Simple America

Have not done a meme in quite some time. I’m going to lose my kingship if I don’t look out. Right? Chen is getting me back on track as she tagged me with this meme.

This meme requires I answer 6 random facts about myself. Because this tag is not difficult I figure I will go ahead and do quickly. Also since it is random and Chen is a doctor I will throw in medical facts about me. Hope no one is squeemish.

1. My blood type is O positive.
2. I am a minor bleeder. At one time they said I had Van Willebrand’s disease, but after too many tests, no one is sure what I have. Just give me lots of Vitamin K if you need to cut me open and I will be okay. Maybe.
3. I am allergic to penicillin. I took penicillin one time and it put me in the hospital for three months. My entire body was a big hive. Secret to surviving early stages of an allergic reaction. Drink lots of water. Lots and lots.
4. I have had three operations. An appendectomy, a tonsilectomy (removed adnoids too), and a gonial hernia repair.
5. I have a pinched nerve in the scar tissue from the hernia repair.  When it acts up the doctor prescribes super midol to relieve the pain. So when women wish men could experience PMS I might just be doing that 24/7 365 days a year. I ignore the pain most times. Don’t like drugs.
6. My wife and I had wisdom teeth removed in adjacent chairs. It’s not really fun or lomantic. But we ate a lot of ice cream together afterwards.

Apologize to everyone about not posting more pics yet. Busy, busy here. I won’t be tagging anyone, but do join in if you like. 

See Angel. This is what I got from my boss.    0.0  Sees everyone else looking. Context time and explanations. 

Sorry I have not been up on pictures. Work is really picking up as the fiscal year is getting ready to end on the 31st. That means auditors. In fact I expect a pair on the 30th. I’m ready for them but I can ill afford to drop the ball again. Been on damage control for two months. But it kind of made things interesting. And I get to meet with the President of the College every week. Should have been doing that for the last three years. But nevah mind me.

To make things more interesting my boss left today. He retired after 22 years at the College. Since I graduated I have not stayed with one company more than three years so I am in awe of him. He gave me his HP iPAQ 1950 in parting. Cool huh? I better use it to stay organized. Hey Kelly it has MSN on it.    I just need a password for the College wifi. Will get that tomorrow.

The weekends have kept me busy as I finally broke down and started cleaning my pig sty of a home office. But I am getting it under control. Also been knocking out June financials for 12 to Midnight. Need to get July sales entered so I can pay our imprints and may have to pay some freelancers too. This freelancer system needs to be formalized so these folks can get paid on time. I don’t like to pay late. Bad for business.

I promise to get some more pictures up some kind of way. Hate being such a slow poke.

And back to Angel. This HP iPaq is pretty cool. I like it because it has MS Outlook, MS Excel, and MS Word on it. I plan on loading my PlanPlus software on it and I should be one organized son of a gun. And there’s always solitaire and bubbles for procrastination. Give me time and I’ll get Mah Jong or Sudoku software too. I’m hooked on those games. Good luck making your decision. Maybe you can MSN me for more of my impressions on this device.

(Still envious of May’s Mackie. But I’m married to IBM.)

I hit the buffet for breakfast. Was able to join my FIL & MIL again. I sat through all the passing of different family members. They would eat and go to the gym. Or maybe eat and go to casino. I just sat and enjoyed the Colombian coffee and the company of my in-laws.

The naturalist gave a lecture on the Yukon Gold rush. I went to listen as this would prepare me for the first excursion stop on the morrow. This was an incredible bit of history. The gold strike lured men in great numbers to take a chance on becoming rich. The men and women that wanted to take a chance would catch a boat in Seattle and cruise up to Skagway, Alaska. Some of these people would have to stand up for the entirety of the cruise, which I imagine would have taken three days at least on those old steamers.

At the time the Canadian government regulated who could enter the Yukon and they required each man to bring provisions which burdened each prospector with a 1,000 pounds of equipment and provisions. To be successful in this quest the men would have to form coalitions to make it to the gold with this gear. This meant one man would guard the equiment while the rest moved it form point to point. Anything left unattended would probably be stolen. The first move was off the boat and onto the Skagway shore.

