Just got back from going with the family to see Jim Malcolm, a talented Scottish folksinger [and sometime member of Old Blind Dogs].
Plus, for the show's second half, Jim's surprise guest Rabbie Burns, doin' Rabbie's songs and a little standup.
Cathy, Mom, Aunt Roxie and I had a wonderful time.
http://www.jimmalcolm.com/index.html

The winds that swept California this week brought us white precipitation yesterday. First, pinhead-sized spheres, then later a heavier fall of caper-sized irregular spheres. Both sizes were soft, not ice hail, nor half-frozen wet sleet. Accumulation was in fractions of inch, and melted off asphalt and concrete, accumulating only on soil or decorative rock landscaping. In minutes only shadowed areas retained any snow at all. The weather continues cold, with our first subfreezing nights for the season. Furnace is on. We expect some 'Indian summer' next week.

Current Mood: cozy

Scientific method as it should be used [ie IMHO open-minded and de-politicalized]:
http://www.analogsf.com/0911/altview_11.shtml

PLS review and discuss.

Current Mood: intellectual- FOR SCIENCE!

Today's lunch:
homemade beef stew
English goat cheddar
Walker's oatcakes
washed down with a delicate lemon/lime Kroger sparkling water

Noticed a Tweet that said, "How can I be so busy and not get anything done?"
Seems apparent in context. 8)

Not much motivated for blogging currently, but my cold/flu of this week seems to be passing.
Maybe more motivated later.

Current Mood: sick

Although my intent of posting every [connected] day during vacation didn't happen, I have been motivated to post here more- if not very consequentially. And maybe I can develop more as a writer through this. I could hardly develop less
I have been some energized to get in here more often, and am enjoying plonkin' the keys.
My LinkedIn contacts have been growing, and I've refound some people I've wanted to regain contact with; and through others' contact networks, my circle of links has expanded to people I might also get to know and enjoy. still swimming against Facebook/MySpace tide
Now I just need more motivation to do more with images- helping Cathy with our vacation pix, and posting some of them and some of our image backlog.any viewers?

Current Mood: chipper

Woke up to a nice rain here this morning. Very pleasant, that. And much better than yesterday's pervasive controlled-burn woodsmoke blanket- prescription burning much needed in our area tho'.
Have been ignoring most chores since we got home. Jetlag! We ought to be able to milk that excuse for about a month.
;>)
So far this morning I've learned that Saturn has a newly-discovered super-ring, and that a second standing-stone site has been found near Stonehenge, increasing our knowledge of the large Neolithic complex in the area. The construction joins the still-standing stones, and a living site with timbered construction [now gone] named 'Woodhenge.' The Salisbury Plain was apparently a heavily-occupied Neolithic area, with practical and religious significances.
Time, I think, to listen to our Irish trad music compilation CDs and contemporary album by Luminasa Lumiere, bought in Dublin, and the Dougie MacLean compilation picked up [and autographed] from Saturday's concert.
http://www.lumieremusic.net/burn.aspx

hey, this writin' stuff seems pretty easy! ;>)

Current Mood: content

Coming to you live- from a Stena Lines ferry 'Adventurer' {ED} en route from Holyhead, Wales to Dublin Port, Ireland! Tres kewl!

We've spent about a half day sightseeing in Cardiff, then got up too early and spent all morning training to Holyhead for afternoon passage to Dublin. We'll arrive late afternoon and look for dinner, then get to bed to go to Dublin Airport much too early. Back in LA, we'll be seeing Dougie MacLean in Santa Monica, then home to Prescott Sunday morning, and then recuperate for about the next week 8)
Wales was. wonderful; we must try to make it a destination of its own, not an adjunct as this trip.
We did see a lot of Britain thru coach and train windows, all lovely.
Must dash, Cathy hasn't got her crack at this yet, then we may try Skyping as well.
Ciao!

Have alighted in Cardiff after bus journeys thru Taunton, Bristol, and smaller points. We're paying to connect at the hotel, and may I say- bloody BT!
Either mySysop/SO isn't figuring out the system, or British Tel have got it set up to break connection every 10 minutes, requiring logout/logon to proceed with use; all the benefits of working offline, with the thrill of not being able to refresh or send things out when expecting to.
Our bus trips took most of the day Wednesday. We got unpacked, vegged for an hour or so, had dinner in the hotel, and then I finished a book while Cathy caught up online. When it was my turn I couldn't see to work- light wasn't getting thru my eyelids.
We slept as late as we dared, to not miss breakfast. Cathy couldn't drop off for hours, so has had a short night of it. We will do some lowkey sightseeing today, but must be ready to be up early & running for bus/train/ferry and get back to Dublin from whence we'll fly home on Saturday.
I've not kept up posting as a daily travel journal, But I do expect to synopsize from home.

