Worlds

Dear Egypt ...

2012-01-25T09:09:00.002-05:00

Personally, I don't give a damn what government you elect. You want to live under Islamic law, fine. You want to subjugate your women, fine. It's your country and you threw out your dictator so you could have the government you want. I applaud that. Thing is, though, since a great portion of your national wealth is derived from the tourist industry, if you go 'full Sharia' on us, I, and whole buncha other tourists sure as hell ain't gonna spend their money in your country. As I said, I really don't give a shit what you do in your own country but if you don't want to end up as some 12th Century throwback (see: Afghanistan), you'll practice the basic human rights the rest of us all take for granted.

Ultraconservative Islamists, known as Salafists, have emerged from the first stage of Egypt's parliamentary election as a powerful political force.

...

However, since the revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in February, they have turned to electoral politics as a way to try to further incorporate Islamic law, or Sharia, into legislation.

...

In parliament, al-Nour is expected to press a socially conservative agenda, including plans to phase out non-Islamic banking, alcohol sales and revealing swimming costumes on beaches.

...

So, if I go there on vacation to see the wonders of the Cradle of Civilization, my wife and I would not be allowed together on the same beach? I would not be able to get a beer in that hot ass climate of yours? My wife would not be allowed out in public without a head covering? Fine.

Guess what? I'll spend my money somewhere else and so will a couple million other people. Enjoy the 12th Century.

What??? Really???

2012-01-17T06:55:00.004-05:00

Yes, I am taking this Costa Concordia thing personally. For several reasons (I am a seasoned cruiser of over 30 voyages, I have many friends in the cruise ship industry and I am concerned about their safety and the effect this will have on their income and, lastly, I am a shareholder in Carnival Corporation LLP and, however minutely, it reflects on me) I am quite angry with the Captain especially but also the others in the crew who seemed to have abdicated their responsibilities.

This latest:

00:32am

The port authority asks the captain, Francesco Schettino, how many people are left on board. He says 200-300, therefore claiming unrealistically that 4,000 people were evacuated in only 40 minutes. It quickly becomes clear he has already abandoned ship.

...

00:42am

PA asks how many people still need to be evacuated.

Schettino:"I called and they told me there are about 100 people. I am coordinating the operations. But I can't go back on it. We have abandoned the ship."

PA:"Captain, did you really abandon the ship??"

Schettino:"No, no, I am here, I am coordinating the evacuation."

PA:"Captain, this is an order, now I am in charge. Get back on that ship and coordinate the operations. There are already casualties."

Schettino:"How many?"

PA:"You should tell me that! What do you want to do, go home? Now you get back on that ship and tell us what can be done, how many people are still there and what do they need."

Schettino:"OK, OK, I am going."

(The captain will not get back on the ship)

...

Hanging is too good for this guy. You know why he chose to hazard his ship and put 4000 souls in grave danger? This is why:

...

The captain of the luxury cruise ship that capsized after hitting rocks off Italy had sailed perilously close to the coast to "make a bow" to people on a Tuscan island, according to media reports.

Francesco Schettino made the dangerous maneuver so that the Costa Concordia's head waiter could salute his family on land, according to reports.

...

I think keelhauling would be appropriate.

And more Concordia ...

2012-01-16T12:50:00.001-05:00

This pic gives more perspective on how close to shore they were. The cruise line is also throwing the Captain under the bus at this point. As I've said in comments on my previous posts, I've been through this area many times and it is impossible not to spot the ship channel, even at night. Civitaveccia (2 hours from Rome) is one of the biggest commercial ports in Europe and the traffic in and out goes on 24/7. Leaving the port, it looks like you're entering a highway, always a line of cruise ships, freighters, and tankers out in the shipping lane. If I were on a cruise ship and saw them approaching this close to land, I would have been running for my life jacket long before they had a chance to hit anything.

And a note, this is not the port of Civitaveccia, this is the port on the island of Giglio, not deep enough to accommodate this class of cruise ship. Assuming, according to some reports, there was an electrical casualty before they ran aground, heading for this port for repairs was out of the question for the same reasons the course he set was. Fortunately for the people on Giglio, he didn't run it aground in the harbor.

More Concordia ...

2012-01-15T06:12:00.000-05:00

...

Police say the captain has been arrested on suspicion of multiple manslaughter. He has been taken to a prison, where he is awaiting questioning.

I'll lay odds, the captain isn't the only one who'll be seeing the inside of an Italian jail cell.

Seriously ungood ...

2012-01-14T08:09:00.000-05:00

How in Hell does this happen in this day and age?

Three people have died and at least 50 more are missing after a cruise ship carrying thousands of passengers, including 24 British holidaymakers, ran aground off Italy's coast.

One of the victims was a man aged in his 70s who reportedly died of a heart attack caused by the shock of the icy water when he dove in during the chaos.

A major rescue operation was launched last night after the Costa Concordia began sinking near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast.

Five helicopters plucked people to safety after they became trapped on the ship when it listed so badly they could not launch lifeboats.

...

Random snap ...

2012-01-05T08:23:00.000-05:00

From the Cunard site:

Finally ...

2011-11-30T12:30:00.001-05:00

I finally did a video of our 20th Anniversary celebration last year:

Paradise?

2011-10-30T09:38:00.002-04:00

Eagles - The Last Resort

Random snap ...

2011-09-06T13:25:00.000-04:00

Entering the Kiel Canal, Baltic '10:

Random snap ...

2011-07-30T10:25:00.002-04:00

Europe's biggest bicycle parking structure, Amsterdam 2010.

Garden final ...

2011-07-17T08:21:00.003-04:00

The garden/yard is finally finished ... at least the major stuff is finished. A few pictures of the ganze mespucher. Click pics to make bigger:

Montauk ...

2011-07-08T11:55:00.008-04:00

A few pics from our run to the east end of Long Island for sightseeing and lunch. Chris and Terry wanted to see something different from the usual tourist spots in NYC (they've been many times) so I took them in the opposite direction.

One of the most beautiful places that includes a 60 mile drive through quaint old fishing villages and yes, the Hamptons, is the very tip of the South Fork of Long Island, Montauk Point State Park.

"Hello, officer."

The lighthouse is part of it and still functions with an automated foghorn and digital beacon to warn ships off the coast. It's the oldest lighthouse in New York State.

The lightkeeper's house has been turned into an interactive museum. I came out here the first time on a class trip when I was a kid and they still bring them here for the kids to learn some local history.

This is a memorial to all the local fishermen who've died off our shores since the late 1600s. Sadly, the fishing industry on the east end is mostly gone.

Chris, the Mrs., and Terry enjoying the beautiful view from the cliffs:

And you know the government wouldn't let such a strategic location go to waste. There's a Homeland Security listening post looking for the Taliban Navy or something.

Click pics to make bigger.

And for the best fresh seafood in the world, you go here like we did. Lobster, clams on the half-shell, shrimp, and scallops (along with a couple beers) completed the afternoon.

Shedding ...

2011-07-08T07:01:00.005-04:00

They came and installed the shed yesterday (8' x 8') so now I can get the lawnmower, wheelbarrow, and all my garden implements out of my damn garage in addition to all the lawn furniture. Yay!

Click pics to make bigger.

Of course I have to paint it (the Mrs. already picked out the colors) this weekend and put a hasp and lock on it, but I got the furniture we're not using in it already.

Timber!

2011-06-20T08:39:00.008-04:00

My Sword of Damocles.

During this past horrible winter, we had a bout of thundersnow. Like a thunderstorm in the summer with snow instead of rain. Well, during that storm, one of my neighbor's sassafras trees got hit by lightning, splitting it in half. One half fell into the woods in the neighbor's yard, the other, bigger, piece fell on one of my trees over the compost. It's hung there since the middle of December and hasn't moved. It would creak and moan in the wind but stayed put.

Well, Saturday, I was back there with the dogs when I heard noises unfamiliar coming from the tree. The Mrs. was shopping and I threw the girls into the kennel because they were getting too curious about the noise. I watched for about a half-hour as shit began falling, little branches at first, and then some of the bigger ones. The Mrs. came home and asked what I was doing and told her to hang around. It would be like a bad death scene in a B-movie. It took 2 hours, but it finally fell, the branch it was leaning on finally breaking.

Thing is, instead of coming all the way down, it hung up in the crotch of another branch. So, guess what I did on Father's Day?

Being I worked for a tree sturgeon (sturgeon - because he drank like a fish; there'd be a case of Budweiser on the front seat of the truck before we got to the first job in the morning) when I was 16, I pretty much know what I'm doing with trees. I got the chain saw out and started sawing branches off, allowing it to twist (with a little help from me) and leverage itself out of the crotch. It came down with a satisfying thump. I looked around to see all the neighbors watching me. No applause though ...

My only bitch now is that the branch it was leaning on didn't break cleanly and is still hanging up there. I gotta get a new blade for my chain saw, it's horribly stretched and I'm out of adjustment, before I start cutting up the logs. Shouldn't have used it yesterday but the tree was really unsafe and I had to bring it down.

That's tomorrow's job.

Click pics to make bigger.

