Steamed Salmon

I decided to try my Aroma Professional Rice Cooker/Food Steamer on some of the Alaskan salmon I caught last year during my 7 day Alaska cruise with Royal Caribbean. It's the easiest way I know of to cook salmon. You fill the pot pan of the cooker/steamer with enough water for steaming food, put the salmon fillet in the steam tray, close the top of the cooker/steamer (make sure you hear it click to ensure it's locked), you press the steam/cook button and then press it repeatedly till get you 15 for 15 minutes (minimum time to cook fish) and then, it cooks the salmon. The cooker/steamer will beep when it's finished cooking and automatically go into warm mode.

I decided to be on the safe side so I steamed cooked my salmon fillet for 20 minutes. It came out fine. It was neat to get eat some salmon that I caught myself. It brought back memories of my fishing trip out of Knudsen Cove which isn't far from Ketchikan, Alaska. The scenery was stunning and, it was the first time I'd ever tried fishing for salmon. Luck was with me and, I ended up catching a 20 pound King salmon. It was huge. When we got back to the pier, I got a picture taken of my catch and then, I turned it over to a local company that would fillet the fish and flash freeze it. After that, they held it until I was back in Maryland. Once I'd returned home, they shipped the well packed frozen salmon Federal Express so it arrived the next day. It arrived fine and, I promptly stuck the fillets in the freezer. A couple days ago, I decided to finally try some of my salmon. My Aroma cooker/steamer seemed the easiest way to prepare it and, it was. Now, I'll have to get a little more daring and try cooking my next fillet with some butter and herbs. We'll see on that. Bon Appetit all!

MyGlobus Website

I don't know if I've previously mentioned Globus's relatively new website where folks traveling with them can book optional excursions in advance. The website is: https://my.globusjourneys.com/. The service is like the service cruise ship lines offer. You can book and pay in advance various optional excursions that Globus will be offering on your tour with them. Example: on my tour (Journey Through The Holy Land With Jordan), Globus will be offering an excursion called Roman Race Show at the Dead Sea. I believe it's where you sit in a real Roman amphitheater and watch a Roman chariot race as well as fake gladiatorial combats. It should be pretty neat. The MyGlobus website enables me to pay for this excursion in advance so, I don't have a charge bill after I return from my tour. It can be nice in that way.

However, there are some drawbacks to Globus's program. For starters, you must book and pay for any excursions you want to take on this website by 10 days before your tour. Also, should you realize you need to cancel, you must cancel by 10 days before your tour. Otherwise, you won't get any of your money back. Lastly, should you decide while on tour you don't want to do the excursion, you can't cancel and get a refund. The only way you'll only get a refund at that time is if the excursion cancels for some reason.

Should you decide to pre-book on the MyGlobus website, Globus advises you to print a copy of your receipt. Your tour director should know what excursions you'll have paid for but, it doesn't hurt to have a copy proving you booked and paid for them. Also, not all excursions listed on the MyGlobus website may be able to be pre-booked. I had this happen with my tour. The website lists a tour called Little Petra but for unknown reasons, it wouldn't let me book it. Depending on availability, I may be able to book it during the tour.

If you decide you don't want to book excursions with the MyGlobus website, you'll still be able depending on availability to book excursions with the tour director during the tour. There are 2 real advantages to booking on the website. First, you're able to pay in advance for more of things you'll do on the trip so you avoid having to carry the cash to pay for them or a nasty charge card bill when you get home. Second, you are guaranteed a place on the excursion. I don't remember any excursions I've been on with Globus that have sold out but, it doesn't hurt to have your name on the list. However, you should be certain that you want to do the excursion. If you're in doubt, I'd recommend you hold off till you're on your tour. That way, you won't lose any money if you decide you don't want to do the excursion. Happy Travels All!

Hard Rock Cafe's All Access to End

If you haven't heard, Hard Rock Cafe has decided to end it's All Access Membership. Members of their All Access program have until September 30, 2012 to use any rewards they've earned with the program. After that, any remaining rewards will be lost. Per an email I received from Hard Rock Cafe and their website http://www.hardrock.com/, Hard Rock Cafe plans to come out an unnamed new loyalty program some time in the future. Existing members of the All Access program with be given the VIP tier for the first year. The email I received didn't explain what that was. Presumably, I'll find out when they announce the new loyalty program and how it works.

I'm saddened to see Hard Rock Cafe get rid of it's All Access program. I think it's a nice program and, I enjoyed earning rewards with it. Some times I ate at their restaurants just so I could add to my reward total. Also, I liked getting the 10% discount at non-corporate restaurants. This saved me some money at various overseas (non-U.S.) restaurants. Lastly, the priority seating was nice. I'm curious to see what new program Hard Rock Cafe comes up with. We'll see.

Provence A to Z

One author I've very much enjoyed is Peter Mayle. I remember reading his first big hit book wise, A Year in Provence and, I've been a fan of his ever since. The latest book of his that I've been enjoying for months is called Provence A to Z. Unlike other books Mayle has put out, this book isn't a novel. It's a collection of a number of short stories Mayle has written on Provence about all sorts of topics ranging from the Chateau D'If and how it came about to olive oil and Provencal language. The stories are at times funny and sometimes informative. I learned from his short story on olive oil how they determine if it's extra virgin grade, fine virgin grade or just virgin olive oil. The stories continue to highlight some of the characters in Provence such as the security expert Jacky who told Mayle of some of the enterprising thieves in Provence. Provence has a number of summer homes which for most of the year are vacant which makes them very easy prey for thieves. Mayle tells how enterprising thieves have stolen entire kitchens, iron gates and even olive trees! On the humorous side, Mayle tells of a man who is caught poaching another man's truffles. The poacher had his wife along and agrees to leave her as hostage until he returns with money to pay the man who's truffles he'd been poaching. In a twist, the poacher never returns to claim his (we suspect) very pissed off wife.

Overall, the book is a delight to read. Mayle clearly loves Provence and, it shows in his wonderful stories. The book also has some nice illustrations that nicely complement the various stories. I would heartily recommend this book to any who like France and in particular Provence. It's a delightful read. Happy reading all!

Globus Travel Documents

I received my Globus travel documents this Monday. The documents are very important as they tell me exactly what Globus will provide during the tour. They list what meals, excursions and hotels are included in the tour price. They are a legal document that Globus is bound to honor. If a particular item isn't in the documents, Globus doesn't have to provide it. That is why it is very important to review the documents for any errors. If you find any, you need to contact the person or agency you booked the tour with immediately to get the error corrected. In my case, I pre-paid for 3 optional excursions on the tour. I saw the documents didn't show this. I contacted my travel agent and, he told me to print a copy of the excursion receipt so I can show the Globus tour director that I did pay for the excursions and if they're cancelled, I'll be due a refund. The documents are important too in that they tell you where you'll be on a certain date. This is important in case anyone needs to reach you. If you send them a copy of the documents, they'll know what hotel you'll be staying at so they can reach you there. Lastly, the documents show what airport transfers and an extra nights you may have booked. The transfers are important because they tell you if someone from Globus will be there to meet you or if you're on your own to get to your hotel. The extra nights are important as these are vouchers that you'll give to your hotel so Globus will pay them. Also, it confirms your extra hotel reservations. I'll be staying an extra night in Tel Aviv, Israel at the beginning of the tour so I can recover from the long travel time. I'll be traveling around 23 hours from the time I arrive at Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWIA) to catch my connection to Toronto, Canada and fly on to Tel Aviv. I haven't forgotten the time I fly from BWIA to Newark International and on to Copenhagen. I had to try to stay up the whole day till 4:30 in the afternoon when we had our first tour meeting. By the time the meeting happened, I was dead beat tired and actually fell asleep repeatedly during the meeting. Because of this, when I did my tour/river cruise of Egypt, I went a day early and, it worked out really well. When the tour kicked off in Egypt, I was well rested and ready to start seeing the wonders of the country. It should be the same with my trip to Israel and Jordan. If you're going to be traveling a long time to go on a Globus tour, I'd strongly recommend you book an extra pre-tour night so, you'll be in good shape when the tour kicks off. That way, you won't miss anything at the first group meeting. Cheers all.

Jordanian Single Visit Visa

Yesterday, to my delight, I received my passport back from the Washington D.C. Jordanian consulate. Inside was my new single visit visa. Mega kudos to the consulate for processing my visa application so quickly. I was anxious to get my passport back. I've paid over $5,000 for my upcoming trip to Israel and Jordan. If I don't have my passport, I'm not going any where. The visa itself is a combination of a 2 different stamp impressions and 2 stickers. One stamp impression tells what kind of visa it is, the date it becomes active and the date the visa is good till. The other stamp impression shows where the visa was processed, in my case, the consular section in Washington. One of the two stamps says foreign revenue while the other is in arabic so I don't know what it says. According to my travel agent, I can stay in Jordan past the visa expiration date. This is a good thing as it would've been tricky trying to get a single visit visa that would've covered the time I'll be in Jordan and get my passport back before I fly to Israel. As it is, I won't be staying long past the expiration. I leave just a little over 1 day past its expiration date. In regards to Jordan itself, I hope the country proves to be worth the hassle of getting the visa. I have no idea what it'll be like. The only reason I'll be touring it is because it was in the area of Israel and, 9 days of touring Israel wasn't long enough. I'm used to taking 12 to 14 days tours with Globus. We'll see how the trip goes.

