Le Rêve Français

Special

2012-01-30T16:12:00.003-05:00

Well, do I feel special today or what? The manager (Mike) of my local market called this morning to inform me the special order of Magnum White Ice Cream Bars had come in. Robb and I rushed right over to buy a couple (they come in packages of three bars). We looked in the ice cream case but could only find the regular Magnum bars. I saw a market employee and asked if he knew where they might be. He in turn asked Mike, who informed me that they were kept in the back. When he asked if I wanted the whole case (six 3-packs) I told him that I had just purchased six half-gallons of ice cream, so I would only take two at this time. I asked if they were going to put them in the case with the others and he replied they were not. They were just for me!

Saturday evening, we went again to Le Comptoir. We were eagerly anticipating les moules et frites (mussels and fries). I'm sorry to report we were quite disappointed. It's not entirely their fault because they have to use inferior ingredients. The mussels in the US are no where near the quality of those in Europe. On the other hand, the fries were also not what we were expecting, and that is definitely something they can control. I don't know, maybe they're trying to accomodate American tastes. In Europe, when you order fries, you get big slices of potato fried to perfection (crispy outside, soft and delicious on the inside), not the skinny McDo type. We were hoping and expecting the European style, but we got the American style. Very disappointing. We're undecided about whether or not to return. If we do, we will not have the moules.

When I tell other Americans about some of the advantages the French have over us, they don't believe me. For example, as soon as you are hired to work in France, you are entitled to FIVE weeks vacation. And France is the only country in the world, of which I know, where you can call a doctor and he will come to you at your home. What I don't understand is why the euro is higher than the dollar and why it's going up again in the face of the terrible European economy.

Neanderthals were using paint 250,000 years ago - 'thousands of years earlier than previously thought'

Amazing Pictures Of Recent Solar Storm If you click the little circles at the top of the picture, you can see eight more photos.

In Singapore, a walkway inspired by our DNA

Pentagon Confused by Its Own ‘Subs vs. Terrorists’ Plan

Russian cities introduce baby 'drop boxes' to stop unwanted children being left in bins

Dumb Law of the Week: In Dyersberg, Tennessee, it is illegal for a girl to ask a guy on a date!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Spicy Menu

2012-01-23T14:45:00.001-05:00

When I pulled into the parking lot the other day, my neighbor almost backed into me. He is over eighty years old. He can barely hear and he doesn't see much better. It may be time for him to give up driving. I don't say that lightly, because I am dreading the time when I will have to do that. But I know the time will come.

Friday evening, Robb and I went to Candela for dinner. It has been a while since we've been there and we were pleasantly surprised to see the decor updates Armando has done. It's starting to look like a really upscale restaurant. Luckily, the prices haven't changed very much, although there were many new additions to the menu. I had the Moroccan Chicken Stew and Robb had a Chorizo dish that Armando made up especially for him, because it wasn't on the menu. They were both rather spicy and excellent as always.

I love ice cream. So much so that I eat a huge dish of it almost every day. Several years ago, I decided I should try frozen yogurt, because it has less fat and, I thought, less sugar. It does have less sugar, but only about three grams less, so it's not really a reason to eat it. However, I found that, although the yogurt tasted okay, it just wasn't ice cream. So I stopped buying it. A couple weeks ago, I bought some by mistake because it's in a similar package to the ice cream, and they are right next to each other in the freezer. It was Espresso Chip. I was going to return it to the store, but decided to try it. It is really good and is the first frozen yogurt I've ever eaten that had an excellent taste. So now, I buy one Espresso Chip frozen yogurt and one Dulce de Leche ice cream. The good news is that my local market has them on sale every few weeks, so if I buy four at a time they last me until they go on sale again.

And you thought you needed a vacation. Employees at Just One Paris Hospital Are Owed 2 Million Vacation Days

A rocky exoplanet about the size of Mercury appears to be evaporating before our eyes. If confirmed, this would be the first time a rocky planet has been found turning to gas, demonstrating just how wacky alien planets can be. The provocative suggestion may also foreshadow the fate of Mercury.Read more here.

New cracks found on Airbus A380 jets

I like their nose rings. Near-Extinct Monkeys Rediscovered in Borneo.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Rhode Island, it is illegal to throw pickle juice!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

911 Dinosaurs

2012-01-16T13:30:00.003-05:00

The other day, while looking in my suitcase for something else, I came across a Magnum White package. Then I started thinking about our local market and the fact that they carried all the Magnum products except the Magnum White bars. So, as I am wont to do in these instances, I fired off an email asking why they didn't carry it since the people at Magnum had told me all they had to do was order it. Saturday night around 19h30, I got a call from the manager of the market. He told me they are going to special order them....just for me. I LOVE EMAIL!!!

I watched the entire six-part TV series on dinosaurs; Planet Dinosaur, online of course. I rarely watch anything on TV anymore because of all the commercials. I have no objection to the shows running commercials to pay the bills, but it has gotten to the point where the commercials are longer than the shows. I used to love anything to do with dinosaurs, but this show cured me of that. If one is to judge by this show, the sole purpose of dinosaurs was to kill and eat other dinosaurs, or to be killed and eaten by other dinosaurs. You can only watch so much of that until you become totally bored with it all. I can see why the show only lasted six episodes.

Back in the middle of November, I called 911 to get an ambulance to take me to the hospital. The real purpose of the trip simply was to get a shot of oxygen. I was under the mistaken belief that it was free. I say mistaken because I got a bill from the Fort Lauderdale Fire and Rescue for $150. The total bill bill for the five minute, two mile ride was $700. I won't be calling 911 any time in the future, it's cheaper to take a taxi!

How many more millions of dollars are these ridiculous Republicans going to waste on their insipid campaigns for a post they know they have no chance of winning? One has to wonder about the intelligence of anyone who votes Republican. And Democrats are only marginally better.....if they would just DO something when they have the opportunity. Is it really a puzzle as to why this country is in such dire straits? We desperately need another party or two with real country-first attitudes.

Zoologger: Unique life form is half plant, half animal

Loud-mouthed Wi-Fi devices could use sound to connect

Light pot smoking easy on lungs

MakerBot Replicator

The Very First Senior Moment -

Dumb Law of the Week: In Quitman, Georgia, it is illegal for a chicken to cross the road!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Ultimate Stupidity

2012-01-09T17:53:00.002-05:00

I despise ALL religions, but there is a new one that goes beyond any hint of sanity. It is called Kopimism and has to be the ultimate stupidity. It is devoted to file-sharing. On 5 January the Church of Kopimism was formally recognised as a religion by the Swedish government. I thought the Swedes were intelligent. Obviously, I was wrong. What could possibly be more stupid than this? Even Islam and Mormonism cannot compete with the stupidity inherent in this.

Europeans' heartfelt ignorance. Many don't recognize heart attack, stroke warning signs

Dear Google - Are you really so GREEDY that you need to put ads on You Tube videos?

Weighing the Benefits of Green Roofs

German fossil find could rewrite pre-history

Dumb Law of the Week: In Omaha, Nebraska, it is illegal to burp during a church service!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

2012 - HOPE!

2012-01-02T11:34:00.002-05:00

Crémant = sparkling wine not made in the Champagne region. Most people have never heard of crémant, but it is just as good as champagne. There are many regions of France that have their own crémant. One of my favorites is Crémant de Loire, which is made in the Loire Valley section of France. I went on a quest to find some locally and, upon checking the internet, found that a local wine store (67 Wines) had it. I went to the store but the clerk said they did not have it. He recommended a bottle of Louis Charles Blanc de Blancs. It was very nice; fruity but a bit sweet. ABC Liquors sells Crémant de Bourgogne, and I did buy a couple bottles of that. Then, in our local supermarket, Publix, I happened to notice a guy delivering sparkling wines and I spotted a Spanish Cava. Cava is the name the Spanish use for champagne. When we were in Barcelona, I drank cava almost exclusively because it's very good and it costs only a couple euros more than regular white wine.

US post-Iraq legacy

Brand new island rises from Red Sea depths

Dumb Law of the Week: In Oklahoma, it is illegal to sleep with shoes on!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Holidays

2011-12-26T13:12:00.003-05:00

We didn't do any dancing, but we have been getting out more now that I'm feeling a lot better. Tuesday, Jeff, Geoff, Robb and I drove to Maguire's Hill 16 for lunch. Geoff and Robb once again had the Fish and Chips, which Geoff swears is the best he's ever had outside of England. Jeff had the Lasagna Special and I had the Chicken Curry. Jeff liked his lasagna and the chicken curry was great. Jeff drank iced tea, while the rest of us had the Irish Cider. The cider is alcoholic but not overly so. After eating, we drove over to A1A, the road that runs along the ocean. We stopped at the Pelican Grand Beach Resort and spent several hours sitting on the veranda just a few feet from the shore.

Thursday, Robb and I drove down to Hollywood to check out a new French restaurant, Le Comptoir, about which I read a review online somewhere. All the reviews, except one, were raving about the food, the service and the excellent prices. We used to live in Hollywood, so we had no trouble finding it. Since we lived there, Hollywood has acquired a lot of cafes, most with sidewalk seating. But apparently, very few of them open before 17h00. We found that surprising since it is the middle of the tourist season and you would have thought there would be people sitting out there drinking and eating. The weather is great right now; not hot and not cold, so it was disconcerting to see virtually no one at the cafes and most of them closed till later. I had read that Hollywood had fallen on difficult times and I think this would go a long way to explain it.

Christmas Eve was nice. It started with a small holiday gathering in the lobby of our building. Several of the guys prepared snacks and dips with a variety of drinks. It wasn't a huge gathering of people, but it was nice and we met a couple of new people. We hung out and chatted for a couple hours, then we went up to our apartment, changed clothes and drove down to Le Comptoir in Hollywood. Le Comptoir, we discovered, is run by a French couple from Montmartre in Paris. The husband, who is also the chef doesn't speak English, but his wife and children (two girls and a boy) do. Our original plan was to have the moules avec frites (mussels with fries), but when we got there, we checked the menu and saw Canard a l'Orange (duck with orange sauce). It was excellent and way more than either of us could finish. We weren't going to have dessert, but when the madame mentioned it was a Bûche de Noël....well. It was great, of course. Our only disappointment was the espresso, but we were otherwise impressed, and we will return one day for the moules-frites.

Another Collapse at Pompeii Renews Fears About Its Fate

Astronomers Find Biggest Black Holes Yet

No Joke: Pigeons Ace a Simple Math Test

Dumb Law of the Week: In North Carolina, it is a crime to move two hotel beds together!

Á la prochaine, mes amis.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-19T13:28:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday (10 December), Robb drove our neighbor Dave and a couple of his friends over to see the 2011 Holiday Boat Show. They expected traffic to be heavy and Dave, in anticipation, had left his car at a friend's place on the water. Thursday night, as a way of thanking us for the favor, Dave had us over for dinner at his place across the hall, along with his friend Richard. He prepared an excellent meal of chicken parmigiana, with baked potatoes and spinach. Dave doesn't drink wine, so we brought our own Pinot Grigio. Everything was very good. We learned some interesting facts about Richard, who is from Jamaica. I didn't go so far as to ask how he supported himself, but I did find out that he doesn't work (he's around forty-ish). And he's been around Europe a bit, having been to Amsterdam and the south of France.

In the It's About Time category: FCC tells advertisers to CALM down, lowers the volume on commercial breaks.

Lunatics of the Year? I mean, I've always heard the phrase " talking out your ass", but really, cell phones?

Obviously, it's time to start jailing some people, regardless of their age. Driver sent or got 11 texts in 11 min before crash.

Dumb Law of the Week: In North Carolina, you cannot have sexual intercourse in a churchyard !

HAVE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Flash Gordon Returns

2011-12-12T12:39:00.000-05:00

I went back to the doctor's office for what I thought was going to be a consultation with results of my stress test, but turned out to be another test. An echocardiogram. You know that thing they do with pregnant women when they smear the goo on her abdomen and use a 'wand' to get a picture of the baby? Well, an echocardiogram is the same thing, except of course, they're trying to see your heart. Apparently, it doesn't work that well through bone, and since the heart is behind your ribs, the technician had a difficult time trying to get a good picture. My next appointment isn't until 19 December, so I guess they'll do the consultation then.

Skype co-founder's latest company signs deal with LightSquared, promises free broadband and voice services. I expect it will come with tons of advertising like most "free" things on the internet, but we'll see.

Meet (Flash) Gordon, the World’s First Flash Supercomputer.

Wearable Instruments

Dumb Law of the Week: In Nevada, you cannot legally ride a camel on the highways!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paradox

2011-12-05T19:21:00.001-05:00

I went for my stress test today. It was one of the most relaxing days I've ever spent in a doctor's office. The staff were extremely knowledgeable and friendly. I actually fell asleep during the so-called "stressful part." My follow-up meeting with the doctor is on Wednesday.

If you needed any further proof that Americans are incredibly stupid and mentally ill, this should do the trick. Gun club invites children to pose with Santa... and their choice of firearm!

Need more proof of how stupid, sick and selfish Americans can be?

Potentially Earth-Like Planet Has Right Temperature for Life

Dumb Law of the Week: In Nebraska, it is illegal to spit against the wind!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Congressional Perks

2011-11-28T16:15:00.000-05:00

The song seemed so appropriaste for this text.

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years. If you've ever wondered why our so-called representatives in Washington think about Medicare and Social Security differently than the rest of us, this may explain it. Our Senators and Congressmen do not pay into Social Security. Many years ago they voted in their own benefit plan. In more recent years, no congress person has felt the need to change it. For all practical purposes their plan works like this: When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die, except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments. For example, former Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000 - that's Seven Million, Eight Hundred Thousand, with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives. This is calculated on an average life span for each. Their cost for this excellent plan is $00.00. This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan. The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Fund--our tax dollars at work! From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into --every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer) --we can expect to get an average $1,000 per month after retirement. Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one month to equal Senator Bill Bradley's benefits! Social Security could be very good if only one small change was made. And that change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us and then watch how fast they would fix it. If enough people are made familiar with this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve. WE, each one of us... can make a difference. Start writing those letters and emails today. Get your Congressional people on the phone NOW and tell them you've had enough!

It would be really great if some of you with high-profile blogs would repeat this and ask your readers to repeat it also. Perhaps we could get somemthing going.

French Ban on Genetically Modified Corn Loses Another Round

Long lines as Egyptians vote in historic poll

Dumb Law of the Week: In Montana, a wife cannot open her Husband's mail!!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Blah Blah Blah

2011-11-23T13:34:00.001-05:00

Spent most of the week feeling like crap...blah, blah, blah. My Primary Physician thought it might be helpful if I went for a heart stress test, so that is scheduled for the beginning of December. I've never had a heart problem and don't expect them to find anything, but it's a precaution. My new doctor surprised me yesterday. He called to simply see how I was doing. I've NEVER had a doctor call me, much less just to inquire into my well-being. He may be a keeper.

Dear Mobile Phone manufacturers, it is NOT necessary to have a volume control on the side, top, or bottom of the phone. Love, Bob

To ALL the stupid Hollywood TV writers out there. Why do you insist on putting the star of the show in a "life threatening" situation? Everybody in the whole damned world knows you are not going to kill the star of the show. If you can't write any better than that, get out of the business. Producers, what the hell is wrong with you, why don't you cut those stupid scripts and fire the writers?

I wonder how much the drug companies paid to get this ruling: Doctors: Test all kids for cholesterol by age 11 CHICAGO (AP) - Every child should be tested for high cholesterol as early as age 9 - surprising new advice from a government panel that suggests screening kids in grade school for a problem more common in middle age.

LHC May Have Found Crack in Modern Physics. In late 2008, a few onlookers believed that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) would bring the end of the world. Three years later, our planet remains intact, but the European particle smasher may have made its first crack in modern physics.

How Many Neutrinos Does It Take to Screw Up Einstein?

Dumb Law of the Week: In Minnesota, it is illegal to tease skunks!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Not Feeling So Good Myself

2011-11-15T16:40:00.003-05:00

Was having trouble breathing for the past few days and finally forced myself to go to the Emergency Room last night. I was going to have Robb drive me, but then realized I didn't even have enough energy to get to the car, so we called 911. A funny thing happened when they came in to get me. The said they couldn't get the gurney into the apartment and could I walk? I thought they meant for me to walk downstairs, so I replied that I couldn't. Then they suggested I could sit in my office chair and be wheeled out. Seemed like a plan to me, but I had this vision of me being wheeled all the way downstairs. They, of course, only took me as far as the door where I got onto the gurney. As soon as they put the oxygen on me, I was fine. I knew that was all I really needed, but as far as I know, there is no place you can call and ask them send oxygen. We were at the hospital for about three hours and then came home. I'm hoping this little incident will convince my insurance company that I really do need an oxygen unit in the apartment, but knowing how insurance companies work, I very much doubt it.