Un-Gitmo ...

2011-06-15T15:20:00.003-04:00

The new kennel looked like the prison at Guantanamo Bay, where they keep all the Talibans so we got some more shrubs and hanging pots to make it a little less ... institutional.

I also had to move some privet hedge for the kennel expansion so I put them in front of the compost and pruned the shit out of them. Hopefully they'll bush out enough by next year to hide the compost.

Click pics to make bigger.

Painting this afternoon ...

Testing ...

2011-06-09T07:49:00.007-04:00

Now that the new garden is ostensibly finished, somebody's gotta test it out, right? My buddy Ed stopped by yesterday and joined me, the Mrs. and the dogs* for a cold one on a hot summer afternoon (although it's still technically spring, you wouldn't have known it yesterday and today).

We also added a few more decorations over the past week. You know it wasn't the Mrs.' idea to get these. Heh ...

We also put in a big ol' frog and we got a chicken in memory of my mom (she always had a chicken statue in her garden).

And I almost forgot, the Mrs. picked up a couple of copper lanterns too:

Click pic to make bigger.

So much for the test, I got carpentry to do this morning.

* They got water.

Expansion ...

2011-06-07T04:36:00.003-04:00

As I said in a previous post, we had to expand the dogs' kennel. It was just too small for the two of them. Well the fence guys came yesterday.

Before:

And after:

Click pics to make big

I have two very happy dogs.

Yay!!!!

2011-06-01T10:24:00.002-04:00

I got grass!

Progress ...

2011-05-26T14:50:00.003-04:00

Been out in the garden most days, trying to get everything finished but I figured I'd put up a progress report.

Click pics to make big

I got all the stone work done (the path and perimeter fence) and I'm just waiting for the grass to fill in. The maple is shitting a million little "helicopters" and I'm out there with the blower every other day cleaning them out. Other than that, I hope to have it completely finished by next week. Then I can move on to the other stuff I have to do before 1 July. Oy!

Name calling ...

2011-05-24T07:04:00.002-04:00

Well, not really, but today it's official. I sent away all the forms to change Chooch's registration to reflect we are the new owners and Ziva's info to register her kennel name and ownership with the American Kennel Club. I had an agreement with the breeder (my pal Kathy who owns Katwala Australian Cattle Dogs) to have them both spayed before I got their registration paperwork.

We did a lot of thinking what we'd name Ziva and we finally decided. We played off her big sister's kennel name ("Katwala's Pardon Me Boys") and her personality.

"Katwala's Pardon Me Boys" - Chooch

So I'm happy to present "Katwala's Outta My Way", a.k.a. Ziva.

"So does this new name thing get me any more snacks, dad?"

No.

It gets worse ...

2011-05-10T12:32:00.007-04:00

So, today I took the Mrs. with me when I went out to set up the appointment with the fence people to come and measure for the dog kennel. Big mistake.

The phrase "while we're out" came up and she told me she wants to look at plant hangers, you know, pretty poles made to hold hanging pots of flowers. Well, she went to Home Goods (I think that was a ploy because she just likes to walk through that store, hoping to find something; fortunately, this time she didn't) but didn't see what she was looking for so I suggested we stop at Sam's Garden Center on the way home. Big mistake.

While we were there, we looked at some of their stuff but it too wasn't what she wanted (she did find a garden gnome with a solar-powered lantern though). While we were there, we noticed Sam had a load of thick slate stepping stones in. Well, as I said before, I was gonna leave the "floor" of the English garden all grass this year. Even put grass seed down. Big mistake.

And while we were there, they also had a pallet of the same stone I used in the stone fence around the interior bed. Well then, while I'm already putting in the "floor", I can build another stone fence on the inside perimeter of the outer bed, right?

2 pallets of stone are coming on Monday, bright and early. The Mrs. got to take her gnome home with her. If I survive this summer, it'll be a miracle. Heh ...

Never ends ...

2011-05-09T12:35:00.007-04:00

Christ, I been running like an idiot since we got home. Dad-in-law Fixer had stuff to square away and we have yet to find a new home health aide for him, so the status quo continues.

We got home and, as the car pulled up to the house, I'd swear I was in a ghetto. The front garden was overgrown and choked (nobody's fault but mine, hadn't given a shit about it for years) and it was disgusting. It used to be a circular driveway my dad made, but he was always too cheap to have it paved. In the summer, if you pulled a car around, and the windows were open in the house, the place would fill with dust. I filled it in about 15 years ago and just threw the Hostas in there to make it look like I cared.

Well, I dug everything out around the plants about 3" deep and replaced it with new topsoil. I let the Mrs. go wild and pick out any plants she wanted to add in for color (other than green). I also did the stone border so my idiot landscaper didn't run over the Mrs. new plants with the mower (he has yet to show up here to cut the grass and he's got until the end of the week to do it or he's fired - then I'm getting me a John Deere). Once everything was in, I threw mulch over it so I won't have to chase weeds every other day.

Since we still haven't decided what we want for a "floor" for the English garden out back, I figured I'd just go with grass this year and do some more research on varieties of stone. That said, there were big bald areas I had to add a ton of topsoil to, cultivate, and toss grass seed all over. Any day now ...

Everything else in there is growing nicely though. The thing in the pot that looks like a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree was a present my mom's best friend gave to her when she retired in 1988. Needless to say, with the "Low-E" windows in the house (and the puppy), it didn't fare too well this winter. Hopefully (or my mother will haunt me for something else), a stay in the garden during the summer will perk it up.

While I was planting shit, I also stuck a few shrubs by the dogs' kennel.

Which brings up another fact. Seems the girls can scale a standard size fence now, so having them out in the yard is a no-no anymore. The kennel is really too small for them (it was great for one dog). We got it when we were living in apartments and it's portable.

So tomorrow I got a meeting with the fence guy. We're gonna increase the width by 12 feet and the length by 30 feet, 6 feet high all around. Thankfully, I don't have to dig post holes for this one. I can drink a beer and watch his boys work. Heh ...

Oh yeah, and we finally decided on the sink for the master bath and it comes Thursday. All well and good but I still have to build the vanity and medicine cabinet.

And I have to have this all done but 1 July because Chris and Terry are coming from England and spending the holiday with us.

I'm digging a hole in the backyard and this way, if I drop dead, the Mrs. can have the dogs drag me in and cover me up. Heh ...

Random snap ...

2011-05-05T07:41:00.001-04:00

Canal house - Bruges, Belgium '08

Finally ...

2011-05-04T12:01:00.005-04:00

Remember my master bath project I started last year? Well, for one reason or another, namely we hadn't decided on a new sink, I'm just getting back to it now (there's a gun to my head because Chris and Terry are coming to stay with us on July 1) and I have to get it done. I am happy to report, this morning, we've finally decided on the sink and it's been ordered.

Yay!

Now, I gotta go to Home Depot in the morning to pick up lumber for the vanity.

Thanks ...

2011-05-02T11:34:00.004-04:00

As always, our great thanks to the woman who makes this all possible. Our world class travel agent, Ann Hayward @ Cruise Planners. This one especially because I pulled it out of my ass as a surprise for the Mrs.' birthday and time (and secrecy) were of the essence. Thanks, darlin'; you're the best!

You got me dizzy, Miss Lizzie ...

2011-05-01T14:29:00.008-04:00

Got all stupid with the camera one day aboard ship while everybody was ashore so I'll give you a little tour:

The bartenders in The Golden Lion. One of my favorite hangouts aboard Queen Elizabeth and was usually where the Mrs. could find me and Terry:

The Grand Lobby (aft):

The Grand Lobby (fore):

The Grand Lobby from above:

The Commodore Club:

Churchill's Smoking Lounge:

The Casino:

Shopping? The Royal Arcade (port and starboard):

The Champagne Bar:

The Library:

Looking aft over the Queen's Grill and down on the Midships Pool from Deck 10:

And of course, all sorts of art abounds:

Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II, for whom the new Queen Elizabeth was named.

(l to r) Queen Elizabeth 2, Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria in Southampton Water.

She is a beautiful ship, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely, meeting friends we've known from Queen Mary 2, and would sail aboard her again in a second, but Mary is still my favorite and I'm certain that won't change.

Pontavedra ...

2011-05-01T14:19:00.006-04:00

We were greeted with a beautiful sunrise as we approached Vigo, Spain.

We hopped on the bus and drove out of town about 20 minutes to the medieval city of Pontavedra. We were dropped off at the edge of the old city on a wide pedestrian boulevard lined with Sycamore trees, the statue indicating the spot where you head back in time.

The city was a place of pilgrimage since the Roman days and a part of the old Roman road still remains, along with a ruin of an ancient church.

The Mrs. is smiling because there was ample shopping about. Heh ...

As a place that draws pilgrims from all over, beautiful old churches abound.

Walking up and down the old streets was fun but tiring.

We stopped at a restaurant for a bit of lunch before heading back to Lizzie after a beautiful and interesting day.

Funchal ...

2011-04-27T07:21:00.003-04:00

Funchal, in the Madiera chain, is a Portuguese possession and has a distinctly Portuguese feel. The city center is built along the port and the rest of the town tossed up into the hills.

