A bit of this; a bit of that...
What does a person DO who is down with the FLU? Read...old books, new books, blogs, MSN news from Great Britain, MSN news in the States, and MSN news from Australia. No one wants to hear about another persons' illness. My mouth is SHUT. However, I have great sympathy and compassion for anyone going through this dreaded stuff.
Whatever I am taking keeps my butt awake all night, so...I read EVEN MORE and that keeps me awake, too, because the news is shocking all over the world.
I had a chance to look at my notes from our last whirl-wind adventure and my head is still spinning from the fun. It IS nice to have photos from such very special spots. Now, IF I CAN only find someone to retrieve the goodies left on THE most important phone I have ever owned that I killed in the States. That will be a main concern once we land in South Australia! HELP.
TO ALL TRAVELERS IN EUROPE: Remember to keep to the 'right' when going through toll booths. Tinto and I could not get over when we approached one last booth in Portugal and it cost us $135.00 for not paying attention. You do not need to get caught doing that. IF you cannot produce a ticket for the next ticket master you will pay dearly. Some booths you pick up a ticket. Some booths you drop in the money. Tinto and I thought the Spanish roads were in far better shape overall than Portugal's, but the brand new roads in Portugal are extremely nice and smooth. The weird/funny thing we noticed was that there was SO little traffic on the toll roads in Portugal (GREAT FOR US) because everyone else appeared to be avoiding the payments and staying on the smaller, older roads. We understood. The tolls add up. Plan your trip and you will see what we mean.
And...have you ever seen a cork tree farm with your own eyes? We had not. Tinto and I began asking each other why the bottom of some trees looked stripped and were a different colour from the top of the tree. CORK. Cork had been harvested. It comes off in big layers. Then the farmers stack big, flat sheets of cork as if they were piling firewood in their paddocks. Amazing. Hundreds, literally thousands of cork trees in Portugal. We did not know that Portugal produces about half of the world's commercial cork and its exports account for about 70% of world trade. Hmmmm...now that many wine producers are opting for stelvin screw caps I wonder how the export of cork will look in the future. (This is when I wish I could access photos.)
Sad this morning to read that one of my fav, most beloved actors, John Mahoney, (Frasier's Dad - Martin Crane) died. He was only 77. I loved watching him. Also, I had no idea that he was originally born in Blackpool, England. He wasn't that old and, apparently, intensely private. Good for him. Sending warm, positive thoughts his way. Mahoney began his career late and did it ever blossom. IT never felt/looked as if it was acting - he was so bloody GOOD at his craft.
See subject of this post: A bit of this; a bit of that. This morning I am all over the place due to lack of sleep, I suppose. On the flight from London to Atlanta I read something (somewhere) that the extremely creative, brilliant, talented, and outrageously wealthy, Elon Musk, was in the planning stages of colonizing Mars in 2024. Science fascinates me. Space travel intrigues and excites me. Brilliant, bright, human beings ahead of their time...captivate and enchant me. Truly. Mr. Musk's brain must be as bright as the stars he will pass as he travels. And, as he states, the beginning prices for the Mars participants will be quite high, but as a year or 2 passes individual tickets will be as low as $100,000.00 per passenger. Good to know. (!) Now, this is where I am going to sound like a 'Debbie Downer'. I do not wish for any space travel programs to cease or die completely. We have a responsibility to explore and learn further about the galaxies and the universe. But, speaking as a person whom was fortunate enough to take a peek at many different countries in a short span of time, it appears, we are not doing a very good job of taking care of planet Earth. There is a lot of trash out there, Mr. Musk. There are a lot of dilapidated buildings that could use some love and affection and house some extremely unfortunate human beings. I am thinking I may write an open letter to Mr. Elon Musk. Perhaps many of us could join in and do so. MY POINT: Until we clean up our own backyard, repair all the things we have broken, work on NOT causing any additional species to go extinct...maybe man should not even think about colonizing another planet (yet). We tend to trash things. We break things and leave them unfixed. We don't clean up after ourselves. The poor historical monuments in Budapest are a tragic mess with fast food wrappers and cups. WHO allows cities to become trash cans when they are such beauties? WHO does that? There are fines in the States and Australia for littering. Portugal and Spain need to rethink their laws. Planet Earth belongs to everybody. I would not think of trashing my home or my yard and I am certainly not going to trash yours. Picture Mars: Gorgeous, red, mass and then...here comes MAN. OH MY, I see a Starbucks cup just lying on its side rolling around in the terracotta terrain. Nope. Let's deal with Mother Earth; get her well, clean her up, fix all of her broken bones and illnesses, make certain she is in a good, strong, healthy place...THEN GO and KNOCK ON Mr. Mars' door.
I need some sleep.
Mother Earth - such a good name, isn't it? Encompasses everything. WE can do better by her, wouldn't you agree?
