tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10601430643244877602024-03-21T02:15:38.935-04:00Hydrogen & StupidityThe musings of a science fiction fan, professional computer geek, amateur photographer, sometime jewelry maker, sewer, Toastmaster, and crocheter who loves to travel and is always frustrated by the stupid people in the world.Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-85086424428692930992020-05-21T03:51:00.000-04:002020-05-21T03:57:29.534-04:00The BLOG Is Back<div>
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Welcome back to my randomly-used BLOG, such as it is. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">Today has been crazy. I had to get up early for a Noon meeting (I work 1pm - 10pm). </span>I spent the next 5 hours trying to attend two meetings at the same time. I really needed a clone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">Recently Facebook has decided that random harmless things go against their "community standards”, which is just ridiculous since they allow lies to be shared by Republicans without repercussions. Today they told me a GIF of a kitty pestering its human for treats was removed for violating community standards and had been labeled as SPAM. It was a GIF made from this </span><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@paige.evanss/video/6824125629835873541?referer_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.republicworld.com%2F&referer_video_id=6824125629835873541" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">TikTok video</a><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yesterday they told me a GIF comparing the sizes of germs, viruses, and the world’s smallest snowman, among a few other things, went against community standards, again for being SPAM, and was removed. My Google-Fu is on the fritz today, and I wasn’t able to find that one to share.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">WTF Facebook? Are you TRYING to make us all ditch you? Okay, I can play that game just fine. Now I am going to put stuff on </span>my ill-used BLOG so I can share what information I choose. If I want to call a murderer a disgusting white trash monster, then I am going to call a murderer a disgusting white trash monster. If I want to share a cute cat photo, I’ll share a cute cat photo. And I won’t be in danger of being thrown in Facebook Jail for it. I expect to put the same sort of stuff here in my blog that I would have shared on Facebook or Twitter in a day, only it will be all together and concentrated in one place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Indiegogo sent me a survey. The very last question was “Would you tell us what country you live in?” So, I answered Yes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In other fun things, this <a href="https://www.gif-vif.com/gifs/Rats-are-getting-smarter" target="_blank">mouse</a> is scary smart. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>Adventures in Cooking</i></span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I hate cooking. I love eating, but I generally resent how much time it takes to cook, and the time it takes to clean the kitchen afterwards. I can never get all the food to be done at the same time. And I really resent having spent all that time only to wind up with disappointing food, or food that tastes terrible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since we’ve all been on “stay at home” lockdown for a couple of months, I’ve been cooking more and saving a lot of money as well. Tonight I decided that the plain mashed potatoes (from a mix) needed more oomph, so I perused my spice cabinet (I do have some things), and grabbed the tiny bottle labeled “Coconut Thai”. Wow! That was a definite win, and I can recommend that as a topping for any version of potatoes. I got it from <a href="https://www.spiceandtea.com/coconut-thai-spice-blend.html" target="_blank">The Spice & Tea Exchange</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #ff2f92; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Movies, TV, and Podcasts</span></span></h2>
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<a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmRhYTg0N2QtMWZhMS00OWQwLTk1ZmEtMmUyMTY0NTE4YWUwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzQ1ODk3MTQ@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="534" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmRhYTg0N2QtMWZhMS00OWQwLTk1ZmEtMmUyMTY0NTE4YWUwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzQ1ODk3MTQ@._V1_.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The other night I was in the mood to watch an older movie that I never watched the first time around, so I picked </span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119229/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Grosse Pointe Blank</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> because I like the leading actors. The Wikipedia begins "</span><span style="color: #202122; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Grosse Pointe Blank</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> is a 1997 American </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_comedy" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" title="Black comedy">black comedy</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_film" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" title="Crime film">crime film</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> directed by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Armitage" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" title="George Armitage">George Armitage</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> and starring </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cusack" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" title="">John Cusack</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnie_Driver" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" title="Minnie Driver">Minnie Driver</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Arkin" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" title="Alan Arkin">Alan Arkin</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Aykroyd" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" title="Dan Aykroyd">Dan Aykroyd</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. Cusack plays an </span><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/assassin" style="background-image: none; color: #663366; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" title="wikt:assassin">assassin</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> who returns to his hometown to attend a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_reunion" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" title="Class reunion">high school reunion</a><span style="color: #202122; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed $31,070,412.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202122;">Perhaps I would have enjoyed this if I had seen it when it was released in 1997. I didn’t find it enjoyable at all. It was disjointed story-telling, with people who were more caricatures than </span><span style="color: #202122;">characters. Black comedy isn</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;">’</span><span style="color: #202122;">t that same as “normal” comedy, but usually makes you at least </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;">chuckle or smile. Instead of being even slightly amused, I spent my time wincing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #202122;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Part of the supposed plot is a 10-year high school reunion, which means that everyone should be 26-28. Nobody looks young enough to have graduated from high school only 10 years ago. Most of the people in the reunion scenes looked over 30, and a few looked like they were closer to 40. What were all of the under-30 actors and extras doing in 1997 that none of them were available for this film? Why didn’t the writers just make this their 15th reunion so the ages would match the actors?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202122;">Overall, I have to say that this movie didn</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122;">’</span><span style="color: #202122;">t hold up well, and I have to wonder if it was really perceived as a good movie when it was originally released.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Paragraphs that begin with a link have accompanying text from that article. Paragraphs that do not begin with a link were written by me.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Donald Trump calls voting by mail fraud, yet he recently voted by mail in Florida. Why does he want to deny everyone else the opportunity to do what he himself did? I mean, just because people aren’t guaranteed to vote for him doesn’t make it fraud. Sure, he committed fraud when he voted in Florida, but that’s because he isn’t a legal resident of the state, not because it was fraud to vote by mail.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/michigan-struggles-trump-eyes-new-extortion-scheme-n1211146?cid=sm_fb_maddow" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">As Michigan struggles, Trump eyes new extortion scheme</a>. How much madness did Trump pack into a tweet consisting of only 48 words? Let's run through a Top 10 Reasons The President's Tweet Was Completely Bonkers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">Link to actual <a href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1263170880298942464?s=21" target="_blank">Tweet</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/91790/file/May2020FloridaConsumerAlert-English.pdf">Did A Nursing Home or Assisted Living Facility Take Your Stimulus Check?</a> </span><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Do you or a loved one live in a nursing home or assisted living facility? Are you (or they) on Medicaid? If you said “yes” to both, please read on and prepare to get mad. We’ve been hearing that some facilities are trying to take the stimulus payments intended for their residents on Medicaid. Then they’re requiring those people to sign over those funds to the facility. Why? Well, they’re claiming that, because the person is on Medicaid, the facility gets to keep the stimulus payment.</span><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #231f20;">But here’s the deal: those economic impact payments are, according to the CARES Act, a tax credit. And tax law says that tax credits don’t count as “resources” for federal benefits programs, like Medicaid. So: when Congress calls these payments “tax credits” in the CARES Act, that means the government can’t seize them. Which means nursing homes and assisted living facilities can’t take that money from their residents just because they’re on Medicaid. And, if they took it already, get in touch with </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #215e9e;">your state attorney general </span><span style="color: #231f20;">and ask them to help you get it back.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2020/05/931/524/Annie-Glenn-4-AP.jpg?ve=1&tl=1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2020/05/931/524/Annie-Glenn-4-AP.jpg?ve=1&tl=1" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John and Annie Glenn</td></tr>
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<span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/19/us/annie-glenn-champion-of-those-with-speech-disorders-dies-at-100.html?action=click&campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20200520&instance_id=18629&module=Top+Stories&nl=the-morning&pgtype=Homepage&regi_id=116192533&segment_id=28532&te=1&user_id=1447ea73929c8b4b195de99fd4961bbc">Annie Glenn</a><span style="color: #333333;">, who in a high-profile life as the wife of John Glenn, the astronaut and senator, became an inspiration to many who, like her, stuttered severely, advocating on behalf of people with communication disorders of all kinds, died on Tuesday at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minn. She was </span><span style="color: #333333;">100. </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Hank Wilson, director of communications at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University, said the cause was complications of the Covid-19 virus.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This article should be titled “White Trash Woman Requests White Driver and Lowe’s Delivers.” A Lowe’s manager called a black driver and requested he return to the store so a white driver could make the delivery. Lowe’s Corporate has since fired three managers for participating in granting her wish. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/black-delivery-driver-replaced-customer-wanted-whites/story?id=33012893&fbclid=IwAR1bwMSvNkUKu2oZHPSEfZgx53rZd7PK9WnGFPdYVteBQwtAbqwA0odkmnI" target="_blank">Black Delivery Driver Replaced After Customer Wanted Whites Only</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #ff2f92; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fun Memes and Cartoons</span></span></h2>
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<a href="https://www.savagechickens.com/wp-content/uploads/chickenfeelbetter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://www.savagechickens.com/wp-content/uploads/chickenfeelbetter.jpg" width="226" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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I enjoy <a href="https://www.savagechickens.com/" target="_blank">Savage Chickens</a>. You can have have them delivered to your inbox every day if you like.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some day Donald Trump will be held accountable for all of his crimes.</span></div>