We didn't take a shore excursion here, instead choosing to explore the city with our friends Chris and Terry, who'd vacationed here quite often.

We went first to the city market which, first thing in the morning, is coweded with all the locals buying fresh fish and sundries for the day. Watching the fish mongers work was intriguing, true masters of their craft.

After our trip to the market, we walked through the beautiful streets to a sidewalk cafe for lunch. The weather gods smiled on us here and it was sunny and warm. The lunch was fantastic and, once fortified, we carried on through the city, the ladies shopping for local wares.

Evidence of the Portuguese artistry we've come to take for granted everywhere in Portugal abounded. Especially their tile work.

There are many pedestrian boulevards, all lined with wisteria and bougainvilla. It was such a relaxing day, spending it with dear friends in a place we managed to fall in love with over the course of 8 hours.

As I've said many times, if you're planning a trip to the Iberian Peninsula, or any of the Atlantic Islands, Portugal should certainly be given serious consideration.

We're at sea now, making a leisurely 15 knots for Vigo, Spain tomorrow. I'm off to The Golden Lion now for my morning Bloody Mary. I've got some great pics from the ship and I'll try to get them up soon.

Gran Canaria ...

2011-04-27T07:18:00.005-04:00

Gran Canaria, as opposed to Tenerife, is new. Everything is new and, also unlike Tenerife, there is no feeling of the local culture. Gran Canria is an island solely dedicated to parting the European tourist from his Euros. There are enclaves of vacation homes for people from every country in the EU. It reminded me of the Florida retirement communities. Playa del Ingles (Beach of the Englishmen) was especially so.

After the beach, we went to another resort community called Puerto Mogan. Another beautiful place but also, all new. We had a lovely afternoon and the Mrs. got to do some shopping while cheking out the town.

As I said, while beautiful, there is little evidence of the local culture (one of the reasons we enjoy traveling is to meet new people and learn about their ways). Color me underwhelmed. A nice day, but if I never get back to Gran Canaria I won't be disappointed. Were I European, I'd probably vacation on one of the beaches on the Cote d'Azur in the Mediterranean rather than fly all the way down here.

Tenerife ...

2011-04-27T07:15:00.004-04:00

Tenerife and Gran Canaria are part of the Canary Island Archipelago (a Spanish possession), and spitting distance from each other, but cannot be more different.

On Tenerife, we left Lizzie and the city behind, heading up into the hills.

While the city is quite modern, the outskirts have a more rustic flair. First we went to a museum dedicated to the wine industry on the island. We got to see a documentary on the history of the island and how it related to the grape, quite interesting.

We also saw artifacts from the early days of wine making here and got to do a tasting of several varieties (one was pretty good - a young white - but the rest, in my opinion are probably best for cooking). We did enjoy ourselves however and fell in love with the local goat cheese (of course, the Mrs. bought a block of it).

We then drove along the mountain road to a tapas bodega built inside an old wine cellar where we had more wines and sampled cava (Spanish champagne) along with a variety of local foods, cheese, ham, sausage, all on the local bread.

The food was great, the wine, so-so. The great thing was being able to explore the neighborhood, which had a bit of a barrio feel (as most of the towns in the hills do) but never did we feel unsafe.

Unfortunately, the overcast weather continued but it didn't rain and the weather was a balmy 75 degrees. We got back aboard the ship and headed across the strait for Gran Canaria the next day.

Cascais and Sintra ...

2011-04-22T13:30:00.004-04:00

As you know, we've been to Lisbon proper several times so on this trip we decided to venture forth a bit more. We took a shore excursion to the resort town of Cascais (pronounced cash-caish) and the medieval town of Sintra.

We left Lizzie and headed north, up the coast road, to Cascais, an exquisite little town. Like I've said on our many visits to Portugal, the Portuguese are some of the most creative people on the planet. From their tile work, to their mosaics, to their pastries, everything is beautiful. As you can tell, the Mrs. was also able to shop. Heh ...

After Cascais, we headed back up the coast road north to Sintra, vacation home of Portuguese kings since they tossed the Moors out. The coast road reminds me of the Pacific Coast Highway a bit, with a more raw feel. The coast is also dotted with small forts once used for coastal protection, now mostly turned into high-end restaurants.

As I noted, the Moors made it here and the mountain (also named Sintra, though to me it's just a really big hill) is topped by an old Moorish ruin.

There was a constant drizzle all day but it by no means dampened the experience.

The more we go to Portugal, the more we can't wait to get back (Funchal - next week - is also a Portuguese possession so we'll get another taste before we head home). Personally, I'd recommend seeing Portugal before Spain (not that Spain is bad, we enjoy our time there too), but I can't put my finger on why. We just feel more at home there, I guess.

We're at sea tomorrow and we'll hit the Canary Islands for 2 stops before heading to Funchal. I'll try to get a post up tomorrow from Lizzie and some of the sights on the ship. She's not Mary but beautiful in her own right.

Underway ...

2011-04-21T04:28:00.004-04:00

Sunset over Southampton and the Isle of Wight, bound for Lisboa.

Gefängnis* ...

2011-04-17T08:15:00.002-04:00

*Jail. Heh ...

Monster movies ...

2011-04-17T06:14:00.002-04:00

When they are not crazy

Ziva wants to play!

English Garden ...

2011-04-17T05:54:00.004-04:00

I know my family in Germany reads this page regularly to keep up with what I'm doing (I know, I don't call or write often enough) and that's why I haven't posted pics of the new garden here.

My family, who I love dearly, more than just about anything, all know that I've never, ever, been one to grovel in the dirt. So, them seeing me making a garden could have serious health effects. Namely, my aunt, whose heart isn't what it used to be. I didn't want that on my conscience. But, it seems (I found out from my cousin Birgit yesterday), the Tante has been surfing the interwebs and found pics on my political blog where my readers followed along as I built it.

So, now that she, and the rest of the family, knows, I figure I'd put up some pictures here of the English Garden I put together over the past month for the Mrs.' birthday.

A month ago, the only thing there was the maple tree.

Click pics to make bigger

Morning coffee with the dogs

2011-03-04T12:46:00.000-05:00

Good God ...

2011-02-17T07:55:00.005-05:00

I'm sorry, but I think ships should look good as well as be functional. This latest monstrosity from Norwegian Cruise Line is just homely.

NCL's Norwegian Epic. Pic from here.

This is what has happened to the cruise industry over the past 20 years (the last 10 in particular). The point is to pack as many people on the ship as they can while making the ship itself the destination. There is more stuff to do aboard than there is at the ports they visit but then, if you're spending money on the ship instead of ashore, good for them. Norwegian and Royal Caribbean (their Oasis-class ships) aren't the only ones who do this, but they're taking the fore.

Now, I'm not saying this is good or bad, just the way things are trending. My personal taste leans toward the travel part of cruising, when ships were the predominant mode of transportation for the masses. I like seeing new places and meeting new people to experience their cultures. I like the romance of being on an ocean liner, or at least a cruise ship that isn't a floating Las Vegas-slash-Six Flags.

I like the idea of living (when I'm not ashore) in the equivalent of a 5-star hotel with service to match. I'd much rather listen to a string quartet playing Mozart as I sit down to a dinner that rivals any of the best in New York than have my waiter dancing around with a plate of food on his head. I like that staff knows my name the first day of a cruise and never forgets it (and the bartenders remember what I drink). I like the tradition of dressing for dinner.

Call me old fashioned, but as somebody who wears work clothes as the uniform of the day, I certainly enjoy the change to cultured formality for a month every year. Like I said, what I do is not for everybody. If you like "fun in the sun" and having a million activities for you and the rugrats to participate in, looking at the bigger ships from Royal, Norwegian, Carnival, or Disney would be the thing for you. If you're like me, Cunard or Holland are the best bet.

This is my kind of ship:

Cunard Line's Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2 entering the English Channel. From my friend QE2 1st Engineer David.

Heh ...

2011-02-02T09:29:00.000-05:00

Ziva!

Next up ...

2011-01-04T13:48:00.008-05:00

Just booked a trip for April to celebrate the Mrs.' birthday (it's a milestone, though I won't say how old she is), my present to her.

We'll be flying to Southampton, England to meet up with Cunard Line's newest cruiser* Queen Elizabeth, along with our dear friends Chris and Terry from Wales. We'll also be able to see some more of our friends, crew from Queen Mary 2 who transferred as part of Lizzie's inaugural crew.

Aboard, we'll leave Southampton and head south for our first port call at Lisbon, Portugal. After Lisbon, we'll head farther south to Tenerife and Gran Canaria in the Canary Island chain. From there, it's on to Funchal in the Madiera Archipelago, and farther north to Oporto, Portugal, before returning to Southampton 11 days later.

We've been to Lisbon and Oporto before but never to the other ports. We also have friends on Tenerife and we're trying to hook up with them as well. Regardless, it should be a great party with Chris and Terry. The crew is still talking about the last time we were aboard Queen Mary together. Heh ...

And I almost forgot; I couldn't have pulled this off without my world-class travel agent, Ann Hayward at Cruise Planners (the lady who makes all our crazy vacation ideas work). Thanks, darlin'.

