MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Well, all you nah sayers and grinches out there. Here I am a single, eligible bachelor and I have a Tree with presents at my place. I expect each of you to get going and get it done.

I have sent out all my christmas cards. Many of you may have moved or gotten married and something, and I don't have your new address. I am taking this opportunity to wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS!. May God bless you this day and all the days of your life.

Have a great day.

Ho Ho Ho

A couple of quick thoughts......

Maryland lottery has gone to an all time low in my opinion. They first create a lottery, which is basically a tax on the poor. Then to collect more tax dollars from the people, they have "Holiday scratch offs". They have reduced the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior to a tax. Good Job.

On the lighter side.....
I was behind a Lincoln Navigator the other day and the License Plate was "Sucks Gas"
How appropriate

Have a good one, leave a comment, or just invite friends, but remember to bookmark this page and return again.

Thanksgiving Humor

Well, Many of you may know, that I spent thanksgiving in Tijuana. It was pleasant, but I would have rather been with my family. In honor of thanksgiving, today I found a top ten list, probably from Dave Lettermen a few years ago, but they make me smile, and I want to share. You may have heard them before, but no matter, enjoy.

Top Ten things that sound dirty at thanksgiving, but are not:
10. "Reach in there and grab the giblets."
9. "Whew...That's one terrific spread!"
8. "I'm in the mood for a little dark meat!"
7. "Tying the legs together will keep the inside moist."
6. "Talk about a HUGE Breast!"
5. "And he forces his way into the END ZONE!!!" Go Cowboys
4. "She's 5 thousand pounds fully inflated and it takes 15 men to hold her down."
3. "Its cool whip time!"
2. "If i don't unbutton my pants, I am going to burst!"


and finally number one

1. "It must be broken, because when I push on the tip, nothing squirts out."


Have a great season.

Hola Senors and Senoritas

Live from Tijuana. Yes folks I am in Tijuana. It is pleasant here. I traveled all the way to Mexico to get a six dollar burger from Hardees’s. You may laugh, but I love those things. Well, being south of the border is a lot like being in San Diego. Every other channel is in Spanish. Ha Ha. My friends will be glad to know I have not met one Filipino since I have been here. I am sure they are taking over the world; they just haven’t gotten to Mexico yet. HA Ha. It is just a joke.
They just had the International Beer festival here, and not being a drinker, that was really a let down for me. However, someone did offer me a cigar cheaper than a hot dog. I thought that was funny.
The Hard Rock in Tijuana was nice, but they had the music to loud. We had to scream across the table to talk. What other news.
The flight from Dulles to San Diego was a little over five hours. The airlines did not provide a free meal. However, they did offer me a snack pack for 5 bucks, but the flight attendant did not know what was in the $5 box of stuff. We were delayed for a few minutes for them to put air in the tire too. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be delayed for a few minutes while the ground crew puts air in the tire.” I thought that was funny. Not sure why I found that humorous.
Check back in a couple of days.

WARNING!! Mature Post

Well we have all done it. We are all guilty. Even you ladies out there have done it, you just don't talk about it. We have all, at one time or another, let a fart out at work. We try to be nice, go to the empty cubicle, or walk into the bathroom. Maybe even go outside and act like we have a call on the mobile phone. But it has happened to all of us. I would like to share a moment from work. I don't typically talk about work, because I don't post from work. An event happened today that reminded me of the funniest work moment I ever experienced.

This story has 5 key players, so try to keep up. There was Tronster, Fish, Boss, PM1 and PM2. Tronster (me) and fish (colleague) were talking in our shared space. (a 2 desk cubicle) Boss walks by to an empty cubicle to "float an air biscuit" He does not inform Fish or Tronster of the reason he explores the empty cubicle, he just does. Fish asks Boss to come over. Boss delays. Fish persists, so Boss comes over. Bringing a trail. Fish and Boss begin speaking, and then it hits Fish and Tronster. The "Toxic fume trail". Now boss has hit us before with a few quality "air biscuits", but this one was bad. So we talk to Boss about leakage and the possibility that he may need to check himself. Then PM1 (male) and PM2 (new employee, female) walk around the corner of the cubicle. They step right into it, the toxic wall, no warning, just "boom" there you are, in the thick of it. They were polite, and didn't say anything, but PM1 stuck his finger to his nose and PM2's face squished up. They tried to talk through it, but to no avail. Tronster and Boss were laughing and Fish was attempting to discuss whatever the PMs wanted.

The morale of this story. Don't disturb someone in an empty cubicle that is not their own.

