that the story is totally false. Many thanks to Jim. Also, my apologies to Starbucks. I trusted that my friend would be accurate on this and she wasn't. Due to the seriousness of the rumor, I've deleted the original blog entry. For the record, numerous Starbucks employees have sent their free weekly coffee allotment to our troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many kudos to them as well.

Casino Royal Game

I decided to try the Casino Royal Game at Dave & Busters. The last time I was there, a guy told me you could win more tickets on it vice Spin & Win. After playing it for 20 minutes, I found I ended up with as many tickets as I would've won on Spin & Win on one of my bad days on it i.e. I only managed to hit the 1,000 tickets light twice. I found I did get more play action on the Casino Royal game vice the Spin & Win as I got 10 coins to put in the game everytime vice getting to pull the spin lever and hit the stop button. Also, I received more winning action i.e. I had more times when I'd win tickets. In terms of what it cost to play the game, it was the same if you had a regular play card (10 tickets vice 9.9 tickets). If you had a Gold card, you could play the Spin & Win game more overall as it costs 8.9 tickets to play that each time vice the 10 tickets it cost to play Casino Royal every time. Timing wise, it was easier to play the Casino Royal game vice trying to get it right when the light comes around the Spin & Win wheel. However, if you had a Gold card and tried to hit the 80 ticket window on the Spin & Win vice the 1,000, you'd could easily get as many tickets on that game.

Overall, the Casino Royal game is a lot easier to play. If you're timing isn't the greatest, you'll want to play that game vice Spin & Win. If you want the greatest chance to win big, you'll want to play Spin & Win as the Casino Royal game can't match the 1,000 windows on the Spin & Win game. In terms of excitement, I think the Spin & Win game is more exciting to play. Every time you pull the lever on that game, you could win 1,000 tickets. As to which game you should play, I'll leave that up to you. You know what arcarde games you like to play. If you're into sports arcade games, a lady playing next to me at the Casino Royal games told me the basketball shooting game pays out well. You might want to try that.

FYI, the gift shop got some new prizes in. One notable one is a Toshiba 15-inch dual tv system (digital and analog)/monitor with DVD player. This is going for 90,000 tickets! They also some new prize that cost 120,000 but I forget what it was. Someone claimed the Sony entertainment system they had for 48,000 tickets.

Picture from Norway

Today, I was going through my pictures of my trip to Denmark, Sweden and Norway. I decided to post one from the trip. This picture is of a town that was on the Sognefjord in Norway. It was taken while the group I was with did a 2 hour cruise on a passenger ferry. The fjord itself was stunning. There were numerous waterfalls and breathtaking mountains. Norway has to rank as one of the most beautiful countries I've ever had the pleasure of visiting.

January 2008 Baltimore, Maryland Hard Rock Cafe Visit

I finally made it to the Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe today. I drove down to the Glen Burnie Cromwell Station and caught the light rail train into Camden Yards. Parking is free at Cromwell Station so it makes sense to take the train in from there. Round trip train fare is only $3.20. One place I passed on my way back from the Inner Harbor was charging $7 an hour for parking. The light rail train is an easy way to get to either the Raven's football stadium or Orioles baseball park. It stops at both.

Once you get off the train at Camden Yards, you cross the street to the Baltimore Convention Center and keep walking that way passing the Sherator Inner Harbor Hotel and the Hyatt Inner Harbor Hotel. When you reach the Inner Harbor, to your right is the Science Center and to your left the U.S.S. Constellation which is the last wooden warship ever built for the U.S. Navy. You'll walk toward the Constellation and keep walking around the harbor. The Baltimore World Trade Center building is about 40 or 50 feet from the Constellation. It goes up 24 stories (I think). At the top, it has nice views of the harbor.

Once you pass the trade center, the Aquarium and a World War II submarine are on your left. I don't know what the admission for the Aquarium or the submarine is. When I arrived, they had a good size line for the Aquarium. The Hard Rock Cafe is part of a building that was a former electrical plant for the city. You can still see the former smoke stacks coming out of the Barnes and Noble bookstore. To the left of Barnes and Noble, they have an ESPNzone place (I don't know what ESPNzones are). Some day, I'll have to check out the ESPNzone thingy and find out what it is.

The Hard Rock Cafe itself has a nice collection of rock memorabilia. I saw a guitar played by Mark Slaughter of the group called Slaughter. Also, they had a guitar autographed by the group Poison. There was a bust of old rubber lips Mick Jagger. They had stain glass windows that showed various rock instruments. The centerpiece of the cafe was a 1960 teal Cadillac which presides over the bar. Price wise, the cafe is expensive. Starters ranged from $9.80 to $11. I tried their nachos. I got a good size plate of chips covered with 2 cheeses beans and jalapenos. If you wanted beef, chicken or guacamole, it cost extra. Entrees ran from $7 (I think) to over $22. The ribs I tried were $22.50. I got a good plate of bar-b-que ribs with a good size order of fries and small cups of beans and cole slaw. Drink wise, I ordered a very berry smoothie in a Pilsner glass you get to keep. That cost $8.99. Also, I found out they came out with a new city t-shirt. This one shows a raven and a crab. The raven I believe has to do with the football team though it could have connections to Edgar Allen Poe who I think wrote stories here. The crab is definitely a connection to the Chesapeake Bay. Eating steamed crabs is a tradition here. When they're in season, you can get all you can eat crabs (not at the Hard Rock Cafe). They're pretty good though you will work to get the meat out.

