Spelling Bee

 

onychomycosis jardiniere cenacle terpsichore negus ptilopod butyraldehyde stramineous retiarius corydora hussar dysbarism umami siphonogamous drepanocytosis biwa clevis scherzando Menckense suimate araneiform ciguatera lekvar difficile pteridology rhodochrosite affiche sagittal gardez lomatine calenture diastrophe soubise exophthalmic tentaculocyst psilosis melotrope impuissance castrensian fufuraceous Plattdeutsch  burelage carnassial staphyotomy didymous sutler truttaceous chromotrichial porphyry bialy meliodosis capilotade tufoli grego ooporphyrin beccafico reblochon strigil azotea papillon logogriph stapes corrigenda periostracum zwieback epicondylic orotund Torquemada rissole ursigram silenus lomilomi pharyngitis frututicose genetric trypanosomiasis vizierial platitudinous marron rayonnant salinelle piroplasmosis kiddush Ayurveda desuetude hiulm paronomasia tattersall quatenus nugatory craquelure bracteolate  illeist acaraiasis pachysandra ruderal poliomyelitis encephalopathy Gruyere coadunation brushcetta oleic somma puncheon lambdacism arboricole exsiccate truncal zeugma ophidian parisology meralgia canaliculate anadiplosis varioloiform tetradactylous schneider quoddy periclitate erinaceous bottega diocesan oubliette pygopodous sopite rheotropism loris petroglyhpy unguiculate bourgade circumbendibus flebile silicocolous parasiticidal encolure acuminate Marielito roturier transisthmian orenda carneau elan pasquinade sunglo ratiocinate prosopography ogive chamfer apocope gastrilegous hirudiniasis myrmecologist

In Transit

Lipps Inc

Then:

Now:

Travel Jitterbug

Ten thousandth unique blog hit today. Somebody else seems to be reading. Thank you! 

Ferrytale Wedding

S & B’s only T got married last night. It was an absolutely beautiful reception in the hull of the Ferry Building. Great to see T’s nana tear up the dance floor to this song:

Happy Memorial Day.

Travel Assistant

So you buy an airfare much in advance. Then you sit back. Then the price rises. What can you do? You ask for a refund of course. Alaska, JetBlue, Southwest, United and US Airways all offer vouchers for the full price difference for a future trip. Others off vouchers or cash back after deducting change fees, which are between $75 and $100. This only works if you bought the ticket directly from the airline (free phone or website) and not from a consolidator, such as expedia or travelocity. Unless the price change occurred in the next 24 hours after you purchased the ticket. Other consolidators might have specific policies so read the fine print.

This “rollover” policy has been in effect for decades but the catch is you have to ring when the lower price is still in effect. Yapta which is Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant, has an elegant algorithm which was launched on May 22. You can use Yapta before you buy to alertyou to price changes on a trip or if the price drops. To obtain the voucher, you have to ring the freephone yourself (you cannot snare a voucher online). Farecast tried to predict if prices will rise or fall in a market and gives you a “buy” or “wait” recommendation. Farecompare offers historical information that might help decide if a fare might drop in the future based on behavior in the last twelve months.

Expedia’s “Fare Alert” sits in your PC toolbar and pops up when a lower fare comes along on a favored route. Travelocity’s “FareWatcher” lets you pick city pairs and you are alerted when the price changes by $25 or more. Orbitz’ “Deal Detector” lets you select only nonstop flights or preferred airlines. Yapta is great as it allows you to pinpoint prices on specific flights. Right now, it will integrate with Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and most US airline websites but not multiples like Kayak. Once you tag a flight, Yapta will email you when the price changes and alerts you to refund possibilities, keeping in mind the policies of the airline. On average, the voucher refund was $85 among 275 bet atesters. United and Alaska were the most generous with choices of free vouchers or cash back after change fees. American and Continental are the stingiest as the price drop has to be greater than the $100 change fee. Nearly all airlines have liberal same day and 24-hour price guarantees. Expedia and Travelocity not only reissue the ticket at the lower price but refund the difference and give you a goodwill $50 voucher. You must act quickly.

