Checking in from Orlando! I came here with friends for New Years and to enjoy the theme park experience. I'll be home tomorrow and upload some Kennedy Space Center photos then!
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The Pursuit of Happyness
This ended up being the Christmas Eve movie and all things considered, it wasn't uplifting but the story makes you think. While all the celebrity news shows are raving about Jaden Smith (Will's son) and how great he is, the reality is that he gets the job done at the kid level. His acting is okay and I'm sure that it helped that he worked with his father. The movie itself is based on a true story of a rags to riches millionaire. It covers a few month span of what it took for one man and his son to survive while competing for an internshp at Dean Witter and ultimately a dream job. We go from homeless shelter to cheap motel, to subways for sleep, and a relentless drive to do better in life. The movie can be uplifting or depressing, depending on your point of view. I found it to be a little of both.
From the beach to the hilltops of Oregon - I had the quick and fun turnaround trip to spend Christmas with a friend. In terms of Christmas events, it was a pretty perfect trip. No flight delays, a movie with no one talking in the audience and not a single cell phone went off, Oregon wine, pancakes with Oregon berries, and fun with friends!
The Friday before Christmas. I almost feel complete. This has nothing to do with Christmas but instead the amount of getting caught up that I needed to do this week. As expected, the vacation week was the fastest of the entire year. While I'm still missing two of my major goals for the week, I did manage to buy both a TV and an office bookcase this week. I had inspiration (don't know where it came from) to make a Friday night stop at Pier 1. It turns out that a sale was on, the store was fairly empty and I found parking. The end result is I finally made a dent in the mess in my office. I'd take a picture but the mess has transported itself to the bookcase and I don't want to admit to everyone how bad it is! What goals were left out? One, homework. I can work 50+ hours, travel, write 3 papers and post daily each week and somehow it always gets done. Give me a week off from both work and school, and nothing. I had the best intentions to get a week ahead but no. The other
The end of the year is approaching and I find myself with the need to burn vacation days. It's a use it or lose it type policy at work and rather than give up my time, I'm staying put and doing vacation at home. So far, I've managed to print out photos that have been sitting for a few months, made 3 trips to Wal-Mart in an attempt to find and rescue my photos that were lost (twice) and finally succeeded today. I even have food in the house and of course, the TV is here at last. While laundry, cleaning the floor and pulling weeds have all been taken care of, I'm still procrastinating on buying the bookcases that my office needs. I unpacked a few more boxes and that ended up creating a bigger mess than if I had left everything alone. The fact is, I'm okay with dis-organization. When it's too much for me to take, then the bookcases will appear. It would be nice if I hit that point this week though. I've done nothing and everything and I can already feel the wee
Continuing on the theme of friends and good times, I'd like to share a memory from the past. This picture is from 1978 and was taken at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The person on my left is Jean, my friend that I have known my entire life. On the right is her cousin Crystal, who I first met at the age of 7 or 8. Jean and I grew up across the street from each other. We're only 2 months apart in age (yes, I'm older) and someday we will be on Oprah for a life-long friends episode. As small children, we both idolized Crystal, who we considered to be beautiful, smart, glamourous and the personification of all that little girls want to be when they grow up. Crystal was a product of the 60's and all the flower-power idealism of that generation. Many teens of that generation went on to conform to consumerism lifestyles but Crystal stayed true to her love of nature and animals. I always wanted to be a marine biologist. It turns out that I hate to study and get seasick. I also
There are two kinds of happiness in the world. One is the enjoyment of hanging out with your friends at Turf Supper Club and enjoying a pint of Guinness with them. It is one of the best things in life. The second kind of happiness is the kind that can only come in a really big cardboard box. Inside that box is 50 inches of LCD joy. The screen, the sound, and the ability to watch Star Wars and LOTR in full optimized home viewing is about as geek heaven as it gets!