I use the word "cruiser" purposely. Queen Elizabeth* is not an ocean liner in the image of Queen Mary 2 or the recently retired QE2. She is a Signature-class cruise ship out of the Fincantieri yards in Italy. Among her sisters are Cunard Line's Queen Victoria and Holland America Line's Eurodam and Niew Amsterdam.

Snow Day!

2010-12-30T07:03:00.001-05:00

Christmas puppies ...

2010-12-24T17:40:00.003-05:00

It was a nice, warm (40 F) sunny day so I had the monsters out in the yard today.

From us and the Cattle Dogs, have a very Merry Christmas!

More rework ...

2010-12-17T12:02:00.005-05:00

I thought I was almost done last week. I had the painting done (except for a little touch up) and I even tackled the floor of my unsquare entry way (killed my router but it didn't owe me anything) and then last Thursday or Friday, the Mrs. was on the phone with her clients at Sharp Electronics, lovely people that they are, and, once they learned of my current project, offered one of their flat screen, LED, HDTVs for the office at a dirt cheap price. They've done this for the last 3 projects of mine now and I'm extremely grateful.

So, it came on Wednesday.

Naturally, I had to run to Cablevision and pick up an HD converter box. I also had the Blueray player that the nice folks at Sharp donated to my bar project that I hadn't installed up there (don't watch movies in the bar, just football). My problem was I didn't have a place to put the box and Blueray (where the wires would be neat and out of the way and where the dogs couldn't get at them) so I pulled the drawers and associated hardware out of the TV cabinet I made when I did the office years ago and built bezels. I was gonna stain them but I figured I'd be cutting another hole in one of both of them sooner or later to install something else. Paint's easier to touch up. Works well and all the wires are hidden in the cabinet.

Now I'm almost done.

Rework ...

2010-12-09T13:36:00.010-05:00

So, while I was painting, I got the idea to redo my desk. Now, it didn't just fly out of my ass one morning, there's (always) a story behind it.

As you know, we got the 2 new dogs almost 3 months ago and almost from the beginning they liked to hang around under my desk. One day, we tossed one of their beds under there and the place became their fort. Of course, trying to sit at the desk and do anything, like surf the interwebs, was a pain in the ass with the two monsters under there all the time.

That said, I built my desk about 10 years ago as a 2-person affair. The wife would sit on one side, me on the other, and we each had a computer and could work at the same time. Since she moved into the new office upstairs I built for her last year, I figured, while I was at it in here (heh ...) to rework the desk to make it more comfortable for me and the dogs. I reoriented 90 degrees, but I had to do some work to make it usable from that side.

I cut a kneehole out of the shelf that once held pictures (with young Cattle Dogs, that's impossible) and grafted on an extension to the desk top so the keyboard drawer would fit. Underneath the desk (the old kneehole) I built a frame for the dogs' bed (they usually sleep together). This way they can't drag it all over the place when they get rambunctious.

I also built a fixture to organize the desk, hold the monitor, and organize the wires so they weren't a big ball of shit on the desk (I had to move them from the baseboards hurriedly once we got the puppy home).

I have it mocked up now, just to make sure everything fits where it's supposed to and see how usable it is. I gotta finish doing the detail work, sand it all, and then finish it. Thankfully Minwax makes the same color I used to begin with and I have a whole bunch of the same detail moulding I used on the original.

It ain't high art but it'll look okay once I'm done.

And just a note: Check out the wall colors. Looks like Salvador Dali threw up. Heh ...

And another note: I just didn't pull the design out of my ass.

Pic from here.

Random snap ...

2010-12-05T15:05:00.002-05:00

The Artillery Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Pretty girls ...

2010-11-30T11:00:00.002-05:00

Da Chooch & Ziva

Might as well ...

2010-11-30T09:44:00.005-05:00

Three words that will be the death of me.

I posted on my other blog about my "Dingo Fence" project I had undertaken to keep the two little monsters out of our bedroom at night. So, since the bedroom and office hadn't been painted since I built them 10 years, and 3 Cattle Dogs, ago, I figured I "might as well" paint them too, since the "Dingo Fence" separated both of them.

Dingo Fence

The bedroom is done, except for some minor details, and now I'm working on the office.

I also did some things I should have done the first time, like cornice and belt mouldings and I framed out the cubbyholes I made to hold things we bring home from our trips.

I also did something to the back door area, something I'd avoided when I first built the place because it's so unsquare (not my doing, the place was built that way). The only thing I did do was move the bathroom door about 8 inches to the right. So now, because I'm there, I thought I "might as well" help it a little. I built a little partition that looks like the Dingo Fence where we can hang the dogs' leashes and our coats.

Needless to say, the white and gray is all primer and I gotta paint this all, once I get done with the ceiling (had a water leak a few years back - refrigerator water line - and I figured I "might as well" repair that too). Hopefully, by this weekend, I'll have it finished and can move back to the bathroom project I started in February.

Cruise suckage ...

2010-11-14T05:59:00.000-05:00

As most of the regulars around here know, I've had some SNAFUs when on cruises, having to blow off ports because of weather, getting shanghaied by the U.S. Coast Guard for rescue duty, going through Force 9 gales at sea, diverting thanks to a sick passenger, but those all pale when you're stuck on a dead ship:

An engine room fire that began early this morning on board CARNIVAL SPLENDOR has been extinguished but the ship remains without engine power while emergency generators are in use for ships’ services.

The 113,000-ton CARNIVAL SPLENDOR was on the first leg of a seven day cruise from Long Beach, CA and remains drifting approximately 55 miles west of Punta San Jacinto, Mexico with 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crew members on board.

...

I can happily say that (after 20 years and 30-odd cruises) I've never been on one that had to get towed in.

Random snap ...

2010-11-14T05:51:00.002-05:00

Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2 entering the English Channel.

Thanks to my friend Dave.

Random snap ...

2010-10-30T16:35:00.001-04:00

Ziva and Chooch:

Random snap ...

2010-10-20T06:02:00.003-04:00

On the North Sea, aboard Holland America Line's MS Prinsendam in August.

The doggies ...

2010-09-26T17:46:00.003-04:00

I've been informed I've been remiss in posting pics of the new dogs in the house here yet. Let me correct that. The puppy's name is Ziva and the older (18 months) dog is Chooch. They are half-sisters (same father) out of my pal, and premier breeder, Kathy's Katwala Australian Cattle Dogs' Three Sheeps To The Wind Ranch.

Click to make bigger.

The Vacation of the Football Shirt ...

2010-09-06T19:27:00.004-04:00

I wore football shirts instead of t-shirts for this trip. A lot more comfortable and better looking.

Red Bull New York

AC Milan

Germany National Team

Dutch National Team

FC Barcelona

Chelsea FC

And even the Mrs. got into the act. Ronaldinho is her boy so I got her a shirt for her birthday.

And of course ...

2010-09-06T08:18:00.004-04:00

I will finally close out this trip by sending out a huge, heartfelt thank you to our travel agent, Ann Hayward at Cruise Planners. As I said in my first post on this trip, the logistics were daunting and it all came off without a hitch.

Thanks again, Ann. You're the best.

Lizzie naming Lizzie ...

2010-09-03T19:45:00.002-04:00

Commodore Werner told us about this the other day, but now it's official:

Cunard Line is pleased to announce that Her Majesty The Queen will name the company's new Queen Elizabeth, the third Cunard ship to bear the name, at a ceremony to take place in Southampton on Monday 11 October 2010. The naming will be a milestone in British maritime history and will be a major event of worldwide interest.

"The naming of a Cunard Queen is a very special occasion and this will be an historic event in the true sense of the word. The Queen launched Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1967 and named our current flagship Queen Mary 2 in 2004," said Peter Shanks, President and Managing Director. "We are both honoured and proud that Her Majesty will name our new liner Queen Elizabeth," he added.

Her Majesty was also present at the age of 12 at the launch of the first Queen Elizabeth on 27 September 1938 when she accompanied her mother, Queen Elizabeth, to Clydebank for the launch.

The Naming Ceremony will take place in Southampton on Monday 11 October and Queen Elizabeth will set sail on her maiden voyage the following day.

Visit WeAreCunard.com to read Peter Shank's blog entry about this exciting announcement.

20 Years ...

2010-09-01T06:47:00.004-04:00

20 years ago, the Mrs. agreed to be my wife (probably against her better judgment - heh ...). Amazingly, after putting up with me for 2 decades, she said "yes" again.

The ceremony was performed in Queen Mary 2's boardroom, Commodore Bernard Werner, presiding.

We also had our dear friends in attendance.

Memorable quotes:

Commodore Werner to me: "I see you've purloined half of my staff for this event."

***

Commodore Werner to the Mrs.: "It will be my great pleasure to do this again for you in 20 years."

Her reply: "Won't you be retired by then, sir?"

Commodore Werner: "Retire? What?"

***

It was marvelous and we also had some professional pictures taken, which we'll get on Thursday. Now, to take care of this hangover ...

Copenhagen - Oslo ...