Trafalgar Square

.. is green today. But just the bit between Nelson’s Column and National Gallery looks very nice. It probably won’t survive until Saturday with the forthcoming rain and showers, and thousands of people coming to stand on it and take pictures. Tomorrow, they need to set up the stage for Sunday’s Festival of Youth Art. The turf, which has been sourced from the Vale of York,  will then be moved to Bishops Park in Hammersmith and Fulham. This is another project from Visit London to promote London’s green spaces and villages.

Flight Awards

The results of the in-flight amenities (expanded form) have been released:

• comfortable seats and legroom are priorities; 75% of us would pay up to 10% more premium for the same
• 30% insisted a roomly clean bathroom was key
• 25% considered a clean pillow/blanket #1 comfort priority
• 36% would prefer a complimentary fruit/veg followed by cheese and crackers (33%). If it would mean a lower fare, 36% would forsake inflight food
• most preferred bottled water as an inflight free drink of choise but 5% want the bubbly stuff. Men (36%) are more likely to choose wine, champagne or beer over a cocktail (25%) as women
• 42% believe an inseat video screen is key followed by on demand films (18%). Video screens at seats are more important to women (46%) than men (36%). Onlyy 13% of us use net access when inflight
• 71% would pay for better amenities but only on flights longer than 3 hours
• Beds are the most important inflight luxury that 36% would be willign to pay for. A bed was less important to Americans (29%) than international trveleres (47%)
• 33% purchased from the SkyMall. English love fly buys (56%) whereas only 23% of Americans did
• As usual Singapore Airlines is the favorite (Virgin was second) for in flight amenities and for best food (BA was second)

Carbon Neutral

Immediately in front of me in the cashier queue was an obnoxious man wearing a Bluetooth headpiece barking to the cashier that he wants everything he bought in as few paper bags as possible because he has a “small carbon footprint”. I doubt that’s the only small thing about him. However, I still do not have all of the information needed to make up my mind on this one.

Over Caffeinated

If you stand on the corner of Regent Street and Wigmore Street in Londontown, you are within five miles of 164 Starbucks branches. You can calculate your personal Starbucks Density but this will be out of date. A massive expansion has been planned. While there are 530 branches in the UK, the focus is on Londontown where SBUX expects to open new outlets at the rare of one a fortnight over the next ten years.

Tarot Root

You are The Sun

Happiness, Content, Joy.

The meanings for the Sun are fairly simple and consistent.

Young, healthy, new, fresh. The brain is working, things that were muddled come clear, everything falls into place, and everything seems to go your way.

The Sun is ruled by the Sun, of course. This is the light that comes after the long dark night, Apollo to the Moon’s Diana. A positive card, it promises you your day in the sun. Glory, gain, triumph, pleasure, truth, success. As the moon symbolized inspiration from the unconscious, from dreams, this card symbolizes discoveries made fully consciousness and wide awake. You have an understanding and enjoyment of science and math, beautifully constructed music, carefully reasoned philosophy. It is a card of intellect, clarity of mind, and feelings of youthful energy.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Mini Bar

I hate the mini bar. 33% of us never use the minibar. 94% of us would if the prices were more reasonable. It is a vile creature that serves as a time capsule. Everything is microscopic and shows prices that more likely reflect what that item will cost 100 years from now. 25% of us have had a dispute with our minibar charges, more likely men (32%) than women (22%). 34% of us have been inaccurately charged so as a rule, I have them empty the mini bar before I check in and stock up with my own purchases from Tesco’s.

Until now.

Newer hotel minibars have motion and weight sensors. 16% of us have been billed for simply adding items or moving contents around and 7% (me included) have been charged for storing my own juices and other purchases. To avoid being charged at higher hotel prices, 20% of us speakily replace items (more likely men 25% than women 17%). 51% of us use te minibar as motivated by convenience and 45% of us paid up to three times for a can of soda. For 9% of us, drinking alcohol leads to mini bar raids. You can now find pork rinds, bottled oxygen and jelly babies. I have even seen beef jerky and energy drinks. 52% of us are likely to purchase bottled water (only 2% for energy drinks). 17% are likely to buy nuts and would like to see fruit, healthy snacks and sandwiches in there. You could tempt with a Toblerone product or Pringles.