Skagway boomed with the influx of miners. Saloons, bordelos and various other businesses serving the miners needs were built quickly. There are documented cases of a saloon being built in just 24 hours. The man that built that saloon was called Soapy Smith and he was one bad hombre’. He had a gang of men that worked con games all over town. he set up crooked card games and his men were not above just mugging a drunken miner for his wallet.

One interesting con that he played involved the telegraph office. He built a shack and placed a table and a chair inside. A telegraph machine was set on the table and he connected a few yards of wire to it. The other end of the wire was tied around a rock and thrown into the bay. When the ships arrived, men were encouraged to send telegrams home. Let their family back home know they had arrived safely. Once the telegram was sent they would encourage the man to go have a drink in the saloon or paly some poker. A few hours later a “telegram” would arrive from the man’s family proclaiming a tragedy. The family would ask for money to help with the problem. Of course Soapy Smith owned the Western Union business too. So the mark would pay to send money home and it never made it past Soapy;s money box.

What a guy. Honest town folk got tired of him. And they were having a committee meeting on how to get rid of him and his gang. He came to break it up. There was a shoot out and he shot the man leading the committee, but in turn that man shot Smith as well. He died several days later and that was the end of him and his gang.

What about the miners that continued into the Yukon? Some would buy animals such as mules, horses, or dogs to carry gear up the mountains. Though most stuff was carried up the mountain by the men themselves and a few women dressed up as men. This was hard work and heavy as that 1,000 pound load had to go up the mountain. Once again the coalition was needed to prevent theft. The men would make several trips up the mountain. To make it even more difficult these trips were made in the winter and over the snow and ice. Why pick this time of year to travel to the Yukon? The men wanted to make it to stake their claims before the spring thaw. Once the water started melting and running down the mountains the gold would be there for the panning. Therefore to make money the miners needed to be there in the Spring. One thing I think worked for them was the snow allowed them to go down hill faster. The men would sit on their shovels and ride them all the way to the bottom. Then it was time to lug another load up to the top.

Once everything was at the top the men would live in a tent city. They stayed here until they could build a raft and go downstream to a city in the Yukon. This city (forgot the name) was used as a base for the miners.

Really hard work to make it to the gold. Unfortunately, most of these men would never find any gold. In fact, by the time this rush of miners arrived the gold had played out. To make it back home many of them worked on a railroad that was being built to help the miners get to the gold. The money they earned on the railroad helped to pay for passage back to Seattle.

I thought it was pretty interesting. It helped to prime me for the excursion on day four. After the lecture we went to lunch. After lunch we returned to the theater. US Park Rangers from Glaciar Bay came onboard the ship and lectured on the area. Really beautiful country. Want to go sailing or kayaking there someday.

Enough for now. More posts coming soon. 

Itty bitty icebergs dotted the water all around

The glaciar melting created some nice waterfalls. Relaxing to watch but too chilly to sit under. Brrrr!!!

I love the way the mist hovered over the glaciars. It gave a special surreal feeling to the whole experience of being there.

You can see here that some of the ice here is so cold that it has turned blue. The reason is the blue ice has no oxygen in it. When light reflects off the oxygen it makes the ice appear white. When the oxygen is not there you have blue ice. Most of the blue ice is thousands of years.

You can see more of the glacial ice here. Some of this ice has pushed down from the north. It has moved hundreds of miles over the course of many millenia. And then it comes here to make a splash in the inlet and become an iceberg.

More glaciar.

If you look at the right lower part where the glaciar and water meet. There is a place that looks like a cave. Kind of neat. Made me think of Pirates of Caribbean. Is there a treasure inside?

We heard a big chunk of ice break off. It was incredibly loud. It sounded like a combination of thunder and gravel. I could not see the ice drop as the ship shielded my view. But it created a huge wave that crested well over the cave.

More ice and some rocks off in the distance. At one time those rocks were coverd by the glaciars.

The missus with her siblings. From left to right there is 3, 2, 6 (missus), 1, 5, & 4.