So let's say there was a "Big Bang". What was it that went "bang?" Why did it go "bang"? Where did it come from? What was it doing before it went "bang"? If one "thing" went "bang", could something else go "bang" some day?

Anyone wonder where Sam and Dean on Supernatural get the money for the uniforms, disguises, badges, credit cards, motel rooms, food. etc, etc????

Hundreds of police officers in riot gear raided the Occupy Wall Street encampment in New York City in the pre-dawn darkness Tuesday, evicted hundreds of demonstrators and demolished the tent city that was the epicenter of a movement protesting what participants call corporate greed and economic inequality.

Isn't it great to live in a FREE COUNTRY?!?!?! Oh wait, this isn't France where people are FREE to PROTEST!!!!!

Only place in America >100 miles from a McDonald’s

Dumb Law of the Week: In Michigan, a woman's hair is property of her husband!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Party Party

2011-11-07T11:29:00.001-05:00

Our friend Dee retired from the library system after thirty-eight years with the County. Dee was the Building Maintenance Supervisor, and was responsible for all thirty-eight branches of the Broward County Library System. A big party was held Friday night at the Signature Grand in Davie, Florida, which is just west of Fort La-de-da. It is a huge place consisting solely of banquet rooms. There are at least ten of which I'm certain because I saw them the night of Dee's party, and all of them were full of people having some kind of social affair. Rosa, who put the thing together, was expecting about seventy-five people, but a hundred and forty showed up. It was so strange for me. I recognized almost everyone I saw but could not for the life of me, remember their names

Big Asteroid to Pierce Earth-Moon Orbit Tuesday

Obama health care law has unexpected beneficiaries

China Builds World Class Supercomputer Sans Intel, AMD

Dumb Law of the Week: In Massachussets, it is illegal to Shave while Driving!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week: Happy Man Bottle Stopper

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Cartoons Plus

2011-10-31T14:47:00.002-04:00

First Solar System Leftover

Samsung Bests Apple In Smartphone Sales

The Case of the Haunted Golf Club. How can you make people better at sports? Tell them they're using equipment that previously belonged to a professional athlete. No, really.....

Dumb Law of the Week: In Maine, it is illegal having your shoelaces untied!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Back To Europe

2011-10-24T16:02:00.003-04:00

Our British friend Geoff, after years of complaining about the States and how much he hates it, has finally made the decision to go back to Europe. Of course, in typical Geoff fashion, he is waiting until next year to do it. Something about seeing who moves in next door to his apartment. What exactly that has to do with the decision to go, I don't really understand. He's not sure whether he wants to live in Spain or the south of France. He last lived in Benidorm, Spain before coming to the US, and he plans to rent a place there before making a final decision. He hates city living, so will undoubtedly look for a place in the country with access to the amenities of a city. The good news for us is that we'll have someone else to visit in Europe, if we can ever go again. In my current state of health, I can't even think of a trip like that, but who knows what improvements time may provide?

Turn Your Standard Vacuum into a Water Vac for $1.

This is super cool. I have this nagging feeling I've seen it somewhere before. OmniTouch Promises to Turn Any Surface into a Multi-Touch Screen.

Dumb Law of the Week: In France, it is illegal to land a flying saucer in the vineyards!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Fantasy

2011-10-17T16:14:00.004-04:00

It's just amazing what you can learn from the internet. The other day, a friend in France wrote on Twitter about celtuce. Celtuce is a lettuce family originating from southern China. It is named after its unique combination of characteristics, the celery-like stalks and the lettuce-like leaves. In China, the plant is grown mainly for the fat central stalk that is very crispy and tender. Young leaves can be used as lettuce for salads and stir-fry. Seeds do not germinate well at high temperature. It is suggested to sow seeds with seed trays in a cool area, and the seedling is transplanted later into open field.

Speaking of the amazing internet, I started reading The Hobbit online. I love the idea that I can do that, but the truth is, it's difficult for me to sit in front of my 'puter and read text for any length of time. Four or five years ago when my eyes were a lot better, it would have been fine, but not now. Another problem with the online book is the number of typos. I guess they don't have a proof reader. I ordered the book from the library. I'll continue to read online until the book arrives, and then I'll switch over.

Dark Matter: Now More Mysterious Than Ever.

GE's new factory will push out one solar panel every ten seconds.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Louisiana, it is illegal to Gargle in public!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Fish 'n' Chips

2011-10-10T13:30:00.000-04:00

Friday, Robb, Geoff and I drove to Maguire's Hill 16, an Irish pub and restaurant. We all had the fish 'n' chips. Geoff said they were the best he's ever had in the US. I was rather disappointed. First, instead of 'chips', we were served regular French fries. Real chips are more like slices of potato. Secondly, the fish was a huge piece of cod. I like cod, but this was just too big and I ended up giving most of it to Geoff, who ate his and most of mine. There are several interesting looking items on the menu, so if we ever go back, Robb and I will try one of those.

Wouldn't it be great if mobile phone makers got together and made the batteries, the chargers and the USB cords all exactly the same? Or at least interchangeable within their own line?

Secrets of Aging

It's not TV: it's Nottv, Japan's new Smartphone-only TV station.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Lee County, Alabama it is illegal to sell peanuts after sundown on Wednesday.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Euro Fiat

2011-10-03T15:16:00.000-04:00

We wanted to get our Smart Car serviced, so Robb made a reservation with the Mercedes-Benz place up the road. Then, I got an advertisement that offered free service on our Smart if we would take a test drive in the 2012 Fiat 500. So off we went to Rick Case Fiat (which used to be Rick Case Smart, where we purchased our car). You've already guessed, right? Yep, we bought a 2012 Fiat 500. We had been talking about getting another car because, although I love the Smart, it's really too small and causes some problems when there is a third person involved in our plans. The Fiat has a back seat, something we didn't have with the Smart. It's rather small and cramped even for someone as small as Robb, but at least it's an option. I think the thing I like most about the Fiat, is the Bluetooth thingie. You simply turn it on and say, "Call Robb", then it asks, in a sexy female voice, "Do you want to call Robb?". You reply, "Yes" and it makes the call. I do kind of miss the automatic windshield wipers that came on when it started to rain, but I suppose I can get used to doing it manually.

Because we're about mid-way between its hangar and the baseball/football stadium, we get to see the Goodyear Blimp whenever a home game is scheduled. Usually, it's over near the ocean shoreline, so it's not all that easy to get a photo. But the other day, I was sitting on the balcon when I heard it and it seemed rather close. I looked up and it was passing nearly directly overhead.

We Are the 99 Percent

Since my last comment about the euro, it has fallen to around $1.32. That's the lowest it has been in many years, and it appears the trend is continuing. It may soon be worth less than the dollar. The European Union countries are talking about dropping it. I think that would be a mistake for a couple of reasons. First, their own currency wasn't worth much before the euro. Secondly, it's makes it so convenient to travel to different countries without having to worry about exchanging the money. Of course, Italy has been talking about going back to the Lire since they first went to the euro, and that's one thing I'll never understand. Why would you want to go back to a currency for which you need a wheel-barrow to carry around enough to buy a loaf of bread?

Astronomers Reveal Supernova Factory

Dumb Law of the Week: In Indianapolis, it is illegal to kiss if you have a Moustache!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Red, Red Wine

2011-09-26T15:05:00.003-04:00

Sure, the wine rack is full now, but what about tomorrow?

The stained glass items were made by Robb's father. He was just starting to learn, but arthitis forced him to give it up. I thought he was rather talented for a beginner.

I couldn't stop laughing: Doritos creator dies, to be buried with chips

Can Neutrinos Move Faster Than Light?

Dumb Law of the Week: In Illinois,it is illegal to speak English as the State Language is American!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Super-Earth

2011-09-19T14:35:00.000-04:00

Every day for the past year, or more, I've been reading how the European Union is in serious danger of falling apart because several countries are close to bankruptcy. And yet, the euro is still worth forty cents more than the dollar. I don't get it. Either money investors are stupid, or the dollar is even worse off than anyone is telling us.

If you've ever wondered how stupid one must be to live in Texas, remember, they elected both George Bush and Rick Perry to the Texas Governor's office....more than once!

Have we found Luke Skywalker's Tatooine? A planet orbiting 2 stars spotted by Kepler.

La vue du Trocadéro de ce soir au coucher du soleil.

'Super-Earth', Could Potentially Support Life.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Globe, Arizona, it is illegal to play cards in the street with a Native American.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À la prochaine, mes amis

WooHoo WiFi

2011-09-12T16:00:00.001-04:00

I finally bought a WiFi router. It is a Netgear WNDR3700-N (the one on the left is the router, the modem's on the right). I love it. It's super fast. It works both wired and wireless. I noticed a huge difference in my connection speed once it was installed, which was super easy. My desktop PC is stilll connected by wire (though it's capable of WiFi) but I read in one of the tech magazines that wired is faster, and since I'm only about five feet from the router, it's not a major problem. If the mood should strike me, I can always disconnect the wire and run wireless. The biggest change (beside the great speed), is that now I don't have to steal my neighbor's WiFi when I want to use my laptop. I'm not even sure he's ever noticed my connectionn to him, I don't do it that often or for that long; just whenever I really need it. Now that I have my own WiFi, I can watch football and tweet at the same time in the living room. I also bought a new modem, a Motorola SB6120 DOCSIS 3.0. Actually, I bought it some time ago but could never get it to work until now.

His opponents couldn't ask for a better opportunity to comment: Campaigning outside Pittsburgh today, GOP frontrunner Rick Perry attended a picnic at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Oil City where he enjoyed a foot long corndog while touring the fabulous reproduction of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.

New Fossils May Redraw Human Ancestry.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Florida, throwing dishes is illegal!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Slowly

2011-09-05T17:00:00.003-04:00

I am very slowly recovering, but I can see it's going to be quite a while, if ever, before I'm back to where I was before this all started.

On those rare occasions when I actually look up from my computer screen, this is what I usually see:

The other night, I noticed this shadow and thought it was interesting:

Daimler Smart Forvision: a solar-powered roof with plastic wheels.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Columbus, Georgia, you cannot sit in an 'Indecent' position!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week: MegaFlicks

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Relax

2011-08-29T20:32:00.000-04:00

Just when I doubted the wisdom of our Washington leaders, along comes FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate who warned that damages could come as a result of Irene. I can sleep peacefully now knowing we're under the protection of such brilliant and capable people.

Presidents Cause Increased Homicides (And Suicides)

Dumb Law of the Week: In Colorado, it is illegal to kiss a sleeping woman!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Cramps

2011-08-22T11:58:00.001-04:00

I've mentioned having cramps several times over the years. Thanks to one of my readers, Nadege, and my nephew Bob, I have a couple of remedies. Nadege, in a comment, wrote that her mother gave her Juvamine - magnésium + B6. Bob told me that when he was snorkeling, he got bad leg cramps and the guy at the snorkeling shop told him to drink Tonic Water. Something about the quinine in it that relieves cramps almost instantaneously. So far, I haven't had a reason to try either of them.

Small volcanoes add up to cooler climate. Airborne particles help explain why temperatures rose less last decade.

Test your Internet connection for signs of trouble. The ICSI Netalyzr.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Clawson, Michigan, it is illegal for a man to sleep with his animals!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À la prochaine, mes amis.

So.....

2011-08-15T10:48:00.006-04:00

15 August - I didn't mention this in my previous post(s), but when we were under the impression that I would need oxygen to fly back to the US, I tried to call my doctor to have him arrange for someone to meet me at the plane with an oxygen unit. He was absolutely no help what-so-ever. "It can't be done. You can't just go to the plane with a cannister of oxygen. Security will never let you in." To which I replied, "It is not possible that I will be the first person in the history of flying, that needed oxygen when he got off the plane. There must be a procedure in place for that." "Oh no, it can't be done. We will be happy to make an appointment for you to come to the office when you get back, but that's all we can do." So I did what he should have done, I called the Miami Airport. I was transferred several times and finally ended up talking to someone in Immigration (because I was coming from another country). They told me there was no problem at all, I simply had to get the captain of the plane to call ahead and someone would meet me at the plane with oxygen and a wheelchair. My doctor could have just as easily made that call and resolved the matter, but apparently he wasn't interested in actually helping, and that is why he is now my EX-doctor.

And you'd better believe I did call him and tell him that.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Humana is picking the tab for the French hospital.

As he usually does, Geoff wants to be friends again. At least this time, he admits that "we" have our "ups and downs". I truly believe he has no idea that he's lacking people skills. I'm amazed he was an airline steward for so many years. Of course, when confronted, he is a complete wuss. I suppose we'll get along for a while again and then he'll blow up over something really insignificant and meaningless, he won't talk to us for months and then come back and pretend nothing ever happened. It's very wearing.

Every Space Nerd Must Get This Thing For Their Bathtub

Dumb Law of the Week: In Chicago, it is illegal to go fishing in your PJs!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À la prochaine, mes amis

Paris 2011 - Final

2011-08-08T17:34:00.011-04:00

4 Aout - (Jeudi) - It has been four days since I entered this tiny room (maybe 10 by 10). The only time I've been out is when I go to the lobby while the maid is doing her thing. We even take our meals in here, and though the food is a definite improvement over the hospital, it's still not bistro quality.

Jeudi (Thursday), I got brave enough to try to go downstairs because I really, really would like to eat at a regular restaurant. We took the elevator to the ground floor, but once we walked the half mile to the exit, were confronted with steps. I'm not confident I can do steps yet, so that means we're screwed.....again. Only in Paris would they build a hospital that's NOT handicapped-friendly!

5 Aout (Vendredi) - I went back to the hospital for what I hoped would be my last time. The portable oxygen unit did not work and I have no idea why, so we went all the way with no oxygen. I rode in a wheelchair, so it didn't require much energy. They waited until I had been off the oxygen for about an hour and took a blood sample. The test came back very positive. My blood oxygen level was well within the normal range with no oxygen. The doctors decided I could fly with no oxygen on the plane. I'm not so sure that's a good idea, but I'm not a doctor.

Since, according to the French doctors, I don't need oxygen, we are going to fly on Open Skies (it used to be named L'Avion) a business-class-only airline on Sunday, if there are seats available. We will fly to Washington and from there to Fort Lauderdale.

Good news....we are booked on OpenSkies for Dimanche (Sunday) at Midi (noon)!!!

We went out for my first meal outside in the real world in three weeks. Of course, we went to the very first place we encountered, because I was walking very slowly, it was a relatively long walk, and I didn't want to overdue it on the first attempt. Aux Tours de Notre Dame is very touristy (of course) but the food is decent and I was so glad to be in a real café again, I could not care less about the bazillion tourists. While we were eating, it started pouring. I've never seen it rain so hard in Paris. We just let it run its course, and headed back to the room when it had stopped.

Here are some more pictures: CaféView, CafeView2, le Jardin de l'Hôtel Dieu (Lower Level), le Jardin de l'Hôtel Dieu (Upper Level), Place Parvis (in front of Notre Dame), and a view toward Montparnasse, le Jardin de Hôtel Dieu (Best View), Dieu detail, Dieu Entrance, Gregorian Chant, a corner detail, Hospitel sign, and Aval'Tar, who represents all who have ever been in l'Hôpital Dieu (he was a real person). If you're in Paris and you want to see the jardin de l'Hôtel Dieu, it is open to the public and free. L'Hôtel Dieu is directly in front of Notre Dame.

And a short video from Hôtel Dieu showing the Panthéon and Notre Dame.
The last of the Paris 2011 pictures: A table ready for you, fleurs (flowers) outside the gardienne's office, the only window in our tiny room at l'Hospitel and the last Paris Rouge picture.

8 Aout (Lundi) - We are home after an exhausting 25-hour day. We got up at 08h00 (2 AM US) on Sunday morning. The Hospitel had promised us a van but reneged while we were out to dinner. Our last dinner was again at Aux Tours de Notre Dame. While we were eating, it started to pour. We waited till it had almost stopped and left. Robb demonstrated super strength by somehow managing to get all the bags down to the main hall, where the taxi driver picked them up and carried them to the taxi. Then we were off to Orly Sud, which is a lot closer to center Paris than CDG. It turned out we had even more time than we expected because our Open Skies flight was delayed. We spent the extra time in the VIP Lounge eating a petit dejeuner. We had the last two (of four) seats on the plane. If you've flown Open Skies, you know they serve champagne. Our steward, Kevin, was very responsive when asked to pose with the bottle. If you haven't flown on Open Skies, Robb and I recommend it. It's easily worth the extra couple of shekels.