Overall, I had a nice meal at the cafe. My waitress Chrissy did a great job and was kind enough to get me a closeable tray so I could take home the half rib slab I couldn't finish. I earned $68 total my next $20 reward with the All Access club. The All Access Club gives you priority seating at all Hard Rock Cafes as well as earning $20 credit when you spend $200. You can use the $20 credits for merchandise or food. I've earned $80 in credit with them so far.

I took some pictures with my Canon Rebel XTi digital camera. I'll try to get them posted within the next couple days.

Small side note: I just discovered that the Sydney and Melbourne Hard Rock Cafes apparently closed (they're not listed on the Hard Rock Cafe list anymore). I remember visiting both during my 2004 Globus tour of Australia. I wear proudly my t-shirts from both of them. It's a bummer they closed.

Update June 28, 2014: First, the All Access club/membership is no more. They came out with a different program called Hard Rock Rewards which I don't think is as good. Second, the ESPN Zone thing closed and was replaced with a Philips Harborplace restaurant. Third, the Cadillac is gone. It was replaced during a remodeling with a light fixture.

Candy Minas Tirith

Today, I read about this initially on the Council of Elrond webpage. It seems some very creative people with time on their hands (7 days worth) created a candy Minas Tirith. I checked the pictures of it and it is very impressive. Take a look at it yourself at this link Candy Minas Tirith.

Frustration

As I've mentioned in a couple previous blog entries, I like to get together with a fellow rural mail carrier sub called Bernadette. However, things can get pretty frustrating because of her other job at the Wheaton J.C. Penneys. Today is a prime example. I found out that she doesn't have to work today at Penneys. Since its Sunday, she doesn't have to work at the Post Office either. Great day to take her to the Hard Rock Cafe in Baltimore. I've been wanting to do that for a while. It turned out Penneys struck again. It seems that Penneys wants her to work at 5 a.m. tomorrow. The only way she could do that was get a ride down to a friends house either Saturday evening or Sunday at stay there overnight which she did. If I want to take her to the Hard Rock Cafe today, I have to drive an hour down to Wheaton to pick her up, drive another 90 minutes to the Inner Harbor so we can have lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, drive another 90 minutes to take her back to Wheaton so she can work at Penneys tomorrow and drive another hour so I can get home. We're talking 4 and 1/2 hours of driving just so I could have lunch and see a little of the Inner Harbor with her. Aaargh! Sadly, I had to scrub the idea. It just wasn't worth all the hassle. So, I'll have to go to the Inner Harbor by myself which will suck. :-( Very frustrating.

Spin and Win

This past Sunday, I drove out to Dave & Busters so I could add to my ticket total. I played the Spin and Win game again. I made a couple surprise discoveries this time. First, I found out the game will start even if you don't pull the lever to start the light going around. I don't know how long the game will wait but it will eventually start on its own. Second, I found out that you have a limited time to hit the stop button. I was waiting to try to get a good idea when to hit the stop button so I could hopefully hit the 1,000 ticket marker. I guess I exceeded the wait time on the game because to my total astonishment, it stopped and gave me 10 tickets. For those of you who don't know, 10 tickets is worse than any marker on the game (the lowest markers are 20 tickets). I don't know how long you have before the game will stop on its own and I don't care to research that considering what it costs to play it. I'm just giving you my readers a heads-up that you have a limited amount of time to hit the stop button.

Luck wasn't really with me this last trip to Dave & Busters. I only hit the 1,000 marker 3 times. I managed to increase my ticket total over 4,000 tickets. I now have 45,869 tickets. The irony of the situation is that Dave & Busters doesn't have anything in the prize shop that I really want. Oh well. I plan to keep playing and I hope they'll get some nice new prizes in. We'll see.

Laurel Tavern Update

I managed to finish Montpelier Rural Route 2 before 5 p.m. When I drove up Fetty's Alley, I passed the Laurel Tavern. I saw they were still open. After I turned in all my accountables, the outgoing mail I collected, my scanner, cleaned my mail case and clocked out, I decided to see if the tavern will still open. To my surprise, they've changed their hours. They are now open Monday to Saturday till 7 p.m. I suspect someone there figured out that they weren't going to sell a lot of burgers if they closed at 5 p.m. Anyway, I bought their sack of 9 burgers this time. This is the best deal they offer on their mini-burgers. You get 9 of them for $7.99. That breaks out to almost 89 cents (88.7 cents if you want to get technical about it) a burger. That isn't a great deal considering you can get a double cheeseburger at McDonald's for just 11 cents more. Still, the place is convenient for me as it's just down the alley from the Post Office. Plus, they do have nice people. I suspect they're feeling their way as far as business. I hope things work out for them. Cheers all!

Correction

In my review of the Laurel Tavern, I stated that it opened from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Saturday. It turned out I was wrong about their Saturday hours. On Saturdays, they open 1 hour later i.e. 6 a.m. Sorry about the wrong information.

Trader Joe's Almond Bark Review

Recently, I decided to try Trader Joe's Almond Bark. Almond bark is almonds covered in dark chocolate and cut into slabs. Trader Joe's cuts their slabs into 5" by 9 and 3/4" blocks. They sell the bark in 1 pound boxes (2 slabs) for $9.99. I found their almond bark really good. The dark chocolate is slightly bitter but then, all dark chocolate normally is. Their bark is packed with almonds. Each almond bark slab is sealed in a clear plastic wrapper and then packaged in a nice box.

Overall, I was very pleased with their almond bark and I'd definitely recommend it. It would also make a nice inexpensive present for a chocolate lover. Cheers all!