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Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0Seffner, FL 33584, USA28.0013897 -82.290914627.8892357 -82.452276099999992 28.1135437 -82.1295531tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-73852710058930073412018-05-19T14:47:00.000-04:002020-05-21T03:57:03.819-04:00Stan the Brandon Handyman<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17.9px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Stan the Handyman came on a Saturday to do a list of jobs I need done around the house that I cannot do myself. Stan does a relatively decent job while he is here, but I am not happy that he would never turn off the breakers while he was working on the lights and fans. I am alyso not thrilled that he can’t put the garage shelves up the right way, and now I have to purchase more parts to make up for his lack of skills. Okay, I can deal with this. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Stan isn’t able to finish everything. No problem, it was a long to-do list. He says he will come back the next day, Sunday, to finish. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">After he leaves, I am looking at the white bookcases he assembled. There are several footprints on the sides. Apparently he stood on them while putting them together. This does not make me happy, but it seems the only damage is dirt, which I can clean.</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Sunday morning Stan makes a lame excuse why he isn’t coming back today, and leaves me hanging without everything being finished. I also have half a set of garage shelves over my washer and dryer. I expect he’ll want to finish the work soon since I haven’t paid him yet. After some discussion, Stan is going to come back on Friday. He also isn’t sure when he will be able to clean the gutters, since he has managed to twist his knee and can’t climb a ladder. I am sure Stan is going to wind up “passing” on cleaning the gutters, so this means the quoted price will go down, and I can find someone else to clean the gutters. No problem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Friday comes, and I haven’t heard a peep from Stan regarding what time he’s planning to arrive. I text to ask him, and receive silence in return. After a couple of hours, I text Stan to say that I am assuming he isn’t available today after all, and that I am available again on Tuesday. He replies to that text, and says OK. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Tuesday comes, and Stan texts me before I am awake to ask if he can come at 10:15. I reply at 10:00 that yes, he can come now. He replies that he will be at my house in 20 minutes. I have to be home all day to wait on the county inspector for the new doors, so it will be nice to get everything finally done. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Thirty minutes later, Stan has not arrived. Okay, maybe there is a traffic jam somewhere. I don’t know where he lives, but the traffic on some streets can be brutal, even during the mid-morning on a weekday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">An hour after Stan says he is coming, he still isn’t here. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Two hours after Stan says he is coming to finish the Handyman items I hired him for, I text him and say “I take it that you changed your mind about coming this morning.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">I never hear from Stan on Tuesday. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Or Wednesday. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Or Thursday. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Or Friday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Saturday morning Stan finally texts back “Can I come by to finish?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">I reply “No. I will not be home today. And since you never showed up on Tuesday when you said you were coming, nor contacted me, I've found someone else to finish the things I have left to do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Please let me know how much I owe you for the work you have completed, and your address, and I will mail you a check.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">Stan texts back that he wants to be paid more than 3/4 the agreed amount for finishing around half the work. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">I don’t think so. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">I negotiated him down to just over half, since that’s all he’s done.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17.94pt;">I would bet that Stan is shocked and surprised that I fired him.</span></div>
Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-4612911015758128272016-02-27T22:44:00.001-05:002016-02-28T14:49:36.494-05:00Services for Linda Ann Davis Blankenship<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Viewing for Linda Ann Davis Blankenship will be held on Sunday, 28 February 2016, from 5-7pm at Del Angel Funeraria Martin East, 1460 George Dieter, El Paso, TX 79936. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In accordance with her stated wishes, interment will be next to her husband, Richard S. Blankenship, on Monday, 29 February 2016 at 9:30am at the Ft. Bliss military cemetery, El Paso, TX. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Flowers are welcome. So are donations to your favorite charity, in lieu of flowers. If you smoke, the best gift you can give is to quit.</span></div>
Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-56896342028825540752014-10-29T02:43:00.001-04:002014-10-31T19:40:15.126-04:00Another One Bites the Dust<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmybFNOoI1x54nAT-PMSfCgZ0xPLGpc1PjML_zrEm09e63w5sXQFL210Vlpo9-3TWG6bzNuAoBhwLu2gIxfr7ZAE3Y3d7OwnzZeI8kVsnpuROp2xOf2SzV-pn0gICGi7KB6OFZAiHeEc/s640/blogger-image-2081450137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmybFNOoI1x54nAT-PMSfCgZ0xPLGpc1PjML_zrEm09e63w5sXQFL210Vlpo9-3TWG6bzNuAoBhwLu2gIxfr7ZAE3Y3d7OwnzZeI8kVsnpuROp2xOf2SzV-pn0gICGi7KB6OFZAiHeEc/s320/blogger-image-2081450137.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I got home Monday night to discover my living room DVR had bit the dust. It appears that a software upgrade became its death sentence instead.<br />
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I tried the suggested Microsoft reboot method (in this case unplugging it for 30 seconds, then plugging it back in). No luck. It was still dead.<br />
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I called Verizon on Tuesday to make an appointment for someone to come out and replace my dead unit, and the automated system told me I had a DVR that needs to be replaced, and asked me if I wanted to be sent a new one. Well, yes! That was nice that it already knew I had an problem, and offered a suggestion to resolve my problem. I never had such swift customer service from anyone at Brighthouse! It was always half an hour of my trying to convince a very bored-sounding person that I had tried everything, and that my DVR was indeed dead. </div>
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<a name='more'></a>The new one is being shipped and should arrive on Friday. It will include a label to return the dead unit. It seems pretty easy to me. I, of course, have now lost everything I'd recorded. This is why I so rarely use it to record. I always wind up losing recordings before I can watch them. </div>
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This does make me wonder if there is something wrong with my apartment. I must have gone through at least six DVRs in the living room when I had Brighthouse. I've only had Verizon for eight months, and now another DVR has died. I don't mean to be running a DVR hospice, really I don't!</div>
Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-55281728498945212142014-08-21T04:55:00.001-04:002014-08-22T20:19:46.055-04:00Day 3: Tuesday, 12 August 2014 - Cardiff, Wales and London, England<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx01dZMrxcJDV5x5ZojAjsBrwYDBXJkYgApVOE6KpKRI2daCxQCkA-xbxlmUqSfvM0w-ENS1ORyzzEdZHTsBaYdOKJtccrVnEtiPmxGXGErEVT1vLMiBBegIn7TahVqD4rzZzkJbiQvYI/s1600/first+great+western+train.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx01dZMrxcJDV5x5ZojAjsBrwYDBXJkYgApVOE6KpKRI2daCxQCkA-xbxlmUqSfvM0w-ENS1ORyzzEdZHTsBaYdOKJtccrVnEtiPmxGXGErEVT1vLMiBBegIn7TahVqD4rzZzkJbiQvYI/s1600/first+great+western+train.jpg" height="227" title="First Great Western Trains, found on Google Images" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">First Great Western trains.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Cardiff, Wales</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Seriously, I stayed up way too late again last night. My body still seems to think it’s on Eastern time. It needs to get with the program!</span><br />
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<b>10:56am, Leaving Cardiff for London</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, I'm on the train, despite not sticking to my original plan. I just could not convince myself to get up at 8:00am, and decided to once again forgo breakfast. I made it downstairs and checked out at 10:30, hoofed it to the train station, and still had time to order a cappuccino and croissant with 3 minutes to spare before the train arrived. I don't like cutting it so close, but my body thanked me for the extra sleep. I got five and a half hours, instead of only four.</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The rain was kind to me. It rained all night, but had stopped by the time I left the hotel. Five minutes after we left Cardiff Central, it started raining again. Thanks, weather! I honestly appreciate not being a soggy mess on the train.</span><br />
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The SIM cards in my phone and iPad still haven't been activated. 8-( They have another 2 hours before the 24 hours are up. If I need it, I hope that someone at a Vodafone shop in London can help me, even though I bought the chips in Wales.</span><br />
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My plan for the day seems on track so far. I should arrive at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Paddington_station" target="_blank">Paddington Station</a> at 1:00pm. This will give me an hour and a half to make it to the <a href="http://www.orangerykensingtonpalace.co.uk/" target="_blank">Kensington Palace Orangery </a>to meet Debi Chowdhury for high tea. This will really be meeting her, as I don't recall ever having met her in person before. Since the ExCel Centre is an hour in the opposite direction, I'm going to stow my luggage at the Left Luggage at Paddington, and retrieve it after Tea. Debi has offered to let me share her room at the Aloft tonight, since my reservation at the Ramada starts tomorrow, and I plan to take her up on that offer.</span><br />
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The Aloft appears to have rooms now, for only 19/night more than the Ramada, and it's connected to the convention centre. I was going to change our hotel, with Amy's approval, but the Infotel website said the reservation had to be cancelled 5 days in advance, or we'd have to pay the full charge! No way! I'll inquire at the hotel today to see if it's really the case. </span><br />
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<b>11:30am, Bristol, England</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am pretty sure the train I took to Cardiff didn't go through Bristol. Then again, I did sleep a lot on that train trip. This time I am reading a book and crocheting on a baby blanket. The trip is two hours, so I should get a lot done.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmoIOIjlfjrQQU7EuTqv4AZm7i-tza49knh7j0lov0vEd2iNPFYRpZLAgyRdzIEHzqe3zrEjyRBIQRz2DU8FSQAixbjpBzr6WJLlMXG_cjxBqCyyGZvN-oBNK3cFUqK5UEKm6LBseVqA/s1600/IMG_0573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmoIOIjlfjrQQU7EuTqv4AZm7i-tza49knh7j0lov0vEd2iNPFYRpZLAgyRdzIEHzqe3zrEjyRBIQRz2DU8FSQAixbjpBzr6WJLlMXG_cjxBqCyyGZvN-oBNK3cFUqK5UEKm6LBseVqA/s1600/IMG_0573.JPG" height="239" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Photo by Teri N. Sears, 2014" width="320" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">One of the monitors on the back of the train seats.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>11:45am, Approaching Swindon</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The seemingly dead video monitors on the back of the seats just sprang to life! Now I know why I should have brought the wired earphones, instead of only my Bluetooth one. Sigh. There is a moving map to track our location, but it won't stay up long, switching back to the main menu display after about a minute.</span><br />
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<b>12:31pm, Reading, England</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They pronounce Reading as Redding. Now I know why the city in Pennsylvania is pronounced that way.</span><br />
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I caved and put on my jacket. It's colder than I could stand in just my shirt. Today's choice of jacket is my new Doctor Who TARDIS jacket. I bought only the XL because the arms were much too large on the XXL. It is a wee bit too small around the waist… for now. But at £30, I expect to have this jacket a LONG time!</span><br />
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<b>1:05pm, Paddington Station, London </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We arrived only a few minutes late. The train got delayed a bit outside London. I asked at the train information desk about the charge on my card from Sunday, and the woman said that wasn't possible. When I insisted it happened, she sent me to the ticket office. I don't have time to deal with that now; I'll come back later. </span><br />
