trinalin thinks things through

Moving Shop

2017-07-27T02:07:45Z

Well, I'm in the process, finally, of moving off of LJ and onto elsewhere. I decided to just make a Wordpress Blog on Pagefillers and put it there. Tonight, I did the bulk of the work by using LJ to Wordpress to backup my LJ and then convert the XML file into one that Wordpress could use. (Sadly, the on board LJ importer tool didn't work for me — kept saying that my LJ password was wrong. Turns out it's an issue with the LJ API and not really anything the Wordpress folks can fix.)

Now I've got the finicky bits of adding images, LJ icons, moods & music to my posts & comments. That'll probably take me awhile since I have to hit each entry. But I'll get there in the end, I suspect.

My blog will eventually have newer posts added, and I intend to eventually put some of my old journal entries in as well, just for grins. But I suspect the new posts won't be all that often since I prefer to use Twitter & Instagram for socializing online.

Haven't decided if I'll keep the old journal here once it's all backed up on Pagefillers — maybe just the gay-friendly posts? Heh.

Happy New Year!

2017-01-02T04:37:28Z

Considering that my last LJ post was in the summer, I think I'm going to have to admit that how I "journal" my life has changed. It used to be paper. Then it was LiveJournal. Now I do "microjournaling" via Twitter and Instagram (username pagefillers). And even there I'm not as thorough as I once was. But they're quick, and that often fits my lifestyle more.

I know a number of "old time" LJers who are jumping ship due to the Russians or somesuch. Haven't decided if I will or not. But I do want to get a good backup of this journal and soon - my last backup was a few years back. And then maybe I'll decide what to do.

My own website (pagefillers.com) is still very barebones since it was hacked at some point. Perhaps I'll get my old LJ stuff onto there. At least my trip stories would be good there. Perhaps 2017 will be my year to get that sorted out. :-)

I'm currently sitting in my library with Linus on my lap and Lucy sitting on the back of the comfy chair. We've got soft Christmas music playing in the background and, when I'm not writing this, I'm working on my eBooks' meta data (like you do). I had a wonderful birthday today (46 years - sheesh!) Although Amy was back in MSP, the folks and I had a nice time. I cooked pork & kraut & mashed taters and then they came around for lunch. They brought cake & presents!

Since I'm 6, er 46, the gifts were toys & games. ;-) Amy, OTOH, got me an IKEA gift card - to help me get a display case to, um, hold my LEGO... OK, so I *am* 6!

Amy was here for Christmas - she arrived Christmas Eve and left on the 30th. We had a great time and, as per usual, we won at Christmas. And according to WW, I only gained 4.8lbs. Heh.

In 2016, I hit my lowest weight (in December) at WW which is over 40lb lost since I started the program, and probably closer to 50lb lost since I started trying. Yeah, it's taking years, but I'm working on lifestyle changes, not looking for quick fixes. I'm wondering if, in 2017, I finally get under 180lb. We'll see!

I managed to reach my book-reading goal for 2016 (read 75 books - I got 76 read - whee!) and I'm going to see if I can read 80 in 2017. You can keep tabs on me through goodreads.

OK, enough rambling from me. Linus has changed his position so that now when I type, I'm having to move him with me. He's too zonked to care, but I think I should let him rest without being wiggled around.

I hope that 2017 is a good year for you all. I know there's a lot of uncertainty right now and it has the potential to be truly horrible, but I hope that this isn't the case. Love to you all!

Summer!

2016-07-29T21:02:36Z

I know, I know, summer's more than halfway over and I've not posted a thing since February 29. Trina from the future's gonna be ticked off at Trina from the past for neglecting her LJ. Well, Trina from the future, deal with it! ;-)

Further to my last post, I did wind up getting the Samsung Galaxy S7 phone (gold colored). I had intended to buy it from AT&T despite the fact that they were selling it for more than all of the other phone companies. But they wouldn't sell it to someone without a contract. I use a Pay-As-You-Go card and stuff $100 on it once a year. I don't have any contracts. So I wound up buying it from Amazon. Got an international version (better innards, apparently) in the process. Love it. :-)

This has been an interesting summer. In June, I attended a 3-week workshop on teaching physics using a modeling method. This, I hope, will completely change the way I teach physics this year (and every year after) to a more effective way. It's exciting and daunting all at once. So I'd like to apologize (a) to all of my physics students in the past for not being very efficient at teaching you physics and (b) to this year's physics students who will have to deal with me learning how to teach physics in this new way. (By "new" I mean new to me - physics modeling has been around for decades, I've only just recently been trained in it.)

In order to continue having fun during this 3-week workshop, I visited several of the Metro Parks in the Columbus area. One was just north of the hotel where I was staying. The other 3 were between the school where the training was and my hotel. So each afternoon after class, I'd go wander for over an hour in the woods (or gardens in the case of Inniswood). It was lovely. I also tried out different restaurants in the area. But I packed my breakfast for each day, and the lunches at the modeling workshop were usually fairly nutritious. So I managed to keep my weight pretty stable during the training.

This was finally going to be my big Upgrade Summer for my PC. I discovered when I started researching parts that I was way out of the loop these days. So I went to CyberPowerPC to see what parts would make a good build. When I sourced them from newegg.com, I found there was maybe only a difference of $150 from what CyberPower would charge versus newegg. I decided it was worth the extra to have someone else build it for a change (and get Winders 10 working on it). It all worked out well, except for two hitches.

The first hitch was how CyberPowerPC ships their PCs. They used UPS, but wouldn't allow the recipient to make any delivery changes, not even with MyUPS. It was scheduled to arrive on a Tuesday when I was in Columbus. And I couldn't get them to change the date till Friday. Thankfully I was able to get UPS to hold the PC at their shipment location in Piqua (thanks to Justin S. from CyberPower!) and thus picked it up on my way home from Columbus. Yay, I had a new PC!

I had also bought a second SSD hard drive from Amazon (sorry, newegg, they had it cheaper) in order to install Ubuntu on it. Only I discovered that I had no SATA cables. Of course nobody local sells SATA cables. Thankfully, a former student of mine works at the local Staples and he gave me a spare that he had (one of many) in the back. Ubuntu and I fought for quite a bit, but I finally got it to play nicely in my new machine. Files were transferred, a new backup drive was fitted and LuckyBackup software was run. Things were perfect! (Well, OK, turns out I managed to pick the ONE sound card that doesn't and will never have Linux drivers. Gee thanks Creative! Thank goodness for (a) motherboard sound cards and (b) y-cables which allow me to have 2 sound cards connected to the same speakers.)

And then the second hitch hit... Before having the machine a week, I started seeing some weird flickering on the screen. At first it was just a little and only in Windows. Then World of Warcraft became completely unusable. Then I started seeing the glitches in Ubuntu. I did as much troubleshooting as I could (even tried to install the new card into my Old PC only to discover it didn't have enough power cables to connect it) and then e-mailed CyberPower. They had me try something else, but when it failed, they sent me an RMA and had me mail the dud card back. The replacement arrived on Tuesday and I've not yet seen any glitching!

Now, between sending my bad card out and getting the replacement, I spent a weekend with judiang and elsaf in Downers Grove. Of course, being the interesting summer that it is, it wasn't as straightforward as that. The night before my flight to Chicago, I got a text from Judi telling me that she had a detached retina and needed to have emergency surgery the next day. "Do you still want to come?" My question was did *she* want me to come. She said she could use the help, so I kept my plan to go.

Only apparently Southwest wasn't all that up on my plan to go. I was scheduled to fly out on Wednesday at 8:20pm, but Southwest's servers were all wacky. I had no idea it was happening - the day before I'd checked in with no issues. The folks and I went out for dinner before we headed to the airport. I got to the counter and they told me the flight was cancelled and here's an 800 number to call. By the time I got a hold of someone, my folks had picked me back up and were taking me home. I got another night with my kitties and resolved to call first thing in the morning.

Well, after 4+ hours on hold the next day (over 3 phone calls), I finally was able to schedule a new departure for that evening. The flight was delayed, of course, but we had some live music at the gate to entertain us. (Sadly, when the saxophonist was done entertaining us, we could once again hear the RNC on the telly.) Mum kept me company via text messaging, and eventually we got to take off. (Thursday's issue wasn't the servers anymore, but a really big ass storm over Chicago. Part of which Elsa had to drive through on her way to pick me up. Eep!)

Despite everything, I got to Judi's new place. I helped her where I could (mostly in unpacking her remaining boxes and helping her to organize stuff). I explored the neighborhood during my morning walks with Patty. We tried out a restaurant that serves Dim Sum (which was very good) and her local sushi joint (also good). Elsa and I checked out the farmer's market. And Judi got to keep her head down and sleep on her belly to help her retina reattach. Joy joy.