For some stupid reason, I decided we should fly to Washington instead of New York (you do hear the buzzer going crazy, don't you?). That was one of a couple of mistakes we will never make again. The only direct flight to Fort Lauderdale was by JetBlue (the other mistake we will never make again.) at 07h30 Monday morning. We settled for a connecting flight which required us to fly to New York and then home. Everything at every airport on the east coast was being delayed because of bad weather. We weren't even sure we would make the New York connection. Luckily for us, we did, but it was much later than we had hoped and we didn't get home until around 02h00. In addition to the many delays and other setbacks, the people at JetBlue seemed to be working in a daze and really did not seem to be in control at any time. Thankfully, the flight to Fort Lauderdale was smooth and I managed to sleep most of the way.

We got to bed around 03h00 and were up by 08h30, still exhausted.

You can see ALL the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-8

2011-08-05T17:13:00.008-04:00

15 Juillet (Vendredi) - The day it all went to hell!

I was awakened around 03h00 with the most terrible cramp in my foot. Nothing I did could stop the excruciating pain. After an hour or so, the pain was making me sick, so I got up with the idea of going down to the toilet, just in case. Apparently, I made it to the bottom of the steps, where I passed out. I awoke some time later, gasping for air. No matter how I tried, I couldn't get my breath and breathe normally. I was laying against the bottom step and finding it difficult to move into a position in which I could breathe more easily. I finally was able to get to my hands and knees, and by leaning over could breathe a bit better but still not correctly. I tried laying flat on my stomache which caused me to throw up.

Needless to say, Robb was becoming more and more concerned.

I somehow managed to get to the sofa and sat there with my head on my arms on the coffee table. Robb decided to call for help. He consulted the guardiennne, who recommended calling les pompiers. They arrived and decided I needed to go to the hospital. Oh, and during all this, the only thing I was wearing was a night shirt and a towel. I got Robb to get me a pair of underwear so I wouldn't be totally naked and off we went.

I was taken to l'Hôtel Dieu, the oldest hospital in Paris, where it was determined that I must be moved to the ICU unit. ICU is interesting because they do everything for you. I was kind of embarrassed to be washed by two nurses.

I was in ICU for a week because they were supposed to move me to a regular room but had none available. All the medecins (doctors) and infirmières (nurses) in ICU were really, really nice and as friendly as they could be. There was kind of running joke about the food, which was the worst I have EVER eaten ANYWHERE. When they brought my first real meal, they asked how I liked it. I told them, "Comme la Tour d'Argent" (just like the Tour d'Argent, a very expensive restaurant in Paris).

After a few days the doctor came and told me I was moving to the other ward that day. A couple hours later, a guy showed up and said it would be the next day. That night, the night crew had a long meeting. When I told my night nurse (Alvee) I was moving tomorrow, he replied mysteriously, "Maybe". And sure enough, it was another day before I was moved.

When I got to the new room, I was the only one in a two-bed room. That didn't last long because they wheeled in another guy a couple hours later. I was somewhat disappointed because the ICU room had been private. The new guy, whom I dubbed 'Serge' because I think he was from Georgia (the Russian Georgia), spoke no English and his French was worse than mine, but somehow everyone seemed to be able to communicate with him.

That brings up another MAJOR problem; none of the doctors or nurses ever seemed to communicate with each other. Every time a new person came on the scene (which was almost daily), I had to explain my situation and hope they understood. Most of the time they did, but there were times when they didn't, and it was all because they did not talk to each other. One nurse actually told Robb she thought I was there because I had a drinking problem. I mean, we're talking very basic knowledge here people and she didn't know!

There were times in the new ward when I became so frustrated at the way they did, or did not, do things, I literally could have punched someone. An example....one night I had a coughing fit. I called for the nurse. She came and I said, "Avez vous an medicament pour arret le toux?" (Do you have a medicine to stop this coughing?). She ran out of the room, screaming, "The English, the English." So she sends in the most arrogant, obnoxious asshole in the history of nursing. The moron comes into the room, comes to my bedside, stares out the window (never looking at me) and asks what I want. I asked him the same thing I had asked the bitch. He replied, "Monsieur, it is night time. If you want to make changes, you have to wait for the day time." I swear, if I had had the strength, I would have punched him in the face. Thankfully, they were the only two who were less than professional and way less than friendly. After that night, I never saw the asshole again.

My medecin, Docteur Chevalier, was a whirlwind or activity. She arranged for us to leave by Air France. She arranged for an ambulance to take me to the airport and get me on the plane. She arranged for l'oxygene (oxygen) on the plane. The only thing we had to do was pay for the tickets. Unfortunately, it all fell through when Air France went on strike the day before we were scheduled to leave. But that was the last time I ever saw her. Everything else was done through her assistants, most of whom spoke only limited English. I don't mind speaking and trying to understand French under normal conditions, but this is major stuff here and I would really like to be sure I understand and they understand.

An example of that is when Dr. Chevalier arranged for the Cardif company to give me an oxygen unit to use at home. I simply could not make them understand that I didn't want the unit, and I didn't need the unit, so it sits next to me at this moment.

Here's a short video from my room.

1 Aout (Lundi) - Because we couldn't leave on Sunday as planned, I was dismissed from the hospital on Monday. Fortunately, just like in St. Johns, there is a hostel (Hospitel) on the sixth floor of the hospital, and Robb got a room with two beds to which we moved with a lot of mis-communication, complaining and swearing (mostly by me).

Okay, speaking of Robb. He was not having such a great time either. Because I got sick in the last week we were to be in Paris, he had to move from the apartment, because it was already rented for the time after we left. Luckily, the guys (Olivier and Romaine) from Ah, Paris were super nice. They got him another apartment (a tiny studio) and helped him pack and move. But our bad luck continued, he could only have the apartment for a week and after a couple days, the elevator broke down. There was no way he could get all our luggage downstairs by himself. Again, Romaine to the rescue....sort of. They got the stuff loaded into a taxi, but they dumped Robb at the entrance to Hôtel Dieu and left him to fend for himself. According to Robb, when He told Romaine about the change of plans, he simply went to pieces and couldn't cope with it. But Robb is pretty resourceful and got all the luggage upstairs to our room.

They wheeled me over to the hostel, but the day manager (a woman) would not let us in. She kept yelling, "This is a hotel, this is not a hospital." Over and over. We finally left and went back to the hospital. About a half hour later, the hostel called and told them all was well, we could occupy the room. So they brought me back. And that's where we are ensconced at the moment. My first night of freedom was not so pleasant, but I'm fine now.

We had a very nice dinner in the room...with wine, bien sur!

Speaking of 'in the room'; that brings us to the next really nice thing that happened to me. The Cardif company representative brought a battery-operated oxygen unit to replace the plug-in unit. He also brought a portable unit so I could (if I felt up to it) leave the room and go to a restaurant. The portable unit lasts up to twelve hours, depending on what setting I put it on. Again, he did all this for free. I'm telling you folks, when these people are nice, they are REALLY nice!

The current plan is to stay here for a week in the hope that I will improve to the point where I won't need oxygen on the plane. Wish me luck with that!

You can see ALL the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-7

2011-08-01T11:11:00.009-04:00

11 Juillet (Lundi) - We had to go back to the banque because Robb wanted to transfer more money to his French account and it required filling out a lot of forms. It took quite a while.

After, we caught the bus to l'Opéra stop, after which, we walked past the Opéra to Celio. Robb bought a nice shirt. I was going to buy a pair of jeans but decided not.

We left Celio and walked to Galeries Lafayette. What used to be Lafayette Homme (behind Bouchara), is now an H&M and it's for women only. We crossed over the main Galeries Lafayette but decided fighting the crowds was too much and left. We started back to catch the bus, but we stopped for a breather. Then we noticed a lot of empty taxis held up by the traffic, so we jumped into one, gave him our address and....sat there.

It took forever in the rush hour traffic. But we passed some nice churches on the route. Saint Laurent, which I photographed way back in 1999 on one of our frequent trips to Gare de l'Est(when I could actually walk for miles and miles). Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, which I've seen a few times, but was moving too quickly to get a shot.

We kind of decided, during the ride, to get off at the Franprix, instead of going to the apartment and walking back, but the driver turned down rue de Turenne since rue Saint-Claude is one way from there. It was just as well, we dropped off our packages, made a pit-stop and went to the magasin (store).

Watched a TV show on France3 called "Copains" (Friends). It was/is all about music from the late fifties and early sixties. I think it's a weekly show. The thing that really got to me was the way everyone looked so young. I was young then also. WOW!

12 Juillet (Mardi) - It rained most of the morning, but by the time I got out of bed, it had stopped. We didn't make ay plans for the day because we believed the weather forecasters when they predicted rain for the day, off and on.

We did want to walk to Carrefour to get some stuff. The Carrfour is a lot larger than the Franprix, which of course, means you can get things there that Franprix won't have. It kept raining off and on for most of the afternoon, but finally seemed to be clearing up around 19h00 (7:00PM), so we took off and hoped for the best.

Just before we entered the Carrefour, we felt some intermittent drops and thought we had just beaten the rain. But it never did get worse. We spent some time wandering around the store, trying to be cautious about what we bought because I can't carry too much weight. Still we bought some nice wine and some stuff for dinner, It's just amazing what you can get in Paris for only three or four euros.

13 Juillet (Mercredi) - The weather has turned chilly again. Robb wanted to walk to Fontaine Sully because he thinks it's close. A few years ago, I would have agreed. I wore my leather jacket and my hat. I considered wearing my scarf, but didn't. Robb eventually shed his coat, but I was quite comfortable.

We finally made it to the restaurant and took the table at the window with the view of Hôtel de Sully, across the street. We ordered a picher du vin rouge (St. Emilion) and a planche de fromage (plank of cheese). There were five varieties and I only recognized two; the brie and the blue cheese. But they were all great. So we sat there eating cheese, drinking wine and watching the parade of people on rue Saint-Antoine.
After, we dashed into Monoprix to pick up a couple items, then walked up to the Saint-Paul bus stop for the 96.

When we got back to the apartment, I nodded off for at least an hour
.
14 Juillet (Juedi) - Le Quatorze. The original plan was to go to the Esplanade des Invalides, meet some friends, drink a little wine and chill out until dark, when we would walk over to the Champs de Mars for the fireworks show. But I decided that would be too much for me so we decided to just go to the Champs de Mars. The problem was we weren't sure the bus would be running. We checked with a friend who said the RATP had put up a special page for Le Quatorze, which we checked. According to the RATP, all the busses were running.

We caught the 69 bus and started on what we thought was going to be our first Quatorze experience.

We were wrong.....again!

The bus ran it's normal route until it got to rue de Grenelle where it stopped and the driver told everyone to get off. Incredible! There's no way he didn't know he couldn't go all the way, why didn't he just tell us, instead of dumping us in the middle of nowhere?

This would have been bad enough if I was healthy, but in my less than stellar condition, it meant we would have to walk to the nearest bus stop, which turned out to be on Boulevard Saint Germain. We made it to the bus stop and I figured we would have to take the 83 to Place d'Italie, get the 57 to Gare de Lyon, and finally get the 20 back to the apartment. All of that turned out to be moot, because while waiting for the 83, we flagged a taxi. We changed our mind about going to the apartment, and went to Fontaine Sully for dinner instead.

Once again, we've been screwed out of participating in Le Quatorze by the RATP and the city of Paris.

The REAL news will be in the next installment!

You can see ALL the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-6

2011-07-11T06:39:00.003-04:00

8 Juillet (Vendredi) - Robb had aother appointment at the banque on Boulevard des Italiens today. His regular conseiller (counselor) has taken off a couple months (we think she is getting married), so he did business with a really nice guy from the South of France, who spoke excellent English, and seemed to prefer it.

We encountered a slight drizzle on our walk to the bus stop. Fortunately, we had both taken our parapluies (umbrellas).

As we passed the Monoprix on rue du Temple, we decided to get off at the next stop and walk back to it because Robb wanted to get another bottle of a cologne he really likes. On the way back to the Monoprix, we stopped at a luggage place where I had bought a suitcase several years ago, Just to have a look. A French friend had told me it's very well known, and I can understand why. The prices for their very good luggage are excellent. Then we stopped quickly at Tati where I bought a European extension (the little black things are American to European adapters). We finally made it to the Monoprix and Robb got his cologne, UdV (Ulric de Varens). It's named in colors, I like the Blue. When we went out to get the bus (the stop was just outside the Monoprix door), I took a picture of Église Sainte Elizabeth, just across the street. There was a guy in a wheelchair waiting for the bus and I managed to get a shot of the wheelchair extension from the bus.

At about 20h00, we walked down and caught the 96 bus to Saint Paul. We had planned to take the métro from the Saint Paul station to the Étoile station, because both have escalators to the side walk. But there is a taxi stand there also, so... The taxi let us out in front of Pizza Trionfo, a place at which we had dinner several times a week last October. It's basically a pizza place as one can tell from the name, but we almost always had the pâtes (pasta). I liked all the pasta dishes, but I loved the pâtes bolognaise. The only time I had a pizza there, I thought I was ordering tartiflette. And it was a tartiflette pizza which was very good, but when you're expecting one thing and you get another, it's not the same.

Nino recognized us as soon as we walked through the door. He thanked us for the carte postale we had sent from Fort Lauderdale and we chatted for a few minutes. There was a sizable crowd in the restaurant. I think we were the only non-French in the place. An interesting point: even though it's an Italian restaurant and the proprietor's name is Nino, he's not Italian; he's Egyptian. For desert, I had a créme caramel and Robb had the Parfait Café. As usual, Nino gave us a digestif on the house.

9 Juillet (Samedi) - Laundry (jeans) and La Tour de France.

10 Juillet (Dimanche) - Aujourd'hui (today) we went to le Musée des Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Crafts) which involved taking the same bus twice. We had a choice; we could take the 20 to the end of the line and come back, or we could do what we did. First, we rode to the next stop after the bank, and then we walked down to rue du Quatre-September, where we got the bus going in the opposite direction. We got off at the Réaumur-Arts et Metier stop, which is just across the street from the musée.

The first thing you notice is L'Église Saint-Martin des Champs, which you can enter from the musée, but isn't part of it. Regretfully, we did not go in for a look. The second thing you see is the Statue of Liberty. That now makes three of which I'm certain in Paris, but there could be more.

The musée has exhibits on three floors. The first floor exhibit was a temporary show about the Paris métro system. We didn't see that either. But there was more than enough to see on the other two floors, including one of the first, if not the first, airplanes. I'm not sure I'd want to take a flight in that. The ceiling above the hanging plane is almost as spectacular as the plane.

The musée is large and filled with fascinating stuff. We were there for about three hours and we didn't even see everything. As well as the stuff in the musée, there were interesting things to see outside as well.

Afterward, we caught the bus back to the apartment, and decided to walk down to Comptoir Turenne for a drink and (for me) a rest. I had a coupe de champagne, Robb had a Kir Royal, and we shared a dish of pommes frites (French fries). While sitting there, I saw one of the famous Space Invader mosaics on the building next to the church on rue de Turenne.

Walking back to the apartment on rue Saint-Claude, I noticed a couple other graffiti-like things; the spaceman, the social comment and the very cool barber's sign.

You can see ALL the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-5

2011-07-08T07:24:00.005-04:00

4 Juillet (Lundi) - I took an alprazolam (generic Xanax) last night, and for the first night since we've been here, slept straight through. I'm somewhat susrprised I don't feel that much better, but I suspect my medicine has more to do with how I feel than my lack of sleep. I have doubled my dosage to what it was before this doctor, to see if that's the problem, but it will take at least a week to see a result.

I haven't mentioned food in a couple days. We have been eating 'at home', because I realized that at €100 or more per night, it would cost us almost $20,000 to eat out every night for three months. We simply cannot afford that. For whatever the reason, prices in this area are rather high. We will eat out occasionally, but it probably won't be often. That's one of the advantages of renting an apartment.

Robb was hot to buy another shirt. He went back to the store where he had previously bought three shirts. The shirt they sold him was a medium and he wears a small, so I accompanied him back to make the exchange. Surprisingly, the clerk gave him no hassle at all and the exchange was made.