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I left my luggage at Left Luggage. It will cost £20, but that is SO worth it to not have to lug it around!</span><br />
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I went to the Underground and took a District Line train to Kensington High Street. There is a Vodafone shop directly across from the exit. I'll come back after the Tea. I walked toward Kensington Palace, not really sure of where I was going. I finally asked a tour bus driver who was waiting in his group, and he said to try in Kensington Park. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-8VhUtmTXofgBfAbK4pwSVM8nVtQzmwwY2g4ajdpCtze5g_7I8wCwhjmWNv2WeCvp-ivT7FgokfLOf8GEwaJKnAK-xF1oYTihQUUPPonnqaow6lZsv_HDxDD_40Zl_Kz_OB37YLqfwI/s1600/DSC01116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-8VhUtmTXofgBfAbK4pwSVM8nVtQzmwwY2g4ajdpCtze5g_7I8wCwhjmWNv2WeCvp-ivT7FgokfLOf8GEwaJKnAK-xF1oYTihQUUPPonnqaow6lZsv_HDxDD_40Zl_Kz_OB37YLqfwI/s1600/DSC01116.JPG" height="240" title="Kensington Palace. Photo by Teri N. Sears, 2014" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The gates of Kensington Palace</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That park is massive by our definition of park in the US! I walked down the main path, and finally found a building with gilded gates. Yep, Kensington Palace. It's a museum now! I asked at the entrance, and they sent me to The Orangery out back. Ah, ha! The place I suspected it was, but couldn't find.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmCBgOv_6vXTK8Mq1W8LedExsxEBSXGdul9yn-2O5AmUxRJLu4nycucGskau6xJQPIHJTRpubiCMmNlbRMHlfjGk8Fs2e1iQIOlE0YdgJqnaGxBN6_VY6nQ7MyCnY9V8wSvWWbX-wB_M/s1600/DSC01076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmCBgOv_6vXTK8Mq1W8LedExsxEBSXGdul9yn-2O5AmUxRJLu4nycucGskau6xJQPIHJTRpubiCMmNlbRMHlfjGk8Fs2e1iQIOlE0YdgJqnaGxBN6_VY6nQ7MyCnY9V8wSvWWbX-wB_M/s1600/DSC01076.JPG" height="240" title="Beth Welsh, Carol Doms. Photo by Teri N. Sears, 2014" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Beth Welsh and Carol Doms</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I arrived about 5 minutes ahead of Debi Chowdhury, so now I know what she looks like. The other people arrived about 10 minutes later, and it turns out one is Carol Doms! I haven't seen her in years. The other person is Beth Welsh, so now I know two new people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We wound up staying two hours, drinking tea, eating scones and sandwiches, and chatting. I also had a lovely glass of rose champagne. After we were done and paid, we visited the ladies room, then Beth and Carol went one way, and Debi and I the other. We walked over to look at one of the sunken gardens and take photos, then Debi went to find more gardens, and I headed for the Vodafone store. </span><br />
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<b>5:13pm, Vodafone at Kensington High Street</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I just arrived to request assistance with my phone and iPad. There appears to be only two employees, and 7 customers ahead of me. This will take a while.</span><br />
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<b>6:09pm:</b> I’m finally finished at the Vodafone store. They had to replace both the chip in the cell phone, and the chip in the iPad. Apparently Vodafone had problems setting up new accounts the day before, because they'd spent the whole day sorting out issues with new accounts. Because I wanted to meet up with the Florida gang later, and did not know when and where exactly, I decided to stand in the store and check Facebook. Good thing I did that, as the iPad didn’t work, and I had to go back to the girl to get her to fiddle with my account some more. She got it sorted. Hurray! I feel human again, with portable access to the Internet. :-)</span><br />
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<b>6:48pm, Paddington Station</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am incredibly grateful for the kindness of the strangers who've helped me lug my suitcase up the stairs. It would take me forever doing it alone! They really need lifts in all the stations. Even if it meant walking more.</span><br />
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Speaking of walking more, I hit 8,000 steps at 6:15pm. All the standing I've been doing today is killing my feet for sure. I wanna sit down SO bad! If the blasted train would just arrive!!</span><br />
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The train finally did arrive, after two District line trains. The Circle Line trains are all new and shiny. I finally found a place in the last car where I could park my suitcase beside me.</span><br />
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There were SO many stairs to navigate in order to exit the Tower Hill station! More people who were kind enough to get my suitcase up several flights of stairs. I finally exited the station, in search of the Tower Gateway DLR station. </span><br />
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Hurray for the newer stations around London!! The DLR has an escalator, in addition to the stairs, and there is even a lift (elevator). The train towards Beckton was there in the station, and I got right on, headed for The ExCel Center to meet my Florida friends at the Fox Pub. The ExCel center must be enormous, because it has TWO DLR stops, one on either end.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDT1WrZg49FCCp3n_WzpIyWhTCvZK6vScJA3ofNzfHLBNLSG1Tz0Hukbw6arOUOJ-xF32oUYtPHTwWqFD8tulsNAwNuoxg_fqldbn9B6m_GLxSwAcRvNHZz7DBy2g3k7zkB6xp8awFjdI/s1600/Fox+Pub+at+Excel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDT1WrZg49FCCp3n_WzpIyWhTCvZK6vScJA3ofNzfHLBNLSG1Tz0Hukbw6arOUOJ-xF32oUYtPHTwWqFD8tulsNAwNuoxg_fqldbn9B6m_GLxSwAcRvNHZz7DBy2g3k7zkB6xp8awFjdI/s1600/Fox+Pub+at+Excel.jpg" title="Fox Pub at ExCel. Photo found via Google Images." /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
I had a nice burger and a Strongbow on tap for dinner. Then we all took the DLR down one stop, because we weren’t able to go through the ExCel center to walk to the other end. I walked to the Aloft hotel, which was just off the Prince Regent DLR stop, picked up my key from the front desk (I was sharing a room with Debi Chowdhury for the night), and took my stuff to the room. I don’t really remember much more about the evening, other than I was SO tired I was on auto-pilot until I fell asleep.</span>
Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-45059490189226788082014-08-11T22:43:00.000-04:002014-08-11T22:48:51.097-04:00Day 2: Monday, 11 August 2014 - Cardiff, Wales<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8:00am, Cardiff, Wales</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I set the alarm for 8am, thinking I would get up, shower, eat breakfast, and get a start on the day. I'd be able to hit nearby <a href="http://www.stdavidscardiff.com/" target="_blank">St. David's Centre</a> (shopping) to get a charm from Pandora, straighten out the local phone, go to the Doctor Who Experience, and still have time to do something else, like visit Cardiff Castle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I didn't get up at 8. For those who know me, I'm sure you're shocked. 8-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was pouring rain all morning, which isn't very compatible with traveling on foot when you don't have a slicker, or an umbrella, so I kept hitting the snooze on my iPhone alarm, apparently for three hours. What can I say? Dinner and the shower last night gave me a second wind, and by the time I was tired enough to sleep, it was 4am!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I looked at the map to see how to get to St. David's Centre, but I couldn't quite figure out which way to go when leaving the hotel. I inquired at the front desk, and the man told me to go to a restaurant across the street and turn left. No version of turning left would have put me going in the proper direction as far as I could tell from the map, so I turned right instead. Good thing I didn't listen to the dolt when he insisted I turn left, even when I asked twice, as it was just down the short street, after I turned RIGHT. It pays to look at maps.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I went there in search of the Pandora store, which I found right away. St. David's Centre is a HUGE shopping mall, so finding a store without consulting the mall map, or wandering the mall looking for it, is pretty impressive. I bought a daffodil, which the girl assured me was the national flower of Wales. A later Google search says she was correct, and not having a laugh at my expense.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On my way into Pandora I spotted <a href="http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/" target="_blank">Carphone Warehouse</a>, which sells all kinds of phones and SIM chips. I bought the SIM for my iPad at a Carphone Warehouse last year, so why not repeat the process?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, they weren't able to help me because they did't work with the same company as last year, and the man sent me off to the 3 store farther down the mall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I made my way through the mall, I passed <a href="http://www.vodafone.co.uk/" target="_blank">Vodafone</a>, where I had bought my cheap local phone last year, and since I needed to get a new chip for that as well, I went in. I came out with a new chip for my phone, and for my iPad. They are both pay-as-you-go, which is all I need for a couple of weeks usage. They will both take up to 24 hours to become active. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I asked the nice man, Matt, at Vodafone where I could catch a bus to Cardiff Bay, and he suggested I take the train from Cardiff Queen's Street, as the train goes straight there. Nice! I got a bit lost on my way out of the mall, and managed to get within half a block of the train station before I caved and asked a man carrying a comic-book print messenger bag where it was. It was under construction, and the sign was missing, or I would have seen it! It was across the street and down half the block from where I was standing. Oh, well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The train was nice. The walk from the train station to the Doctor Who Experience was much longer than I expected, but I finally found it! I had no idea which way to go coming out of the train station, but I remembered that it was near Mermaid Quay, so I followed those signs until it was all in view. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is a festival in progress in Cardiff Bay, and the giant metal column is adorned with photos of children riding strawberries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I managed to arrive at the Doctor Who Experience only 15 minutes before the next tour group was admitted, so I grabbed some water and waited in line with the others who held tickets for the same time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first part of the tour is a staged show, complete with Daleks, Weeping Angels, a TARDIS Console, and of course, the Doctor himself (Matt Smith via video). No photography allowed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After that there were two floors of costumes and props, including three different TARDISes, three different TARDIS consoles, and lots of Daleks, where we could take all the photos we wanted. I'll post more of the Doctor Who photos later, for those who want to view the Doctor Who Experience via the internet. 8-) Here are a couple to whet your appetite.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much like anywhere with a gift shop, the exit lead you there. I bought stuff. 8-) I have no idea why my debit card was declined, because I used it earlier at Pandora, but at least I had enough cash to pay, so crisis averted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I exited the gift shop it was pouring down rain. The on-again-off-again rain reminds me of Florida. It has the same "wait 5 minutes" aspect as well. I ordered a cappuccino from the cafe, and the rain stopped before I had finished my drink, the skies returning to fluffy white clouds against a bright blue background. 8-) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I walked back to the train station, enjoying the sights.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5:22pm Cardiff Bay, Wales</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm waiting on the train back to Queen Street Station, and it has started raining again. The rain has at least been cooperative and not done it while I've been outside walking my feet off. I should easily make 8,000 steps by the end of today!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5:35pm, Cardiff, Wales</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Off the train. It's that short a train ride, but beats the heck out of walking that far, especially with all the walking I've already done today. The rain stopped, and it is sunny again!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I found the free wifi, and consulted my bank's app. Nothing nefarious, other than a pending charge for the train ticket from London to Cardiff - the one the machine swore didn't go through. Hmm. That'll be fun to get sorted out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I stopped at an ATM, and my debit card let me have money. Still no idea why it got declined earlier. I'll phone my bank tomorrow and ask.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wandered into the <a href="http://www.capitol-shopping-centre.co.uk/" target="_blank">Capital Shopping Centre</a>, to see what was there, and found a Pound Shop! It's like the Dollar Tree, only the food selection seems to be of higher quality. I only bought a few things, like the shower soap I discovered I didn't refill before leaving home, and nail polish remover.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since I hadn't stopped long enough to eat more than a granola bar all day (I know, I shouldn't go so long without food), I walked back to the mall and settled on a restaurant called <a href="http://www.yosushi.com/uk" target="_blank">Yo! Sushi</a>. I've never eaten at a restaurant with a conveyer belt on which the food moved around the restaurant! It was £2.50 Monday, specializing in various dishes that were, you guessed it, £2.50 each. You could just grab something as it went by, or order off the menu. I got a couple of chicken dishes, and a fruit bowl, miso soup (off the menu), and another dish that turned out to be not what I expected, but I liked it. Inari pockets, I think. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Each spot around the big bar had its own spigots for still and sparkling water. They charged you for a glass, then you could have all the refills you wanted. It was a unique experience, and I enjoyed it (and the food).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since it was after 8pm when I finished dinner, the mall was closed, so I headed back to my hotel. It started raining again when I was a block from the hotel, so I hid under some trees with several others doing the same, until the rain let up a bit, and the walk light turned green. Then I dashed across two cross-walks and back to my hotel to pack since I will be headed back to London on Tuesday morning.</span></div>