So August will start on Monday, whether we're ready for it or not. I get one more trip before school starts whereupon I shall invade my sister for a long weekend. Here's hoping there's no emergency surgeries or downed servers or big ass storms. I'd like to get there & back again with little fuss. I intend to start working on getting my lessons ready starting this Monday (since I have decided to take July completely off, heh.) With our current bouts out hellishly hot days, I have all this time during the day when I don't want to be outside (I do my walks in the morning), so working on lesson plans etc will be a good use of my time.

My final thing for this post will be to post the video that I made earlier today. I wanted to see how well my new PC can handle video editing. (Even *that* wasn't straightforward! The video playback was so choppy. It took some research, but I found out that it was an AUDIO problem... Once I had the right settings in Premiere Pro, it worked a charm.) The video clips are from my various walks at the Metro Parks plus from Memorial Day weekend (with Elsa & Judi at the Lake) and some Lucy & Linus, of course.

Leap Day!

2016-03-01T04:18:11Z

I couldn't pass up the chance to post on February 29. So here I am typing on my newish Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 tablet. (I bought it earlier in the month 'cuz my old Nexus was running out of space. Love the new one!)

Things are going well for me ATM. (Asynchronous transfer mode? Automated teller machine? At the moment? Prolly that last one...) I've been below 200lb most of 2016 (compared to 1 day in 2015 & none days in the previous X years). The new way WeightWatchers determines their points is probably much of the reason for my weight loss.

I am the co-director of the high school play this year. A former student of mine is the other co. She's been in the play more recently than I, so I defer to her most of the time. It's fun, but I'm not used to working this late any more! Heh heh.

Got my taxes done & I did well - only getting a little back. (Don't wanna owe, but don't want them holding my money interest free either! I could get a whole penny in interest!) Decided the refund will help with my next big tech purchase - a new phone. Eying the Samsung Galaxy S7. (The S III was a great phone. Actually is still doing well 4 years on. But the shiny compels me to upgrade!)

The kitties be good. Linus is at the foot of the bed wondering why I'm not under the covers & I think he has a point! So good night all & I hope March is god to you!

2015 - a BS Reading Year!

2016-01-24T04:00:20Z

And by BS I don't mean bulls*** but instead Bernice Summerfield.

So the past week or so I've been updating my Goodreads book database with the dates of books I'd read since June of 2001. Why? Um, because I can, I guess. I've been keeping a paper record (which I then transpose to a spreadsheet) of the date I finished reading books since June of 2001. The original idea was to NOT buy any new books till I'd read 10 books I already owned. I'm pretty sure I was in a deficit before June was over. Heh.

Anyhoo, last January I decided to try the Goodreads reading challenge and publicly pledged to read 75 books during the year. (I succeeded by the skin of my teeth!) Which meant I had to keep track of the dates I finished books in Goodreads. It got to the point where I was doing a better job of keeping track with the online database than my paper booklet. And I kept thinking that some day I'd enter in the earlier dates. Well, I just finished updating 2014's books and that has me caught up. And it looks like I now have about 500 read books with dates (out of nearly 1300 read books). Not too shabby.

While updating the database I discovered a number of things that I hadn't really noticed before. Such as getting into Lois McMaster Bujold so damned late. 2008? Really? I knew I was a latecomer, but I hadn't realized it was that late. I noticed that some years I read a LOT of library books (most electronic, but a few paper). And it wasn't till 2010 that I got back into library books (when I was working on my Masters degree). Last year wasn't as heavy with library books, but I did have a couple. This prompted me to create two exclusive groupings for Goodreads - owned and borrowed. (I also have reference, which is for books that I own but don't expect to read from cover to cover.)

I noticed that once I discover an author that I enjoy, I tend to binge-read. 2014 is when I discovered David Weber's Honor Harrington novels and I zipped through them so fast that I couldn't tell you which plot goes with which book title. But I remember pretty well what all happened overall. I shall enjoy rereading the series. (I don't keep track of rereads - I know I've reread the Bujold Vorkosigan novels, but cannot tell you which year it was.)

My main focus this year, as hinted at by my title and its explanation, was to finally get some Bernice Summerfield novels read. I read all of the Virgin books when they all first came out (long before I kept records on when I finished books). But I had quite a few Big Finish Benny books which I'd not yet read. This was prompted by a sale that Big Finish had in May. I ordered Bernice Summerfield - The Inside Story and the last of the books which I didn't yet own (and that were still in print). I started reading the big coffee table book after our Britain trip, and decided to relisten to the audios and then read about them in the book. And then I dusted off my BS books and started reading them for the first time. (I also managed to, ahem, "borrow" a couple that are currently out of print. I'm still looking for them IRL though and hope to get them someday. Even the juvenile (as in written for horny 13-year old boys) Squire's Crystal. It's more than made up for by The Glass Prison, IMO.

Though I've long since relistened to all the Benny audios, I've still got quite a few books to get through. I'm "currently reading" Collected Works. (The quotes because I haven't actually started it, but I will soon!) I've got 5 currently in my "Currently Reading" list at Goodreads. There's also a Murder, She Wrote (last one read in 2010!), an eBook (The Goblin Emperor), and a couple of books on my tablet I'm slowly working through. (My tablet is great for comic books. It's the main reason I bought it.)

Let's see, what are some other 2015 noteworthy reads. Well, I will say that HumbleBundle is both a joy and evil. So is StoryBundle. I wind up buying whole collections of books from them, then forget to add them to my databases (yes, I also have a LibraryThing account - it's my official one with Goodreads being my social one) till I finally finish one of the books from the set. HumbleBundle had the Berkley Breathed collection for sale this year which I snapped up and then read through. And then he started doing his Facebook-only 2015 (and now 2016) cartoon which has been a hoot.

Thanks to these bundling agencies, I've discovered some great authors and book series. Heck, I bought dad a set of Make: books for Christmas, then went ahead and bought the set for myself too! I'm pretty sure I haven't yet added them to my databases. The Order of the Air series by Melissa Scott & Jo Graham is probably the best example. I read Lost Things which came with one of the bundles and fell in love with the characters. And in looking up a link for the series, I discovered that book 5 of the series was just released in December. Damn... Another book to buy!

And that, my dear friends, has been the story of my life with books. I read a recommendation in Twitter or elsewhere, check out a book, discover another, etc. And wind up buying a shitload of books. Rosemary Kirstein - wish I could remember who first recommended her to me (might have been one of the webcomic authors I follow) - was a major discovery this year. I read The Steerswoman and loved it. I've since inhaled the series and am awaiting the next two books. My twitter feed was all abuzz about Elizabeth Bear's Karen Memory just before it came out, so I decided I'd buy it the day of. And inhaled that book too.

Just last night I was working on my database and wondered if Jasper Fforde had published a sequel to Shades of Grey (nothing to do with 50 Shades) and discovered another series of his. With, supposedly, a kickass female protagonist (why not - he's good at 'em). And wound up buying the series (The Chronicles of Kazam), plus several other books. After all, Kobo was having double and triple bonus points for their frequent buyer program. I wound up getting 11 books for $90. And the books all have protagonists who aren't straight white males! (I did debate buying The Martian last night, too, but decided to stick to my guns. Might borrow it from the library). And this just days after I bought The Goblin Emperor and a few other books. And then Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, Bujold's latest. *sigh* So many books! And I'm writing this up instead of reading!

Both cats are now with me (Lucy's been here the whole time I've been typing this, but Linus has now decided he should be sleeping on my arms while I type this). So I suppose I should finish up and get a bit of reading done. I suspect my goal of 75 books read in 2016 will be another success - I certainly have enough new books to get me started!

Buh Bye, 2015!

2016-01-03T15:34:50Z

Welp, here it is, 2016 already! I'm now 45 years old (doesn't feel any different from 44. Or 43. Or any of those other post-40 years.) Was thinking of posting an end of 2015 entry, then saw gordon_r_d's meme on 2015. So I've decided to use it as my guide. Here goes!

1. What did you do in 2015 that you'd never done before?

Visited Scotland & Wales! Travelled abroad with my mother & sister!

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't do resolutions. Probably should, but I don't.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Heh heh - not for 2015. But just yesterday, my cousin Deanna had a little boy.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Sadly, two of my former students died this past year. One of suicide, the other in a car/bike accident (he was on the bike). That doesn't need to happen anymore.

5. What countries did you visit?

England, Wales, and Scotland. Whee!

6. What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?

It's the opposite - I want to have less procrastination than I had in 2015. I seem to be getting better & better at procrastination!

7. What dates from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

I'm horrible about actual dates - ask my history teachers. But the summer of 2015 when mom, Amy, and I went to Great Britain will remain with me forever. :-)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I finally got under 200lbs! OK, so it was only for a day, but this year, by golly, it's going to become more often!

9. What was your biggest failure?

I'm fortunate in that my failures, as far as I could tell, are minor. Not keeping up to date with the "family spreadsheet" that mom, Amy, and I keep for weight loss. Procrastinating on grading. Spending a wee bit more than I probably should (though I am independently wealthy... Heh.)