We decided to go back to Comptoir Turenne to get something to eat. We had the same waiter and, apparently, I was right about the other day, because he greeted us warmly and provided excellent service. We decided on the Chevre Chaud Salade. It was huge! Robb, of course, finished his, but I could only eat about three-quarters of mine. As I am wont to do, I had a good look around and noticed that the ceiling had been painted as a map of the Marais.

On the way back to the apartment, I noticed an old door. It's somewhat atypical of doors here. Most are in better condition.

Our friend, Steve, came down with some kind of stomache problem, so we re-scheduled for Wednesday evening.

5 Juillet (Mardi) - The Musée d'Orsay has lent some of it's impressionist paintings to Hôtel de Ville which is showing them for free until the end of Juillet (July). We hopped aboard the 96 bus and rode to the Hôtel de Ville stop, right across the street from city hall. We walked to the main entrance, but had to go to the back entrance. As we thought, there was a line waiting to be ushered into the show, luckily, it wasn't very long. An interesting thing happened while we were waiting; there was a small group of kids with their teachers in front of us. The guards looked over, saw them and then motioned them to go inside, ahead of the people waiting in line in front of them.

We finally were let in and it was well worth the wait. There were actually two exhibits in the same place; the Impressionistes and La Construction du Nouvelle Paris (the costruction of New Paris).

The Nouvelle Paris exhibit was up a couple flights of stairs, but I was determined to see it. It was worth the climb. There were a lot of pictures of now famous buildings when they were new, or as they were being built, including some really great pictures of the new opera building, which we know today as Opéra Garnier, the old opéra. There was a cast of the Théâtre de la Porte St. Martin, which I thought was the Théâtre de la Renaissance. It's a great exhibit and if you're going to be here before the end of July, I really recommend it.'

Then, we went downstairs to view the Impressioniste paintings. Again, easily worth the wait to get in, which because it has been here a couple weeks and will last until the end of July wasn't that long. There were several artists in the show with whom I was unfamiliar, but I enjoyed seeing their works. Of course, if you've been to the Orsay, you know they never show the complete collection at one time, there's just too many.

After our visit to l'Hôtel de Ville, we walked up to BHV Homme in the hope of getting some more bargain T-shirts. I bought a couple and Robb bought one.

We left and walked to the 75 bus stop on rue des Archives. We took the 75 to Place de la République, but got off at the wrong stop, so our walk back to the apartment was several blocks longer than necessary. Fortunately, the weather in Paris right now is beautiful (low to mid 20'sC, 70's F). Since we had to walk right past it, we stopped at Franprix and Robb bought some stuff, including another bottle of wine.

We heard from our friend Peter and, I think, we have a date for drinks tomorrow afternoon.

6 Juillet (Mercredi) - Last year, I complained because every place at which we stayed was undergoing some kind of construction. Since we got to Paris this year, it had been nicely quite. It now appears the peace is to be broken. Just across the courtyard, workers are renovating what I think is an office. Will someone please explain to me, why are the workers only noisy in the morning when I'm trying to sleep?

Peter stopped by around 14h30. We drank some nice wine and, as usual, had a great conversation. We started outside in our little jardin terrasse (garden terrace) but it started to sprinkle, so we moved inside. During the course of the conversation, Peter asked if we had been to the church down the street (Église Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement). We told him we had, but then, he mentioned the "Pietà" by Delacroix, which we had totally missed. He did say it was in a dark corner, and the church was quite dark when we were there. Now that we know it's there, we'll definitely make a point of going back to see it.

Around 18h30, we walked down to the Turenne/Saint-Claude bus stop. Caught the bus and rode to the Hôtel de Ville stop. We walked to rue des Archives and then, up to Les Marrionners, passing an empty Chez Tsou. All the other places around Chez Tsou were busy, as usual. We have eaten at Chez Tsou and liked it very much, so I don't understand why it's always nearly empty.

We ordered a picher du vin rouge and settled down to wait for Steve, who arrived straight from work. We drank some wine and chatted for several hours, and made a tentative date to meet in Madrid, since he and "cheri" will there for a few days while we are there. Then, Steve left while Robb and I decided to have dinner there. We both had what Les Marrionners calls the "Croquita". It's basically a croque monsieur, but the croquita is an open-faced sandwich with mozzarella, ham, tomatoes and Herbes de Provence. It's very good and very filling. It comes with a small salad.

We finished our dinner and walked down to rue François Miron to get the bus back to the apartment.

7 Juillet (Juedi) - Laundry and La Tour de France. Robb made his daily trip to Franprix and a side trip to the pharmacie for acetone, because I had used Super Glue on my house booties and got a lot of it on my fingers. I tried to watch la Tour at 13h00, but it wasn't on. I thought maybe they had taken a day off. I was starting to watch a tape of yesterday's action around 15h00 and figured I would try France2 once more, and there it was. I don't know if you can watch this French website in the US, but thought I would include it just in case. Laundry takes forever. Washing is quick enough, but in order to have dry clothes, you need to run them through the drier at least three times.

You can see all the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-4

2011-07-04T09:51:00.007-04:00

1 Juillet (Vendredi) - I don't get it. I have absolutely no trouble falling asleep, but I only sleep for two or three hours and then, I toss and turn until about seven in the morning, at which time I fall asleep for another three or four hours.

Today, we went out, caught the 20 bus to Gare de Lyon, where we got the 57 bus to Place d'Italie and Italie2. Robb bought a nice sweater/shirt at Jules. We headed for the pharmacie, stopping at Armand Thierry for a quick look but bought nothing. The pharmacie was only about half as big as it used to be. The actual pharmacie part was like a little room in the back of the store. There was one pharmacist working and a long line waiting. I guess if we want something from a pharmacie, we'll have to go to a local place. I was kind of hoping the pharmacist could suggest a good, over-the-counter sleeping aid.

We stopped into Printemps, but again, bought nothing. Then we went to Tati (sort of a down-trodden K-Mart) hoping to buy hangers, but found none. Robb bought a cannister set to use at the apartment, it's so nice, we may take it with us.

Then, we left Italie2, caught a very crowded 57 bus back to Gare de Lyon, where we got the not-so-crowded 20 bus home.

We dropped the stuff off at the apartment and walked up to Franprix to see what we could find for dinner tonight. We bought a frozen dinner; lasagna bolognaise. It wasn't bad. Our best buy was a box of Magnum White ice cream bars.

2 Juillet (Samedi) - I slept somewhat better and even got up by 10h00. Now, if only my breathing would improve.

In what is becoming a daily routine, we went to the Franprix today and bought more wine, some turkey (for sandwiches) and napkins. We found a re-usable sac (bag) so we don't have to keep using plastic bags.

We dropped our purchases at the apartment and walked down to rue de Turenne. I wanted to find the closest 96 bus stop. We turned right on rue de Turenne. Lots more men's shops and everyone was selling beautiful clothes at special prices because of the soldes, which ends about the time we leave for Madrid. We walked up to rue Froissart, which was only one of the six streets intersecting that corner. Still didn't see the bus stop, but there was a branch of BNP Paribas, so Robb stopped and got some money.Then we started back. We were about a block from rue Saint-Claude when I saw a 96 bus go past. It stopped at rue Saint-Claude. We walked down, had a look and, sure enough, there was a bus stop right there. That's very good news, but I don't know how I missed seeing it when I looked before.

While we were admiring our good luck, we noticed that a wedding party was emerging from the church on the corner, Église Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement The bride was beautiful and the groom was handsome. I thought about taking a picture but it somehow didn't feel like the right thing to do. We were surprised when the bride (still in her beautiful gown) and groom (still in his expensive-looking tuxedo) didn't get into the traditional car to make their getaway, but after most of the rest of the wedding party had left, walked away. Most unusual!

We were sitting on a bench across the street and decided to go to Comptoir Turenne for a café. At first we sat at a table on the terrasse, but the sun was too bright and hot, so we moved to a table inside. While we sat there, we saw another wedding party arrive and go inside. Comptoir Turenne (formerly Le Diplomate) is the very first place in France that practically asked us to leave. Not in so many words, but the waiter brought our chèque and waited for payment well before we actually thought about leaving. Of course, it could be our fault for moving after we ordered our café. Maybe he wasn't sure we were going to stick around and pay. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

We did eventually leave. On the way back to the apartment, I stopped to take a picture of the church bell tower. The tower is at the back end of the church and that puts it very close to our apartment. I have heard them in the morning (in fact, just a few minutes ago), but they're not too loud at all. Back at the apartment, I tweeted our friend Steve to set up a meeting for Lundi soir (Monday evening).

3 Juillet (Dimanche) - La premier Dimanche (the first Sunday) of every month is FREE MUSEUM DAY in Paris, so we got ourselves ready, walked down and got the 96 bus across the street from the Comptoir Turenne. We rode to the Hôtel de Ville bus stop, where we got the 69 bus to the Louvre-Rivoli stop. We should have waited until the Palais Royal stop, but it wasn't a total waste. As we passed Rives, Robb saw saw a wallet he wanted to buy. While he was doing that, I took a picture of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois just across the street. Then we walked down to the Carrousel du Louvre entrance to the musée, passing an interesting exhibit in front of Le Conseil d'Etat. I really didn't think it would be that crowded, but everyone in the city must have known about free museum day. We checked out a couple stores in the Carrousel and headed for the Place du Carrousel bus stop.

We caught the 69 bus to the Champ de Mars, the final stop in that direction. We had hoped to stay on the bus, but the driver insisted that we leave, walk across the street to the real bus stop, and wait till he finished his cigarette. While waiting, I took a strange picture of la Tour Eiffel (you have to look really closely, but I swear it's there). We did that and rode all the way to the other end of the ligne 69, where we, again, left the bus, walked across the street, waited for the driver to smoke and got back on. It gave me the opportunity to photograph the fontaine in front of the 20e Mairie (City Hall).

Around 23h00 (11:00PM) we went to a place on Boulevard Beaumarchais named Grazie. When I looked it up on Google Street View, it showed a place named Le Balto. It's supposed to be a pizza place, and some reviews had good things to say about the pizza. But the drinks were way over-priced.

You can see all the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-3

2011-07-01T06:49:00.007-04:00

27 Juin (Lundi) - I took a pill last night and slept a little better, but still not great.

Robb wanted to go to the banque today. We got ourselves dressed and walked down Boulevard Beaumarchais towards Place de la République in the hope of finding a taxi. As we walked, we tried to flag one down but, except late at night when they're begging for riders, it's almost impossible to do that, and today was no different. In case you don't remember, I really HATE French taxi drivers, and that opinion was stoutly renewed today. We found the taxi stand and there were three taxis there, but no drivers and they never did appear in the entire twenty to thirty minutes we stood there trying to get a passing driver to stop. None did.

We walked down to Place de la République (if you can see the little blue 'TAXI' sign, that's where I was standing when I got one guy to stop) to see if we could get one there. We found the taxi stand and I could see several taxis parked about half-block away. But, again, no drivers. Finally, after standing there waving at passing taxis for ten or fifteen minutes, one actually stopped and picked us up.

I suppose I should mention that it was extremely warm in Paris today. The World Weather site online showed the temp to be in the high 90's. I've never been here when it was that hot. In fact, I didn't really believe it ever got that hot in Paris after being here in July one year when I had to buy a leather jacket because it was so cold!

We got to the banque only to find, once again, it was a wasted trip. The Carte Bleu that was supposed to be waiting for Robb, was not there. You know that list of things I HATE about Paris? Add banques. Supposedly, he has an appointment to pick it up on Wednesday, but I will be greatly surprised if it's actually there.

Just to be certain it wasn't a totally wasted trip, we walked down to the métro station a Place de l'Opéra to get our Navigo passes. Robb needed a new one, and I just had to rechargement mine. We each got a carnet de billets (ten tickets) to use until Vendredi (Friday) when our passes will be good. I have to say, it was much easier this time than last time. The clerk had everything ready and we simply told him what we wanted and handed him the euros. Afterward, we stopped at the 'Paul' café. I got un pain au choclat and une bouteille de l'eau (a chocolat filled brioche and a bottle of water). Robb got an apricot tarte and a can of Minute Maid Jus de l'Orange.

Then we walked over to rue de Quatre Septembre where we got the 20 bus back to the apartment.

Back at the apartment, we were happy to find that the interesting temperature thing was still true - it was at least fifteen to twenty degrees cooler in the apartment. We each had a dish of Menthe Glace (mint ice cream), then rested until dinner time.

A few minutes after 21h00, we went out ostensibly to go to an Italian restaurant I had seen down the street. But we walked a block down Boulevard Beaumarchais, when I spotted a little place on the other side of the boulevard, down a little side street (rue Amelot). I loved the name of the place: La Vache Acrobate (the Acrobatic Cow). I suggested we try it. What a great find it turned out to be. In spite of the heat (surprise Paris is HOT!) we had to sit inside, but at least, we were next to the open window. We both had the Noix Saint Jacques (scallops). They were served with the best risotto I have EVER eaten. We ordered une bouteille du Val de Loire (an excellent white wine). We skipped dessert and finished with un café.

After dinner, we walked a bit down the street and discovered a few more restaurants. They were all closed and I hope it was only because it's Lundi (Monday) and it's their usual day to be closed.

28 Juin (Mardi) - Did I mention that we got here the day after the start of les soldes d'été (summer sales) Période des soldes d'été : du mercredi 22 juin 2011 au mardi 26 juillet 2011 inclus (they last from 22 June to 26 July). Les soldes d'été, for those who aren't familiar, are the summer sales. In France, store 'sales' are regulated by the state. Supposedly, the stores can only have 'sales' at certain times of the year. Of course, that does not include 'specials' or 'going out of business sales'.

The other day when we were walking down rue de Turenne and were checking out all the men's stores, we also noticed that the prices were really low. Normally, clothing in Paris is quite expensive. Robb had seen several shirts he wanted, so off we went on a shopping spree. We passed several stores before he finally saw something he had to buy. He bought three shirts. Then he took them back to the apartment while I waited just outside Hôtel de Grand Veneur, where there was a photo exhibit of some sort. I took a picture of the main entrance with the "flags", and a picture of a couple of pieces of sculpture in the courtyard. I think one is King Louis 'the Sun King, but I'm not certain.'

We walked a little further, than caught the 96 bus to BHV. While we were in the store, it rained a little bit. We both bought some nice T-shirts because we hadn't brought enough (I only had one with me). After, we walked down by Hôtel de Ville, thinking we might have time to check out the free Impressionist exhibit, but it was too late. Apparently, most of the art is on loan from the Musée d'Orsay. The exhibit is on until the end of July, so we will have the chance to check it out. Since we couldn't do the HdV exhibit, we walked over to Place de Saint-Gervais and down rue François Miron to the bus stop and caught the 96 bus back to rue Saint-Claude. It was good to get back to our nice, cool apartment for a while.

A little after 21h00, we went looking for a place to eat. This time we tried rue de Turenne and found a little place on rue de Parc Royal named Café des Musées (probably because the Picasso Musée is just down the street). We were seated next to two American girls who were living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Next to them were two (I think, because they were speaking English to the girls) French guys. At any rate, everyone was very friendly and we had a very good time. The waiters were also very friendly, cheerful and helpful. We both had Canard Roti (roasted duck) with a medley of vegetables. It was excellent. Dessert was a créme tarte with cranberries. We drank a bottle of beaujolais. During the time we were there, it rained lightly, but the temperature cooled down significantly.

29 Juin (Mercredi) - The Paris heat wave is over and I'm back to wearing my leather jacket. Today, also, is Robb's appointment at the banque. I'm curious to see how that goes. Around 13h00, we walked up and got the 20 Bus. We arrived at the BNP Paribas about a half-hour early, so we just hung around outside, then went in. We only had to wait a few minutes util Robb's conseiller. She was very pleasant (as usual) and she actually had Robb's card ready and waiting. After getting the formalities out of the way, we chatted for several minutes; mostly about politics and the "war on terror". She's very knowledgeable about world happenings, and we found that we pretty much agreed on everything.

We left, stopping for a café at Bistro Romain. Just across the street was a Pizza Hut, so I had to take a picture.

Then we walked over to rue de Quatre Septembre, where we just missed the 29 bus, but only waited a few minutes for the 20. There is a beautiful church between the Bourse (which used to be the Paris stock exchange) and Square du Temple. I tried to take a picture of it, but my phone was turned off and by the time it re-booted, we were already too far past. But since I had it ready, I took a shot of the Temple métro station and the statue named 'Republique' in the middle of Place de la République.