Right. Perhaps Cathy & I should've each had a Netbook for travel. We've not had much connectivity the past few days, what with trains, ferry over the Irish Sea, buses, and no 'Net in Milverton, Somerset [which Cathy calls a 'Miss Marple village']; and the Brits seem to be more assiduous than the Yanks in securing their wireless connexions.
We've gone from Galway thru Dublin Port, landed at Holyhead, and sped thru Wales [sorry Corgi], then spent overnight in Shrewsbury, then thru Bristol and Taunton to blissfully quiet Milverton- restful Sunday.Today, Monday, we bussed to see Dunster Castle via the medieval village of Dunster. Pub lunch finished, we're connected briefly before bussing back to Milverton. I'll document the details when possible, probably in Dublin before returning Stateside.
Cheers!

Days 6 & 7
day 6- Monday 21 /9/09
We got out to Dublin Castle today.  Had a nice tour, learned some history [which didn't really stick], and even got underground to see some of the ancient city wall and below to the Viking era, and part of the underground-flowing River Poddle. On the way over we stopped at the city bus station [not helpful] and at Information, where we secured 2 bus tickets for Intercity for our trip to Galway.
Took tea at Clery's Dept. Store.
For dinner we wandered thru Temple Bar and had a nice dinner at the Quays restaurant. Afterward we wandered the pedestrian ways, looking at/for souvenirs and ducking in and out of pubs to check the music.
we finally settled in the Temple Bar Pub for a listen and drinks [Schweppes ginger ale for us both!] and took some piccies. Then back to the hotel, looking for a bus but discovering we were just around the corner from Pearse St. and a short walk to the Trinity Capital. We'd used our city bus pass to get to Dublin Castle that morning. We didn't need it to get to our Intercity bus stop or prior sightseeing Tuesday. C'est la vie.
Tuesday we nipped round the corner for coffee and breakfast bagels at the SPAR/Insomnia coffee, then finally got into Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. The quad was full of returning students threading past booths of sororities, fraternities and college clubs, all offering free food/drinks, or tchotchkes to lure prospective members; plus the crush of tourists, so quite a busy scene. We fought thru, found the library with the exhibits, and spent a brief time in the crowd looking at information about Book of Kells and other early illuminated manuscripts, before getting a brief look at the real things- stunning, I must say. Then upstairs into the Long Room, the actual library gallery and stacks- breathtaking! It looked just like Hogwarts Library, with ancient tomes stretching for acres and towering on high shelves. Photography was prohibited in the exhibits and the Long Room, but Cathy got some postcards. Maybe she can scan in the Long Room later.

{ED- right! As no one's asked to see images, here's a link to pix of our Dublin hotel:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cathy.hoaglund/TrinityCapital?feat=directlink
}{ED- their website has more/better pix etc.:
http://www.trinitycapitalhotel.com/index.asp }
We zipped back to the hotel then, finished packing/checkout, and walked into the mizzly day to our bus stop at Burgh Quay along the Liffey. We arrived with time to spare. The bus arrived on time, we put luggage under, and climbed aboard for just over 3 hours' journey to Galway. The land was mostly open pastures and woods, lovely in the changing light as clouds came and went. Much of the scenery was similar to New England, except for hedgerows dividing the fields, and the house styles were different, especially roofing. We saw many cows and sheep along the way, and more and more horses the closer we got to Galway. Fields turned more rocky and hills increased also, and fields became divided by stone walls more than hedgerows. We saw ponies at several pastures, and I saw a pair of donkeys at one farm. The bus was not strictly a local, but did stop about half a dozen times at villages` between Dublin and Galway. We finally came in sight of tidal flats along the edge of Galway Bay, and were soon set down at the bus station after a pleasant journey.
We had a reasonable walk to Eyre Square, with patches of sun shining. After circumnavigating the square looking for our hotel, we discovered that it was on adjacent Eyre Street, not the Square itself. We made the arduous trek up 2 flights of narrow stairs to our light and reasonably comfortable room, Bath is small but en suite. An odd feature is the bathroom light, on a photocell that automatically turns on from about a meter away from the doorway- that is, whenever someone exits the bed In that side. It also means that when someone uses the loo in the middle of the night the light must come on, then stay lit for 10 minutes or so; not restful for me, a light-sensitive sleeper. And despite the triple-glazing, we knew just when the pubs were emptying for the night. We'll stay our 2nd booked night, but will look for something else as we go round town today. Which brings us to:
day 7 Wednesday
Got up after a not-quite-restful night to the restaurant downstairs, not too long after opening [8 AM]. Cathy caught up on cable internet and now it's my turn. I intend to chronicle the rest of toay this evening. We had a rain last night after supper which drove us homeward rather than doing much strolling. Sun was evident off-and-on this morning, but we had steady rain for most of my posting time; it looks to've stopped at least for awhile, so we should go.