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Not really. Here's hoping 2016 is illness & injury free too!

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Heh - the "new" cell phone for mom for Christmas. She's really been enjoying it. I'm also pleased that I subscribed to Big Finish's 2020 subscription when it first came out. (I think they're offering it again for a short while). So I'm good for Doc5, 6 & 7 stories till 2020. Here's hoping the boys are able to continue to make the audios!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

The Supreme Court when they put the "gay marriage" issue to rest - and in the right way!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

The GOP. My grandfather would turn over in his grave if (a) he knew and (b) the supernatural existed.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Stuff for Trina, my trip to Britain, mortgage.

15. What are you really, really, really excited about?

Hmm, good question. I may get back to you on this.

16. What song will always remind you of 2015?

Another good question. I don't actually think that songs make me think of times as much as places.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder

Probably the same, maybe on the happier side of it.

b) Bigger or smaller?

Slightly smaller with plans to go even smaller than that!

c) richer or poorer?

Moneywise: Poorer, but only because I'm not quite recovered from the Britain trip. Will be soon, however! Then I'll be richer.
Everythingelsewise: Richer. :-)

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Reading & being creative. Writing, coloring, building robots, etc. If I did resolutions, that would probably be one.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Procrastinate. (Hmm, I sense a theme here!)

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

Guess this meme originated before the Christmas season. I spent it with mom, dad, and Amy. Was a blast, as always. Amy got home safe und sound.

21. What was your favourite month of 2015?

December and June. December for Christmas et al and June for Britain.

22. Did you fall in love in 2015?

Yeah, fell in love with Cardiff. :-)

23. What was your favourite TV program?

Doctor Who. Capaldi is just kicking ass right, left, and center! :-)

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Hate is such a strong term. Probably hate those who stir up hate in others (I'm looking at you, Trump!)

25. What was the best book you read?

The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein because it got me hooked into the series. There were quite a few others, and I hope to post a 2015 reads list before too long.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Hmm, that will take a bit of thinking. Maybe 2Cellos. I also want to do a 2015 music list as well.

27. What did you want and get?

I wanted lots & got most of it. That's the "trouble" with being independently wealthy - I want, I get. Heh.

28. What did you want and not get?

Nothing important.

29. What was your favourite film of this year?

I didn't really watch a lot of movies in 2015. I can't even say The Force Awakens, because we watched it yesterday, in 2016. Maybe Song of the Sea.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Lordy, that was over a year ago now! ;-) On the first day of 2015, I turned 44. My sister was home and we had pork & kraut and they got me nifty gifts (including a question-mark handeled umbrella from Amy). Then we took Amy to the airport. Just a few days ago, I turned 45. My sister was home and we had pork & kraut and they got me nifty gifts. Then we took Amy to the airport. (Deja vu!)

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

In that one couldn't even measure it? Less procrastination by me.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2015?

Frumpy & comfortable.

33. What kept you sane?

Family, friends, a great job, fun co-workers, nifty students, kitties, and all the fun toys & shit that I have.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

As always, Sylvester McCoy.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?

That gay marriage is now legal on my country. Woohoo! It's a small step in progressiveness, but an important one!

36. Who did you miss?

I haven't seen judiang and elsaf enough. I always miss Amy, especially after we part again. When I'm oot & aboot, I miss my kitties.

37. Who was the best new person you met?

Haven't met too many new folks. Guess I could say my new co-workers are wonderful folks, and the people I meet at FreethoughtDayton.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2015.

It's the same lesson I learn every year, but in light of the deaths of my former students: enjoy having one more day above the roses.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

"And I said to myself, what a wonderful world!"

Merry Christmas 2015!

2015-12-26T01:47:54Z

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Christmas this year (or fabulous Friday, or both!) It's been great for me this year (as it is every year - whee!) Amy arrived safely at the airport today. Her luggage, not so much. Eep!

Still, the Shorts are not put out by such things. We made lunch (hamloaf, roasted taters, sauteed Brussel sprouts, and beer bread), which we then ate and enjoyed immensely. Then we rested up, then had dessert (cookies, pumpkin roll, cheesecake cupcakes) and coffee (for those who drink coffee). Mom and I took a short walk. Then we decided to unwrap presents till we got down to where Amy's gifts to us were needed. (They are in her luggage, which is supposedly on its way here.)

Once again, we won at Christmas. We've gotten really good at it. :-) Adult coloring books were a popular item. Everyone got some sort of books or other. I got mom a "new" phone (Samsung Galaxy S5) to work with and dad a drone+camera to play with. I got Amy the Star Wars trilogy & some sketch books/pencils/pencil case/etc. They gave me all sorts of good stuff (games to play, books to read, a new toaster) and I've still not seen the "encyclopedia set" that Amy has apparently gotten for me. :-) (She claims her bag weighs as if it contains the Encyclopedia Britannica, but with the bag not here yet, we can only assume she's telling the truth.)

The weather is... hella warm for this time of year. We have been fortunate NOT to be inundated with tornadoes like some areas of the country. (Those poor folks!) Though two days ago I was sitting in my basement waiting for the all clear on a tornado warning. Warmest December on record apparently. Bleh.

I've been doing all sorts of things since I last posted in June. The trip to Britain, as you probably saw, was a blast. School has been good. I might actually be caught up on grading for once (thanks to taking much of this last Monday getting caught up). We have Amy till next Friday (whee!) and all of the family gatherings are already over or aren't scheduled till January. So it's just the 4 of us to have a great week together and I'm looking forward to it.

So Happy Holidays to everyone out there! If I don't post again till 2016, HAPPY NEW YEAR! (And even if I do post before then, I still hope you have a happy new year. Heh.)

Oh! Update - Amy just got a call from the luggage deliverer - she should be here in half an hour. Christmas unwrapping can continue! (Once Amy wraps the gifts up, of course).

Great Britain Expedition, 2015, part eleven

2015-06-22T17:20:50Z

I am typing this in the coach while we head from Alnwick (pronounced ann-ick) toward York with a stop at Hadrian's Wall.

So, yesterday we got an extra half-hour of sleep again. And then we had Alan, a local expert, guide us around Edinburgh. First in the coach, and then around the castle. It was a chilly day, but lots of sun throughout the day. Once he was done with the tour we had the rest of the day to ourselves.

Heh heh, since I last wrote, I've had lunch in Heddon on the Wall, stood on Hadrian's Wall, and gotten wet while taking photos of the Angel of the North. Anyhoo, back to yesterday.

So, mom, Amy, and I started out by going to the Scotch Whisky Experience. Amy bought us tickets and we managed to get on the next tour. We took a "barrel ride" to see how scotch is made. Then our guide told us how to tell scotches apart by region. Then we each got a dram to try. Mom picked a Lowlands scotch, Amy a peaty Islay, and I got a Speyside scotch. I liked mine best and Amy's was so smokey it tended to overwhelm all other tastes. We ended the tour by viewing the largest scotch collection in the world. It was damned impressive.

Next we wandered down the Royal Mile, popping into shops and looking for lunch. I spotted a kebab, fish, and chips shop (the Clam Shell) and convinced the girls to get donner kebabs. We also got 2 orders of chips with salt & vinegar. The chips orders were HUGE! And the kebabs were as well. And very tasty, too. I was pleased since I'd been talking them up since before our trip. (To me, pork pies and kebabs are Britain.)

After a few more shops, we left the Royal Mile and wound up at the park. Although the wind was brisk, the sun was out and we spent some time just sitting & enjoying the first day of summer.

Next we popped into Jenner's department store since it is the Harrod's of Edinburgh. It's bigger than expected from the outside. But we returned to Old Town to continue our "Edinburgh Death March" that Amy was in charge of. In fact, she had forgotten she was supposed to be guiding our Death March and to make up for it, she added some stair climbing to the mix.

As it neared the time for meeting up with the coach, we popped into the woolen mill by the castle and got to see the giant looms they use. We got there after the workers were gone, but the shops were still open. Amy found a nice tweed bag that she got for 10% off due to a small stain on it.

We ended our time in Old Town at the Hub. I had a hot chocolate while the girls had coffee. The coach arrived and we were returned to the hotel.

After a short rest, the three of us put on our bathing suits and went to the spa in the hotel. First we sat in the hot tub & chatted with a local who is a member of the club in the hotel. She reminded me a little of Patricia Hayes in appearance. Next was time spent in the sauna, followed by a rest surrounded by small eucalyptus trees. Very relaxing!

For supper that night, we went to the hotel bar. I ordered a scotch-based drink which the waitress rightly topped off with lots of ice. We split baked Camembert & toast as starter. I then had a sandwich of mature cheddar with apple chutney. And I refrained from ordering dessert. I figured tonight's fairwell dinner will finish with a dessert.

Our evening finished with me working on homework after the girls got to bed. There's more to do, but it's not due till Wednesday.

