tbaroundtheworld

Well I’m going to have to write fast, because as luck would have it my computer’s battery charger has decided to cease functioning at the most inopportune moment. So what little I can say will have to be said while the battery meter still shows life. Here we are again in Mexico although while sunny, it’s not terribly hot. Cool even considering the time of year. A little windy but plenty sunny and as always, a great place to be for the holidays. We spent our first day marveling at the continuing building boom. New houses and condominiums everywhere. I suspect it’s the knock-on effect of the housing market in the US – just slightly out of phase. Will be interesting to see if it too comes to a screeching halt in the next year. Bird habitat continues to disappear for this reason, and I can see a time when our annual Christmas Count dwindles to the point of disinterest. Nacapule Canyon Not dissuaded by progress, we decided to visit Nacapule Canyon, a traditional place for a hike and some bo...

Well I haven’t been out on the road for a while, at least not a road that merits a blog entry. But I thought this trip had a few moments worth capturing. That and some nice fall pictures of Oregon. Southwest has a new boarding process for those that have not been to the airport for a bit. You can learn about it from their web site where they have kindly created a section called “Boarding School”. I wonder who came up with that clever moniker? Now you might think that it their old system of boarding was just fine for what it was. Socialism that rewarded those that were willing to come early and stand for a long time. Of course the lines eventually devolved into a line of suitcases, as the weak staked their claim but retired to local chairs when the standing got tough. What could anyone do to improve on that? Well, you asked. They installed 6 steel poles in the boarding area leading up to the gate. Each pole is labeled: 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc. Up to 26-30. The flip side takes the numbers ...

One last little tale before I consider this trip officially over. I was surrounded by those orange shirted students from the plane while waiting for my bag to appear, they having cleared customs. Off to my left, a small drama was unfolding. A Border Patrol officer with the cutest Beagle I'd ever seen was checking out one of the students. He told him to take off his backpack and the kid (of course) didn't understand. So the officer politely helped him remove it. He told the kid to set it on the floor, whereupon Sparky went to work sniffing and wagging. Sure enough, the kid was holding - a dozen Chinese apples. Sparky looked on proudly as the officer told the kid "next time, no fruit." Sparky stood there beaming at his owner, clearly proud to be able to do his part to keep our borders safe. And so it goes, back home once again. Here's a summary of my walking around pictures......... '

Living in a crowded society drives some interesting behaviors. There is no decorum when it comes to driving or forming lines or waiting one’s turn. When 100s of people are faced with a single lane or door, a mob forms and it’s everyone for themselves. When it comes to delays, something always has to be done. The tiniest example of this occurs every time you enter an elevator in China the first thing someone entering does is to jam the door close button 15 times. These facts are well known about living in China and Westerners commonly remark about the rudeness in public places when someone simply walks up and gets in front of them in line. Assuming there is a line at all. Typically it’s just an annoyance to those of us used to forming orderly queues. When it comes to air travel it gets downright aggravating. Awoke to another downpour day in Dalian a city which does not wear well in gray drizzle. Checked out of the hotel and checked in with our driver. It was our last day with Jasper and...

Last night was spent winding down from our day at work. We had a plan to eat at a well-recommended Italian-Spanish-French restaurant but first decided to visit Dalian’s Irish pub, the Tin Whistle. Opened up by an Irish expat a few years ago it is now owned by and American. As the story goes, the original owner got so drunk on St. Paddy’s Day that he fell down breaking his leg severely. Being unable to work, he had to sell the pub. Even if it’s not true, with a story like that how could we pass up an opportunity for a visit? Two young Chinese men and a young Chinese woman were working the bar. We each had a Guinness and settled down to an awkward silence. So I pulled out my map the bar staff gathered around. It was the ultimate icebreaker and soon we were talking about Dalian and China in English and Chinese. The young woman brought out a map of Dublin and we spent some time showing her the places we stayed and where the Guinness brewery is and where all the good bars are. Would have st...