Correction: The visa for Egypt that I paid for at Cairo International was a large sticker, not a stamp impression. As I understand it, you can do the same process at Jordan's Amman International Airport.

Jordanian Consulate

Today, I applied to get a Jordanian visa at the Jordanian consulate in Washington D.C. I rode my TMAX motorbike down to D.C., managed to find a parking spot just past the Ethiopian embassy and walked over to the Jordanian embassy. I walked through the main door and said nervously "visa." The security person directed me to a small room and side door that was to the right of the main door entrance. I had everything I needed - my passport, the filled out visa application with photo attached, a money order for $37.50 which I made out to Embassy of Jordan and an express mail envelope with attached postage and mailing addresses. The lady at the window of the consulate had me fill in my address and the embassy address on the money order. Also, she made sure I had the right mailing addresses. Once every thing met her approval, she took all the stuff and told me 5 business days which means May 8th is when my visa should be approved by. If they mail it on the 8th, it should reach me on the 9th. That's a little close to me as I fly out a little more than a week later. Still, this was easier than using a visa service and paying nearly 3 times as much. I'll be curious to see what the visa look like. The Australian visa I got was a massive sticker that took a whole page in my passport. The Egyptian visa I got when I arrived in Cairo was a ink stamp thing as I remember. We'll see what this one is like. Stay tuned.

Foco Coconut Juice

A Thai company called Thai Agri Foods Public Company Limited produces a coconut juice brand called Foco. The juice is offered in 17.6 fluid ounce (520 milliliters). The juice is offered in some Costco stores as I was able to buy a case of it at the Costco store close to the Pentagon. I decided to try the juice as it reminded me of my November cruises where I tried coconut juice for the first time. While doing a tour in Barbados, the tour guide raved about coconut juice. As I never tried it, I decided to give it a try though I didn't get around to trying it till I  visited St. Martin where a vendor was selling chilled coconuts. The juice didn't wipe me out though it was kinda neat to me to be drinking out of a real coconut.

Later, while shopping at the aforementioned Costco, I saw they had cases of Foco coconut juice for sale. I decided to try some. While the flavor didn't wipe me out, it was interesting. It does taste like coconut and, there are pieces of coconut mixed in with the juice. Price wise, I think a case of the juice was under $10 though I can't say that will absolute certainty as I haven't been able to find my Costco receipt.

Overall, I think Foco's coconut juice is decent stuff. I don't plan on buying it again as it hasn't wiped me out but, I have enjoyed the product. If you want to try some coconut juice, this would be a very easy way to try it and, it is pretty good stuff. Cheers all!

Rain

Today, we got a good bit of rain in Maryland. I was glad we did. We can use it. It'll help wash away the heavy pollen we've been getting for starters. The pollen has been so bad, you could see the yellow stuff on your car windshield or it coating your motorbike. The pollen has also been hell for those with allergies. A lady I know who suffers from them said this year will be one of the worst because there has been so little rain to wash the pollen away. Also, the grass has started turning brown in some areas unless you watered it. I suspect due to little snow this past winter, the reservoirs were lower than normal. The rain will help bring those up some. Lastly, it is nice to breath the fresh clean air during a rainfall. To me, it can be a bit invigorating. Supposedly, we have a good chance of rain continuing to fall until sometime tomorrow morning. We'll see on that. Stay dry all.

Old Speckled Hen Ale

Recently, I finished off a six pack of Old Speckled Hen ale. I thought it would be neat to try as I'd never had any of this English ale before. Also, it is genuinely English i.e. it is brewed in England and imported to the United States. Lastly, I thought it had a neat name. However, taste wise, I found I didn't care for it. Supposedly, it has a malty flavor and, that may be why I didn't care for it. The ale was smooth enough but, the malt flavor turned me off on this English ale. Because of that, I wouldn't recommend it though if you like an ale with a pronounced malt flavor, it might be for you. For me, I'll pass. Happy and responsible drinking all.

Ft. Meade Commissary

Yesterday, I visited the Ft. Meade Commissary for the first time in months. I don't tend to shop there because, it is out of the way and, you have to deal with base security to get on base. I was surprised to find out they'd changed the layout and entrance to the commissary. For example, the row with chips and snacks used to be further from the entrance than it is now. In regards to the entrance, it was shifted to where you enter the baked goods and deli section immediately. Another change was the deli counter as it was swapped around with the salads and roasted chicken section. (I wasn't impressed with their roasted chickens as they were as expensive at the ones you can buy at Sam's Club. Costco has cheaper ones.)

I checked out the prices on some items I was interested in. Supposedly, the commissary will save you at least 23% on your food bill. Personally, I have seen some savings on certain items. This trip I found out I was able to buy a 2 liter bottle of Barq's root beer, Seagram's ginger ale or any flavor of Fanta for 99 cents. That's a good price. I know Wal-Mart charges more than that though I can't tell specifically how much more. Another nice deal is their turkey bologna and turkey cotto salami. The commissary sells 1 pound packages of those for $1.25 which is a good price. I think you'd pay at least $2 else where.

One thing that confounded me a bit was the price difference between Coca Cola products. Coca Cola produces the entire Coke line as well as Sprite, Fanta, Barq's, Mello Yellow (their Mountain Dew equivalent) and Minute Maid lemonade. To my bewilderment, the 2 liter bottles of any Coke product i.e. regular Coke, Diet Coke or Zero Coke was $1.50 as was Sprite. I don't understand why those products would cost $1.50 while other Coca Cola products such as Fanta and Barq's cost 99 cents. Because of this, I skipped Sprite which I like and drink a fair amount of.

One last item I like about the commissary is the self check out. I find it tends to be quicker and, I can bag my own groceries. While the baggers at the commissary are nice and do a good job, I don't care to tip them for something I'm perfectly willing to do myself. It isn't that hard to bag 30 or 40 items.

Overall, my visit to the commissary went well. I didn't find everything I wanted. I wanted to be get some Pepperidge Farm bread sticks but, I couldn't find them. I wonder if Pepperidge Farm makes them anymore. I'll have to search the web and find out. However, I know I saved some money shopping there and was pleased with the service. I'll definitely go back again some time in the future.

Washington D.C. Jordanian Embassy

I drove down to Washington D.C. today to find the Jordanian embassy. Once I get within a month of the Globus tour I'll be taking to Israel and Jordan, I plan to visit the embassy so I can buy a 1 entry visa. Visiting the embassy will save me half of what it would cost me to use a professional service to get the visa plus, I'll be able to keep my passport in my possession barring when I have to turn it over to Jordanian embassy officials.

For those who haven't been to Jordan's Washington D.C. embassy, it isn't that hard to get to barring driving through Washington D.C. From the Capital Beltway (495), you take exit 33 to Connecticut Avenue. You head toward Washington D.C. on Connecticut Avenue. You'll go through 1 roundabout where you take the 4th exit which keeps you on Connecticut Avenue. You'll take a right on Van Ness St NW. You go a maximum of half a block and turn left on to International Drive NW. The Jordanian embassy is located at 3504 International Drive NW.

I wasn't able to determine how the parking was around the embassy. I plan to ride my TMAX motorbike so hopefully, it won't be a problem. For those who might be concerned about being able to park their car, an alternative plan is to take the Washington D.C. Metro (subway) system to the Van Ness stop and walk to the embassy.

According to the embassy's webpage (http://www.jordanembassyus.org/new/index.shtml), the consular office is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It's the embassy's consular office that handles visas. The form U.S. citizens need to fill out to get a visa can be found on their website. You'll take the form along with a money order for $37 (for 1 entry visa, multiple entry visas are higher) and a passport photo. Also, you'll need to take an pre-address Express Mail envelope that the embassy will mail you back your passport with your visa inside. The embassy website states that it can take up to 5 business days for a visa to be approved. Single entry visas can only be approved within 1 month of travel to Jordan.

Laurel Dutch Market

I visited the Laurel Pennsylvania Dutch Farmers Market on Maryland 198 this morning. I was interested in getting some meat ends from Beilers Meats. On Saturdays, the market opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m. I arrived at 8:30 and to my disbelief, there was scarcely a parking spot to be had. The market was absolutely jumping. I think they really need to find a location in Laurel that offers more parking. The parking they have at their current location simply isn't enough. Too many times, I've had to scramble to find a parking spot.

Barring the parking mess, the market remains one of my favorite places to shop for meats, baked goods, juices, canned vegetables, candies and ice cream. They sell outstanding quality foods and, I'd highly recommend them to anyone. Just be prepared for the parking mess.

Maryland Weather

It looks like those of us who live in Maryland are going to get off easy this winter. The temperatures have been in the 70's and have reached 80 or more this week. To me, that says winter is over and, spring has begun. We can have some nasty winters in Maryland. I think last year, we had at least 1 12 inch snow fall and, there may have been more of the white stuff. I don't remember all the specifics. For me, I'll count my blessings that we got off easy this winter. Snow may look pretty but, it is a royal pain to work in or have to shovel i.e. dig my car out. I definitely prefer spring over winter. My favorite temperatures are in the 60's and 70's which are spring temperatures. Like winter, I don't care for Maryland summers. They're far too humid. It's like stepping out into a sauna. I hope summer will take its time getting here. Let me enjoy the cool temps and the occasional shower for a while as well as the cheaper electric bills. I hope it's nice where ever you are my readers. Cheers all!