Great Britain Expedition, 2015, part ten

2015-06-20T21:29:41Z

I'm once again writing this while the coach is on the road. We've just left St Andrews where Alf, our substitute driver (Carl has 2 days off) drove us onto the golf course to get a closer look.

So this morning we had an extra half hour to sleep in - yay! After breakfast we got on the coach and stopped about 5 minutes later to see a stone circle in a housing development. James took a group shot of us in the circle.

Next we headed for Blair Castle near Pitlochry. This was another optional excursion that we had picked. Alf dropped most of us off there before taking the others into town.

The castle was medieval but updated in the Georgian times and again for Victoria's visit. We toured the inside, then got an early lunch in the café. I picked up a ploughman's sandwich (cheese, branston pickle, white bread, lettuce & tomato), hot chocolate, and a custard cream pastry. Definitely a lovely lunch. I'd like another custard cream please!

We made it back to the bus in time and were headed back to Pitlochry to pick up the others when we saw two "Harry coos" in a field. James asked Alf to pull over and several of us got out to take photos of the hairy cows. We had time - in the choice between more time in Pitlochry and hairy cows, we picked the cows. Heh.

Once we gathered the others, it was off to St Andrews. We had 2 hours to kill there, so we started at the abbey for photos and walkies. At one point mom went a different way than Amy, so I stuck with mom once I found where Amy was heading. We eventually found each other and went in search of a place for continued lunch (mom & Amy had eaten only half their sandwiches). Eventually we entered the Greyfriars pub. I ordered a half pint of Strongbow cider, while Amy had a Twisted & Bitter and mom G&T. Mom wanted soup to go with her sammich and Amy wanted to try their haggis fritters. The fritters were very good and mom liked her Cullen skink soup (sort of a fish chowder).

We bugged out with 10 minutes to get back to the bus & at one point almost turned down the wrong road. Then when we were nearly there, we had a gauntlet of OAPs with canes & zimmers to dodge around. But we made it with time to spare. Go us!

Now we're heading for our hotel (another resort outside of town) and this evening we doing our last optional excursion. Edinburgh, here we come!

I'm writing this later in the hotel. Dang, it's a nice place! And the spa is open till 10. Though we didn't get to it tonight, but maybe tomorrow night.

James is a big fan of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and when we crossed over the Firth of Forth, he had Alf drive us through narrow streets in Queens Ferry to get to an ideal vantage point in order to take photos of the "first Forth bridge over the Firth of Forth towards Fife" (which he can say very quickly AND with a nifty London accent). This is a cantilever bridge that Brunel built in the 19th century and it still used for the rail line over the Firth of Forth. It was interesting on one of the narrow streets when one person in a car encountered us going the other way and she wound up having to get onto the sidewalk to get around (helped by a lady from a shop moving her sandwich sign off of the sidewalk). These coaches are HUGE and the streets are NARROW. :-)

Our dinner tonight was in a private club that underlooked Edinburgh Castle (after all, no building can OVERLOOK the castle, it's the tallest thing in the city). I had lentil soup for starters, lamb, potatoes, and vegetables for main course, and a chocolate torte for dessert.

We're back in the hotel thinking that maybe we shouldn't ever eat again. But we know that tomorrow we shall be hungry and there are many things to try in Edinburgh. :-)

Great Britain Expedition, 2015, part nine

2015-06-19T21:18:06Z

So that I can have more time to do course work this evening, I've decided to start typing up today's activities. We're still on the coach returning from Skye, but now we're closer to the resort than before.

This morning I decided to have porridge for breakfast. I added cream & honey to it and it was delightful. I supplemented it with bacon, fruit, tea, and toast with marmalade.

We left at 8am as usual, though it was lovely not needing our bags out for once. The theme for today was scenery (whereas yesterday was probably history). We stopped for pictures along the way, but our priority was the Isle of Skye.

One stop was at Loch Ness. I bought a gift and a mini Nessie thing while mom got me a hot chocolate & coffees for her & Amy. We took photos and were back on the coach in time.

We took the bridge across to the Isle of Skye and continued on to the Clan Donald center for more scenery and lunch. The lunch line was big at the start so we took a walk in the gardens. For all three of us, this was the highlight of the day. Beautiful, peaceful, moss, birdsong, wild onion scent - bliss. Our only regret is not having more time to enjoy it. When we returned for lunch, I ordered a mature cheddar toasty which I had with crisps, elderflower soda, and a brownie. Yummy!

Our group stayed 10 minutes more than the other two tour groups there (whom we'd been racing since the Nessie stop) and still got to the ferry on time. Well played, James! Well played.

Since then we've been on the road with a quick stop to view the Bonnie Prince Charlie memorial and the viaduct from the Harry Potter movies. Amy and I took the path up to the viewing area for photos.

The nicest thing about today is that the rain only really happens when we're in the coach. Amy tempted fate today at breakfast by mentioning our great weather for this trip, but figured we were more than half way through, so it didn't matter if the weather changes for the worst.

Tonight we're having supper at the resort again. I've ordered the goat cheese starter, the chicken entrée, and the mango mousse for dessert. Should be tasty!

[Time passes and I'm now in bed for the night.] Once we got to the hotel, mom and I did another Tescos run. She needed a shower poof (hers went asplody the other morning) and I wanted more sugar. So I bought 2 packages of jelly babies, another box of Tunnick's tea cakes, and a package of dark chocolate digestive biscuits. I will likely go into sugar overload if customs lets me take this all out! :-)

As I suspected, dinner was great. Before we went into the dining area, mom bought us drinks with money that dad had given her. I once again had a gin & tonic. The meal was superb, as usual. And the conversation was fun - we've managed to eat with different people each day which makes for interesting conversations. After dinner, we reitred to our room whereupon we packed for the next day and Amy posted more Facebook pictures. And now I'm going to try and get a lesson done before I sleep.

Great Britain Expedition, 2015, part eight

2015-06-19T21:08:43Z

Last night I wasn't able to write up an entry for our day. I am currently typing this while our bus is retuning from the Isle of Skye. I'm doing this with the virtual keyboard since my Bluetooth keyboard is in my luggage.

So, yesterday we left Glasgow to head north to the highlands. Poor Glasgow didn't leave as favorable an impression upon us as Liverpool or Cardiff. Perhaps it was the restaurant messing up supper. Perhaps it was the hotel spa closing as we arrived. Perhaps we just aren't Glasgow gals. Regardless, we were ready to meet the Highlands.

Our first stop in the Highlands was Loch Lomond. Though we skipped Windemere's boat ride, we opted for this one. It was a hazy, chilly, drizzly day, which just seemed perfect for a loch ride. When we were departing the boat, one of the crew admitted that this was the coldest start to summer that she could recall. She felt sorry for the kids starting their holidays this weekend.

For lunch, James took us off the beaten path to the Drover's Inn. He said the place reminded him of the Addams Family. Inside, even more so. Lunch was Scotch broth and assorted sandwiches - very tasty. Not even sure what all the sandwiches were other than having butter & mayonnaise. (One was egg, that I'm sure of.)

We then spent the early afternoon driving thru the valley of Glencoe. Despite the historical drama, the valley was peaceful and beautiful. Indeed, the trip was almost scenery overload.

When we arrived at our resort, those of us doing the optional excursion had 20 minutes to get ready. And then it was time to see the puppies!

When we were planning out extra excursions, Amy and I weren't sold on the sheepdog one. But it's James's favorite and he kept selling it. And we finally relented. I'm glad we did. It was fun watching the shepherd herd the sheep with his dogs using only voice commands and unique whistles. And afterwards we got to hold puppies. :-)

James wanted to apologize for rushing us out of supper the previous night and so bought us drinks before dinner. I had a gin & tonic with Bombay Sapphire. Supper was at the resort and I had leek & potato soup (needed salt), pork belly/back/rump/something & mash & veggies, and chocolate delice (aka chocolate mousse cake).

Mom, Amy and I took a walk around Aviemore and wound up buying junk food at Tescos. I hadn't brought money with me. But I had enough change in my pocket to get 2 packages of Penguins and a box of tea cakes. We eventually got ourselves situated for bed. I had intended to complete another lesson for my course but it wasn't to be. (Too busy posting photos of pupies on Facebook, I think). Maybe tonight?

Great Britain Expedition, 2015, part seven

2015-06-17T22:48:28Z

Scotland, I am in you! Woo! (We are now on the second week of our trip!)

This morning, we left Liverpool and headed onward to the Lake District. Most of the group had opted for the steam train & boat ride on Lake Windemere, but we and one other pair had not. So when we got to the train station at Haverthwaite, we headed for the shops while the others got their scones & teas or used the loo or both. In the shop, I bought a few souveniers - tea towels (that match my kitchen), mini-mugs for Doctor Who (TARDIS & Dalek design), and a slate coaster with a sheep painted on it.