All of the cousins with #1 son and his missus. Lots of cameras. Do they pose for me or someone else. haha

The sisters four. Aren’t they all pretty?

My niece (daughter of #2) with my daughter in the background.

Mother (5) and daughter.

My mother-in-law. I don’t speak Cantonese. She doesn’t speak English. But we have our language that gets things done pretty good.

The wise old men of China. My father in law is on the left. #1’s father-in-law sits next to him. These guys have know each other for many years. Maybe even longer than their oldest children who married each other. Neat story book kind of thing. Don’t you agree?

#1 and his wife. They did a wonderful job of arranging most of the trip. Thanks to you both.

Me, the missus, and my in-laws.

Now it’s test time. Who are they? Been paying attention?

My niece is very close to her grandmother. They spend a lot of time together when the in-laws winter in Hong Kong.

They are so pretty. I miss em both. My niece is going to University in London, Ontario this September. I’m hoping she can visit us down here in Texas before she returns to Hong Kong.

The family enjoying glaciar bay.

More to come. Phew!

Ice anyone?

Here are some pics of lunch on Day Three. I’m sure you recognize me and the missus.

That is #3’s brother-in-law and wife. Had a good time with them.

But most important. You can see lunch time in the International Dining Room. First they brought us a bread basket. I selected a scone for myself. Very firm and crunchy crust, while the inside is soft and smooth. A nice salad got me primed for some calamari rings. The sauce was exquisite. I ate Sheperds Pie, which I have not had in ages. This was the best I ever tasted. Sacre’ bleu. My wife had fish, I don’t remember what type. For desert I had key lime pie that melted, dripped and oozed down my throat. My daughter had some pistaccio ice cream and they made it look so delicious.

Next post will have pictures of Glaciar Bay and more of my family.

The first night at sea I could not sleep. Not because of the ship’s motion or floating. That never bothered me the whole trip as the ship is quite large and stable. My right contac had watered the whole day. My relatives wondered why it appeared so red. I thought it came from a lack of sleep so I ignored it. Honestly, I expected to go to sleep and wake up and with it recovering over night.

At three in the morning I realized that the irritation was not due to a lack of rest. I went to look for my contacs case and discovered that I did not pack one. What to do? I took one of the drinking glasses and filled the bottom with contac cleaning solution. Felt immediate relief when I removed the contac. After that I slept well.

I went two days without that contac. It might seem strange to do so, but my contacs are set up like a bifocal. My left eye is for looking and my right eye is for reading. Thus I really did not experience as much trouble as I thought I might wearing a single contac. My brain is so accustomed to looking with the left eye that I did not notice the missing lens.

I went to the buffet with the missus for breakfast at around 8. We saw her parents and sat with them. I would plant myself there for a couple of hours sipping on coffee and listening to Cantonese conversations with no clue what is being said besides chosun, which means good morning. I did not mind for outside the world looked beautiful. We were at College Fjord with its beautiful glaciers. Small icebergs dotted the water and it provided an incredible view. I regretted leaving my camera in my room. But my knee hurt to move around, so I did not retrieve it.

For the morning I decided to go and hear a lecture given by the ship’s naturalist. She spoke on whales and other Alaskan creatures that live in and around the waters we sailed upon. Found it interesting that when the whales slap the water with their tail fin they are informing other whales that food is found. Also learned that whales circle their food. And I would be more accurate to say a circle of whales, perhaps as many as a dozen might circle a large school of fish. The paniced fish swim in a tight ball. Then one whale submerges down to the bottom and swims up through the fish ball, taking in a mouth full. After the bite the whales velocity may carry them flying above the water for a moment. This made me really want to join one of the whale watching excursions later in the week.

My elder niece and #2 and #5 joined me for this lecture. After that we walked a bit and I found the missus. We went to the area where the cruise photographs were on display. Everytime you turn around on the ship one of the photographer’s would snap a shot of you. In this area you could find prints of those shots. My family had a photo taken as we embarked. It looked pretty nice and they even framed it around a map of the cruise’s course. We purchased that shot as a memory of the cruise.

