Category Archives: random thoughts

what a wonderful world

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well, I’ve had lots of great thoughts that I wanted to put up on this blog over this last week and weekend.

But I’ve been working REALLY REALLY hard. And not getting much sleep.

“what has murphy been working on?”

well you might ask. You might ask. You didn’t, but I will tell you anyway.

There is a mighty website going to launch today. My nerd quotient had increased exponentially–LITERALLY EXPONENTIALLY–as i learned what i needed to learn to make it work.

ugh.

it will be up by the end of the day, if I have to pull the last few to-do items out of the mud on my own back.

but it will be up.

YAY!

you can check it here
www.1250ships.com

yes, okay. So that is what I’ve been doing instead of posting. Or sleeping. Or even bathing as frequently as is my custom.

phew.

But today, since I’m pretty much done with the herculean site raising, and since I’ve not quite gotten enough sleep, and also since my big curly brain is throbbing, I kinda feel like I’m in a stream of subconcious.

you know that feeling inbetween snooze button clicks? when you are likely to board any train of thought that passes by?

it’s all fine and good until I open my mouth. The censor is not at the gate, and inhibitions are down.

woo hoo! I ‘m happy!

…but still…perhaps i should stay in my cube and work on solitary projects today…

*giggle*

home and home again

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It’s good to be home. But there seems to be a lot to do.

The days are full of light right now.

I like the light, but it is too hot to enjoy it. I have to wait until it is dark, or almost dark to walk the dog

At least work is air-conditioned really well. It is too hot at home.

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(okay that’s really a picture of the Joshua Tree Desert. But you get the idea. It’s hot)

Two days journey home- Part two

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Morning comes very early when you have to travel 9 time zones.

At least we knew we could sleep on the plane. But we had to stagger around through the maze of duty free shops until then.

What is the deal with spending hundred of dollars on hundreds of perfume? And alcohol? These are completely consumable.

I think it is much better to get jewelry. Even costume jewelry will have some value in ten years. Sterling silver is super cheap now.

How long to you think the Brittany Spears scent of the summer will last? And ALCOHOL? please.

We just wanted to get on the plane, and get under a cozy first class blanket. Fortunately, it wasn’t long.

Chris fell asleep almost immediately. But this was my chance to play with the toys.

They had a big selection of movies. Not just one! You know, every time I see a movie on a plane, it makes me cry. What is up with that? Why do they pick these sappy movies that pull me in and start the tears flowing?

I ended up watching the Pursuit of Happyness. Sniffled my way through it.

Chris slept the whole way. He had no interest in the stupid airplane movies. I got a some good hours of sleep too

New York arrived eventually. We went through customs, which was basically a forality.We returned to the admirals club, took a shower and killed more time. It was exciting to be around the news in English. As usual, not much happened during our absence.

It was also good to be back in a place where we could use a few dollars to buy cheap food.

We exited LAX at about midnight. I drove home, since Chris was weak. There was no traffic, of course.

The cat was very very glad to see us.

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We were greeted by a new backyard, since the construction on our new addition had begun.

We wandered around in the dark to see what could be seen.

It was good to be home.

I feel dirty

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I just finished registering for our wedding.

Chris is very good at this; he always distributes a wishlist to everyone for christmas. He knows to be considerate and ask for a variety of things, in reasonable price ranges.

He knows that people want to give gifts, but it is not easy to guess what people will like.

But…I just feel wrong about this. almost like some kind of begging.

I feel like I should give a disclaimer or apoligy…”I’m sorry…I dont’ really mean it…never mind”

I guess i can do that here…Please, no one is obligated to give me anything. Fond wishes are plenty.

whew

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So, I’m back.

And Chris is still kinda sick, but I am NOT. I am full of energy and health.

I have so many impressions of my trip. It’s hard to know where to begin. Maybe I should begin at the beginning.

Okay, so we flew out of LAX. And we flew Business/First class. I have the ‘/’ in there because it was business inside the US, but First class from New York to Finland.

Higher class flying is extraordinarily comfortable. AND I didn’t know that if you are flying high class, you get to hang out in this VIP place that feeds you snacks and free booze.

Sometimes they even let you take a shower. Let me tell you, that is a nice thing, to have a shower after a long flight. NO ONE smells nice after a couple hours in a plane.

I had no idea that these sorts of luxuries came along with the high class travelers.

Interestingly, the lounges are also stratified. Each airline has a couple of them in their airports. And there are some that are more accessible than others. Levels of exclusivity exist everwhere.

Okay, so we checked out the American Airlines Admirals Club in LA, and in JFK. LA was better, because their snacks were more substantial than pretzel nuggets and baby carrots with dip (which is what JFK has). LA had some open sandwiches. They also seemed to have a better view, of the planes.