Once the main group was off, we bought tea (or, in mother's case, coffee) and scones in the station restaurant. It was very quaint, in a good way. I think mom is a convert to the joys of scones & cream & jam. :-) (She was assured by the wait staff that it had no calories.) The other group who didn't go is a pair of ladies who are friends from British Columbia. Very nice ladies. Our bus driver, Carl, was the only other one left from our tour group.

At 11, we returned to the bus and Carl drove us around Lake Windemere. He even pulled over once to let us get a really nice shot of the lake from a bridge. (He said that, since it was raining, we'd get better photos outside than through the spattered windows.) We arrived at Bogness (I think) to await the rest of the group's arrival. And while waiting, we took plenty of photos, including some up-close-and-personal photos of some very friendly swans.

Our next stop, once everyone was aboard the coach, was Grasmere. There, James took us on a short walk to the cemetary and regaled us with the story of William Wordsworth and his wife... and sister. We were then free for an hour to get lunch, shop, view, etc. We all got Cornish pasties at a local place (The Cumbria, I think?) and then shopped. I bought some gingerbread from Sally Nelson's Gingerbread shop. While we were at the restaurant, a local gentleman with a cute doggie had told us about the place when he heard we were going to Glasmere. But then James had to be the most excellent tour guide that he is and told the whole group about it, too. ;-) I haven't had any yet - we were still too full from lunch.

Gretna Green in Scotland is, apparently, famous for being the place that English couples would head for to get married because once the marriage laws (age of consent) in Scotland and England were different. And the smithy would perform the ceremony for 'em. It's mostly a tourist trap now, but the shops were nice. I got an Anderson scarf and a few other touristy things (mostly concerning the Anderson tartan and motto - mum's an Anderson originally).

James is a wonderful tour guide and often buys us local candy etc to sample on the bus. Earlier today he'd given all of us Penguins. So I had to tell mom and Amy the joke that my friends told me when they first introduced me to the chocolate biscuits: Why don't polar bears eat penguins? Cuz they can't get the wrappers off! James heard me tell the joke and gave me a second one. :-) Amy and mom now agree that Penguins are pretty tasty. Now if we could just find some imported Tim Tams so they can make a comparision, that would be lovely.

After the Gretna Green stop, James had some shortbread to share with us all - very tasty. And THEN he gave us all samples of a Scotch whiskey that he'd bought to share. It was also pretty tasty (who knew there was a whiskey I could like?) As I said, he's a great tour guide!

Despite the coach door opening soon after we got onto the highway (Carl pulled over and got it shut again - he is calm during chaos, that man), we made it to Glasgow with time to spare. So James took us around to the Glasgow cathedral for a photo op. There's also a police box near the cathedral which we got to see. :-)

Dinner tonight was part of the tour and was at The Corinthian Club, which is a casino in an old bank in Glasgow. I ordered the Scotch Broth for starters, lamb stew and mashed potatos (though it had a fancier name on the menu), and the cranachan in a chocolate cup (a raspberry mousse-like stuff). The starters came out just fine, but when it was time for the entree, something had happened - for some reason the kitchen hadn't made enough stuff for everyone. And sadly, our table was one of the last to be served. The food was delicious, but we had to scarf up the dessert in order to get Carl back so that he and the bus have 11 hours before they are able to run again. James was outwardly calm, but I'm pretty sure he was livid - he'd emphasized to the restaurant how important the timing was before dinner. Still, we got to the hotel in time - yay!

Actually, I say hotel, but it's actually a golf resort. And, sadly, the spa closed at 9pm, just as we were arriving. Bummer! But we took a short walk around the resort for a bit more exercise, and then retired to our room. We're 1-nighting in this hotel, but the next two are 2-nighters. Phew!
Tomorrow, we head further north into the Highlands. Yay!

Great Britain Expedition, 2015, part six

2015-06-16T23:11:33Z

Tonight we are sleeping in Liverpool! Birthplace of the Beatles!

But this morning, we awoke in Cardiff, birthplace of Dame Burley Chassie (AKA Dame Shirley Bassie). I was able to have my "normal" full English breakfast (even though I wasn't *in* England) since my stomach behaved. And it wasn't long before we were on the road again.

On our way to Ludlow, we took a slight detour to Tintern Abbey for a photo op. Not only did I get pictures of the abbey, but I also found out they had a millstone at the parking lot roundabout, so I took a selfie of me with "The Coveted Millstone Award" to share with Papa. I'll get the photo to you eventually, dad, I promise! :-)

Ludlow, it turns out, has Britain's highest number of listed buildings with over 500. Most are Tudor-style though there were some Georgian around too. We had a 1 hour stop for lunch, so I popped into the local butcher's for a pork pie, then added to that with a few items from a local deli (some Thai salad, an elderflower lemonade, and a Portuguese custard tart). It was all very yummy and we sat outside on a bench in a square to enjoy our lunch. Then we took several photos (which I'll share later) and returned to the bus. Phew!

Next stop was Chester, where James took us on a tour of the Roman rows and pointed out several Tudor, faux-Tudor, Gothic, Roman, and Georgian buildings. Quite a mix, often at the same time. We parted at the Cathedral for a little free-time and mom, Amy, and I found a little coffee shop where we got coffee (not me), hot chocolate (me), and scones with clotted cream & the best strawberry jam I recall having. We finished just in time to return, once again, to the coach.

Our final stop of the day was the aformentioned Liverpool. When we arrived, they dropped off the bags while we had a short potty break (I just walked around the hotel) before turning to the bus, but with a new guide - Peter, our local expert. He's a Liverpudlian who does Beatles tours usually and gave us a tour of Liverpool in general and the Beatles specifically. Mom, Amy, and I got a photo by a Penny Lane sign.

Once back at the hotel, we got our room keys, dumped our bags (the big ones had been delivered), and decided to walk somewhere nearb for supper. After combing all the options at the Albert docks, we decided upon The Smugger's Cove. They were full up or normal dining, but there was room at the bar. I ordered their hanging lamb kebab, cole slaw, and a Buccaneer drink (rum-based coctail with raspberry liquer and peach juice or something). We had a pleasant evening not being in a rush for once. Plus, when we got back, I was able to work on two of my lessons for the college class I'm taking.

My girls are both asleep now and I should join them. Another early start tomorrow as we wind our way north towards Glasgow! We'll be in Scotland tomorrow!

Great Britain Expedition, 2015, part five

2015-06-15T23:18:01Z

Helo o Cymrw! (which might say "Hello from Wales" or it might not, depending on the accuracy of Google Translate.)

On this whirlwind trip through Great Britain, we have really only 1 day in Wales, and today was it. Tomorrow morning, we leave this country and head East and North (next hotel is in Liverpool). But Wales, and Cardiff in particular, has left an impact on us - my sister has declared Cardiff her new favorite city, and I can certainly understand why!

We started out in Exeter. Sadly, we had awakened so early that my stomach was still asleep, so no full English fry-up for me! (Considering the theme of today was FOOD, that might have been for the best.) Corn flakes and pain au chocolate plus tea was what my snoring stomach demanded. But we left the lovely town of Exeter (which would have been great to visit, rather than just have as a base for day-trips) and headed on to Glastonbury.

There's a ruined abbey in Glastonbury that we visited. A young lady pretending to be a pilgrim from the time of the original abbey (14th century, approx) guided us through the ruins. She was quite good and had a suitable amount of snark, especially about Arthur & Guinevere being buried there. And the young lady playing the part is decended from previous caretakers of the grounds and had a story to tell about two of the thorn trees planted on the grounds.

But that was all the time we had for Glastonbury, because we had a "Be our Guest" dinner at a farm called Blackmoor Farm. It's a new idea for a reality show (coming soon to TLC): 44 tourists, their tour guide and coach driver show up on your doorstep unannounced and you have to preare dinner for the whole group! (Well, that's what Amy thinks it should be. Heh. They knew we were coming.) The fellow who owns the farm showed us around the Great Hall and then a friend of his, who's an historian, continued the tour. Really neat history to the building. And I've forgotten most of the details, so I'll blaim tonight's wine. Heh. After the tour, we had lunch as prepared by the farm staff. Shepherd's pie (without actual shepherd on top), chicken/ham/leek pie, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower with & without a cheesy cream sauce - all very lovely. And scrumpy, rose cider, and white wine all available. I had the scrumpy. Most veggies I've had in one meal on this trip. heh.

We were then on our way to cardiff. We crossed the Severn bridge into Wales and then headed for Cardiff. Carl dropped everyone off at the castle. We had not opted for the castle and instead took a cab to Cardiff Bay to the Doctor Who Experience. Sadly, we arrived just 10 minutes after the last tour of the day - Boo! But we could still get tickets into the museum part of the place - Yay! And the tickets were cheaper - Big Yay! So we did just that and had a blast taking photos of costumes and props. there's a photo of mom with daleks that's hilarious and I'll have to post when I can get it off my phone. I was pleased that mom & Amy indulged me in my passion. :-) I also bought a few gift items - a cyberman pin, a pencil, several postcards (including Missy for the Death in Heaven "poster"), and a squishy toy thing that wound up being a weeping angel. Fun stuff!