Addendum: this morning the above text disappeared`along with our I-net connection by wire. It's late, I need to go to bed, but I'll add some notes and post entire; I can't brain now and use a cut- sorry. Oh, and my touchpad just froze up- lucky Cathy brought her mini-mouse.
We had a lovely rainless day, rarely cloudy. Got to the Cathedral and a walk along the River Corrib- lovely views [we've pics]. Lunched at a bakery tea shop. Got our tickets for train and ferry crossing, and lodging in Shrewsbury for Friday night. Also switched to a guesthouse further from the main square [and pubs] so hoping Thursday night's more restful than Tuesday or probably tonight.
We'll try for a country jaunt and a catchup post tomorrow, then get set for our next journey.

Saturday catchup- availed ourselves of the Hop on/hop off Citytours bus to ride thru central Dublin, the Georgian and older districts, along the Liffey, past Guiness {ED- the brewery} and the railway station. We lunched at the National Gallery and visited its gift shop, but only walked thru a little bit of the art there. We strolled back by Trinity College, shopped at Celtic Note Music and Read's books, and some gift shops; made a necessary purchase at Marks and Spencer; weren't impressed by the late-day offerings in the food hall or restaurant; ended up at Sushi King for a shared bowl of green curry and rice. By then we were ready to stroll back to Trinity Capital. We intended to go back down to the lobby and journal, but didn't get back out of the room.

Sunday beginning- a night's sleep and another full breakfast buffet has restored me to blog again.
Yesterday's weather was cloudy and cool until a warmer and sunny afternoon/evening. Today dawned clear, with no rain forecast until tomorrow.
As it's nearly 11 AM now, it's time for us to get out sightseeing- most of our intended sights are open this afternoon.
Hoping to catch up again this evening.
Cheers!

Friday 18/09/09
Hewing to my intention, I quickly chronicle our 3rd day- we 'gained' overnight in flight. All flights and connections went well and we arrived at our hotel in Dublin about 4 pm on Friday. We did collapse briefly in the room after trashing it unpacking a bit and setting out our stuff. Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, is huge but was easily navigable; signs were in English, with little Dutch being seen. Cathy swears we taxied 45 minutes after boarding to reach our runway; she had visions of the jet taxiing onto a ferry for its trip to GB.
The Trinity Capital hotel is a bit over-the-top in lobby decor, carried into its Cafe Cairo. Our room decor is modern and its layout is comfortable. Cathy has photos.>insertion<
http://picasaweb.google.com/cathy.hoaglund/TrinityCapital?feat=directlink
We dined downstairs in Cafe Cairo and had a good meal of sirloin strip/mashed potatoes/snowpeas, and Irish salmon bedded on minced vegetables, with roast small potatoes. The beef came with comlementary bottle of wine or 2 pints, which we got changed to a bottle of sparkling water, and were given a 2nd bottle of water as well. We finished with decaf coffees and what tasted like homemade, or small batch, ice cream- vanilla, fresh strawberry, and chocolate with brownie bits. Cathy has photos. Now we've staggered back to the room for a night's sleep. Tomorrow we walk Dublin! Well, we take the Hop on/hop off bus 'round, and walk the Trinity College area in the hotel vicinity. We'll be here 4 nights, and then spend a few days in Galway.

Saturday 19/09/09
A quick twofer [expecting later update]. We had a good night's sleep and a fine full Irish breakfast buffet in Cafe Cairo. We're about to begin exploring Dublin after a liesurely leisurely morning. Key for today is liesurely leisurely exploration- to see what we can at a slow pace, and ramp up to as much as we can for our next 2 days here, before Galway. We should be in full stride for our Galway visit, spend our time in Somerset, then have some time in Dublin for anything we missed this stint, before heading home again.
I'll post this, so we can carry on exploring!

Current Mood: content

Here we are, at Super 8 Near Los Angeles International Airport. It's the morning of the 2nd day of our trip to Ireland and England.
( Fascinating Travelogue... )

Current Mood: exhilarated

Cathy found a videotape of "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension" today and we just finished watching it. It's definitely one of our favorite movies.
I'll probably want to re-read Mac Rauch's novelization sometime soon too.
I know that there is a BB comics series but I've not gotten into those.
Still waiting for the movie "Buckaroo Banzai versus the World Crime Syndicate sorry, League." ;>)

Current Mood: weird

This is a blog with some substance:
http://niftythings-cathy.blogspot.com/
But I need to proofread it for her.

Still no rescue disk despite my SysOp's efforts at getting Mini-me to recognize an external drive to write to. She got it talking to the house network, but we can't get it to write out to a DVD drive on another computer.
Ideas, anyone?

Current Mood: frustrated

Oy vey gevalt [IIRC]
This update brought to you on Mini-me II, the replacement for Mini-me which developed an OS error after its first power-down/reboot.
I skipped a step of updating here when I got the Ghost back In The Machine which is my Inspiron desktop. Commiseration with Selenesue, who's just come off worse 'puter trouble blues than me.
Tonight, Mini-me stays powered-up and charging, and tomorrow I hit that Recovery Disc Creator icon and Do What's Right.
Whilst playing about on Mini-me I've run an avast! virus scan on Ghost and now it's time for bed.
G'night.

Current Mood: tired