Tour Update

Greetings my faithful readers. I thought I'd fill you in on what's happening at my end of the woods. The tour of France that I've been on the past 13 days ended last night with a nice bang. I got to see the famous Moulin Rouge for the first time. I can't say I was very wiped out with it. A lot of the ladies were very model looking which means they had very little top side. Also, some of them were heavy with the fake eyelashes which I think is ugly. Because of those 2 factors, I wasn't impressed with their female dancers and singers. They had some acts between the dance and song routines which were very good. There were 2 gymnasts who were incredible. The man part of the duo must have some killer muscles considering some of things he did in regards to lifting his female partner. Also, the had a hilarious ventriloquist. He managed to make it look like his dog was talking and his dog had some witty quips. Lastly, they had a juggler/drummer/golf ball extrordinaire. The guy could juggle golf balls so fast he beat a drum with them. He could also juggle them with his mouth firing them over 5 feet straight up into the air. He must have some killer lungs.

After the show, our tour guide got us back to our hotel and I said my last good-bye to her. I thought she did a fine job. I was sorry to say good-bye to her.

I didn't much sleep at the hotel as I had an early departure. I left the hotel around 5 a.m. I got to Charles de Gaulle International and had to wait to see a British Airways rep as I couldn't check in for some reason. I found out why when they checked into it. It seems British Airways had a flight change that made it impossible to catch my connecting flight to New York JFK. They never told me. It looked bad for a bit but, things unexpectedly worked out for the better. They were able to get me on a straight flight from London Heathrow to Baltimore Washington International saving me a layover at JFK. I was delighted.

As my flight flew in, it flew over London. I got to see London Bridge, the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. Also, I got to explore the new terminal 5 at Heathrow. It is impressive. I posted this entry from BA's lounge which is even nicer than the one at JFK.

Concerning my trip to France, I took copious notes and will post a number of entries detailing day by day what I got to do and see. There was some seriously cool stuff. The American Cemetary was beautifully and enormously sad. There were almost 10,000 crosses and stars of David there. Mont St. Michel was mind blowing. I could easily imagine I was at Minas Tirith. The vineyards around St. Emilion seem to go on forever. Monaco was very classy. Some of the yachts were unreal. I got to go to my first wine tasting in Beaune and, I ended up buying 2 bottles which made it necessary for me to buy a new travel bag.

I enjoyed France so much that I hope to go back in 2010. Also, I'm going to look into picking up French lessons at the Alliance Francaise. I enjoyed trying to speak french in France and, I feel my french improved considerably thanks to the tour. If I get back with Alliance Francaise, I'll continue to improve. Funilly, I did such a good job making myself understood that people promptly replied in french. Unfortunately, my ability to understand spoken french was far worse than my ability to speak it. This left me struggling to figure what the person responding said. That'll come with practice.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for entries on my France tour. They should be interesting. Cheers all!

Tour Almost Over

Greetings my faithful readers. My apology for not posting more but due to high costs to getting on-line and having to hunt and peck on French computer keyboards, I haven't been posting much. I plan to post a lot of interesting blogs when I return to the U.S. telliing about my travels. Currently, I'm in Dijon, France but I'll be leaving for Paris this morning. Tomorrow, I fly back to the states. Cheers!

Travel Update

A fast update. Today, I got to visit 2 of the beaches they landed on D-Day, the American Cemetary, Pont du Hoc, see the Bayeux Tapestry and see the abbey at Mont St. Michel. I found it surreal that the beaches could be so peaceful considering the deadly combat that had taken place there. The American Cemetary was sad as there were row on row of white marble crosses and stars of David. The Bayeux Tapestry was fascinating and bigger than I thought. Mont St. Michel was awesome! If Minas Tirith were ever to exist it would look like Mont St. Michel. I was in awe walking all the walkways and seeing the various rooms of the abbey. It's been an awesome day. I can't wait for the next.

France

Greetings my faithful readers. I've made it to France. I had a nice couple flights with British Airways. Business Class still rocks. Paris seemed the same. Still very pretty. There are 42 people on my Globus tour. All of them seem very nice. One interesting item is that we have 3 couples from Australia. I bet they had some killer flights. I can't say anything super exciting has happened so far. However, tomorrow I visit Mont St. Michel. That should be awesome. I'm looking forward to it. That's all for now. I'll try to post updates as the tour progresses. Stay tuned.

OkCupid Update

I finally gave up on OkCupid. I got tired of them trying to match me up with women older than I am or women that were terminally ugly. Also, the site is rife with liberals. While most of the time this didn't cause me a problem, I got tired with the Sarah Palin bashing that is raging on the site. In my opinion, she is a wonderful woman and a very smart pick for Vice President by John McCain. I never would've thought he would've picked her. She has done wonders for electrifying the conservative base in the Republican Party as well as caused a serious dilemma for Barack Hussein Obama. Obama passed over Hillary Clinton for his V.P. pick as well as some other qualified female Democratic Party members. I'm sure the women in the Democratic Party are giving him no small amount of grief over that.

Anyway, maybe, I'll give Conservativematch.Com another try once I get back from my trip to France. We'll see. Cheers all!

Post Office Update

It's been a busy week for me at the Post Office. I got tagged to do a full route 5 days and to deliver Express Mail/packages a 6th day. I should make some good money this week though I won't see it for a while as I'll be leaving in a couple days for France. I hope things go all right for my boss. The notorious single moms continue to play their stupid games. Considering how tight we'll be people wise while I'm gone, my boss will just have to suck it up and hope they show up.

We got a new sub who is a TRC which I believe stands for temporary rural carrier. Unlike me, he never took the rural carrier exam. Because of that, he was able to get hired on quicker however, he'll get paid $5 less an hour than what I get. So far, he seems to have a good attitude. We'll see how long it lasts.

The Postmaster informed every one that the Post Office plans to bring flat sorting machines to our Post Office. What is a flat sorting machine? It's machine that sort what we call flats in the Post Office. Flats are catalogs, newspapers, magazines, large card mailers and fliers. By bringing in these machines, the Post Office hopes to save money by cutting the number of clerks they need and the number of hours the mail carriers need to case their mail. Currently, carriers get their flats unsorted and it can take a while to case them in their mail case. Another way the Post Office plans to save money on the machines is since the carriers won't spend as much time casing the flats, they'll be able to spend more time delivering the mail which means they can make their routes longer. That means there won't be any new routes for a while which means I'll be a substitute mail carrier longer. That doesn't cause me any heartache but it would make it tough for other subs who don't have benefits like I get from the military. I do wonder if the union will go along with the flat sorting machines. We'll see.

That's all from the Laurel Post Office front. Cheers!

Lost Users Manual

Last year, my friend Harvey introduced me to the game called Sudoku. It's a logic game where you have 9 blocks with 9 squares in each block. Every square in each block is filled with the numbers 1 to 9. The part where this game gets challenging is that you can't have the same number twice in any of the rows or columns of the larger 3 by 3 block grid. While flying back from Oslo, I found out Continental Airlines had an electronic version of Sudoku for sale. I bought one and I was very pleased with it. Then, I had a brain fart. I threw out the user's manual for the game. I didn't realize it was for my electronic sudoku game until it was too late. Subsequently, I looked for another game console so I could get another copy of the users manual. To my surprise, I couldn't find the same game any where on the Internet. Also, I couldn't find a webpage for the company that makes the game unit. Finally, I wrote the company that distributes the game asking them if I could buy a new users manual or game console so I could get the users manual. To my delight, Mr. G. Pollard of Scorpio Distributors Limited, Lowfield Heath, United Kingdom sent me a users manual for free. Many thanks to him and his company. I promise I won't throw that one out.

Hanover Five Guys Restaurant

Earlier this week, I had a nice chat with my friend Harvey. He mentioned that he'd gone to a Five Guys restaurant within the past week and really enjoyed it. It'd been a while since I visited a Five Guys restaurant so I decided to check out the new one that had recently opened in Hanover, Maryland. This review is about that restaurant.

The Five Guys restaurant in Hanover, Maryland is very easy to get to. It's located just off Arundel Mills Boulevard when you take the Arundel Mills exit off of Maryland-295 (Baltimore Washington Parkway). It's located in a small shopping center called Arundel Preserve.

The restaurant is like other Five Guys restaurants in that the decor is a bit spartan. The most noticeable thing about the restaurant was the copies of articles that had been written about the chain and how many times it had various awards for the best hamburger restaurant or cheap eats.

However, I would have to disagree about its claim to be cheap to eat at. The small burger as they call it costs $3.19 and comes with 1 beef patty and a large selection of toppings. It is the toppings where Five Guys separates itself from other hamburger joints. You can get fried mushrooms, fried onions, green peppers, A-1 sauce, jalapenos, hot sauce or the standard ketchup, mustard, mayo, pickles or lettuce all at no charge. As far as I know of, no one else offers such an extensive list and at no extra charge. The only 2 toppings that do cost extra are cheese and bacon. Those come at a stiff 60 cents each. I tried their regular burger with bacon, cheese, fried onions and fried mushrooms. The regular burger which has 2 beef patties costs $4.19. In my opinion, for an extra buck, you might as well get the extra patty. With cheese and bacon, my burger ended up costing $5.39 which wasn't cheap.