Blogging from the couch

Here it is Monday night, I am watching football. Greenbay and Denver. I could care less who wins, but its football. I am also about tired of hearing about the New England Patriots spanking the Redskins yesterday. You would wonder why its the Patriot's fault that the Redskins couldn't stop them from scoring. Oh well. The Cowboys didn't loose, even though the Gators did. A mixed weekend for me.

Other news, I bought yet another car. A Subaru Forrester. Its nice, has seat warmers, I am nice and cozy before I get a block from the house. Nice.

Thats about all for tonight.

Green will cost you some Green

A man's house is his castle. I have been setting up the new condo since I returned from my asian excursion. I am pretty sure I explained the fiasco of getting cable into the place. Well, I have unpacked the big Mac and bought a new router. an airport extreme as a matter of fact. It wasn't working very well, until tonight. I am now able to sign on with the laptop. Now I am blogging from the awesome couch. But that is not what this is about. Today I decided to change the light bulbs in the house. I went with the energy efficient bulbs. Well with two hanging light fixtures and 3 sets of three lights, (100 watts each) I thought this could save me some money. Well $90 later, it better. Turns out being green cost a little green on the front end. However, for the light fixtures in the bathrooms, they used to raise the temperature in the bathroom 10 degrees as soon as you turned them on. Not anymore. I will includes some pictures soon.

Brunei departure

Well I left the country of Brunei. I am currently sitting in the Singapore International Airport. I have a log layover here for my flight tonight. I was not sure what time I could get to the airport when I was booking my flight. So I am here now.
A couple of things. I want to say high to Number 1 and Number 2 at the DeRoyalle Café I Brunei. Also a hardy Happy Birthday to Number 2. Thanks you guys for taking care of me while I was there. You and the rest of the staff are awesome.
I am ready to return to casa de Tronster. I will need to put many things together and hopefully turn my house into a home this weekend.
Until next time

More From BSB

Well, still in Brunei. Hope to leave on time. I have been hanging out at this cool little coffee shop called the DeRoyalle Café. It is right up the street from work and not to far from the hotel. The staff are so nice to my colleagues and me. I have had fun with them. I am ready to get home though. It won`t be easy there. I have lots of work to do to Casa de Tronster. Keep reading and leave comments.
I want to send out a shout to the Discovery Inn in Dili. They really were the best part of that place. It has potential, and I think, and hope, in a few years things work out for them.

BSB

Boy do I owe my readers a few updates. First, I am no longer in Bali. I am now in Brunei. It’s a nice place, very safe. Evidently I arrived during the rainy season. It has rained almost every day since I have been here. It has also been hot. My understanding is that there is finally a break in the summer back home. I am not sure though. The job here is going OK. I am expecting some reinforcement tonight, so they can help me with a few little glitches. I have been missing my Sayang here lately. You will have to guess what it means. I hope to see her again real soon.
More to follow.

Going, Going, Gone

Departing Dili. The flight was close to on time. I have had colleagues and people I know leaving Dili in the last couple of weeks, and all of their flights were delayed at least 2 hours. I guess I am special that way. My flight was only ten minutes late. Knock on wood, one of the 4 remaining flights on this trip will probably be late.
Arrival in Bali. Wow was immigration slow today. First, the flight attendant quit passing out immigration cards the row in front of mine. You have to fill in one of these cards before getting in line or when you arrive at the desk, they will give you one and then back of the line you go. They had none of the cards readily available at the airport. Once I finally got one, I stood in line for an hour waiting. The good news is, someone else pulled my two bags off the little baggage carousel. Through customs and the hotel has a man waiting. Awesome. When I arrive at the Hotel Padma, they set me up in a villa. A villa is so much more cool than a regular room. I have a huge shower, and my own patio. I’m liking this.

Dili, Dili, Dili

2 days left in Dili. Can’t wait to leave.

Day off

Another day off. And much to do. OK not much. You might see several entries today. Work here is wrapping up, and I will be departing soon. I will miss this place like some people miss a toothache. Timor is a very interesting place. They have an opportunity here to make a great little country. I will keep my eye on this place for several years and watch its developing over the next few years.

Party.....

The hotel staff invited me to a cook out last night. It was great. On the roof. How cool is that. It seems, as the Filipino nation is taking over the world, they are having cookouts on roofs of hotels world wide. It was a birthday party for Ms. N. So there was BBQ chicken and Pork, and lumpia. One of my favorite Filipino dishes. They had a gas grill, but the regulator was a high-pressure regulator. This would cause a flamethrower effect in the grill. So we had to use the restaurantto cook the meat. All was good. A party on the roof, how cool. The hotel has made this place bearable and I appreciate everything they have done.

Holiday is Timor

Well today is an official American holiday, and therefore the office is closed. Never mind the fact that we are in Timor-Leste. There is still a holiday. Anyway, I get to sit around and watch TV, surf the Internet, and read a book. That’s just what I did. Nothing of real importance. Ha Ha.