Laurel Tavern

I visited the Laurel Tavern today. It's name is a bit of a misnomer as it's actually a very small shop that sells primarily donuts and other breakfast pastries. The tavern closed over 6 months ago and underwent a slow refurbishment. Finally, it reopened on January 2nd. I visited it today to see how it was. I found out that they've changed the focus of the restaurant/shop. Before, it was more small burgers and coffee. Now, it's primarily donuts and pastries though they still offer their mini-burgers.

I decided to try their mini-burgers. I bought six of them for $5.49. The tavern does give you a slight discount if you buy more than one. A single burger would cost you $1.29. Taste wise, the burgers were good but not very filling. I ate all six that I bought and I still wasn't filled up. Compared to McDonald's, I think they're a little expensive.

As far as pastries go, they had an all right selection. It isn't as impressive as Dunkin Donuts. One note I must make. I arrived at the tavern at 4:00 p.m. and what I saw as far as pastry wise may have been the dregs. They may offer a better selection when they open. I haven't seen what they offer when they open at 5 a.m.

Hours wise, they are open Monday to Saturday, 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those hours are definitely handy if you want to buy something for breakfast but not if you want a burger later in the day.

Parking is the same as it was: limited. This is a place where you run in, order what you want, get it and eat it some where else. There aren't any seats in the tavern and there is a limited area where you can stand.

Overall, the tavern is better than what it was before but, it still isn't very impressive. As it is down the street from the Post Office, it would be a handy place to grab a donut on my way in to work in the morning. But, it isn't a place I would go out of my way for. If you happen to be on Maryland Route 1 in Laurel around breakfast time and you're hunkering for a donut, you might give them a try but, I wouldn't recommend you go out of your way to find the Laurel Tavern. Bon Appetit!

Dave & Busters

Yesterday, I took my Post Office friend Bernadette to Dave & Busters at Arundel Mills Mall. Both of us enjoy playing their games. Bernadette has her sights on a Sony entertainment system they have though she'll have to play a lot of games and win a lot of tickets to get it. It costs 48,000 tickets. For me, I played Spin and Win again. No other game there offers the payout it does. To my delight, I hit the 1,000 ticket reward 5 times! That said, I missed it by one or two lights something like 25 times. It can be a very frustrating game in that way. People saw how many tickets I was winning and asked me to play for them but, I declined. I didn't want them to pay out their tickets only to have me miss the 1,000 ticket marker.

I managed to get my ticket total up to 41,669 tickets. I still don't know what I want to get there prize wise. For now, I just want to run my ticket score up. In time, I'll figure out what I want. The fun right now is just winning tickets and managing to hit the 1,000 marker. Cheers all!

Hobbit Update

This is a bit late but, I figured I'd post it any way. If you haven't heard, Peter Jackson settled his lawsuite with New Line Films out of court. He also signed a deal with New Line and MGM to produce "The Hobbit" and a film linking it to the Lord of the Rings films. Folks from New Line have stated that it is Jackson's project. One big question a number of people are asking is who is going to direct "The Hobbit." Jackson's schedule is very full right now. He finished shooting the movie "Lovely Bones" and he committed to making the first Tintin movie. MGM announced a release date for "The Hobbit" of Christmas 2010 with the follow-up movie coming out a year later. Jackson reportedly plans to shoot both movies in sequence one after another.

One potential big problem for "The Hobbit" is the screenwriter's strike. This needs to be resolved so that they can come up with a script for "The Hobbit." Another question is where are they going to shoot it. Supposedly, this is up in the air too though I can't imagine them shooting it any where else but New Zealand. One advantage they'll have if they shoot it in New Zealand is they'll be able to re-use the area outside Mata Mata where they shot the Hobbiton scenes. While they removed a lot the sets from this location, the Hobbit holes are still there. It shouldn't take them that long to make them usable again. Also, they could re-use the sets they had for Bilbo's home at Bag End.

I'm delighted that Jackson will be producing and hopefully directing "The Hobbit." It'll be awesome to return to Middle-Earth again. I still watch parts of the Lord of the Rings films and marvel at what Jackson did. They are film making at its best. Bring on Christmas of 2010. I definitely have a present to look forward to that year. Cheers all!

Sadists

I had to work yesterday at the Post Office. Mondays are always bad at the Post Office. You have to case, pack up and deliver two days of mail vice the normal one. To make things worse, we were going through the Christmas surge. We were getting a LOT more packages and a lot more letter type mail i.e. Christmas cards. Yesterday, I was willing to swear the clerks had turned into sadists. As I said, Mondays are always bad but yesterday, someone really seem to lay it into me. I was assigned to rural route 15 which is always terrible on Mondays. It has a large senior citizen development which gets a lot of mail as well as businesses which you have to hit before they close. Because of the businesses, you are under time constraints.

I walked into the Post Office and I heard Christmas music. Considering how things were going to be there, that was the last thing I wanted to listen to. Then, I got to the route case where I would case route 15's mail. I was floored. Someone had covered the table portion of the case with 400 plus fliers. They also dumped 12 tubs of mail. I was swamped and I hadn't even started. At this point, part of me wanted to turn around and walk out. But, I had a job to do so I gritted my teeth and got to it. It got worse. I'd managed to get through 8 tubs when they dumped the Direct to Point Service (DPS) mail on me. If you haven't read my blogs on this before, DPS mail is mail that is sorted for the carrier by machine. In theory, all the carrier has to do is put it in their case. In reality, you still have to go through because the machines make mistakes. Sometimes, they make a lot of them. The clerks dumped 8 trays of DPS mail on me. A tray will hold at least 200 pieces of letter mail so that means I had over 1,600 letters and advertisements dumped on me on top of the mail the clerks sorted themselves and the tubs they expected me to sort. I also had over 35 large packages, 50 small packages, 15 certified letters and 4 registered packages. It was going to be a VERY long day.