Porch Past

Last night, the Fs came over for a lovely pizza and berries dinner. B & B had their coloring materials and were really wonderful to have over. Inmyold neighborhood, I knew a lot of people. In my current decidedly slightly more posh subdivision, there is a no-waving policy in effect as per enforceable Home Association by-laws. I miss wave backs, but perhaps not so much if there is even a hint of insincerity. When did this happen?

Traditional homes, feng shui in consideration, had a front porch. You entered through the porch. The porch dominated the anterior facade of the home. Porches facilitated extrinsic interaction. Porches were porte cocheres and porticos of communicatio. B is 8 years old but even he is aware that most of our neighbors enter their homes through the garage, the shutters come down with some newfangled instant activation method and we simply never see them again, ever. Garages are becoming monstrously larger than ever. A family of four (4) could easily live in a garage if they could be permitted bathroom privileges. I am fairly certain my two-car garage (which really could fit only a car and a golf car at best) is just slightly smaller than my first studio in downtown Chicago.

Happiness Geography

The problem with happiness is it is impossible to define. Studies indicate there is a geography of happiness. Where you are has a big role to play in how sad you will be. This is not a metaphor. Unsurprisingly, the number one predictor of happiness is wealth. The US, Canada and members of the EU are consistently happier when charted against Africa and Asia. Former Communists (Russia, Hungary, Czech republic) have lower satisfaction levels than one would expect with their GDP but Mexico and Colombia outperform their GDP with the currency of smiles. Shockingly, the US and UK are lower in happiness than Switzerland, Denmark and Iceland. This may be because we feel good in conditions that are good for us. Scandinavian countries are the most homogeneous, have high value for political and economic freedom and have a good history of democratic government. Following the reunification of Germany, economists say that 40% of the improvement in reported well being in East Germany was from rising incomes (60% from political freedom). I cannot explain it all: Iceland, a wee country with four hours of daily winter sunshine is number Three.

Another puzzle: despite steadily increasing income levels in the UK and US since 1970, happiness levels have actually fallen. Depressive illness is today 10 times higher than in the 1950s (partially from a tendency to overdiagnose) but misery and angst are on the rise too. Under capitalism, we spend too much time looknig over our shoulders to keep up with the Patels, Smiths, Jonssons, Nguyens and Wongs. A more compelling theory is that because of higher educational expetations and the onus on super achievement, more of us are tortured by our failure/s to live up to the aspirations of youth. While happiness has a large genetic component, none of us is prisoner to evolution. By identifying the sources of happiness in our life and making a conscious effort to optimise them, we can elevate satisfaction levels.

Very Poor

People still are unable to assign a price point to personal time. While we believe our time is precious and worth several rubies, when it comes to equating that of others, all considerations melt away. Why? In 1981, 40% of the world lived on less than $1 per day according to Shaohua Chen and Martin Ravallion of the World Bank. The figure plummeted to 21 percent by 2001 and may be as low 15 percent by 2015. 

Valley Olives

Where can you get good olive oil in the trivalley?

• Cedar Mountain Winery. 373-6636 Tasting at First Street Wine Co. 7000 Tesla road, 373-6636
• Darcie Kent Vineyards. 7636 Cedar Mtn Dr. 443-5368. Tasting
• Genesis Ranch. 4120 Cross Rd. 606-0819. Tasting
• Paula Milani. 4118 Cross Road. 525-2634. Tasting
• Olivas de Morgan. 2339 First St. 383-9367. Tasting
• The Olivina. 455555 Arroyo road. 455-8710. Tasting
• Serra Festino. Purple Orchid Spa. 606-8855. Tasting
• Victorine Valley Farm. 1080 Victorine rd. 454-8770. Tasting
• Oro Fino at Wente Vineyards. 5565 Tesla rd. 456-2305. Tasting
• Winn Olive Company. 1090 Victorine rd. 443-2251. Tasting
• Wood Family Vineyard. 7702 Cedar Mountain Dr. 606-7411. Tasting.
• Wood Ranch Estate. 100 Twin Oaks Lane. 371-6394 . Tasting

Visitation Rights

Create your own Visited Countries map

In Bound

Count Down

As an infant, I recall the pips in the last five seconds of the count down.