Dinner at Le Repaire de Cartouche. There is an entrance on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire which is really Blvd Beaumarchais, but changes names about a block from the restaurant like so may streets in Paris. We actually entered from rue Amelot, after stopping at two other "restaurants" that have menus but don't serve food. That now makes three of those we've found in this area. I don't mind if a place wants to be only a bar, but at least they shouldn't advertise themselves as a café/brasserie. Le Repaire de Cartouche is a split-level place, and I suspect the locals eat downstairs, while the tourists are shuffled off to the hinterland. We both had the Pavé de St. Pierre (a white fish) served over delicious wax beans (like haricots vert, except yellow). Dessert, which was ordered by Robb, was supposed to be white chocolate cake with strawberries, but there was little, if any, white chocolate in it. It was good but... The waiters, in contrast to reviews I read after getting back to the apartment, were pleasant and friendly. When reading about the restaurant, they presented the hours thusly; "Closed Sun., Mon., and Aug." I found that to be quite funny. If you know anything about Paris, you know that most Parisians leave the city in August.

30 Juin (Jeudi) - Another terrible night. I was reading the entries from our last trip to Europe because I was looking for the name of a store (which I found) and I saw that it was a week or more before I could get into going places and doing things. I'm hoping that's the case this time, but I don't remember it being this bad.

Dinner tonight at a really nice place on rue Amelot, which although it's just across the street, is in the 11e (11th arrondissement) La CuiZine. It's apparently run by a husband and wife team. We both had gambas (huge shellfish served whole) which came with a side of risoto. Very messy, but very good, and our waitress Delphine brought us finger bowls. We drank a nice Macon Village white wine. Dessert for me was a raspberry Tiramisu. Neither of us can remember what Robb had, but it was good and looked beautiful. This is a great restaurant and we hope to return before we leave for Madrid in a couple of weeks. Oh, and La CuiZine is one of the restaurants we saw the other day that was closed because (I think) it was their regular day to be closed.

You can see all the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-2

2011-06-28T07:44:00.009-04:00

24 Juin (Vendredi) - Between the jet lag, the room temperature (Robb thought it was too hot and I was freezing) and my leg cramps, it was close to 07h00 before we fell into a fitful sleep. When I awoke, it was about 15h00 (3 PM). Robb was already up and had made coffee. Again, this apartment doesn't have an electric coffee pot but a French Press. We had forgotten to get bread when we went to the Franprix yesterday, so Robb had to go out on his own. He made it there and back with no mishaps. Maybe the gingo biloba is actually doing something.

I just looked at the clock and it's 19h45!! I've spent the entire day writing about the last two days.

Ce soir, we walked down to Chez Clément which is only a block from Place de la Bastille. We had a great waiter; a young guy who spoke very good English. When we asked how he learned, he replied that he picked it up from talking to English speaking people. Most of the time he spoke to us in French, but we noticed that he spoke exclusively English with the Japanese couple at the next table. My dinner was the Pavé de daurade avec pommes (white fish with potatoes). Robb had the Pavé de lieu avec legumes de jardin (Fish with vegetables). They were both excellent. Pour au boire (to drink) we had une bouteille de Petit Chablis (a bottle of chablis). I can't remember the last time I had chablis, but it only took one sip to realize it shouldn't be that long until I have it again. For desert, we both had créme brulée.

After dinner, we walked down to Place de la Bastille and hung out for a few minutes. It was too cold to stay longer and we started the eight block walk back to the apartment.

It's supposed to be quite warm demain (tomorrow).

25 Juin (Samedi) - Paris Gay Pride Day.

Although I managed to get out of bed around noon, after another horrible, non-sleep night, it took several hours to do my morning stuff, drink a cup of coffee and eat a couple pieces of toast. The gay pride parade started at 14h00 in front of la Tour Montparnass at Place du 18 Juin 1940, which is in the 6e (6th arrondissement). The participants will walk and drive across the city, crossing the Seine by way of the Pont de Sully, then make their way by way of Boulevard Henri IV, to the Place de la Bastille, where (hopefully) we will be waiting to see it.

The problem was that I was so tired from the last couple of busy, sleepless days, we didn't even start walking to the Place until after 15h00. It wasn't really a problem though because I knew it would take the parade at least two to three hours to arrive at the Place. And I was correct, the first float didn't appear until a couple minutes after five. I tried to make a video to capture some of the feeling but it didn't turn out.

There was a huge crowd when we got there (around 16h00) and it grew by the minute. Where once I could see across the street, by the time the first float arrived, I could barely see a few feet in front of me. Luckily, we had a good spot and while we couldn't see everything, we could easily see the floats.

As in years past, there was a large bandstand set up by one of the local rock stations (HotMixOne - I think) and they were blasting sound. When they cranked up the bass, the whole area bounced. It always surprises me that some windows aren't broken.

After a couple hours, I was very tired from standing, and found a place where I could sit down. There was a young guy nearby who, according to his female friend, had already drunk a couple pitchers of beer and was drinking from a bottle of wine. He was very drunk, but he was a happy drunk. I called him "the dancer" because he was dancing to all the music, both from the bandstand and the floats, not to mention the stuff he was singing. He really was quite a good dancer.

I found a few videos on the internet. The first one includes the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (I simply LOVE that name) doing a circle dance and singing. The second one is rather short. The third one is about three minutes. The main theme of this year's parade was gay equality as can be seen in this France 24 article with video en Anglais (in English).

There was an ice cream truck, Snoopy Glace, near us so Robb bought us a couple of cones. The ice cream was good, the cones not so much. The final float rolled by around 19h30 (7:30 PM) and we started the very long trek back to the apartment. I was so tired, I didn't even want to go out for dinner, but around 21h45 we walked down to the place on the corner which indicated on its awning, that it is a cafe and a brasserie (both eating places). However, the waiter said they were serving nothing but drinks, though we had seen people eating there when we passed a day or two ago. So it was back to the apartment where we had toast, pâté and wine.

You can see all the Pride pictures at Paris Pride 2011.

26 Juin (Dimanche) - Another sleepless night. I may have to resort to some kind of sleeping pill. I think part of the problem is the teensy-weensy little pillows they have in France. At least, today is Dimanche (Sunday) and most things are closed, so I'll have a chance to recoup some energy and catch up on yesterday's events. Robb walked up to the Franprix to get some more stuff around noon (Midi).

To find out what happened when I tried to make a video yesterday, I made a short video of the apartment. Of course, that turned out great. But you can get a sense of the large size the place. There is a strange situation with this apartment. It is at least twenty degrees cooler in here than outside. I also took pictures out the front door and the back door.

Dinner tonight a 'le bar à huîtres' on Boulevard Beaumarchais. The waiter brought out a huge lobster. It must have weighed close to ten pounds. I would have said "no way", but Robb wanted to go with it. I don't even like lobster, but what the hey. My dessert was three kinds of sorbet, and that was excellent. Robb had rhum cake (and again, the waiter left the entire bottle of rum, thankfully Robb didn't drink as much as last time). The thing that blew me away was the menu. It was on what I think was an iPad (I've never actually seen one, but Apple is very popular over here, so it could be). After the main course, but before dessert, I went out and took a video (with my phone) of the fish market just at the corner, because of the waterfall windows. If you don't mind being REALLY ripped-off, you might like to eat at this place.

You can see all the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011

2011-06-24T14:16:00.008-04:00

22 Juin (Mercredi) - Bonjour de Paris!

We took the car over to Steve's last night so he could start it for us. We don't want to go through the whole replacing the battery thing again. We gave our apartment and mailbox keys to Dave, our neighbor across the hall. He promised to pick up our mail. The apartment key is just in case and we really hope he doesn't need it.

We had finished packing also last night, so we only had to put in our shaving stuff and we were ready for the taxi, which I had called last night, too. He arrived right around 13h00, loaded our stuff in and off we went to BIA (Broward International Airport). I have never before heard it called that, and I don't think it's "official", but that's what the taxi drivers are calling it.

The guy at the outside check-in area couldn't find our tickets in his machine, even though it brought up our names. He told us that happens all the time and we should just go inside to the regular counter. We had no problem checking in at the inside counter and headed to the gate, which luckily for me was only about a hundred yards from the counter. I say luckily because the wheelchair that was supposed to be waiting for me, was not. We boarded right on time and settled into our seats.

Then it all went to hell.

The first announcement came just before our scheduled take-off time; 15h15. Apparently, there was a bad weather situation over the Atlanta airport, and planes could not land, nor take off. It was supposed to clear within a half hour. We weren't worried because we had a three-hour window until our flight to Paris at 20h30. We finally took off around 17h30 and got into Atlanta around 19h45. Again, the wheelchair that was supposed to be waiting, was not there and we had to call for one to be brought down. It was a good thing I insisted on waiting for it, because the gate at which our plane was waiting was the very last one in the airport and there's no way we would have gotten there (once we found where it was) in time. As it was, we just made it. Or so we thought. Again, because of the bad weather that had finally cleared just before we arrived, had caused eveything to be backed up, and our plane didn't take off until around 21h30.

We thought we were flying Delta to Atlanta, where we would board an Air France plane to Paris. We were wrong. We flew Delta all the way. I'm not complaining, it's just that although Delta was nice and the stewardesses were friendly and efficient, it lacked the ambience of Air France. For instance, with dinner you could have wine, but you had to ask for it. And, unlike Air France, there was no champagne at all. When I saw our seats, I was a happy camper. We were just next to the bulkhead, which of course, means we had extra room. The only problem was that Robb was on one side of the aisle, and I was on the other. There was a French woman with a 20-month-old child sitting between us. The kid was very active and a bit annoying, but within an hour or so he fell asleep in his mother's arms. That brought up problem number two; we had not yet been served our dinner and she couldn't hold the kid and eat at the same time. Her solution was to lay the kid on the floor in front of her (and me). Robb gave her his blanket and I gave her my pillow for his head. He slept contentedly for almost the entire flight.

23 Juin (Jeudi) - When we arrived at Aéroport Charles de Gaulle at around 11h30, there was a wheelchair, but sadly it wasn't for me. It took almost an hour for them to bring me my chair. Again, it's a good thing I insisted, because it is a long, long way through customs, baggage claim and to the taxi station and I was extremely tired. While I didn't mind the French kid sleeping on the floor in front of me, it meant I couldn't really sleep because I was worried I might accidentally kick him if I fell totally asleep. I managed to doze off for a few minutes at a time, but it definitely wasn't restful. My wheel man was very nice and even made sure I got a taxi ahead of the other passengers standing in a long line. I'm sure they were pissed when they saw me just hop into a taxi and take off.

We got to the apartment around 15h00, and were met by Olivier, the representative of Ah Paris, through whom we had rented our apartment at 7, rue Saint-Claude in the 3e (le Marais). He showed us how everything worked and got us signed onto the internet. He went on his way and we acclimated ourselves. The apartment is a lot bigger than it appears in the pictures on the website. We were both so tired, we did something we ordinarily would not do; we napped for several hours. It was cold in the apartment even though it was about 19°C outside. Well, 19°C is around the mid-sixties in Fahrenheit. That's cold for me.

As tired as we were, we had no choice but to walk to the Franprix on Blvd Beaumarchais. We needed coffee, milk, bread and wine. But as we always do, we bought a few other things also.

A bit after 21h00, we decided (okay, I decided) we could walk to dinner at Fontaine Sully. We walked down rue Saint-Claude to rue de Turenne. We turned left and walked down rue de Turenne. I had done this walk digitally on Google Street View and I knew there are a lot of men's stores, but when you walk it for real, the number of stores is somewhat overwhelming. And of course, we had to stop at so many to have a look. We finally made it to rue de San Antoine, just a block past Place des Vosges and Fontaine Sully was about a half block to our left. The first thing we ordered was a picher du vin rouge (a small pitcher of red wine) because the house wine at Fontaine Sully is quite good. For dinner, we both had filet mignon de porc (pork fillets) accompanied by a large portion of linguini. After eating, we had un coupe de champagne (a glass of champagne) and finsihed with un café (a coffee). It was amusing to remember how we used to think we had to order a café noir (black coffee), when all that's really necessary is saying simply "café, s'il vous plait". Just after we ordered the champagne, Katy recognised us and came over to say "bonsoir" and do the French kissing thing.

After leaving the restaurant, I wanted to walk up to the Place de la Bastille and walk back to the apartment by way of Blvd Beaumarchais. The Colonne de Juillet was all lit up and I took a picture of it with my phone. Considering how tired and cold I was, it's not a terrible picture.

It seemed to take much longer to get back to the apartment than it had taken to get to the restaurant, but we finally made it. It was well after 02h00 when we climbed the short staircase (8 steps) up to the bedroom which contains only a double bed and a small night table.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Getting Close

2011-06-20T14:10:00.002-04:00

Friday was my birthday. Robb took me, Wendy and Steve to the HiLife Cafe to celebrate. Actually, I guess it was more to commemorate than celebrate because no one celebrates being this old. We had a bottle of champagne and a good meal. Robb, Steve and I had a roasted pork dish which was very good. Wendy had a goat cheese salad. The goat cheese was lightly battered and fried. It was so good. I was the last to finish. I don't really mind getting older, and if it wasn't for the COPD, I would probably be in excellent condition. At least, that's how I feel. It's difficult to think of myself as old, except when I look at the skin on my arms. Yuck!

Get ready to walk! All dates 2011 gay pride events. We will be there for the parade in Paris on the 25th.

World's largest swimming pool

There’s a Secret Patriot Act, Senator Says.

Scientists predict rare 'hibernation' of sunspots.

Die Smiling on This Hoverbike.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Brainerd, Minnesota, every man is required by law to grow a beard!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

Fractal Energy

2011-06-13T12:51:00.000-04:00

Since the drug companies here won't let me buy more than a month's worth of my medicine at a time, and since we will be going to Europe in another week and a half, I bought my drugs from a pharmacy in Vanuatu. Yes, I know all about the FDA's warnings about drugs from other places. I know, also, how the FDA will pass any drug from which they receive enough money. I have bought drugs from this company many times before. Never had a problem and don't expect any this time.

I spoke to a really nice guy at AT&T the other day. When I asked if he had ever been out of the country, he replied he had not but wanted to go to Ireland, when and if he gets the chance. When I told him about getting high speed internet, multi-channel TV, free phone service to nearly the entire world and all that for only €30 per month, he replied, "Wow, we're really ripped off in this country aren't we?"

Of course, since most of the people in this country never leave it, they have no idea how badly we are over-charged for just about everything. And when you tell them, they are in such denial (not the river) that they refuse to believe it. As the saying goes...none are so blind as those who will not see. Since that applies to at least eighty percent of Americans, don't expect any changes in your lifetime.

Tests show wireless network could jam GPS systems.

It’s Official: Google Can Sell Power Like a Utility. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has granted Google Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of the search giant, the right to behave like a utility. The order grants Google Energy the power to sell energy, capacity and services at market rates.

The Original Condom.

Mars Space Station 'Discovered'; Earthlings Tune In To See It.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Arizona, it is illegal for donkeys to sleep in bathtubs.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

BRAZILliant

2011-06-06T13:21:00.000-04:00

It has been an interesting week chez nous. We hired a maid to come in every other week. Her name is Carmen. She's from Brazil. Wednesday was her first day and she was here for about five hours. She is so thorough that she didn't even finish before she had to go, but promised to make up for it next time. There were only a couple things she didn't get to, but one of them was something we didn't think she would do at all because none of the other people we've had in would even think about cleaning our breakfront with all the glassware.

In other good news, I finally sold the four-wheel suitcase I bought in Germany. I had listed it a couple months ago in Craigslist. One guy called about it, but he didn't want to pay the $50 I was asking. I waited about a month and put it back in on Monday for $75. I had two inquiries and the second one came over on Friday and bought it for his daughter for her trip to.....Brazil.

NOTE TO MOBILE PHONE MAKERS: PLEASE, DO NOT PUT THE VOLUME CONTROL ON THE SIDE OF THE PHONE! THANK YOU.

Does anyone ever wonder why, in spite of the billions of dollars collected through various charities, no cure for anything has been discovered? You don't suppose it's because the drug companies, the insurance companies and the medical practitioners would lose millions if cures were discovered? Nah, couldn't be that.