2010-08-30T09:20:00.006-04:00

The only thing I saw of Copenhagen was what I could see from the ship. We didn't have a shore excursion planned, we were shot from running around, and the weather was lousy all morning. We decided not to go out and the sun finally showed up when we pulled out. We'll get back here someday.

We did take a tour in Oslo, however, and it, like all the other Scandinavian cities we went to was clean and nice. Beautiful colors and native architecture graced the streets.

The tour took us to Frogner Park, to see the enormous sculpture garden of Gustav Vigeland. The guy, and the park, have a hell of a story and you might want to use the Google to get some background on the guy. I was moved.

We then moved on to the Viking ship museum, only to find that most of our ideas about the Vikings are, I quote the guide, "bullshit".

And then it was a short ride to the Thor Heyerdahl Museum, another man who deserves some serious Googling.

It was a great day and we learned a lot. When we pulled out of Olso, a gale moved in and threw us around most of the night. I slept well until I was awakened by the sound of wine glasses breaking on the shelves. Heh ...

I'm sitting aboard Queen Mary 2 now, transferring from the Tilbury (London) Docks to Southampton by car, on our second day out from Southampton, encountering the remnants of hurricane Danielle, though the Commodore assures us most of it will pass well south.

We spent the day yesterday catching up with old friends on the crew, and then hanging with my buddy from fleet division until the wee hours. Tomorrow, we will retake our wedding vows with Commodore Werner presiding. I'll try to have pics up after the ceremony. Right now, I got some serious drinking to do. Heh ...

Smoke this ...

2010-08-30T03:16:00.002-04:00

I'll have more up later, after coffee, but there's one thing I've been meaning to tell folks that nobody in the cruise industry will.

If you go on a cruise, and you're a smoker, be prepared to be treated like a second class citizen.

Year by year, the lines have made it more and more difficult for you to light up and it's gotten to the point of ridiculousness. For example, here aboard Queen Mary 2, there is no smoking in the bars anymore. If you want to smoke, you're confined to your cabin, the weather decks (we're on the North Atlantic; figure that out), or a "cigar room" all the way forward. It was the same aboard Prinsendam although there was one bar you could smoke at (though there was only space for 5 people).

Now, I could see if I got the cruise for free, or at some discount for putting up with this hassle but I don't. What I've paid for this trip in particular could pay the salaries of a couple crew members for a year. I've been cruising since the days when you could smoke between courses in the dining rooms, not that I want to go back to that, but I'd like to be treated with a little more respect by the cruise lines.

We have already booked next year's trip but if this keeps up, it will be our last. I'm certain some other venue (like a resort) would be more than happy to take my money. If I didn't love cruising so much, I would already have found an alternative.

So, I encourage those who smoke and want the cruising experience to do it soon, before it goes completely non-smoking.

Like I said, I'll have my Copenhagen and Oslo posts up later, after coffee ...

Papers, please ...

2010-08-24T05:18:00.007-04:00

Had to get on the train in Rostok bright and early (6:30), which wouldn't be too bad, but I had to hang out until midnight with my buddy and too many beers. Good god ... My hangover went away about halfway through the 2.5 hour train ride thanks to coffee and aspirins.

Our first stop was the East Side Gallery, a section of the Berlin Wall given over to artists. Unfortunately, tourist graffiti has spoiled a lot of the murals.

You can also (why, I don't know) rent an old East German Trabant. These things (a Communist "Volks Auto") were pieces of shit when they were new, but it's all the rage.

How do you know you're in the East Zone? Look at the "Don't Walk" lights. The "Ampel Männer" are a holdover from Communist times and the Berliners demand they remain. There is a cottage industry built around these little guys too. You can buy t-shits, cards, all sorts of shit with these guys on 'em.

A view of the East Side Gallery from the bus as we drove past.

It was then on to "Checkpoint Charlie", the major crossing from East to West during the Cold War.

Most of the wall has been torn down, but the government makes sure a reminder remains. The path of the wall has been denoted by a strip of cobblestones.

We then went to the Bebel Platz, where the book burnings took place when the Nazis took power. I know it's hard to see through the glare, but beneath the glass are a bunch of empty bookshelves, a monument to this atrocity. Americans, remember, or learn, what went on during the pre-WW2 years in Germany and never forget it. I can only hope the horrible things my people did can be a lesson to future generations.

The Holocaust Memorial should be experienced first-hand. Everyone with us got a different impression of it, but most left the labyrinthine installation with a feeling of dread and sorrow. For me, once I got down into the depth of it, I had the same feelings I did when visiting concentration camps (something else everyone should experience at least once).

The Brandenburg Gate, which is only a block away from the memorial. On the walk over, the skies opened up.

The Reichstag (sorry about the shitty quality of the pic but I took it from a moving bus).

The "Pope's Revenge". The big TV tower the Communists erected to show their technological skill. Thing is, when the sun shines on it, an image of a cross (nothing mystical, just the way the surface contours reflect the light) appears. To the atheist East, this was something of a slap in the face, and well deserved. All religion, save obedience to the State, was outlawed.

Finally, we stopped at a section of the wall which held a preserved guard tower and the "No Man's Land" between East and West. These views are from the East Zone, looking toward the West.

In all a great tour and it was finally time I got here. Granted, throughout most of my life it was impossible, but I shoulda got here sooner.

We're sitting here in Copenhagen right now with threatening skies. We don't have an excursion today so don't be disappointed if I don't go ashore (I'll try and get some pics of the town from the ship at the least). Oslo tomorrow and then on to London.

Stockholm ...

2010-08-22T09:23:00.006-04:00

An amazing fountain greeted us as we came up the ship channel (a trip that takes 4 hours because of all the little bloody islands out here).

Stockholm is a gorgeous city also built over 14 islands.

And judging from the shallow draft patrol boat, the Swedes know how to defend their archipelago. I'm sure it can fight in maneuver in water too shallow to allow bigger men-o-war to operate and a standard frigate or destroyer would get cut to pieces by a couple of these little nasties.

This one's for my buddy Gordon's wife. Harley-Davidson and Buell have a boat anchored here.

Our ride, Prinsendam, was tied up a little to the south.

The city of Stockholm is nothing but beautiful and we took a bus/boat tour around the city.

Almost half of Stockholm is parkland. The Blue Gate is the entrance to Eco Park, a gorgeous expanse covering an island.

The Swedes, like the Finns, are proud, very proud, of their icebreakers. All the water I've showed you in the last couple days freezes solid by November.

Like Helsinki, Stockholm has a rich seafaring industry and it's evident wherever you look.

They also know how to have fun and take the warm summer months (6 weeks) to their full fun potential.

Everybody has a boat and everbody has a summer cabin on one of the hundreds of thousands (literally) lakes that dot Scanidinavia. They are a hearty, determined people, very impressive.

Berlin tomorrow, Norway and Denmark after. I'm going to take a nap. Heh ...

Helsinki ...

2010-08-22T08:59:00.005-04:00

We got into Helsinki a couple days ago and were greeted by a remnant of their seafaring heritage.

Then, leaving the pier, we got held up by a military formation from the Finnish Air Force. I don't have the bandwidth here to do the Google, but anybody know the history of the flag?

Then they took us over to Senate Square.

Seems the Finns are enamored of Russian Tsar Alexander II because he didn't treat them as shitty as the other Tsars during the "Russian Centuries".

After sightseeing, we went to a restaurant that specializes in smoking foods. It's also in the oldest wooden structure in Helsinki (250 years). The waitress, Nana, was a crazy woman (in a good way) and did a wonderful question and answer with us before letting us try their wares.

After eating (and sampling some of the local Finnish beer), we went to the Church in the Rock; and extraordinary construction whose "dome" (it's an optical illusion) is awe-inspiring.

And the thing about all these countries up here is that they're made up of a million little islands (you'll see that in Stockholm too) like St. Petersburg. It's bloody beautiful (if you like freezing your ass off for 10 months a year).

Summer and Winter ...

2010-08-20T10:40:00.008-04:00

So, yesterday, on our second day in ~~Petrograd~~ ~~Leningrad~~ St. Petersburg we went to the Summer Palace of Empress Katherine in the town of Pushkin (named for the poet, by the way).

We were greeted by a traditional Russian military band (who also sold a CD of their music).

Heading inside, we had to put on these little footies (I'll show you why in a second).

Now, as I said in an earlier post somewhere, I'm an architecture guy, it's what I look at as art, as opposed to paintings. I was was in heaven here. The Mrs. was in love with the appointments.

Now you see why the footies. The wood parquet floors are exquisite and wouldn't put up with a million people tramping all over them, all day.

We then left the palace and toured the grounds and the manicured gardens. In one of the out buidings (just as ornate as the palace) we were entertained by a Russian folk group, singing a capella. Their voices were as exquisite as the buildings.

No, we're not getting signals from the mother ship. It's how the tour guide could communicate with us in the large crowds; little radio receivers and head phones. Nobody got lost in the expansive reservation ... amazing (we usually lose one or two during a shore excursion).

It was then back to the city center for a tour of The Hermitage, one of the buildings being the Winter Palace. The Hermitage is, arguably, Russia's biggest and best art museum. As usual, the architecture interested me more than the pretty pictures.

