Travel Stories

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

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

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

Post Office Summer

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

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

Safety Meeting

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

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

Egypt Tour Update

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

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

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

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

New Show

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

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

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

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

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

Wasps

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

Heat

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

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

Airlines

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

Post Office Update

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

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

Summer

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

Rent

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

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

Periodontist

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

Gas Prices

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

Genesis Class Ships

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

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

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

Transfer

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

Tax Rebate

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

Stories

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

Scare

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

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

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

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

Restaurant Review - Rita's

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

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

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

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

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

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