Blog Blog Blog..........

It is now September 2007. I am fast approaching my 3 year mark of posting here at www.tronster.net. The tronster has had many adventures, and this little venue has allowed me to share that with family and friends. It also helps me not to have to write 4 million emails a week to keep people posted on my whereabouts. By the counter below, I have had some 3000+ hits on this page, and I am very excited that the next three years will be just as good. I hope to double that. How you might ask. By self promotion and begging all my readers to tell their friends about it. SO, tell all you friends.

Many things have changed in three years. I have had a love interest who wasn’t interested, a girlfriend I could never marry, sold and bought a place to live, gone through three cars and 2 dogs, and I have now put my foot on 6 of 7 continents and I have made friends worldwide. I have yet to travel around the world, but I have been ¾ of the way. I wonder if my next thirty years of life I can match that.

Just a thought, keep reading and returning. Thanks to all of you.

Friendship

I have a buddy keeping an eye on my Condo in DC. Since I have bought it, (just over a ¼ million dollars) I have spent more time in the Mandarin Oriental in Jakarta, the Shangri-La in Surabaya and now the Discovery Inn in Dili. All this time my good friend has kept an eye on the place for me. Thanks Kirby. I owe you big time. At this rate I will have to rebuild his jeep all by myself.

Birthday Surprises

Well its my birthday and I am in East Timor. Work was especially tuff, figures its my birthday, and I had a bad day. The Discovery Inn in Dili made it better. While I was out they delivered a nice little surprise, some muffins. They are very good. They did drop off three, I have only eaten one so far. They are big and chocolate. Maybe I will have another right now. Talk to you later and check back for more updates.

Dili and Beyond

Well I have arrived at my next work location. I am now in Timor-Leste. Which is Portraguese for East Timor. Which is a troubled little country just a little north of Australia. My Stay in Bali was nice, I had a bit of a backache, probably from all the economy flights I take, so I just stayed at the hotel and slept. My taxi ride from the hotel was exciting. It was Indonesia’s Independence Day. Evidently this affects traffic patterns on the little island. I hired a driver for the ride through the stand at the hotel; She said 10 to 15 min. 35 minutes later the ride has come. No worries, I have plenty of time. He transports me to the airport, I tell him, “I am on my way to Dili.” He says “Great, I will take you to the airport and it will not take long, because there is not to much of a line for the short flight. He drops me off about 20 meters from the terminal (this is as close as you can get). When I show my passport and ticket to the security guard, he tells me you want the international terminal, 300 meters across the airport. So I lug my two suitcases, man purse and backpack to the next terminal. I am now all sweaty and ready for a break. Getting into the airport was no hassle at all and I was able to gain access to the lounge, through my Priority Pass membership. I had some coffee and water and boarded the plane.

Singapore Adventure

Well I am at the airport waiting for my plane to Bali. I did not have the opportunity to go on the night safari I wanted to see. I did make it to the underwater world aquarium. That was really cool. They had sting rays and puffer fish you could touch. It was a really cool experience. In a couple of the aquariums on display, there were radio antennas on the glass and radio transmitters on the fish. When the fish would swim past the antenna, a screen would give you the information about the fish. I really cool idea using technology to educate.

Also last night at the beach resort, they put on a laser light show. This was mainly a kids attraction, but I am just a big kid. They had water and fire shooting up in the air, and multicolor lights bouncing off the water spray, it was impressive. I say, “Good Job”. If you are ever in Singapore, check out the Songs by the Sea show at Sentosa.

Singapore Arrival

Well I have arrived alive in Singapore. It is 1:00 am, and I went to the wrong hotel. Last time I was here, my connection hooked me up with a stay at the Changi Village hotel. It turns out that they are full. Lucky for me, LH had good taste and excellent planning abilities. She sure is great. I was booked in at a resort in Sentosa Beach here in Singapore. A much better place for a relaxing break. The room even had furniture. While here I plan on checking out the Aquarium and a night safari at the Singapore Zoo.

Furniture

Well it is Saturday, and although it seems like a short time ago, I am on may way again tomorrow. I will take a couple of personal days in Singapore on my way out to the next Job. When I returned the last time, it was pretty much a bummer. I had no girlfriend, no furniture and no Internet at the new place. So, I went to Lazy Boy and bought a mammoth couch. This thing is their top of the line Theater seating. Very nice. It will be delivered tonight.

Talk to you later.

Indonesia

Well I am about to depart Indonesia. This will be my last post from here. Many things have occurred. I am heading home a single man. My Sunshine has departed, and I might get to see her once more, she will be missed. As I leave indonesia, I must say goodbye to another person that I have met. She is a guest relation person at the hotel I am staying. We talked a lot and shared many memories. Her company made the time away from home almost pleasant. I am going to miss her.