Peter the Great's throne. If I'm ever King of the World, I'm taking it. Heh ...

Again, parquet and mosaic abound.

And all the masters 'abound'.

The Hermitage complex is huge, and contains the old admiralty building as well.

And just a note before I run about the Russians. If there is a way for them to make money off something, they will. Before we went on the tour, we were handed what the Mrs. and I call the "Bribe Sheet". Everywhere we went, they nickled and dimed you, for $3 or $5 to use my camera. I now have "permits" stuck to my Nikon so I could show you these pics. Chiselin' bastids. Heh ...

Had a great day in Helsinki today and I'll have pics when I can.

Petrograd Leningrad St. Petersburg - Day 1

2010-08-18T08:29:00.004-04:00

I knew St. Peterburg wasn't as "Soviet" as Moscow, but driving around among the monuments to Peter the Great's vision (and, say what you will about him, when you look at this city, he was a visionary) you feel you are in Paris more than Leningrad. Peter was enamored of the Dutch (the Russian flag is just the Dutch flag with the red stripe on the bottom) and using their knowledge of hydraulics allowed him to build this masterpiece on what was basically a swamp. He also imported craftsmen and architects, such as Carlo Rossi from Italy and many from Paris to build his dream and their influence shows.

Though there are still remnants of the Soviet system evident.

We went in today on a driving tour (3 hours) and then they let us loose in the shopping district for 3 hours before bringing us back to the ship, shepherded by our "minder" to the stores who have a deal with the ship (or are owned by a government official who bribes the cruise lines allowing them to dock for bringing groups to their stores, I haven't figured out which). Needless to say, we have more stuff now than we started with (I bought a Soviet 40mm shell that was turned into a lighter; ship's security took it from me and gave me a receipt). Heh ...

That said, we did get to see a lot of the city. They have some of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever seen, and it seems there's one on every street.

We passed by the Artillery Museum and the Winter Palace (part of The Hermitage, where we'll be tomorrow), and I caught this decrepit submarine with its equally decrepit tender in the river.

And the well-preserved historic cruiser Aurora.

Doing the museum thing tomorrow so I'll have more from St. Petersburg before moving on to Helsinki, Finland the next day.

Talinn ...

2010-08-17T10:45:00.005-04:00

Talinn, Estonia today; a very cool little city (the old part). It's very well preserved from medieval times, most of the buildings turned into shops, restaurants, and tourist traps.

Today was also Indonesian Independence Day (Who knew?) and the Indonesian members of the crew had a ceremony ashore this morning.

And then the skies opened up with torrential rain and thunderstorms. Mind you, this is a walking tour we're going on so things didn't look good for a fun day.

It began to let up as we were on the bus to the Old City. The 'new' part of Talinn still has the mark of its Soviet history, the classic housing blocks still standing.

Seems everybody owned Estonia throughout its history. Hitler even gave it away to the Russians in 1940. Thankfully, they gained their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

As I said above, the Old City is very cool, with a million little alleys and passageways through and around the city wall.

And the houses are meticulously restored.

We had a great day and the weather turned out to be perfect. The Mrs. also got some shopping done so she's a happy camper too. Gotta get ready for dinner.

St. Petersburg tomorrow!

Kanals

2010-08-15T11:27:00.004-04:00

We left the Port of Amsterdam yesterday evening, trailed by a flotilla of pleasure craft. When one of the home line ships makes port it's a big deal.

Although a bunch of kids did some stupid stuff (cutting back and forth across our bow), the harbor patrol got things in hand quickly. Heh ...

It took us a couple hours to navigate the North Sea Canal, getting us to the North Sea Locks and then into the open ocean.

This morning, we entered the Kiel Canal through the locks at Bruensboettel, Germany.

We were greeted in high style in Bruensboettel by the local fire department brass band, who also came aboard for the day and are treating us to good German marching music all afternoon as we negotiate the canal.

Prinsendam is one of the few passenger liners small enough to use the canal, though we had to keep our radar mast down for the duration to clear the bridges.

The Kiel Canal is an important waterway for north Germany (Schleswig-Holstein) and very busy, connecting the North Sea with the Baltic.

We'll be stopping at the Holtenau Locks about dinner time, leaving the canal and the German band behind as we head to Talinn, Estonia, our first stop. More then, time to shower and shave for dinner!

Amsterdam - Day 3

2010-08-14T03:36:00.012-04:00

De Groote Swaen:

Or "The Big Swan", it's the brown bar in the hotel we stay at when we're here. Our room (the three windows directly above) is just above the bar. The last pic is the view from our window of the outdoor restaurant, also part of the hotel.

Fun:

Our hotel is on the western edge of the Red Light District, across the street from Amsterdam Central Train Station. Fifty feet from the hotel is a right turn and you're on a street full of head shops, coffeeshops, sex shops, and restaurants (hey, a million stoned people are gonna have big munchies.

If you'd like a personal recommendadtion, I stick with Baba's and The Grasshopper.

Dam:

Yesterday we had to do some shopping and walked up the Damrak (the main drag here) to Dam Square. Amsterdam is a great town to walk, especially getting lost in the little neighborhoods around the canals.

Gotta go, catching the ship in an hour and still have to check out. Can't wait to get back here.

Amsterdam - Day 2

2010-08-13T08:36:00.007-04:00

On Thursday, we went to the Rijksmuseum. Now, I'm not an art guy. I should say, paintings aren't my thing. I go into an art museum and say "nice pictures". I'm more of an architecture and mechanical design kinda guy. That said, being able to see Rembrandt's Night Watch for the first time was amazing. Unfortunately, taking pictures inside the museum is greatly verboten.

Do you notice that long line? This is why I tell you to buy tickets online, in advance. We got to walk right by that and directly to the front instead of having to buy them first. Same thing at Heineken.

Our next stop, after spending a few hours in the museum, came after a half-mile walk up the street.

The Heineken Experience was a fun little hour and a half inside the brewery.

We learned about their history and how they made the stuff. Not that I needed to know. Been on so many brewery tours all over the world, I could probably make the stuff myself.

They even got their own Clydesdales.

But the best was the free samples. Heh ...

It was a fun little day and we got back to the hotel just before the evening downpour, which seems to be a regular thing on this visit. We're catching Prinsendam tomorrow afternoon and I'll try to have another post up from here before we head out. If not, I'll see you from the ship.

Amsterdam - Day 1

2010-08-13T00:25:00.007-04:00

As I mentioned earlier, we took a canal cruise on Wednesday afternoon. For those who don't know, Holland has a rich seafaring history. My home of New York was once called the Niew Amsterdam colony.

We started out in Amsterdam harbor. Alongside the pier is one of the world's biggest parking garages, for bicycles.

On a beautiful day, a lot of folks are out on their boats. Out in the harbor this sailboat came flying up alongside under power.

We then floated past the maritime museum, a modern building with a replica of the first Amsterdam tied up there.

Leaving the harbor, we entered the "canal rings" that encircle the city, that, from above, reminds me of the design of the Pentagon in Washington. There are something like 1500 bridges crossing the canals and they're all picturesque.

We were jetlagged as hell so after the tour we had dinner and hit the sack. I'll have more after I download Thursday's pics from my camera.

Made it!

2010-08-12T04:49:00.001-04:00

We made it to Amsterdam! A hint to anyone flying over here; avoid Brussels Airport like the plague. We had more SNAFUs in the two hours we were on the ground there than we've ever experienced. Nobody knows what's going on.

Anyway, we got in yesterday and walked around and took a canal boat tour, then had a great dinner in the brown bar right under our room in the hotel. Pics later; heading out for the museums.

We love this city!

The Shindig!

2010-08-09T05:02:00.011-04:00

So, with all that's gone on over the past week, we're finally getting down to getting ready. We're leaving on Tuesday (tomorrow) afternoon.

Now, I've been planning this trip for close to 5 years. It's our 20th Anniversary celebration and I wanted it to rival our wedding. The Mrs. was Cinderella that night and, after putting up with me for the subsequent 20 years (without shooting or stabbing me in my sleep, or trying to run me over with the car, or just running for the hills screaming), I figured she deserved something really nice.

We finalized the major bookings after we got back from Europe last year and refined all the minor details over the past 9 months. The big trick was timing the arrivals and departures of two different ships from two different cruise lines and then getting from one to another in the time allotted.

So here's the itinerary:

We leave Tuesday afternoon from John F. Kennedy International for Brussels (a two hour layover), catching a connecting flight to Amsterdam where we'll arrive at 11:00 in the morning local time.

We'll spend 3 days in Amsterdam at the Hotel Prins Hendrik, our usual haunt in the Red Light District. We'll be doing a bunch of tourist-y stuff, seeing some museums we missed the last time we were there, along with a tour of the Heineken Experience (I never ever miss a chance to take a brewery or distillery tour). I also have a canal cruise scheduled for Wednesday evening (a hint: buy tickets for things like this - museum entrance, tours, etc - online before you leave so you don't have to stand on a ticket line when you get there).