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Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-19297087484764037052014-08-10T21:16:00.001-04:002014-08-10T21:17:21.891-04:00Day 1: Sunday, 10 August 2014 - Did He Say We Landed In Paris?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">12:10pm: I slept through breakfast, which is fine by me since I ate WAY too much food yesterday and had an upset stomach all night. When they announced we'd be landing soon, I quickly used the lavatory, and put on my shoes. We should have landed around 11:00 am, but it didn't register with me that we were landing an hour late.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we descended, I lifted the blind on the window next to my seat to watch the scenery go by. I am sitting next to an enormous engine!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We landed with a quick and fast stop, causing the water bottle next to me to go flying, as I forgot it was there and didn't move it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The flight attendant came over the loudspeaker to announce that we had landed in Paris. Since we had been flying to London, I assumed it was a gaffe on the part of the flight attendant after a long flight. It's happened before. </span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I asked the nearby passengers if the guy actually said we had landed in Paris, and two answered yes, and that we DID land in Paris! I slept through all of the announcements that we were being diverted to Paris due to bad weather in London keeping us from landing, and that we needed to refuel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've always wanted to go to Paris again, but this wasn't how I meant!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, that makes it 1:10pm instead, since Paris is an hour ahead of London.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, we await fuel, and a flight plan back to London. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>1:45pm, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is strange being on a plane, yet not flying anywhere. This is only the second time I ever remember being diverted to a different airport. Everyone is standing, or walking about. A couple is making the rounds with their toddler, who is just at the walking stage, trying to keep her occupied. She's adorable, smiling at all the strange people who are so much taller than she is. The flight attendants have been passing out coffee, and telling us it should be about another hour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>2:15pm, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They just announced that they've turned the entertainment system back on, if we'd like to watch anything. This makes me think we will be here awhile. Also, I noticed that, despite my phone and iPad being in Airplane mode, they are now displaying Paris-local time. Hmmm…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>2:26pm, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The captain announced we are fueled and ready to leave. However, the local traffic control says it will be approximately an hour and 15 minutes before we can leave. This is the sort of thing that makes me always plan to arrive at least a day earlier than I need to be anywhere!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is cutting into my time to spend sight-seeing in Cardiff today, though. I'm supposed to leave Tuesday to head back to London. Maybe I will stay another day, and leave Wednesday instead. I'm still going to wait and see how other things unfold.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>2:37pm, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We got cleared for take-off, and are taxing through the airport toward a runway! Traveling back in time only an hour. I wonder how long the flight is. The pilot said the flight is only 40 minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>3:52pm, Heathrow Airport, London, England</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh, my god, we finally made it! I managed to get through the passport queue without waiting (bless Delta for the Fast Track pass), find the WC and brush my the fuzz off my teeth, find my luggage, buy a bottle of water, price SIM cards fir the iPad, top off my Oyster Card (for the Underground), buy the Heathrow Express ticket, navigate my way onto the train between terminals, and make it to the platform for the Heathrow Express with only 13 minutes to wait fir the train. Not bad!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I decided against a vending machine purchase for a SIM card because they didn't have any micro SIM cards fir a tablet. I don't need all the phone minutes and texting for my iPad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While waiting for the Heathrow Express I met a nice young girl (she's probably 13 or 14) who came on her own from Dubai for a two-week dance and performance class. She got delayed in customs for being under 18 and traveling alone. She said you have to be 12 or older to travel alone in Dubai, so they didn't know you had to be 18 in the UK. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Heathrow Express took the promised 15 minutes to get to Paddington Station. I'm not sure how it happened, but the train I needed to take leaves from Paddington! No massive transferring of Underground trains required. I was SO happy to know this. But the last train for Sunday evening left at 17:31, and it was 17:15. I had to buy my ticket in a hurry and find Platform 3!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is where the universe attempted to mess with me. The ticket was 42 (yep). No problem, I had 45 in bills, and some coins. The machine took the first 20 just fine, but absolutely refused to take my second one. I asked for my money back, planning to use my debit card (I used it earlier to buy my Heathrow Express ticket). The machine gave me 10 in 1 coins, and 10 in 50p coins! Ugh. Then the machine wouldn't process my card. Ugh! There was an ATM was right behind the train thicket dispenser, so I got cash, then tried the machine with new bills. That worked! Whew! I found Platform 3, where the train to Swansea was waiting, walked down the platform a bit, got on the train, walked through two cars, got off the train to walk down three more cars, and finally found a seat near luggage storage. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I retrieved my plug converter from the suitcase so I could recharge my iPad, and virtually collapsed in exhaustion into a seat. I realized I haven't had food in 13 hours. No wonder I was starving! But I didn't want train food, so decided to wait until I got to my hotel in Cardiff to eat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also, the Great Western train I was on lacked wifi. Darn. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>8:20pm, Cardiff, Wales</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made it to my hotel! I was so happy to exit the Cardiff Central train station to find my hotel staring me in the face, only a block away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'd been on planes and trains for two days now! Although I felt like a grungy mess, I didn't look quite as bad as I felt, so I went to the hotel restaurant for food. Also, I hadn't had food since they fed us dinner on the plane last night! </span></div>
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Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-42661541148968276582014-08-10T20:54:00.003-04:002014-08-10T21:01:44.694-04:00Day 0.5: Flying to London and Time Travel<div class="p1">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Using an airplane to time travel is always fun. Today we will travel five hours forward in time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I got a seat in Business Class! This is one of the seats that lays down to let you sleep your way across an ocean. It was awesome! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKaW5vBLBKVlXBpj31ZOgv7gjqEh8XXfooSPCHMpw1J_45DALZ4OT9jOlt7kgzqg2OooQ11U03uhxYqzPMYk7XBeDce3TIx3Kxt06UC98XsQJnNDz5pEaPwoxgPRvPSxu_TkWNq8MeJw/s1600/IMG_0558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKaW5vBLBKVlXBpj31ZOgv7gjqEh8XXfooSPCHMpw1J_45DALZ4OT9jOlt7kgzqg2OooQ11U03uhxYqzPMYk7XBeDce3TIx3Kxt06UC98XsQJnNDz5pEaPwoxgPRvPSxu_TkWNq8MeJw/s1600/IMG_0558.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We even got a bag of goodies in a zippered case. Toothbrush, dental floss pick and toothpaste, eye mask, socks, pen, shoe horn, shoe polish, and a wee packet of kleenex.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My gosh, but they feed you a lot in Business Class! I had a mimosa when we boarded. We got a 3-shrimp appetizer (starter), followed by soup and salad, followed by the main course (I had beef, mashed potatoes, and extremely dead broccoli, which I didn't touch), followed by dessert (I picked the tiny Creme brûlée, minus being set on fire, which was the perfect size). I was beyond stuffed. It's hard to say no when they keep feeding you! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I watched the move "Only Lovers Left Alive" while I dined. It was different, but not as bad as the reviews made it seem. I think people were expecting Tom Hiddleston to be Loki again, but he's an actor, and this was a completely different role. The plot moved glacially slow, which is probably why people hated it, but I think the pace was well-suited to the story. These vampires had all the time in the world to do as they pleased. The bit with the blood Popsicles was weird, though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once the movie was done, I reclined the chair to a comfy position, and proceeded to drift off to sleep. I did turn a couple of times until I found a comfortable position to sleep in, and dealt with my unhappy innards (from all the food).</span></div>
Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-46156402943936248032014-08-10T20:36:00.003-04:002014-08-10T20:37:49.814-04:00Day 0: Leaving for London, 9 August 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHrySn-4diszGywzfQsgmKRso4mCw8iwiBFN1mCUaiTHmyCoIxnh9qr5NtbMsGfDsl6yamXyCT-wFCRMkUOfrjH8MG0uFLr1Eg5N5zurJxO5KPzqZHAOmn9UVSxty40snCGOKDTT_TnpA/s1600/Delta+Logo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHrySn-4diszGywzfQsgmKRso4mCw8iwiBFN1mCUaiTHmyCoIxnh9qr5NtbMsGfDsl6yamXyCT-wFCRMkUOfrjH8MG0uFLr1Eg5N5zurJxO5KPzqZHAOmn9UVSxty40snCGOKDTT_TnpA/s1600/Delta+Logo.jpeg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today is the first day of the rest of my life.</span><br />
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No, wait, that's wrong. Well, not wrong, exactly. Well, you know what I mean.</span><br />
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Today is the first day of a 3-week vacation, and I'm headed off to Cardiff, Wales. After that it's London, England (for <a href="http://www.loncon3.org/" target="_blank">Worldcon</a>), Dublin, Ireland (<a href="http://www.shamrokon.ie/" target="_blank">Shamrokon</a>), Atlanta for <a href="http://www.dragoncon.org/" target="_blank">Dragon*Con</a>. and then back home to Tampa. Yes, I am going to three conventions, three weekends in a row, in three different countries. I am going to have a marvelous time, and I am going to be TIRED at the end! 8-)</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My friend Corwin gave me a ride to the airport this morning (thanks again!!). He crashed on my couch last night so he wouldn't have to get up early to pick me up. I completely understand the concept of not wanting to get up any earlier than necessary. 8-)</span><br />
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Although last night there was a series of things cropping up to delay me, I actually did manage to finish packing, watch a movie (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772341/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Wreck It Ralph</a>), and get a total of 3 hours of sleep. This is pretty good, since I am often taking a 6:00am flight, and stay awake all night with no sleep. This time, it was a Noon flight I was aiming for. I say aiming because it didn't work out that way.</span><br />
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I wanted to arrive at 10am. We got here at 9:55, and that included a stop at the Post Office to drop a package being sent to Atlanta for Dragon*Con (nobody driving up had room for my tiny box of stuff, and I don't want to carry it around the UK and Ireland).</span><br />
