One of the ships I worked on had a cook everyone called Spice. One day I got a chance to ask him how he ended up as Spice. He told me that he was nicknamed Spice because he’s from the Spice Island. Well, I had never heard of that particular island except for the brand […]
I’m longing for a time travel machine so that I can go back in time about 20 years. I’m missing some of my jazz spots. My city and the surrounding area has always been a jazz hot spot. But I do miss some of the small local clubs and restaurants. One of those is the […]
Mercer’s gives us some highlights from their 2008 Quality of Living survey. The five safest cities worldwide are: Luxembourg (1st) Bern, Switzerland (tied for 2nd) Geneva, Switzerland (tied for 2nd) Helsinki, Finland (tied for 2nd) Zurich, Switzerland (tied for 2nd) I’ve spent a fair amount of time working in Helsinki for a former job and I never once […]
Normally I’m not too crazy about going to the dentist. I’ve been thinking about making a dental appointment and that led my thoughts to an appointment at my dentist in Cozumel, Mexico. Another nurse and I had back to back appointments that day. Connie and I scheduled early appointments so that we could go to our […]
I was drawn to Cuba first because I adored the madcap adventures of Lucy and Desi. I did love Lucy and her romantic husband from Cuba. I had dreams of some day traveling to Cuba and experiencing some of that glamour. And we can’t forget Hemingway’s Cuba. It used to be a playground for Americans […]
I miss the white nights in Helsinki. Midsummer eve occurs in the midst of the daylight season. It’s light night and day, day and night. I feel a song coming on. That’s in keeping with the spirit of Midsummer eve. It’s a magical time of Finnish traditions, handicrafts, folk dancing and music, food, laughter and street parties at this […]
We have Chinese take out every now and then and I noticed something new the last time we ordered. It was probably right there all along, but I just wasn’t very observant. It was the bilingual cash register receipt. I’ve never seen anything quite like it before. The items ordered were listed in both Chinese […]
Well, that nap I took lasted all night. I wanna go home! I’m achy from that hard ground, I’m dirty and I’m hungry. At least I’m not still water logged. Now, where is that blasted book? Okay, it’s here under some of this worthless brush bed I made. The book hasn’t helped all that much […]
I just ended up on an uninhabited island. My sail boat was blown off course. Way off course. I’m lost. I’m alone. My boat crashed and drifted away. The only thing I managed to salvage was a book that I had in my jacket pocket. I could only wish that it had been Robinson Crusoe. That’s a book […]
I’ve been reading more from The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel. If seems as if one can get into an incredible amount of trouble with the people encountered while traveling. It does not seem implausible that one can be in the wrong place at the wrong time and end up in the midst of a riot. […]