On Saturday, we'll jam all our stuff into a cab and meet up with Holland America Line's MS Prinsendam at the pier a half-mile from our hotel. One of our two favorite ships (being this was supposed to be special, the difficulty came up because I wanted to be on these particular ships for the celebration) she's small enough to get into the narrow waterways of Scandinavia.

We'll be aboard for 14 days, leaving Amsterdam for the Kiel Canal, our first stop at Talinn, Estonia. We'll spend the next two days in St. Petersburg, Russia before going on to Helsinki, Finland, and Stockholm, Sweden. There will be a day on the Baltic heading to Berlin (Warnemunde), Germany. We'll then turn north to Copenhagen, Denmark and Oslo, Norway, before cruising the North Sea on course for London, UK.

Once Prinsendam makes port in Tilbury, we'll have a car waiting to bring us to Southampton, where we'll meet up with our old friend RMS Queen Mary 2 for a 6-day crossing to Red Hook, Brooklyn.

While we're aboard, we will retake our wedding vows, presided over by Commodore Werner, Master of Queen Mary 2.

We'll also be catching up with our friends who are part of Mary's crew so it should be a hell of a party.

How in Hell we're supposed to give a shit about work after all that is beyond me.

Of course, this wouldn't be at all possible without the help of our fantastic travel agent, Ann Hayward at Cruise Planners, who used all her skill and know-how to make our grand ideas a reality. The logistics of this trip were daunting.

And an additional note: Thom, the Cruise Director aboard Prinsendam is a "tie guy" like me. When we're aboard, Thom and I go back and forth over who's wearing the wildest tie (while still tasteful) and even enlist the other passengers to vote. The last time we were aboard, I couldn't walk through the dining room without people stopping me to see what tie I was wearing that night. Heh ... Needless to say, I'm going through my collection now, putting together an arsenal for the competition.

Update:

Packing ...

This is just some of my stuff (not the frou-frou shoes though, heh ...).

Good Night, Sweet Princess ...

2010-08-05T05:20:00.002-04:00

At 7:45 pm EDT last night, our beautiful girl passed on painlessly, quietly, in our arms.

Princess Shayna
October 1998 - August 2010

We are heartbroken.

10 days out ...

2010-08-01T10:57:00.002-04:00

From our 20th Anniversary trip and I haven't even thought about packing. It's been crazy around here and at work (for both of us). Haven't even given packing a thought ...

Random snap ...

2010-07-12T17:29:00.002-04:00

From the bridge over the Seine, Paris '05:

Click to make big

Heh ...

2010-06-16T05:16:00.003-04:00

I love this pic. It's so funny when we make port in Brooklyn to see all the little dogs coming off the ship with their Queen Mary 2 coats.

Pic stolen from Cunard's Facebook page.

Bermuda wrap-up ...

2010-05-03T07:41:00.009-04:00

The pub crawl on Thursday went well, though by rights it was tame. I found some enjoyable places starting with the Barracuda Cafe. We had lunch first and it was extraordinary. The Mrs. and I sampled all their appetizers in tapas-style (something learned in Spain and a fun way to eat). I didn't take any pics in there because it was packed with mostly local businesspeople (how I knew it was a great place) at lunch meetings and I didn't want to bother them, as opposed to tourists.

The next pub was the Pickled Onion, an interesting upstairs location that's been a pub for several centuries. Quotes from many famous drinkers adorn the old beams.

We made it down the street (after a couple of hole-in-the-wall places) to Flanagan's Sports Pub, a Rugby and European Football place and put back a few pints:

Coincidentally, I was dressed for the occasion. The jersey is from 1. Fussball Club Kaiserslautern.

The last stop was Port-O-Call, directly across form the pier (thankfully). As you can see, the Mrs. was quite happy. Note: Veendam's reflection in the windows.

Back aboard, the Mrs. and some of the ladies got into bathing suits and made it to the hot tub on the Lido Deck where the party continued.

A few more pics from around Bermuda:

Bermuda is a great place and would recommend a week here to anyone who wants nice beaches and friendly little cities where everybody speaks English. There are great restaurants here, 400 years of history, and less than 2 hours flight from anywhere on the American East Coast. Our only complaint was that time was too short. We're not used to only taking a week and it seems like it went in the blink of an eye.

The sea was angry ...

2010-04-29T08:10:00.006-04:00

Leaving New York, the weather was horrible and it went downhill from there for the first couple days.

Veendam was getting thrown around like a toy and attendance was low in the dining room. Winds were 40 - 60 mph with 20 ft swells.

St. George, Bermuda isn't a deep water port so the plan was for Veendam to moor out and tender passengers to shore. Needless to say, the Captain blew off that idea in the name of safety and went straight to Hamilton where we could tie up dockside.

Once ashore, we were greeted by some friendly characters.

And Hamilton is such a quaint little city with beautiful colors and lovely people (and shopping for the Mrs, of course).

And the view from our balcony at night is outstanding!

We're leaving for the pub crawl in a couple hours and I'll share the experience when we get back, or tomorrow, depending on the writer's condition. See yas soon!

Always ...

2010-04-05T06:23:00.001-04:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Next project ...

2010-04-04T10:03:00.004-04:00

So we're doing the master bath because the pedestal sink cracked. I built this quickly because of time constraints, using whatever paint I had left over around the house. Needless to say, the scribbled mural (I have no artistic talent) that I painted was supposed to be temporary but revisiting this room has been put on the back burner for 10 years.

The sink will go, to be replaced by a vanity with a vessel sink of some type (the Mrs. ain't decided on one yet) and the 'medicine cabinet' we got from a friend will give way for a custom built piece.

Doing the demo now (the walls are staying, just removing the tile backsplash, door trim, and tile counter under the window) and I'll probably start putting it back together later in the week.

Two* more to Bermuda ...

2010-03-27T06:05:00.003-04:00

As regulars here know, we'll be heading to Bermuda for a week next month. A couple weeks ago, while we had Dad-in-law over to the house, he decided he wanted to go with us. Now, 6 weeks out from a sailing, accommodations are hard to come by and this cruise is no exception.

Of course, our first call was to our travel agent, Ann Hayward at Cruise Planners. As we expected, nothing was open and we were placed on standby. Thanks to Ann and her diligence over two weeks, I'm sure the folks at Holland America are sick of her by now, we were informed last night that the room came through and the old man will be joining us.

So, in addition to seeing me crawling through the pubs in Hamilton, you'll get to witness the old man's hijinks at the buffet (Dad-in-law's first priority is his stomach). Fun stuff.

Seriously though, our great thanks go out to Ann for all her work on our, and Dad-in-law's, behalf to give Dad-in-law his first trip in a long time.

*I say two more because we're bringing the old man's aide too. He needs a little help getting around and James has become part of the family. It's easier for all concerned with him along.

British food?

2010-03-24T05:57:00.002-04:00

Don't think so.

While there are plenty of great opportunities to eat well and find great food in London, there's still a significant difference between eating in France versus England. Sure I know plenty of good cooks from over there but quality drops off very, very quickly compared to what you find throughout France. You can almost always find good food anywhere if you try hard enough. What makes France (or Italy) so great is that you find high quality not only in the big cities, but you often find even higher quality in the countryside. From my own experience, that's much harder to find when you travel outside of London though surely there are some fine examples.

...

Personal, anecdotal experience over the past 40 years leads me to agree. The quality, variety, and flavor of food is better and far more consistent on the continent than in the Kingdom.

Random snap ...

2010-03-14T06:40:00.001-04:00

The two queens; the Mrs and the Mary, off Tortola 2007.

Heh ...

2010-02-26T07:34:00.001-05:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Random snap ...

2010-01-23T05:52:00.003-05:00

"The Boys from Burgundy", aboard RMS Queen Mary 2

My buddy Joe Harrington passed away two nights ago. No longer will we share a drink aboard ship or spend an evening with our wives in a restaurant ashore, but he will always be with us as we travel the world. Fair winds and following seas, my friend.

Story of my life ...

2010-01-03T11:02:00.000-05:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Blizzard of '09

2009-12-20T13:13:00.004-05:00

Click pics to make big.

Oasis of the Seas

2009-12-05T04:58:00.005-05:00

Our travel agent just came back from a 2-day aboard Royal Caribbean's new ship Oasis of the Seas and I stole these pics from her page. The ship is a technical marvel, though too big for my taste. Have a look.

Click pics to make big.

Random snap ...

2009-12-03T06:07:00.001-05:00

Ice storm, Annweiler, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany 2007

The Office ... executive sweet

2009-11-29T07:22:00.003-05:00

So I finally got the Mrs.' office done; all the furniture assembled, all the artwork hung and the fax/scanner/copier (wireless) set up and the boss is at work with all her little stuff moved in. Just waiting for the TV to get here. I don't know if the old blue chairs are staying in there yet but if they are, I have to get slipcovers for them.

Click pics to make big.

As usual, we dealt with some great businesses whom I have to thank:

Home Depot - For all the paint (Behr Premium Plus), fixtures, and the ceiling fan

Office Max - For the file cabinets, desk, desk chair, shelf unit, phone, and fax machine.

