Hobbit Update

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

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

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

Sadists

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

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

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

Thank You Globus

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

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

Cold

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

Upgrade

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

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

Herring Fillets

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

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

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

An Accident

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

Dead Battery

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

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

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

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

A Mystery

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

Diving in Puerto Rico

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

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

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

Trader Joe's Gouda Cheese

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

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

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

Blog Correction

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

Vote!

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

Toby's Dinner Theater

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

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

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

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

Daylight Savings Time

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

Trader Joe's in Columbia

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

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

Beer Review - Elephant Beer

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

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

Update - December 24, 2012

Two changes to this post:

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

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

Maryland Renaissance Festival

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Free Ticket

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

Cruise Optionals

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