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There was a lengthy line at the check-in kiosks, but it moved quickly, and I was done with that in 10 minutes and it was off to the train out to Terminal E. The Tampa International Airport is laid out weirdly, and the security checks are in each terminal, rather than being located in the center of the airport. This means you are not free to move between terminals, nor are you free to shop and dine in the main airport building.</span><br />
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I made it through the TSA public pat-down (I won't go through that millimeter wave detection machine). This one was rather more... personal than usual as the young woman was rather more enthusiastic than others I've suffered through.</span><br />
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I made it to the terminal in plenty of time to enjoy a nice cup of coffee, and a sandwich. And then the Noon flight to Detroit was full, and I was a mere two people away (only one person ahead of me) from getting on the plane. Sigh. The next flight was at 3:45, so that gave me about 4 hours to spend roaming the airport, and the internet.</span><br />
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Why didn't I get on that flight at Noon, you ask? I am flying standby. Part of my dad's retirement benefits from Delta Airlines is that he, his spouse (aka my stepmom), and his children still get to fly standby, whenever we want to endure the hassle. It still costs us money, just not as much. And it is refundable. I only do it when it saves me enough money to make it worth it. </span><br />
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I can be a danger to my wallet when I am bored. I bought a scarf/shawl in one of the shops. It's really pretty, and has the advantage of being very light-weight, and doesn't wrinkle (a MUST for travel clothing). After that I picked a nice sunny window to sit by while working on my computer.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Typical Florida weather. This was my view when I sat down at a table to work on my computer. Nice, fluffy, white clouds.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNoLKnfd43IFl6-qB-p5LsyHGD6SSSCErPDuwolyV8U3HURRZz21VL4YsW9O6FwyhwJUTjKlMu_xveJMdvC-FAEMaV2FCZqg8d8fcB55JvYciiiLLNGWP4ryhzs-Q4ewyMRUEH8_-Gt3E/s640/blogger-image--1713305633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNoLKnfd43IFl6-qB-p5LsyHGD6SSSCErPDuwolyV8U3HURRZz21VL4YsW9O6FwyhwJUTjKlMu_xveJMdvC-FAEMaV2FCZqg8d8fcB55JvYciiiLLNGWP4ryhzs-Q4ewyMRUEH8_-Gt3E/s1600/blogger-image--1713305633.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fast-forward to 3:15pm. I wandered over to the gate to discover that the flight was delayed by 20 minutes, and I was 5th in the standby queue, with one open seat. Yeah, I knew I wasn't going to make that flight. The next one was at 6:45pm, and the gate agent who transferred the standby folks to the next flight said there were 15 seats open. The whole standby list should make it onto that flight! And it will arrive in Detroit with just over an hour before the last flight of the day to London Heathrow. </span><br />
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That gave me another two hours to wander the airport. Okay, wander Terminal E. Not a lot of real estate to cover. I made my second walk from one end to the other and back, got a bowl of way-too-salty chicken noodle soup (I hate the prices of airport food), and found a workstation so I could charge my computer and my phone, both of which got a good work-out for the day. I nodded off, and awoke to the sound of someone saying my name. It was my friend, John Chambrone! He was headed to San Diego to visit his family, and was departing from a nearby gate. We chatted for a bit until it was time for us board our respective airplanes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We landed in Detroit at Gate 75, and the next flight took off from Gate 34. The airport is HUGE, and looks nothing like I recall from back in the 1970s. It looks new and shiny, and there's an elevated tram to whisk passengers from one end of the terminal building to the other, with only one other stop, in the middle of the building.</span><br />
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Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-7396978130144520262014-05-12T08:00:00.000-04:002014-05-12T08:00:06.435-04:00Stealing is Stealing - A Followup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is a followup to my </span><a href="http://terisears.blogspot.com/2014/05/stealing-is-stealing.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">post</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> from Saturday regarding wait staff who steal from their customers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've received various replies to my actions from Saturday night, where the only tip I left my waiter was the money he stole from me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One person posited that all I did was perpetuate the myth that white women (that's what I am) are bad tippers (that's what I am not). To that I say that the myth is a self-fulfilling situation. Somewhere along the way </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the waiters and waitresses (servers) </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">decided that white women tip poorly, so they give</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> lack-luster s</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ervice</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> in expectation of receiving a bad tip, and the poor service received results in a bad tip. If the servers would simply give everyone good service, without trying to pre-judge their tip, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and the level of service they plan to provide, based</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> on the size, shape, sex, skin color, nationality, or clothing of their customers, I think they would find a marked increase in their tips.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I received a couple of comments suggesting that I was being ridiculous to leave a tip that was less than $1.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let me remind everyone that a tip is never required. Ever. It's a gratuity paid to your server for waiting on you. It represents your level of appreciation for their service. That's it. If you got bad service from that server, you can tip them nothing, and you should not be ridiculed for doing so. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, if you are withholding a tip from your server for reasons other than the level of service that person provided, well, that's a whole different discussion, and you're likely wrong for doing so. For example, if your steak was over-cooked, that's not the server's fault.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you are employed as a server, you shouldn't automatically assume a patron is being cheap when they leave no tip. Perhaps you didn't do the best job possible. Think about that before you run to social media to proclaim your customers to be penny-pinching tightwads.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But I digress from the issue of stealing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why is it ever suggested that it is acceptable for restaurant servers to steal from their customers? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you were employed as a bank teller, would you be allowed to pocket the coins portion of a customer's paycheck they were cashing? You ARE providing them a service by cashing their check, after all. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course not! You'd be fired for stealing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you were employed as a cashier at any non-restaurant retail establishment, would you be allowed </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">to pocket the coins portion of a customer's change for their cash payment? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You ARE providing them a service by ringing up their purchase. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course not! You'd be fired for stealing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you were employed as a cashier at a fast-food restaurant, would you be allowed </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">to pocket the coins portion of a customer's change for their cash payment? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course not! You'd be fired for stealing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you were the customer of that bank, retail establishment, or fast-food restaurant, would you want the cashier to tell you they were keeping the coins for YOUR convenience, since coins are a pain to carry around? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course not! You expect to get the correct change back from the money you give in payment for your purchase.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Again, I ask why we</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> are</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> as expected to look the other way when a restaurant server steals our money?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stealing is stealing.</span><br />
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Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-65248497427178452552014-05-10T22:56:00.001-04:002014-05-12T01:23:12.979-04:00Stealing Is Stealing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tonight I dined at Longhorn Steakhouse on Westshore, in Tampa. I received mediocre service from my waiter. Not bad, but not great. I never got a bread plate. He did a "drive-by" drop off of my salad onto the far side of my table as he hurried to another table. My steak and shrimp arrived sans the shrimp. I was 90% done with my steak by the time the shrimp arrived. But both were hot, and my steak was cooked properly (a less-than-average occurrence for me; I'm just lucky that way). And my glass had been empty for 10-15 minutes before I got a refill. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I declined dessert and the waiter brought my check. I put in two $20s, expecting most of one of them back as change. I started paying cash at restaurants whenever possible after a waiter at Mimi's Cafe failed to notice that he didn't return my charge card because he had dropped it on the floor on the way back to my table. Lucky for us both that a kind person found it and turned it in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The waiter at Longhorn returned my change, only it was missing the coins. This irritates me. Paying cash at a restaurant, or anywhere really, is not implicit permission for someone to keep your money for themselves. That is called stealing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've had people say to me "Oh, it's just a few coins, what does it really matter? You were going to leave it as part of tip anyway, weren't you?" What matters is that it is stealing. Stealing is stealing, regardless of what sort of spin you wish to use. I'm not in the mood to have my money stolen, regardless of the amount or circumstances. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before I tipped the waiter only the coins he stole, I checked with the manager to make sure it wasn't some weird policy to not return the coins portion when a customer pays in cash (I've actually had a restaurant claim that was their policy).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The manager offered to get me the rest of my change. I said it's not the money, it's the principle. It wasn't the waiter's place to keep my money. She said she didn't blame me, and would have a talk with the waiter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm just not going to reward a thief, even if that thief waited on me in a restaurant.</span></div>
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Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-65026864337755785412014-03-23T02:01:00.000-04:002014-03-23T02:03:14.533-04:00Teri's Attic Logo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSW6UYZZLsnzIW0-gyKFU8R0dLN3ykg2ZGK3JJdZ6XoS0IR5-ATiY9ZNIYzGgYvNRZ8Jqggkh6RqhqZJHewj2MdYqksBhXjD7sDqlTT7KaZw8UbfXeR_YwsGUbXhSkw_tke0mEcbUyu4/s1600/Teri's+Attic+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSW6UYZZLsnzIW0-gyKFU8R0dLN3ykg2ZGK3JJdZ6XoS0IR5-ATiY9ZNIYzGgYvNRZ8Jqggkh6RqhqZJHewj2MdYqksBhXjD7sDqlTT7KaZw8UbfXeR_YwsGUbXhSkw_tke0mEcbUyu4/s1600/Teri's+Attic+2.png" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here' the logo I made for my eBay virtual yard sale. What do you think?</span></div>
Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-58383981521652205852014-03-06T19:26:00.001-05:002014-03-06T19:46:56.529-05:00Apartment Living Sucks - March 2014<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;">Today, I got a call from my apartment complex office, demanding information on my renter's insurance. </p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;">What business is it of theirs whether or not I have insurance on my belongings? </p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;">Turns out that back in December 2012 they implemented a new policy requiring all residents to have renters insurance. Of course, they never bothered to get around to notifying all of the current residents that there was a new policy which affects us. The office crew are reviewing all the accounts this month, and calling people who have "failed to supply the proper paperwork". How can I supply information I had no knowledge was required?</p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;">I'm no fool; I've had renters insurance since the day I moved in. Now I have to find my policy to see what coverage amounts I have, and because this "new" policy of theirs requires minimum coverage amounts, if I don't meet the minimums I will have to buy more insurance. Oh, joy.</p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;">I'd like to say that I'm sick of all the things the apartment complex springs on the residents in a retroactive fashion, but sick isn't quite a strong enough word. </p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;">I REALLY need to get my house-buying ball rolling faster! </p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;">And win the lottery so I don't need a mortgage. ;-)</p>Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com2Americas (null)27.987996 -82.329137tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-74142796105016515182013-12-09T19:54:00.001-05:002013-12-09T20:13:12.659-05:00I'm Saying No To Poisonous Drugs<div>That does it. The cough is coming back. I am SO done with this nasty blood pressure medicine, and the doctor who refuses to listen to me that it's been making me sick. I've felt worse since taking this garbage, and had higher blood pressure, than I did on no medication at all. </div><div><br></div><div>I've been reading "user reviews" on WebMD and now I know I'm not the only one who's had their BP GO UP on Benicar. Plus, I'm suffering many of the same nasty side effects as other people, such as nauseating head pain (probably from the soaring BP), extreme lethargy, muscle and joint pain, periodic blurred vision, dizziness, inability to think clearly, high blood sugar, high cholesterol. Others have had kidney failure. </div><div><br></div><div>One thing almost everyone with bad side effects seems to have in common is a doctor who refuses to believe the drug is causing the patient's ill health, even when presented with the fact of the improved health of the patient after discontinuing the drug.</div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I feel 90 instead of 50. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div>I'm going to be the boss of my health and quit taking this poison before it kills my kidneys. Or me.</div><div><br></div><div>I just wonder what the recovery time is. I don't want to go to another doctor while I am suffering from these crappy side effects, only to have them try to treat me for diseases I don't actually have. That is what this doctor's been trying to do, too, instead of backing off the poison and giving my body a chance to hit the reset button. </div><div><br></div><div>Nothing is worth feeling this bad. </div>Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-54464486581670210502013-08-13T02:30:00.000-04:002013-08-13T02:30:57.532-04:00Monday Night Update on Jonesy<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank you to everyone for all of the love and support for the sick fur boy. We both appreciate it.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jonesy on Monday evening at the overnight Vet's office.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jonesy spent Monday at Livingston Animal Hospital, our regular vet. They did an ultrasound on his kidneys, and heart, and did a needle aspiration of an unknown mass on one kidney. They aren't sure if it is cancer or not. The lab results on that won't be back for 2-3 days.</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He has pancreatitis, and an enlarged liver and gall bladder. They believe the latter two are a result of the first. He's on antibiotics for all of that, and seems to be responding well. He even finally ate some wet food on Monday afternoon.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I picked him up from the regular vet to take him to the overnight vet, he had more fight back in him. He wanted to jump down from the table in the exam room, but we didn't want him to do that. When I got to the car, he jumped out of my arms and into the car, so that does take some energy to manage.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jonesy is spending the night at the Emergency Vet clinic so they can continue to give him IV fluids and monitor his condition. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I get to pick him up again on Tuesday morning, and take him back to the regular vet for the day for more monitoring. I should be able to take him home Tuesday evening if he continues to improve throughout the day.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The fact that he feels better right now is good, but we still don't have a good picture of his overall health. We will have a better idea when the labs come back on his kidney biopsy.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Loki and I miss him, and hope he gets to come home soon.</span><br />
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Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0New Tampa, Tampa, FL, USA28.1222222 -82.37444440000001627.8982352 -82.697167900000011 28.3462092 -82.051720900000021tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-76711724922031691492013-08-12T17:03:00.001-04:002013-08-12T17:03:17.529-04:00Monday Afternoon Update on Jonesy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbvMj2kJHFmSvjSl3F-xyqpFnu3SPfHQfzWBZ6QV_bspgQ9mt0mCORcbVtKsu09g8tieNsu8Qrx8A9CTQOpxcYKFlJXfMJH3NLgZ3EKy-fYQj-nMq4v8eCOF9aAVR9wweqQ7mQPM5LWmQ/s640/blogger-image-897724549.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbvMj2kJHFmSvjSl3F-xyqpFnu3SPfHQfzWBZ6QV_bspgQ9mt0mCORcbVtKsu09g8tieNsu8Qrx8A9CTQOpxcYKFlJXfMJH3NLgZ3EKy-fYQj-nMq4v8eCOF9aAVR9wweqQ7mQPM5LWmQ/s400/blogger-image-897724549.jpg" width="300" /></a><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">Today Jonesy is obviously feeling better than he was on Sunday, </span>but the jury is still out on his overall health.<br />
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This is how he looked at the regular vet this morning, after I had picked him up from the Emergency Vet where he spent the night. The Emergency Vet gave him the awesomely cute bandana. He didn't seem to mind having that on his neck. What bothered him was the IV line thing wrapped around his leg.<br />
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He's at the regular vet all day for more tests, including ultrasounds of his kidney and heart. Then he has to spend the night in the ER again so they can keep giving him fluids and monitoring him.<br />
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Tomorrow we should know more about what's causing his issues, and if its fixable.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonesy looking tired and frustrated.</td></tr>
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">Loki has been confused by the lack of Jonesy. He's been sitting with me all day long as I've been working from home, and touching me most of the time.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loki</td></tr>
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Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0New Tampa, Tampa, FL, USA28.1222222 -82.37444440000001627.8982352 -82.697167900000011 28.3462092 -82.051720900000021tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-76632518878400733572013-08-03T16:43:00.001-04:002013-08-03T16:45:40.458-04:00Book Review: I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sure, he treats his kids well, but that's not all there is to being a good person. He's not home enough to qualify as a decent parent. This time he even forgets one of his kid's birthdays! He won't win any Father of the Year Awards in this decade. </div>
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He treats Mary Catherine as if she were a pet dog, expecting that she will always be there at his home waiting for him, with a smile on her face, regardless of how he treats her. I was so happy when she finally leaves, and very sad when, at the end, she is basically forced to stay with him against her will.</div>
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The story was at least interesting, until you realize that there is no real resolution as in the previous Michael Bennett books, but that it is, instead, a convoluted setup for the next book, and an excuse to get the whole Bennett clan into Witness Protection. Personally, I find the idea that you can "hide" a family consisting of a single dad with 10 adopted kids of various races preposterous. They'll stick out no matter where they go.</div>
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<a name='more'></a>I honestly can't think of a storyline for the next Michael Bennett novel that would make me want to read it. I take that back, I can think of one: if it were a story in which Michael realizes what a lousy person he's been and changes his ways, taking care of his own children for a change instead of always depending on someone else to do it for him, and gets on his knees to apologize to Mary Catherine for treating her like dirt. </div>
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I doubt that story will be written.</div>
Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-11108074809475489662013-05-20T01:14:00.002-04:002013-05-20T01:14:20.239-04:00Book Review: The City & The City by China Mieville<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyJF9SKp4-5RDqWpXZCrlD6IFroW6EfwvMfL0kg6xn8Q6407gg95jutI00Gq4_CiMOqiFD-JpJWmgv9ZxkXdgN6BG6pAxwrAPYUpxOUSJHrI_lndPzviqUSOx0FI7I5D0JhxdL313ernw/s1600/the-city-and-the-city.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyJF9SKp4-5RDqWpXZCrlD6IFroW6EfwvMfL0kg6xn8Q6407gg95jutI00Gq4_CiMOqiFD-JpJWmgv9ZxkXdgN6BG6pAxwrAPYUpxOUSJHrI_lndPzviqUSOx0FI7I5D0JhxdL313ernw/s320/the-city-and-the-city.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I decided to read <i>The City & The City</i> because it won a Hugo Award. So far it has made me question the sanity of everyone who voted for it. It's made me question my own sanity for continuing to read it past the first 5-10 pages.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First, I really hate when writers feel the need to invent new words for everything. It takes the reader out of the story when they have to consult the cheat-sheet they are required to create and maintain in order to keep up with the story and the over-use of invented terminology. Sometimes this amounts to needing to create an English translation of the story while you are reading.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Another thing I find annoying is bad grammar and punctuation. This book has an over-abundance of both. Proper punctuation is sparse, and there are too many extremely short, non-sensical sentences. I had to read some sentences three or four times to figure out what the writer meant. Good punctuation would have resolved the problem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The plot, so far, is completely unfathomable, other than a detective trying to solve the murder of a woman. So far I have read nothing that makes this book science fiction. Nothing I have read in any synopsis lends me to believe this is a science fiction novel, either, but more of a political fiction. I am completely baffled why this was even nominated for a Hugo, and even more baffled how it won the award for Best Novel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have NO idea what all the seen/unseen business is about, or the cross-hatching of streets. Nothing in the first 10% of the book has explained it, either. It is as though the writer assumed that I would already know everything about this setting, though how I was supposed to already have this knowledge, I have no idea. Why not take a paragraph or two and clue me in? Why make me feel like I'm the only one who wasn't let in on some enormous joke?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>The City & The City</i> has an air of "Look how clever I am", without actually being clever at all. This is simply really bad writing. I don't have time to bother with really bad writing where there are so many well-written books out there just waiting for me to read and enjoy.</span></div>
Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-77041994664993278392013-05-15T12:43:00.001-04:002013-05-15T12:44:11.582-04:00Stupid Writers of SPAM<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I found this in my SPAM folder, and thought it was too hilarious not to share. You'd think they'd bother to at least learn grammar and spelling if they're going to attempt to intimidate you with an email, and convince you to send them money.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sat, May 11, 2013 at 9:19 PM</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sat, 9:19 <span class="s1">PM</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Message starred</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">from Department of Homeland Security - ICE to recipients</span></div>
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<a href="http://mail.yahoo.com/"><b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Delivery Of Your 2 Consignment Boxes (No: 00445 And 00484)</span></b></a></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Show Details</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From</span></b></div>
