The Med

Just a note to let you know I've not decided to become a zen monk, but am still around.  Internet communication has not been as reliable as I'd thought, so may not post much until I'm back in a couple weeks. However, here I am in the Grimaldi's private territory....

To be continued.....

Roma

Arrived yesterday at 10am after a uneventful, turbulence-free flight in business class, without a wink of sleep.  Who knows why, I had intentions of getting at least 4 hours. So after getting to the hotel I took what was going to be a short nap at 2pm.....you can guess the rest: I woke at around 1am and lay there contemplating how quiet urban Roma is compared to LA.

I did manage to choke down some excellent calamari fritti and pizza before succumbing though. 

Today it's over to the coast to join the ship. 

Ciao 

Staging meal.....

Still in process, yesterday we went out to Catalina Island on a really nice boat, an hour and a half trip.
A fun trip across, esp. on the way back when the 10+ miles had some 6' swells.

Tonight L. cooked a casserole, cauliflower and various cheeses. Rather good, and a good beer to go along with it. 

Tomorrow is a packing drill, then deciding we don't have any of what we actually need, frantic shopping, etc. I intend to get a call at 6am from a former client that requires my immediate attention. 

Next pic should be of the business class section of a chicago to rome 767. 

Staging

Still in LA, gradually getting ready to take off next week for Rome.  Thankfully the cruise company no longer 'requires' formal evening wear for some of the dinners. So a sports jacket and khaki pants will suffice. They still say no jeans at dinner, which is odd to my mind. If one is shelling out a months salary they should be able to wear whatever they want (short of birkenstocks, of course).

It's been unbelievably hot here, it's mid-October, right?  It was 98f in the backyard here, and it's only about a half mile from the beach. It should be low 70's.

I should be able to post along the way, initially we're in Rome overnight, ending up with two nights in Lisbon.. If not, the pictures will come along eventually. 

Cheers

Just another day, in the land of the free......

A couple quotes from the comments section of the Oregonion today. 

lalochezia15 minutes ago

We're just going to have to accept that gun violence is the price of living in a free country.

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pdxsoftwareguy19 minutes ago

Posted on a British website:

isn't it time you yanks enter the civilised world and stop killing your own kids!

They're are not laughing with us ....

A prediction:  Yesterdays incident will not even make the national news, above the fold, in a year. 

I've said it all before, it's just getting boring and tedious to repeat. I expect there are at least 10 families out there who are freshly torn up, but that's how it goes, eh? Price we pay......