Five Guys also offers 2 types of french fries. They have Five Guys flavor and Cajun. They come in regular and large size. A regular will cost you $2.40 while a large fry will cost you a stiff $4.19. I tried their large fries and I did get a good portion of fries but, $4.19 isn't cheap.

Five Guys offers hot dogs and grilled cheese sandwiches if you're not in the mood for a burger. I didn't try either of these but, a friend at the Post Office has tried their hot dogs and he raved about them. For those who are vegetarian, they also offer a vegetarian sandwich.

Lastly, Five Guys offers the standard line of soft drinks such as Pepsi, Hi-C, and some kind of Root Beer. A regular drink will cost you $1.79 while a large will cost you $1.99. They also offer bottled water at $1.79. For those who dine at the restaurant, you can get unlimited free refills. If you are going to eat the restaurant, you might as well save yourself the 20 cents. If you're not, you should spend it and get the large drink. I tried the Root Beer and the lemonade and both were fine.

Overall, I found Five Guys a cut above your average hamburger joint like McDonalds or Wendy's. All the hamburger they use is fresh as are their french fries. They actually keep sacks of potatoes where customers can see them. Price wise, they are a bit more expensive than McD's or Wendy's but, their burgers are good and their service is prompt. If you want a better burger or want one with some of their excellent toppings, you should try them out. They are very good. Bon Appetit!

Renaissance Festival

I got to go the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville, Maryland yesterday. I try to go every year. The festival has good acts, excellent shops and decent food. I watched Fight School, The Rogues, the jousting and Hack and Slash. Fight School did the same routine with some new jokes thrown in. They were still good. The Rogues had a new fiddler and a new CD. They sounded nice. The jousting was all right. I didn't envy the knights wearing their heavy armor in the heat. It was in the high 80's or low 90's yesterday. Hack and Slash did the same routine and it was as funny as ever. I need to buy their Christmas show DVD sometime.

In regards to food at the festival, I had the mandatory turkey leg. It was very good though they raised the price on it a buck to $5. Also, I tried their sweet corn on the cob. The people running the food booth had a pot of melted butter that they could dunk the corn into. They also offered various seasonings. The corn was very good though a bit pricey at $2.50 a piece. Lastly, I tried their lemonade and their raspberry smoothie. I thought both stunk. The raspberry smoothie was little more than a weakly flavored icee.

Some of the shops had some very nice items for sale. I was sorely tempted to buy some new leather bracers for my festival costume and a hand bound journal. However, I'll be leaving soon for the 2-week tour of France I've told my readers about so, I decided it was wise to cool the spending. I ended up buying 2 t-shirts that I could wear when delivering mail.

Overall, the festival was really nice. I very much enjoyed going. One word of advice to any readers that may try to go to the festival. Make sure you leave so you'll arrive shortly before they open the gates. If you do, you should be able to get to festival parking without getting stuck in a line. If you don't, you could end up in a bumper to bumper line trying to get in the parking lot. Also, the festival is fully capable of handling large crowds. I heard one person say the festival could handle over 26,000 people! (It's possible considering how big the festival grounds are. Also, if you plan on going this coming weekend, the festival has a coupon that will get you $4 off the price of an adult admission as well as discounts on other admissions until September 8th. Ticket prices did go up a $1 this year for unknown reasons. Cheers all!

My End of the Woods

I thought I'd post an update on what's going on at my end of the woods. The biggest thing is impatiently waiting to go on the upcoming 2 week Globus tour of France. I'm impatiently counting every day. When I get within a week, I'll get to do more concerning the trip i.e. buy a bunch of Euros, put my mail hold request in and figure out what I'm going to wear. For now, all I can do is count the days.

Work at the Post Office goes well enough. I still have issues with the notorious single moms and I know I always will. I'm never going to accept their laziness or breaking of the rules. I count my blessings that I get along so well with my boss. Also, supposedly, the Postmaster is very pleased with me. I do whatever he asks without whining. He knows when he gives me a task that it'll get done. It's nice to know he's pleased with my work.

I've been considering buying a videocamera for the upcoming trip. My mom suggested it. Unfortunately, the timing is bad. I want to be able to pay all the optional excursions I plan to take at the beginning of the tour. I hope to avoid a big charge card bill when I get back from the trip. I haven't forgotten the Australia tour I did with Globus. I was paying on that for 3 months after I got back. If I bought the camera, I wouldn't be able to pay the excursions off before hand. I've decided to buy it in a couple months. I'll take it with me when I do the Egypt tour in March. That is something I'd definitely want to record on DVD.

I visited Dave & Busters today. They're offering a buy $10 worth of tickets and get $10 free coupon on their website (must be used by September 1st). It's a good deal. I suspect they're doing it to get you in the door. $20 with a supercharge will get you 125 tickets. That isn't much when you start playing the games. I'm partial to Spin & Win and that costs 8.8 tickets per play using a gold card. I suspect once you're there, you'll be more likely to recharge your card and play some more. I know I did today. I had frustrating luck on Spin & Win. I must've missed the 1,000 ticket light by 1 or 2 lights at least 15 times. I did finally hit the thing once. I now have over 63,000 tickets. They have a Zune MP3 player for 46,000 tickets. I want an MP3 player but, I don't know if I want to spend 46,000 tickets to get it. I'm going to keep thinking about it.

Also, I did a little bit for the environment today. I did a recycling run to the Glen Burnie Recycling Depot. It isn't much but, it is something. Also, I do try to not run the lights in my apartment unless I'm using them. That may have less to do with the environment and more to do with trying to keep my electric bill down.

On the subject of travel again, Globus looks to be getting more serious about their Journey club. It's a special travel club they offer that offers club only tours and access to their clothing shop. If you reactivate your Journey club membership, you'll receive a coupon that'll get you $75 off any tour that you book between August 2008 and December 2009. Also, they're offering a free extra night in a hotel providing you share it. Singles don't get to take advantage of this offer. Oh well. Also, it appears they going to come out with some kind of club membership number. The webpage to reactivate my membership asked for a card number. I had no idea what they were talking about. I'm curious to see if I get a membership card in the mail.

Lastly, I'm looking forward to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. It opened last weekend. Labor Day Weekend is a good time to go since the Post Office is closed on Labor Day. The only bummer to the festival is I'll make sure I get on the road early to get to it. If you take your time, you'll get stuck in a long bumper to bumper line. It'll be neat to check out the festival. They have some good acts and nice shops plus, the smoked turkey legs are delicious.

That's all that's worth telling about for now. Stay tuned for more updates as the France tour gets closer. Cheers all!

Trader Joe's Sparkling Pomegranate and Blueberry Juices Review

Recently, I tried Trader Joe's Sparkling Pomegranate Juice and Sparkling Blueberry Juice. This review in on those 2 products. I'd never had either pomegranate or blueberry juice so I thought I'd give Trader Joe's products a try. Taste wise, both juices tasted good. Neither have any kind of chemicals or preservatives which is another plus. However, there were some notable negatives with these 2 products. For starters, you don't get 100% pomegranate juice or 100% blueberry juice. The bottles say 100% juice and then in far smaller letters state that they are a blend of 4 juice concentrates. For example, their sparkling blueberry juice has blueberry juice, apple juice, pear juice and white grape juice. So while it's 100% juice, it isn't 100% blueberry juice. While Trader Joe's can technically say their being honest about the product, I feel they aren't being totally above board. Second, I had problems with the price. A 25.4 ounce bottle of blueberry juice cost $2.69 at Trader Joe's Columbia, Maryland store. That isn't a lot of juice for the money, especially when you figure in the carbonation. The pomegranate juice was a little cheaper selling for $2.49. In my opinion, these juices are a bit pricey.

Overall, while I thought the 2 juices had good flavor, I found them too pricey and not what they claimed to be. I feel they should call them in bigger letters some kind of juice blend vice stating they are a particular type of juice. If Trader Joe's is going to claim something is blueberry juice, it should be 100% blueberry juice. Because of their price and their labeling, I can't recommend either product. Cheers all!

Travel Documents

I received my Globus travel documents yesterday. I was delighted to get them. It makes the upcoming trip to France more real. I can't wait to go. I'm tired of the Post Office bullshit. Trips to Baltimore or D.C. aren't far enough. I need to get away from it for a while. 2 weeks in France will definitely do the trick. Concerning the documents themselves, I got a bit of double shock on them. To my surprise, my travel agent didn't catch that I didn't have airport transfers. After catching 3 flights to get to Paris, the last thing I'm going to want to mess with is getting myself to my hotel from Charles de Gaulle International. Also, my departing flight from Paris leaves at 7:25 a.m. I don't want to mess with trying to make arrangements to get to a foreign airport that early in the morning. I emailed my travel agent and he said he'd take care of it first thing. Also, I found that I was missing the documents for the travel insurance I purchased. I definitely want that information included. I hope I don't have to use the insurance but, it is nice to have it just in case. Now, I need to make a checklist so I can make sure I get done everything I need to do for my upcoming trip. I'll need to make sure the batteries for my digital camera are fully charged, that I pack a spare memory card for my camera, that I put my mail on hold, that I buy enough Euros and that I figure out what I'm going to wear during the trip. The clothes part promises to be hard because Globus limits me to one bag that can't weigh more than 50 pounds. The tour will be 2 weeks. Also, I'll be going to some events that'll be dressy i.e. the dinner and tour of Monte Carlo. Lastly, I have to make sure I have enough space in the suit case for souvenirs and gifts. It promises to be a bit of challenge figuring out what I'm going to take. Still, it'll be neat thinking of the upcoming tour. To get to see the famous beaches of Normandy where the D-Day invasion took place or see the stunning Mont St. Michel. It should be an awesome time. Stay tuned for further updates.