Updated RCCL Back-to-Back Cruises Procedures

RCCL Back-to-Back Cruises Procedures

An anonymous commenter asked about how Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL)'s back-to-back cruises work. To my surprise, I didn't post anything on this after I did it in November 2011. This post will tell what happened, why as I understand it and what you can expect if you do back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean.

Before I did my back-to-back Royal Caribbean in November 2011, I had a number of questions which I didn't have the best of luck getting answered. However, these questions were answered at a special event Royal Caribbean held 1 day before the Serenade of the Seas returned to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the conclusion of my first cruise. This event was only for those of us who were doing back-to-back cruises. We received a special invitation to the event. I remember being surprised by how many people were doing it. There must've been at least 40 plus folks at the event. To me, it makes sense to do back-to-back cruises as long as both itineraries are reasonably good. While I loved RCCL's Alaska cruise on Radiance of the Seas, I wouldn't care to do that back-to-back as it does the same exact ports except in reverse order.

At the event, the ship's staff explained some very important items. First, we would have to get new Seapasses for the 2nd cruise. This is because our SeaPasses were only good for the first cruise. Also, RCCL closes the SeaPass account and a new one is opened for the second cruise. We were told that we would have to go to the International Customer Relations desk the morning we arrive in San Juan to get our new SeaPasses and presumably the list of charges for the first cruise. Second, we would also receive 2 pieces of paper. One was for customs and, the other was to enable us to skip the lines to get back on board the boat. Customs was going to be different because, you don't actually leave and, you don't have to declare anything at this point. Later, when I went through customs, they were thrown off by the paper I was told to show them. Apparently, the guy didn't deal much with that sort of thing. At this point, you can go back on board the boat if you wish. The second piece of paper came in handy if you decided to do some kind of tour between cruises like I did.

One other plus of those doing back-to-back cruises was you got priority booking for at least some of the services available on board such as spa services for the 2nd cruise. You did have to pack your bag BUT, if you weren't changing cabins, it wouldn't leave the cabin. You might want to put the luggage sticker for the 2nd cruise on it.

Overall, my cruise changeover went fine. I got to do a great tour of El Morro Fort and due to the 2nd piece of paper explaining I was returning for my 2nd cruise, I passed easily through the lines to get back on board the Serenade of the Seas. This piece of paper has to be turned back into Customer Service. Later, I met my travel friend Harvey and welcomed him to my boat. After sailing on Serenade of the Seas for a week, it felt like it was my boat. I'd learned my way around it and knew some of the staff on board by first name. It was really nice. I look forward to the same experience during my November cruises with RCCL. Stay tuned.

An Update

On November 3, 2012, I did back-to-back cruises on Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas. Procedures during the changeover were different from when I sailed on Serenade of the Seas. There wasn't any meeting where some of the ship's staff explained what would happen when we arrived back in Venice, Italy. I didn't have to pack my stuff in my suitcase at the end of the 1st cruise. Also, we didn't have to go to the International Customer Relations desk to get our new SeaPass. The new SeaPass was delivered to my cabin 1 day before the 1st cruise ended. Customs was different though that could be because I had to deal with Italian customs vice U.S. customs. Like before, I was able to skip in-processing for the 2nd cruise. In April 2013, I'll be doing back-to-back cruises for the 3rd time with Royal Caribbean. I'll be sailing out of and into U.S. ports so maybe the procedures will be like they were for Serenade of the Seas. Stay tuned for another update in May 2013 on this.

2nd Update

This is the update I promised for the April/May 2013 cruises.

I sailed on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas from April 23rd to May 10th. I left out of San Juan, Puerto Rico and would arrive in Baltimore, Maryland. Apparently, sailing out of San Juan caused some kind of problem with customs to where it took longer when the ship pulled in from what was my first cruise. I heard that customs would've gone more smoothly had we sailed out of and into Baltimore. Unlike with Serenade and Splendour of the Seas, I didn't get off the ship to do any sightseeing. The cruise ship terminal was too far from any of the sights including Fort McHenry which the ship sailed by on its way in. It was well I decided to stay with the ship in another way in that things were a real mess when we pulled into Baltimore. The Grandeur of the Seas was re-positioning to Baltimore and, they made a big hoopla about it. Baltimore's 1 fire fighting boat greeted the ship with sprays of its water cannon which was pretty cool. I heard the state's Governor was there to greet the ship too.

Concerning back-to-back procedures, my new seapass was delivered to my room the night before. As I decided to stay with the ship, I was told I'd go with a special group of us that would be escorted off the ship to customs, process through customs and then re-board the ship. This was different from Serenade of the Seas as I didn't process through customs at all that time. Due to the special stuff going on because of the re-positioning, things were very chaotic with people getting off and on the ship. That was another reason I decided to stay with the ship vice do something at Baltimore's Inner Harbor (lots of nice shops there and some neat things to see). The group I was with was supposed to be escorted off the ship at 9:30 a.m. and that got changed twice with us finally walking off the ship at 11:30. We processed customs around Noon. I think it would be easier doing back-to-back on Grandeur now as you won't have all the hoopla.

In September 2013, I'll get to do back-to-back cruises for the 4th time when I sail on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas. I will be getting off the boat between cruises as I plan to do a hop on hop off tour of Miami. So, I'll post yet another update on how things go procedure wise from that cruise. Stay tuned.

Plumix Fountain Pen Review

The Pilot Pen Company has an affordable fountain pen called Plumix. Recently, I decided to try the pen out to see if it's any good. I'm old fashioned I guess in that I like fountain pens even though they're expensive and can be messy to work with. The Plumix pen is pretty affordable as it'll cost you under $10 at Target stores that sell them. Unlike Pilot's disposable Varsity fountain pen, the Plumix is refillable and takes Pilot/Namiki cartridges. Pilot states that there are only 2 colors of ink available - blue and black. This is wrong. You can also use Pilot/Namiki green, red and purple ink cartridges in the pen. I tested the pen with one of the purple cartridges and, it wrote fine. However, the red, purple, green and black only come in 6 cartridge boxes whereas the blue cartridges also come in 12 cartridge boxes. The 12 cartridge box is cheaper per cartridge than the 6. The Pen Boutique store (http://www.penboutique.com) in Columbia, Maryland sells the 12 cartridge box for $4.60 while a 6 cartridge box will cost you $3.30.

Writing wise, I found the Plumix didn't write as well as the Varsity. It seems to scratch the paper whereas the Varsity seems to glide across it. Like the Varsity, the ink does bleed through the paper you write on. This can be a problem if you try to write on both sides of a sheet of paper. At times, the pen would poke through the paper where I'd written on the other side with it. The pen uses a standard medium stainless steel (I believe that's what it's made of) nib.

The pen comes in single pen and 3 pen packs. It has 3 colors - a translucent purple, translucent blue and translucent black. This can be handy as it enables you to see if you have a cartridge in the pen. I don't know if you can use a refillable ink cartridge with the pen.

Overall, it's a decent cheap fountain pen though I'd recommend the disposable Varsity as it seems to write better. It does have the advantage over the Varsity in that it's refillable and, you can better see just how much ink you have left in the cartridge. Varsity has a window where you can see this somewhat but, I don't think it's as good as being able to look directly at the cartridge. Another problem you may encounter with the Plumix is being able to buy one. Fountain pens aren't easy to find if they can be found at all. Pilot does sell the pen on its website http://www.pilotpen.us/ which can be the easiest way to buy the Plumix or Varsity. Happy writing all.

Update on Royal Caribbean Baltimore Cruises

I found out some people were unaware that Royal Caribbean does offer cruises out of Baltimore, Maryland. Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas is home-ported in Baltimore. It sails year round out of Baltimore to different destinations. In the fall, they offer cruises to Northeastern United States. During the winter, they offer cruises to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. In the summer, the ship sails repeatedly to Bermuda or Bermuda and Boston. While I imagine Bermuda is nice (I've never been there), I don't understand why Royal Caribbean sails there so much during the summer. I'd like to do one of their cruises down to the Bahamas as I've never been there. I know I'd have a number of days at sea (3 days) but, it would work in this case. As it is, Enchantment of the Seas stops sailing to the Bahamas after the beginning of April. Also, Royal Caribbean's prices aren't cheap for Bermuda. For their 25 May 2012 cruise, as of this post, you're looking at $1,400 per person for a balcony cabin on a 6 day Bermuda only cruise. To me, that isn't cheap. In my opinion, the biggest advantage to the Baltimore cruises is convenience if you live in Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia or Pennsylvania. You can drive to the Baltimore cruise ship terminal, park your car there for $15 a day and board the Enchantment of the Seas. Compare that to driving your car to the long term parking lot at whatever airport you fly out of or using an airport shuttle, flying to whatever destination (airfares aren't cheap) and have Royal Caribbean shuttle you to the cruise ship terminal where you'll board your ship.