Then it was back to the buffet for lunch. Let me tell you the buffet is incredible. There is always something there 24 hours a day. And the variety changed every hour. There was a long line of bain maries serviced by chefs who carved meats and provided sauces for the various dishes. There was two long islands that held bread and pastries. Another long island contained salads and yet another held desserts. It was hell for a dieter. haha

After lunch I took a nap. Then I went out and found the missus and #1 and his wife playing bingo. Took the opportunity to drink a Guinness. Kicked myself as I realized I did not pick up the camera after my nap. All I could think is the bloggers are gonna kill me for this lapse.

We went to arrange excursions after lunch. My wife and kids would go kayaking at Skagway, while I had to opt for a train ride up to White Pass. My daughter also signed up for bicycling at Katchican (sp?). The whale watching excursions had filled up unfortunately.

Ran into my kids who were having a blast in the Teen Zone making new friends. My son was becoming addicted to ping pong and trying to get me to play. The knee prevented that unfortunately. Also took this time to shop for some deodorant and a wrap for the knee.

#4 is a physical therapist. She looked at my knee and suggested it is nothing more than sprained ligaments. Then she showed me how to wrap it correctly.

Then we prepared for dinner. We had a reservation every night of the cruise in the International Dining Room at eight. You could not dress down for dinner, so no blue jeans or t-shirts for yours truly. Our family was dispersed across three tables. Heck it is difficult to seat 22 folks at one table. #1 assigned the seating arrangements each night. This insured that everyone had the chance to dine with each other a couple of times. The first night I sat with #3’s bro-in-law and #1’s FIL and SIL.

Our seating placed us adjacent to a window, which afforded a view of the mainland and the icebergs floating in the sea. Even at 8 the sun still shown brightly and it would be evident until well after 10:00 pm. The wait staff in the International Dining Room proved to be excellent. The two waiters that worked our three tables were from the Phillipines and these gentlemen were impeccable. I’m picky about service because of my hospitality training, but these guys quickly put me at ease.

Every night we were preseneted with a different menu. The selections always included at least three different appetizers, soups, salads, entres’, and desserts. Usually there were more. For the first dinner I ordered salmon. I know you guys are gonna hate me, but once again I forgot the camera.   But I will never forget the taste of that fish. It was beautiful. An orgasm for my tastebuds. I fear I shall never taste salmon so delicious as long as I live. I ditched my diet also. Who could refuse New York cheese cake? And it tasted exceptionally smooth and creamy.

After dinner we went to the theater for a show. The cruise director, Peter (cannot recall his last name), MCed all of these shows. He is a young Englishman and quite the humorous chap. The show was a little musical thing. Nothing that memorable, but I have sat through worst shows.

After that we went to the room. Had a bit of a row with the kids, who think they can run amuk 24 hours a day, but we nipped that real quick.

Note. Sorry about no photes. But I assure you that I learned my lesson and the camera remained close to me for the rest of the cruise.

Once again my HuG Hug Club of Texas results are late. Vacations can get you behind on so many things.

But without further adieu here are the July winners. Because of  vacation the number of posts were down this month. This kept the competition very close. After two months of grasping the Yellow Rose award, Little Miss May has stepped up and grabbed the Lone Star. Congratulations to May as she proves that she is quick with a comment as she is sweet.

Now this race was quite close. Mistipurple has also been quite an active commenter in July. She fell shy by one point of tying with May. Congratulations to her for winning her first Yellow Rose.

Third place is a photo finish too. Plink and Fantasyflier were fighting to the end. Plink came in one point higher at lucky 13 for the Bluebonnet award. 

Congratulations to all the winners. Hopefully August will see more posts and thus more opportunites for chupsters near and far to get in their comments. Thanks for all of your visits and kind comments.

Here are the point totals for the month.

May 18

Mistipurple 17

Plink 13

Fantasy Flier 12

Pink Cotton 8 

Angel 8

Kat 5

Zara’s Mom 4

Laymank 4

Alisa 3 

Car@ 3

Chen 2

Kimananda 1

Jane 1