We headed back toward our hotel using my GPS and some directions on google maps that I'd gotten earlier. The bay and Roald Dahl Plass is lovely. And it was nice seeing the venue we were going to for supper. We arrived at the hotel just minutes before the rest of the group. And then we had some time to rest before it was time to leave for our optional excursion of the Spirit of Wales.

Our group arrived early to the Millennium Center (after witnessing two people helping a guy so drunk he wound up passed out on the sidewalk and when the police started to investigate, the couple walked away as if they didn't know the fellow - ah, city life!) and were led into the bar by one of the singers who'd be entertaining us. They had small samples of Welsh mead (yummy) and Welsh rarebit (too small of a sample to judge) for us to try while we waited for the other tour groups. When everyone was there, we were brought into ffresh, the restaurant at the Millennium Center, and entertained & fed till we nearly burst. They had 4 singers (3 women, 1 man), their MC (who also was a singer), and a lady who played the harp and piano. They did a number of traditional Welsh songs (and not so traditional) in between courses. I had the goat cheese terrine with beetroot (amazingly good), lamb rump (rymp in Welsh) with veggies (also yummy), and the chocolate something or other that was also lovely. Amy and I wound up finishing off a bottle of Sirrah with a little help from the lady beside me, while mom and the man beside her polished off 1+ bottles of white wine.

As we left the Millennium Center, it was getting dark out (yes, it WAS late) and the whole plaza was lit up beautifully. Amy and I got some really nice photos, which I'll post at some point. Heh. (If you're on Twitter, I've posted a couple there already.)

So now it's late and I need to sleep so that I can have real food for breakfast. Cardiff, thank you for your hospitality! Maybe sometime I might get to stay longer than 1 day!

Great Britain Expedition, 2015, part four

2015-06-14T23:19:18Z

It's not easy posting photos since I have to use my phone to upload them, but I prefer typing up my entry with the keyboard I have for my tablet. And the photos from my camera - well, I have to put its memory card into my phone (which means turning off my phone & removing the current card) yada yada. So not sure when I'll post photos again, but I will!

So as you could tell from yesterday's post, we went to Stonehenge in the morning. We vacated the hotel at 8:45 with our bags all packed up again, then Carl drove us to Salisbury. Based upon the description that Judi had give me of her last time at Stonehenge, I wasn't expecting much. But since her last visit, they've really done a lot to let visitors see the stone circle and still keep it protected. The day was breezy and chilly, but those ancient stones were pretty darn nifty!

We then headed on to Bath, a city I have visited before. We got right into the Roman Baths and explored there. I think that has updated some since my last visit - or I just am remembering poorly. Mom and Amy and I then got lunch at The Trinity Pub. I had a steak and ale pie, Amy had fish & chips, and mom had the vegetarian pie (with a curry flavor). It was all tasty and we were the only tourists there.

Back on the road again, we headed on to Exeter to the Mercure Southgate. Earlier in the day, James (our tour guide) had given us name badges, but he took them back before we left the coach. Then at the bar in the hotel (after we'd refreshed a bit), he gave us someone else's badge and we had to find our own. It was a simple and fun way to meet the others on our tour. When we sat for dinner, Natashia joined us. I had the courgette & thyme soup for starter, baked cod with hollandaise and mashed potatoes (with mustard seed), and maple syrup panna cotta. It was all very lovely. (And I liked the unintended symmetry when I got fish, Amy got curry, and mom got a steak-based meal. Like we rotated from lunch.)

Today we got a slightly later start, which was nice. The Mercure had a full English buffet and it was yummy too. Then we headed out to Plymouth. We had opted to do the boat ride excursion, so we got to travel along the quay and up the river while our captain told us lots of historical facts. He then showed us the Mayflower steps where the pilgrims heading for The New World left by. Then we got back in the bus where we road the ferry across to Cornwall to visit the fishing village of Polperro.

Polperro is a quintessential fishing village. Tiny narrow roads, loads of holiday homes, cute shops, pubs, and lots of Cornish pasties and ice cream. I did not wind up having a Cornish pasty in Cornwall, alas. But we had a wonderful lunch at The Blue Peter at the recomendation of our tour guide, who ate with us. We shared the seafood platter and an order of fish & chips. The crab, shrimp scampi, calamari, scallops, fish & chips were all yummy. Mom and I had scrumpy, which was deceptively mild and tasty.

We popped into a shop on our way back to the coach and I bought a box of shortbread made with clotted cream. And then mom and I got some Cornwall ice cream. Dang, but that's good stuff! (I've had friends tell me that before but this is the first I've gotten to try it.) Stuffed to the gills, we returned to the coach.

Carl drove us to Buckfast Abbey next. We had 2 hours there to enjoy the grounds and take advantage of the gift shop. Amy got print-outs on the Shorts and the Andersons which will be interesting to read through. I got some pens and nibs. Mom got a cute sweatshirt with sheeps on it. The grounds had 3 gardens in it, including a lavender garden that looked and smelled lovely. The church was beautiful and an organist was practicing while we were there. It was a very relaxed couple of hours.

We took the scenic route back to Exeter, with Carl moving through winding roads that were almost too narrow for a bus. The Dartmoor lands are gorgeous. I'm glad we went the scenic route (and I didn't have to watch the people passing us!)

Mom, Amy and I had also opted into the dinner in Kenn. We went to an old pub (built in the 13th century) called The Ley Arms. Knowing full well that we'd picked Fish & Chips for our supper, mom and I still had seafood for lunch. Heh. I also chose the soup (not specified when I picked it) and the sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream. The soup was potato leek, and it was lovely. The fish & chips were also tasty and I discovered that if you put mint into mushy peas, I like 'em! Who knew? I had a Thatcher's cider and the whole meal was lovely. Plust we got to talk to several other folks from the tour.

After dinner, we walked to the church, which was almost as old as the pub (well, the workmen had to stay SOMEWHERE while the church was being built). The church's caretaker gave us lots of history about the building. It had 14th and 19th century stained glass, an 11th century font, and 16th century thingummy... term is lost. But it was all in very nice condition - well loved and cared for,

Once we'd gotten back to our rooms, we started preparing for tomorrow. And Amy called dad so we could wish him Happy Father's Day. But whoops, thats next week! And then the fire alarm sounded! So we stood in disbelief, then sort of got ourselves ready to evacuate. And it went off. Then back on. The gentleman across the hall was wheelchair-bound, so we said we would find a way to help him down stairs. But on our way out the nearest exit, a hotel employee assured us and a few others who'd gathered, that it was a false alarm. Phew!

So we phoned dad to reassure him that we were fine. And now everyone's asleep except me! good night!

Great Britain Expedition, 2015, part three

2015-06-13T22:43:43Z

Decided to upload a few photos from the trip so far. Today we actually got onto the tour proper, going on our first coach ride to Stonehenge then Bath, and finally Exeter. But some of the photos are from our first two days.

Mum and Amy high above London!

The Changing of the Guard - my first time to watch it.

Ate at this great cafe in Borough Market.

I hung out with Dame Judy at Madame Tussauds' party. We are besties now.

I met some fellow physicists at Madame Tussauds' party.

Guess where I am!

A Selfie of us at The Crescent in Bath.

Gardens near the Crescent in Bath.

I enjoed Stonehenge so much I bought a mini-Stonehenge!

Great Britain Expedition, 2015, part two

2015-06-12T21:45:29Z

Today was a practically perfect day, starting with the fact that I actually fell asleep last night! It felt so good wandering around London without being exhausted. Here's hoping I can keep up the good sleep tonight!

We woke up at 6:30am and got ready, then went to breakfast. The hotel has a full English fry up - as a buffet. I had baked beans, fried bread, fried tomato, sausage (more meat than cereal!), two eggs over easy, hash brown patty, banana, and a plum. It was all very yummy. Oh, and really, really weak tea with cream & sugar.

We met the other tour-goers in the lobby for our Regal London tour (part of the package). The coach wasn't on time, but once it arrived, Sarah (an ex-pat American) gave us an excellent tour. As Amy later remarked, it was nice that the traffic was so bad because we got more interesting facts from her than we probably would have due to the delays. The tour showed us more of London than our Deathmarch of the pervious night (though there was a little overlap). And then Sarah walked our tour over to see something I'd never bothered with on previous London visitis - the changing of the guard at Buckinham Palace. And since tomorrow is the Queen's "birthday," she was actally in reidence.

After the tour, mum and Amy and I returned to St. James Park for a reconnoiter to decide upon our next course of action. During the tour, we drove by Borough Market, which Sarah recommended to us claiming that it was one of the factors that convinced her to move from Rome to London. Mom had said that we should go there for lunch, so we did. We bought Oyster cards and took the Jubilee line from Wesminster to London Bridge, then went to Borough Market.