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<li class="li8"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Department of Homeland Security - ICE<br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Department of Homeland Security - ICE</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Office of International Affairs</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The motto of ICE is "Integrity, Courage, and Excellence</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> National Drug Law Enforcement Agency</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (NDLEA)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tel: 916-222-5435</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ATTN</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consignments Label No: 00445 And 00484.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consignments Serial No: 5678001 And 5679334.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Notice: This is to remind you that if you fail to reply this email within 48hours we assume that you are terrorist and we shall track you down.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We write to inform and update you that United Nations UN has ordered us the Homeland to release your 2 consignment boxes that has been in our custody from International Monetary Fund (IMF) your rightful inheritance. This arrangement was made during the last UN conference in New York.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are requested to send only $380 for Release Order Certificate and your boxes would be sent to your given address through Air Cargo which you would claim by presenting any of your valid ID and release Order Certificate accordingly. Below are details where to send the fee for Release Order Certificate and your 2 boxes would be forwarded to your nearest Airport through Air Cargo within 24hours.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rceiver: Julie Mayo</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Location: Benicia, CA 04510, U.S.A.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Exact Amount: $380</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Western Union MTCN...............</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OR</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moneygram Ref..........................</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sender's Name............</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Location.....................</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Congratulations And Thanks For Your Patience...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yours Faithfully</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Officer Robin Clerk</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">National Drug Law Enforcement Agency</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (NDLEA)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tel: 916-222-5435</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I got a particularly good chuckle from "we assume that you are terrorist and we shall track you down."</span></div>
Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-60529711952074079322013-05-15T12:39:00.001-04:002013-05-15T12:39:20.817-04:00Day 14: London and Tampa, 14 May 2013 (Tuesday)<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(this is a placeholder until I have finished writing it)</span>Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-13597111243665231072013-05-15T12:38:00.003-04:002013-05-15T12:38:48.537-04:00Day 13: London, 13 May 2013 (Monday)<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(this is a placeholder until I have finished writing it)</span>Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-46354709050577268992013-05-15T11:47:00.000-04:002013-05-15T11:47:51.852-04:00Day 12: London, 12 May 2013 (Sunday)<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So much for my trip to Cardiff. (Insert one Googol of curse words here) Now I'll just have to plan another trip to the UK. 8-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I felt so sick I wound up staying in bed all day. I only left the room once to go downstairs to get new codes for the Internet and that was around 11pm. I just threw my jacket on over my pajamas. I didn't care what anyone thought.</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I know Amy was looking forward to a day on her own, having no interest in joining me on the trip to Cardiff, so she ventured out to St Paul's Cathedral, even though it was a cold, dreary, rainy day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am very thankful that she went across the street to Tesco and brought me food. YAY! There was no restaurant in our hotel, nor room service. The only food to be had was the breakfast buffet. If it hadn't been for her bringing me food, I'm not sure I would have eaten at all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Since the day was so gloomy, Amy stayed in after her trip to St. Paul's, and once I was awake enough to be coherent we chatted for a bit, then watched the BAFTA awards. Turns out they delay their broadcast by 30 minutes, and Amy got spoiled about some of the winners by the fans who were live-Tweeting from the event. I wasn't reading Twitter, so found out the winners as they were announced on telly. I was very happy to see that Ben Wishaw won for Richard II. Now I can't wait to see that! I hope I can find it on DVD before we leave. Yes, I know they'll be region 2. Hurray for region-free DVD players!</span></div>
Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-58459287563011563732013-05-12T19:45:00.002-04:002013-05-12T19:47:39.223-04:00Day 11: Kirkcaldy and London, 11 May 2013 (Saturday)<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Another overcast and windy day in Scotland. I can see why my ancestors settled in the North Georgia mountains. The flora and fauna, landscape, and winter weather are all very similar. I woke up a bit early for me, so I took a shower. Amy opted to shower after breakfast.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The breakfast at the <a href="http://www.deanparkhotel.co.uk/" target="_blank">Dean Park Hotel</a> was a traditional breakfast. I ordered eggs and "bacon" (we'd call it fried ham in the US), and Amy ordered <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haggis" target="_blank">haggis</a> with hers. I have no desire to ever try the stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We ventured back to the room for Amy to shower. We discovered that check-out was at 11:00 am (they neglected to tell us this when we checked in), so we had to rush a bit to throw everything back into our suitcases. This left us about two hours to wait for Amy's friend Dawn to arrive. We just sat in the bar and chatted. I don't recall a single person coming over to ask if we wanted to order anything. Just as well since we didn't. We just chatted about the weather, what time we needed to catch the train back to London, the fact that Amy didn't want to join me for the trip to Cardiff, etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dawn arrived in a Land Rover (my first ever ride in one!) carrying two other passengers. Turned out to be someone else Amy knows, Anna, and Dawn's 15-year-old son, Kieran. We all went off to <a href="http://www.marinoslapassione.co.uk/" target="_blank">Marino's La Passione</a> Italian restaurant. Wonderful food and fantastic prices! If you ever find yourself in the area, I can highly recommend going there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After our lovely lunch we had some time to kill, so after dropping Anna off somewhere, Amy asked Dawn to take us to see the ruins of <span style="line-height: 1.2em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenscraig_Castle" target="_blank">Ravenscraig Castle</a>. I took some photos, and I'll have to come back and post them later.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.2em;">Dawn got a call from a </span><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">tenant</span><span style="line-height: 1.2em;"> of a property she manages, so we were off to that location. Amy, Keiran, and I stayed in the car to chat while Dawn went inside. Keiran is a really cool kid. He sounds more American than Scottish, thanks to the school he attends. He would fit in with our crowd easily - likes Anime, drawing (he is really good), has cats and a dog. Very typical teenager. We even got the chance to explain to him that, no, human albinos don't have pink eyes (he had drawn an Anime version of one).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.2em;">Then it was time to head for the train station to catch another <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Coast_(train_operating_company)" target="_blank">East Coast</a> train back to London. This would be 6 hours on the same train, with several stops along the way. But at least we didn't have to change trains, and spend time standing on cold, windy platforms waiting on the next train to arrive.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">By the time we reached the Edinburgh station I was starting to feel ill. My ears were aching, and I started feeling sore all over. Great. Fantastic. Just what I need, to be sick on my vacation. Argh. I gave up on the idea of writing this on the train back, and decided to try and sleep instead. This isn't easy to do on a train with unforgiving seats, but I did manage to nod off for a bit. I do recall a VERY loud group getting on the train in Doncaster, who thankfully got off at the next stop (York, I think). They didn't seem to be capable of speaking to one another in a volume other than full-on yelling. Part of their discussion centered around one of the young women (early 20s) having legally changed her last name to Beiber because she was such a huge <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Beiber" target="_blank">Justin Beiber</a> fan. That's a bit too... creepy to me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">Finally, we arrived in London at Kings Cross, and we made our way back to our hotel. It was all a bit of a blur to me since I was feeling worse by then. I took some NyQuil (I travel with a small medicine chest's worth of items, just in case they are needed) and crawled into bed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">I set the alarm for 6:00am so I could make the 8:00am train to Cardiff to see The Doctor Who Experience, and do some other Doctor Who-related stuff. I just prayed I would feel better in the morning.</span></span><br />
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Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-40166681907444888972013-05-12T09:29:00.000-04:002013-05-12T19:47:55.878-04:00Day 10: London and Edinburgh, 10 May 2013<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We originally planned to go to Cardiff today, and Edinburgh on Saturday, returning to London late on Sunday. However, due to procrastination (and who hasn't done that?), the place Amy wants to stay was available only on Friday night and not Saturday night. So, we switched things around. Edinburgh today, leaving late on Saturday and heading for Cardiff where we plan to stay overnight, then do all of the Doctor Who stuff on Sunday. Stay tuned for how that works out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I got up at 6:00 am this morning (those who know me will know that this isn't easy for me to do), showered, had breakfast in the hotel, and made it to the Kings Cross National Rail station 35 minutes before the 9:00am train departed. Not bad! That only required one change of trains on the Tube.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span class="s1"><b>7:16am</b> </span>Awake, mostly. Need coffee to be sure. Catching early train to Edinburgh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>10:00am</b> Now I am sitting on an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Coast_(train_operating_company)" target="_blank">East Coast</a> train headed to Edinburgh, Scotland (yay for WiFi on trains!). Edinburgh is the only place I've ever been to in Scotland, and I went in 1989, just for a few hours on one day. I did manage to tour the castle while there. Not sure exactly what's on the agenda for this weekend. Amy has a friend there that we were supposed to meet up with, but I think she turned out to be too busy to see Amy. 8-(</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Yay for WiFi on trains! I'm working on the overdue entries for my blog while we spend the 4.5 hours it takes to get to Edinburgh.<br /><br />There is a woman with a toddler just across the aisle who has taken 4 seats for her and her incredibly loud son. She's making no effort whatsoever not disturb anyone around her, to include playing games and music on her iPad at what has to be full volume.<br /><br />Why is it that parents seem to think the world revolves around them and their kids? I bet she has an enormous buggy she uses to run over pedestrians with as well.</span><span class="userContentSecondary fcg" style="background-color: white; color: #89919c; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> — in <a data-ft="{"tn":"P"}" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=108328065856235&extragetparams=%7B%22directed_target_id%22%3Anull%2C%22viewer_id%22%3A1438039570%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/York-United-Kingdom/108328065856235?ref=stream&viewer_id=1438039570" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">York, England</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We finally arrived in Edinburgh, then took another train to reach Kirkcaldy. Amy said it was close, and I didn't look at a map. I was surprised that it was about 40 minutes away on the train, then another 10 minutes by taxi to reach The Dean Park Hotel. I wouldn't have described it as close, but that's just me.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Dh2lEDZwYljhVwVLf_Mcjzp__4VM0wknGuY8jGoaKWHamp1MpaGPJ5xlT3_7x-KVY2S5Va96298w7jeKtvn9898qE0ufZvWx0tBq_bIJDZ0-afdUQYxLF6KGFzDbsOwjeR1B0NODctY/s1600/1491420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Dh2lEDZwYljhVwVLf_Mcjzp__4VM0wknGuY8jGoaKWHamp1MpaGPJ5xlT3_7x-KVY2S5Va96298w7jeKtvn9898qE0ufZvWx0tBq_bIJDZ0-afdUQYxLF6KGFzDbsOwjeR1B0NODctY/s320/1491420.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, one hour and £10 later we arrived at <a href="http://www.deanparkhotel.