Wednesday in St. Louis was almost spring-like. The sun was out, the air nice and sort-of warm, and I spent it in an office with a view of a parking garage. Such is life here. Now I'm back to the business travel life of trying to find dinner. The last two nights saw the hotel restaurants packed full due to sporting events in town. Now that there's no event, both hotel restaurants are closed for private parties. The Starbucks is closed and the bakery under renovation. No place to eat but my room. I hope room service doesn't suck too badly tonight. I'm looking forward to traveling home tomorrow and saying C-Ya to St. Louis for the year! Update - room service called back. My food is ready but all the bars are closed and locked up and they can't bring me wine or beer. Water it is!
Last night's arrival into St. Louis was to the chaos of Monday Night Football. The cab driver told me that we were in for a rough drive because of the game. My mind is thinking, baseball's over, it's not Sunday, basketball? No, a huge rivalry event game with Chicago. Downtown was packed even in the rain. St. Louis airport has a really slow baggage claim. It's so slow that you can go eat, get a flu shot (I did last night, only $25 and no wait right next to baggage claim) and then wander about and the bags are still not off-loaded. At least I got the flu shot.
Sunday afternoons are wonderful events when the sun is shining, football is on TV, and all homework assignments are done! It occured to me that the last time that I had a Guinness was in Russia and the last time that I had dark beer at Karl Strauss was months ago! (The last Firkin had no stout.) So Ms. Kitty and I headed off for a day of eating, drinking, and TV. First stop - Karl Strauss downtown where there should have been a huge crowd of people in the bar to watch the Charger's game. We arrived and the place was pretty empty which was surprising but it made for great service. We enjoyed the food and beer, made fun of everyone (and ourselves) and then returned to Ocean Beach for Guinness at OB's. (The restaurant, not related to OB) After a couple of pints of great and tasty Guinness we walked to Ms. Kitty's house for coffee and TV to finish off the day. All in all, a great Sunday. Plus the Charger's won and have the AFC West title!
The quick trip to Arizona was to visit Audrey, who escapes a screen name because she refuse to accept the existance of cyberspace. Audrey is the person who inspired children to learn that dogs and horses get birthday parties, speeding is okay if you don't get caught, and fast cars are for everyone. This is a person who acts 20 years younger than she is and refuses to be old and feeble. Her color is race car red. The car in this photo is my rental car. I need to digress and explain more back history. While Audrey was bright red Buick Skylark, her husband Emil was Mustang Blue. Every kid in the neighborhood wanted one or both of their cars. When I requested my rental car, I went cheap. I wanted the Ford Focus at $30 per day. I arrived at Hertz and could not find my name on the board. Two different people helped me and then a puzzled man finally pointed at this car and said, there it is. I could not believe it! A 2007 Emil Blue waiting for me, full upgrade at no extra charge. Now Emil
While Machu Picchu is amazing, I liked the beauty of the Sacred Valley. This portion is where the Temple of the Sun is located and when you climb to the top, there are great views of the surrounding mountains and valley. Peru will never rate as my favorite destination but it was a completly unique place to go in terms of the Inca culture and heritage. For me, 7 days was way too long and I'm sure that I would have enjoyed it much more in 5 days without extra time. But take that for what it is because I believe that you can see the best of a city in 3 days or less.
After Machu Picchu, we took a private tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The tour had an unexpected detour to visit llamas and the opportunity to buy expensive llama clothes, blankets, etc. I learned that I am allergic to llamas. No clothes for me. The Sacred Valley is beautiful and the streets are a challenge to walk when it's rainy and muddy. We managed though and had a good day.
To help adjust to the altitude, everyone drinks Coka-Tea to get the blood flowing. The tag line for the tea is "No Es Droga" or it's not a drug. This stuff would sell well here, it's like the Red Bull of teas! Drink too much and you'll never sleep. No, I didn't risk bringing any back. Our arrival at Machu Picchu was quite impressive and we had every opportunity you could ever want for scenic photos without hundreds of tourists. During peak season, 3000 people per day arrive at Machu Picchu. I can't even imagine how they all get around each other on some of the trails.