Ideally on route 15, you want to have your truck loaded and leave the Post Office by Noon. The reason for that is because it typically takes 5 hours to deliver all the mail on the route. Because of all the mail I got hit with, I didn't leave the Post Office till 3 p.m. Before I left, I told the Postmaster I would need help if he wanted me back before 6 p.m. Thankfully, I did get some help from fellow substitute carriers. Thanks to the help, I finished at 7:45 p.m. I drove back to the Post Office where I turned in the certified and registered mails I wasn't able to deliver. Also, I left the mail I wasn't able to deliver for the primary carrier on route 15. He'll have to try to deliver it tomorrow. I'm glad I have today off because I need it to recover from yesterday. I'm seriously tempted to tell my supervisor there I won't work any more Mondays. They're just not worth it. We'll see what I decide to do. Cheers all!

Thank You Globus

Over a month ago, I submitted a story on the Globus family exchange travel stories website. The story was about the bad hotel I'd stayed at in Bergen, Norway during the "Scandanavian" tour I did with Globus. The hotel was the Thon Rosencrantz Hotel. The single room they gave me was something of a disaster. There was a bad odor that was coming out of the bathroom which stunk up the whole room. The furniture was banged up. The curtains were put up in a haphazard manner. The breakfast buffet was poor and looked like it had been hurriedly assembled. Bacon and sausages were slapped together in the same pan. Fish portions were put out cold when they should've been heated. I found the people at the Reception desk rude and brusque. It short, this hotel really stunk. The only good things I could say about it was the free internet access at their one computer terminal and its location. It was a block from Bergen Harbor and 50 feet from the Hanseatic buildings.

When I saw that I could submit bad hotel experiences on the Globus family exchange travel stories website, I decided to tell of my experience there. I didn't expect anything to come of me submitting the story barring letting people know that sometimes, you do get a stinker of a hotel with Globus. To my surprise, my story was apparently forwarded to someone at Globus. They weren't thrilled to hear of my bad experience. They sent me an email letting me know that my case was being reviewed. I guess they found some merit to it because they sent me a voucher worth $100 which I can use toward another Globus tour. I'm delighted. I can definitely use it as I've signed up for their La France tour. I'm very much a fan of their tours and I can't wait to do another one. You meet great people and you see things you'll remember forever. I'll never forget the breathtaking fjords in Norway. Thanks Globus for the voucher and I look forward to making new precious memories on future tours with you.

Cold

As I mentioned in my last blog entry, I came down with a cold thanks to the weather we've had recently. The weather was very changeable in Maryland which made it easy to catch one. My job as a substitute mail carrier didn't help either as I was out in it a LOT. Then, the weather got consistently cold which made things potentially worse for me. The reason I say that is because once you catch a cold, you are supposed to avoid going outside into the cold and making your cold worse. That's impossible to do as a mail carrier. Due to the Christmas surge, it was impossible for me to take the week off to fight the cold off. I did manage to get my hours reduced which should help me rest and stay indoors. It also makes it possible for me to drink lots of fluids so I can flush the crud out of my system. Right now, I'm coughing up a fair amount of mucus. I've noticed that when I start to dehydrate, the coughing tends to stop which is sort of nice but, that means that I'm keeping that crud in which I don't want. The mucus looks nasty. I want that stuff out of me. One annoying thing about the cold is what has happened to my voice. Because of all the coughing, my throat has gotten torn up a bit so I sound very froggy (gribbit gribbit). Hopefully, I'll kick the cold this week. It would suck to be sick on Christmas. We'll see what happens.

Upgrade

I found out recently that Sprint upgraded their data network EV-DO revision A making it even faster. However, in order for customers to take advantage of the increased speed, they have to get new PCS Connection cards. So, I had to upgrade my Merlin 620 data card to the Merlin S720 data card. For those who don't know what these cards are, they are cards you plug into the PCM1A slot in a laptop computer. When you activate the included software, they connect to the Sprint cell phone network. The cards enable a person to hook-up to the Internet any where in the U.S. at broadband like speeds. For a person like myself who is something of an Internet junkie and who likes to travel, it is really handy. The only down side to using the service is it isn't cheap. I have unlimited download with them and it costs $60 a month. That's 4 times what a dial-up connection would cost. The flip side of the service is that it can save you money as well as hassle. When I stayed at the Grand Hyatt in New York City, they charged guests 50 cents a minute to access the Internet in their business center. I was extremely glad I had my PCS connection card. It can also offer greater security as the person can also use the card to make phone calls if they have to though you must have a headset with microphone for your laptop in order to use that.

Overall, I find the cards really handy and their data speeds impressive. With the new system Sprint has installed, a customer can have average downlink speeds of between 600 kilobytes per second and 1.4 megabytes per second and average uplink speeds of between 300 and 500 kilobytes per second. Downlink speeds can reach as high as 3 megabytes per second. The new EV-DO Revision A system isn't available every where and the cards make allowances for that. The cards will hook-up to the older EV-DO Revision 0 and Vision 1xRTT networks. If you like fast Internet connections, want mobility and don't want the hassles of trying to find a WiFi site, Sprint PCS connection cards are the way to go. See you on the Net.

Herring Fillets

Trader Joe's carries 2 brands of herring fillets. As I like herring, I decided to try both of them and see what the difference was between them. Here is what I found out.