But I enjoyed the JFK site very much, because after our 5 hour flight, we took a shower and then jumped the subway to Central park. Chris wanted to see the dinosaurs.

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The dinosaurs live in a place called the American Museum of Natural History.

I never saw anything so unnatural in my entire life. This is how they show you animals:

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That is an extreme example. Most of the dead, stuffed creatures where arranged in a life-like taxidermy pose in front of a painting of their natural surroundings. They were very old, I think. The zebra has faded to a medium brown and white striped critter.

“Well, Chris,” I said. “Did you notice how everything in the surrounding, oh MILLION mile-area is completely paved over? This is as close to nature as these east coast jokers get? Makes you appreciate California for actual wildlife.”

The east coast is very densely populated. Chris found this sign in a hallway:

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That’s a lot of people for a hallway.

But the East Coasters tend to think that they are advanced for this:
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I don’ t know. It was a really different way of looking at life, that museum. maybe it’s a museum of natural history because all of nature in Manhattan is history.

wanna make a million bucks…?

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here is my million dollar idea.

Someone needs to take advantage of this particular moment in history and make a sturdy and decorative quart-size see through bag.

There was much rejoicing at Zip-lock the day that those stupid terrorists used liquids to make mischief. Don’t you think their sales went up a bit after all that?

My gallon-bag for toiletries is worn out. I would appreciate a more permanent solution for my travel needs. And it’s not fair that ziplock gets all the profit.

There you go. Someone–go forth and get rich. I ask nothing more than that it be available for me to purchase.

The last watering stop before OK Corral

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…or at least the last stop before we get home.

JFK and customs are behind us. I am typing this on a keyboard which has all the keys were I am used to finding them.

Chris is not dead yet, although the slowness has increased.

In slightly less than three hours our final flight takes off.

On the way here, while we were taking off our shos and displaying our little baggies of toiletries (Nothing more than 2.5 oz.!), a white dog of poodle heritage was in line in front of us. He (she?) was a good doggie. Very patient. But then he was placed in a big box and he objected. Barks and whinings commenced.

Poor doggie. He didn’t know why he could not go on with the rest of his family. I’m sure PETA would demand he get equal treatment on flights.

But it reminded me of our doggie. She would bark in the same situation.

Tomorrow, we will see her. I’m sure she has grown.

Two and half hours till take off. It’s 11:30 PM Germany time.

My pillow will feel good.

the long day’s jouney into LAX

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It began yesterday, that little SAS flight we tacked on at the last minute since we thought the train would take too long.

So, YESTERDAY, we flew from Frankfurt, Germany to Copenhagen, Denmark. We spent the night in the airport hotel and flew from Copenhagen to Helsinki this morning.

Here is the breakdown for today: Copenhagen to Helsinki. Helsinki to JFK New York. We will endure the customs degradation procedure in New York, then fly to Los Angeles. Los Angeles airport holds Chris’s car, so I will drive the car to our home.

We are crossing a lot of time zones, and landing in LAX just the left side of midnight. We begin the flight and end the flights the same day. But the day will be longer than 24 hours.

Which leaves me a lot of time to figure out exactly how long it is. I will not do so now, since that would leave me without entertainment for later.

I am right now in the airport in Helsinki. I love Helsinki.

I just love it.

Oh but I forgot to mention. Chris is sick. Right after the ship show in Kassel, he came down with a slow bug. It is slowly making all the parts of him ill. And it makes him slow.

Which means that in Copenhagen, the land of the 6 dollar coke, was too much for him yesterday. He finally felt well enough to eat after we landed there, but not well enough to endure the infamy of the food prices in Denmark. After walking (slowly) all around, I had to put him in the hotel room and bring him back something just so he didn’t have to know how much it cost.

Which is also why I will be driving home when the end of the day reaches us at the Pacific ocean. He is sick, poor thing. I think it would be a minor sick, one that would only require a nap if only we were at home. But since we are not at home, and are forced to travel all over and be kind of uncomfortable, he is extra unhappy.

But this trip has been really really full of ships. So many ships. I think I know a little more about ships than I did. All the collectors are so very excited about the ships. We had a good time. But it’ll be really nice to get home.

tourism

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Well, I learned a lot about Hamlet yesterday on my visit to Helsingførs.

I might have thought that Shakespeare made it up, but it turns out that whole story has a long history. Some Danish king felt inadequate and had a scribe write up a history of his ancestors, mostly to prove he had some, and that they had claim to kingships.

It was the Danish Chronicle.

A NEW CHRONICLE TO READ!

it turns out there was this character Amledgh who did just about all the things that Hamlet did.

very good stuff.

But my feet hurt.