More Lima - even in Peru, feeding the birds is a favorite activity for children. I'm not sure how this boy is going to handle the sudden frenzy of pigeons but he looks prepared. We arrived on Election Day. Everyone was out and about and the sqaures were crowded all over town. We must have been in the unpopular area to have a square to ourselves! This park overlooking the ocean is a tribute to Gaudi. There was a lot of Barcelona influence in the building of Lima. OB & L laughing at something that Homer just said or did. We're all trying to ignore the mime that is somewhere behind us. Yes, even in Peru, you can't escape mimes!
This morning is our last in Cusco. Now that I´m used to the place, it seems fairly easy to get around and I know enough not to run at 12,000 ft. anymore. Cusco is a long way from anywhere and I feel more remote here than most places that I´ve been to. It´s probably the trains, planes, and automobiles syndrome. This is the first place where I have buying power and I´ve bought nothing except magnets. But, sometimes, everything starts to look the same and there´s nothing that I want to buy. Mondo - even in Peru, you can hear Al. We were eating at a seaside cafe in Lima and next thing you know, Al´s music is coming over the speaker system. Some things are universal. Our flights have been an adventure. Some get canceled and rolled over into the next flight. The flight today is on-time but the flight before was canceled so our flight will be packed full. Eventually I´ll find a list that spells out the names of where we went yesterday because I really have no idea anymore. I guess it´s time
Yesterday we made it to Machu Picchu. It took 4 hours to get there and it was worth the train ride. The ruins and mountains are in a green valley, surrounded by only wilderness and the chain of tourists. Luckily for us, we made the right decision to hire a private guide to lead us around the place and give the history and significance of the ruins. Without her, we would have taken a few photos, walked around, and been there, done that. We ended up walking up and down and out to the Inca Bridge and along the Inca trail. The mountain face didn´t beckon and that was left to people who want to hang on a rockface cliff for fun. Then it was time for the 4 hours back to Cusco. A long way to go to see the home of the Inca Kings. Thanksgiving seemed better suited to a slower paced private tour of the Sacred Valley and we went everywhere. I couldn´t even begin to remember how to pronouce or spell the towns and Inca ruins but we were there. Photos when I return. Tonight we´ll have Thanksgiving d
Today we moved from Lima to Cusco. It was a non-event until right before the flight, Brad looks at the reservation and mentions that it´s for Oct. 1. Silence. He waves the paper and once again tells us, I think our reservations were for Oct. 1. We look and mumble at him and pretend this tidbit of infomration just didn´t happen. After all, what could be done about it? We arrive 60 minutes later to Cusco and sure enough, our reservations were for 6 weeks ago. No rooms at that hotel. The hotel rep calls and repeats Oct. 1 over and over, then repeats our name. No, there is no mercy for computer resets of dates. Luckily, the hotel rep from another hotel that wasn´t sold out was listening to our plight. We ended up in a budget hotel (really budget) but at least we had rooms. Throw in a free taxi ride and our own personal travel agent and it seems like it will work out okay. Time will tell. My windows don´t close and there are no amenities. Ás long as it´s bug free, reasonably warm, and has h
We're in Lima and enjoying the city. Our timing was bad since we arrived on election day and everything was mostly closed. We were able to catch a city tour and get a guided tour of everything that was closed but at least we were able to orient ourselves around. Since seafood is the specialty of Lima, we're doing our best to try it all. I think it's too heavy on the cream sauce but the food is good. Today we all ended up with a south of the equator sunburn that happens when the clouds are high and it's not hot. I thought it was going to be cold and raining but that's not the case. Everyone is paranoid about taxis and kidnappings here. We've been using the hotel taxis to get around. I don't know if the hotels are perpetuating this myth or what but if there are that many kidnappings, I don't see how the taxi drivers can stay in business and there are hundreds of them. Tomorrow we leave for Cusco. Now that the elections are over, maybe there won't be so
We're off to Peru! So far, air traffic control shows no weather delays in the system. We'll get our exercise sprinting from the D concourse to the C concourse in Dallas. The connection is so tight we'll probably hear our names getting called over the speaker. I lucked out in St. Louis yesterday. A few hours after I left, a fire broke out in the AA terminal and stopped all the power and computer systems at the airport. Flights were canceled and people stranded. I'm glad I missed that mess!