While I was here i did many great things. I purchased some movies, I went to the movies, I went bowling, and I went on a safari. During the safari I got to hold a baby chimp and a young leopard. That was really great fun. Both the hotels I stayed in were very good, I would recommend the Shangri-La in Surabaya and the Mandarin Oriental in Jakarta. The Mandarin is an older hotel, however, there staff is extremely friendly and helpful.

In bowling, I beat my colleague 3 games to 2 until the last night we went. Then he pounded me in three straight games. I think it was because I was talking smack all day. Well congrats JD, you won.

Well thats about all from this end.

Food, Fun and Movies

Well since I have been here I have frequented an Italian restaurant that has good food. So My recommendation for travelers coming here, are Stay at the Shrangri-la and pay for the good room and get the horizon club with it. Have the hotel at least make you a banana split. Also, check out Trattoria restaurant. It is located on 51 Dr Soetomo Rd. I have eaten lunch there almost everyday. If you are missing the states, you can have McDonald's delivered. Thats right, you can have a big mac delivered. The mall, called TP by the locals has a theater (referred to as cinema) on the fifth floor. The seats are assigned and even the bad seats are not that bad. I have seen two movies there, Die Hard 4.0 and Transformers. Both were really good. Although many critics give Die Hard a bad rep, the action and the story line was pretty decent and I enjoy the character that Bruce Willis plays.

It is hot and humid in the region, taxi fares are reasonable to cheap, and the people, for the most part, are friendly. No road rage, which is impressive considering the way people drive here. Have a good day and until next time.

Surabaya Update

Once Again I am hanging out in the totally cool Horizon Club at the Shangri-La in Surabaya. It has internet, albeit slow, but its wireless and free. So I take advantage. This week has been pretty slow. I plan on going to the movies with a friend tomorrow and see Transformers. It only costs 3 dollars here and the seats are assigned. If I buy a ticket for the seat next to me, no one will sit there, because it is mine. I just might do that.

I had the hotel make me a banana split last night, it was so good. I also had some arabic coffee. It was pretty good.

Well thats about it for now. Catch you later.

Surabaya adventures

Well, I have departed the fine city of Port Moresby and I am now in Surabaya. What a fun place. I am staying in the Shangri-La hotel. It is very nice, and staff is so attentive. I want to say hi to the staff of the GRO. Hey there.

So want adventures can I speak of here. The taxi rides are fun. The painted lane lines are just suggestions here, and everyone uses the horn. However, there is not a lot of road rage. So its fun.

Also, as you may imagine, I carry lots of little electronic gadgets to occupy my time when I ma on the road. All the gadgets power supplies are multi voltage (110-240) except one. My razor, I found this out after I blew up the transformer. So I might get one more trim out of it before the battery dies and it rests forever here in Surabaya.

That is about all for now. Check back for more updates.

LOST Season II

Well back to the luggage story. You see, the airlines knew my luggage was not on the plane, so I waited. The next day, the flight did not come in until 5 minutes after 5. So I left work a little early, we work until 530, and wet to the hotel. The Airways here has been accommodating. They provided me a driver and an airport expert to assist with re-aquiring my bags. So we took a van to the airport and met the airport "expert". Then we find out that the plane has been delayed until 545. No big deal, it is already 530. We can wait. Then the driver and "expert" tell me they get off at 6pm and need to change out at the hotel. SO we ride to the hotel and I get new helpers. We return to the airport and go through security and they tell us the flight is delayed until 630. When the flight finally arrives, I have to wait until all the passengers clear customs. Fair Enough. Except there is someone on the flight who has to have a waiver or receipt for something he is bringing in and they can't find it. So we wait. At least an hour. Then I get to go in and claim my bags. Then customs says "Do you have electronics in your bag?" OHHH Yeeaaahh I have electronics. I practically travel with A home entertainment center. She makes me take every piece of electronics out of my bags. Then she said thanks and I am on my way. 830 I return to the hotel. What an ordeal. Movies in hand I start watching rush hour.

Luggage and Travel

First, I want to apologize for the poor writing you must endure while reading my little blog. I do appreciate all the visitors and wish there were more. I believe I would have more readers if I posted more often, so I will try. In traveling so much, internet is not always available. So I will do my best.