Here is another example of how badly we're ripped in this country: "The annual premium for a policy providing replacement value for the house and its contents in case of fire, water, or storm damage was just 250 euros ($365). In California, we had been paying about $1500 (€1027) a year for similar coverage (which did not include earthquake insurance). I subsequently bought a car in Saint-Aignan and had it insured with AXA as well. Again, the annual premium for a full-service policy — liability, collision, and comprehensive coverage — was much lower than it had been in California for a similar policy." Americans will never learn! We are ripped-off in just about every way you can imagine, we are behind in just about every category used to measure the greatness of a country, and yet we go blithely on our way talking about living in the greatest country in the world. Some people, instead of waking up when reading this, will undoubtedly reply that if we dislike the US so much, we should leave. Well, just as soon as the dollar is worth more than fifty cents. Does anyone remember just a few years ago when the Canadian dollar was worth about fifty cents? Well, now it's the US dollar that's worth less. We have the slowest internet service in the world, but pay the most. We have the worst mobile phone service in the world, but again, we pay the most.

As if all that wasn't bad enough, Monday it was learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans. Many citizens have no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform... in all of its forms.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Arkansas, a man can legally beat his wife once a month!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

Clubbing Auctions

2011-05-30T13:25:00.003-04:00

Saturday night, Robb and I went clubbing. We started at Georgie's Alibi with a margarita. It was somewhat weak, but much better than the last one we had there. We finished our drinks, and walked over to Bill's Filling Station, passing the open Gay Mart on the way. It didn't even occur to me until right now, that it was after midnight and the store was open. In Bill's, we came across a signed poster of RuPaul from 2007. It just happens that we went there for that show with our friends from Toulouse. We waited and waited, but after a couple hours, (s)he still hadn't appeared and we (the audience) were told it might be a couple more hours, so we did not get to see RuPaul. Neither did we get our money back. We had another margarita. It was stronger than the one we had had at Georgie's. We left Bill's and started walking down to The Manor. But Robb had picked up some gay mags and wanted to leave them in the car, so we detoured. Once we got to the car, we decided we might as well drive down to The Manor, because it was a bit further than either of us wanted to walk. We got lucky and came across a guy pulling out just across the street. After we had parked, four young girls (think early 20's) came over to ooh and ahh over the car and us. Lordy, I can't believe we're so old that young guys and girls think we're just so cute. The Manor was jumping with the biggest crowd we'd seen so far. I ordered our margaritas, we found a table where we could check out the action and hung out. The drinks at The Manor were nondescript and served in a small plastic cup. They were also the most expensive.

I was sitting on the balcon the other day and just happened to notice that one of the palm tree spears I showed before, was in the process of opening into a frond.

There's a whole new business happening online now. They're called “Penny Auctions”. Some clever person took the idea of eBay and figured out a way to make more money while giving less. In order to "bid" on an item, you have to purchase "bids". If you run out of bids before you win the item, you have to purchase more. Their big draw is the low bids that "win" the items; like getting an iPad for $30.

This asshole will just not give up: OAKLAND, Calif. — Here we go again. A California religious radio impresario who predicted — wrongly — that the end of the world would begin on May 21 revised his prophecy on Monday, saying now that the end is due in October.

Top 10 New Species Discovered in 2010.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Arizona, it is illegal to hunt camels!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis

Blah Blah Trees

2011-05-23T17:02:00.000-04:00

Sunday was a horrific day. Two of Robb's cousins (twice removed) came in to visit their mother (Helen, who lives on Miami Beach). Elandra flew in from Dallas and Claudia drove down from New Jersey with a stop in Atlanta to visit her daughter. Elandra, was getting into the Fort Lauderdale airport around 13h00. She and Robb agreed to meet at the airport and drive to the Sage restaurant, where we would wait for Claudia. Of course, our car only holds two people, so Robb had to drop me at the restaurant first. It took a bit longer than any of us anticipated, but they finally showed up. Then we had to order lunch. I checked the menu and decided the best thing for me would be a crêpe, so I ordered the Crêpe Nanette (with apples and brie). I was hoping for a regular crêpe, but this thing was big enough to feed a family of four. Then the real horror began. Elandra started talking. Mother blah blah blah...sister blah blah blah. It seemed like hours until Claudia called and said she was very close. I guess they're all so used to putting each other down that they don't realize how very boring it can be for someone outside the family to listen to them. Especially if you can't just get up and walk away.

We have four new trees in our 'garden' area (the area between the buildings). I'm not sure what kind of trees they may be. One appears to be some kind of palm tree, another is kind of gray-ish, and the other two look like regular trees. Two of the trees were planted where we had lost trees. The palm-like tree replaced the one that died because of the cold, and the other one replaced a tree whose roots were damaging the pool.

If I should suddenly disappear from Open Diary, you can find me at Le Rêve Français.

I never liked the Sperminator from the first time I heard of him, many years ago. It just seems appropriate that he's a homophobic Republican who cheats on his wife.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Arizona, it is illegal to hunt camels!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

Flashing Music

2011-05-16T13:29:00.003-04:00

Flashes Light Up Sky Over Fort Worth. This video is fantastic!

I don't know about you guys, but I found this to be hilarious: Delaware Adopts Civil Unions. The bill, which passed the state house and senate by wide margins last month, was signed into law at the Queen Theater in Wilmington....

I hope you all will have a happy last week of your life. Oh, haven't you heard? According to Harold Camping (the same guy who predicted the end of the world in 1994, be sure to scroll down to the reviews) the world is coming to an end on May 21, 2011, at approximately 18h00. So, if you were planning to watch the six o'clock news this Saturday, too bad, you will be the news. According to the dimwits at ebiblefellowship.com/, it's true. Of course, that doesn't mean you should stop sending your donations. So, happy End of the World, folks!

While shopping in our local discount warehouse, I came across Magnum Ice Cream Bars. You may remember how I raved about them last year in Europe, so I was extremely happy to find a place that sells them in the US. Then I got the idea to check our local supermarket, and sure enough, there they were. But no one sells, nor have they even heard about (apparently) my favorite, the Magnum White. So, of course, as I am wont to do in these times of email, I fired off a bunch of emails to various markets around the area. A few contacted me wanting to know where I had seen, or eaten, these delicious treats, which is how I discovered this particular bar was unknown to them.

Robb and I watched the Eurovision finals live online. Only one of my top three choices made it to the top ten; Georgia. Robb liked Greece. The winner was Azerbaijan, which we had to Google to find where it is. The one thing that always stands out when I watch Eurovision, is that almost all the songs are performed in English. I say almost all, because France refuses to speak English, even though it's mandatory in their schools. Italy didn't do that well, but I know at least one other person who will like them.

If you hate flying, you're going to love this video.

AquaNotes Waterproof Notepad Captures the Great Ideas You Get in the Shower!

Dumb Law of the Week: In Alabama, it is illegal to wrestle bears.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

Two SIM Cards

2011-05-09T18:18:00.001-04:00

I bought two SIM cards from different companies. The first is from Roam Simple, a Canadian company, although the card they sent me is for O₂, a UK company. I got that one, even though their rates are a bit high and you have to pay for everything; incoming, outgoing, texts in, texts out, even voicemail. But I have an $18 credit from the last time I used them, so I will use that until my credit is gone and then I'll switch to the other. The other is from Roam4Zero, a slight misnomer, and another UK company. But their rates are rather fair. These rates for the Czech Republic are pretty much standard throughout Europe; Incoming $0.00 / min, Outgoing to local landline $0.50 / min, Outgoing to local Cell $0.50 / min, Outgoing SMS $0.70, Incoming SMS Free. There are two distinctly different Roam4 websites. Roam4Less and Roam4Zero. Roam4Less is very similar to Roam Simple, with which you pay for everything, and the Roam4Zero which has rates like the ones I've shown. There is another company named Roam4Free, which is in no way connected with the other two. Oh, the Roam4Zero card is usually about $29, but I got them on eBay for $10 with no shipping charge.

Saturday, Robb and I did another thing we haven't done in a long time. No, again it wasn't that. We met Wendy (Robb's neice) and Steve (her husband) for lunch at a place named D'Angelo's. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but I don't eat breakfast or lunch. It's usually much too late for breakfast, by the time I get up somewhere between 11:30 AM and 13h00. At the restaurant, which was very nice, we had a bunch of stuff from the Tapas menu, including roasted sweet Italian sausage over escarole and beans, turkey & chicken meatballs in roasted pepper thyme sauce, polpo – octopus carpaccio, olives and tomato pesto. I ate a couple pieces of calamari and a couple of pesto covered french fries. But I ate quite a bit of the polpo because it was very like the polpo we had in Barcelona. Steve and Wendy didn't care for it. We had a nice, long chat (about an hour and a half) and then we left.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about seeing bushy palm trees for the first time. Some people got the idea that they're bushy because they needed trimming. But that's not the case, because as far as I know, I've never seen anyone trim a palm tree. Nor have I ever seen one that needed trimming. Here is a picture of a 'regular' palm tree and here is a 'bushy' palm tree. Can you now see the difference? These 'regular' palms have been here since long before we moved in, and in fact, were barely up to the balcony of the apartment below us. The palm trees don't need trimming because they 'trim' themselves. It's not easy to see, but in this picture, you can see what appears to be a spear sticking up from the middle of the tree. You can also see one in the picture of the bushy trees. This will eventually become a new frond. Shortly after that happens, one of the older fronds on the bottom will fall off.

Intel Debuts First 3-D Transistor for New ‘Ivy Bridge’ Chip.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Alaska, it is illegal to tie your pet dog to the roof of a car.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

Twenty-Two

2011-05-02T13:32:00.001-04:00

Monday night, Robb and I did something we haven't done in a long, long time. No, not that. We went to a bar after eleven PM. Normally, Robb would be getting ready to go to bed around midnight (I usually don't go to bed until about one or two AM). But at midnight on Monday night, we were sitting on the outdoor patio at Georgie's Alibi drinking margaritas. They weren't very good, but they were considerably less than I remember paying for drinks in the good ole days. It was nice to be out and about for a change, but we didn't get to bed until about three AM and I really felt it on Tuesday.

Friday afternoon, Geoff invited a bunch of us to his place to watch the Royal Wedding of Kate and William. I could not care less about the Royal Family and their affairs, but I loved being able to see the beautiful buildings both inside and out, not to mention the beautiful carriages after the wedding. Also, the champagne we drank didn't hurt at all. Of course, that was three days ago, so now Geoff is not speaking to me again because I agreed with something he said. I think I'm pretty much done with him this time, it takes too much effort to befriend him; you just never know what's going to set him off.

Saturday night, we had dinner again at the HiLife Cafe. I had the Pasta Purses, "delicate purses stuffed with creamy goat cheese and roast hazelnut in a mushroom Madeira wine sauce with a hint of Brie cheese". The HiLife now features "half-portions" for people like me who cannot eat the huge mounds of food served in restaurants. I considered getting the half-portion of the Pasta Pockets, but changed my mind. It's a good thing I did because what I was served would have equaled a half-portion in any other restaurant. Robb had the Blueberry Hill, "Grilled NY Strip Steak served with our homemade Mashed Potatoes and Smoked Blueberry Sauce topped with Bacon dressed Arugula Salad."

I saw this headline today: Medicare's Math Problem: Taxes - Benefits = Trouble. The REAL problem with the Medicare program is the incompetent people running it and the amount of money stolen from it (and Social Security) to support other favorite programs of the Washington politicians.

NEW YORK (AP) - Apple denied that the iPhone has a privacy problem Wednesday - and then promised to fix it. It took the technology giant a week to respond to a brouhaha over how the devices log their owners' movements. So, tell me, how do you fix a problem that doesn't exist? Will Apple lovers ever get it? This is what Apple claims cannot be done.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

Bushy Fish Eye

2011-04-25T17:54:00.001-04:00

I was walking around the complex grounds when I happened to look up at the apartments in the complex next door and noticed the palm trees. Now, remember, they've been there for several years, but this was the first time I actually looked at them. What a surprise I got. I've never before seen a bushy palm tree.

A couple days later, I was again walking around our complex and what to my surprise did I find growing all over the place? Yep, bushy palm trees. I particularly like this group by the river with the bench. I also like the view from the bench. I finally saw some relatively large fish in the river and tried to get a picture, but I guess they were too far under the water, because the picture was great but I couldn't see the fish. The water in the river is surprisingly clean.

Time travel nixed in metamaterial world.

New Theory of Evolution for Spiral Galaxy Arms.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week: For obvious reasons.

À bientôt, mes amis.

Beer Phone

2011-04-18T20:19:00.000-04:00

There is a guy who lives on the first floor of our building whom I call Beer Boy. The reason I call him by that name is I don't know his real name and because he spends most of the day drinking beer after beer after beer. He usually shows up at the pool, around eleven in the morning, by which time he is already well into drunkeness. He sits in the sun for several hours, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and sometimes, a cap. Robb once asked if he was worried about getting skin cancer, and he replied that was the least of his worries. I don't know if you've ever had the opportunity to see someone who spends a lot of time in the sun, but their skin looks like old, dried-out leather. He obviously doesn't work because he is always here and he is always drunk. We assume he is on some kind of disability. He is friendly but he is definitely one of the many strange people living in our complex.

I've been looking for an HTC mobile phone because they are pretty much the best on the market at this time. But more than that, they have a large, 4.3-inch screen. Also, I want an unlocked phone that I can use when we go traveling, and the HTC would be ideal because along with the large screen, it has a great camera for single shots and videos. I tried to get AT&T to unlock my phone, but they won't do it before 4 August. We'll have less than a month left at that time, and I really don't want to have to take two phones. My reason for mentioning this is that I thought I had found a wholesaler who would be willing to sell just one phone. So I contacted them and agreed to wire the money by Western Union. Apparently, Western Union saved me from being ripped off, because they refused to pay the wholesaler because he was on their blacklist. I have since learned that people and companies who insist you send money through Western Union (or any other way that entails giving them 'cash') are most likely to be scams. So, kiddies, if you deal with a company who won't accept credit cards, or at the very least PayPal, be very wary.

Evolution of Language Takes Unexpected Turn.

Why we measure speech in noise. The ability to detect speech in noise plays a significant role in our communication with others and our overall sense of sharpness. Here's an example: You're at a restaurant, celebrating your sister's birthday with a big group of people. It's a boisterous crowd, and many conversations are going on around you. You want to join a conversation with two old friends sitting nearby. Can you separate the background noise from their words well enough to participate?

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

Dinner On The Bay

2011-04-11T15:49:00.003-04:00

Saturday evening, we drove down to Miami Beach to have dinner with Robb's elderly cousin (once removed). Who uses such terminology? We were supposed to eat in the building restaurant, but it had closed a day or two before. His cousin (Helen) didn't discover that fact until just a short while before we got there. It's not really surprising. The area is full of decent restaurants, and unless they advertised, no one would know they were there. So their clientele is pretty much limited to the people who live in Costa Brava. There are twenty-two floors and, according to their ad, 216 apartments, but it's not enough to support a restaurant where the food is mediocre at best.

Helen suggested a nearby Greek restaurant. Of course, our car only holds two people, so we had to take her car and her assistant, Claudette, drove. When we arrived, I saw the name of the place was Sardinia. My geography isn't all that great, but I know that Sardinia is nowhere near Greece, and is, in fact, Italian. But one must remember, Helen is ninety-two. Robb and I had what they called "sea bass", and although it was delicious, it wasn't like any sea bass we've ever had before. If you read about our experience in Café Seville, you'll recall that I complained about the noise. Compared to the Sardinia, Café Seville was quiet as a tomb. While we were eating, three guys sat at the table next to us. One of them remarked, "This is the first time we haven't talked to each other in forty years." Sardinia is situated near the shore, and I tried to take a couple of pics but they all came out very blurred.

Here are a few (not terrible) pictures of Biscayne Bay from Helen's apartment. That's the city of Miami in the background.

Why The United States Of America Is Broke. Hint...it has something to do with the Defense Budget.

Here's a fun game to get the gray matter moving. Word Bubbles.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

Hi Life Boy

2011-04-04T17:03:00.003-04:00

Thursday was Robb's birthday. He's now (mumble mumble) years old. To celebrate, Robb, Geoff and I went to the Hi Life Café. Ricky was supposed to join us but he had to fly back to New York for a meeting of some sort, so it was just the three of us. We were surprised to learn that Chuck and Carlos had sold the restaurant, although Carlos has remained on as the chef. We started by sharing the appetizer; Creole Calamari (Fresh calamari sautéed in a garlic fricassée). For our main course, Robb and I had the Jumbo Sea Scallops (Seared jumbo scallops served with a ginger accented sweet potato mash and grilled asparagus then finished with an orange glaze). Geoff had the Blueberry Hill (Grilled NY Strip Steak served with homemade Mashed Potatoes and Smoked Blueberry Sauce topped with Bacon dressed Arugula Salad). As usual, the food at the Hi Life was excellent. Because it was a special occasion, we downed a couple bottles of Veuve Clicquot.