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Dean Park Hotel</a>, checked in, and dumped our luggage in the room. Amy phoned her friend Dawn, who said she could only come to chat in the bar for a few minutes, so we went downstairs to wait for her. Dawn was very nice, and she and Amy got to do some catching up for a bit. (The photo to the right is not mine.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then we were off in another taxi for the trip back to the Kirkcaldy ScotRail station to catch the next train back to Edinburgh. That was the first time someone in the rail station asked to see our tickets, other than when boarding the train. I guess they were having issues with people trying to take free rides.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxy9h-0knaEIWDFUWbVvjGZOzyet44rYXejf7gsyZfMhSAzLC3Py77SvIlTi1_FdioivDoyNGR57OIFcfmGtk4kGBlMAU_KfWE4fLbPHo6Oh5ce-YRh6M7CnLpuEAw9fbAoBDx4DQFVWU/s1600/DSC00232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxy9h-0knaEIWDFUWbVvjGZOzyet44rYXejf7gsyZfMhSAzLC3Py77SvIlTi1_FdioivDoyNGR57OIFcfmGtk4kGBlMAU_KfWE4fLbPHo6Oh5ce-YRh6M7CnLpuEAw9fbAoBDx4DQFVWU/s320/DSC00232.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From the Waverly train station we walked up the hill to see the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Monument" target="_blank">Scott Monument</a>. It is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It looked extra-Gothic in the rain. Oh, right, did I mention the weather? Cold, blustery, and drizzle. VERY Scottish, I think.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhzIabYud1Mm2LBM10gkpgU9_BXXpBsgIyw-61nL0whKz85p2R638uyHlsSxLP9Pi9tn-0FWKAo5BsHpAxFARwtKB8VVw6-hDdGaU8UegzLZhJYOuvDKWnd2iHWFQySG0O2Q8gKmD8dU/s1600/Jenners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhzIabYud1Mm2LBM10gkpgU9_BXXpBsgIyw-61nL0whKz85p2R638uyHlsSxLP9Pi9tn-0FWKAo5BsHpAxFARwtKB8VVw6-hDdGaU8UegzLZhJYOuvDKWnd2iHWFQySG0O2Q8gKmD8dU/s320/Jenners.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We ducked into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenners" target="_blank">Jenners Department Store</a> to gawk at the impressive ceiling. This is a good photo of it from the Wikipedia page. It is your typical Department store, complete with the ladies trying to spritz you with perfume as you enter or leave the store. Despite the name Jenners, it is part of The House of Fraser chain of stores now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Next we went in search of the Pandora store so I could buy the Scottie dog charm for my bracelet. We had to pass <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Andrew_Square,_Edinburgh" target="_blank">St. Andrew Square</a> to get there, so I took a few photos. This one to the left is the Melville Monument.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After we left Pandora, we found this building encased in chicken wire. I've seen plenty of the mountain sides around the UK covered in chicken wire to keep the rocks from falling and hitting people, cars, trains, etc. But encasing an entire building in the stuff? They really must want to keep something inside! 8-) Sounds like a good start to a horror story. Or a Zombie story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We then trudged up a hill to go to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balmoral_Hotel" target="_blank">Balmoral Hotel</a> for dinner. We arrived an hour too early for dinner, and wouldn't have time to eat there and still make it to the theater, so we had drinks in the Palm Court Bar instead. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I saw some things at this hotel that were a first for me. Yes, indeed, the photo to the left shows a sugar bowl with individually-wrapped sugar cubes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These are the sinks in the ladies' bathroom. I wouldn't want them in my house, but they are definitely very Victorian. They are </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">also </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">so clean </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">they</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> look brand new.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We left the hotel in search of a bus stop so that we could catch a bus to the Odeon on Lothian Road to see <i>Star Trek: Into Darkness</i>. Although it was still cold and windy, the rain had thankfully stopped. Well, that is, until we were a half-block away from the Odeon, and then it started to pour. Bleh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We made it into the Odeon Cinema dripping a bit, and bought our tickets for the 8:00pm showing. Despite being the same theater chain we saw Iron Man 3 in earlier in the week in London, the tickets were £5 cheaper, and there were no assigned seats. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We decided on Subway for dinner since it was right next door (if you look closely, you can see it on the left). I had their "Limited Time Only" Tandoori Chicken sub. My tastebuds were very confused: </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm eating Indian food… I'm eating Subway… Indian food… Subway… It was very good, and I would eat it again.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then it was time to see Star Trek: Into Darkness. We were delighted to find that this theater had stadium-style seating. HURRAY! No sea of heads blocking our view of the screen. And, as it seems is their tradition, there were 25 minutes of ads and trailers, so the movie didn't actually begin until 8:25. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">My mini, no-spoilers review of <i>Star Trek: Into Darkness</i>: Go see it! But remember that this is Star Trek AU (Alternate Universe), and you will be fine.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">After the movie was over, we needed to make our way to the Haymarket train station. It was several blocks away, and the bus stop we found had no clear indication if the bus would stop there, or when the next bus would even arrive. We hailed a passing taxi and saved ourselves the blustery walk. Plus, we were running out of time to catch the last train back to Kirkcaldy. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">We made it to the station in plenty of time to catch the last train, then took a taxi back to the hotel. Amy went to bed, and I went to the bar for a coffee. It was a somewhat typical bar for a hotel, full of men who were still drinking despite clearly having already had plenty. And I was completely invisible, as seems usual in these cases, since at least 3 different men bumped into me </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">in their attempt to get drinks</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> while I sat in a chair at the bar, and not a single one acknowledged they had done it. Perhaps that's just not the custom here to apologize for crashing into someone.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I was amused watching the all-too-meek young female bartender. She never asked anyone questions about their drink orders loud enough for them to hear her, and she seemed embarrassed to ask for the money from the men. She didn't seem very embarrassed when she asked for the money from me, though.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I finished my coffee and went back to the room, where Amy and I were treated to the sounds of someone moving furniture back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, in the room next door. That's what it sounded like, at least, someone shoving the bed on wheels from one side of the room to the other until it crashed into the wall. Repeat. After about 10 minutes of this I called the front desk. The very nice woman who answered said she would take care of it, and the noise stopped less than 5 minutes later, not to be heard again that night.</span></span></div>
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Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1060143064324487760.post-72383603850849753632013-05-10T05:18:00.002-04:002013-05-10T08:08:57.497-04:00Day 9: London, 9 May 2013<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ah, and exciting morning (not really). Since we didn't get to the hotel until about 3:45am, we slept late this morning. I had to do laundry today, or start wearing dirty clothes. I tried various ways of using Google to find a self-service laundry nearby, but all I could ever find were Dry Cleaners and industrial laundry companies. But, thanks to our adventures on the Night Bus, I saw two different coin-op laundries that were near enough to the hotel that I figured I could get there on the bus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I packed all of my dirty laundry, and the soap Amy bought for me on one of her treks to Tesco, into my small wheeled suitcase, and set off. The front desk confirmed that I should go right out of the hotel, then left. I really should know better than to believe any hotel employee would actually know how to get anywhere around where they work. I wound up going the opposite direction down a one-way street. This wasn't a problem walking, but it also meant that I couldn't catch a bus going in the proper direction. I also wound up walking about 3 blocks out of my way (I realized this later), and then was faced with a 3-way intersection, and had no idea which way to go.</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I stood at the corner for a few minutes, then saw the Number 266 bus, which we had taken the night before (it's actually a 24-hour bus, rather than a night-only bus) coming toward me, so I knew to go in the direction that bus had arrived from. Hurray. It was only a couple more blocks down the road to the laundry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wow! The laundry here is expensive! It cost £5 for the washer, and £1 for the dryer. If you've ever used a coin-op laundry, you know that one go in the dryer is never enough for your pants, so that load took £2 to dry. I needed two washers, so it was an expensive adventure. The other thing that baffled me was the fact that there was no change machine, and the washers and dryers took only £1 coins. There wasn't even an attendant in the facility to provide change. I had to go to the nearby stores and politely request change. Most of them were very nice about it. Also, no vending machines to sell soap. Good thing I brought my own, and hadn't planned to just buy it at the launderette.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was happy to see that there was a bus stop in front of the strip of stores where the launderette was, so I took the bus to get back to the hotel. It was very cold and windy, and I didn't feel like fighting the weather.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tonight we went to see "The Audience" starring Helen Mirren. I knew very little about the play other than Helen Mirren was playing Queen Elizabeth II. I was sold at "Starring Helen Mirren".</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here is the official description of the play:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">Helen Mirren reprises her Academy Award-winning role as Queen Elizabeth II in the highly anticipated West End production of The Audience.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">For 60 years, Elizabeth II has met her Prime Minister in a weekly audience at Buckingham Palace. A meeting like none other in British public life, it is entirely private. Both parties have an unspoken agreement never to repeat what is said – not even to their spouses.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;">The Audience imagines a series of pivotal meetings between the Prime Ministers and the Queen. From Churchill to Cameron, each PM uses these private conversations as a sounding board and a confessional. Sometimes intimate, sometimes explosive, the private audiences chart the arc of the second Elizabethan Age. Twelve politicians have come and gone through the revolving door of electoral politics, but from young mother to grandmother, the Queen remains constant, waiting to welcome her next Prime Minister.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It turned out to be a non-linear telling of her relationship with the various Prime Ministers, and the weekly Audience they have with the Queen. It required Helen to go back and forth between the various ages of Elizabeth, from when she first became Queen, until the present day. There was not an unbelievable portrayal of any of it. It was amazing to see how she changed every aspect of her appearance, from hair and clothing to the way she walked, talked, or sat down in a chair. I don't want to spoil it for you if you have a chance to see it, so I won't tell you the whole play. But if you do have a chance to see it, do! As a matter of fact, you just may have a chance, even if you don't visit London. The National Theatre Company will be showing it as a live event. Use Google to find out if it's going to be playing near you. I tried to look up the US link here, but it just keeps taking me to the UK sites. I hope they put it out on DVD. I would buy it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's my autographed programme book. Rather than stand outside the stage door signing, she has the stage manager collect the items from everyone, after having written your name on the back, and then she signs and personalizes them inside and has the stage manage return them to everyone. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I took a photo of her coming out of the door, but she went by so quickly that this was the best photo I got. Oh, well.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the theater, we headed back to the hotel to pack for tomorrow's trip to Edinburgh. We want to take the 9:00am train so we can get there around 1:30pm. That means getting up about 6:00am. Ugh.</span></div>
Teri Searshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06819629129739290926noreply@blogger.com1