RA1

Sorry you were ill but I have found through many years of experience (as have you) that travel is full of "complications". When you said the McDelivery was there before you were I could not help but think of the current Jimmy John's Freaky Fast Delivery commercials which are funny but of course not reality. The only "real" solution to any country's "revenge" is to keep going and get over it. Best regards, RA1

I used to watch the Canadian show and comment on line. However, I never paid any money to do so. Lucky me. I did acquire the attention of one of the minor stars of the show. He and I went on a trip to Key West, where I had some fun and I have to assume so did he. Just fun. Best regards, RA1

When you said you twisted your ankle in the first 10 minutes I thought the finish of that was going to be, so I got the boys to push me around all day in a wheel chair. I have seen that ploy used before but it might be largely an American thing. Thanks for the report and pix. Best regards, RA1

There are many absurdities and worse in his stated doctrine. It is very hard for me to picture Putin as a defender of the Christian faith, even inadvertently. It is one thing to make fun of this individual but another to disregard him. He is dangerous. Best regards, RA1

And all this time I thought you were related to the Dukes of Hazard or maybe the Duke of Earl. Amazing how much Americans seek out royalty after the years of effort to divorce ourselves from same and a slight conflict called the American Revolution. Best regards, RA1

One really doesn't know much about a country (or its' citizens) until one does what they do. Much more interesting and much more fun than just being an "Ugly American". Thanks for the report as well as the pix. Best regards, RA1

Be careful. You may be revealing your secret desires. Bert Parks was a young man the last time I watched a beauty pageant and that was because my family had it turned on. Best regards, RA1

Isn't the point of these religious or societal rules to avoid having off spring with undue or unusual genetic defects? Therefore if there can be no off spring then there can be no genetic defects, no? So, what difference does it make how closely two men are related? Like many other "rules", if it doesn't seem right to you, then don't do it. Best regards, RA1

I have often offered the idea that leaving bread crumbs so that we could find our way back would be excellent. However, at most if not all times in the past, I have found that birds or squirrels or other animals seem to obliterate the trail I intended to leave behind. In the days before GPS this was serious indeed. Today, a good driver in the courtesy van can cure a multitude of navigation problems. Best regards, RA1

Some folks are not fully matured regardless of their chronological age, are they? What if the nephew in his teens coveted this uncle? Is that OK with you? I agree relationships are mysterious whether gay, straight or otherwise. We don't need to be instituting any more law suits in the US but perhaps Cupid can visit you soon. There is always Valentine's Day. Best regards, RA1

Are you saying the Earl of Granville was a poof? Just curious. Best regards, RA1

Somehow the significance of this escaped me. Perhaps I am living right? However, I was intrigued by the listing of the Earl of Wilmingtom which turned out to be a typo. So much of life turns out to be a typo. Best regards, RA1

Peeing in the pool is not accepted socially but not that harmful otherwise, unless the pee-er has a bladder infection. In the "old days", like when I was a boy, doctors actually tasted pee to see if a patient was diabetic. As some of us know, pee ingested or otherwise "enjoyed" must not be harmful or some of us would be very dead. Poop OTOH (scat again?) into the pool is not only not acceptable but down right dangerous. It is a no no. As far as coveting nephews, I think it is mainly up to the psyches of the individuals, not us or society in general. Best regards, RA1

Fascinating. This article serves to showcase the best and the worst of US government. It took forever to make a decision and even longer to fund it but, eventually, history was preserved. Is this also nostalgia at its' best or worst? It also featured technology as advanced and known here in the US. A chimney company + a house moving company holding hands to get this done. Outstanding. However, the technology of moving very large objects along the ground in the US had been provided at Cape Kennedy when moving several millions pounds of rocketry from one point to another there. I find almost equally fascinating the comment about Lightening Whelks. I suppose I could subsist on one clam a month but it would depend upon how large the clam was. Best regards, RA1

A preempt is when you open with 3 of a suit. Obviously there cannot be genetic consequences so the question has to be psychological, does it not? Best regards, RA1

Don't forget they will have to hire someone to carry around a box for Bieber to stand on. Best regards, RA1

Too bad. Let's go. Best regards, RA1

So, now you are working in Bogota, Columbia? Best regards, RA1

Expat- You posted BO's speech without comment. Do you believe it will make any difference? Best regards, RA1

Everyone remembers where they were during the attack. I was getting my front passenger window replaced where a lawn mower had shattered it. I had gone in very early and was just leaving when the news of the first attack became known to me. I rushed to my office at the airport and watched the second attack on TV in the lobby. No more work was accomplished that day. We watched all the new news and all the old news all day long. Pretty soon, our ramp was full of airliners which had been told to land at the nearest airport. The MEM airport was running out of room to put them at the terminal and elsewhere so they put them on the General Aviation ramps. It didn't matter. No one was going to fly (except the military) for a while anyway. Pretty soon they let airlines resume flying but it took several more days for General Aviation. As soon as they let us go I flew on the airlines to Newark. While landing there, I could see the NYC skyline and the empty space where the twin towers had been. There was still smoke rising. A very sad sight. I rented a one way car and drove up to Poughkeepsie where I picked up a plane and flew back to MEM. I remember it all just like it was yesterday. I was both scared and angry and still am. Best regards, RA1

Daylight or specifically, long days of daylight. Every Winter solstice I start looking forward with eager anticipation to the Summer solstice. Each day is a little longer and therefore a little better. However, the day after the Summer solstice I start disliking each day as it gets shorter. But, the consolation is those days aren't cold or very hot and they still last a pretty long time. Then I get to start over in late December. Think of Snoopy doing his beagle solstice dance. Best regards, RA1

No matter how many times each one has one. Best regards, RA1

It is all of us, should we be so lucky as to live that long and have a similar relationship. Best regards, RA1

Or, all the participants and spectators won't need night lights because they will glow in the dark. Best regards, RA1

But it isn't the juice is it? It is the added sugar. Fruit juice with sugar is just the same or worse than a "real" Coke or the like. The same or more calories and loads of sugar. I don't think I have had more than one real Coke a year in more than 20 years and I avoid fruit juices loaded with sugar. Reading the labels for contents provides amazing insight into what one should do. The next thing that annoys me is vegetable juices loaded with sodium. Regular V-8, regular tomato juice, etc. are loaded. Even light sodium juices have too much. I don't cook with salt or even have any in the house. Best regards, RA1