Both are smoked though the more expensive fillets are "Naturally Hardwood Smoked." Price wise, while you get more fish in the hardwood smoked fillets (.85 of an ounce), they were also more expensive per ounce vice the cheaper kipper herring fillets (43 cents vice 40 cents). The cheaper kipper fillets were the better deal price wise. Taste wise, I didn't notice any noticeable taste difference between the two. I thought both tasted very good. I liked that both were deboned. The hardwood smoked fillets are canned in their natural juices while the kipper fillets were canned in canola oil. As far as I know, this didn't add greatly to the calorie count with the kipper fillets. The hardwood smoked fillets are caught and processed in Canada while the kipper fillets are processed in Germany. I would've thought the Canada fillets would be cheaper considering the shorter distance between the countries but that wasn't the case.

Overall, both of the herring products Trader Joe's offers were very good. They were both very tasty and have long shelf life. Neither need refridgeration. They are something you could easily pack for a hike or a camping trip. If I had to choose between the two, I'd go with the kipper fillets because they are cheaper. If you like herring, you won't be disappointed with either product. Bon appetit!

An Accident

Monday, the primary mail carrier on Montpelier Rural Route 2 fell and fractured her left wrist. As I'm her primary substitute, I got the call that I'll be covering her route for her for 4 days every week while she is out. I would work 6 days a week but, the Post Office doesn't like paying overtime. There is another sub who knows the route and, she'll cover the route the other 2 days. For me, it guarantees I'll hit 40 hours every week. That's nice but, I wish there was some other way I could get my 40 hours. The primary carrier is a really nice lady. I was very saddened when I heard about the accident. Next week, she's supposed to have surgery on the wrist. I hope it goes well and she heals up quickly. I plan to keep her in my prayers.

Dead Battery

I got to use my Sprint Roadside Rescue service for the first time today. My car battery had acted up a little a couple times recently when it got cold but my car still started. This morning when I turned the ignition key, all I heard was a buzzing sound. The battery was big time dead.

As I'd never used Sprint's Roadside Rescue, I didn't know how to reach them. I had to log-on the Internet and find out. It turned out to be simple enough. You dial #road on your cell phone. This puts you through to a person who confirms you're signed up for the service. Then, they tell the addresses of road service providers close to you. I chose one on Maryland 198. After that, they contact the provider giving them your address and phone number. They have up to 90 minutes to show up. To my relief, the road service provider showed up in 30 minutes. To my surprise, the provider was from the Automobile Association of America (AAA). AAA has a good reputation and they showed they were worthy of it. Their rep was very professional and quick. He confirmed that the problem was the car battery. He promptly hooked up some kind of mobile starting box to the car. When I turned the ignition, the car started right up.

I found out from the AAA rep that a car's battery is normally only good for 3 to 5 years. The one I had lasted for over 7 years. It was definitely due for replacement. I found out that AAA offers a great warranty on their batteries. If anything goes wrong with it for 3 years, they'll replace for free. Also, if you have problems with the battery, you can call them and they'll come out and find out what the problem is. I decided to buy one of their batteries. With tax, it cost $117 which I thought was decent.

In a way, I'm lucky the battery died when it did. We haven't had a really cold weather yet. This way, the car will start when things really start to get bad weather wise. Plus, I know I can count on Sprint's roadside rescue if I ever have problems with my car.

A Mystery

It's possible thieves broke into various mailboxes where I live. Today, when I returned home from various errands, I noticed that all the mailboxes for the apartment building I live in were unlocked. I thought this very strange and called my friend Clinton who happens to be the mail carrier where I live. When Clinton arrived at the complex where I live, he found more mail boxes unlocked. As far as we can tell, someone between last night and this afternoon pried open the boxes. The apartment complex where I live has had several break-ins. Apparently, the thieves decided to go through and steal people's mail. There are any number of things they could steal through the mail like people's credit card numbers and social security checks. One annoying thing about the matter is that the apartment manager's office apparently didn't bother to call the Post Office so they could send someone to re-lock the boxes. My friend Clinton is going to hold on to any important mail for me. I don't want anything stolen like my retirement check or credit card bills.

Diving in Puerto Rico

I called Karen Vega at Caribe Aquatic Adventures in San Juan, Puerto Rico today. I wanted to pay in advance for the two refresher dives I need to do before I go on my Southern Caribbean cruise. By paying in advance, I'll have fewer charge card bills when I get back from the cruise. I haven't forgotten my Globus Australia tour where I was paying for it 3 months after the tour. If you can pay for various things in advance on a cruise or tour, I'd recommend you do the same. It really does things nicer when you get back from your trip.

The diving part of the cruise will be interesting it that it'll be the first time I'll take my diving equipment on a trip. Also, I've never dived in the Caribbean. I remember diving out of Destin, Florida. We'd get people who had dived in the Caribbean. They would whine about our 20 foot visibility. It seems in the Caribbean, it isn't uncommon to have 60 foot plus visibility. I can only guess that the waters there don't get stirred up like they do in the Gulf of Mexico.

I've heard the sea life is supposedly spectacular. I plan to take the cheap underwater camera I bought in Australia so I can try to take some underwater photos. We'll see how that works out. If they turn out nice, I'll post a few here.

Trader Joe's Gouda Cheese

I'm not a big cheese fan but ever since a trip to the Netherlands where I got to try some yellow wax gouda cheese, I've liked the stuff. Yellow wax gouda tends to be younger and thereby mellower gouda cheese. On my first shopping trip to the new Trader Joe's in Columbia, Maryland, I noticed they had a double cream gouda cheese imported from the Netherlands/Holland. When I went back this past Sunday, I decided to try it.

