Flashing Music

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

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

                                                 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 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!

   BON ANNÉE  !