In addition to fresh produce and meat, they have freshly prepared meals as well. We walked through and all decided on what we wanted to eat. I chose a lamb bap from Maria's Market Cafe and a cider from another booth. It was a tasty sandwich, with rocket and mint jelly. Mom got scallops and Amy got a Cornish pastie. I wasn't enamored of the cider (their sweet is not as sweet as I like, but enjoyed everything else. We ate next to a Turkish deli and I decided to get some Turkish delights.

We hopped back on the tube to the Baker Street exit to get to Madame Tussauds. The wait to get in was a bit much, but probably no more than the other times I've waited. We also decided to pay the £3 extra for the Star Wars exhibit. We had lots of fun posing with celebs and I have posted a few of the images on my facebook if you have one of those. I will get them to LJ one of these days, too!

After Tussauds, we went to find the Sherlock Holmes museum nearby. On our way, we stopped into a couple of shops. One of them had tweed caps, one of which fit me and was only £25, so I bought it. I look cute. Amy got a photo as proof, which I'll also post when I'm able. We then went to The Volunteer for half pints and a sit down outside. I had Addlestone's Cloudy cider and mom got Aspall's cider (which I'd had the day before) and Amy got a London pale ale from a brewer she doesn't recall. We ate a few pieces of Turkish delight while we relaxed.

We decided to pop into the Sherlock Holmes store (where everything is overpriced according to the lady I bought my hat from. She sells deerstalkers for half the price of the museum store) but not the museum. And then we walked to Regent's Park for a short walk and a sit down. Then back to the Tube (Jubilee from Baker to Green park, then Victoria to Vauxhall).

One our walk back from Vauxhall last night, we noticed a few eateries and deicded to try one of those for supper. We went to Casa Madiera to their coffee shop side. I had a bacon melt panini and a decadent fruit danish, Amy got a huge avocado salad (with prawn salad, cole slaw, and lots of veggies), and mom got a chicken napoleon or something (chicken and mushroom melt). Supper was very yummy and fairly reasonable in cost.

We returned to our hotel whereupon we've been repacking, journaling, talking to dad on the phone, etc. It's just about time for bed, so I'll sign off now. Tomorrow we awake even earlier to get on the road proper. By the end of the day tomorrow, we'll be in Exeter!

Great Britain Expedition, 2015

2015-06-11T22:24:32Z

My mother, sister, and I have arrived in London safely for the first leg of our Great Britain Excursion. We're doing a Trafalgar tour through AAA cuz we wanted Easy but Fun. Yesterday, dad dropped us off at the airport and we flew to Charlotte and then on to Heathrow. The flight from Charlotte was delayed about an hour, so we wound up getting into London an hour later than intended. And the gentleman who picked us up for Trafalgar had even more issues with his morning than we did!

However, we got to the Riverside Park Plaza Hotel on the Albert Embankment and then headed off to the Coca Cola London Eye since it was such a beautiful day. I feel sorry for the folks who purchased Fast Passes today since we only waited 15 minutes to get into our carriage. And we were on the ferris wheel for about twice that length of time.

Our room wasn't going to be ready till 2pm, so we walked toward Trafalgar Square (no relation to the travel company) and wound up popping into The Clarence, a pub just south of the square. Lunch there was lovely. I had steak & ale pie with mashed potatoes and onion gravy. Amy had fish & chips and mushy peas. And mum had a cheeseburger and fries. Everything was yummy. I had cider, Amy an ale, and mum wine.

We returned to the hotel for a much needed rest. But we didn't want to nap for long or else we'd not be able to sleep tonight. So we just did so for an hour, then we headed off to Harrods. Or as mom wound up calling it, The London Deathmarch. (She said she would have been disappointed if I'd not gotten a London Deathmarch in this trip.) Yeah, so I had a few issues with the mini-map not having the smaller street details, underestimating how long the walk would be, and then having my GPS have kittens while trying to figure out where we were while walking. So it might have taken 2 hours to get to Harrods. But we did!

In previous trips, I'd fallen in love with the Chocolate Bar, a little place to buy hot chcolate and other yummy things. Well, Godiva now runs it, and it's a bigger place. But the chocolate stuff is still yummy. We split a tomato & mozzarella panini and each had one of their Chilled Chocolixirs (Amy and I opted for dark, mom got milk choc). Was very decadent and wound up filling us enough for supper.

Rather than suffer through another Deathmarch, we took the tube back. Vauxhall station is, I think, the nearest to the hotel. And the walk back from the station was very pleasant and an intreesting walk. I'm really not used to staying in high quality hotels in London.

Later tonight, we went down to the Chino Latino bar in the hotel. Amy recommended a Pimm's cup to me and we each ordered one, while mom got the bar's elderflower margarita. The drinks were tasty and they brought us some olives and some crunchy & spicy knurdles that were very tasty. Since we figured dad was out at a bar in Ohio while we were in a bar in Londond, we called him on the offchance that he had his cell phone with him. He did, so we chatted briefly and that just made the night even nicer.

Now Amy is writing in her journal and I am writing in mine and mom is already in her bed. Bed sounds good. Since I didn't sleep on the flight, I REALLY hope I can sleep tonight!

Summer Vacation 2015

2015-06-06T14:52:28Z

Phew! I haven't had a real post in this journal since Jan 1 of this year. Ah well, guess journalling isn't my thing at the mo'. However, that may change a bit in the next couple of weeks since my mother, sister, and I will be going on a trip through Great Britain. I expect we'll have lots of fun. :-)

But summer has started for us (despite it still officially being spring) since school let out on May 22nd!!! I haven't gotten much biking or hiking in this season (only twice for each - eep!) but have been enjoying my time off quite a bit. And I've done my duty as a "responsible home owner" (yeah right) and had my tumbling down fence replaced.

So that's what this post will be about - Out with the Old, and In with the New!

I really hadn't noticed how poorly my back fence was doing till I started mowing last year. Whoops! Neglect, I has you!

It's really shabby compared to the neighbor's more recently created fence.

The fence guys start taking the old fence down. Turns out it was installed in sections.

The new fence posts have been installed. The rest of the fence is installed the following day once the post cement has settled, or something. That's a view of my neighbor's back yard that I've never seen before.

The mulberry tree is now just a stump. And I've brushed stump killer on it - DIE STUMP! DIE! (I taped a warning sign up for the little kids who were hanging around that area earlier in the day.) I especially like the bits of mulberry tree that are now a permanent addition to the neighbor's fence. (Actually, no idea if my predecessor or their predecessor installed that chain link fence. At least with my behind the house neighbor, I was able to ask if it had been her mother or my predecessor who'd put the fence in.)

The fence dudes installing the new fence! Whee! (I tried to figure out why this photo had a different aspect ratio than all my others. Turns out I took this while I was filming the dudes installing the fence. The aspect ratio for video with my phone is different than the ratio with my photographs.)

I can has new fence? Yes, I can has! In October, I need to stain the sucker. Will have to ponder what color I want to stain it. (And I'll ask my backdoor neighbor what color he wants his side stained since the fence dudes recommended staining both sides if/when I do it.)

Post? What Post?

2015-04-02T00:52:21Z

Hey look, Trina's finally posted to her LJ!

APRIL FOOLS! ;-)

I'm Forty Four with Both Fumbs Down!

2015-01-02T03:11:42Z

So years ago my dad was asked by a neighbor lady how old he was and he said that he was "four with the fumb down." (Or at least, the neighbor lady told him that he said this as he doesn't remember it himself.) So we've had the expression in our family vernacular for many years. And today, I turned forty four, with both fumbs down. :-)

Our Wonderful Christmastime has continued to be wonderful. On Monday, mom, Amy, and I went to AAA to talk with a travel agent about going on a tour of Britain. We met for an hour and a half and left with some homework to do. And we spent much of Monday afternoon researching and reading up and trying to decide which of the various package tours we wanted to do. We scheduled a second meeting for Wednesday whereupon we'd have our decision.

On Tuesday, Amy had an appointment with a couple of folks in Columbus to film for the BMC Oral History Project she's been working on for a few years now. Dad had volunteered to be her gaffer (and to provide the lighting equipment so she didn't have to bring her set up with her on the plane). Since it was going to take a couple of hours, I suggested that mom and I head off to Polaris Fashion Place to go shopping. So once we had Amy and Dad ensconced in the Columbus Mennonite Church, we headed north to the mall.

Mom and I have been fans of Chico's for a couple of years now. She had a pair of jeans which were a little baggy on her that she wanted to return, and when we got there, they were having a sale. I found a pair of jeans and a long jacket (think Bea Arthur long) on sale and she found two pairs of jeans. We then stopped into a shoe store where I found a VERY cute pair of shoes in my size. Decided they'd be my birthday present to me. Mom then found a jacket for herself at Christopher & Banks that she wound up getting for $15. We topped the successful excursion off with Auntie Anne's pretzels.