Travel Update

As my trip to France gets closer, I am getting more and more excited about it. I'm definitely ready to go on another trip. It's been 5 months since I did my first ever cruise in the Caribbean. Later this week, I should receive my travel documents for the Globus France tour. I'll blog more about that when I get them. Also, I made the last payment on the Egypt tour. Now, I just have to pay the charge card bill for it. That should be an awesome tour. Lastly, my friend Harvey was supposed to put the deposit down for me on the Historic East tour. Globus was offering an early booking deal where you could lock in a pre-brochure price. I checked and it was only $80 higher than this year's prices. I don't see the tour being cheaper than that so I decided to go ahead and book the tour. I'm pretty excited about that tour too. It is going to be really amusing to catch the Metro (Washington D.C. subway system) to the tour hotel and start the tour in D.C. I'm very use to having to catch a flight (many times an international one) to do a tour. It will be a real trip to do one that is so close. Stay tuned for further updates.

Postal Service Loss

I read an article on the Associated Press this past week that stated that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) lost 1.1 billion dollars this past quarter (http://govexec.com/dailyfed/0808/080608ap2.htm). I thought I'd offer my 2 bits on this. First, summer time is the worst time of the year in regards to mail volume for the Post Office. I've seen considerably less mail these past 3 to 4 months than I do during the rest of the year. This is the norm. Personally, I like the lower volumes as it means I can get my route done quicker and I end up giving the Post Office fewer free hours. Second, the price of gas is really clobbering the Post Office. The Post Office has one of the largest fleets of vehicles per a U.S. company in the country. On some of the routes I deliver on, you have to drive from box to box. It would take far too long to deliver the mail walking. I think I saw a statistic some where that stated the Postal Service loses 8 million dollars for every penny the price of gas goes up. Considering how much gas has gone up, you can see how badly the Postal Service has gotten clobbered. Lastly, the service is trying to keep costs down. I know on the city side at our Post Office that they are having more open routes i.e. routes that don't have a salaried carrier. These routes have to be carried by the other city carriers. Also, our Post Office is cracking down on mis-thrown parcels. If a parcel is shipped Priority or First Class, we must deliver it the day we receive it. Mis-thrown parcels by the clerks can make it necessary for us to send a carrier (at $17.98 an hour) out to deliver a $4 parcel. By cutting down on mis-thrown parcels, we're able to save money and parcel runs.

The Postal Service is facing some incredible challenges. On-line bill paying is really hurting the service. People prefer to email or text message vice writing letters. Also, competition from FedEx and UPS is tough. Ironically, the Post Office offers a great deal in Express Mail but, a lot of people still prefer to use FedEx or UPS. Postal work remains labor intensive though the service has tried and continues to try to automate as much as possible. There has been a serious reduction in the number of clerks because of automation. The service also has a real challenge getting people who can do the job. A lot of people in this country don't realize just how hard it is to deliver the mail. I know, I was one of them. We have a high attrition rate among new hires. One of the things I've had to do is encourage the newbes to stick it out. The job is very hard until you start to figure out where various addresses are on the mail case. Lastly, I think the Postal Service is a great bargain. You can still mail a letter across the country for just 42 cents. With high gas prices, competition and communication advances, the future promises to be very challenging for the U.S. Postal Service and its employees.

Jeff Foxworthy Beef Jerky Review

To my surprise, while shopping at Safeway, I found out that Jeff Foxworthy of redneck fame has come out with his own beef jerky. As I really like beef jerky, I decided to try it. I tried the teriyaki flavor. I found it to be bland. The jerky was also tough though that is how jerky is supposed to be. Jerky was meat that was salted and dried so it would last a long time. Since, it was dried out, it would be tough initially to eat. One plus for Foxworthy's beef jerky is that it DOESN'T have any Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). It really annoys me to see that stuff in various foods. In my opinion, it isn't good for you. I know it will hurt me wind wise, if I eat something with that and then try to exercise later. I've personally seen the very noticeable difference. Price wise, Safeway was selling a 4 ounce re-sealable pouch of the jerky for $6. That's comparable with other brands of beef jerky.

Overall, I can't rave about Foxworthy's beef jerky. It failed to impress though I do like that it doesn't have MSG. I plan to keep looking for some jerky that tastes good and doesn't have a lot of artificial junk in it (real jerky doesn't). Cheers all!

Dave & Busters

After wiping myself out on the elliptical machine yesterday, I decided to go to Dave & Busters at the Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover, Maryland. It's a fun place and I enjoy playing the super trivia game and Spin and Win game. I wanted to add to my ticket winnings and see what new prizes they had. I managed to win 3,156 tickets at a cost of $53. I had frustrating luck with the Spin and Win game as I missed the 1,000 ticket light by 1 or 2 light over 20 times. It hurts to get that close. A split second made all the difference.

In regards to prizes, I didn't see anything that really wiped me out. They had a DVD player recorder which seemed nice but, I'm terrible about watching movies. They had a shake mixer but, how often do I make milkshakes. So, I decided to hold on to my tickets. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll get an MP3 player sometime. I'd have bought one myself but, I'm saving the money to pay off my future travels.

One other item of note I want to let folks know about. The parking situation around Dave & Busters is really bad on weekends. You can expect to spend at least 5 minutes trying to find a spot. You may have to watch for folks leaving so you can get their spot once they leave. This is the only problem I have with Dave & Busters. Barring that, it is a a fun place.

Change of Plans

My travel plans have changed for 2009. Previously, I said I was going to do a cruise June of 2009. I decided to nix the cruise. It was just too expensive. Because of the gap I have to do between major trips, I had to do the cruise in June. June is the beginning of high season cruise wise. High season is the most expensive time to go cruising. While I would like to do another cruise, I don't HAVE to do one then. So, I decided to do something else. On my wish list travel wise was seeing Yorktown, Jamestown and Gettysburg. Globus has a tour that hits those historic places. Funnily enough, it starts in Washington D.C. The tour will visit some places I've already been to such as Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello and Philadelphia. But, I won't mind seeing those places again. I really enjoyed visiting Colonial Williamsburg. I'm curious what kind of group we'll get for the tour. The tour lasts just 8 days total. I've never done such a short one before. Also, this will be my first Globus tour in the U.S. It'll be interesting to see what it's like. Stay tuned.

Badge

I forgot my rural carrier badge this morning when I went rushing out the door. Unlike city carriers (they wear uniforms), the only thing a rural carrier has to prove they are a legitimate mail carrier is their badge. Also, you need your badge when you set up your scanner in the morning. The badge has a bar code the scanner reads and matches to a name in its memory. If you forget your badge, you have to try to remember what your employee ID number is and enter it manually into the scanner. It's a real pain. The scanner is important because you use that to enter all the delivery confirmations, insured mails and accountable mails. If you don't scan those, you get in big trouble with the Post Office. Supposedly, they lose money if you don't do those scans.

After I turned left onto Russett Green Road, I realized something was missing. I looked at my chest and realized my Post Office pens and badge weren't there. I let out a curse and looked for a place where I could do a u-turn. I drove back to my apartment, picked up my badge and pens and headed to the Post Office AGAIN. I counted my blessings I didn't get all the way to the Post Office before realizing that I'd forgotten my badge. Thankfully, this wasn't a omen of things to come as mail was light and it ended up being an easy day. Cheers all!

Icelandair

I got some bad news from Joel, my travel agent, about Icelandair. To my total surprise, they don't fly out of Baltimore Washington International Airport anymore. Crap! They only fly out of Boston, JFK, Minneapolis and Orlando. JFK would be the closest airport for me and that would cost me over $300 to fly there to make a connecting flight with them. In my opinion, it wouldn't be worth it. So, I'm stuck with over 28,000 of their frequent flier points. I suppose I could exchange them for something at Points.com but, you don't tend to get a good deal doing that. I'm going to have think about this and figure out what I'm going to do. It bites that they left Baltimore.

Ok Cupid Update

I've continued to answer more questions and rate more ladies on Ok Cupid. The site has continued to surprise me. One of the ladies I had to rate was a real DOMINATRICE. That's a women who wears leather, treats you like crap, expects you to obey her and in the process some how you'll be sexually stimulated by that. I confess I can't understand how somehow could get off being humiliated but, the world is filled with lots of WEIRD people so it's possible. I'm not one of them so I quickly rated the lady a 1 (that being the worst you can rate someone) and quickly moved on. I suspect my readers would've had a good laugh at my reaction when the lady's bio first came. My eyes really bugged on that one.

I have no idea how well Christians are represented on this site BUT, I got another surprise by all the Wiccan practicers. What equally surprised me was how many of them apparently go the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Hm. I'd suspected as much but this site has confirmed it. It'll be a trip if I recognize some of them when I go to the festival this year.

That sums up all the surprised I've had since my last post. I have enjoyed posting some comments on some of the member's journals (blogs) there. I like good conversation and the posts there are a form of conversation. I still have little hope I'll actually meet someone there I'd actually like to take out. I suspect my job at the Post Office doesn't help me any as I doubt any of the ladies there are impressed by my job. Oh well. Stay tuned for further updates on this too.