Update: I will get to see what it's like to sail out of Baltimore with Royal Caribbean in 2013. I won't get to see how smoothly the in-processing goes as I'll do that out of San Juan, Puerto Rico (it's the re-positioning cruise where Grandeur of the Seas will take over for Enchantment of the Seas). I've heard it goes pretty quick. I found out that GO airport shuttle (http://www.theairportshuttle.com/) will drop off and pick up people at the Baltimore cruise ship terminal. I plan to try their service when I get back from my 2nd cruise (Bermuda). Price wise, for 1 person, you'd save money using them vice parking your car at the terminal (I think they quoted me a fare of $35 1 way). For 2 or more people, it would be more affordable to drive your car and park it at the terminal. Also, how far the shuttle has to take you would be another factor on whether to use the shuttle or drive. Concerning Bermuda, the Bermuda cruise should be interesting because Royal Caribbean ships overnight there. I've never seen them do that any where else. In the case of my Bermuda cruise, we'll stay in port 2 nights before departing. It should be interesting to see what that's like. Lastly, I hope to post some pics on here around then as I think there will be some seriously awesome views of Fort McHenry from the water. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Israel Trip Update

All looked good to go for my May trip to Israel and Jordan until the beginning of this week. That's why I found out I need a visa to get into Jordan. Like Egypt, Jordan makes it really easy to get a tourist visa. You arrive at the Amman Airport, pay $20 (I believe) and, you get your single entry visa. However, that's where Globus mucked things up. Israel and Jordan were involved what I believe was the 6 Day War where Jordan lost the West Bank. Jordan apparently maintains that the West Bank still belongs to them. There is a crossing from Israel to Jordan called the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge. As far as I was able to learn, at all other entry points into Jordan, you can buy a visa to enter Jordan. The exception is the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge because of the West Bank issue. As luck would have it, that is the entry point that Globus uses for my Jordan tour extension. :-( Why they have to enter Jordan there, I don't know. But, I do know I was very miffed when I found out. However, I am glad I found out NOW vice going to Israel, doing the tour, leaving to go to Jordan and finding out I couldn't get a visa to enter the country. Then, Jordan's visa rules made things more complicated. You can get an on-line visa with Jordan HOWEVER, you can't get that until you're within 30 days of your trip to Jordan. Sorry, I'm not going to wait till 30 days or less to get my visa. I want it now in my hands so I know there isn't going to be a problem getting in when I leave in May. This tour costs too much (over $6,000!) to take any chances on last minute screw ups. The alternative is to get a 6 month multiple entry visa which costs $97! OUCH!!!!! Keep in mind, that doesn't include the cost of using a visa service to get the thing unless I want to travel to Washington D.C. and visit the Jordanian embassy myself (not thrilled with that idea). So, I'm looking into cancelling my May trip to Israel and Jordan. As luck would have it, I'd discussed future travel plans for next year around the same months and, my friend Harvey and I had agreed that he would do his Russia tour (no thanks) and, I would do my Bermuda and Boston (no thanks on Harvey's part) Royal Caribbean cruise. We'll just move these up a year. This has the added advantage for me in that I'll go Emerald with Royal Caribbean's frequent cruiser program (Crown & Anchor Society) and, I'll go Diamond in November with the back-to-back Greek Islands cruises. Also, I'd like to visit my Dad after the May cruise. I vowed I would try to make it home more often after the unexpected death of my step-mom Kay. I still haven't forgotten that. We'll see what works out. Stay tuned.

Latest Maryland Weather

We had a high of at least 62F yesterday. It's hard to believe it's winter here but, that's typical Maryland weather. It can be light jacket weather one week and the next, you'll be wearing your parka and digging your car out from the snow. I think someone said that if you don't like the weather here wait and, it'll change. For me, I like the warmer temps as it saves me money right now. I don't have to run the heat as much in my apartment. I don't know about other folks but, I like to give Baltimore Gas & Electric as little of my money as possible. Also, the warmer temps make it nicer for riding my motorbike. I'm determined to ride it year round as long as it's safe to ride it on the roads i.e. no ice or snow. As soon as I get enough free time, I plan to make my way over to Heyser Cycle and get the latest heated hand grip kit put on the bike. That should help a bunch with the cold weather. One drawback of my Yamaha TMAX is that the handlebars are very exposed to the wind. That means, your hands can get very cold very quick during the winter. The heated hand grips help alleviate this problem. Cheers all.

Little Caesar's

I haven't eaten any pizza in a while so today, I decided to try out Little Caesar's already made large pizza deal. I'd seen their advertisements lauding how you can get a hot fresh large pizza with either cheese, sausage or peppperoni for $5. You don't have to order in advance. You can walk right in and, they have them in a warmer already to go. From 4 to 8 p.m., for $3 more you can get a 3 meat pizza (bacon, sausage and pepperoni) or a deluxe supreme (green peppers, onions, sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms). As I like a pizza with lots of stuff on it, I decided to try out the supreme. I arrived before the Little Caesar's at 3431 Ft. Meade Rd in Laurel, Maryland started making its pre-prepared pizzas. However, they said they'd give me the $8 deal and, the pizza would be ready in less than 10 minutes. I said "cool!" I found the pizza decent. It isn't the greatest I've ever had but, the price was really good and, I liked the short wait (which wouldn't have happened if I'd arrived after 4 p.m.). The large pizza is supposedly 14 inches across and is big enough to supply 8 slices of pizza. If you want some decent pizza with no wait, you might want to take Little Caesar's up on the $5 large pizza deal. Bon Appetit.

Pilot Varsity Fountain Pen Review

During one of my visits to Pen Boutique's Columbia, Maryland store, a salesperson there mentioned a disposable fountain pen. I couldn't imagine such a thing so it piqued my interest. It turned out the pen the salesperson was talking about is Pilot's Varsity fountain pen. Pilot's pen comes in 7 colors (black, blue, green, pink, red, purple and turquoise). It has a small window on the side of the pen where you can see how much ink the pen has left. The pen in my opinion is very reasonably priced. I paid $3.25 for one at Pen Boutique and, Pilot sells them for $3.45 on their website http://www.pilotpen.us/Default.aspx Nib wise, I believe it has a medium nib and, this is the only type of nib you can get the pen in. The thing that has most impressed me about this pen is how smoothly it writes. I've found that stainless steel nibs seem to scratch the paper when writing. Till I tried Pilot's pen, the only nibs I'd found that glided across the paper well were gold plated ones. The Varsity pen obviously isn't gold plated but, it does write really smoothly. In my opinion, Pilot's Varsity fountain pen is a really good cheap fountain pen that happens to be disposable. If you like writing with fountain pens, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised by this pen. Happy writing all.

Update September 18, 2016: Recently, I bought some more of these fine pens and, here is some more information on them. First, Pilot has changed the outward appearance of the pens giving them a sharper appearance with the Pilot and Varsity names. Also, the pens have a diamond motif on them vice the previous lines that ran length wise on the main part of the pen. The pens still write really well.

Price wise, Walmart is offering a really good deal on a 7 pen multi-color pack on their website. I was able to buy the pack for $13.05 which breaks out to less than $2 a pen, a big savings. Their normal price is $14.35 which is still way better than if you bought the pens one at a time. Also, Walmart will ship the pens to a Walmart store close to you for free if you can't place an order over $50 (which I believe qualifies you for free shipping). Also, Walmart participates in the MyPoints rewards program so, you'll earn MyPoints with your purchase as long you use the MyPoints link to the Walmart webpage. I forget how many points you'll earn per dollar spent.

If you want to buy the pens one at a time, you might want to buy them from Pen Boutique as they sell them at their Columbia, Maryland store for $3 each or $3.37 on their website.

Correction: I found out I had the price wrong for the pen at the Pen Boutique website. It's $3.37 per pen (as of the date of this post) vice the $3.33 I erroneously quoted when I first posted this update. My apologies. The error has been corrected.

Jake & Amos Products Review

One of my favorite products at the Laurel, Maryland Pennsylvania Dutch Market on Ft. Meade Road is the Jake & Amos line of products. They make preserves, salsas, pickled vegetables, mustards, sauces, fruits and pickles. I've tried a number of them and, I found them consistently excellent. They specialize in Amish style recipes and presumably their products are made by the Amish. Some of my favorites are their pickled asparagus which has a great taste and is always crunchy or their spiced dilly beans which are pickled French green beans. Other products I've taste tested are their hot pickled cauliflower (very good and not terribly hot), pickled okra (very good), pickled baby beets (very good and, I'm not a beet lover), pickled sweet Brussels sprouts (very good though I think unusual, I didn't even know you could pickle these), pickled sweet baby corn (very good) and corn salsa (very good). Also, I've tried their corn and black bean salsa which is very good though annoyingly, it only comes in 16 ounce jars. As I like the Jake & Amos products so much, I try to save money by buying them in the 32 ounce jars vice the 16 ounce jars. By my figuring, you can save 10 cents an ounce by buying a lot of their products in the bigger jars. Lastly, I know they do occasionally have sales on Jake & Amos products at the Laurel Pennsylvania Dutch Market (I'm keeping an eye out for the next one myself).

If you want more information on the Jake & Amos products, their website is: http://www.jakeandamos.com/Default.aspx. I highly doubt you'll be dissatisfied with any of their products. Bon Appetit!

The Hobbit Update

I haven't posted an update on here about The Hobbit movie in a long while so I thought I'd post a few comments about it. The movie is apparently progressing well. On December 24th, Peter Jackson released the 5th production video that shows them leaving for their first outside shoot outside Mata Mata where the Bag End set is located. Elijah Wood speaks on the video about his feelings about coming back to the set. It's been 11 years since he went to New Zealand to shoot the Lord of the Rings movies. Jackson himself remarks how unreal it was for him to see the set he never expected to see again. One interesting difference this time is that once shooting is finished on the Bag End set, all the buildings will remain so people can visit for many years to come. I for one would love to see this extraordinarily beautiful set and feel like I visited Hobbiton and Bag End.