 

I cannot help but tap my feet when the new BBC Count Down Remix music starts. This was with the relaunch in 2003.

This is the official remix version where I love the pips in the last ten (10) seconds. Remember the first 90 seconds has no visual.

This is the original with footage:

Bill Bailey agrees with me.

Flag Flying

So I saw my first Eurovision Song Contest last night, complete with Terry Wogan’s droll commentary. Remember you cannot vote for your own country’s entry. Scooch! is probably the gayest campest thing ever, making the Backstreet Boys look butch.  The UK luckily did not come in dead last (15 points!) and it was null points for Eire! The winner was a very homely girl from Serbia, first time that country entered as an independent state. I personally thought the weirdly funny and disturbing Ukrainian troll with a star on its head should have won. It was First Runner Up. The Eurovision Song Contest – it’s all in fun.

Scooch!

Verka Serduchka

The cutest entry was surely Sarbel with Yassou Maria [Greece entry]

Edinburgh Timelapse

I railed it to Edinburgh on Virgin (Queen Street Glasgow to Hay Market). After the usual hop on/off bus tour, I stopped in for a wee dram of whisky at the Scotch Whisky Heritage center near the Camera Obscura and Castle. Other enjoyable sojourns were to the Gallery of Modern Art, The Museum of Scotland, the Palace of Hollyrood House, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and The Queen’s Gallery. QG had a lovely exhibit of “Amazing Pretty Things”. So many museums as it rained a lot so I had to spend more time indoors. Remember there are no guided tours to the Scottish Parliament interior when it is in session. Pikc your poison – these are interesting gubernatorial times. Witchery tours start at the Castle and are fine for kids if you take the 1900 tour. Dynamic Earth and the Zoo are kid-friendly. You should pick up a discount pass if you spend more than one (1) day in the city. I caught “Man of La Mancha” at the Royal Lyceum (Lothian road) and some stand up at York Place.