OK Cupid

I've been filling in my bio, adding a few photos and answering more questions on http://www.okcupid.com/. It's a free site where you can make new friends, find a possible date or maybe find someone to have sex with. I found the sex angle on the site somewhat shocking. They ask a lot questions about sex. I suspect there are some really weird people on that site. Still, it has its good points. I've been very impressed by how many single ladies it has in the Maryland, Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia area. I don't know what my chances are of meeting some of them. I will confess I'm picky. I want attractive and I won't settle for less. I'm content to keep going it alone if it means I have to compromise. I know a woman is more than looks and believe me, I take their personality into account too. I never forgot a date I had years ago with a stunner. Her personality stunk and the date was a massive dud. Another problem I suspect I'll run into is kids. I'm not real keen on becoming an instant dad because she has kids of her own. I think it's hard enough to make a relationship work without that addition of kids and ex's. Still, a lot women my age is likely to have them. Lastly, me and my gut are going to have to do battle. My job at the Post Office hasn't helped my weight situation. I'm subject to being called in on short notice and I can never be sure how long I'll have to work. That plays hell with my diet. I can eat a light breakfast and then not get home for 9 hours. By the time I get home, I'm starving and I overeat. My step-mom has suggested I carry snacks to re-energize myself but when I'm doing a route, I don't want to stop till I'm done. Also, after a long day at the Post Office, I don't feel like exercising. I hit the elliptical machine today for the first time in months. Boy, I was out of shape. I set it for level 5 and managed to last 25 minutes. My heart rate soared. Oh well. We'll see how it goes. Stay tuned.

Union Station

Per my previous blog on the D.C. Duck tour, I found myself with an hour and 45 minutes to waste before the tour left. I decided to explore Union Station. Union Station is the main train station for Washington D.C. All trains going through D.C. stop there. It is a very impressive building with beautiful statues, walls and ceilings. There are a number of Roman centurion statues that were designed by Louis Saint Gauden (I hope I have that name right). Each of the statues has a shield in front of it. The reason for this is that each statue is nude. When the statues were made back in 1908, people were more modest than we are today. As some people in those days would've been shocked at the sight of such brazen manliness, Gauden created was has come to be known as "modesty shields" which stand in front of the statues and hide each of the statue's manliness. I thought the story funny which is why I'm passing it on to you my reader.

The station has 3 floors. The bottom floor is filled with various restaurants. I can't tell you if any of them are any good as I've never tried any of them. The 2nd floor has a combination of shops, restaurants, Amtrak ticket counters and the gates for the various trains. I thought this part was neat as I checked out the various gates to see where the trains were going. A lot of them were going north to New York City with some going on to Boston. Some were going south to Newport News. To me, train travel is still pretty neat. You get to see towns and countryside on the train unlike in an airplane. You also arrive typically in the heart of your destination vice at some distant airport. My only complaint with the trains is their poor timeliness. I know airplanes are late too but, the airplanes have never been as late as some of the trains I've ridden on here in the states.

The 3rd floor on the station has some posh shops including Joseph Banks Clothiers. I've actually bought some very nice clothes here and I was very pleased with them. This is also where you find the connecting walkway to the station multi-floored parking lot. I've also used this parking lot though I don't remember what it costs.

Overall, Union Station is a very nice place. It's a great place to grab a bite to eat, do a little shopping, catch a tour of D.C. or take a train on a new adventure some where. If you're in D.C., you should check it out. Cheers all!

Washington D.C. Hard Rock Cafe

I had dinner at the Washington D.C. Hard Rock Cafe yesterday. After I finished a D.C. Duck tour (see previous blog), I took the Metro to MCI Station. From there, I walked to the cafe. The cafe was fairly busy. Since I was by myself, the cafe greeter wanted to sit me at some cocktail tables they have. I wanted a regular table. They granted my request but, I was seated in a corner where I was easily forgotten. My waitress Lori was also very busy with other customers so didn't have a lot of time to check on me.

I had their pulled pork sandwich and sinful sundae for dessert. The sandwich was nicely presented and came with 2 small sides of cole slaw and baked beans with a main side of french fries. Everything on the entree tasted good. Concerning my sundae, when you make a sundae, aren't you suppose to pour the chocolate syrup over the ice cream then cover it with whip cream and nuts? That's what I think and they didn't do. They poured it into this plastic glass and it went straight to the bottom of it. The ice cream itself was Haagen Dazs and was very good. They also did a nice job with the whip cream and sprinkles though I think they forgot the nuts they were supposed to put on the sundae.

Overall, the food was average and the service was below average. I wasn't pleased with this visit. The only thing I was pleased about was the waitress getting the credit right on my All Access Membership. For those of you who don't know, All Access Membership is a program the chain has where you can earn credit toward free t-shirts, pins or food. For every $200 you spend, you get $20 in credit. It's a nice program. I was very close to getting my next $20 credit which was why I really wanted to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. At some of the cafe's I've eaten at, the waitresses haven't known how to enter the All Access information properly so I haven't gotten the proper amount of credit I was supposed to get for my purchase. Thankfully, Lori did know how to enter it and I earned my next $20 credit. Now, I have a $100 credit that I can use for whatever I want at any Hard Rock Cafe. I'm pleased about that. Barring that, I don't see myself busting my butt to visit this cafe for a while. I wouldn't recommend you do so either. Bon Appetit!

D.C. Duck Tour

I've wanted to do what is called a Duck tour for a while. I signed up for one during my March 2008 cruise but, it was cancelled and I couldn't make the morning tour as I had another tour scheduled during that time. A Duck tour for those of you who don't know is a tour of a city in what is called a Duck vehicle. The vehicle was created during World War II. It's purpose was to take supplies from a ship like a boat and then drive up on a beach and go to where ever the front lines were and deliver the supplies. So, it is a combination boat and truck or in the case of the tour bus. It's a pretty cool vehicle and is one of the draws of the tour.

The tour itself is reasonably priced. An adult ticket was less than $30. I don't know what a child's ticket would cost. The tour leaves from Union Station and lasts 90 minutes. The two duck drivers were called Captain Crunch and Captain Nemo. Captain Nemo was the one who drove the duck I rode in.

The tour itself was good. Captain Nemo was very knowledgeable about D.C. and pointed out the main points of interest and dropped occasional bits of trivia as well. When we reached the marina opposite the Pentagon, we entered the Potomac River and got to take a short river cruise. At this point, I was a bit disappointed with the tour because we didn't see anything of great interest on the river. The only thing that was some what neat was just before we exited the river. We crossed the flight path of jets that were taking off from Reagan National Airport. We actually had one fly right over us. Another nice thing Nemo was did was issue quackers. These are whistles that make a quacking sound. The rules were we quacked all buses we passed, all policemen and something else. It was goofy and it was fun. I know I looked stupid blowing my quacker whistle but, I enjoyed it.

Overall, I thought the tour was pretty nice. I thought Captain Nemo did a very good job. The tour itself is apparently very popular as they were able to fill 2 ducks for 2 p.m. when I made my reservation at Noon. The lady making the reservations told me they were nearly fully booked for the day. There is a duck tour in Baltimore and I plan to take that one too. I'm curious to see if that one will be more impressive on the water. We'll see. Cheers!

Impatient

I made my 2nd payment on the Globus Egypt tour I hope to take. I confess I'm a bit impatient about paying the trip off. I want it and the cruise I hope to take in 2009 paid off now. As it is, it'll take me another 5 months to pay the 2 trips off. 5 months is a long time and a lot of payments. Oh well. I'll just have to make myself be patient and wait. Thankfully, only 2 months till I get to on a Globus tour of France. Next month, I'll get the travel documents and my 3rd Globus carry bag. That's when the trip becomes more real. You get to see the tour itinerary, your tour number and you receive your name tag so every one in the group can know your name. It's pretty neat stuff. Plus, it's exciting travelling internationally. I can't get excited travelling in the states but I can when I travel overseas. To me, foreign travel is exciting and an adventure. Sometimes too, it has been a bit of a misadventure but those give me something to laugh about months later. I'll never forget my trip to Iceland because of all the mis-adventures I had there. 2 months to go till France and 2 months to go till the Egypt tour is paid off. I can't wait.

Show Review

Today, I saw "All Shook Up" at Toby's Dinner Theater in Columbia, Maryland. I decided to do my review on it while it's fresh in my mind. I'll cover ticketing/seating, food and the show itself.

As I had 1 more person than I had season tickets for, I had to pick up my extra guest's ticket at the box office. There was a little line but it moved well. When I got to the box office, the lady was prompt in finding my reservation as well as running up the charge so I could pay for it. Once I'd signed the charge slip, she gave me a card with our seating assignment which I gave to the seating assignment lady inside the theater. She promptly directed us to our table where we were able to be seated at once. The table was good one with excellent all around views.

Our waiter's name was Dave and he played the nerdy guy Dennis in the show. As a waiter, he did an outstanding job. As the nerdy guy in the show, he was great and he could sing! In regards to the food, it was plentiful and good. They had a full salad bar as well as cole slaw, pasta salad, green beans, potatoes, corn on the cob, spinach, tomatoes, some kind of pasta with cheese mixed in, shrimp, chicken, ribs, salmon, roast beef, ham and I think roast turkey breast. Each of the tables had fresh rolls. As you can see by the menu, if you didn't get thoroughly stuffed, you weren't trying. I made sure I had a light breakfast and, I didn't eat anything else the rest of the day in anticipation of their outstanding buffet.