Another noteworthy event concerning The Hobbit movie was the release of the first movie trailer on December 21st. The trailer was fascinating and enticing. We got to see a number of the actors playing their Dwarven characters including the one playing Thorin Oakenshield (looks awesome). At the end, we see a familiar creature whose meeting with Bilbo Baggins at an underground lake would have consequences that would change Middle Earth forever.

My only disappointment is that I'll have to wait almost an entire year (the first movie comes out December 13th, 2012) before I get to see the movie. This is one movie I will be very excited about. If you wish to see the production video and trailer I mentioned, you can find them at: http://www.wetanz.com/the-hobbit-movies-latest-updates/ Also, Facebook is a good place to follow the latest news on the movies. Peter Jackson has been awesome about posting updates there. Cheers.

Fisher Space Pen Review

This past Christmas, Pen Boutique offered a Fisher Space Pen and Maglight gift set for $15. If I remember correctly, they claimed that was 50% off. I thought that sounded like a good deal. Whats more, the pen supposedly could write in all kinds of temperatures and, you could write upside down with it. Supposedly, astronauts had used the pen because of that.

While I don't need to write upside down, I do have customers that could use a pen that would write on a piece of paper they were holding against a wall or door. Many times, the cheap Bic pens I carry with me stop writing. Also, the Bic pens I use don't seem to like the cold either. So, I decided to buy a couple of the Fisher Space Pens and see how well they work.

So far, I've been very pleased with the pens. For shits and grins, I did try writing something upside down and, the pen worked fine. Also, I took it outdoors and had customers try it. None of them had any problems. According to the products package advertising, the pen will write in temperatures from -30F to 250F. While I don't expect to encounter any conditions that bad. The pen does seem to work fine in the cold. One drawback I've seen to the pen is the refills are expensive. You can expect to pay $5 a piece for one though Fisher claims the refills will write 2 to 3 times longer than a normal pen. As I've just started using their pens, I have no idea if that claim is true.

My recommendation is that if you need a reliable pen that can handle the weather (supposedly you can write underwater with it too though to me that means I can write in the rain with it) and write any time you need it to, the Fisher Space Pen may be what you're looking for. I think it would definitely be worth a try. Cheers all.

Update February 2, 2014: I continue to use Fisher Space pens at my job. The pens continue to prove their worth. This past week, the temperature got down to 15F. My normal pens were acting up but, my Fisher Space pens kept right on trucking. The only problem I have with the pens is making sure I don't lose them. I've had it where I've accidentally left them with a customer. 

2012 Yamaha TMAX

I've been a big fan of Yamaha's TMAX maxi-scooter since I bought my 2009 TMAX. Each year, I search the internet to find out what changes they'll be making to the bike. For 2012, they made some considerable changes. For starters, it will get a slightly more powerful engine. The size will increase to 530cc vice the previous 499cc. To me, this change is a major disappointment. I was hoping for a TMAX that would have a 750cc engine. There were considerable rumors that such a bike was in the works. Sadly, those rumors proved false. The bike supposedly has a more comfortable seat (someone apparently noticed that the previous seat wasn't very comfortable especially after a long ride on the bike), a redesigned instrument panel, different lights and a different drive chain. Also, the bike has a more rugged look. From what I've seen on the internet, it looks like a nice motorbike but, all the improvements in my opinion aren't enough to get me to trade in my current TMAX. Still, I hope that Yamaha will come out with a more powerful TMAX. That would get me to want to trade in my current TMAX. We'll see what Yamaha ends up doing.

Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal

I've been seriously looking at Royal Caribbean's cruises out of Baltimore. Royal Caribbean has a really nice cruise on their Enchantment of the Seas that sails to Bermuda and Boston. You get to stay in port overnight in both ports and, you have just 3 days at sea - 1 day to get to Bermuda, 1 day to get to Boston and 1 day getting back to Baltimore. Another plus for me travel wise is that I wouldn't have to fly any where to get to this cruise ship terminal. I live outside Baltimore but, it's a very easy drive to get to. So, I decided I'd ride my Yamaha TMAX down to the cruise ship terminal and find out how easy or hard it is to get to the terminal.

I hopped on the Baltimore Washington Parkway (I-295) heading to Baltimore. Then, when I reached Interstate 95 (I-95), I switched over to I-95 North heading to New York City. At this point, it was a very short drive before I had to take exit 55 (last exit before you have to pay the toll and go through the harbor tunnel). The exit sign said Fort McHenry and something else. The exit will put you on what I believe is East McComas Road. I drove along this not sure how far I'd have to drive though I knew the road would eventually end at Fort McHenry. After Fort McHenry, you hit water.

Before I got to the terminal, I could tell I was going the right way as I saw a Carnival cruise ship (Carnival Pride) in port. Baltimore has only 1 cruise ship terminal so I knew I was going the right way. I drove along and sure enough, I soon spotted the entrance to the terminal. The terminal isn't super big. I read on the internet that it's a converted warehouse. However, as far as I can tell, it should be able to do the job. I don't believe any of the cruise lines send any of their really big ships to Baltimore. The Enchantment of the Seas is a Vision class ship which is Royal Caribbean's 2nd smallest class of ship (only their Sovereign class is smaller).

The terminal has secure parking however, there is a $15 a day charge for it (source: http://www.cruise.maryland.gov). There are hotels that offer stay 1 night and, you can park and leave your car in their lot during your cruise. However, these might not be cheaper than the parking.

Overall, I found the cruise ship terminal very easy to get to. I hope to take cruise out of the terminal in April 2013. If I get to go then, I'll do a blog entry on how good or bad the terminal itself is. Happy travels all!

Delta Airmiles

I have over 54,000 airmiles with Delta Airlines. I found out that Delta has a non-stop from New York JFK Airport to Venice, Italy. I figured that there wouldn't be a huge demand for flights to Venice the beginning of November. I figured wrong apparently. I spoke with a Delta rep to see if I could get a guaranteed upgrade to Venice. To my disappointment, I couldn't. All she could do was put a trailer on it stating I wanted one. No dice. If I can't get the upgrade, I'm going to fly with whoever is CHEAPEST and stay overnight in Venice before the cruise. After the lady said she couldn't guarantee me an upgrade, she tried to sell me Delta's charge card. I could earn 30,000 bonus airmiles with it the first year. If I can't get the upgrades I want, the airmiles are worthless to me. Why spend $95 a year for the charge card for worthless airmiles? This is why I cancelled my British Airways and American Airlines charge cards. The airlines are trying to push a product that they turn around and make impossible to use. If their frequent flier programs aren't worth using, the programs are a joke and definitely won't create any kind of customer loyalty. In my case, price will now be the key factor. I won't care what airline I fly on as long as it's the cheapest to get me where I need to go.

Broken Crown

While on my 2nd of back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean this past November, I bit into something that didn't agree with the crown I had put in a year ago. I don't know how I did it but, I managed to crack the thing. It didn't hurt thankfully. It would have been a royal mess trying to find a dentist in one of the Caribbean islands I was visiting as well as get all the work done in the time I had in each port.

So, I made an appointment with Dr. Mitchell Weiner. Dr. Weiner is a general dentist who specializes in various dental procedures like crowns. He was the one who carved the tooth to where it could accept having a crown put over it and then, he placed and sealed it on the tooth. This past September, I saw him again when I started suffering some pain with the tooth. Initially, it looked like I would need a very expensive root canal done. That's where they drill through the crown, remove all the infected root pulp, fill the empty space with some kind of sealant and seal the tooth. I was very hesistant about having this done and, I wanted to see if antibiotics could clear up the infection. Antibiotics would've been a lot cheaper. Also, I wanted to have one of the dentists take the crown off to make sure the tooth root was infected. I wasn't able to get the crown removed but, the antibiotics apparently worked though I did wonder about the tooth in way i.e. was the infection really gone or was I possibly going to have worse trouble down the line with the tooth.

Wednesday of last week, I got to see Dr. Weiner who looked in astonishment at what I'd done. He asked how did I crack the thing. I told him, I honestly don't know. I don't remember what I bit into that cracked the crown. He said I had 2 choices. They could attempt to remove the broken crown and have it repaired or I could get a totally new crown. Repairing the crown was the cheaper option as that would cost approximately $800. A new crown would be twice that i.e. $1,600. Serious ouch!!!!! I said I'd like to get it repaired. The next step was getting the thing off the tooth. That ended up being a serious job. I found out why Dr. Weiner didn't remove the crown before when I was looking at possibly having a root canal done. When they put a crown on your tooth, they don't intend for it to EVER come off.

First, Dr. Weiner attempted to pry the crown off with a pair of dental pliers that they normally use for removing teeth (shivers). That didn't work. Then, we tried using some SUPER sticky gook that I had to bit into so the suction from the gook would cause the crown to come off. That didn't work either. Dr. Weiner isn't a quitter and, he had one last trick up his dental sleeve. He has a device that a dental hammer of sorts. You attach it to the tooth then, he hits a rod real hard with his hand and, it whacks the tooth. Pieces of porcelain from the crown began to break off. After 3 or 4 whacks, Dr. Weiner removed the device and tried to take the broken crown off. It came off.