About the luggage. My last trip was a 31 hour ordeal that took me across the USA to LA and then to Australia. From there I flew to Port Moresby Papua New Guinea. The flights, in each of there little part, was not bad. Very little turbulence and new aircraft with personal entertainment centers. None of them were very crowded either. So it wasn't bad. However, in transit through through LA international, we had to check in with Qantas Air in a different terminal than the one we landed in. Trouble enough. They had us rush through because "the plane is boarding now". NOT. Not only were they not boarding, but the flight had been delayed and the plane wasn't even at the gate. Go Figure. Well my checked luggage was having a great time at LAX, musthave met a really cute slim-line samsonite. My bags decided to hag out at LAX for an extra night and soak up some sun rays. Anyway, A message was sent informing all the airlines in the remainder of m flight that my bags were delayed. When checking into the Air Nuigini, they knew who I was but did not mention the luggage delay. So when I landed in Port Moresby, I had to wait for everyone else to get their luggage then ask the luggage guy about mine. He says "We recieved a message about your luggage and it will be here tomorrow." Great. One day without luggage.

To be continued........

South Pacific Travel

I am in Port Moresby, blogging from the other side of the world. It really is nice here with the exception of the high humidity. They have an attitude similar to the islands in the Caribbean. Laid Back. Anyway, I have been here for a few days and realized it is time to update the loyal readers I have. Both of you. Ha Ha. I need to get better at this. In my defense, I have been extremely busy the last few weeks. Casa de Tronster has moved from Alexandria VA to Manassas Park VA. I am now the proud owner of a new condo. Really spiffy I think. However, I didn't move any of that old crappy furniture I had, so I have no furniture. Then I got an assignment to put me traveling for a couple of weeks and figured that I didn't need any Internet. Wrong. Anyway, check back in couple of days for a story about my luggage.

Moving Woes

Well I am moving, and all though I haven't been posting regularly, I have been working on moving. The new place will not have internet the first month or so. Why? How could this be? Well, I have discovered that Comcast the great is incapable of transferring a customer account from one county to another. Most be a two county rule or something. Anyway, when I contacted my friendly neighborhood comcast agent, he said "Sure we can move your account" Then asked to where, and I replied the city I was moving in, and he said "Oh, that is a different county, you will have to close this account and open that one." I just want a transfer. Nope can't do it. Technology today has a device the size of a deck of cards that can give spoken driving directions to the most obscure places in the USA, but Comcast can't transfer an account across county lines. Go figure.

I am putting in my forwarding address and letting all my loyal readers know that I am not gone forever, just a few weeks.

I will try to post small things from work on occasion, but I don't like doing that. (You know mixing business and fun)

Tronster, Until I write again.

Pictures from the other side

You might be thinking, Where is the other side? Well let me tell ya. I was just in Contonou Benin and my bathroom was full of pink porcelain. Everything was ink, take a look......




Now I survived this traumatic event OK.

Confession

I know, it has been a long time. My name is Tronster and I have been a blogger slacker. Not because I haven't had anything interesting to post about. I have traveled to 2 more countries. Togo and Benin. I had to return to the fine metropolitan of Cotonou Benin to do some warranty work, 1 week after returning the first time. Then it was Mother's day, and Tronster had to visit Mom, or I wouldn't get any of her bills willed to me. So I traveled 18 hours both ways to Benin. Though the dreaded Charles de Gaulle airport. My least favorite in the entire world. I have been t some small airports, and airports without any real services, but de Gaulle is still my least favorite. And then drove 6 1/2 hours to visit Parents of Tronster. While visiting, I landed on Mom and knocked her to the ground. You see, I was playing catch with my cousin and he threw the ball over my head and I jumped up to catch it and she was behind me. However, over all it was a good trip.

Oh Yeah, and I bought a condo in Manassas Park Va. So Casa de Tronster will be relocating at the beginning of next month. This transition will cost me about a week of Internet time. Get this, I am moving from one county to the other, you would think I could just transfer my cable service. Wrong. I have to settle one account and open a new one. With the same company. Go figure.

Wow Long time no Update

Well here is an update. Been busy, and I have returned from Africa. Easter was the last opportunity I had to get online, but now I am waiting for someone at Panera bread company in VA and they have free Internet. I am taking advantage. Lots has happened since my last post. I have visited yet another country, Togo. It was a short visit for work full of surprises and challenges. I believe I am going to have the opportunity to return to Benin. So Much Fun.

Anyway, Tronster is thinking of buying a place here in town, so casa de Tronster will be his very own property, as opposed to giving $11k a year to someone else to make money. Tonight is the first step. Wish me luck. More updates to follow.

Happy Easter

It is Easter here in Benin. Everything is going well, and it is a great day. I only have one complaint. I believe one of the sermons I downloaded onto my Ipod was corrupt. The darn thing just locked up this morning. I was able to listen to a Charles Stanley message, which was nice, but the Love Worth Finding wasn't working. Oh well.