The show were very funny and very well done. It was filled with great lines and the actors and actresses timing of the lines was smack on. The show has a number of great Elvis Presley hits. At times, they're used for comedic effect and other times for general audience pleasure. All the songs were well done. The show becomes increasingly Gilbert and Sullivanish as the love triangles get increasingly messed up. The biker Chad arrives in town and promptly falls for the stacked museum director. The grease monkey Natalie falls for Chad the biker who doesn't care for her and she decides to disguise herself as a man named Ed so Chad will get to know her/him. Dennis the nerd who became Chad's sidekick gives the job up to Natalie/Ed since he loves her though she doesn't love him. Dennis gives Chad a copy of Shakespeare's Sonnet 17 so he can capture the stacked museum director's heart. Chad has Natalie/Ed deliver the sonnet to the stacked female museum director and the director ends up falling in love with her/him. This is where things get kinky as you have the museum director in love with Natalie/Ed causing a potential lesbian romance though the director doesn't know it and Natalie/Ed isn't interested in her. She's still very much in love with the biker Chad. Things get more complicated and kinkier when Chad falls in love with Natalie's persona Ed causing what would look like a homosexual romance even though it isn't as Ed/Natalie is really a woman. Chad teaches his methods to Natalie's father who subsequently persues the same stacked museum director that Chad wants who doesn't want anything to do with Chad or Natalie's father. Natalie's father's friend Sylvia falls for Natalie's father and tries to get him to see that the museum director is going to leave him broken hearted. Sylvia's daughter Lorraine falls for the Mayor's son Dean who also falls for her and they have to hide their doomed love (he's white, she's black) from his mother. In typical Gilbert and Sullivan fashion, all ends well with a few surprises. I'll let you see the show to find out what they are.

My biggest complaint with the production was with the lead singer/actor who plays Chad but who we would recognize as the Elvis character. He can sing the songs BUT, he can't sing them like Elvis. He doesn't have Elvis's power and so really doesn't nail "Jailhouse Rock" down like he should. There were other songs where he is equally weak. In Toby's last show, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, they had an actor who sang like Elvis. He did a great job. I can only guess that the actor was too old for the part of Chad. It's unfortunate as he would've done a lot better job singing the various Elvis songs.

Overall, barring the lead actor/singer, I found the show really nice. The actors and actresses did an outstanding job. Their timing was smack on and they have some great lines. They were also superbly supported by the folks in costumes, props, lighting and music. The show is filled with laughs and should be enjoyed by everyone. If you like madcap comedy, good music (Elvis still rocks!) and good food, this show is for you. All Shook Up runs until August 24th.

Taper

Yesterday, I listened to my last cassette tape from R. B. Thieme Bible Ministries. Thieme's ministries decided to phase out the tapes. I suspect there were a number of reasons. Blank CDs would be cheaper to buy, to ship and you can put more lessons on them. My first MP3 CD from them had 35 lessons on it. In cassette tape terms, that would've been a box and a half of cassettes. I'm saddened to see them phase out the cassettes though. For all those who listen to Thieme's teaching, it was a badge of honor to say you were a taper. I've listened to Thieme's tapes since 1992 when Dr. Christopher Seidlitz, the head pastor of the base I was stationed at, recommended them to me. I've listened to over 1,500 of Thieme's tapes. Because of the tapes, I made a special effort in 1997 to get to see Pastor Thieme in person when he did a bible conference in Pensacola Beach, Florida. It was something to see the man in person. It saddens me that Pastor Thieme was struck with Alzheimer's disease. He was an incredible and fascinating pastor. Luckily bible teaching wise, his son Bobby took over the reins and teaches in the same manner as his father. On Sundays, I go to a church group where I listen to live broadcasts of Bobby's sermons. Some day, I hope to visit Thieme's church in Houston, Texas. I'd like to see the actual church where Pastor Thieme preached for over 50 years.

For now, I guess I'll be called a CDer as I'll be listening to the lessons on MP3 CDs. Today, I'll listen to my first lesson on my first MP3 CD. Also, I've sent in my order for my second CD. Still, I'll miss the tapes.

Rick Steve's France and Benelux DVD Review

I finished watching Rick Steve's France and Benelux DVD today. I bought so I could see some of the sights I'll get to see in France during the Globus tour of France I'll take in September. The DVD does show a number of highlights of various parts of France. You get to see the Musee D'Orsay (houses France collection of Impressionist paintings), the Palace of the Popes in Avignon, a Roman aqueduct that supplied water to Nimes for over 4 centuries, Nimes, the American Cemetery, the beaches of Normandy, the Bayeux Tapestry, Mont St. Michel, and Provence. In regards to the Benelux countries, you learn a little about Brussels and Bruges during the Belgium episode. During the Amsterdam episode, you learn about the canal cruise boats, eating raw herring, the notorious Red Light district (where they have legalized prostitution), coffee houses where you can buy marijuana and cafes where you can buy coffee, old fashioned and modern windmills, Haarlem as well as the Aalsmeer flower auction where flowers are bid on and shipped all over the world.

Benelux normally includes Luxembourg but Steve's doesn't include anything on at postage stamp size country. Steve's also introduces some of the tour guides who run Rick Steve tours in France, Belgium and Amsterdam. Quietly, he promotes his tours in the video while telling viewers of the various sights. He seems to encourage viewers to get out and see France but, I'd be leery of going off on my own unless I knew France pretty well and could understand some French so I could make myself understood there.

Overall, I found the DVD nice. I wouldn't care to take a Rick Steve's tour as I tend to like greater comfort travelling. It can give you some good ideas of places to see in the 3 countries. It also has some interesting information in it. I remember where he explained about the different level holes in the pool where the Roman aqueduct poured the water into in Nimes. The lowest level holes went to common wells throughout the city. Higher level holes led to pipes which carried water to the homes of the wealthy and to city fountains. Price wise, I believe the DVD cost me approximately $13 at Sam's Club. If you're going to France this would be a good DVD to buy to get some idea of the things you'll see there. Less so, if you're going to visit Belgium or the Netherlands. Cheers all!

The British Royal Family At Work DVD Review

As I've previously reported, I'm a bit of an anglophile. I'm fascinated with things British. Also, as I previously mentioned, I recently bought the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) DVD series Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work. This review is about that DVD series.

 

The series does what it says it does. It shows the British royal family at work. They promote hundreds of charities and causes. They recognize those who have done notable charity work. They promote British industry in the case of Prince Andrew. Lastly, the work to improve relations between various countries and Britain. They try to do all at an affordable cost to the British taxpayer. In the 5th episode, you learn that the British royal family costs each British taxpayer 68 pence ($1.34 U.S. at the current exchange rate of $1.99 U.S. to the British pound/Source of exchange rate: Yahoo Finance) per YEAR. To me, that seems very reasonable considering the hard work they do and the cache they bring to Britain.

 

However, some apparently don't agree. The series shows that some vehemently want to do away with the monarchy. They feel it doesn't serve any purpose. The BBC itself is said to have anti-monarchists working there which makes you wonder what their purpose was in doing the series. Were they truly neutral in the series or did they subtly try to convince people that the monarchy doesn't serve a real purpose anymore in Britain? In the series, the BBC isn't blatantly anti-monarch and yet, they fail to show the positive pound and pence impact they have on the charities they support. Princes William and Henry sponsored a concert which raised money for charities their mother the late Princess Diana of Wales previously sponsored. I don't know how much money the concert raised but the BBC definitely could've found out and told people just how much their efforts in pounds and pence helped those particular charities. They might've shown too the business that Prince Andrew helps generate for British industry. Scores of British charities seek royal patronage for a good reason. It helps them raise funds and it helps them raise awareness of their cause. In my opinion, the British royals do an invaluable job in this area alone.

 

The series does give a small idea of how hard the British royal life is. The royals themselves bring some of the difficulties up themselves. Prince Edward mentions that there isn't any training manual for what they're doing. Princess Anne mentions about how awful she must have been when she first started doing royal engagements. This would've been tougher for her as she was a bit shy at first. Prince Charles points out that he barely gets people to relax, have people see that he is human and begin to connect with him when he has to dash off to another engagement. It also shows the difficulty Prince Charles has in trying to show that the monarchy is relevant i.e. trying to actually do something about some of the problems the British people are dealing with. Lastly, you get to see the enormous press coverage that follows the British royals. The press coverage is a mixed blessing at best as it does help them promote the various charities and causes they support but, it also hounds their private lives and won't hesitate for a second to rip the royals if they make a misstep. The British royal family have had to learn about public relations and managing the Press the hard way. I think there is little question they have learned though their relationship with the media still can be difficult with their readiness to rip them for the slightest misstep.

 

Overall, I found the DVD series very interesting. It does a good job of explaining how the British monarchy works. The series composes of 5 episodes which last 6 hours total. There is an added 9 short bits of things they trimmed from the main episodes. An example was the Queen attending the opening of the James Bond film Casino Royale. Cost wise, the set cost me $65. You might be able to find it cheaper through Amazon or Ebay. If you're interested in the set, I would also recommend you read the companion book A Year with the Queen which I reviewed on February 17, 2008. You can find that blog under the tags Book Review and Queen Elizabeth II. Anglophiles and those just interested in the British royal family should find both book and DVD series interesting and help broaden their knowledge of just what the British royal family does.