No Snow! What a welcome sight to wake up to! The storm is gone and I should be home without worries on Friday. It looks like school will wrap up for me on Saturday and I can be laptop-less in Peru. I'm not sure if I can handle the separation anxiety but it must be done. I realized that it's been 17 months since I've been away from my laptop. It goes everywhere but Peru. Maybe it will even stay home when I go to Orlando in December!
Ah, St. Louis! Cold, rainy, windy enough to blow a person over, and boring. Yes, I'm back again and stressing over the fact that tonight's rain is turning to snow. Normally, I travel with my passport but for some reason I thought, I won't need it. It can wait until I get home. Now I think, "Crap! what if the airport closes? I have to go back to SD!" If worst came to worst, and I had my passport, I could always meet up directly with everyone in Miami on Saturday for Peru. Now, that option is out and I have to hope that the weather forecasters are wrong. It's dark when I get up and it's dark when I leave the office. For those of you in say, Utah, who might be wondering when I'm going back to Beirut, oddly, Beirut is wondering the same thing. Well it looks like February as promised! Two more days of St. Louis misery and then it's off to Peru!
I often mention that there is nothing to do in the Middle East. This is mostly true but if you live there, the favorite way to pass the time is to smoke flavored tobacco from water pipes. Known here as Hubbly Bubbly, over there as Shisha. (A side trivia note is that in Lebanese Arabic, Hubbly translates into Stupid. Hubbly Bubbly = Stupid Bubbles. Oddly appropriate.) Because so many of the countries ban alcohol or even mixed couple activities, smoking Shisha is about the only widely accepted social norm for after work. After a year of everyone asking me if I had tried it, and I kept telling them I don't smoke, I finally decided to take a puff so I could answer, "yes, and I didn't like it." Earlier this year I got it over with and the moment was recorded so I could back up my claim. Apple flavored tobacco still tastes like tobacco. I'm not sure of the allure but my duty was done and I can go back to the ranks of the happy non-shisha smoking masses. It's too bad
Another week of work, work, school, and work. These have to be the most boring parts of anyone's life. This week I hosted people from Canada and American Samoa. A typical week of hosting involves taking them to Mexico and reviewing operations there, followed by a long traditional Mexican dinner, followed by a two hour drive to Anaheim. The next day is full of US operations review, meetings, lots of driving, and a long California dinner. This repeats again on day three and all activities are part of discovery or preliminary business negotiations. The end result is that I am totally burnt out on Friday and spend the weekend writing papers as usual. Monday morning I leave for St. Louis for the rest of the week. Today is unpack and repack all in one. I might as well prepack another suitcase for Peru, then I can come home Friday, drop one bag on the floor and have the Saturday bag ready to go.
This week is one of those ones where I'm in California but staying in hotels because of work. I go from being on the road to still on the road. It's a never ending cycle. I'm sure there's a lot going on in the world but I'll be out of the loop until it's Saturday! Well, go Arnold! Go change in the government! Let's hope it all works out.
For the first time ever, I've made the top level on an airline! This isn't as easy to do as you might think. Even though I travel all the time, I end up on different airlines due to scheduling or price considerations. Now the challenge in 2007 will be to maintain the status. United Membership level 1K Year to date Elite Qualifying Miles 101,295
Something is always happening somewhere. I returned to London on Saturday to find out there were 20,000 people staging a protest in Trafalgar Square. What’s up with that? I can get that in the Middle East anytime but who needs all these people clogging up the tubes? All of the bus routes and tourist destinations were impacted by the protest. The cruise on the Thames will have to wait for another time. The British Pound exchange rate is really easy to figure out now. Just double the price and there’s the USD. Hotel Hoppa $8, Internet $30, a basic nothing meal $20. It’s hard to be a tourist here. I can’t overlook the main reason why I choose London for this trip - it allowed me to finally reach the top level of status on United Airlines! Now I have to hope UA manages to stay in business for another year so I can enjoy the benefits.