The broken crown was taken to where ever they had the crowns made and, it was subsequently repaired to where it looked as good as new. Then, I went back a 2nd time where the repaired crown was placed on the tooth root stump and sealed again. As far as I can tell, the repaired crown is working. I'm not experiencing any pain though I do think the teeth on the left side of my mouth had to move some of accomodate the repaired crown.

Next Wednesday, I'll see Dr. Weiner again for a quick check up on the crown. As far as I can tell, it's working fine and, he shouldn't have to do any thing with it. While I wasn't thrilled with cracking the thing and the subsequent cost ($879). However, I was pleased in one regard. As I mentioned previously, I'd wondered if I was making a mistake by not getting the root canal done. To my relief, when the damaged crown came off, Dr. Weiner was able to examine the root stump and, he said it was completely fine. To make sure it stayed that way, he put some medication on the stump before he put the repaired crown on. In that way, this whole fiasco has been worth it.

British Airways and Avios Points

Next November, I'll be taking back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean for the 2nd time. I decided to see just which airport I was likely to fly out of: Baltimore Washington International or Washington Dulles. I found out for flights ultimately ending in Venice, Italy which where the 2 cruises will start from, Dulles would be at least $300 cheaper. Another attraction of flying out of Dulles was that I could use the 200,000 plus airmiles now called Avios points. British Airways made a big thing about the change over to the new points. I would find out they didn't change anything when it came to trying to use them.

I figured I should have a good shot at either getting a free Business Class ticket or paying cash and getting a guaranteed upgrade to Business Class since I was going to book the flights 10 months out. Why is Business Class so important to me? Because I know I can get some sleep in those seats. I can't sleep for crap in Economy seats. To my surprise, I couldn't get a free seat on the dates I needed to fly out and, I couldn't get a guaranteed upgrade with cash. This reminded me of the fiasco I had when I tried to get a free seat to Copenhagen and back from Oslo in connection with a Globus tour I was planning to take of Scandanavia (Denmark, Sweden and Norway). I couldn't get a free seat then and, that wasn't the last time I had this problem. I was so pissed off by the experience I cancelled my British Airways Visa charge card. I told the lady at the charge card center there wasn't any point in having the card and paying the yearly charge if I couldn't use the airmiles when I wanted. Keep in mind too that even if you managed to get free seats, British Airways made you pay a stiff fee of supposed taxes. When I did to fly Business Class to Paris in advance of the Globus La France tour I took, I had to pay British Airways over $700 for my supposedly free ticket. British Airways claimed this was a deal. In my opinion, no it wasn't considering what I had to do just to earn the airmiles. By the way, concerning the Paris tickets, I got lucky to get those as it turned out after I booked the ticket British Airways changed their flights making it impossible for me to get back. Luckily for me, I didn't find out till I finished the tour and arrived at Charles de Gaulle ready to leave only to find out I wasn't. Thanks to a great and understanding British Airways ticket rep, I did make it home. However, if I had found out about the change, I might not have been able to use my airmiles AGAIN. grrrrrrr

This latest fiasco over trying to use the new Avios points has guaranteed I won't be flying British Airways when I travel to Venice. Also, to add further fury, I found out that in the new great Avios system British Airways came out, they devalued their airmiles AGAIN. According to Tim Winship at Frequentflier Blog (http://blog.frequentflier.com) on November 17, 2011, the new Avios points will be yet another devaluation i.e. it'll cost even more points/airmiles for many U.S. travellers who want to use them on British Airways. I haven't forgotten when British Airways devalued my airmiles back in 2006. Their reason then was they wanted to get all their U.S. members on par with other members in other countries. Apparently, British Airways wanted to value us as little as they did their other members worldwide. Now, they've put the screws to its U.S. Executive Club members again.

Because of this latest devaluation, I know what I'll be doing. Once I can travel again (sometime in April 2013), I'll book whatever flights I can where I can get a free ticket with British Airways just so I can use up my Avios points. Once I do that, I won't be flying British Airways again. They've stuck it to me too many times. I would advise other U.S. travellers to do the same. Happy travels all.

Travel Update

I promised to post updates on my back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean but, I didn't. I want to use my expensive Royal Caribbean WiFi minutes trying to post something. I am back from the cruises. The 2 cruises were a lot of fun. I got to see St. John (USVI), St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and the French side St. Martin and St. Croix. Travel highlights include a really fun tour called Taste of Barbados where I got to visit a Bajan rum distillery then, the group travelled to a nearby plantation mansion where we were shown how to make 2 drinks: corn & oil and a Bajan rum punch. Our teacher let us enjoy a LOT of free samples. I know I was half sloshed by the time I returned to the Serenade of the Seas.

Another tour I enjoyed was a walking tour of Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The guide was Heavenly Petersen. The lady did a fantastic job. I learned some interesting things about the island and about one of the founding fathers of the United States i.e. Alexander Hamilton. He lived in St. Croix for 8 years but, he never talked about it apparently when telling of his early life. From what Heavenly told us, our group could understand why (his mother was a convicted adulteress for starters).

The ship Serenade of the Seas was great. It has a first rate crew and lots to do on-board. I got to try the automatically adjusting pool tables. They really worked. The ship moved a lot at times but, the balls on the pool tables didn't. The food was very good and overflowing in abundance. My 2 cabin stewards kept the 2 cabins I stayed in immaculate. I would definitely recommend this ship. I was sad when it was time to leave. I could have happily done another 2 cruises on her.

Overall, I had a really nice time. I can't wait to do back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean. That'll be next November when I sail with them out of Venice en-route to the Greek Islands. We'll see if they look as good in real life as they do in the pictures. Happy travels all.

Tooth Infection

Last week, I noticed a slight pain in the upper left part of my jaw. I wondered if one of my upper wisdom teeth were moving. I still have both of my upper wisdom teeth. When I was in the Air Force, I saw a dentist about my wisdom teeth. She decided to remove all 4. However, she had such a hard time with my 2 lower teeth that she left the 2 upper ones in. After 3 days of slight pain, I decided it was time to call Batz & Weiner to see someone and find out what the problem was. Yesterday, I ended up seeing Dr. Weiner who did my crown last year. He told me it wasn't my wisdom teeth. I have pulpitis which is an infection of the pulp inside the tooth. Ironically, it was the same tooth he gave me a crown for. He subsequently prescribed me antibiotics to treat the infection and referred me to the practice's root canal specialist. I'll get to see that person tomorrow. I know the tooth's nerve is still very much alive because when I drink anything cold, I can feel it in the tooth. So, the specialist should be able to save the tooth and, I hope re-use the crown they made last year. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Luggage Tags

Today, I requested my luggage tags from Royal Caribbean for my 2 upcoming cruises. The tags enable the ship's personnel to efficiently deliver my bag to the right cabin. They show my ship's name, the date I'm sailing, what area of the ship my cabin is in and the cabin number. Also, they have some kind of color code though I don't know what each color means. For me, they're another step closer to my next cruise adventure. I don't order the tags till I'm starting to get close to my sailing date. However, I don't wait till the last minute on this as it takes Royal Caribbean up to 7 business days to deliver the tags. I am curious to see the tags for my 2nd cruise as I want to see if they're any different since my bag won't leave the ship after the 1st cruise. This will be the first time I'll have ever taken back-to-back cruises. Stay tuned for more travel updates. In approximately 40 days, I'll leave for a 2 week adventure where I'll visit 9 islands in 14 days. It should be something.

Uros Indians

One of the most interesting groups I got to learn about while touring Peru with Globus this January was the Uros Indians. The indians history goes back centuries. They were living at Lake Titicaca when the legendary Incas rose to power. The Incas conquered the area and, they demanded the Uros pay either tribute or in labor. The only tribute the Uros could give the Incas was salt which they refused. The Uros refused to work for the Incas so the Incas kicked them off the land. For centuries, the Uros would live on the lake on house boats. Then, at a time where the water was low on the lake, apparently some reeds grew through some lake soil. When the waters rose again, the soil with the reeds floated. These pieces of floating land would form the basis for the Uros man made floating islands which over 1,000 of them live on today as you can see in these pictures. The first pictures shows how the Uros build their islands. They constantly replenish the reeds on the islands so their islands don't fall apart. The second picture shows the colorful dress of Uros women. Men typically wear colorful hats as seen in the first picture. The last picture shows a uniquely Uros way of raising guinea pigs which are raised for food. In this case, the Uros built a small island within their main island for their guinea pigs to live. Presumably, the guinea pigs can't swim so the water makes a very effective gate to keep their guinea pigs in one place.

Summer Fresh Tuscan Bean Salad Review

Occasionally, I'll get an itch to try a product I haven't tried before. Such was the case with Summer Fresh's Tuscan Bean Salad. The Arundel Mills Costco had a 2 pound plastic tub of Summer Fresh's Tuscan Bean Salad for sale for $6 or $7 (not sure on the exact price). I decided to try it. The salad turned out to pretty good. It has barley, navy beans, chickpeas (also known as garbanzos), pieces of green pepper, red pepper, green onions and canola oil. A 1/2 cup serving contains 140 calories and will provide 5 grams of dietary fiber (20% of the recommended daily intake of dietary fiber). The salad is also high in Vitamin C.