Travel Stories

Recently, I posted some travel stories on (http://www.exchangetravelstories.com/) about the Scandanavian tour I took with Globus in August/September 2007. I don't care for the standard sales pitch Globus puts on their tours. I want to know what people thought was good about a tour and what they thought stunk. I feel this is more honest and enables me to make a more informed decision on whether to do a particular tour with Globus or not. This is what I tried to do with my stories. They aren't sugar coated sales pitches for the tours. I try through descriptive words to give some idea of what some of the experiences were like. An example would be the 2 hour cruise we did on the Sognefjord. The quiet peaceful waters and pictureque small tours with vast mountains in the background. The numerous beautiful waterfalls spilling water into the majestic fjord. The stories we were told of people living to old age in those towns and claiming it was the water. The farm we got to see that was over 80 feet up! The group of 45 strangers that in 2 weeks time became 45 friends and shared incredible experiences. These are some of things that my stories told about.

Apparently, Globus liked my stories. Out of the 7 that I submitted, 6 were rated as High Quality. I think that's pretty neat. Now, I wish they would create a webpage for Denmark so I can finish telling of my Scandanavian adventure. There are stories to tell of Denmark such as the mad cyclists in Copenhagen and how Copenhagen got its canals. There the story of how we ended up polishing the floors in Christiansborg (Christian's Palace). Also, there is the story of how we happily contributed to the Danish arts and sciences. Yes, I gladly helped by savoring a good many pints of Carlsberg beer.

As I said in the end of my Oslo story, I'm looking forward to writing further stories for Globus's website. France should be nice and Egypt should be awesome. For those of you who don't care to check out Globus's website, stay tuned to this blog site and read of my further adventures and mis-adventures. Cheers all!

Post Office Summer

One nice thing about summers at the Post Office is that the mail volume goes down. You might say that's a bad thing as that means you won't get as many hours. In most cases, you'd be wrong. As I've previously mentioned, unless you manage to work 40 hours in 1 week, you don't get paid for all the hours you work at the Post Office. You get paid for whatever the route is assessed. This is usually less than what it actually takes you to do the route. If you get less mail then, you have less mail to case, pack up and deliver. That means, you can get the job done sooner which means you end up giving the Post Office fewer free hours of work. So, it's actually a good thing when the mail volume goes down during the summer. The only bummer is that it will go back up in the fall and continue to increase all the way through Christmas. Christmas is the worst time at the Post Office due to all the Christmas cards, sales fliers and packages. A route that might normally have 10 or 15 packages will suddenly have 30 or 40. All those packages can really slow you down.

So, for now, I'm enjoying the easier days at the Post Office. Barring the heat, I like getting done earlier and being able to get home sooner. The less time I spend at the Post Office, the happier I am.

Safety Meeting

Last Thursday, I attended my first safety meeting at the Post Office where I work. I volunteered to serve as the safety representative for the rural routes. I was nervous as this was the first time I'd ever served in some kind of official function at the Post Office. The meeting went well and we covered a number of topics. Before the meeting, 2 carriers had brought up items of concern to them to me. I'd promised I'd bring them up at the meeting and I did. Afterwards, I let 1 of the carriers know what had been decided (the other carrier was at the meeting).

My Postmaster wants those of us on the committee to be proactive i.e. don't just bring problems, also bring solutions and if you can solve them before the next meeting. I took him for his word and I'm working on a solution to another safety issue that was brought to my attention. The job of safety representative promises to be a challenging one.

Egypt Tour Update

Things went back and forth on the Globus Egypt tour that I hoped to go on. I wasn't able to get the class upgrade I hoped for on British Airways. When my travel agent Joel Mills checked on what Globus offered airfare wise, he found out that Globus wanted me to depart Cairo at 1:55 a.m. NO WAY! Luckily, he found a better way to get me there and back though I'll have to fly out of Washington Dulles vice Baltimore Washington International. It cost an extra $154 but, it's worth it. I'll fly on Egyptair non-stop from New York JFK to Cairo and back.

The tour itself went up an additional $100 and some odd bucks. In order to recover from the long flight to Cairo (9 and 1/2 hours), I plan to fly out a day early. That'll cost an extra $230. Ouch! Since I won't be flying using a Globus airfare, I'll have to pay extra for airport transfers to and from the hotel. Grrrrrr! Then, I had purchase travel insurance as there isn't any guarantee that I'll be able to get the time off from the Post Office. The date of the tour is too far out to get it approved plus, my current boss may not be in charge of the rural routes at that time (she'll find that out in August).

All totaled, the tour, airfare, transfers, travel insurance and long term parking will cost over $5,100! Still, it should be an incredible tour. A lot of other people seem to think so as the tour has sold out for the date that I'll be going on. I wonder how many that means will be in our group. I'll find out in March 2009. The tour promises more interesting blog entries and incredible photos. Also my faithful readers, don't forget that there are just 3 months to go till I start posting on the incredible sights to be seen France. I've been watching a Rick Steves DVD on France and it promises to be an exciting tour. Cheers all!

Here is the photo I promised earlier. Normally, I wouldn't buy the group photo as I consider it a rip-off but, I thought it so cool all of us being in Medieval/Renaissance costume that I had to buy the photo. It'll remain a cherished memory for some time.

New Show

Yesterday, I got to see the new show at Medieval Times in Arundel Mills Mall. I found the show nice. They did change the story line though they kept various bit from the previous show. King Phillip holds a tournament to honor the new peace between his kingdom and the Kingdom of Leon. So, you have knights jousting, spearing rings and throwing spears as before. Also, you get to see displays of fancy riding and a display of falconry.

Food wise, the menu hasn't changed. It's still all finger food barring your soup which you slurp. They served tomato vegetable so I had to use my fingers to scoop out the remaining veggies. They do give you a hot towel and plenty of knapkins to clean up with.

Service wise, barring getting a mug of ice tea poured into my lap, serving serf Matthew did a fine job. I made sure I tipped him as serving staff are the lowest paid people at the castle. It's expected that tips will make up for the low pay. Sometimes, it does and sometimes it doesn't.

Overall, I had a nice time and I was glad I went to see the new show. If you haven't seen it, you might want to check it out. You don't have to rush right out to see the new show as it will be playing for the next 4 years or so, you'll have plenty of time to catch it.

Side note: I bought the group photo that the castle takes of you when you arrive there. I know it's a bit of rip-off ($20) but, I wanted a memento of our group as we were wearing Medieval and Renaissance garments. I plan to post a copy of the picture on this blog later. I think it's pretty neat.

Wasps

Today, I ran into another hazard that a mail carrier has to deal with: wasps. Wasps like to build their nests in dark places. The outgoing mail box on various multi-mailboxes apparently suits them just fine. I opened the outgoing box as usual on one multi-mailbox as this is where the latch is so you can open the doors to the box. I noticed one wasp fly out after I opened the mailbox. I put the mail in the various boxes, dropped the latch to close the doors and a wasp tried to come shooting out. I promptly closed the door to the outgoing mail slot. The wasp climbed out and flew around a little before returning to the mail box. To my great annoyance, the latch didn't lock. I was faced with a dilemma. There were wasps in the outgoing mailbox and if I opened the door, they would certainly fly out again. However, I couldn't leave the mailbox unsecured. I got the nerve up, opened the outgoing mailbox door and dropped the latch. This time, a wasp came flying right at me. I have rarely moved so fast as I did then. I managed to avoid the wasp. However, the mailbox wasn't locked. So, I had to wait for the wasp to go back in so I could close the door and very quickly lock the box. Once I locked the box, I made haste to my mail truck and carried on. I plan to tell who delivers rural route 11 tomorrrow that there is a wasp nest inside that particular box. Hopefully, the Post Office can send someone out to get rid of those wasps. I'm counting my blessings that I won't be doing rural route 11 tomorrow.

Heat

One of the hardest things that a mail carrier has to deal with is the weather. It isn't a cliche when the mail service says that neither rain nor sleet nor cold will stop the mail from getting through. The Postal Service means it. Yesterday, I got to deal with another weather element: Heat. The temperature was in the high 90's and it may have hit 100. You walked out of the Post Office and you could feel the heat at once. You promptly started sweating. You work as quickly as you can so you can get back to the Post Office and out of the heat. Also, you take plenty of fluids with you. It's easy to get dehydrated while you're delivering the mail. You're out in the heat for a long time. Yesterday, I was out in it for over 3 and 1/2 hours. The postal trucks have fans in them but these do little good in the heat. All they end up doing is blowing hot air into your face which may make the situation worse.

The forecast for the neat 5 days predicts temperatures in the 90's. It promises to be a hard week. Luckily, I'm scheduled to do Express Mail for 3 days. I'm hoping the schedule doesn't change. With Express Mails, you're outside a max of 90 minutes. That's one of the nice things about Express Mails. The bad thing about them is you are very pressed for time. The Post Office means it when they promise to deliver your package by Noon the next day. They won't accept any excuses from the carrier. We'll see how it goes.