The cheese is a yellow wax gouda so it has a mellow taste to it. The double cream in it causes it to have a creamier flavor though the cheese itself is solid enough to where you can use a regular cheese cutter to slice it. The cheese comes in pre-sliced portions. Trader Joe's sells it for $7.99 a pound which isn't cheap but, it is imported. My sister Ellie tells me that Trader Joe's offers some good deals on cheese so this might be a pretty good price. I don't know if this cheese is a regular all the stores carry or it it was a one off buy that the Columbia store will offer until its sold out.

Overall, I found Trader Joe's Double Cream Gouda Cheese to be very good. It has a nice mellow creamy taste to it. It would be great for snacking or as serving as an hors d'oeuvre. It isn't cheap but, you wouldn't expect a cheese imported from Holland to be cheap. If there is a Trader Joe's close to where you live and you like cheese, this is one you should try. Bon Appetit!

Blog Correction

I found out I made a mistake concerning the Maryland Primary elections. It turned out they won't be held until February 12, 2008. I don't remember where I got the erroneous information. My apologies if I caused you to go to your polling station only to find out they weren't open. The only good thing that came out of this mistake is I definitely know where I'll vote on February 12th.

Vote!

Tomorrow, Maryland will hold its Democratic and Republican primaries. Voting is our one chance to tell the politicians what we think of how they're doing. If you don't vote, you can't complain of what they do because you didn't try to change it. Also, as I understand it, if you are listed as a Democrat or Republican, you must vote tomorrow if you want to vote in the General election next year. That election will be even more important as it'll decide who will become President and what direction this country will take for the next 4 years. So, make sure you get out and vote.

Toby's Dinner Theater

I decided to subscribe to Toby's 2008 season. It's the first time I've ever done so. They have some nice shows. Sound of Music will play till February 15th. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will play from February 21st to June 8th. All Shook Up which I've never seen will play from June 12th to August 24th. The Producers will play from August 28th to November 23rd. Forever Plaid will play from November 27th to December 31st. The 2008 season finishes with Mid-Life - The Crisis Musical.

The Sound of Music was the first show I ever saw in London. I remember Petula Clark starred in it. I think it helped hook me on live theater. I couldn't get over that the people were really up there on the stage vice a movie screen. I saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in London too. I was really impressed with it. It has some great jokes and some very nice songs. The Producers was the first show I ever saw on Broadway. I had some qualms about making jokes about the Nazis. To my, the Nazis and what they did was nothing to joke about. It remains one of the sorriest periods in world history in my opinion.

The price of the ticket also includes a buffet dinner. I've been to Toby's twice and I was impressed with the food. It is good and they give you plenty of chances to get your fill.

I look forward to going to Toby's. If the subscription works out well, I may make a regular thing.

Daylight Savings Time

Just a reminder, Daylight Savings Time ends tonight. At 2 a.m. tomorrow morning, all clocks in the U.S. (European countries set theirs back on October 28th) will go back 1 hour. To make it easier on yourself, you might want to set your clocks back before you go to bed.

Trader Joe's in Columbia

The new Trader Joe's in Columbia, Maryland opened today. I checked it out and found it jumping with people. I suspect it'll do well in Columbia as it would appeal to people who live there. I bought different items to try. I had one of their sushi packs for dinner. I found it really good. I would definitely recommend their sushi.

Hours wise, the store will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. I think their hours are great. It'll make it really easy to shop there. I was also impressed with the people they hired. I found them very courteous. I look forward to shopping at the Columbia store again.

Beer Review - Elephant Beer

I tried some of Carlsberg's Elephant Beer today. I decided to buy a six-pack of it in memory of my trip to Denmark, Sweden and Norway. I bought it at the Corridor Wine Store on Maryland Route 198 in Laurel, Maryland. The beer is a pilsner/lager. I found it had the standard lager taste to it. One thing that is different about the beer is its alcohol content. The beer packs a 7.2% alcohol content which makes it a potent beer. While the taste of the beer isn't very alcoholish, after a couple of these brews, you will feel the higher alcohol content. I know I did.

Price wise, a six-pack will cost you XXXX at Corridor which I think is pretty reasonable considering they have to import it from Denmark where it is brewed. The beer comes in 11 ounce bottles. Further information on the beer can be found at the Carlsberg website: http://www.carlsberggroup.com/ under brands. Cheers!

Update - December 24, 2012

Two changes to this post:

1st, Corridor Wine Store has changed its name to Total Wine & More. It's still located at Corridor Marketplace on Maryland Route 198 just past the Maryland 295 exit heading toward Laurel.

2nd, a 6-pack of 11 ounce bottles of Elephant beer will cost you $8.99 which isn't bad. It's only gone up a dollar in 5 years.

Maryland Renaissance Festival

I try to make it to the Maryland Renaissance Festival at least once a year. This year, it was hard to go because I'm always tagged to work at the Post Office on Saturdays and I go to church on Sundays. The best time to go would've been on Monday of the Labor Day weekend. However, I was in Sweden then. So, I had to either get Saturday off from the Post Office or skip church. I decided to try to get Saturday off from the Post Office. I've been going regularly to church since I quit Medieval Times and I didn't care to skip church for the festival. To my surprise, I was able to get this Saturday off.

If you want to avoid a long slow moving line to get into the festival parking lot, you need to leave early and wait for the festival to open. If you don't do that, you will have a long wait trying to get into the parking lot. I procrastinated and I paid the price. It took me 30 minutes to go from the Interstate 97 exit to Crownsville to get into the festival parking lot. When I left at 2 p.m., it would've taken even longer. Once you're parked its easy to get to the entrance to the festival. Warning! Make sure you take a good look around so you have a good idea where your car is. If you don't, you could have some fun trying to find it when you leave.