London has taken a turn for the colder since I left it a few days ago. It's 4:00 pm and sunset is only a few minutes away. I'm on an overnight stop before I travel back home on Sunday. I left Beirut early this morning and as I watched the city disappear from sight, I wondered as always, when will I be back? I can't speak for what it's like in the Southern Suburbs as I didn't go there. My friends tell me it's bad and those people are really struggling. There were random spots in Central Beirut that were reduced to rubble, especially the roads. Potholes on our roads have nothing on the damage that a bomb can do to a road. At Starbucks last night we all watched multiple amublances go by and wondered what happened. People are constantly looking around and aware of their surroundings. The laid back have a latte on the patio casual attitude is gone. The same thing happens but with an edge of awareness of everything and everyone around them.
I checked with student friendly Wikipedia on this one and found another meaning for Snook. "A small, private room of an old Irish pub, originally a place for women to drink and socialize during the time when this behavior would have been inappropriate." Ms. Kitty must have been channeling from a previous life in Ireland. Actually, quite a few people knew I was going to Lebanon. They just happen to be work related people. I thought I'd save it for blog surprise fun. No bombs yesterday.
Beirut is chaotic and unpredictable in the best of times with an energy and tempo that is energizing and refreshing. Post-war this has turned to an intense and almost frantic pace of life that is draining. To get to/from Beirut and the north, the route around the bombed out bridges can add 30 – 45 minutes easily to the drive. Picture a Sig-Alert in LA that takes drivers off the 101 and reroutes them through Malibu canyon and the coast road. That’s the daily commute for many. Roadblocks pop up unexpectedly and the military is everywhere. The more military, the more reason to go around a certain street. Driving down the main road, electricity goes out for no apparent reason and darkness prevails until the next power grid. Road rage is close to erupting here. All the frustration and anger at the uncertainty of life is vented out behind the wheel. There is no such thing as an easy drive anymore. The ocean is rough today with the swells from the recent storms. It’s as if even the tides are
Part 2 of my trip brings me to Beirut to visit friends and go out. As what has become my usual greeting in Lebanon, a bomb went off at a military outpost downtown and one person was killed. Without fail, everytime I come here there is something going on. Since I arrived after dark I couldn't get a sense of the damage from the war but what is noticible now are the military stops on the main roads in town. Once the bomb went off, the roadblocks increased from one police car to three. I would have to describe the mood as manic depressive here. People are fighting back by going out and defying the destruction of the war. At the same time, the bomb puts them right back on edge. It's 11:00 pm now and soon the streets will be empty. No one wants to risk being out late when there is a fresh reminder that internal trouble still exists. I'm safe, in the odd way that one is safe in a city anywhere. My hotel is away from Central Beirut and secure. Still, I didn't want to keep my fr
Halloween Hooligans set off the fire alarm in the middle of the night. That was a rude 2:30 am wake-up just when I'd finally fallen asleep! We all went downstairs out into the cold. Some people were packed and ready to go, others still in nightshirts. I dressed and had passport and wallet in hand, just in case. But, false alarm. The funniest thing was that there was a black tie event going on and those people grabbed their champagne bottles and glasses and were still partying in the parking lot. Below: London is starting to decorate for Christmas but the lights aren't on yet. I bet it will look pretty once all the lights are on and the decorations are up. Another side street and some semi-famous historical church that somehow inspired Paul McCartney to write "I wanna hold your hand." (It was cold and I wasn't fully listening to the tour.) Mondo - I did have the crayfish sandwich last night and it was great! Bummer about the NYC Pret!
Eventually I’ll learn not to go to Europe in the winter. The hotels have no concept of what a heater is. Heaters here blow air that’s only slightly warmer than the external temp. I’m wearing three layers of sweaters in my hotel room and I’m still cold. Yes, it’s back to London which after Russia, seems the easiest city to navigate in the world. The tubes, busses, and Hotel Hoppa are all accessible and people can give directions. Hungry? Food is easy to obtain and you get what you want. I decided to do something new and took the double-decker tour bus around the city to escape from the major must see sights. It would have been far more fun in the summer! Lunch was the yummy Pret-a-Manger for a sandwich and dinner is wine, cheese and crackers in my room. And it’s Halloween so I’m continuing a completely unintended tradition of spending Halloween in a hotel room somewhere.