Roller Cops

Cheap Vacationing

• On a special trip like a honey moon? Don’t reveal it until you check in – thinking you will splurge, you won’t get the usual discounts initially. Then share liberally when you board the plane onwards.
• Empty PC cookies regularly. Your spending history may be used by some airlines to quote a higher fare as they detect a pattern of regular throughfare
• For domestic travel, become a AAA member and get deep discounts.
• Subscribe to Traveler’s Weekly and Smartertravel.com for email alerts on deals.
• For multileg flights, go to a website with ITA Software – it lets you search for airfare, then email an agent to see if you can find something cheaper like Orbitz or CheapTickets.com
• Travel off-season. Europe’s best deals are between Thanksgiving and Easter.
• Discounted packages during Thanksgiving and Christmas are offered as early as August. Winter cruises shoul dbe booked a year in advance.
• Update your passport. Routine renewals take six weeks and $67 ($97 for first time) and this includes passport, security adn execution fees. A two week turnabout costs an extra $60 plus two way overnight delivery costs.
• Packages (air, lodging, hire car) can save up to 30% off individual purchases through the same vendor
• Get travel insurance from a third party for better coverage and/or a lower rate. MedJet Assist offers medical evacuation if you’re hospitalized more than 150 miles from home. A year costs $205.
• Consider alternate smaller airports to fly in/out of
• Slipa an easily compressible duffle into your suitcase. You can quickly repack if you’re overweight and avoid fines up to $50
• JetBlue, SWA and other low cost carriers are great cost cutter. Try Reidsguides.com, Air-ticket-cheap.com and Attitude Travel for domestic, Europe and Asia respectively.
• Bypass Heathrow and CDG Paris. Switch planes in less trafficked Dublin instead.
• Shop around consolidators (Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity) for the fares, then log on to the airline website to match or beat.
• Look to bucket shops (consolidators) for deep discounts. Find brokers via TFI Tours International or Airbrokers International.
• Stay overnight on Saturday for a lower weekend fare.
• Subscribe to an email alert to track dips in airfares. Travelocity’s free FareWatcher for example. Hotwire automatically alerts you.
• Some airlines let you transfer miles with a processing fee (between $35 and $80)
• Taxicabs are the most expensive option to get to the hotel from the airport. Major airports have quick shuttle and underground services into the city center wherefrom you can get into a taxicab.
• Shop around for a hire car. Most credit cards and personal auto insurance cover your car insurance.
• Rent or buy a prepaid mobile (Telestial offers prepaid phones that work in 200 countries) or buy an international calling card.
• The London Business Card sells for $10 and you get discounts on photocopying, mobile rentals, restaurants, theaters and shops. Only in London.
• Book adventures after arrival, not before departure. Local operators offer better rates.
• Buy theater tickets the day of performance for discounts of up to 50%, especially if you don’t mind splitting your group up.
• CityPass offers admission to dozens of attractions in Toronto, Boston, NYC, Seattle, Chicago, Hollywood, SF, SoCal and Philadelphia. They cost between $24 and $185 each.
• Buy a multiday subway pass. Check out HopStop.com
• Explore free art museums. Every major city has more than one.
• Visit small neighborhood markets and not malls. It costs less and you get a story out of it.
• Convert money at a local bank for the best rates. ATMs will charge you via your bank. Check policies in writing.
• Pay with a credit card. You get the lowest possible rate and are protected from unauthorized charges. Rack up miles. Insider Flyer compares these cards. Conversion surcharges of up to 3% are accrued but AmEx is consistently at 1% if honoured.
• Get a VAT riembursement. Pick up a form each time you make a purchase and save your receipts. Your reimbursement check will be mailed to you.
• Pick up an AmEx Travel Cheque Card. You can add more money at a time and they can be replaced within 24 hours if lost or stolen.
• For $8, WellsFargo lets your order 14 different currencies worth up to $2000 online. Travelex World Wide Money offers 59 currencies with no service fee and free second day shipping on orders over $750.
• Negotiate your room rate once you arrive. In off season slumps, properties will barter. Arrive between 1600 and 1800 – reservations will want to fill in canceled rooms. Offer to pay cash and stay at least three (3) nights to get a free upgrade. It works. Trust.
• If you stay more than three nights, rent a condo or villa. ResortQuest, Rentalo and Rent Villas.
• Compare costs of hotels in European cities two or three neighborhoods away from the action at Venere.com
• Don’t settle for “brochure rates”. Ask about promotions, discounts and credit card reward programs (See Credit Card Guide). Domestic – check Quikbook.com
• Purchase a meal-inclusive package so you can stay within budget in big cities.
• Japan’s Welcome Inn Group guarantees hotel rooms for $120 online.
• Eat dinner somewhere reasonable and then splurge on dessert at a pricey patisserie
• Pay for meals in Hong Kong with a credit card. Most restaurants have unadvertised discounts of up to 15%
• Go for tapas and gastropubs instead of a sit down.
• Seek out small neighborhoods for more affordable yet authentic food experiences.
• In Italy a 15% cover is automatically added if you sit to a table. Eat standing up at the bar.
• Major cities have restaurant week with prix-fixes at $20 for lunch and $30 for dinner to showcase their specialties. Opentable.com
• Picnic. Shop a local market for regional delicacies, then head to a scenic lookout for al fresco dining.
• Hors d’oeuvres you didn’t order are not always free. Especially in France and Portugal. Ask.
• Send me a tip you worked out so I can make this list hit 100

  

In Transit

Glasgow Orientation

The airport is compact. Head down the moving walkway and then book a roundtrip Citylink (GBP 5.80) which has ten stops in the metro centre and takes about 15 minutes to get you there. Then bear far left to pick up your internationally arrived baggage, head out and jog a bit to the right for bus 905. If more than one (1) piece of checked baggage or a child, taxicab is GBP15 one way.

Glaswegians are the friendliest single subset of people. Full marks. The city is among the most dangerous in the UK but with 1 CCTV per 14 inhabitants, it is the most surveilled and hence artifically safe. I was about at 0015 and 0630, with no discomfiture whatsoever.