Chef Carlos has appeared on a few Spanish TV shows.

Saturday night, we went back to Café Seville for dinner. I had Fillet of Red Snapper Olé, sautéed with artichokes, mushrooms, leeks, lemon juice, garlic and white white. Robb started with a green salad, then had Dolphin with a tomato and jalapeno mix. Our dessert was Tres Leches Cake. Ramon Justicia, an excellent guitarist, was playing, but the other diners were so loud and rude, we could barely hear him over their din.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

À bientôt, mes amis.

International SIM

2011-03-28T14:47:00.002-04:00

Thought I had found a great deal on an International SIM card online. It was less than most others, we would have been able to call each other with no charge and to make it even better, I could pick it up at our local Best Buy store. So I ordered it and we went to Best Buy on Friday to pick it up. The clerks evidently don't do much "pick up at the store" transactions, and it took quite a while before I got my cards and we could leave. I should have become supicious when I had to call to set up my choice of "plans". It turns out that it isn't an International SIM at all, it's a US mobile company. The rates are pretty good, but it's not what I need. Now, I have to take it back to the store. Maybe tomorrow.

I've "Tweeted" several European mobile companies, including Vodafone, T-mobile, and O2 to see if they have anything worth buying. There appears to be a Czech company from which you can get a SIM, but it's really only good in the Czech Republic. I want one that's more universal. I do have some European friends checking around for me also. I may just end up going back to RoamSimple, a Canadian company that I've used before with good results.

Saturday night, Robb took my recipe for Poulet de Framboise, used blueberries instead of raspberries, and made a fantastic dinner. My dessert was Raspberry Elegance.

Poulet de Framboise: 4 Chicken Breasts (Vegetarians can substitute whatever), 6 Oz Brandy, 18 Oz Raspberry Puree, 6 Oz Lemon Juice, 1 Tbs Nutmeg, 6 Oz White Vinegar, 1 Lg Shallot (chopped), ½ Pint Heavy Cream. Brown chicken on both sides until about ¾ done. Remove chicken from the pan. And deglaze with brandy. Add the rest of the ingredients and reduce by half. Return chicken to pan and cook until done (I always cook the chicken in the sauce).

Religion 'to become extinct' in nine countries.

While the rest of the world is putting religion where it belongs (in the trash), here in the US of Jesus, we have Pole Dancing for Jesus.

By the way, if you click on the pictures, you can see a larger size.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week: OGC

Vers le soir

Abandonne-toi

à ton double destin:

Habiter le cœur du paysage

Et faire signe aux filantes étoiles.

À bientôt, mes amis.

Macy's Air Guitar

2011-03-21T14:09:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, we ate at Sage. We had a nice seat near the window. I had the Gratinée (pasta with a great cheese sauce, scallops, shrimp, clams and mussels). Robb had Coquilles St. Jacques en Croute; Fresh scallops served in a puff pastry with a light and creamy fennel sauce. Served with new potatoes and fresh vegetables.

Thursday afternoon, we went to the Galleria. We entered by way of Macy's luggage department. They were having a sale. I bought another four-wheeler, because (1) it's at least fifty percent bigger than the one I bought in Frankfurt, (2) it was fifty percent off and (3) I got another twenty percent off because I applied to renew my Macy's card, which I haven't used in over fifteen years. Robb needed a battery for his watch so we stopped at the Fast-Fix kioske (you can just barely see Robb standing at the counter). It has been there for years and they're very reliable. I even managed to resist thegoodies at the next booth. Then, we took off to find shoelaces, stopping at Williams-Sonoma to check on pots and pans, but didn't find the kind for which I was looking. None of the shoe stores in the Galleria sold shoelaces so, after picking up Robb's watch, we had to drive to the shoe repair place in the Coral Ridge Mall.

Of course, now that I've purchased a new suitcase, we'll have to stop traveling because our fridge is too full of travel magnets. We have no room for more.

Saturday, we spent an hour or so in Dave's apartment across the hall, from where I took this picture of the west side of the complex.. Actually, it's Dr. Dave because he's an independant Doctor of Optometry. Anyway, he had to work and asked us to house sit while the carpetman put carpeting in his second bedroom.

These (there are at least two of them) are so cool. If I was one of those "air guitar" guys, I would definitely buy one. Of course, for the "air guitarists", reality has to once again rear its ugly head; one must actually know the chords to the songs they want to "play".

Apparently, today is my day for finding things in France with strange names. We start with L'Ogasme Glace on Paris Through My Lens by my friend Virginia.

If I had not seen this on a French website, I would not have believed it. There is a small town named after me, just 35 km from Chartres and it's famous cathedral.

How many hundreds of people died before the rest of the world "rushed" to the aid of the Libyan rebels?

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

All the pictures were taken with my phone and my shaky hands.

Ju dëshironi të skuqura me këtë?

Deri herën tjetër, miqtë e mi.

Quiz

2011-03-14T16:33:00.001-04:00

We went to GayMart, which is conveniently next door to our Credit Union, to get cards for Geoff's birthday which was on Thursday. We went down to his apartment around 15h00 and gave him the cards and a couple of little presents. We couldn't stay because he had a "friend" coming over, so we arranged to come back later. When we went back later, Billy was there. Billy lives down the hall from Geoff. He lived in Prague for several years, so we get to ask questions of what to expect and what are the best places for this and that. While we were there, I took a picture of a beautiful sunset, which we don't get to see often because we're on the wrong side of the building.

Today's first quiz. How many of you are aware that our solar system is a binary system, meaning there are two stars, not just the one we call the sun?

Today's second quiz. Is climate change a possible result of the earth's magnetic pole reversal?

Gingrich: I Cheated On My Wife Because I Love My Country So Much. I've seen and heard some pretty lame exuses for infidelity, but this has to be Numero Uno.

The thing about religion that pisses me off the most, is that according to the bible, we get screwed out of paradise because some bitch ate an apple.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

Jy wil skyfies met wat?

Tot volgende keer, my vriende.

Condo Drama

2011-03-07T13:51:00.002-05:00

Another slow week. I don't mind them because I spend most of my time on the computer anyway, but it drives Robb up a wall. He always wants to be out doing something. Most days, he'll go for a walk through the neighborhood. I've tried to accompany him from time to time, but I find it's difficult for me to walk more than a couple of blocks in this Florida weather. I don't have as much trouble in Europe, as you should know if you've read this journal for any length of time.

Our phones are acting crazy. When we turn them on, they both indicate "No SIM card in phone". It doesn't seem to be a problem with my phone, but Robb cannot receive calls and everything goes straight to voice mail. I'm not sure what the problem might be. I called AT&T and although they very nice, they had no idea what the problem might be either.

We're having a little drama here at the condo. A few years ago, the president of the Board of Directors, was ripping us off like crazy. Things like; we would need a service and he would set up a company and hire himself to do the work for more than a regular company would charge. It took a while for us to catch on because no one really paid attention as long as the problems were handled. But then we noticed that everything was costing more and more. We finally got rid of him and his three croney board members who voted for whatever he proposed. Now, he is trying to get back onto the board. The poor fool doesn't realize that we have all this information that could effectively cost him his job with American Airlines and/or send him to jail if we decided to press charges.

Drunk Priest Offers Oral Sex to Cops

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:

Prejete si hranolky s tím?

Uvidíme se príšte, prátelé.

Electronic Skin

2011-02-28T14:48:00.003-05:00

After years of putting up with our loose kitchen faucet, we finally replaced it. I liked the old Delta faucet until the paint started chipping off and it became looser and looser. Then it had to be manipulated into the exact spot where it would turn all the way off. I was worried the new one might look a little out of place since it's chrome, but the new Moen doesn't look that bad at all. Even the water flow is somewhat better and stronger.

Friday night, we had dinner at Candela, just outside the complex. We were very surprised to find that we were the only diners. It's not unusual for a restaurant to have fewer people one night on the weekend, but no one? So, in our private dining room, we started with octopus, which we didn't like. Robb loved the octopus in Spain and I liked it, but this was different. They were tiny little, whole octopuses. I couldn't bring myself to eat the head, and the legs were very rubbery. For our main course, Robb had pork loin in a Roquefort and fig sauce and I had Chicken Morocco with olives, dates and raisins. Those were both really good. Neither of us felt we could handle dessert and finished with an espresso. Then, as we were leaving, we stopped to chat with Armando, the owner and chef. He told us he was already booked for Saturday night.

Saturday night, we went back to Candela. It was crowded; almost full to capacity. Fortunately, there was a table for us. We sat opposite a group of obvious dykes celebrating a birthday. They were very noisy. We started with the Mediterranean Olives. Then, we both had the Seafood dish; cod, scallops, clams and mussels in a fantastic sauce. We shared the dessert; Tiramisu. After eating, we were entertained by Armando's daughter, Valentina. She's six and as cute as a kid can be.

This is my new favorite ice cream. And yes, I usually eat the whole half gallon.

Electronic skin made out of stretchable solar cells.

Bad Choice Logo Of The Week: Leadership

Wollen Sie Pommes dazu?

Bis zum nächsten Mal, meine Freunde.

Cafe Seville

2011-02-21T15:46:00.006-05:00

Just because I really like the music.

A very slow week. Wednesday, we went to dinner at Cafe Seville. It's a Spanish restaurant not too far from our apartment. Well, far enough that we had to drive. The food is excellent and the ambience is quite nice with low lighting, as you can almost see from this picture. I forgot to adjust my phone camera for the light, but Flickr helped to lighten it a bit. Of course, Flickr doesn't have any adjustments for my shakiness. We both had Veal Segovia with a bottle of Legaris (a Spanish red wine). For dessert, Robb had the Tres Leches cake and I had the Creme Catalan (kind of like créme brulée).

So far, there are two things I don't like about my smartphone. The first, and most important, is the carrier. AT&T drops so many calls. The second thing is if I put the phone in my pocket before it shuts off, one of the apps will be turned on, and I never know which one it will be. This can be a problem because I would be using my data usage while not even knowing it. Today, I put the phone in my pocket without waiting and it turned on the camera. I heard the shutter "clicking", but it took a few minutes before I realized what was happening. I now have about fifteen pictures of the inside of my pocket.

Bad Choice Logo Of The Week:

¿Quieres patatas fritas como acompañamiento?

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Gay Egrets

2011-02-14T13:08:00.002-05:00

Before I got sick, Robb and I went to the library, at which I used to work, to return some books. While we were in the area, we decided to walk down to a section of the city called Riverfront. Riverfront was developed several years ago as a means to get people back to the downtown area, which has basically been deserted after 5:00 PM when most people go home from work. Before Riverfront, there was really no reason to be in that area. There were no restaurants, no clubs, nothing to attract people. One of the big attractions at Riverfront, was a restaurant opened by Dan Marino, former quarterback of the Miami Dolphins. For a while, the area did well, but then the riff-raff starting showing up in greater numbers and people stayed away in droves. Now, it's pretty much a 'ghost town'. There are a few restaurants left on the actual river front walkway, and the multiplex movie theaters are still going, but that's about it.

Sunday afternoon, we drove to Pearl Art Supply because Robb was hoping to get his antique picture frame repaired. Turns out they don't do that kind of stuff. When we got back to the condo, there were about two dozen egrets walking through the parking lot. They didn't seem even remotely afraid of our car.

Surely, no one can suspect me of being gay? I was about forty when this picture was taken.

Bad Choice Logo Of The Week: Bonerfone

Voulez vous des frites avec ca?

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Cold Logo

2011-02-07T14:44:00.002-05:00

I've been battling a cold, or the flu for the past week. I'm just now starting to feel a little better.

Bad Choice Logo Of The Week: Let's start with the Institute of Oriental Studies

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Voca Flags

2011-01-31T13:49:00.002-05:00

In my last post, I mentioned that we wanted to fly Air France, but we weren't certain they flew to all the places we wanted to go. They do and we will. We leave on 22 June.

I was checking my minutes with AT&T and I noticed they had charged me for one (count it - 1) minute, for a call Robb made to me, but it is not supposed to count against my minutes. So I called them and complained. The result was they gave me 1,000 rollover anytime minutes. Nice!

Geoff has stated on many occasions, that he hates going to London because it seems more like India or Pakistan than London because of all the immigrants. The other day, he received this from one of his friends in England:

THESE ARE INSTRUCTIONS HANDED OUT TO ALL OFFICERS AT C.I.D COURSES AND ANTI-TERRORISTS COURSES IN THE BEDFORDSHIRE FORCE/SERVICE

UK’s Bedfordshire Police’s rules regarding terrorists and dangerous criminals

If they’re non-Muslim

• Consider the most opportune time of day to be able to arrest suspects with minimum resistance • Apply all necessary force to enter the premises and arrest suspects accordingly.

If they’re Muslim:

• Community leaders must be consulted before raids into Muslim houses. • Officers must not search occupied bedrooms and bathrooms before dawn. • Use of police dogs will be considered serious desecration of the premises. • Cameras and camcorders should not be used in case of capturing women in inappropriate dress. • If people are praying at home officers should stand aside and not disrupt the prayer. They should be allowed the opportunity to finish. • Officers should take their shoes off before raiding a Muslim house. • The reasons for pre-dawn raids on Muslim houses needs to be clear and transparent. • Officers must not touch holy books or religious artefacts without permission. • Muslim prisoners should be allowed to take additional clothing to the station.

I just read an NPR report about an American consular member being charged with murder in Pakistan, and a thought occured to me (yeah, strange I know, but it does happen from time to time) where and how do these people so conveniently come up with American flags to burn at these demonstrations? Has anyone else noticed? Wherever in the world the demonstrations may take place, there are always several "convenient" flags to burn in protest of the US.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Phone Email

2011-01-24T14:24:00.001-05:00

Well, we've done it. We're booked in Paris, Madrid and Prague. I'm so excited because Prague is beautiful and we've never been there. Now, we just have to make the airline reservations and we're good to go. We're hoping to use Air France, but we're not sure they go to all those cities.

Since I first wrote the preceeding information, we contacted the same tour company we used last time. They've arranged all the flights and we only have to get up early once; from Prague back to the US.

I emailed PayPal today because I called to check on a refund and I got the dumbest clerk in the history of clerks. She could not understand that I wanted to know if the refund had been made. She kept reading my charges instead. I finally got tired of dealing with her and asked to speak to her supervisor. She didn't hang up on me, but she did put me on hold. After ten minutes, I hung up, called back and spoke to a woman who answered my question the first time I asked. As I am wont to do when I get pissed at a person or a company, I fired off an email (god, I LOVE email) in which I told them the whole story and mentioning the name of the good agent (I couldn't remember the name of the stupid one). They replied and it must have been a real reply because they mentioned the woman's name. I don't think much will change but it makes me feel so good to be able to send emails in these situations.

They say your hearing goes first. Tonight at dinner, Robb said, "The asparagus is chewy." I replied, "Well, of course, it's chilly with all that cold sauce you just put on it." I've been doing that more and more lately.

BTW: the picture of the 'art in unlikely places' was taken with my phone camera. I love knowing that I'll have a great camera with me no matter where I go. I cannot begin to count the number of times I regretted not having a camera with me.

I have spent most of the past week trying to upgrade my phone from Android 1.6 to the newer 2.1. After many, many attempts and failures, I'm happy to report that I've finally succeeded. However, if you're on my Gmail list, don't be surprised if you get some kind of totally strange email. I'm not sure why but apparently, it's because my online Gmail is synched with my phone.

Dumb, dumber and dumbest: Burglars snort ashes of a man and two dogs after they mistook them for cocaine

À la prochaine, mes amis

Harvey Sticks

2011-01-17T11:59:00.001-05:00

I did manage to get up early enough one day to call the German shop (though can't remember what day it was). They told me the package has been re-sent to me. I don't know what day they sent it, but it hasn't gotten here yet. They originally told me it would take about six weeks, so I guess I have to give it a couple more weeks at least.

I am still loving my SE Xperia X10, but I can't figure out what or how the charges apply to my usage. I haven't gotten a bill yet, but my 'billing period' ends on the 27th or 28th of the month, so I guess I'll find out then.

Robb continues to improve but he's still not 100%.

There seems to be some kind of "art" thing going on in the city because things like this are appearing in the most unlikely of places.

Bought some Sesame Sticks at the market today. Damn! They are so good.