I found the salad tasty. All the ingredients meshed well. Also, the canola oil wasn't overbearing. You didn't get an oily taste with the salad. Based on the dietary information, the salad seems to be a good healthy one. Less than half the calories in a 1/2 cup serving are fat. Also, in my opinion, the salad isn't overly expensive. In regards to where to get it, the only place I know of that sells it is Costco though I'd be willing to bet there are others. If you like bean type salads, this one might be one you might want to try.

Update February 23, 2014: Within the past week, I checked the Costco stores in Elkridge,  Arundel Mills, Beltsville and Wheaton, Maryland for this product. To my disappointment, none of them are carrying it for some reason. I hope it's because they see it as a seasonal item vice permanently dropping it. I plan to check for it again when it gets closer to summer. Stay tuned.

Update February 26, 2014: Add Costco's Glen Burnie, Maryland store to the list of stores NOT carrying Summer Fresh's Tuscan Bean salad. :-( Today, I checked that one while I was out that way and, they didn't have it.

Update April 27, 2014: Thanks to a Eric Coffman, a reader of my blog and commenter, I found out Costco is carrying this salad again. I was able to buy 2 tubs of it at the Arundel Mills Costco for $7.79 each. The product still comes in 2 pound tubs.

Update September 13, 2015: The price of $7.79 for a 2 pound tub of the salad is still good. I bought a tub from the Arundel Mills Costco on September 9, 2015 and, that was the price for it.

Lake Titicaca

Another stunning natural scene I saw during my Globus tour of Peru was Lake Titicaca. The lake is unique in that it is the highest navigable body of water in the world. It's located at 12,500 feet! The lake is over 50 miles long and, I believe over 30 miles wide at its widest point. It's over 900 feet deep at its deepest point. The lake is shared by Peru and Bolivia. While visiting the lake, my tour group got to visit 2 different indians groups that live on it. I'll tell more about them in later blog entries.

Nazca Plain Drawings

One of the most fascinating mysteries of Peru are the famous Nazca plain drawings. The drawings can only be fully seen from up in the air. Some of the drawings stretch for miles. While there are a number of trapezoids (shown above) and lines, there are also drawings of a hummingbird (shown above), spider, monkey, dog, whale and an owl/space man as well as others. The drawings were hacked out of the parched soil and because the area gets very little rain, they've endured for centuries. The last accepted theory that I heard as why the drawings were made was that they were appeals or offerings to the mountain gods. The ancient Nazcans believed it was the mountain gods that provided the needed water that they used to grow their crops. All the water in the region came from the mountains.

These pictures were taken in an airplane I flew on out of Pisac, Peru. The plane flew to the Nazca Plain and descended to 1,800 feet. The aircrew would bank left then right so passengers on both sides of the airplane could get pictures of the various drawings. Due to the tight banking, the airplane ride could be one exciting ride. Still, it was well worth it as it was really something to see these famous mysterious drawings. This was part of my Legacy of the Incas Globus tour which I did in January 2011.

Lima Cathedral

This is a picture of the national cathedral in Lima, Peru. The cathedral was built during colonial times. One particularly noteworthy item about the cathedral is this is where Francisco Pizarro is buried. Pizarro is the man who conquered the Incas and brought down the Incan empire. He did it even though he was horribly outnumbered. He would become richer than he could ever imagine and was made a marquis by the Spanish king. He founded the city of Lima, the city of kings on January 18, 1535. He was assassinated on June 26, 1541.

Sacsayhuaman

One of the first examples of Incan engineering I got to see in Peru was the remains of the Inca fortress Sacsayhuaman. The fortress was located above the city of Cuzco which was the capital of the Incan empire. The fortress is famous for some of the MASSIVE stones that were built within its walls. Some of the stones weigh over 100 tons. As you can see, the stones were expertly carved and placed to where they interlock perfectly. Keep in mind, the Inca did this with stone chisels. The precision they achieved is incredible. The site of the fortress sadly is but a shade of what it would've looked like in Inca times. After the Spaniards conquered the fortress, they used it as a quarry for stone used in buildings in Cuzco so a LOT of the fortress was torn down over the years. Still, what remains of the great fortress can still impress visitors and give an idea of some of the incredible things the Inca did during their all too brief period of empire.

Machu Picchu

Above is a picture I took of the famous lost Inca city of Machu Picchu. I took the picture as I was coming down from a hike to the Sun Gate. The Sun Gate was one of the primary ways the Incas entered the city of Machu Picchu. The gate is located 990 feet about the city and has stunning views of the city and the valley below. Our local guide Rudy asked how many intrepid souls wanted to try the hike up to the gate. I was 1 of 8 crazies who decided to do it. It was one heck of a hike. It took us at least 2 hours and, I was never so glad to see the top as when I FINALLY reached it. The thinner air really kicked my butt. Still, it was neat doing the hike and, it gave me another memorable adventure on this incredible tour I took of Peru in January.

Bosley

Yesterday, I got to visit the Washington D.C. Bosley office for the first time. For those who don't know, Bosley deals with hair restoration. What is that you ask. Hair restoration deals with restoring hair on men who are going bald for various reasons. There are different ways you can deal with balding. There are hair transplants which is the most expensive method. As far as I know, this can cost between $3,000 and $4,000. The reason for that is because you have to transplant a lot of hair to make a noticeable difference in the balding area. 5 or 6 strands of hair isn't going to make much of an impact. Another method is using Rogaine cream. Rogaine can cause new hair growth however, it isn't 100% effective in all men and, it requires to apply it to the area where you want the new hair twice a day. Yet another method is laser comb. Like Rogaine, it isn't 100% effective and, you have to use the comb every other day for at least 10 but no more than 20 minutes. I have 1 of these myself but because of the hassle of using it, I use it off and on. One advantage of the comb is it is a 1 time cost. You pay the $500 plus for it and, that's all you pay. If you take Rogaine, you have to keep getting new cans of it and correspondingly keep shelling out the bucks.

Back to Bosley. Before using Bosley, I used Medical Hair Restoration who I really liked. Sadly, Bosley bought them out. In order to get my Propecia prescription (it requires one) renewed, I needed to see one of their doctors. The doctor I met at Bosley was Dr. Peter Morse. He turned out to be a very nice, informed and helpful doctor. I found out from him how things work with name brand medications and generic with the Food and Drug Administration. By this, I mean he told me what kind of variance you can have with name brand vice generic. In the case of Propecia, if must not go over a 5% variance. If it's a generic of Propecia, it can vary as much as 15%! Obviously, that means you may not be getting the required dose. Worse still, with foreign generics, there isn't any way you can find out just how much of the actual drug you're getting if any at all. I confess I was wondering about that with the Fincom-1 (Indian Propecia generic) I've been taking. You don't want to find out the hard way i.e. your hair starts falling out. Because of our chat, I will be taking more of the name brand Propecia though I wish Merck sold the stuff for less. It isn't a cheap drug.

I was advised I was eligible for hair transplants but, I don't care to spend that much money right now. I did decide to get their hair treatment package. The package includes vitamins which are supposed to be particulary good for your hair, shampoo and conditioner that helps remove DHT (the male hormone that causes baldness) and Rogaine cream. I'm curious to see what if any difference taking these will make. We'll see. I'll post future observations on here after I've given them some time to work.

Overall, the Washington D.C. Bosley practice seemed very knowledgeable and professional. They have very nice offices in Chevy Chase, Maryland with a parking lot right next to their office. I stayed at the Bosley practice for over an hour and, it cost me $3 to park there. I think that charge covered 1 to 3 hours though I'm not 100% certain on that. Getting to their offices can be a bit of a pain as driving through Washington D.C. is never fun. Cheers all!

Local Bus System

This Wednesday, I got to try out the local bus system for the first time. As I mentioned in a previous post, I made the huge mistake of running the battery down on my Yamaha TMAX motorbike. I had no idea how complicated it is to jump start the battery on the bike. It turned out they would have to take the bike's mirrors off, the windshield and the front face plate in order to get to the small battery. This is obviously not something they can easily do on the street. So, my bike was loaded on a truck and taken to the motorcycle dealership where they ended up replacing the dead battery.

Heyser Cycle was as prompt as they could be in fixing the problem with my bike. I say that because right now, they are swamped with work. It's hot; it's sunny; gas is still nearly $4 a gallon so everyone wants to ride their motorbike. Which means, Heyser is loaded with work right now as of course a number of the pesky bikes don't want to run right while the weather is great for riding a motorbike.

2 days after I dropped my bike off at the dealership, they called me and told me it was ready for pick up. Cool. 1 problem, how do I get over there to pick it up? My good friends the Baldons have moved to Bowie. I wasn't about to call them and ask them to drive out to Laurel to get me and then drive me to the dealership. The people I know at work are what I would call semi-friends. We have great times chatting at work and, I am willing to help them out some at work but, I don't have anything to do with them outside work. So, I wasn't about to ask one of them for a ride. I could walk it but, it is over 9 miles to the dealership. I could call a cab but, I haven't forgotten the last fiasco I had with that. So, I looked into the local bus system. It turned out there is a Central Maryland bus system that runs through Laurel and connects with Anne Arundel and Howard County buses. This makes it pretty handy if you don't have access to a car.

The fares on the bus were very reasonable. It cost $1.50 to get to Laurel Mall. From there, I was able to walk the remaining 3 or 4 blocks to Heyser. My only complaint with the system is they didn't have a schedule posted at the bus stop saying when the bus would show up and, you couldn't find out the pick up times on-line either. So, I went out to bus stop and had no idea when the bus would show up. Because of this, I ended up waiting over 25 minutes at the stop in the heat. I wasn't thrilled but, it beat taking a taxi or worse still walking.