AC Electrical Supplies - For the Tiffany lamps.

Home Goods - For the printer stand.

Kohl's - For the rug and the clock.

Sharp Electronics - For the TV (32" Aquos HD flatscreen)

Michaels - For some of the art.

Update:

The TV finally came. Now I gotta go to the cable company on Saturday and get a box.

Random snap ...

2009-11-26T11:15:00.002-05:00

Looking up the River Seine from Pont Neuf (I think), Paris 1999.

The Office ... assembly required

2009-11-26T08:09:00.007-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a buncha furniture to assemble. The shelf unit, desk, chair, and two file cabinets (not visible). Being a mechanic for three quarters of my life, putting stuff together comes easily to me (I'm on call to put all the gifts together for everybody on the holidays - should start charging for the service). When people ask about assembly, I tell them right off, don't throw away the directions as soon as you open the box (this is mostly the men because they like to think it's manly to be born with an innate knowledge of how to put shit together). I got a few tips, being the holidays are coming up and I'd like to get a little rest.

Open the box and find the directions first before you unpack any of the parts. Read them thoroughly, twice if you have to.

Next, find the bag(s) or card with the hardware (screws, bolts, brackets) and compare them to the parts list in the directions (in both size and quantity - most manufacturers give "actual size" pictures of what things look like). If anything's not there, or you're not sure about something, now is the time to go to the website or call the toll-free number for help given in the directions (men, again, do not be ashamed to do this), not when whatever you're working on is half assembled.

Locate all the major parts, unwrap them and lay them out in order of use (again, consult the directions).

Use the now-empty box as a garbage can. As soon as you unpack something, toss the wrapping materials directly in there. Why? Because it's frustrating when little shit gets caught up or hidden by the wrappers and you can't find it when you need it. Makes it easier to throw the crap away too.

Follow the directions step by step, using the method, technique, and parts they specify. Nobody knows how to put it together better than the folks who made it.

And lastly, once the assembly is complete, go through everything again to make sure there's nothing you missed. Also, take the directions and file them somewhere. You might have to disassemble it someday and put it back together again. I have a folder in my file cabinet with every set of directions for everything we have.

See, simple. This way you won't have to call me in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve while you're trying to put Little Johnny's new bike together (and I'm trying to visualize, through your description, what you're trying to do, and give coherent advice when I'm half-loaded) to surprise him in the morning.

I also began hanging some of the artwork (and other stuff) for the Mrs. These are very near and dear to us as we grew up with the Warner Bros. cartoons. The top two are lithographs of the obituaries Warner Brothers placed in the Los Angeles Times for Mel Blanc (their voices) and Isadore "Friz" Freleng (the artist). The lower is of the gang in tuxedos. The Mrs. is also moving her tchochkes in (out of my office being the key). More pics when it's done.

Click pics to make big

The Office ... busy man

2009-11-22T11:49:00.004-05:00

In the last 48 hours I:

Got the doors painted:

Installed the ceiling fan and duct cover:

Wired up the phones (3 lines) and ethernet:

Hung the wallpaper mural the Mrs. wanted:

And put down the new rug:

Now I gotta assemble all the furniture. I'm one busy man ...

Click pics to make big.

Random snap ...

2009-11-18T05:55:00.000-05:00

The Coliseum, Rome '09.

Friday the 13th ...

2009-11-15T05:02:00.001-05:00

Sitting in bed, watching Olbermann with the Mrs. and we hear a huge crash in front of the house. I thought some genius pulled into my driveway and hit the dumpster there. Fat chance. Some drunken idiot drove square into the light pole in front of my house, then takes off running. This is the scene as of 20 minutes ago.

Twit hit the pole at full speed and spun backwards into my driveway.

I guess Friday the 13th is my lucky day. Idiot missed my car by 10 feet and the electric wires are hanging a foot over the roof.

I gave my statement to the cops (I din't see nuthin', officer; just heard a big fucking bang.). Told the Long Island Power Authority guys that if the wind blows up the block, my power goes out but some genius can take out the pole in front of the house and the shit stays on. Then I told them all that I have to be up at 4 in the morning and I'm going to bed, and if they have to bother me, wait until morning. Wake me up in the middle of the night and I start shooting.

A little excitement for a Friday. Hope that busted up Toyota is outta here by the time I wake up.

Update (Saturday morning):

The LIPA guys were here first thing with a new pole. Poor bastids, working in the wind and rain to get everything squared away. I'm sure the overtime is good though.

Update Zwei (Saturday afternoon):

Well, there was one casualty. The bush on the corner was totaled (too bad it wasn't George W.) and I'll have to cut it up and replace it, but that's a job for spring.

Click pics to make big.

Cross-posted at the Brain.

The Office ... mo' color

2009-11-15T04:55:00.004-05:00

I got the color on the lower half of the wall yesterday (though I still have to do another coat today).

We also went to OfficeMax, who was having a sale on office furniture, and picked up a phone, desk, chair, and bookshelves for the room. I also managed to weasel a new chair for my office downstairs too. Of course I gotta assemble everything.

Remodel ... final pictures

2009-11-15T04:40:00.008-05:00

Well, this project is finally done and family and friends (who aren't on Faceboook) have been bugging me to get pics up. Here ya go.

And just a note, if you've forgotten what the place looked like originally, the "before" pics are here.

Click pics to make bigger.

The Office ... color

2009-11-12T05:41:00.006-05:00

Once I got the place primed all in gray, I told the Mrs. I was finished.

Me (using a cheesy, half-assed Russian accent): "You have been given newest version of Soviet office space. You will work in drab gray room until you die and then we get new worker."

The Mrs. (who is of Russian descent): "Yeah right, when are you gonna start painting?"

So we move on to adding color. 5 of them to be exact.

The ceiling is a 'French Vanilla' and Behr calls the trim color "Glazed Pecan"

The top half of the walls is a peachy something or another and the lower half will be burgundy. The trim around the window and the frame of the mural will be a dark teal. Pics as work progresses.

The Office ... optimus prime

2009-11-09T05:10:00.005-05:00

Been working like an idiot this weekend, getting the trim and wiring done and putting several coats of primer on everything. I thought it was cool putting a coat of gloss white paint on the room the last time I painted it (8 years ago). Trying to cover it now was a chore.

The big white square is where the Mrs. wants a mural. The wall is decidedly rough with years of plaster and paint spooged over the divots (I did a number on the walls when I was a little kid) so I plastered and sanded the area smooth so the wallpaper would look decent.

The Office ... tabula rasa

2009-10-27T06:01:00.004-04:00

Literally a blank slate. This is the smallest guest room in the house (8' x 9') and was my first bedroom when I was a little ankle-biter. I never did much with it when we moved in, only putting a coat of paint on it (up until then, it was painted 'Little Boy Blue') when my cousin Birgit and her family came from Germany to stay with us for a few weeks in '01. Been using it for storage since we started the big remodel in '07.

I'm gonna add some trim (cornice moulding and a chair rail along with new baseboards) and the Mrs. wants a mural on one wall. Happily, the room is already plumbed for phone and cable but I still have to run an ethernet line down there. Being a smart guy (mostly ...) I have the cable already run (snaked a bundle of 'em up when I did the line to the bar), coiled up in the attic above, just waiting for the Mrs. to decide where she wants her desk. She's also gotta make up her mind as to which ceiling fan she wants. I'll be getting to it in earnest this coming weekend.

Random snap ...

2009-10-25T08:25:00.002-04:00

Approaching RMS Queen Mary 2 on a tender in a rainstorm, St. Lucia '08.

Next project ...

2009-10-25T08:19:00.003-04:00

Now that I'm almost done with the big remodel (I'm still waiting on furniture to arrive and for me to finish the baseboards before I post final pics), I'm beginning the Mrs.' office upstairs. This is an effort to get all her crap out of my office downstairs so I can finish my latest book in a modicum of time (been 4 years so far) and get my desk back in general. Posting will begin soon.

I can't see it ...

2009-10-25T07:50:00.004-04:00

But if it's your thing, have at it. Far be it for me to pee on anybody's sunshine, but sharing a ship with 5,400 other passengers ain't for me:

This year, new ships are bringing some of the hottest cruises ever to the Caribbean - with bargain prices to boot.

The big news is the debut of the huge Oasis of the Seas, the world's largest and most-anticipated cruise ship. Run by Royal Caribbean, it's the first cruiser that's larger than an aircraft carrier.

With the extra space, the 220,000-ton Oasis serves up a city at sea. Think New York City: The $1.4 billion ship comes complete with an open-air central park with trees, a Coney Island-esque boardwalk with a carousel and amusement park games, an AquaTheater with a deepwater pool featuring aqua acrobats and divers, and a huge indoor promenade with shops and cafes. The 5,400 passengers onboard will even enjoy a touch of Broadway with performances of the musical "Hairspray."

...

Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 (150,000 dwt)is about the biggest I'll go and she carries about half the passengers Oasis does. It's one of the reasons we love Holland America Line's Prinsendam (38,000 dwt) so much. She's like a big yacht and carries less than a thousand vacationers aboard. To me, the less passengers I have to deal with, the better.