As we were leaving the mall, Amy texted to say they were done at the church. So we returned and Amy toured around Columbus reminiscing about her days of living in the "big city." (Columbus is huge for me, but small for someone who lives in Minneapolis. Heh.)

That night, we finally decided on which of the package tours to go on (it was basically a competition between the Scottish highlands and Ireland, Loch Ness vs Guinness brewery tour, Liverpool vs Waterford Crystal. Scotland et al won in the end). Wednesday's meeting then was getting the tour booked and then the flights figured out. We opted for trip insurance - not something we usually do, but with the total cost of the trip and the fact that we're not as young as we once were, it seemed like a good idea this time around.

For New Year's Eve, we met up with Deb & Ben, friends of my folks, for dinner at Trojan Horse. Then we adjourned to mom & dad's home for an evening of games and snacks and booze. We played Ticket to Ride where Ben managed to win instead of Amy (who's won every other time we've played). Then Amy and I took on mom and Deb with a game of pinochle. We won and then the ball dropped and 2015 arrived!

This morning I made us some baked French Toast (which I'd made shortly after midnight and let sit in the fridge overnight) and bacon. And lunch was our New Year's staple: pork, kraut, and mashed potatoes. We'd invited my cousin Patty around and the five of us had a wonderful lunch and spent most of the afternoon chatting and laughing. Then mom, Amy, and I returned to Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright and House of Cards (we managed to watch 16 episodes this week). In between episodes, we had a light supper and then I opened presents and we had cake & gelato/ice cream. Judi had gotten me a World of Warcraft game time card (surprise!) and Elsa a nifty sweatshirt with "All of the good chemistry jokes Argon" on it. :-) Mom & dad got me moolah to do a subscription to Big Finish. And Amy got me a 7th Doctor brolly! Whee!

So this has been a wonderful time with my sister and folks and other loved ones. Tomorrow we take Amy to the airport so she can be reunited with Curtis (her cat) and Charlotte (her godcat whose currently staying with her). Thanks all for a lovely birthday and Christmas and all that jazz. :-)

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime

2014-12-28T22:05:50Z

Although I haven't been posting, I have been having a great end of the year. Amy arrived on Christmas and we had lunch at Waffle House* on our way back from the airport. That night was festivities with dad's side of the family, and next day was a party at our house with mom's side of the family. And that night I Skyped with judiang and elsaf which was fun. But yesterday, we actually got to have Christmas for ourselves, and once again, we won at Christmas**. :-)

We have Amy with us till the day after my birthday (so till Friday) and we intend to enjoy her company as much as we can. Yesterday, after presents, we took a walk downtown and wound up doing Happy Hour at the Caroline. Mom and Amy and I have been mainlining episodes of season 1 of House of Cards*** (the US version with Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright) while dad hides in his den. (He's not into political maneuvering and shenanigans, and I'm beginning to see why. Heh.)

I'm hoping y'all are also having a nice end to 2014 and I hope that 2015 starts out wonderfully for you.

*Well, it was one of the few places open on Christmas day. Though we felt bad for the joint - busy as they were, their ATM, phone, and credit card machine all crapped out at the same time. Basically, the phone died and took everything with it. Thankfully we had cash as did other customers. Christmas is one of Waffle House's busiest days. We even had a 20 minute wait before we had a seat. I decided to have second breakfast and it was yummy.

**Lots of fun stuff from the folks and Amy and others. Some new outfits, sweatshirts, books, Doctor Who DVDs, and a couple of new appliances - egg hardboiler (cuz I was envious of mom's) and smoothie maker (cuz my blender just doesn't have the power). We all had stockings this year, which was fun to help fill. Mom made the stockings and they're lovely.

***Last time I had the DVD set from the library, I managed to get the first three episodes watched before my 1 week time was up. This time I have the set for 3 weeks and recommended to mom and Amy to catch up and we could watch together. Amy did her homework (she has Netflix) and mom got started on hers and finished up once Amy had arrived. We're all pretty captivated for now.

Celebrity Kitties

2014-11-24T22:11:40Z

Since The Doubleclicks put up a Kickstarter to make their first album, Dimetrodon, I've been a fan and supporter of theirs. (I think it was someone on twitter mentioning them that brought them to my attention in the first place.) The two ladies are geeks and thus write and sing wonderfully geeky songs.

Well, they recently sent a call out to their fans to help them with their latest "lyric video." They wanted photos of cats (or dogs or other pets) with or without their owners & a word from the song. I requested a word and they gave me "want." So I wrote "Want" in big print and then tried to get a shot with Linus and Lucy and the word all together. After several attempts (and a spat of photos I accidentally deleted from the camera before they'd been downloads - long story, bleh) I got one that I decided to send along. So now my kitties are online celebrities! They show up the last time that "want" shows up in the video, around 2 minutes and 30 seconds in. (But watch the whole video - lots of lovely cats & other pets and their loving owners.)

In case you couldn't tell which one was them, here's the photo that I sent along to the Doubleclicks for inclusion in the video:

And here are a couple of the good ones that didn't make the cut (it wasn't an easy decision!)

Belated Halloween Post

2014-11-16T04:17:59Z

I've been meaning to get a Round Tuit to posting photos that I (and a few others) took at the Halloween party that my folks and I attended that night. And as I wait in the queue to get onto World of Warcrack (they just released a new expansion), I found the Tuit and it was, indeed, Round. So first photo is one of me and the camera outfit that I used for most of the photos. The theme of the party was 1920s/Great Gatsby and many of the attendees drezzed for the occasion. (As I'm not a fan of wearing dresses, I opted more for Marlene Dietrich in drag. She looked FINE in a suit or tux. Me... well, I'm cute at least. See?)

Me and the camera that dad put together. He's clever. :-)

The party started at The Caroline, a restaurant in Troy. Here's mom and dad entering the restaurant.

Here's mom and I at the restaurant.

A group shot of the first of our group to arrive at the restaurant. Not all who attended the party at Tammy's were able to come to the restaurant.

Some flappers at the Caroline.

Now at Tammy's, here's dad getting the champagne bar ready. (Tammy also had a cocktail bar, a wine bar, and a cigar bar at the party. Though cigars were to be smoked outdoors.)

Tammy's front room had the perfect backdrop for 1920s style photos. Here's my folks. I got many of the couples in front of this window.

Awhile into the party and dad and I relax while one of the party-goers takes out photo.

As the evening wore on, poker and pool were the entertainment. Here's mom winning a hand!

My dad, the pool shark.

I was pleased when I saw that the camera captured the movement of the ball. Our host John shoots while two of the three Mikes at the party look on.

Bridge over (Not So) Troubled Water

2014-10-07T00:55:21Z

I've mentioned before that I enjoy biking when the weather is amenable. We're very fortunate in Miami County to have a great set of bike paths for people to walk and ride upon. However, till this (late) summer, there was no contiguous path from Troy to Piqua (our two biggest cities). There was a planned bridge to go over the Miami River, but it hadn't been built... yet.

Well, this summer, they finally got started on the project. The goal was to be done before August, but, well, they did get done before October, so that was something. :-) Mom and I have ridden across the bridge twice so far, with future trips across a certainty. And the last time we went across, there were quite a few people out enjoying the bridge (walker and bikers), so that was great to see.

Some day I'd like to start at the northern-most part of the path in Piqua and then go south for the whole length of the county and beyond. (I think you could actually go all the way to Cincinnati using the paths, but I've never gone farther south than Taylorsville Dam.) Perhaps next summer? :-)

Anyhoo, here are some before and after photos which I took throughout the summer (and early autumn). It's a really lovely bridge, I must say.

Prebridge 1:This is a shot from the Troy side of the river. They had gotten the bridge across already and had a preliminary (albeit dirt) ramp up to it. It's now paved both ways.

Prebridge 2: This is a shot from the Piqua side just below the start of the ramp up to the bridge. When I took this photo, it was the first time I'd been on that part of the bike path.

Prebridge 3: Here's another Piqua-side shot, but pointing away from the bridge and toward the Farrington Reserve parking lot (where my car & bike were currently parked).

Postbridge 1: Hooray, the bridge is done! This is a shot from the Troy side going toward the Piqua side. I'm standing in one of the two overlooks on the bridge.

Postbridge 2: Now I'm on the Piqua side of the river and looking back along the path toward the Farrington Reserve parking lot. You can see the paved path.

Postbridge 3: And now a shot from the other overlook, but pointing toward the Troy side.

Postbridge 4: Here's my beautiful bike parked at one of the two overlooks on the bridge. (I'm standing beside mom at the other overlook, IIRC.)

Postbridge 5: One final shot, Piqua side to Troy side (I think) showing the brickwork (or rather, faux brickwork) on the bridge.

The weather's turned a little chilly of late, but I'm hoping to get a few more bike rides in before winter turns its ugly head towards us!