I paid the $18 admission and checked the schedule of acts. I decided to check out the Rogues. Their a Scottish group based out of Houston. They play some nice Scottish music. At 11:30, they were playing at the Jury Rig stage. I made my way over there. They were their usual good selves. I did notice they had a new piper. I have no idea what happened to the other guy. After listening to them for 20 minutes or so, I made my way to the jousting area to see the knights battle it out.

Unlike the jousting at Medieval Times, this jousting was more real. These guys really did fall off their horses vice faking it. One knight actually got thrown his horse and landed with a clump. A couple other knights had problems controlling their horses. The minute they entered the jousting lane, they charged. I don't know what the horses problems were. Jousting wise, some of it was good and some of it stunk. One time, two knights went at each other 3 straight times and missed each time. I booed at that point. After the jousting was over, I made my way back to the Jury Rig stage to see the Medieval Baebes.

The Medieval Baebes are a 7-girl group based out of England. They sing genuine Medieval music. This has plusses and minuses. It sounds authentic which it is and has an interesting sound. One of the down sides is often, you can't understand a word they're singing. Babe wise, I thought the Baebes looked nice. If you wanted to get an autograph, you could buy some of their CDs and whatever else and they'd be glad to sign it. I decided to pass on that.

After the Medieval Baebes, it was time for another specialty of the the festival, smoked turkey legs. Smoked turkey legs are tasty and fun to eat. I make it a point of buying at least one every time I go to the festival. Price wise, they cost $4 which I thought was reasonable. I very much enjoyed munching on one as I wandered around the festival checking out the shops.

One of the more impressive shops is the Art of Fire. The shop makes handmade glasswear. R. Foster Holcombe is a fully qualified glassblower. He is so skilled at the craft that me can make a beautiful glass goblet in a matter of minutes while demonstrating to the crowd watching. The demonstrations are impressive if you like to see beautiful things made before your eyes. Price wise, I can't tell you how expensive or inexpensive they are. I suspect they're not cheap. Personally, I don't own of their work though I hope to some day. They do make some very nice glassware.

I didn't stay super long at the festival because the acts don't change much from year to year. Also, after spending over $1,100 earlier this week, my wallet needed a little relief. There are no shortage of tempting items to spend your hard earned cash at the festival (I saw some cool daggers at Rorik Rorikson's ironsmithy). For the sake of my wallet, I decided to call it a day after 2 and 1/2 hours at the festival.

FYI, the festival will be open only one more day, tomorrow. It opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m. After tomorrow, you'll have to wait until late August of 2008 for it to reopen. I would definitely recommend going to the festival if you live in the Maryland or D.C. area. Cheers all!

Free Ticket

I decided to see if I could get free Business Class tickets to Paris for my friend Harvey and myself. I wanted to use them in conjunction with the Globus tour of France we plan to take. One of the aggravating things about trying to use your airmiles to get free tickets is that you have to book MANY months in advance. In our case, we won't be going on the Globus France tour for almost 11 months. You would think I would have no problem getting seats that far in advance. You would be wrong. I checked seat availability for Washingon Dulles for the dates I needed. I could get to Paris with no problem. I wouldn't be able to return until 2 days after the tour ended. I checked seat availability for Newark Liberty Airport. I couldn't any seats on the date I needed going out but, I could get them coming back. I decided to try New York's JFK Airport. Eureka! I had loads of choices going to Paris. I had one choice coming back. I checked on what the likelihood was of the tour going on the date I wanted to go on. Not surprisingly, Globus has no idea right now what tours for the La France tour will go. The catalogs only came out last week and not many people have booked yet. So, I'm taking a gamble that the tour will go on the dates I'll use my free British Airways tickets. If it doesn't go, I'll have to see if I can change them though I doubt that'll work. I'll most likely have to cancel the reservations and see about making new reservations with some airline. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that the tour goes on the dates I booked the tickets for. I'd really like to fly Business Class to Paris and not have to pay for it. We'll see what happens.

Cruise Optionals

I finally started booking and paying for optional tours I want to take on the Royal Caribbean cruise I'll be going on in March 2008. They have some decent things to do. I like being able to pay for them in advance. That way, I'll have all those paid off and only have to pay for souvenirs and beers during the cruise. Also, I treated myself to an adventure pack Royal Caribbean sells. The pack comes with a tote bag, pouch thingy you can carry your boarding card in as well as a small camera, a water bottle/thermos, water bottle holder and a Royal Caribbean beach towel. I think it'll be a neat souvenir of the cruise and it'll be something I can look forward to getting when I board the ship. They'll have in my cabin waiting for me when I arrive.