This was our Christmas decoration this year.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Supplemental Phone

2011-01-10T12:58:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, I got a letter from AvMed. AvMed was my Medicare supplemental insurance provider. They informed me that my doctor was no longer accepting AvMed patients (thanks for keeping me informed, Doc). After calling the doctor's office, I learned that he is not accepting Medicare patients at all, no matter what insurance they may have. Apparently, he has decided that since Medicare is cracking down on fraudulent claims, he wouldn't accept any more Medicare patients. That, along with some other problems I've had with AvMed, prompted me to start thinking about changing providers and I joined the Humana program. When you join a supplemental program, you most often (though not always) have to change doctors. Humana recommended a guy and I went for my first appointment Wednesday afternoon. I have to say I was quite impressed with the new doctor.

Another thing I've changed is my cell phone provider, after years with T-Mobile. After returning my HTC EVO (See the tears in my eyes? I LOVED that phone! But I've found another that I like just as much.), I kept looking for something to replace it at a reasonable cost. I found it with AT&T. My phone, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, is amazing even if it is only Android 1.6, instead of the latest version, 2.3. It has a four-inch screen and a camera with 8.1 megapixel resolution (which for all you iPhone lovers, is about five megapixels better than the iPhone). Did I mention that in addition to the 8.1 mp for still pictures, it also takes HD videos? And it cost me a whopping ONE CENT! I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this phone. Well, it's not really just a phone is it? It's basically a hand-held computer on which I have access to the internet, GMail, Google, Twitter, Facebook, most of the world's newspapers, language translators (French, German and Spanish), a currency converter which allows me to keep track of the dollar versus the euro and a bunch of games. Did I mention I can make FREE calls using Google Voice? If I listed all the things to which I now have access on my phone, this would be a very long post. Oh, and I can also make and receive phone calls.

I've called the German shop at least three times now about my returned package, and they keep telling me they'll look into it and get back to me, but so far, they haven't done anything. I'll try again Monday, if I can get up in time.

God was responsible for the Big Bang, not science, says Pope Benedict "The Catholic Church no longer teaches creationism - the belief that God created the world in six days as described in the Bible - and says that the account in the book of Genesis is an allegory for the way God created the world." Don't you love the way they just dismiss the "Word of God"? Well, the Bible isn't really true, word for word, only the parts we want you to believe. Sorry, folks, you can't have it both ways. Either the Bible is the "Word of God" and every word is true, or it's just another book of mythology.

An Introduction to Net Neutrality: What It Is, What It Means for You, and What You Can Do About It.

McDonald's Wi-Fi Blocks Gay Sites!

Tip of the Day: Never ask a vampire for a blowjob!

Bis zum nächsten Mal, meine Freunde.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T00:30:00.002-05:00

BON ANNÉE !

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T11:21:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noël

Froehliche Weihnachten

Frohe Weihnachten

Zalig Kerstfeest , Joyeux Noël

jwaïeu Nouel

jénwèl

Chestita Koleda

Mutlu yillar et Kala Christouyenna

Glaedelig Jul

en gaélique écossais : nollaig Chridheil

Feliz Navidad

Roomsaid Joulu Puhi

Iloista Joulua ou Huyvä Joulua

Kala Christouyenna

Vroolijk Kerfeest

Kellemes karacsonyi unnepeket

Nodlaig mhaith chugnat

Gleðileg Jól

Buone Feste Natalizie, Buon Natale

Priecigus Ziemassvetkus

Linksmu Kaledu, su Kaledoms

schéi Chrëschtdeeg Joyeux Noël

il Milied it-tajjeb

en Provençal Bòn nové

Gledelig Jul

Wesolych Swiat

Boas Festas

veselé vanoce

Sarbatori vesele, un Crãciun fericit

Veselé Vianoce

vesel božic / vesele božicne praznike

God Yul

Fröhlichi Wiehnacht, Joyeux Noël

Mutlu yillar

Meatloaf

2010-12-20T19:52:00.004-05:00

I am really proud of myself. For the first time ever, I made a meatloaf and it came out really good. I used ground turkey instead of beef, since we rarely eat beef. Making a meatloaf is relatively easy, but it's a lot of work.

Saturday morning, I called a gift shop in Frankfurt, Germany because I had bought one of those ceramic buildings for Wendy's husband, Steve, who has a huge model train village that he sets up every Christmas.. At the time I ordered it, I was told it would take about six weeks to get here which was not a problem. Unfortunately, the postman wouldn't let our neighbor sign for it and they sent it back to Germany. I waited to see if they would call me, since I had already lost the receipt and any other information I had. According to the woman to whom I spoke, they didn't have my phone number nor email address, so it was a good thing I found them on the internet and contacted them (using Google. of course. It cost me all of twelve cents for the call.) She told me she kind of remembered my name on the package and would email me on Monday to let me know the status. I asked if it would be possible to remail it to me and she said it was not a problem.

Then we called Jean-Michel in Paris to see what apartments he might have available in the Marais in June.

I no longer have a smart phone. Tiger Direct wouldn't meet the reduced price of the other site and in the meantime, I had received my first bill from Sprint. I would have been paying almost $200 a month. That's a bit much for what is basically just a toy. And it's not like I would be spending several hours a day playing with it. Plus I discovered that tethering to use it as a wifi hotspot wouldn't work all that well either, and that was one of the major reasons for getting it in the first place. There is a mobile service that charges very reasonable rates, the kicker is you have to buy one of their phones, and I don't really like any of them.

Bis zum nächsten Mal, meine Freunde.

Secret Channels

2010-12-13T16:00:00.002-05:00

Robb continues to regain his health, though it seems to be taking longer than either of us thought. He is mostly pain-free but still has an occasional twinge. I took him for his two-week check-up with his surgeon on Friday. He is pleased with Robb's progress thus far, but indicated that he's at least a couple of weeks away from anything strenous, like driving or carrying anything that weighs more than twenty pounds.

I have no idea how I got them, but I now have 45 music channels on my TV. I have two classical channels, two jazz channels, a Big Band channel, hip-hop, rap, easy listening, a ton of rock channels both old and new, and several spanish music channels (of course, no French or German, or any other European country representation).

I love how the media coverage of "global warming" is slowly switching to "global climate change". It's only a matter of time until they'll be back to predicting a "global ice age". It was bound to happen. After all, Gore's ridiculous film, An Inconvenient Truth, was so inconveniently full of misinformation and outright lies, there was no way it could stand the test of time. Most of the scientific community (those who weren't looking to add a few bucks to their endowments) always argued against "global warming" in favor of climate change.

OK, it’s no longer a well kept secret. Answer To An Age Old Question. Why are Jewish Men Circumcised? Jewish men are circumcised because – Jewish women won't touch anything unless it's 30% off.

Bis zum nächsten Mal, meine Freunde.

Recovering

2010-12-06T17:38:00.002-05:00

Reason number 1001 why there should be no pets in the house:

Wednesday afternoon, around 16h30, I went back to the hospital because Robb had been told he was definitely scheduled for release. We were still there at 18h00 when they brought dinner around. He wasn't going to eat, but I suggested he might as well. That reminds me of an interesting thing that happened during Greg's last meal there. They brought in his lunch, but they had given him whole milk which he doesn't drink. He asked for skimmed milk and the woman said it would not be a problem, then promptly forgot it. But Greg had asked her to take back the whole milk and she told him she couldn't do that. Once she puts it in a room, she can't take it back, even though it had never been opened. That was only one example of the runaway waste I saw while I was visiting. And we wonder why it costs so much for medical care. Hospitals (and doctors) are just as bad, if not worse, than the government when it comes to wasting our money.

The good news is we finally got out and drove home around 19h30. We stopped at the drugstore, but when I told Robb it would be a twenty-five minute wait, he asked me to drive him home. I did that, and then went back to get the drugs. Wow, talk about getting ripped off. He got three drugs, two antibiotics and a pain killer (Percoset). It was over two hundred and fifty dollars. It's a good thing we don't need socialized medicine in this "greatest country in the world".

A friend who has a house in the Loire Valley of France, posted the following in his blog. I thought it was interesting enough to share. "A friend from Blois called last night just to say hello and see how we were doing. She said the school buses around Blois haven't been running this week, so all the kids are staying at home. Teachers are posting lessons for them over the Internet to keep them busy and productive. That's the 21st century, I guess."

I don't know how many of you may have watched those really stupid drug commercials, but I love them. I'm referring to the ones that always have a disclaimer at the end in which they more often than not, indicate that their drug's side-effects are far worse than the reason you're taking them. They always have a section near the end during which they tell you to tell your doctor about various things. My absolute most favorite of these is the one for Plavix, in which they tell you to tell your doctor if you're planning any surgery.

As if we didn't have enough about which to worry, here's another:

Hasta la próxima, amigos.

Hospital

2010-11-30T22:53:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving didn't go so well. Around 04h30, Robb awoke in pain and he spent most of the day in discomfort. He found some of the medicine he had brought back from France. He took it and it seemed to control the pain to the extent that he could move without being wracked with pain. Then he thought it was over. But the next day the pain was back. He called the doctor but the office was closed on Friday, which is normal for this doctor because they work on Saturday. Saturday morning, we drove over to find that they had closed the office for the entire weekend.

Robb was still in pain, so we drove to the Holy Cross Hospital Emergency Room because it is closest to us. We both thought they would give him something for the problem and we would be on our way in a couple of hours. But they did an Ultra Sound Scan and discovered that he had gall stones. The ER doctor wanted him to check into the hospital, but, since he retired, Robb is one of those millions who have no health insurance. Finally, we decided if he checked in, they could run some tests and when they found nothing, they would at least give him something for the pain.

The problem was that when they ran the tests, they discovered that he needed to have his gall bladder removed and they recommended doing it NOW. Supposedly, they would do the operation on Sunday morning and he could leave that night, but because he wouldn't sign the paperwork before he talked to me, he missed that window. We talked it over and decided that he should go ahead and have it done and get it over with instead of waiting until March when he would start Medicare. At least, he would be rid of the pain which seemed to be coming on more often each time.

His roommate, Greg, was already scheduled to have the same surgery on Monday, and that's the day for which they scheduled Robb. Originally, they were told they would go down to the operating room around 13h00, but they didn't come for Greg until after 14h00 and Robb learned that he was scheduled for 17h30. The nurse told them that it would take about three hours; an hour in prep, an hour for the operation and then an hour in the Recovery Room before they would be back in their room.

I went over to the hospital around 19h30, Greg was there, but Robb hadn't been brought back yet. I sat around talking to Greg for awhile and then went down to see if I could see Robb in Recovery. I could find it, so I went back up and sat in the visitor's lounge for a few minutes. While I was sitting there, his doctor walked by, saw me and came over to tell me what had transpired in the operating room. He began the conversation by telling me that Robb's was the absolute worst gall bladder he had ever seen. He went on to say, that he couldn't remove all of it because it was attaching itself to his liver and if he had cut any more, he would have been cutting into the liver and that was not a good idea. So he had to leave about fifteen percent of it inside. He said that wasn't really a problem because Robb's body would compensate and get rid of it.

Both Greg and Robb were originally scheduled to leave the hospital on Tuesday morning, but because of the complications, it was necessary to keep Robb for another day or two until they were certain they were no more problems and the healing process was moving as expected.

I drove back to the hospital tonight, after taking a couple hours off. Robb was in good spirits and just a while later, the nurse came in and unhooked him from the IV, which means he'll probably be released tomorrow. As confirmation, he was told the doctor had written on his chart "For probable release tomorrow". He really wants to get out of there and I have missed him being home, muchly.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Hasta la próxima, amigos.

Smart Phone

2010-11-22T16:14:00.006-05:00

You may have noticed I don't post as often when we're not traveling about. Normally, I post once a week, but our daily lives aren't that interesting, so it could be longer between posts until we go somewhere. I know you're all heartbroken. We're already discussing where we'll go this summer. At this point, it looks like Paris, Berlin, and either Madrid or Valencia in Spain.

Last week, we went to dinner at Candela's with Robb's niece Wendy and her husband Steve. Candela has changed muchly since we were last there. It's bigger, the menu has changed and the prices seem to be higher. I guess that's what happens when a restaurant becomes successful. The food is still good, well actually great, although I wasn't crazy about the presentation of my Trout Andaluza. All in all, it was a good meal and we had a nice conversation with Wendy and Steve. At the end of the meal, Wendy introduced us to a dessert wine she had brought (Candela is a BYOB place although you can buy from their wine list). It is ChocoVine and it tastes very much like Bailey's Irish Cream. I really like it.

After we left Candela's, we drove to a store named To The Moon. It's a tiny place and I couldn't believe all the stuff they've got there. They have just about every candy ever manufactured from the forties until now. I even found the milk chocolate bar with hazelnuts that I just brought back from Europe.

In other news, I finally succumbed to the smartphone craze. I was already pissed at T-Mobile because they wouldn't replace Robb's phone without charging us way too much. Tiger Direct sent me an email advertising the HTC EVO 4G, which is the latest, hottest mobile on the market. So far, Sprint is the only company offering it, and since I was looking for a new mobile company (and since just about every electronics site I checked said it was the best) I went for it. It's kind of expensive, but I get unlimited calling to and from any mobile phone in the US, unlimited text, Pic and Video messaging; unlimited emails, web browsing and messaging; all calls free after 7PM weeknights; and nationwide long distance. It also has an 8 megapixel camera and it can shoot HD videos. Here is the first picture I took with it. I think it's a pretty good deal. But there are two really great features; the HTC EVO has a 4.3 inch screen so I can easily see what's there, and I can use the phone as a WiFi hotspot no matter where I am. I've already used it to post on Twitter. EDIT: Since I ordered the phone, I found another site that's offering the same deals for $40 less per phone. I am currently negotiating with TD for a matching price or a refund.

Am I the only one who has noticed how things are getting smaller and smaller, while the prices rise and rise? The other day, I bought what I thought was a half-gallon of Edy's ice cream. A half-gallon is two quarts. What I got was 1.8-quarts (and that was with 20% more). Breyers is even worse; I only got 1.5-quarts. I think we need to start an email campaign telling these companies that we won't buy their products until they give us the full size for which we're paying. I've already fired off emails to Edy's and Breyers. Our local supermarket, Publix, still sells half-gallons of their own brand, and it's just as good if not better than the others. The same is true of coffee. The usual containers have 39 ounces. But when they're on sale, have you noticed they're only 33 ounces? I've already gotten a reply from Breyers. They're so unhappy that I'm unhappy. They're going to send me a coupon. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, it seems to be true of just about everything sold in this country.

Here's something fun: The Tone Matrix.

An ingenious French anti-ronflement (anti-snoring) solution?

Hasta la próxima, amigos.

Home...Again

2010-11-08T12:15:00.007-05:00

Monday night (wow, has it been a week already?), after we got home and dragged our bags up to the apartment, we attempted to drive to the store to get milk and stuff. The car was dead. Our neighbor who had agreed to start it at least once a week, forgot to do it. Tuesday I called for the Smart roadside assistance. Because it has only been a little over a year, it's covered by warranty and it cost me nothing. The guy came and got it started, after I showed him where the battery was located. Forget normal cars. In the Smart Car, the battery is under the carpet on the passenger's side of the car. Talk about a pain in the butt. There are so many things to love about the Smart that you've got to shake your head in wonder at how they could have ever come up with such a stupid idea. I drove it for about an hour and a half, but as soon as I turned it off, it was totally dead.

Wednesday, I called roadside service again, and they came with a tow truck, got the car and took it to the dealer who put in a new battery. All at no cost. However, they did rip us off big time for an oil change and rotation of the tires. I couldn't believe they charged us $35 for one (count it - ONE) quart of oil. The total bill, which did not include the towing or the battery, was over a hundred dollars. I'll never change the oil there again. But in Florida, as in most of the US, you must have a car. As much as I love riding the trams and buses and métros in Europe, I really miss being able to get into my car at my convenience to go, or return from, wherever I want.

It seems so strange to be back to our normal life. One of the things which takes a lot of re-adjustment for us, is the never ending number of commercials on American televison shows. This was driven home when I attempted to watch a football game on Sunday (an hour early because we hadn't set the clocks back). Thankfully, we don't watch that much TV, but it's so annoying for those few times we do. You would think American businesses would have figured out by now, that almost no one actually sits there glued to their TV screen during their (usually) obnoxious advertisements. It just seems like a hell of a waste of time and money to me, or do they really gain or lose sales this way?

Turtles could hold the secret to human immortality.

Hasta la próxima, amigos.