George Square is metro center so determine everything (access, noise) based on your proximity to it. Sauchiehall, George St and Argyle St are parallel to the river Clyde, and Buchanan St is perpendicular to it: these are the high streets when you get lost. If you exit Queen st station, you are either on Buchanan or George Streets. You can walk just about anywhere or freephone a cab for a small ride.

It rains intermittently but clears up rapidly. It is absolute to wear lightweight raingear which is hooded (try juggling an umbrella, a yoghurt drink, your lovely camera and a back pack). If it really pours, duck into a porte cochere and look up at the architecture. Or sneak into a gastropub for a wee dram of whisky. This is 50% w/v alcoholo so it sneaks up on you pretty quickly with a lot of wee drams. Add an ice cube or a bit of water to enhance the flavour. The hop on/off bus tour has 21 stops (GBP 9 for 2 consecutive days). Live guides are more fun.

Glasgow Walk

The Visitor Information Center in George Square depends on the staff. I was given incorrect information on two separate days, and they botched up a tour booking twice. The latter was subsequently corrected and I was resited into a more expensive tour (the operator who canceled paid the difference) without question or argument. I appreciated that. Several free leaflets and maps are all terribly helpful. There is no facility for left luggage. I clung to my Frommers the entire time as this experience was similar in Edinburgh.

Most museum admission is free. I quite enjoyed the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, Gallery of Modern Art, Musuem of Transport, Peoples Palace and Winter Gardens, and Hunterian Museum. Guided tours are offered by students at the School of Art And Glasgow University. Kids will enjoy the Science center which is close to “Squinty” (Finnieston Bridge and Crane) and “Armadillo” ( SECC). A tearoom is approved for the top of the Crane: high tea much? Walking along Cathedral and Castle streets are a living lesson in architecture dynamics. I enjoyed the acoustics in the Glasgow Cathedral over chorals on Saturday evening (other entertainment this week included Maxim Vengerov and the UBS Festival orchestra, Lucia de Lammermoor, Angels in America, singalong ABBA show, The King and I; no, I do not sleep much) and then headed into the Necropolis. The over the top ornate interior design in City Chambers (tours at 1030 and 1430) is absolute.

Having previously caught up on my Scottish (re)history thanks to Mr. Mel Gibson and Mr. Liam Neeson (geographically and temporally incorrect films Brave Heart and Rob Roy), I was sure to include Stirling Castle, Rannoch Moor, Glen Coe, Glen Etive, Ben Nevis, Lochs (Katrine, Ness, Etive) in my voyages to the Highlands and Lowlands. Small city stops in Pitlochry, Inverness, Tendrum, Falkikr and Linlithgow were charming.

British Allowance

The UK DOT has imposed new restrictions effective today on cabin bags pertaining to the size and number of bags for all air travelers.

If you are departing a UK airport which permits ONE cabin bag only no more than 22 x 17.5 x 9.85 inches (56×45x25 cm).

If you are transferring onto an onward flight in the UK (domestic and international) , the same applies.

If you are traveling from the rest of the world and ending  your journey in the UK, you can carry in addition one laptop or briefcase.

You must be able to lift your bag unaided into the aircraft overhead locker and a hand bag (purse) does count as your one allowed piece of cabin baggage. These are new restrictions. Liquids must be carried in individual containers, not exceeding 100 mL.

If your cabin bag exceeds the new dimensions, you have to repack it or check it into the hold. You have to remove anything electronic (camera) or liquid (ziploc it) for x-ray screening so store them separately.

You can take solid food items onboard for in flight consumption such as sandwiches, crisps, fruits and vegetables but they need to be purchased after security screening is completed. Drinks and liquid based foods like pasta, gravy, stews and curries, jam, and yoghurts may be taken through security if they are stored in containers no larger than 100 mL and carried in a clear plastic bag. All essential liquid medication should be carried in a clear ziploc bag. Every bottle of baby milk must be tasted by the accompanying adult.

Doesn’t this just make you want to come with me to Heathrow?

Forty

Then: 

Now: 

Life is a non-stop ride and I’m finally tall enough to enjoy it.

Forty years, seven hundred posts. The better part starts today.

Out Bound

Map It

7332 miles. About 31 days 12 hours

71 Miles

So you’re never too far from home.