Posted with concern and love,
Blanco, (the dull version riddled with flu and saying lots of bad words), of The Roaming Stevens.
PS: Such an oldie: Don't be a litterbug.
Whatever I am taking keeps my butt awake all night, so...I read EVEN MORE and that keeps me awake, too, because the news is shocking all over the world.
I had a chance to look at my notes from our last whirl-wind adventure and my head is still spinning from the fun. It IS nice to have photos from such very special spots. Now, IF I CAN only find someone to retrieve the goodies left on THE most important phone I have ever owned that I killed in the States. That will be a main concern once we land in South Australia! HELP.
TO ALL TRAVELERS IN EUROPE: Remember to keep to the 'right' when going through toll booths. Tinto and I could not get over when we approached one last booth in Portugal and it cost us $135.00 for not paying attention. You do not need to get caught doing that. IF you cannot produce a ticket for the next ticket master you will pay dearly. Some booths you pick up a ticket. Some booths you drop in the money. Tinto and I thought the Spanish roads were in far better shape overall than Portugal's, but the brand new roads in Portugal are extremely nice and smooth. The weird/funny thing we noticed was that there was SO little traffic on the toll roads in Portugal (GREAT FOR US) because everyone else appeared to be avoiding the payments and staying on the smaller, older roads. We understood. The tolls add up. Plan your trip and you will see what we mean.
And...have you ever seen a cork tree farm with your own eyes? We had not. Tinto and I began asking each other why the bottom of some trees looked stripped and were a different colour from the top of the tree. CORK. Cork had been harvested. It comes off in big layers. Then the farmers stack big, flat sheets of cork as if they were piling firewood in their paddocks. Amazing. Hundreds, literally thousands of cork trees in Portugal. We did not know that Portugal produces about half of the world's commercial cork and its exports account for about 70% of world trade. Hmmmm...now that many wine producers are opting for stelvin screw caps I wonder how the export of cork will look in the future. (This is when I wish I could access photos.)
Sad this morning to read that one of my fav, most beloved actors, John Mahoney, (Frasier's Dad - Martin Crane) died. He was only 77. I loved watching him. Also, I had no idea that he was originally born in Blackpool, England. He wasn't that old and, apparently, intensely private. Good for him. Sending warm, positive thoughts his way. Mahoney began his career late and did it ever blossom. IT never felt/looked as if it was acting - he was so bloody GOOD at his craft.
See subject of this post: A bit of this; a bit of that. This morning I am all over the place due to lack of sleep, I suppose. On the flight from London to Atlanta I read something (somewhere) that the extremely creative, brilliant, talented, and outrageously wealthy, Elon Musk, was in the planning stages of colonizing Mars in 2024. Science fascinates me. Space travel intrigues and excites me. Brilliant, bright, human beings ahead of their time...captivate and enchant me. Truly. Mr. Musk's brain must be as bright as the stars he will pass as he travels. And, as he states, the beginning prices for the Mars participants will be quite high, but as a year or 2 passes individual tickets will be as low as $100,000.00 per passenger. Good to know. (!) Now, this is where I am going to sound like a 'Debbie Downer'. I do not wish for any space travel programs to cease or die completely. We have a responsibility to explore and learn further about the galaxies and the universe. But, speaking as a person whom was fortunate enough to take a peek at many different countries in a short span of time, it appears, we are not doing a very good job of taking care of planet Earth. There is a lot of trash out there, Mr. Musk. There are a lot of dilapidated buildings that could use some love and affection and house some extremely unfortunate human beings. I am thinking I may write an open letter to Mr. Elon Musk. Perhaps many of us could join in and do so. MY POINT: Until we clean up our own backyard, repair all the things we have broken, work on NOT causing any additional species to go extinct...maybe man should not even think about colonizing another planet (yet). We tend to trash things. We break things and leave them unfixed. We don't clean up after ourselves. The poor historical monuments in Budapest are a tragic mess with fast food wrappers and cups. WHO allows cities to become trash cans when they are such beauties? WHO does that? There are fines in the States and Australia for littering. Portugal and Spain need to rethink their laws. Planet Earth belongs to everybody. I would not think of trashing my home or my yard and I am certainly not going to trash yours. Picture Mars: Gorgeous, red, mass and then...here comes MAN. OH MY, I see a Starbucks cup just lying on its side rolling around in the terracotta terrain. Nope. Let's deal with Mother Earth; get her well, clean her up, fix all of her broken bones and illnesses, make certain she is in a good, strong, healthy place...THEN GO and KNOCK ON Mr. Mars' door.
I need some sleep.
Mother Earth - such a good name, isn't it? Encompasses everything. WE can do better by her, wouldn't you agree?
Posted with concern and love,
Blanco, (the dull version riddled with flu and saying lots of bad words), of The Roaming Stevens.
PS: Such an oldie: Don't be a litterbug.
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