For the most part, the coach seats are pretty quiet. People tend to chat in the sightseer’s lounge and the dining car. Otherwise, the coach car is effectively a bedroom just with many beds in it. Mostly people don’t sit next to each other, so there is one person to every pair of seats. Those […]
When I began planning this extended vacation in California, I saw that the Santa Clara Vanguard birthday dinner was last Sunday, so I anchored the end of my trip around that. I spent my last two nights in CA at my Vanguard buddy, Erik’s apartment in San Francisco. Someone said that our actions only make […]
I got let go from my new job two days before Em and I left for a trip to Las Vegas to see her family and then California to see my mom and grandma. We planned the vacation for a week, and Em had to return to work for the next Monday, but I had […]
In general, I am a big fan of bagels. There’s something convenient about having such a densely packed and portable source of carbohydrate. And they’re versatile: there’s the classic “spread some stuff on it” approach, and there’s the bagel sandwich; one can go sweet or savory depending on what the situation calls for. The only […]
In the film, Manhattan, Woody Allen’s character first described the city as “still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin”. Then in the next revision, “He was too romantic about Manhattan, as he was about everything else. He thrived on the hustle bustle of the […]
I first arrived in the Port Authority Bus Terminal, which is arguably the worst place in New York City (or as John Oliver says, “the single worst place on planet Earth”) but just about the only way to get in or out by interstate bus, and it happens to be conveniently right across the street […]
I have two weeks off between leaving my old job and starting a new one. I could have spent this time doing many things, and the first that comes to mind is house projects. There are a few weatherization-related items that are time sensitive. I completed one of those projects, which involved some creative use […]
I’m in southern California for this long weekend – primarily to attend the wedding of an old childhood friend I haven’t seen in several years. This short trip made it somewhat easy to pack light, but it wasn’t entirely without struggle. After a painful travel experience in which Em and I were both separated from […]
I didn’t realize how much I had bonded with some people here until I had to say goodbye. Most of them I will probably never see again. Maybe I will have some email correspondence with them. A few people asked me if I had any plans to come back. I told them that I had […]
Major props to Carole Ann for recommending Museum Speelklok (the music box museum) in Utrecht. It was probably the best museum I saw on my trip, and I saw a lot of museums – thanks to the Museumkaart for making this fiscally practical. This place combined (obviously) music (including the Charleston), history, simple machines (most […]