Yesterday was a day of rain. So I sat in my hotel room, busy as ever, playing the PSP. I have a game called hot shots golf. A must if you don't own it. I played several rounds and I am getting better. You get these cool animated characters and then you are able to make some great shots. It can also be frustrating, when you miss the perfect impact.

Well, Have a good Easter and remember God Loves you.

Also, Parents of Tronster, you need to write your son.

A shout out to my Friend Mullet. :-)

Until next time, remember you will never finish until you start.

Cotonou, Benin

What? What is Cotonou? It is the capital of a small country in Africa. If you have been wondering why I haven't posted anything, its because that is where I am. It is very hot and humid, so I don't go out much. But I am still alive and well and trying to think of clever things to share with you all, but its just not there. So yes, you could call me a slacker, but I am trying. The trip here wasn't great, but it could have been worse. We had a 12 hour layover in Casablanca. Which was OK because the airline put us up in a hotel for a few hours, so we didn't have to sit in the airport. Although we did for a while. So l am to blame for my travel partners foul mood. Not really, he took it well.

It is the rainy season here, and it rains about every other night. The hotel has excellent food. I have some chicken, grouper, and Ice cream here that is just as good as the states. The grouper in particular was great.

A few more notes. The first season of 24 was great and I have watched that already. I am now beginning the first season of "That 70s Show". So far it is pretty funny, and I have seen more of the episodes than I thought. I am reading a couple of books on this trip as well, and I will let you know how those are.

I want to send a shout out to my special friend Mellit. Miss you.

Thanks for the info Blaine, I will look into the website.

Update

Well it has been a while. I did post the promised photos from Rome. One of my loyal readers expressed interest in traveling with me on my next trip. What they fail to realize is you have to take the good with the bad and ugly. My next trip is approaching quickly, and I don't believe my reader would like to go to Western Africa. Its hot and sticky and I stick out like a sore thumb. However, I will approach my supervisor about bringing another Gator fan with me.

For some more news. I have finally upgraded my Laptop to a dual core Macbook Pro. The thing is smoking hot. I will give you a review after this next trip.

Things have been happening really fast around here, for me anyways. Sunshine and I have been spending time together, which cuts deeply into my intergeek (internet geek) time. I have also been eyeballing some real estate in the area so that my rent goes to my property as opposed to someone else's pocket.

Take care and watch for new posts. Thanks for visiting.

Rome Pics

Here you see the Colosseum in Rome where christians were used as entertainment, and Maximus insulted Commodus in Gladiator the movie.





Here is the crowd leaving the Vatican. It was intimidating at first, but I escaped without harm.






Ponte Vecchio Bridge in Florence. Loaded with shops and stabilized by wood 4x4s. Hopefully they are pressure treated.






Enjoy the pictures. Sorry it took so long to post. Check the new link to Penrod's World

Sunday, Lazy Sunday

Well, it has been a couple of days and I thought I would jot a few things down to let everyone know that I am still kicking.

First, yesterday I spent the day with a friend at the jefferson memorial. A great place in DC to visit. It was a little chilly, but all in all we had a good time. We walked around the tidal basin, and my friend allowed me to take several pictures of the local wildlife. Gulls and ducks and geese. Lots of fun for me. Most of my shots were of the gulls. I filled up the remainder of a 2 gig compact flash card. Around 300 pictures. Shortly after putting my camera away, because I forgot to bring another card, I spotted an eagle looking for dinner. As it swooped down to the basin and grabbed a fish, I thought to myself, that would have been a great shot. I will, from now on, have lots of memory with me.

I was able to catch two movies this weekend. First, Wild Hogs. This is a funny movie with lots of slap stick comedy. If you are looking for a few laughs and not a very deep plot, you might enjoy this movie. Seeing John Travolta and William Macy play in this type of comedy was fun. I give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Next, this afternoon Kirby and I went and saw Amazing Grace. This movie has a more serious tone and shows some history into the struggle for abolishing the slave trade in England. It is the story of William Wilberforce. One of the great christians of history and his battle to outlaw slave trading in the English empire of old. This movie was very well done and showed how a man with a higher calling can serve. I recommend this movie to anyone who has every wondered how and why the song was written.

The Return

Well I am back from Rome. It was a great trip, but I was ready to return. After 15 hours of flight time, I was exhausted. I am able to sleep on planes, however, I don't get any rest. Does this happen to everyone? While on the plane I read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Pretty good classic. I would suggest it to anyone who asks. That boy sure did live a life.