That's all on my first experience with the local Laurel, Maryland bus system. It's a decent enough system. It is affordable and, you can get to a lot of places on it with the connecting bus services such as Greenbelt Metro Station, Columbia Mall and Baltimore Washington International Airport. I'm tempted to try to take it to the airport sometime. I figure it would cost me $5 or so to get there vice $35 to use an airport shuttle. We'll see on that. Cheers all!

Arundel Mills Dave & Buster's

Yesterday, I decided to treat myself to a visit at the Arundel Mills Dave & Buster's. It had been over 2 months since my last visit. I enjoy going to the place but finances kept me away. Yesterday, I decided to see if I could add to my ticket horde. I read on Facebook where some person had amassed 1,000,000 tickets. I'd like to do that too though I don't like to think what that would cost me. Dave & Buster's would get big rich of me doing that.

Anyway, I rode my motorbike out there which was fun. Thankfully, Arundel Mills has a special parking spot for motorbikes on that side of the mall. It isn't super big but, it can accomodate at least 10 bikes. I recharged me card with a $100 worth of coins and headed to my favorite game Spin & Win. I'm partial to that game because you have a lot of control over how much you win on it. You don't with a lot of their other arcade games. One catch with the Spin & Win game is that your timing must be spot on. You have a split of second to stop the light on 1 of the 3 1,000 ticket lights. A split of second early or late and you end up with 20 tickets. That's what happened with me a LOT. To my frustration, I would just barely miss it. Still, I managed to hit the thing 5 times and won approximately 10,000 tickets. That takes my ticket horde up to 365,224 tickets. I'm still a long way from accumulating 1,000,000 tickets but, if I keep slogging away, I'll hit eventually. It doesn't hurt that Arundel Mills Dave & Buster's only had one prize I wanted - a steak grilling machine. I'm tempted to buy the thing vice trying to win 1 with tickets. I'm certain it would be cheaper money wise.

Overall, it was a nice visit though I need to do a better job with my timing. Also, there were times when I embarrassingly jumped the gun. I hit the 40 ticket lights a number of times because of that. I look forward to going to the Arundel Mills Dave & Buster's again when they have half price games (I won't go any other time). Cheers all!

Bike Problem

Yesterday, I encountered an unexpected problem with my Yamaha TMAX. I decided to chat with an acquaintance who lives in my neighborhood. I was riding my TMAX at the time. I pulled up to where my acquaintance was working on one of their cars. I turned off the engine on my TMAX BUT, I left the bike's electronics ON. After chatting for about 10 minutes, I tried starting my TMAX only to find out to my dismay that I'd run the battery down so much it couldn't start the bike. The TMAX only has electronic ignition vice having also a kick starter like my previous Vino Classic had. This hadn't been a problem till now.

I let the bike sit overnight hoping the battery would get enough of a charge back that I'd be able to start it in the morning. No such luck. I figured I could get someone from Heyser Cycles to come jumpstart the bike. I found out you don't jumpstart a TMAX and, it isn't easy to charge the battery. For starters, it's a major job to get to the bike's battery. You have to remove the 2 mirrors, the windshield and the front faceplate just so you can get to the battery. Crap!

The solution ended up being getting the bike picked up and taken to Heyser so their mechanics can work on it. To prevent such a major hassle in the future, I found out you can get an electrical connection connected to the battery which leads to a plug that you can connect an extension cord to. What you would do is plug one end of the extension cord into an electrical socket and the other end into electrical lead which goes to the bike's battery. You would let the dead battery charge overnight and presumably the battery would have enough power to start the bike the next morning. Another plus to this electrical plug is that it's not super expensive (at least for the TMAX anyway). So, while Heyser is getting my battery recharged or replaced, I'll had one of these electrical leads installed to so I won't have to go through this again. Lastly, I won't leave the bike's electronics on when I'm not riding it. That way, I won't end up with a dead battery again (hopefully).

Back-to-Back Cruises

I first heard of doing back-to-back cruises during my recent Alaska cruise with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. With the Alaska cruise, I thought it was kind of redundant. You'd do the same cruise only in reverse order ending back in Vancouver. However, with other cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises alternates itineraries between cruises which can make it worthwhiled doing back-to-back cruises. In my case, both of my cruises leave out of San Juan, Puerto Rico (a fantastic place to sail out of, really pretty at night.). I'll be cruising to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Basseterre, St. Kitts; Oranjestad, Aruba and Willemstad, Curacao. Normally, I wouldn't care to go back to places I've already visited once cruising BUT, in this case, I won't mind going back to Aruba and Curacao as I didn't see much of either of them during my first visit. I did scuba diving trips on those 2 islands and, the trips took up virtually all the time I had on those islands. I couldn't tell you anything about what those islands have to offer barring some very good scuba diving. So, I'm looking forward to seeing them again. Also, 8 months after I visited Aruba, they opened a Hard Rock Cafe there. Any readers out there know I collect the t-shirts and, I'll be delighted to add the Aruba t-shirt to my collection.

The second cruise stops in Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St. Lucia; St. John's, Antigua; Philipsburg, St. Maarten and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. This cruise will be neat in that there is just 1 day at sea then, the cruise island hops its way back to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Also, I've never been to Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua or St. Croix. On St. Maarten, like Aruba and Curacao, I haven't seen much of it though in this case it was because of a stinker of a deep sea fishing trip I went on which I still haven't forgotten. The captain of the boat was supposed to drop us off at the cruise ship pier and, he didn't. My friend Harvey and I ended up walking nearly 2 miles to get back to the cruise ship pier. We were not happy campers when we made it back.

Another aspect that'll be interesting about doing back-to-back cruises is that there are special procedures for such travellers and, Royal Caribbean has a special department that handles such things as I found out. Apparently, Royal Caribbean's website doesn't like back-to-back cruises. It wouldn't show both of the cruises on My Cruises webpage. I called Royal Caribbean's tech support who referred me to the Back-to-Back cruises department. They got the problem solved eventually. I learned from the man I spoke with that at the end of the first cruise, I'll go to a special waiting area that is just for people doing back-to-back cruises. All people must clear customs when the ship returns to San Juan since they're leaving the ship. However, I won't have to since I won't be leaving. Once everyone has disembarked from the ship, I'll be allowed back on. In regards to my luggage, my suitcase won't ever leave the ship. Instead, it'll be transferred from my first cabin to my second cabin. Due to price differences, I couldn't afford to have a balcony cabin for both cruises. Interestingly, I'll have the same SeaPass for both cruises. Some how, Royal Caribbean will program it to open my first cabin during the first cruise and open the second cabin on the second cruise.

Overall, it should be a really fun adventure barring paying for it. Right now, I owe over $2,700 for the 2 cruises. I'll get them paid off in time though I wish Royal Caribbean didn't demand full payment by 70 days out from your cruise. I suspect that's so they can still sell the cabin if the person backs out. I bet it's still pretty hard to sell cabins for a cruise at the last minute. I know I couldn't take advantage of that. I have to plan my trips at least 6 months in advance. The only reason I was able to break that rule in this case was because I was only adding another week and, it wasn't going to break the bank to add the second cruise. Royal Caribbean was offering a decent price for an Ocean View cabin. We'll see how much I like being enclosed like that. I do like having a balcony cabin. It's awesome to walk out in the morning and watch as your ship sails into port. It was particularly spectacular during the Alaska cruise with the stunning scenery. Stay tuned for more travel adventures all!

Train Ride

Three weeks before I was supposed to on my Alaska cruise, I was checking with my travel agent Joel Mills to make sure everything was in order. I mentioned to him that I didn't see anything marked on my Royal Caribbean cruise page about transfers to the Anchorage International Airport. He said he'd double check on it. It turned out there was some kind of misunderstanding and, I didn't have any arrangements made for getting me from the cruise ship terminal at Seward, Alaska to Anchorage International Airport. Joel found out there were 2 options a) take a bus which took approximately 3 hours and cost approximately $75 or b) take a train which reportedly was very scenic, took an hour longer and cost $25 more. Joel knows me and signed me up for the train. It was a very good choice.

I did a little research on the Internet and found out the cruise ship terminal train station was supposed to be very close by. They weren't kidding. I think I walked no more than 50 feet from the terminal and was able to board my train. The train has wide windows which made it very easy for travellers to see all the stunning Alaskan scenery. During the 4 hour train ride, we'd get to see glaciers, waterfalls, snow covered mountains, tranquil lakes, bald eagles and swift running streams. Also, the train was very convenient in regards to the airport. It pulled up to a landing that connected directly to the airport as well as being close to connections which can take you into Anchorage. My friend Harvey and I would take advantage of this and catch a bus into Anchorage to take in some sightseeing and have a much needed lunch. The train did offer food and drinks at airport prices. No thanks! Another downside to the train was the seats weren't super comfortable. Good luck trying to get some spare z's in those.

Overall, the train from Seward to Anchorage International Airport was a great way to get from the cruise ship terminal to the airport. It enables you to get one last look at the stunning Alaskan countryside. It made a nice finale to my 7 day Alaskan cruise with Royal Caribbean. I would definitely recommend travellers doing an Alaskan cruise out of Seward take this train vice taking the faster and cheaper bus.