Airlines

Tim Winship at Smarter Travel has a good article on what airlines are most at risk bankruptcy wise. According to the article, if the price of oil stays at $135 a barrel for the rest of the year, the airlines lose over $6 billion dollars this year. Not surprisingly, this will increase the chances considerably that some of them will go bankrupt. Here's a link (http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/up-front-with-tim-winship/industry-forecast-is-bleak-bankruptcies-likely.html?id=2607361&source=dealalert&value=2008-06-05+00%3A00%3A00&u=3A79224A5F) to the article so you can read it for yourself. Things definitely aren't looking good travel wise.

Post Office Update

I got to deliver Express Mails today. For some reason, it was heavy today. We got 27 of them covering 4 different zip codes. That's a lot and we only had a little over 90 minutes to deliver them all. By the time I got done writing up all the PS Form 3849s for them (the form people have to sign), I had 75 minutes to deliver 14 of them. I had to haul some butt to get it done. Also, as part of the deal of getting the regular carrier to let me use his truck, I had to fill it up with gas. Our Post Office is tight on vehicles and we don't have a couple we could use just for them. Sometimes, I've had to use my car to deliver them. In that case, I'd get paid for the milage but I doubt it covers the cost of gas and wear and tear on my car. The main advantage of using my car is that I don't have to go to the various carriers and talk them into letting me use their truck. Carriers can be reluctant to let me use their truck because it could hold them up. I did my best to get the Express Mails I had done as quickly as possible but, it still took me over an hour and 45 minutes by the time I got back to the Post Office. The carrier who loaned me his truck was ready to go and waiting by the time I got back. I was sorry about that though there was nothing I could do about it.

On a different subject, it looks like the route adjustments will take effect soon. I know one of the powers that be was in today. He was plugging in the information for all the routes into the computer. I'll find out if I'll get an auxiliary route and how long it will be. The auxiliary route was supposed to be 2 hours but it might be less since they plan to move parts of routes to other routes to bring up their delivery times. I'm not worried as far as how things will go. I'm just curious to see what the changes will be. Any way it goes, things will work out.

Summer

Summer has definitely arrived here in Maryland. The temperatures have been consistently averaging 80 plus every day. Thankfully, the worst part of Maryland summer hasn't arrived yet. The worst part is the humidity. Around mid-July, the humidity will hit making Maryland something of a sauna. It's really annoying. You walk out and you instantly break into a sweat. I'll count my blessings that the humidity hasn't hit yet. Also, I'll start taking a cooler of water with me when I do a route so I won't get dehydrated. It's easy to do when you're outside for 4 or 5 hours at a stretch.

Rent

I received some nice news today rent wise. I found out my rent will increase $45 which isn't bad at all. That's an increase of just over 3%. I was fearing a lot worse. Also, the complex will allow me to lock that rent amount in for 15 months vice 12 for just $1 more a month. I told them to make the lease out for 15 months.

I haven't given up on my dream of owning my own place. While driving home, I saw a sign saying a house was going to be auctioned. I checked out the house. While it was way out of my price range, I did learn how the auctions work. I plan to keep an eye out for future auctions. I might be able to get something affordable that way in Maryland. We'll see.

Periodontist

Wednesday, I got to see Dr. Ronnie Jones at the Batz & Weiner Dentistry. Dr. Jones is their resident periodontist. A periodontist is a dentist that specializes in gum disease and gum surgery. I'd seen Dr. Jones previously because my gums became seriously infected. I haven't flossed like I should AND I didn't get my teeth cleaned regularly like I should've. Dr. Jones had to descale my teeth. What that is where they go into each root of each tooth and clean out all the built up tartar and infection. It was an expensive and long procedure. After that, I was supposed to see Dr. Jones every 6 months but I opted for every 3. I figured I could keep the tartar and any possible infection under control that way even with my poor record for flossing. So, I got to see Dr. Jones Wednesday. The news wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. None of my teeth were in really bad shape and most were in good shape. There was some minor bleeding in the gums which indicates that I had some minor infection in some teeth. If I got off my lazy duff and flossed more, there wouldn't be any. I'll try to floss more though it is a real hassle. I'll get to see Dr. Jones again the end of September.

Gas Prices

I don't know how gas prices are where you live my faithful readers but here in Laurel, Maryland; they continue to climb. Today, I had to fill up 2 of our postal trucks at 2 different gas stations in Laurel. A Chevron gas station on MD-197 close to the MD-295 Parkway was charging $3.99 for regular. At an Exxon station on MD Route 1 close to MD-32, they were charging $3.89. A BP station on MD-198 just down from MD-295 was also charging $3.89. Prices apparently are still going up around here. It makes me glad I didn't buy that townhome in PA. The commute would've been a real killer money wise.

Genesis Class Ships

I found out some more information on the Royal Caribbean Project Genesis ships. Royal Caribbean held a contest to name the 2 new class ships the winning names were Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas (Source: http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/releases/052308_Oasis_of_the_Seas.pdf). The ship class will be called Oasis. The new class of ship will be the largest cruise ship class in the world. It will accomodate 5,400 passengers, have 16 decks and 2,700 staterooms (Source: http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/releases/052308_Oasis_of_the_Seas.pdf). The class will be nearly half again the tonnage of Royal Caribbean's Voyager class (220,000 tons versus 138,000 tons). The Oasis of the Seas will be based at Port Everglades which is just outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Currently, Royal Caribbean features cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean from Port Everglades (Source: Royal Caribbean 2008-2009 Caribbean Vacation Planner). The Oasis of the Seas is due to start service in late 2009 and with its sister ship joining it at Port Everglades in 2010 (Source:

http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/releases/052308_Oasis_of_the_Seas.pdf).

This should be one impressive ship though I can't imagine trying to fill all those cabins. I suspect there will be some good prices on cruises on these ships. From what I've seen, you get a better deal on Royal Caribbean's larger ships than you do on the smaller ones.

Transfer

One of the great ironies of working at the U.S. Postal Service is that it is one of the worst organizations to try to transfer from one state to another. It is ironic when you consider that no other organization/company has more branches throughout the U.S. than the U.S. Postal Service. In my case, I'd like to transfer to a post office that is in the York, PA area or to some post office close to I-83 in northeast Maryland. As either of those two areas are outside the Capital District that I'm currently part of, I'll have to take the rural carrier exam AGAIN even though I've been doing the job for almost 2 years now. Worst still, if I get picked up by a post office in the York area or northern Maryland area, I'll go to the bottom of the list of the subs at that Post Office. What does that mean? It means that I'll get the fewest hours and will be the last to get a route when one opens up. In order to transfer to the new post office, I'll forfeit all the seniority I currently have. It's one of the things that really bites working for the Postal Service.

Tax Rebate

I heard from the IRS yesterday. They told me how much of a tax rebate I'm going to get thanks to the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. I'll receive $574.45. My first thought was "don't spend it all in one place." My second thought to myself was "do the imbeciles in Congress really think that is going to help me stimulate the economy." In my opinion, the Economic Stimulus Act is a joke. The money I'll get back won't make any dent in the economy and help very little in my finances. I see it as a sign of just how wacked out our representatives are in Congress. I also see it as a sign of how they just can't keep their stinking hands of my money and it is MY money, not theirs. I've rarely been so thoroughly disgusted with the buttheads in Washington as I am now. They continue to outdo themselves for sheer stupidity. I guess I ought to be grateful that they gave me back some of MY money but, I'm not. I'm not looking forward to next year as they'll take back all of the tax rebate thanks to them not making the tax cuts permanent. I'm certain we're headed for some hard times ahead and it will be largely due to the imbeciles in Washington D.C.

Stories

Today, I finally finished writing the stories of my Globus Scandanavian adventure. Writing the stories brought back the memories of the trip and the awesome things I got to do. I've kept in touch with a few members of the group we had. It's nice to hear from them. I wish they were going on the France tour I'll be going on as it would be great to see them again. The magic of the trip has faded some. It doesn't feel so close now. I may buy a videocam to take on the France tour so I can better remember the tour. Perhaps the magic of the experience will last longer that way. It might be funny to see how I do making an amateur video of France. We'll see. Once my friend Harvey and another member of the group have reviewed the stories, I plan to post them on the http://www.exchangetravelstories.com/default.aspx site. That way, others can see what the tour was like. It is definitely worth doing. Moments like what I got to do on that tour are what make life worth living. Cheers all!

Scare

I had a bit of a scare this past Friday morning. I was scheduled to work Montpelier Rural Route 2 at the Post Office. I got up early, had breakfast, got dressed and rushed out the door. I put my key into the door lock to lock the door and it wouldn't go in. I tried again and it still wouldn't go in. We've had a few break-ins at the complex where I live and I wondered if someone had tampered with the lock. As I wasn't about to leave my apartment unlocked, I called my supervisor at the Post Office. She hadn't come in yet so I left a message letting her know what had happened. Then, I searched for the number for maintenance at my complex. I couldn't find it but, I did find the complex office number on the web. I called that and they gave the number for emergency repairs. Subsequently, I called that number. A lady answered the phone. I told her my problem and she assured me she would pass it on to the maintenance person who would call me back within 10 minutes. Within 7 minutes, the maintenance person called. I explained to the person that I couldn't lock my door and I had no idea why. He said no problem and he would arrive in 20 minutes.

After about 20 minutes, the maintenance guy that was on call arrived. He inspected the lock and found out that a pin had come out. It was the pin that was preventing me from locking the door. He decided to replace the entire lock. That took only about 15 minutes. He tested the new lock and he had me try it too. It worked fine.