The return trip was not all that exciting. I reported to Rome's airport a little over three hours in advance, advice received from locals. I found myself to be the only person concerned about my flight. You see, I beat the airline people to the check in counter to check my bags. That wasn't so bad, then I made it through the security, with only minor touching by the big italian guard. Then I waited for my flight. The flight was an 11 hour grueling trek over the northern part of the Atlantic ocean in one of the older planes, so I didn't have my own TV screen to watch, and it was some boring movie they had selected. There was also a young child in the row behind mine. I thought this is going to stink. However, the baby was very well behaved and always smiling. I am wondering if mom gave the child anything for the flight. He seemed very happy. I mean very happy.

As you can tell from this post, it is early Friday morning in the house. I have been up for two hours, unpacking and what not. My dear friend will be dropping off my mail this morning and the ritual of going through and making sure everything is order will begin. I hate that part of the return, Having to shift through three weeks of mail always sucks.

Thats all for now.

S P Q R

That is ROME. In Roman. Ha Ha. Anyway, the trip is coming to an end and I have made a couple of tourist stops to share. Remember to check back in a week for some advice on where to eat and what to do. Yesterday, I took a long overdo break and visited a few sites here in Rome. I went to the Pantheon and the Castle St Angelo. While out and about it began to rain, and conveniently, there were about a hundred umbrella sellers out selling umbrellas. This is the fate of unskilled workers in the EU. But not just umbrella sellers, they had fake pocket books, fake watches and fake designer belts and sunglasses. It is really interesting to see the capitalist spirit on the side of the road. It does kinda get in the way of fine photography though.
Yesterday I watched Gladiator on the TV to see what Rome may have looked like in her hay day. It was interesting. I have been to the Coliseum and it doesn't look big enough for the events depicted in the movie. Oh well. This is most likely my last post until I return. Thanks for the Italians that showed me around and put up with me for the last couple of weeks. Check back before next weekend for further news.

More Roman features

Tonight while walking around I saw a couple of strange things. First an unusually Tall women with a weird silhouette. I assumed it was a women by the long hair and apparent thin neck. As I approached she turned into a man with his young daughter on his shoulders. Just a little optical illusion. Then a little further down the street, I saw a man in the telephone booth, using a phone. You may think this is normal, but he was using a cell phone. I guess the reception is better in the little box with aluminum frame and glass window.

Not much touring since my last post, although while riding in a roman taxi, we were almost T-boned. Would not have known whose fault it was, but it was near two hours before I could pass gas again.

A shout out to IT, Sunshine, Kirby, and Ms Cherry. See you all later.

Hope the Mayo clinic crowd is reading this, Hey Guys.

Tronster

The Italian Job

Since the internet is so expensive here, I am not posting very often. But I wanted to give an update from my last post. I have toured Florence with great success. I was able to see David, by Michelangelo. It was awesome, to think that a man was carved out of marble in a time when power tools were not available, it will strike new levels of respect for classical artists.

If you are to take a trip to Italy, I would say a stop in Florence would be a must. First, it is not as busy as Rome, and the food is better. I think the laid back attitudes of the folks there contribute to the overall feeling that Florence is a nice little town to visit. If you come to Rome on Vacation, Florence is a one and half hour train ride from Rome. If you take the Eurostar Train. It is non stop, but pay for the first class ticket. The extra room is worth the few extra Euros. (It cost us 47 euros per person) You can make a day of it because the trains run just about all night.

Here in Rome, I was able to get out and view a bunch of the sites. We have a centrally located hotel close to the Spanish steps. We walked from there to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then to the Colosseum. It will cost you 11 euros to enter the Colosseum. I think it is worth it if you have never been inside before. On a previous trip I made it to the Vatican museum, so I did not go there this time, but it takes a couple of hours to see everything in there, so plan on a good morning for that if you go. If I have the opportunity to hit it this time around I will, but it isn't looking good for the home team.

In a future post I will give some information about different restaurants and areas to eat.

More Adventures in Italy

Well not really adventures. Just work. But I plan on correcting that this weekend. So keep checking back.

I wanted every one of my readers to know that I was still on the road. Internet cost 14 Euros a day. Today was a pretty normal day, got up and had breakfast and then went to work. I did go to a good restaurant here in Florence for lunch. Funny thing about Italy, they have Mexican restaurants, Chinese restaurants but no Italian Restaurants. They don't call it Italian Food either. They just call them restaurants that serve food. Go Figure. They do have some great American Restaurants, McDonald's and Burger King. (That was a joke) Most countries have a food that is associated with them, Italians have pasta, the Chinese have rice, America has Burger King. I think we are a little behind on the fine dining experiences.

This is a great city with a ton of history, but it also has a ton of graffiti. Great architecture and beautiful buildings are de-faced by young people. It really is a shame. My favorite artist, MICHELANGELO, has his master piece, David, on display here and I am hoping to get a chance to see it.