I read that comparison somewhere and I have to say whoever coined it must have been in Vancouver on a day when all the nearby pine forests were on fire. The air here over the last two days is just that bad. Visibility is in the range of a quarter-mile and that nagging upper respiratory thing I developed the last time I was in Shanghai has come back in full force. The question is – where does it come from? Some say it’s just damp marine air. Others, power plants. It’s probably not cars as there are not that many of them and the air lacks that distinctive leaded gas smell. Who knows, whatever it is it’s dense. We were joking yesterday about jumping off the roof and slowly gliding to the ground on the suspended particles. A day of work yesterday bookended with a couple of commutes out of and into the city itself. Our driver is a great young man who speaks fluent English with a West End London accent, gained during his university studies in that city. His choice of music was interesting – ...

The flight over was pretty straightforward and memorable only for the fact that the videos all worked and the apoplectic nature of the guy sitting next to me. We got off on time and I was pleased to learn that the flight to Beijing is actually close to an hour shorter than the one to Shanghai. Nothing exciting to report about the loading or the take-off, everything was done according to schedule. The first meal service rolled around and the attendants delivered the special meals to those that had requested them. I was sitting next to a young-ish hippie couple and when we were asked about our meal choices the young woman told the attendant that she had requested a vegetarian meal. The attendant replied that they’d all been delivered and sorry, there were no more. Her boyfriend went completely off the scale at this loudly proclaiming that they’d requested it and that it simply wasn’t acceptable that hers was given to someone else. The attendant asked when they’d booked it and that didn’t...

You might think that an airport in city the size of Albuquerque would be a peaceful place at 5 in the morning on a Monday. One the contrary – it’s a beehive. I fly in and out of here with some frequency, as you all know. Usually it’s a pretty laid back place with short lines, small crowds and a clear shot down the concourse. Today though, everyone seemed to be beating a path out of town as quickly and as early as they could. I walked in and found myself 3rd in the Premier-International line which is basically unheard of. I’ve never been worse than 2nd. Topping it though was the group in front of me composed of the meek and the loud. The loud telling the meek to make sure that they divided their prescription medicines between checked and carry-on luggage, lest the checked bags disappear en route. The meek responding that they’d divided their prescriptions between carry-on and checked luggage for that very reason. One of the meek wasn’t quite following what was going on until one of the ...

Some general shots from my day driving around. .

We headed out of Trim in the general direction of Dublin knowing that sooner or later we would find one of the motorways that headed into Centre City. Rolling country side punctuated by massive road work projects and their associated giant trucks flashed by as we made our way east. Eventually we found the N3 and it rang enough of a bell with me to assume it was the way I knew into town. As it would turn out, I could not have been more wrong. This became clear as the landmarks did not appear and we drove into more and more congestion. Eventually we found ourselves on the wrong side of the River Liffey at the zenith of rush hour. I turned on my Nüvi personal navigation device figuring it was our very best hope at finding our way home. Emily, the voice of Nüvi gladly complied, asking me to turn on Atherton Place in .3 miles. What Emily didn’t know was that Dublin lacks the street signs necessary to make such a turn with any semblance of authority. Having missed the juncture, Emily issued ...

I had one goal when I was here in March and that was to see Trim Castle. It’s considered the best preserved Norman castle in Europe. It was originally started around 1100 AD and work continued on it for the next three centuries before the shifting political climate caused it to fall into disrepair. Now it’s simply a wonderful remnant of a world gone by. Often I find that the mind’s eye picture one forms of something based on reading and maps is in direct conflict with the reality of the place itself. In this case, I picture the castle located on a broad plain in farm country, hard on the River Boyne. When I went looking for it last time, I found myself on a bunch of one-way streets to nowhere that culminated in a dead end street that was choked with Land Rovers disgorging children for their day at school. I remember lots of cursing and backing up and running into God Knows What was I tried to maneuver out of that mess and back onto a civilized road. You know, one of those 60 MPH two la...