After that, I quickly drove to the Post Office where I got to work on the route I was scheduled to work. Because we are tight sub wise, they didn't have any one to cover for me. I was lucky in that the mail was light that day. I was able to get caught up in about an hour and hit the street at my normal time.

The door lock has been fine since. I was so pleased with the maintenance person who replaced the lock that I sent an email to the complex manager commending him for his work. I hope he gets to see the email. I was very grateful for his quick response and work.

Restaurant Review - Rita's

Rita's isn't a restaurant per se as a shop that specializes in flavored ices and frozen custard. I found out about it when I was delivered some mail to them. The stop is located in Laurel, Maryland on Maryland 198/Fort Meade Road just past the Maryland 295 Parkway. It's in a mall called the Corridor Marketplace.

The shop offers at least 8 different flavored ices as well as vanilla and chocolate frozen custard. They change the flavors of the ices regularly so they always have new flavors to try. They also offer cold drinks that combine one of the frozen ices with one of the custards. One item I've tried a number of times is their Misto shake. It is part ice and part custard thoroughly mixed together. Some of the flavors of their shakes have been very good. I particularly liked their Root Beer Float shake and their cream cicle shake.

Price wise, I've found Rita's reasonable. A large ice will cost you $2.50 and a large Misto shake will cost you $4.30 including tax. They have a card that you get stamped every time you visit. After your tenth purchase, you get a free item of your choice.

Parking is a little limited though I've never had a problem getting a spot. If necessary , you can use the bigger parking lot which is behind the shop.

Service has always been prompt, polite and knowledgeable. Also, there has rarely been a line when I've visited.

If you want something to cold to drink on a hot day here in Maryland and you happen to be in Laurel, you might want to give Rita's a try. They offer cool refreshing shakes, gelatis and ices that will make the heat more bearable. Cheers all!

Chik-Fil-A

Because my friend Modestine works at the Chik-Fil-A on Maryland 198 just off of the MD-295 intersection, I decided to treat myself to lunch there yesterday. It became something of a small course on Chik-Fil-A. For example, I learned that they make all their salads fresh on the premises. They must be awful busy in the morning getting all that stuff ready. Also, their lemonade is the real stuff with real squeezed lemons minus the pulp which they strain out. Modestine also gave me small samples of some of the stuff they sell. Their chicken strips were very good. Also, their sweetened ice tea had a good flavor. I liked their cole slaw which is made fresh every day. I'll be buying some more of that next time.

For my lunch, I tried their spicy chicken sandwich. I found that it wasn't terribly spicy. It was good. I had a large order of their waffle fries which were really good. Both the fries and the chicken were fried in peanut oil which I guess is lower in fat and has a less oily taste. Also, I had a large lemonade. I found their lemonade to be a bit tart. I wonder if it taste better if they sweetened it more. It was still good.

Overall, I had a nice lunch there and I plan to go back. Modestine has tempted me into trying some more of their items. So stay tuned for further updates on Chik-Fil-A.

Old Saying

There is an old saying that goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I was reminded of this when I decided to upgrade to Outlook 2007. I had no idea all the problems it would cause. First, I tried to use the free version Microsoft sent me. I was never able to get that to work and I couldn't figure out why. Then, I bought the 2007 upgrade version Microsoft's Professional Office suite. I received the same errors I had with the free version. I wondered if the Outlook Connector program was the problem. I uninstalled it. Eureka! Outlook started working but, I couldn't access my Hotmail account through Outlook. No problem, I just downloaded the program, installed it and it would work. Wrong! After downloading it twice and installing it twice, I realized I had to contact Microsoft technical support. I called them and got bounced around like a ping pong ball. Eventually, I did reach someone who knew how to fix the problem. They had to create a new profile so I could connect to Hotmail. I was out of the woods right? Nope. I couldn't remember the password for the SprintPCS email account. So, I had to contact Sprint who reset it and helped me set the account up on the Outlook program.

So, my Outlook program is working finally AT LAST. I hope I don't have go through this crap for a good while. I will definitely remember that old saying about not fixing something that isn't broke and hopefully follow its sage advice.

Reminder

I just wanted to remind my readers that postage rates went up today. In the case of a first class letter, it went up 1 cent. If you have the forever stamps, you don't need to worry about the rate increase. Rates for other classes of mail also went up. To find out what they are, please check http://www.usps.com/.

Grrrrrr!

Recently, I received some errors with my Outlook program. According to the automated message that explains what causes the errors, my problem was my outdated version of Outlook (2002 version). Last year, Microsoft sent me a copy of Outlook 2007 since I use their Hotmail Outlook link. I decided to install the 2007 version. To my frustration, I haven't been able to get it to work. I may spend the money and buy the proper Office 2007 version so it'll work. We'll see.

Happy Mother's Day

I wanted to wish all mother's out there a Happy Mother's Day. May you enjoy your special day. A special wish to Kay and Judy.

2009 Travel

Well, I have good news for you my faithful readers. I sorted out my 2009 travel plans and there will be some exciting future posts on this blog. In March 2009, I'll be going on a 11 day tour of Egypt. I'll get to see the famous Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Queen Hatshepsut's temple, the temples at Luxor and Karnak and Abu Simbel. It should be an awesome tour. I'm more excited about that one than I am about my future tour of France.

In June 2009, I'll get to take my 2nd cruise. I'll get to visit 4 islands I've never been to: Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Croix as well as return to St. Maarten. I'm also going to stay in a Junior Suite vice Deluxe Stateroom. I found out how much the price can go up when you hit high season cruise wise. My travel agent offered me 2 June dates for the cruise I wanted: June 7th and June 21st. As you can see, they are only 2 weeks apart. They are $400 apart price wise because the 21st is high season and the 7th isn't. Had I been able to travel a month earlier, I could've saved an additional $400. Apparently, as you get closer to high season, the price begins to climb. I'll remember that when I go on my 3rd cruise.

Lastly, I plan to do a 2 week tour of Ireland in October 2009. This will be interesting as it'll be with the tour company CIE. My travel agent says for Ireland, they do a slightly better tour than Globus. Based on what I saw of their website, I'd have to agree. The Ireland tour promises to be an enjoyable adventure filled with great natural beauty and delightful music.

Sakura's

It had been over 6 months since I last ate at Sakura's Japanese Steak and Seafood House here in Laurel. In my opinion, it's one of the finer restaurants in town. It has a nice decor, great food, excellent service and the chefs who prepare the food are very entertaining. I was reminded of the place last week when I delivered mail twice on rural route 15. The restaurant is one of the businesses on the route. So, I drove out there today.

The restaurant hasn't changed a bit. It still has a pleasant decor and service was excellent again. I was promptly seated and my order taken. The meal came with the standard soup (which is great) and salad (which is good). I had the scallops for an appetizer with the filet mignon, shrimp and chicken for the main course. The main course also came with a choice of appetizer and rice. For my second appetizer, I had the sauteed mushrooms and I chose their fried rice as it has more flavor than steamed rice.

The filet mignon was well prepared and very good. The shrimp was very tasty. The chicken was little dry. The fried rice and vegetables were excellent. The sauteed mushrooms were very good and the scallops were excellent, especially with some of the seafood sauce which the chef called yum yum sauce.

Overall, the meal was superb. My glass was rarely empty for long and my plate was filled up with food. Two people that ate across from me had to get doggie bags because of the large portions. Price wise, lunch cost me approximately $36 without tip. If you live in the Laurel, Maryland area, Sakura's puts out a 10% off coupon in the monthly Valupak you get in your mail. I used the coupon and it saved me $3.44.

I would definitely recommend this restaurant. Like I said previously, the food and service are excellent. The restaurant also has decent parking. The restaurant is located just off of Route 1 on the right before you reach the Route 1 and Contee Road intersection. Bon Appetit!

Townhome

As I previously blogged about, I've been considering buying a new townhome in Dallastown, PA. The reason is that it would be enormously more affordable than buying a place in Maryland. The downside is the hour and 15 minute (minimum) commute from PA to work. At times, I thought I had it all worked out and I wasn't going to buy then, I learned something that changed my mind to where I was going to buy. Finally, I figured out exactly what I wanted and I was set to buy and, I ran into another problem. They don't have a unit finished that has what I want. Ok, so they can build it right? Unfortunately, they can't build it before my current apartment lease expires. They plan to start building another set of townhomes this month which will be finished in late August/September. What am I going to be doing in September? I'm going to France for 2 weeks in September. Crap! Worse still, if I were to go month to month on my lease, I'd pay an extra $300 or $400 a month. So, there isn't any chance of me moving into one of those units. I could renew my lease for a year and plan on buying a place there next year however, the prices will almost certainly go up due to price increases as well as the fact that as more people move in, it's easier for them to sell the remaining units. I saw this happen with some new single family homes in Hanover, Maryland. In 2003, I looked into buying one and got price shock. At that time, it would've cost me $308,000. The mortgage, property tax and insurance would have cost me over $2,000 a month. I wasn't prepared to pay that. You can still buy homes in that development but, they'll cost you $450,000 now.

So, I'm left trying to figure out what to do. I could see if the apartment complex I live in will do a 6 month lease. However, I suspect that will be more expensive as it will be harder for them to find a new renter in February vice July. People don't tend to move during the winter time. I'm also wondering if this is what God wants me to do. Judging by the timing, I'd say not. We'll see what happens. Stay tuned.