Finished watching the series of Firefly. Pretty interesting in crossing the Wild West with Star Trek. Some of the characters were over the top cheesy, but entertaining. In one of the episodes a particular character was a hero on a world he had visited previously. The residents had built a statue of him and wrote songs about him and everything. It turns out he was a hero because he made a mistake that cost him a bunch of money. The series didn't last long on TV but I sure enjoyed it. When I return to Rome this weekend I plan on watching the First season of Scrubs everyday afterwork.

Talk again soon.

Chow Baby!!

Greetings all you readers from home. I am currently sitting in Rome, doing as the Romans do on Sunday. Nothing. However, I have hit the local Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. It was pretty good, and I got another pin to add to my collection.

Flying over, we used Delta airlines. Typically I prefer United airline, mainly because that is the airline I usually use and I like the co-share they have with Lufthansa. I also have most of my miles from United. The flight wasn't crowded so I got the row to myself. My colleague was disappointed at first, but then moved and got a row to himself. The few "kids" that were onboard we not to crazy for the 9 hour flight. I slept a good portion of the flight. Just before take off the stewardess explained "This flight is not full, so if you would like to sit next to someone more attractive, take this time to move to an open seat." I would like to say that a fight broke out between Carmen Electra and Shania Twain to have the honor of sitting next to me, but it didn't happen and I flew alone. But at least the stewardess was honest to let us choose. The flight was in an older aircraft where everyone watches the same movie on screens located in the aisles. The first blockbuster to show for this flight, was it going to be a great action flick? Maybe a borderline funny comedy? NOPE, it was The Queen. Great, I am sure it would be interesting, but not enough to watch on a 15" screen from 7 rows back. So I utilized my Ipod to its fullest capability and watch something else. Then I slept.

Keep checking back for more updates.

Secrets to good service

Recently, Kirby and I decided to enjoy dinner at a popular chain restaurant. I enjoyed the food very much. So I am not griping about the quality of food. It was actually very good. Unos Chicago Grill has a great menu and, as I said, the food was very good and reasonably priced. Kirby and I enjoy a good meal together about once a week. We have noticed a few a things that tend to irritate us during the dinning process, and I thought I would offer some insight to the people who decide to be part of a wait staff. This could improve your tips, it effects the way I give tips, and I am sure it does the same to others.

1. Be courteous. If your last customer was a jerk, it doesn't mean I will be. I really don't care if your dog just died or boyfriend ran off with that slut next door, I just want to eat without having a side of attitude.
2. Don't let my drink go empty. This is my pet peeve, I drink lots of tea when I am at dinner, I don't like sucking down to the ice for that last drop of refreshing liquid to was down something hot.
3. Appetizers come before the meal, not at the same time. (self explanatory)
4. Be honest. If your busy and short handed, I will understand, just tell me "I will be with you in a minute", I can live with that. It doesn't mean twenty minutes, but five minutes is about as long as I can wait on a "I will be with you in a minute" statement.
5. Try to serve the food hot. Your munching on a good steak or nice chicken breast and decide to have a bite of cold steamed vegetables. I don't think so.
6. At least ask if we want dessert and or coffee before you bring the check.
7. Pay attention. If one orders a meal and a side cannot be substituted, fine. When one asks you not to bring a certain item, don't bring it. It just gets in the way of the food we do want, and possibly slides over on the plate and contaminates the rest of the food. (like an eggplant, yuck)

Just a thought.

Winter is coming

After having to turn on my air-conditioner this past weekend it looks like winter will finally arrive here in DC. Not to fear, it should be a short cold spell. Since I have lived up here for dang near two years, not one snow flake has stuck to the ground. The forecast has flurries for tomorrow afternoon. Can't wait, rain just about de-stambilizes most DC area drivers, I can only imagine what will happen with a little ice and snow. It is not recommended that you drive while looking through your belly button.

Other news, I will be hitting the road soon, keep your eyes peeled for additional details.

Long time coming

It has been a while for my fair readers, but no fear, I have not forgotten about you. It has been a busy couple of weeks around here.

Last weekend I visited the Warner theater and caught the production of Stomp. What a great show If you ever get a chance to witness this performance, I recommend going.

For an inspirational movie check out Persuit of Happyness. This movie shows that if you work hard to achieve your goals, you can be rewarded.

The other comical movie I saw was Night at the Museum. This flick had good special effects and a cool story.

If it has been a while since going to google maps, check it out. They have updated a few of the views with modern pictures and you might see your house there. Parents of Tronster live in a remote area in SC, when I called up their address, I could see their car in the yard.

If some of this is hard to read, I am fighting a stuffy nose and it makes it difficult to understand what I am saying. So hang in there, it will become coherent before to long.