LAX is oddly quiet today. The gates are empty and so are the restaurants. It's nice to be able to find a chair and blog withoug trying to bypass hoards of fellow travelers. For a vacation, today started off with last minute school work followed by 3 hours of work - work. At least I'll be on an airplane soon and hopefully the movies will be good.
Another weekend of homework. I am looking forward to a school break in three weeks. I can't believe that it took a trip to Peru to force me to relax a bit from school. This was a homework intense weekend but still far easier than alegbra or statistics and I'm taking two classes at the same time. I had to set myself up for the coming week though because I'm off and traveling again, this time for fun!
Another Friday night and another paper done. Two more to go before the weekend ends. I really dislike the learning team requirement for school. No matter how much I strategize to get on a great team there is always one person who refuses to do the work but gain the benefit of someone elses work. My aunt asked me earlier this year something to the effect of "what's it like to be a multi-tasked, able to handle a double workload type of person?" My answer was "annoying." I stand by that answer. I am annoyed all the time by people who think a 4 slide PowerPoint is too tough of a homework schedule, and even though they have 14 days to do the slides, there is no time until 11:50 pm when the project is due at midnignt. Hey! Us multi-taskers go to bed early! Just do the work! At least this time the team loser told the rest of us flat out that he wasn't going to meet our work pace. That's better than the people that never even check in. To top it off, he said tha
Blogger Beta notes - that last photo post took 7 or 8 attempts to get the photos and words to align. Once you switch to Beta there's no going back. Google is still working out some of the upgrade features. There really aren't all that many new templates to choose from. I still have to play with the fonts since they don't really contrast well with the background.
For those of you who watched The Amazing Race last night, Kuwait was the featured country. I'm sure that there was nothing in that episode that will ever convince someone to go to Kuwait because as you saw, there's nothing to do there. The water towers are the symbol of Kuwait but did you see any tourists there? No, it's 105F and they're in the middle of a bunch of sand. It would never occur to me to go up to the top. Yes, the water was beautiful but you can't smell it from the television set. Notice that no one was swimming in the ocean. I am glad that TAR went there though. It showed Kuwait in a fair enough light but due to religious considerations there focus was almost exclusively on the contestants and not the people who live there.
What a great weekend! Minimal homework, beautiful sunny weather (except the pesky pollen) and kick back time at last! I even made it to the beach, the grocery store, and the mall. (All those stores, nothing to buy) The only thing that would have made the weekend a complete California sterotype would have been to wash my car but even I have limits.
The Tax Collector always wins. There's no use fighting and even if you think you came out the winner, wait a couple of months. For the past year, the San Diego County Tax Collector decided to go after me for unpaid taxes on our father's property. We had filed, notified, resolved, and thought that the issue was resolved. Then I would get a new notice from the tax office about unpaid taxes. This went on and on to final notice when finally, at the put a lien on my property taxes point, the Tax Collector finally said "Okay, resolved." I retrieved my mail this week and saw two dreaded envelopes. The first was the normal property tax statement. The second was different. This one stated that since there was a difference in the value at the time of the sale to me and the sale to the previous owners, I would have to pay an additional increase in the taxes, above and beyond the newly assessed taxes. Isn't that what the taxes are supposed to take into account in the first pl
The Illusionist
Yes, it's true! After having a 6 month gap in my movie viewing habit, I finally have made it back to the theater! It took a Yuma trip to do but this season's review is on The Illusionist. This was the mystery movie since I hadn't even heard of it before and luckily it was an enjoyable if slow paced movie. The story centers around Edward Norton's magician/illusionist character and his love of the Princess Sophie. You could say it has elements of The Princess Bride without the humor or wit. This is a love story/mystery/slightly social commentary sort of a movie. Luckily the story mostly works and Edward Norton is believable as the illusionist and Jessica Biel does what she needs to do as the princess. Paul Giamatti plays the Chief Inspector who as an amateur magician, admires the illusionist but as an aspiring to power, right hand of the bad Crown Prince, the inspector is forced to disrupt life for the people he admires. Does true love win? Are the right choices made? I