Globus 2008 Europe Tours

To my surprise, I received the 2008 Globus European Tours catalog from my travel agent. I was delighted to get it. I wanted to find out what dates they were going to offer their La France tour. The La France tour is a 14 day (15 if you include a day flying out) tour of France. You get to see Paris, the beaches at Normandy, Mont St. Michel, Avignon, Carcassone and Cannes. They also have an optional trip to Monte Carlo which I really want to do. I think it would be so cool to say I'd visited Monte Carlo. Once I've done the La France tour, I'll have seen everything I'd ever want to see in France. Price wise, the tour is more expensive than the "Scandanavian" tour. The strong Euro isn't helping things. Still, if you're going to worry about the cost, you shouldn't travel. So, I contacted Joel Mills and asked him to find out what September 2008 dates Globus thinks will go for the tour. One of the bad things about escorted tours is they may cancel if they don't get enough people to sign up. I haven't forgotten when Globus did that on the G'day Australia tour I wanted to do. That can really make a mess of things, especially if you use airmiles to get award tickets like I did on the Australia tour. Once I know what dates they think will go, I plan to check the British Airways website and see if I can get free Business Class tickets to Paris. I don't want to arrive big time burned out like I did on the flight to Copenhagen. If I can't get free tickets with them, I may check into flying with L'Avion. L'Avion is an all Business Class airline that flies from Newark Liberty Airport to Paris Orly Sud Airport. They offer Business Class tickets for under $1,800. That is a lot more than an Economy Class ticket but, I know I'd arrive in good shape if I flew Business Class. We'll see what ends up working out.

The Hobbit

Entertainment Weekly within the past week rehashed a lot of information on what has been going on between Peter Jackson and Bob Shaye, the CEO of New Line Films. The two of them have been having a battle over New Line's books. Jackson claims he found discrepancies in the books from the film The Fellowship of the Ring and wants to see the books for the other movies. Shaye has refused. The bad feelings got so bad that Shaye said Jackson would never work for New Line again and was off The Hobbit. Now, things may be changing. Jackson's lawsuit in finally making progress in court. New Line was fine $125,000 for failing to comply with orders by the judge. New Line could've appealed the ruling. Surprisingly, New Line has said it will accept the ruling. This is one of the indications that something of a thaw is happening and there may be hope for a Jackson version of The Hobbit.

Entertainment Weekly has a webpage where readers of the article could voice their opinions on whether Jackson should make The Hobbit or not. Based on what fans have been saying, there is overwhelming desire for a Peter Jackson version of The Hobbit. I have to concur with them. Jackson's vision of Middle-Earth is stunning. I very much want to see him make the movie. If anyone else makes the film, people are going to have a hard time with that director's vision of Middle-Earth. There won't be the continuity and it's doubtful that WETA Workshop and WETA FX would do all the props, costumes and special effects. WETA did an absolutely phenomenal job with all of those. I've bought a number of the Lord of the Rings swords and their designs are stunning. Any other shop would be very hard pressed to equal their work. Considering the guaranteed blockbuster that New Line would have on its hands, it would behoove New Line to settle with Jackson so they can finally The Hobbit and fulfill the wishes of fans all over the world.

San Juan

I called Joel Mills from Carlson Wagonlit today. I wanted to get my airline reservations, hotel reservations and San Juan tour finalized. I was able to get the flights I wanted to and from San Juan. I'll fly out on March 7th arriving in the afternoon. I'll stay at the Normandie Hotel which has an excellent location in regards to the cruise ships, Old San Juan and the San Juan tour picks up from there. I'll have the rest of the day to explore San Juan on my own. On March 8th, I'll do the Bacardi Distillery and Old San Juan tour in the morning. I'll have the afternoon free to do whatever. On March 9th, I'll do my two check dives in the morning. I'll get back around noon and, I'll probably check into the cruise ship shortly afterwards. There won't be any point in delaying that.

On March 16th, the Adventure of the Seas will pull back into San Juan at 7 a.m. I'll take a taxi from there to the airport and waste about 4 hours. I fly out around 12:45 and arrive at Washington Dulles Airport 4 hours later. The flights from and to Dulles will be the first time I've ever flown out of that airport. That should be interesting.

Cruise wise, I plan to do 2 diving excursions, hopefully go deep sea fishing and ride a helicopter for the first time. I'm curious to see what the ship is like. I've seen the photos on the internet but photos don't really convey the full impact of what it'll be like. I won't know that till I'm actually on the boat exploring the various decks. It should be something to see. San Juan and the cruise are shaping up to being another neat adventure.

By the way, if any of my readers would like some used travel guides to Scandanavia, Australia, New Zealand, London, and Scotland, please let me know. If I ever make it back to some of those places, I'll undoubtedly buy new ones so you're welcome to have them. The Australia and New Zealand guides are over 3 and 1/2 years old. I don't know how long I've had the London and Scotland guides.

Scuba Diving

One of the things I really enjoyed when I was stationed in Northwest Florida was scuba diving. Every time you go diving, it's an adventure because you don't know what you're going to see or what the conditions will be like. Some days, you can have great visibility i.e. you can see for great distances while other days, you're lucky if you can see 10 feet in front of you. Sadly, because of the cold water and distances to Ocean City, I haven't scuba dived in Maryland. I've taken a couple courses and I dived in a quarry in Virginia but, I haven't scuba dived in the Atlantic.

One really neat aspect of the cruise I'll be going is that I'll be able to go scuba diving. I've heard the visibility is incredible in the Caribbean. It should be a lot of fun but, I have run into one problem. All the dive shops down there require you have done 2 dives within the last year or two. I haven't dived since I went on my trip to Australia. I did 2 dives on the Great Barrier Reef then. So, I've been trying to figure out how I could do a couple check dives to make sure I still know what I'm doing diving wise. I figured out that the best option was to do the check dives in San Juan just before the cruise. It's the easiest option though I then had the problem of finding a dive shop in San Juan. I finally found one. So, things are looking up that way. The cruise promises to be another first because of the diving. For the first time, I'll be traveling with my diving gear. In preparation for that, I looked up the rules on what I could take on the airplane. Can I bring a diving knife? What are the weight restrictions? What other things am I allowed to bring? Are there any additional fees? It'll be interesting in that way. The lessons I learn from this may help me on future trips.